TidbitsFTW!
A little bit of everything from the world wide web…some photos, some videos, some insight, some science, some art, some laughs, some things that make you go hmmm…and some that make you go WTF!?
I know tens of thousands of people are eager to leave behind boring, doomed Earth for the desolate and pitiless landscape of Mars (people, there’s still plenty of time to think this through!), but before they rush out the door they should take a moment to appreciate what they hope to be leaving behind.
In celebration of Earth Day, NASA has put together a stunning interactive feature and a video of our planet from orbit at various times and from many different angles in 2012.
The interactive feature includes new views of Earth at night, graphics showing the Greenland ice melt, the ozone hole, the continuing rise of global temperatures, the increases in wildfires — OK, I’m starting to understand the thinking of the wannabe Mars settlers a bit more…
These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings.
For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement.
The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.
(via scinerds)
What is Bitcoin and why you should care…
