Banana-Peel Plastic, Wastewater Fuel Cell, Body-Heat Flashlight: Meet the Science in Action Finalists, Part I

On June 27, the winner of the second annual $50,000?Scientific American Science in Action award, powered by the?Google Science Fair, will be announced. In this blog series, we ask the students behind the projects to describe their work and themselves. First up, a trio of young women from India, Canada and Turkey.

Name (Age): Elif Bilgin (16)

Elif Bilgin

Country: Turkey

Project: Going Bananas! Using Banana Peels in the Production of Bio-Plastic as a Replacement for Traditional Petroleum-Based Plastic

Summary: With the addition of a few chemicals, banana peels can be made into a bio-plastic suitable for such applications as cosmetic prostheses or the electrical insulation of cables.

How does your project impact the community you grew up in?
I grew up in Istanbul, which is a very big and crowded city of Turkey. With so many people using electricity on a daily basis?whether it is to charge their cell phones or to use their TV?a lot of cables must be used throughout the city. My project makes it possible to use banana peels, a waste material which is thrown away almost every day, in the electrical insulation of cables. This is both an extremely nature-friendly and cheap process, which has the potential to decrease the amount of pollution created due to the use of plastics, which contain petroleum derivatives.

Who are your scientific inspirations and why?
Marie Curie has been a major inspiration and a role model of mine, being a female scientist who devoted her life to her study of radioactivity, and challenging gender norms along the way. She is the best role model for aspiring young female scientists such as myself.

What is your favorite hobby?
My favorite hobby is playing volleyball. I am the captain of an Istanbul league team.

Do you have a favorite band or song?
My favorite band is Coldplay and my favorite song of theirs is ?The Scientist.? Seriously.

?

S.M. Sambavi

Name (Age): S.M. Sambavi (13)

Country: India

Project: Simultaneous Biopesticide Wastewater Treatment and Bioelectricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)

?

Summary: Microbial fuel cell uses biopesticide wastewater as a substrate and mangrove sediment as the inoculum providing microbes to convert chemical energy to electrical energy.

How does your project impact the community you grew up in?
Where I live there are several industrial factories, and the waste from these factories degrade the environment. There is also an acute shortage of electricity. So people suffer a lot.? By working on the principle of my project, I will try to find solutions that solve both of these issues so that our community will benefit and it will lead to a happy life in the future.

Who are your scientific inspiration and why?
First it?s my mom, who inspired me by telling me more about science. In my childhood, I went to her laboratory and attended conferences along with her. Next it is Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who motivates the young generation about scientific research and more.

If you could have dinner with any three scientists throughout time, whom would you choose?
I would choose scientists who are sharing their ideas and spending their energy on the welfare of the common man. So again it?s Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. I would also choose Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, because he wanted to eliminate hunger and poverty in the world, and Dr. Bruce E. Logan, who is doing a lot of research on the microbial fuel cell.

What is your favorite hobby?
Reading science facts and comics, painting and playing outdoor games with my friends.

?

Ann Makosinski

Name (Age): Ann Makosinski (15)

Country: Canada

Project: The Hollow Flashlight

?

Summary: Using the thermoelectric effect, Peltier tiles convert the heat of the human hand to electricity to power a flashlight without batteries or kinetic energy.

How does your project impact the community you grew up in?
My flashlight relies on a temperature differential of around 5 degrees Celsius to light up. Growing up in Canada, it can get pretty chilly at night, and my flashlight, with the great temperature differential between my hand and the cool night air, glows quite brightly! I also use it secretly sometimes when I?m reading after bedtime in my igloo. Just kidding! But honestly, more than 150,000 metric tons of single-use batteries are thrown away each year. It?s terrible! The majority of batteries are carelessly tossed into landfills, where the toxic chemicals inside the batteries leak into the ground, contaminating the soil with heavy metals.

Also, when I have gone to the Philippines, I noticed that a lot of people there simply cannot afford to pay for electricity in their house. My flashlight could be cheaply manufactured, and if some of these people could get their hands on it (quite literally, haha!), imagine what a difference that could be in their lives! Living our own lives without electricity is unimaginable, yet for lots of people around the world it is their reality. My flashlight, and its temperature differential concept, could change lives all around the world.

If you could travel through time, what one invention or discovery would you want to introduce 100 years ahead of schedule and why?
Electricity, and specifically AC electricity. Imagine how far advanced we would be! Also then people wouldn?t think Nikola Tesla was raving mad?imagine the things he could have created if electricity had existed for 100 years before him. Imagine what stage the world would be in now.

