venerdì 30 settembre 2011

Plants and CO2

Plants absorb carbon dioxide and exhale Oxygen. They are a major part of the global cycle. The global uptake of carbon by land plants may be up to 45 per cent more than previously thought. This is the conclusion of an international team of scientists, based on the variability of heavy oxygen atoms in the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere driven by the El Niño effect. As the oxygen atoms in carbon dioxide were converted faster than expected during the El Niño years, current estimates for the uptake of carbon by plants are probably too low. These should be corrected upwards, say the researchers in the current issue of the scientific journal NATURE. Instead of 120 petagrams of carbon, the annual global vegetation uptake probably lies between 150 and 175 petagrams of carbon. This value is a kind of gross national product for land plants and indicates how productive the biosphere of the Earth is. The reworking of this so-called global primary productivity would have significant consequences for the coupled carbon cycle-climate model used in climate research to predict future climate change.

Afghanistan Mineral Potential

Mineral deposits can create jobs, industry, wealth and potentially pollution. It could help stabilize a war torn country such as Afghanistan. Working with the Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO), members of the USGS Minerals Project assessed fuel- and non-fuel mineral resources of Afghanistan from October 2009 to September 2011 with the goal of identifying particular deposits that could be relatively easily developed.The team identified key Areas of Interest (AOI)—and subareas within them—that fit these criteria. The AOIs contain mineral reserves or resources that have been well-documented through sampling in trenches, drill holes, and/or underground workings. Most are accessible by existing roads. So to develop or not to develop.

New Zealand adjusts its CO2 trading program to address market distortions

New Zealand is looking to exclude the use of U.N. offsets from industrial gas projects in its emissions trading scheme from as soon as 2012, as these offsets threaten to distort the market, the government said on Friday.

giovedì 29 settembre 2011

L.A. Air Force Base Will Deploy 100% Electric Vehicle Fleet

The U.S. Air Force recently announced that its Los Angeles base would be the first federal facility to replace 100 percent of its general purpose fleet with electric vehicles. This switch will mean all 40 vehicles owned or leased by the base, including passenger sedans, two-ton trucks and shuttle buses, will be replaced by fully-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and extended-range electric alternatives. Force protection, tactical and emergency response vehicles will remain exempt for now.

World has 'enough water' for future food needs

There is enough water in the world's rivers to meet the demands of the expanding global population, but the rivers have to be better managed, according to a series of studies released today at the 14th World Water Congress in Porto de Galinhas, Brazil.

mercoledì 28 settembre 2011

Potatoes and Potassium

Many people enjoy potatoes which also have historical significance such as the great Irish great potato famine that forced many to emigrate. Fruit are also perceived as healthy. Research presented in September 2011 at the American Dietetic Association's (ADA) Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE) demonstrates that potatoes are one of the best nutritional values in the produce department, providing significantly better nutritional value per dollar than most other raw vegetables. Per serving, white potatoes were the largest and most affordable source of potassium of any vegetable or fruit. Potatoes were the lowest cost source of dietary potassium, a nutrient identified by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines as lacking in the American diet. The high cost of meeting federal dietary guidelines for potassium, 4,700 mg per person per day, presents a challenge for consumers and health professionals, alike. However, the cost of potassium-rich white potatoes was half that of most other vegetables.

Ford Develops E-Bike Protoype

Earlier this year, Ford announced its ongoing commitment to vehicle electrification.. The automaker will be sticking to expansions in four-wheel offerings, but, surprisingly they’re also also turning their attention to two-wheelers: E-bikes. While this change represents a radical departure from the company’s core offering, it’s a logical move nonetheless. Vehicle electrification might be the sort of technology that forces a paradigm shift in personal transportation. Although electric vehicles have been around for as long as those powered by internal combustion engines, advanced batteries, sophisticated software controllers and modern and compact electric motors have created new opportunities to reinvent traditional vehicle platforms — the lowly bicycle included.

Obama administration to push back fuel efficiency standards

The Obama administration will push back the release of the most ambitious proposal ever for automakers to improve fuel efficiency of their passenger cars, sport utility vehicles and pickups.

New Boom Reshapes Oil World, Rocks North Dakota

Two years ago, America was importing about two thirds of its oil. Today, according to the Energy Information Administration, it imports less than half. And by 2017, investment bank Goldman Sachs predicts the US could be poised to pass Saudi Arabia and overtake Russia as the world's largest oil producer.
Places like Williston are the reason why.

African Countries Struggle To Fight Overfishing

Many countries in Africa are starting to turn the corner economically. With global economic powers looking for new sources of everything from minerals to food products, Africa has attracted heaps of investment in recent years. But the effects are not necessarily benefiting everyone in Africa, and there is mounting concern that many will not share in the riches.

Respiratory Hazards for City Bicyclists

A new report presented at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam over the weekend claims that individuals who regularly bicycle in major cities like London and Amsterdam have increased levels of black carbon in their respiratory systems. A condition commonly associated with turn-of-the-century industrial revolution processes, black lung is still persistent in the right environments. City cyclists are at a higher risk simply because they are breathing heavier in a relatively polluted environment.

Alcohol and Asthma

Alcohol has it negative and its positive attributes. Now drinking alcohol in moderate quantities can possibly reduce the risk of asthma, according to Danish researchers. The study, which will be presented September 25, 2011) at the European Respiratory Society’s Annual Congress in Amsterdam, found that drinking 1—6 units of alcohol a week could reduce the risk of developing the condition. The research examined 19,349 twins between the ages of 12 and 41 yrs of age. All participants completed a questionnaire at the start and end of the study to compare alcohol intake with the risk of developing asthma over 8 years.

Why Are Investors Bearish on Clean Energy?

I called my friend, clean energy finance expert Bill Paul for some advice the other day. "I have a client with a breakthrough in battery chemistry, and I’m trying to find them a manufacturing partner in the electric vehicles space. Where do you think I should look?" I asked. By the word where, what I meant was at what companies? But what I got from Bill was this: "My first suggestion is that you forget everyone and everything in the United States." He went on, "There’s no money here. More correctly, there’s plenty of money, but it’s not moving. It’s sitting on the sidelines — two trillion dollars of it. Check out Europe. They have their own issues, of course, but at least they’re making investments, and not just sitting around watching the rest of the world fly past them."

martedì 27 settembre 2011

The Witwatersrand Legacy

The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700—1800 meters above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand led to the Second Boer War and ultimately the founding of South Africa. The Witwatersrand goldfields have more than a century of mining and has left the region littered with mounds of waste, known as tailings dumps, and underlain by a deep underground network of abandoned mine shafts, which are gradually filling with water. These mines as a result of highly efficient production methods may operate at depths in excess of 3000 meters where the specific geological conditions are suitable.

