ARTIFICIAL LEAF INVENTED TO SOLVE POWER CRISIS AT MIT(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Scientists have created the world’s first practical artificial leaf that can turn sunlight and water into energy, which they claim could pave the way for a cheaper source of power.

A team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says that the artificial leaf from silicon, electronics and various catalysts which spur chemical reactions within the device, can use sunlight to break water into hydrogen and oxygen which can then be used to create electricity in a separate fuel cell.

“A practical artificial leaf has been one of the Holy Grails of science for decades. We believe we have done it. And placed in a gallon of water and left in sun, these artificial leaves could provide a home in the developing world with basic electricity for a day,” Daniel Nocera, who led the team, said.

He added: “Our goal is to make each home its own power station. One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology.”

Both teams produced devices that combine a standard silicon solar cell with a catalyst developed three years ago by professor Daniel Nocera. When submerged in water and exposed to sunlight, the devices cause bubbles of oxygen to separate out of the water.

The next step to producing a full, usable artificial leaf, explains Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy and professor of chemistry, will be to integrate the final ingredient: an additional catalyst to bubble out the water’s hydrogen atoms. In the current devices, hydrogen atoms are simply dissociated into the solution as loose protons and electrons. If a catalyst could produce fully formed hydrogen molecules (H₂), the molecules could be used to generate electricity or to make fuel for vehicles. Realization of that step, Nocera says, will be the subject of a forthcoming paper.

The reports by the two teams were published in the journals Energy & Environmental Science on May 12, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on June 6. Nocera encouraged two different teams to work on the project so that each could bring their special expertise to addressing the problem, and says the fact that both succeeded “speaks to the versatility of the catalyst system.”

Nocera’s ultimate goal is to produce an “artificial leaf” so simple and so inexpensive that it could be made widely available to the billions of people in the world who lack access to adequate, reliable sources of electricity. What’s needed to accomplish that, in addition to stepping up the voltage, is the addition of a second catalyst material to the other side of the silicon cell, Nocera says.

The “leaf” system, by contrast, is “still a science project,” Nocera says. “We haven’t even gotten to what I would call an engineering design.” He hopes, however, that the artificial leaf could become a reality within three years

HP(Hewlett-Packard) TO LAUNCH TOUCH PAD NEXT MONTH

Hewlett-Packard Co, hoping to tap into the tablet market dominated by Apple Inc'siPad, said it will begin sales of its TouchPadcomputer in July.

The tablet will sell for $499.99 to $599.99 depending on storage capacity, Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard said in a statement today. Sales will begin in the US on July 1, followed by the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Canada.

The first version of the TouchPad will have Wi-Fi technology to connect to the Internet through wireless hotspots. A future version of the device will connect through AT&T Inc (T)'s wireless network, Hewlett-Packard said.

Personal-computer makers are rushing into the tablet market as consumers buy the smaller, touchscreen devices and demand for traditional PCs slacks off. This week, research firm IDC lowered its estimate for growth in PC shipments this year to 4.2 percent from a February estimate of 7.1 percent, citing competition from tablets and smartphones as well as the sluggish economy.

The TouchPad will compete with the iPad, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc's Xoom and the Research In Motion Ltd PlayBook.

TEEN AGE BOY WAS KILLED IN KARRACHI

Karachi: Pakistani authorities are investigating a video that appears to show paramilitary forces shooting to death an unarmed teenage boy in the southern port city of Karachi, officials said Thursday.

The video aired repeatedly on TV, sparking another controversy for the Pakistani military, which is still reeling from criticism following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden last month.

Pakistani security forces are often accused of using excessive force and abusing ordinary citizens.

A spokesman for the paramilitary Rangers claimed its forces detained 18-year-old Afsar Shah because he was attempting to rob people in a park in Karachi on Wednesday. He said a gun was recovered from Shah and he was shot because he was reaching for a Ranger's rifle.Shah's brother, Salik, a local crime reporter, denied his brother was a robber and accused the Rangers of shooting an innocent person.

"It seems to be a case of routine high-handedness of the Rangers," Salik Shah said. "They misuse their powers by shooting on sight."
"The Rangers have no authority to kill any unarmed individual and they can fire only in self-defence," he said. "On completion of the inquiry, all those found responsible will be given strict punishment."

