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Wednesday, June 7, 2006

The Western Australian (WA) Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has advised against the massive Greater Gorgon liquefied natural gas project off WA’s Pilbara coast. Proponents of the projects say Gorgon is one of Australia’s biggest export ventures, scheduled to provide up to 6,000 jobs and exports of up to $1.2 billion.

EPA chairman Dr Wally Cox said the Gorgon project operators (Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell), had made an effort on flora and fauna issues but in its present state, the Gorgon proposal was “unacceptable.” Gorgon LNG general manager Colin Beckett said that Gorgon was a world-class gas field and that the joint venture partners were confident that the decision would be reversed.

Environment Minister Mark McGowan said there was a definite process to be followed. The Minister says he will make a final decision on the Gorgon proposal after considering the EPA report – and any subsequent report from the Appeals Convenor. The EPA recommendations on the Gorgon proposal are subject to a two-week appeals period.

The EPA’s Dr Cox said that joint venture had “not been able to demonstrate that impacts from dredging, the introduction of non-indigenous species and the potential loss of fauna could be reduced to acceptable levels.”

In September 2003 the WA government provided “in-principle agreement” to the Gorgon joint venturers subject to a number of conditions. Dr Cox said that the Environmental Review and Management Programme had further highlighted the terrestrial and marine conservation values of Barrow Island and the adjacent waters.

“Flatback turtles in particular would be put at risk from the proposal with two of the most important nesting beaches located adjacent to the proposed LNG processing plant site and the materials off-loading facility,” Dr Cox said. “There is very little science available on the life-cycle, behaviour and feeding habits of Flatback turtles and as a consequence it is not possible at this time to identify management measures that would ensure ongoing survival of this Pilbara Flatback turtle population.”

Dr Cox also said that the Proponent had not been able to demonstrate that risk could be reduced to satisfactory levels in the areas of: Impacts on the marine ecosystem from dredging; The introduction of non-indigenous species; Potential loss of subterranean and short range endemic invertebrate fauna species. “As a result, the proposal in its present form cannot meet the EPA’s environmental objectives and is considered environmentally unacceptable,” Dr Cox said.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake shook the Hawaiian islands at 17:07:49 UTC (07:07:49 local time) October 15, 2006. The quake, centered approximately 6 miles southwest of Puak? on the west side of Hawai`i Island (the Big Island), was felt throughout the entire state, causing a statewide power outage.

No tsunami warning was issued as a result of the quake; however, a tsunami measuring around 0.1 meters (four inches) was recorded. There were 50 aftershocks reported after the quake, the strongest being a 5.8 tremor reported at about 17:14 UTC (7:14 a.m. local time).

There were no fatalities reported and only scattered reports of minor injuries.

Electric power was lost statewide shortly after the quake. As of about 8:00 p.m. HST, power was restored to all the neighbor islands, but Hawaiian Electric personnel still had work to go on Oahu, the island with the highest population. Power was eventually restored to most areas of Oahu by midnight.

Structural damage occurred at Kona Hospital, where ceiling tiles fell and electricity was lost, forcing an evacuation of patients to Hilo Medical Center on the other side of the island. Damage was also reported at the Honokaa Long-term Care Facility and the Royal Kona Resort.

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, who was in Kona at the time of the earthquake, issued an emergency declaration for the entire state of Hawaii at about 11:00 a.m. local time (2300 UTC Sunday).

Air service in Hawaii was temporarily suspended shortly after the quake as airports were forced to operate on emergency power. The power outage caused delays to incoming and outgoing flights, as TSA agents had to conduct manual searches of all bags. Airlines have canceled numerous flights scheduled to depart Honolulu International Airport Sunday evening.

Communication links are problematic. Most radio stations lost power and stopped broadcasting immediately after the quake. (Metroblogging Hawaii) Honolulu radio station KSSK, operating on emergency generators, became a central information source for Oahu residents. A landslide has blocked at least one major highway from a section of a cliff at Kealakekua Bay.

USGS Volcano Observatory equipment has not been significantly damaged. Monitoring stations report “no significant changes in the past 24 hours” of the eruption of the K?lauea volcano.

According to USGS records, this earthquake is the fourth largest Hawaiian earthquake in the last 100 years. Previous earthquakes include a magnitude 7.2 quake in 1975, a magnitude 6.9 quake in 1951, and a magnitude 6.8 quake in 1938. The last magnitude 6.7 quake was in 1983.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

This week, the Public Broadcasting Service aired a NOVA program titled “Dimming the Earth”, which presented research by leading scientists on the complex systems of our global climate and human activity’s effect on it. One of the largest interactions (or “inputs”) humans have with the atmosphere is the ever-increasing use of fossil fuels. Consumption has risen 2% per year for this decade.

