Power Out – Winter Conditions in New Zealand
May 28th, 2013Update: Lights On
And I sit here, watching the meters on the UPS units slowly coming back up in anticipation of the next dump.
It is suddenly still and quiet outside.
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We’ve been having insane weather. We’re not getting snow in the Far North, but there’s lots of hail, lightning, heavy rain and wind. The power has failed about five times today. So, it’s not much of a surprise that it’s down again.
If there are no updates, you’ll know why.
(If the number of homes in the Far North without power is only 500, my name is Santa Claus.)
Via: Stuff:
A polar cold snap is continuing to dump snow around the country, leaving commuters battling with hazardous road conditions and lines companies in the far north scrambling to restore power to up to 500 homes that have had their electricity cut.
The icy weather was expected to continue overnight, and MetService was warning more places yet could receive a dusting of snow.
South Korea Halts Operations at Reactors Over Faked Certificates
May 28th, 2013Via: New York Times:
South Korea was forced to turn off two nuclear power reactors on Tuesday and delay the scheduled start of operation at another two, after its inspectors discovered that the reactors used components whose safety certificates had been fabricated.
South Korea’s nuclear power industry has been plagued by a series of forced shutdowns, corruption scandals and mechanical failures in recent years, undermining public confidence in atomic energy even as the country’s dependence on it for electricity is expected to grow in coming years.
A anonymous whistle-blower led government investigators to uncover the latest problem, in which control cables had been supplied to four reactors with faked certificates even though the part had failed to pass a safety test, the country’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said on Tuesday. The control cable is used to send electronic signals to a reactor’s control system in the event of an accident.
Cradle Turns Smartphone Into Handheld Biosensor; ‘Performs as Accurately as a Large $50,000 Spectrophotometer in the Laboratory’
May 27th, 2013😯
Woh.
Via: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:
Researchers and physicians in the field could soon run on-the-spot tests for environmental toxins, medical diagnostics, food safety and more with their smartphones.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a cradle and app for the iPhone that uses the phone’s built-in camera and processing power as a biosensor to detect toxins, proteins, bacteria, viruses and other molecules.
Having such sensitive biosensing capabilities in the field could enable on-the-spot tracking of groundwater contamination, combine the phone’s GPS data with biosensing data to map the spread of pathogens, or provide immediate and inexpensive medical diagnostic tests in field clinics or contaminant checks in the food processing and distribution chain.
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The wedge-shaped cradle contains a series of optical components – lenses and filters – found in much larger and more expensive laboratory devices. The cradle holds the phone’s camera in alignment with the optical components.
At the heart of the biosensor is a photonic crystal. A photonic crystal is like a mirror that only reflects one wavelength of light while the rest of the spectrum passes through. When anything biological attaches to the photonic crystal – such as protein, cells, pathogens or DNA – the reflected color will shift from a shorter wavelength to a longer wavelength.
For the handheld iPhone biosensor, a normal microscope slide is coated with the photonic material. The slide is primed to react to a specific target molecule. The photonic crystal slide is inserted into a slot on the cradle and the spectrum measured. Its reflecting wavelength shows up as a black gap in the spectrum. After exposure to the test sample, the spectrum is re-measured. The degree of shift in the reflected wavelength tells the app how much of the target molecule is in the sample. See a video of the app in action at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh7MUjIYuyw.
The entire test takes only a few minutes; the app walks the user through the process step by step. Although the cradle holds only about $200 of optical components, it performs as accurately as a large $50,000 spectrophotometer in the laboratory. So now, the device is not only portable, but also affordable for fieldwork in developing nations.
In a paper published in the journal Lab on a Chip, the team demonstrated sensing of an immune system protein, but the slide could be primed for any type of biological molecule or cell type. The researchers are working to improve the manufacturing process for the iPhone cradle and are working on a cradle for Android phones as well. They hope to begin making the cradles available next year.
Japan: SKWID Harnesses the Power of Both the Wind and the Tide
May 27th, 2013If you’re like me, you’re going to wonder how the vertical power generation axis is going to handle the shear stress caused by the rest of the unit bobbing around on the surface.
See the short .pdf on MODEC’s site:
Stable performance in an unstable sea.
The float structure supports the power generation assembly via a set of rubber mounts like a gimbal to isolate the power generation assembly from the wave motion.
Cool.
Via: CBS:
The Savonius Keel & Wind Turbine Darrieus (SKWID) power generation system being developed by Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company (MODEC) is a floating system that shares a vertical floating axis. On the company’s website, MODEC says the concept will generate double or more power from the same sea surface area as a conventional wind turbine.