Typhoon Nesat pounds Philippines

Typhoon Nesat pounded the Philippines' main island on Tuesday, lashing crop-growing provinces and bringing the capital to a near standstill as it flooded roads, cut power supplies and closed financial markets, government offices, transport and schools.

In the News: Fishing boats kill up to 320,000 seabirds a year

The study, published in the journal Endangered Species Research and being presented today at the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, reports that some seabird species are being pushed towards extinction as many fishing fleets fail to implement simple measures to prevent bycatch.

lunedì 26 settembre 2011

Plastics Industry Influenced CA School Curriculum

New information has emerged regarding how a pro-plastic lobbying group may have influenced the environmental curriculum in California schools. According to California Watch, the American Chemistry Council was able to edit textbooks to include positive, misleading information about plastic bags.

Volunteers Bring Solar Energy to Low-Income Homes

Here’s a feel-good story that I just caught glimpse of while browsing Sierra Club Green Home. GRID alternatives, a California non-profit whose goal is to provide low-income communities with renewable energy, recently installed 13 solar energy systems in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood.
According to the article by Kathleen Haley, the event was one of several planned for this year’s Solarthon, an “annual solar installation block party and fundraiser for GRID Alternatives…[that] brings together hundreds of individual, team, and corporate participants from their communities to install multiple solar energy systems,” according to GRID alternatives’ site. (A video about the 2009 Solarthon is below.) Other 2011 Solarthon events will take place in San Diego, Fresno, Templeton, and Los Angeles.

domenica 25 settembre 2011

Deadly jobs: Working with water

When we are at work, doing the same thing day in day out, it is easy to grow complacent about the risks that are involved. When the daily grind involves diving to the depths of the ocean with very basic equipment, complacency could prove fatal.
The Philippines ranks 11th highest in the list of the world’s top seafood producers, with some coastal communities deriving up to 70 percent of their income from fishing. It is no wonder that with such high stakes risky practices are commonplace.

The VOLT goes to Europe as the Vauxhall Ampera

As GM gets ready to introduce the Chevy VOLT to Europe as the Vauxhall Ampera, this article by ENN Affiliate the Ecologist examines some background, and why this car really IS a game changer.
From fossil fuel generated electricity to unreliable batteries, electric cars haven't always lived up to the hype. But with the launch of the Vauxhall Ampera, could all that be about to change? Ruth Styles reports:

Tropics of Southeast Asia Experiencing Greatest Biodiversity Loss

One of the most exotic and wild places on Earth has been undergoing an unprecedented loss in biodiversity during the past 50 years. As these nations in the region became industrialized and their populations boomed, their once pristine forests have fallen rapidly. The deforestation is occurring for agricultural use, palm oil plantations, timber harvesting, and various other human uses. As the forests go, so do the species which dwell in them. In a new study published by researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia, it was found that this region has experienced the greatest loss of biodiversity in the whole world.

sabato 24 settembre 2011

The Acid Earth

Human use of Earth’s natural resources is making the air, oceans, freshwaters, and soils more acidic, according to a U.S. Geological Survey — University of Virginia study available online in the journal, Applied Geochemistry. This comprehensive review, the first on this topic to date, found the mining and burning of coal, the mining and smelting of metal ores, and the use of nitrogen fertilizer are the major causes of chemical oxidation processes that end generate acid in the Earth-surface environment. These widespread activities have increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, increasing the relative acidity of oceans; produced acid rain that has increased the acidity of freshwater bodies and soils; produced drainage from mines that has increased the acidity of freshwater streams and groundwater; and added nitrogen to crop lands that has increased the acidity of soils.

First radioactive rice found in Japan

Japan found the first case of rice with radioactive materials far exceeding a government-set level for a preliminary test of pre-harvested crop, requiring thorough inspection of the rice to be harvested from the region, the farm ministry said late on Friday.

Whales Mingle Across the Arctic

The loss of Arctic sea ice is predicted to open up the Northwest Passage (the vast northern sea lanes above Canada presently choked off by ice), shortening shipping routes and facilitating the exchange of marine organisms between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Skeletons, DNA samples and harpoon heads have all suggested that bowhead populations living on each side of the continent did meet and mingle in the past. Previous satellite tracking has demonstrated that bowhead whales from West Greenland and Alaska enter the ice-infested channels of the Canadian High Arctic during summer. In August 2010, two bowhead whales from West Greenland and Alaska entered the Northwest Passage from opposite directions and spent approximately 10 days in the same area, documenting overlap between the two populations.

WWF celebrates World Rhino Day

On the occasion of the second annual World Rhino Day, WWF joins the residents of rhinoceros range countries in calling for an end to rhino poaching, which threatens the survival of rhino species.

venerdì 23 settembre 2011

Hilary becomes Category 4 hurricane, Mexican coast on alert

Hilary, a small but powerful storm, strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane late on Thursday as its core continued to move parallel to the southwest Pacific coast of Mexico.

An Efficient Solar Harvest

Solar power could be harvested more efficiently and transported over longer distances using tiny molecular circuits based on quantum mechanics, according to research inspired by new insights into natural photosynthesis. Incorporating the latest research into how plants, algae and some bacteria use quantum mechanics to optimize energy production via photosynthesis, UCL scientists have set out how to design molecular circuitry that is 10 times smaller than the thinnest electrical wire in computer processors. Published in Nature Chemistry, the report discusses how tiny molecular energy grids could capture, direct, regulate and amplify raw solar energy.

CO2 Up in the World

Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)increased by 45 % between 1990 and 2010, and reached an all-time high of 33 billion tons in 2010. Increased energy efficiency, nuclear energy and the growing contribution of renewable energy are not compensating for the globally increasing demand for power and transport, which is strongest in developing countries. This increase took place despite emission reductions in industrialized countries during the same period. Even though different countries show widely variable emission trends, industrialized countries are likely to meet the collective Kyoto target of a 5.2 % reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 as a group, partly thanks to large emission reductions from economies in transition in the early nineties and more recent reductions due to the 2008-2009 recession. These figures were published today in the report "Long-term trend in global CO2 emissions", prepared by the European Commission's Joint Research Center and PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

Waste Water + Bacteria = Clean Energy

For the first time, researchers have sustainably produced hydrogen gas, a potential source of clean energy, using only water and bacteria. The challenge now, scientists say, is to scale up the process to provide large amounts of hydrogen for various purposes, such as fueling vehicles or small generators.

giovedì 22 settembre 2011

Scientists confirm ancient Egyptian knowledge: Nile crocodile is two species

DNA has shown that the Nile crocodile is in fact two very different species: a bigger, more aggressive crocodile and a smaller, tamer species that today survives only in West Africa. While the taxonomy of the Nile crocodile has been controversial for over a century, the new study points out that the ancient Egyptians recognized the differences in the species and avoided the big crocodile for its rituals.

