Sir, The letter from Martin Rees and Ralph J. Cicerone (April 9) contains one reason for serious scepticism about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predictions of future climate changes.
Prof Rees and Dr Cicerone write that “straightforward physics tells us that this rise [in CO 2 concentrations] is warming the planet. Calculations demonstrate that this effect is very likely responsible for the gradual warming observed over the past 30 years and that global temperatures will continue to rise – superimposing a warming on all the other effects that make climate fluctuate. Uncertainties in the future rate of this rise, stemming largely from the ‘feedback’ effects on water vapour and clouds, are topics of current research”.
The basic physics is correct, but the uncertainties referred to are largely unreported in newspapers. Using the same physics the 19 major climate models produce very different answers, the more extreme of which are usually used to drive the climate debate.
Documentary film tracks down YouTube’s favorite expletive-spewing Winnebago pitchman.
If you haven’t already, go to YouTube and search “Winnebago man” to join the million-plus others who’ve LOL’d watching outtakes of Jack Rebney—shilling for the 1989 Winnebago lineup—curse his way through missed lines, sweltering heat, swarming flies, and the ineptitude of his unpaid intern, Tony.
But who is this guy? Where did he get his way with words? And why is he so mad? Those are the questions that filmmaker Ben Steinbauer set out to answer after the YouTube video surfaced in 2005. His documentary film, Winnebago Man, is the result. It goes into limited release this spring, with video sales to follow.
A Fiat definiu o nome de sua nova família de motores, que utiliza como base os antigos motores BMW Tritec de 1.6 litros: Se chamarão E.TorQ e serão produzidos no Brasil equipando os veículos Siena, Linea, Punto e o Bravo que serão comercializados na América do Sul.
A denominação E.TorQ ressalta uma das qualidades do propulsor: o seu alto torque já disponível em baixas rotações. Contudo, a Fiat ainda não revelou quais as novas motorizações e suas respectivas informações técnicas. As especulações é de que teremos os motores de 1.6L 16V com uma potencia de 115 cv a gasolina e 117com o álcool e o 1.8L 16V de 130 cavalos de potencia andando a gasolina e de 132 cavalos no álcool.
Os novos motores Fiat E.TorQ substituirão o 1.8L 8V fornecido pela GM através de uma parceria com a Fiat. Sua produção já foi inciada na unidade da Tritec localizada na cidade de Campo Largo-PR. Além de seu maior torque, outras qualidades do novos motores será sua economia de combustível e a redução da emissão de poluentes.
Image source
It has only been about 5 years since we did a high-temporal resolution analysis of the ice cores, during which time the Eco-Theology has boomed. That is when we first discovered that only after it gets warm, does atmospheric CO2 spike up; and that only after it gets cold, does atmospheric CO2 crash down – like geologic clockwork every time. We found the same results in Greenland as we found in Antarctica. There is no dispute about this being an every-time, cause and effect, global phenomena. There is no doubt; no challenge that this might be a flawed or dubious analysis. It has been repeatedly verified by the Russians, Americans, Europeans, Japanese, Australians and Afrikaners.
So here is the obvious assertion defended immediately below: When the globe gets warmer, atmospheric CO2 is driven up, as a direct consequence of that temperature rise. And conversely, when the globe gets colder, atmospheric CO2 is driven down, as a direct consequence of that temperature fall.
Here are the primary sources of natural CO2 release in decreasing order of quantity of CO2 emitted: oceanic release, rock erosion, microbial decay (newly estimated at 98 petagrams), insect activity, frozen terrestrial release; volcanic release; forest fire and then mammalia exhalations and emissions – summing to a total of ~2000-2200 petagrams.
Click PDF file to read the latest essay from Ronald D. Voisin
It’s understood that health insurance companies profit from fast food — indirectly, via clogged arteries, rising blood sugar levels and the obesity that’s been linked repeatedly to high-fat, high-sugar content in the types of foods served in many drive-throughs.
Now comes news that the health insurance titans are profiting directly as well.
Scientific American reports that a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health that has found U.S. health and life insurers have invested $1.88 billion in the top five publicly traded food chains.
The authors of the study argue that these companies should be held to a higher standard, rather than be allowed to prop up the industries that undermine public health; and that their investments reveal where their heart is.