SOURCE:timesofindia.com

Tornados hit Oklahoma

At least six people were killed and many were injured by tornados at Oklahoma and Kansas City that began last Tuesday which forced offices and schools to close early. Residents should take tornado warnings and reports very seriously said Mary Fallin Governor of Oklahoma. NWS warned during the storm that it’s an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation.

The citizens of Oklahoma City knew that the tornadoes were coming. About 1,200 people were packed in a shelter in Newcastle, a community near Oklahoma City, during the storm, said Oklahoma City Manager Nick Nazar. The city has been struck by more tornadoes than any other city in the United States. People were expecting for the worst to happen after the disastrous twister outbreak in the South that had a death toll of more than 300 people and last Sunday’s storm that left 122 people dead in Joplin.

The Oklahoma tornadoes were weaker than the other tornadoes but up-to-the-minute reporting of the developing weather system kept the people informed of the danger. Television networks had their helicopters broadcast live footages when the storm approached the city with a population of 1.2 million.

New Technology in iPhone

EmergInfo has released on iPhone and all Android mobile devices which helps to give information about car accident and DUI. The EmergInfo App is free and is the only application that provides instant emergency information and emergency notifications to family and friends, for those who have been involved in an accident or a DWI / DUI arrest.

EmergInfo was formed by lawyers with the idea of creating a simple and trouble-free way for people to get emergency information for recording accident information and make immediate decisions that could affect a criminal DWI / DUI case. Most importantly, the EmergInfo App notifies loved ones of your situation by the use of email and text message, including your cell number and GPS location so that immediate help can be dispatched or proper local legal help can be contacted.

Tropical storm Aere kills 15 in Philippines

Fifteen people were killed and nearly 70,000 people were forced from their homes as tropical storm Aere pummelled the Philippines

The death toll from Aere, which hit on Sunday, jumped from nine, with six more people reported killed in floods, landslides and road accidents, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre said. However, after two days of heavy rains across the main island of Luzon, the storm had weakened and was exiting the northern Philippines this morning, according to the national weather bureau.

"The storm is moving away from the country in a north, northeast direction,adding it was expected to move close to Japan's south-west coast by Thursday. It said Aere's maximum sustained winds had fallen to 65km/h, from 85km/h on Sunday. The disaster agency said that nearly 70,000 people had been forced to leave their storm-hit homes on Luzon, and the initial estimate of damages to the farming sector was more than $US2.7 million.

Osama had some sort of support network in Pakistan: Obama

Osama bin Laden, who lived in a compound in Abbottabad for six years, had "some kind of support" infrastructure inside Pakistan and this aspect needs to be investigated, US President Barack Obama has said. His comments came as his top security advisor said there was no evidence so far that the Pakistan Government knew about the al Qaeda chief`s presence in the country.

"We think that there had to be some sort of support network for bin Laden inside of Pakistan," obama said. The US called on government of Pakistan to conduct an investigation into how Osama was able to live so long in a military cantonment area of Pakistan, in an affluent suburb of Islamabad. We don`t know whether there might have been some people inside of [Pakistan`s] government, people outside of government, and that`s something that we have to investigate and, more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate," Obama said.

Al-Qaida aspired to attack US train on 11/9/2011

Al-Qaida considered attacking U.S. trains on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, according to an initial look at DVDs, computers and other documents seized at the raid on Osama bin Laden's home.

The information about a possible train plot is the first intelligence revealed from the trove of material found in the attack on bin Laden's compound. Officials said they found what they call "aspirational" items — things al-Qaida operatives were interested in trying to make happen. A government advisory obtained by NBC News and sent Tuesday to the rail industry said that as far back as February 2010, al-Qaida was contemplating "an operation against trains at an unspecified location in the United States on the 10th anniversary" of the 9/11 attacks.

One option, the advisory said, was trying to tip a train by tampering with the rails so that the train would fall off the track at either a valley or on a bridge. Such an attempt would probably only work once, the material in bin Laden's house said, because tilting or tampering with the rails would be spotted, the advisory said. Other material mentions a desire to target big mass-transit hubs, an interest long understood because of the history of al-Qaida attacks on rail targets in Spain, the United Kingdom and India.

