How do polaroid cameras work? - An explanation for everyone who wishes to have one

How do polaroid cameras work?

Once you press it, the rollers move the reagent and the photograph through the several layers. The reagent causes the four chemicals to react as well as the silver compound layers to process. From there, the photograph begins to develop. Out of the polaroid camera appears a grey image creating a chemical reaction before our eyes.Everybody is familiar with the look of a polaroid instant camera and knows that by pressing the shutter button, the picture appears almost instantly. But how do polaroid cameras produce physical pictures within such a short time? The secret of polaroid cameras lies in the film that is being used. In order to understand this process better, it is beneficial to know the basic physics behind traditional photography. Normal films consist of a plastic base that is covered with particles of a silver compound. In comparison to black and white films, which have only one layer of silver compound, colour films contain three layers of silver compound. Each of these are sensitive to different hues of light. The top layer is sensitive to blue light, the second layer to green and the bottom layer to red. When the film is exposed to light, the sensitive particles of the different layers react to the colours and form a colour pattern. To create an actual photograph out of this pattern, the film has to be developed further by using special chemicals. The film of traditional cameras has to be processed separately, meaning outside the camera. Here is where the secret of polaroid cameras comes to light. The instant film that is being used in polaroid cameras already provides all the necessary chemicals for developing a photograph. These chemicals can be found in additional layers which are placed underneath each colour layer. This specific arrangement of the many layers is highly important since a chemical chain reaction takes place when the “reagent” is set off. 

 

The reagent is a mixture of elements including white pigment, acid neutralizers and light-blockers. Before the button on the polaroid camera is pressed, the reagent material remains in the traditional white frame of polaroid photographs. This way, it is kept away from all of the developing chemicals until the shutter button is pressed. Once you press it, the rollers move the reagent and the photograph through the several layers. The reagent causes the four chemicals to react as well as the silver compound layers to process. From there, the photograph begins to develop. Out of the polaroid camera appears a grey image creating a chemical reaction before our eyes.

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CAJ - Opinions against Geoengineering 2

Here I present you further arguments of scientist who advocate against Geoengineering

“To err is human” is a saying scientists who oppose Geoengineering use to make an argument. Humans could make mistakes such as in the manufacturing or the design of Geoengineering techniques and this could have unknown consequences. They use Chernobyl as an example of the effect if, theoretically, something went wrong.

According to a book called “A Combined Mitigation/Geoengineering Approach to Climate Stabilization”, there is a risk of rapid warming if the deployment of Geoengineering stopped promptly. It would be much worse than gradual warming and would have a bad effect on our ecosystems considering the fact that global temperatures would return to levels of 250 years ago with Geoengineering.

One of the most shared argument against Geoengineering is the following:  If scientist really found a way to fix global warming, people would be more reluctant to change their ways of living. They would continue to produce carbon emissions since it would no longer impact their lives negatively. Also, large corporations which exploit the Earth’s resources could gain advantage of Geoengineering and go on with their exploitation, maybe even worse than before.
Shouldn’t we care about our planet anyway? What is the excuse for what we are doing?

What is the optimal global temperature? This issue could come up if Geoengineering was to be implemented. We know by now that the northern world countries like Russia or Scandinavia could gain an advantage of warmer temperature as it could increase the growing season. India, on the other hand, could need lower temperatures. Should the degree remain like it is now? Is there a possibility of future wars around this issue? These are all questions scientist would rather not find an answer to.

They are also concerned that Geoengineering techniques may not achieve effective cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to avoid dangerous levels of global warming.

This is the answer of James Fleming, the author of “Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate Control”, when he was asked if Geoengineering could save climate change:

“In short, I think it may be infinitely more dangerous than climate change, largely due to the suspicion and social disruption it would trigger by changing humanity's relationship to nature.”
- Interesting thought.

All in all, many scientist consider the implementation of Geoengineering to be a slippery slope as it is hard to predict what it could cause.

How to kill Hitler? - Instructions hm..

How to kill Hitler? - Instructions

Material required: Functional time machine, fully loaded gun (filled with more than one cartridge in case you miss the first shot), a sandwich

Time necessary: approximately 20 minutes

1.) Obtain a functional time machine from your scientist friend.

2.) Enter the time machine and set the date back to the 10th May, 1933. The place you want to go back to is Berlin, Germany. The setting will be the place where Hitler gave a speech. 
 

  Don’t forget to bring a fully loaded gun and a sandwich with you.  

3.) Wait until you find yourself in Berlin. In the meantime, eat your sandwich to boost up your energy.

4.) When the time machine stops, open the door and step out.

5.) As soon as you step out, station yourself amongst the crowd in front on the stage.
Here’s a tip: Get in the first row to get a good view on the stage.

6.) While Hitler gives his speech, be fully attentive. When he pauses to take a breath, take your gun out quickly.

