Author: Serkadis

Ostara Nutrient Technologies is introducing a breakthrough that turns wastewater from sewage-treatment plants into fertilizer, cites Cnet.

The Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HSRSD) facility put up three vessels that collect wastewater and mix it with magnesium chloride. A cone-shaped “fluid bed reactor” prevents solid particles from settling. Crystals are slowly formed into ammonium magnesium phosphate, or fertilizer pellets. These are then sold to nurseries and agricultural companies.

The new technology “isolates” 85% of the nutrients phosphorus and nitrogen and recycles them in the process. Nutrients are recycled and the solid materials crystallized through chemical reaction. The key to the process is the shape of the reactor which makes crystallization possible.
“Phosphorus is a nonrenewable resource that’s absolutely necessary. If you don’t have phosphorus, you can’t grow things,” said Ostara CEO Phillip Abrary.

It was originally started at the University of British, Columbia. It offers an efficient way to make wastewater reusable although municipal organizations are not as responsive to a new innovation as private sectors, quips Abrary.

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Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee is already representing 100 fishermen and 12 Deepwater survivors in lawsuits against BP and Transocean.

But that’s just the beginning.

“This is going to be the largest case in the history of the United States, even bigger than the tobacco cases,” Buzbee said. “There will be thousands and thousands and thousands of cases.”

BP is administering its own claims process, which has paid out nearly $30 million. But Buzbee has little doubt where priorities lie for the oil company: “I don’t think anyone will get as much money as their deserve through the administrative process. BP may be paying now, but as this thing continues, knowing BP as I do, eventually people will have to go to court.”

For anyone thinking of claiming damage from BP, Buzbee may even file a claim free of charge. If you don’t like the offer, he will take your case at a 40% contingency fee.

Thousands of oil lawsuits may be consolidated into one case and go to court by late July. The oil rig bloodhound is gunning for lead prosecution.

Don’t miss: Pictures Of A Louisiana Town Covered In Oil

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Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Plants/Manufacturing, Videos, Audi, Luxury

What we dig about European plants that build high-zoot cars is that it always looks like each car gets everyone’s full attention, every step presided over by workers who want to make sure they’ve done everything they could. Its most telling examples were the lab-coated workmen assembling the Carrera GT or SLR McLaren and the one-engine-one-worker method of AMG, but the gents looking after the Audi R8 Spyder keep up the tradition.

This peek around the production plant making Iron Man’s car is a little light on drama, but there are plenty of other nuts-and-bolt’s reasons for the enthusiast to spare three minutes to watch it. Follow the jump for the clip, and don’t forget to put a few pennies away today for a deposit on one of your own. Hat tip to Steals

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: A look inside the Audi R8 Spyder production plant

Video: A look inside the Audi R8 Spyder production plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 May 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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James Franco’s acting career does not get in the way of his college life, only that he has to learn how it is to be an ordinary student. His professor threw him outside the class after seeing him busy with his mobile phone and not paying attention, shares SFGate. He felt like a kid being scolded that way, a source said to Star Magazine.

Franco has been balancing his way both as an actor and student. He has been studying filmmaking in Tisch School of Arts, New York University. He played the rich Harry Osborne, best friend of Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) in Spiderman, became an enemy when he blamed Parker for his father’s death, then a friend again, in the latter part of Spiderman 3. IMDb tells he first appeared in “Freeks and Geeks” in 1999 and rose to stardom in “James Dean” in 2001.

Franco paints in his spare time. “I needed an outlet in high school and came across painting. I’ve actually been painting longer than I’ve been acting. A movie is a collaborative effort, and with painting you just have yourself.”

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Published May 24, 2010
By the Tri-City Herald staff

Author Rich Benjamin will discuss anti-immigration, white flight and segregation during two June 7 lectures at Columbia Basin College in Pasco.

Benjamin is the author of Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America.

The author will discuss current racial issues at 12:30 p.m. in the Hawk Union Building Congress Room. He will discuss the social and political divides threatening the United States in a 6:30 p.m. lecture at the Hawk Union Building’s main stage.

Both lectures are free and open to the public.

The lectures are sponsored by CBC’s Office of Diversity, CBC Associated Student Body and the Department of Energy Office of EEO and Diversity.

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

Published May 23, 2010
By the Tri-City Herald staff

The nuclear technology program at Columbia Basin College in Pasco has been awarded a $120,000 grant to provide scholarships.

The grant is from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. CBC received the same amount last year. The money will pay for 23 scholarships, said CBC officials.

The program started last fall. CBC partnered with Energy Northwest, Washington River Protection Solutions, CH2M-Hill Plateau Remediation Co. and Mission Support Alliance to make it happen because there was no state money for the program.

Students who complete the two-year program earn an associate’s degree in nuclear technology with an instrumentation and control option.

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

2011 Toyota Sienna

Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and Nissan are all planning to bring new-generations of their minivans to the market this year and in early 2011. According to some, the segment may be on its way to making a comeback.

Automotive site Edmunds.com said that there is an increase in Web traffic searching for minivans on its website. In recent months, Edmunds has seen 2 to 3 percent of consumers checking out minivans.

“There is definitely a peak in interest,” said Ivan Drury, an Edmunds.com analyst. “Our assumption is that there has been some talk in public about new minivans coming, and consumers want to read about them.”

Click here to get prices on the 2011 Toyota Sienna.

LeasTrader.com is also seeing a jump in the demand for minivans on its website. The site reported a 23 percent increase in visitors searching for minivans in April.

