If you have Cancer, Your Doctor May Treat You With a Medicine made from Silver. Shocked? Its Cheaper than Alternatives Made from Platinum.

UJ announces 'promising' discovery of anti-cancer drugs

"However‚ UJ3 requires a 10 times lower dose to kill cancer cells. It also focuses more narrowly on cancer cells‚ so that far fewer healthy cells are killed‚" she said. Apart from needing a much lower dose than an industry standard‚ UJ3 is also much less toxic‚ the university statement said.

From article, (silver thiocyanate phosphine complex among these‚ called UJ3‚ has been successfully tested in rats and in human cancer cells in the laboratory.

In research published in Biometals‚ the university states that UJ3 is shown to be as effective against human esophageal cancer cells‚ as a widely-used chemotherapy drug in use today. Esophageal cancer cells are known to become resistant to current forms of chemotherapy.

“The UJ3 complex is as effective as the industry-standard drug Cisplatin in killing cancer cells in laboratory tests done on human breast cancer and melanoma‚ a very dangerous form of skin cancer‚ as well‚” Professor Marianne Cronjé‚ Head of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Johannesburg‚ said in a statement.

“However‚ UJ3 requires a 10 times lower dose to kill cancer cells. It also focuses more narrowly on cancer cells‚ so that far fewer healthy cells are killed‚” she said.

Apart from needing a much lower dose than an industry standard‚ UJ3 is also much less toxic‚ the university statement said.

If UJ3 becomes a chemotherapy drug in future‚ the university researchers believe that the lower dose required‚ lower toxicity and greater focus on cancer cells will mean fewer side effects from cancer treatment.

UJ3 appears to target the mitochondria‚ resulting in programmed cell death to kill cancer cells – a process called apoptosis. When a cancer cell dies by apoptosis‚ the result is a neat and tidy process where the dead cell’s remains are “recycled”‚ not contaminating healthy cells around them‚ and not inducing inflammation.

Certain existing chemotherapy drugs are designed to induce apoptosis‚ rather than “septic” cell death which is called necrosis‚ for this reason.

Cancer cells grow much bigger and faster‚ and make copies of themselves much faster‚ than healthy cells do. In this way they create cancerous tumors. To do this‚ they need far more energy than healthy cells do.

UJ3 targets this need for energy‚ by shutting down the “powerhouses” of a cancer cell‚ the mitochondria.

The complex then causes the release of the “executioner” protein‚ an enzyme called caspase-3‚ which goes to work to dismantle the cell’s command centre and structural supports‚ cutting it up for recycling in the last stages of apoptosis.

The university said the UJ3 complex and the others in the family are based on silver. "This makes the starter materials for synthesizing the complex far more economical than a number of industry-standard chemotherapy drugs based on platinum."

Prof Meijboom said: “These complexes can be synthesized with standard laboratory equipment‚ which shows good potential for large scale manufacture. The family of silver thiocyanate phosphine compounds is very large. We were very fortunate to test UJ3‚ with is unusually ‘flat’ chemical structure‚ early on in our exploration of this chemical family for cancer treatment.”)

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Pumped Storage Hydro, 40-60 Years in Age, Get a Renewed Look. With Projects to be Built Out West Due To Increased Use of Intermittent Solar and Wind Power, There is a Need to Find Ways to Store Electrical Power on a Massive Scale

Who says water and electricity don't mix? South Carolina lake has role in state's solar future

PEAK - Look closely at the highway bridge crossing the Broad River, and you can just make out a sign of how much electricity South Carolina used this morning. The river is running low, far below the high-water mark stained on the pilings. But a few inches above the surface, the bridge is still damp.

 From article, (When South Carolina Electric & Gas has more power than it needs, it uses the excess to pump water from a river-fed reservoir into Lake Monticello. When demand surges, it sends the water gushing back out, spinning turbines and generating electricity as it flows.

That's what happened on a recent morning. It was chilly, so South Carolinians turned on their heat pumps, SCE&G produced more electricity, and downstream, the reservoir and the Broad River slowly rose.

Lake Monticello has quietly performed this ebb-and-flow role for more than four decades — storing and delivering electricity again and again.

For most of that time, the work of the "pumped-storage plant" named Fairfield has been tied to big power plants that burn natural gas and coal, letting them run at full throttle and storing the excess.

At night, when electricity demand tapers off, the pumps on Lake Monticello spin into action to prepare for the morning surge.

