Ryan McBride wrote:
AcadiaSoft, which makes software for managing derivative investments, has raised $4 million in equity financing, according to an SEC filing. The Pembroke, MA-based startup told Mass High Tech that the investors in the financing included large financial institutions such as HSBC Holdings and ICAP, both of which are based in London, and New York-based JP Morgan Chase & Co.
BBC
Mucho se ha hablado hasta ahora de la acidificación de los océanos por el aumento de las emisiones de dióxido de carbono y sobre el impacto devastador que este fenómeno tiene sobre los arrecifes de coral.
Sin embargo, un nuevo aspecto hasta hace muy poco tiempo desconocido es el efecto del incremento del dióxido de carbono en la capacidad de las aguas oceánicas para absorber el sonido.
Esto podría tener serias consecuencias no sólo para la fauna marina sino también para todos los sistemas que se basan en tecnología acústica, como los sonares o los aparatos para detectar la presencia de movimientos telúricos.
Explicación
Según un estudio llevado a cabo recientemente por Richard E. Zeebe y Tatiana Ilyna de la Universidad de Hawai, la concentración de sustancias químicas que absorben el sonido en los océanos del globo terrestre ha disminuido y continuará decayendo a raíz de la acidificación de los océanos.
Al haber menos sustancias químicas que amortigüen los ruidos, estos pueden viajar más lejos y por lo tanto, el espacio marino se torna más ruidoso.
Fuente Bibliográfica
The music-streaming service Spotify is becoming increasingly popular in Europe and, despite delays, it is set to hit the US shores soon enough. It enables users to listen to a huge library of songs for free and even take them on the go, though only with the paid version.
Despite its popularity though, most people have their mu… (read more)
El ave símbolo del Ecuador marca con su majestuosa presencia los cielos de los Andes. Sin embargo, cada vez se ha tornado más difícil la observación de uno de estos ejemplares volando en libertad, ya que según los últimos estudios realizados por la Sociedad para la Investigación y Monitoreo de la Biodiversidad Ecuatoriana (Simbioe), el número en todo el país no supera los 50.
“Debemos mantener ese símbolo patrio que está en nuestro escudo”, comentó Danilo Silva, director de EcoFondo, cuya entidad está apoyando al Grupo Nacional de Trabajo del Cóndor para “la investigación y monitoreo en diferentes áreas protegidas del país y en un sistema de capacitación a comunidades rurales que viven alrededor de los sitios de anidación del cóndor”.
Un aporte
La reproducción en cautiverio es una de las alternativas que el Grupo maneja para ayudar a incrementar el porcentaje de estas aves, por lo que Sergio Lasso, responsable de Gestión del Cóndor Andino del Ministerio de Ambiente, ejemplificó que están trabajando las fundaciones ‘Zoológica’ y ‘Galo Plaza Lasso’, para transferir la tecnología empleada en el Zoológico de Guayllabamba hacia la ‘Casa del Cóndor’ en Zuleta, donde hay tres parejas de estos animales.
Pero un factor importante que deben controlar para introducir los especímenes nuevos a su hábitat es el desconocimiento de las personas sobre esta ave.
“Suelen pensar que es cazadora, que mata al ganado, pero esto no es así”, explicó el ornitólogo Juan Manuel Carrión, quien agregó que esta es la principal causa por la que suelen cazarlos.
Es así que esperan mejorar la capacitación de la gente para que no acaben con esta especie, como manifestó Joep Hendriks, director del Parque Cóndor.
Se pintó un mural
Como parte del proyecto para conservar al cóndor andino, el Grupo Nacional de Trabajo del Cóndor, realizó ayer en Quito (Av. 6 de Diciembre y Gaspar de Villaruel) una actividad para repintar una enorme pared con representaciones significativas de esta especie.
Participaron de esta iniciativa varios deportistas, grafiteros, pintores y conservacionistas, quienes se unieron por una misma causa: concienciar sobre la importancia del cóndor.
Parte de ellos fue Edwin Valle, un artista plástico que se ha planteado pintar 100 m sobre biodiversidad en diferentes lugares del país. Su proyecto se denomina ‘Pescadores de Sueños’.
Características
Lo que debe saber
TOME NOTA
Para solicitar capacitación sobre el cóndor comuníquese a Simbioe al: (02)-290-53-46 (02)-290-53-46 .
On Friday, President Barack Obama announced the recipients of the $2.3 billion Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits program to boost renewable energy manufacturing. The tax credits will directly be funded via the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. See here for a complete list of projects and go below the fold to watch President Obama’s statement.
This is an altogether separate funding stream from the direct cash grant program administered by the Treasury Department or the Investment or Production Tax Credits.
President Obama says AEMTC will “help close the clean energy gap that’s grown between America and other nations.” The White House makes no bones that it wants to beat China in the ongoing global cleantech race.
The AEMTC, according to a White House press release, are worth up to 30 percent of each project, and “will leverage private capital for a total investment of nearly $7.7 billion in high-tech manufacturing.” Approximately 30 percent of the projects backed by this funding will be completed in 2010, according to the White House.
