Friday, July 22, 2011

This Food is Waste

Bio solids as fertilizer, what is that? I think that kids such as ourselves, have no idea what this means, well me anyways. Some farmers do use bio solids as fertilizer, and you may find it disgusting, or maybe not know what it means. So what are these bio solids? Basically, bio solids are human waste that forms sludge through sewage. There is a big misconception regarding the bio solids. The government has thought up of a "safe" way of disposing this hazardous waste by placing it over farmer's fields. This is the alternative to dumping the waste onto landfills, oceans and through an incinerator. But it ends up coming back to us.

Bio solids carry what are called pathogens. Pathogens are bacteria that can cause diseases in humans, in other animals, and also in plants. The diseases caused by bacteria are diverse and include food poisoning, tooth ache, certain forms of cancer and many more. Believe it or not, there have been incidents of people dying because of the pathogenic bacteria.

Clearly, this is not something to be taken lightly. Though, there are certain pros that are found for using sewage sludge as fertilizer. Nutrients found in could be nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and trace elements such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, sulfur and zinc, which are necessary for crop production and growth. Also, Municipalities get rid of the never-ending stream of sewage sludge, and farmers gain fertilizer for free. This also opens up jobs for people to transport the sludge.

I may have exaggerated a little, and sewer sludge are indeed monitored and kept track of to be rid of pathogens and other harmful chemicals, but do the pros outweigh the cons? It may be a beneficial course of action rather than having to wait extended periods of time for crops to develop, and is a much better way of disposing of sewer sludge rather than filling landfills and our oceans with it. Not to mention much better than incinerating it. Although I don't exactly agree with this option, it is the only solution we currently have and what we will use until an alternative comes up.

Sources:

http://www.toronto.ca/water/biosolids/index.htm

http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/wastewater/treatment/biosolids/

http://www.wef.org/biosolids/

Comments:

http://huliganrocafour.blogspot.com/2011/07/b-b-buy-your-solids.html?showComment=1311345768973#c1434924224199108828

http://raysbioblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-even-have-toilet-when-it-just-ends.html?showComment=1311345885008#c8035479133262087131

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Doing the Robot

Technology, you may hate it or love it, but either way, we all use it. Whether it is for good or bad, technology makes our lives either whether we realize it or not. One of the ways that technology helps us, is helping us understand and examine the inside of the human body. With this technology, we can professionals can fully understand what is wrong with a person. This is the only beginning, as technology will continue to advance and provide us with more.

Another great invention would be the invention of the X-ray. The invention of X-rays was discovered by a German Physicist named W.C.Roentgen. X-rays were discovered by using tubes similar to our fluorescent light bulbs. The tube would create a fluorescent flow and he found that the light allowed him to see through solid objects. He named the ray, "X-ray", because in mathematics "X" is a variable and unknown. X-rays are harmful if used for too long because the fluorescent lights cause skin cancer and skin diseases.

Another important invention would be the Cat Scans. Cat scanning also called CT scanning, uses similar equipment of the x-ray, to produce images of the inside of a body. This is one of the fastest ways to examine a person's chest, abdomen and pelvis, because it provides detailed images, of all types of tissue in that area. It is used to diagnose cancers. The Cat Scans were discovered by a British engineer named Sir Godfrey Hounsfield and Dr. Alan Cormack.


Sources:



Comment:

http://mcbeean.blogspot.com/2011/07/technological-advances-in-health-care.html?showComment=1310655419943#c7395976663561566913

http://dropsneakersnotbombs.blogspot.com/2011/04/theres-always-room-for-improvement.html?showComment=1310655642703#c7523811977844018939