Siberian smoke means rosy Seattle?sunsets

Gil Aegerter / msnbc.com

The sunset in Seattle, Wash., on Sunday drew this crowd at Gasworks Park.

By Miguel Llanos, msnbc.com

The Pacific Northwest?and Canada's British Columbia?can thank Russia for some fantastic sunsets in recent days. Smoke from several dozen wildfires in Siberia has been wafting over the Pacific, turning the skies a brilliant red and orange at dusk. The downside has been some rather hazy daylight at times.

"It isn?t uncommon for smoke from large wildfires in Siberia to be lofted high enough into the atmosphere that winds push plumes of it across?the Pacific Ocean to North America," NASA noted on its Earth Observatory website while showing a satellite view of the smoke.

In Seattle, University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass tipped off followers of his blog?that the smoke would produce some red sunsets along the coast and northwest parts of the state.?


But the smoke has also meant some haze, especially farther north in British Columbia,?Claire Martin, a meteorologist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.,?said on the CBC website.

"It's looping below the Aleutians and then back to Vancouver," Martin said of the smoke.

NASA last month reported its scientists were tracking the smoke now that wildfire season has started in Russia and other parts of Asia.?

"The smoke plumes were lofted up to at least 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from the intense heat of the fires," NASA scientist Colin Seftor stated of an event in early June. "At that point the smoke got picked up by higher level winds."

"Not only smoke and dust can get carried long distance," he added. "Pollutants, and even disease-carrying spores can be carried by the prevailing winds."

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/10/12666655-from-russia-with-love-siberian-wildfire-smoke-means-rosy-sunsets-in-seattle?lite

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Making 'renewable' viable

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 11-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Britt Faulstick
bef29@drexel.edu
215-895-2617
Drexel University

Drexel engineers develop new technology for grid-level electrical energy storage

PHILADELPHIA In the aftermath of the recent United Nations Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, the focus of many industrialized nations is beginning to shift toward planning for a sustainable future. One of the foremost challenges for sustainability is efficient use of renewable energy resources, a goal that hinges on the ability to store this energy when it is produced and disburse it when it is needed.

A team of researchers from Drexel University's College of Engineering have taken up this challenge and has developed a new method for quickly and efficiently storing large amounts of electrical energy.

The Challenge of Renewable Energy

Electrical energy storage is the obstacle preventing more widespread use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Due to the unpredictable nature of wind and solar energy, the ability to store this energy when it is produced is essential for turning these resources into reliable sources of energy. The current U.S. energy grid system is used predominantly for distributing energy and allows little flexibility for storage of excess or a rapid dispersal on short notice.

The Drexel's team of researchers is putting forward a plan to integrate into the grid an electrochemical storage system that combines principles behind the flow batteries and supercapacitors that power our daily technology.

Existing Technology

Batteries store a large amount of energy, but are relatively slow in discharging it and they have a limited lifespan, or cycle-life, than their counterparts electrochemical capacitors, which are commonly called "supercapacitors" or "ultracapacitors."

Conventional supercapacitors provide a high power output with minimal degradation in performance for as many as 1,000,000 charge-discharge cycles. The capacitor can rapidly store and discharge energy, but only in small amounts compared to the battery.

The obstacle in the way of using either a battery or a supercapacitor to store energy in the grid is that energy storage ability is inextricably tied to the size of the battery or the supercapacitor being used. Supercapacitors, similar to lithium-ion batteries, are manufactured in fairly small cells ranging in size from a coin to a soda can. Large amounts of expensive material, such as metal current collectors, polymer separators and packaging, would be required to construct a battery or supercapacitor of the size necessary to function effectively in the energy grid.

"Packing together thousands of conventional small devices to build a system for large-scale stationary energy storage is too expensive," said Dr. Yury Gogotsi, director of the A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute and the lead researcher on the project. "A liquid storage system, the capacity of which is limited only by the tank size, can be cost-effective and scalable."

A Grid Energy Storage Solution

The team's research yielded a novel solution that combines the strengths of batteries and supercapacitors while also negating the scalability problem. The "electrochemical flow capacitor" (EFC) consists of an electrochemical cell connected to two external electrolyte reservoirs - a design similar to existing redox flow batteries which are used in electrical vehicles.

This technology is unique because it uses small carbon particles suspended in the electrolyte liquid to create a slurry of particles that can carry an electric charge.