What is your favorite color?
My favorite color is probably blue or purple, but I am starting to lean a lot towards pink and black, because they were Elvis?s favorite colors (Big Elvis fan here?).

?

Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=banana-peel-plastic-wastewater-fuel-cell-body-heat-flashlight-meet-the-science-in-action-finalists-part-i

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A guide to the Federal Reserve's events Wednesday

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, before a Joint Economic Committee hearing on "The Economic Outlook". Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to end its extraordinary stimulus programs. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, before a Joint Economic Committee hearing on "The Economic Outlook". Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to end its extraordinary stimulus programs. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Worry and speculation have consumed investors since Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke to Congress last month about the Federal Reserve's drive to keep long-term interest rates at record lows.

On Wednesday, many hope the Fed will settle the confusion.

Will the Fed scale back its $85 billion-a-month in bond purchases within "the next few meetings," as Bernanke suggested during his remarks to Congress? Or does the job market remain too weak for the Fed to slow its stimulus, as Bernanke said at another point?

The Fed's bond purchases have been intended to hold down long-term loan rates to induce Americans to borrow and spend and invest in the stock market. Ultra-low rates are credited with helping fuel a housing comeback, support economic growth, drive stocks to record highs and restore the wealth America lost to the recession.

Conflicting statements from other Fed officials have further clouded the outlook for the bond-buying program. That's why the pressure for the Fed to clarify its message has intensified in recent weeks.

Here's what to look for from each of four key events Wednesday: a statement the Fed will issue when its two-day meeting ends; the Fed's updated economic outlook; Bernanke's news conference; and the reaction of investors:

? FED STATEMENT

A big question is whether the Fed will revise the stance it's taken in the statements issued after its most recent policy meetings: That it will continue to buy $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bonds ? and that its bond purchases will continue until the outlook for the job market "has improved substantially."

The Fed has not defined "substantially." And Bernanke has stressed that the Fed could increase or reduce its bond purchases at any time depending on the economic outlook. He's also said that even after the Fed has begun to curtail the purchases, it could reverse course and step up its bond buying if it felt the economy needed more support.

Almost no one expects the Fed to announce that it will start reducing its bond purchases immediately. But it might specify what it means by a substantial improvement in the job market. Investors could then monitor the monthly employment report to see whether the job market is meeting the Fed's benchmark for substantial improvement.

The statement is expected to repeat the Fed's commitment to keep its key short-term interest rate at a record low near zero. The benchmark short-term rate has remained at that level since late 2008, after the financial crisis erupted.

In December, the Fed said for the first time that it would leave the short-term rate unchanged at least until the unemployment rate reaches 6.5 percent. The rate is now 7.6 percent. Many private economists don't expect unemployment to reach 6.5 percent until mid-2015.

? ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

This is one of four meetings each year when the central bank updates its economic outlook, based on the individual forecasts of 19 Fed officials. If the Fed downgrades its outlook for growth and employment, it would suggest that officials think a still-weak economy continues to need substantial Fed stimulus. Investors would likely conclude that the Fed won't scale back its bond purchases soon.

If, on the other hand, the Fed upgrades its outlook, it would be seen as a signal that it thinks the economy can now manage with less stimulus. The likely conclusion: That the Fed is moving closer to reducing its bond purchases.

That conclusion would upset some investors because it could lead to higher interest rates and lower stock prices. Yet it would amount to a vote of confidence in the U.S. economy.

In its last forecast in March, the Fed predicted that the economy would grow as little as 2.3 percent this year ? not enough to quickly reduce unemployment ? or as high as 2.8 percent. For 2014, it envisioned growth ranging from 2.9 percent to 3.4 percent.

It forecast that the unemployment rate would fall between 7.3 percent and 7.5 percent by the end of this year. By the end of 2014, the Fed envisioned the rate between 6.7 percent and 7 percent.

? BERNANKE NEWS CONFERENCE

The day's major event is Bernanke's session with reporters. And the question is how far he'll go to define a substantial improvement in the job market and to clarify the Fed's timetable for slowing its bond purchases.

However he does it, the chairman will surely address the uncertainty created by the mixed messages he sent in his congressional testimony last month.

Bernanke almost certainly won't say precisely when the Fed will start to slow its bond purchases. Economists generally think the scaling back could begin in September or, if not then, by December. Bernanke might hint as much, without explicitly saying so, in his news conference.

