world's largest solar plant being built in mojave desert
With California utilities expanding rapidly into renewables, the Mojave Desert is one of the hottest spots for solar energy. Last year, plans for the world’s largest solar array got underway in this ideal energy harvesting setting and the latest news is just as groundbreaking. Pacific Gas and Electric recently signed the world’s largest solar deal to date, teaming up with BrightSource Energy to produce three new solar-thermal electric plants for a whopping 500 megawatts of clean green power. The $2 to $3 billion dollar deal provides options for additional plants (up to 900 megawatts total), which would be enough to power 375,000 Californian homes.
mac os ready to challenge ms?
The 20-year death grip that Microsoft has held on the core of computing is finally weakening—pried loose with just two fingers. With one finger you press "Control" and with the other you press "right arrow." Instantly you switch from a Macintosh operating system (OS) to a Microsoft Windows OS. Then, with another two-finger press, you switch back again. So as you edit family pictures, you might use Mac's iPhoto. And when you want to access your corporate e-mail, you can switch back instantly to Microsoft Exchange.
This easy toggling on an Apple computer, enabled by a feature called Spaces, was but an interesting side note to last fall's upgrade of the Mac OS. But coupled with other recent developments, the stars are aligning in a very intriguing pattern. Apple's (AAPL) recent release of a tool kit for programmers to write applications for the iPhone will be followed by the June launch of iPhone 2.0, a software upgrade geared toward business users.
athletes heading to olympics must tread lightly
Athletes who display Tibetan flags at Olympic venues — including in their own rooms — could be expelled from this summer’s Games in Beijing under anti-propaganda rules.
Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that competitors were free to express their political views but faced sanctions if they indulged in propaganda.
He accompanied those comments with an admission that the Games were in “crisis” after pro-Tibet protests engulfed the Olympic torch relay.
the sex trade
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Female penguins mate with males who bring them pebbles to build egg nests. Hummingbirds mate to gain access to the most productive flowers guarded by larger males.
New research shows that even affluent college students who don't need resources will still attempt to trade sexual currency for provisions, said Daniel Kruger, research scientist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
The exchange of resources for sex---referred to by scientists as nuptial gifts---has occurred throughout history in many species, including humans, Kruger said. The male of the species offers protection and resources to the female and offspring in exchange for reproductive rights. For example, an arranged marriage can be considered a contract to trade resources.
However, the recent findings suggest that such behaviors are hard wired, and persist no matter how much wealth, resources or security that people obtain.
problems deporting terror suspects
A British appeals court Wednesday blocked the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown from deporting to Jordan a firebrand Islamic cleric who has long been suspected of close ties to Al Qaeda. The court's rationale: there were reasonable grounds to believe the Jordanians would jail him for life based on evidence obtained through the torture of other detainees.
The court ruling is the latest example of how the alleged use of torture is complicating efforts by the United States and its allies to prosecute high-profile terror suspects and their associates. In this case, the suspect at issue, Abu Qatada, is a notorious radical imam who, British authorities charge, has inflamed British Muslims with his anti-Western sermons. All the while, he has maintained "long-established connections with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda," according to a British government dossier entered into evidence in his court case. Abu Qatada has always denied being an Al Qaeda operative or leader, although in an interview broadcast after 9/11 he said that even though he has never met Osama bin Laden he would have been "proud" to have done so.
chuck could take em!
Two Pennsauken High School students have been arrested after a teacher found what was believed to be a hit list that targeted actor Chuck Norris.
Camden County prosecutor's spokesman Jason Laughlin says the list also included the names of three students and a school staff member.
No one was injured.
School superintendent James Chapman said in a posting on the district's Web site that the boys said the list was a joke.
is this the end of R2D2?
THE actor who played R2-D2 in Star Wars was in hospital last night after being struck down by a mystery illness.
Kenny Baker, 73, fell ill as he flew back to England from a holiday in the US, reports UK tabloid The Sun.
The short-statured star was taken to hospital once the plane touched down at Manchester Airport, with friends fearing him to be seriously ill.
But last night a family member said he was recovering and expected to be back at his home near Preston, Lancs, in a few days.
tanning bed happiness
A 13-year-old boy is recovering after sustaining severe burn blisters to his face after visiting a tanning salon three times in a day.
Kieron Saunders from Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, spent a total of 21 minutes under the lights of the stand-up booth.
He has been told to stay at home for a week after the burns became infected.
reboot your brains addicts
Scientists for the first time have identified long-term changes in mice brains that may shed light on why addicts get hooked on drugs—in this case methamphetamines—and have such a tough time kicking the habit. The findings, reported in the journal Neuron, could set the stage for new ways to block cravings—and help addicts dry out.