Uncharged slurry is pumped from its tanks through a flow cell, where energy stored in the cell is then transferred to the carbon particles. The charged slurry can then be stored in reservoirs until the energy is needed, at which time the entire process is reversed in order to discharge the EFC.

The main advantage of the EFC is that its design allows it to be constructed on a scale large enough to store large amounts of energy, while also allowing for rapid disbursal of the energy when the demand dictates it.

"By using a slurry of carbon particles as the active material of supercapacitors, we are able to adopt the system architecture from redox flow batteries and address issues of cost and scalability," Gogotsi said

In flow battery systems, as well as the EFC, the energy storage capacity is determined by the size of the reservoirs, which store the charged material. If a larger capacity is desired, the tanks can simply be scaled up in size. Similarly, the power output of the system is controlled by the size of the electrochemical cell, with larger cells producing more power.

"Flow battery architecture is very attractive for grid-scale applications because it allows for scalable energy storage by decoupling the power and energy density," said Dr. E.C. Kumbur, director of Drexel's Electrochemical Energy Systems Laboratory. "Slow response rate is a common problem for most energy storage systems. Incorporating the rapid charging and discharging ability of supercapacitors into this architecture is a major step toward effectively storing energy from fluctuating renewable sources and being able to quickly deliver the energy, as it is needed."

This design also gives the EFC a relatively long usage life compared to currently used flow batteries. According to the researchers, the EFC can potentially be operated in stationary applications for hundreds of thousands of charge-discharge cycles.

"This technology can potentially address cost and lifespan issues that we face with the current electrochemical energy storage technologies," Kumbur said.

"We believe that this new technology has important applications in [the renewable energy] field," said Dr. Volker Presser, who was an assistant research professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the time the initial work was done. "Moreover, these technologies can also be used to enhance the efficiency of existing power sources, and improve the stability of the grid."

This concept for energy storage was recently published in a special issue of Advanced Energy Materials focused on next-generation batteries. The team's ongoing work is focused on developing new slurry compositions based on different carbon nanomaterials and electrolytes, as well as optimizing their flow capacitor design. The group is also designing a small demonstration prototype to illustrate the fundamental operation of the system.

"We have observed very promising performance so far, being close to that of conventional packaged supercapacitor cells," Gogotsi said. "However, we will need to increase the energy density per unit of slurry volume by an order of magnitude, and achieve it using very inexpensive carbon and salt solutions to make the technology practical."

###



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?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 11-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Britt Faulstick
bef29@drexel.edu
215-895-2617
Drexel University

Drexel engineers develop new technology for grid-level electrical energy storage

PHILADELPHIA In the aftermath of the recent United Nations Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, the focus of many industrialized nations is beginning to shift toward planning for a sustainable future. One of the foremost challenges for sustainability is efficient use of renewable energy resources, a goal that hinges on the ability to store this energy when it is produced and disburse it when it is needed.

A team of researchers from Drexel University's College of Engineering have taken up this challenge and has developed a new method for quickly and efficiently storing large amounts of electrical energy.

The Challenge of Renewable Energy

Electrical energy storage is the obstacle preventing more widespread use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Due to the unpredictable nature of wind and solar energy, the ability to store this energy when it is produced is essential for turning these resources into reliable sources of energy. The current U.S. energy grid system is used predominantly for distributing energy and allows little flexibility for storage of excess or a rapid dispersal on short notice.

The Drexel's team of researchers is putting forward a plan to integrate into the grid an electrochemical storage system that combines principles behind the flow batteries and supercapacitors that power our daily technology.

Existing Technology

Batteries store a large amount of energy, but are relatively slow in discharging it and they have a limited lifespan, or cycle-life, than their counterparts electrochemical capacitors, which are commonly called "supercapacitors" or "ultracapacitors."

Conventional supercapacitors provide a high power output with minimal degradation in performance for as many as 1,000,000 charge-discharge cycles. The capacitor can rapidly store and discharge energy, but only in small amounts compared to the battery.

The obstacle in the way of using either a battery or a supercapacitor to store energy in the grid is that energy storage ability is inextricably tied to the size of the battery or the supercapacitor being used. Supercapacitors, similar to lithium-ion batteries, are manufactured in fairly small cells ranging in size from a coin to a soda can. Large amounts of expensive material, such as metal current collectors, polymer separators and packaging, would be required to construct a battery or supercapacitor of the size necessary to function effectively in the energy grid.