Fossil fuels burnt in factories and automobiles send their waste into our atmosphere in two forms. The first is CO₂ and other greenhouse gases, which have received substantial attention in the last few years because of the way they trap heat in the atmosphere. The second is the tiny particles of sulfur dioxide, soot and ash, which scientists call aerosols (basically smog). Research into understanding the negative health effects of air pollution has resulted in the development of catalytic converters for cars as well as devices to remove particulate solids from industrial waste before it reaches the air.

More recently, atmospheric scientists have come upon the phenomenon of the reduction of direct sunlight reaching Earth’s surface— observing a nearly a 5% decline between 1960 and 1990, with evidence of a recovery since then. This has been dubbed the “global dimming” effect, and is probably due to the way these aerosols act upon clouds. It is important to realise that this does not represent a net loss of this much sunshine to the climate system – if so, large temperature declines would have been observed. Instead, the sunshine is absorbed elsewhere in the system, with a much smaller net loss.

Clouds form when moisture gathers around airborne particles, such as pollen or dust. Clouds formed by the aerosol particles emitted by fossil fuel consumption are made of many more tiny droplets than “natural” clouds. These smog-created clouds have two notable effects: they shield sunlight from reaching Earth’s surface and, due to water’s reflective nature, the millions of tiny droplets suspended in them reflect light back into space, allowing even less light to reach Earth.

Many scientists now believe that global dimming caused by these pollutants has mitigated the temperature rises brought about by global warming. Over the last thirty years, Earth’s temperature has increased by about 0.5 oC.

In the absence of global dimming, however, the Earth might be 0.3 oC warmer than it currently is, suggesting that a “tug-of-war” exists between greenhouse gases and particulates released by burning fossil fuels. Efforts to mitigate the human health dangers of smog have allowed more heat into our atmosphere and brought about a sharper increase in global warming.

Dr. James E. Hansen, professor at Columbia University and the head of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies [1], believes that if we continue on our current pattern, this warming could be as much as five degrees in the next thirty years and ten to fourteen degrees over the course of the century. Such a temperature rise would devastate life on Earth, likely bringing on a cascade of self-reinforcing warming effects. Earth’s forests drying and burning, a steady thawing of the Greenland and arctic ice sheets, and, most dangerous of all, a release of the methane hydrates that are now frozen at the bottom of the oceans, could remake the planet into something inhospitable to human life. Dr. Hansen warns that, according to his research, man has just 10 years to reduce greenhouse gases before global warming and other responses to human activity by Earth’s climate reach a “tipping point”, becoming unstoppable.

Tuesday, September 6, 2005

In a press release issued Saturday, September 3rd, 2005, Democratic Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana claims that President Bush staged a photo opportunity, at the breached 17th Street levee, by having equipment quickly moved into the background during the event. Senator Landrieu says the equipment was dispersed elsewhere the next day, but did not provide details.

Landrieu says in her press release, ” … we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast — black and white, rich and poor, young and old — deserve far better from their national government …”

The President and Senator Landrieu toured the 17th Street levee on Friday, and held the photo-op. Senator Landrieu said she believed the repair effort was legitimate, at that time. Less than 24 hours later, she discovered only “one lonely crane” working on the site, while giving an aerial tour for ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos. A video of her tearful comments, during that tour, has been circulating around the internet (WMV).

Senator Landrieu made no specific accusations about the photo-op during the ABC tour. However, neither does her press release describe any measures taken to verify that equipment was in-fact pulled from other projects for the purpose of the photo-op, nor where the equipment is now. The canal wall breach, near Hammond Highway, was later shown Sunday on CBS’ 60 Minutes with dump trucks and a power shovel building a single-lane pathway across the gap. The breach was closed Monday.

Senator Landrieu was herself criticized by Anderson Cooper (CNN) on Thursday, after she responded to a question by rattling off a list of “thank yous” to other politicians (WMV, transcript). Democratic pundits have excused such detachment as an attempt to gain more federal assistance during the tragedy. Senator Landrieu’s press release partially confirms this interpretation by attempting to simultaneously ask the president for more aid, while accusing him of misusing existing resources.

Although press reports mentioned the 17th Street Canal breach was blocked by the use of metal sheets, sandbags, and dumped fill, details were not available. On Wednesday September 7 it was reported that earlier metal girders, often used for retaining walls, had been hung down from the north side of the Hammond Highway bridge so as to form a metal wall which blocked the canal from the lake. After the breach had been closed, by sandbags and fill delivered by dump truck, the metal wall was opened to allow draining of the city through the canal.

Obviously placing the metal wall required an assortment of equipment which was no longer needed after it was in place. The wall was only visible from the bridge and most dry land as a few feet of metal along the bridge railing. It is not known if Senator Landrieu noticed this work of engineering, nor if she had been briefed as to what was being done.

