Hehehehe....
Hybrids!!Nano?
Is "hybrid" the new word??? Everytime I listen to an advertisement I hear the word "hybrid" something- well I know about hybrid animals such as a mule and hybrid vegetables and other plants-but now there are hybrid cars (and now the Nano car) and hybrid heating systems for our homes to help with the environment- What are they? In the skim of things will these make a difference ? or are they a quick fix to a serious problem? we all know what we have to do- but are we as a society ready to make the cutbacks and necessary commitments - we can fly in our jet all over the world to talk about the problems of the environment or print millions of newpapers & flyers promoting good practices - isn't that part of the problem in itself???? What are we going to do? Your thoughts, concerns, your comments!!!!!!!!!
Hybrid cars? Hybrid flowers? Nanos? Hybrid is a marketing term, and nano… well, nano is too. If we could develop a hybrid nano alternative renewable energy solution, we would be at one with the great zen of the world. Sadly, these are all buzz words which hint at glorious futures and deliver almost none of their promises. The classical uses for hybrid, as you note, involve animal husbandry and dirty hands ecology. Both of which are good, and often underestimated, parts of our world. Genetic engineering is accelerating how we combine and create new species and plants, which in the future will be a necessary thing. The earth can barely sustain the human population now, and it’s not going to get any easier. Hybrid cars are a start… but they don’t make a great difference, and they’re still novelties. While the price of gas may force automakers into accelerating their plans at introducing hybrids, nanos, minis, and the like, we as a society in the United States are still less primed to receive them. We don’t really want a super small, amazingly safe and gas sipping car. We want a Ford Explorer or Cadillac Escalade that is just the same as the ones we have now, but that runs on synthfuel which is cheap, easy, and whose only emissions smell like Chanel No. 5. Raising awareness helps to slowly shift our glacier sized societal baggage in the right direction, but we don’t seem interested in more than quick fixes that require minimal changes to our normal habits. The Nano (or for that matter, the better named ForTwo), and our new crops of Hybrid cars, flex fuel cars, still barely fit our perceptions of what’s acceptable. Hybrid air conditioning systems are a far better idea, although perhaps not as good as moving the majority of our houses underground (where possible; not likely in Florida) and seeking better ways to generate electricity locally to fuel our own needs. I myself am a fan of the “off grid” house… one which is not connected to the utilities network, and largely energy independent. Think of all the copper wires we could reclaim! Then of course, we could stop people from stripping copper pipes out of vacant houses, a form of guerilla recycling which is gaining popularity as the price of copper rises. Fossil fuels aren’t the only disappearing resource, but they certainly get the most press time.
I would say more, but I have to go work my other job so I can get gas money to go to my primary job.
Yes, at this point I no longer cared. But this is the last one for Bio 1101. My lab has a couple though... ugh.
Is "hybrid" the new word??? Everytime I listen to an advertisement I hear the word "hybrid" something- well I know about hybrid animals such as a mule and hybrid vegetables and other plants-but now there are hybrid cars (and now the Nano car) and hybrid heating systems for our homes to help with the environment- What are they? In the skim of things will these make a difference ? or are they a quick fix to a serious problem? we all know what we have to do- but are we as a society ready to make the cutbacks and necessary commitments - we can fly in our jet all over the world to talk about the problems of the environment or print millions of newpapers & flyers promoting good practices - isn't that part of the problem in itself???? What are we going to do? Your thoughts, concerns, your comments!!!!!!!!!
Hybrid cars? Hybrid flowers? Nanos? Hybrid is a marketing term, and nano… well, nano is too. If we could develop a hybrid nano alternative renewable energy solution, we would be at one with the great zen of the world. Sadly, these are all buzz words which hint at glorious futures and deliver almost none of their promises. The classical uses for hybrid, as you note, involve animal husbandry and dirty hands ecology. Both of which are good, and often underestimated, parts of our world. Genetic engineering is accelerating how we combine and create new species and plants, which in the future will be a necessary thing. The earth can barely sustain the human population now, and it’s not going to get any easier. Hybrid cars are a start… but they don’t make a great difference, and they’re still novelties. While the price of gas may force automakers into accelerating their plans at introducing hybrids, nanos, minis, and the like, we as a society in the United States are still less primed to receive them. We don’t really want a super small, amazingly safe and gas sipping car. We want a Ford Explorer or Cadillac Escalade that is just the same as the ones we have now, but that runs on synthfuel which is cheap, easy, and whose only emissions smell like Chanel No. 5. Raising awareness helps to slowly shift our glacier sized societal baggage in the right direction, but we don’t seem interested in more than quick fixes that require minimal changes to our normal habits. The Nano (or for that matter, the better named ForTwo), and our new crops of Hybrid cars, flex fuel cars, still barely fit our perceptions of what’s acceptable. Hybrid air conditioning systems are a far better idea, although perhaps not as good as moving the majority of our houses underground (where possible; not likely in Florida) and seeking better ways to generate electricity locally to fuel our own needs. I myself am a fan of the “off grid” house… one which is not connected to the utilities network, and largely energy independent. Think of all the copper wires we could reclaim! Then of course, we could stop people from stripping copper pipes out of vacant houses, a form of guerilla recycling which is gaining popularity as the price of copper rises. Fossil fuels aren’t the only disappearing resource, but they certainly get the most press time.
I would say more, but I have to go work my other job so I can get gas money to go to my primary job.
Yes, at this point I no longer cared. But this is the last one for Bio 1101. My lab has a couple though... ugh.