UN warns 25 pct of world land highly degraded (AP)

ROME ? The United Nations has completed the first-ever global assessment of the state of the planet's land resources, finding in a report Monday that a quarter of all land is highly degraded and warning the trend must be reversed if the world's growing population is to be fed.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that farmers will have to produce 70 percent more food by 2050 to meet the needs of the world's expected 9 billion-strong population. That amounts to 1 billion tons more wheat, rice and other cereals and 200 million more tons of beef and other livestock.

But as it is, most available land is already being farmed, and in ways that often decrease its productivity through practices that lead to soil erosion and wasting of water.

That means that to meet the world's future food needs, a major "sustainable intensification" of agricultural productivity on existing farmland will be necessary, the FAO said in "State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture."

FAO's director-general Jacques Diouf said increased competition over land for growing biofuels, coupled with climate change and poor farming practices, had left key food-producing systems at risk of being unable to meet human needs in 2050.

"The consequences in terms of hunger and poverty are unacceptable," he told reporters at FAO's Rome headquarters. "Remedial actions need to be taken now. We simply cannot continue on a course of business as usual."

The report was released Monday, as delegates from around the world meet in Durban, South Africa, for a two-week U.N. climate change conference aimed at breaking the deadlock on how to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

The report found that climate change coupled with poor farming practices had contributed to a decrease in productivity of the world's farmland following the boon years of the Green Revolution, when crop yields soared thanks to new technologies, pesticides and the introduction of high-yield crops.

Thanks to the Green Revolution, the world's cropland grew by just 12 percent between 1961 and 2009, but food productivity increased by 150 percent.

But the U.N. report found that rates of growth have been slowing down in many areas and today are only half of what they were at the peak of the Green Revolution.

It found that 25 percent of the world's land is now "highly degraded," with soil erosion, water degradation and biodiversity loss. Another 8 percent is moderately degraded, while 36 percent is stable or slightly degraded and 10 percent is ranked as "improving."

The rest of the Earth's surface is either bare or covered by inland water bodies.

Some examples of areas at risk: Western Europe, where highly intensive agriculture has led to pollution of soil and aquifers and a resulting loss of biodiversity; In the highlands of the Himalayas, the Andes, the Ethiopian plateau and southern Africa, soil erosion has been coupled with an increased intensity of floods; In southeast and eastern Asia's rice-based food systems, land has been abandoned thanks in part to a loss of the cultural value of it.

The report found that water around the world is becoming ever more scarce and salinated, while groundwater is becoming more polluted by agricultural runoff and other toxins.

In order to meet the world's water needs in 2050, more efficient irrigation will be necessary since currently most irrigation systems perform well below their capacity, FAO said.

The agency called for new farming practices like integrated irrigation and fish-farm systems to meet those demands, as well as overall investment in agricultural development.

The price tag deemed necessary for investments through 2050: $1 trillion in irrigation water management alone for developing countries, with another $160 billion for soil conservation and flood control.

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Online:

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_re_eu/eu_un_food_and_water

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Republican field crowded and likely to remain so (AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa ? They are barely blips in presidential polls and their campaign cash is scarce. Some are running on empty, fueled mainly by the exposure that comes with the blizzard of televised debates in this election cycle and interviews they eagerly grant to skeptical reporters.

Yet the second-tier candidates for the Republican presidential nomination soldier on. They argue that the race is far from over and that anything can happen with polls showing a wide-open race in Iowa five weeks before the Jan. 3 caucuses.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum is typical when he resists the conventional wisdom that only candidates with a lot of cash and a big campaign can win.

"I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing and I feel like I'm making a difference in the race," said Santorum, who barely registers in state surveys despite having campaigned in Iowa for more than a year. "I absolutely believe our time will come and we'll have the opportunity to have the spotlight turned on us."

Santorum, who represented Pennsylvania in Congress for 16 years, frankly acknowledges the possibility of a different outcome.

"If it doesn't, you know, it doesn't," he said.

Even more than energy and determination, also-ran candidates rely on particular issues, free media and prospects for the future to drive them to keep their small-scale operations going.

With polls and money putting candidates like Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain atop the field of Republican rivals, there's a crop of others likely to remain in the race until voters have their say. One force in that dynamic is the fluidity of this year's contest.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman, was among the many candidates who surged when they got into the race but then plummeted in the polls. She's gotten feistier as her fortunes have sagged.

"I guarantee you, with everything within my being, I have the backbone," Bachmann said. "I'll put my backbone up against any other candidate in the race."

That includes Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is adamant that he's not giving up, even as his campaign flails and his once-flush bank account suffers following a series of debate missteps that has some of his fundraisers questioning his viability. He, like Bachmann, Santorum and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, are barely blips in many surveys.

Although they don't seem to be catching fire, it turns out that the nomination itself is not the only prize to be had by seeking a presidential nomination.

Rep. Ron Paul's hard-core libertarian views energize a small but loyal base. Santorum uses his platform to hammer his hard-core anti-abortion stance. Bachmann just released a book whose sales could see a boost in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses.

And history shows that future leadership posts ? and presidential runs ? can be in the offing.

Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa waged a long-shot bid for the Democratic nomination in 1992, getting forced out after the early primaries. He endorsed candidate Bill Clinton, kept his seat in the Senate and became an influential voice in the Clinton White House.

Romney lost his first presidential bid in 2008 but used that experience to build a network of political and financial supporters serving him well in this election cycle.

There are other reasons too to press ahead when chances of victory seem slim, not the least of which is how quickly politics can change.

Just ask Gingrich. The former House speaker was a footnote in the race this summer after his campaign imploded. Now, as Iowa voters give him a second look, he's enjoying a rise in state and national polls. And he reports that money and manpower are now flowing his way.

