Presidential Candidates' Answers to the 2016 Top 20 Science and Technology Questions

For this election cycle, ScienceDebate has included the Green and Libertarian party candidates in its list of 20 questions regarding the most pressing "... Science, Engineering, Tech, Health & Environmental Issues in 2016."

You can read it all here: www.sciencedebate.org

Earth is 9000 Years Old!

I did not realize until just a few moments ago that our Earth is 9000 years old, and it was created in six days.  So says Rep. Paul C. Broun, a republican from Georgia.  He is a member of a key congressional science advisory committee,  so he must know what he's taking about.

He also refers to evolution, embryology and the Big Bang theory as "all lies straight from the pit of Hell."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/07/bill-nye-paul-broun-science-space-technology_n_1947125.html

Presidential Candidates' Answers to the 2012 Top 14 Science and Technology Questions

ScienceDebate.org invited thousands of scientists, engineers and concerned citizens to submit what they felt were the the most important science questions facing the nation that the candidates for president should be debating on the campaign trail.

ScienceDebate then worked with leading US science and engineering organizations ... to refine the questions and arrive at a universal consensus on what the most important science policy questions facing the United States are in 2012.

...We call on the candidates for President to also debate these Top American Science Questions that affect all voters' lives.

https://www.sciencedebate.org

Putting Water Adhesion and Cohesion to Work

I lost the grommet that allows me to attach a drain hose to my air conditioner.  So I decided to see whether water's properties of adhesion and cohesion would come to my rescue.

I suspended the drain hose below the air condition drain opening.  Then I placed one end of a wet, rolled up paper towel in the air conditioner, touching the drain pan.  I placed the other end into the hose.  The set up is shown below.

Normally, you'd just let the water drip out onto the ground.  But this A/C is installed between a kitchen and a carpeted enclosed porch, and we wanted to keep the carpet dry.

The rig works like a charm.  No spillage.  All the condensate ends up in the bottle, which I then empty into the washing machine or the garden.  In fact it works better than if I'd used a grommet to connect the hose.  With the grommet, the water level had to rise high enough to breach the rim of the grommet.  In fact, I used to put a piece of cotton string in the grommet to help lift the water up over the grommet ledge and into the hose.  Otherwise, the water would leak out all four corners of the pan.

There is some rust forming around the edge of that unfinished knockout.  I'll need to paint that at the end of the season if I don't want the rust to spread.