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Energy storage, rare metals and the next Ice Age: Noble Laureates fail to discuss imminent threats to our civilization

Kathleen Raven
Scientific American
Thu, 04 Jul 2013 06:21 UTC
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© Kathleen Raven
Four Nobel Laureates discussed a wide range of energy storage and conversion problems and possible solutions on Wednesday.
The holy grail of energy storage may lie in chemical bonds, but a process for making this happen remains unknown. All of the Nobel Laureates who weighed in Wednesday on a chemical energy conversion panel agreed on this much.

"Replacement of liquid fossil fuels is still in far reach," said moderator Wolfgang Lubitz, director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy and Conversion. From there, the men focused on the major questions relating to solar power, endothermic reactions, rare metals, the ever-controversial nuclear energy and another ice age.

Solar energy

Gerhard Ertl (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2007) told the audience that nuclear fusion stood as the en vogue future energy source when he was studying in graduate school. "We are still waiting for solutions," he said. In a similar way, solar energy holds great promise, but the storage problem remains unsolved. Hartmut Michel (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1988), the photosynthesis expert of the group, reminded that even nature struggled to get the most out of photosynthesis. "In photosynthesis, only 40 percent of the sunlight -- energy-wise -- is absorbed by the plants," he said. Therefore, the chemists onstage at the 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting exhorted young researchers to search for a brand-new catalytic conversion process that could solve the sunshine enigma.

Comment: No need for hints when Nature itself spells it out quite clearly:

Global Cooling: Sudden European temperature plunge over the last decade... Are we on the brink of a Little Ice Age?
Ice Age Cometh: Russian Academy of Sciences experts warn of imminent cold period: "Global warming is a marketing trick"
Scientist predicts Earth is heading for another Ice Age - next year!
Has Atlanta ever seen so much rain?
Southern Ontario under flood watch as storms bring month's worth of rain in a day
'Cursed spring' of relentless rain: Italy just went through its wettest spring in at least 150 years
Ice Age Cometh! Parts of UK hit by several inches of snow and 'one month' of rain during mid-May storm

The Ice Age is upon us, including the very real threat from space, but Nobel Laureates are busy with "mental masturbation" instead of using their supposedly brilliant minds and "high status" to do real science for a change, including exposing the Psychopaths in Power.

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Cloud Precipitation

Taiwan evacuates 2,000 tourists as super-typhoon looms


The Extinction Protocol
Thu, 11 Jul 2013 08:23 UTC
The typhoon, packing gusts of up to 227 kilometers (140 miles) per hour, was 960 kilometers east of the island's southernmost tip as of 0300 GMT, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said. Soulik is moving west-northwest towards Taiwan at about 22 kilometers per hour and could narrowly skip or make landfall in the north of the island sometime between late Friday and Saturday morning, the bureau said. "The public must heighten their vigilance as the typhoon will certainly bring strong winds and heavy rains," a weather forecaster told AFP. Authorities on Thursday evacuated 2,300 tourists from Green Island, off the southeastern city of Taitung, and issued a warning to ships sailing north and east off Taiwan to take special precaution. The Hong Kong Observatory has classified Soulik as a "super typhoon" on its website, while Taiwan's weather bureau listed it as a "strong typhoon."


On the Chinese mainland, meteorological authorities maintained an orange alert - the second-highest level - for Soulik on Thursday, Beijing's official Xinhua news agency reported. After hitting or passing Taiwan on Saturday Soulik is expected to head towards the coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian, bringing "extremely strong" winds, it cited the National Meteorological Center as saying. In August 2009 Typhoon Morakot killed about 600 people in Taiwan, most of them buried in huge landslides in the south, in one of the worst natural disasters to lash the island in recent years. -Physics
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Bizarro Earth

Worst floods in 50 years lay waste to China's Beichuan county- 30 believed buried alive


The Extinction Protocol
Thu, 11 Jul 2013 08:31 UTC
Flooding in western China, the worst in 50 years for some areas, triggered a landslide Wednesday that buried about 30 people, trapped hundreds in a highway tunnel and destroyed a high-profile memorial to a devastating 2008 earthquake. Meanwhile, to the northeast, at least 12 workers were killed when a violent rainstorm caused the collapse of an unfinished coal mine workshop they were building, said a statement from the city government of Jinzhong, where the accident occurred. The accident Tuesday night came amid heavy rain and high winds across a swath of northern China, including the capital, Beijing. There was no immediate word on the chances of survival for the 30 or so people buried in the landslide in the city of Dujiangyan in Sichuan province, but rescue workers with search dogs rushed to the area, the official Xinhua News Agency said. State-run China Central Television said hundreds of people were trapped in a highway tunnel between Dujiangyan and Wenchuan - the epicenter of the earthquake five years ago that left 90,000 people dead or missing.
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Bizarro Earth