It's not unusual for second-tier candidates to stick around long after they have fallen out of favor with voters and donors alike. The structure of the race in Iowa and other early voting states like New Hampshire and South Carolina is designed to make it possible for them to keep going because the states are relatively cheap places to campaign and they value hand-to-hand campaigning over pricy TV ads.

"In Iowa, you can sleep on people's couches and hang on for a long time with very little money," Republican strategist Rich Galen said. "You can live off the land in Iowa. You can't do that in Florida."

The nature of the politics of the first three states to vote also encourages longshot candidates because the contests are dominated in both parties by hard-core activists more interested in political purity than poll numbers.

Steve Scheffler, who heads the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, notes that very few people in Iowa have made firm decisions on whom to support, meaning the race could be anyone's to win.

"There's enough fluidness in the race and enough people out there who are not entrenched in stone," Scheffler said. "The verdict is still out there."

Thus, so too are the second-tier candidates.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_el_pr/us_republicans_crowded_field

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Moody's cuts Hungary to "junk," government sees attack (Reuters)

BUDAPEST (Reuters) ? Credit rating agency Moody's cut Hungary's debt to "junk" grade late on Thursday, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's unorthodox economic policies and prompting his government to denounce the move as a "financial attack."

Moody's lowered Hungary's sovereign rating by one notch to Ba1, just below investment grade, with a negative outlook, hours after rival Standard & Poor's held fire on a flagged downgrade after Budapest said it would seek international aid.

The move followed warnings from all three major ratings agencies that Orban's policies, which have eschewed traditional austerity in favor of revenue-boosting steps like a special bank tax and the nationalization of $14 billion in pension assets, had put Hungary's finances at risk.

It also came after Orban relaunched aid talks this week with the International Monetary Fund, a dramatic reversal after he cut cooperation with the Fund short last year after sweeping a 2010 election on a vow to regain "economic sovereignty."

Moody's cited rising uncertainty about Hungary's ability to meet fiscal goals, high debt levels and what it called increasingly constrained medium-term growth prospects.

"Moody's believes that the combined impact of these factors will adversely impact the government's financial strength and erode its shock-absorption capacity," it said in a statement.

Hungarian bond yields soared by about a full percentage point, lifting its entire bond curve above 9 percent, but yields dropped by about 20-30 basis points in afternoon trade as high yields prompted buyers to enter the market.

The cost of insuring Hungarian debt against default jumped to new record highs at 635 basis points, eclipsing earlier highs hit in March 2009. The forint rebounded from morning falls of about 1.6 percent to trade at 314.10 by 1259 GMT.

The Czech crown fell to a 17-month low and the Polish zloty dipped beyond the 4.50 per euro level and briefly approached a 27-month low of 4.537 hit in September.

Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy, said that although most of central and Eastern Europe was better off than southern Europe, fears over the euro zone debt crisis and the Hungarian downgrade indicated turmoil ahead.

"There's no question that sentiment toward the region is deteriorating rapidly and that even the most resilient economies are in for a rough ride in the months ahead," he said.

SHORT-LIVED SURPLUS

The downgrade is a major setback for Orban, whose Fidesz party ousted Socialists he has blamed for economic mismanagement by winning a two-thirds majority in last year's election.

He has cut taxes for families and small firms and raised tariffs on banks, utilities and other big, mainly foreign-owned, firms, putting the country of 10 million on track to run one of the European Union's only budget surpluses this year.

But his policies have failed to spur growth and irked voters who resent his aggressive tactics and oppose his seizing private pension savings to fund an inefficient public sector.

The government's unpredictability and rising pressure from the euro zone crisis have hammered investor sentiment.

The forint has fallen 16.3 percent since July 1, versus 12.6 percent for its regional peer the Polish zloty and 6.7 percent for the Czech crown.

The Economy Ministry has blamed the currency's plummet -- which has hit Hungarians who have borrowed in foreign currency -- on market speculators. It said the downgrade was unwarranted, the latest in a string of "financial attacks against Hungary."

"Obviously, the forint's weakening is not justified by either the performance of the Hungarian economy, or the shape of the budget," the Economy Ministry said in a statement.

The government cited its commitment to keep the budget deficit below 3 percent of economic output next year, 1 percent of GDP's worth of reserves in the 2012 budget, and an expected decline in debt levels, as arguments against the rating cut.

But Moody's said the government's 2.5 percent of GDP budget deficit target for next year may be difficult to meet due to high funding costs and low economic growth.

The weak forint pushed Hungary's government debt to 82 percent of economic output by the end of the third quarter, undoing the impact of Orban's $14 billion pension asset grab.

Hungary must roll over 4.7 billion euros in external debt next year as it starts repaying part of its 20 billion euros, 2008 bailout from the IMF -- something that could be solved with a new financing deal.

In his unexpected about face on potential IMF support, Orban made clear that he would not accept any demands in exchange for cash at the ready should the need arise. but Moody's said the request to resume talks illustrated Budapest's funding challenges.

"Even with such an arrangement, the government's debt structure will remain vulnerable to shocks in the medium term, which are inconsistent with a Baa3 rating," Moody's said.

"SAFETY NET"

The European Commission forecasts the economy will expand by only 0.5 percent at most next year, far lower than the 3 percent initially forecast in Orban's medium-term budget plan.

Complicating that further is high unemployment, weak bank lending and 5 trillion forints in mostly Swiss franc denominated foreign currency mortgages which have seen repayments soar due to the franc's strength and forint's slide.

Orban has introduced an option for families to repay loans at exchange rates below market levels, but that has roiled markets and inflicted billions of forints of losses on the bank sector, undermining growth and lending.

Economists said the gloomy economic outlook could combine with the downgrade and increase pressure on Budapest to accept an IMF deal with the monitoring and policy recommendations Orban has spurned.

