Bee-eater Recap

Missed the bus today, so I went to the library, and then the bee-eater Merops ornatus came into my mind. I really wanted to find out the missing part. Somehow I asked myself, what if not every bee-eater has a tail shaft, as I supposed? Maybe the drawing was a juvenile. By looking on the chest crest, which the drawing poorly shows, it turned out to be an adult. Either mature sex has a tail shaft¹, but the male's often break when nesting. Since the original picture showed an insect at the beak, the bird might indeed be one of the nesting pair. So, I was wrong. The world is just so big. p/s: Oh ya, if you wondered why there was a "Recap" after the flight post, see this.

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Reference: ¹Pizzey, G 2007, 'Tropical kingfishers, bee-eater, dollarbird', in The field guide to the birds of australia, Updated and rev. 8th ed. edn, HarperCollins ; Publishers Group UK [distributor], Pymble, N.S.W., pp. 328 p.

Biofuel Awareness: How Green is It?

Biofuels are good, as people say. But why? Being an undergrad, I felt an urge to understand. And in the end, I found biofuels are not necessarily good. First, we have to understand the reason of biofuel production. It seems that fossil fuel is the main factor. Not only that we're running out of fossil fuels, they also release greenhouse gases (GHG; in this short essay, CO₂ will be the primary GHG discussed. ) that is claimed to be the main contributors of global warming. Therefore, we need something to substitute fossil fuels in order to fill our hunger for energy and mitigate the negative impact of our fuel production. Here comes the suggestion, why don't we use plants or animal waste as fuel feedstock? Biofuel feedstock, which is the material for production, can be anything that is derived from the biosphere and can be oxidized to produce energy. However, if its net energy per biomass (GJ/t) produced is not able to compete with the net energy produced by fossil fuel, we discard this feedstock and find another one. In addition, if carbon output is more than carbon input during production, we also discard the feedstock.These two main considerations, net energy value and net CO₂ emission, generally judge the "green" quality of a biofuel. For example, the popular corn-based and soybean-based biofuels are currently hot in USA. However, these biofuel that are derived from food crops (I am sure you eat a lot of corns and soybeans annually) have various negative impacts to the environment, such as (1) high GHG emission due to excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizers and use of fossil fuel during production (transportation and power generation for biorefinaries), (2) pollutions caused by pesticides, and (3) competition with food market. In short, these kind of biofuels will not be "green" enough before their negative impacts are outweighed by advantanges. In conclusion, all you have to know (as part of the public) is:

1. We must bear in mind that biofuels also have negative impacts on Earth;
2. We need to find solutions for these negative consequences to enhance the "green" value of biofuels;
3. We are not eliminating all negative impacts of biofuels, instead we are mitigating them and trying to outweigh them with the benifits of biofuels;
4. Biofuels cannot stand alone to sustain our energy needs, i.e. a cocktail of alternative renewable energy sources (e.g. solar+nulear+wind+biomass) is more feasible.

"Alright lads, tuck this tube into your backsides when you wanna fart. I need some methane for biofuel."

p/s: Thank you Prof. Gasparon for the idea of methanol from sheep.

Blog Action Day - Airport Recap

Firstly, I beg the apologize from Blog Action Day team (if anyone do check this blog) for being late. I didn't even have the time for the blood donation, sorry Red Cross too. Anyway, I am posting up my stuff now. A few days ago, lecturer Mike gave us a homework which I think only a few Earth science student did. We were to check individual carbon footprint and the carbon cost for a single flight from Brisbane to Melbourne. Interesting. I wanted to do this before but was convinced by laziness. Now, time to get things clear. My calculations were based on user-friendly websites, so I don't think the precision is good. I'll check the figures someday when I am available. (Now...where did I put my paper...Here you go).

World population: 6.8 billions ¹
World CO₂ emmision: 17.5 Gt/yr ¹
so, Individual CO₂ emmision: 2.57Gt/yr

What the?! Nope, some people, such as Americans, spend a lot more CO₂ than others. If we're to live on the basis of an average American, we will need 5 Earths to support ourselves ². Anyway, it's still notable that we spend so much carbon. Instead of using the classic Hamburger Scenario to explain the scale of an individual's carbon footprint, I will talk about flights.