According to Japan’s NHK News, the wind turbine will be 47 meters above sea level and the tidal turbine will have a diameter of 15 meters. The two sections will be connected by a power generator, the Japanese news agency reports.
NHK News sources say that the turbine will be tested in the fall. Once operational, the turbine could generate enough energy to power about 300 households, the news agency reports.
Research Credit: almaverdad2
Cryptogon Reader Sends $100 Donation
May 27th, 2013It’s looking like a wide miss on earnings this month. Thanks to DE for making it a lot less wide.
Dairy Farmer Acquitted on Three of Four Charges in Raw Milk Trial
May 27th, 2013In fascist America, being convicted of just one of the absurd charges against you is considered a victory.
Via: Journal Sentinel:
Dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger was acquitted on three of four criminal charges early Saturday morning in a trial that drew national attention from supporters of the raw, unpasteurized milk movement.
Jurors in Sauk County Circuit Court deliberated about four hours, until nearly 1 a.m. Saturday, before returning a verdict of guilty on one charge of violating a holding order placed on products on the Hershberger farm following a raid there in the summer of 2010.
The 41-year-old farmer faces up to a year in jail and $10,000 in fines on that conviction. A sentencing date will be announced later, Judge Guy Reynolds said.
Hershberger was found innocent of three charges that included operating an unlicensed retail store that sold raw milk and other products; and operating a dairy farm and dairy processing facility without licenses.
Hershberger’s supporters have said he was targeted for prosecution because he sold raw milk directly to consumers through a private buying club with several hundred members.
The trial’s outcome will set a precedent, according to the Weston A. Price Foundation, an organization that has advocated for the legalization of raw-milk sales in Wisconsin and other states. “This is a victory for the food rights movement,” said one of Hershberger’s attorneys, Elizabeth Rich.
Research Credit: Loveandlight
New Zealand, China in Talks on Convertibility of Currencies
May 27th, 2013Via: Wall Street Journal:
Seeking to help its exporters, New Zealand is negotiating with China to make their currencies directly convertible, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister John Key said.
Wellington’s push is aimed at driving down costs for companies that do business with China, which is close to overtaking Australia as New Zealand’s No. 1 trading partner.
Talks are in the “very early stages” and “progressing,” the spokeswoman said, adding that the issue had been brought up during Mr. Key’s visit to China last month.
Officials at the People’s Bank of China didn’t return calls seeking comment.
Disclosure: I Bought June Puts on SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA)
May 27th, 2013Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Update: TW Asks: “What the hell does this post mean?”
It means that I will make money if the Dow Jones Industrial Average crashes over about the next month. I’m letting everyone know that I have a financial interest in the market going down.
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Bid got hit Friday afternoon. I bought some lotto tickets based on the formation of a doji candle on the weekly interval after the long ramp job.
U.S. Spy Device ‘Tested on NZ Public’
May 27th, 2013Via: New Zealand Herald:
A high-tech United States surveillance tool which sweeps up all communications without a warrant was sent to New Zealand for testing on the public, according to an espionage expert.
The tool was called ThinThread and it worked by automatically intercepting phone, email and internet information.
ThinThread was highly valued by those who created it because it could handle massive amounts of intercepted information. It then used snippets of data to automatically build a detailed picture of targets, their contacts and their habits for the spy organisation using it.
Those organisations were likely to include the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) after Washington, DC-based author Tim Shorrock revealed ThinThread was sent to New Zealand for testing in 2000-2001.
Japan: Particle Accelerator Accident
May 26th, 2013Via: Japan Times:
At least six researchers suffered internal radiation exposure when an experiment involving elementary particles went awry and up to 24 more are feared to have been similarly exposed, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday.
Radioactive substances leaked following the accident Thursday in the Hadron Experimental Facility of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, the government-affiliated agency reported.
Officials from the Ibaraki Prefectural Government raided the complex Saturday afternoon to investigate the delay in reporting the incident. A malfunction occurred at 11:55 a.m. Thursday during an experiment to produce elementary particles by aiming a proton beam at a target made of gold, the agency said.
An alarm went off shortly afterward and the experiment was halted. But a researcher in charge of the equipment restarted it at 12:08 p.m., despite not having pinpointed the cause of the alarm, sources familiar with the investigation said.
As a result, the proton output jumped unexpectedly, causing part of the gold to evaporate and the generation of radioactive substances that leaked out of the controlled area, according to the agency.