“Our data illustrate the extent to which the insurance industry seeks to turn a profit above all else,” said Wesley Body, senior author of the study, in a news release. “Safeguarding people’s health and well-being take a back seat to making money.”
The Scientific American article reported that “the largest burger backer” was Northwestern Mutual, with $422.2 million invested in fast food corporations, including $318.1 million in McDonald’s.
Today’s chart isn’t rocket science. The SEC announced civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs (GS), and its shareholders proceeded to lose $12 billion.
Brace yourself for a week of Green brainwashing when Thursday culminates in an orgy of Green propaganda called Earth Day.
Be alert to the tons and tons of Green stories in your weekly and daily newspaper of choice, the weekly snooze-magazines, and especially on television where all the local reporters will dutifully interview people who are recycling things destined for a landfill or protesting to save salamanders.
Amidst the deluge will be endless appeals to buy products deemed Green, but which are always more expensive than those that have not been blessed by the Sierra Club.
Your children, in particular, will learn precious little about the way the real Earth functions. Aside from the usual demented “global warming” scenarios guaranteed to give them nightmares, the schools will pretty much abandon efforts to teach anything resembling the way the Earth actually behaves.
With any luck the kids will hear about a Greenland volcano whose eruptions have shut down trans-Atlantic flights because, kids, that’s just one of the horrible things that happens when a volcano goes off. Other times, it destroys all human habitation on a Caribbean island or, as the Philippines’ Mount Pinatubo did in 1991, it not only killed hundreds of people, but put so much pollution in the atmosphere the global temperature actually dropped in the year that followed.
As far as motion control goes, it’s pretty much all-Wii right now. But with Project Natal and PlayStation Move set to come out later this year, the new devices are intent on changing the face of motion-based
The following is a list of the articles that appear in the April 2010 issue of Technology Transfer Tactics monthlynewsletter. If you are already a current subscriber click here to log in and access your issue. Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now and get access to this issue as well as access to our online archive of back issues, industry research reports, sample MTAs, legal opinions, sample forms and contracts, government documents and more!
Technology Transfer Tactics,
Vol. 4, No. 4 (pp 49-64) April 2010
Kauffman controversy continues, future remains uncertain. The title of a jam-packed Debate Forum at the recent AUTM meeting in New Orleans was “Role of Inventors in Negotiating License Transactions,” but all the attendees knew what it was really about.
Reap the benefits but avoid the pitfalls of provisional patent applications. Legal experts emphasize that shoddily prepared PPAs can come back to haunt TTOs later on in the game.
Ten steps to fold social media into your TTO’s marketing mix. For the generation old enough to remember, developing a web home page was once the center of debate when technological advances changed how the world communicates. Is it worth the effort? Now the focus is on social networking and web 2.0-facitliated communications opportunities.
‘10 keys to enlightenment’ for becoming a skillful contract negotiator. “Negotiating is not a skill,” said Robert S. MacWright, PhD, JD, as he opened up a session at the recent AUTM meeting in New Orleans entitled ‘The Art Form We Call Negotiation.’ “You could read 50 books on negotiating and still not know how to do it, because there is no standard way to negotiate.”
Economist makes research-based case against Kauffman proposal for “free agent” faculty. Scott Shane, professor of entrepreneurial studies in the Department of Economics at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, produced a white paper focused on using published research — rather than opinion and anecdote — to inform the U.S. Commerce Department’s current examination of university commercialization activity, and its search for improvements.
Heard in the Halls: AUTM 2010
Purdue program matches angel investors with university start-ups. The Purdue University technology commercialization community hopes to match angel investors with at least half of the dozen or so start-ups it launches each year through a new program called the P3 Alliance.
The latest figures from the NPD Group reveal that Final Fantasy XIII has sold 1,322,000 units in the United States no suprises there, given the strength of Square Enix and its Final Fantasy brand. What’s interesting
Audi has unveiled its new A8 L W12 quattro, a long wheelbase, 12-cylinder version of its new flagship sedan.
The 2011 Audi A8 L W12 has an overall length of 17.28 ft, making it .43 ft longer than the regular wheelbase version. Width remains unchanged at 6.39 ft, but Audi says that the A8 L is still longer and wider than its main long-wheelbase competitors.
Power comes from a 6.3 FSI W12 making 500-hp and a maximum torque of 461 lb-ft. That allows the 2011 Audi A8 L to go from 0-62 mph in 4.9 with a top speed governed at 155 mph. While the Audi A8 being launched with a W12 engine, by the end of the year will be available with all the engines currently offered for the regular A8.
