Introduction
This unit will facilitate your own exploration of key environmental, social and economic threats that will converge to challenge communities in the near future. You will be required to develop this exploration according to three modes of modelling and Author(s):
No creator set
1.4 Introduction to models
Section 1 Readings– Thinking styles and models
1.4 Introduction to models
What gets you out of bed in the morning? In my case, the moment I hit consciousness, I scan my memory for any immediate tasks I need to achieve – do I need to get the kids to school today? Have I got any early morning meetings? Identifying which task is relevant determines my subsequent actions. Still not fully awake, I start following a sequence of well-reh
Author(s): No creator set
1.1 Introduction to thinking styles
Section 1 Readings– Thinking styles and models
1.1 Introduction to thinking styles
What do you do when you want to examine something closely? There are essentially two courses of action that you can take. You can pull it apart and look at how it works, like a watchmaker diagnosing a watch brought in for repair. Or you look at the context within which the thing was found and try to understand it in terms of its relationships with its
Author(s): No creator set
Introduction
Introduction
Communities everywhere are coming under increasing pressure from interlinked social, economic and environmental challenges. Many communities are coming together to tackle these challenges, and individuals with some expertise in exploring wicked problems will play an increasingly significant role. In order to allow effective collaboration in understanding the highly complex and interlinked forces at play, it is important to
Author(s): No creator set
3.1 Introduction to the problems with the way we think
There is increasing recognition that the reductionist mindset that is currently dominating society, rooted in unlimited economic growth unperceptive to its social and environmental impact, cannot resolve the converging environmental, social and economic crises we now face. The primary aim of this unit is to encourage the shift away from reductionist and human centred thinking towards a holistic and ecological worldview.
Author(s): The Open University
Introduction
There is increasing recognition that the reductionist mindset that is currently dominating society, rooted in unlimited economic growth unperceptive to its social and environmental impact, cannot resolve the converging environmental, social and economic crises we now face. The primary aim of this unit is to encourage the shift away from reductionist and human centred thinking towards a holistic and ecological worldview.
Author(s): The Open University
Introduction
Energy from sources other than fossil and nuclear fuels is to a large extent free of the concerns about environmental effects and renewability that characterise those two sources. Each alternative source supplies energy continually, whether or not we use it. This unit considers one of these alternative sources, geothermal energy derived from the interior heat of the Earth, and the potential for this alternative to supplant fossil and nuclear fuel use to power social needs fast enough to avoid t
Author(s): The Open University
Introduction
Energy from sources other than fossil and nuclear fuels is to a large extent free of the concerns about environmental effects and renewability that characterize those two sources. Each alternative source supplies energy continuall, whether or not we use it, and most have their origins in energy generated outside the Earth, yet the potential of each is limited by its total supply set against its rate of use. The Sun will radiate energy until it ceases thermonuclear fusion, in around 5 billion yea
Author(s): The Open University
Introduction
Wind energy was the fastest growing power source at the starts of the 21st century, yet wind-driven mills and pumps, and nautical sails for transport, were, along with waterwheels, the first mechanical devices to power industrial production. The advantages of harnessing wind energy are obvious; it is free, clean and widely available. This unit explores the Wind as a potential source of useable energy.
Author(s): The Open University
Introduction
Hydroelectric energy is ultimately solar energy converted through evaporation of water, movement of air masses and precipitation to gravitational potential energy and then to the kinetic energy of water flowing down a slope. That energy was harnessed for centuries through the use of water wheels to drive mills, forges and textile works, before being supplanted by coal-fired steam energy.
The unit considers hydropower as a potential source of useable energy.
Author(s): The Open University
Introduction
Introduction
Energy from sources other than fossil and nuclear fuels is to a large extent free of the concerns about environmental effects and renewability that characterise those two sources. Each alternative source supplies energy continually, whether or not we use it. The alternative sources to consider are geothermal energy derived from the interior heat of the Earth, solar energy in forms that can be harvested at the Earth's surface and
Author(s): No creator set
Introduction
Introduction
Energy from sources other than fossil or nuclear fuels is to a large extent free of the concerns about environmental effects and renewability that characterise those two sources. Each alternative source supplies energy continually, whether or not we use it. Many alternative sources of energy have been used in simple ways for millennia, e.g. wind and water mills, sails, wood burning – but only in the last two centuries has th
Author(s): No creator set
Introduction
The energy carried by ocean waves derives from a proportion of the wind energy transferred to the ocean surface by frictional drag. So, ultimately it stems from the proportion of incoming solar energy that drives air movement. Just how much energy is carried by a single wave depends on the wind speed and the area of ocean surface that it crosses; wave height, wavelength, and therefore wave energy, are functions of the distance or fetch over which the wind blows.
This unit considers the power
Author(s): The Open University
4.1 Introduction
The transformation of radioactive uranium and, in some instances, thorium isotopes provides vastly more energy per unit mass of fuel than any other energy source, except nuclear fusion, and therein lies its greatest attraction. The unit considers the advantages and limitations of generating this power and the environmental and security issues that the process raises.
Author(s): The Open University
3.1 Introduction
The transformation of radioactive uranium and, in some instances, thorium isotopes provides vastly more energy per unit mass of fuel than any other energy source, except nuclear fusion, and therein lies its greatest attraction. The unit considers the advantages and limitations of generating this power and the environmental and security issues that the process raises.
Author(s): The Open University
2.1 Introduction
The transformation of radioactive uranium and, in some instances, thorium isotopes provides vastly more energy per unit mass of fuel than any other energy source, except nuclear fusion, and therein lies its greatest attraction. The unit considers the advantages and limitations of generating this power and the environmental and security issues that the process raises.
Author(s): The Open University
Introduction
The transformation of radioactive uranium and, in some instances, thorium isotopes provides vastly more energy per unit mass of fuel than any other energy source, except nuclear fusion, and therein lies its greatest attraction. The unit considers the advantages and limitations of generating this power and the environmental and security issues that the process raises.
Author(s): The Open University
7.1 Introduction
In this unit we explore how proteins are the 'doers' of the cell. They are huge in number and variety and diverse in structure and function, serving both the structural building blocks and the functional machinery of the cell. Just about every process in every cell requires specific proteins. The basic principles of protein structure and function which are reviewed in this unit are crucial to understanding how proteins perform their various roles.
Author(s): The Open University
6.1 Introduction
In this unit we explore how proteins are the 'doers' of the cell. They are huge in number and variety and diverse in structure and function, serving both the structural building blocks and the functional machinery of the cell. Just about every process in every cell requires specific proteins. The basic principles of protein structure and function which are reviewed in this unit are crucial to understanding how proteins perform their various roles.
Author(s): The Open University
5.1 Introduction
In this unit we explore how proteins are the 'doers' of the cell. They are huge in number and variety and diverse in structure and function, serving both the structural building blocks and the functional machinery of the cell. Just about every process in every cell requires specific proteins. The basic principles of protein structure and function which are reviewed in this unit are crucial to understanding how proteins perform their various roles.
Author(s): The Open University
Copyright 2009 University of Nottingham