However, photos of work at the site were later found which showed a lot of activity Sept 4, after Landrieu said the equipment was not there. However, the sheet piling wall in the photo was reported to have been completed September 2. Information of the schedule of similar work at the London Avenue breach has not been found.

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Copenhagen, Denmark – The Danish Integration Minister Rikke Hvilshøj’s car was set ablaze outside her family-home on the morning of Wednesday 8 June. From there, the fire spread to the family’s garage, and further on to the side of the house, damaging the roof above the kitchen and children’s room.

At the same time, an e-mail was sent to several media agencies, where a group calling themselves “Action Group Beate” claimed responsibility, saying it is a “protest against the racist immigrational laws of Denmark”. The police found the computer used for sending the mail within a few hours, and closed down the cybercafé whilst removing the computer.

Throughout the Danish political system politicians from both the ruling party and the opposition have expressed their outrage over the terrorism.

The insurance company is currently assessing the amount of damage done to the home, but so far they have made an estimate of £27.000, just for the house damages.

Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Scientists in the UK have developed a new way to ensure boiled eggs are perfectly cooked thanks to a brand new hi-tech logo being printed on shells.

After cooking starts, people will be able to see if their egg is soft, medium or hard-boiled with the help of a thermochromic print which appears in black ink on the egg’s shell.

The eggs will be sold to consumers in the UK within the next few months. A spokeswoman for Lion Quality, the assurance scheme which came up with the idea, said: “We had a lot of inquiries from people which sparked an interest in the industry. We said OK, this is a big issue – people can’t even boil an egg.”

Gilly Beaumont, from B&H Colour Change, the company which created the logos, said: “We are still perfecting the technology, but we are very excited at the prospect of sorting a problem that has wound people up at breakfast time for decades.”

The most successful way to cook an egg has baffled some of the greatest chefs in the past. In 1998, Delia Smith dedicated a whole episode of her How To Cook programme on the best way to boil an egg. And last year, a survey carried out by the magazine Waitrose Food Limited showed five top chefs all had different techniques.

Monday, January 18, 2010

The Benet Academy Redwings boys basketball team defeated the Oswego High School Panthers 40–34 Saturday night at Benet’s historic Alumni Gym. 

Located at Lisle, Illinois, United States, the gymnasium is home to Benet’s winning streak of 102 consecutive home games. The statewide record lasted from November 26, 1975 until January 24, 1987, when Naperville North High School defeated the Redwings 47–46. Benet also achieved 96 consecutive victories in the Western Suburban Catholic Conference at that time. 

The school continued to use the facility, colloquially referred to as the “Old Gym” or the “Small Gym”, until the end of the 1994 season, when a newer athletic center was built on campus. It wasn’t until the late 1990’s when then-coach Marty Gaughan decided to play one game per year in the Alumni Gym to remind the school of its history. “There is just an electricity, and you feel it when you are in there,” said Gaughan, who coached the team from the 1989–1990 season to the 2007–2008 season. 

This tradition continued until the 2006–2007 season, when the Redwings played against long-time rival St. Francis High School. Renovations prevented the gym from being used for athletic events over the past two seasons. This game was Benet coach Gene Heidkamp’s first opportunity to coach in the older gym. “So much history and winning has taken place there, which makes it so special. It is something the entire school community is excited about,” said Heidkamp. 

Saturday’s game was played at the Alumni Gym at the request of Oswego assistant coach Jim Bagley. He wanted his son, senior forward Chris Bagley, to experience the same atmosphere he had as he played for Benet in the 1978–1979 season. Greg Kwiatkowski was also Jim Bagley’s teammate in Benet, and his son, Joe Kwiatkowski, was in the Panthers’ starting lineup as well. “Two of us who played at Benet together and now our son’s play on [Oswego] together and for them to have a chance to play where we played is going to be a great night and great experience,” said the senior Bagley. 

Alumni Gym apparently still had its charm in the second half for the Redwings, whose 15–17 score at halftime worsened into an 11-point deficit in the third quarter. Benet fell behind with a score of 21–29 at the start of the fourth quarter. From that point, the Redwings’ defense began to kick in. Oswego could make only 2 of its 13 field goals in the third quarter. Benet’s offense also gained momentum as center Frank Kaminsky scored all of his 9 points in the fourth quarter. A shot by senior Mike Runger brought the score to 31–31, and two consecutive driving layups by David Sobolewski gave Benet the lead that would last for the rest of the game. 

“We hit a dry spell there, but let’s give credit where credit is due. Defense wins games and they are the best defensive team we’ve faced all year,” said Oswego coach Kevin Schnable.

Benet’s Matt Parisi led his team with 15 points, and Sobolewski scored 12. Oswego’s Andrew Ziemnik also scored 12.