The minivan segment in the U.S. passed the million-year mark in 1993 before peaking in 200 at 1,371,234. In 2008, automakers sold just over 600,000 units and last year the number came in at 450,000.

2011 Toyota Sienna:

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

You may recall the news story from last year about some teenaged girls in Pennsylvania who were being threatened with child porn charges, after taking “nude and semi-nude” photos of themselves on a mobile phone during a party, and sending them to others. The judge halted the potential lawsuit, noting that the nude photos didn’t appear to depict any sexual acts (as per the law), but the local prosecutor still wanted to file charges. As more and more details came out, the whole thing got increasingly ridiculous. Apparently, the girls in question were given a choice to either take a “re-education” class, or face charges.

And now, reader Pickle Monger points out that one of the girls, along with the ACLU, is suing the school district itself, claiming that it violated the girl’s privacy. Apparently, the way the school found out about the photos was that it had confiscated her mobile phone, after she was caught making a phone call on school grounds, against school rules. There’s no problem with confiscating the phone, of course, but then the school searched through the phone and found those photos. It’s the search that the ACLU and the student are questioning. The school had no reason to search through the phone, or to look at the photos stored on the phone after it had confiscated it.

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Apparently the final several minutes of the day wasn’t a long enough period to get in all the selling folks wanted to do.

As you can see, the new bear market continues after hours.

For a wrapup of what happened during the US trading day, see here.

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Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Recalls, Safety, Lamborghini

Lamborghini Murciélago – Click above for high-res image gallery

We’ve seen a rash of recalls in the past few months, but none of the cars and trucks under the spotlight of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have quite the cache of the Lamborghini Murciélago.

The Raging Bull is recalling 428 of its 2007 and 2008 model year Murcielago coupes and roadsters for a potentially serious problem that could result in a fuel leak and possibly a fire. The problem apparently lies with the welds holding the fuel pump support inside the fuel tank. If the welds fail to hold, the tank could detach – and nobody wants a $350,000 exotic with a detached fuel tank.

Owners of the potentially defective Murciélagos can take their supercar to the nearest Lambo dealer for a free repair. Hit the jump to read over the official NHTSA press release.

[Source: NHTSA]

Continue reading Lamborghini recalling 2007-2008 Murciélago models over possible fire risk

Lamborghini recalling 2007-2008 Murciélago models over possible fire risk originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 May 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It is now possible to control cells through electronic intervention. This is a breakthrough achieved with help from researchers at Karolinska Institute, Sweden, and Linkoping University.

Similarities between plastic – having an ion-selective membrane; and silicon – a semiconductor – were explored to produce what is called “diodes.” The diodes were joined into an ion transistor, which is then connected to cultivated nerve cells. It controlled the supply of acetylcholine to the cells. It showed that charged bimolecules can be passed on. This development paves the way for controlling chemical signals.
Soon enough, ion transistors can be integrated with other materials and eventually contribute in regulating the delivery of drugs, said Berggren, professor of organic electronics.

The study is included in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Key contributors are Karin Larsson and Agnets Richter-Dahlfors, Karolinska Institute; and Klas Tybrant and Magnus Berggren, Linkoping University. Foundation for Strategic Research funded the research center OBOE (organic bioelectronics).

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2011 Porsche Cayenne "Utility Redefined" Commercial

Commercials for the 2011 Porsche Cayenne are making their ways onto our television sets and here is the first one, called “Utility Redefined.”

Just like the man in the commercial, if we had a 2011 Cayenne in our garage, we would hardly be able to sleep.

Follow the jump to see the commercial.

Refresher: Prices for the base 300-hp 2011 Porsche Cayenne start at $46,700. The 400-hp 2011 Cayenne S will have a starting price of $63,700, while the Cayenne S Hybrid will start at $67,700. The range-topping 500-hp 2011 Porsche Cayenne Turbo will start at $104,800. Big news for 2011 is the 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid, which is powered by a 333-hp 3.0L supercharged V6 gasoline engine mated to a 47-hp electric-motor. The system allows the SUV to produce 380-hp and a maximum torque of 427 b-ft. Porsche says that that allows the same performance level of a V8 engine while increasing fuel-economy by 20 percent.

2011 Porsche Cayenne:

The new Cayenne: Utility redefined:

2011 Porsche Cayenne:

– By: Kap Shah

Microorganisms in the body, also termed as human microbiome, play a role in human health and disease. A study, Human Microbiome Project (HMP), is dedicated in finding out what microorganisms contribute to good health and what cause certain diseases.

The project, in its initial stage, has in its data base analyses of 178 microbial genomes. It is then used as a standard to identify microorganisms in samples collected from healthy human bodies and those that have illnesses. Samples are found in the digestive tract, mouth, vagina, nose, and skin. Microbial DNA with distinct signature is matched with the genetic sequences found in the project’s database. This is one of the primary goals of the study and a new genomic technology makes this possible. Genomes found in microorganisms can be traced if they already exist.

As a result, out of 16.8 million microbial sequences found in public databases, 62 genomes are similar with 11.3 million sequences in the HMP collection, 6.9 million of which matched the sequences in the database. It shows how complex and diverse microorganisms are claimed Dr. Jane Peterson, Associate Director, HMP leader.

“We are only at the very beginning of a fascinating voyage that will transform how we diagnose, treat and ultimately, prevent many health conditions,” said Dr. Francis S. Collins, Director, National Institute of Health.

This initial study focused mainly on bacteria and will delve into more microbes and viruses in the future.

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