New one step process Can turn the vast amounts of Methane into resource products like Plastics, Agrochemicals and Pharmaceuticals. While Petroleum Oil can provide the same, Methane is easier, less energy intensive, to use, and produces less CO2.

Climate change game-changer? Method more efficiently converts methane into useful chemicals > News > USC Dornsife

USC Dornsife researchers find a catalyst that converts methane to olefin, a compound used in many materials, in a single step. USC Dornsife scientists have unlocked a new, more efficient pathway for converting methane - a potent gas contributing to climate change - directly into basic chemicals for manufacturing plastics, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.

 From article, (USC Dornsife scientists have unlocked a new, more efficient pathway for converting methane — a potent gas contributing to climate change — directly into basic chemicals for manufacturing plastics, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.

In research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, chemists at the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute say they have found a way to help to use this abundant and dangerous greenhouse gas, which is generally burnt or flared to produce energy.

Among common greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is often cited as the largest culprit for trapping heat on Earth, which contributes to climate change. However, it is not the most potent.

That distinction belongs to methane. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane traps heat and warms the planet 86 times more than carbon dioxide over a 20-year horizon.

More fuel, fewer emissions, reduced energy use

Lead author Patrice T. D. Batamack, research scientist in chemistry, senior author and Professor of Chemistry G. K. Surya Prakash and Thomas Mathew, research scientist in chemistry, used a catalyst called H-SAPO-34, which was derived from a class of nanoporous crystals called zeolites.

This simple method of converting methane directly to ethylene and propylene, or olefin, would replace what are traditionally difficult, expensive and inefficient processes that add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The majority of ethylene and propylene is produced from petroleum oil and shale liquid cracking, which consumes enormous amounts of energy.

When USC’s first Nobel Prize winner, George Olah, converted methane to olefin in 1985, the process required three steps. Since then, researchers have reduced it to two steps, but the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute team is the first to realize the conversion with a single catalyst based on zeolites.

“Contact time is the key for this effective and simple catalyst to produce usable fuel from methane,” said Prakash, who holds the George A. and Judith A. Olah Nobel Laureate Chair in Hydrocarbon Chemistry. “In real estate, they say, ‘Location, location, location.’ In chemistry, it is all about condition, condition, condition.”)

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Should Oil companies be held accountable for Climate Change? Remember: Internal Combustion Engine Car Drivers, knowingly buy and use the fuel that has contributed to Climate Change. Who is really at fault, the Drug Dealer or the User?

Could Oil Firms Be Forced to Pay for Climate Change? California Cities Hope So

The Bay Area city of Richmond recently made an unlikely move that got the attention of its largest employer and taxpayer, Chevron. It followed other municipalities and counties across California that have filed lawsuits against oil companies, alleging that the energy giants knowingly contributed to climate change and should begin paying for it.

 From article, (The Bay Area city of Richmond recently made an unlikely move that got the attention of its largest employer and taxpayer, Chevron.

It followed other municipalities and counties across California that have filed lawsuits against oil companies, alleging that the energy giants knowingly contributed to climate change and should begin paying for it. Literally.
Employing the legal strategy that brought states major payouts from tobacco companies decades ago, the plaintiffs are demanding that oil interests begin writing checks to protect Californians against rising seas, crippling drought and harmful air.

The legal viability of the lawsuits is unclear; the cases are in early stages. But if any succeed, the implications are profound: The state is already spending hundreds of millions of dollars to shore up coastlines, protect infrastructure and retrofit roads and bridges in response to rising seas. And if companies are persuaded to drill and refine less oil, California has a much better chance of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions on the schedule it has set.

Besides Richmond, plaintiffs include the cities of Imperial Beach, Oakland, Santa Cruz and San Francisco, and the counties of Marin, San Mateo and Santa Cruz. The Los Angeles City Council is considering its own suit.

New York City filed a similar claim against five of the world’s largest oil companies in federal court, asking that the cost of mitigating damage done by the companies as a result of their contribution to climate change be charged to them.

The legal challenges also assert that the oil industry has known for decades that burning fossil fuels accelerates climate change. The Richmond complaint states, “The industry has known for decades that business-as-usual combustion of their products could be ‘severe’ or even ‘catastrophic.’

“Companies were so certain of the threat that some even took steps to protect their own assets from rising seas and more extreme storms,” the complaint goes on, “and they developed new technologies to profit from drilling in a soon-to-be-ice-free Arctic. 
Yet instead of taking steps to reduce the threat to others, the industry actually increased production while spending billions on public relations, lobbying, and campaign contributions to hide the truth.”)

