Author: Serkadis

About the only notables this week aren’t really on shelves, unless we say they’re virtual shelves. Borderlands and Mass Effect 2 are getting their respective add-ons…and that’s about it.
 
 
 
 

Andy Greishop and Ben Murphy call themselves underdogs.

“A few years ago when we presented our research… people would just stare at us blankly,” Andy recalled.

But now, several years and publications later, the skeptical tone has changed. During a presentation at the 2010 AAAR conference in San Diego, audience members seemed encouraged by what they saw.

Andy and Ben are two members of a group of Carnegie Mellon scientists who have spent years trying to fill a big blind spot in atmospheric modeling.

Historically, most models of atmospheric air pollution significantly underestimated the amount of a specific kind of particle, called secondary organic aerosol (SOA).

“What we actually observe in the atmosphere is a factor of 3 – 100 times more than the SOA traditional models predict,” Greishop explained.

This means that the information used by scientists and policymakers to make important pollution control decisions is not representing everything that people breathe.

According to Greishop and Murphy, the traditional models overlook some key reactions and processes that take place as particles age and transform in the atmosphere. Most people do not breathe particles emitted directly from a tail pipe, they explained. People breathe in particles that have spent time in the air, moving and reacting with other chemicals.

“When particles dilute, evaporate and then condense back to particles, a lot about them changes,” Murphy said.

Some of these changes could be important to human health.

“Health researchers need accurate models to understand what people are actually exposed to,” Murphy said.

If SOA, as some preliminary studies suggest, is more toxic to people, the new models could be critical for protection of public health.

The new model incorporates atmospheric processes that contribute to SOA formation and does a much better job of predicting what people breathe.

“It’s pretty close to right-on,” Greishop said, “in terms of matching what we observe in the atmosphere.”

Though more research needs to be done to “drill deeper” into atmospheric processes that may change particles, both scientists agree that this finding could have a big impact.

Their research is already being incorporated into state and local air quality models that are used to manage and control pollution.

“You never really expect that your specific research in atmospheric chemistry may be important for national policy so early on in your career,” Greishop said excitedly.

“This has been a really great opportunity for us to make a difference.”

About the Author: Becky Fried is a science writer with EPA’s National Center for Environmental Research. Her OnAir posts are a regular “Science Wednesday” feature.

Filed under: Etc., Videos

For those of you that roll like this – and we know you’re out there, so stand up – Motionlite retractable lighting provides another way for you to accessorize your alloys. Wheel illumination is exactly what it sounds like: an LED mounted on a power telescoping six-inch arm in the wheel well throws photons in seven different colors on your rims. The system is remote-controlled and universal, so it’ll work anywhere, anytime. All you need is $499 to make it yours.

If you need to see it in action before you pull the trigger, check out the gallery of photos below and the videos after the jump, or you’ll find them on Unique Autosports: Miami.

[Source: Motionlite]

Continue reading Motionlite retractable wheel puts the spotlight on your dubs. Yes, really. [w/video]

Motionlite retractable wheel puts the spotlight on your dubs. Yes, really. [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Despite tens of thousands of people writing their MPs, and multiple MPs asking for approval of the Digital Economy Bill to be delayed, it looks like the Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman, has decided that the bill will be rushed through via a “wash up,” no matter what. Glyn Moody points us to an image showing that a lot of MPs simply decided not to even show up for the discussion, which is a bit of a disgrace.

Even worse, though, is that Harman is pretending that the bill is not being rushed through, even though the bill will go through the wash up process. Her argument seems quite disingenuous — suggesting that even though the bill won’t get to go through the normal process of debate, there will still be opportunities to make changes after the bill has been approved — though it appears that some politicians seem to think that’s mere window dressing, and the later debate/amendments will never actually happen. The whole thing seems quite bizarre. Basically, it looks like the plan is to approve the bill and debate it later. There still will be a brief debate and vote tomorrow evening which, in theory, could kill the bill, but most reports appear to believe it’s a foregone conclusion that the current bill will be approved — and then (maybe, possibly, but probably not really) the controversial bits will be debated later.

