Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/300674263?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Small in size, big on power: New microbatteries the most powerful yet
Apr. 16, 2013 ? Though they be but little, they are fierce. The most powerful batteries on the planet are only a few millimeters in size, yet they pack such a punch that a driver could use a cellphone powered by these batteries to jump-start a dead car battery -- and then recharge the phone in the blink of an eye.?
Developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the new microbatteries out-power even the best supercapacitors and could drive new applications in radio communications and compact electronics.
Led by William P. King, the Bliss Professor of mechanical science and engineering, the researchers published their results in the April 16 issue of Nature Communications.
"This is a whole new way to think about batteries," King said. "A battery can deliver far more power than anybody ever thought. In recent decades, electronics have gotten small. The thinking parts of computers have gotten small. And the battery has lagged far behind. This is a microtechnology that could change all of that. Now the power source is as high-performance as the rest of it."
With currently available power sources, users have had to choose between power and energy. For applications that need a lot of power, like broadcasting a radio signal over a long distance, capacitors can release energy very quickly but can only store a small amount. For applications that need a lot of energy, like playing a radio for a long time, fuel cells and batteries can hold a lot of energy but release it or recharge slowly.
"There's a sacrifice," said James Pikul, a graduate student and first author of the paper. "If you want high energy you can't get high power; if you want high power it's very difficult to get high energy. But for very interesting applications, especially modern applications, you really need both. That's what our batteries are starting to do. We're really pushing into an area in the energy storage design space that is not currently available with technologies today."
The new microbatteries offer both power and energy, and by tweaking the structure a bit, the researchers can tune them over a wide range on the power-versus-energy scale.
The batteries owe their high performance to their internal three-dimensional microstructure. Batteries have two key components: the anode (minus side) and cathode (plus side). Building on a novel fast-charging cathode design by materials science and engineering professor Paul Braun's group, King and Pikul developed a matching anode and then developed a new way to integrate the two components at the microscale to make a complete battery with superior performance.
With so much power, the batteries could enable sensors or radio signals that broadcast 30 times farther, or devices 30 times smaller. The batteries are rechargeable and can charge 1,000 times faster than competing technologies -- imagine juicing up a credit-card-thin phone in less than a second. In addition to consumer electronics, medical devices, lasers, sensors and other applications could see leaps forward in technology with such power sources available.
"Any kind of electronic device is limited by the size of the battery -- until now," King said. "Consider personal medical devices and implants, where the battery is an enormous brick, and it's connected to itty-bitty electronics and tiny wires. Now the battery is also tiny."
Now, the researchers are working on integrating their batteries with other electronics components, as well as manufacturability at low cost.
"Now we can think outside of the box," Pikul said. "It's a new enabling technology. It's not a progressive improvement over previous technologies; it breaks the normal paradigms of energy sources. It's allowing us to do different, new things."
The National Science Foundation and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research supported this work. King also is affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology; the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory; the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory; and the department of electrical and computer engineering at the U. of I.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Journal Reference:
- James H. Pikul, Hui Gang Zhang, Jiung Cho, Paul V. Braun, William P. King. High-power lithium ion microbatteries from interdigitated three-dimensional bicontinuous nanoporous electrodes. Nature Communications, 2013; 4: 1732 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2747
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Analysis: "Naked" CDS ban and euro zone calm
By Mike Dolan
LONDON (Reuters) - The surprising stability of euro government bonds this year owes much to the European Central Bank's powerful pledge of support, but many wonder if regulation to limit speculation also plays a part.
European Union regulators acted last November after two years fretting about financial derivatives called sovereign credit default swaps (SCDS), insurance-like contracts offering protection against the risk governments default, and suspecting they aggravated serial euro government debt crises.
A key argument was that in allowing punters to bet on and profit from a sovereign default without even owning the underlying bonds, the market was prone to speculation and overshoot that had unnerved investors and precipated the very creditor strikes, bailouts and even the defaults being bet on.
For many, it was like taking fire insurance out on a house you didn't own and the uncovered nature of trading in this market introduced more than a little moral hazard.
As a result, the EU banned uncovered or "naked", positions in sovereign CDS, in tandem with other reporting requirements and circuit breakers on "short selling" in other systemic securities such as bank stocks.
The financial industry, perhaps predictably, cried foul and said the ban would distort price information, hit market liquidity in SCDS and ultimately backfire by scaring off potential bond buyers who would feel less comfortable hedging as a result.
