Dismantling Fukushima Will Require Robotic Technology That Has Not Been Invented Yet
March 2nd, 2014Via: IEEE:
“At Fukushima you have wrecked infrastructure, three melted cores, and you have some core on the floor, ex-vessel,” Barrett says. Nothing like Fukushima, he declares, has ever happened before.
Britain: Perovskite Solar Panels
March 2nd, 2014Via: Guardian:
Materials researchers in Oxford, led by Dr Henry Snaith, have recently shown that they can make simple perovskite solar cells with efficiencies pushing 20%. This is big news, because 20% makes them competitive with existing commercial silicon solar cells while being much cheaper to make in high volumes. They are also more suitable for incorporating into roofing materials and glass panels than silicon and so have the clear potential of being as fundamental to our city architecture as steel, concrete and asphalt. In other words, they could well be the materials that will make it possible to collect the 1% of solar energy we need as a nation, at a cost that can compete with fossil fuels.
China Vows ‘Iron Fist’ Response to Deadly Train Station Attack
March 2nd, 2014Via: Christian Science Monitor:
For more than a year, the Chinese media have published regular reports of deadly violent incidents in the predominantly Muslim province of Xinjiang, in China’s far west.
More than 100 people died last year in clashes between the police and ethnic Uighurs identified by the government as terrorists seeking independence from Beijing.
Saturday night’s attack in the southwestern city of Kunming, however, which officials attributed to Xinjiang separatists, appears to have been of an entirely different order.
The assault by more than a dozen knife-wielding men and women who killed 29 people at the train station waiting to buy train tickets, and wounded 140 more, was the most violent episode ever involving Uighurs outside Xinjiang. It illustrates that despite heightened police surveillance of suspected Xinjiang terrorists, there is little the authorities can do to prevent attacks by determined opponents, as they cannot maintain the level of security across the country that they seek to impose in Xinjiang.
World’s Largest Aircraft Unveiled; Can Stay Airborne for Weeks
March 2nd, 2014Via: Telegraph:
The world’s largest aircraft which can stay airborne for up to three weeks and will be vital in delivering several tonnes of humanitarian aid as well as transporting heavy freight across the world, has been unveiled.
The 300ft (91m) ship is part plane, airship and helicopter, and there are plans to eventually use it to transport hundreds of tonnes of freight across difficult terrain throughout the world as well as deliver aid to risky areas.
…
Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd (HAV), which created the craft, said they expect there to be as many airships as helicopters in the sky in years to come as they provide an environmentally friendly and efficient solution to transporting dozens of tonnes of freight and reaching hard to access areas.
The company also expects to create ‘luxury’ hybrids, with infinity pools stretching across hundreds of feet, and planes being used for safaris and whale watching because they run on often just one engine so are quieter than traditional vehicles.
More Pictures: Daily Mail
The TSA is Looking for Bitcoin
March 2nd, 2014The TSA didn’t find any Bitcoin “tokens,” but you’re about to read comedy gold.
Via: Daily Anarchist:
I turned back to the orange shirt and asked “What did the Bitcoin look like?” Bill chimed in and told the agent that what he was saying was impossible because Bitcoin is digital and doesn’t have have any physical manifestation. You can’t “see” Bitcoin. The orange shirt said they looked like medallions or tokens. I said I didn’t understand what he was talking about, and he simply repeated, in a child like way, that Bitcoins are like metal tokens. I told him that I didn’t have any tokens.
Research Credit: alvinroast
UKRAINE ORDERS FULL MILITARY MOBILIZATION OVER RUSSIA MOVES
March 2nd, 2014Update: New Head of Ukraine’s Navy ‘Defects’ in Crimea
Via: BBC:
The newly appointed head of Ukraine’s navy has sworn allegiance to the Crimea region, in the presence of its unrecognised pro-Russian leader.
Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky was only made head of the navy on Saturday, as the government in Kiev reacted to the threat of Russian invasion.
Russia’s troops have been consolidating their hold on Crimea, which is home to its Black Sea Fleet.
