Thermal Treatment Technologies: Risks and Rewards of Thermal Destruction
Thermal destruction of hazardous wastes has much potential, but it has aroused much public concern, as well. Even the best such techniques are only safe and effective when they are controlled and done properly--somethin..
Thermal Treatment Technologies: Thermal Destruction
Since ancient times, the burning of waste has been a common practice. Unfortunately, incineration as generally practiced created serious environmental problems. Today, however, thermal treatment technology has demonstr..
Thermal Treatment Technologies: Wet Air Oxidation
Wet air oxidation is a process in which organic matter in an aqueous solution can be oxidized and release heat, provided that oxygen is present under increasing pressure. With the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972,..
Thinking and Language: Case of Wrongful Termination?, A
A shadow jury listens carefully to opposing attorneys characterize the events that led a quality control manager, Elena Gonzales, to file a lawsuit against her former employer. Is this a case of wrongful termination? Wha..
Thinking and Language: Child's Remarkable Ability to Acquire Language, A
Young children gain access to language in well-documented stages, from cooing and babbling to an explosion of words at about 18 months. B. F. Skinner thought that language acquisition relied on operant conditioning and r..
Thinking and Language: Does Language Influence the Way We Think?
The linguistic relativity hypothesis suggests that the language a person speaks influences the way he thinks. Asian languages are often described as high context languages (what you say may or may not be what you mean, d..
Thinking and Language: Factors That Affect Human Judgment
Most people are overconfident in their judgments. How an issue is formulated, or framed, can influence preferences. For example, 10% mortality and 90% survival mean the same thing, but do not have the same impact. An aff..
Thinking and Language: How Pre-existing Beliefs Distort Logical Reasoning
Pre-existing beliefs can distort logical reasoning as demonstrated in an experiment related to attitudes toward homosexuality. Both sides of the ideological spectrum were equally biased. People are much more skeptical ab..
Thinking and Language: Intuition and Decision Making
People make intuitive, immediate judgments sometimes based on nothing more than a tone of voice on the other end of a conversation. People also make more reflective decisions based on thought and reasoning. Daniel Kahnem..
Thinking and Language: Language: Its Complexity and Essence
Language, many believe, provides concrete evidence of our ability to think. Fundamentally, all languages have the same basic parameters, with variations occurring as a result of how the "switch box" linked to these param..