|
Space-based power station on the way |
|
|
|
|
Written by Charles Brass
|
|
Sunday, 07 October 2007 |
A new space station could be collecting solar energy and beaming it to terrestrial power stations by 2030, according to Japanese scientists.
Researchers from the Institute of Laser Engineering at Osaka University in Japan and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have developed a technology for converting sunlight into laser beams. The technology is intended to stand in the center of JAXA's Space Solar Power Systems (SSPS) Project - aimed at creating the world's first space-based power generation system, which will continuously absorb solar energy and send it to Earth in the form of a powerful laser beam.
JAXA researchers are planning to put a prototype of the system in geosynchronous orbit approximately 36,000 km above the equator. A laser beam will be used to transfer the energy collected by the space-based solar panels to an intermediary or terrestrial power station, where its energy will be used to generate electricity or hydrogen. The project will use solar plates made from chromium, a ceramic material that absorbs the sunlight, and neodymium, which converts it into laser light. These solar panels demonstrated a 42% solar-to-laser energy conversion efficiency - an impressive figure that outperforms previous technology by a factor of four.
|
|
Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 October 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
The Age of Disaster Capitalism |
|
|
|
|
Written by Naomi Klein
|
|
Thursday, 04 October 2007 |
As George Bush and his cabinet took up their posts in January 2001,
the need for new sources of growth for US corporations was an urgent
matter. With the tech bubble now officially popped and the DowJones
tumbling 824 points in their first two and half months in office, they
found themselves staring in the face of a serious economic downturn.
John Maynard Keynes had argued that governments should spend their way
out of recessions, providing economic stimulus with public works.
Bush’s solution was for the government to deconstruct itself - hacking
off great chunks of the public wealth and feeding them to corporate
America, in the form of tax cuts on the one hand and lucrative
contracts on the other. Bush’s budget director, the think-tank
ideologue Mitch Daniels, pronounced: “The general idea - that the
business of government is not to provide services, but to make sure
that they are provided - seems self-evident to me.” That assessment
included disaster response.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Testosterone - A ticking time bomb? |
|
|
|
|
Written by Tim Longhurst
|
|
Tuesday, 08 May 2007 |
Global stability and security under threat because of too many men?
A new paper, published in the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, warns that cultures that favour male babies have bred a surplus of men who will struggle to find sexual partners and may be marginalised in society. The paper says this could lead to antisocial behaviour, violence and even more organised crime and terrorism, as men discover their lack of marriage prospects.
The tradition of son preference is most common in large parts of Asia and North Africa, and over the next 20 years, there is expected to be an up to 15 percent excess of young men in parts of China and India. The paper's co-author, Dr. Therese Hesketh of the University College London, says these men will remain single in societies where marriage is regarded as virtually universal and a key indicator of social status and acceptance. Inevitably, when there is a shortage of women in the marriage market, the women can 'marry up'; this leaves the least desirable men with no marriage prospects, and little outlet for sexual energy.
"This trend could lead to increased levels of antisocial behaviour and violence, as gender is a well-established correlate of crime, and especially violent crime. Gender-related violent crime is consistent across cultures. Furthermore, when single young men congregate, the potential for more organised aggression is likely to increase substantially, and this has worrying implications for organised crime and terrorism."
However, things can still turn around - Dr. Hesketh says the social status of women should rise as their numbers decline, eventually leading to more female births and a more balanced sex ratio. She strongly recommends measures to reduce sex selection, including strict enforcement of existing legislation, equal rights for women, and public awareness campaigns about the dangers of gender imbalance.
|
|
|
Written by Tim Longhurst
|
|
Tuesday, 08 May 2007 |
The issue of gun control is once again on the political agenda, following the tragic shooting spree at a Virginia university.
Every new mass murder triggers the tiresome debate. U.S. politicians are typically quick to defend Americans' right to bear arms, as enshrined in the country's constitution. In the U.S., owning a gun is almost like owning any other appliance. There are nearly 200 million guns in private hands.
The gun culture is entrenched in American society, and change does not appear forthcoming. Advocating gun control is perceived to be a huge political risk, so politicians frequently eschew the issue altogether. A ban on assault weapons, enacted during the Clinton administration, was allowed to expire in 2004 without even a whimper from politicians, Republican or Democrat.
Australia, in the absence of a culture sentimentally attached to guns, willingly disarmed following the Port Arthur massacre. With tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. attributed to firearms each year, a breaking point there seems non-existent. Is it apathy? Indifference? A belief in and respect for the principles of natural selection?
Attraction to risky behaviour is part of the human condition, particularly for young men. American society seemingly approves of measures to increase that risk. However, in fact, nearly half of the American public are in favour of stricter gun control. There are Presidents that have been elected with less support. And, with the disproportionate political power wielded by the National Rifle Association (headquartered in Virginia), the risks presented by the right to bear arms may not actually be borne by an informed democratic choice.
So why hasn’t there been an overhaul of U.S. gun laws? While support for such a move exists, it may be telling that most Americans do not believe they will ever be the victim of a gun crime. That’s despite one in five people saying they know someone who has been a victim.
According to a poll taken after the Virginia Tech shootings, about 5 percent of respondents say the tragedy has prompted them to consider buying a firearm. Gun advocates say a concealed handgun carried by a faculty member or a student could have reduced the toll of the shooting spree. Welcome back to the Wild Wild West.
|
|
|
Climate Change, Truth and Trust |
|
|
|
|
Written by Ian Dunlop
|
|
Saturday, 05 May 2007 |
 Climate change is the most serious issue to confront humanity in
centuries, of an entirely different dimension from the typical political
agenda, says Ian Dunlop. Action must be taken within months to avoid catastrophe.
It is of great concern to see misrepresentation and obfuscation escalating in the climate change debate. The article in the Sydney Morning Herald
at Easter (6 April 2007) by Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull
commenting on the second IPCC Climate Change report has to be the most
blatant piece of hypocrisy in decades.
The Minister stated: “The IPCC report should serve as a
reminder that the world must move beyond the Kyoto Protocol to find
real global solutions to climate change.” Just so, which is in
stark contrast to the action of the Australian Government in fighting
tooth and nail for years to water down the Kyoto obligations and
frustrate any global agreement. Having finally negotiated an eight per
cent increase in Australian emissions rather than a reduction, in a
final act of perfidy it then refused to ratify the Protocol.
“ We cannot solve a global problem unless all of the world’s emitters are part of the solution.”
Why therefore has Australia spent the last ten years doing everything
possible to subvert any global initiatives, particularly anything which
might involve the binding emissions reductions so essential to a
meaningful global solution?
“ While very important the science in the IPCC report is not new. That
is why for years now Australia has been forming its environmental and
water policies on the basis that climate change is a fact not a theory
----- . ” This claim must be something of a surprise to the rest
of Federal Cabinet most of whom are on record expressing diametrically
opposite views, ranging from “extremism” and “scaremongering” (John
Howard) to “ entertainment” (Ian McFarlane), that is until the
community issued a wake-up call last year.
|
|
Last Updated ( Saturday, 05 May 2007 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
| Results 10 - 18 of 88 |
Features 