"As the economy will tumble into recession by around the turn of the year, we expect that it will have no other choice than to accept any IMF proposal, even if this would include conditionalities," said Michal Dybula at BNP Paribas.

Moody's said it would further lower Hungary's rating if there was a significant decline in government financial strength due to a lack of progress on structural reforms and implementation of a medium-term plan.

The ratings cut came just hours after S&P deferred its decision on a possible downgrade of Hungary to non-investment grade until end-February, pending IMF talks.

Fitch, another rating agency which has Hungary in the lowest investment-grade category, has said an agreement on a new IMF program could reduce downward pressure on Hungary's rating.

(Additional reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Writing by Michael Winfrey; Editing by Catherine Evans, Ron Askew)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/bs_nm/us_hungary_moodys

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Egypt's military ruler warns crisis must end (AP)

CAIRO ? Egypt's military ruler warned of "extremely grave" consequences if the turbulent nation does not pull through its current crisis and urged voters to turn out for landmark parliamentary elections starting Monday.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi claimed "foreign hands" were behind the latest wave of unrest, an assertion similar to those made by Hosni Mubarak in his final days in power before he was ousted in a popular uprising in February. Tantawi was Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years.

In comments carried by the nation's official news agency, Tantawi rejected calls for him and other generals on the ruling military council he heads to immediately step down.

The warning came as thousands of protesters were filling Cairo's Tahrir Square for another massive demonstration to push for him and the other generals to immediately return to their barracks in favor of a civilian presidential council and a "national salvation" government to run the country's affairs until a president is elected. It was the ninth straight day of a revival of the protest movement that toppled Mubarak. At least 41 protesters have been killed in and more than 2,000 have been wounded, most of them in Cairo.

The military took the reins of power when Mubarak was ousted. But it has come under intense criticism for most of the past nine months for its failure to restore security, stop the rapid worsening of the economy or introduce the far-reaching reforms called for by the youth groups behind Mubarak's fall and the ongoing protest movement.

Tantawi said the military will follow through with its somewhat vague road map for handing over power. The ruling council never set a precise date for transferring authority to an elected civilian administration, only pledging that presidential elections ? the last step in the handover process ? will be held before the end of June, 2012.

"We will not allow troublemakers to meddle in the elections," he said. "Egypt is at a crossroads ? either we succeed politically, economically and socially or the consequences will be extremely grave and we will not allow that."

Tantawi also accused foreign powers he did not name of meddling in Egypt's affairs.

"None of this would have happened if there were no foreign hands," he said. "We will not allow a small minority of people who don't understand to harm Egypt's stability," he said, apparently alluding to the protesters in Tahrir, epicenter of the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt

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Mazda's Capacitor Based Automotive Regenerative Braking System ...

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PZEV, there's nothing like it :) ? Join Date: Feb 2006 Vehicles: Accord, Ranger, and anything else ;) Location: Northern Illinois Posts: 33,171

Mazda?s Capacitor Based Automotive Regenerative Braking System It is called 'i-ELOOP'.Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Nov. 24, 2011 Mazda's 'i-ELOOP' regenerative braking system Mazda released details on a groundbreaking regenerative braking system that uses a super capacitor in leiu of a battery for quick storage. The system, which Mazda calls 'i-ELOOP', will begin to appear in Mazda's vehicles in 2012. Mazda claims that in real-world driving conditions with frequent acceleration and braking, 'i-ELOOP' improves fuel economy by approximately 10 percent. We know better but there will always be an advantage with regenerative braking rather than throwing it away any time you have to step on the brake. Mazda's regenerative braking system is unique because it uses a capacitor that temporarily stores large volumes of electricity. Compared to batteries, capacitors can be charged and discharged rapidly and are resistant to deterioration through prolonged use. 'i-ELOOP' efficiently converts the vehicle's kinetic energy into electricity as it decelerates, and uses the electricity to power the climate control, audio system and numerous other electrical components. Regenerative braking systems are growing in popularity as a fuel saving technology. They use an electric motor or alternator to generate electricity as the vehicle decelerates, thereby recovering a portion of the vehicle's kinetic energy. Regenerative braking systems in hybrid vehicles generally use a large electric motor and dedicated battery. Mazda developed its regenerative braking system to handle a large influx of current and slowly give it back. And they somehow did it without the use of a dedicated electric motor but instead of a reversing alternator which sounds to me like a dedicated motor generator by a different name? 'i-ELOOP' features a new 12-25V variable voltage alternator, a low-resistance electric double layer capacitor and a DC/DC converter. 'i-ELOOP' starts to recover kinetic energy the moment the driver lifts off the accelerator pedal and the vehicle begins to decelerate. The variable voltage alternator generates electricity at up to 25V for maximum efficiency before sending it to the Electric Double Layer Capacitor (EDLC) for storage. The capacitor, which has been specially developed for use in a vehicle, can be fully charged in seconds. The DC/DC converter steps down the electricity from 25V to 12V before it is distributed directly to the vehicle's electrical components. The system also charges the vehicle battery as necessary. 'i-ELOOP' operates whenever the vehicle decelerates, reducing the need for the engine to burn extra fuel to generate electricity. As a result, in "stop-and-go" driving conditions, fuel economy improves by approximately 10 percent. There is no way to improve fuel economy by 10% through a 12-25V system but on the Japan Test cycles known to the world as magic pixie dust, maybe 10% is about right? The name 'i-ELOOP' is an adaptation of "Intelligent Energy Loop" and represents Mazda's intention to efficiently cycle energy in an intelligent way. 'i-ELOOP' also works in conjunction with Mazda's unique 'i-stop' idling stop technology to extend the period that the engine can be shut off. Mazda is working to maximize the efficiency of internal combustion engine vehicles with its groundbreaking SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY. By combining this with i-stop, i-ELOOP and other electric devices that enhance fuel economy by eliminating unnecessary fuel consumption, Mazda is striving to deliver vehicles with excellent environmental performance. SuperCap systems used for hybridization in R&D projects from the past found the Super Cap to be prohibitively expensive with the resultant payback smaller than what was hoped. Who knows, maybe Mazda has discovered the holy grail but when I hear of 12-25V systems returning a 10% increase in fuel efficiency, I will be just as skeptical as I am with SKYACTIV which so far has produced 7 more HP and the same highway fuel economy from the much hyped 2.0L in the new Mazda3 as the standard every day 2011/2012 Elantra with its MPFI 1.8L. We will have to wait and see?

