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bananas's JournalUN: Online Privacy Now Considered a Human Right
UN: Online Privacy Now Considered a Human Right
by Karl Bode 08:36AM Friday Jan 17 2014
The United Nations has unanimously voted to adopt a resolution calling for online privacy to be recognized as a human right, a recent resolution extending the general human right of privacy to the online world. With a clear eye on recent Snowden revelations in the States, the resolution calls on countries "to establish or maintain existing independent, effective domestic oversight mechanisms capable of ensuring transparency, as appropriate, and accountability for State surveillance of communications." Of course since resolutions aren't binding, the UN's recommendations can and will likely be ignored by most UN member countries.
UN Nuclear Inspectors Arrive in Tehran for Start of Interim Pact
Source: Bloomberg
United Nations nuclear inspectors arrived in Tehran today as part of a joint interim accord that would see Iran reduce its uranium enrichment in return for an easing of some Western sanctions, the Fars news agency reported.
Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the team will supervise the suspension of 20 percent-enriched uranium at the country’s Fordo and Natanz nuclear enrichment sites, according to Fars.
The IAEA team, led by Massimo Aparo, will also meet with Iran’s own Atomic Energy Organization. The inspections come alongside a commitment from Iran to cease further enrichment of 20 percent-enriched uranium and start diluting or oxidizing part of its current stockpile.
In return, the European Union and U.S. have agreed to allow Iran to access $4.2 billion in oil revenues held in frozen bank accounts and suspend sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical exports and imports of goods and services for its auto sector.
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Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-18/un-nuclear-inspectors-arrive-in-tehran-for-start-of-interim-pact.html
Slap on the Hand for Nuke Plant Manager
Source: Courthouse News
A manager at the Indian Point nuclear power plant was sentenced Thursday to 18 months probation and fined $500 for "deliberate misconduct," federal prosecutors said.
In a one-count information , the United States claims that Daniel Wilson, "the chemistry manager at Indian Point Energy Center, a nuclear power plant in Buchanan, New York, engaged in deliberate misconduct by fabricating chemical test results regarding diesel fuel used to power emergency generators at Indian Point, in an attempt to conceal material facts from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."
That language is repeated verbatim in a two-count complaint, accusing Wilson of violation Title 42, U.S. Code § 2273, and Title 18, U.S. Code § 1001.
Despite the potential for disaster, the nuclear energy industry is spottily regulated in the United States. States are prohibited from regulating nuclear plants, as Vermont found in a long, unsuccessful fight against Entergy, whose plant in Vernon, on the Connecticut River, suffered a series of breakdowns.
Read more: http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/01/17/64632.htm
Discovery of quantum vibrations in 'microtubules' corroborates theory of consciousness
Source: Phys.Org
A review and update of a controversial 20-year-old theory of consciousness published in Physics of Life Reviews claims that consciousness derives from deeper level, finer scale activities inside brain neurons. The recent discovery of quantum vibrations in "microtubules" inside brain neurons corroborates this theory, according to review authors Stuart Hameroff and Sir Roger Penrose. They suggest that EEG rhythms (brain waves) also derive from deeper level microtubule vibrations, and that from a practical standpoint, treating brain microtubule vibrations could benefit a host of mental, neurological, and cognitive conditions.
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Orch OR was harshly criticized from its inception, as the brain was considered too "warm, wet, and noisy" for seemingly delicate quantum processes. However, evidence has now shown warm quantum coherence in plant photosynthesis, bird brain navigation, our sense of smell, and brain microtubules. The recent discovery of warm temperature quantum vibrations in microtubules inside brain neurons by the research group led by Anirban Bandyopadhyay, PhD, at the National Institute of Material Sciences in Tsukuba, Japan (and now at MIT), corroborates the pair's theory and suggests that EEG rhythms also derive from deeper level microtubule vibrations. In addition, work from the laboratory of Roderick G. Eckenhoff, MD, at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that anesthesia, which selectively erases consciousness while sparing non-conscious brain activities, acts via microtubules in brain neurons.
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An important new facet of the theory is introduced. Microtubule quantum vibrations (e.g. in megahertz) appear to interfere and produce much slower EEG "beat frequencies." Despite a century of clinical use, the underlying origins of EEG rhythms have remained a mystery. Clinical trials of brief brain stimulation aimed at microtubule resonances with megahertz mechanical vibrations using transcranial ultrasound have shown reported improvements in mood, and may prove useful against Alzheimer's disease and brain injury in the future.
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The review is accompanied by eight commentaries from outside authorities, including an Australian group of Orch OR arch-skeptics. To all, Hameroff and Penrose respond robustly.
