How to set up your own Raspberry Pi powered VPN
Eyes are everywhere online. The websites you visit often track where you came from and watch where you head off to next. A VPN - or virtual private network - helps you browse the internet more anonymously by routing your traffic through a server that is not your point of origin. It is a bit like switching cars to shake off someone who is tailing you. There are plenty of companies offering services with varying degrees of security and varying degrees of cost, but if you are willing to roll your sleeves up and get technical with some basic coding and a £30 Raspberry Pi computer, you can build your own VPN server at home. It won't give you the option of appearing to be from somewhere else but you can use it to connect external devices like a smartphone to browse the internet more securely through your home network, and access shared files and media on your home computer. Make no mistake, this is not a quick and easy process. To follow this guide you will need: N.B. Change the default password . . . .
2018 Study Finds ‘Unsustainable’ Smartphone CO2 Emissions To Reach 125 Megatons Per Year By 2020
For those serious about taking concerted action to combat climate change, implications from a 2018 study suggest that the widespread abandonment of smartphone use — which is collectively on track to add 125 megatons of CO2 equivalent per year by 2020 — may be key to preventing the planet’s catastrophic demise. Image Source (adapted): Press-Herald Most people haven’t considered their smartphones to be significant contributors to global CO2 emissions. But they are. The unsustainable expansion of smartphone emissions A recent analysis by Belkhir and Elmeligi (2018) determined that the greenhouse gas emissions from the Information and Communication Industry (ICT) – smartphones and mobile devices, prominently – will grow from 1% of total global emissions in 2007 to 14% by 2040. In 2010, smartphone use added 17 megatons of CO2 equivalent (17 MT-CO2-e) to annual global emissions. Last year (2018), there were 2.5 billion smartphone users. Image Source: The Conversation Permanently.
How can we store more energy from the sun and the wind?
Image copyright Solar Reserve It could be a scene from a science fiction movie. Deep in the Nevada desert, thousands of mirrors arrayed in concentric circles face the sky, lit up by the sun. All this reflected sunshine is directed to the top of a 640 ft (195m) tower standing in their midst. It's an innovative power plant generating electricity, but not in a way you might expect. How? The concentrated light heats up liquid salt pumped to the top of the tower - the temperature reaches 566C (1,050F) - and this heat is then used to make steam to power an electricity generator in another part of the plant. "The issue with solar traditionally is it is an intermittent power source - you can only produce electricity when the sun is shining," explains Kevin Smith, whose company Solar Reserve built the Crescent Dunes plant. "But because we store the energy as heat, we can reliably produce electricity 24 hours a day, just like a conventional gas fired power station." Growing market Power to the people
The clearest proof we’ll ever get that our planet is falling apart
Every once in a while, a chart or statistic or image comes along that reminds us, all over again, why it is that this global warming thing is so terrifying. This week, it was those darn walruses, who — after a summer when Arctic sea ice was at its sixth-lowest level on record — mobbed an Alaska beach in the largest such haul-out ever observed there. Salon was on the story. They’re also reminiscent of the classic polar bear on an ice floe, the original poster child for a warming planet. The decline in sea ice is “one of the most visible impacts we see as a result of climate change,” said Margaret Williams, managing director of the WWF’s Arctic program. This is only going to become more visible. “These changes are in line with global changes that are taking place, with rises in temperature that are occurring all over the globe,” said Mahoney. And the impacts, said Jennifer Francis, a research scientist at Rutgers University, “are pretty much everywhere you can think of looking.”
How thermal imaging tech is about to become hot stuff
Image copyright Detroit Zoo Soon we'll all be feeling the heat, thanks to thermal imaging technology. Although it's already been used by industry, the military and some emergency services, it was expensive and therefore had a limited market. But in the same way that GPS location tech has now found its way into cars, smartphones, cameras and many other devices, thermography, as it's more properly known, is on the brink of becoming a universal technology, too. The cost of chips and thermal detectors that enable us to see and measure infrared heat signatures from surfaces has plunged in recent years. So in the future, that means more sensors in more places. In a supermarket a manager could be alerted when the checkout queue gets too long without looking at a video feed. At big venues, audio could be redirected on the fly amongst dozens of loud speakers to give the area with the most people at any given moment the best possible aural experience. Costs cooling Image copyright Getty Images
Where Greenhouse Gases Come From - Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy
Did you know? In 2016, fossil fuels were the source of about 76% of total U.S. human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. In the United States, most of the emissions of human-caused (anthropogenic) greenhouse gases (GHG) come primarily from burning fossil fuels—coal, hydrocarbon gas liquids, natural gas, and petroleum—for energy use. Economic growth (with short-term fluctuations in growth rate) and weather patterns that affect heating and cooling needs are the main factors that drive the amount of energy consumed. Energy prices and government policies can also affect the sources or types of energy consumed. Carbon dioxide In 2016, emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced from burning fossil fuels for energy were equal to 76% of total U.S. anthropogenic GHG emissions (based on global warming potential) and about 94% of total U.S. anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Other greenhouse gases The energy connection Fossil fuels consist mainly of carbon and hydrogen.
Tim Peake returns to Earth
Summary British astronaut Tim Peake has returned to Earth after a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS)During his mission, Major Peake completed the first spacewalk by a UK astronaut and ran the London MarathonHe completed 2,976 orbits of Earth and covered a distance of roughly 125 million kmA Soyuz capsule carrying Major Peake, American Tim Kopra and Russian Yuri Malenchenko undocked from the ISS at 06:53 BSTAfter plunging through the atmosphere the capsule touched down in Kazakhstan at 10:15 BSTAll three crew members are safe and are undergoing routine medical checks
Great Lakes are rapidly warming, likely to trigger more flooding and extreme weather
The Great Lakes region is warming faster than the rest of the U.S., a trend that is likely to bring more extreme storms while also degrading water quality, worsening erosion and posing tougher challenges for farming, scientists report. In a report commissioned by the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center, the annual mean air temperature in the region increased 0.89 C in the periods 1901-60 and 1985-2016 — compared to 0.67 C for the rest of U.S. The region includes portions of the U.S. Midwest, Northeast and southern Canada. Warming is expected to continue this century, with rates depending on how much heat-trapping gases — like carbon dioxide and methane — are pumped into the atmosphere. As the air warms, it will hold more moisture, which will likely mean heavier winter snowstorms and spring rains. Not only that, summers will be hotter and drier. "This report paints a stark picture of changes in store for the lake as a result of our changing climate." Warming climate Water quality