Federal regulators are taking a fresh look at the hydroelectric project before its license runs out in the summer of 2020. SCE&G says that getting that license extended is "critical" to the future of South Carolina's electric grid.

That's because solar energy is making up more and more of the utility's electric generation base. For the most part, solar power isn't stored, so its output can't be controlled.

Which is to say, it would be helpful to have a giant battery of sorts that keeps electricity production steady as solar power fades in and out with the sun.

In SCE&G's words, Lake Monticello is becoming an "important asset for grid stability, reliability and power quality."

Rather than just fill the body at night, the company says excess solar capacity would enable it to also pump water in while the sun is out and release it when people get home from work and start fiddling with their thermostats.

Big energy storage systems have become increasingly important in the utility industry as renewable power has become more prevalent.

Utilities are experimenting with all sorts of concepts that would let them tap electricity when it's needed rather than when it's created. Among them: giant banks of batteries, vats of molten salt, caverns filled with compressed air. Each performs essentially the same task that the Fairfield project does.

But the old standby has been reservoirs like Lake Monticello. The U.S. has about three dozen of them, most of them built 40 to 60 years ago.

Utilities are interested in building more, mostly out West: So many projects are in the pipeline now that if they were all completed they could nearly double the nation's pumped-storage capacity, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

South Carolina has the second-most pumped-storage capacity in the country, including a lake that reaches into North Carolina. They were built in a different energy era, when virtually all the state's electric generation came from fossil fuels and nuclear reactors that are difficult to shut down and crank up.

The projects planned elsewhere are geared toward solar and wind power, which face similar challenges: Utilities can't control how much electricity they produce at any given moment. That's led to renewed interest in building hydro plants that they can control with the flick of switch.

To be sure, storing renewable energy hasn't been much of an issue in South Carolina because until recently, there hasn't been much renewable energy to keep around.

Solar power began taking off only in the last few years in the Palmetto State, now home to one of the fastest-growing solar industries in the country.

But by the end of the year, the sun is expected to produce as much electricity in South Carolina as a nuclear reactor. And that power will have to be stored somewhere if it's not used immediately. )

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Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi, are betting on a Lithium Solid State Battery for Their Electric Cars. But, Who Makes It? And Is It The Real Deal?

Could We Finally Be Close to A Major Breakthrough In Solid State Battery?

Axios reports that some of the world's biggest industrial companies including Samsung, Japan's Hitachi and an alliance of auto giants consisting of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi have collectively invested $65 million in Massachusetts-based Ionic Materials.

 From article, (Axios reports that some of the world’s biggest industrial companies including Samsung, Japan’s Hitachi and an alliance of auto giants consisting of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi have collectively invested $65 million in Massachusetts-based Ionic Materials. The little-known startup claims to have developed a new composition of matter — a liquid crystal polymer — that can make solid-state batteries a viable alternative to lithium-ion and other high-energy storage technologies that are currently used. If Ionic’s claims including that of their battery being safer, offering better performance and having higher energy density than traditional lithium ion batteries (LBOs) available today are independently validated, they could solve most of the main problems that persist with solid state research.

Specifically speaking, Ionic’s researchers so far have claimed three major breakthroughs. First, they assert that lithium ions, as key components of the battery’s electrochemistry, move as fast if not faster through Ionic’s polymer than they would through a conventional liquid electrolyte system which needless to say, plays a vital role in the continued operation of the battery. This sounds somewhat contradictory since the polymer is a solid, but if validated, this claim would address a major concern associated with the creation of working solid-state batteries.

Another Ionic assertion is that unlike previous solid-state efforts which have been quite complex and expensive, the startups’ polymer works at an impressive 5 volts and can be manufactured simply and cheaply. Third, they’ve stated that all of this happens at room temperature, while most materials in solid-state research operate at about 60° C (140° F).

The main challenge to crating solid-state batteries, a goal which has been pursued for many decades by many research groups around the world and one that’s recently been propelled by the development of several structural families of highly conductive solid electrolytes, has been that of discovering a material with all of the right properties. Unfortunately, and despite a high-stake global race currently under way to create solid state technology, research for a more powerful product has not ventured, as yet, much beyond the lab. If Ionic Materials‘ claims of their plastic solid-state battery approach are validated, we could finally be closer to a revolutionary new type of tech.)

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A Large Supermarket in UK Wonders, "Will Shoppers Buy its 50% Recycled Water Bottle that is Partly Cloudy in Appearance? It Would be Beneficial to the Environment and Economy, Compared to 100% Clear New Plastic Water Bottles.