Himalaya earthquake: search for survivors continues

Rescue workers with sensors and sniffer dogs searched through rubble on Wednesday for more survivors of an earthquake that has killed at least 100 people in a remote Himalayan region and left many, including 400 foreigners, stranded in far-flung areas.

Typhoon nears Tokyo, Toyota plants closing

At least four people died and two were missing in Japan as typhoon Roke bore down on Tokyo on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds and disturbing transport systems, public broadcaster NHK said.

mercoledì 21 settembre 2011

World Atlas ice loss claim exaggerated

The Times Atlas of the World exaggerated the rate of Greenland's ice loss in its thirteenth edition last week, scientists said on Monday. The atlas, published by HarperCollins, showed that Greenland lost 15 percent of its ice cover over the past 12 years, based on information from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado in the United States.

Killer Asteroids

Observations from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission indicate the family of asteroids some believed was responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs is not likely the culprit, keeping open the case on one of Earth's greatest mysteries. While scientists are confident a large asteroid crashed into Earth approximately 65 million years ago, leading to the extinction of dinosaurs and some other life forms on our planet, they do not know exactly where the asteroid came from or how it made its way to Earth. A 2007 study using visible-light data from ground-based telescopes first suggested the remnant of a huge asteroid, known as Baptistina, as a possible suspect. The hunt for the killer asteroid goes on.

Obama Draws New Hard Line on Long-Term Debt Reduction

WASHINGTON — With a scrappy unveiling of his formula to rein in the nation’s mounting debt, President Obama confirmed Monday that he had entered a new, more combative phase of his presidency, one likely to last until next year’s election as he battles for a second term. Faced with falling poll numbers for his leadership and an anxious party base, Mr. Obama did not just propose but insisted that any long-term debt-reduction plan must not shave future Medicare benefits without also raising taxes on the wealthiest taxpayers and corporations.

Greece Nears the Precipice, Raising Fear

Slower economic growth throughout Europe, and probably in the United States. Huge losses by major European banks. Declining stock markets worldwide. A tightening of credit, making it harder for many borrowers to get loans. As concerns grow that Greece may default on its government debt, economists are starting to map out possible outcomes. While no one knows for certain what will happen, it’s a given that financial crises always have unexpected consequences, and many predict there will be collateral damage.

martedì 20 settembre 2011

Turchia/ Bomba Ankara riporta Paese a emergenza interna -focus

Istanbul, 20 set. (TMNews) - Le mire di affermazione sullo scacchiere internazionale della Turchia vengono riportate bruscamente alla realtà di un Paese dove resta alta l'emergenza terrorismo. Questa mattina, poco dopo le 11 ora locale, le 10 in Italia, una bomba è scoppiata ad Ankara, la capitale dello Stato moderno nato nel 1923: tre i morti, 34 i feriti, di questi tre in modo grave. La rivendicazione dell'attentato non è ancora giunta, ma il ministro dell'Interno, Idris Sahin, ha detto che "molto probabilmente" si tratta di un attacco terroristico, dove la parola terrore è sinomimo di Pkk, il Partito dei lavoratori del Kurdistan, che lotta per la creazione di uno stato indipendente curdo in territorio turco. Il Pkk di recente è tornato a minacciare il ricorso su larga scala alla lotta armata se la questione curda non verrà risolta una volta per tutte. Il nuovo attentato arriva tra l'altro mentre la Turchia minaccia un'incursione via terra nel Nord iracheno contro le basi del Pkk, che negli ultimi mesi ha moltiplicato gli attacchi nel Sud-est anatolico. La pista dei militanti curdi sembra al momento l'ipotesi più accreditata, anche se manca una rivendicazione ufficiale, che il Pkk è solito inviare dopo i suoi attacchi. L'attentato di questa mattina ha comunque almeno due forti valenze simboliche. La bomba infatti è esplosa a Kizilay, nel cuore della capitale e a due passi dai principali ministeri. E' stato colpito, insomma, il cuore dello Stato turco con cui il Pkk ha ingaggiato una battaglia che va Avanti dal 1984 e che fino a questo momento è costata oltre 45mila morti. Inoltre, l'ordigno è esploso quando le due figure più significative dello Stato, il Presidente della Repubblica Abdullah Gul e il premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, erano all'ester. Il primo si trovava a Berlino, a ribadire quali sono le condizioni della Turchia per l'ingresso in Europa. Il capo del governo era a New York, a ricoprire il ruolo del grande mediatore mediorientale in vista della richiesta di riconoscimento della Palestina all'Onu.
To view full article: here

Afghan Peace Council Chief Killed in Attack on His Home

KABUL, Afghanistan — An unidentified attacker on Tuesday killed the leader of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, a former president of the country whose main responsibility was negotiating a political end to the war with the Taliban. The assassination was a serious blow to any notion of reconciliation with the Taliban. Afghan officials said the peace council leader, former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, was likely killed by a suicide bomber in or near his heavily guarded home in the Afghan capital, Kabul. The assassination coincided with President Hamid Karzai’s visit to the United Nations General Assembly, where he was scheduled to confer with President Obama about the war. A spokesman for Mr. Karzai said he would cut short his trip to return home.

Ancient Fossil Aquifers and NASA

A NASA-led team has used radar sounding technology developed to explore the subsurface of Mars to create high-resolution maps of freshwater aquifers buried deep beneath an Earth desert, in the first use of airborne sounding radar for aquifer mapping. The research may help scientists better locate and map Earth's desert aquifers, understand current and past hydrological conditions in Earth's deserts and assess how climate change is impacting them. Deserts cover roughly 20 percent of Earth's land surface, including highly populated regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa (Sahara), west and central Asia (Takla Makan) and the southwestern United States (Sonora).

