Posts Tagged ‘science’

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Insects And Their Bites

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

The majority of insects will defend themselves if they feel threatened. This is fairly amazing when you think about how big insects are compared with the mammalian interloper. Most insects will only atttack if you stray into their territory. There are also insects that have to drink blood but they actively seek their prey. This type includes insects like mosquitoes and fleas.

Ants form the biggest section of biters. All ants will try to bite if they feel the need, but most black ants simply do not possess big enough mandibles (or jaws) to get a grasp. The big exception in all ant and ant-like species are the soldiers, which have colossal mandibles compared to the workers.

Red ants can bite with or without poison and some sting as well. Formic acid is their normal chemical weapon. Some ants inject it, which is what we feel if we are bitten by red ants, but other ants spray it into the eyes of its aggressors.

The most agonizing sting of any insect is delivered by the Bullet Ant of Central and South America. The Bullet Ant’s sting has the top rating possible on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. The scale goes from zero to four; zero being painless (to humans) through two for bees and wasps to four for excruciating pain.

The Fire Ant, which is famous for its painful bite ranks a 1.2 on this scale, but level 1.8 is compared to having a staple shot into your cheek. The European honey bee is on level two and the Red Harvester Ant is on number three.

Some bites and stings are not so high on the scale but can still be deadly. The Jack Jumper Ant is in this category and people, particularly hypersensitives, have been known to die from Fire Ant stings, which inject piperidine alkaloids instead of formic acid.

The mandibles of the Trap Jaw Ant are the fastest closing jaws in the animal world. They have been clocked at 230 KPH (143 MPH). Another unusual ant defence is carried out by a Malaysian species: it ejects its stomach unto its aggressor. The stomach acids contain acetophones which completely immobilize insects. Regrettably, the soldier dies because its stomach has been torn out.

Bees, ants and wasps are all related in the order known as Hymenoptera. Bees and wasps only sting although some wasps do have large jaws as well. One definition of a wasp is ‘any insect of the order Hymenoptera that is neither a bee nor an ant’ (Wikipedia).

Not all wasps are black and yellow. There are not a lot of insects that do not have a sort of wasp preying on it, which makes them very important in the biocontrol of destructive insects. A lot of wasps do not sting their prey to kill it for food, they sting it to immobilize it.

While paralyzed, the wasp lays her eggs in the prey, which becomes fresh food for her young when they hatch out. This is usually the only time when a wasp eats meat in its whole life, because adult wasps eat nectar and honey like bees.

When a bee stings it releases pheromones which encourage other bees nearby to sting too. The most belligerent stingers though are vespid wasps (common black and yellow wasps).

Fleas, ticks and bed bugs, unlike mosquitoes, really feed on blood, that is they use it for food, whereas the mosquito uses it as the ‘white’ of her eggs. There have been times in our history when losing a couple of drops of blood to a flea was not the worst thing about being bitten by them. They also carried the Plague, which wiped out a large percentage of the populace of Europe a number of times.

Spiders and scorpions make up the causes of the majority of insect bites but they are comparatively rare.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several topics, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

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Dental Complications Of Diabetes

Saturday, March 10th, 2012

Diabetes can have different undesirable effects on sufferers’ health and one of those ill-effects is dental quality. Diabetics have a problem processing sugars, which often leads to a circumstance called hyperglycemia, which means that there is too much sugar in the blood. The opposite of having too much sugar in your blood is having too little and that is known as hypoglycemia.

Both circumstances are regulated in healthy people by insulin and herein lies the diabetic’s problem – the body’s automatic production of insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. Both conditions can have serious consequences. Too much sugar in the blood can lead to issues with the kidneys, the heart, the eyes and others, while too little sugar in the blood can cause fits and black-outs.

Tooth and gum disease is normal as are any other health problems. Factors that play a role in tooth and gum disease are age, heredity, smoking and oral hygiene, but the diabetic who is often hyperglycemic has a higher probability of developing dental sickness.

The diabetic is more susceptible to infection of any kind and one of the most common is periodontitis, which has an effect on the teeth, the jaw bones and the gums. One of the visible symptoms of periodontitis is receding gums, which makes the teeth look unusually large, but also exposes the roots of the teeth to the air and food, causing sensitive teeth. Therefore, diabetics must ensure that they make a special effort to visit their dentist at least twice a year. Periodontitis can result in the complete loss of one’s teeth.

