Architektura/ budownictwo

ECOLOGICAL BUILDING

„The earth beneath my feet, the roof over my head”.

Not Earth; earth, dirt, the ground beneath our feet, and the stuff, as it turns out, that is just about all you need to construct safe, decent shelter. The vast majority of dwellings through history, and a large fraction even today, are made with unprocessed earth of one sort or another adobe, rammed earth, and the innumerable variants that have evolved with local cultures in each corner of the globe. What we routinely deride as “mud huts”, emblematic of extreme poverty, turn out with recent study—and simple improvements in design— to be very capable of resisting earthquakes, maintaining comfortable temperatures, remaining clean, and in general

meeting every possible definition of “decent shelter”.

So what's the problem?

Many people build homes with earth but most don't know how to make them safe against earthquakes. Dangerous earthen houses go up by the hundreds every day - right here in the sophisticated U.S. of A. The knowledge of smart building is not widespread. The earthen building is illegal around the world. The engineers who have been trained to work with steel, wood, brick and concrete (even if they come from the countries with hundreds of years of successful earthen architectural heritage) are blinded by their “modern” educations. The earthen structures they grew up with have suddenly become architectural pariahs. “We cannot allow you to build your house with adobe”, they say, “because we have no standards, no building codes for adobe.” What had been traditional and effective for centuries is now branded “experimental”, “archaic”, or “alternative”, while the newly-arrived products of cheap oil are deemed “traditional” .In a hundred years we definitely won't be making concrete and steel, at least not the way we do now. In a way all buildings are made of earth in one modified form or another yet we have no base standards with which to build - and build well - with plain old earth. Much of the knowledge does already exist, but it has yet to be gathered and organised in an effective way.

OK, so tell me a story . . .

My colleagues in the Ecological Building Network have a three to five year project ahead that is enormously useful for the whole world. That project is already launched by the Conservation Institute. I recently completed a survey of existing earthen building codes and standards from the many corners of the world, and thus have a sense of what is already available

Now we must compile that into a set of standards for both earth and straw-based construction—in an American framework, through the extensive multi-year approval process of the American Society for Standards and Materials.

The completion of this project will lay the foundation for fundamental change in the way we build—in the first world, the third world, and every world in between. Those who can afford nothing more than a simple adobe hut will be freed to build one, and also have the guidance to add inexpensive seismic reinforcing. Those who can afford anything they want, but choose to build with earth for its thermal comfort and beauty, (as in the projects shown here), will find it easier to obtain building permits in demanding bureaucratic environments like California. Perhaps most importantly, the more we can build out of simple, unprocessed earth, the less we need burn and rely on fossil fuels obtain, process, transport, and emplace building materials. The huge portion of global energy use now contributed by buildings, as well as their large contribution to municipal waste, can both be abated simply by using simpler material. We envision buildings and communities far safer, and healthier than what we now consider to be modern”, while at the same time needing and using less energy.

SUMMARY

Majority of dwellings were and a lot of them still are built of the earth (adobe, rammed earth).What was associated with extreme poverty turns to be capable of resisting earthquakes, maintaining comfortable temperatures and in general being decent shelter.

KEY WORDS

adobe building permits

shelter fossil fuels

concrete municipal waste

straw - based construction rammed earth

reinforcing maintain

Chemia/biotechnologia

DETERGENTS

Question: How Do Detergents Clean?

Answer: Detergents and soaps are used for cleaning because pure water can't remove oily, organic soiling. Soap cleans by acting as an emulsifier. Basically, soap allows oil and water to mix so that oily grime can be removed during rinsing. Detergents were developed in response to the shortage of the animal and vegetable fats used to make soap during World War I and World War II. Detergents are primarily surfactants, which could be produced easily from petrochemicals. Surfactants lower the surface tension of water, essentially making it 'wetter' so that it is less likely to stick to itself and more likely to interact with oil and grease.

Modern detergents contain more than surfactants. Cleaning products may also contain enzymes to degrade protein-based stains, bleaches to de-color stains and add power to cleaning agents, and blue dyes to counter yellowing. Like soaps, detergents have hydrophobic or water-hating molecular chains and hydrophilic or water-loving components. The hydrophobic hydrocarbons are repelled by water, but are attracted to oil and grease. The hydrophilic end of the same molecule means that one end of the molecule will be attracted to water, while the other side is binding to oil. Neither detergents nor soap accomplish anything except binding to the soil until some mechanical energy or agitation is added into the equation. Swishing the soapy water around allows the soap or detergent to pull the grime away from clothes or dishes and into the larger pool of rinse water. Rinsing washes the detergent and soil away. Warm or hot water melts fats and oils so that it is easier for the soap or detergent to dissolve the soil and pull it away into the rinse water. Detergents are similar to soap, but they are less likely to form films (soap scum) and are not as affected by the presence of minerals in water (hard water).