Member ? Join Date: Jul 2008 Vehicles: 1981 Mazda GLC M5; 1975 Windsor Pro (bike); 1984 Trek 620; 1961 Schwinn Corvette Location: Western South Carolina Posts: 94

Re: Mazda?s Capacitor Based Automotive Regenerative Braking System Your skepticism is justified. I doubt even powering the alternator with magic would improve fuel economy by 10% in normal circumstances in a non-hybrid car. It would be possible if we assume unusually heavy electrical demands, and a lot of time idling or moving very slowly. Last edited by RedylC94 : Yesterday at 02:58 AM.

Gen II Prianista ? Join Date: Jul 2009 Vehicles: 2008 Prius Touring Location: Ballamer, Merlin Posts: 100

Re: Mazda?s Capacitor Based Automotive Regenerative Braking System Regen is meaningful in that it recovers kinetic energy that would otherwise be turned into waste heat. But it is a lossy system, due the energy conversions between wheel and battery. kinetic -> (wheels) -> mechanical -> (gen/alt) -> electrical -> (batt) -> chemical I've read that in the Prius the energy recovery efficiency is ~40%. A smart Prius driver minimizes the losses by using regen as little as possible by "driving without brakes'," traffic and topography permitting. If you're really trying to drive efficiently, regen is a measure of your mistakes in being caught going too fast in changing real world conditions. So, different drivers will see different amounts of regen and determing "real savings" would require removing the human factor somehow. Stopped in my Prius w/ScanGuage, I do notice a slow reduction in charge in the HV battery as it feeds the 12V bus via the DC-to-DC converter. So, Madza's regen system coupled with the i-Stop would provide an alternate energy source for the "housekeeping" electrical loads when stopped. I wonder though if the small gains are worth the necessary extra cost and complexity. I expect to see the old "What's the payback period?" question come up soon. All that said, Mazda is to be complemented in doing something to recover otherwise lost energy. I'd guess that driving in the "Zoom-zoom" style would generate a lot of regen, but very little energy recovered relative to the amount of fuel that propelled the zooming in the first place. . Last edited by Rokeby : Yesterday at 09:15 AM.

Reformed speeder ? Join Date: Aug 2006 Vehicles: 2006 Honda Insight MT, 2011 Prius Two Location: Essex, CT Posts: 2,137

Re: Mazda?s Capacitor Based Automotive Regenerative Braking System Quote: The Prius system allows Toyota to gear it really tall-since the electric motor can kick in to prevent lugging. Great point. The Prius normally uses the electric motor to get going from a dead stop (assuming the ICE is warmed up). I hadn't thought about the savings from higher gearing, but starting on electric also avoids gas-wasting high throttle/low rpm usage of the ICE. I'm not a big fan of regen. As rokeby says, braking of any kind, regen or not, is often a sign of inefficient driving: you've wasted energy to get more momentum than you need. Another problem with regen is that most often it's a high current/short time event. For example, braking to a stop sign or red light: 10-20 seconds of regen?? Batteries recapture charge better from longer, lower current events. The SOC in either of my cars rarely budges after a typical stop like this. Maybe a capacitor captures energy from these events better than a battery does. What DOES show on the SOC is regen during long descents and gradual decels on long freeway offramps, but these opportunities are less frequent. I sometimes think that the main advantage of regen is that it reduces wear on the friction brakes so less money spent on brake jobs!! Mazda's iStop autostop technology seems really great. Apparently they haven't used it more because of the demands on the battery during autostop, and this cap storage is a missing piece of the puzzle. Last edited by lightfoot : Yesterday at 01:19 PM.

Quote: I'm not a big fan of regen. As rokeby says, braking of any kind, regen or not, is often a sign of inefficient driving: you've wasted energy to get more momentum than you need. Another problem with regen is that most often it's a high current/short time event. For example, braking to a stop sign or red light: 10-20 seconds of regen?? Batteries recapture charge better from longer, lower current events. The SOC in either of my cars rarely budges after a typical stop like this. Maybe a capacitor captures energy from these events better than a battery does. Ok, guys. Step down from your hypermile horse for a moment: brakes are there for a reason. You will need to use them, and likely more in the future as traffic density increases. There's not a way for our road system support 380 million hypermilers unless we leave the driving to computers, otherwise you'll have to always maintain 10x extra spacing for the one person out there that doesn't... As for the technology, one of the more inefficient pieces of regen braking is the charge loss to the battery. Charging to a capacitor is far more efficient, although not as efficient as directly spinning a mechanical flywheel. In any event, Mazda will be able to get more that the 40% recovery number of the Prius's. Where Mazda's mild hybrid will still lose out is the lack of a good EV only mode, but this will be as effective as Honda's IMA. At the end of the day, that's all it's about, is using less energy to support the inefficiencies of having a human driver that doesn't want to be efficient.