Obama to Offer Plan to Cut Deficit by Over $3 Trillion


The plan, which Mr. Obama will lay out Monday morning at the White House, is the administration’s opening move in sweeping negotiations on deficit reduction to be taken up by a joint House-Senate committee over the next two months. If a deal is not enacted by Dec. 23, cuts could take effect automatically across government agencies.
Mr. Obama will call for $1.5 trillion in tax increases, primarily on the wealthy, through a combination of closing loopholes and limiting the amount that high earners can deduct. The proposal also includes $580 billion in adjustments to health and entitlement programs, including $248 billion to Medicare and $72 billion to Medicaid. Administration officials said that the Medicare cuts would not come from an increase in the Medicare eligibility age.
Senior administration officials who briefed reporters on some of the details of Mr. Obama’s proposal said that the plan also counts a savings of $1.1 trillion from the ending of the American combat mission in Iraq and the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
In laying out his proposal, aides said, Mr. Obama will expressly promise to veto any legislation that seeks to cut the deficit through spending cuts alone and does not include revenue increases in the form of tax increases on the wealthy.
That veto threat will put the president on a direct collision course with the House speaker, John A. Boehner, who said last week that he would not support any legislation that included revenue increases in the form of higher taxes.
Mr. Obama’s proposal is certain to receive sharp criticism from Congressional Republicans, who on Sunday were already taking apart one element of the proposal that the administration let out early: the so-called Buffett Rule. The rule — named for the billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett, who has complained that he is taxed at a lower rate than his employees — calls for a new minimum tax rate for individuals making more than $1 million a year to ensure that they pay at least the same percentage of their earnings as middle-income taxpayers.

Yemen, nuove manifestazioni: almeno 17 morti

Almeno 17 persone sono state uccise oggi, tra cui un bambino, e 50 ferite quando le forze governative yemenite si sono scontrate con i contestatori. Lo hanno riferito medici. "Abbiamo visto ferite da arma da fuoco, alcune derivanti da armi pesanti come RPG (granate su razzi)", ha detto Mohammed al-Qubati, medico di un ospedale da campo nella capitale yemenita. "Continuo a sentire bombardamenti e penso ce ne saranno altri". In precedenza, cecchini filo-governativi appostati sui tetti dei palazzi di Sanaa hanno ucciso tre persone.

Prezzo benzina alle stelle primo effetto della nuova Iva

"Con l'aumento dell'Iva dal 20% al 21% un litro di verde è arrivato a costare in media 1,64 euro, un prezzo maggiore del 12% rispetto alla media europea". Questa la denuncia dell''Adoc che prevede circa 75 euro di ricadute per le famiglie, per costi diretti e indiretti. "Con l'aumento dell'Iva la benzina in Italia è arrivata a costare il 12,3% in più della media europea - dichiara Carlo Pileri, Presidente dell'Adoc - al confine il risparmio è garantito, in Svizzera si spende il 7,8% in meno, in Francia il 5,1% in meno, in Austria la differenza è dell'8,6%, in Slovenia la verde costa il 26% in meno. Solo in Norvegia, Danimarca, Grecia e Olanda il prezzo è maggiore. E il rincaro dell'Iva graverà sulle famiglie italiane per 75 euro l'anno, 25 euro per costi diretti legati al pieno e circa 50 euro l'anno per la spesa alimentare, che subirà aumenti in quanto il trasporto dei beni alimentari avviene su gomma. Ed è in costante diminuzione il numero di automobilisti abituali, stimiamo che entro fine anno il 10% rinuncerà all'uso della macchina per muoversi. Le famiglie sono state abbandonate a sé stesse, non è più possibile ignorare i diritti e le esigenze di oltre 60 milioni di cittadini".


Austria
 1.51€
 -8,6%

 Andorra
 1.27€
 -29,1%

 Belgio
 1.52€
 -7,8%
 
 Bulgaria
 1.37€
 -19,7%
 
 Bosnia 

Erzégovina
 1.20€
 -36,6%

 Svizzera
 1.52€
 -7,8%

 Repubblica Ceca
 1.53€
 -7,1%

 Germania
 1.57€
 -4,4%

 Danimarca
 1.74€
 +6%

 Spagna
 1.45€
 -9,6%

 Estonia
 1.28€
 -28,1%

 Francia
 1.56€
 -5,1%

 Finlandia
 1.59€
 -3,1%

 Gran Bretagna
 1.60€
 -2,5%

 Grecia
 1.76€
 +7,3%

 Croazia
 1.36€
 -20,5%

 Italia
 1.64€
 =

 Lussemburgo
 1.32€
 -24,2%

 Lituania
 1.39€
 -17,9%

 Lettonia
 1.33€
 -23,3%

 Norvegia
 1.88€
 +14,6%

 Olanda
 1.76€
 +7,3%

 Portogallo
 1.63€
 -0,6%

 Polonia
 1.27€
 -29,1%

 Romania
 1.37€
 -19,7%

 Russia
 0.71€
 -130,9%

 Svezia
 1.62€
 -1,2%

 Slovenia
 1.30€
 -26,1%

 Media europea
 1.46 €
 -12,3%
repubblica

lunedì 19 settembre 2011

Spari in via Portuense, ferito alla gamba un uomo

Ancora da chiarire la dinamica. L'uomo, portato all'ospedale San Camillo, ha raccontato di essersi colpito da solo ma la sua versione non convince gli investigatori. E' successo all'altezza del civico 594. Ancora spari nella capitale. Questa volta un colpo d'arma da fuoco ha raggiunto alla gamba un pregiudicato in via Portuense 59 che ha dichiarato di essersi ferito da solo mentre era a bordo della sua auto, una Fiat Panda. La sua versione però non convince gli investigatori che hanno avviato le indagini. L'arma non è stata ancora recuperata. Secondo quanto ha raccontato una volta arrivato all'ospedale San Camillo, dove è stato trasportato dal 118, l'uomo si sarebbe ferito in via Portuense 594 verso le 12.30. Gli agenti del commissariato Monteverde stanno cercando di fare luce sulla vicenda e di verificare l'attendibilità della versione fornita della persona ferita, che al momento presenta diverse incongruenze. L'auto è stata trovata parcheggiata e con delle macchie di sangue. Il pregiudicato ha precedenti per oltraggio. L'ultima sparatoria con ferito a Roma risale alla notte tra venerdì e sabato scorso quando una bimba di 10 anni, a Tor Bella Monaca, è rimasta lievemente ferita. Ancora il 15 settembre un giovane di 21 anni era stato gambizzato da un uomo che, con il complice a bordo di uno scooter, gli aveva sparato mentre l'11 settembre nel quartiere Portuense, si è consumato un inseguimento a colpi di pistola con l'aggressore, 37 anni, arrestato subito mentre la vittima, 21 anni, si è presentata dopo ore alla polizia. Il 23 agosto il diciottenne Edoardo Sforna è stato ucciso con alcuni colpi di pistola all'interno della pizzeria nella quale lavorava come fattorino, a Morena, nella periferia sud est. La notte prima a Centocelle, c'era stata una sparatoria in mezzo alla strada e un marocchino è stato ferito per motivi legati allo spaccio di droga. A fine luglio c'erano state le sparatorie in strada a Primavalle dove un uomo è stato gambizzato, e a Casal Bruciato dove è stato ferito un 33enne. E il 5 luglio l'episodio più eclatante: alle 9.30 nel centrale quartiere di Prati, Flavio Simmi, romano di 33 anni, fu crivellato in strada da nove colpi sparati da due persone in moto, sotto gli occhi della sua compagna. repubblica