The superfluous sugar in the blood provides extra food for germs, so they reproduce much more quickly than normal. This rapid build up of bacteria produces red, swollen gums. One of the first signs of gum disease is often bleeding. If your gums begin to bleed when you brush your teeth, book an early appointment with your dentist.

Diabetics, along with those who have an impaired immune system, run a much higher risk of contracting periodontitis and so losing all their teeth, if it is left untreated.

Diabetics with periodontitis are not guaranteed to lose all their teeth, but it does have to be noticed and treated early because there are various ways that a dentist can treat the disease.

One of the best tactics is to manage your blood sugar levels in the first place. This has to be accomplished in consultation with your doctor, but it will normally include correct dieting, exercise and taking insulin or a surrogate. Not smoking and maintaining your correct weight are also imperative.

Not all diabetics need to take insulin. There is much more understood about diabetes, diet, exercise and their inter-relationship these days. Some diabetics can circumvent taking insulin and all the side effects that that would usually involve by not eating sugary or starchy food, by eating low-calorie meals often during the day instead of at two or three large meals and by checking blood-sugar levels.

This is the best way of avoiding the dental complications that diabetics can suffer.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on a number of topics, but is currently concerned with investigating teeth whitening costs. If you would like to know more or check out great offers, please go to our website at Opalescence Tooth Whitening Systems

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What Attracts Mosquitoes To What They Want?

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

In essence, mosquitoes are attracted to each other, water, food and blood: every other in order to breed, water for laying eggs, food for obvious reasons and blood so that the female can lay fertile eggs. Regrettably, it is this latter reason that most worries us and other animals.

Mosquitoes probably detect one another by pheromones and it has been shown that a mosquito’s sight is not much good, so they almost certainly detect, food, water and blood by smell. The manufacturers of mosquito repellents have recognized this for a long time. For example, DEET, the best repellent in the world ever, does not deter mosquitoes at all.

No, it masks the human being so that the mosquito does not know that we are there, even though it might be only inches away, which proves just how bad the mosquito’s vision is. We must be the size of an apartment block to a mosquito, yet it cannot see us from a few inches, if we are wearing repellent!

So, if all that is a fact, is there anything that some of us do to promote our presence to these half-blind nuisances? After all,. there must be, because some people are bitten a lot more than others. Well, it seems that there are some do’s and don’ts.

Firstly, there are over 3,500 kinds of mosquitoes. Some bite humans more eagerly than others and some have different characteristics and behavioural patterns, but in general, mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide. Great! I hear you saying, so I merely have to quit breathing or wear a gas mask!

No, it is probable that CO2 carries and enhances some other smells to the mosquito’s receptors. It has long been considered that perfume and deodorant are some of these smells and that would make sense, because some expensive perfumes contain animal sweat and pheromones. However, it seems that extensive tests have shown that smelly feet are a magnet for mosquitoes as well.

In order to test this theory, scientists baited traps with CO2 and with used socks (and with a cheese that smells like old socks) and the traps smelling of feet (and cheese) won out. The smell of perspiration is a bizarre thing.

Fresh perspiration does not have a robust smell unless you have been eating something strong-smelling and most individuals find the smell and sight of fresh sweat on a body quite sexy. OK, mosquitoes may be different, but no one likes the smell of ‘old’ sweat. That is the one that smells bad. It is also the one that is in used socks.

And the likely reason for it smelling badly, it that microflora and bacteria have started to decompose it. It is likely that mosquitoes pick up the stench of our old sweat being broke down by microscopic bugs and flowers.

Would an extra shower help? It cannot hurt.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on more than a few subjects, but is now concerned with how to stop mosquito bite itch. If you want to know more, please go to our web site at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

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Numerous Fine Explanations Why Taking Care of Your Skin With a Really Good Lotion Is Important

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

The largest organ in the body is the skin. The weight of this body organ on an typical sized adult weighs more or less six pounds. This represents up to twice the weight of an individual’s brain or liver. This is really a shocker for most people who never thought of the skin as an organ. Needless to say, our skin is a crucial part of one’s body as it covers well over ninety-seven percent of our own core and offers shielding to all our internal organs and parts. Without it, our blood vessels, organs, muscles and certain bones would be exposed to the effects of mother nature and various bacteria and microorganisms.

