Posted on 01/07/2012 6:23:42 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Scientists have uncovered a lot about the Earth's greatest extinction event that took place 250 million years ago when rapid climate change wiped out nearly all marine species and a majority of those on land. Now, they have discovered a new culprit likely involved in the annihilation: an influx of mercury into the eco-system.
"No one had ever looked to see if mercury was a potential culprit. This was a time of the greatest volcanic activity in Earth's history and we know today that the largest source of mercury comes from volcanic eruptions," says Dr. Steve Grasby, co-author of a paper published this month in the journal Geology. "We estimate that the mercury released then could have been up to 30 times greater than today's volcanic activity, making the event truly catastrophic." Grasby is a research scientist at Natural Resources Canada and an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary.
Dr. Benoit Beauchamp, professor of geology at the University of Calgary, says this study is significant because it's the first time mercury has been linked to the cause of the massive extinction that took place during the end of the Permian.
"Geologists, including myself should be taking notes and taking another look at the other five big extinction events," says Beauchamp, also a co-author.
(Excerpt) Read more at physorg.com ...
It’s because they were cold-blooded. The destroyed all those useless thermometers and all hell broke loose.
I would have sworn that the warning was due to the beryllium based coating of the tube; not the small amounts of mercury in them...unless it was a mercury vapor tube.
How many Spikes are in an Iridium flare? Or is it the other way around, X number of Spikes/Flare?
My wife once told me I should stop throwing those new government light bulbs out with the trash when they burn out. (shrug) What am I supposed to do with them? Flush them down the toilet? (Of course, with these water-saving government toilets, I’d have to flush three times.)
Whatever... let scumbag government worry about it. I sure won’t.
> I would have sworn that the warning was due to the beryllium based coating of the tube; not the small amounts of mercury in them...unless it was a mercury vapor tube
Beryllium was indeed used in the phosphor in early fluorescent tubes. However, it fell out of favor: "...After it was discovered that beryllium was toxic, halophosphate based phosphors took over." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#Commercialization_of_fluorescent_lamps
The mercury vapor in the tube is absorbed into the glass and phosphor coating over the life of the bulb, and its decreasing availability for excitation by the electric current is what causes fluorescents to dim over time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#Loss_of_mercury At end of life (when the bulb is discarded), the white powdery phosphor is pretty nasty stuff.
The warning about airing out the room where a fluorescent bulb has broken is mainly about the mercury vapor, not the poweder, and thus for modern CFLs applies mainly during the working life of the bulb, not so much at the end of life when the mercury is no longer in vapor form.
Standard old-style long tubes are actually worse in that regard, since they tend to have an excess of mercury, and hence if they fail for some other reason such as filament burnout, there's a significant quantity of mercury vapor remaining in the bulb.
Do exactly the same as what you do with a standard long-tube or circular fluorescent bulb. The disposal problem is exactly the same, and indeed bulb-for-bulb, the long-tube bulbs are considerably worse in terms of contamination since they contain many times as much mercury as CFLs.
So.... Do you have any standard fluorescent tubes in your shop, kitchen, bathroom? How do you dispose of those?
When I was a kid in the 50's, the method I was taught was to put the tube in a garbage bag, tie it, and carefully break the tube -- in the bag -- to reduce its size, and then throw the bag in the trash. No doubt I'll spend time in purgatory for that...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy09cXwsz6w
(Put up with about 30 seconds of singing before the mayhem starts.)
Which is least awful these days?
One spike per bolide.
Make a shrine?
Seems sensible to me.
At this moment I'm FReeping to the light of a Sylvania 13W CF13EL/MINITWIST 3000K twisty CFL (the 3000K is the temp/color spectrum). That's the model in most of my sockets around the house. I find them quite acceptable, including for reading, conversation, etc. They're actually a pretty decent match to a 60W incandescent in terms of quality of light, I think.
In my shop and kitchen, for brighter light, I've got older Sylvania 20W CF20EL/830 4-inch triple-loop tubular CFLs, not sure what the color spectrum is on those, as it's not as critical in those places.
The most important thing for "how it looks", IMO, is the temp/color spectrum. If you want the warm glow of a certain wattage incandescent, get a CFL with a temp/color rating that is matched to the particular incandescent you like. They're available.
Thanks!
Wow, I'd thought about mercury thermometers, but had forgotten about all the "silent" switches.
And how about the mercury bulb (the tilting contacts on the bimetallic coil) in thermostats...
I am still interested in knowing the rough figure of how many incandescent bulbs are in use in the US. Also, I have started to collect other data (found below).
I found this data (not dated---I presume the Q&A was posted in 2006, but have no way to be certain):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How many light bulbs are there in the world?
Answer: According to fastcompany.com: "Last year, U.S. consumers spent about $1 billion to buy about 2 billion lightbulbs--5.5 million every day."
According to wsj.com: "The U.S., which has four billion electric lights using [incandescent] bulbs, represents about a third of the world market."
Below are two articles bearing same title with different contents:
How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World? One. And You're Looking At It. [Sept 2006]
How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World? One. And You're Looking At It. [Dec 2007]
Also of possible interest:
South Carolina Taking Light Bulb Ban into Its Own Hands [May 2011]
QUESTION: Have you experimented with LED bulbs? Have an opinion?
Maybe, but I sure had fun making dimes shiny with broken thermometer mercury when I was a kid.
250 million years ago....
What if an animal back then evolved intellegence and then built cities and drove SUV and was the cause of all the extinctions including themselves....
I am sure we just need to looks for fossilized SUVs and out of place artifacts....
I have a sketch here of what they could have looked like...
I want some grant money to search for this.
I have a silver dollar somewhere which I foolishly tried to clean with Aqua Regia (a mixture of nitric & hydrochloric acids; capable of dissolving even gold). It acquired an ugly coating which is impossible to remove. That coin would have been worth a bundle today.
> QUESTION: Have you experimented with LED bulbs? Have an opinion?
I've had two groups of experiences with LED bulbs, handheld (flashlights/lanterns), and installed in the ceiling and fixtures at my workplace. Both good, with a caveat about color.
They certainly live up to their reputation for energy savings and efficiency. I could see LED lighting being use in a large percentage of the applications where CFLs and incandescents are now. I believe they are the near future of lighting for the small and medium scale. Highways and stadiums, not so much now, but eventually it's possible, and certainly worthwhile. Moreover, since they are a rapidly developing technology, there is much more room for improvement. They are not yet a "mature" technology like incandescents or fluorescents.
The caveat: temp/color spectrum is really white. For reading, relaxing, websurfing, conversing, I like a color balance that's gentler, more like an incandescent. Which, BTW, I believe is pleasing because it is reminiscent of a fireplace, which had deep roots in the human psyche for "comfort" and "safety". Fire was warmth and kept the wolves away. I would opine that somewhere in there, an incandescent color spectrum touches those same deep nerves.
Anyway, for whatever reason, I find LED lights a little too stark white for reading and relaxing. But that's something that can be tuned with the balance. After all, some "white" LEDs are in fact THREE LEDs in one case -- RGB -- (red, green, and blue, surprise). So perhaps the marketplace will demand some that are tilted to the RED.
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