- A solution for two of the world’s biggest problems could
be imminent. OK, so that might be a slight exaggeration, but when global
warming and the world’s energy crisis are both solved by the farts delivered by
the world’s bovine population, credit comes in this direction first. In that
spirit, let’s all rejoice over the fact that scientists have discovered
a new material that can capture and concentrate methane, a potent greenhouse
gas. While the always-abundant carbon dioxide can be captured using a variety
of techniques, trapping the most abundant greenhouse gas can only take the
world so far. That’s what researcher Amitesh Maiti,
a researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and his colleagues
went to work on a way to capture methane. Previously, methane has proved
elusive primarily because it interacts weakly with other materials, but Maiti
and his pals discovered that various forms of zeolites, which are commonly used
in water purification and other industrial processes, are effective in this
task because their crystalline structure can be fine-tuned for various gas
separation or storage applications. The researchers searched through a database
of about 100,000 different forms of the material and through numerous computer
simulations, they found several that appear technologically promising for
capturing methane. However, many of the forms “are theoretical zeolites which
in theory can be made, but have not been made yet," Maiti explained. Some
of the forms do exist, and Maiti hopes other researchers will draw inspiration
from his work and build on it. His team’s simulations indicate that the
material could capture low concentrations of methane venting from coal mines or
piles of manure at feed lots and concentrate it up to just over 5 percent. That
mark represents the flammability limit of the gas and such a use would be
helpful in energy creation. "You can utilize (the methane) to generate
electricity," Maiti said. Create energy, reduce the amount of greenhouse
gas escaping into the atmosphere…….sounds like a smelly win-win………
- Sorry, everyone hoping to see the weird naked guy in the
apartment across the way one more time or grab another cup of coffee at Central
Perk. There will not be a reunion of the über-popular ‘90s sitcom “Friends.” So
says NBC, the network that aired the series from 1994-2004. Rumors of a one-off
reunion sparked up online and in short order, fans blew the concept of a
Thanksgiving 2014 reunion into hopes for an entire new season of the show. Fans
so desperately wanted to believe that the rumors were true that they talked
them up and bought in, ramping up the hype to the point that a major Latin
American news outlet reported that NBC had confirmed a new full-season order of
the sitcom. "Friends" co-creator Marta Kauffman steered clear of the
reports for as long as possible, but when it became clear that a lack of actual
proof or any basis in reality would not quell the rumors, she stepped forward
to officially crush fans’ dreams of a reunion. "I'm going to clear this up
-- it's not happening," Kauffman said. “'Friends' was about that time in your life
when your friends are your family and once you have a family, there's no need
anymore." In other words, the characters have grown up and moved on with
their lives and fans need to do the same. NBC has since confirmed Kaufman’s
comments and so Joey, Ross, Chandler, Rachel, Monica and Phoebe will have to
live on through syndicated cable reruns until everyone who still has any ties
or connection to the series and/or free time to sit around and watch an
extremely outdated sitcom finds something better to do with their free time………
- One of New
Mexico’s most pristine natural areas is quickly turning into a giant trash heap….and
the locals in Pesos, N.M. are dumping blame squarely on the U.S. Forest Service.
As it turns out, the Santa Fe National Forest recently closed some facilities
in the Pecos-Las Vegas Ranger District due to a lack of funding and as part of
the cutbacks, officials closed restrooms and took away trashcans at eight
day-use sites. Four campgrounds were also closed and will remain so through at
least the 2013 camping season. Closing sites and facilities and keeping the
public from using them have proven to be two different things and with people
comes trash – trash that isn't being cleaned up. Concerned locals have
complained that the Forest Service is doing nothing to clean up the
increasingly polluted area. Hugh Ley, a member of the Upper Pecos Watershed and
Business Associations, says the Pecos-area day-use sites are being overrun with
trash and human waste. A local TV station found used toilet paper, empty beer
cans, food wrappers and other trash at the Windy Bridge and Lower Dalton sites.