"Packing together thousands of conventional small devices to build a system for large-scale stationary energy storage is too expensive," said Dr. Yury Gogotsi, director of the A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute and the lead researcher on the project. "A liquid storage system, the capacity of which is limited only by the tank size, can be cost-effective and scalable."

A Grid Energy Storage Solution

The team's research yielded a novel solution that combines the strengths of batteries and supercapacitors while also negating the scalability problem. The "electrochemical flow capacitor" (EFC) consists of an electrochemical cell connected to two external electrolyte reservoirs - a design similar to existing redox flow batteries which are used in electrical vehicles.

This technology is unique because it uses small carbon particles suspended in the electrolyte liquid to create a slurry of particles that can carry an electric charge.

Uncharged slurry is pumped from its tanks through a flow cell, where energy stored in the cell is then transferred to the carbon particles. The charged slurry can then be stored in reservoirs until the energy is needed, at which time the entire process is reversed in order to discharge the EFC.

The main advantage of the EFC is that its design allows it to be constructed on a scale large enough to store large amounts of energy, while also allowing for rapid disbursal of the energy when the demand dictates it.

"By using a slurry of carbon particles as the active material of supercapacitors, we are able to adopt the system architecture from redox flow batteries and address issues of cost and scalability," Gogotsi said

In flow battery systems, as well as the EFC, the energy storage capacity is determined by the size of the reservoirs, which store the charged material. If a larger capacity is desired, the tanks can simply be scaled up in size. Similarly, the power output of the system is controlled by the size of the electrochemical cell, with larger cells producing more power.

"Flow battery architecture is very attractive for grid-scale applications because it allows for scalable energy storage by decoupling the power and energy density," said Dr. E.C. Kumbur, director of Drexel's Electrochemical Energy Systems Laboratory. "Slow response rate is a common problem for most energy storage systems. Incorporating the rapid charging and discharging ability of supercapacitors into this architecture is a major step toward effectively storing energy from fluctuating renewable sources and being able to quickly deliver the energy, as it is needed."

This design also gives the EFC a relatively long usage life compared to currently used flow batteries. According to the researchers, the EFC can potentially be operated in stationary applications for hundreds of thousands of charge-discharge cycles.

"This technology can potentially address cost and lifespan issues that we face with the current electrochemical energy storage technologies," Kumbur said.

"We believe that this new technology has important applications in [the renewable energy] field," said Dr. Volker Presser, who was an assistant research professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the time the initial work was done. "Moreover, these technologies can also be used to enhance the efficiency of existing power sources, and improve the stability of the grid."

This concept for energy storage was recently published in a special issue of Advanced Energy Materials focused on next-generation batteries. The team's ongoing work is focused on developing new slurry compositions based on different carbon nanomaterials and electrolytes, as well as optimizing their flow capacitor design. The group is also designing a small demonstration prototype to illustrate the fundamental operation of the system.

"We have observed very promising performance so far, being close to that of conventional packaged supercapacitor cells," Gogotsi said. "However, we will need to increase the energy density per unit of slurry volume by an order of magnitude, and achieve it using very inexpensive carbon and salt solutions to make the technology practical."

###



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/du-mv071112.php

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Annan seeks Iran, Iraq help in ending Syria crisis

Kofi Annan warned on Tuesday that Syria's deadly conflict could spread across the region as he held talks in Iran and Iraq aimed at shoring up support for his tattered peace plan.

But in an implicit rebuff to Annan's out reach to Iran, the United States insisted anew on Tuesday that it sees no role for Tehran in resolving the conflict.

A day after meeting President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, the UN-Arab League peace envoy had talks in Tehran and Baghdad amid new bloodshed in Syria, where more than 17,000 people have reportedly been killed since March 2011.

In Tehran, he stressed that the Islamic republic, Assad's staunchest ally, has a key role to play, and also sought help from Iraq, another neighbour of Syria.

"Iran can play a positive role," Annan said after meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.

"There is a risk that the situation in Syria gets out of hand and spreads to the region," Annan told a news conference with Salehi, who hailed the envoy's "neutrality" and reiterated Iranian support for his mission.

But White House spokesman Jay Carney said the conflict will not be resolved until Tehran's ally Assad steps down and allows a negotiated political transition.