Watch:
Ask and you shall receive – well, almost. While GM listened to us when we asked for a Buick version of the Opel Insignia OPC ever since the Regal sedan made its debut last year, the company kind of ignored us in terms of performance. Yes, while the Buick Regal GS Concept looks like every bit of Insignia OPC, under the hood, it’s a completely different car.
Unlike the Opel Insignia OPC, which is powered by a 325-hp 2.8L V6 turbo, the Regal GS Concept rolls into Detroit with a 2.0L Ecotec turbocharged 4-cylinder making 260-hp. That’s just 40 more horses than the top-of-the-line Regal without the GS badge. With that in mind, the all-wheel-drive Buick Regal GS seems to compete with entry level luxury sedans like the Acura TL, Audi A4 and the Lexus IS to name a few.
Either way, GM isn’t saying anything about a production version right now, but we wouldn’t discount the possibility even a little. Stay tuned to see what Buick will offer.
Follow on through for more high-res photos from the Detroit Auto Show.
2010 Detroit: Buick Regal GS Concept:
All Photos Copyright © 2009 Omar Rana – egmCarTech.
Buick Regal GS Concept:
– By: Omar Rana
 David McKay / NASA |
This photomicrograph focuses on a large “biomorph” from a Mars meteorite fragment known as Nakhla e4150ed. Its chemical spectrum appears to be primarily iron oxide but with a carbon content slightly greater than the underlying matrix. |
Do rocks from Mars bear the tiny fossilized signs of life? Scientists who think so say they’ll subject meteorites from the Red Planet to a new round of high-tech tests in hopes of adding to their evidence.
For years, only one meteorite has figured in the controversy: ALH84001, a rock that was blasted away from Mars 16 million years ago, floated through space and fell through Earth’s atmosphere onto Antarctica about 13,000 years ago. Scientists reported in 1996 that the rock contained microscopic structures that looked like “nano-fossils,” but skeptics said the structures could have been created by chemical rather than biological reactions.
In November, the scientists who were behind the earlier research reported fresh findings that they said answered many of the objections from the skeptics – and they said two other space rocks traced to Mars seemed to have “biomorph” structures similar to those found in ALH84001. Pictures of the biomorphs were spread across a couple of Web pages back then, but generated relatively little attention at the time.
Over the weekend, the Spaceflight Now Web site provided further details on what the scientists saw and what they think it means.
…(read more)
Lenovo LePhone seen again, OS cues taken from Skylight? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We don’t want to get our hopes up again, after having them repeatedly bashed against the rocks by a merciless Microsoft that’s spoke quite highly of the potential synergy of its brands and yet so far held its mobile and gaming segments far apart, but this sounds promising. Apparently a slide from some internal Microsoft marketing material is making the rounds that says Xbox Live Games is the “mobile version” of Xbox Live for Windows phones, speaking in the not-yet-accurate present tense, and matching up with a recent job posting we’ve seen. Of course, that seems a completely obvious move for Microsoft, particularly with Windows Mobile 7 right around the corner, and we would assume it would bring along with it not just the social features of Xbox Live but also some gaming for these next-gen smartphones that can most certainly handle it. Shoot, there we go being logical again.
[Thanks, Philip]
‘Xbox Live Games’ to plug Windows Mobile into Xbox ecosystem at last? Wouldn’t that make too much sense? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’re still on the cusp of an OLED revolution for home entertainment — or at least we’re still holding out hope that we are. We’d planned on having big-screen displays by now but we’re instead still dealing with tiny ones along with a never-ending series of concepts. This latest use, spotted at last week’s CES, adds a little artistic flair to the technology, staggering a series of displays and synchronizing the video across them to create some lovely results. We’re not really into the whole lacquered boat look, but the fan-like array of displays is quite interesting to say the least. As is the cost: upwards of $100,000. You could buy a lot of XEL-1 TVs for that money. Video after the break.
Continue reading OLED becomes art, your bank account becomes empty (video)
OLED becomes art, your bank account becomes empty (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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McLaren Mercedes has proceeded to doing a whole restructuring of their engineering team prior to the 2010 Formula One season, with some important changes in terms of individual crews for their two drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
As a result, Hamilton’s former race engineer Phil Prew will become the team’s principal race engineer from 2010 onwards, while the 2008 Formula One champion will from now on be guided through race action by Andy Latham. Also, Jenson Button’s race… (read more)
Bonhams Auctions had just revealed that an important collection of 100 motorcycles, mainly pre-1950 machines, from Pamplona, Spain, will go on sale at the RAF Museum, Hendon on February 27, 2010. The Pamplona Collection represents an important group of motorcycles assembled by a prominent Spanish private collector.
Over 100 in number, this collection includes several De Dion Bouton-engined machines dating from the 19th Century, as well as nine four-cylinder models from the likes o… (read more)
If the GMC Granite is ever produced, the model will be the “Performance Grade” brand’s smallest vehicle ever – a full 2 feed smaller than the GMC Terrain.
GMC says that the “urban-industrial design” is aimed at young professionals helping the brand take a more progressive direction.
