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শুক্রবার, ৫ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Chilean port workers ending strike, union leader says

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Workers at Chile's Angamos port are lifting their roughly three-week strike, and the larger work stoppage that has slammed copper, forestry and fruit exports in the world's top red metal producer will also end, a union leader told Reuters late on Friday.

Other ports in export-dependent Chile had joined the strike in the northern port of Angamos in Mejillones out of solidarity.

"Angamos has signed," Valparaiso port union leader Jorge Bustos said. Calls to union leaders and government representatives in Angamos went unanswered.

Bustos said the strike would be lifted in some ports at 11 p.m. on Friday (2 a.m. GMT on Saturday) and at 8 a.m. (11 a.m. GMT) on Saturday at other ports.

Angamos launched the strike to seek a 30-minute lunch break and other minor benefits. What some observers call poor management of a simple, specific worker issue then ballooned into a serious drag on miners and export-dependent Chile.

Around 9,000 tonnes of copper were unable to leave Chilean ports every day due to the strike, the government had said.

The Andean country lost more than $200 million a day due to the conflict, according to the country's business chamber.

Mining industry sources say it will take weeks to return to normal shipping operations because of the congestion in ports.

(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chilean-port-workers-ending-strike-union-leader-says-015412329--finance.html

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Obama talks climate, regaining House for Democrats, at fundraisers (reuters)

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7 great lines from Roger Ebert's reviews

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, TODAY

Roger Ebert, who died Thursday at age 70, became a television personality, a Twitter legend and a beloved American icon, but what he was first and foremost was a movie critic.

Movie critics are as plentiful as popcorn, but there was truly no one like Ebert. He never buried his reviews in academic language or flowery comparisons. A down-to-earth writer, he brought his whole life and his entire understanding of human nature, plus a great sense of humor, into his writing.

Sure, he was known for his commentary on classics such as "Citizen Kane," but often, the movies that made him suffer the most gave us the most delightful reviews. Here are some of his gems. Rest in peace, Roger.

The Pullet Surprise?
Perhaps his most classic line references Ebert's own 1975 Pulitzer Prize, the first awarded to a film critic. Back in 2005, Rob Schneider complained that another reviewer who didn't like?"Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo"?wasn't qualified to review it because he didn't have a Pulitzer. In response, Ebert wrote, "Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks."

Where the stars don't shine?
"I am required to award stars to movies I review. This time, I refuse to do it. The star rating system is unsuited to this film. Is the movie good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don't shine."?? ?From review of?"The Human Centipede"

Tell us how you really feel, Roger?
"I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering, stupid, vacant, audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it."?? ?From?"North" review

Soft-soap job?
"One of the details that 'A Christmas Story' gets right is the threat of having your mouth washed out with Lifebuoy soap. Not any soap. Lifebuoy. Never Ivory or Palmolive. Lifebuoy, which apparently contained an ingredient able to nullify bad language. The only other soap ever mentioned for this task was Lava, but that was the nuclear weapon of mouth-washing soaps, so powerful it was used for words we still didn't even know."???From"A Christmas Story" review

A kiss is still a ...?
"(Rhett Butler) tells Scarlett in a key early scene, 'You need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how.' For 'kissed,' substitute the word you're thinking of." ?From?"Gone With the Wind" review

Over the rainbow?
"... The elements in 'The Wizard of Oz' powerfully fill a void that exists inside many children. For kids of a certain age, home is everything, the center of the world. But over the rainbow, dimly guessed at, is the wide earth, fascinating and terrifying. There is a deep fundamental fear that events might conspire to transport the child from the safety of home and strand him far away in a strange land. And what would he hope to find there? Why, new friends to advise and protect him. And Toto, of course, because children have such a strong symbiotic relationship with their pets that they assume they would get lost together."? ?From?"Wizard of Oz" review

What they really, really want is an acting coach.
"(The Spice Girls)?occupy 'Spice World' as if they were watching it." ??From "Spice World" review

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ৪ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Gold Rallies as Stocks Pull Back | Gold Investing News

Reuters reported that gold rallied on Wednesday after experiencing the biggest drop since mid-February in the previous session.