 

7.) Point your gun properly so that you aim for Hitler’s heart or head.

Here’s a hint: Don’t aim for his leg or hand! A shot in these regions of the body might not kill him immediately.  

8.) Pull the trigger.

Be aware of the recoil when you shoot.

9.) If you hit him, run as fast as you can back to your time machine.

.

10.) Set the date again to the 14th May, 2014, as quickly as possible.

Good luck with your mission!

CAJ - Opinions against Geoengineering

Opinions against Geoengineering

As Geoengineering is a large global scale project and involves significant changes to our environment, this issue has become somewhat controversial among scientists. Some of them claim that the intervention into the Earth’s climate system could have severe consequences. Instead of improving global warming, Geoengineering techniques would worsen the whole situation...well, so they claim.

In this post I will present you some of the arguments against Geoengineering. 

Most of the scientists are sceptical when it comes to spraying aerosols in the air to make the Earth more reflective. Dr. Charlton-Perez, a lecturer of Meteorology, fears that the particles would not only absorb the Sun’s heat but also the heat energy that comes from the Earth. He also fears that the stabilisation of the Earth’s climate could reduce the upwelling of air. This would seem like a big problem in the tropics since rain falls when the air moves rapidly. This climate stabilisation, as a result, would reduce precipitation in the tropics. As a matter of fact, rainfall around the tropics could be reduced to 30%. This would significantly impact rainforests in South America and Asia. It’s quite scary if we consider the fact that tropics play an essential role in the Earth’s climate as the trees capture high amounts of carbon.

He also claims that it would lead to an increasing drought in Africa.

He backs up his arguments with a study his team carried out to measure what negative effects Geoengineering techniques could have. The study considered what would happen if carbon dioxide levels quadrupled in the atmosphere. This extreme situation showed that without intervention, temperatures could rise by 4C, far above the 2C level considered dangerous. After that, they reduced the temperature rise to zero - the level it should be after Geoengineering measure will have been introduced.

In the simulation, they have pumped up a huge amount of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere. The amount is equivalent to five volcanic eruptions of the Mount Pinatubo in 1991 which, as a result of its eruption, reduced global temperatures by 0,5C in the following years.

The sulphate particles in the model did not only reflect incoming sunlight, but also heat rising from the Earth’s surface. As a consequence, it reduced the temperature difference between the lower and upper atmosphere which is the engine that drives cloud formation and rainfall.

Scientists worry that an adaptation to this drastic change could threaten to the flora and fauna as well as people.

Interesting, isn’t it?

Another argument he states which is worth mentioning is that Geoengineering effects will not be the same everywhere. This leads to the future possibility of conflict between nations that might benefit from it and the ones which might suffer from it. He points out that governance over Geoengineering is another issue that speaks against climate intervention. This issue concerns Dr. Matthew Watson, a lecturer of the University of Bristol, too. He points out that strong, sensible and reasonable governance is crucial for this global-scale project, even on small-scale outdoor experiments.

CAJ Geoengineering - Narratives

How can Geoengineering change the life of an average Joe in 2039?

Here are two stories which can illustrate a future with Geoengineering:

After Joe woke up at this special day, he drank a cup of coffee on his terrace as usual while he enjoyed the morning sun on his skin. He looked up to notice that the sky was marked by endless chemtrails creating a spiderweb and big, white clouds. Joe realised that he had not seen a dark or even light grey cloud for quite a long period of time. With this thought in mind, he dressed up and made his way ahead to the technical university, it was his very first day. He refused to join his friend in the car as he didn’t had to worry about carbon anymore. He arrived just in the nick of time because he couldn’t find a parking lot. Apparently every student enjoyed driving with his own car instead of taking the bus. He entered the building and couldn’t believe what he saw. The Geoengineering department was overcrowded with students trying to save a seat in the lecture room. Joe was determined to study. He wanted to become one of the leading scientists for further Geoengineering techniques.

Joe was extremely excited to experience the Sahara Desert again, after 30 years. His tourist group left the city and made their way ahead to the desert. While they were riding in the suffocating heat, John noticed in the distance a vast tree plantation. He could not discern the end of it and thought he was experiencing a fata morgana. But this was not the case. He realised that it was true what he saw. Joe was shocked when they rode further and further until they came quite near to the plantation and had a proper look at it.  It immediately occurred to him that he had read an article about Geoengineering just a few days before he had departed to Africa. He tried to remember some of the Geoengineering techniques which were explained in the article. Thinking about it, he looked in the sky which was marked by the endless lines of chemtrails. He didn’t know that Geoengineering measures had been implemented already.

CAJ Geoengineering - Introduction

What is Geoengineering?

I have chosen this highly interesting topic because I  have recently watched a documentary called “Why are they spraying?”. I became quite interested in the topic and wanted to know more about it. I informed myself roughly what it is about. To really get absorbed in this topic, I chose Geoengineering to be my CAJ.