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One remarkable aspect of the recent runup in oil is that it’s decidedly not the result of a weak dollar. That was not the case in 2007 and 2008 when oil was going nuts, and New York restaurants were pricing their menus with euro symbols.

There’s no surefire way to measure oil ex-dollars, but measuring it in gold is a reasonable approach, since it’s the anti-currency. So let’s look at little further.

At the end of 2008, the number of barrels you could buy with one ounce of gold surged to ridiculous highs, the combination of a deflationary collapse (the oil drop) and global fear (the gold spike). But look since 2000 and the trend is clear. One ounce of gold is buying you less and less oil. We appear to be reverting to trend. Oil can go a lot higher.

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March is over and done with, and whatever we’ve kept our eyes on is likely already sitting on store shelves and/or the online stores. Or is it?
 
 

All day it looks as though the market might end down, but come on, we always knew that was impossible.

Following the Fed’s announcement that the “extended period” language would remain, stocks are heading higher (still modestly).

Giddy up!

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The web is evolving at a fast pace, as always, and, at the moment, there are several big trends. One of them is the convergence of online identities and the need to allow various services and apps to work together. One way of enabling two services to securely share information is to implement the OAauth authentication protocol. Google made a very good impression… (read more)

Environmental News Network: Gorillas may disappear across much of the Congo Basin by the mid 2020s unless action is taken to protect against poaching and habitat destruction, warns a new report issued by United Nations and INTERPOL.

The Last Stand of the Gorilla – Environmental Crime and Conflict in the Congo Basin — released at the CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar — lists a multitude of threats to gorillas, including the bushmeat trade, outbreaks of the ebola virus, illegal logging, mining, and charcoal production. The report warns that that militias in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are exacerbating the gorilla crisis through trafficking and involvement in other illicit activities. Gorilla bushmeat moves through the same smuggling channels as illegally extracted timber, diamonds, gold and coltan (a mineral used in cell phones). Further, insecurity in the region has driven hundreds of thousands of people into refugee camps, which has increased pressure on natural resources, including forest habitat for gorillas and the apes themselves.

“With the current and accelerated rate of poaching for bushmeat and habitat loss, the gorillas of the Greater Congo Basin may now disappear from most of their present range within ten to fifteen years,” said UNEP’s Christian Nellemann, lead author of the report, in a statement. “We are observing a decline in wildlife across many parts of the region, and also side-effects on poaching outside the region and on poaching for ivory and rhino horn, often involving poachers and smugglers operating from the Congo Basin, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, to buyers in Asia and beyond.”

“This is a tragedy for the great apes and one also for countless other species being impacted by this intensifying and all too often illegal trade,” Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment
Program (UNEP), added in the statement.

Article continues: http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0325-congo_gorillas.html

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Invasive species are a major problem the world over. They kill local plants and animals, clog streams, destroy habitats, and devastate anything natural in their path. Sometimes they were introduced for a purpose, sometimes they escaped into the wild — but they always cause trouble. However, there is sometimes one redeeming feature of the proliferation of an animal in a new environment — they can be crazy freaking delicious!

18. Japanese Knotweed

Japanese Knotweed has taken over large areas of the U.S.A. and Europe, mostly due to its strong interconnected root system and speed of growth. It can survive on almost any conditions, and the roots extend 3m into the soil, which makes it almost impossible to destroy. So what possible redeeming feature can this horrific weed actually have? Well, it can be used a source of nectar for honeybees, and anything that makes more honey is good in my books. Even more cool, the young stems taste like a mild rhubarb (without the whole toxic thing), and is a good source of resveratrol and emodin.