 
Humans & Flights, 2009 Myth Guy's Capture
 

One-way flight from Brisbane to Melbourne: 0.3 tonnes CO₂ ³
One-way flight from Brisbane to Kuala Lumpur: 1.1 tonnes CO₂ ³
Typical mature woody tree mass: 3 tonnes CO₂ ⁴

Seems okay, yeah? No. The flight carbon costs are based on one time spending. However, no hardwood tree could reach such mass (3t CO₂) within a year. In short, if I want to sequester the CO₂ I spent on flights by planting tree, I have to wait several years for the tree to grow before I am "permitted" to fly again. Eat less hamburgers and fly less. You may argue that feet can't match flights, but it can match automobiles within short distance. So walk!

References:
¹Worldometers.info 2009, Worldometers, viewed 13 October 2009, http://www.worldometers.info/.
²Stenberg Michael 2006, _The Planet_, Charon Film, Sveriges Television AB.
³Carbon Planet 2009, Flight Emissions Calculator, viewed 18 October 2009, http://www.carbonplanet.com/shop/flight_emissions_calculator.
⁴CRC for Greenhouse Accounting 2003, The Tree Carbon Calculator, viewed 18 October 2009, http://svc237.bne113v.server-web.com/calculators/treecarbonresults.cfm.

笔记

Merops ornatus, 2009 Myth Guy's Drawing

做笔记的时候，画画成了乐趣的根源。想到高中三年以来的，冠宏老师的教导的确让我获益良多。求学时候往往会想到老师们。没有他们，我是谁？ 当然，还没有学Bee eater，而且这幅只是用电脑画爽的。其实不标上什么，在笔记中就没什么实际用途。很多技能，都托老师们的福。谢谢！ p/s：我照着课本画的，不过我想尾羽最特别的羽毛不见了……

10月2日 - 黄金海岸游记

一个星期的休假，总觉得应该去走走，见识见识。在寻找地点的时候被黄金海岸（Gold Coast）后的火成岩山脉吸引了，不过由于没有公共交通工具而打消了念头。打算来一次便宜的旅程，所以还是老老实实地去了海岸一趟。

 
等待，2009浩然仔摄影

在国外，已经习惯一个人乱闯（其实在之前游学的时候就已经养成了）。不好意思问人，就硬着头皮闯。路牌、印象、知觉，都成了好像探险游戏中的暗示。这里的火车和KTM差不多，不过应该是由于人稀而显得宽敞——至少你不会被人推进车厢。 两小时的车程，籍风景解闷。

 
海与鸟，2009浩然仔摄影

不会走，就跟大队。这好像是他乡中的求生道理，嘿嘿。到了海滩，人倒也不多。我向右拐，朝南走。因为这里的规矩限定人们只能在旗与旗之间游泳和划浪，所以一路走能看见“多人”、“少人”的规律。 如果你连续走两小半（大概10公里），可是海滩却平平无奇，你也许会体会到我纳闷的感受。

 
Silver gull, Larus novaehollandiae, 2009 Myth Guy's Capture

于是，这些海鸥渐渐让我专注在他们身上。这时我相信只要我向前一跳，就能捉住一只鸟了——因为他们起飞之前必须像飞机那样跑几步。当我趴下来，他们比较能接受我的靠近——不过太近，他们还是会显得紧张。于是我问，是我太庞大了，还是人类给动物的印象始终不好（不过，有得吃的话他们还是会过来的）？

 
海浪，2009浩然仔摄影

春天的风缓了，也许我应该趁冬天来看浪。不过海滩太平了，没有岩石和险崖与海浪产生冲突，是擦不出火花的。

 
珠，2009浩然仔摄影


小孩，2009浩然仔摄影

在我拍下这不懂是什么的透明珠子后（卵？），两个小孩凑过来。声音亮亮的，我听不懂他们在问什么。我笑着摇了摇头，他们就说声谢谢走开了。哈哈，插曲。

 
地盘，2009浩然仔摄影

然后，我发觉海鸟对人造的沙坑很有兴趣，甚至会抢夺或霸占。也许是由于水滩没有不稳定的海浪，比较舒适——也许寻求舒适是动物的本性之一。

 
浅滩，2009浩然仔摄影

 
The leaf of Eucalyptus, 2009 Myth Guy's Capture

浅滩让海浪冲上来的东西搁浅，但是你需要走上好一段路才能看见不同的玩意儿。澳洲的尤加利树吸引了我，所以一眼就能辨认这片叶子（事实上也并不难）。独特的弯勾，然我想起澳洲沙漠缺少的雄壮沙丘。

