Archive for January, 2010

Researchers at the National Ignition Facility in California are one step closer to the elusive goal of triggering a self-sustained, stable fusion reaction

Sourced from New Scientist – Energy and Fuels, click here to visit

We had an email from Richard the other day:

I have recently designed and restored a cast iron roll top bath. I’ve taken an antique original bath and I have recently designed and restored a cast iron roll top bath. I’ve taken an antique original bath and have given it a bespoke twist using ceramic handmade mosaics as decoration. With the iron legs chromed too I feel it would stand out in any bathroom.

Replica cast iron baths take large amounts of energy to produce and thus leave a large carbon foot print. This is my greener alternative!

This is a great idea – there are so many old baths dumped because they’re no longer pretty but this now is pretty flash.

Our bath in our last house was very old – the original one when bathrooms were installed in the houses in the 1960s (when the council decided that the 60 year old houses weren’t actually “temporary housing” as planned) – and as a result, the enamel was damaged & stained by water deposits. It was always our plan to explore re-enamelling it but as with many things in our lives, we never got around to it. Has anyone else had any experience re-surfacing a bath? Did you do it yourself or is it a job for a professional?

A lot of baths nowadays seem to be made from plastic or fibreglass – not quite so cold but more prone to cracking that a solid hunk of metal. Has anyone fixed a damaged plastic/fibreglass bath?

Sourced from How can I recycle this?, click here to visit

Earlier this week, someone on my local Freecycle group asked if anyone had any old plastic guttering/drainpipes because she wanted to cut it in half to use for seedlings. I thought that was a pretty genius idea but wondered what else could be done with it…

There is a section of old drainpipe in the woods next to our house too – I haven’t investigated it too closely yet but I think it’s an old metal one, so not as easily hackable but still potentially useful.

Any suggestions?

Sourced from How can I recycle this?, click here to visit

A new study provides new information about the rates at which three of the most powerful greenhouse gases are destroyed by a chemical reaction that takes place in the upper atmosphere.
Sourced from EarthWire Climate, click here to visit

A new study provides new information about the rates at which three of the most powerful greenhouse gases are destroyed by a chemical reaction that takes place in the upper atmosphere.
Sourced from EarthWire Climate, click here to visit

The sea level in Israel has been rising and falling over the past 2,500 years, with a one-meter difference between the highest and lowest levels. “Rises and falls in sea level over relatively short periods do not testify to a long-term trend,” according to one expert.
Sourced from EarthWire Climate, click here to visit

The sea level in Israel has been rising and falling over the past 2,500 years, with a one-meter difference between the highest and lowest levels. “Rises and falls in sea level over relatively short periods do not testify to a long-term trend,” according to one expert.
Sourced from EarthWire Climate, click here to visit

The IPCC has done great work, but needs to move with the times

Sourced from New Scientist – Climate Change, click here to visit

The IPCC has done great work, but needs to move with the times

Sourced from New Scientist – Climate Change, click here to visit

Compared to our old tiny yard, we’ve got a pretty big garden now but not that many flower beds – and the previous owners hinted that the beds we have got aren’t that deep (even though some of them are already raised) because the entire garden is built on, essentially, a cliff face. The rock is handy as it stops our house from sliding down the hill into the beck but it means my root veg will have to grow in containers instead.

I plan to scavenge some round tubs from somewhere – old plastic barrels or the like – but I’d like some nicer planters – probably trough/window-box shaped – for on the balcony/patio bit, and for the slither of space between the front of our house and the road. They don’t all need to be deep enough for root veg as I want to grow plenty of above ground stuff too.

My father-in-love has suggested making them out of scraps of decking – a box with decking for sides – but any other suggestions?

Sourced from How can I recycle this?, click here to visit