Author: matt

Earth Hour – tonight!

why-you-should-switch-off-your-lights-for-earth-hour-MATTYS-VERSIONEarth Hour is tonight, 8:30-9:30PM local time.  It’s mostly viewed as a symbolic gesture, a way of expressing one’s concern for the environment.  However, the benefits can go beyond merely symbolism, as this large infographic from Jones Oil Blog shows (yeah…an oil company encouraging you to use less oil?  Hey, at least they ‘get it’…).  The numbers are a bit staggering, though perhaps not entirely relevant (it mentions the energy saved is equivalent to lighting 172 billion 100W light bulbs for an hour…a device that is being phased out in many countries and being phased out in others…but you get the point.  I just think it’d be more impressive if put in terms of CFL bulbs).  It also put some nice numbers to the cost of the energy we use…and how that money saved could be used to buy renewable energy plants.

It’s a cool infographic and worth checking out (click the thumbnail here to see the whole thing)…and when you turn off your lights tonight, take a minute to think about this stuff…

Voyager 1 in the news

Voyager 1, the farthest man-made object from Earth, has been in the news in recent days due to large changes in radiation levels it’s detected.  This had led some to claim that it has exited our solar system, others aren’t so sure.  I fall into that later category…we don’t fully understand things like that, and while the Voyager 1 probe is doing an amazing job of helping us learn, it’s only one data point.  We’ll have to continue to monitor it along its journey.

You can read more about this over at Slashgear.

Apple’s Data Centers 100% powered by renewable energy

Apple has reached a cool milestone…their data centers, historically facilities of massive power consumption, are now powered by 100% renewable energy!  It has accomplished this by building large solar arrays, building a fuel cell power plant, and also purchasing renewable energy credits from its energy suppliers.  It’s not just good for the environment…the more a company can rely on already-installed solar panels, the more predicable (and lower) operating costs become over the life of those panels.  It just makes good business sense, if you can afford the initial investment.

The Year of the Smartwatch

2013 is quickly shaping up to be ‘the year of the smart watch’, as early entries hit the market (Pebble, Metawatch, I’m watch, etc).  Following closely behind are an increasing number of big players, few of whom admit to working on a smartwatch but all suspected of doing so.  Among them, Apple, Google, LG, and Samsung.  Whether products from those bigger companies will hit the market in 2013 is a bit uncertain, but I’d say it’s very likely that at least two of those companies will be shipping a smartwatch in time for Christmas.  As the early entries show, the technology is mostly here, with issues seeming to revolve around battery life and overall software/usability.

Why the US government doesn’t act on climate change

If you want to know why the US doesn’t take any significant action on climate change, look no further than the House of Representatives subcommittee on Climate Change.  Its new chair is Rep Chris Stewart, a Republican from Utah who does not believe in man-made climate change.  This is also a guy who thinks the EPA should be eliminated because it ‘thwarts energy development.’  Yeah, just ask China how that’s going.  I for one believe that sacrificing long term growth and prosperity in favor of short term profits is NOT pro-business, and am disgusted at the Republican party as a whole for taking that stance while at the same time pretending to be pro-business.  This short-term perspective is nothing more than personal greed.

When virtually all climate scientists believe in man-made climate change…to have the chair of this subcommittee oppose that view is an outright rejection of science and logic.  No wonder Congress can’t get anything done.

(via Salon)

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