Watching the river, 3/18/10
in Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, The Water Cycle, Weather and Climate, and Forces of Nature
If you're visiting the Science Museum of Minnesota, look out the windows from the Mississippi River Gallery on level 5. If you're in downtown St. Paul, stop by the museum and look at the river from the overlook on Kellogg Plaza. (City officials are asking folks not to flock to areas where barriers are going up - especially Harriet Island - but the view from in or around the museum is spectacular and safe.)
Kate's photos, 3/18 (3): Looks peaceful, doesn't it? Still, the city is warning people to stay off of the river, out of the low-lying parks, and away from Harriet Island and Water Street.
Courtesy Kate Hintz
The Mississippi is going up FAST today, and forecasters expect that the river will officially reach "flood stage" by early this afternoon. (It's 10:45am, and the river's at 11.67'. It's risen a foot and a half in the last 24 hours, should reach 12' ("action stage") pretty soon, and 14' ("flood stage") by late today.
Kate's photos, 3/18 (2): Look across the river to the floodwall: that's the high-water mark for the 1965 flood, the highest in recorded history. That year, the river crested here in downtown St. Paul at 26.01' and marked the end for the communities then down on the river flats.
Courtesy Kate Hintz
Kate's photos, 3/18 (1): Shepard/Warner roads will close from Chestnut Street to US 61 starting Saturday morning, and could remain closed for weeks. Take your river sightseeing drive/bike ride/walk before then!
Courtesy Kate Hintz
So what's going on around the river?
- The city has closed all city boat launches and temporarily banned all recreational boating within the city limits.
- Water Street will be entirely closed, starting this afternoon.
- Hidden Falls and Lilydale regional parks are closed.
- Flood barriers are going up at the St. Paul downtown airport and at Harriet Island.
- Harriet Island will close once the river reaches 17'.
- Warner/Shepard Roads will be closed from Chestnut Street to US 61 starting Saturday morning in preparation for the construction of a temporary levee that could withstand river levels to 26'. These roads could be closed for weeks, depending on the extent of the flooding.
Here's the latest hydrology graph:
3/18 hydrology graph, 10:15am
Courtesy USGS
Tags : Watching the river, 3/16/10
in Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, The Water Cycle, Weather and Climate, and Forces of Nature
All day, up in the Mississippi River Gallery, people have been stopping to look out the window and watch the river.
Here's how the US Geological Survey sees it:
Mississippi River, actual vs. forecast, 3/16/10, 1pm
Courtesy USGS
The river's rising, but not as fast as yesterday. And yesterday's rise outpaced predictions by almost a foot, but today the rise matches the predicted curve almost exactly.
So what are folks seeing out the window? Take a look.
Also check out our full feature on the 2010 Mississippi River flooding.
Watch the steps: They're a good benchmark.
Courtesy Liza Pryor
Raspberry Island: Still high and dry
Courtesy Liza Pryor
Looking upstream: You're still looking at Harriet Island. But low-lying areas of Lilydale (upstream, south side of the river) get inundated when the river reaches 14 feet or so. Right now, that's predicted to happen sometime after 7pm on Sunday, 3/21.
Courtesy Liza Pryor
Science Friday logo
Courtesy Science FridayIt's Friday, so it's time for a new Science Friday video. This week,
"What is the future of sustainable architecture? Washington University's Tyson Living Learning Center in Eureka, MO, achieves the Living Building Challenge--a set of green guidelines that measure a building based on its performance. The building's architect Dan Hellmuth, of Hellmuth & Bicknese Architects in St. Louis, and Kevin Smith, associate director of Tyson Research Center, point out some of the Center's greenest features."
So you want to jam like a rock star, but you don't want to shell out for an electric guitar? Make one yourself. Sound artist Ranjit Bhatnagar explains the art of a DIY instrument he calls a "junk guitar." You can piece one together using little more than a plank of wood, some wire, a magnet and a guitar string. Forget the air guitar solos. Plug in. Rock out.
To see more videos, visit the Science Friday website.
In a world gridlocked with cars and gas-guzzling SUVs how can we meet our fuel needs?
According to David Tilman and other researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment (IonE), biofuels, or fuels made from plant materials, are possible substitutes for fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel. In a July 2009 Science article, scientists identify five sources that can produce large amounts of biofuels without destroying natural habitat or using land needed to raise crops and cattle for food.
“We need to transition away from using food for biofuels toward more sustainable feedstocks that can be produced with much less impact on the environment.” Jason Hill, University of Minnesota
One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure
Crop waste, plants grown on abandoned land, and trash, are all possible sources of biofuels.
Courtesy University of California Berkeley News
Dead Sea Sinkhole: Careful! Don't lean over too far!
