n2doc
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Device captures energy from Earth's infrared emissions to outer space
When the sun sets on a remote desert outpost and solar panels shut down, what energy source will provide power through the night? A battery, perhaps, or an old diesel generator? Perhaps something strange and new.
Physicists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) envision a device that would harvest energy from Earth's infrared emissions into outer space.
Heated by the sun, our planet is warm compared to the frigid vacuum beyond. Thanks to recent technological advances, the researchers say, that heat imbalance could soon be transformed into direct-current (DC) power, taking advantage of a vast and untapped energy source.
Their analysis of the thermodynamics, practical concerns, and technological requirements will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"It's not at all obvious, at first, how you would generate DC power by emitting infrared light in free space toward the cold," says principal investigator Federico Capasso, the Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering at Harvard SEAS. "To generate power by emitting, not by absorbing light, that's weird. It makes sense physically once you think about it, but it's highly counterintuitive. We're talking about the use of physics at the nanoscale for a completely new application."
more
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140303154015.htm
Transparent, color solar cells fuse energy, beauty
ANN ARBOR—Colorful, see-through solar cells invented at the University of Michigan could one day be used to make stained-glass windows, decorations and even shades that turn the sun's energy into electricity.
The cells, believed to be the first semi-transparent, colored photovoltaics, have the potential to vastly broaden the use of the energy source, says Jay Guo, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, mechanical engineering, and macromolecular science and engineering at U-M. Guo is lead author of a paper about the work newly published online in Scientific Reports.
"I think this offers a very different way of utilizing solar technology rather than concentrating it in a small area," he said. "Today, solar panels are black and the only place you can put them on a building is the rooftop. And the rooftop of a typical high-rise is so tiny.
"We think we can make solar panels more beautiful—any color a designer wants. And we can vastly deploy these panels, even indoors."
more
http://ns.umich.edu/new/multimedia/videos/22020-transparent-color-solar-cells-fuse-energy-beauty
Military Cuts Don't Translate Into Less Spending
By Mattea Kramer,
After Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel gave a major speech at the Pentagon, The New York Times declared that the Pentagon would shrink the Army to pre-World War II levels. While he did announce an intention to reduce a number of military programs, the Pentagon isn’t planning major reductions in spending any time soon.
…
Despite all of these changes, the new Pentagon budget doesn’t project a commensurate decline in spending. Back in December Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray agreed on a budget blueprint that would allow military spending to grow slightly in fiscal 2015 relative to 2014 and 2013. On top of that, Secretary Hagel’s speech comes at a time when the president is proposing an additional $26 billion on top of that December agreement. That extra cash would support an “Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative” that would fund “readiness and modernization” efforts. This extra funding is essentially a Pentagon wish list that would continue to protect the military from making any significant spending reductions in the near future.
Meanwhile, new five-year spending projections at the Pentagon show that it plans to exceed the spending caps of sequestration by $115 billion over the next five years. What’s more, the Pentagon receives many tens of billions in additional funding to operate wars overseas, and that money isn’t subject to caps. In fiscal 2014 that war budget, known officially as “Overseas Contingency Operations,” totaled $85 billion — and is being widely criticized for containing funding that wasn’t actually meant for war operations but instead would function as a slush fund for the Pentagon.
the rest
http://truth-out.org/news/item/22187-military-cuts-dont-translate-into-less-spending
NC cites 5 Duke Energy plants for lacking permits
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina regulators have cited five more Duke Energy power plants for lacking required storm water permits after a massive spill at one of the company's coal ash dumps coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic sludge.
The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources announced Monday that Charlotte-based Duke Energy had been issued formal notices of violation for not having the needed permits, which are required to legally discharge rainwater draining from its plants into public waterways.
Two other violations were issued Friday against the Dan River Steam Station in Eden, site of the Feb. 2 spill. The company could face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for the violations.
State regulators indicated they had been aware since at least 2010 that some Duke Energy facilities lacked the required storm water permits, yet took no enforcement action until after last month's disaster.
more
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nc-cites-5-duke-energy-plants-lacking-permits
A Republican exposes the GOP tax-reform fraud
By Jay Bookman
Every year since taking control of the U.S. House, Republicans have promised the American people that they would enact tax reform that would slash the top income-tax rate from 39.6 to 25 percent and do so without raising the deficit or hurting the middle class. The policy has been the centerpiece of the GOP "jobs program," such as it is, with promises that once enacted the tax-rate reduction would produce millions of new jobs. It was also embraced by 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who made it the foundation of his economic platform.
And all along, year after year, Democrats have claimed that such tax policy would be mathematically impossible, and that the plan would actually increase taxes on poor and middle-class Americans while slashing them on the richest 1 percent of Americans. Blog posts here and here and here and here documented that case thoroughly.
Now, thanks to U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and a Republican from Michigan, we know who was right. It wasn't the Republicans. To the contrary, Camp's work documents thoroughly just how unrealistic and even deceptive the GOP claims had been.
In drafting his 978-page rewrite of the federal tax code, Camp tried heroically to put the vague promises of his fellow Republicans into actual policy. He took them seriously, and found them unworkable. The tax-reform package that he released last week contains a lot of good work, but in the end, after cutting a lot of tax deductions, he was able to bring the top tax rate of 39.6 percent all the way down to ... 35 percent.
more
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/jay-bookman/2014/mar/03/republican-exposes-gop-tax-reform-fraud/
Georgia House passes Medical Marijuana bill
By Aaron Gould Sheinin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House on Monday gave overwhelming approval to a bill that would legalize a type of medical marijuana to treat certain seizure disorders.
Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, the sponsor of House Bill 885, said it’s an important step toward saving the lives of children who can suffer 100 or more seizures a day. The particular strain of marijuana, known as Charlotte’s Web, has shown it can ease or eliminate symptoms of patients taking the cannabis oil derived from the plant.
In Colorado, where marijuana is legal, there is a waiting list of 2,000 patients who want access to the oil, which does not cause the taker to get high.
While there are obstacles and some warn him he is moving too fast, Peake answered: “We cannot move fast enough.”
more
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/medical-marijuana-bill-passes-house/nd464/
Girl, 16, accused of statutory rape of boy, 14
y Marcus K. Garner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A 16-year-old Rockdale County middle school student was charged with statutory rape for having sex with a 14-year-old boy, according to police reports.
According to the incident report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the Rockdale County Sheriff Office, Memorial Middle School officials saw video footage of the teens enter the boys’ bathroom together on Feb. 25, and emerge 10 minutes later.
When school officials questioned the teens, both admitted to having consensual sex on the bathroom floor, authorities said.
The 16-year-old girl acknowledged that she was the aggressor, asking the boy to get on the floor with her after they started kissing, according to the incident report.
more
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/rockdale-girl-16-accused-of-statutory-rape-of-boy-/nd4sL/
Carnival Around The World
Performers from the Sao Clemente samba school parade during Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, on March 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Performers from the Sao Clemente samba school parade through the Sambadrome, on March 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Performers dressed as witches parade across the market square in Waldkirch, Germany, on March 1, 2014. (AP Photo/dpa, Patrick Seeger)
many more (some topless nudity)
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/03/carnival-2014-around-the-world/100691/
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