November 8, 2010
The Chicago Tribune runs with the latest example of faith-based zealots declaring war!
Warriors of the Faith: image Jesus Christ Superstar
Faced with rising political attacks, hundreds of climate scientists are joining a broad campaign to push back against congressional conservatives who have threatened prominent researchers with investigations and vowed to kill regulations to rein in man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
The still-evolving efforts reveal a shift among climate scientists, many of whom have traditionally stayed out of politics and avoided the news media. Many now say they are willing to go toe-to-toe with their critics, some of whom gained new power after the Republicans won control of the House in Tuesday’s election.
On Monday, the American Geophysical Union, the country’s largest association of climate scientists, plans to announce that 700 climate scientists have agreed to speak out as experts on questions about global warming and the role of man-made air pollution.
John Abraham of St. Thomas University in Minnesota, who last May wrote a widely disseminated response to climate change skeptics, is also pulling together a “climate rapid response team,” which includes scientists prepared to go before what they consider potentially hostile audiences on conservative talk radio and television shows.
“This group feels strongly that science and politics can’t be divorced and that we need to take bold measures to not only communicate science but also to aggressively engage the denialists and politicians who attack climate science and its scientists,” said Scott Mandia, professor of physical sciences at Suffolk County Community College in New York.
This new Rapid Response Team has so far recruited 39 Warriors of the Faith!!!
A rapid-response team, however, is willing to delve into politics. In the week that Abraham and others have been marshaling the team, 39 scientists agreed to participate, including Richard Feely, senior scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Kevin Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research; and Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University.
“People who’ve already dug their heels in, we’re not going to change their opinions,” Mandia said. “We’re trying to reach people who may not have an opinion or opinion based on limited information.”
neela.banerjee@latimes.com
It is difficult to take any Global Warming “Science” or “Scientists” seriously as long they continue the shenanigans revealed in Climategate and behave like a bunch of religious fanatics. It remains to be seen how many real scientists will join these religious fanatics in committing scientific and political suicide.
Tags: American Geophysical Union, climate change, Climate rapid responce force, Climategate, science fraud
Posted in Alarmism, Behaviour, Climate, Environment, Scientific Fraud | 2 Comments »
November 8, 2010
Grizzlies at Yellowstone: Image via Wikipedia
Grizzly bears in America’s western states are becoming increasingly fat and lazy as a result of increased contact with humans complain some conservationists according to The Telegraph !
But presumably the bears aren’t complaining and don’t have any problems with the good life.
A population boom among the bears has pushed them out of the Rocky Mountains and into the path of humans, where they have found plentiful food without the need for hunting.
Jamie Jonkel, a bear expert at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said that the grizzlys had learned gluttony and laziness from their human neighbours. He told the Guardian that the bears had “started living the good life”, eating corn and vegetables from fields and quickly getting “fatter and fatter”. The number of bears in Yellowstone national park has leapt to 603 in recent years, almost three times the number during the 1970s. The population boom has created competition over natural food sources, forcing some bears to look elsewhere for sustenance.
But the wild bears don’t always co-exist happily with humans. The number of attacks by bears has also increased, with two people being fatally mauled in Montana and Wyoming. Some 45 bears have also been shot as a result of wandering too close to hunters or wildlife officials, the paper said.
Tags: animal behaviour, Grizzlies and humans, Grizzly Bear, United States, Yellowstone National Park
Posted in Behaviour, Biodiversity, Wildlife | Comments Off on Grizzlies getting fat and lazy – the advantages of interacting with humans
November 8, 2010
Singapore Airlines has just announced, according to Reuters, that it had completed engine inspections on all its Airbus A380 aircraft and did not find any issues of concern.
“We have completed the engine inspections on all our A380 aircraft and did not find anything of concern,” SIA spokesman Nicholas Ionides said on Monday.
“The findings of the inspections have been reviewed with Rolls-Royce. Any further checks that may be recommended by the manufacturers will of course be done, and in the meantime we continue with our regular routine checks.”
Meanwhile,
Australia’s Qantas said on Monday it would keep its A380 fleet grounded for at least another 72 hours after discovering problems on three more of the superjumbo’s engines.
Singapore has 11 A 380s powered by Rolls Royce Trent engines while Qantas has 6 Airbus A 380s. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Qantas Airways Ltd. on Monday said its engineers found oil leaks in Rolls-Royce Group Ltd. engines on three of its grounded fleet of A380 jetliners, amid an investigation into the blowout of a turbine that forced one of its double-deck superjumbos to make an emergency landing in Singapore last week. “These engines are not performing to the parameters you would expect,” said Alan Joyce, chief executive of Qantas, in a press conference in Sydney. “The oil leaks were beyond normal tolerances.”