Modern detergents may be made from petrochemicals or from oleochemicals derived from plants and animals. Alkalis and oxidizing agents are also chemicals found in detergents. Here's a look at the functions these molecules serve:

• Petrochemicals/Oleochemicals
  These fats and oils are hydrocarbon chains which are attracted to the oily and greasy grime.

• Oxidizers
  Sulfur trioxide, ethylene oxide, and sulfuric acid are among the molecules used to produce the hydrophilic component of surfactants. Oxidizers provide an energy source for chemical reactions. These highly reactive compounds also act as bleaches.

• Alkalis
  Sodium and potassium hydroxide are used in detergents even as they are used in soapmaking. They provide positively charged ions to promote chemical reactions.

KEY WORDS:

detergent

soaps

emulsifier

rinsing

surfactants

enzymes

stains

Elektronika/ elektryczny

THE SCIENCE OF ELECTRICITY

In order to understand how electric charge moves from one atom to another, we need to know something about atoms. Everything in the universe is made of atoms — every star, every tree, every animal. The human body is made of atoms. Air and water are, too. Atoms are the building blocks of the universe. Atoms are so small that millions of them would fit on the head of a pin.

Atoms are made of even smaller particles. The centre of an atom is called the nucleus. It is made of particles called protons and neutrons. The protons and neutrons are very small, but electrons are much, much smaller. Electrons spin around the nucleus in shells a great distance from the nucleus. If the nucleus were the size of a tennis ball, the atom would be the size of the Empire State Building. Atoms are mostly empty space.

If you could see an atom, it would look a little like a tiny centre of balls surrounded by giant invisible bubbles (or shells). The electrons would be on the surface of the bubbles, constantly spinning and moving to stay as far away from each other as possible. Electrons are held in their shells by an electrical force.

The protons and electrons of an atom are attracted to each other. They both carry an electrical charge. An electrical charge is a force within the particle. Protons have a positive charge (+) and electrons have a negative charge (-). The positive charge of the protons is equal to the negative charge of the electrons. Opposite charges attract each other. When an atom is in balance, it has an equal number of protons and electrons. The neutrons carry no charge and their number can vary.

The number of protons in an atom determines the kind of atom, or element, it is. An element is a substance in which all of the atoms are identical (the Periodic Table shows all the known elements). Every atom of hydrogen, for example, has one proton and one electron, with no neutrons. Every atom of carbon has six protons, six electrons, and six neutrons. The number of protons determines which element it is.

Electrons usually remain a constant distance from the nucleus in precise shells. The shell closest to the nucleus can hold two electrons. The next shell can hold up to eight. The outer shells can hold even more. Some atoms with many protons can have as many as seven shells with electrons in them.

The electrons in the shells closest to the nucleus have a strong force of attraction to the protons. Sometimes, the electrons in the outermost shells do not. These electrons can be pushed out of their orbits. Applying a force can make them move from one atom to another. These moving electrons are electricity.

KEY WORDS:

electric/electrical charge

proton, electron, neutron, nucleus, atom

(to) spin around

positive/negative charges

like charges/unlike (opposite) charges

(to) attract, attraction

particle

element

the Periodic Table

electricity

Mechaniczny

MAHLE POWERTRAIN

Mahle research project seeks to smooth engine's friction losses

Mahle Powertrain is developing a low friction engine as part of a programme to enhance gasoline fuel economy. It aims to improve fuel economy by four to five per cent.

Fuel economy improvements and engine downsizing are high on the list of car manufacturers' priorities in Europe and North America. But while the diesel engine is reaching its optimum fuel economy, gasoline power trains still offer some significant potential gains.

Mahle Powertrain's R&D are introducing modifications which can be made to a customer's engine without requiring any fundamental redesign.

The firm has completed initial component design and comparative testing. The research is internally funded by Mahle. The firm is using a 2-litre, 16-valve, four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline direct injection engine with double overhead camshafts as the basis. The fuel injectors are side-mounted. The unit produces 150kw (200hp) and 300Nm of torque. Mahle chose the engine for its ease of use and its low friction levels. The firm aims to reduce this further by 15 to 20 per cent.

