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Just when the whole “ClimateGate” affair had retreated from the headlines, other climate scientists have stepped in to shoot themselves in the foot in the public spotlight. In a new slow-simmering controversy that reached major news outlets this week, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chief Rajendra Pachauri admitted that one of the details in the 2007 report was a mistake. Though the goof is a minor one (in that it doesn’t change the conclusion of the report), the backlash probably won’t be, given what happened the last time around.

Specifically, one part of the report states that the Himalayan glaciers are retreating faster than anywhere else in the world, and that there’s a good chance they could totally disappear by 2035. But while it’s true that the glaciers are retreating, the date given is a gross overstatement. “You just can’t accomplish it,” says Jeffrey Kargel from the University of Arizona. “If you think about the thicknesses of the ice – 200-300m thicknesses, in some cases up to 400m thick – and if you’re losing ice at the rate of a metre a year, or let’s say double it to two metres a year, you’re not going to get rid of 200m of ice in a quarter of a century” [BBC News].

So what happened? A misunderstanding of second-hand information. The report cited a 2005 study by the World Wildlife Fund, an environmental advocacy group. That study cited a 1999 article in New Scientist magazine that quoted Indian glacier expert Syed Hasnain as saying Himalayan glaciers could disappear “within forty years” [The Wall Street Journal]. Hasnain has since said that comment wasn’t based on good science, and IPCC co-chair Chris Field has said the information looks like it came more from news reports than from scientifically-reviewed literature, which is improper for report like the IPCC’s.

While the “2035″ story hit the major media outlets this week, it wasn’t exactly brand new. This round of verbal barbs began last month in India, but glaciologist Georg Kaser said he raised doubts several years ago, and that others pointed to the Himalayan date as goof: “All the responsible people are aware of this weakness in the fourth assessment. All are aware of the mistakes made,” he said. “If it had not been the focus of so much public opinion, we would have said ‘we will do better next time’. It is clear now that working group II has to be restructured” [The Guardian].

IPCC chief Pachauri tried to stress that one bad detail doesn’t invalidate 3,000 pages of research—indeed, the glaciers are retreating, but at a speed not even close to that implied by the bad date in the report. He at least acknowledged the political ramifications of the IPCC’s goof and tried to spin them in his favor: “Some people will attempt to use it to damage the credibility of the IPCC; but if we can uncover it, and explain it and change it, it should strengthen the IPCC’s credibility, showing that we are ready to learn from our mistakes” [The Times]. But though it might be inevitable that a few errors sneak into such a mammoth report (and science relies on finding one’s mistakes and learning from them), the laxness that allowed an error on an order of magnitude like this makes for a public embarrassment the IPCC can little afford in an already polarized political climate.

Related Content:
80beats: Tiny Soot Particles May Be Melting Mighty Himalayan Glaciers
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80beats: The New Murder Mystery Game: Who Killed Copenhagen?
80beats: Climatologist Steps Down as “ClimateGate” Furor Continues
The Intersection: IPCC Leak: Warming of the Climate System is “Unequivocal”
DISCOVER: The State of the Climate—and of Climate Science

Image: Wikimedia Commons / little byte of luck

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Stage Challenges Movies with Revolving Settings

FOR the first time in all its history, the legitimate stage is able to rival and even to outstrip the motion picture in its ability to present swift changes of scene to the eyes of an audience. In the past it has been the movie alone which could shift instantly from a desert setting to a polar scene, but now the legitimate theater is not only able to duplicate such a performance, if it wishes, but it can also present as many as four different scenes to the eyes of the audience simultaneously—a feat which the movies have not yet found practical.

Revolving stages and ingenious mechanical devices have given the “legit” its latest advantage in eternal competition with the talkies to win the favor of audiences attuned to the speeded-up tempo of modern life. The revolving stage idea is not new, but its development as worked out in productions by J. J. Shubert and A. H. Woods is far above anything ever before attempted.

In Mr. Woods’ production of “Five Star Final” three revolving stages are used, in addition to a setting above one of the stages showing a telephone operator’s booth—four scenes, all presented at the same instant. In the Shubert production of the operettas ‘Three Little Girls” and “A Wonderful Night,” only one revolving stage is used, but it is so huge that it is turned by electric power, and can be disassembled for shipment—the only portable stage of its type ever built.