What’s the coolest part about the Audi A8? The rear-seat area. While there is more room and more comfort, the Audi A8 L gets some really cool and eye-popping rear-seat features. Optional extras include two separate power-adjustable seats that can be heated, ventilated and adjusted in a variety of ways. There is also fully adjustable lumbar support and the front passenger’s seat can be moved from the rear if extra space is needed. Also, buyers can opt also opt for a full-length console that runs between the two rear seats. You can also order specific items for the console such as a folding table. Also available is a Rear Seat Entertainment system with two 10.2-inch screens.
Now that’s luxury.
Hit the jump for the high-res image gallery and the press release.
2011 Audi A8 L:
Press Release
AUDI AG WORLDWIDE RELEASE: Luxury in grand style: The new Audi A8 L
The new A8 is a concentrated high-tech package that confirms Audi claim to technical leadership – “Vorsprung durch Technik”. And now the brand is introducing the top version of its flagship model. The A8 L W12 quattro, with a long wheelbase and a twelve-cylinder engine, sets new standards of luxury, dynamism and efficiency in the top automobile manufacturing league. The Audi A8 L is being launched with a twelve-cylinder engine, but by the end of the year will be available with all the engines currently offered for the A8.
What’s fascinating about the A8 L is its supremely powerful presence; its design is clearly derived from the brand’s genes and yet has undergone further refinement. The long wheelbase does not disturb its taut outlines, which remain as athletic as they are elegant.
With an overall length of 5,267 millimeters (17.28 ft), the new Audi A8 L is 130 mm (0.43 ft) longer than the regular version. The wheelbase has grown by the same amount, to 3,122 mm (10.24 ft). The width remains unchanged at 1,949 mm (6.39 ft); the height has increased by 2 mm (0.08 in) to 1,462 mm (4.8 ft). Audi’s new top model is both longer and wider than its main long-wheelbase competitors.
The A8 L has a body built from aluminum using the Audi Space Frame (ASF) principle and therefore weighing about 40 percent less than a comparable steel body. The ASF body structure is built up from cast elements, extruded sections and sheet aluminum, with integral B-posts made from form-hardened ultra-high strength steel. This body’s tremendous rigidity is the key to the car’s precise handling, low interior noise levels and high passive safety for the occupants in the event of an accident.
Among the high-end technologies featured on the A8 model line are the optional LED headlight units (standard on the A8 L W12 quattro) with all lighting functions performed by LEDs. With this bright, high-efficiency light, Audi opens a new chapter in the history of automobile lighting technology.
Subtle visual details distinguish the A8 L W12 quattro from the other cars in this model line. The single-frame radiator grille with integral grid structure has a high-gloss black paint finish and special chromed horizontal bars. There are also chromed inserts of new design in the air inlets, and chromed applications on the exterior mirrors. W12 badges are displayed on the single-frame grille and at the rear of the car. The exhaust system has two trapezoidal-pattern tailpipe trims neatly integrated into the rear bumper.
Abundant space: Rear-seat area
The full extra length of this sedan benefits rear-seat passengers. The back doors are longer, for even more convenient entry, and the space available inside can only be described as opulent. Rear passenger comfort can be enhanced even more if two separate power-adjustable seats are ordered. These can be heated, ventilated and adjusted in a variety of ways: forward and back, seat cushion depth and seat back angle with top section adjustable separately. There is also a fully adjustable lumbar support. The front passenger’s seat can also be moved from the rear if extra space is needed.
Between the individual rear seats that are standard equipment in the Audi A8 L W12 quattro a full-length console can be ordered as an optional extra; it extends back from the center tunnel to the rear shelf, and can be specified with integral items such as a folding table or a refrigerator. Separate controls for the rear air conditioning are also standard. The luxury four-zone automatic air conditioning is controlled by no fewer than 25 adjusting motors.
Another high-end feature of the long-wheelbase Audi A8 is the reclining seat behind the front passenger’s seat. The angle of the seat cushion can also be adjusted. The occupant can be massaged by ten air-filled compartments; four programs can be selected at a remote control. The feet rest on a power-adjustable support at the base of the front passenger seat back. Heating, ventilation and the luxury head restraint are integral features of the reclining seat. A folding table, additional wood and leather trim, a refrigerator and a Rear Seat Entertainment system with two 10.2-inch screens are among the features that promote relaxed travel or alternatively concentrated work in this mobile lounge.