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Mining Water on the Moon may be as easy as heating up the regolith, and collecting the water as steam.

Mining The Moon For Water To Generate Rocket Fuel | The University Network

Imagine if the moon could generate all of the fuel for future space exploration. Well, that is part of the plan to mine the moon for water, a new mission for Dr. Philip (Phil) Metzger, planetary scientist with the Florida Space Institute (FSI) at the University of Central Florida, and Julie Brisset, research associate with FSI.

 From article, (Imagine if the moon could generate all of the fuel for future space exploration. Well, that is part of the plan to mine the moon for water, a new mission for Dr. Philip (Phil) Metzger, planetary scientist with the Florida Space Institute (FSI) at the University of Central Florida, and Julie Brisset, research associate with FSI.

Their new contract with United Launch Alliance (ULA) calls for them to develop a viable method for extracting water from the depths of the moon cheaply and efficiently.

Why mine the moon for water?

The ability to mine lunar bodies of water would advance ULA’s goal, as water could be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen to generate rocket fuel in space. The ability to refuel in space opens the door to more launch possibilities and lower transportation costs throughout lunar space and beyond.

The mined water could be used for other purposes as well, including life support systems, radiation shielding and drinking water for space explorers.

It could also help ULA fulfill its vision of a self-sustaining space economy in CisLunar, the space between the Earth and the moon.

“When you talk about getting things into space, weight matters,” Metzger said in a statement. “So we are looking at a technique that would require less stuff you have to transport which still gets the job done.”

The proposed technique is to extract the water in situ, which would obviate the need for heavy construction equipment and remove the extra step of hauling the soil. It would involve drilling holes into the depths of the moon, pumping heat through the holes to heat the regolith, and collecting the released water vapor through pipes in the holes.

Metzger came up with the idea of vaporizing the water in-place because of the common technique of using phase change of the ore — melting or vaporizing it — in mining and refining here on Earth, he said.

The technique could be used to mine water at different depths, but the optimum depth is a matter of cost-benefit analysis.

“We know from NASA’s LCROSS mission, where they impacted a spacecraft into a dark crater at the Moon’s south pole, that the lunar water is mixed in the soil from the surface down to a depth of 2 or 3 meters or even deeper,” said Metzger. “We can mine as shallow as we like, so it is a tradeoff of using more equipment and energy to mine deeper or moving your equipment more often to stay more shallow. Every time you start to mine a location, you heat the soil in that area. That represents an investment in energy that you don’t want to casually walk away from. So if you can keep getting water more deeply from that same location, then you have an incentive to keep doing so. Ultimately we will not know the answer to this question until after we do the research. We will study how efficient it is to mine at varying depths.

While heating the regolith is possible according to data they possess, they need “to figure out the right geometric configuration of the holes to increase the area that is heated,” Brisset said in a statement.

Otherwise, most of the heat would dissipate, and be wasted.

“If we do it right, we should be able to increase the area and the time it stays warm,” she added. “We will be doing a lot of modeling.”)

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Mayor De Blasio has two rules he wants on Congestion Pricing: Making sure its raised funding is used by the MTA, in the five Boroughs only, and the city having the ability to sign off on Transit projects.

De Blasio Sounds Ready to Negotiate on Congestion Pricing

Testifying in Albany, the mayor outlined what he wants to see in a congestion pricing plan - a noticeable shift from earlier statements disparaging the policy. Bill de Blasio spent the summer and fall knocking congestion pricing, but since the release of road pricing recommendations by Governor Cuomo's Fix NYC panel [ PDF], the mayor has softened his stance.

 From article, (Bill de Blasio spent the summer and fall knocking congestion pricing, but since the release of road pricing recommendations by Governor Cuomo’s Fix NYC panel [PDF], the mayor has softened his stance.

De Blasio first showed signs of opening up to congestion pricing last month, when he called the Fix NYC proposal an “improvement over previous plans.”

Testifying in Albany yesterday, de Blasio refrained from calling it a “regressive tax,” a go-to attack that he leveled against congestion pricing repeatedly (and erroneously) last year. Instead he told legislators that the Fix NYC version of congestion pricing is “fundamentally different, better” than the 2008 version under Mayor Bloomberg and the Move NY toll reform plan.

It’s strange to hear that from the mayor, since the Fix NYC plan isn’t all that different from those earlier plans, and it could do as much or more to reduce traffic on NYC streets. But whatever the reason, de Blasio sounded ready to negotiate, laying out conditions for his support:

"If there were a congestion pricing plan there are several measures critical for New York City residents. One — a requirement that all proceeds are invested in mass transit projects in the five boroughs only. And two — the City of New York needs the ability to sign off on transit projects and priorities. Also, any pricing scheme for passenger vehicles should take the needs of New Yorkers with hardships into account including low income New Yorkers and those with disabilities."