Researchers, using fluorescent tracer dye, discovered that mice given methamphetamines for 10 days (roughly equivalent to a human using it for two years) had suppressed activity in a certain area of their brains. Much to their surprise, normal function did not return even when the drug was stopped, but did when they administered a single dose of it again after the mice had been in withdrawal.
you can run.. but you can't hide in mexico
It’s been drilled into the American imagination by countless “B” Westerns and pulpy crime novels: When the heat is on, you make a run for the border. The law must abide by the law, the premise goes, so if the sheriff cannot head you off before you reach the Rio Grande, he’s obliged to pull up reins in jursidictional frustration while you and whatever longhorns you’ve rustled splash to safety on the Mexican side.
Cpl. Cesar Laurean is the latest American to learn how illusory that supposed safety can be: Hoary movie clichés notwithstanding, Mexico these days offers no easy sanctuary from the long arm of American law. Nor vice versa.
April 11th in History
491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
1079 - Bishop Stanislaus of Krakow is executed by order of Bolesław II of Poland.
1241 - Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Muhi.
1512 - War of the League of Cambrai: French forces led by Gaston de Foix win the Battle of Ravenna.
1689 - William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.
1713 - War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne's War): Treaty of Utrecht.
1775 - The last execution for witchcraft in Germany takes place.
1828 - Foundation of Bahia Blanca.
1856 - In Rivas, Nicaragua, Juan Santamaria burns down the hostel where William Walker's filibusters are holed up.
1865 - President Abraham Lincoln makes his last public speech.
1868 - The Shogunate is abolished in Japan.
1876 - The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized.
1888 - The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is inaugurated.
1899 - Spain cedes Puerto Rico to the United States.
1905 - Albert Einstein reveals his Theory of Relativity (special relativity).
1919 - The International Labour Organization is founded.
1921 - First sports broadcast on the radio takes place.
1921 - The Emirate of Transjordan is created.
1921 - Iowa becomes the first U.S. state to impose a cigarette tax.
1945 - World War II: American forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp.
1951 - Korean War: President Harry Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of overall command in Korea.
1951 - The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.
1952 - The Battle of Nanri island takes place.
1955 - The Air India Kashmir Princess is bombed and crashes in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by the Kuomintang.
1957 - Britain agrees to Singaporean self-rule.
1961 - The trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem.
1965 - The Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965: Fifty-one tornadoes hit in six Midwestern states, killing 256 people.
1968 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
1968 - German student leader Rudi Dutschke is shot in Berlin.
1970 - Apollo 13 is launched.
1979 - Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed.
With California utilities expanding rapidly into renewables, the Mojave Desert is one of the hottest spots for solar energy. Last year, plans for the world’s largest solar array got underway in this ideal energy harvesting setting and the latest news is just as groundbreaking. Pacific Gas and Electric recently signed the world’s largest solar deal to date, teaming up with BrightSource Energy to produce three new solar-thermal electric plants for a whopping 500 megawatts of clean green power. The $2 to $3 billion dollar deal provides options for additional plants (up to 900 megawatts total), which would be enough to power 375,000 Californian homes.
mac os ready to challenge ms?
The 20-year death grip that Microsoft has held on the core of computing is finally weakening—pried loose with just two fingers. With one finger you press "Control" and with the other you press "right arrow." Instantly you switch from a Macintosh operating system (OS) to a Microsoft Windows OS. Then, with another two-finger press, you switch back again. So as you edit family pictures, you might use Mac's iPhoto. And when you want to access your corporate e-mail, you can switch back instantly to Microsoft Exchange.
This easy toggling on an Apple computer, enabled by a feature called Spaces, was but an interesting side note to last fall's upgrade of the Mac OS. But coupled with other recent developments, the stars are aligning in a very intriguing pattern. Apple's (AAPL) recent release of a tool kit for programmers to write applications for the iPhone will be followed by the June launch of iPhone 2.0, a software upgrade geared toward business users.
athletes heading to olympics must tread lightly
Athletes who display Tibetan flags at Olympic venues — including in their own rooms — could be expelled from this summer’s Games in Beijing under anti-propaganda rules.
Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that competitors were free to express their political views but faced sanctions if they indulged in propaganda.
He accompanied those comments with an admission that the Games were in “crisis” after pro-Tibet protests engulfed the Olympic torch relay.
the sex trade
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Female penguins mate with males who bring them pebbles to build egg nests. Hummingbirds mate to gain access to the most productive flowers guarded by larger males.
New research shows that even affluent college students who don't need resources will still attempt to trade sexual currency for provisions, said Daniel Kruger, research scientist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
The exchange of resources for sex---referred to by scientists as nuptial gifts---has occurred throughout history in many species, including humans, Kruger said. The male of the species offers protection and resources to the female and offspring in exchange for reproductive rights. For example, an arranged marriage can be considered a contract to trade resources.
