Did you know that PRAS keeps bird feeders filled at George Wyth State Park, Cedar Valley Hospice, and other locations so that the public can enjoy bird watching? Cash donations that pay for bird seed is needed for this annual endeavor and our bird seed fund is very low - can you help? Any cash donation helps! Please issue and mail a check to Prairie Rapids Audubon Society, P.O. Box 682, Waterloo, IA 50704, or click here to make a donation with PayPal. Thank you!!
See details on the Field Trips page
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By David Voigts, PRAS Board Member & Conservation Chair
In findings that seem too unbelievable to be true, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to generate non-polluting hydrogen gas from sea water by mixing it with aluminum pellets from recycled soda cans. Even more astonishing, according to an article in Cell Reports Physical Science, the reaction was speeded up greatly by the addition of coffee grounds.
The researchers had been looking for a substance that could speed up the normally slow reaction when in desperation they added coffee grounds to the experiment, and the yield of hydrogen increased dramatically. This led them to try and find out why this happened. A chemical analysis of the coffee grounds determined that they contained imidazole, an active ingredient in caffeine. This was the key to speeding the reaction, and 0.1 ounces of aluminum pellets yielded 13.5 ounces of hydrogen in 5 minutes.
If these results can be scaled up, the implication is staggering. For example, 40 pounds of aluminum pellets could power a small underwater submarine for about 30 days. This demonstrates the importance of technology in getting us out of the climate mess, and our government should do all it can to support such research.
You are now able to access the online concert video and curriculum (see link and password below-posted with permission by the copyright holder).
The link provides the full concert video and online curriculum with activities, lessons, extra musical performances, composer interviews and educational games. This resource will remain active through June 2022 (for one year), so utilize it for your programs, personal edification working with your children or grandchildren to teach them about music and birds!
Password: BFPMC (case sensitive)
Find an injured bird or animal? Call Black Hawk Wildlife Rehabilitation Project 319-277-6511
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