Penrose, Hameroff and Bandyopadhyay will explore their theories during a session on "Microtubules and the Big Consciousness Debate" at the Brainstorm Sessions, a public three-day event at the Brakke Grond in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, January 16-18, 2014. They will engage skeptics in a debate on the nature of consciousness, and Bandyopadhyay and his team will couple microtubule vibrations from active neurons to play Indian musical instruments. "Consciousness depends on anharmonic vibrations of microtubules inside neurons, similar to certain kinds of Indian music, but unlike Western music which is harmonic," Hameroff explains.
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Read more: http://phys.org/news/2014-01-discovery-quantum-vibrations-microtubules-corroborates.html
Chris Christie: Our Next Teflon President
New Jersey voters believe Christie in dark on bridge scandal: poll
Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:13am EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey voters do not blame Governor Chris Christie for an epic September traffic jam on one of the world's busiest bridges, but think the scandal will hurt his chances as a 2016 presidential contender, a poll released on Wednesday found.
The prominent U.S. Republican's repeated apologies for the four-day tie-up has softened his image with voters who recently reelected him to a second term, earning him one of the lowest "bully" scores recorded in a poll by Quinnipiac University.
Neil Young Continues Social Media Assault On Oilsands, Harper Government
Source: Huffington Post
On his Honour The Treaties tour bus "rolling west," Neil Young has continued to fire off tweets and Facebook posts in defence of his anti-oilsands stance and benefit tour.
At 4 p.m. on January 15, Neil Young posted this on his Facebook page.
Breaking Ancient Canadian Treaties with First Nations and defying scientific reason, in an odd twist that could have come out of a science fiction book. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Canada, while harvesting the dirtiest oil on the planet and acting without due consultation on First Nation lands, has closed several scientific research facilites and destroyed the scientific writings done at those facilities in an effort to save $431,000 in wasted money annually. Coincidentally some of the thousands of papers and books being destroyed and burned may contradict the path forward that the government has taken with tar sands oil extraction and development. http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/534063/20140113/canada-libraries-books.htm #honourthetreaties.
Reclamation: the way forward for peace in the Alberta Tar Sands region.
ny
It followed a post, earlier this afternoon, addressing the backlash he's received in some parts.
Stew 15/01/14
The Chief’s making stew in the crock pot on the bus. Smells fantastic. We’re rolling west after a night of cold clean air and good sleep in Thunder Bay. Nobody’s tired, nobody’s complaining, no downers on this ride – there is a lot of love in the camp. That’s what happens when music and cause come together.
It confuses me to hear people shouting at us that musicians should just shut up and entertain. Where the hell did that lame-ass idea come from? Music was, is and always will be about social condition and cause and change. Music speaks for the oppressed and downtrodden. Music launches revolution. Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams and Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and Johnny Cash and Joni Mitchell and Willie Nelson and John Lennon and Eddie Vedder and Neil Young and all the giants of the art know this. What the fuck kind of music and musicians are these boneheads actually listening to?
Just wonderin'.
Onward
The Passenger
Young also posted an article called "The Indians Are Here" that his father, late sportswriter Scott Young, wrote in the Globe & Mail back in 1965! The article concludes: "What they want, they say, is a return to the Indian of the dignity and the independence, financial and legal, that Canadians owe them. What they will get is your guess or mine."
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These posts follow a series of strong statements Young made regarding the oilsands as his "Honour The Treaties" benefit trek commenced at Toronto's Massey Hall Sunday evening. The Prime Minister's Office replied on Monday to Young's remarks which said Canada was trading "integrity for money."
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Young replied with a statement of his own: "If rock stars need oil is an official response, how does that affect the treaties Mr. Harper's government of Canada is breaking."
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Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/01/15/neil-young-tweets-tour-oilsands-harper_n_4602514.html
Solar better than nuclear for India: Experts
Solar better than nuclear for India: Experts
Summary: In the race to fix the widening shortfall of power in India, many say that alternative sources like solar and even wind are becoming cheaper by the day, especially when measured up against the prime minister's pet project, nuclear plants.
By Rajiv Rao for New Tech for Old India | January 14, 2014
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But does India need nuclear energy? That has been a major debate that has roiled the country in the last several years post the pact, especially during the construction of yet another reactor at the seaside town of Kudankulam, in the state of Tamil Nadu. With the specter of Fukushima still fresh in everyone's minds, going ahead with a reactor on a coastline that was on the receiving end of a devastating tsunami that killed close to 250,000 people in the region not so long ago is a colossal act of foolhardiness, argued opponents of the project. The fact that the reactor has been regularly facing technical snags is not going to make people sleep any easier.