Fine materials: Interior design
The quality of workmanship in the A8 L is simply first-class – from the restrained ambient lighting through the accurately fitted switches with their precise click action. Fascinating aspects of the car’s interior are the slim, clear outlines and the stylish materials with their modern look.
Audi design selection brass beige carefully combines well-matched colors with individual materials and comfort-oriented equipment items. The roof-mounted grab handles and rear console have additional fine wood trim.
Valonea leather is tanned exclusively with plant extracts and is especially soft and able to “breathe” actively. Audi also supplies a loose cushion for rear-seat passengers’ use. Like the head restraints and the selector lever for the eight-speed tiptronic automatic transmission, it is trimmed with buckskin that is exceptionally soft and supple but also hard-wearing.
Another optional extra, the panoramic glass roof, has two glass panels that allow plenty of light to reach the car’s interior. Both sections can be tilted up and the front one also opened extra-wide. Sun blinds are provided for both panels to keep out direct sunlight.
The Audi A8 L W12 quattro: Splendor and efficiency
Twelve cylinders are the ultimate engine configuration, a tradition that still applies in the large luxury car class. The first-generation A8 was available with an engine of this type from 2001 on, and a developed version could be obtained from 2004 on in the following model. Audi’s engineers have now thoroughly revised the W12. Its displacement has been increased, and gasoline direct injection boosts its output and its efficiency.
The 6.3 FSI engine has an output of 368 kW (500 hp) and delivers its peak torque of 625 Nm (460.98 lb-ft) at engine speeds at 3,250 rpm. It gives the long-wheelbase Audi A8 the kind of performance normally expected of a sports car: it sprints from 0 to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in only 4.9 seconds and effortlessly reaches its governed top speed of 250 km/h (155.34 mph).
A fascinating flow of power is available in every situation, but the fuel consumption too sets new standards: the EU cycle test result is only 12.0 liters per 100 kilometers (19.6 US mpg), a figure well below that of competitors’ cars with V12 engines. The previous 6.0-liter engine, which had a power output of 331 kW (450 hp), recorded a fuel consumption of 13.6 l/100 km (17.3 US mpg) – the difference of 1.6 l/100 km is equivalent to a 12 percent improvement.
The engine is known as the W12 because of its unusual layout: it has four rows of three cylinders with a 15-degree included angle between the two offset rows of cylinders in each broad cylinder block. The V angle between the two blocks is 72 degrees. This layout makes the W12 engine exceptionally compact: only just over 50 centimeters (19.69 in) long and therefore distinctly shorter than a V8. Height and width are both in the region of 70 centimeters (27.56 in).
The W12, in its latest form with a displacement of 6,299 cc, is an undersquare design. Its bore and stroke are 86.0 and 90.4 millimeters (3.39 x 3.56 in) respectively. Compared with the previous version the engineers have enlarged the cylinder bore. The forged crankshaft has a 12-degree angle of crankpin offset, so that the mixture in the 12 cylinders is ignited at the ideal interval of 60 degrees. The engine therefore runs exceptionally smoothly, and the car’s occupants are unlikely to sense any of this supreme power at work unless it is at high engine speeds and severe loads.
The W12 engine weighs only 247 kilograms (545 lb), an impressive value to which the crankcase makes a major contribution. This is a lightweight, high-strength aluminum-silicon alloy casting with a gray cast iron lower cross-member into which the bearing pedestals are embedded. The pistons are forged from a high-strength light alloy and have angled crowns because of their V position in the cylinder blocks.
Each of the W12 engine’s aluminum cylinder heads contains two camshafts; these can be repositioned hydraulically by an amount equivalent to 52 degrees of crankshaft rotation. Altogether, the four camshafts operate 48 valves by way of low-friction roller cam followers, and are themselves driven by chains from an intermediate shaft.
For use in the long-wheelbase A8, Audi’s engineers have converted the W12 engine to FSI gasoline direct injection. This involved considerable modifications to the cylinder heads. Fuel is injected into the combustion chambers at a pressure of up to 130 bar. A high 11.8:1 compression ratio boosts power output and efficiency. The inlet ports are specially shaped to impart swirl to the incoming airflow and make combustion more efficient.