The piston and ring pack components are the main sources of engine's mechanical losses. The research team is using a piston and ring pack specially designed for the application, based on some advanced technologies from Mahle's advanced R&D division. They have carried over many of the main parts but changed the piston and ring pack, connecting rod, main bearings, valve train assembly and cooling systems.

Instead of just putting low-friction parts into an engine they chose to optimize the engine as a whole to achieve the best results. For example they have adopted a split-cooling system and introduced a two-stage oil pump.

The engine's camshaft is chain-driven but the valvetrain uses an assembled camshaft from Mahle. This has optimized cam profiles, valves that are 45 per cent lighter and new springs. The reduced component mass allows Mahle to cut spring load together with direct friction reduction from the roller bearings.

The camshaft is mounted in roller bearings. Compared to a standard valvetrain this offers a 40 per cent improvement in valvetrain friction. It seems a lot, but the valvetrain's contribution to total engine friction is quite small, less than 10 per cent. Therefore, additionally, to gain further small reductions, the engineers have resized the main plain bearings and applied special coatings to the cylinder bores as well. Diamond -like coatings are being used on the valvetrain. The team's chief Hugh Blaxhill thinks there is some potential to gain a further small reduction using a new oil specification . This work is on-going with the support of a specialist oil supplier.

KEY VOCABULARY

discipline specific general academic vocabulary

friction tarcie loss

downsizing zmniejszenie wielkosci to develop

powertrain układ przenoszenia mocy t to enhance

(układ napedowy) to improve

turbocharged z turbodoładowaniem to downsize

direct injection z bezpośrednim wtryskiem paliwa to aim to do smth

overhead camshafts wały rozrządu economy (savings)

torque moment obrotowy significant

ring pack pakiet pierscieni potential gains

piston tłok redesign

connecting rod pręt łączący initial

bearings łożyska advanced

two-stage dwu etapowy application

chain-driven z napędem łańcuchowym mounted

valvetrain układ zaworów funded by

valvetrain assembly zespół układu zaworów to achieve

springs spręzyny to adopt

roller bearings łożyska toczne to optimise

coatings pokrycie, powłoka o cut (to reduce)

cylinder bores tuleje cylindra compared to

diamond-like w kształcie diamentu contribution to smth

to resize

using (with the use of)

Telekomunikacja

VoIP PRIMER: HOW IT WORKS

IP telephony is nothing short of a revolution. It works in a fundamentally different way to how telephone networks have carried our voice communications over the past 100 years.

Traditionally voice is sent as a continuous stream over an open circuit from caller to caller, in what is called 'circuit switching'. The longer the circuit, the higher the tariff. The longer the call, the greater the calling costs. Despite long silences, the call is rated for every second the circuit is open. Even the migration from analogue to digital circuits did little to change this model.

But of course, IP has changed that. Just as a web page can be broken up into 'packets', audio can be sampled with a digital signal processor (DSP), 'packetised' and sent out over an IP-based network as another data stream. The IP network may be a local area network, a company wide area network, a telco's core network or even the public internet. The packets that make up the audio stream may take different routes from node to node over the network in question but are put back into order at the termination point to make up the audio that we recognise as conversation.

An IP packet is formed when a router chops up a stream of digital information into manageable chunks. The router then places two addresses in the packet's header field - one for the destination, one for the originating device. After looking up the packet's destination in the number's address tables, the router forwards the packet to the next router in the chain. Routers ping each other, to see which pathway is congested, completely blocked or relatively open. The packet is forwarded along the most suitable route and so on. When packets arrive at their destination, they can arrive in any order with significant delay. Transmission control protocol (TCP) arranges them in the right order.

Fine for databases and email and so on but not so good for voice. A caller's words must reach their destination in real time. Any 'latency' - the delay in delivering the voice stream from the speaker to the listener - degrades the quality of the sound as does 'jitter' and 'packet loss'. If packets are delayed by more than 250 milliseconds from end to end, a conversation can sound slightly unreal. Jitter relates to this - it is the variation in the time between packets arriving. Some quick, some slow can cause a stilted conversation. Consequently, VoIP applications buffer packets to allow them to be processed more smoothly.

On private networks - LAN, WAN or in the carrier's core - application performance can be assured using two distinct quality of service parameters: DiffServ and MPLS. The former is a way of ensuring application performance in Ethernet networks, the latter in IP-based or IP-encapsulated wide area networks. With DiffServ, information about priority is placed in a packet's header; with MPLS, an extra header field is attached. Both can tell routers what priority it has over other applications.