Mr. Joyce added that the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines that Qantas operates on its fleet of A380s are designed to provide more thrust and torque, and that this version of the turbine could be at fault. Engineers have identified oil leaks on engines from three separate Qantas A380s, one currently grounded in Sydney and two other aircraft in Los Angeles, he said.
Mr. Joyce said that Qantas uses a different design of Trent engine than those used by Singapore Airlines and Deutsche Lufthansa AG on its A380s.
The problem seems to be narrowing down to either the particular version of the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engine used by Qantas or the particular maintenance regime or procedures applying to the Qantas engines. In either case it should be of some cheer to Rolls Royce that the problem may not – on the surface – be a generic design fault with the Trent engines but something restricted to the engines as used by Qantas.
Tags: Airbus A380, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Trent 900
Posted in Aviation, Engineering, Technology | 3 Comments »
November 8, 2010
Reality and common sense are returning to dampen the mad rush to wind power. The fact that connecting intermittent power sources to the grid is a source of dangerous instabilities and that intermittent power sources do not actually contribute to any secure generating capacity are bringing a “cap” into play. Following the drop of orders in the US, the UK is also expecting sharp reductions in installations.
From The Guardian:
Britain recently overtook Denmark to become the world’s largest offshore windfarm player, implying the tripling of capacity in the next two years. But new projects will dry up in 2013. Only 90 megawatts (MW) of newly installed capacity, which is enough to supply 30,000 homes when the wind blows, is being forecast compared with 1,368Mw the year before. Analysts are forecasting a 93% drop in the installation of new offshore windfarms in 2013 compared with the previous year. As orders for cables, foundations and other equipment are typically made two to three years ahead of the project being completed, the slowdown will start to bite among UK suppliers next year.
There are other extra projects on the drawing board which are supposed to fill this gap. But planning problems, difficulties securing finance and cost overruns on existing projects mean that these plans could be scaled back. Swedish firm Vattenfall said last month that it would not take up the option of expanding its Thanet windfarm – the largest offshore project in the world – blaming problems securing access to the grid.
The availability of bank finance for offshore projects – at least twice as costly as onshore windfarms – has still not returned to pre-credit crunch levels. Now there are only 10-14 banks actively lending, compared with almost 40 before 2008, each lending about half what they were lending before.
Just a few days ago Reuters reported:
The wind energy industry continues to struggle and Vestas Wind is confirming what General Electric is seeing… weak demand. GE went so far as to say the US wind energy market has collapsed. Vestas hasn’t made similar claims, but their actions speak much louder than words.
The company is cutting 3000 jobs and shutting plants due to shrinking power demand, rising component costs and uncertain US policy. While the company posted a smaller than expected loss in 3rd quarter profits, they indicated that the European wind energy market won’t live up to expectations either. Shares of Vestas were down nearly 10 percent Tuesday despite beating analyst earnings estimates and trading very close to the 2008 lows.
Tags: Vattenfall, Vestas, wind power, Wind power difficulties
Posted in Business, Energy, Engineering, Environment, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Reality check: Orders for wind turbines to fall by 93%
November 8, 2010
Xinhua reports the success of the Chang’e-2 mission.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Monday unveiled the first pictures of the moon’s Sinus Iridum, or Bay of Rainbows, marking the success of China’s Chang’e-2 lunar probe mission.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attends an unveiling ceremony for pictures of the moon's Sinus Iridum, or Bay of Rainbows, taken and sent back by the Chang'e-2, China's second lunar probe, in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 8, 2010. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)
The pictures were taken and sent back by the Chang’e-2, China’s second lunar probe, which was launched on October 1.
Chang’e-2 entered into its final 118 min orbit and formally started its mission of mapping the moon and preparing the way for Chang’e-3 on October 9th.
Tags: Chang'e 2, China, Exploration of the Moon, First pictures from Chang'e-2, Sinus Iridium, Wen Jiabao
Posted in China, Lunar science, Science, Space | Comments Off on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao unveils Chang’e-2 pictures
November 8, 2010
From Pajamas Media:
Global warming-inspired cap and trade has been one of the most stridently debated public policy controversies of the past 15 years. But it is dying a quiet death. In a little reported move, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) announced on Oct. 21 that it will be ending carbon trading — the only purpose for which it was founded — this year.
Although the trading in carbon emissions credits was voluntary, the CCX was intended to be the hub of the mandatory carbon trading established by a cap-and-trade law, like the Waxman-Markey scheme passed by the House in June 2009.
At its founding in November 2000, it was estimated that the size of CCX’s carbon trading market could reach $500 billion. That estimate ballooned over the years to $10 trillion.