But what is Geoengineering? In short, Geoengineering is the intervention in the earth’s climate system to prevent the aggravation of climate change. To tackle the Earth’s climate problem, scientists have developed certain geoengineering techniques which can be categorised in two groups:

Solar Radiation Management (SRM) or Solar Geoengineering

The aim behind this engineering method is to reflect the Sun’s energy back into space and so reduce temperature rise caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. There are certain ways to put these techniques in practice. The so called Albedo enhancement is a way to modify clouds or the land surface and increase the reflectivity of sunlight into space. Low level clouds, for example, tend to be very reflective to sunlight and even more when they are white. Altering these clouds through the process of “marine cloud brightening” could increase their reflectivity and consequently cool the climate. By enhancing the albedo of the earth more radiation could be reflected.

Another proposed measure to stop global warming is the usage of space mirrors, also called space reflectors, to block sunlight before it reaches the Earth. These mirrors would be positioned in the orbit of the earth to filter sunlight or reflect it. In order to reflect sunlight before it reaches the Earth, scientists have proposed a method which aims to inject stratospheric aerosols into the upper atmosphere, the stratosphere. Stratospheric aerosols are are small, reflective sulfate particles (or aerosols) such as sulfuric acid, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) or sulfur dioxide (SO2) and could reflect the sunlight back into space. This happens naturally when volcanoes erupt by sending ash into the stratosphere.

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) or Carbon Geoengineering

 

Another way to stabilise the Earth’s temperature is to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by countering the increased greenhouse effect and ocean acidification. However, the proposed techniques for Carbon Geoengineering need to be implemented on a global scale to significantly change the Earth’s climate. For example, planting forests or stands of trees in areas where there used to be no could increase carbon capture, meaning the capture and long-term storage of atmospheric CO2. This technique, known under the term afforestation, could only have a significant effect as a global-scale project. Another carbon removal method is called carbon capture and sequestration which aims to char biomass, burn it to create energy and then capture it in the soil. Carbon can also be captured directly from the air through large machines that can remove it or store it elsewhere. It is proved that ambient air capture can remove far more CO2 per acre of land footprint than trees and plants. Not only can carbon be captured in the soil but also in the ocean. Ocean fertilisation is also a Carbon Geoengineering technique and aims to increase the growth of phytoplankton in the ocean as it absorbs carbon from the atmosphere via photosynthesis.

 Rocks in the ocean can also be used as a means to remove carbon from the atmosphere. A technique which is called Ocean alkalinity enhancement aims to increase the ability of rocks such as limestone, silicates, or calcium hydroxide to store carbon by grinding them up, disperse and dissolve them. In addition to removing carbon, this technique could improve ocean acidification. Last but not least, the enhanced weathering technique is designed to  expose large quantities of minerals that will react with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and store the resulting compound in the ocean or soil.

CAJ Geoengineering - My Plan

What I plan to do for the CAJ topic I have chosen - Geoengineering

1.) I will roughly introduce the topic by giving you some basic information about Geonengineering. This way, I hope to catch your attention and generate your enthusiasm and excitement for Geoengineering. I can promise you, it's quite fascinating. It will make you think more about climate change and the effects it can have if we continue to pollute our Earth.

2.)  After having given you an idea of what Geoengineering is about, I will try to look at this issue from different perspectives. Since its methods and techniques are quite controversial among scientists, I will present you the negative opinions about Geoenginnering. To highlight all aspects, I will also show you the arguments in favor of Geoengineering and why scientists think that it needs to be implemented.

3.) I will also try to update my information and look at the latest/current debates around Geoengineering. I will do so by looking at some newspaper articles.

4.) I plan to write at least one posts for each Geoengineering technique. With the help of included pictures, I will explain it to you. I'm not a physicist but I'll do my best to make it as understandable as possible. Don't expect of me to interpret maths. :-)

5.) How can Geoengineering affect our lives? Or the lives of our children? These are questions I would like to find an answer to.

6.) Since the the documentary "Why are they spraying?" aroused my interest for Geoengineering, I will talk about it shortly. This will be a good way to introduce you to the conspiracy in which most people so falsely believe in. What are chemtrails? Is the government spraying toxic in our air without us knowing it?

5.) In the end, I will summarise my CAJ and present my own opinion about it. After having absorbed this topic for a whole semester, I hope to have a strong opinion about it.


We can't deny climate change anymore. Instead, we should tackle this problem by trying to live in the most sustainable way we can. After all, human beings are the ones who caused climate change so it's our duty to do something against it.

With this in mind I hope to have catched your interest for Geoenginnering :-)

Rating of an instruction for building a camera lucida

Our rating of an instruction for building a camera lucida. Here's the link to Carol's blog.  http://carolaamina.blogspot.co.at/2014/05/rating-of-instruction-for-building.html