As quoted in the market report:

The metal hit a 3-1/2 week low in early trade on Wednesday but clawed back those losses as U.S. and European stock markets eased and after weak readings of U.S. private sector employment and Institute for Supply Management (ISM) service sector activity.

To view the whole Reuters report, click here.?

Source: http://goldinvestingnews.com/33657/gold-rallies-as-stocks-pull-back.html

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বুধবার, ৩ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Gorilla raised by humans: Baby gorilla thriving in Ohio

A two-month old baby gorilla, born to a first-time mother with little maternal instinct, is being raised by humans at the Cincinnati Zoo ? for now.

By Associated Press / March 28, 2013

Ron Evans, team leader with the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Primate Team, is one of 10 surrogate mothers to 2-month-old "Gladys", a Western Lowland Gorilla, March 27, in Cincinnati.

Glenn Hartong / The Cincinnati Enquirer / AP

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A baby?gorilla?being raised temporarily by human surrogate parents is doing well ? learning to roll over, sit up and getting ready to walk on all fours.

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Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden primate specialists say "Gladys" is in good health, developing and growing quickly with loving care from 10 humans imitating a?gorilla?mom's behavior. This week she began supporting herself on all fours.

"The next step, she'll be able to walk around by herself," said Ron Evans, primate team leader.

Gladys also is teething and has begun eating some cooked foods, such as sweet potatoes and carrots, besides being bottle-fed five times a day.

"She's at the age now where she really starts growing by leaps and bounds," Evans said.

She came to Cincinnati last month from Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, after she was born there Jan. 29 to a first-time mother who showed little maternal instinct. It was decided to move her to Cincinnati's zoo because of its extensive experience in raising?gorilla?babies and its availability of experienced?gorilla mothers.

Human surrogates dress in black, wear furry vests and kneepads and make?gorilla?sounds to help prepare Gladys for the transition to a real?gorilla?family. They have been showing her to other?gorillas?and letting them touch her.

The Cincinnati Enquirer (http://cin.ci/WYwKZK?) reports that zoo specialists think she will be ready within a few months, and there are four potential adoptive moms among their?gorillas.

"The?gorillas?have to decide who this baby's mom is going to be," Evans said.

"That will be the day that all this hard work pays off," said primate keeper Ashley O'Connell, crawling around with the 9-pound?gorilla?riding on her back.

O'Connell just had her own first child five months ago.

"I feel like I'm the mother of two right now," she said. "If I have to be away from my own child, this is where I want to be."

Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer,?http://www.enquirer.com

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/mXrsuga4nYU/Gorilla-raised-by-humans-Baby-gorilla-thriving-in-Ohio

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A longer life for lithium-sulfur batteries

Apr. 2, 2013 ? Electric cars have still got it tough in the German marketplace. They are too expensive and their range is too short. This is an opportune time for a breakthrough in efficient and low-cost lithium-sulfur batteries.

There are currently over 40 million cars on Germany's roads. Only a fraction of them are powered by electric energy -- around 6,400 vehicles according to the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development. The comparatively short range of electric cars doesn't help their popularity, with drivers often having to start the search for a charging station after a mere 100 kilometers, not to mention the high price of the batteries, which cost several thousand euros. Remedying this situation has researchers looking at new options in developing more efficient technologies. An extremely promising avenue of research is the lithium-sulfur battery, which is significantly more powerful and less expensive than the better-known lithium-ion battery. Although their short lifespan has made them unsuitable for use in cars before now, this may be about to change in the foreseeable future.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden have developed a new design that increases the charge cycles of lithium-sulfur batteries by a factor of seven. "During previous tests, the batteries scarcely crossed the 200-cycle mark. By means of a special combination of anode and cathode material, we have now managed to extend the lifespan of lithium-sulfur button cells to 1,400 cycles," says Dr. Holger Althues, head of the Chemical Surface Technology group at IWS, who is delighted with his team's breakthrough. The anode of the team's prototype is not made from the usual metallic lithium, but from a silicon-carbon compound instead. This compound is significantly more stable, as it changes less during each charging process than metallic lithium. The more the structure of the anode changes, the more it interacts with the liquid electrolyte, which is situated between the anode and the cathode and carries the lithium-ions. This process causes the liquid to break down into gas and solids and the battery to dry out. "In extreme cases, the anode "grows" to reach the cathode, creating a short circuit and causing the battery to stop working altogether," explains Althues.