However, safety aside, a leading Solar energy think tank, Bridge to India (BTI), said that just from an economic viability standpoint, solar seems to make so much more sense than nuclear. According to BTI, the cost per unit at the 9,900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant is around 9 rupees ($0.15) per kWh, while those from the 6,000 MW Mithi Virdhi Nuclear Power Plant may even be as high as 12 rupees per unit ($0.20). Cost of power per unit from coal-based plants are around 4.5 rupees ($0.07) today.
As BTI went on to explain, the extremely high capex costs of a nuclear plant — between 300 to 400 million rupees ($6.7 million) — is what makes the unit price of power from these plants so pricey. Then, there's the time it takes to commission a project: Anywhere between five to seven years, but this is easily a best-case scenario (Kudankulam took decades).
On the other hand, BTI pointed out that wind power already rivals coal at 4.5 rupees per unit ($0.07). Solar hovers at around 8 rupees per unit ($0.13), and this will continue to fall as solar cells continue to increase efficiency and become cheaper, somewhat akin to semiconductors ala Moore's law (although at a far slower equation). Plus, solar projects can be put up in a flash (a few months at best), compared to the long gestation period for nuclear projects.
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South Korea cuts future reliance on nuclear power, but new plants likely
South Korea cuts future reliance on nuclear power, but new plants likely
By Jane Chung
SEOUL Tue Jan 14, 2014 3:37am GMT
(Reuters) - South Korea has revised down its future reliance on nuclear power, although growing energy demand and the shutdown of aging reactors mean it is still likely to need more nuclear-fired plants over the coming two decades.
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The energy ministry said on Tuesday it has changed its energy policy to reduce the country's reliance on nuclear power to 29 percent of total power supply by 2035, down from a planned 41 percent by 2030 and in line with a draft proposal.
Nuclear power made up 26 percent of South Korea's energy mix as at end-2012.
The proposed cut is the least stringent reduction of a range of figures suggested last October by a public advisory group, following public anger over the safety scandal and in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster.
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The study group had recommended reducing the country's reliance on nuclear energy to between 22 to 29 percent of its total power supply.
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'Superlens' extends range of wireless power transfer
'Superlens' extends range of wireless power transfer
Jan 10, 2014
(Phys.org) —Inventor Nikola Tesla imagined the technology to transmit energy through thin air almost a century ago, but experimental attempts at the feat have so far resulted in cumbersome devices that only work over very small distances. But now, Duke University researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of wireless power transfer using low-frequency magnetic fields over distances much larger than the size of the transmitter and receiver.
The advance comes from a team of researchers in Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, who used metamaterials to create a "superlens" that focuses magnetic fields. The superlens translates the magnetic field emanating from one power coil onto its twin nearly a foot away, inducing an electric current in the receiving coil.
The experiment was the first time such a scheme has successfully sent power through the air with an efficiency many times greater than what could be achieved with the same setup minus the superlens.
The results, an outcome of a partnership with the Toyota Research Institute of North America, appear online in Scientific Reports on Jan. 10.
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More information: "Magnetic Metamaterial Superlens for Increased-Range Wireless Power Transfer," Lipworth, L., Ensworth, J., Seetharam, K., Huang, D., Lee, J.S., Schmalenberg, P., Nomura, T., Reynolds, M.S., Smith, D.R., and Urzhumov, Y. Scientific Reports, Jan. 10, 2014. DOI: 10.1038/srep03642
LANL revenues uncertain as nuclear stockpile costs rise
LANL revenues uncertain as nuclear stockpile costs rise
Posted: Sunday, January 12, 2014 8:00 pm | Updated: 6:10 pm, Mon Jan 13, 2014.
By Staci Matlock
The costs of maintaining and modernizing the nation’s nuclear weapons are spiraling upward, setting taxpayers up for sticker shock in the next decade, according to recent reports and nuclear watchdog groups.
The staggering costs — more than $350 billion over the next 10 years, according to one federal agency — already have been a source of tension between federal lawmakers and the White House as they prepare for a defense spending package and the omnibus budget. The final budget is due out soon.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace of nuclear weapons, depends heavily on funding for the nuclear stockpile and is impacted by any cuts. More than half of the lab’s revenues come from federal funding to keep the plutonium pits used in warheads safe and secure, produce new pits and help redesign warheads.
A report last month by the Congressional Budget Office estimated the cost to maintain and modernize the nuclear stockpile at $355 billion by 2023. A separate report this month by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury College goes further, putting the costs at more than $1 trillion over the next 30 years. That doesn’t include costs for cleaning up legacy waste from past nuclear weapons development, dismantling nuclear warheads or paying the pensions and health care of people working in the programs.
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