For the most part these are reasonable conditions.)

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In Australia the Trackless Train is on the Political Agenda. Whether there is money for it, is another matter.

Town of Victoria Park, City of Canning among Perth councils interested in Perth Trackless Tram project | Community News Group

Written by Aaron Corlett and Jaime Shurmer Southern Gazette IT is the radical concept that could change the face of transport in Perth. The Perth Trackless Tram project is being worked on by Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute Professor Peter Newman with several local governments, including the Town of Victoria Park.

 From article, (It is the radical concept that could change the face of transport in Perth.

The Perth Trackless Tram project is being worked on by Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute Professor Peter Newman with several local governments, including the Town of Victoria Park.

The tram would run from the City of Canning through Curtin University, the Town of Victoria Park, the City of Perth and the City of Vincent before stopping in the City of Stirling.

Dr Newman said he believed trackless trams had “enormous potential” as they provided links through corridors not serviced by trains.

“The cost would be $5 million to $10 million per kilometre, which compares to $45 million to $50 million per kilometre for light rail,” he said.

“The advantage over a bus is that you have many doors so people can get on and off quickly.

“The trams could have two to five carriages and be modular so you can add or subtract carriages; you could fit 100 people on each carriage.”

Trackless trams can share the road space of a normal traffic lane, however it is preferable that trackless trams would have their own lanes, according to the City of Canning’s Mayor Paul Ng.

“City of Canning residents highlighted their need to have integrated, accessible and safe transport alternatives and this is an important component of the City’s Strategic Community Plan,” he said.

“Public transport users want a fast and reliable service that is safe, comfortable and convenient, and the trackless tram system ticks all these boxes.

“I’ve been talking about light rail for 20 years but I think this is the year of the trackless tram and I want to put it on the agenda for the next Federal Election,” he said.

Dr Newman said he had not spoken with Transport Minister Rita Saffioti but Metronet project director Anthony Kannis had attended meetings and told him there was no money available from the State Government.)

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Mole Rats Senescent Cells Strongly Inhibit their Metabolic Process, Resulting in Higher Resistance to Damage that can Cause Cancer

Another clue to how naked mole rats live long, cancer-free lives - Futurity

Researchers have found that while naked mole rats do have a specific mechanism to keep older cells from dividing, the mechanism operates differently in the small rodents, which may be another clue to the mystery of why they live so long and stay so healthy.

 From article (Cellular senescence is an evolutionary adaptation that prevents damaged cells from dividing out of control and developing into full-blown cancer. However, senescence has a negative side too: by stopping cell division in order to prevent potential tumors, it also accelerates aging.

Previous studies indicated that when cells that had undergone senescence were removed from mice, the mice were less frail in advanced age as compared to mice that aged naturally with senescent cells intact.

So, researchers believed senescence held the key to the proverbial fountain of youth; removing senescent cells rejuvenated mice, so perhaps it could work with human beings. Companies began investigating drugs—known as senolytic agents—that would kill senescent cells and translate the anti-aging effects to humans.

But is eliminating senescence actually the key to preventing or reversing age-related diseases, namely cancer?

“In humans, as in mice, aging and cancer have competing interests,” says biology professor Vera Gorbunova. “In order to prevent cancer, you need to stop cells from dividing. However, to prevent aging, you want to keep cells dividing in order to replenish tissues.”

In the new study, the researchers compared the senescence response of naked mole rats to that of mice, which live a tenth as long—only about two to three years.

“We wanted to look at these animals that pretty much don’t age and see if they also had senescent cells or if they evolved to get rid of cell senescence,” Seluanov says.

Their unexpected discovery? Naked mole rats do experience cellular senescence, yet they continue to live long, healthy lives; eliminating the senescence mechanism is not the key to their long life span.

Although naked mole rats exhibited cellular senescence similar to mice, their senescent cells also displayed unique features that may contribute to their cancer resistance and longevity.

The cellular senescence mechanism permanently arrests a cell to prevent it from dividing, but the cell still continues to metabolize. The researchers discovered that naked mole rats are able to more strongly inhibit the metabolic process of the senescent cells, resulting in higher resistance to the damaging effects of senescence.

“In naked mole rats, senescent cells are better behaved,” Gorbunova says. “When you compare the signals from the mouse versus from the naked mole rat, all the genes in the mouse are a mess. In the naked mole rat, everything is more organized. The naked mole rat didn’t get rid of the senescence, but maybe it made it a bit more structured.”)