Both sites have no trashcans and in their absence, visitors have turned nature
into one giant waste bin – crossed with one large, unsanitary outdoor toilet. The
Forest Service closed the facilities on April 1 and said at the time it simply
did not have the necessary funding to keep them open. "Pumping cost was a
major concern for them, and they were going to lock all of the day-use
facilities that do not generate revenues,” Ley added. Official USFS policy is
that people are supposed to take out their own trash under the “Pack it in,
pack it out” philosophy, but anyone who actually hides behind that defense is
either lazy or ignorant of how lazy people are – and maybe both. To combat the
problem, the Upper Pecos Watershed and Business Associations are now asking the
Forest Service to reopen the facilities, but that seems highly unlikely……..
- Debate the NBA’s season-ending awards and likely champion
for the just-concluded regular season all you want, but the most interesting
subplot as the league begins the playoffs has nothing to do with any team
contending for a championship. Instead, all of the disappointing teams that
will fire their coaches in the days ahead can now comfort themselves with the
dream that they might be able to hire a living, breathing, remarkably arrogant
future hall of famer. Yes, Big Chief Triangle was to return to the NBA. Phil
Jackson, a man who loves smoking peyote, riding motorcycles and studying Native
American mythology while being a million times smarter than everyone in any
room he walks into, is reportedly growing e increasingly interested in working in the NBA next season. That may
or may not mean a return to coaching for the 67-year-old Jackson, who could be
a better fit moving into management for the first time in his career. Sources
say that Jackson is eager to return to basketball after a long hiatus since
leaving the Los Angeles Lakers' bench following the 2010-11 season. Jackson
reportedly turned down an offer from the Brooklyn Nets to coach this season and
said in January that he "has no intention of ever coaching again."
That won't prevent teams such as the Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers -- who
interviewed Jackson in 2005 and are known to be contemplating a coaching change
– from testing the waters and seeing if Jackson will listen. It remains to be
seen if he would be willing to move to the front office and if any team would
entrust him with such power, given that he has never held a prominent NBA
personnel job. A collection of 11 championship rings as a coach give Jackson credibility,
but his legendary arrogance could push away would-be suitors. A return to the
Lakers is unlikely, as the team already has vice president Jim Buss and
longtime general manager Mitch Kupchak running the team and Buss dislikes
Jackson strongly. Whether he ends up in Cleveland, Brooklyn, with the team
currently known as the Sacramento Kings but which is likely moving to Seattle
before next season, it would be great to have BCT back in the Association……..
- That’s the way to do it, Egyptian hardline Islamic militant group Magles
Shoura al-Mujahddin. If you believe that The Israeli army's attack on protesters
demonstrating over the death of a Palestinian prisoner was unjust and must be
punished, then the only logical response is to fire off two rockets that kill
precisely zero people at a posh Red Sea resort. The Red Sea resort in question,
Eliat, was hit by two rockets fired from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula Wednesday,
but witnesses on the scene reported no signs of damage or injury. Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin
claimed responsibility in a statement on its website and explained that its
actions were tied to the Israeli army's attack on Palestinian protesters.
Images broadcast on a local television station near the resort showed the
casing of the one of the rockets lying in sand at a construction site in the
resort city and Israel’s military said the rockets caused neither damage nor
injury. The peninsula has been mostly calm over the past decade and was
demilitarized during the rule of dictator Hosni Mubarak, but Islamic militants
have begun activities in the region since Mubarak was forced from power in the
2011 Arab Spring. Israel, perhaps anticipating an attack like the one unleashed
this week, deployed an Iron Dome anti-rocket battery in Eilat some two weeks
ago during a span coinciding with the Jewish Passover holiday, when the city at
the tip of Gulf of Aqaba is typically filled with vacationers. According to a
military spokeswoman, the system did not intercept the incoming missiles on
Wednesday for “operational reasons.” A senior military official suggested that Israel
was still trying to confirm that the missiles were delivered from Egyptian
territories……
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