Our skin is really a breathing organ. The outer layer, called the epidermis protects two additional layers of the organ: the dermis and the subcutaneous layer. The skin permits us to possess a feeling of touch and allows us to regulate our own bodies temperature. New skin cells were manufactured at the bottom of the epidermis. It will take on average two to four weeks for the brand-new cells to advance and get to the outside layer to replace the dead skin cells. The old cells are tougher and very well engineered to protect our body. After some time, they are designed to slough off. Every day, we lose 25,000 to 45,000 old cells. That way our skin, naturally, replaces on its own over and over again.

The 2nd layer under the surface is named the dermis. That’s the place where our nerve endings are housed. This part of the skin additionally houses arteries, elastin, collagen, our sweat glands, hair roots, and also sebaceous glands. The oil glands are also called sebaceous glands. Their principal function is to make sebum. It’s our skin’s built-in oil. As the sebum goes up to the surface, it’s actually there where it helps preserve and lubricate the outer skin.

Germs, dirt and microorganisms enjoy crawling below our dead skin and a neglected epidermis is actually definitely an invitation to all kinds of maladies. Proper day-to-day hygiene and cleaning your skin with water that is clean and a gentle soap helps prevent any bacterial infections or diseases. There is a balance that needs to be maintained, and sometimes, the corrosive soap we employ along with constant attack from the rough natural elements like the sun’s heat, the chilly temperature along with the breeze, dry out our skin as your body’s not capable to keep the surface layer lubricated. In addition most folks fail to consume an adequate amount of h2o to keep their body to be completely hydrated. The epidermis in fact is exactly what holds your hydration in the body. As it breaks down as does your effectiveness to retain onto fluids.

Therefore the use of a good skin lotion can help. Environmentally friendly emollients particularly Shea Butter have been recently employed in the cosmetic industry. The American Shea Butter Institute has indicated that the moisturizers in Shea Butter are similar to the type as those produced by the human sebaceous glands in the skin. Naturally rich in vitamins A& E, a natural anti-oxidant, Shea Butter is renowned to be one of the finest natural skin emollients.

It is important to indicate that numerous lotion products in the marketplace have petroleum products and additional chemical substances. Despite the fact that their long term effects on the skin are not yet entirely known, it is useful to mention for example that Propylene glycol is an compound as well as found in antifreeze and paint. Many beauty advisers do encourage us to seek a lotion with water based formulas mixed with Shea Butter. Unfortunately, most lotions out there are combined several other unique chemicals such as alcohol and which diminish the natural soothing properties of the Shea Butter which defeats the reason for using this organic moisturizer. However, more and more men and women would like more organic and natural solutions. There are several creams nowadays that have just answered such need and offer amazing benefits to the skin that happen to be quite simply indisputable. Remember that it’s your skin and it’s also your largest body organ therefore take excellent care of it!

While you help your skin, you may have a cat and worry about spaying a cat. Just remember what to do – tips for memory improvement might help.

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Entomology – Studying Insects

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

The study of insects is known as entomology. Entomology is a sub-section of biology and is one of the oldest sciences. Man has studied the habits of insects, normally with a view to eradicating them, since the first plague of locusts landed on primitive farmers’ crops tens of thousands of years ago. However, entomology was not really recognized and learned as a science until the Sixteenth Century.

Entomology has had many well-known devotees but the most well-known was Charles Darwin. More recent entomologists are Karl von Frisch the Nobel Prize winner for medicine in 1973 and E. O. Wilson the two time Pulitzer prize winner.

Entomologists are also often accredited with helping solve murders by studying the insects that are found on and in the dead body. This is very possible and not just a trick used in Hollywood films.

The first thing to understand is that not all creepy crawlies are insects. For example, spiders are not insects, but many entomologists are not so strict and have an interest in arachnids (spiders), worms, slugs and snails.

All insects pass through a number of stages of life, but there are two sorts of insect development ‘simple metamorphosis’ and ‘complete metamorphosis’.

The first sort includes most beetles and bugs like bed bugs. They are born as eggs and hatch into larvae (nymphs), which, whilst not perfect copies of their parents do look a bit like them

The second sort are also born as eggs, also hatch into larvae, but they look nothing like their parents – so dissimilar in fact that if you do not know what they are, you could not imagine. The larva then grows into a pupa when it appears to become dormant, this is not the case though, there is plenty going on and when it comes out from the pupal stage it is unrecognizable. Butterflies are like this.