 
人类的足迹，2009浩然仔摄影

有时候，与其直接利用我们的脚印说为“足迹”，不如用这种。人类的脚印有这么大的影响，正是因为我们有着太多种脚印了。不过，乐观地想，这也许为海鸥塑造了一个好地盘。

 
蜜蜂，2009浩然仔摄影

不知道怎么地，这家伙躺在海滩上挣扎。这一段路，渐渐的有了生气，哈哈。

 
划，2009浩然仔摄影

这些家伙很会利用气流，最好看的时候就是当他们选择落脚处的时候。他们会改变翅膀的角度，减缓速度，让气流支撑着身体，然后选对了就着陆。最后，两把像大刀的翅膀就折起来收好。他们朝你飞来的时候就是练习追踪摄影的最好时机。有时候一只鸟会从身后飞过（就是说，最靠近却根本没机会拍下来），感觉上就像是被玩弄一样。

 
水妖，2009浩然仔摄影

不要问我，我也不懂是什么。碰了碰他，他也好像懒得理我。 最后到了一个岬角。终于，给我发现了比较丰富的生态。海岸太平，也不是寒暖流交汇处，所以缺乏生气。不过在岬角的石缝间，至少有些滤食性生物装饰。我吃了吃午餐，就在那里摸索。

 
海葵，2009浩然仔摄影

找无脊椎动物的学名，我还不敢，太多了。不过碰碰他的“手”，看看那有趣的伸缩，我还是敢的——至少我的本能告诉我，这种颜色应该没毒。

 
海藻，2009浩然仔摄影

石上的海藻，很咸。哈，不过口感有点像我们加工后的海藻。

 
贝类，2009浩然仔摄影

这种贝类，让我想起非洲的猴子。我尝试学他们把这种贝类翘出来，可是失败了。我们的姆指再灵活也不够他们的强壮，因为我们有机械，因为猴子不用弹钢琴。

 
鱼儿，2009浩然仔摄影

 
挣扎，2009浩然仔摄影

这不幸运的家伙被我翘下来了。我看着他努力的伸出肌肉，打算吸住岩石然后翻身。可是他做不到，所以我还是帮忙了。有时候我们必须认真地考虑介入还是不介入。不过因为他的遭遇是我引起的，所以我还是介入了，嘿。

 
软体，2009浩然仔摄影

是的，我也不知道这是什么，他对我的好奇有反应就是了。

 
岬角，2009浩然仔摄影

 
蟹类，2009浩然仔摄影

当我看见他们的时候，海浪好像故意阻碍我。镜头必须小心不被海浪拍击，可是鞋子还是遭殃了。当螃蟹露出水面的时候，下一番浪又拍上来，哭笑不得。不是，那不是石头，石头没有脚的。

 
足迹，2009浩然仔摄影

这次倒是有人想证明他到此一游。

 
生命，2009浩然仔摄影

最后爬上岬角。这些植物，骄傲地在岩墙上抬起头。站在岬角上瞭望海滩，看见的人们显得渺小。学习生命，探索生命，我学会尊敬生命。

引苏词

明月几时有？把酒问青天。 今天中秋，不是伤感，也不是寂寞。就只能引中学学的苏词，用小学学的“非笔墨所能形容”。我想，也许是一种淡然的领悟。领悟着他乡月下的生活。

明月，2009浩然仔摄影

p/s：虽然知道今日中秋，但是摄影时候竟然忘记了那就是十五的月亮。

Her Lazyness

Australia is a lazy land. A lazy artist. She draws with pouring colours. She builds with scattered rocks.

Evening, 2009 Myth Guy's Capture

Shore, 2009 Myth Guy's Capture

Yet her laziness makes her ancient and beautiful.