Moderator ? Join Date: Jul 2009 Vehicles: 2010 Toyota Prius II, 2008 Honda Civic AT Location: Maine (41.4mi rtc <=55mph, 20kmi/yr 45mph-65mph) Posts: 3,469

Re: Mazda?s Capacitor Based Automotive Regenerative Braking System I think lightfoot has the key in mentioning i-stop. i-stop works with piston positioning instead of using an auxiliary battery. So, in addition to the gains by use of a smart alternator, and, I presume, higher efficiency in the charge and discharge process, many of the gains with i-eloop may simply be making up for deficiencies in i-stop. The cost of the capacitors is obviously a key issue. However, just as the Prius' HSD saves by displacing multiple conventional parts, i-stop plus i-eloop displaces the auxiliary start/stop battery, and should reduce the draw from the main 12V battery and extends its life. Then, an extremely durable capacitor would have value at end of vehicle life. However, if large capacitor is heavy if could negatively affecting fuel economy. To become a dominant system the capacitor has to be durable and cheap enough to beat the displaced battery-based systems. But for Mazda's purpose, it just has to be cheap and durable enough to be able to make a profit on it: it does have a coolness factor on its side. I hope it at least indicates some price drops in large capacitors.

Reformed speeder ? Join Date: Aug 2006 Vehicles: 2006 Honda Insight MT, 2011 Prius Two Location: Essex, CT Posts: 2,137

Re: Mazda?s Capacitor Based Automotive Regenerative Braking System Quote: Ok, guys. Step down from your hypermile horse for a moment: brakes are there for a reason. You will need to use them, and likely more in the future as traffic density increases. There's not a way for our road system support 380 million hypermilers unless we leave the driving to computers, otherwise you'll have to always maintain 10x extra spacing for the one person out there that doesn't... Umm, this IS the hypermiling site, so why shouldn't we be on that horse?? Other thoughts: - I think all hypermilers DO use brakes, we just try to drive so that we are not forced to use them, which also happens to be a big part of safe defensive driving. - Population of the USA is about 310 million, not all are drivers. About 190 million licensed drivers in 2000. - I'm baffled why hypermiling would put a strain on the road system. Surely lower speeds would allow increased traffic density?? - Between 30,000 and 40,000 people die in traffic accidents on US highways every year, even larger numbers of serious injuries, so what we're doing now isn't working very well. Maybe it's time to change things?? Quote: At the end of the day, that's all it's about, is using less energy to support the inefficiencies of having a human driver that doesn't want to be efficient. Using technology to support unsafe driving by people that don't want to change to safer driving behaviors hasn't worked, so why believe that technology will work any better to make them more efficient? The number of people that manage to get a Prius down to 40mpg is a good hint. Humans are remarkably good at circumventing technology. It would make more sense to put effort into improved driver training and testing*, retesting for relicensing, traffic enforcement, etc. Changing driving behavior can improve both safety and fuel efficiency at the same time. And lower speeds could enable engineers to design cars so that they are just as crash-worthy at the lower speeds as current cars are at high speeds, only much lighter/smaller, which would improve fuel economy. So I'm stayin' on that horse, thanks! * - Given the current political climate, it's unlikely that government would do this, but maybe insurance companies would. In the motorcycle arena, insurance companies more or less force you to take motorcycle safety training before they will insure you, and those courses are supported by the manufacturers and are very good. I'll leave it there, this is way way OT, apologies!! Last edited by lightfoot : Yesterday at 01:56 PM.

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Video: Thanksgiving takes many forms around nation

Millions line Manhattan streets for the Macy?s parade; Atlanta feeds thousands of homeless, and service members in Tucson, Ariz., get surprise servers. NBC?s Jeff Rossen reports.

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France and Germany to propose changing EU treaties (AP)

STRASBOURG, France ? President Nicolas Sarkozy appeared to temper his calls for the European Central Bank to play a bigger role in solving Europe's debt crisis as he agreed to a German effort to unite the troubled 17-nation eurozone more closely.

Speaking after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Mario Monti on Thursday, Sarkozy said "propositions for the modification of treaties" would be presented in the coming days.

He wouldn't elaborate on what these changes may be but said they would be ready in time for the next EU leaders summit on December 9. Treaty changes are a notoriously laborious endeavor, requiring the agreement of all 27 EU nations, including non-euro countries such as Britain and Poland.

Merkel said the treaty changes would "make clear that we must take steps toward a fiscal union to express the conviction that we know policies must be more closely coordinated if you have a common, stable currency."

"It is political confidence in Europe that has been lost ? we can only win it back politically," Merkel said.

This was the first meeting of the three leaders since Monti took over last week following mounting market concerns over Italy's huge debt, which stand at euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion), or a huge 120 percent of economic output. Europe's current anti-crisis measures are too not big enough to deal with Italy's debt mountain.

Sarkozy said the three leaders had agreed to meet again "very soon" in Rome at Monti's invitation to continue their three-way dialogue.

The meeting in Strasbourg, France comes amid signs that even Germany and France ? the eurozone's two biggest economies ? are not immune from the crisis that's already seen three relatively small countries bailed out.

All three leaders said they would do what it takes to stabilize the situation and save the euro.

"We want the euro, we want a strong, stable euro ... we will do everything to defend it," Merkel said.

France has been reluctant to resort to changes to EU treaties to improve the way the eurozone countries work together and set policies and prevent future crises. Germany had pushed for such changes, saying voluntary pledges by national governments are no longer enough to boost market confidence.

Merkel insisted that the proposed changes would "not deal with the European Central Bank," which she stressed was responsible for monetary, not fiscal, policy. Sarkozy did not push for a greater role at their closing press conference, while Merkel insisted on the bank's independence.

"In the treaty changes, we are dealing with the question of a fiscal union, a deeper political cooperation ... there will be proposals on this, but they have nothing to do with the ECB," Merkel said.

Many think the ECB is the only institution capable of calming frayed market nerves and Merkel's continued dismissal of a greater ECB role knocked market sentiment and stocks all round Europe were trading lower once again.