If you would like to study insects, you have to focus because there are at least 1.3 million species of insects that we have found so far and there are lots more to name and classify.

You would be forgiven for believing that these unknown insects, worms, slugs and beetles et cetera are all in remotest Africa or in deep jungles, but last year a carnivorous slug was discovered in a garden in the middle of Cardiff in the UK.

In order to study insects, you usually have to catch them without killing them. This means nets and traps. it is easy enough to buy a butterfly net (or fishing net) and you can create your own pitfall traps for ground beetles. You will also need a decent book to help you classify your find and a magnifying glass to be able to better see it.

One word of caution though: you might think that there are too many insects and that no one actually cares about them, but this is not the case. There are many insects in every country that are protected and you will be breaking the law by taking them or hurting them, so the first thing to do is learn which ones you may study and which ones it is better to leave alone.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on a number of subjects, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our web site at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

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Biological Energy: What You Ought To Know

Friday, November 25th, 2011

Do alternative energy sources interest you? Would more details on biological energy be beneficial to you? If biological energy is one thing that you find to be interesting and you would like much more information, you have undoubtedly come to the right place. We are going to briefly talk about some of the points that you ought to be familiar with in relation to biological energy in this post. We’re going to particularly consider the various kinds of biofuels to enable you to have a little bit more information concerning this relevant topic.

There are several different kinds that serve different purposes when it comes to biofuels. You are going to always be aware that it is a biofuel, though, because all biofuels are in reality derived from organic matter, generally produced from plant crops or perhaps waste with corn as well as sugar cane being especially popular choices. You must understand the various forms of biofuels that are available to be able to understand biological energy.

Ethanol is one of the most typical types of biofuel, and usually, it’s produced by fermenting biomass with specific yeast that really consumes sugars and also generates ethanol as a waste product. Normally, to generate ethanol, sugar cane as well as corn are both popular biomass crops. Certainly, it is just about the most popular types of biofuel, and there are lots of different uses for it. You should undoubtedly know about this when you are considering biological energy, and ethanol is definitely the most popular form of biofuel that you ought to be familiar with.

You should also learn about biodiesel, a different sort of biofuel. Biodiesel has gained a lot of popularity lately because of the rising expense of oil and the truth that it may be used in any diesel engine. Biodiesel makes use of a process called transesterification, which actually modifies the fatty acid esters in fat and oils to biodiesel through contact with alcohol. Just like ethanol, biodiesel is another extremely popular kind of biofuel, and if you’re trying to understand biological energy, they are certainly two kinds of biofuel that you ought to learn about.

Whether you are studying ethanol or about biodiesel, the point is that biofuels are helping us to create new ways to solve our problems and create clean, environmentally friendly sources of biological energy that will allow us to live better lives. You should definitely support the utilization of the different biofuels and support biological energy since it is truly the way of the future.

If you’re looking to learn more about biological energy, you should certainly have a look at the countless sources which are available on the internet. There are a ton of diverse sources that you could find which will be really great for your enjoyment as well as your education. In relation to biological energy, all of the information that you could possibly want is here if you just browse around a bit.

Looking for information on the hydro energy? If so you may have reached the right spot. Click over the links in this article and you may get all of the information you would like on biomass energy.

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What Is The London Underground Mosquito?

Friday, November 18th, 2011

Who would have thought that the London Underground is home to a unique species of mosquito? The species is called the London Underground mosquito and is considered to have evolved from Culex pipiens. The London Underground species has been dubbed Culex pipiens molestus, because it is a vigorous biter.

It is not new, but it is relatively new in biological terms. Molestus is known to have bitten Londoners during the Second World War whilst they were taking refuge during the air raids. However, there are other references to a mosquito with the same name, molestus, 170 years before the war, when there was no underground railway system in London or anywhere else in the world.

This mosquito was first discovered in the London Underground, which is why it got its name, but it can be discovered in metro and underground railway stations all over the world. No one really knows a lot concerning this insect species yet.

Some individuals suggest that it is a variant of a local Culex pipiens that has adapted to living in warmer, underground tunnels, while others say that is a southern (and therefore warmer) variant of C. pipiens that is able to live in the colder north because it has inhabited the warm train tunnels of the underground railways.

