Monthly Archives: December 2006

What You May Not Know About Snow

snowflakes.jpgTis the time of year where the air gets crispy, your breath becomes visible and the sky begins to blizzard with beautiful snowflakes! When it snows it’s so fun to watch that it can almost make the frigid temperatures seem completely worthwhile!

There are some very interesting facts about snow that I have recently discovered. For example, did you know that snowflakes make an insane amount of noise when they hit water?? This was a shocker to me because after a snowfall everything always seems so quiet. Apparently snowflakes have a very unique sonic signature not unlike that of the wail of an approaching fire engine; it increases and then fades away after it’s passed you.

Some other interesting facts? Snow can act as a thermal insulator conserving the heat of the Earth and protecting crops from sub-freezing weather. It provides a perfect free toy for children, and also looks amazing under a telescope. The highest seasonally cumulative precipitation of snow ever measured was on Mount Baker, Washington in the United States during the 1998-1999 season when it received 1140 in. (29 metres!!!) of snow.

Ever wondered why snow is white? Why snow crystals have 6 arms? How they form into such complicated geometrical shapes??? I sure have, and I have found this info for your perusal! I feel so much more well informed about this whole winter thing now.

Kids Can Divde by Zero

A professor in the UK has come up with a new number (really it’s a non-number-number) that means we no longer have to divide by zero. Instead, zero is replaced with “nullity,” which is nothing times infinity.

“The theory of nullity is set to make all kinds of sums possible that, previously, scientists and computers couldn’t work around.

“We’ve just solved a problem that hasn’t been solved for twelve hundred years – and it’s that easy,” proclaims Dr Anderson having demonstrated his solution on a whiteboard at Highdown School, in Emmer Green.”

7.5 Tonne TNT Electric Trucks in London

Over at the Green Car Congress there’s a post about some new big wheels. Electric trucks will soon be transporting electric (and non-electric) goods to consumers. The trucks are a trial run for a transportation logistics company called TNT and are made out of lightweight materials which will allow them to be even more efficient.

“If the green trial proves successful, TNT will consider adding 200 additional zero emission vehicles to its fleet to serve in other urban locations in the UK. This would result in significantly reduced controlled and CO2 emissions.

TNT has an overall rating of 84 out of a possible 100 on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the highest recorded score in the Industrial Transportation category in 2006.”

Mottainai Furoshiki

In Japan the Minster of the Environment has started a neat way to raise awareness about wastefulness.

“Ms Yuriko Koike, Minister of the Environment, has created the “Mottainai Furoshiki” as a symbol of Japanese culture to reduce waste. Furoshiki is a Japanese traditional wrapping cloth which is used repeatedly in a stylish way. (The utilization of this “Mottainai Furoshiki” will contribute to reducing household waste from plastic bags.) The Minister presented the “Mottainai Furoshiki” at the Senior Officials Meeting on the 3R Initiative held in Tokyo, Japan on March 6-8, 2006″

Thanks Allison Belisle!

Corporations and Society

noradawn wrote us to tell us about corporate social responsibility (CSR):

“Are corporate giants waking up? The increase of public demand for more sustainable and socially responsible practices is causing the giants of the business world to reevaluate how they do things and start implementing new practices. In essence, doing what they can to save the world. This practice commonly called CSR is being seen more and more in giants such as Wal-Mart, Levi & Strauss, and Hasbro to name a few.

The trend was started by smaller, socially and environmentally aware companies such as Tom’s of maine toothpaste and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, who pioneered this concept…and wound up having incredible growth rates. In turn, this caused the larger companies to turn their heads to see what they were doing right from a business perspective. As a result, it looks like it is the new trend that is emerging, and the corporate giants…many of whom have more capital than some entire countries- are the ones with the dollars and cents to really help in making a big difference.”

For more on CSR this noradawn suggests this good article on CSR.

Thanks noradawn for sharing this!