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With bin Laden dead, Obama has to turn to the Mideast

Nothing will help the American right wing, the Israeli right wing or Fox News now; the assassination of Osama bin Laden has given U.S. President Barack Obama a decided boost.

Now that bin Laden is dead, Obama is seen not as a geek but as a killer, not as a softy but as a fairly tough leader. The young man has successfully completed his coming-of-age ceremony. Combined with the burgeoning recovery of the economy and the president’s movement toward the political center, bin Laden’s death has turned Obama into a strong and authoritative leader. If he doesn’t make any big mistakes in the coming year, chances are good that he’ll continue living in the White House until 2016.

But Obama insists on making big mistakes. His Middle East policy is inconsistent and incoherent. His guiding principles are obtuse and bizarre. He supported the removal of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak from office but grants immunity to Syria’s Bashar Assad. He went to war to avoid a bloodbath in Libya, but won’t raise a finger to stop the massacres in Syria.

Weak leadership and a lack of moral clarity continue to characterize Obama. Instead of leading the Arab world to a good place, he’s being dragged along with it to a bad one.

One problem is Iran. The Arab spring has caused a situation in which no Sunni power except for Saudi Arabia now stands in the way of the ayatollahs. The revolutions in Arab countries have also improved the economic situation in Tehran by pushing up the price of oil. Improved strategic and economic positioning allow Iran to rush toward a nuclear reactor and erode America’s hegemony in the region.

Turkey poses another problem. In mid-June, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to win reelection in a landslide victory. Right after that, the temporary respite he’s granted himself will end. Encouraged by the scope of his mandate to govern, this ambitious Islamist will try to build a neo-Ottoman Empire. He’ll work with the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Iran to undermine the U.S. foothold in the Middle East.

The third problem is Palestine. As everyone knows, another Black September is in the offing. Palestinian Authority President Mohammed Abbas is provoking Obama by his plan to undermine Israeli stability with the expected international recognition of a Palestinian state and his reconciliation with bin Laden’s supporters in Gaza. If a Hamas-Fatah government leads to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s disappearance from the scene, the result will be the collapse of American’s peace policy.

The fourth problem, Egypt, is the most severe of all. Egypt is likely to go bankrupt by the end of the year because of the loss of income from tourism, the strengthening of the army’s monopoly and the new government’s inability to be anything other than populist. Mubarak was bad? The White House will be longing for him way before Christmas. The economic growth he created will contract. Poverty will turn into shortages, shortages into despair, despair into protest. The army will not be able to withstand the disappointment and rage.

Egypt will become a black hole.

There are no simple solutions to these four problems, none of which are Obama’s doing. Perhaps he hasn’t offered a genuine answer to any of these strategic problems because he did not understand that when he opened the Pandora’s box of the Middle East, he became responsible for what emerged from it. While Obama exhibited professional determination in taking care of Osama, he was hesitant and amateurish when it came to the fundamental problems of the Middle East.

Egypt is the most pressing problem. Two years ago Obama gave a very impressive speech in Cairo. Three months go he encouraged the revolution there. But now the U.S. president has disappeared. Where is the American plan to rebuild the Egyptian nation? Where is the international initiative to save the Egyptian economy? Where is the effort to do on the banks of the Nile what is being done in Ramallah?

The summer of 2011 is the summer of Barack Hussein Obama. If he does not stabilize the Middle East this summer, a regional avalanche will take place by summer’s end. Obama will bear personal responsibility if the Arab spring turns into a cold and bleak winter.

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Arunachal CM’s body recovered, Union Cabinet to meet today

After a five-day long intense search, the Army with the help of locals, recovered the body of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu from a place between Kyela and Lobothang in the mountainous region of the state on Thursday morning.

Confirming the development, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram informed newsmen that Union Cabinet is all set to meet in New Delhi at 11.30 am today to discuss the current political situation in the state and to possibly elect a new leader.

“The body of Arunachal Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others have been recovered and the government is making all necessary arrangements to bring the bodies to Tawang,”. The meeting is expected to be attended by central ministers – V Narayanaswamy, Mukul Wasnik, and Bijoy Krishna Handique. Two senior All India Congress Committee leaders would also attend the meeting.