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tirsdag 22. april 2014

New solar panels?


Scientists at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) are working with a new type of solar panel which is more efficient and cheaper to produce. They are working with an algae type called diatom, and they are trying to copy the amazing ability to absorb sunlight which it has developed during millions of years of evolution. The shell of the diatom is made of glass. It has small pores and symmetrical, but complicated patterns where the sunlight enters without it being able to leave. The scientists say “This is exactly how a god solar panel should behave”.
 
We decided to take a walk around in Sandvika, the city were we go to school, to see if we could find places suitable for solar-panels. We found several places were one could have used the space more efficiently. We brought with us our mobile phones and took some awesome pictures of where we think the space could have been used more efficiently.


 
These are pictures of a parking lot on the top level of Sandvika Mall. Often, this parking lot is less used than the indoor parking lots bellow. Therefore we think that it is a good idea to build a roof here where there should be solar panels on top. It is the perfect places for solar panels because there is nothing that will cast a shadow on to the roof, and therefore the sun will shine with maximum effect here.
 
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This is a perfect place for solar panels

 
This i our school, it would look good with solar panels
 
 
All of this roof could be solar panels!
 
There are many opportunities!
 
 
This post was written as collaboration post with my fellow student Jørgen. Links to his blog:
 
 

tirsdag 8. april 2014

Why I agree with Snowden’s actions


Edward Snowden is a former National Security Agency subcontractor who disclosed thousands of classified documents to American media. He is now being pursued by the American government charged with espionage, and he is currently in Russia where he has been granted a one-year temporary renewable asylum. Snowden once said “My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.

Whether if it was right or wrong what Snowden did is a difficult question. Personally I agree with Edward Snowden’s actions. It is scary to think that the government can trace individuals and read all their personal emails and see everything they do online. Snowden is not a traitor in my eyes, and he should not be charged with espionage. As he said himself, he has not given the information to any other country, but to the American public. He had the opportunity to share confidential information, and he believed that his actions would help America. He helped the Americans see what their own government was doing, and maybe still does. In my opinion, it is people like Snowden that prevent the government from doing as they please.

tirsdag 1. april 2014

April Fools’ Day


April Fools’ Day is an informal holiday celebrated every year on April 1. People from all around the world play pranks on each other, and the holiday has been celebrated since the Roman times. There are many different theories on the origin of April Fools’ Day, but the most common explanation is that it began as a way to mock French people who were slow to switch from the old Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar which changed New Year's from April 1 to January 1. One problem with this explanation is that it does not account for the spread of April Fools' Day to the rest of the world. The British did not adapt the Gregorian calendar until 1752, but they had already been celebrating April Fools’ Day for a while. The origin remain a mystery, but that does not stop people from pranking each otherJ