Simple as the idea of a revolving stage appears, countless obstacles had to be overcome. P. Dodd Ackerman designed the stages for “Five Star Final.” He found that he could use three stages, a center one of 23-foot diameter, and two side stages of 13 feet. But the usual method of stage lighting, in which cables for electric current are laid on the stage floor, would not suffice, since the revolving of the stages would wind up the cables. This complication was solved by running the lines through a hollow pivot at the center of each stage. Dimensions of the theater had to be carefully checked up to make sure that the stages did not conceal the action from any part of the audience. Silent tracks were devised to make the revolving of the settings absolutely soundproof.

Each of the three stages was provided with a separate curtain, and each was divided into three sections, like a pie cut into three equal parts. While one section is presented to the audience, stage hands change the settings on the two sections which are backstage. The curtain is dropped; strong arms pull the revolving stage around—and presto! The section which a moment before was presented to the audience is backstage and is being converted from an apartment room to a beer garden, while the action of the play is being carried on in one of the other segments of the stage.

With three separate stages, each divided into three sections, and an additional setting on top of one of them—viewed through a screen—the rapid-fire changes of action which can be presented are numberless. Usually only one or two stages are in use at the same moment, but when the action calls for it they can all be brought into service.

The “Five Star Final” revolving stages rest on the floor of the main stage, and are turned around on wheeled tracks. The Shubert portable revolving stage is mechanically more complicated. It can be likened in its operation to a huge phonograph disk, revolving on an axis which extends downward through the regular theater stage floor, connecting with a huge motor in the cellar. One man controls the turntable in response to buzzer signals from the stage manager.

In the second act of “A Wonderful Night” the entire seven scenes are set on the turntable ‘ at one time. The scenery used is double; that is, painted on both sides. When the scene is shifted the curtain is not lowered, but assumes something of the aspect of a motion picture screen, in which the characters walk from one room to another in full view of the audience. In one act the audience sees a group of characters step from a room, reappear in a street, continue down a moonlit lane and enter a cafe, in natural movement and in correct elapsed time. James H. Surridge, chief of the Shubert mechanical forces, supervised the construction of this remarkable stage.

Other ingenious stages have been used by theaters to overcome the limitations of the usual opera house. The Boston Opera has hydraulic stage worked somewhat like an elevator.

Children’s own Judith Palfrey, MD, FAAP, will be carrying the Olympic torch today as it makes it way through Calgary, Canada. Palfrey will be one of 12,000 torchbearers who will relay the Olympic flame on its 28,000 mile trek from Victoria, British Columbia to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics. She is the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which is the nation’s largest pediatric organization, with a membership of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists.

We’re proud to have someone as committed to children’s health as is Palfrey carrying the Olympic torch. We hope you’ll join us in watching Palfrey live today from 11 a.m. to noon as she participates in the longest relay held by a single country in the history of the Olympic Games.

Palfrey has been a pediatrician at Children’s since 1974 and is a dedicated child advocate. She was chief of Children’s General Pediatrics Division from 1986 to 2008 and currently directs the Children’s International Pediatric Center.

Read what Palfrey has to say after one of her first AAP meetings as president.

My husband and I have become slightly obsessed with olive oil tortas. Have you tried these yet? We were excited to see them in Saveur‘s Top 100 List this month; they certainly deserve a spot!

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Sweethearts, those tiny heart-shaped candies with expressions of love printed in pastel, are boasting new phrases for a new decade that respresent the ever-changing times we live in.

The treats have been a Valentine’s Day tradition since the days of Lincoln, but for the first time in the candy’s 145-year history, this year Sweethearts will feature contemporary sayings chosen by an online poll. Manfacturers dumped all the previous expressions and asked candy fans to write new ones. Voters came up with “You Rock,” “Soul Mate,” “Love Bug,” “Tweet Me,” “Text Me.”and “Me & You” The company even has a Twitter account!

The new Sweethearts will also offer some new flavors – including green apple, blue raspberry, strawberry, lemon, grape and orange.

The future of the Dems’ big health-care bill looks murky, but there’s another big Washington plan that could have profound effects on health care: The idea of creating a bipartisan commission to cut the budget deficit is gaining ground.

In the latest proposed iteration, the commission would include Republicans and Democrats appointed by the White House and by congressional leaders from both parties. The group would be charged with coming up a plan by the end of the year to cut the deficit to 3% of GDP by 2015, and Congress would give the plan an up-or-down vote after this year’s midterm elections. The details are in this story from this morning’s WSJ.

