Beijing (AFP) July 27, 2010 A landslide in southwestern China left 21 people missing Tuesday as torrential rains forced officials to shut boat traffic through the Three Gorges Dam as they braced for a new flood crest. China has struggled for weeks with deadly flooding that has killed at least 823 people, left 437 missing and caused at least 22 billion dollars in damage, and authorities have warned of more destruction. The 21 villagers went missing when Tuesday's landslide struck Hanyuan county in the southwestern province of Sichuan, destroying or damaging dozens of houses, the local government said on its website. Weeks of torrential rain across huge areas of China, mainly in the country's southern half, have caused repeated deadly landslides and triggered the nation's worst flooding in a decade.
China has struggled for weeks with deadly flooding that has killed at least 823 people, left 437 missing and caused at least 22 billion dollars in damage, and authorities have warned of more destruction.
The 21 villagers went missing when Tuesday's landslide struck Hanyuan county in the southwestern province of Sichuan, destroying or damaging dozens of houses, the local government said on its website.
Weeks of torrential rain across huge areas of China, mainly in the country's southern half, have caused repeated deadly landslides and triggered the nation's worst flooding in a decade.
YICHANG, July 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Three Gorges Dam was tested for the second time this month when the swiftest water flow of the year hurtled down the swollen Yangtze River on Wednesday morning. Flow rates as high as 56,000 cubic meters per second were recorded at the dam at 8 a.m. Wednesday, dam engineers said. The dam withstood the flow with a water discharge rate of 40,000 cubic meters per second, meaning 16,000 cubic meters of water per second accumulated in the reservoir behind the dam. The safety monitoring results of the dam during the second flood peak have met engineers' predictions to prove its ability to contain flood waters, said Cao Guangjing, chairman of the China Three Gorges Corporation.
YICHANG, July 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Three Gorges Dam was tested for the second time this month when the swiftest water flow of the year hurtled down the swollen Yangtze River on Wednesday morning.
Flow rates as high as 56,000 cubic meters per second were recorded at the dam at 8 a.m. Wednesday, dam engineers said.
The dam withstood the flow with a water discharge rate of 40,000 cubic meters per second, meaning 16,000 cubic meters of water per second accumulated in the reservoir behind the dam.
The safety monitoring results of the dam during the second flood peak have met engineers' predictions to prove its ability to contain flood waters, said Cao Guangjing, chairman of the China Three Gorges Corporation.
REUTERS - The French government said state-owned electricity giant EDF and nuclear reactor maker Areva would sign a wide-ranging partnership to help the country regain its leadership in nuclear energy. After a report on the health of France's nuclear sector was published on Tuesday, President Nicolas Sarkozy's government called for closer coordination between the companies to offset recent losses of contracts to Asian rivals. The government will study the possibility of EDF taking a stake in Areva, according to a statement released by Sarkozy's office. The government confirmed that Areva would sell about 15 percent of itself by the end of the year, and said discussions with potential partners were underway.
PARIS, July 27 (Xinhua) -- During the process of rapid economic development, "China will need energy, and it is very legitimate," Fatih Birol, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said Tuesday. Last week, the Paris-based energy adviser published a report ranking China as the biggest energy user in the world, which sparked international concern over Beijing's influence on global energy markets. However, Birol, the economist who presented the report, said that surprise is not the expected response to the report. "A year ago, China was a very small margin behind the United States. It's normal because as a developed country, the U.S. energy demand is not as strong as China's," he said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
PARIS, July 27 (Xinhua) -- During the process of rapid economic development, "China will need energy, and it is very legitimate," Fatih Birol, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said Tuesday.
Last week, the Paris-based energy adviser published a report ranking China as the biggest energy user in the world, which sparked international concern over Beijing's influence on global energy markets.
However, Birol, the economist who presented the report, said that surprise is not the expected response to the report.
"A year ago, China was a very small margin behind the United States. It's normal because as a developed country, the U.S. energy demand is not as strong as China's," he said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
Anne Milton said the the term fat was more likely to motivate people into losing weight, adding it was important people took ''personal responsibility'' for their lifestyles. Stressing she was speaking in a personal capacity, she told the BBC: ''If I look in the mirror and think I am obese I think I am less worried than if I think I am fat.''
Anne Milton said the the term fat was more likely to motivate people into losing weight, adding it was important people took ''personal responsibility'' for their lifestyles.
Stressing she was speaking in a personal capacity, she told the BBC: ''If I look in the mirror and think I am obese I think I am less worried than if I think I am fat.''