Courtesy HoshanaSound crazy? Well it could happen. Luckily recent victims of these amazing geological features have been rescued. Massive sinkholes along the Dead Sea shoreline are merely the most recent problem in a long list of human caused environmental issues associated with the Dead Sea. Scientists continue to warn that the Dead Sea is disappearing at an alarming rate, having shrunk by one third in the last few decades. In fact it could be completely dried up in less than 50 years. The water level is dropping approximately 3 feet a year due to massive irrigation in the surrounding countries of Israel, Jordan and Palestine, which are part of the most water-stressed region in the world. Increasing populations, development and massive irrigation all affect the limited freshwater resources. The Jordan River, which used to be the main contributor of freshwater to the Dead Sea, has now been reduced to a small channel due to diversion of water for agricultural irrigation. Scientist are struggling to find ways to reduce these impacts on the Dead Sea, including the possibility of opening a canal from the Red Sea (however this has its own ecological problems).
Over 3000 sinkholes have appeared along the banks of the Dead Sea, and several thousand more are estimated to burst open soon, catching residents, tourists and livestock completely by surprise. As the water levels recede, the fragile, salty, subterranean layer of soil bordering the sea is dissolved by underground aquifers and infiltrating surface water, producing underground caves that collapse and cause massive sinkholes that suddenly appear, swallowing everything above.
Dead Sea Evaporation Ponds: Changes in the Dead Sea from 1989 to 2001. Evaporation ponds located in the southern third of the sea.
Courtesy NASA
Along with irrigation impacts, both Israel and Jordan also purposefully evaporate water from the Dead Sea in order to mine the phosphate salts for use in a variety of agricultural, chemical, and personal products. Both countries have also built hotels and resorts along the shore that use massive quantities of water for the thousands of tourists who come to the Dead Sea for its therapeutic value and other unique properties.
The Dead Sea is yet another unique body of water that will soon be lost, like the Aral Sea of central Asia, as a result of unchecked human development and poor governmental policy decisions. Will we never learn our lessons?
WaveLengths goes inside Biosphere 2
in Earth and Space Science, Life Science, Physical Science, and History and Nature of Science
WaveLengths, the award-winning public television program from Arizona Public Media updates viewers on what was once the most talked-about experiment in the world--the Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Arizona.
Biosphere 2: New TV program takes you inside Biosphere 2.
Courtesy Biosphere 2
"WaveLengths: Planet in a Bottle" revisits the famous life sciences laboratory to learn about the research currently being conducted inside, and exactly how it can help find answers to environmental questions arising in the new millennium. This new episode of WaveLengths includes research and work televised for the very first time.
"WaveLengths: Planet in a Bottle" premieres Monday, January 18 at 6:30pm on PBS-HD Channel 6.
Segments include:- Two years and 20 minutes: Jayne Poynter is one of eight "Biospherians" who were sealed inside the artificial environment for a little over two years. Poynter talks about the challenges the team faced as they grew their own food and recycled their air and water within the immense greenhouse. The problems with living extensively in a sealed environment, says Poynter, were not all environment-related.
- Biosphere 2's future: The management of this unique structure and its surrounding campus was assumed by The University of Arizona in 2007 now scientists from Arizona and around the world use this remarkable facility to find solutions for understanding climate change and other global problems that threaten the planet. WaveLengths Host Dr. Vicki Chandler takes a walk with Biosphere 2 Director Travis Huxman to talk about the relevancy of the new research going on in the largest sealed facility on Earth.
- High tech rainforest: How are plants and forests responding to the changing environmental conditions on Earth? Dr. Kolbe Jardine is one researcher using a hi-tech chemistry lab in conjunction with Biosphere 2's rainforest biome to learn more about plant interactions.
- Critical ocean viruses: The invisible life of the ocean--its microbes--is as critical to other ocean life as plants and trees are to the land. The artificial ocean of Biosphere 2 is now helping scientists discover what kind of impact climate change can have on the ocean's microbial life. Researcher Matt Sullivan is focusing on this invisible life to help us better understand the crucial role it plays in ocean productivity, and the overall health of our planet.
- Climate change and vegetation shifts: Some regions in North America are seeing rapid vegetation transformations because of invasive species. Here in the Southwest, the invasion of the non-native bufflegrass could change our desert landscape forever, and a better understanding of why these changes are taking place in relation to climate change is happening inside Biosphere 2.
Radioactive Peace: With all countries taking from a nuclear fuel bank, no one country will have to enrich its own uranium.
Courtesy ksoTalk of nuclear power has been brought back into the spotlight, especially after the discovery of Iran’s uranium enrichment plant last September. A solution to the debate about whether countries should even have the capability of enriching uranium (the process required for attaining both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons) was posed more than 50 years ago by President Eisenhower. Eisenhower suggested that various countries should allocate uranium from their stockpiles for peaceful pursuits (i.e. nuclear energy). At the time it wasn’t received very well, but a recent BBC article reported that this vision has been renewed. As of November of last year, the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) successfully negotiated with Russia to store 120 tonnes of nuclear fuel in a plant in Angarsk (a city in the south central-ish part of Russia). In 2010, similar arrangements are said to be made with Kazakhstan. The idea is to get developing countries that are thinking about using nuclear energy in the future to join in this program, eliminating their need to enrich their own uranium.
