Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
US drone found off Philippines
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| Drone such as these are used for air target practice |
PHILIPPINE navy officials say a suspected American drone has been found floating in the ocean, prompting them to deploy a ship with ordnance experts after fishermen reported the object may have been a bomb.
The three-metre orange BQM-74e drone marked "Navy" was found by a Filipino diver and fishermen off Masbate Island on Sunday and has been turned over to local navy authorities, Philippine navy officer Captain Jason Rommel Galang said, adding it was not clear why the unmanned aerial vehicle ended up off Masbate.
US Embassy spokeswoman Bettina Malone said efforts were under way to determine if the drone was one of those used in American military air target training exercises and why it was in the waters off Masbate, about 380 kilometres southeast of Manila. The type of drone found was not armed and not used for surveillance, she said.
Masbate is in a region where communist guerrillas have a presence. US counter-terrorism troops, who are barred from local combat, have used surveillance drones to help Filipino soldiers track down al-Qaeda-linked extremists in the country's south.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Satellites Spot China’s Mysterious New Warplane - Y 20 ?
Y-20 is almost the same as Boeing-made C-17, blueprints of which China obtained several years ago through a spy working for the Chicago-based plane manufacturer.
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| The Y-20 at Yanliang on Jan. 1. Photo: GeoEye GeoEye 1 |
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| Y-20 at Yanliang on Dec. 25. Photo: GeoEye IKONOS Reverse Engineering and copying at its best. Why don't they copy democracy from other countries |
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Sea trials for nuke submarine INS Arihant set to begin soon
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Indian Navy's nuclear submarine INS Arihant (destroyer of enemy) appears to be caught up in a significant development after a delay that led to the extension of sea trial timeline set for the boat.
It is believed that the reactor will go critical, setting the stage for sea trial sometime in the first half of next year. Admiral Joshi said harbour acceptance trials for the under development boat have been completed.
With the reactor going critical, Arihant would be taken to the sea for elaborate trials. Joshi's predecessor Nirmal Verma had earlier hinted that India's strategic ambition of having a credible nuclear triad would be in place by the end of this year.
But there has been a delay and the sea trials are expected to begin only next year. The reactor's performance will be tested in various stages, including firing of weapons and operations in the depth of the ocean. If everything remained in place, the submarine is expected to be ready for induction by 2014.
It will be one of the most significant achievements of India's submarine building capability.The submarine will be fitted with K-15 submarine launched ballistic missile which is under development. The trials of 700 km K-15 missile have already been carried out. While Arihant's induction is being eagerly awaited, the navy has fully integrated recently acquired Akula class submarine from Russia.
Indian navy had earlier inducted INS Chakra nuclear powered submarine
Turning forest waste into biochar
Too much biomass waste in tundra and boreal forests makes them prone to wildfires, especially when heatwaves strike. Furthermore, leaving biomass waste in the forest can cause a lot of methane emisions from decomposition.
In order to reduce such methane emissions and the risk of wildfires, it makes sense to reduce excess biomass waste in fields and forests. Until now, this was typically done by controlled burning of biomass, which also causes emissions, but far less than wildfires do. Avoiding wildfires is particularly important for the Arctic, which is vulnerable to soot deposits originating from wildfires in tundra and boreal forest. Such soot deposits cause more sunlight to be absorbed, accelerating the decline of snow and ice in the Arctic.
A team of scientists at University of Washington, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, has developed a way to remove woody biomass waste from forests without burning it in the traditional way. The team has developed a portable kiln that can be assembled around a heap of waste wood and convert it to biochar on the spot, while the biochar can also be burried in the soil on the spot.
The team initially started testing the effectiveness of a heat-resistant blanket thrown over woody debris. The team then developed portable panels that are assembled in a kiln around a slash pile.
Students have set up a company, Carbon Cultures, to promote the technology and to sell biochar. CEO of Carbon Cultures is Jenny Knoth, also a Ph.D. candidate in environmental and forest sciences.
The kiln restricts the amount of oxygen that can reach the biomass, which is transformed by pyrolysis into biochar. The woody waste is heated up to temperatures of about 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (600 Celsius), as the kiln transforms some 800 pounds of wood into 200 pounds of biochar in less than two hours. “We also extinguish with water because it helps keep oxygen out and also activates the charcoal [making it more fertile in soil].”
Currently, the total costs of disposing of forest slash heaps (the collections of wood waste) approximate a billion dollars a year in the United States, according to Knoth.
