my mind wanders... on a thought of a green sunset

Thursday, November 17, 2005

SiBoL?

I always thought of the turnovers in my life. Well, this is it. The culmination of knowledge within five days. The SIBOL Finals.

I hated research. As always, you need a project, so you much don’t have much of a choice. So… [This is a past event.] We [Russel and I] need a project idea. So given a tiny bit of daylight, about two or three 1-hour periods of research plus a whole more nights to think, we have nothing. Since the lab has faucets [which most never worked], I was thinking of a device [it was the theme]. So, let’s try water filters.

Erratically, the idea went nowhere and we need something that uses technology. Oh really, I thought. I commute through bus lines that run from Lawton to Alabang or Calamba. So coming home empty-handed, I looked upon an idea. Weird.

I think I have this uncertain logic in which I can place objects in different perspectives at random orders. So… We have a faucet. We have a bus whose muffler looks like a faucet. I have a water filter. Water is a fluid. Fluids, in general, can be any form of flowing substance, usually liquid or gas. Smoke is a combination of gas and substances that make our faces run to acne. So smoke is technically, a fluid [I think it is, I don’t know…]

And we have a project idea.

The idea was too background [you know what I mean by background…] to be researched. It needs something. Filters have something in them that makes them filters.

Health II

Sewage Treatment - Sand filters, screen filters, blah blah…

Sand filters contain sand between flowing channels of sewage water. The “particles” in the sewage water are trapped by the sand.

What then is a water filter’s sand?

Internet. That would be the key to my answer. Not all is good within the series of URLs (photosynthetic thoughts, tsk tsk]. And we have Water Filters - With blah… and blah… and activated carbon.. and blah…

Activated carbon? The first thing that came to my mind was the old version of Diatabs. It is true - that is activated carbon. Coals or any complex carbon have some adhering properties.

The teachings of the Elders ---

“Ket po may uling sa ref nyo?”

“Kasi nakakatanggal yan ng amoy ng kunwari… yung matapang na amoy ng sibuyas…”

The teachings of the Chemistry Teacher ---

“Activated carbon, meron yang adsorbing property.”
“Ma’am, adsorbing????”

“Adsorption, yung particle nyo dumidikit sa surface ng activated carbon nyo.”

My thoughts ---

“Ha????”

So let’s get back to the story. So we have the sand. How do we get it? Coconuts. I’ve heard of this coaling of wood, or anything with lignin in it [consult Campbell if necessary]. Lignin is a complex carbon-based structure present in wood. Under combustion, it simplifies into base carbon.

Surfing the net for past research was necessary to get new ideas. Innovation is the key to success. So, a last year research used earthenware granules to reduce odors in petroleum stations [translation: broken pottery]. So we have another component for the project.

Phase One is finished.

The rest of the story is history and it ends until this Finals.

If you want to see the rest of our adventures, see me or steal our journal in Research. Go for it! [heh]

my mind fleeted at :4:56 am ;