Ray’s Pizza, the First of Many, Counts Down to Its Last Slice

It did not call itself the flagship Ray’s Pizza because it never really had a fleet. It was not Original Ray’s or Famous Ray’s or Original Famous Ray’s or Real Ray’s or Ray’s on Ice or any of the other cloned shops sprinkled like shredded mozzarella all over town. It was simply Ray’s Pizza, and in the great pizza wars of New York City, it was respected as having been the first, standing more or less above the fray at 27 Prince Street in Little Italy, with tree limbs holding up the basement ceiling and an owner whose name wasn’t even Ray.

Autistic and Seeking a Place in an Adult World

MONTCLAIR, N.J. — For weeks, Justin Canha, a high school student with autism, a love of cartoons and a gift for drawing, had rehearsed for the job interview at a local animation studio. As planned, he arrived that morning with a portfolio of his comic strips and charcoal sketches, some of which were sold through a Chelsea gallery. Kate Stanton-Paule, the teacher who had set up the meeting, accompanied him. But his first words upon entering the office were, like most things involving Justin, not in the script.

Tumult of Arab Spring Prompts Worries in Washington

WASHINGTON — While the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring created new opportunities for American diplomacy, the tumult has also presented the United States with challenges — and worst-case scenarios — that would have once been almost unimaginable. What if the Palestinians’ quest for recognition of a state at the United Nations, despite American pleas otherwise, lands Israel in the International Criminal Court, fuels deeper resentment of the United States, or touches off a new convulsion of violence in the West Bank and Gaza? Or if Egypt, emerging from decades of autocratic rule under President Hosni Mubarak, responds to anti-Israeli sentiments on the street and abrogates the Camp David peace treaty, a bulwark of Arab-Israeli stability for three decades?

domenica 18 settembre 2011

Incidente durante air-show (Nevada): aumenta il bilancio dei morti

Nove persone sono morte nello spettacolare incidente di un aereo della seconda guerra mondiale precipitato durante un'air-show a Reno nel Nevada, nella parte occidentale degli Stati Uniti. Lo ha annunciato il responsabile della polizia locale.

Frana travolge sei alpinisti: muoiono due genovesi

Cuneo - Sono Giulio Gamberoni e Carla Sirio, entrambi di Genova, i due alpinisti trovati morti sulle montagne di Entracque (Cuneo) dopo essere stati travolti, assieme ad altri quattro escursionisti, da una frana ad alta quota ieri pomeriggio. I due facevano parte del gruppo alpinistico `Le Gritte´ del Cai di Bolzaneto. I quattro feriti, invece, sono tre uomini e una donna e provengono da Genova e Torino.

Temporali e sul nord e centro Italia: Quarantenne ucciso da un fulmine

MILANO - Una perturbazione di origine atlantica è arrivata da sabato sera sull'Italia, provocando un peggioramento delle condizioni meteo a partire dalle regioni nord-occidentali, che si estenderà poi al resto del nord e del centro. VITTIMA - La perturbazione ha scatenato violenti temporali e causato una vittima a Morengo, nel Bergamasco. Un milanese di 40 anni, Cristiano Toscano, è morto folgorato nella tarda serata di sabato, dopo essere stato colpito da un fulmine durante un temporale. La tragedia si è consumata poco dopo le 21, in un parco comunale.

Confesercenti: la manovra pesa per 33 miliardi sulle famiglie

«Gli interventi diretti e indiretti contenuti nella manovra graveranno sulle famiglie per 33 miliardi dei 54 complessivi». Lo afferma il presidente della Confesercenti Marco Venturi aprendo i lavori del decimo meeting della confederazione, a Perugia. «Se a questo scenario aggiungiamo il dramma di migliaia di chiusure di imprese - aggiunge - il quadro è preoccupante», a fronte di una pressione fiscale effettiva, dice Venturi, al 54%. (Ansa) ilsole24

Bossi agita i suoi: «Ora la Padania Il voto nel 2013 è troppo lontano»

«Basta intercettare la gente». È lapidario Umberto Bossi, poche parole per i pochi minuti concessi al popolo padano accorso alle sorgenti del Po. Non è in grandissima forma, il Senatùr: «Sono acciaccato ma spero che il Po mi porti bene». Non parla a lungo e non fa giri di parole. Basta intercettazioni: il messaggio è chiaro, diretto sia alla sua gente sia al presidente del Consiglio. L’asse con Silvio Berlusconi non è in discussione. Ma è un Bossi problematico, quello salito ai 2.000 metri di Pian del Re a riempire la «sacra ampolla» che domani vuoterà in laguna. Le intercettazioni vanno fermate, ma come giudica quelle già uscite? Il Senatùr non ne parla né ai piedi del Monviso né a Paesana, nel fondovalle. Non lo ritiene argomento da comizio. Ma da Tg. Ed è ai microfoni che affida le sue valutazioni sul tema: «Le intercettazioni ci sono... - mormora sornione - a lui piacciono le donne». I giornalisti gli chiedono come giudica il fatto che Berlusconi non voglia presentarsi davanti ai pubblici ministeri. «Beato lui, risparmierà tempo, se ci riesce».

A Dash of Cold Water

Newly formulated laundry detergents can wash most clothes perfectly well in cold water, manufacturers say, but customers are stubbornly refusing to turn down the temperature. Although some of these detergents have been available for several years, customers cling to mom’s age-old advice that hot water washes best — squandering energy and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

sabato 17 settembre 2011

Aereo precipita sulla folla

Durante l’Air show a Reno, in Nevada (Stati Uniti) un aereo della seconda guerra mondiale è precipitato sulla folla di gente che era li per assistere allo spettacolo. L’aereo si è completamente distrutto. L’incidente aereo ha causato 3 vittime e ben 54 feriti. Dalle ultime fonti sembrerebbe che più della metà dei feriti sono ricoverati in ospedale in condizioni critiche. Ha perso la vita il pilota dell’aereo, Jimmy Leeward, agente immobiliare di Ocala in Florida. L’uomo 74enne, aveva più di 30 anni di esperienza. Ben Cissel, uno spettatore che si trovava a 30 metri dall’incidente spiega: “Ha salvato un sacco di vite, almento 200 o 300, è riuscito all’ultimo momento a fare una virata senza la quale sarebbe stata un tragedia ancora maggiore”.