And of course, adding biochar to the soil is a great way to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. “Biochar is proven to fix carbon for hundreds of thousands of years,” Knoth said.
As said, when biomass waste is left in the open air, methane emissions are produced during its decomposition. Moreover, such waste will fuel wildfires, which produce huge amounts of emissions. The traditional response therefore is to burn such waste. Pyrolyzing biomass produces even less greenhouse gases and less soot, compared to such controlled burning.
Biochar is produced in the process, which can be added to the soil on the spot. This will help soil retain moisture, nutrients and soil microbes, making forests more healthy, preventing erosion and thus reduces the risk of wildfires even further, in addition to the reduction already achieved by removal of surplus waste.
A healthy forest will retain more moist in its soil, in the air under its canopy, and in the air above the forest through expiration, resulting in more clouds that act as sunshades to keep the forest cool and return the moist to the forest through rainfall. Forests reinforce patterns of air pressure and humidity that result in long-distance air currents that bring moist air from the sea inland to be deposited onto the forest in the form of rain. Finally, clouds can reflect more sunlight back into space, thus reducing the chance of heatwaves.
References
- Recycling wood waste - The Daily of the University of Washington
- Helping Landowners with Waste Wood While Improving Agribusiness and Energy - National Science Foundation
Related
- Biochar
- CU-Boulder gets into biochar
In order to reduce such methane emissions and the risk of wildfires, it makes sense to reduce excess biomass waste in fields and forests. Until now, this was typically done by controlled burning of biomass, which also causes emissions, but far less than wildfires do. Avoiding wildfires is particularly important for the Arctic, which is vulnerable to soot deposits originating from wildfires in tundra and boreal forest. Such soot deposits cause more sunlight to be absorbed, accelerating the decline of snow and ice in the Arctic.
A team of scientists at University of Washington, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, has developed a way to remove woody biomass waste from forests without burning it in the traditional way. The team has developed a portable kiln that can be assembled around a heap of waste wood and convert it to biochar on the spot, while the biochar can also be burried in the soil on the spot.
 |
| Demonstration in Kerby, Oregon, Nov. 6, 2012, by Carbon Cultures. Credit: Marcus Kauffman at Flickr |
Students have set up a company, Carbon Cultures, to promote the technology and to sell biochar. CEO of Carbon Cultures is Jenny Knoth, also a Ph.D. candidate in environmental and forest sciences.
The kiln restricts the amount of oxygen that can reach the biomass, which is transformed by pyrolysis into biochar. The woody waste is heated up to temperatures of about 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (600 Celsius), as the kiln transforms some 800 pounds of wood into 200 pounds of biochar in less than two hours. “We also extinguish with water because it helps keep oxygen out and also activates the charcoal [making it more fertile in soil].”
Currently, the total costs of disposing of forest slash heaps (the collections of wood waste) approximate a billion dollars a year in the United States, according to Knoth.
And of course, adding biochar to the soil is a great way to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. “Biochar is proven to fix carbon for hundreds of thousands of years,” Knoth said.
 |
| Demonstration in Kerby, Oregon, November 6, 2012, organized by Carbon Cultures. Credit: Marcus Kauffman at Flickr |
As said, when biomass waste is left in the open air, methane emissions are produced during its decomposition. Moreover, such waste will fuel wildfires, which produce huge amounts of emissions. The traditional response therefore is to burn such waste. Pyrolyzing biomass produces even less greenhouse gases and less soot, compared to such controlled burning.
Biochar is produced in the process, which can be added to the soil on the spot. This will help soil retain moisture, nutrients and soil microbes, making forests more healthy, preventing erosion and thus reduces the risk of wildfires even further, in addition to the reduction already achieved by removal of surplus waste.
A healthy forest will retain more moist in its soil, in the air under its canopy, and in the air above the forest through expiration, resulting in more clouds that act as sunshades to keep the forest cool and return the moist to the forest through rainfall. Forests reinforce patterns of air pressure and humidity that result in long-distance air currents that bring moist air from the sea inland to be deposited onto the forest in the form of rain. Finally, clouds can reflect more sunlight back into space, thus reducing the chance of heatwaves.
References
- Recycling wood waste - The Daily of the University of Washington
- Helping Landowners with Waste Wood While Improving Agribusiness and Energy - National Science Foundation
Related
- Biochar
- CU-Boulder gets into biochar
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