Blogs and Global Warming

The hot debates surrounding search engines, logarithms and privacy
on the Internet
are only beginning, I think.

Today I ticked the little box that allows search engines to find this
blog.

Will more surfers find it, as a result? Will adding it to
the listings increase electricity usage, as subtle links here ripple
out around the system, taking up space, if not time.

Does anybody know how much fossil fuel is needed to propel an average blog?

These questions must be taxing the brains of philosophy students everywhere.
If they are not, the Planet, if not the air, is bound to get much hotter.

Blog.... Blog Often?

The easy-going days before Chrismas make blogging
a distant activity. It's way down a list of
priorities.

I found myself wondering about the amount
of electricity I use in order to keep blogs
up and running.

Something to look into in the New Year?

The New Morality, Stroke 2

The chain saws are whirring merrily in Dublin these days.
The fear that trees may drop branches and leaves has
encouraged a very serious response by public bodies.
And since it is the dormant season,
several months of tree work lie ahead.


The urban landscape is changing very quickly,
which is enjoyable and, when sensitively done,
makes people feel more comfortable in their
public spaces.

However, the Ents in Tolkein's fantasy would groan louder
than usual at some of the lopping
and pollarding being done in the name of "safety".

If this continues, there will not be much reason
for people walking in cities to look upwards,
as is usual when admiring a tree.



Good Heavens? There will be nothing there.

The New Morality

I grew up in a society that was obsessed.
Its rituals were medieval, its morality
linked to the Heavens.

The new morality is more down to Earth,
more Aristotelian, which suits pragamatists
better.

What pleases, what gives offense has changed
beyond recognition. Carrying a plastic bag
while shopping can be a major political statement.

I find it all very interesting...

What is Your Favourite Colour?

I was surprised when I turned on a gardening programme
on TV recently. The presenters were praising the flowers
of
Summer.

The colours and plants of Autumn are worth looking at
more closely. Pigmentation that occurs as trees
reclaim the rich sugars from their leaves, to store for
overwintering, are some of the most exciting to
the human eye.

The Darwin of the Blogging World?

Now I know how Darwin must have felt...

far out in territories new.

Science Week Ireland has been good for learning new blogging skills.
Link back to their competition topic, I'm told.

What's a "Link Back"?

I now have enough new links in

FeedBurner

to set the World on fire.

Functionalized Nanoporous Thin Films,

or FNTF, as they are known to scientists, may be the most helpful
materials for the next ten years.
In 2007, R&D Magazine awarded Shane Addlema, Glen Fryxell, Richard Skaggs and
Xiaohong Shari Li for their work with water testing technology.

Speed is of the essence when it comes to pollution testing.
Sending samples to a lab causes time lapses in which much
damage can be caused to a fragile ecosystem.
Discs coated with Functionalized Nanoporous Thin Films
offer a highly sensitive test. It is claimed that these
nanofilms are about 1000 times more sensitive than any
test previously available.








They may well
make living in areas subject to heavy metal contamination safer.