2. Pertaining to the circumstances environing a person or something: Mosquitoes have a natural enemy and that is the dragonfly!
3. Regarding a quality or ability which is innate in an individual; inborn: Mary had the natural talent of becoming a wonderful singer!
4. In music, a note that is neither sharped nor flatted: The natural sign was placed in front of the printed musical notation in Jane's piano music indicating that the tone was not to be raised or lowered.
Plant fibers include cotton, flax, hemp, jute, etc.
Animal fibers include wool, camel hair, angora, silk, etc.
Natural fibers have been used by humans for thousands of years; as, animal hair and plant fibers were spun into yarn and woven into textiles and the modern textile industry is still based on those ancient technologies.
Both natural and synthetic fibers consist of linear polymers. These polymers are converted into fibrous form by growth (animal hair and plant fibers) or extrusion (spider and silk worm) and are specifically oriented to the fiber axis.
"The United States is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas."
"According to the Energy Information Administration, the United States has more than 2,552 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas; which is enough to fuel the United States for 110 years.
"Unconventional sources, such as shale gas found in the Marcellus Shale Formation beneath Pennsylvania and parts of New York and the Barnett Formation under Texas account for 60% of U.S. reserves."
"The extraction technique, known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking, is done by
- First, drill a mile down into the earth, then take a right turn and drill laterally into a shale rock formation.
- Next, fracture the shale rock by blasting it with millions of gallons of water, sand and a small amount of chemicals.
- Finally, withdraw that water/sand/chemical mixture, along with natural gas released from the interstices (small openings) of the fractured rock.
"Fracking fluids consist of water, sand, and a small amount of chemicals."
"Water and sand can make up more than 99.5 percent of the fluid."
"Water acts as the primary carrier fluid in hydraulic fracturing, and sand props open the fractures so that gas may escape."
The Ultimate Visual Guide to Everything on Earth; Senior Project Editor, Kathryn Hennessy; Dorling Kindersley Limited, Publishing; New York; 2010.
Printed and bound in China by Leo Paper Products Ltd.
R.J. Lincoln and G.A. Boxshall; Cambridge University Press; Cambridge, England; 1987.