Five Things I Learned About Recycling While Putting Together The Quiz
- I can recycle more than I thought I could. Over the years I've trashed a lot of stuff I should have recycled.
- I wasted time and resources getting my recycling too clean. For food containers, they have to be basically empty but not spotless.
- I erred on the side of caution too much. I would trash things that I thought were marginal or wasn't sure about; I probably should have put them in recycling and let the experts make the decision.
- Plastic films are a PITA for recyclers. They can mess up machinery and slow the process down. Throw out the clear plastic covers from microwave meals. And recycle plastic bags at the grocery store or other drop off centers. Don't put either in curbside recycling bins.
- Taking photos of things you pull from the trash or recycling for a blog post can garner dirty looks from your S.O.
Quizzes As A Tool For Informing And Engagement
Here are a few things I learned about online quizzes while working on the recycling quiz project.
- Online quizzes can be used for more than pure entertainment, and they can still be entertaining.
- It takes time to do it right. I spent a lot of time writing questions, taking photos and checking the answers for clarity and still see things that I wish I had done differently.
- My gut feeling is that people will retain more from taking a well-constructed quiz than stepping through a slideshow or reading a list of bullets -- if for no other reason than that they're more involved.
Baltimore City Curbside Recycling Quiz - Results!
Over 500 Baltimoreans have taken our recycling quiz so far. If you haven't, please take it first before reading the following.
Disclaimer aside, on with the results!
Overall, 67% who started it finished it, which is pretty good for a quiz of this length according to the people at Qzzr.
The average score was also -- interesting enough -- 67% correct.
#1: How to properly recycle a wet newspaper in a plastic bag. Only 40% chose the correct answer, which was to remove the bag, recycle the newspaper curbside and put the bag with other bags for recycling at a place that accepts them, like most grocery stores.
Disclaimer aside, on with the results!
Overall, 67% who started it finished it, which is pretty good for a quiz of this length according to the people at Qzzr.
The average score was also -- interesting enough -- 67% correct.
So which questions were most difficult?
#1: How to properly recycle a wet newspaper in a plastic bag. Only 40% chose the correct answer, which was to remove the bag, recycle the newspaper curbside and put the bag with other bags for recycling at a place that accepts them, like most grocery stores.
Lightweight Turbojet Jet Pack With 10 Minute Flight Time
Check out footage of the JB-9, a lightweight Jet Pack in development. Great video, though we were disappointed that the pilot did not attempt to fish during the demonstration.
More details about the flight and the jet pack are here on sciencealert.com.
More details about the flight and the jet pack are here on sciencealert.com.
Be A Better Recycler In Baltimore City -- Take Our Quiz!
Today in Jet Packs spent about a month collecting and photographing things that we weren't sure about when it comes to recycling. We then showed the photos to Robert Murrow, Recycling Coordinator of the city of Baltimore (home of TiJP), and asked him questions about what we recycle and how best to do it. He offered a lot of useful advice which was incorporated into the following quiz. Take it and see how much you know about recycling in Baltimore -- and how you stack up against others.
The quiz doesn't cover everything, though. Visit the recycling section of the Department of Public Works site for a complete guide.
After you've finished the quiz, see the results.
Dubai Orders 20 Jet Packs For Skyscraper Firefighting
Jet pack news is coming fast and furious these days. Dubai signed an agreement with New Zealand's Martin Aircraft to purchase a fleet of jet packs for use when fighting fires in skyscrapers. Gizmodo has the details.
Jet Pack In The Big Apple
Just days ago, a jet pack flew near Lady Liberty:
Is the future finally getting closer?
Is the future finally getting closer?
Experiment: Getting By With A Six-Year-Old Android Phone
I used my old Android phone as a daily driver for a month. How did I survive? Click on to learn...
Awesome Flyboarding Frisbee Catch
I didn't attempt this back when I gave Flyboarding a try, but perhaps I will if I get the chance. A perfect throw and a perfect catch. Is Flyboarding Ultimate the sport of the future?
Six Reasons Your GoPro Videos Suck (And Mine Do Too)
I’ve captured some great footage with my GoPro camera. I’ve also taken boatloads of mediocre footage and created at least a few videos that didn’t have the pop I wished they had. Here are six reasons my footage hasn’t always been up to snuff, with some tips on getting around these issues. If you've been at this for a while, a lot of these are probably quite obvious -- this is probably most helpful to newbies.
1) One long continuous shot is usually not that interesting, unless the footage is stellar . As viewers, we expect multiple camera angles in even :15 commercials. Full-length movies are made up of thousands of individual shots. Even a basic two-way interview employs two cameras switching back and forth throughout. Purposely long shots do have their place, of course, but how many different shots are you using in your GoPro videos?
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| Sure, it was fun to ride. But is twenty-five minutes of this fun to watch? |
Brewing Experiment: Reusing Yeast Via Yeast Rinsing
My next brewing experiment was with yeast rinsing, a process where you can harvest active yeast from the sediment at the bottom of a carboy, store it in your fridge, and re-use it to brew another beer. This experiment was in-part born out of necessity as I had screwed up on my last batch of beer and didn't want the Bell's Oberon yeast that I'd harvested from bottles to go to waste.
I'm not going to post complete instructions here as there are many other sites with great instructions. As in all things brewing: good sanitation is important, and with yeast washing in particular using deoxygenated water sanitized by boiling and returned to room temperature (or the temp of the yeast in the carboy) is key. Again, see one of the sites linked above for details.