The PDSA's findings indicate that 35 percent of the dogs surveyed are carrying far too much weight, a figure that has risen 21 percent from four years ago .... The PDSA report concludes that if the current trend isn't halted, the figure could rise to 50 percent by 2013, damaging quality and duration of life for the nation's pets .... Overweight pets are less mobile, less willing to play and more likely to develop a number of serious health conditions.
The PDSA report concludes that if the current trend isn't halted, the figure could rise to 50 percent by 2013, damaging quality and duration of life for the nation's pets ....
Overweight pets are less mobile, less willing to play and more likely to develop a number of serious health conditions.
Global temperatures in the first half of the year were the hottest since records began more than a century ago, according to two of the world's leading climate research centres.Scientists have also released what they described as the "best evidence yet" of rising long-term temperatures. The report is the first to collate 11 different indicators - from air and sea temperatures to melting ice - each one based on between three and seven data sets, dating back to between 1850 and the 1970s.The newly released data follows months of scrutiny of climate science after sceptics claimed leaked emails from the University of East Anglia (UEA) suggested temperature records had been manipulated - a charge rejected by three inquiries.
Global temperatures in the first half of the year were the hottest since records began more than a century ago, according to two of the world's leading climate research centres.
Scientists have also released what they described as the "best evidence yet" of rising long-term temperatures. The report is the first to collate 11 different indicators - from air and sea temperatures to melting ice - each one based on between three and seven data sets, dating back to between 1850 and the 1970s.
The newly released data follows months of scrutiny of climate science after sceptics claimed leaked emails from the University of East Anglia (UEA) suggested temperature records had been manipulated - a charge rejected by three inquiries.
Scientists in 48 countries have concluded the past 10 years were the warmest on record, as a Met Office climate expert tells Science Correspondent Tom Clarke the decade on decade trend is "stonkingly obvious".
Current changes to the climate are "undeniable" and show clear signs of "human fingerprints", researchers have claimed in the first major new piece of scientific research since the "climategate" scandals. Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring at the UK's Met Office, said the research based on a total of 11 indicators painted a clear picture of all of the earth's important climate systems: "The fingerprints are clear... The glaringly obvious explanation for this is warming from greenhouse gases."The research, headed by the US National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration, is the first to gather together the relevant data in this way and takes scientists much further than the IPCC report of more than three years ago, by adding in new data not available then.
Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring at the UK's Met Office, said the research based on a total of 11 indicators painted a clear picture of all of the earth's important climate systems: "The fingerprints are clear... The glaringly obvious explanation for this is warming from greenhouse gases."
The research, headed by the US National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration, is the first to gather together the relevant data in this way and takes scientists much further than the IPCC report of more than three years ago, by adding in new data not available then.
And finally I hate buses because they are the symbol of a socialist society where people rely on the state to provide transport.
cue Mrs thatcher ; A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure. ...
pricks keep to the Fen Causeway
(July 26) -- Cash-register receipts from many fast-food outlets, groceries, pharmacies, big-box stores and U.S. post offices contain high levels of the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A.A study released late today by the Environmental Working Group reported that a laboratory analysis it commissioned found the plastic component BPA on 40 percent of receipts from McDonald's, CVS, KFC, Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, Safeway and other businesses.
Drinking alcohol can not only ease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis it appears to reduce disease severity too, research suggests. Scientists at the University of Sheffield asked two groups of patients with and without the disease to provide details of their drinking habits. They found that patients who had drunk alcohol most frequently experienced less joint pain and swelling. Experts say this should not be taken as a green light for drinking more.
Drinking alcohol can not only ease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis it appears to reduce disease severity too, research suggests.
Scientists at the University of Sheffield asked two groups of patients with and without the disease to provide details of their drinking habits.
They found that patients who had drunk alcohol most frequently experienced less joint pain and swelling.
Experts say this should not be taken as a green light for drinking more.
HELENA, Mont. -- A bear attack Wednesday in a campground near Yellowstone National Park left one person dead and two injured, Montana wildlife officials said. A man was killed in the attack at the Soda Butte campground near Cooke City that was reported about 4 a.m., Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said. A woman suffered severe lacerations from bites on her arms, while another man was bitten on his calf and taken to a hospital in Cody, Wyo.
HELENA, Mont. -- A bear attack Wednesday in a campground near Yellowstone National Park left one person dead and two injured, Montana wildlife officials said.
A man was killed in the attack at the Soda Butte campground near Cooke City that was reported about 4 a.m., Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said.
A woman suffered severe lacerations from bites on her arms, while another man was bitten on his calf and taken to a hospital in Cody, Wyo.
