Sometimes the worst tragedies, bring out the best in humanity ...

Grim-faced celebrities and musicians with mournful tunes set the tone for the all-star, international "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon, which featured two hours of pleas for the earthquake-ravaged nation. But it ended on a hopeful note, with a buoyant call for Haiti's revival by native son Wyclef Jean.

From The Hope For Haiti Website ...

Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief

This is your time to help.

100% of funds raised will go towards relief efforts in Haiti and there are NO backend costs. Additionally, the Entertainment Industry Foundation has waived all administrative fees.

A massive, 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti near the capital of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, January 12th.  The damage to buildings is extensive and the number of injured or dead is estimated to be over 100,000.

Your gift will help rush emergency supplies to survivors of this catastrophe. Your gift now will help distribute life-saving relief supplies including food, clean water, blankets, medical supplies and tents to children and families devastated by the earthquake and aftershocks in Haiti.

Thank you for your generous gift in this time of need.

For on going re-runs of the show go to to Huffington Post.

Give now .. you will feel better. 

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All of this infrastructure could be out of commission in a century. 

Up to 85% of the population and 90% of the infrastructure of coastal zones throughout the UAE is at risk from climate change, a new study by researchers from the Stockholm Environment Institute finds in: “Climate Change - Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation in UAE.”

Despite uncertainty about to what extent, some degree of global warming is already happening and will only continue, resulting in an unavoidable increase in sea levels. How much that will be is uncertain. The uncertainty comes from not being able to predict whether and how fast and how effectively political actions will be taken to reduce greenhouse gases. There is no uncertainty about the science of climate change itself.

The very best case scenario had originally seen a one or two foot rise, which it is almost impossible to achieve now. Now, higher rises and worse case scenarios are more likely. We can now only control how much worse those scenarios are.

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What ever they sing ... Its simply beautiful ...

Wading In The Velvet Sea, by Phish , is one of those songs that is so relaxing that you just gotta stop and listen.

Phish formed in 1983 at the University of Vermont, Burlington, VT. Perhaps the most famous jam bands of our era, they played almost nonstop for 20 years.

Here is what Wikipedia says ...

Their music blends elements of a wide variety of genres, including rock, jazz, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, funk, bluegrass, reggae, country, blues, and classical. Each of their concerts is original in terms of the songs performed, the order in which they appear, and the way in which they are performed.

Although the band has received little radio play or mainstream exposure, it has developed a large and dedicated following by word of mouth, the exchange of live recordings and selling over 8 million albums and DVDs in the United States. Rolling Stone stated that the band helped to "...spawn a new wave of bands oriented around group improvisation and superextended grooves," calling them "the most important band of the Nineties".

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Solar arrays can provide energy to pump water to watering troughs for cows improving water quality on remote pastures and saving money too. Farmers can more sustainably manage their pastures if cows are not all clustered around small creeks, eroding the banks.

One example of a worst case scenario is Dick Lester’s Spring Valley Ranch in Cherokee County, Iowa. He had one tiny creek that his cattle were trampling to death, reducing their own water supply.

He needed to pump water 150 feet up the hill to three separate watering troughs so the cows would spread out and not trample the creek’s stream banks, fouling their own drinking water supply and reducing the flow by eroding the stream banks.

Dewey Stouffer, of Little Sioux Prairie Company, installed Lester’s solar powered livestock watering system. A mere 1.4 KW system supplies all the energy it needs (average homes need from 2KW to 8KW). A gravel trench drains part of the creek 15 feet underground, to a pump. Then the solar array provides the energy to move the water up 150 feet, going through 4,600 feet of pipe to three separate drinking troughs for the cows.

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Thanks for all you are. May your 2010 be outstanding.

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Here’s an original idea.

The Hawaiian pool builder PacificGunite makes molds of real lava into poolside decking, then incorporates passive solar thermal heating elements into the thermal mass created by the concrete to soak up the heat of the sun and transfer it into the pool.