"I don't think anybody with a straight face could argue that Iran has had a positive impact on developments in Syria," Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Annan also made a brief trip to Baghdad on Tuesday and said after talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that he would brief the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

The former UN chief's Middle East trip follows a meeting of world powers in Geneva late last month, to which Iran was not invited, to salvage his peace initiative.

A plan was agreed in Geneva for a political transition in Syria, which did not make an explicit call for Assad to quit, but the West and the opposition made clear they saw no role for him in a unity government.

After meeting Assad on Monday, the former UN chief said he had agreed with him on a new political approach to ending the crisis in Syria that he would put to the rebels.

"We discussed the need to end the violence and ways and means of doing so. We agreed an approach which I will share with the armed opposition," he said.

Speaking of Assad, Carney said "we remain highly sceptical about (his) willingness to keep his commitments, which is another reason why Syria's future cannot plausibly have Bashar al-Assad in the government."

"He's long since lost his credibility," he insisted.

Meanwhile, deadly violence showed no sign of abating.

The army rained shells down on the rebel-held central town of Rastan as violence killed at least 58 people nationwide, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian Arab Red Crescent staffer Khaled Khaffaji was among those killed, prompting the head of the organisation, Abdul Rahman al-Attar, to urge respect for humanitarian workers.

Russia said on Tuesday that it wanted to host a new meeting of foreign powers on the Syria crisis but stressed that the talks should not decide Assad's fate.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov also said the attempt in Geneva to save Annan's peace plan needed to be continued with the involvement of countries such as Iran, which both Washington and European powers strongly oppose.

But the opposition Syrian National Council said its priority was to "work for the fall of the Assad regime and all its symbols," insisting there could be no political transition until the embattled president's departure.

The new SNC leader, Abdel Basset Sayda, is due in Moscow on Wednesday at the foreign ministry's invitation, the SNC said.

Annan admitted in remarks published by French newspaper Le Monde ahead of his Damascus trip that his peace blueprint has so far foundered.

He has previously expressed frustration that while Moscow and Iran are mentioned by some as stumbling blocks to peace, "little is said about other countries which send arms, money and have a presence on the ground."

Russia is sending a flotilla of six warships to its naval base at Syria's port of Tartus, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a military source.

The source said the flotilla's deployment would last until the end of September and "was not linked to the escalation of the situation in Syria."

The White House said it was aware of the flotilla's movement but does not see cause for concern.

"We currently have no reason to believe this move is anything out of the ordinary but we refer you to the Russian government for more details," Erin Pelton, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, told AFP.

Moscow arms export officials said on Monday that Russia will not supply new weapons to Syria while fighting there continues, while stressing that old contracts would be fulfilled.

That drew criticism from Amnesty International, whose deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa said "they must immediately stop all arms transfers, including technical assistance, to the Syrian government."

Lebanon, meanwhile, began reinforcing its border with Syria following a series of deadly attacks, a military spokesman said in Beirut.

Syrian troops traded gunfire with men overnight in the border area and shells fell inside Lebanon, wounding civilians, the army said, just two days after border clashes killed two girls.

Syrian state news agency SANA confirmed the violence and said troops foiled attempts by "armed terrorist groups" to infiltrate from Lebanon during the night.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/annan-syria-hoping-save-peace-plan-164324248.html

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SEC finalizes derivative definition rules

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sec-finalizes-derivative-definition-rules-145138218--sector.html

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Mexico condemns border shooting

From Gustavo Valdes and Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN

updated 4:21 PM EDT, Mon July 9, 2012

The shooting occurred near the border between Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico, officials said.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Mexican officials say a fatal shooting occurred along the U.S. border
  • Mexico's foreign ministry condemns a "disproportionate use of lethal force"
  • A border patrol spokesman says two agents opened fire during "dangerous encounters"
  • The FBI is investigating, the spokesman says

(CNN) -- Mexico's foreign ministry has accused a U.S. border patrol agent of fatally shooting a Mexican citizen over the weekend.

The shooting occurred near the bridge that connects Brownsville, Texas, with the Mexican town of Matamoros, the foreign ministry said Sunday in a statement condemning the violence.

The ministry said a Mexican national died after being shot by the U.S. agent, but did not release details about the circumstances surrounding the Saturday violence.

"The Mexican government has repeatedly expressed that the disproportionate use of lethal force in the exercising of immigration control functions is unacceptable under any circumstance," the foreign ministry said, calling for a thorough investigation.

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

Tensions follow Mexico election

HIDE CAPTION

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman said two agents fired shots Saturday morning during "dangerous encounters" along the border.