The W12 engine’s low fuel consumption compared with its competitors is to a large extent due to Audi’s modular efficiency platform. These are used in the entire A8 model line. The crankshaft and timing chains have been intensively optimized to reduce friction, and a recuperation system recovers energy that would otherwise be wasted when the car is braked. The innovative thermal management system shuts down the coolant circuit for a time after the cold engine has been started. This warms up the engine oil more rapidly and shortens the operating period in which friction is still high.
Safe and sporty: Transmission
The transmission makes a major contribution to ensuring the high efficiency of the Audi A8 L. The eight-speed tiptronic shifts smoothly and quickly, with the individual gears closely spaced but with a generous overall spread from low to high. Gear shifts are performed electronically (“shift by wire”) from an elegant yacht-style selector lever or at steering wheel paddles.
The center differential, the main component in the quattro permanent all-wheel drive train, divides the torque flow from the engine in a sporty manner, with 60 percent to the rear axle and 40 percent to the front in regular driving conditions. But if the situation changes, up to 60 percent of the torque can be sent to the front, or 80 percent to the rear. An optional sport differential splits the torque input actively between the left and right rear wheels.
Maximum precision: Chassis
Thanks to its advanced chassis design, the long-wheelbase Audi A8 brings together the silky, refined smoothness of a true luxury car and the handling of a sport sedan. The wheel control arms are made of aluminum. The front suspension uses five locating arms at each wheel; the controlled-track wishbone rear suspension ensures a supremely comfortable ride. The servotronic power steering system has a direct operating ratio and operates at high efficiency.
The adaptive air suspension with controlled damping is standard equipment and is integrated into the Audi drive select dynamics system. With this system the driver can choose between four different operating settings of the engine, the eight-speed tiptronic transmission, the servotronic power steering, the optional sport differential and the Audi pre sense basic safety system. An additional module is the dynamic steering system, which varies its gear ratio steplessly according to road speed.
The A8 L W12 quattro runs on 19-inch alloy wheels with a 15-spoke design reserved for this model, and size 255/45 tires. As an optional extra 20-inch wheels can be chosen, and even 21-inch wheels can be obtained from quattro GmbH.
The A8 L W12 quattro, the new top model, naturally has a high-performance brake system, with ventilated disks at all four wheels. The front disks are 400 mm (15.75 in) in diameter, with 356 mm (14.02 in) disks at the rear. To dissipate heat and reduce weight, stainless steel pins connect the steel friction rings with the aluminum disk centers. The calipers have a matt black paint finish.
Dynamic intelligence: Communication and assistance systems
This large sedan features an exemplary control concept. Although there are so many functions available, they can be selected in an easily understood, ergonomically correct way. Two large monitor screens, one on the instrument panel and one on the center console, acts as control centers and display their information as high-resolution 3D graphics.
The A8 has a pioneering innovation on board: the optional MMI navigation plus, which operates with the aid of a high-capacity hard disk, has a touch-sensitive control panel known as MMI touch. The driver inputs his or her navigation destination or a telephone number simply by writing the letters or numerals on the pad with a finger. Acoustic feedback makes this possible without taking one’s eyes of the road.
The high-end navigation system cooperates with the assistance and safety systems in an innovative way. It registers the topography of the road in advance and makes this data available to the control units for the automatic transmission, headlights and adaptive cruise control with Stop & Go function. Thanks to their advanced intelligence, these systems can identify complex scenarios and offer the driver support in good time.
The adaptive cruise control system operates at any speed up to 250 km/h (155.34 mph) and responds even more flexibly and smoothly than before. The Audi side assist system, which helps the driver to change lanes, and Audi lane assist which detects any departure from the chosen lane, also have new and additional performance features.
The night view assistant uses a thermal imaging camera to identify persons on the road ahead of the car. If it considers the situation to be potentially dangerous, the image of the person on the road is shown in red and a warning signal is heard. The Audi pre sense safety system is also closely linked to the assistance systems. It is available in several stages: the full version brakes the car automatically in order to minimize the consequences of a nose-to-tail collision.
In the multimedia area, Audi can also supply many attractive modules. These include a Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System with an output rating of more than 1,400 Watts and 19 speakers, and the Rear Seat Entertainment system. This has an MMI control panel on the console between the rear seats and provides access to all the infotainment functions on board this large luxury sedan.