Earthquakes are increasing in northern India: scientists warn large earthquake long over-due


The Extinction Protocol
Thu, 11 Jul 2013 08:28 UTC
In last few years, Himachal Pradesh (HP) is witnessing increased frequency of earthquakes up to 5 magnitude on the Richter scale, which has led to the fear of bigger quakes hitting the state in future. While experts are claiming low intensity quakes release seismic energy to avoid bigger earthquakes, unplanned constructions, even on steep hills, has led to fear of widespread destruction if a high magnitude earthquake hits the state. In the past 90 years, 250 quakes of magnitude 4 and more than 60 with a reading of 5 on the Richter scale have rocked HP and adjoining states of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Uttarakhand. On Tuesday, a low intensity earthquake of magnitude 5 had hit Kullu, Chamba and Lahaul-Spiti districts and its epicenter was between J&K and HP.

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Last month, between June 4 and 6, four low intensity earthquakes had hit the state and epicenter of all the quakes was between Chamba and Lahaul-Spiti. The areas falling in districts Chamba, Kangra, Mandi, Kullu, Hamirpur and Bilaspur are very sensitive as they fall in the very high damage risk seismic zone (Zone V), whereas the rest of the areas falls in high damage risk zone (Zone IV). According to D D Sharma of Himachal Pradesh University, frequent occurrences of low intensity earthquakes are good because they help in releasing the seismic energy and does not allow accumulation of energy, which later results in earthquakes of bigger magnitude and intensity. "It is said that a big earthquake revisits after a gap of 50 years and in Kangra district for last 110 years no major earthquake has occurred.
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Bizarro Earth

Floods top 2013 world disaster bill so far


The Extinction Protocol
Thu, 11 Jul 2013 08:25 UTC
Floods that caused billions of dollars in losses were the world's most expensive natural disasters so far this year, with central Europe being hit hardest, re-insurers Munich Re said on Tuesday. Altogether, natural catastrophes - also including earthquakes, tornadoes and heat waves - caused $45 billion in losses in the first half of 2013, well below the 10-year average of $85 billion. Insured losses worldwide totaled about $13 billion, said Munich Re. Inland flooding that affected parts of Europe, Asia, Canada and Australia caused about 47 percent of overall global losses and 45 percent of insured losses, said the leading reinsurance company based in Munich, Germany. The deadliest disaster out of 460 recorded "natural hazard events" worldwide was a series of flash floods in northern India and Nepal that killed more than 1,000 people in June after early and exceptionally heavy monsoon rains.
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By far the most expensive natural disaster was the river flooding that hit southern and eastern Germany and neighboring countries in May and June, causing more than $16 billion in damage, most of it in Germany. "The frequency of flood events in Germany and central Europe has increased by a factor of two since 1980," said Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek. In some places, 400 liters of rain per square meter fell within a few days. With the ground already saturated from the rainiest spring in half a century, this led to rapid swelling of the Danube and Elbe river systems. Peter Hoeppe, head of Munich Re's Geo Risks Research unit, said in a statement that "it is evident that days with weather conditions that lead to such flooding are becoming more frequent."
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Fish

Legacy mercury levels in fish, environment will persist for centuries


redorbit.com
Thu, 11 Jul 2013 07:32 UTC
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© Thinkstock.com
Significant reductions in mercury emissions will be necessary just to stabilize current levels of the toxic element in the environment, according to new research from a team led by Harvard University.

Surface reservoirs, such as soil, air and water, hold an enormous amount of mercury from past pollution going back thousands of years. Scientists believe it will continue to persist in the ocean and accumulate in fish for decades to centuries.

"It's easier said than done, but we're advocating for aggressive reductions, and sooner rather than later," says Helen Amos, a PhD candidate in Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The findings of this study were published in a recent issue of Global Biogeochemical Cycles.

Amos worked with a team of researchers from the the Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) to collect historical data concerning mercury emissions as far back as 2,000 BC. The team has also been building environmental models of mercury cycling that captures the interactions between the atmosphere, oceans and land.