The truth about the Fast and Furious scandal

But U.S. officials have not confirmed any deaths related to the shootings.

"We have been unable to establish a connection between the shootings and a victim reportedly admitted to a Matamoros hospital," U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Bill Brooks said.

Agents "were involved in two dangerous encounters" in the Rio Grande Valley Saturday morning, he said.

In one incident, an agent fired toward someone who was throwing rocks at him, he said.

"At approximately the same time, another nearby agent observed a person aiming a weapon at him and fired his service weapon in defense," he said.

The FBI is investigating, Brooks said.

In 2010, the FBI investigated after a border patrol agent shot and killed a Mexican teen along the border between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Federal officials closed the case in April, saying there was not enough evidence to pursue charges against the officer and that he acted within the agency's policies for use of force.

The officer received widespread condemnation from critics who questioned his use of deadly force against 15-year-old Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca, who authorities said had been throwing rocks at the agent when he was shot and killed.

Opinion: Why 'illegal immigrant' is a slur

Hernandez had a history of involvement with human smuggling and was on a list of repeat juvenile offenders, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mark Qualia told CNN after the shooting.

An appeal is pending in a lawsuit filed by the teen's parents in U.S. federal court, accusing the officer of using excessive force. The Mexican government filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case last week, noting that its request to extradite the border patrol agent for prosecution had been denied.

"As a matter of international responsibility, the fact that the victim was on Mexican soil when he was killed does not absolve the United States of responsibility for the acts of its agent," the brief said.

California Senate passes 'anti-Arizona' bill to limit racial profiling

Immigration reporter mulls fate after denial of asylum request

CNN's Nick Valencia and Rene Hernandez contributed to this report.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/Lz9gDjYsxpI/index.html

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University of Miami-led study finds winds played important role in keeping oil away from S. Fla.

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 9-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Barbra Gonzalez
barbgo@rsmas.miami.edu
305-421-4704
University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science

New NSF funded study shows how currents and winds shaped where hydrocarbons from Deepwater Horizon went

MIAMI July 9, 21012 -- The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in spring 2010 is the largest oil spill in the history of the United States, with more than 200 million gallons of crude oil released at about 1,500 m. depth off the Mississippi Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. At the time of the accident, the proximity of the intense Loop Current, flowing from the Yucatan Channel to the Florida Straits, raised major concerns that the oil at the surface of the ocean would be headed toward the South Florida and East Atlantic coastal areas. However, the dominant transport of oil and oil products was toward the Northern Gulf coastline, and no oil was observed to reach the Atlantic Ocean.

In a new study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, University of Miami (UM) scientists Matthieu Le Hnaff, Villy Kourafalou, Claire Paris, Judith Helgers, and Ashwanth Srinivasan, in collaboration with Zachary Aman from the Colorado School of Mines, and Patrick Hogan from the Naval Research Laboratory, use numerical simulations performed at the High Performance Computing core of UM's Center for Computational Science (CCS) to explain an important aspect of the observed oil transport.

The group has demonstrated the crucial role of the wind-induced surface drift on the fate of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico. This drift was found to have a strong influence on the displacement of oil, accounting for the influence of winds on the top surface of ocean waters through the generation of waves and additional circulation. These particular wind effects are generally not represented in ocean circulation models and were missing from real time ocean circulation predictions during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Incorporating this wind effect to the ocean currents, the UM scientists performed a novel 3D modeling study of the oil's spread from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to the ocean's surface, which allowed a realistic representation of the evolution of the 2010 oil spill. The oil spill simulations were verified through observational composites from UM's Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS) and from Roffer's Ocean Fishing Forecasting System, and benefited from regional circulation models that assimilate real ocean data; no change in the oil spill extent took place to match observations. Results from this study showed that the model simulation including the wind-induced drift led to substantially improved results over an identical simulation that excluded wind drift effects.

"It is striking to notice how a large part of the surface oil erroneously made it to the Atlantic coast of Florida in the simulations that ignored the wind-induced drift. The simulation taking the drift into account correctly calculated the final destination of the oil along the Northern Gulf coastline, in remarkable agreement with observations," says Le Hnaff, a research scientist at the UM Rosenstiel School, who is also affiliated with NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS). "The dominant northward winds during spring and summer of 2010 led the surface oil to be pushed onto the Northern Gulf shelf areas and toward the coasts, away from the interior of the Gulf and the Loop Current southward transport. This effect, together with the evolution of the Loop Current, was crucial in maintaining the oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig within the Gulf of Mexico and away from the South Florida coral reefs and beaches."