Five months on, however, many puzzle at how relatively stable euro zone government bonds have remained through at least two events - Italy's inconclusive elections and the messy Cyprus bailout - that would previously have caused major ructions across the bloc's sovereign debt markets.
That's not to say SCDS markets are not functioning at all. Pricing there still suggests about a 70 percent probability of an eventual sovereign default in Cyprus, for example.
But some point out that SCDS and underlying bond market gyrations in recent hotspots such as Slovenia are much more in step.
For most investors, the announcement last August of ECB's bond-buying backstop, or Outright Monetary Transactions, is the prime protector here. But it may also suggest that the sorts of financial derivatives and trading activity the wider public saw malfunction so spectacularly over of the past decade can be effectively tamed.
But in a surprisingly blunt paper, the International Monetary Fund weighed in strongly against the EU ban last week - saying it found little evidence that SCDS overall had been out of line with bond spreads and that for the most part premiums reflected the underlying country's fundamentals - even if they reflected them quicker than the cash market.
"Overall, the evidence here does not support the need to ban purchases of naked SCDS protection," it said in a special chapter on the subject in its latest World Economic Outlook.
Even though the IMF report said it found signs of overshoot in default insurance premia for "vulnerable European countries in times of stress", it said it couldn't make a direct case for this causing higher sovereign funding costs per se.
For the most part, it endorsed the industry line that the ban would create more distortions than it would resolve and that a drop in CDS volumes and liquidity, which it said was observable this year, may deter bond buyers fearful of less efficient hedging.
The hedge fund industry, represented by the Alternative Investment Management Association, was quick to say the report "essentially vindicated" the industry position.
IMF ADJUDICATION?
The IMF's resolute support of the industry line, not only in its analysis but its recommendations, was starkly clear.
Among those claiming the market had aggravated sovereign funding pressures include Rouen Business School professor Anne-Laure Delatte, whose report last summer looking at Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Spain and claimed SCDS and bank CDS had played a dominant role in driving market sentiment:
"We obtain empirical support of an intuition, often heard from market practitioners, that CDS prices affect market sentiment and serve as a coordinating device for speculation."
Curiously, she reckoned the EU ban itself was flawed in that it excluded bank CDS which often led sovereign speculation and also exempted dealer banks consider to be 'market makers'.
And given that the top 15 dealer banks account for almost 90 percent CDS trading activity, one wonders whether anyone apart from this concentrated group and leveraged hedge funds were really affected much either way.
As the IMF and others point out, the size of notional SCDS outstanding - at about $3 trillion last June - was only about 6 percent of $50 trillion of total government debt. So does it matter to long-term investors?
Scott Thiel, Head of European and Global Bonds at the world's biggest asset manager Blackrock, says he was instinctively against banning financial market activity that reduced price visibility. By changing his view of CDS price signals, he said, it limited his options in managing portfolios.
However, he also said he understood what regulators were trying to do and was equivocal about the overall impact.
"When investors ask me if we have been more or less active in derivatives over the past year, my general answer is 'less active' because of what's happened with regulation," said Thiel, who said he remains particularly bullish on Italian debt regardless.
"It certainly makes portfolio management less efficient but that may have positive and negative effects - we'll see."
(Editing by Ron Askew)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-naked-cds-ban-euro-zone-calm-051218323--sector.html
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Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Lion Air jet that crashed into sea must be cut up
BALI, Indonesia (AP) ? A Lion Air jet that slammed into the sea as it tried to land on the Indonesian resort island of Bali over the weekend remains stuck in shallow water and must be cut into pieces for removal, vividly underlining the challenges facing the budget airline as it races to expand in Asia.
Authorities initially planned to tow the Boeing 737-800 aircraft that split in two, but have now determined it is too heavy and must be carved into several parts to avoid the possibility of damaging the area's coral reefs, said Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan.
The tail is perched on top of a reef, making it unsteady when sets of waves hit the wreckage. Divers have also faced difficulties recovering the cockpit voice recorder from the plane's partially submerged rear, a key part of the investigation as officials work to determine what caused the crash. The flight data recorder has already been removed.
All 101 passengers on the domestic flight ? including five foreigners from Singapore, France and Belgium ? and seven crew members survived Saturday's crash, and no one was seriously injured. The plane's belly thumped into the sea short of the runway at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport, fracturing the fuselage.
