michael_singleton

Electric Vehicles!

Today we spent part of the day discussing how electric vehicles compare to gas cars. As well, we went a little bit into the ethics of lithium mining. Lithium mining is not very widely discussed, but there are a lot of issues with it. Luckily, one of the biggest EV manufacturers, Tesla, has reduced its lithium use. We also discussed how electric vehicles still make gas emission, albeit less. If you are interested, please see this article: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/17/climate/electric-vehicle-emissions-truck-suv.html

Overall, I believe we had a very productive and informative day surrounding electric vehicles.

Climbing and Media Representation

After climbing, we watched the Free Solo documentary, a documentary about Alex Honnold’s climb up El Capitan. After watching the documentary, we discussed the ethics of representing such a dangerous act. On the one hand, it showed that with a determined mindset, you can do anything. However, it also glorified the act of free soloing, which is very dangerous.

Rock Climbing

This morning we went to the Triangle Rock Club Gym. I hadn’t been climbing in a while, so this was definitely a challenge. On the specific course that can be seen below, I was having to use the leverage of my arms to put my feet in another place. Reflecting on this experience later, I realize how I really pushed my limits as a climber and thinker. Although it may not seem like it does, rock climbing takes a lot of thinking and analysis!

Jordan Lake Reflection

Overall, I had a really fun time today. It was really amazing to be out on the water, and get to see the natural beauty of North Carolina. I also liked getting to apply my knowledge of things like solution chemistry in the real world. Based on our pH reading and the volume of Jordan Lake, there are around 4.011 * 10^27 molecules of hydronium in the lake. So overall, this was a really great learning experience!

Kayaking at Jordan Lake

This morning we set out on our experiential learning adventure by kayaking at Jordan Lake. The water was really calm, and we mostly had the lake to ourselves. I hadn’t kayaked in a while, but it was really nice to be out on the water again!