###

This study was made possible by NSF-RAPID 1048697 award to C. Paris. The contribution of Villy Kourafalou was made possible in part by a grant from BP/The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative.

About Us

The CCS has emerged as a leader in providing a robust cyber infrastructure designed to address major computational challenges, and is now recognized among the State's top academic centers, and is gaining national prominence for its work. The Center supports diverse and often interdisciplinary projects, and offers extraordinary intellectual, hardware, and software resources to its partners. Its high performance computer core supports work a variety of fields such as genomics, computational biology, marine ecosystems modeling, climate and meteorology, computational fluid dynamics and social systems informatics. For more information, please visit www.ccs.miami.edu

The University of Miami's mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. Founded in the 1940's, the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science has grown into one of the world's premier marine and atmospheric research institutions. Offering dynamic interdisciplinary academics, the Rosenstiel School is dedicated to helping communities to better understand the planet, participating in the establishment of environmental policies, and aiding in the improvement of society and quality of life. For more information, please visit www.rsmas.miami.edu.



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[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 9-Jul-2012
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Contact: Barbra Gonzalez
barbgo@rsmas.miami.edu
305-421-4704
University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science

New NSF funded study shows how currents and winds shaped where hydrocarbons from Deepwater Horizon went

MIAMI July 9, 21012 -- The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in spring 2010 is the largest oil spill in the history of the United States, with more than 200 million gallons of crude oil released at about 1,500 m. depth off the Mississippi Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. At the time of the accident, the proximity of the intense Loop Current, flowing from the Yucatan Channel to the Florida Straits, raised major concerns that the oil at the surface of the ocean would be headed toward the South Florida and East Atlantic coastal areas. However, the dominant transport of oil and oil products was toward the Northern Gulf coastline, and no oil was observed to reach the Atlantic Ocean.

In a new study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, University of Miami (UM) scientists Matthieu Le Hnaff, Villy Kourafalou, Claire Paris, Judith Helgers, and Ashwanth Srinivasan, in collaboration with Zachary Aman from the Colorado School of Mines, and Patrick Hogan from the Naval Research Laboratory, use numerical simulations performed at the High Performance Computing core of UM's Center for Computational Science (CCS) to explain an important aspect of the observed oil transport.

The group has demonstrated the crucial role of the wind-induced surface drift on the fate of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico. This drift was found to have a strong influence on the displacement of oil, accounting for the influence of winds on the top surface of ocean waters through the generation of waves and additional circulation. These particular wind effects are generally not represented in ocean circulation models and were missing from real time ocean circulation predictions during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Incorporating this wind effect to the ocean currents, the UM scientists performed a novel 3D modeling study of the oil's spread from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to the ocean's surface, which allowed a realistic representation of the evolution of the 2010 oil spill. The oil spill simulations were verified through observational composites from UM's Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS) and from Roffer's Ocean Fishing Forecasting System, and benefited from regional circulation models that assimilate real ocean data; no change in the oil spill extent took place to match observations. Results from this study showed that the model simulation including the wind-induced drift led to substantially improved results over an identical simulation that excluded wind drift effects.

"It is striking to notice how a large part of the surface oil erroneously made it to the Atlantic coast of Florida in the simulations that ignored the wind-induced drift. The simulation taking the drift into account correctly calculated the final destination of the oil along the Northern Gulf coastline, in remarkable agreement with observations," says Le Hnaff, a research scientist at the UM Rosenstiel School, who is also affiliated with NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS). "The dominant northward winds during spring and summer of 2010 led the surface oil to be pushed onto the Northern Gulf shelf areas and toward the coasts, away from the interior of the Gulf and the Loop Current southward transport. This effect, together with the evolution of the Loop Current, was crucial in maintaining the oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig within the Gulf of Mexico and away from the South Florida coral reefs and beaches."

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This study was made possible by NSF-RAPID 1048697 award to C. Paris. The contribution of Villy Kourafalou was made possible in part by a grant from BP/The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative.