Potentially, the ECB has unlimited financial firepower through its ability to print money. However, Germany finds the idea of monetizing debts unappealing.

Merkel also maintained her opposition to the European Commission's new drive for eurobonds.

Germany has opposed the use of eurobonds and has long called on fiscally wayward member states to clean up their own houses with as little outside intervention as possible. A big worry for Germany is that its low borrowing costs would get diluted if eurobonds came into issue and it would then be forced to pay higher rates to tap bond markets.

"It would be completely the wrong signal to lose sight entirely now of these differing interest rates, because they are a pointer to where something still needs to be done and where we need to go further," she said.

Monti, meanwhile, reiterated his pledge to balance Italy's budget by 2013 though he sidestepped the question on whether achieving that aim would require more austerity measures, and if so, whether it risked triggering a recession in the eurozone's third largest economy.

___

Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin and Frances d'Emilio in Rome contributed to this article.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Mexico adds another brick to 2012 Maya legend

Sex, booze and strange animal tricks: You had to know the 2011 Weird Science Awards would hit on those themes. After all, past award winners have included scientists' successful quest to reattach rabbit penises, a 2,700-year-old marijuana stash and glow-in-the-dark kitties. This year, msnbc.com users were asked to select the weirdest stories from a list of 30 nominees. Click ahead to count down the top 10 selections, plus some bonus picks.

? Alan Boyle, msnbc.com science editor

10. Oops! Maya doomsday date corrected

Are we having doomsday yet? Some folks say the ancient Maya calendar's "Long Count" runs out on Dec. 21, 2012, and that a world-changing crisis will occur at that time. Other folks, including the modern-day Maya, say that's just a load of llama crap ... and that 12/22/2012 will merely mark the start of a new calendar cycle.

And then there's Gerardo Aldana, a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, who says they're all probably wrong.

Aldana contends that the calculations we've used to match up the Maya calendar to our modern reckoning could be off by as much as 50 to 100 years, and that the Long Count may have already ended. If Aldana is right, the timetable for the apocalypse may already be up. Which might explain why "Apocalypto" director Mel Gibson's been acting so weird lately.

9. Why it's OK for birds to be gay

Scientists have found more than 130 bird species that engage in some sort of same-sex hanky-panky ? and the males in some of those species, such as penguins and greylag geese, occasionally form long-term sexual relationships with each other.

That's presented a puzzle for some evolutionary biologists, because same-sex relationships would seem to reduce the birds' chances of reproductive success. Believe it or not, gay birds are quite a research topic ... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Geoff MacFarlane, a biologist at the University of Newcastle in Australia, and colleagues reviewed studies of 93 bird species and suggested that there was a relationship between the rearing of young and same-sex mating. Male homosexual behavior would be likelier if the females of the species took care of the chicks. "Homosexual behavior is more likely to be maintained and not be selected against than if you are a sex that cares a lot for offspring and only has one or few reproductive partners," MacFarlane said.

Are you still curious? Find out why some scientists think mercury pollution may spark bird homosexuality, and learn more about the bizarre study of a homosexual necrophiliac duck.

8. The race to create A.I. as smart as a cat

Puss-Bob is not amused: He's heard the reports claiming that Pentagon-funded scientists are trying to create an artificial brain as intelligent as a cat, of course, but he realizes this is a grossly oversimplified description of the SyNAPSE project.

He knows the real point of the research is to build electronic networks that mimic biological brains, using new types of devices known as memristors. Such networks could "learn" by taking in additional information from the environment and adapting accordingly.

The technology could produce smarter robotic scout vehicles for the U.S. military, IEEE Spectrum reports. But Puss-Bob highly doubts that memristor-based neural networks will ever match the intelligence of cats. Dogs, maybe ... but not cats.

7: 'Da Vinci code' in Mona Lisa's eyes?

The Mona Lisa is one of the great masterpieces of the art world, but it's also a great generator of weird science. In past years, researchers have said that they've tracked down the inspiration for Leonardo da Vinci's portrait, found a nude version of the painting and figured out what Mona Lisa's voice sounded like.

In 2010, Italy's national committee for cultural heritage claimed that Leonardo painted tiny, almost invisible letters in Mona Lisa's eyes. The committee's president, Silvano Vinceti, said the lines in one eye appear to form the initials "LV," perhaps standing for the artist's name. The other eye seems to contain the letters "CE" or perhaps "B." And still more letters and numbers were spotted in other areas of the painting.

But are they really there? Several experts have said the committee is probably reading too much into the painting's patterns of tiny cracks. Among art historians, at least, this "Da Vinci Code" is no best-seller.

6. Which came first, chicken or egg?

Which came first? The chicken or the egg? The question is really more of a philosophical conundrum, like the old "immovable object vs. irresistible force" conflict. But in 2010, British research into the process of eggshell formation was heralded as providing a scientific answer to the riddle.

Biologists from Sheffield and Warwick universities reported that ovocleidin-17, a protein found in a chicken's ovaries, played an essential role in building eggshells from calcium carbonate crystals. That led some chicken-or-egg philosophers to claim that the first chicken egg could exist only if it was created inside a chicken.

Actually, it all depends on your definitions: We know that dinosaurs laid eggs, for example, so eggs clearly predate chickens. And if a prehistoric not-quite-chicken laid an egg that contained the first honest-to-goodness chicken, based on its genetic coding, do you count that as a chicken, or a chicken egg? Try using that one if you're ever captured by "Star Trek" androids.

5. Giant storks may have fed on hobbits

"The storks! The storks! They're eating Frodo!" J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" saga might have had a horror-movie ending if it reflected the fossil evidence found on the Indonesian island of Flores.

