Recycled paper can help stabilize topsoil

A new product made of recycled office paper and absorbant polymers is now being used to restore topsoil damaged by forest fires. The polymers, encased in the paper, bond with positive ions in the soil, forming clumps. These clumps break up the hard surface that can form following a fire and causes water runoff and therefore soil erosion. The product, called Pam 12, also absorbs water, encouraging plants that will stabilize the soil and prevent erosion in the long run. Overall, areas that have been ravaged by fire can recover more quickly and become again a habitat and a carbon sink.

Pam 12 can also be used in lawn products at home. When mixed with soil, the polymers are strongly attracted to each other and attach as if magnetically, creating a net in the ground. This net will help prevent water runoff (so you can water less and conserve water) by helping the soil absorb water better. Luckily, it is environmentally friendly and doesn't wash away.

I think this new technology is a great thing for the environment. It helps us conserve water, and encourages plant growth. It rehabilitates wildfire sites and prevent further disasters in the form of mudslides and flooding. Hopefully it will also slightly lower the world's CO2 emissions.

Check out the original article and video at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0709-growing_greener_lawns.htm




These are some polymers that have soaked up water and inflated.

NaCl

Check out this song by Kate and Anna McGarrigle describing the "marriage" of sodium and chlorine to make sodium chloride, or salt. I believe this process is synthesis, is it not, Mr. Latham?

Gotta love drag & drop

I have successfully got a picture into my blog - i hope it shows up when I post!

Forgive for the randomness of the picture in question, but you must agree that marbles are fabulous!

Decisions, decisions!

Well, here I am, typing my first blog ever. Exciting, really. But I am, at the moment, quite spent from all the decision-making I just faced. I went through the trials and tribulations of picking a name, the excrutiation of trying to read those skill-testing letters, and worst of all, I had to pick the background design for the blog! How could anyone pick just one? I hope you are satisfied with my last-minute choice, for I spent whole minutes agonizing over which to choose.

But here I am, with the help of Phosphorus Child (Ingrid) and some patience, ready to blog away. How exciting! So I will reach into my imagination and do my best to pull out some blogs that are both entertainng and educational. Wish me luck!

Testing

Excuse me for this interruption...