About Us

The CCS has emerged as a leader in providing a robust cyber infrastructure designed to address major computational challenges, and is now recognized among the State's top academic centers, and is gaining national prominence for its work. The Center supports diverse and often interdisciplinary projects, and offers extraordinary intellectual, hardware, and software resources to its partners. Its high performance computer core supports work a variety of fields such as genomics, computational biology, marine ecosystems modeling, climate and meteorology, computational fluid dynamics and social systems informatics. For more information, please visit www.ccs.miami.edu

The University of Miami's mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. Founded in the 1940's, the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science has grown into one of the world's premier marine and atmospheric research institutions. Offering dynamic interdisciplinary academics, the Rosenstiel School is dedicated to helping communities to better understand the planet, participating in the establishment of environmental policies, and aiding in the improvement of society and quality of life. For more information, please visit www.rsmas.miami.edu.



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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/uomr-uom070912.php

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Maine filmmaker chats with younger version of self

(AP) ? A video created by a Maine filmmaker that shows him talking to a younger version of himself thanks to creative editing is making its way across the Internet.

Jeremiah McDonald of Portland put together VHS footage of himself when he was 12 years old and juxtaposed it with a video of himself as a 32-year-old actor and filmmaker, creating a conversation between the two that's both snarky and nostalgic.

Posted on YouTube on Thursday, it had received more than 1.6 million views within 24 hours.

The video shows the modern McDonald sipping booze while talking to his squirmy younger self about his cartoon drawings as a child, a Star Wars action figure, their pets, the Internet and the British science fiction TV show "Doctor Who."

___

Online:

Jeremiah McDonald's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFGAQrEUaeU

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2012-07-06-Younger%20Self%20Video/id-c68f922299ac4d94a9e20f87ee335d80

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Kourtney Kardashian delivers baby girl

FILE - In an April 30, 2012 file photo Kourtney Kardashian attends an E! Network upfront event at Gotham Hall in New York. Kourtney Kardashian gave birth to a girl and she's naming Penelope early Sunday July 8, 2012 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.(AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

FILE - In an April 30, 2012 file photo Kourtney Kardashian attends an E! Network upfront event at Gotham Hall in New York. Kourtney Kardashian gave birth to a girl and she's naming Penelope early Sunday July 8, 2012 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.(AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

(AP) ? Kourtney Kardashian has given birth to a girl and she's naming her Penelope.

The reality TV star told E! News that her second child with boyfriend Scott Disick was born early Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces. Her full name is Penelope Scotland Disick.

Kardashian said mother and child were "resting comfortably."

She and Disick have a 2-year-old son named Mason. Both of her pregnancies were highly publicized.

Her sister, Kim, wrote on her website that the family was thrilled to finally meet the newborn. The family appears on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-07-09-People-Kourtney%20Kardashian/id-fbee308d9d2641b4afab772c40472e06

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Israel blocks UN mission that singles out Jewish state

Israel will not work with a UN mission on settlements that it said was "flawed and biased" and embodied "the inherent distortions" of the international body.

The UN Human Rights Council, a body with a controversial record when it comes to Israel, named three officials to look at the impact of the West Bank settlements on the Palestinians.

The probe will be conducted by a team of three women, one from Pakistan, one from France and one from Botswana, with a brief to look at the effect on the "civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people" .

The mission, first established in March, was described by an Israeli spokesman as "another blatant expression of the singling out of Israel in the UNHRC and of the uncandid approach that characterises the Council's dealing with Israel".

In response to the UNHRC's announcement, Israel said that it would sever ties with the organisation and warned that members of the mission would be blocked from entering the Jewish state.

"Israel was left with no other choice than to take this decision," said the spokesman. "It became apparent that putting the disproportionate focus on Israel, while systematically ignoring massive human rights violations in the very countries who bear responsibility for this focus, only leads to the contempt and degradation of the important cause of universal human rights."

He said that the suspension of ties should be seen as a wake-up call to democratic countries, "which should attempt to fix the serious corruption of the UNHRC and not allow the trampling of human rights precisely where the international community must raise their banner".

He also criticised the UNHRC for focusing on Israel so frequently yet dedicating "only symbolic time" to the worst excesses of the Assad regime in Syria.

The UNHRC is seen by some as being disproportionately critical of Israel. Its "Special Rapporteur" for the Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, is known for his hostile views toward Israel and his support for conspiracy theories about the September 11 attacks. Last year he posted an antisemitic cartoon depicted a dog wearing a kippah and urinating on his blog.

Last updated: 11:32am, July 9 2012

Source: http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/69688/israel-blocks-un-mission-singles-out-jewish-state

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