Renewable goals can be met, many in the industry insist. But if the energy source is intermittent, "you can't do that without batteries of some sort," said Peter Rosegg, a spokesman for the Hawaiian Electric Company. His company has agreed to buy electricity from a wind farm on the northern shore of Oahu, where the Boston-based power company First Wind has just broken ground. The spot is one of Hawaii's best wind sites, Mr. Rosegg said, but the supply is gusty and erratic. What is more, it is at the farthest point on the island from the company's main load center, Honolulu, and does not even lie on its high-voltage transmission backbone. So the 30-megawatt wind farm, which will have enough power to run about 30 Super Wal-Marts, will have Xtreme Power of Austin, Tex., install a 15-megawatt battery. Computers will work to keep the battery exactly half-charged most hours of the day, said Carlos J. Coe, Xtreme Power's chief executive. If the wind suddenly gets stronger or falls off, the batteries will smooth out the flow so that the grid sees only a more gradual increase or decrease, no more than one megawatt per minute at some hours of the day. The Hawaii installation is designed to succeed at a crucial but obscure function: frequency regulation. The alternating-current power system has to run at a strict 60 cycles per second, and the battery system can give and take power on a micro scale, changing directions from charge to discharge or vice versa within that 60th of a second, to keep the pace steady. The battery system can also be used for arbitrage, storing energy at times when prices are low and delivering it when prices are high. It can hold 10 megawatt-hours, which is as much energy as a 30-megawatt wind farm will produce in 20 minutes if it is running at full capacity. That is not much time, but it is huge in terms of storage capacity. Neither First Wind nor Xtreme Power would say what the project cost, but publicly disclosed figures put the project in the range of $130 million, with about $10 million for the battery. The Energy Department has provided a $117 million loan guarantee. Across the country, it is proving hard to predict the cost and the value of power storage to consumers. The electricity stored in off-peak hours could be quite low in cost, and prices at peak hours could be quite high. If the reliance on renewable energy reduces the need to burn coal and natural gas, that would yield an additional advantage. Mr. Coe estimated the battery system's round-trip efficiency -- that is, the amount of electricity the batteries could deliver per megawatt-hour stored in them -- at over 90 percent. If that figure is borne out, it would be a significant advance from the largest form of energy storage now in general use, pumped hydropower, whose efficiency is put at 70 to 85 percent.
Renewable goals can be met, many in the industry insist. But if the energy source is intermittent, "you can't do that without batteries of some sort," said Peter Rosegg, a spokesman for the Hawaiian Electric Company.
His company has agreed to buy electricity from a wind farm on the northern shore of Oahu, where the Boston-based power company First Wind has just broken ground.
The spot is one of Hawaii's best wind sites, Mr. Rosegg said, but the supply is gusty and erratic. What is more, it is at the farthest point on the island from the company's main load center, Honolulu, and does not even lie on its high-voltage transmission backbone.
So the 30-megawatt wind farm, which will have enough power to run about 30 Super Wal-Marts, will have Xtreme Power of Austin, Tex., install a 15-megawatt battery.
Computers will work to keep the battery exactly half-charged most hours of the day, said Carlos J. Coe, Xtreme Power's chief executive. If the wind suddenly gets stronger or falls off, the batteries will smooth out the flow so that the grid sees only a more gradual increase or decrease, no more than one megawatt per minute at some hours of the day.
The Hawaii installation is designed to succeed at a crucial but obscure function: frequency regulation. The alternating-current power system has to run at a strict 60 cycles per second, and the battery system can give and take power on a micro scale, changing directions from charge to discharge or vice versa within that 60th of a second, to keep the pace steady.
The battery system can also be used for arbitrage, storing energy at times when prices are low and delivering it when prices are high. It can hold 10 megawatt-hours, which is as much energy as a 30-megawatt wind farm will produce in 20 minutes if it is running at full capacity. That is not much time, but it is huge in terms of storage capacity.
Neither First Wind nor Xtreme Power would say what the project cost, but publicly disclosed figures put the project in the range of $130 million, with about $10 million for the battery. The Energy Department has provided a $117 million loan guarantee.
Across the country, it is proving hard to predict the cost and the value of power storage to consumers. The electricity stored in off-peak hours could be quite low in cost, and prices at peak hours could be quite high. If the reliance on renewable energy reduces the need to burn coal and natural gas, that would yield an additional advantage.
Mr. Coe estimated the battery system's round-trip efficiency -- that is, the amount of electricity the batteries could deliver per megawatt-hour stored in them -- at over 90 percent. If that figure is borne out, it would be a significant advance from the largest form of energy storage now in general use, pumped hydropower, whose efficiency is put at 70 to 85 percent.
