TheCERAMIChttp://www.theceramic.com/Copyright TheCERAMICsNewsThis Global Warming Awareness 2007 article is aiming to aware everybody of the danger we are facing in the future. Hope that by providing this articles, it will create an awareness to everybody and will help to minimize the impact of global warming which in return will create a better future for our childrens. Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation into the future. Global average near-surface atmospheric temperature rose 0.6 ± 0.2 °Celsius (1.1 ± 0.4 °Fahrenheit) in the 20th century. The prevailing scientific opinion on climate change is that "most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities. The main cause of the human-induced component of warming is the increased atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO2), which leads to warming of the surface and lower atmosphere by increasing the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases are released by activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing, and agriculture.Models referenced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predict that global temperatures may increase by 1.4 to 5.8 °C (2.5 to 10.5 °F) between 1990 and 2100. The uncertainty in this range results from both the difficulty of predicting the volume of future greenhouse gas emissions and uncertainty about climate sensitivity.An increase in global temperatures can in turn cause other changes, including a rising sea level and changes in the amount and pattern of precipitation. These changes may increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes, and tornados. Other consequences include higher or lower agricultural yields, glacier retreat, reduced summer streamflows, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors. Warming is expected to affect the number and magnitude of these events; however, it is difficult to connect particular events to global warming. Although most studies focus on the period up to 2100, even if no further greenhouse gases were released after this date, warming (and sea level) would be expected to continue to rise since CO2 has a long average atmospheric lifetime.Remaining scientific uncertainty comes from the exact degree of climate change expected in the future and particularly how changes will vary from region to region across the globe. A hotly contested political and public debate has yet to be resolved, regarding whether anything should be done, and what could be cost-effectively done to reduce or reverse future warming, or to deal with the expected consequences. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol aimed at combatting global warming. Terminology of Global Warming The term global warming is a specific case of the more general term climate change (which can also refer to global cooling, such as occurs during ice ages). In principle, "global warming" is neutral as to the causes, or period but in common usage, global warming generally refers to recent warming and implies a human influence. However, the UNFCCC uses climate change for human-caused change, and climate variability for other changes. Some organizations use the term anthropogenic climate change for human-induced changes.Fri, 02 Feb 2007 01:42:00 +0000http://www.theceramic.com/globalwarming/globalwarming-awareness2007/http://www.theceramic.com/globalwarming/globalwarming-awareness2007/The word ceramic is derived from the Greek word κεραμικός (keramikos). The term covers inorganic non-metallic materials whose formation is due to the action of heat. Up until the 1950s or so, the most important of these were the traditional clays, made into pottery, bricks, tiles and the like, along with cements and glass. The traditional crafts are described in the article on pottery. A composite material of ceramic and metal is known as cermet. The word ceramic can be an adjective, and can also be used as a noun to refer to a ceramic material, or a product of ceramic manufacture. Ceramics is a singular noun referring to the art of making things out of ceramic materials. Many ceramic materials are hard, porous and brittle. The study and development of ceramics includes methods to mitigate problems associated with these characteristics, and to accentuate the strengths of the materials as well as to investigate novel applications. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) defines a ceramic article as “an article having a glazed or unglazed body of crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or of glass, which body is produced from essentially inorganic, non-metallic substances and either is formed from a molten mass which solidifies on cooling, or is formed and simultaneously or subsequently matured by the action of the heat.”Sun, 21 Jan 2007 23:18:25 +0000http://www.theceramic.com/home/what-is-ceramic/http://www.theceramic.com/home/what-is-ceramic/For convenience ceramic products are usually divided into four sectors, and these are shown below with some examples: Structural, including bricks, pipes, floor and roof tiles Refractories, such as kiln linings, gas fire radiants, steel and glass making crucibles Whitewares, including tableware, wall tiles, decorative art objects and sanitaryware Technical, is also known as Engineering, Advanced, Special, and in Japan, Fine Ceramics. Such items include tiles used in the Space Shuttle program, gas burner nozzles, ballistic protection, nuclear fuel uranium oxide