I'm writing a somewhat important paper on the impact that petroleum has on scientific research. Although I've found plenty of advice from Scientists and the such, I'd like to hear some fresh opinions on the matter.
Any opinions or positions you guys might have on the subject?
Thanks, appreaciated.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I don't understand what you are looking for.
The impact of dwindling petroleum reserves? The various uses (newer and better plastics, f'rinstance) of petroleum in scientific research?
Whether you should or should not grease glassware for a good seal? Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
The importance of Vasoline?
Posted by HollowEarth (Member # 2586) on :
quote: Whether you should or should not grease glassware for a good seal?
Always grease, but don't waste it. A tube of good high vac grease is ~$50.
Everyone laughs at you when you have to break the rbf to get at your compound trapped inside.
Posted by Homonculus (Member # 7486) on :
Ok, seeing as this was a bit of a vague post, let me narrow it down. How about Oil specifically. The type we put into our cars. How much will it affect us in the long run? I need opinions...
Posted by HollowEarth (Member # 2586) on :
What the waste from its combustion? Or when it runs out? Or how the study of alternative energy sources has been effected by fears of its demise?
If it is the fear of it running out, I must insist that you start with a mention of the fear of running out of copper early in the 20th century.
If this is really for you paper, why don't you post your thesis, or maybe an excerpt that you'd like some input on. Maybe its just me, but I think your revised post is also kind of vague.
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
You're still being way to vague. If you've got a thesis statement, post it. Otherwise, do your own homework.
Posted by Coccinelle (Member # 5832) on :
I feel a need to interject here. Professors could care less what we(Hatrack) think. They want you to find out what researchers and scientists propose as viable options. They expect that you will research thouroughly enough that you will find opinons to form your own thesis. You will then critique what these researchers have to say depending on your thesis. If your scientific research has not provided you with enough options, then I suggest that you continue to look for additional academic, research-based sources.
On other topics, welcome to Hatrack! Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Hey, Coccinelle, I haven't seen you around in a while. Good to see you again! How are you? Posted by Coccinelle (Member # 5832) on :
I'm great! The stress of school is finally over! I just finished my last class. I'm graduating next week and I just got the most wonderful new job. Life couldn't be better
What's up with you?
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
Awful. But I'm really happy for you!
I speak for Raia, without her permission!
[ May 06, 2005, 09:25 AM: Message edited by: Jonathan Howard ]
Posted by Homonculus (Member # 7486) on :
Excuse my vagueness. The reason why I'm posting here, is so that I might get some "abstract" opinions on the subject. The citizens of a country are the ones that are most affected by the "energy crisis".
What is your stance on alternate energy research?
Are hybrid cars an answer to the issue, or just a way around it?
Get the idea? It's around these types of questions...
Thesis (needs revision): The hold that foreign oil has on our economy must be alleviated so as to increase alternate energy research, and the benefits it is bound to bring.
Any ideas? I just want to know what YOU think.
Posted by Portabello (Member # 7710) on :
quote:Are hybrid cars an answer to the issue
Absolutely not. All they do is delay it a little bit. It would help even more if we carpooled or used public transportation instead of buying hybrids.
Posted by Homonculus (Member # 7486) on :
Good, that's the type of comment I need, please keep them coming!
Posted by IdemosthenesI (Member # 862) on :
Alternative energy sources are a myth! A MYTH, I tell you. The truth is that oil is simply solar energy that has been stored over millions of years. There are only two types of energy that do not trace back to the sun (and arguments can be made that they do to, in a way, since in order to get to them, you have to use triggers that do come from the sun.) Those two are nuclear power and geothermal power. Everything else is from the sun. The only reason the second law of thermodynamics hasn't left the earth a lifeless and cold barren rock by this point is that this planet is the equivalent of a pot of water on a stovetop, and the sun is our stovetop. We are constantly bombarded with more energy than we will ever be able to use. We are only able to harvest it indirectly, though. Plants can harvest it dierctly, but then those plants are eaten, and the chemicals they have formed transfer energy to the animals, and the animals die, and sink into the swamps, and over millions of years become oil, which we then pump out of the ground to harvest the fire that the sun originally put into them. Or we harvest the energy of the water that was plucked out of the oceans and dumped on the side of a mountain as it rushes back to the sea.
When we use oil, we are simply using the solar energy of eons ago.
Enjoy writing your paper, Homunculus. I tried to get Hatrack to do my homework once when I was about sixteen. It didn't work. Most schools have an electronic library access to www.jstor.com which will serve you far better.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
"Alternative energy sources are a myth! A MYTH, I tell you."
Wow. Your whole post is a perfect example of how someone can be factually accurate while remaining completely wrong. Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Anyone else notice how the requests for homework/paper/etc. help increases exponentially as the semester draws to a close?
In other news, I was googling something random the other day, and was astonished by the number of sites that sell pre-written papers. Am I just being naive when I accept my students' work as their own? Cause that's just depressing.
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