All of this got me thinking about how nuclear energy actually works. It turns out that nuclear power plants are not that different from regular coal-burning power plants. Both plants heat water to produce pressurized steam. This steam then drives a turbine, which spins a generator to produce electricity. The only difference between the plants is how the water is heated. Coal-burning plants…well, burn coal (fossil fuels) to produce the heat, while nuclear plants rely on nuclear fission. This is where nuclear power gets really cool!
So atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons; protons are positively charged, neutrons carry no charge, and electrons are negatively charged. Atoms have an equal number of protons and electrons (making the atom, itself, electrically neutral), but the number of neutrons can vary. Atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons are called isotopes. The isotope of uranium that is needed for nuclear fission, and therefore, nuclear energy, is Uranium-235. This isotope is unique because it can undergo induced fission, which means its nucleus can be forced to split. This happens when a free neutron runs into the nucleus of U-235. 
Nuclear fission
Courtesy wondigamaU-235 absorbs the neutron, becomes unstable, and breaks into two new nuclei. In the process, two or three neutrons are also thrown out. All of this happens in a matter of picoseconds (0.000000000001 seconds)! The neutrons that are released in this reaction can then go and collide with other on-looking U-235 atoms, causing a huge chain reaction (much like this). The amount of energy released when this happens is incredible- a pound of highly enriched uranium has about the same energy as a million gallons of gasoline. This energy comes from the fact that the products of the fission (the two resulting nuclei and the neutrons that fly off), together, don’t weigh as much as the original U-235 atom. This weight difference is converted directly into energy. It’s this energy that is used to heat the water that creates the steam, which turns the turbine that spins the generator, that produces power in the nuclear reactor that Jack built.
On the plus side, with nuclear power there wouldn’t be a reliance on fossil fuels. Nuclear power plants are cleaner because they don’t emit as much carbon dioxide as traditional coal-burning and natural gas plants. However, there are some downsides as well. Mining uranium is not a clean process, transporting nuclear fuel creates a risk of radioactive contamination, and then there’s the whole issue with what to do with the still-dangerous nuclear waste once the fuel has been used up.
Whether or not we should increase our nuclear power program is still debatable, but one thing I do know is that the science behind it is fascinating!
Kites over Lake Harriet
Courtesy Mark RyanOver the centuries, kites have been used for ceremonial purposes, military tactics, scientific experiments, and of course just for fun. The actual origin of kites is sketchy. Some historians claim the islanders of the South Seas first used them to catch fish. But others say kites were first invented in China nearly 2500 years ago. 
Steady as she goes.: Kids love flying kites.
Courtesy Mark Ryan
Some fanciful kites
Courtesy Mark RyanWhatever the case, kites are fun to fly. Yesterday, the 10th Annual Lake Harriet Winter Kite Festival took place on Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. Despite the frigid temperatures, it was a beautiful day for the event. A big crowd was present when I was there, and there were some colorful as well as unusual kites in the air. And it’s not just a matter of slapping a sheet of old newspaper to a couple slats of balsawood and adding a tail and some string, kite-flying involves a lot of science.
It ain't rocket science: But keeping a kite aloft takes more than just a good breeze.
Courtesy Mark RyanAnyway, the event was sponsored by several organizations, including the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, and the Minnesota Kite Society. 
Successful kite launch: Up, up, and away!
Courtesy Mark Ryan
If you want to get involved in kite-flying yourself, there’s a ton of information on the Internet to get you started. I’ve linked to a few of the better ones I found including the site for National Kite Month, which runs this spring from March 27th to May 2nd.
Come on now; get off that couch, join in the fun, and go fly a kite.
Using Kites to Study Aerodynamics
World’s largest kite plan archive
PBS Challenge: How does a kite fly?
The Kite Society (UK)
Kite Study for Children (includes some history)
National Kite Month
Off we go!!: A bundled kite-flyer gives her aircraft a good boost at launch
Courtesy Mark Ryan
All sorts of kites
Courtesy Mark Ryan
Giant bear kite dominates the sky
Courtesy Mark Ryan
Lake Harriet Winter Kite Festival: Minneapolis, MN
Courtesy Mark Ryan
The sky's the limit!: But probably not for this group; they look more like posers than actual paper airplane aficionados.
Courtesy toolmantimHere’s an article about a paper airplane virtuoso who’s trying to break the world’s record (held by himself) for keeping a hand-launched paper plane in the air. Engineer Takuo Toda of Japan not only wants to beat his old record of 27.9 seconds – set last April in Hiroshima – he’s also set his sights on achieving the nearly impossible - breaking the 30 second barrier. Actually, the record time of 27.9 seconds should require an asterisk in the record books since it was set using a paper plane with tape on it. The paper-only airplane record – using a single sheet of uncut paper - is 26.1 seconds, and Toda holds that one, too. This guy seems to be the undisputed king of paper airplanes, but I'm sure somebody out there can show him a thing or two. Check out some of the links below and maybe it can be you.
MORE ABOUT PAPER AIRPLANES
More about paper airplane aerodynamics
Build your own paper airplane (by former record holder Ken Blackburn
Build the best paper airplane
How to build 10 paper airplanes with animated instructions no less
Even more paper airplane designs
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