Flores is known as the site where scientists discovered the remains of a species of hominids known as Homo floresiensis. The creatures, which apparently went extinct about 12,000 years ago, have been nicknamed "hobbits" because of their short stature.

Now paleontologists say they've unearthed wing and leg bones from carnivorous storks in the same cave where the Homo floresiensis bones were discovered. The storks, which apparently stood nearly 6 feet tall, could have fed on other birds as well as fishes and lizards ? "and possibly in principle even small, juvenile hobbits, although we have no evidence for that," the Smithsonian Institution's Hanneke Meijer told LiveScience.

What sound do giant storks make when they're swallowing? Gollum! Gollum!

4. Cricket's testicles set world record

Now here's a bug with balls: The tuberous bushcricket's testicles account for 14 percent of its body weight, according to researchers at the University of Derby in England. That means the cricket's cojones are the largest in the animal world, based on proportion to total body mass.

To put the cricket's statistics in perspective, the testicles of a man weighing 200 pounds (91 kilograms) with that ball-to-body ratio would weigh 28 pounds (12.7 kilograms). Or basically the weight of two bowling balls.

Why would a cricket need testes that big? The researchers suggest that the large size lets male crickets capitalize quickly on breeding opportunities with multiple mates. But size is always relative, and often deceiving. Turns out that the runner-up in the ball-to-body competition is the humble fruit fly, with testes that make up more than 10 percent of body weight.

3. Better transit design through ... slime mold?

It's hard to imagine a scientific specialty that's weirder than slime mold, but researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan has been able to make the weird life form do some wonderful things.

First, the scientists used slime mold's food-finding prowess to solve labyrinth puzzles. This year, they published research showing how the mold's growth patterns could reflect the optimal routes for mass transit links ... on a map where bits of food stood in for train stations. Those dubious achievements earned them not just one, but two Ig Nobel Prizes for silly science.

The Hokkaido team isn't the only one working with the humble organism: British scientists say they've constructed a rudimentary slime-mold computer nicknamed the Plasmobot. So where does America stand in the race to harness slime mold? And what are we going to do about the slime gap?

2. How beer sparked civilization

Some people might say the invention of fire sparked the rise of civilization. But Brian Hayden, an archaeologist at Simon Fraser University, suggests that another innovation may have played a crucial role: beer.

The age of agriculture dawned about 11,500 years ago when Neolithic peoples began domesticating wild grains such as barley and rice. Hayden is among a number of archaeologists who say the motivation for domesticating those cereals might have been to brew alcoholic drinks for ceremonial use. "It's not that drinking and brewing by itself helped start cultivation, it's this context of feasts that links beer and the emergence of complex societies," Hayden says.

The earliest chemical evidence for beer comes from residues inside a jar excavated in Iran that is dated to between 3400 and 3100 B.C. Other evidence suggests that beer gave ancient Africans a healthy dose of antibiotics, and that women took on the primary role for brewing beer in ancient Peru. For still more, check out our interactive gallery of ancient drinks.

1. Stone Age carving may be ancient sex toy

The top vote-getter in the 2010 Weird Science Award competition may not be totally suitable for work ... but hey, this is archaeology, right? Researchers suspect that a carved piece of antler bone, found at a Stone Age site in Sweden that goes back as far as 6000 B.C., might have been an ancient sex toy.

The object is about 4 inches long and an inch wide, with a knobby end as well as a pointy end. The pointy end suggests that despite its phallic appearance, the bone could have been used for chipping flakes of flint. Sigmund Freud is said to have observed that "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar," and sometimes a Stone Age tool is just a Stone Age tool.

Even if the antler bone is judged to be a sex toy, it's not the oldest of its type: A polished stone phallus found in Germany is thought to be about 28,000 years old, while a 35,000-year-old female figure with exaggerated breasts could be considered the world's oldest-known porn.

Weirdly honorable mentions

Even though we offered up a long list of nominees for the Weird Science Awards, there are always some additional discoveries that deserve recognition. Here are four honorable mentions for 2010:

• Mice with two dads: Researchers reprogrammed mouse cells and then used unconventional breeding tricks to produce some cute babies with genetic contributions from two male mice (but carried to term by mommy mice, of course). The experiment suggested a method by which same-sex human couples could eventually have genetic progeny.
• Chimps with stick dolls: Female chimpanzees have been observed in the wild cuddling and playing with sticks and small logs, much like human children do. In contrast, such behavior has not yet been seen among male chimps, leading researchers to wonder whether gender differences in styles of play extend beyond humans to other species.
• Mice that sing like birds: In the course of developing new breeds of genetically engineered mice, Japanese researchers happened upon a mouse that made tweeting noises like a bird. The tweeting trait could be passed along to the generations that followed, and the lab says it now has more than 100 "singing mice." Listen to the chirping mice on YouTube.
• 8-year-olds publish scientific paper: One of the more unusual papers published in Biology Letters was illustrated with diagrams that looked as if they were scrawled by elementary-school students. That's because they were. The peer-reviewed report, written by 8- to 10-year-olds from Blackawton Primary School in Devon, England, represented a "genuine advance" in the study of bumblebee vision, the Royal Society said.