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Decline in Immune System, that naturally fights against Cancer Cells, may be why Cancer Cells proliferate and affect Older People

Dundee researchers in cancer breakthough

SCOTS scientists have made a landmark discovery that bolstering an ailing immune system - rather than correcting genetic mutations - may hold the key to preventing cancer following a major study. The Dundee University research has the potential to revolutionise the global anti-cancer effort if the findings are substantiated in further studies.

From article, (the Dundee-led study suggests that the decline in the immune system with age is a much bigger driver behind increased cancer incidence. Researchers envision it as "a war" between cancer cells and the white blood cells known as T cells which are crucial to maintaining a healthy immune system capable of fighting off disease.

Dr Sam Palmer, who initiated the research at Dundee before taking a post at Heriot Watt University, said: “The T cells are constantly scanning for cancer cells, looking to destroy them. If they can’t find them soon enough or the immune system is weak then the cancer population has the chance to grow. The chances of this happening will increase with age as the thymus [gland where T cells are produced] is shrinking all the time.

“For our model, we imagined a war between T cells and cancer cells, which the cancer cells win if they grow beyond a certain threshold. We then set this threshold to be declining with age, proportional to T cell production. This simple hypothesis turns out to be able to explain much of the cancer incidence data.”

“Nearly all of the mainstream research into cancer is based on how we can understand genetic mutations, target them and thereby cure the disease. We’re not debating the fact that mutations cause cancer, but are asking whether mutations alone can account for the rapid rise in cancer incidence with age when ageing causes other profound changes in the body.” 

The thymus roughly halves in size every 16 years, with a corresponding fall in the production of T cells. The researchers found an "extremely strong correlation" between the chances of certain cancers increasing and the new T cell populations falling.

Professor Clare Blackburn, an expert in thymus biology at EdinburghUniversity, said the findings pointed to a new hope in the fight against cancer.

She said: “This suggests we should also focus on how to boost thymus function in a controlled way, perhaps by transplantation or by controlled regeneration, so we can increase the number of T cells we are making.

The study was based on data from two million cases of cancer in patients aged 18-70. Researchers developed a mathematical equation for how they would expect cancer incidence to rise in relation to a declining immune system and compared it to the age profiles for 100 different cancers.

Their model fitted the data better than the genetic mutations hypothesis. Additionally, because the immune system generally declines more slowly in women than men, they were also able to account for the gender difference in cancer incidence, something that mutations alone cannot easily explain.)

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Which is better: Biodegradable Plastic? Or Regular Crude Oil Plastic? It depends on how you look at it, and then, how you recycle it.

Biodegradable plastics: yes or no?

When it comes to "sustainable packaging," there's no one-size-fits-all answer. It's important for brand owners, food producers and manufacturers to consider very carefully what packaging format they use and to make an informed decision based on the reality of our current waste management infrastructure and level of public understanding, says Richard McKinlay, head of circular economy at resource recovery specialist Axion.

 From article, (are biodegradable plastics better for the environment? It’s a complicated issue. “Plastic materials that at end-of-life can completely break down naturally and disappear harmlessly may sound like the ideal answer. People hear terms such as ‘biodegradable’, ‘bio-plastic’ and ‘compostable’ and assume that these plastics are more ‘environmentally-friendly,’” he says. “However, the reality is not so simple.”

The main issue, he says, is a lack of understanding of the nature of compostable or biodegradable plastics and what bio-plastics are, particularly in terms of their specific applications and the specialist treatment process needed to deal with these materials.

Bioplastics are made using renewable feedstocks rather than being derived directly from oil. Bioplastics can be used in the production of conventional polymers that can be recycled, such as recycled PET, or biodegradable polymers such as PLA.

While it may seem obvious that selecting a bioplastic is the most sustainable option—there is a clear benefit from not depleting a non-renewable source—many petrochemicals are a by-product of the oil refining process.

“While we still live in an economy that is so heavily reliant on oil, it may be better to make use of its by-products rather than let them go to waste,” McKinlay says. “Bio-plastics are not free of environmental impact, and the carbon emissions associated with growing crops and converting these into the required chemicals needs to be taken into account.”

“Compostable” and “biodegradable” are more or less synonymous terms and mean that the material will completely break down under certain conditions. The key to understanding any potential benefit is to know whether the polymer will easily break down, say in a home compost heap, or if it has to be treated in an industrial composting facility.

Many plastics that are described as biodegradable or compostable have to be collected and separated from the rest of the plastic waste and be sent to a purpose-designed industrial composting facility where they can be broken down successfully. These facilities exist for food waste, but ensuring that compostable packaging reaches them can be challenging.