He may also try to ease investors' fears by spelling out the kind of improvement in the job market the Fed will want to see before it starts trimming its bond purchases. And he'll also likely stress the Fed's continued flexibility even after it starts to pull back: It could decide to taper or expand the bond purchases ? or any other Fed program ? at any time depending on the economy's health.

During his news conference, Bernanke will likely be asked to address the widespread assumption that he will leave the Fed when his second four-year term ends in January. President Barack Obama, in an interview with PBS that aired Monday, hinted that Bernanke will be stepping down. Janet Yellen, the Fed's vice chair, is considered the front-runner to succeed him.

? INVESTORS' REACTION

Global financial markets are hoping for a signal that no pullback in the Fed's economic support is imminent. If Bernanke manages to reassure them, the market reaction may be muted.

If, on the other hand, the Fed's message is that it will start scaling back its stimulus as soon as September, investors might send stock and bond prices down and interest rates up.

Even if the Fed makes clear it will delay any pullback in support for at least a few months, the stock market might still drop. Stocks have rallied the past two days on hopes that the Fed will signal that it won't reduce its stimulus until it's sure the economy can handle it.

And investors have a long history of buying on the rumor and selling on the news.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-19-Federal%20Reserve/id-dd98f43ba8294f6b93a9d7ec0f58a385

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The Turner Report: DESE standards will bring new teachers in line ...

You know that there are serious problems in the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education when it issues a news release that takes the National Council on Teacher Quality seriously. That organization has been bashing teachers at the behest of its billionaire backers for a long time and its just-issued report on teacher education grades down schools if they are not pushing for Common Core Standards and not stressing standardized tests. The DESE news release is printed below.

The State Board of Education reviewed Missouri's progress on implementing new assessments to help prepare future teachers for the classroom at its meeting Tuesday in Jefferson City.

The new assessments for the state's educator preparation programs are being phased in over the next two years for prospective teachers, as well as guidance counselors, librarians and school administrators.

"These assessments are designed to help new teachers and school leaders become effective educators," said Chris L. Nicastro, commissioner of education. "Quality educators are the most important factor in providing students with the knowledge and skills they need for college, other postsecondary training and a career."

Preparing, developing and supporting effective educators is a primary goal of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's?Top 10 by 20?initiative, which calls for education in Missouri to rank among the top 10 performing states in the nation by the year 2020. The State Board is responsible for establishing standards for the education, assessment and certification of all public school teachers and administrators in Missouri. The board approved updated standards for the state's educator preparation programs in November 2012.

The new assessments are aligned to the new standards and are part of the Missouri Educator Gateway Assessment (MEGA) program and include:

• Missouri General Education Assessment: This test for admission into undergraduate professional educator preparation programs includes sections on English language arts, writing, mathematics, science and social science. The assessment will begin in September 2013 and will replace the current College BASE (CBASE) test.
• Missouri Educator Profile (MEP): This new assessment is designed to measure a person's work style as it relates to the field of education. The MEP is set to begin in September 2013 and will assess the characteristics of individuals pursuing certification as a teacher, counselor, librarian and school leaders, including principals and superintendents.
• Content Specialty Assessments: These exit exams must be completed by prospective educators, including teachers, counselors, librarians, principals and superintendents, for all areas of certification they are seeking. The assessments are aligned with state and national standards and will begin in September 2014. They will replace the current Praxis test.?
• Missouri Standards-Based Performance Assessments: These new assessments for prospective teachers, counselors, librarians, principals and superintendents will measure their performance in content, coursework and clinical experiences, including student teaching and internships. The assessments are set to start in September 2014.

The work the Department is doing will help to address some of the concerns voiced in the?NCTQ Teacher Prep Reviewreleased today by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) and U.S. News & World Report. The Review evaluates more than 1,100 educator preparation programs nationwide, providing prospective students, parents and school districts with information about the quality of available programs.

According to the Review, only two teacher preparation programs in the state -- Missouri State University and Missouri University of Science and Technology -- earned at least three out of four possible stars to make the high-rated program list, while other institutions received lower marks or chose not to participate.

Missouri's new certification and testing requirements through the MEGA program will raise the bar in a number of areas, including increasing the admission and licensing standards, aligning teacher preparation with the Common Core State Standards, improving clinical preparation and holding preparation programs accountable for student success.

Source: http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2013/06/dese-standards-will-bring-new-teachers.html

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Video: FMHR Final Trade

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/52254183/

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Check Out The Godparents Of These Celebrities!

Check Out The Godparents Of These Celebrities!