For still more scientific strangeness, review the 2010 Weird Science Awards.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45438811/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Attention Design Nerds: The Most Badass Custom Shelving System Will Be at the Giz Gallery [Video]

We're compulsive in our gear-hoarding. Just look at the huge number of gadgets we've assembled for Gizmodo Gallery. Where the hell are we going to put all that stuff? The modular storage specialists at Vitsoe are giving us a hand. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/IT7ODdtf194/attention-design-nerds-the-most-badass-custom-shelving-system-will-be-at-the-giz-gallery

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Thanksgiving travel rush is under way across US

Kaitlyn Medina, 3, peers over her welcome sign as she tries to spot her father, Jose Medina, who was arriving at the Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011. Medina, who returned from Wisconsin where he had been working the past month, to find his children, Kaitlyn and her siblings, Krystal, 6, second from left, Mario, 11, third from left, and Briana, anxiously awaiting his return for Thanksgiving.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Kaitlyn Medina, 3, peers over her welcome sign as she tries to spot her father, Jose Medina, who was arriving at the Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011. Medina, who returned from Wisconsin where he had been working the past month, to find his children, Kaitlyn and her siblings, Krystal, 6, second from left, Mario, 11, third from left, and Briana, anxiously awaiting his return for Thanksgiving.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Lori Tempesta, of Falls Church, Va., left, holds her baby Ashlyn Tempesta, next to daughter Elena Tempesta, 3, and husband Anthony Tempesta, as they check in for a flight to Dallas for Thanksgiving, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, at Washington's at Ronald Reagan National Airport. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Jose Mendes sits in line with his daughter Maria Celeste Mendes at an air ticket counter waiting to travel to Venezuela before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at Miami International Airport, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, in Miami. (AP Photo/ Lynne Sladky)

Cars fill the highway in San Diego Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. About 42.5 million people are expected to travel over Thanksgiving, the highest number since the start of the recession, according to a recent study. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

With the Capitol in the background, Thanksgiving travelers come and go at Union Station in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Holiday travel got off to a soggy start in parts of the U.S. Wednesday as millions of Americans undeterred by costlier gas and airfare set out for Thanksgiving celebrations, but few major problems were reported. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

CHICAGO (AP) ? Undeterred by costlier gas and airfare, millions of Americans set out Wednesday to see friends and family in what is expected to be the nation's busiest Thanksgiving weekend since the financial meltdown more than three years ago.

Many people economized rather than stay home.

"We wouldn't think of missing it," said Bill Curtis, a retiree from Los Angeles who was with his wife at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif. "Family is important and we love the holiday. So we cut corners other places so we can afford to travel."

About 42.5 million people are expected to hit the road or take to the skies for Thanksgiving this year, according to travel tracker AAA. That's the highest number since the start of the recession at the end of 2007.

Heavy rain slowed down early travelers along the East Coast. Snow across parts of New England and upstate New York made for treacherous driving and thousands of power outages. And a mudslide covered train tracks in the Pacific Northwest. But most of the country is expected to have clear weather Thursday.

As afternoon traffic picked up, flight delays were reported in Boston, San Francisco, Newark, N.J., and New York.

The average round-trip airfare for the top 40 U.S. routes is $212, up 20 percent from last year. Tickets on most Amtrak one-way routes have climbed slightly, and drivers are paying an average $3.33 a gallon, or 16 percent more than last year, according to AAA.

Jake Pagel, a waiter from Denver, was flying to see his girlfriend's family in San Jose, Calif. He said he had to give up working during one of the restaurant industry's busiest and most profitable times.

"I think it's something you can't quantify in terms of monetary cost," he said. "I mean, being able to spend quality time with your family is fairly significant."

Most travelers ? about 90 percent, according to AAA ? are expected to hit the road.

John Mahoney acknowledged the economy has changed the way he travels, which is why he and his girlfriend slept in their car instead of getting a motel room when a heavy, wet snowstorm flared up along the New York State Thruway during their 20-hour drive from New Hampshire to St. Louis.

"Americans will still do what Americans do. We travel the roads," he said.

Some drivers who tried to get an early start along the Pennsylvania Turnpike found themselves stopped by ? or stuck in ? a gooey, tar-like mess after a tanker truck leaked driveway sealant along nearly 40 miles of highway. At least 150 vehicles were disabled Tuesday night.

Shun Tucker of suburban Chicago decided to spend the holiday with family in Memphis, Tenn., and booked a $49 bus ticket for a nine-hour trip south. "Yeah, I could go to the airport, but it's going to cost me $300," she said.

Lucretia Verner and her cousin set out on a drive from Tulsa, Okla., to Atlanta. They said they wouldn't stop to eat on the way, making do with the water, juice, lunch meat and bread they took with them. Colette Parr of Las Vegas took flights with connections and switched airlines to save almost $200 on her trip to Newark, N.J.

Investment manager Matt Rightmire and his family typically fly on Thanksgiving. This year, they are making the holiday pilgrimage by car from New Hampshire to his in-laws in Youngstown, Ohio. He figured he is saving $1,000.

"It's family," he said. "That's what the holidays are about: Spending time with family. I don't really think it's optional. You may try to find the least expensive way to get there, but you've got to see your family."

___

Associated Press writers Ben Dobbin in Victor, N.Y.; Ivan Moreno in Denver; Jeannie Nuss in North Little Rock, Ark.; David Porter in Newark, N.J.; Vicki Smith in Morgantown, W.Va.; Chris Weber in Burbank, Calif.; and Chris Williams in Bloomington, Minn., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-24-US-Thanksgiving-Travel/id-11747fa03cdb43c1adb07fa1eff99159

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Saul Klein?s List Of Europe?s Next Billion-Dollar Tech Companies

Where will the next billion-dollar startups come from? The tech world and most VCs tend to be parochial, looking at Silicon Valley, maybe New York, and a few other hot markets like China and Brazil. But what about the Old Country? Yesterday, I was having coffee with Saul Klein, a partner at Index Ventures and co-founder of Seedcamp. He believes that in every major city across Europe, Russia, and Israel, there are ?a legion of companies that are capable of achieving billion dollar valuations and in some cases are likely to be able to do close to a billion dollars in revenues over the next 3 to 5 years.? I asked him to name five while I pointed my iPhone video camera at him, and he was able to give me a much longer laundry list (which I've added after the jump).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/RHVYtfoTCEU/

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