The US has warned Moscow may be ejected from the G8 for its actions.
—
Here we go again.
Via: BBC:
Ukraine has ordered a full military mobilisation in response to Russia’s build-up of its forces in Crimea.
Acting President Olexander Turchynov has ordered the closure of airspace to all non-civilian aircraft.
US President Barack Obama has called Russian troop deployments a “violation of Ukrainian sovereignty”.
Ukraine has said it will seek the help of US and UK leaders in guaranteeing its security. Nato has called emergency talks to be held at 1200 GMT.
Several other measures were announced by Andriy Parubiy, chair of the national security and defence council of Ukraine:
The armed forces would be put on “full combat readiness”.
Reserves to be mobilised and trained
Emergency headquarters to be set up
Increased security at key sites, including nuclear plants.
The BBC has seen what appear to be Russian troops digging trenches on the Crimean border.
Heavily armed groups continue to occupy key sites on the peninsula, including airports and communications hubs, although there has been no actual violence.
On Saturday, Mr Obama held a 90-minute telephone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and urged him to pull forces back to bases in Crimea.
Mr Putin said Moscow reserved the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers in Ukraine.
President Putin submitted his request for troops to the Russian parliament on Saturday “in connection with the extraordinary situation in Ukraine and the threat to the lives of Russian citizens”, the Kremlin said.
The US, France and Canada say they are suspending preparations for a G8 summit in the Russian resort of Sochi in June as a reaction to the deployment, with Canada also recalling its ambassador from Moscow for consultations.
LAPD Spies on Millions
March 2nd, 2014Via: L.A. Weekly:
Los Angeles and Southern California police, by contrast, are expanding their use of surveillance technology such as intelligent video analytics, digital biometric identification and military-pedigree software for analyzing and predicting crime. Information on the identity and movements of millions of Southern California residents is being collected and tracked.
In fact, Los Angeles is emerging as a major laboratory for testing and scaling up new police surveillance technologies. The use of military-grade surveillance tools is migrating from places like Fallujah to neighborhoods including Watts and even low-crime areas of the San Fernando Valley, where surveillance cameras are proliferating like California poppies in spring.
The use of militarized surveillance technology appears to be spreading beyond its initial applications during the mid-2000s in high-crime areas to now target narrow, specific crimes such as auto theft. Now, LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff are monitoring the whereabouts of residents whether they have committed a crime or not. The biggest surveillance net is license plate reading technology that records your car’s plate number as you pass police cruisers equipped with a rooftop camera, or as you drive past street locations where such cameras are mounted.
Gallery: “China’s Apocalyptic Hellscape”
March 1st, 2014Via: Time:
The smog in Beijing and parts of northern China has grown so bad that some have likened conditions to living through a “nuclear winter.”
$1 Trillion in Student Loan Debt, “Starting to Hurt Everyone”
March 1st, 2014Except the banks…
Via: Time:
Across the country, students are taking on increasingly large amounts of debt to pay for heftier education tuitions. Figures released last week by the Federal Reserve of New York show that aggregate student loans nationwide have continued to rise. At the end of 2003, American students and graduates owed just $253 billion in aggregate debt; by the end of 2013, American students’ debt had ballooned to a total of $1.08 trillion, an increase of over 300%.
Russian Parliament Formalizes Invasion of Ukraine
March 1st, 2014Via: AP:
Russia’s parliament granted President Vladimir Putin permission to use the country’s military in Ukraine and also recommended Saturday that Moscow’s ambassador be recalled from Washington over comments made by President Barack Obama.
The unanimous vote in an emergency session formalized what Ukrainian officials described as an invasion of Russian troops in the strategic region of Crimea. With pro-Russian protests breaking out in other parts of Ukraine, Moscow now could send its military elsewhere in Ukraine.
“I’m submitting a request for using the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine pending the normalization of the socio-political situation in that country,” Putin said before the vote.
Putin’s call came as pro-Russian demonstrations broke out in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking east, where protesters raised Russian flags and beat up supporters of the new Ukrainian government.