This isn’t a health-care commission per se, but when you look at the nation’s long-term budget issues, health-care spending is a key issue. As the head of the CBO wrote last year, relative to GDP, “almost all of the projected growth in federal spending other than interest payments on the debt stems from the three largest entitlement programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.”

So if this commission does get off the ground, it’s almost certain to call for significant changes to Medicare and Medicaid. Given the central role those programs play in the nation’s health care — and the way Medicare sets the tone for many private insurers — those changes could wind up resonating throughout the health-care system.

Photo: iStockphoto

LANSING — Renewable power is generating increased interest in Michigan. A new report from the Michigan Public Service Commission shows that the number of net metering customers in the state more than doubled in the fiscal year running from July 1 …

JANUARY 20, 2010, 10:17 A.M. ET

By MARSHALL ECKBLAD And NATHAN BECKER

Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. reported improved fourth-quarter results — with Bank of America coming closer to the black and Wells swinging to a profit — joining peers that have also posted better results a year after the depths of the financial crisis.

Bank of America posted a loss of $194 million in the fourth quarter after its mammoth consumer-loan books showed signs of stabilizing, but its once-frothy revenue from trading fell sharply. Still, its results are an improvement over a year ago, when the Charlotte, N.C., bank and its peers were battered by the financial crisis.

Bank of America’s Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said Wednesday during a conference call that losses from soured loans have slowed.

“There were several positive trends in the quarter. First, credit quality appears to be stabilizing, if not improving,” he said. Trends this quarter are “supporting our comments in October that overall credit costs were peaking.”

“Although we believe we saw the peak in the third quarter, net loss levels remain elevated for the next several quarters,” Mr. Moynihan said.

Reuters

Bank of America’s loss narrowed from $1.78 billion. Including preferred-stock dividends and the cost of repaying the federal government its $45 billion in aid, the per-share loss widened to 60 cents from 48 cents.

Revenue jumped 60% to $25.1 billion because of its purchase of Merrill Lynch a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast a loss of 52 cents a share on $26.84 billion in revenue.

In the global markets business, which includes Merrill, Bank of America swung to a $7.18 billion profit from a $4.92 billion loss a year earlier.

Credit losses rose to $10.11 billion from $8.53 billion a year earlier, while the net charge-off rate was 3.71%, compared with 2.36% a year earlier and 4.13% in the third quarter.

Bank of America rose 1%, or 17 cents, to $16.49 in recent trading. The stock had gained 8.4% in January through Tuesday.

Bank of America has a strong investment bank, thanks to its Merrill Lynch acquisition. But the company’s overall performance is heavily dependent on consumers and the economy, especially unemployment, which has a direct effect on borrowers’ ability to make their monthly loan payments.

In the past week, both J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. reported improved results from a year earlier, when the U.S.’s financial turmoil was at its worst.

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo swung to a profit of $2.82 billion, or eight cents a share, from a year-earlier loss of $2.73 billion, or 84 cents a share. The San Francisco company said its earnings were reduced by 47 cents for preferred-stock dividends related to the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Revenue rose 4% to a record $22.7 billion.

Analysts had most recently forecast a one-cent-per-share loss on $22 billion in revenue.

Net charge-offs rose to 2.71% of average loans from 2.5% a quarter earlier and 2.11% a year earlier.

Wells Fargo added 0.7%, or 20 cents, to $28.48 in recent action.

—Matthias Rieker contributed to this article.

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The Philadelphia Reading Terminal Market has been apart of the city of Philadelphia’s history for quite some time now. It’s a tourist attraction to people who visit from all over the world, as well as a staple for shopping to many of Philadelphia’s residents.

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President Obama announced plans yesterday to expand the Race to the Top education program, which invites states to apply for slices of a $4 billion pie of additional school funding. Last year Obama launched the program with two major messages: (1) We need to locate effective teachers by studying student data, and (2) we need better standards to keep some states
(ahem, Mississippi) from setting their education bar so low that they
gut the word “standard” of all meaning.

In future iterations, Race to the Top will allow not only states, but
also individual districts, to apply for additional federal funding.
This change makes sense for two reasons. The first is wholly practical. Most
school funding comes from local property taxes, and accordingly
education policies, and their success, can vary dramatically on a
district-by-district basis within a state. The second reason this makes
sense for the administration is more political. Appealing to individual
districts provides a way to circumvent governors like Texas’s Rick Perry
who don’t want to accept additional education funds.