Most of the mercury emitted to the environment ends up in the ocean within a few decades, the model reveals. The mercury remains in the ocean from centuries to millennia. Currently, emissions of mercury are mainly from coal-fired power plants and artisanal gold mining. The mercury is thrown into the air, rained down into lakes, absorbed by the soil and carried by rivers, eventually finding its way to the sea. Once there, aquatic microbes convert it to methylmercury, the organic compound that accumulates in fish, finds its way to our dinner plates, and has been associated with neurological and cardiovascular damage.
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Arrow Down

Unusually cold spring causing bat declines in Britain

Lawrence LeBlond
redorbit.com
Mon, 08 Jul 2013 05:35 UTC
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© Thinkstock.com
Because of an unusually cold spring and an insect shortage this summer, conservationists are concerned bat numbers could continue to suffer this year. Based on the latest figures from Britain's National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP), the annual bat breeding season got off to a slow start due to unseasonable weather earlier this year.

Dr. Kate Barlow, Head of Monitoring at the Bat Conservation Trust, said, "After 2 years of long, wet, winters and a particularly late and cold start to summer this year, the outlook isn't too promising for our bats. The most recent results from the National Bat Monitoring Programme showed that there were fewer bats were counted in 2012 than in 2011 for most species monitored."

Dr. Barlow added that 2013 saw the coldest March in 50 years and summer got off to such a late start many of the species are struggling. "This year Britain's bats need all the help they get," she said.

Further adding to the bat recovery struggle is the fact that winged insect numbers are also down. So on top of a cold spring and delayed summer, several species may face shortages in food supply, especially those that rely on moths, according to a National Trust report released last month.
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Question

'Strange sky sounds' heard in Curitiba Brazil, Mississauga Canada and Clearwater Florida on 9 July 2013


strangesounds.org
Wed, 10 Jul 2013 14:54 UTC
In this post you get a compilation of these weird noises from the sky that we were used to listen in 2012 just before the Maya calender ended! Are they back now?
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Strange Sounds from the sky in Curitiba Brazil - July 9 2013

The recorder of the video had always a foot back from videos of strange sounds coming from the sky as they seemed to be haoxes. This until he witnesses the phenomenon on July 9 2013. The metallic echoeing and rumbling noise started around 3 am and lasted intermittently for approximately one hour. At the beginning, it sound very similar to a bell. He has never listened to something like this since he is around (lots of years). Sometimes, the sound was very loud and scary, without any specific direction, but coming from above, from the sky. The sky is very frightning, is terrible!

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Cloud Precipitation

Has Atlanta ever seen so much rain?

Mike Benzie
Yahoo News
Wed, 10 Jul 2013 12:29 UTC
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Thanks to an especially wet Fourth of July, rain has remained a topic of conversation in the Atlanta area, where we don't seem to be getting a break. But there's always a question of perception vs. truth when it comes to weather. Has it really rained as much as it has seemed here?

In the case of 2013 weather, the truth is this: It has rained in near record volumes in the metro Atlanta area, according to the National Weather Service. We had more rain through July 8 this year than we had in all of 2012. Same is true for all of 2011.

Let's look at the stats, courtesy of Keith Stellman, meteorologist in charge at the Peachtree City-based weather service. Atlanta is on pace to have its wettest year ever. These records, by the way, extend back to 1879. Through July 8, the official site at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport recorded 41.28 inches of rain. At that pace, Atlanta would reach 79.72 inches by December 31, eclipsing the highest marks to date -- 71.18 in 1948 and 69.43 in 2009. The 2009 year was pushed by a "once in 500 years flood" that crippled the city for a week in September.

But of course, that's only pace and assumes rain at the same frequency and volume, which may be unlikely. Because the pace and volume have indeed been extraordinary.

"If we simply get average rainfall the remainder of the year and no more rain in July, we will get into the top 10 wettest years on record with 61 inches of rain," said Stellman. In addition, there are only seven years on record that have had more rain through July than we have had in Atlanta, and that's with 2013 records only through July 8.
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Extinguisher

Electrical storm causes fire in Almeria province, Spain


Source
Tue, 09 Jul 2013 11:59 UTC
electrical storm almeria
A violent electrical storm was the cause of a bush fire this morning in the province of Almeria. Fire planes have been working since dawn to extinguish six points of fire that are still burning being fanned by strong winds in the area.

The zone affected is scrubland with little vegetation and quite a distance from the nearest populated area in the Huercal-Overa region.

Javier Madrid who is co-ordinating the work by INFOCA said that there was no risk to homes or people but that some families had been evacuated as a safety precaution.

According to the authorities, last night's storm caused over 2,000 lightening strikes which set off three major fires in Turre, Mojacar and Huercal Overa.
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