IMF projects India’s GDP growth at 8.2% in 2011 and 7.8% in 2012 and China’s GDP growth at 9.6% in 2011 and 9.2% in 2012

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today said that further increase in key policy rates and the base effect are likely to pull down India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to 8.2 per cent in 2011 and further down to 7.8 per cent in 2012 from a double-digit high of 10. 4 per cent in 2010. The …

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Applying the Union of Concerned Scientist analysis of Chernobyl to Commercial Aviation

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) All Things Nuclear blog has an analysis of how many deaths occurred at Chernobyl based on linear no threshold view of radiation. So 0.01 milliSieverts (1 milliRem) for each of 6 billion people in the world is calculated to add 4000 deaths from cancer. 0.3 milliSieverts (30 milliRem) for …

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Remote controlled camera shows Fukushima fuel pond 4 has no significant damage – the pond dry out and fuel overheated scenario did not happen

Peering through metres of warm water, no serious damage was found A visual inspection by remote controlled camera has shown no significant damage to the used fuel pond of Fukushima Daiichi unit 4. There had been fears of serious damage to nuclear fuel stored in the pond after a series of fires and explosions in …

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NIST Nanomagnets Offer Food for Thought About Computer Memories

Collage of NIST “nano-eggs” — simulated magnetic patterns in NIST’s egg-shaped nanoscale magnets. Credit: Talbott/NIST Magnetics researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) colored lots of eggs recently. These “eggcentric” nanomagnets have another practical use, suggesting strategies for making future low-power computer memories. NIST researchers used electron-beam lithography to make thousands of …

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CAMISMA – New composites for lighter cars

Evonik has successfully developed materials and systems for lightweight solutions for the automotive sector. Together with three other industrial partners (Johnson Controls GmbH, Jacob plastics GmbH and Toho Tenax Europe GmbH) and the University of Aachen (Institute for textile technology [ITA] and Automotive Institute [IKA]). Creavis the strategic research and development centre of Evonik is …

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One of the two $150 million tickets on Space Adventures’s 2015 lunar flyby have been sold

One of the two available tickets on Space Adventures’ planned 2015 flyby of the moon has been sold, astronaut Byron Lichtenberg confirmed at an MIT conference today. If you’re sitting on a small fortune and want to see the far side of the moon, act fast before the last seat on the Soyuz spacecraft is …

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Canada election riding projections from May 1 showed a minority Conservative government but actual results Conservative Majority

Trendlines has a riding by riding projection for the Monday, May 2, 2011 Canadian election UPDATE: Election night: 7:44PM PST. # # Leading/Elected 155 needed for majority Conservatives 165 NDP 105 Liberals 35 Bloc 2 Other 1 CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY PROJECTED. NDP projected as opposition. by Ron Nurwisah, National Post at 5/3/2011 9:03 PM The most …

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Duke University has found neutron “fingerprints” that will enable better detectors for Port Security

New neutron “fingerprints” discovered with polarized gamma-rays at Duke could be the foundation for new port security scanners. Graphic: Ashley Yeager, Duke. Two teams of North Carolina physicists are mapping the intricacies of the atomic nucleus, which could provide better security at the ports. The scientists have identified new “fingerprints” of nuclear materials, such as …

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