The CCX was the brainchild of Northwestern University business professor Richard Sandor, who used $1.1 million in grants from the Chicago-based left-wing Joyce Foundation to launch the CCX. For his efforts, Timenamed Sandor as one of its Heroes of the Planet in 2002 and one of its Heroes of the Environment in 2007.
CCX’s panicked original investors bailed out this spring, unloading the dog and its across-the-pond cousin, the European Climate Exchange (ECX), for $600 million to the New York Stock Exchange-traded Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) — an electronic futures and derivatives platform based in Atlanta and London. (Luckier than the CCX, the ECX continues to exist thanks to the mandatory carbon caps of the Kyoto Protocol.)
The ECX may soon follow the CCX into oblivion, however — the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. No new international treaty is anywhere in sight.
While we don’t know how well Al Gore and Goldman Sachs fared on their investments in the CCX, we do know that there’s no reason to cry for Sandor. He received $98.5 million for his 16.5% stake in CCX when it was sold. Not bad for a failure that somebody else financed.
http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/market/data/daily.jsf
Carbon Financial Instruments – Nov 5, 2010
| Product |
Vintage |
Open |
High |
Low |
Close |
Change |
Volume |
| Total Electronically Traded Volume |
– |
| CFI |
2003 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.05 |
– |
0 |
| CFI |
2004 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.05 |
– |
0 |
| CFI |
2005 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.05 |
– |
0 |
| CFI |
2006 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.05 |
– |
0 |
| CFI |
2007 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.05 |
– |
0 |
| CFI |
2008 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.05 |
– |
0 |
| CFI |
2009 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.05 |
– |
0 |
| CFI |
2010 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.05 |
– |
0 |
| Price and volume reported in metric tons CO2 |
Tags: Carbon Trading, Chicago Climate Exchange, European Climate Exchange, fraud, Kyoto Protocol
Posted in Energy, Environment, Ethics, Fraud, International Trade, Investing | Comments Off on Carbon Trading dies quietly in the US; time for Europe to follow suit
November 8, 2010
Mt. Merapi hazard map: image worldlywise.pbworks.com
Yogyakarta lies some 35 km from Mount Merapi but one of the “hazard” tongues from the volcano (see map above) leads directly to the city.
The Jakarta Globe reports:
Frightened residents in a bustling city of 400,000 at the foot of Indonesia’s rumbling volcano headed out of town Monday, cramming onto trains and buses and even rented vehicles to seek refuge with family and friends far away.
Mount Merapi, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has erupted many times in the last century, killing more than 1,400. But Friday was the mountain’s deadliest day since 1930, with nearly 100 lives lost. The notoriously unpredictable mountain unleashed its most powerful eruption in a century Friday, sending hot clouds of gas, rocks and debris avalanching down its slopes at highway speeds, smothering entire villages and leaving a trail of charred corpses in its path.
All (international flights) were back in the air Monday and White House officials said Obama was still scheduled to touch down on Tuesday.
Merapi, meanwhile, showed few signs of tiring Monday, sending out thunderous claps as it shot clouds of gas and debris high into the air.
The Indonesian government has put Yogyakarta on high alert. Though there have been no orders to evacuate, many residents decided to go on their own.
Tags: Indonesia, Mount Merapi, Volcano, Yogyakarta
Posted in Environment, Indonesia, Natural Disasters, Volcanoes | Comments Off on Merapi: Residents flee Yogyakarta but flights resume to Jakarta
November 7, 2010
The 3 Trent 900 engines that Qantas had earlier been thought to have been investigating now seems to have grown to 4 engines – 2 in Sydney and 2 in Los Angeles. These engines were tested following a Rolls Royce recommended 8-hour test procedure but have now been taken off the wings of their aircrafts for further investigation.
These are in addition to the Trent 900 which exploded on the A 380 which returned to Singapore and the RB 211-524 on the Boeing 747-400 which also returned to Singapore when an engine failed.
The Herald Sun:
MORE Qantas A380 jet engines are out of service and undergoing further tests, the airline says. Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Wirth said two of the Rolls-Royce built engines were in LA. “There are some engines being subject to further tests, but in line with normal procedure,” Ms Wirth told ABC radio today.
“In Los Angeles, there are two other engines that have been removed and we’ve been inspecting those. But this is, actually, common practice. It’s how you can make sure that you’re doing the right investigation.”
Fairfax newspapers today reported that Qantas had found issues with three more Rolls-Royce jet engines on its grounded Airbus A380 fleet. They also reported that two engines – one in Sydney and one in LA – had been taken off for closer inspection as a result of the eight-hour tests Rolls-Royce recommended.
“Deeper inspection could be for a number of things,” Ms Wirth said.
ABC reports:
Qantas says it has found problems with more of its A380 jet engines overnight, dashing hopes of an early return to service for the massive aircraft.