pellets, bio-medical implants, jet engine turbine blades, and missile nose cones. Frequently the raw materials do not include clays. Examples of Structural ceramics Bricks (mostly aluminium silicates), used for construction. Examples of Whiteware Ceramics Bone chinaEarthenware, which is often made from clay, quartz and feldsparPorcelain, which usually contains the clay mineral kaoliniteStonewareSat, 20 Jan 2007 08:38:00 +0000http://www.theceramic.com/home/types-of-ceramic-materials/http://www.theceramic.com/home/types-of-ceramic-materials/Technical ceramics can also be classified into three distinct material categories: Oxides: Alumina, zirconia. Non-oxides: Carbides, borides, nitrides, silicides. Composites: Particulate reinforced, combinations of oxides and non-oxides. Each one of these classes can develop unique material properties. Examples of Technical Ceramics Barium titanate (often mixed with strontium titanate) displays ferroelectricity, meaning that its mechanical, electrical, and thermal responses are coupled to one another and also history-dependent. It is widely used in electromechanical transducers, ceramic capacitors, and data storage elements. Grain boundary conditions can create PTC effects in heating elements. Bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide, a high-temperature superconductor. Boron carbide (B4C), which is used in ceramic plates in some personal, helicopter and tank armor. Boron nitride is structurally isoelectronic to carbon and takes on similar physical forms: a graphite-like one used as a lubricant, and a diamond-like one used as an abrasive. Ferrite (Fe3O4), which is ferrimagnetic and is used in the magnetic cores of electrical transformers and magnetic core memory. Lead zirconate titanate is another ferroelectric material. Magnesium diboride (MgB2), which is an unconventional superconductor. Silicon carbide (SiC), which is used as a susceptor in microwave furnaces, a commonly used abrasive, and as a refractory material. Silicon nitride (Si3N4), which is used as an abrasive powder. Steatite is used as an electrical insulator. Uranium oxide (UO2), used as fuel in nuclear reactors. Yttrium barium copper oxide (YBa2Cu3O7-x), another high temperature superconductor. Zinc oxide (ZnO), which is a semiconductor, and used in the construction of varistors. Zirconium dioxide (zirconia), which in pure form undergoes many phase changes between room temperature and practical sintering temperatures, can be chemically "stabilized" in several different forms. Its high oxygen ion conductivity recommends it for use in fuel cells. In another variant, metastable structures can impart transformation toughening for mechanical applications; most ceramic knife blades are made of this material.Sat, 20 Jan 2007 07:38:00 +0000http://www.theceramic.com/home/classification-of-technical-ceramics/http://www.theceramic.com/home/classification-of-technical-ceramics/Firstly you must have an O2 sim card with the 300 free text offer. OK, put your new sim card in your phone, then look in a booklet in your pack for the TOPUP card, on the front is a sticker which says ACTIVATE ring 248 (Free Call). Ring this number, you will be asked for the 19 digit number located on the reverse of the TOPUP card. Once the above steps have been done, activation is complete, hang up when asked. (NO NEED FOR A £10 TOPUP) YOU NOW HAVE 300 TEXTS FOR FREE On some phones it will come up saying ERROR whilst putting in the 19 digit number, if it does this don’t worry just hang up and your text free text are there. Or you could just text *148*19 digit number#SEND I guarantee this works on the all mobiles 100%. If you run out of the 300 text during the 30/31 day period, don’t worry they will be there on the next anniversary date you originally put the sim in your phone. No need to pay at all Also to claim your free £2.50 free credit on the sim card. Simply ring 21500 (Free Call) to register your details, u can use false name etc, but use an address and postcode that do exist. Within 5 days u will receive a text saying 'Thank you for registering and here is your free £2.50 credit from O2'. Again don’t worry this will not affect your free text as u are not using the TOPUP card to obtain credit. If You Have Already Topped Up Using The TOPUP Card You Can Still Get Free Texts. 1. Top up £10 of credit (you obviously already have if u need to use this method) 2.Take a note of what date and time you topped up – this is important. 3. Use your phone normally that month until you run out of your free (300) texts. 4. Once you’ve run out of your free (300) texts reset the date on your mobile to the date when you first topped up. 5. DON’T USE YOUR PHONE THAT DAY,WHICH MEANS DON’T MAKE A CONNECTION WITH ANYONE, BUT LEAVE YOUR PHONE, SWITCHED ON! 6. The next day, make sure it’s after 24hrs set your phone back to the correct date. 7.Now all you’ll have to do is wait until the next month & you’ll get a message from O2 saying "THANK YOU FOR TOPPING UP, YOU NOW HAVE YOUR FREE 300 TEXT MESSAGES" 8.You can only get 300 free texts once every month, so make sure you don’t run out half way through. 9. Now all you have to do is repeat this every month, so no more need to top up - free texts for life! Mon, 08 Jan 2007 02:08:00 +0000http://www.theceramic.com/useful-info-for-life/o2-genie-sim-card-cheat-free-texts-for-life/http://www.theceramic.com/useful-info-for-life/o2-genie-sim-card-cheat-free-texts-for-life/