However, the recent findings suggest that such behaviors are hard wired, and persist no matter how much wealth, resources or security that people obtain.
problems deporting terror suspects
A British appeals court Wednesday blocked the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown from deporting to Jordan a firebrand Islamic cleric who has long been suspected of close ties to Al Qaeda. The court's rationale: there were reasonable grounds to believe the Jordanians would jail him for life based on evidence obtained through the torture of other detainees.
The court ruling is the latest example of how the alleged use of torture is complicating efforts by the United States and its allies to prosecute high-profile terror suspects and their associates. In this case, the suspect at issue, Abu Qatada, is a notorious radical imam who, British authorities charge, has inflamed British Muslims with his anti-Western sermons. All the while, he has maintained "long-established connections with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda," according to a British government dossier entered into evidence in his court case. Abu Qatada has always denied being an Al Qaeda operative or leader, although in an interview broadcast after 9/11 he said that even though he has never met Osama bin Laden he would have been "proud" to have done so.
chuck could take em!
Two Pennsauken High School students have been arrested after a teacher found what was believed to be a hit list that targeted actor Chuck Norris.
Camden County prosecutor's spokesman Jason Laughlin says the list also included the names of three students and a school staff member.
No one was injured.
School superintendent James Chapman said in a posting on the district's Web site that the boys said the list was a joke.
is this the end of R2D2?
THE actor who played R2-D2 in Star Wars was in hospital last night after being struck down by a mystery illness.
Kenny Baker, 73, fell ill as he flew back to England from a holiday in the US, reports UK tabloid The Sun.
The short-statured star was taken to hospital once the plane touched down at Manchester Airport, with friends fearing him to be seriously ill.
But last night a family member said he was recovering and expected to be back at his home near Preston, Lancs, in a few days.
tanning bed happiness
A 13-year-old boy is recovering after sustaining severe burn blisters to his face after visiting a tanning salon three times in a day.
Kieron Saunders from Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, spent a total of 21 minutes under the lights of the stand-up booth.
He has been told to stay at home for a week after the burns became infected.
reboot your brains addicts
Scientists for the first time have identified long-term changes in mice brains that may shed light on why addicts get hooked on drugs—in this case methamphetamines—and have such a tough time kicking the habit. The findings, reported in the journal Neuron, could set the stage for new ways to block cravings—and help addicts dry out.
Researchers, using fluorescent tracer dye, discovered that mice given methamphetamines for 10 days (roughly equivalent to a human using it for two years) had suppressed activity in a certain area of their brains. Much to their surprise, normal function did not return even when the drug was stopped, but did when they administered a single dose of it again after the mice had been in withdrawal.
you can run.. but you can't hide in mexico
It’s been drilled into the American imagination by countless “B” Westerns and pulpy crime novels: When the heat is on, you make a run for the border. The law must abide by the law, the premise goes, so if the sheriff cannot head you off before you reach the Rio Grande, he’s obliged to pull up reins in jursidictional frustration while you and whatever longhorns you’ve rustled splash to safety on the Mexican side.
Cpl. Cesar Laurean is the latest American to learn how illusory that supposed safety can be: Hoary movie clichés notwithstanding, Mexico these days offers no easy sanctuary from the long arm of American law. Nor vice versa.
April 11th in History
491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
1079 - Bishop Stanislaus of Krakow is executed by order of Bolesław II of Poland.
1241 - Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Muhi.
1512 - War of the League of Cambrai: French forces led by Gaston de Foix win the Battle of Ravenna.
1689 - William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.
1713 - War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne's War): Treaty of Utrecht.
1775 - The last execution for witchcraft in Germany takes place.
1828 - Foundation of Bahia Blanca.
1856 - In Rivas, Nicaragua, Juan Santamaria burns down the hostel where William Walker's filibusters are holed up.
1865 - President Abraham Lincoln makes his last public speech.
1868 - The Shogunate is abolished in Japan.
1876 - The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized.
1888 - The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is inaugurated.
1899 - Spain cedes Puerto Rico to the United States.
1905 - Albert Einstein reveals his Theory of Relativity (special relativity).
1919 - The International Labour Organization is founded.
1921 - First sports broadcast on the radio takes place.
1921 - The Emirate of Transjordan is created.
1921 - Iowa becomes the first U.S. state to impose a cigarette tax.
1945 - World War II: American forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp.
1951 - Korean War: President Harry Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of overall command in Korea.
1951 - The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.
1952 - The Battle of Nanri island takes place.
1955 - The Air India Kashmir Princess is bombed and crashes in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by the Kuomintang.
1957 - Britain agrees to Singaporean self-rule.
1961 - The trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem.
1965 - The Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965: Fifty-one tornadoes hit in six Midwestern states, killing 256 people.
1968 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
1968 - German student leader Rudi Dutschke is shot in Berlin.
1970 - Apollo 13 is launched.
1979 - Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed.
posted by william overin @ 1:10 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home