The new Online services in cooperation with Google use the car phone to capture news and current information on the weather or points of interest (POI) from the Internet. Later this year an UMTS module will be available: this fast data link can supply images and information from Google Earth to the monitor screen and combine them with the navigation route. The driver can use all these services with his or her cell-phone contract.
Disneynature’s OCEANS hopes to open with a splash on Earth Day next week, and not just to keep profits strong. The movie aims to raise money for coral reefs in the Bahamas and spread awareness of the imperiled, wider marine world — much like Disneynature’s Earth drew attention to terrestrial issues last year.
For everyone who sees the film during its debut week (April 22-28), Disneynature will make a contribution to the Nature Conservancy to help restore and preserve coral reefs around the Bahamas.
Coral reef in the film OCEANS (Photo: Jeff Yonover)
Already, the 400,000-plus advance tickets sold to OCEANS, will translate into enough philanthropic support to create more than 790 acres of protected marine area in the Bahamas, Disneynature reported.
“Coral reefs are essential to the global ecosystem; we’re already on our way to establishing more than 790 acres of new marine protected areas — that’s the equivalent of about 600 football fields or nearly the size of New York City’s Central Park…” said Chuck Viane, president, distribution, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
The project is important because coral reefs are like the community centers of the oceans, supporting a vast diversity of ocean life, and ultimately, all life on Earth.
“No matter where you live, everyone depends on our oceans for many of our most basic needs like food and medicine,” said Eleanor Phillips, Northern Caribbean program director for The Nature Conservancy. “After witnessing decades of exploitation and neglect of our coral reefs, it honestly makes my heart sing to see so many people working together to advance this important cause.”
The Bahamas’ coral reefs provide shelter, nurseries and feeding areas for dolphins, sea turtles and many fish.
Scientists say that the coral reefs of the Caribbean could be gone within just 50 years without a network of well-managed marine protected areas, according to Disneynature.
OCEANS promises “spectacular never-before-seen imagery captured by the latest underwater technologies.” It is narrated by Pierce Brosnan and directed by Jacque Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud.
To learn more about the need for marine preserves in the Bahamas, visit the Disneynature website about the movie and the project.
In the face of stiff resistance from Yahoo! and a coalition of privacy groups, Internet companies and industry coalitions led by EFF, the U.S. government today backed down from its request that a federal magistrate judge in Denver compel Yahoo! to turn over the contents of a Yahoo! email user’s email account without the government first obtaining a search warrant based on probable cause.
The EFF-led coalition filed an amicus brief this Tuesday in support of Yahoo!’s opposition to the government’s motion, agreeing with Yahoo! that the government’s warrantless seizure of an email account would violate both federal privacy law and the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. In response, the Government today filed a brief claiming that it no longer had an investigative need for the demanded emails and withdrawing the government’s motion.
While this is a great victory for that Yahoo! subscriber, it’s disappointing to those of us who wanted a clear ruling on the legality and constitutionality of the government’s overreaching demand. Such demands are apparently a routine law enforcement technique. If the government withdraws its demand whenever an objection is raised by an email provider or a friend of the court like EFF, however, it robs the courts of the ability to issue opinions on whether the government’s warrantless email surveillance practices are legal.
This is not the first time the government has evaded court rulings in this area. Most notably, although many federal magistrate judges and district courts have ruled that the government may not conduct real-time cellphone tracking without a warrant, the government has never appealed any of those decisions to a Circuit Court of Appeals, thereby preventing the appeals courts from ruling on the issue. Similarly, a federal magistrate judge in New York, Magistrate Judge Michael H. Dolinger, has twice invited EFF to brief the court on applications by the government to obtain private electronic communications without a warrant, and in each case, the government withdrew its application rather than risk a ruling against it (in one case the government went so far as to file a brief anticipating EFF’s opposition before finally dropping the case).
The government’s unwillingness to face off with EFF in these cases is certainly flattering, and it speaks volumes about their view of whether what they are doing is actually legal. But the right answer here is to let the courts decide, not to have the government turn tail and run whenever someone seeks real judicial review of their positions.
So while it is a big victory for the Yahoo! customer, today’s capitulation by the government is a profound disappointment to those of us seeking to clarify and strengthen the legal protections for your private data. Court rulings are needed to keep the government within its legal bounds when it comes to warrantless communications and location surveillance. Next time, the government should stay in the fight, because EFF isn’t going to back down when it comes to protecting your privacy.
