Image via Wikipedia Recently, the New York Times featured an article and video about the research of Karen Wynn and Kiley Hamlin at Yale. In the video, we watch babies choosing good characters over bad characters. These experiments occurred at the Infant Cognition Center at Yale University, one of a few research centers worldwide exploring the…
BP Live Video Feed of ROV monitoring damaged riser
Image by rogue2408 via Flickr Cloaca Maxima Large-scale collection of sewage began more than 2400 years ago with the construction of the Cloaca Maxima in Rome. The Dejecti Effusive Actio was one of the earliest sanitation laws, and it fined Romans who hurt passers-by when they tossed or poured their wastes into the streets. However,…
Image via Wikipedia Here’s a suggestion to consider for stopping the Deepwater Horizon leak. If necessary, use a linear shaped charge to cut the leaking pipe more uniformly. Then, use a high pressure pipe stopper such as a hydrostatic test isolation plug, for example, the Curtis Wright Flow Control Company’s GRIPTIGHT TEST PLUG GT-24P120, to…
Image via Wikipedia Senator Lisa Murkowksi (R-AK) blocked Senate Bill S.3305, the “Big Oil Bailout Prevention Liability Act” yesterday. This proposed law would cap BP’s (or any other oil company’s) liability at $10 billion, even if damages from an oil spill surpass that figure. The current liability cap under OPA is $75 million. Murkowski, who became a Senator…
Image via Wikipedia USGS Fact Sheet FS–021–01 dated March 2001, Natural Gas Hydrates—Vast Resource, Uncertain Future, in part, states that “[g]as hydrates represent a hazard to conventional oil and gas production. In the Gulf of Mexico, oil and gas exploration is extending into water depths where gas hydrates occur at the sea floor. Pumping hot…
Based on its out-of-control well’s latitude (approximate) of 28° 44.20′ North and longitude (approximate) of 88° 23.23′ West, the current oil slick should reach the following places on these approximate dates with these then current spill sizes in gallons: Mobile Bay, 5/3/2010, 15.6 million gallonsGulfport, 5/10/2010, 23.4 million gallonsTampa Bay, 10/11/2010, 194.8 million gallonsGalveston, 11/23/2010, 242.6 million…
Ian McDonald of Florida State University has calculated that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill‘s flow is approximately 26,500 barrels per day. Here’s a report from the SkyTruth blog (http://www.skytruth.org/): Deepwater Horizon spill estimates derived from USCG fly-over data (28 April 2010) Figure 1. US Coast Guard map showing size and appearance of oil slick on…