Co-op to switch own-brand water to 50% recycled plastic bottles

The Co-op supermarket plans to switch all of its own-brand water to 50% recycled plastic bottles in a move it expects will present an "ethical dilemma" to customers. The new bottles will have a cloudier and greyer appearance than those that do not contain recycled plastic and the Co-op said it accepted that they could test shoppers' environmentally conscious credentials.

 From article, (The Co-op supermarket plans to switch all of its own-brand water to 50% recycled plastic bottles in a move it expects will present an “ethical dilemma” to customers.

The new bottles will have a cloudier and greyer appearance than those that do not contain recycled plastic and the Co-op said it accepted that they could test shoppers’ environmentally conscious credentials.

The new bottles, which are 100% recyclable and sourced in the UK, will be in stores later this year.

The supermarket has estimated that the change to all of its own-brand still, sparkling and flavoured water bottles will save almost 350 tonnes of plastic every year.

Co-op Food’s chief executive, Jo Whitfield, said: “Our customers expect us to respond to this challenge and help them make more ethical choices, and we’re dedicated to doing just that.

“Making these changes will also create new uses for recycled materials which in turn gives our customers greater confidence in recycling.”

Iain Ferguson, Co-op environment manager, said: “Suppliers are working hard to make the bottle clearer – and they already have.

“In the meantime, our bottles will wear this greyish colour which I see as a badge of honour – we are part of the market for recycled products and are proud of that.”

The Co-op said it fully supported government plans announced this week for a deposit return scheme to cut plastic bottle waste.)

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Robert Zubrin, president of Pioneer Astronautics and the Mars Society, has a 4 year, $700 million dollar plan to get Astronauts to the Moon and Set Up a Moonbase. NASA Has No Such Plan.

Op-ed | Moon Direct: How to build a moonbase in four years - SpaceNews.com

The recent amazing success of the Falcon Heavy launch offers America an unprecedented opportunity to break the stagnation that has afflicted its human spaceflight program for decades. In short, the moon is now within reach. Here's how the mission plan could work. The Falcon Heavy can lift 60 tons to low Earth orbit (LEO).

 From article, (The Falcon Heavy can lift 60 tons to low Earth orbit (LEO). Starting from that point, a hydrogen/oxygen rocket-propelled cargo lander could deliver 12 tons of payload to the lunar surface.

We therefore proceed by sending two such landers to our planned base location. The best place for it would be at one of the poles, because there are spots at both lunar poles where sunlight is accessible all the time, as well as permanently shadowed craters nearby where water ice has accumulated. Such ice could be electrolyzed to make hydrogen-oxygen rocket propellant, to fuel both Earth-return vehicles as well as flying rocket vehicles that would provide the lunar base’s crew with exploratory access to most of the rest of the moon.

The first cargo lander carries a load of equipment, including a solar panel array, high-data-rate communications gear, a microwave power-beaming set up with a range of 100 kilometers, an electrolysis/refrigeration unit, two crew vehicles, a trailer, and a group of tele-operated robotic rovers. After landing, some of the rovers are used to set up the solar array and communications system, while others are used to scout out the landing area in detail, putting down radio beacons on the precise target locations for the landings to follow.

The second cargo lander brings out a 12-ton habitation module, loaded with food, spare spacesuits, scientific equipment, tools, and other supplies. This will serve as the astronauts’ house, laboratory, and workshop of the moon. Once it has landed, the rovers hook it up to the power supply and all systems are checked out. This done, the rovers are redeployed to do detailed photography of the base area and its surroundings. All this data is sent back to Earth, to aid mission planners and the science and engineering support teams, and ultimately forming the basis of a virtual reality program that will allow millions of members of the public to participate in the missions as well.

The base now being operational, it is time to send the first crew. A Falcon Heavy is used to deliver another cargo lander to orbit, whose payload consists of a fully fueled Lunar Excursion Vehicle (LEV). This craft consists of a two-ton cabin like that used by the Apollo-era Lunar Excursion Module mounted on a one-ton hydrogen/oxygen propulsion system filled with nine tons of propellant, capable of delivering it from the lunar surface to Earth orbit. A human-rated Falcon 9 rocket then lifts the crew in a Dragon capsule to LEO where they transfer to the LEV. Then the cargo lander takes the LEV, with the crew aboard, to the moon, while the Dragon remains behind in LEO.