Passive solar thermal is the best way to heat your pool without carbon emissions: let the sunshine do it. This company builds on that with artistic recreations of lava flows to supply the thermal mass.

The technique employed by PacificGunite builds on the ideas used in radiant flooring. In a radiant floor, a solar collector on the roof (or a basement water heater)  sends hot water to rubber tubes embedded in a concrete or mortar (and stone) floor which then radiates heating up through the thermal mass of the concrete to warm a house.

In this case, the opposite occurs. There is a circulating system of water going through these rubber tubes that are set into the deck by the pool.

As the pool pump is running to clean your pool, some of the pool water is diverted through the rubber tubes. Once the thermal mass of the Lavacrete has been poured surrounding those rubber tubes, that sunshine warmth soaks into the Lavacrete and transfers to the water in rubber tubes. The warmed water goes into the pool while the next lot of cool pool water is fed into the rubber tube system to be warmed. The hot sidewalk is cooled as the pool water becomes warmer. Automatic controllers regulate how warm the water will get.

And in case you just can’t get enough of lavaflows outside; you can also make your living room into a lava lounge. PacificGunite certainly has made some great molds of a force of nature.

PhotoSource - PacificGunite
HomeDesignFind - Solar Thermal Warms Hot Lava Pool in Hawaii

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Merry Christmas water lovers ...

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If this video doesn't make you wonder - then all bets are off ...

WOW - WOW - WOW !!! - Emphasis mine.

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Out of respect to the millions of Americans dealing with the Big Blizzard of 2009 - we choose the timeless classic "Let It Snow" as our water song of the week.

Let It Snow, was written in 1945 by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne ...Trivia - It was written in July 1945 in Hollywood, California during one of the hottest days on record. It was then made famous by Vaughn Monroe and on and on and on it went - becoming a cover song of the ages.

No two are alike. We start our "white stuff" medley with Vaughn Monroe. Sit back, enjoy and get into the spirit and snuggle ...

Vaughn Monroe ...

Dean Martin ...

Kenny G ...

Oh the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful, And since we've no place to go, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

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A completely new concept of underwater wave energy using a simple 7 ton kite turbine design has been developed by Minesto; which is a spinoff from the Swedish military and aircraft design firm Saab. The Deep Green underwater turbine captures the power of the ocean just like a kite in wind.

The system could generate 18 terawatthours of energy annually, enough to provide nearly 4 million British households with reliably green electricity every year. UK households now use about a third of what average US households use in energy.

Originally Saab was working on a kite design for a wind turbine, but found that the concept would actually work better in water, which is 832 times more dense than air.

The kite twirls in a repeating figure eight pattern - see video - that increases the ocean velocity ten-fold. The first stage increases the relative flow speed entering a turbine. When the tide hits the wing it turns down, which creates a lift force. The kite is mounted to the ocean bed with a tether and is controlled by a rudder to gently nudge it in the desired trajectory.

According to Minesto’s website, each megawatt-worth of kite(s) would weigh 14 tons, so it would seem that each 7 ton kite is a 500 KW unit. According to CEO Anders Jansson’s estimate, these could probably produce power for somewhere between $0.09 cents and $0.20 cents per kwh.

Certainly because these are such extremely simple-tech structures they would be cost effective - costing less in materials per power produced, and costing less in transporting them to the site, in installing them and even in ongoing maintenance costs.

Almost half the potential in Europe is in British waters, with the ocean moving an average of 1 to 2 metres per second between 60 and 120 metres below the surface.

The Carbon Trust based in the UK gave early development support. Minesto’s Deep Green is now funded in part by the UK and Swedish governments, and has nearly $3 million in additional capital from parent company Saab Group, Midroc New Technology, Verdane Capital and Encubator.

With these kinds of serious investors, and such a simple and cost effective design, this could be what gets wave power to the world.

Credits:

• Image: Minesto.com
• Source: ekopolitan

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