The accident has raised questions among some analysts about whether Lion Air may be putting growth ahead of safety. Indonesia's largest private airline, which was started in 1999 by two brothers who pooled $850,000, stunned the aviation industry two years ago when it announced the biggest-ever order for Boeing planes ? 230 jets in all ? at an event with President Barack Obama. It made headlines again last month after signing a $24 billion deal to buy 234 planes from Airbus, the French aircraft maker's largest order ever.
Lion Air has about 45 percent of Indonesia's air travel market and hopes to increase that to 60 percent by 2014 as cheap travel continues to boom in the sprawling archipelago of 240 million people. The airline has had seven accidents and incidents since 2002. Most were minor and all but one occurred during landing, according to the Aviation Safety Network's website. The worst crash in 2004 killed 25 people.
The pressure to keep planes flying, coupled with the difficulty of finding enough qualified pilots can create a bad combination, said Tom Ballantyne, a Sydney-based aviation expert.
"It's certainly an issue for fast-expanding airlines," he said.
Indonesia is one of fastest growing air travel markets in Asia, but the country has a troubled past when it comes to air safety. In 2007, the Europe Union banned all Indonesian airlines due to the country's poor record. It has lifted restrictions for some carriers as improvements are made, but Lion Air remains on the blacklist.
Despite efforts to clean up the industry, Indonesia has struggled to find enough qualified pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers and inspectors. Airport technology and infrastructure also lag behind, highlighted by a 15-minute blackout late last year at Jakarta's international airport that disrupted its 26-year-old radar system.
Indonesia currently needs up to 800 pilots a year, but it can only prepare about 500, Transportation Minister Evert Ernest Mangindaan said at a news conference.
"We have to say that we still lack pilots in the face of this air travel boom," he said. Foreign pilots are now being employed to work for domestic airlines and flight schools are being established, he said.
Alvin Lie, a former Indonesian lawmaker and aviation analyst, said Lion Air's aggressive push to buy more aircraft is likely adding to the burden on its pilots. But he said the Bali crash will likely not affect business in Indonesia. However, the airline has also positioned itself to take on budget carrier AirAsia, which dominates no-frills travel in the region.
"If abroad, that would definitely reduce consumers' confidence," he said of the crash. "But the characteristics of consumers here are different. The most important thing for them is the cheap price."
____
Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia. Associated Press writers Margie Mason and Ali Kotarumalos contributed to this report from Jakarta.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lion-air-jet-crashed-sea-must-cut-055711727--finance.html
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Boston bombs raise worries for Olympics, World Cup
LONDON (AP) ? From London to Sochi to Rio de Janeiro, the deadly bomb attacks on the Boston Marathon raised new concerns Tuesday over safety at major sports events around the world, including the Olympics and World Cup.
The twin bombings near the marathon finish line that killed three people and injured more than 170 people brought into sharp focus the security challenges facing next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.
"We are very, very concerned," senior IOC member Gerhard Heiberg of Norway told The Associated Press. "Security is priority No. 1, no question about it."
More immediate is the security planning for this weekend's London Marathon, which attracts more than 30,000 runners and half a million spectators. Organizers said they were reviewing security for Sunday's race ? one of the world's six major marathons ? but the event will go ahead as scheduled in a display of unity with Boston.
"The best way for us to react is to push ahead with the marathon on Sunday, to get people on the streets and to celebrate it as we always do in London," British Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said. "We are absolutely confident here that we can keep the event safe and secure. ... The best way to show solidarity with Boston is to continue and send a very clear message to those responsible."
The London Marathon, which takes in some of the city's most recognizable landmarks, draws many of the world's top marathoners as well as tens of thousands of amateur and "fun" runners who raise money for charity. Prince Harry, patron of the marathon's charitable trust, is scheduled to attend Sunday's race and make the presentations to the winners.
"When you have an event of any nature ? a marathon, parade ? it's only as safe as the city itself," race chief executive Nick Bitel said. "If it's not held in a stadium, you can't do a lockdown like you may do in a building."
Also taking place Sunday is the Bahrain Grand Prix, a Formula One race that faces its own security issues after a series of explosions, including a gas cylinder blast that set a car ablaze in the Gulf nation's financial district.
A Human Rights Watch report alleged that Bahrain authorities rounded up activists living around the track in a bid to "silence" dissent ahead of the race. Protesters, carrying portraits of people killed in the nation's nearly three-year uprising, are calling for a boycott of the race.