After landing at the moon base, the crew completes any necessary set up operations and begins exploration. A key goal will be to travel to a permanently shadowed crater and, making use of power beamed to them from the base, use telerobots to mine water ice. Hauling this treasure back to the base in their trailer, the astronauts will feed the water into the electrolysis/refrigeration unit, which will transform it into liquid hydrogen and oxygen. These products will then be stored in the empty tanks of the cargo landers for future use — primarily as rocket propellant but also as a power supply for fuel cells and a copious source of life-support consumables.

Having spent a couple of months initiating such operations and engaging in additional forms of resource prospecting and scientific exploration, the astronauts will enter the LEV, take off and return to Earth orbit. There they will be met by a Dragon — either the one that took them to orbit in the first place or another that has just been launched to lift the crew following them — which will serve as their reentry capsule for the final leg of the journey back home.

Thus, each mission that follows will require just one $100 million Falcon Heavy launch and one $60 million Falcon 9 launch to accomplish. Once the base is well-established, there will be little reason not to extend surface stays to six months.

Assuming that cost of the mission hardware will roughly equal the cost to launch it, we should be able to create and sustain a permanently occupied lunar base at an ongoing yearly cost of less than $700 million. This is less than four percent of NASA’s current budget — or about a quarter of what is being spent yearly on the agency’s now obsolete Space Launch System program which has been going on for over a decade without producing a rocket.

 The astronauts will not be limited to exploring the local region around the base. Refueled with hydrogen and oxygen, the same LEV spacecraft used to travel to the moon and back can be used to fly from the base to anywhere else on the moon, land, provide on-site housing for an exploration sortie crew, and then return them to the base. We won’t just be getting a local outpost: we’ll be getting complete global access to an entire world.

Currently, NASA has no such plan.)

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New York State Takes the Easy Road on Congestion Pricing and Value Capture by Increasing Ride Sharing and Yellow Cab Surcharges per Ride.

Hailing a ride will be pricier thanks to Albany's budget deal

Get ready to reach deeper into your pockets for that Uber ride in the busiest parts of Manhattan. As part of a new $168.3 billion state budget deal, Albany lawmakers on Friday night agreed to the first congestion surcharge on ride-share and yellow-cab rides below 96th Street. The fee kicks in January 2019.

Me, "We were promised $1.5 billion raised to help the MTA Subways, and Buses. Then we were promised Billions more from Value Capture. Now, with the final budget passed, all we got, was $421 million thru A surcharges on Ride-share and Yellow Cab rides. 

When did everything go wrong? Between a noisy September-December, Governor Cuomo praising congestion pricing, and a reluctant Mayor De Blasio turning from a Congestion plan Comogen caterpillar into a supportive butterfly, January's NY's state of the state speech should have been a warning that congestion pricing was in for trouble in Albany again. 

Value capture was thrown against the wall. Congestion pricing kept getting sliced apart. From February until Yesterday things got quite quiet. 

Now we know. 

If you hail a taxi or ride in an Uber you will be hit with a new surcharge. AND, there may still be a fare hike in 2019. Was this a failure by the Governor? By Albany? Probably. 

Sure, It's great that the MTA will get $421 million a year, but that is almost three times less than congestion pricing would have brought in and maybe ten times less than with Value Capture. Anybody hoping for new capital projects or a rebuilding of existing lines knows how far $421 million will go.  
-----------> This far for $421 Million.

As opposed to this far:  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> 1.5+ Billions.  I could go on, but I think you get the point.

The Governor failed us, Albany Failed us. In fact the one person who could care less, NY Mayor De Blasio, is probably celebrating with a glass of wine, while burning pictures of Cuomo. He got nothing out of the deal because it wasn't his proposal. He can claim, politically, 'not his problem' talk to the Governor or Albany."

From article, (Get ready to reach deeper into your pockets for that Uber ride in the busiest parts of Manhattan.

As part of a new $168.3 billion state budget deal, Albany lawmakers on Friday night agreed to the first congestion surcharge on ride-share and yellow-cab rides below 96th Street.

The fee kicks in January 2019. It’ll cost an extra $2.75 to hail an Uber or other for-hire vehicle in the congestion zone; cabs will set riders back $2.50; and pooled-ride services such as Via will take another 75 cents.

Officials said they expect the added charges to generate about $421 million a year for the cash-strapped MTA.

To make sure the city doesn’t divert transportation funds to other purposes, the state included a provision allowing it to seize the congestion payments if necessary.

“In the event the City of New York fails to make any payment in full, the Comptroller will collect or intercept such funds necessary from certain revenue sources of the City of New York,” according to a memo outlining the deal.) 

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