Steve Purvinis, the federal secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, says he is concerned about the “general safety culture” in the airline. But Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Wirth rejects any suggestions the airline is dropping its standards. “The reality is that for the last decade in fact … 80 to 85 per cent of maintenance is done onshore,” she said. “In fact, last year 92 per cent of all Qantas maintenance was done onshore in Australia, so it is simply untrue. In fact, the 747 which was involved in QF6 was maintained in Avalon in Melbourne.”
Ms Wirth says Qantas hopes to have its A380 aircraft back in action in the next three days.
Tags: Airbus A380, Qantas, Rolls Royce, Trent 900 failures
Posted in Aviation, Engineering, Technology | Comments Off on Qantas A380 fleet to stay grounded for 3 more days as more engine issues are discovered
November 7, 2010
Plenty of activity and a full schedule for President and Mrs Obama in Mumbai and Delhi today. There were no new announcements of any agreements or any business deals but no doubt these will be saved up for the final, ritual press conference.
Fielding questions from students on issues ranging from Pakistan to jehad, establishing an e-connect with farmers and breaking into an impromptu jig, US President Barack Obama got into the groove in more ways than one as he ended the first leg of his India visit here before heading for New Delhi Sunday afternoon. Obama took on a host of sharp questions from eager students at the St Xavier’s College this morning in Mumbai.
Obama met hundreds of American and Indian business leaders yesterday at the USIBC event. “India is the United States’ 12th largest trading partner. It could be number one or two if the conditions for trade between these two giant economies continue to improve,” said The McGraw-Hill Companies Chairman and CEO Harold Terry McGraw III, who is also the Chairman of the US-India Business Council (USIBC). Along with the USIBC Chairman, the meeting was attended by GE CEO Jeff Immelt, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Honeywell Chairman David Cote, Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman Rajan Bharti Mittal.
Having mixed serious business with interactions with schoolchildren and a town hall-style meeting at St Xavier’s College, U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama began the second leg of their Indian trip in New Delhi.
President Obama has now arrived in Delhi where he was met at the airport by the Prime Minister.
Humayun's Tomb, Delhi: tripadvisor.com
It was as close to the slum-dog moment as the Obamas could get in their India tour. The US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama met with 16 children of labourers at Humayun’s tomb in New Delhi today. The children, aged between five and seven, do not go to a regular school because they are too poor. They receive informal education due to the voluntary efforts of Mr K.K. Mohammad, the Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of India who has taken upon himself to get some basic literacy tools to these kids. At Humayun’s tomb, the children attired in uniforms of checked shirt and shorts spoke in Hindi to the U.S. President and the First Lady. They had small slate tablets in their hands and scribbled with white chalk on those tablets were the words “Welcome to India, Obamajee”. The President spoke to one eight-year-old Vishal, whose father Ram Das is a restoration worker at the Humayun’s tomb.
On the eve of their formal talks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama had a meeting in New Delhi on Sunday during which the two leaders are understood to have taken stock of bilateral ties and ways to push these to higher levels of strategic partnership. Singh and Obama had a one-on-one meeting for about 25 minutes before the private dinner hosted by the Prime Minister for the visiting leader and his wife Michelle at his 7, Race Course Road residence.
Tags: Barack Obama, Humayun's Tomb, Manmohan Singh, US President's visit to India
Posted in Business, Defense, Development, India, US | Comments Off on Obama in India: Day2: Networking aplenty but no new contracts announced today
November 7, 2010
Over 25 million shares were sold on Thursday and Friday as Rolls Royce shares plummetted from 654p to 591p as their problems with the Trent 900 engines for the Airbus A380 and with the RB211-524 engines for the Boeing 747 became apparent.
Further delays of the Boeing Dreamliner which is to use the RR Trent 1000 engines were reported causing speculation that some of these delays were due to delays with the engine.
Boeing Co. has told several of its early customers that delivery of the 787 Dreamliner will be delayed by as long as 10 months, Aviation Week reported Friday, citing industry sources. Korean Air will receive its first 787 in August 2012, 10 months later than planned. Air India, previously slated to receive the plane in April 2011, will get it in September or October of that year.
Boeing has said it intends to make the first delivery of the plane to All Nippon Airways in the middle of the 2011’s first quarter, according to reports.
Aviation news website FlightGlobal.com reported Thursday that Japan Airlines Corp. had expected to receive its first 787 delivery in March 2011, will now get the plane in June 2011.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=comm&id=news/awx/2010/11/05/awx_11_05_2010_p0-267220.xml&headline=Boeing%20Tells%20Carriers%20About%20More%20787%20Delays
Tags: Airbus A380, Boeing, Boeing 787, Boeing delays, Rolls-Royce Trent, Trent 1000, Trent 900 failures
Posted in Aviation, Engineering, Technology | 1 Comment »