As a parent, choosing godparents for your children are a big decision and huge honor for the person you choose. Check out some of these surprising celebrity godparents. Who knew? Former “Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria is the godmother to David Beckham and Victoria Beckham’s adorable daughter Harper. Longoria said she is “”absolutely thrilled. Harper ...

Check Out The Godparents Of These Celebrities! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/06/check-out-the-godparents-of-these-celebrities/

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Michelle Chamuel Declared The Voice Winner By Usher; Will America Agree?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/michelle-chamuel-declared-the-voice-winner-by-usher-will-america/

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Brazilians stage largest protests in 20 years, bearing a multitude of complaints

Hundreds of thousands are demonstrating in more than 20 cities across Brazil in a show of frustration over poor public services, preparations for mega-events like the Olympics, and the police's harsh response to previous protests.

By Taylor Barnes,?Correspondent / June 18, 2013

Protesters march in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, June 17. Protesters massed in at least seven Brazilian cities Monday for another round of demonstrations voicing disgruntlement about life in the country, raising questions about security during big events like the current FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Nelson Antoine/AP

Enlarge

More than 200,000 Brazilians demonstrated in the streets in more than 20 cities last night in a show of frustration over public services, transportation, the country's role in hosting multiple international sporting events, and the harsh response by public officials and police to previous protests.

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Protests started as early as April in the southern city of Porto Alegre, largely over the close to 10 cent increases in bus fares. But as the protests spread to cities around Brazil in recent weeks, often met with police repression and contempt from elected officials, the demonstrations morphed into a sweeping bitterness over the government?s responsiveness to citizens? demands.

?Those who govern earn so much and they have no respect for us,? says Lucas Alves, a young protester in Rio de Janeiro. ?Ten cents isn?t an excuse [for us to come to the streets]. It?s just one more thing.?

The nationwide protests are believed to be the largest in two decades. Brazil had a military dictatorship until 1985, and it's still rare to see spontaneous expressions of discontent by civil society. Demonstrations are more routinely organized by unions or political parties, but the recent uprisings ? coordinated through social media and without a specific leader ? may be part of a shift in how Brazilians express their frustrations and demands in a changing economy and growing democracy. Just last year nationwide protests developed in a similar way over proposed changes to a forestry code that would have amnestied illegal deforestation.

"Peaceful protests are legitimate and intrinsic to democracy," said President Dilma Rousseff, according to her spokeswoman. More demonstrations are scheduled for this week.

The current protests come right as Brazil hosts the FIFA Confederations Cup, a year before it will hold the World Cup and then, in 2016, the Summer Olympics.?On Sunday, dressed as soccer fans and even carrying Turkish flags in solidarity with anti-government protests taking place there, hundreds of protesters in Rio initiated a demonstration near the Maracan? stadium. They were quickly dispersed with tear gas and rubber bullets from police, who then chased bands of demonstrators down nearby busy streets and into a public park, where families with children were subjected to tear gas alongside demonstrators.

Though demonstrations were largely peaceful, incidents of violence both by and against police arose in several cities. In Rio, at least 20 police officers were reported injured Monday in a confrontation over the occupation by protesters of the State Assembly. Four protesters were also reported wounded by gunshots, and a?video by the Rio newspaper Extra reportedly shows a plainclothes officer firing into the streets during the protest.

The ?stance of opposition and the use of police? in earlier protests galvanized demonstrators for Monday?s protests who may not have come simply over the bus fare hike, says Renata Florentino, a researcher who studies mega-events and a doctoral student in social sciences at the University of Campinas in S?o Paulo.

?These manifestations are about the general malaise on a series of issues,? says Ms. Florentino, adding that before Brazil became an international success story as an emerging economy, it was mired in debt, and demonstrators might not have so forcefully reacted against a raise in bus fare.

?Maybe in [the] ?80s the population would even accept that we don?t have enough money, but after you construct 12 stadiums that look like they are from the time of the Pharaohs, they don?t accept that the mayor doesn?t have the money? to keep bus services affordable.

Ane Vallin came to Sunday?s protest near the Maracan? stadium wearing a Brazil jersey and covered in striped face paint, as though she were one of the soccer fans. ?Taxes go up, but we don?t get anything,? Ms. Vallin says, complaining about government corruption and the sense that more police arrived to break up a protest next to a soccer stadium than are out keeping the streets safe on any given day. Gesturing toward the game, she says, ?Brazil is not a country for Brazilians.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/_sEZqEiN_GI/Brazilians-stage-largest-protests-in-20-years-bearing-a-multitude-of-complaints

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