17. Snakehead

The Snakehead family of fish are particularly troublesome across the US and UK, due in part to their position at the top of the food chain — to put it bluntly, nothing eats them. Well, nothing but us. Snakehead can also survive out of water for up four days, assuming they stay damp, and can breath atmospheric oxygen. They’re known to travel up to a quarter-mile across land in order to colonize new bodies of water. They’re mean, hard to kill, and lucky for us, kinda tasty. Said to taste like chicken (but what doesn’t?), gut, skin and throw them on the grill, and you have a damn fine meal.

16. Grey Squirrel

Introduced from America to Europe, the larger and meaner gray squirrel swiftly out-muscled the local small red variant. While some call this “survival of the fittest”, others say it’s “damn yank bully-boys, at it again”. The UK now has very few of its native red squirrel population, and mainland Europe is now worried that the same might happen on their shores. However, grey squirrels have one undeniable advantage over the red variant — their greater bodyfat lets them survive winters better, and provides much tastier meat. You ever hear of marbling? A nice, fatty bit of squirrel makes for juicer, less gamey meat. Grab it right when its fattened up for hibernation, and straight into the stew it goes.

15. Silver and Common Carp

Silver carp were introduced to the USA in the 70s to try and control algae growth, and rapidly multiplied in their new environment, killing local species. They also have a habit of jumping out of the water, smacking unsuspecting water-goers in the face. Common carp breed fast, and survive by feeding through bottom sediment, which destroys local growth. This also severely alters populations further up the food chain that survive on these plants, as their food sources are diminished. Why should us gourmands be happy about carp? Look at that picture! You could feed a freaking African village on that fucking fish! Let em grow wild, and feed the world!

14. Nile Perch

Tastes like tilapia. Do we need to say more? Oh, I suppose. It’s African, and has a tendency to eat everything that moves — including its own species. Mature fish reach more than 120cm, and they’ve been introduced to a number of lakes around the continent. And they do eat anything! Insects, crustaceans, fish, probably you, if you’re not paying attention. Being at the top of the food chain does cause troubles, which is why we’re happy to make sure they never reach.

13. Swan

Oh, you don’t think we should eat swans? Yeah, well you weren’t kicking about in historic Europe, where they were the food of choice for the rich. Big, pretty, and chock full of meat, it was a staple of banquet halls across the continent. Eventually associated with Royalty, they weren’t allowed to be eaten by people who weren’t of royal blood or invitation. Now they’re protected in Europe, but in America they’re invasive. Due to their size and belligerent nature, they tend to force native fouls out of the area. They’re such badasses, they’ll kill ducks and geese they come across.

12. Green Crabs

People love eating crab. I’m not a huge fan, due to my blanket ban on eating anything with more than four limbs, but if you’re a fan of devouring sea bugs, then more power to you! Green crabs have been described as one of the 100 worst invasive species, as they’ve spread from their homes in the Atlantic to South Africa, Australia, South America and both coasts of North America. They catch rides on ships hulls, and manage to spread themselves pretty widely across the seas. They can live in almost any water conditions, and across a vast range of salinity levels. They females can lay 100,000s of eggs, and the animals will eat local small crustaceans and bivalves quite happily. Good thing they’re tasty!

11. Mozambique Tilapia

Ironically threatened in its native waters, the Mozambique tilapia is seen as a pest pretty much everywhere else on the planet. Being small, hardy and omnivorous makes it fairly easy for them to spread. They were brought to various parts of the world for sport fishing, they soon pulled Houdinis, and spread beyond control. The Mozambique tilapia is also well recognized for its potential for commercial fishing, due to its hardiness and ease of travel. They also account for around 4% of worldwide tilapia sales.

10. Red Deer

Venison. Venison, venison, delicious venison! Venison sausages, steaks and anything else. Native to Europe, and one of the largest deer species, red deer are a major problem in South America and New Zealand. They consume massive amounts of foliage, and often compete with local herbivores for tasty leaves and barks, or whatever they eat. I think we’re missing the point here — mammoth amounts of venison. Juicy, delicious, succulent venison. Hell, you can even sell their horn velvet to Asia as a traditional medicine. I know I’m just happier chomping through a venison burger.