To ensure voice quality, it is critical to evaluate what other demands are being placed on the LAN and WAN that will prevent voice traffic getting the treatment it requires. Essentially, it needs to be prioritised over traffic from applications like email that can tolerate some delay. Voice is typically given the highest priority, in MPLS terms this is likely to be Platinum, while email may be Bronze.

KEY WORDS:

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

packet, packet switching

router

packet's header

delay

jitter

packet's loss

LAN (local area network)

WAN ( wide area network).

Ochrona Åšrodowiska

BEARS FACING EXTINCTION

Six out of eight of the world's bear species are threatened with extinction, according to the conservation organisation, IUCN. Researchers say all bear species have declined in number and distribution due to human activities, but most urgent action is needed in Asia and South America.

Scientists at the IUCN say there are parts of the world where bears are thriving - for example, in North America, where they say, there is an enormous amount in effort and funding for conservation.

But researchers say that contrasts sharply with Asia and South America, where conservation funding is poor but the need extreme. For example, they point to Southern Asia, where bears suffer heavy losses from poachers. Bile from the bear's gall bladder is used in traditional Chinese medicine and their paws are consumed as a delicacy.

However, in the last ten years enormous efforts in China have been directed towards the conservation of the giant panda, including widespread reforestation programmes.

Despite this work the panda is still on the endangered list. Scientists say it is too early to tell whether the conservation work is having an effect on populations.

KEY WORDS:

species

extinction

conservation

to thrive

funding

poacher

widespread reforestation programmes

endangered list

population

Marketing i zarzÄ…dzanie

E-COMMERCE

Undoubtedly the Internet has become a powerful force over the past few years in IT, relationships in business, and how people communicate.

But how does it really work? Is it as simple as it is believed? It's time to check some common myths about it. Here are some of the most popular beliefs.

1 It's Easy. Putting up a Web site is easy. And putting up a Web site to handle commerce transactions is pretty easy, too. But add words like effective, scalable, and successful, and it gets a lot harder.

It's true that e-commerce can handle orders for thousands of products, warranty and non-warranty repair-status queries, and many other transactions from lots of distributors, factory reps, direct customers, and internal employees. However, the hardest part of the process is getting the customers' attention.

2 It's cheap. Perhaps e-commerce is cheap when compared with a full-blown enterprise resource planning implementation or the purchase of a mainframe. But for a number of reasons, a full-scale online commerce effort is never a low-cost proposition.

But the Web also makes it easier to do business with the largest suppliers and customers. So e-commerce is actually causing some companies' purchasing departments to reduce their number of suppliers and buy more from the largest ones in order to get bigger discounts and better service.

On the other hand, there are marketing costs and other non-IT infrastructure investments such as the cost of a major licensing deal on a high-traffic portal.

3 Everyone's doing it. With a few notable exceptions, most old-line manufacturers have yet to move into e-commerce, and may not for quite a while. "In some companies, you almost need the retirement of an entire generation of purchasing and sales staff members before it will happen," says Sam Kinney, co-founder and executive VP of FreeMarkets Online Inc.
Many companies simply don't see a compelling business reason to move to e-commerce.

4 It's lucrative. For most established companies, it's still early in the e-commerce game. It's easy to look at how Amazon.com shook up the book industry in four years and fly into panic mode, fearing that your company could be put out of business tomorrow by a Web startup. But books (and music) are the products best suited to online selling, and Web startups will always get a disproportionate share of attention simply because they're Web startups.

That's because buyers are less likely to purchase "subjective" items such as coats and dresses over the Web than PCs, routers, and books, says Mike Prince from Burlington Coat Factory. "When you buy a dress, you want to try it on, see how the fabric feels, check out the color," he says. "There's something very special about that experience that you can't get on the Web."

Summing up, e-commerce is anything but a myth. It's a major trend that's reshaping businesses and the IT that runs them. But there's a common theme that runs through each of the myth dissections above: e-commerce, in almost all cases, doesn't change some fundamental rules of business.

Doing business on the Web successfully takes capital, innovative leadership and execution, marketing savvy, perseverance, and the intelligent application of IT. As the Internet continues to speed the pace of change in the coming years, many aspects of business will be altered and transformed, yet those guiding principles will always remain.

KEY TERMS

e-commerce supplier

commerce transactions purchase

warranty IT

enterprise manufacturer

implementation startup

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