[Obama] also took a jab at Texas, where Republican Gov. Rick Perry is
refusing to compete for Race to the Top for fear of a “federal
takeover” of his schools. Mr. Obama said, “Innovative districts … in
Texas whose reform efforts are being stymied by state decision-makers
will soon have the chance to earn funding to help them pursue those
reforms.”

Since states are facing a historic bottoming out of tax revenue, this
is a shrewd time for the federal government to dangle billions of
dollars in front of state education officials in exchange for big
reforms. For example, Race to the Top funds cannot go to states, like New York, that
prohibit student performance from affecting teacher assessments. But you can imagine that a state, like New York, running a $13.7 billion 2009-10 deficit might be tantalized to take much needed money in exchange for ruffling the feathers of the teachers’ unions.

It should also be said that with health care’s prospects looking dim, a renewed focus on education could be a good way for Obama to build the bridges Americans think he’s burned with Republicans and to reclaim the mantle of a new kind of progressive — one whose policies combine a liberal belief in the power of government money with a federalist faith in our states to govern themselves. In any case, Democrats will be looking for reasons to not light themselves on fire in the next few weeks. Education policy wouldn’t be a bad place to refocus their energies.

Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection. Previous Science Wednesdays.

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a scientist. At first, the only scientist I knew of was Albert Einstein, but I had no aspirations of growing up looking like him. Then I discovered a “Space Cadet” television character who was a physicist—and a woman. It was cool. Finally a role model I could follow!

What I liked about science was doing experiments and learning things that nobody else knew. I thought it would be great to learn science and help the planet at the same time.
Now I have the privilege of working for EPA where our mission—to protect the environment and human health—is based on scientific knowledge. The scientific knowledge that I use in promoting EPA’s mission is nanotechnology.

According to the National Nanotechnology Initiative, a coalition of U.S. government agencies that fund or use nanotechnology research, nanotechnology encompasses materials with dimensions between one and 100 nanometers (no small molecules need apply) and have unique properties that enable novel applications. (My colleague Nora Savage did a great job explaining nanotechnology on a previous Science Wednesday post.

Two scientists received the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics for making a nano-sized discovery: giant magnetoresistance, or GMR. GMR is a property some metals have at the nanoscale, and it was used to develop smaller computer hard drives with more storage than before. Some of these are now found in our cell phones and MP3 players.

GMR is just one example of the many types of nanomaterials that have the potential to lead to exciting new products. But could some nanomaterials also be harmful to the environment?
That’s where I come in. I work on a grant program I developed supporting research focused on nanotechnology and the environment. I may not be a Space Cadet, but I am a scientist who helps the world. It’s kind of like a dream come true.

About the Author: EPA Environmental scientist Dr. Barbara Karn focuses on “green” nanotechnologies, including using green chemistry, green engineering and environmentally benign manufacturing to make new nanomaterials and products for preventing pollution. Look for more about her work and her dream job in future Science Wednesday posts.

It appears the Federal Housing Authority is finally getting its act together in order to stem crackdown on wildcat lenders with bad standards dumping crappy mortgages onto its lap.

The agency’s first act: upping the amount of mortgage insurance that borrowers must pay

Originally, borrowers paid 1.75% was the amount of the up-front premium required. Now? 2.25%.

This is a form of monetary tightening, even if it seems small, and it will reduce the amount of money available for mortgages?

So isn’t that Ben Bernanke’s job?

Well, remember, his job has been subsumed by Fannie and Freddie, which have unlimited checkbooks to support the housing market. In fact it would seem that the blank check bailouts for those two is what’s allowing this other arm of government to take some action on its own balance sheet.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• How The Home Buyer Tax Credit Is Bankrupting The FHA
• Audit: FHA Reserves Collapse Much Faster Than Feared
• Now The FHA Is Subsidizing Hedge Funds That Flip Mortgages For Easy Profits

Filed under: Performance, Europe, Videos, UK, Specialty

Britain’s kit car industry isn’t just alive and well, it is hale and hearty if last year’s Exeter Kit Car show is anything to go by. The newest home-built contraption is the SDR Sports Cars WR3 V-Storm. Like a number of other British cars most famously represented by the Ariel Atom, the V-Storm is basically scaffolding with seats and an engine.

The previous model was powered by the V-twin from an Aprilia RSV1000. The latest model gets its scoot from a Subaru Impreza engine with more than 300 horsepower, good for a run from 0-to-60 of about three seconds. The “3” in the WR3 moniker refers to the seating: a McLaren F1 style center position for the driver and two wingmen behind. Kits start at £3,995 ($6,534 U.S.), or £19,995 ($32,700 U.S.), plus VAT and fripperies, for a turn-key car.

