Lake Vostok Lake Vostok Lake Vostok is huge lake beneath the Antacrtic ice, sealed off from the rest of the world for so long that it may contain unique evolved lifeforms. Shown below :Microbes in ice above Lake Vostok click for larger image Lake Vostok is a large (10,000km2), presumably fresh water body located beneath four km of ice at 77oS105oE in East Antarctica. Image: ABC News: ) (For an impressive slide show on Lake Vostok, visit ) For a longer introduction to Lake Vostok and the issues, read this ASOC paper on options for Lake Vostok. So what's the problem? For instance, NASA, the US Space Agency, has expressed interest in penetrating Lake Vostok to search for microbes that might be similar to ones on other planets. Can we penetrate Lake Vostok without disturbing the water? Can this be done safely, without endangering the Environment? Options for Lake Vostok
Making (Unlimited) Hydrogen From Salt Water And Wastewater Hydrogen has potential as a clean-burning fuel. It leaves behind only water as it burns. But as a scalable alternative to fossil fuels, it's yet to make good: most methods of making large amounts of hyrdrogen require energy (often from fossil fuels) to power its production, which sort of defeats the purpose. But a new energy-efficient way to make hydrogen using wastewater and sea water could turn a energy-intensive water treatment plant into a source of hydrogen. Bruce Logan, professor of environmental engineering at Penn State University, has been working on bacteria that can serve as a cog in a fuel cell. In the right combination, they chew through the organic materials in wastewater and release electrons that can be harvested as electricity--or turned into hydrogen. This early technology has been bubbling slowly in Logan's lab for a while now, as his team has determined just the right combination of bacteria that create the desired effect.
Zinc Oxide H2O - H2 + O Cattalist - Wiki Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the formula ZnO. ZnO is a white powder that is insoluble in water, and it is widely used as an additive in numerous materials and products including rubbers, plastics, ceramics, glass, cement, lubricants,[2] paints, ointments, adhesives, sealants, pigments, foods (source of Zn nutrient), batteries, ferrites, fire retardants, and first-aid tapes. It occurs naturally as the mineral zincite, but most zinc oxide is produced synthetically.[3] Chemical properties[edit] ZnO occurs as a white powder. Crystalline zinc oxide is thermochromic, changing from white to yellow when heated and in air reverting to white on cooling.[6] This color change is caused by a small loss of oxygen to the environment at high temperatures to form the non-stoichiometric Zn1+xO, where at 800 °C, x = 0.00007.[6] Zinc oxide is an amphoteric oxide. ZnO + 2 HCl → ZnCl2 + H2O Bases also degrade the solid to give soluble zincates: ZnO + 2 NaOH + H2O → Na2[Zn(OH)4] Hopeite Structure[edit]