Yet others, notably Kate Byrne and Richard Nichols, propose that it is a totally separate species from Culex pipiens. Their evidence for saying this is that there are differences between pipiens and molestus: they display very different behavioural patterns and do not mate readily with one other.

C. pipiens molestus will bite rats, mice and humans and dies in cold temperatures but remains active all year round, whereas C. pipiens can tolerate cold weather, only bites birds and hibernates if the weather gets very cold.

On the rare occasions when the two varieties cross breed, the eggs are infertile, which suggests that they are distantly related if at all. Recent studies indicate that molestus originated in one source but spread rapidly around the world, maybe in freight.

Second-hand tyres have been held responsible for spreading molestus around the world. There is a colossal international trade in second hand tyres and it is notoriously difficult to get all the water out of a tyre that has been left in the rain. Mosquitoes can breed in a minuscule amount of water, so this is a possibility.

There is a bizarre and not entirely explained twist to the story of the molestus, the American version of molestus pipiens still bites birds which leads some individuals to suggest that molestus is a separate species, but that it has formed a hybrid in America with pipiens.

This is fairly frightening, but quite possible, because the American pipiens can transmit human encephalitis brought about by the West Nile virus, an outbreak of which hit New York in 1999.

There is a lot more to find out concerning the London Underground mosquito, since the story is only just beginning to unfold. The true story will probably come out of America where this new mosquito has proved to be the most perilous.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on several topics, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

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Contact Lenses Versus Specs

Saturday, June 18th, 2011

Has your eyesight deteriorated to the stage where you have to wear spectacles? Are you happy about that? Well, there are a number of alternatives available nowadays, so you do have other choices. If you do not want to undergo surgery, you can still choose contact lenses. In fact, contact lenses have been a feasible alternative to spectacles for decades.

Surgery can be a more permanent solution to difficulties with eyesight, but for various reasons, some individuals do not want to take up this option. This leaves contact lenses as the best alternative. The first thing to notice about contact lenses is that most people will not know that you are wearing them. This is very important to some people and not significant to others at all.

Contact lenses offer better all-round or peripheral vision than specs. When you look to the side wearing specs, there is no glass there, but contact lenses cover your entire pupil so that your vision is closer to normal. This is safer if you are driving a car or riding a bike or even trying to cross a road.

Another problem that many people find with glasses is that they leave indentations on the nose. Some people find these ugly. Spectacles also need frequent cleaning, which numerous people find maddening, whereas contact lenses are cleaned by the eyes’ normal cleaning system – in other words, automatically.

Stylists also think that their prescription glasses have to go with what they are wearing. This can mean that you have to have a dozen pairs of glasses. If your eyesight deteriorates further, which is quite likely, all those specs will have to be up-graded as well. This is not true with contact lenses naturally.

Both specs and contact lenses can adjust for astigmatism or bad eyesight, which comes to most people after the age of forty. Occasionally earlier and occasionally later, but it will happen. Your choice, if you do not want to undergo surgery, is whether you would rather wear specs or contact lenses.

In the past, contact lenses were very costly, which is why many people still discount using them, but in fact it is no longer the case. Contact lenses are more expensive, but not much more now. In fact, you can buy disposable contact lenses and many people do do that.

The fact is that there are better alternatives to wearing either contacts or specs, but most people do not realize it. It is possible these days to have one eye operation and never have to wear spectacles again. Or you could have laser surgery and probably not need specs again for ten or twenty years, but some people are adverse to having surgery and so they opt for specs or contacts.

In the long run, surgery is almost definitely less costly than wearing contact lenses and wearing contact lenses is almost definitely cheaper than wearing spectacles, but it is the same with most things, people merely look at the up-front costs and cheaper is rarely better.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a number of subjects, but is now concerned with Designer Spectacles. If you want to know more, please go over to our web site at Spectacles Direct.

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How Do Car GPS Navigation Systems Work?

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

Contemporary auto navigation systems are really excellent. Have you ever considered acquiring one? Those who do not have or have never had a contemporary auto navigation system, or GPS (Global Positioning System) as it is also called. will almost certainly not realize quite how much knowledge they provide. It is no longer just an item to stop you from getting lost whilst you are travelling from A to B.