9. Chinese Mitten Crab

Horribly invasive in Europe and the USA, it takes over rivers, destroying native crustaceans, blocking drainage, even moving in to swimming pools and pipes. Somehow they’ve been unable to establish themselves in the Great Lakes, despite having been introduced a number of times, they’ve overrun the Thames and Hudson worse than a Korean kid learning to play Zerg. Yet in their native China, they’re a delicacy, especially the roe. It’s chronically overfished (overcrabbed?) in the Yangtze, and a single crab from Lake Yangcheng can go for hundreds of Yuan (100 Yuan = $15) — and these things aren’t particularly large either, about the size of your palm. Huh, that sounds like a pretty good business proposal, seeing as you can charge a huge amount for a tiny, quickly breeding animal. Hell, I’m sure you could make a small fortune dredging the Hudson and selling them on to Chinatown.

8. Largemouth Bass

Darling of the sports fishing world, and highly prized for angling in the USA, the largemouth bass is a significant pest in UK, Europe, Russia, Middle East, North Africa, Continental US, Caribbean territories, South America, Asia, Southeast Asia, Hawai‘i, Mauritius, Madagascar, Fiji, Guam, New Caledonia and the US Virgin Islands. It’s been rated one of the worst 100 invasive species due to its distinctively predatory nature, as it’ll happily munch on smaller fishes (and even smaller largemouth bass) until the native populations are all but destroyed.

7. Blue Mussel

Originating in the Mediterranean, the blue mussel is now found pretty much anywhere with a temperate climate and salt water. They foul ship hulls, and outcompete just about every other mussel on the planet — because they can breed up to 200% faster. Especially a problem in South Africa, they also grow in such density that pipes and drains can get badly blocked, not to mention the issue of hulls. However, clean em and steam em with some white wine Julia Childs style? Honestly, one of the most delicious meals imaginable. It only takes about 15 minutes to cook too, and you’re left with succulent mussels and a white wine sauce. Throw in some crusty bread, a chilled bottle of white wine, and you’re set!

6. Rainbow Trout

Last of the fish, I promise. The utterly delicious rainbow trout is heavily farmed and fished in the USA, and is considered a protected species due to dwindling numbers. However, it’s also a threat to other species due to being a walking STI. It is able to hybridize with a number of other species, effectively destroying their gene pool, and brings in a number of nasty diseases when it does so — most notably whirling disease, which screws up the fish’s ability to orient itself, leading them to swim in spirals until their spines fuck up.

5. Duck

The mallard, or wild duck, is another one of those critters whose major ecological impact is its breeding abilities — namely it shags everything ducklike (including the dead), until it breeds out all the competition through hybridisation and just generally pumping out baby ducks. They also carry a rather nasty version of bird flu which is particularly bad for fowl, if not us — HAPIV. They also have explosive corkscrew penises. Ducks are screwed up, yo. But, for all that, I have three words for you: duck breast prosciutto. Apparently ludicrously easy to make at home, and mouth wateringly delicate, it’s a food of the gods.

4. Feral Cows

Wait, cows? Yup, it turns out they can go feral, and cause major problems. Primarily a problem in the Pacific Islands, but also Ecuador and the Caymans, these critters have a tendency to escape from ranchers, and start destroying native fauna. Due to their large appetites, they eat a huge amount of foliage, which many small islands just aren’t equipped to handle losing. They eat faster than plants can regrow, causing major issues with loss of habitat for other species, as well as killing off native bush. I’m sure by now, we can all imagine a handy way to deal with this problem. Steak, roast beef, prime ribs. Hell, just give me the entire beast and a large freezer, and I’ll figure out a way to get through it.