Consumer confusion over what materials can and can’t be recycled is another big issue. Is this plastic water bottle made from a biodegradable plastic or “conventional” plastic, like PET? Does it go in the recycling bin or with the food waste collection?)

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SpaceX now at top of Reusable, Heavy Lift, Rocket, Class.

SpaceX's inaugural Falcon Heavy launch succeeds, putting CEO Elon Musk at the front of the rocket race

Success was never a certainty for Falcon Heavy's maiden flight, as Musk noted previously that a "lot can go wrong" during a first attempt. The first few minutes of the launch were the most critical, as Musk said that once the rocket was beyond the Earth's atmosphere and the upper stage deploys then SpaceX would be "in very well-known territory."

 From article, (Elon Musk took one giant leap to the front of the space industry on Tuesday.

Falcon Heavy became the most powerful commercial rocket in the world after SpaceX successfully completed its first launch of the behemoth from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The launch was the most ambitious yet for Musk's space company, putting SpaceX at the top of a short list of available heavy lift rockets. Falcon Heavy is both more powerful and capable of lifting more weight than the biggest rockets offered by either United Launch Alliance (a Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture) or Arianespace – at a fraction of the cost.

"This is, in many ways, the most significant launch since the first shuttle launch nearly four decades ago," prominent space investor Dylan Taylor told CNBC.

Standing more than 21 stories tall, Falcon Heavy flew unmanned for its demonstration launch. SpaceX may no longer send astronauts atop Falcon Heavy, as the company previously planned. Musk told reporters on a conference call the day before the launch that development of the BFR (Big Falcon Rocket) is "coming along quickly."

If BFR is successful, Musk said that rocket would carry astronauts instead of Falcon Heavy. But that may change again, as Musk noted that delays on BFR would mean the return of putting SpaceX's crewed Dragon capsule back on top of Falcon Heavy.

When speculating on what would come after a successful test flight, Musk said that SpaceX "would be ready to do another Falcon Heavy flight pretty soon," and added that it could be as quickly as 3 to 6 months away. The second Falcon Heavy launch would carry a commercial payload, Musk said.)

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Where is the Old Tappan Zee Bridge Going?

Old Tappan Zee Bridge Begins Its New Life

On a redevelopment site in Perth Amboy, N.J., crews are repurposing a piece of history. The job: break down pieces of the old Tappan Zee Bridge to build up a 35-acre site situated on the banks of Arthur Kill, which flows into the Raritan Bay.

From article, (On a redevelopment site in Perth Amboy, N.J., crews are repurposing a piece of history. The job: break down pieces of the old Tappan Zee Bridge to build up a 35-acre site situated on the banks of Arthur Kill, which flows into the Raritan Bay.

The site is located on a flood plain, and before it can be repurposed, it needs to be built up between four and eight feet, said Jason Burke, owner of Burke Construction of Ocean, N.J., who has been contracted to spread imported fill across the property. His crew of 12 will be using “every single piece of concrete” available from the dismantled bridge to make it happen.

“The bridge is 180,000 tons and it's not even enough to do a quarter of the property,” said Burke.

 The enormous pieces of the Tappan Zee arrive at the site on barges from Tarrytown, N.Y., where a 1,000-ton barge crane picks them off and crews get to work on the concrete with the Nye pulverizer. Then, the concrete is put through a crusher to “crush it down to 6-in.-minus specs so it can be used as stabilizing [material] on the site,” said Burke, who noted that the pulverizer does about “90 percent of the work,” which makes the job of the crusher “minimal.”

According to Burke, breaking apart one of the bridge's precast 50-ft.-long by 13-ft.-wide deck panels, which are lined with I-beams along the bottom and the deck on the top, takes about an hour with four hammers working simultaneously. It might not seem like a lot of time, but Burke said he anticipates about 2,000 of these panels coming in — and once the crew finishes with those, the bridge's columns, struts, fender pieces and concrete-filled steel piles will arrive. In all, Burke said his crew will handle between 150,000 and 200,000 tons of material.

 As they crush and pulverize the concrete, crews also shear and separate the steel and bundle the rebar before sending it to a recycling plant. From there, the scraps could find new purpose in another piece of infrastructure.)

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Mayor De Blasio is on board with Governor Cuomo's Congestion Pricing if it is Lockboxed to Subways and Buses.