NASA News: Any debate or discussion about climate change starts from the basic fact that Earth’s temperature depends on the balance between how much solar energy the Earth absorbs and how much it radiates back into space. Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) have completed a study of the Earth’s energy balance using a combination of global climate models, ground-based measurements, and satellite observations, and they have some important news. Not only is Earth absorbing about 0.85 Watts of energy per square meter more than it is radiating back to space, but a sizable chunk of that excess energy is “hiding” in Earth’s oceans, its full effect on the climate system still unrealized.
Ten years of observations show that Earth’s oceans absorbed an average of 6.02 excess watt-years of energy per square meter (a watt-year is the total amount of energy supplied by 1 watt of power for a year.) Model simulations are in close agreement: an average of five “runs” of the GISS climate model to simulate evolution of the climate since 1880 predicts that by 2003, the imbalance would be about 5.98 watt-years per square meter.
According to the scientists,
The present planetary energy imbalance is large by standards of Earth’s history. For example, an imbalance of 1 Watt per square meter maintained for the last 10,000 years is sufficient to melt ice equivalent to 1 kilometer of sea level (if there were that much ice), or raise the temperature of the ocean above the thermocline [the boundary layer between the warm, surface waters and the deep ocean] by more than 100°C.
Earth’s average global temperatures have not increased enough since 1880 to account for the total energy imbalance. Although some of the excess heat has gone to melt snow and ice and to warm the land surface, much of the energy imbalance that has accumulated since 1880 has been stored in the ocean and has not made its presence felt. Instead, the scientists say that in addition to the 0.6-0.7°C warming that has happened over the past century or so, an additional 0.6°C increase in average global temperatures remains “in the pipeline,” even if greenhouse gas concentrations and other climate-warming influences immediately stopped increasing.
Environmental News Network: The rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means far more energy is coming into Earth’s climate system than is going out, but half of that energy is missing and could eventually reappear as another sign of climate change, scientists said on Thursday.
In stable climate times, the amount of heat coming into Earth’s system is equal to the amount leaving it, but these are not stable times, said John Fasullo of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, a co-author of the report in the journal Science.
The gap between what’s entering the climate system and what’s leaving is about 37 times the heat energy produced by all human activities, from driving cars and running power plants to burning wood.
Half of that gap is unaccounted for, Fasullo and his co-author Kevin Trenberth reported. It hasn’t left the climate system but it hasn’t been detected with satellites
, ocean sensors or other technology.The rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means far more energy is coming into Earth’s climate system than is going out, but half of that energy is missing and could eventually reappear as another sign of climate change, scientists said on Thursday.
In stable climate times, the amount of heat coming into Earth’s system is equal to the amount leaving it, but these are not stable times, said John Fasullo of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, a co-author of the report in the journal Science.
The gap between what’s entering the climate system and what’s leaving is about 37 times the heat energy produced by all human activities, from driving cars and running power plants to burning wood.
Half of that gap is unaccounted for, Fasullo and his co-author Kevin Trenberth reported. It hasn’t left the climate system but it hasn’t been detected with satellites, ocean sensors or other technology.The rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means far more energy is coming into Earth’s climate system than is going out, but half of that energy is missing and could eventually reappear as another sign of climate change, scientists said on Thursday.
In stable climate times, the amount of heat coming into Earth’s system is equal to the amount leaving it, but these are not stable times, said John Fasullo of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, a co-author of the report in the journal Science.
The gap between what’s entering the climate system and what’s leaving is about 37 times the heat energy produced by all human activities, from driving cars and running power plants to burning wood.
Are you as big a fan of Fat Princess as an overfed cake maniac? This news is for you. Atomic Operations have just announced a contest show them how much you love the game, and they’ll
We’ve seen the tech demos of The Fight: Lights Out for the PlayStation Move, which Kevin Butler lovingly points out (qjnet/playstation-3/playstation-move-ad-takes-a-jab-at-the-wii-and-natal.html) to show how you should fight using a motion controller. Here today is the game’s
The idea is that the source of the zodiacal glow is comet dust. That the principal source of accumulated dust on the ice caps is remnant comet dust. That appears quite reasonable.