3. Wild Boar

If there’s one thing that a childhood of reading Asterix has taught me, it’s that wild boar must be the world’s most delicious animal. Generally called a Razorback in the USA, wild boars roamed Europe, Asia and North Africa prior to being introduced to the USA, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Because they root for food, they can cause significant ecological and property damage, destroying plants, property, seeds, and anything else that is in the ground. They destroy commercial crops and native species equally, and as omnivores, they’ve just about eaten to death tortoise and sea turtle populations in Ecuador. Time to go boar hunting, I think. If you’re a real man, you do it medieval styles, with just a giant fuckoff spear. If you’re Obelix level, do it barehanded.

2. Rabbits

The scourge of Australia and New Zealand, rabbits destroy native wildlife through excessive grazing and burrowing. You ever heard the term “fucking like rabbits”? That’s because these wee bastards breed at a prodigious rate, making them just about impossible to control. They’re present on every continent except Antarctica and Asia, and are major pests in some areas. Hell, in parts of NZ, they celebrate Easter by going bunny hunting. But, as Samwise Gamgee says, “there’s only one way to eat a brace of coneys”, and that’s rabbit stew. I’d have to disagree with Master Samwise there, as rabbit is amazing roasted, grilled, or just about anything else. I recently had a really good pulled rabbit sandwich!

1. Goat

Goats were left on islands throughout the seven seas, as food sources for colonists, sailors, and shipwrecks. They were ideal for this, because they’re extremely hardy, can survive on just about any terrain, and will eat just about any plant on the planet. Of course, when these islands were seeded, no one gave a crap about native flora and fauna, and the potential impact of these introduced species on the local ecosystem — they were more concerned with getting some food if they were ever shipwrecked. Said goats have nom-nom-nomed their way through many a native biosphere. However, their milk is delicious, feta is freaking amazing, and goat meat can be sublime. Seriously, go to a good Greek place, and just see what they can do with goat meat, and your mind will be blown. Throw in some North African cooking too, and some Middle Eastern? Hell, you can make an awesome curry from it to! Goat meat is flexible, and hell of a delicious. Frankly, I’d be happy to spend the rest of my days removing these pests from the world, via my digestive tract.

Well, not much doing here.

The Fed is keeping the “Extended Period” language in its minutes.

No big shocker.

The Fed’s Hoenig did want it changed somewhat.

There is a little chatter about a recovery, but then also some “renewed concern” about housing.

The market’s response is muted.

The full announcement can be found here.

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Climatewire: In a move to protect the environment, Taiwan last week urged its citizens to honor the dead by going online rather than burning incense and ritual money.

Ahead of yesterday’s Tomb Sweeping Festival, an ethnic Chinese holiday during which worshippers visit the graves of their ancestors to burn incense and paper gifts, the government called on its citizens to consider the environment.

The practice of burning incense and paper gifts for ancestors comes from Taoism. Followers believe that burning paper products will keep their ancestors comfortable in the afterlife. But burning paper money releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide, as well as benzene, methylbenzene and ethylbenzene, which can cause cancer and other diseases.

“We can now choose to pay homage to our ancestors in a modern and environmentally friendly way by worshipping online or donating the money meant for the offerings to charities,” said the Environmental Protection Administration in a statement.

Environmental agencies have also offered to collect paper money from households and temples, then burn it in state incinerators that can cut emissions and clean the exhaust (AFP/London Independent, April 5). – JP

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This should come as no surprise, given that the court indicated this a few months back, but it’s now official that the FCC has no power to mandate net neutrality or to punish Comcast (even with a gentle wrist slap) for its traffic shaping practices. Lots of people seem upset by this, but they should not be. This is the right decision. The FCC was clearly going beyond its mandate, as it has no mandate to regulate the internet in this manner. In fact, what amazed us throughout this whole discussion was that it was the same groups that insisted the FCC had no mandate over the broadcast flag, that suddenly insisted it did have a mandate over net neutrality. You can’t have it both ways (nor should you want to). Even if you believe net neutrality is important, allowing the FCC to overstep its defined boundaries is not the best way to deal with it. So for those of you upset by this ruling, look at it a little more closely, and be happy that the FCC has been held back from expanding its own mandate. Otherwise, the next time the FCC tried to do something like the broadcast flag or suddenly decided it could enforce “three strikes,” you’d have little argument.

