Innovative Solar-powered Houses

After the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, people of many nations are fed up with nuclear energy and are turning to renewable energy sources for their homes. Solar houses are no longer a thing of fiction.

Every year, Europe Solar Decathlon Design Competition, a counterpart to the U.S.-based Solar Decathlon, challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses. The best designed solar-powered house is evaluated for its cost-effectiveness, energy-efficiency, and aesthetic beauty while providing functions related to comfort of modern living and absence of harmful impact of fossil fuels dependence.

One of the most stunning designs of 2010 solar homes is the FABLAB house built by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia from Spain. This unique curvature-shaped wooden abode stands on three legs and has space underneath for a shaded patio. With a spacious interior, FABLAB contains a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a livingroom, while using smart energy and temperature-monitoring systems as well as a rainwater collection system on its roof.

The Japanese government is also promoting renewable energy sources for homes in the near future. By 2014, a group of companies recently announced the eco project - Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town - a development of 1000 homes based on smart energy integration and smart grid system.

Located 50km west of Tokyo, the entire town will act as a single energy system - using Panasonic's "entire solutions" technology to reduce energy, produce solar electricity and use battery storage at each home. Every household will manage and balance the energy needed for the occupants. Communication systems and electrical transportation will be integrated as well as other shared community resources - all linked to a central square displaying the town's real time energy status.

The eco town is aiming to reduce CO2 by 70% from the 1990 baseline.

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How much do you know about moonrise?

Everyone knows that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

How about the moon?

The sun and the moon remain relatively stationary in relation to the earth's rotation from west to east, so both of them seem to rise from the eastern horizon and set in the western horizon.

Why does the moon appear in different colors?

The natural color of the moon is grey as seen in space, however, it appears in different colors during the course of its path across the sky.

Viewed during the day on Earth, the moon looks faint and white in the blue sky. At night, the moon appears bright and yellow.

At moonrise near the horizon, the particles in the atmosphere scatter certain wavelengths of light, mainly the blue end of the spectrum. The moon passes through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead, thus you see the moon appearing orange or red. As the moon gradually climbs directly overhead, its color changes to yellow. In addition, high volume of dust, smoke, or pollution in the atmosphere could cause the zenith moon to appear orange.

Moreover, the moon appears in certain colors during certain times of the year. The earth's atmosphere goes through seasonal changes due to human activities and the earth's changing tilt toward the sun. Subsequently, the moon rises and sets at different angles and appears in different colors. Sometimes, the moon remains close to the horizon, never rising above your head!

As many farmers harvest their crops in autumn, adding dust particles to the atmosphere, and the moon being in a lower position in the sky during the bumper season, the full moon appears very large and orange, known as the "harvest moon."

The color of the moon could even be blue. They are rare occurrences known as Tyndall Effect, probably due to particles in the air because of many volcanic events around the globe or massive forest fires.

The term "blue moon" commonly refers to a month wherein there are two full moons.

The moon's surface is illuminated by direct sunlight as it revolves around the earth. The luminosity of the moon depends on the phases of the moon. There are 8 phases of the moon seen in one month. The moon is at its brightest during its "full moon" phase.

Why the moon appears larger at the horizon?

Like the sun, the moon appears larger at moonrise and moonset at the horizon. To this day, there's no satisfactory answer for the "moon illusion'.

To solve the mystery is an inspiration itself!

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Placido Domingo Sings to Comfort Japanese

Placido Domingo, the great opera tenor, didn't cancel his tour in Japan after the earthquake/tsunami devastation and Fukushima nuclear plant disaster that had scared most foreigners away. He gave a touching performance in Tokyo on April 11, 2011.

Placido sang a Japanese song that has been immortalized by the famous Misora Hibari. Kawa no Nagare no Yoni (Like the River Flow) is a beautiful and elegant song about the meaning of life. (Domingo sings an abbreviated version of these lyrics.)

Translation

Part 1:

Without knowing it, I have walked here
This long and narrow road
Looking back, long distance away
I can see my hometown

On the uneven and winding road
There is no map to follow.
Again, life is the same way.

See both Placido's and Hibari's videos below.





Placido sang "Furusato" in Japanese as an encore, dedicating the song to the sufferers of the recent catastrophic event. "Furusato" is known to every Japanese. When he sang the song, it brought tears to many Japanese in the audience.



The performance brought comfort to the Japanese in hard times. Placido Domingo, a kind and giving soul, will always be remembered...

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The Most Interesting Bird Nests

Birds are natural creative archictects in the wild. The various designs, shapes, and sizes of bird nests testify to the ingenuity and adaptivity of the warm-blooded creatures in the air.

Bird nests come in a wide range: 

- simple nest made of either plant material, normally sticks or stones

- hole in the ground nest or hole in a tree trunk nest

- round-shaped nest consising of leaves, grass, twigs cemented together with mud and lined with moss and feathers in the interior

- domed nest with only an entrance hole

- hanging nest, often woven, basically  round-shaped hanging from a tree limb or suspended between two twigs

- floating nest in the water

- edible nest made of mainly bird's saliva

The birds that are most creative in building their nests for protection from predators are as follows:

- Red-breasted Nuthatches apply pine tree sap below the nest hole to restrict predator access.

- Great Crested Flycatches diplay a shed snakeskin at the entrance of the nest to ward off predators.

- Megapodes build a large compost heap of vegetation to cover their eggs inside for incubation

- Hoatzins construct a nest of sticks on a tree branch hanging over water, where chicks could leap into the water when in danger and later climb back into their nest.

The most interesting condominium abode for birds is built by the Social Weaver. These amazing birds, up to 300 pairs, combine efforts to build a large compound of community nests, housing each pair with its own chamber. The highly structured complex, which could take over an entire tree, is permanent home for Social Weaver of several generations.

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