The interplay between anode and cathode is the critical factor determining the performance and lifespan of a battery. In the lithium-sulfur model, the cathode is composed of elemental sulfur. The advantage here is that unlike cobalt -- the main cathode material used in lithium-ion batteries -- sulfur is available in almost unlimited quantities and is therefore cheaper. The problem remains, however, that sulfur also interacts with the liquid electrolyte, which impairs the performance of batteries and, in the worst case, causes them to lose capacity entirely. The IWS researchers are using porous carbons to slow down this process. "We have precisely altered the pores to allow the sulfur to lodge there, slowing down the rate at which it combines with the electrolyte," clarifies Althues. He and his colleagues have developed a method of manufacturing these special cathodes.

The experts at IWS measure the capacity of a battery in watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg). Over the long term, they expect lithium-sulfur batteries to reach an energy density of up to 600 Wh/kg. For comparison: the maximum energy density of the lithium-ion batteries currently in use is a mere 250 Wh/kg. "In the medium term, figures around the 500 Wh/kg mark are more realistic. In practical terms, this means you can drive twice as far with the same battery weight," says Althues. This of course implies that significantly lighter battery models are possible -- an interesting prospect not only for automakers but for smartphone manufacturers too. After all, the overall weight of smartphones would be greatly reduced if they had lighter batteries. "Lithium-sulfur technology might even make electric flying a realistic possibility. Although such progress is still a long way off," adds Althues.

The researchers are currently working on further optimizing the material and using it in larger battery models. They are also turning their attention to suitable manufacturing methods. And with good reason, as this is the only way the technology will reach a mass market, leading to a significant increase in the number of electric cars on Germany's roads.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/kg-pLe_c9xY/130402091245.htm

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Building quantum states with individual silicon atoms

Apr. 3, 2013 ? By introducing individual silicon atom 'defects' using a scanning tunnelling microscope, scientists at the London Centre for Nanotechnology have coupled single atoms to form quantum states.

Published April 3 in Nature Communications, the study demonstrates the viability of engineering atomic-scale quantum states on the surface of silicon -- an important step toward the fabrication of devices at the single-atom limit.

Advances in atomic physics now allow single ions to be brought together to form quantum coherent states. However, to build coupled atomic systems in large numbers, as required for applications such as quantum computing, it is highly desirable to develop the ability to construct coupled atomic systems in the solid state.

Semiconductors, such as silicon, routinely display atomic defects that have clear analogies with trapped ions. However, introducing such defects deterministically to observe the coupling between extended systems of individual defects has so far remained elusive.

Now, LCN scientists have shown that quantum states can be engineered on silicon by creating interacting single-atom defects. Each individual defect consisted of a silicon atom with a broken, or "dangling," bond. During this study, these single-atom defects were created in pairs and extended chains, with each defect separated by just under one nanometer.

Importantly, when coupled together, these individual atomic defects produce extended quantum states resembling artificial molecular orbitals. Just as for a molecule, each structure exhibited multiple quantum states with distinct energy levels.

We have created precise arrays of atomic defects on a silicon surface and demonstrated that they couple to form unique and interesting quantum states.

The visibility of these states to the scanning tunneling microscope could be tuned through the variation of two independent parameters -- the voltage applied to the imaging probe and its height above the surface.

The study was led by Dr Steven Schofield, who said: "We have created precise arrays of atomic defects on a silicon surface and demonstrated that they couple to form unique and interesting quantum states."

He added: "The next step is to replicate these results in other material systems, for example using substitutional phosphorus atoms in silicon, which holds particular interest for quantum computer fabrication."

Ongoing research at the LCN is exploring even more complex arrangements of these defects, including the incorporation of impurity atoms within the defect structures, which is expected to alter the symmetry of the defects (similar to the role of the nitrogen atom in the nitrogen-vacancy center defect in diamond).