A quick check on samples of such dust from Antarctica reveals that all such material was strongly heated. This quickly explains the lack of elemental carbon. As discussed in previous postings, the principle component of comet dust will likely be elemental carbon.
When we have meteorites come in with a bright tail, the assumption has been that this is caused by superheated material reemitting light. This is true to some degree or the other. However, a strong carbon content oxidizing would account for the exceptionally bright glow such as just took place over the Great Plains the other night.
Nesvorny and Jenniskens, with the help of Harold Levison and William Bottke of the Southwest Research Institute, David Vokrouhlicky of the Institute of Astronomy at CharlesUniversity in Prague, and Matthieu Gounelle of the Natural History Museum in Paris, demonstrated that these comet disruptions can account for the observed thickness of the dust layer in the zodiacal cloud.
The eerie glow that straddles the night time zodiac in the eastern sky is no longer a mystery. First explained by Joshua Childrey in 1661 as sunlight scattered in our direction by dust particles in the solar system, the source of that dust was long debated.
In a paper to appear in the April 20 issue of The Astrophysical Journal, David Nesvorny and Peter Jenniskens put the stake in asteroids. More than 85 percent of the dust, they conclude, originated from Jupiter Family comets, not asteroids.
“This is the first fully dynamical model of the zodiacal cloud,” says planetary scientist Nesvorny of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. “We find that the dust of asteroids is not stirred up enough over its lifetime to make the zodiacal dust cloud as thick as observed. Only the dust of short-period comets is scattered enough by Jupiter to do so.”
This result confirms what meteor astronomer Jenniskens of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., had long suspected. An expert on meteor showers, he had noticed that most consist of dust moving in orbits similar to those of Jupiter Family comets, but without having active dust-oozing comets associated with them.
Instead, Jenniskens discovered a dormant comet in the Quadrantid meteor shower in 2003 and has since identified a number of other such parent bodies. While most are inactive in their present orbit around the Sun, all have in common that they broke apart violently at some point in time in the past few thousand years, creating dust streams that now have migrated into Earth’s path.
Nesvorny and Jenniskens, with the help of Harold Levison and William Bottke of the Southwest Research Institute, David Vokrouhlicky of the Institute of Astronomyat CharlesUniversity in Prague, and Matthieu Gounelle of the Natural History Museum in Paris, demonstrated that these comet disruptions can account for the observed thickness of the dust layer in the zodiacal cloud.
In doing so, they solved another mystery. It was long known that snow in Antarctica is laced with micro-meteorites, some 80 to 90 percent of which have a peculiar primitive composition, rare among the larger meteorites that we know originated from asteroids.
Instead, Nesvorny and Jenniskens suggest that most antarctic micro-meteorites are pieces of comets. According to their calculations, cometary grains dive into Earth’s atmosphere at entry speeds low enough for them to survive, reach the ground, and be picked up later by a curious micro-meteorite hunter.
[David Orozco is an Assistant Professor of Business Law at Michigan Technical University]
Professors Bird and Chaudhry provide an insightful and timely analysis of European Law related to the repackaging and relabeling of grey goods, specifically pharmaceutical products. The analysis navigates readers through the morass of legal confusion and uncertainty in this area of international law. A couple of questions were raised by the paper that I would specifically like to address to the authors. First, given that the property system has provided little legal certainty in this area, why not resort to the law of contract? Can pharmaceutical companies, for example, embed contractual provisions with distributors that would shift economic and legal risk for products that somehow deviate from the expected distribution chain? This contractual risk would be imposed against a particular firm, so would EU trade law be circumvented in this regard, by resorting to contract law?
It also seems like the law has created a perfect Catch-22 scenario. The authors state that “[w]hen this [reputational] harm occurs, the mark owner can object unless the use is necessary to enter the market.” It seems as if trademark law attempts to reward the drug manufacturers’ marketing behavior and investments in brand equity on the one hand, and yet the trade laws penalize them for this since the argument will be made by parallel importers that they cannot compete unless they appropriate the valuable mark. The Article dissects the complex nuances of this paradoxical state of affairs.
Finally, it would be interesting to learn a bit more about how grey market goods become grey market goods. What occurs within the supply and distribution chain that allows for this to happen? Are there ethical concerns related to fraud or breach of contract regarding how these good enter the stream of commerce during re-importation? Should these facts be weighed in at all in the preceding analysis of the economic and legal implications of grey market activity?
