Idaho Samizdat – Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko has issued an apology via the White House to the other four commissioners who jointly signed a letter complaining about his management practices. A hearing by the House Oversight Committee scheduled for Wednesday December 14 will not see the fireworks that were expected as a result …
Net investments of $83 billion a year must be made in agriculture in developing countries if there is to be enough food to feed 9.1 billion people in 2050 according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN By 2050 the world’s population will reach 9.1 billion, 34 percent higher than today. Nearly all …
Pesticides and pollutants are related to an alarming 450 percent increase in the risk of spina bifida and anencephaly in rural China, according to scientists at The University of Texas at Austin and Peking University. Many other congenital conditions, including autism, may one day prove to be related to environmental pollutants. Two of the pesticides …
Space Ref – On 26 September 2011, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) issued a press release regarding fuel depots. This included a letter to former Administrator Mike Griffin who had dismissed the notion of fuel depots and commercial launch vehicles as being a viable alternative to the Space Launch System(SLS) during Congressional testimony. An internal NASA …
The AP1000 nuclear reactor, is expected to start functioning in November 2013 at the Sanmen Nuclear Power Station in China, says Gary T. Urquhart, vice president and MD of Westinghouse for India, South East Asia and the Taiwan region. The remaining three will start functioning at intervals of six months with the fourth one attaining …
1. Adult stem cells from mice converted to antigen-specific T cells — the immune cells that fight cancer tumor cells — show promise in cancer immunotherapy and may lead to a simpler, more efficient way to use the body’s immune system to fight cancer, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. By inserting DNA, …
Technology Review – George Church is most excited about using regeneration as the key to treatments and keeping people health. Regeneration using induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells. He also wants to get personalized genomics. He wants to establish an IPS line for every single person who gets sequenced. First bone marrow patients. Then skin, then …
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is offering money to researchers looking at identifying and controlling timing mechanisms in cells, including those of the human body. The “Biochronicity” programme will find a way to understand and predict “temporal features of biological systems”. After two years, DARPA hopes to move to Phase II, which aims …
Photo of the Tiangong 1 module undergoing testing earlier in 2011. Credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office China’s second moon orbiter Chang’e-2 on June 9, 2011 set off from its moon orbit for outer space about 1.5 million km away from the earth. * Scientists decided to let it carry out additional exploratory tasks as …
1. Korea Times – SK Telecom (No. 1 mobile carrier in South Korea) is launching LTE service in South Korea. SK Telecom LTE will provide a maximum downlink speed of 75 Mbps, which is five times faster than that of the 3G WCDMA network, and 1.9 times faster than WiBro. SK Telecom plans to launch …
1. Five-term Congressman Devin Nunes has submitted legislation that he says would achieve energy independence for American by building 200 new reactors by 2040. Nunes said that royalties from oil and gas development on federal land should be placed in an “Energy Trust Fund” that would promote the development of alternative and resources. Finally, he …