Libya Counts More Martyrs Than Bodies

Where are all the dead? Officially, according to Libya’s new leaders, their martyrs in the struggle against the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi should number 30,000 to 50,000, not even counting their enemies who have fallen. Yet in the country’s morgues, the war dead registered from both sides in each area so far are mostly in the hundreds, not the thousands. And those who are still missing total as few as 1,000, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Those figures may be incomplete, but even if the missing number proves to be three times as high, and all are dead, the toll would be far short of official casualty totals.

Tallest Building in New York Now LEED Certified

The tallest building in New York currently standing is the Empire State Building. It is a beautiful symbol of the greatness of New York, rising 1,250 feet (381 meters) with an antenna spire rising to 1,454 feet (443.2 meters) above bustling midtown Manhattan. It was named one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers, amidst the ranks of the Panama Canal, the Channel Tunnel, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Now it can add another notch in its belt, as it has just been awarded LEED Gold certification by the US Green Building Council.

Top Medal for Marine Who Saved Many Lives

WASHINGTON — President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor on Thursday to a young former Marine who ignored orders to stay put and fought his way five times into an ambush in an Afghan ravine, helping to rescue three dozen comrades and to recover the remains of four dead American servicemen. In a ceremony at the White House, the president draped the medal over Dakota Meyer, describing him as a humble young man who repeatedly placed himself in extraordinary danger to save men he regarded as his brothers.

White House Weighs Limits of Terror Fight

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s legal team is split over how much latitude the United States has to kill Islamist militants in Yemen and Somalia, a question that could define the limits of the war against Al Qaeda and its allies, according to administration and Congressional officials. The debate, according to officials familiar with the deliberations, centers on whether the United States may take aim at only a handful of high-level leaders of militant groups who are personally linked to plots to attack the United States or whether it may also attack the thousands of low-level foot soldiers focused on parochial concerns: controlling the essentially ungoverned lands near the Gulf of Aden, which separates the countries.

I Puffi: un film in 3D per invadere New York. Video in anteprima

Puffarbacco! E che ci fanno i Puffi tra i grattacieli di New York? Per i bimbi cresciuti con i cartoni animati degli anni Ottanta, c'è il rischio che sia un vero colpo al cuore. Da una parte la nostalgia per quei vecchi, cari omini blu alti due mele o poco più. Dall'altra, la sopresa di ritrovarseli davanti in sembianze e ambientazioni totalmente stravolte: Gargamella in carne ed ossa, il gatto Birba un vero micio rossastro. E loro, i Puffi, esserini digitali catapultati dal loro bosco incantato al ritmo frenetico di Central Park.

venerdì 16 settembre 2011

Just reached 30 followers!

I'm really proud to announce you this blog just reached 30 followers! :D That's awesome for me, although I'd like to see more active people :) Thank you!

Scarlett Johanson: foto hot on line

La notizia del furto informatico di dati privati, tra cui ovviamente compaiono foto e filmati piccanti, dagli smart phone di alcuni divi d'oltreoceano non è nuova. Gli scatti di Vanessa Hudgens in pose provocanti e quelli di altre bellezze hollywoodiane hanno infatti già fatto il giro del mondo. In questi giorni però sono i fans di Scarlett Johanson a poter gioire, o quanto meno tutti quelli che hanno sempre sognato di non doversi limitare a immaginare le burrose formecelate dai suoi vestiti.

Caius, l'uomo che spaventa gli Usa

MILANO - Un tatuaggio sulla fronte: «666». Poi un impianto sottocutaneo per avere le «corna» come Satana. E un piercing con due punte che attraversa il setto nasale. Caius Veiovis dice di essere un discepolo del diavolo e ha fatto di tutto per assomigliare al Principe delle tenebre. L'uomo, il cui vero nome è Roy Gutfinski, è accusato con altri due complici di aver rapito e ucciso tre persone in Massachusetts. E quando è apparso in tribunale, le sue foto hanno fatto il giro del mondo.

Giovani e di corporatura esile: così venivano scelte le donne per Berlusconi

Giovane età e corporatura esile: sono le «specifiche caratteristiche fisiche» con le quali Gianpi Tarantini selezionava le donne che avrebbe portato agli incontri che organizzava nelle residenze private di Silvio Berlusconi. Oltre alle caratteristiche fisiche, Tarantini badava anche ad altri aspetti: impartiva alle donne «disposizioni sull'abbigliamento da indossare e sul comportamento da assumere»; sosteneva le spese di viaggio e di soggiorno, «mettendo loro a disposizione il mezzo per raggiungere il luogo dell'incontro». Oltre alla trentina di episodi riguardanti la prostituzione in favore di Berlusconi, nell'avviso di conclusione delle indagini figurano numerosi episodi di sfruttamento della prostituzione, tra il 2007 e il 2008, in favore dell'ex vicepresidente della Regione Puglia Sandro Frisullo per ottenere vantaggi e affidamento di incarichi e appalti dalla Asl di Lecce (episodi avvenuti in un albergo a Milano, pagato da Tarantini, nella casa di Gianpi a Giovinazzo e in un altro suo appartamento a Bari).

Water Evaporated from Trees Cools Global Climate, Researchers Find

ScienceDaily (Sep. 14, 2011) — Scientists have long debated about the impact on global climate of water evaporated from vegetation. New research from Carnegie's Global Ecology department concludes that evaporated water helps cool Earth as a whole, not just the local area of evaporation, demonstrating that evaporation of water from trees and lakes could have a cooling effect on the entire atmosphere. These findings, published Sept. 14 in Environmental Research Letters, have major implications for land-use decision making.