“We’ve designed a new breed of truck that’s as efficient as it is chic, innovative as it is functional,” says Frank Saucedo. “Our goal was to create the next generation of urban mobility, fusing a flexible, functional social space with an urban-box design that’s equally at home at the cabin or the club.”
From what you’re seeing now – do you think GMC has a chance to steal some market from the Scion xB, Kia Soul and Nissan Cube? Have your say in the poll below.
Click through for more high-res image from the show floor.
2010 Detroit: GMC Granite Concept:
All Photos Copyright © 2009 Omar Rana – egmCarTech.
2010 Detroit: GMC Granite Concept:
– By: Omar Rana
First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR), a leading provider of industrial real estate supply chain solutions, today provided an update on its fourth quarter 2009 business activities.
During the quarter, the Company generated approximately $182 million of gross proceeds through a combination of asset sales and secured financings, as well as net proceeds of approximately $68 million from the sales of common equity.
The Company used a portion of available proceeds to retire during the quarter approximately $113 million of unsecured senior debt. The Company also received payment of approximately $40 million related to its previously disclosed tax refund application.
Asset Sales
In the fourth quarter, the Company:
Capital Market Activities
In the fourth quarter, the Company:
As a result of these transactions, the Company expects to record a gain of approximately $12 million in the fourth quarter. The Company may from time to time repurchase or redeem additional amounts of its outstanding debt securities.
Any repurchases or redemptions would depend upon prevailing market conditions, the Company’s liquidity requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors the Company considers important.
Future repurchases or redemptions may materially impact the Company’s liquidity, future tax liability and results of operations.
Receipt of Tax Refund
During the third quarter, as previously disclosed, the Company significantly restructured the operations of a taxable REIT subsidiary after receiving a favorable private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
As a result of the restructuring, the subsidiary recognized tax losses on a substantial number of properties and investments in certain of its joint ventures whose tax basis was greater than fair market value.
Under federal income tax rules, the Company believes that the subsidiary is able to carry back these tax losses to offset taxable income it had previously recognized. Consequently, the Company applied for a federal income tax refund of approximately $40 million in the fourth quarter, and received those funds on Dec. 21, 2009.
Notwithstanding the Company’s receipt of a favorable private letter ruling and receipt of the refund amount, the tax refund could be challenged by the IRS, which may result in a future diminution of the tax refund and an obligation to return all or a part of the refund.
Financial Covenants
In addition, the Company cautioned that, as previously disclosed, it continues to operate with little cushion in certain of its financial covenants under its line of credit agreement and unsecured debt indenture.
The Company’s ability to continue to meet its financial covenants is dependent on various factors, including, in part, its ability to continue to sell sufficient assets on favorable terms.
With respect to the debt service covenant under the Company’s line of credit agreement, if the Company were otherwise unable to meet that covenant, the Company believes it could meet that covenant by choosing to suspend dividends on its outstanding preferred stock for one or more quarters.
About First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.
First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR) provides industrial real estate solutions for every stage of a customer’s supply chain, no matter how large or complex.
Across major markets in North America, our local market experts manage, lease, buy, (re)develop, and sell industrial properties, including all of the major facility types – bulk and regional distribution centers, light industrial, manufacturing, and R&D/flex.
We have a track record of industry leading customer service, and in total, we own, manage and have under development 93 million square feet of industrial space.
For more information, please visit us at firstindustrial.com.
We post or otherwise make available on this website from time to time information that may be of interest to investors.
So who was hot and who was not in the last stretch of the holiday shopping spree? Media Create brings us the numbers again from Japan, and it seems that the PSP did superbly in the land
No pants, no problem. Riders stripped down on subway trains across America on Sunday. It was all part of practical joke called National No Pants Day! Events took place in Washington, Baltimore, Chicago, and New York City on Sunday. In the middle of another brutally cold weekend on the rails, groups of passengers pulled their pants down and took them right off in front of shocked fellow straphangers.
New York City: Remains the largest public transit population in the country and recently now with the conversion to hybrid taxis have helped make some change but there is still room for change such as more rail connection and more options for public transit. Such as a maglev high speed rail line connecting JFK to Grand Central Terminal. More public transit to large beaches that were meant mainly for cars(Jones Beach). Building a freight tunnel under New York Bay to connect Brooklyn/Read Hook with New Jersey. Vertical farms in places like Williamsburg where many condos were built but have remained unoccupied. A law that would give single family homes incentives for using solar panels on there roofs. As well as using wind power in places such as the Long Island Sound.
Los Angeles: With the largest compressed gas bus fleet in the county along with the highest rating of cars per person new technologies and ideas such as car sharing and cleaner cars have helped bring air quality to much cleaner rates. Still there are other ways that LA can be sustainable like New York city there should incentives towards the use of solar panels as well as with the introduction of artificial grass in Las Vegas the same can be done in LA to help save what’s little left of the nearby aquifers. Other ideas such as large wind filters that would stand several hundred feet could help clean the air and process it and later the dry compounds could be used as some sort of landfill.
Share your ideas?