Follow the jump to watch it in action, or check out the gallery of photos below for some less racy views.

[Source: SDR Sports Cars]

Continue reading SDR Sports Cars debuts V-Storm. Just think of it as an Ariel Atom for triplets [w/video]

SDR Sports Cars debuts V-Storm. Just think of it as an Ariel Atom for triplets [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:57am EST

CNBC VIDEO: Becky Quick One-On-One with Warren Buffett -21/01/10

* Says Kraft buy of Cadbury is “a bad deal”

* Says feels “poorer” after Kraft deals

* Says Kraft CEO has done a good job on operations

* Indicates he will not sell Kraft stake

* Kraft shares down 2.2 pct (Adds more Buffett comments, byline)

By Brad Dorfman

CHICAGO, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Warren Buffett said Kraft Foods Inc’s (KFT.N) proposed $19.6 billion acquisition of Cadbury Plc (CBRY.L) is a “bad deal” and questioned how Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld chose to pay for it.

While Buffett indicated he would not sell his stake in Kraft, shares of the company fell more than 2 percent as the U.S. food group came under pressure from its largest shareholder.

“Irene has done a good job in operations. I like Irene. I mean, I find her — she’s been straightforward with me, we just disagree,” Buffett told cable business channel CNBC on Wednesday.

“She thinks this is a good deal, I think it’s a bad deal. I think she’s a perfectly decent person. She could be a trustee under my will. I just don’t want her making this particular deal,” he said.

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) holds a 9.4 percent stake in Kraft, the world’s second-largest food group.

On Tuesday, Kraft sealed a deal with Cadbury’s board to buy the British chocolatier for cash and stock after a four-month long hostile takeover battle. [ID:nL9294700]

The final deal included more cash and less new kraft shares than Kraft had previously offered. It changed the deal to offer fewer shares after Berkshire said it would vote against an initial plan to issue up to 370 million shares.

Ironically, in lowering the number of shares issued, Kraft no longer needs its shareholders to approve the deal.

“If I had a chance to vote on this, I’d vote no,” Buffett said. “I think Kraft is still undervalued. I just don’t think it is as undervalued as it was three weeks ago.”

Buffett also questioned Kraft selling its fast-growing pizza business to Nestle SA (NESN.VX) in a move that raised cash for the Cadbury deal.

“I feel poorer,” Buffett said of the deals.

Kraft shares fell 2.2 percent to $28.75 after Buffett’s comments.

A Kraft spokeswoman defended the Cadbury deal in response to Buffett’s remarks.

“We respect his opinion,” spokeswoman Perry Yeatman said. “He’s one of our largest investors. We think this is a good deal for us. It transforms our portfolio for better long-term growth.” (Reporting by Brad Dorfman, editing by Michele Gershberg, Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman)

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In a somewhat uncommon achievement for a carmaker, the Japanese from Toyota received the Zayed Future Energy Prize during the four-day Future Energy Summit being held these days in Abu Dhabi. Created in honor of Sheikh Zayed, founder of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the prize recognizes Toyota’s Prius as a main agent in the battle against climate change.

According to thenational.ae, Toyota has been chosen from those who entered the contest based on the "ground-breaking fuel-efficiency … (read more)

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are very close now and sports fans are probably eagerly awaiting the start of the competitions. In the mean time though, Google has made it possible for them to familiarize themselves with the venues for all the events by making detailed 3D models available in Google Earth and online through the Google … (read more)

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

CNBC VIDEO: Becky Quick One-On-One with Warren Buffett – 21/1/10

Kraft Food’s largest shareholder, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has come out against the US group’s takeover of UK chocolate-maker Cadbury.

“I’ve got a lot of doubts about the deal,” Mr Buffett told US television station CNBC. “If I had the chance to vote on this, I’d vote no.”

Mr Buffett’s comments come a day after Kraft announced that it had agreed to buy Cadbury for £11.5bn ($19bn).

Before the deal was agreed he had urged Kraft not to overpay for the UK firm.

Mr Buffett owns his 9.4% stake in Kraft through his Berkshire Hathaway investment group.

He also said he questioned Kraft’s decision to sell its North American pizza business for $3.7bn earlier this month to help raise the funds to pay for the Cadbury deal.

“I feel poorer,” said Mr Buffett.

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	The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder Buy new: $13.60 / Used from: $11.85 Usually ships in 24 hours
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