That doesn’t mean that Comcast should get off free for its actions. It should still be punished — but by the FTC, rather than the FCC — for misleading its customers about what type of service they were getting, and what the limitations were on those services. As for the FCC, if it really wants a more neutral net, it should focus on making sure that there’s real competition in the market, rather than just paying lip service to the idea in its broadband plan.

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Rotary Systems will design and build a custom rotary union for your specific application. Our design team has over 35 years of combined experience in the rotary union business and has designed and manufactured over 700 custom rotary unions. Several of these custom rotary unions are in stock for immediate delivery.

Our unions will transfer your media, handle your system pressure and temperature, operate at your rotational speeds and fit within your overall envelope size. We accomplish this with our extensive knowledge and experience with material selections, seal type and compounds, specialized coatings and plating processes.

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• Semiconductor
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The union pictured is for food grade applications, constructed from 300 series stainless steel and utilizes a precision ground shaft, special seals, and dual radial ball bearings.

This morning we reported how The White House had taken to trumpeting the success of Cash-For-Clunkers, once again taking a shot at car website Edmunds.com, a battle that actually started brewing last October.

Below is Edmunds.com’s response:

——

Today, the White House unexpectedly presented its latest defense of last summer’s “Cash for Clunkers” program. In the process, it took issue with Edmunds.com, whose analysis of the program was widely adopted and supported by independent economists and media.

 “One has to wonder why the White House continues to feel the need to defend a program that is no longer being debated,” observed Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. “Trying to add a spin to old news seems pointless when there are more pressing issues for the government to address.”

 The White House claims that car sales are much stronger thanks to the Cash for Clunkers program. Edmunds.com offers the following counterpoints:

1.      The White House seems to have missed the simple point that car sales were beginning to recover before the Cash for Clunkers program was introduced.  Even the program’s proponents would have to agree that it was too little, too late.

2.       A properly designed Keynesian stimulus is structured to stimulate the market for 12 to 18 months, providing support while the economy recovers.  Cash for Clunkers created an unhealthy spike, distorting the marketplace by suddenly generating about 125,000 incremental new car sales and pulling ahead hundreds of thousands more.

3.       Independent economists generally agree with Edmunds.com’s analysis of the program. For example, on November 2, Freakonomics author Steven Levitt blogged about the topic for nytimes.com “Cash for Clunkers mostly just turned out to be a gift from the government to people who happened to be in the market for a new car at the right time…It is relatively easy to move around the timing of when someone purchases a durable good, but much harder to affect whether they buy a durable good or not.”

4.   Relatively strong March car sales, which the government specifically celebrates in its report, were artificially stimulated by remarkable incentives programs initiated by Toyota in attempt to deal with its well-publicized woes. March sales were an aberration.

5.       The government reports that in the months since Cash for Clunkers, the average Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) has been 10.7 million car sales. However, if you eliminate data from December and March – two months when consumers believed they could get unusually good deals on new cars – the average SAAR drops to only 10.3 million. Today’s car sales are still abysmally low by historical standards.

“This White House report conveniently avoids an accounting of the program’s costs.  For example, new and used car prices were wildly inflated during the program, which especially hurt the car-shoppers who didn’t have a qualifying ‘clunker,’” noted Anwyl. “And what about the costs to the beleaguered taxpayer?”

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From the beginning, we’ve been confused why book publishers were so against Google’s Book search. When you realize that it’s really a giant (and much, much, much better) card catalog that helps people find and discover more books, it’s only a short leap to realize that it should help publishers more than hurt them. And, indeed, a few empirical studies have found that embracing Google Books has helped sales. But, for many publishers this has, apparently, been tough to understand. Thankfully, it looks like some are coming around. Gerd Leonhard points us to a blog post by the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Michael Hyatt, where he explains why authors, agents, and publishers should embrace Google Book search.