I'm not going to post complete instructions here as there are many other sites with great instructions. As in all things brewing: good sanitation is important, and with yeast washing in particular using deoxygenated water sanitized by boiling and returned to room temperature (or the temp of the yeast in the carboy) is key. Again, see one of the sites linked above for details.
Jet Pack Update: Jet Packs In Development For Faster Running
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| Screen cap from the ASU promotional video. |
Two More BIAB Tips (Learned The Hard Way)
Adding to my original list of 6 BIAB tips:
I had the opposite problem for a double IPA I brewed. It had a much higher grain bill and 4 kinds of hops (including some for dry hopping), all of which absorb water. I ended up with a bit less wort than planned, which wasn't that big of a deal apart from not getting the full yield from the recipe.
How much water should you use? That can be easily calculated with online tools. I use the Simple BIAB Calculator, but there are many others. Since I started using a calculator, I've been hitting both my OG and my volume targets on the nose.
8. Know your OG and FG -- use your hydrometer!
In my years of extract brewing, I rarely took hydrometer readings. They were cumbersome and unnecessary, and though the readings could confirm when my beers were ready to bottle, I instead preferred to wait until I was reasonably sure the fermentation was complete. Since switching to BIAB, I've changed my thinking and now always get an original gravity and a final gravity reading.
I'm taking hydrometer readings now mostly because of #7 above. If I had taken an OG reading for my Oberon clone, I probably would not have pitched my harvested Oberon yeast into the too-light wort and instead brewed it again another day. (All was not lost -- I did wash the yeast and re-used it in another batch later, but that's the subject of a future post. And though the Oberon clone was not ideal, it was still drinkable.)
So not only do hydrometer readings tell you when it's time to bottle, they also let you know how close you are to your target and how efficient your process is. It also allows you to calculate ABV, a number which never fails to amaze non-brewers. So take your readings!
7. The amount of strike water used for BIAB varies by recipe
...sometimes significantly. And I've erred both ways. For my Oberon clone (which had a light grain and hop bill), I used too much water and ended up with an extra half-gallon of wort. As it was a 2-1/2 gallon batch, that extra made a big difference, and I ended up with a weak and watery beer.I had the opposite problem for a double IPA I brewed. It had a much higher grain bill and 4 kinds of hops (including some for dry hopping), all of which absorb water. I ended up with a bit less wort than planned, which wasn't that big of a deal apart from not getting the full yield from the recipe.
How much water should you use? That can be easily calculated with online tools. I use the Simple BIAB Calculator, but there are many others. Since I started using a calculator, I've been hitting both my OG and my volume targets on the nose.
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| Check it out - the specific gravity of Kool-Aid. Oh yeah! |
I'm taking hydrometer readings now mostly because of #7 above. If I had taken an OG reading for my Oberon clone, I probably would not have pitched my harvested Oberon yeast into the too-light wort and instead brewed it again another day. (All was not lost -- I did wash the yeast and re-used it in another batch later, but that's the subject of a future post. And though the Oberon clone was not ideal, it was still drinkable.)
So not only do hydrometer readings tell you when it's time to bottle, they also let you know how close you are to your target and how efficient your process is. It also allows you to calculate ABV, a number which never fails to amaze non-brewers. So take your readings!
Brewing Experiment #2: Harvesting Commerical Yeast For Brewing
I grew up in Michigan, and when I was of age I grew to love the beers of Kalamazoo-based Bell's Brewery. Their American wheat ale, Oberon (originally called Solsun), was a particular summertime treat. I'm now living in Maryland, and Bell's beer is available all around us -- but not in Maryland:
So I could drive to PA, WV, NC, OH, KY or DC when I want a Bell's. Or I could make my own. According to brewers on the internets, one of the keys to Oberon's unique flavor is the yeast they use.
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| So unfair! (Map excerpted from http://bellsbeer.com/brands/brand-finder/) |
So I could drive to PA, WV, NC, OH, KY or DC when I want a Bell's. Or I could make my own. According to brewers on the internets, one of the keys to Oberon's unique flavor is the yeast they use.
Our Jet Pack Coverage Continues...
Fear not, forward-thinking readers. Coverage of Jet Packs will continue here at Today in Jet Packs -- but we have broadened our scope slightly and will include coverage of jet pack tech along with other explorations.
Two recent Jet Pack items of note:
Two recent Jet Pack items of note:
- As part of the Smithsonian Future Is Here Festival (which for some reason, TiJP was not invited to), a brave pioneer piloted a Jet Pack inside the Ronald Regan Building. Slate.com has pics and video.
- Start your budding high flier off right with this snazzy DIY Super Sci-Fi Rocket fueled Jet Pack.
Six Things To Know About BIAB (Brew In A Bag) If You're An Extract Brewer
I've been a longtime extract brewer who has recently been experimenting with all-grain brewing using the BIAB method. There are many great resources to learn about Brew in a Bag on the interwebs, so I'm not going to rehash that. But are some tips and things I learned while experimenting that may not be obvious until you've done it. Cheers!
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| "A" is my first BIAB beer. "1" is a traditional all-grain brewing of the same recipe. We were doing a blind taste test. They tied. |
1. It takes longer
Using the BIAB method takes longer than brewing with extracts:- You're heating up more water (the full volume + some extra that will evaporate off or be absorbed by the grains), which takes more time to get to temp.
- Mashing takes time. Many BIAB brewers recommend mashing for 90 minutes plus a ten minute mash out (which requires more the ten minutes to bring it to the proper temperature.)
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