UBS Reports $2 Billion Loss by Rogue Trader

8:43 a.m. | Updated UBS said on Thursday that a rogue trader in its investment bank had lost $2 billion, a fresh blow to the beleaguered Swiss bank. The police in London have arrested a European equities trader, Kweku Adoboli, in connection with the case, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Poor Are Still Getting Poorer, but Downturn’s Punch Varies, Census Data Show

WASHINGTON — The discouraging numbers spilling from the Census Bureau’s poverty report this week were a disquieting reminder that a weak economy continues to spread broad and deep pain. And so it does. But not evenly. The Midwest is battered, but the Northeast escaped with a lighter knock. The incomes of young adults have plunged — but those of older Americans have actually risen. On the whole, immigrants have weathered the storm a bit better than people born here. In rural areas, poverty remained unchanged last year, while in suburbs it reached the highest level since 1967, when the Census Bureau first tracked it.

giovedì 15 settembre 2011

Drinking Milk Can Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body does not produce enough insulin, or cells to not respond to insulin that is produced. Type 2 diabetes refers to the condition in which the cells do not respond to insulin, sometimes known as adult-onset diabetes. A new study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that milk-drinking teenagers often become milk-drinking adults. As a lifelong habit, drinking milk is associated with a 43 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared to non-milk drinkers.

Summer Arctic sea ice melt at or near record

Arctic sea ice this summer melted to a record low extent or will come a close second, two different research institutes said on Tuesday, confirming a trend which could yield an ice-free summer within a decade. The five biggest melts in a 32-year satellite record have all happened in the past five years, likely a result of both manmade climate change and natural weather patterns.

Wind Mills, Bans, and Possible Ill Effects

Wind mills are a clean alternative energy supply but not everyone agrees. The Rhode Island General Assembly’s newly enacted laws facilitating the siting, construction and power-purchase agreements for commercial-grade renewable energy projects took a big hit yesterday. On September 12th, the town of Charlestown Rhode Island became a U.S. trendsetter in the renewable-energy sector when the Town Council voted to pass the first-in-the-country ban on any size or type of electricity-generating wind turbines. The sweeping prohibition applies to large commercial turbines as well as smaller, residential models.

G.O.P. Gains House Seat Vacated by Weiner

A little-known Republican businessman from Queens, channeling voter discontent with President Obama into an upset, won election to Congress on Tuesday from the heavily Democratic district in New York City last represented by Anthony D. Weiner.
The Republican, Bob Turner, a retired cable television executive, defeated Assemblyman David I. Weprin, the scion of a prominent Democratic family in Queens, in a nationally watched special election.
With 84 percent of the precincts counted early Wednesday, Mr. Turner was leading Mr. Weprin by 54 percent to 46 percent, according to The Associated Press.

mercoledì 14 settembre 2011

Abuse of Xanax Leads a Clinic to Halt Supply

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Gayle Mink, a nurse practitioner at a community mental health center here, had tired of the constant stream of patients seeking Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug coveted for its swift calming effect.
“It is such a drain on resources,” said Ms. Mink, whose employer, Seven Counties Services, serves some 30,000 patients in Louisville and the surrounding region. “You’re funneling a great deal of your energy into pacifying, educating, bumping heads with people over Xanax.”

Militants Launch Attack on U.S. Embassy in Kabul

Insurgents launched a complex assault against the American Embassy and the nearby NATO headquarters on Tuesday, pelting the heavily guarded compounds with rockets in an attack that raised new questions about the security of Afghanistan’s capital and the Westerners working there.
At least 10 explosions — apparently from rockets launched by militants — and waves of automatic weapons fire were reported amid the drone of sirens and English-language warnings telling Americans inside the embassy to take cover.

Afghanistan, attacco talebani a Kabul, ambasciata Usa

Attentatori suicidi talebani hanno attaccato oggi Kabul, lanciando razzi contro alcune ambasciate, tra cui quella Usa, nel centro della città e inviando poi due attentatori suicidi nella zona occidentale della capitale afghana. I talebani hanno lanciato altri attacchi alla capitale in passato ma questo è il primo caso in cui ne hanno organizzati più di uno contemporaneamente in diverse zone di Kabul.

British Hacking Inquiry to Recall James Murdoch

A parliamentary panel investigating the phone hacking scandal in the British outpost of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire said on Tuesday that it would recall his son James Murdoch to answer more questions about his knowledge of the affair. John Whittingdale, the committee chairman, told Sky News that Mr. Murdoch would be recalled after the House of Commons select committee investigating the scandal heard testimony from Les Hinton, a former top executive at the Murdoch family’s News Corporation.

Libia/ Gheddafi: sono nel Paese, non arrendetevi

"Non ci rimane altro che combattere fino alla vittoria e sconfiggere questo complotto", ha detto Gheddafi secondo quanto riferito da Jabbouri. "Non possiamo lasciare la Libia di nuovo in mano ai colonizzatori", ha aggiunto il Colonnello. Al-Ray, con base in Siria, e' l'unica emittente a essere rimasta in contatto con il rais libico. Jabbouri, uomo di affari iracheno un tempo vicino al clan di Saddam Hussein, vive a Damasco sotto l'ala protettiva del regime di Bashar al-Assad. Il suo network comprende le tv Al-Oruba, Al-Ray e Moqawama, quest'ultima partita il primo settembre. L'obiettivo delle sue emittenti, ha spiegato l'iracheno in una recente intervista al Guardian, e' "lottare contro tutte le occupazioni straniere, in Iraq, Libia e Palestina".

martedì 13 settembre 2011

Abusi sacerdoti, vittime chiedono all'Aia di indagare Papa

Gli avvocati delle vittime di abusi sessuali da parte di sacerdoti hanno chiesto alla Corte penale internazionale (Icc) di indagare Papa Benedetto XVI e tre alti prelati per crimini contro l'umanità, per aver consentito stupri e abusi sessuali su minori. Assieme al gruppo newyorkese Center for constitutional rights (Ccr), il gruppo Survivors network of those abused by priests (Snap) ha presentato una denuncia all'Icc in cui sostiene che prelati del Vaticano hanno tollerato e consentito crimini sessuali.

sabato 10 settembre 2011

I'll take a few days of holydays

Hi guys, I would like to tell you one thing: I'll be back ;D I'll be back on monday probably, but I'll post news on the day after. So enjoy this weekend!! Bye bye

Gigantesco blackout in Sud America

Quasi 5 milioni di persone sono rimaste senza elettricita' nel sud della California, in Arizona e nello stato messicano della Baja California, dove quello che sembra essere un ''errore umano'' ha causato un gigantesco blackout. Traffico autostradale in tilt, voli cancellati all'aeroporto internazionale di San Diego, distribuzione dell'acqua e del gas ferme in varie zone, gente soccorsa in ascensori bloccati, scuole chiuse almeno fino a lunedi' sono i risultato del blackout.