De Blasio Meets with Cuomo in Albany Amid Disagreements Over MTA Funding

Mayor Bill de Blasio met with Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Albany on Monday afternoon to discuss "what really matters to New York City"-including a "lockbox" guarantee on funds from a congestion pricing proposal that will go toward the city's subways and buses-after a three-hour testimony before the New York State Legislature.

 From article, (Mayor Bill de Blasio met with Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Albany on Monday afternoon to discuss “what really matters to New York City”—including a “lockbox” guarantee on funds from a congestion pricing proposal that will go toward the city’s subways and buses—after a three-hour testimony before the New York State Legislature.

The mayor said he told the governor there are some “bottom line matters” that are “essential” to the city and that he has has been “very open-minded” about the congestion pricing plan proposed by Fix New York City, a panel formed by Cuomo last year to study the issue.

But he pointed to his repeated calls for a “lockbox,” ensuring that funds for the MTA are not diverted.

“I’m someone who had a lot of doubts about congestion pricing, but I said what his commission did was actually a breath of fresh air compared to the previous proposals we had seen,” de Blasio continued. “I said it doesn’t work unless there’s a lockbox—an absolute, binding legal requirement that all the money raised through congestion pricing goes to New York City subways and buses.”

He signaled to Cuomo he would be open to supporting the congestion pricing proposal if that guarantee is included.

“We are the center of the metropolitan region—the MTA, the subways and buses are the center of the economy, of the whole region—and it’s all happening in the five boroughs,” the mayor added. “That’s where the money needs to stay. So if we don’t have that lockbox, it’s very hard to support such a proposal. If we have it, it might be the kind of thing that could actually work for the long haul.”)

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LOL! These guys are too much....

Bezos and Musk make nice on Twitter, masking competitive sentiments

SpaceX obsessives have spent weeks anticipating the launch of the Falcon Heavy, Elon Musk's massive rocket designed to shuttle humans to Mars. Finally, Musk tweeted that February 6 was the day everyone should steel themselves for the Falcon to take flight.

 From article, (IN BRIEF
Ahead of Falcon Heavy's maiden launch, Amazon CEO and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos was quick to wish SpaceX — though not its CEO Elon Musk — good luck.
SpaceX obsessives have spent weeks anticipating the launch of the Falcon Heavy, Elon Musk’s massive rocket designed to shuttle humans to Mars. Finally, Musk tweeted that February 6 was the day everyone should steel themselves for the Falcon to take flight.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO and founder of competing private spaceflight company Blue Origin made it clear that he’ll be watching, too. Bezos tweeted a good-luck message to SpaceX in anticipation of the launch:

5 Feb

Jeff Bezos
✔
@JeffBezos
Best of luck @SpaceX with the Falcon Heavy launch tomorrow – hoping for a beautiful, nominal flight! @BlueOrigin #GradatimFerociter


Elon Musk
✔
@elonmusk
Thanks 😘

11:26 AM - Feb 5, 2018
19.7K
1,910 people are talking about this

You might be tempted to read these tweets as a sincere gesture of camaraderie. After all, the two companies aren’t in direct competition — SpaceX plans to send people to Mars, while Blue Origin wants to dominate the emerging space tourism industry, which will launch paying astronauts into orbit around the Earth.

Bezos’ hashtag — Gradatim ferociter, Latin for “step by step, ferociously” — could be read as a diplomatic acknowledgment that a successful launch for any private spaceflight company is a victory for the industry overall.

But that reading’s pretty Pollyanna, as far as these things go. That hashtag Bezos used? It happens to be Blue Origin’s motto. So: Bezos is effectively trolling SpaceX by tweeting his own company’s motto at them, the day before the Falcon Heavy’s launch. “Go for it, don’t forget, we’re coming for you,” is the basic insinuation here. And Musk’s “kissy face emoji” response?

Might as well be a middle finger.)

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Autonomous Trucking

Embark's self-driving truck complete 2,400 mile cross-U.S. trip

Embark's autonomous trucking solution just demonstrated what it could be capable of in a big way: It make a coast-to-coast trip from L.A. to Jacksonville, Florida, driving 2,400 miles and delivering refrigerators for Electrolux from one end of the U.S. to the other. This follows Embark 's prior test route, which ran from L.A.

 From article, (Embark’s autonomous trucking solution just demonstrated what it could be capable of in a big way: It make a coast-to-coast trip from L.A. to Jacksonville, Florida, driving 2,400 miles from one end of the U.S. to the other.

This follows Embark‘s prior test route, which ran from L.A. to El Paso, and covers more than four times the distance of that initial path. Embark did the new cross-country trip in five days, but it included a safety driver on board behind the wheel, and because said driver has to be ready to take over control, the route involved scheduled rest brakes. Once Embark’s tech is ready and cleared to run on its own, Embark expects the trip to take only two days in total.

