Celebrations in Germany's carnival-crazed cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz reached their apex on Rose Monday, after a weekend of carnival parties. However the fun turned nasty in some European cities, with far-right violence and two deaths. Germany's boisterous carnival celebrations reached their climax Monday, when the traditional Rose Monday parades were held. Millions of revelers flooded the streets of German cities, especially the Carnival-crazed metropolises of Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz, to watch parades featuring marching bands and politicallyIn Cologne, the heartland of Germany's carnival, more than a million people watched a parade that included 97 floats and 123 marching bands. The floats in Cologne and Düsseldorf are made of paper maché and themed to lampoon newsmakers and current events. Osama bin Laden took a literal "blood bath" on one float, while a weary and naked German Chancellor Angela Merkel shared a diaper with Kurt Beck, leader of the country's Social Democrats, on another.
Celebrations in Germany's carnival-crazed cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz reached their apex on Rose Monday, after a weekend of carnival parties. However the fun turned nasty in some European cities, with far-right violence and two deaths.
Germany's boisterous carnival celebrations reached their climax Monday, when the traditional Rose Monday parades were held. Millions of revelers flooded the streets of German cities, especially the Carnival-crazed metropolises of Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz, to watch parades featuring marching bands and politically
In Cologne, the heartland of Germany's carnival, more than a million people watched a parade that included 97 floats and 123 marching bands. The floats in Cologne and Düsseldorf are made of paper maché and themed to lampoon newsmakers and current events. Osama bin Laden took a literal "blood bath" on one float, while a weary and naked German Chancellor Angela Merkel shared a diaper with Kurt Beck, leader of the country's Social Democrats, on another.
Applied Materials, a leader in chipmaking equipment, is ramping up on solar-panel machines and counting on European regulations for business. A field of solar panels near Leipzig, Germany Europe has set an ambitious target to obtain 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Trouble is, even if only one-quarter of it comes from the sun, that much power will require enough solar panels to generate 200 gigawatts of electricity. That's a tall order -- some 25 times the current annual production of solar panels around the world. Clearly, manufacturing volumes have to jump, or Europe's green energy target will be out of reach. Help is on the way from an unlikely source: Silicon Valley's Applied Materials, the world leader in chipmaking equipment. For 40 years, Applied Materials has been producing high-precision manufacturing gear for semiconductors and flat-panel displays; now it's racing to sell specialized machines that churn out solar panels more cheaply and in higher volumes than ever before. The immediate goal is to drive down the cost-per-watt of solar electricity by at least 25 percent -- and eventually bring it to parity with conventional sources such as coal and natural gas. "Applied has a history of using technology and smart engineering to lower cost and grow markets," says Chief Executive Mike Splinter. "We see a real opportunity to change the cost equation for solar power through adoption of our existing technology and new innovation."
Applied Materials, a leader in chipmaking equipment, is ramping up on solar-panel machines and counting on European regulations for business.
A field of solar panels near Leipzig, Germany Europe has set an ambitious target to obtain 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Trouble is, even if only one-quarter of it comes from the sun, that much power will require enough solar panels to generate 200 gigawatts of electricity. That's a tall order -- some 25 times the current annual production of solar panels around the world. Clearly, manufacturing volumes have to jump, or Europe's green energy target will be out of reach.
Help is on the way from an unlikely source: Silicon Valley's Applied Materials, the world leader in chipmaking equipment. For 40 years, Applied Materials has been producing high-precision manufacturing gear for semiconductors and flat-panel displays; now it's racing to sell specialized machines that churn out solar panels more cheaply and in higher volumes than ever before.
The immediate goal is to drive down the cost-per-watt of solar electricity by at least 25 percent -- and eventually bring it to parity with conventional sources such as coal and natural gas. "Applied has a history of using technology and smart engineering to lower cost and grow markets," says Chief Executive Mike Splinter. "We see a real opportunity to change the cost equation for solar power through adoption of our existing technology and new innovation."
that much power will require enough solar panels to generate 200 gigawatts of electricity.
Bah, another journalist who can't distinguish gigawatts and gigawatt-hours (per annum). *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said. The vast expanse of debris - in effect the world's largest rubbish dump - is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting "soup" stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.Charles Moore, an American oceanographer who discovered the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" or "trash vortex", believes that about 100 million tons of flotsam are circulating in the region. Marcus Eriksen, a research director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which Mr Moore founded, said yesterday: "The original idea that people had was that it was an island of plastic garbage that you could almost walk on. It is not quite like that. It is almost like a plastic soup. It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States."
A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said.
The vast expanse of debris - in effect the world's largest rubbish dump - is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting "soup" stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.
Charles Moore, an American oceanographer who discovered the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" or "trash vortex", believes that about 100 million tons of flotsam are circulating in the region. Marcus Eriksen, a research director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which Mr Moore founded, said yesterday: "The original idea that people had was that it was an island of plastic garbage that you could almost walk on. It is not quite like that. It is almost like a plastic soup. It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States."
OTTAWA (Reuters) - It may be wishful thinking, but a Canadian government ministry has sent out a directive to its employees urging them to relax and not to use their BlackBerry smartphones at night or on weekends and holidays. ADVERTISEMENT Trying to re-establish a proper balance between work and life, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is starting by trying to cut the chains to what some have called CrackBerries. The department's deputy minister, Richard Fadden, sent out a memo asking employees to implement a BlackBerry "blackout" between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and on weekends and holidays. "Work/life quality is a priority for me and this organization because achieving it benefits us both as individuals and as a department," Fadden wrote.
Trying to re-establish a proper balance between work and life, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is starting by trying to cut the chains to what some have called CrackBerries.
The department's deputy minister, Richard Fadden, sent out a memo asking employees to implement a BlackBerry "blackout" between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and on weekends and holidays.
"Work/life quality is a priority for me and this organization because achieving it benefits us both as individuals and as a department," Fadden wrote.
Ten human embryos each containing the DNA from one man and two women have been created in a project that within three years could lead to the first genetically altered babies being born in Britain.Have your say: How far should scientists go in the quest to cure disease?Daily Telegraph Q&A: three-parent embryos The form of gene transplant proposed in Newcastle will be bitterly opposed by pro-life campaigners but offers the first realistic hope of an effective treatment for an entire class of serious genetic diseases. Progress is such that Lord Walton of Detchant has tabled an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would allow this radical treatment to be used without seeking the permission of Parliament by seeking the approval of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority instead.
Ten human embryos each containing the DNA from one man and two women have been created in a project that within three years could lead to the first genetically altered babies being born in Britain.
The form of gene transplant proposed in Newcastle will be bitterly opposed by pro-life campaigners but offers the first realistic hope of an effective treatment for an entire class of serious genetic diseases.
Progress is such that Lord Walton of Detchant has tabled an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would allow this radical treatment to be used without seeking the permission of Parliament by seeking the approval of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority instead.
