Archive for April, 2011

The future of transportation

As long as man has had imagination he has thought about conquering the skies. With air crafts already there you may wonder why scientists are still trying to design cars that can fly. The science project where you try to make a toy car fly is not just a pet project with kids. Many car designers the world over are trying to get a car into the air as well.

They are trying to get the design right so that there is enough fuel to make a trip through the skies. See what the optimum speed of a car would be and just how heavy or light it would be to fly with ease. Of course there is also the question of what kind of fuel should power the flying car. Since many conventional cars today are not green wouldn’t it be great to have a flying car that was eco friendly.

The green flying car would however need even more structural and system changes. Whole new systems would have to be developed so that the car uses renewable green energy sources such as solar energy or fuel cells. Then the technology would have to be modified to fit into the flying car body frame. A source of many science projects for years to come.

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Fuel Cell Cars

The depleting petroleum resources have sent the world into a panic. Many science projects involve finding alternatives to vehicles that are powered by petrol or diesel. Of these one of the fields that has received much attention is the development of solar power based fuel cell cars. Unfortunately while progress is being made in this field it is not being made fast enough.

The non renewable resources are being run through at an alarming rate and there does not seem to be any viable alternative visible. Of course the car companies are making valiant effort to find alternative means of fueling cars and Honda has done something quite nice recently.

Honda’s fuel cell electric car, the FCX Clarity, can go about 240 miles on a tank of hydrogen fuel. And the best part is that it’s emission is pure water. You can actually drink the so called waste product of the fuel. So much for pollution from the vehicle. The only trouble is that the car is expensive. Naturally in a few years time as the technology gets better and the car more popular there is a chance that the prices will come down as well.

So as long as you have a hydrogen refueling station somewhere close by you will be actually able to save the planet and get from one place to the other. Of course it will be some time before everyone gets into these cars, but the future of science technology seems bright.

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How much do your Genes affect your health?

It has been proved by repeated science experiments that you are a product of your genes. The genes that you get in part from each of your parents will influence a number of your own characteristics.  There are some genes that are stronger than others for instance you have a strong family nose or a typical jaw that runs through most family members.

This family resemblance is also thanks to the genes that you and your family share. The fact is that genes don’t just affect the way you look on the outside. They also affect you on a deeper level on the inside. Now scientists are trying to see just how the genes affect your health. There is a greater tendency for some diseases to be genetic.

Although it is not quite certain why some genes get passed on to create health and why some go on to make you sick, the fact is that genes do affect the state of your health. It could be something as simple as having sickle cell anemia because your parents passed you the genes. Or it could be a something more acute like a tendency to have a coronary disease.

The truth is that little is known as yet about the functioning of genes. Our present knowledge is basic and rudimentary. Everyday scientists are experimenting with new technology to learn more about the body and its secrets. It may be years before we complete this particular science project.

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How would you like to travel?

It is the ease of traveling that has made modern man’s life so much simpler than that of his earlier ancestors. With the development of new modes of transport it has become possible for a person to travel faster to more distant locales than ever before. Even then we are still obsessed with making travel faster and better and there is always some science project on that amplifies the fact that the next breakthrough is right around the next corner.

Of course it is difficult for the next mode of travel to be seen as logical and possible by a number of critics till it becomes a reality. people were fascinated by horseless carriages when cars made their first appearance. The trains were seen as iron monsters right out of fairy tales and of course there was the big argument about how God would have given man wings if he wanted him to fly. That did not stop the majority of the population traveling by aircraft after a few decades did it?

And so if today someone said that they would transport you in a device like the Star Treck transporter, you may be excused for believing that you will actually say  Beam me up Scoty and mean it in the near future. It would do well to remember the past of travel evolution before you dismiss it altogether. In fact it may be the science project of the near future.

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What can your phone do?

There was a time that the telephone was merely an instrument that allowed you to speak with people who were far away, but that is no longer the case today. The phone today has become so much more. It can be seen as the ultimate evolving science project which seems to get more technology poured into it with each passing decade.

The phone is no longer stuck to the house, although land lines are still popular. It is the mobile phone that rules a person’s life today. In that mobile phone there are features that could rival a computer. You can do sums on the inbuilt calculator, set an alarm for the time you want to wake, or take a picture of something that amuses you.

You can set up alerts for upcoming events, birthdays, anniversaries and functions so that you never forget to attend one or wish a dear one. You can take a video of your friend giving her speech at the library or just check your email as you ride on the train. And there seems to be even more that you will be able to do with your phone if the developers have anything to say about it.

There is a good chance that you will soon not even have to touch your mobile phone to make it dial a number. Some science experiments are already underway with the scheme. It may not be long before it becomes a reality and is no longer science fiction. Maybe it will be the next science project to look out for.

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