Embark’s goal isn’t t replace the driver entirely, however: It just wants to make it possible for long-haul trips to be managed by fewer drivers, eliminating the need for team driving, for instance, and helping to address a lack of available qualified human drivers for this kind of shipping. Drivers are still expected to help with the parts of the route that don’t involve freeway and driving, but still the efficiency gains and trip time benefits would be huge once their technology is in service.)

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What are Trappist-1 planets atmospheres made of?

TRAPPIST-1 planets are rocky and have complex atmospheres, new studies show

Could the TRAPPIST-1 star system host a life-friendly planet? Planetary scientists probing the bevy of small, Earth-sized worlds surrounding this not-too-distant star have found that at least a few may not look too different from our own.

 From article, (Seven Earth-sized planets circle TRAPPIST-1, an ultracool dwarf star that lies about 40 light-years away. With about 9% of our sun's mass, this star is very small and dim. That means that even though TRAPPIST-1's planets lie so close to their star that they would sit within Mercury's orbit around the sun, a number of them still could be the right temperature to hold water. And because they're so close to their star, the planets circle it frequently, making them easier to study.

For the paper in Nature Astronomy, the scientists used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to probe the atmospheres of four of the planets in or near the star's habitable zone — the area where water could potentially exist on a planet's surface. They wanted to make sure these planets did not have puffy, hydrogen-rich atmospheres (rather like the gas giants in our own solar system). Hydrogen is a greenhouse gas, and such an atmosphere would make the planet far too hot for life. For three of those planets — d, e and f — that type of atmosphere was ruled out, which means they probably have atmospheres more like those on Venus, Earth or Mars. The jury is still out on planet g, the fourth planet that was studied.

"Basically, by ruling out this scenario, we're ruling out a scenario that would have made the planet uninhabitable," de Wit said of the planetary trio.

De Wit said the scientists are looking to study the thin atmospheric trails the TRAPPIST-1 planets' atmospheres leave behind them as they move through space, rather like the ghostly tails of comets. The hope is that any hydrogen picked up in those planetary tails could come from the breakup of molecules from a large reservoir of methane or water. Water, of course, is essential to life as we know it, while methane can be eaten and produced by living things. Alone, neither is a guarantee of finding life, but they're a promising step forward.

"So far, all the lights are green, so we'll just keep on going — and we'll see," de Wit said. "It's good to know that so far, so good.")

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Live Views of Starman

Falcon Heavy Test Flight Sucessful!!!

It seems that it will be up to local Electrical Markets to see what is more economic, current Natural Gas Power Plants, that rely on Air Carbon Capture to Methane Fuel, or Huge Battery Systems like Tesla's

Tesla's giant battery in Australia is already eating away at 'gas cartel's' profits, report says

We already reported on how Tesla's giant battery in Australia made around $1 million in just a few days by taking advantage of the country's volatile energy market. But now a new report shows how it is also eating away at the 'gas cartel's' profits.

 From article, (We already reported on how Tesla’s giant battery in Australia made around $1 million in just a few days by taking advantage of the country’s volatile energy market.

But now a new report shows how it is also eating away at the ‘gas cartel’s’ profits.

When an issue happens or maintenance is required on the power grid in Australia, the Energy Market Operator calls for FCAS (frequency control and ancillary services) which consists of large and costly gas generators kicking in to compensate for the loss of power.

These services are so costly that it can sometimes amount to up to $7 million per day – or 10 times the regular value of the energy delivered.

Electricity rates can be seen reaching $14,000 per MW during those FCAS periods.

Now Renewecomy reports that FCAS were required on January 14, but the prices didn’t skyrocket to $14,000 per MW and they instead were maintained at around $270/MW after a short spike.

The bidding of Tesla’s 100MW/ 129MWh Powerpack project in South Australia on the services is credited with escaping the price hike, which would have cost energy generator and consumers millions in costs.

The Powerpack system is able to switch from charging to discharging in a fraction of a second, which allows Neoen, the operator of the system, to quickly respond when frequency issues happen.)

Me, "It seems that it will be up to local Electrical Markets to see what is more economic: Capturing CO2 from the Air, converting it with Water and electricity (produced with solar or wind) into Methane Fuel. Then transporting this Methane with current Natural Gas infrastructure to fed Natural Gas Power Plants, for power.  Carbon Engineering  is working on this. They would capture the CO2 and transform it into hydrocarbon fuels. 

Or, is using Tesla's Huge Battery Systems less costly? 

There are a lot of ways of looking at this, for, and against."