Security for the Olympics, meanwhile, has been paramount ever since the attacks by Palestinian gunmen that killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Games.
The focus now falls on Sochi, a Black Sea resort that will host Russia's first Winter Olympics next February. Security was already a concern because of Sochi's proximity to an Islamic insurgency that spread across southern Russia after separatist wars in Chechnya.
"Naturally, we're beefing up security measures," Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said in remarks carried by the R-Sport news agency.
IOC vice president Thomas Bach, who was on his way to Sochi on Tuesday for an international journalists' conference, said the attacks in Boston reinforced the IOC's policy that safety is paramount for any Olympics.
"I'm sure that this malicious attack will lead the public authorities to have another look at all security measures," Bach told the AP by telephone. "While it is too early to draw any final conclusions, we have full confidence in the Russian authorities. They have already analyzed the overall situation and I'm sure they will take this event into account and take the necessary measures."
Heiberg, who organized the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, and now chairs the IOC's marketing commission, said security concerns had been heightened since the Sept. 11, 2011, terror attacks in the United States. Since then, Olympics have passed off peacefully in Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin, Beijing, Vancouver and London.
"So far we have been lucky in the Olympics but what happened in Boston reminds us that we cannot take it easy, we have to continue and we have to plan for not only the possible but also the impossible," Heiberg said. "We are taking it extremely seriously in Sochi, working very hard with the Russian authorities."
The Russian Interior Ministry said Tuesday it has fully deployed the police force that will be in place during the Sochi Olympics and has conducted regular checks of all venues to make sure they are protected.
Alexander Konovalov, head of the Institute of Strategic Assessment and Analysis, an independent think-tank, said international terror groups could be encouraged by the carnage in Boston to plot against the Sochi Olympics.
"The terrorists' strategy is to create a sense of panic and leave an impression that they can strike any target, no matter how tightly it's protected," Konovalov said. "The Olympics would make a highly desirable goal for terrorists, offering the maximum publicity."
Russia is also hosting one of the biggest international sports events of 2013 ? the world track and field championships in Moscow on Aug. 10-18.
"Our security measures are tough as they are," said Mikhail Butov, secretary general of the Russian Athletics Federation. "But when it's clear what actually happened (in Boston), we will draw our conclusions."
Guarding the Olympics is a massive operation covering 17 days of competition in numerous outdoor and indoor venues. Not only are sports facilities at risk, but so are the public areas where fans and spectators congregate. At the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, a backpack bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, killing one person and injuring more than 100.
"The balance is not easy," Heiberg said. "Of course, you can provide security but we don't want to show the world pictures of soldiers and police with guns and so on. It's the same for Rio and all the others to come."
Rio organizers, who will be hosting the first Olympics in South America, said they are working with the government to "deliver safe games in 2016."
The city has won kudos for its crackdown on once-endemic drug violence in preparation for hosting the World Cup and Olympics. But safety has been a big topic in Rio recently after an American woman was gang raped and beaten aboard a public transit van while her handcuffed French boyfriend looked on helplessly.
Ahead of next year's World Cup, Brazil is hosting the Confederations Cup in June. The warm-up tournament featuring eight teams will be played in six cities across the country and is seen as a big test for organizers in all areas.
On Sunday, two fans were shot to death on their way to a match meant to test the facilities at a World Cup stadium in northeastern Brazil. Rival supporters were suspected in the killings.
The terror threat was considered high for last year's London Olympics, where overall security costs rose above 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion). London was hit by terrorism in 2005, when 52 people were killed in attacks by suicide bombers on the city's transportation network.
London's huge security operation included thousands of police and military troops and deployment of warships, surveillance aircraft, sniper-carrying helicopters, fighter jets and missile batteries on rooftops.
Denis Oswald, who headed the IOC coordination commissions for the Athens and London Olympics, said the games remain a potential target wherever they are held and the Boston attacks do not radically change the security planning for Sochi or Rio.
"Each case has to be studied," Oswald said. "It could be new ways or new systems put in place. We just have to make sure these types of cases are covered by the security system. We have to be 100 percent vigilant and never neglect any possibility."
___
Associated Press writers Natiliya Vasilyeva, Vladimir Isachenkov and Yelena Yegorova in Moscow, and AP Sports Writer Tales Azzoni in Sao Paulo, Brazil, contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-bombs-raise-worries-olympics-world-cup-172135917--spt.html
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Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Race for Support Before Key Gun Vote (WSJ)
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