It was based on someone from Google visiting the company and explaining Google Books. While it’s a little depressing that publishers have to wait for a person from Google to show up in person to explain what’s been discussed at length for years by Google and many, many others, it’s great to see that it worked in this case. Hyatt admits that he went into the meeting quite skeptical, but came out convinced. He notes that the two reasons given by publishers and authors against Google Books (people can just read the books online instead of buy them, or they can print them out) are simply not true. From the meeting he realized four key points (all of which Google made clear when all this launched, but many have simply ignored the facts):

1. Google Book Search creates greater book awareness.
2. The biggest problem authors face today is obscurity not piracy.
3. Most people have no desire to read a book on their computer.
4. Google only allows users to preview 20 percent of a book’s content.

Hyatt concludes with a plea to others to embrace Google Book search, noting that by embracing it, the publishing industry will realize that their content becomes “more relevant than ever.” Kudos to Hyatt for changing his mind and explaining his reasons.

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Namco Bandai’s EU arm has released a new trailer for Dead to Rights: Retribution. Check it out past the jump for a look at some mayhem courtesy of man’s best friend.

Earlier this week there was some chatter about how the Energy Information Agency had discovered a flaw in its accounting of natural gas in the ground, and that potentially there could be a lot less than thought.

Actually, all everyone says is that there’s “unlimited” natural gas out there, so just the mere suggestion that the supply was finite seemed to be a really big deal.

Well, it seemed to be.

But we noted that the market wasn’t reacting to the news at all. And beyond that, the real story right now is that natural gas storage facilities filled to the brim, so it really doesn’t matter how much there is in the ground for the foreseeable future, so long as there’s no place to store it.

And now it’s come full circle.

Check out what the EIA reported today in its short-term energy outlook:

EIA expects the Henry Hub natural gas spot price to average $4.44 per million Btu (MMBtu) this year, a $0.49-per-MMBtu increase over the 2009 average, but a significant downward revision from the $5.17 per MMBtu projected in last month’s Outlook.  The price outlook is lower primarily because of an average 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) upward revision to the 2010 domestic natural gas production forecast.

So there’s MORE gas coming than thought. Perhaps by some measure there isn’t an infinite amount of natural gas in the ground, but in the meantime, storage facilities are bursting at the seems, and pumping is increasing.

Just more pain for longsuffering UNG (UNG) holders.

Until we actually have a way of turning all the natural gas in the ground into usable fuel for the economy, then this issue will persist (or so it would seem), and sadly the T. Boone Pickens-approved natural gas bill won’t accomplish jack.

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See Also:

• Actually, Those Natural Gas Revisions Are Probably Going To Be Trivial
• Natural Gas Supplies About To Be Slashed After The EIA Admits Its Methodology Is Trash
• The Taxpayer’s Big Gift To T. Boone Pickens Has A "Real Chance" Of Coming By May

(This guest post previously appeared at the author’s blog)

We’ve joked about the recent rally and how, if you were new to the market, you might think that there was an SEC ban on all selling.  We all know the stats by now.  Stocks have risen in 70%+ of all sessions for over double digit gains over the last 2 months.  Monday’s are almost guaranteed 1% rallies. Volume is always low.  Declines are never more than 0.2%.  But this all pales in comparison to what has happened in the banking sector. The banks have rallied a jaw-dropping 83% of the time during the recent rally.  Out of the 41 previous sessions just 7 of them have been to the downside and just 3 of those were 1% declines.   Over the course of the move the banks have surged 21.5%.  You could certainly call the banks the most hated sector in the entire U.S. economy so it’s only appropriate that the banks surge over the course of the world’s most hated rally….

Read more market commentary at PragCap.com >

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