Observing Emu Behavior.
The behavioral Science of Emu.How they act and react to their surroundings...

By: SithSereyPheap1

Excerpt from:
Observing Emu Behavior. - Video

Science fairs are among the most iconic and eagerly anticipated highlights of most every public school, especially those with elementary and middle school grades.

Most unique about them is they give children who might be more academically inclined than athletically or musically gifted a chance to take center stage.

At Pine Strawberry School, the learned among the student body are in the process of wrapping up their fair projects, which will be shown and judged Jan. 26-30.

The projects will be on public display Feb. 3-7 in the Isabelle Hunt Memorial Library.

Pine Strawberry School science fair winners along with other champions from around Gila County will compete March 5 in the Regional Science Fair in Miami.

Winners there advance April 7-9 to the Phoenix Convention Center for the granddaddy of all competitions Arizona State Science and Engineering Fair.

The state fair brings together first place winners from school, district, county and regional science fairs around Arizona to compete for thousands of dollars in prizes and scholarships.

Pine Strawberry School has a rich science fair history producing local champions who have gone on to show well in both the county and state showdowns.

At last years county fair, Pine Strawberry Schools aspiring scientists won seven bronze, two silver and five gold medals.

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PS students ready for science fair

NOTE: This is the first of a three-part series.

In the arid lands of the Mojave Desert, Marine regimental commander Jim Caley traveled alongside a 24-mile stretch of road and saw trucks, tanks and armored tracked vehicles all idling in the heat and wasting enormous amounts of expensive fuel.

Caley had already led forces in Iraq, and at the time was charged with seven battalions comprising 7,000 Marines. But this was a new and different challenge. Overseeing a major spring 2013 training exercise at the Marine Corps' Twentynine Palms base in southern California, he was struck by how little he knew about how America's war-fighting machine used energy.

"No targets prosecuted, no miles to the gallon, no combat benefit being delivered," Caley, a Marine colonel, says of the scene. "At the time, I had no system to understand what was going on, and what was occurring, and how much further I could go on the same fuel."

The Department of Defense is the single biggest user of energy in the U.S. its energy bill in 2013 was $18.9 billion and Caley now plays a central role in trying to ensure that just one of its branches, the Marine Corps, uses that power in the optimal way. The implications for the military are vast. For instance, the Marines alone have estimated that they could save $26 million per year through a 10 percent energy reduction at their installations and bases, to say nothing of Marine field operations, which used an estimated 1.5 million barrels of fuel in 2014.

But most striking is how these changes are coming about. As head of the Marines Corps' five-year-old Expeditionary Energy Office, Caley is tapping into one of the hottest trends in academic energy research: looking to use psychology and the behavioral sciences to find ways of saving energy by changing people their habits, routines, practices and preconceptions.

"The opportunities that we see on the behavioral side of the house are phenomenal," Caley explained during a recent interview in his Pentagon office. "And they're frankly less expensive than us trying to buy new equipment."

Through behavioral changes alone tweaking the ways that Marines drive their vehicles, power their outposts, handle their equipment Caley thinks he can increase their overall battlefield range by as much as five days, a change that would provide immense tactical benefit by cutting down on refueling requirements (and the logistical hurdles and vulnerabilities associated with them). If he succeeds, the Marines would stand at the forefront of an energy revolution that may someday rival wind or solar in importance: one focused not on changing our technologies or devices, but on changing us. And its applications would touch every corner of our society, from how we behave in our homes to how we drive our cars.

Any change to how the military uses energy has momentous implications simply because it uses so much of it roughly the same amount of power annually as the state of West Virginia. But the behavioral revolution in energy is also highly significant in the civilian sector, where truly Pentagon-sized energy gains could be reaped just by tweaking little behaviors. For instance, here are some published estimates of possible energy savings from behavioral changes. These shouldn't be taken as exact, but rather as ballpark figures:

One 2009 study suggested that American households which account for around 40 percent of U.S. carbon emissions could achieve a 20 percent emissions reduction by changing which household appliances and objects they use, and how they use them. That's greater than the total emissions of the country of France.