Nelle città Usa torna l'incubo terrorismo, caccia a tre sospetti

Una minaccia terroristica "specifica, credibile ma non confermata". Una minaccia contro gli Stati Uniti a pochi giorni dal decimo anniversario degli attentati terroristici dell'11 settembre 2001. Per il momento non si sa molto: non la metodologia del possibile attacco né gli eventuali obiettivi. Anche se fonti di Cnn dicono che nel mirino sarebbero le grandi città, Washington e New York per esempio. Un notizia che ha subito fatto scattare l'allarme nella Grande Mela dove il sindaco Michael Bloomberg ha dato ordine di alzare le misure di sicurezza anche dispiegando adeguati rinforzi per le forze dell'ordine. "Di alcune misure vi accorgerete, di altre no", ha detto Bloomberg, "viviamo in un mondo in cui bisogna prendere sul serio le minacce".

venerdì 9 settembre 2011

Coal or Natural Gas, Climate Effects

Although the burning of natural gas emits far less carbon dioxide than coal, a new study concludes that a greater reliance on natural gas would fail to significantly slow down climate change. The study by Tom Wigley, who is a senior research associate at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), underscores the complex and sometimes conflicting ways in which fossil fuel burning affects Earth’s climate. While coal use causes warming through emission of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, it also releases comparatively large amounts of sulfates and other particles that, although detrimental to the environment, cool the planet by blocking incoming sunlight. As always the final picture of climate effect is very complicated to put together.

Crab Invasion from Antarctica?

King crabs and other crushing predators are thought to have been absent from cold Antarctic shelf waters for millions of years. Scientists speculate that the long absence of crushing predators has allowed the evolution of a unique Antarctic seafloor fauna with little resistance to predatory crabs. A recent study by researchers from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Duke University, Ghent University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and Hamilton College, indicates that one species of king crab has moved 120 km across the continental shelf in West Antarctica and established a large, reproductive population in the Palmer Deep along the west Antarctic Peninsula.

giovedì 8 settembre 2011

Libia, nuovo audio messaggio di Gheddafi: "Nessuna fuga in Niger"

Il deposto leader libico Muammar Gheddafi è tornato oggi a farsi sentire con un audio messaggio nel quale ha negato le indiscrezioni che lo davano fuggito in Niger e ha rivolto un appello al suo popolo a imbracciare le armi e a combattere contro i ribelli. ''A tutti i libici, la terra libica è vostra e voi avete la necessità di difenderla contro tutti coloro che hanno tradito, i cani, quelli che sono stati in Libia e stanno tentando di cenere il Paese'', ha detto il Colonnello nel messaggio diffuso dall'emittente siriana al-Rai tv.

Weather disasters costing U.S. billions

Blizzards. Tornadoes. Floods. Record heat and drought, followed by wildfires. The first eight months of 2011 have brought strange and destructive weather to the United States. From the blizzard that dumped almost two feet of snow on Chicago, to killer tornadoes and heat waves in the south, to record flooding, to wildfires that have burned more than 1,000 homes in Texas in the last few days, Mother Nature has been in a vile and costly mood.

How Salty the Ocean

On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5%. This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximately 35 grams of dissolved salts (predominantly sodium chloride. The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml. Seawater is denser than both fresh water and pure water because the dissolved salts add mass without contributing significantly to the volume. The freezing point of seawater decreases as salt concentration increases. NASA's Aquarius satellite has successfully completed its commissioning phase and is now tasting the saltiness of Earth's ocean surface, making measurements from its perch in near-polar orbit. Aquarius will make NASA's first space observations of the salinity, or concentration of salt, at the ocean surface, a key variable in satellite studies of Earth. Variations in salinity influence the ocean's deep circulation, outline the path freshwater takes around our planet and help drive Earth's climate.

mercoledì 7 settembre 2011

The Gender Gap in Travel: Myths and Revelations

Readers often write in to remark that I am a man, a fact of which I am generally aware. But then they point out something that often slips my mind: my travel experiences are those of a man, as well. Some say they would prefer the column to be written by a woman, a request I parry with reminders that two of the three previous Frugal Travelers were women, and many of Daisann McLane’s and Susan Spano’s columns are still online and just as packed with insight as when first published. But others have a strong argument: they say that the advice I give and the experiences I recount are not always as applicable or accessible to women. How would a female traveler feel about staying in my $4 room at Hospedaje los Arcos in Coatepeque, Guatemala? Or being invited to a family lunch by an older man in Intepe, Turkey? Or hitting working-class immigrant nightclubs outside Madrid? So I decided to talk to female travelers I trusted: Daisann, whom I consider one of the savvier adventurers on the planet; Amelia Thomas, who wrote the Lebanon section of Lonely Planet’s Syria and Lebanon guidebook (which I used and found insightful this summer); and friends, friends of friends and the always-responsive Twitter crowd.

lunedì 5 settembre 2011

As Police Clash With Families, Mubarak Returns to Court

As crowds and police clashed outside a makeshift courtroom in a police academy here, prosecutors trying former President Hosni Mubarak began Monday to lay out their case against him on charges of complicity in the killing of demonstrators during the protests that ended his rule. Mr. Mubarak, 83, who is reportedly in failing health, was once again delivered by helicopter and wheeled on a gurney into a courtroom for the third day of his trial, which opened in early August. He faces charges of conspiracy to murder and corruption.

domenica 4 settembre 2011

The best thing about having 28 followers...

The best thing about having 28 followers is I don't receive more than 1 comment or 2 visits every day. And I comment every day every post I see on my feed news.
 I think this is amazing.
This can prove everyone thinks only about himself.
No one thinks about help other people grow with their blog.

venerdì 2 settembre 2011

China Benefits as U.S. Solar Industry Withers

The bankruptcies of three American solar power companies in the last month, including Solyndra of California on Wednesday, have left China’s industry with a dominant sales position — almost three-fifths of the world’s production capacity — and rapidly declining costs. Some American, Japanese and European solar companies still have a technological edge over Chinese rivals, but seldom a cost advantage, according to industry analysts.

giovedì 1 settembre 2011

Peterson Glacier Breakup Continues

In August 2010, part of the Petermann Glacier about four times the size of Manhattan island broke off. This is a huge island which would take years to melt and move south. Researcher Alun Hubbard, of the Centre for Glaciology at Aberystwyth University, U.K.has indicated that another section of the glacier, about twice the size of Manhattan, appeared close to breaking off. Alun Hubbard: "Although I knew what to expect in terms of ice loss from satellite imagery, I was still completely unprepared for the gob-smacking scale of the breakup, which rendered me speechless." ... "What the breakup means in terms of inland ice acceleration and draw-down of the ice sheet remains to be seen, but will be revealed by the GPS data recovered, which we are now processing at Aberystwyth."