Far from it. Modern GPS systems will tell you when you are passing monuments, sites of historical importance or beauty, churches, hotels, restaurants, pubs, garages, petrol stations, airports and practically anything else that you want it to inform you about. They have moved on from being only an on screen map to being a tour guide and much more..

If you are thinking of getting a GPS auto navigation system, it is worth learning a bit about how they operate, so that you can better understand what they do, what they are capable of doing and how they do it. This is useful knowledge for when it comes to choosing which system to decide on, because not all GPS systems are the same and some present more features than others.

All auto GPS navigation systems use satellites to help them work out their position. (This is not always the case with boats, because some water ways use land-based tracking stations).

The GPS is like a radio receiver, so it picks up signals from overhead satellites and processes that data in order to determine where it is. In order to do this job properly, it needs the signals from three satellites.

This is called triangulation and is very accurate, frequently to within a metre or a yard. However, in order to ensure even more accuracy, the data from a fourth satellite is used as a check. There is very little scope for error if four satellites are being employed for pin-pointing a location.

A GPS device will tell you which way to go and if you go off route, it will advise you the best manner for going back to the correct road. However it will also do more than that. Before you begin out on your journey from A to B, you have to enter those two locations.

The GPS will then ask you whether you would like to go by the quickest road, the most scenic route or whether you would like to avoid motorways altogether.

This is a great role, but it can do more than that too. If you sort in the name of a restaurant along the way or a monument you would like to see, it will steer you from A to B via your place of interest.

One last point, be sure that the system that you buy is upgradeable. Some are upgraded automatically, but you have to pay a monthly or annual fee. Others will sell you an upgrade which you have to install yourself. If you are comfortable with making your own upgrades, all well and good, but just be aware that systematically upgrading the software is vital.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on several topics, but is now concerned with how to get Stapletons tyres. If you want to know more, please go to our web site at Car Tyres For Sale.

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Is Solar Power Right For You?

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

Until approximately a hundred years ago in the West, people only had recourse to renewable energy for heat and light for their homes. They burnt wood and sometimes coal or peat (OK, fossil fuels) and got up when the sun came up and went to bed with the sun too. In, fact a large part of the world’s population still lives like that.

Things changed with mechanized industry and night shifts. Electricity producers sold the population on being able to do more instead of just sleeping when it became dark, and the Western population got hooked on buying huge amounts of energy, mostly electricity and engine fuel, which was usually produced from oil and coal.

This concept soon travelled around the world and with rising affluence came emulation and other countries wanted the same. Now we are in the sad predicament where we have to confess that we rode the fossil fuel gravy train to its terminus without thinking about what we would utilize when fossil fuels ran out.

This is where the typical civilian comes in. You have to think about how you want to draw energy in the future. Do you want to be powered by keeping sucking unrenewable resources out of the Earth, or do you want to have as little to do with it as you can? Would you prefer to have everything you have now, but know that the resources that are powering your lifestyle are renewable?

If, like millions of others around the globe, you would rather say ‘No!’ to traditional power production techniques, then you have to take a stand. But not only in words, you really have to do some something about it physically.

This will mean paying a lot of money up front, which may not be a problem for you or you may even think that taking a stand is worth looking for a bank loan. These are commendable feelings, but I would like to suggest that there is another way to self-sufficiency.

You could build your own!

Why not? The technology has been around for decades and is pretty straightforward. Most reasonably competent teenagers can assemble a bank of photovoltaic cells into a solar panel and then plug that into your home’s electrical system. And if a teenager can do it, so can you. All you (and the teenager) will need is a solar panel kit and a schematical diagram. A plan in other words.

A solar panel kit can be bought locally from a DIY shop or from the Internet. A typical solar panel will take a few hours to assemble and will produce 100 watts of electrical energy. The electricity produced from these panels is then passed through an inverter that changes the current from DC to AC, making it usable by household appliances and the utility grid.

Do yourself and the planet a favour, get off the grid and start saving money and the planet’s resources, you will be surprised how straightforward it is once you get going. And do not forget, you can do it in stages of, say, one 100 watt panel a month until you hit self-sufficiency. It is not a question of ‘All or Nothing’.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with a favourite topic, types of renewable energy. If you are interested in Sustainable Energy At Home, please click through to our site.

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