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Sleep Apnea can happen over years. You don't see it happening. Anybody overweight, or who snores, should be tested. The treatment for it is benin, and you feel awake again.

New York-area rail crashes blamed on lack of apnea testing

A lack of required testing for a pernicious sleep disorder was the primary cause of two serious train crashes in New Jersey and New York, federal investigators concluded in a report Tuesday as they renewed the call for the testing to be mandatory.

 From article, (A lack of required testing for a pernicious sleep disorder was the primary cause of two serious train crashes in New Jersey and New York, federal investigators concluded in a report Tuesday as they renewed the call for the testing to be mandatory.

The crashes involving a New Jersey Transit train at the Hoboken terminal in September 2016 and a Long Island Rail Road train in Brooklyn in January 2017 killed one person, injured more than 200 and caused more than $11 million in damage.

In both instances, the train engineers were found to have suffered from undiagnosed sleep apnea, a condition connected to obesity that robs sufferers of sleep and contributes to daytime drowsiness.

The NTSB blamed New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road for not having required testing in place before the accidents. It also blamed the Federal Railroad Administration for not making sleep apnea testing mandatory.

Last year, the FRA abandoned plans to require the testing as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to reduce federal regulations

Neither engineer could remember his train accelerating as it approached the station and smashed into the end of the tracks.

In the Hoboken crash, a woman standing on the platform was killed by falling debris.

“The public deserves alert operators. That’s not too much to ask,” National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Tuesday.

The NTSB has cited sleep apnea in the probable cause of 10 highway and rail accidents in the past 17 years, including an undiagnosed case in the engineer of a Metro-North Railroad commuter train that sped through a curve and crashed in New York in 2013, killing four people.)

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Me, "Sleep Apnea is a very serious illness. It's not something that you can readily see happening. It happens slowly over time. You go from being totally alert to not being able to stay awake, over years. This is with drinking a lot of coffee. You just can't stay up.

 I have been treated for sleep apnea for the past few years, and the difference between being treated and not is like night and day. I believe it should be a requirement for all automobile drivers who are heavy, to be tested for Sleep Apnea. 

You find a Sleep Apnea Dr. He schedules you for an exam, where you sleep over, at a hospital, where they monitor your sleep. If you do have Sleep Apnea the Dr. will order you a Sleep Ap device that you wear over your nose and or Mouth that gives a little more air pressure than normal to keep the sleep apnea from happening. 

We are talking one night, out of your whole life, for testing, and then a commitment to wear a mask at night that blows air on you thru a mask while you sleep.

I think it took one or two weeks but the difference was unreal. I was able to stay awake with full awareness. Anybody who is obese, or a little heavy, and snores (Which can mean you are suffering from Sleep Apnea) should get tested. 

I am telling you, it is wonderful to be so awake and so aware now."

51 million new cars and trucks have been sold in the U.S. in the past 3 years, 2.6 million have been Electric Vehicles. Why have electric cars struggled in sales?

Automakers are betting big on electric cars - but there's a lingering problem with EVs no one is talking about

Even in California, where electric-car sales are far higher than in the rest of the US, consumers are unaware of the vehicles. Overall awareness hasn't budged since 2014, researchers at UC Davis have found. They recommend increased marketing and consumer education. The electric car has a marketing problem.

 From article, (according to Kurani and Hardman, EV awareness has been basically flat since 2014. Meanwhile, over 51 million ne.w cars and trucks have been sold in the US alone over the past three years, and nearly all of them have run on gas. Even in California, where EVs are relatively more popular and charging stations are more widespread, electrified cars add up to just 5% of sales. And Kurani and Hardman point out that many of those sales are to repeat customers, so the EV owner base isn't growing.

Kurani and Hardman have presented the depressing data, but they haven't limited themselves to dispassionately throwing in the towel on an overly ambitious EV future. They recommend that EVs be marketed more aggressively, to raise overall consumer awareness, and they also suggest that electric-car manufacturers and advocates "engage the whole sales chain," focusing on "automobile dealer education and motivation programs."

That's a good idea. Dealers aren't terribly motivated to sell EVs, largely because of all the reasons that Kurani and Hardman have noted. Consumers also need some guidance and hand-holding about how to live with EVs, from charging options to service and maintenance. 

It isn't yet time to abandon hope for EVs, but the entire EV ecosystem would do well to do as Kurani and Hardman suggest and come a science-based understanding of what's actually going on with the public.)

"Californians are not deciding they don’t want PEVs, [Plug in Electric Vehicles]" they write. "Rather, they remain to a great extent unaware of PEVs and anything about them."

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