Read more:
The next energy revolution won't be in wind or solar but in human behavior

Cunha Intermediate School students delved into a wide array of subjects for their winning science fair projects. Here is the list of the 2015 finalists, whose projects will move on to the San Mateo County STEM Fair in March.

Life Science 1 Plants

1st place: Mailie Bowers, The effect of percent concentration of sucrose on germination

2nd place: Rachel Brody, Trees of life; Xitali Duran, Is the amount of seeds inside a fruit consistent?

Life Science 2

1st place: Rachel Dantes, Webstatic

2nd place: Shay Heath, Effects of spices on mold and bacterial growth in food; Michaela McGee, My moms kitchen sink is filthy: lets clean it!

Behavioral Science

1st place: Sophia Pappalardo, Feeling frustrated

2nd place: Hallie Beier, More than meets the tongue; Alex Hosilyk, The highlighter effect; Micah Warner-Carey, Fading memories.

See the original post here:
Winning projects focus on solar heating, algae

This is the first in a three-part series titled Your Brain on Energy for our new Energy and Environment coverage.

In the arid lands ofthe Mojave Desert, Marine regimental commander Jim Caley traveled alongsidea 24-mile stretch of road and saw trucks, tanks and armored tracked vehicles all idling in the heat and wasting enormous amounts of expensive fuel.

Caley had already led forces in Iraq, and at the time was charged with seven battalions comprising 7,000 Marines. Butthis was a new and different challenge. Overseeing a major spring 2013 training exercise at the Marine Corps Twentynine Palms base in southern California,he was struck by how little he knew abouthow Americas war-fighting machine used energy.

No targets prosecuted, no miles to the gallon, no combat benefit being delivered, Caley, a Marine colonel, says of the scene. At the time,I had no system to understand what was going on, and what was occurring, and how much further I could go on the same fuel.

The Department of Defense is the single biggest user of energy in the U.S. its energy bill in 2013 was$18.9 billion and Caley now plays a central role in trying to ensure that just one of its branches, the Marine Corps, uses that power in the optimal way. The implications for the military are vast.For instance, the Marines alone haveestimatedthat they could save $26 million per year through a 10 percent energy reduction at their installations and bases, to say nothing of Marine field operations, which used an estimated1.5 million barrels of fuelin 2014.

But most striking is how these changes are coming about.As head ofthe Marines Corps five-year-oldExpeditionary Energy Office,Caley is tapping into one of the hottest trends in academic energy research:looking to usepsychology and the behavioral sciences tofind ways of saving energy by changingpeople their habits, routines, practices and preconceptions.

The opportunities that we see on the behavioral side of the house are phenomenal, Caley explained during a recent interview in his Pentagon office. And theyre frankly less expensive than us trying to buy new equipment.

Through behavioral changes alone tweaking the ways that Marines drive their vehicles, power their outposts, handle their equipment Caley thinks he can increase theiroverall battlefield range by as much as five days, a change that would provide immense tactical benefit by cutting down on refueling requirements (and the logistical hurdles and vulnerabilities associated with them).If he succeeds,the Marines would stand at the forefront of an energy revolution that may someday rival wind or solar in importance: onefocused not on changing our technologies or devices, but on changing us. And its applications would touch every corner of our society, from how we behave in our homes to how we drive our cars.

The behavioral science wave

Any change to how the military uses energy has momentous implications simplybecause it uses somuchof it roughly the same amount of power annually as the state of West Virginia. But the behavioral revolution in energy is also highly significant in the civilian sector, where truly Pentagon-sized energy gains could be reaped just by tweaking little behaviors. For instance, here are some published estimates of possible energy savings from behavioral changes. These shouldnt be taken as exact, but rather as ballpark figures:

Read the original post:
The next energy revolution wont be in wind or solar. It will be in our brains.