A group of oil companies including BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Citgo, Chevron and other polluters are using a front group called "America's WETLAND Foundation" and a Louisiana women's group called Women of the Storm to spread the message that U.S. taxpayers should pay for the damage caused by BP to Gulf Coast wetlands, and that the reckless offshore oil industry should continue drilling for the "wholesale sustainability" of the region. Using the age-old PR trick of featuring celebrity messengers to attract public attention, America's Wetland Foundation is spreading a petition accompanied by a video starring Sandra Bullock, Dave Matthews, Lenny Kravitz, Emeril Lagassi, John Goodman, Harry Shearer, Peyton and Eli Manning, Drew Brees and others.
A group of oil companies including BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Citgo, Chevron and other polluters are using a front group called "America's WETLAND Foundation" and a Louisiana women's group called Women of the Storm to spread the message that U.S. taxpayers should pay for the damage caused by BP to Gulf Coast wetlands, and that the reckless offshore oil industry should continue drilling for the "wholesale sustainability" of the region.
Using the age-old PR trick of featuring celebrity messengers to attract public attention, America's Wetland Foundation is spreading a petition accompanied by a video starring Sandra Bullock, Dave Matthews, Lenny Kravitz, Emeril Lagassi, John Goodman, Harry Shearer, Peyton and Eli Manning, Drew Brees and others.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
Moscow region chief Boris Gromov asked Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to allocate 25 billion roubles ($827 million) to fight the fires smoldering in the forests around Moscow. Alexei Yablokov, an internationally renowned biologist who runs Russia's Green Party, said air pollution caused by the smog's high amount of carbon dioxide could kill hundreds more people than usual in the Moscow region. "There will be at least 100 additional deaths per day this time round," Yablokov told Reuters, referring to the last such smog cloud in 2002 in which he calculated 600 people had died each week. Read more...
Alexei Yablokov, an internationally renowned biologist who runs Russia's Green Party, said air pollution caused by the smog's high amount of carbon dioxide could kill hundreds more people than usual in the Moscow region.
"There will be at least 100 additional deaths per day this time round," Yablokov told Reuters, referring to the last such smog cloud in 2002 in which he calculated 600 people had died each week.
Read more...
President Obama has called the BP oil spill "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced," and so has just about everyone else. Green groups are sounding alarms about the "Catastrophe Along the Gulf Coast," while CBS, Fox and MSNBC slap "Disaster in the Gulf" chryons on all their spill-related news. Even BP fall guy Tony Hayward, after some early happy talk, admitted the spill was an "environmental catastrophe." The obnoxious anti-environmentalist Rush Limbaugh has been a rare voice arguing that the spill -- he calls it "the leak" -- is anything less than an ecological calamity, scoffing at the avalanche of end-is-nigh eco-hype.
After about two decades of continuous research on Intelligent Vehicles, VisLab is preparing to set a new worldwide milestone in the field of Vehicular Robotics. Autonomous vehicles are being prepared and tested to drive with no human intervention from Parma, Italy, to Shanghai, China, along a 13,000 km and 3 months unique journey. Not only the vehicles are unmanned, but they run on electrical power and the whole electronic pilot is powered by solar energy, making this trip unique in history: goods packed in Italy will be brought to Shanghai on an intercontinental route with no human intervention and without using traditional fuel for the first time in history. You can discover the challenge, read about the difficulties, and follow the expedition live on www.IntercontinentalChallenge.eu ; a blog is also available to interact with the engineers testing and following the vehicles. Live video streaming from the vehicles is available during the whole expedition, so that the world will be able to eye-witness this historical milestone.
After about two decades of continuous research on Intelligent Vehicles, VisLab is preparing to set a new worldwide milestone in the field of Vehicular Robotics. Autonomous vehicles are being prepared and tested to drive with no human intervention from Parma, Italy, to Shanghai, China, along a 13,000 km and 3 months unique journey.
Not only the vehicles are unmanned, but they run on electrical power and the whole electronic pilot is powered by solar energy, making this trip unique in history: goods packed in Italy will be brought to Shanghai on an intercontinental route with no human intervention and without using traditional fuel for the first time in history.
You can discover the challenge, read about the difficulties, and follow the expedition live on www.IntercontinentalChallenge.eu ; a blog is also available to interact with the engineers testing and following the vehicles. Live video streaming from the vehicles is available during the whole expedition, so that the world will be able to eye-witness this historical milestone.
here's the working link http://viac.vislab.it/ ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
