Recipe for low-cost, biomass-derived catalyst for hydrogen production

Apr. 24, 2013 ? In a paper to be published in an upcoming issue of Energy & Environmental Science, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory describe details of a low-cost, stable, effective catalyst that could replace costly platinum in the production of hydrogen. The catalyst, made from renewable soybeans and abundant molybdenum metal, produces hydrogen in an environmentally friendly, cost-effective manner, potentially increasing the use of this clean energy source.

The research has already garnered widespread recognition for Shilpa and Shweta Iyer, twin-sister high school students who contributed to the research as part of an internship under the guidance of Brookhaven chemist Wei-Fu Chen, supported by projects led by James Muckerman, Etsuko Fujita, and Kotaro Sasaki.

"This paper reports the 'hard science' from what started as the Iyer twins' research project and has resulted in the best-performing, non-noble-metal-containing hydrogen evolution catalyst yet known -- even better than bulk platinum metal," Muckerman said.

The project branches off from the Brookhaven group's research into using sunlight to develop alternative fuels. Their ultimate goal is to find ways to use solar energy -- either directly or via electricity generated by solar cells -- to convert the end products of hydrocarbon combustion, water and carbon dioxide, back into a carbon-based fuel. Dubbed "artificial photosynthesis," this process mimics how plants convert those same ingredients to energy in the form of sugars. One key step is splitting water, or water electrolysis.

"By splitting liquid water (H₂O) into hydrogen and oxygen, the hydrogen can be regenerated as a gas (H₂) and used directly as fuel," Sasaki explained. "We sought to fabricate a commercially viable catalyst from earth-abundant materials for application in water electrolysis, and the outcome is indeed superb."

." ..the best-performing, non-noble-metal-containing hydrogen evolution catalyst yet known..."

This form of hydrogen production could help the scientists achieve their ultimate goal.

"A very promising route to making a carbon-containing fuel is to hydrogenate carbon dioxide (or carbon monoxide) using solar-produced hydrogen," said Fujita, who leads the artificial photosynthesis group in the Brookhaven Chemistry Department.

But with platinum as the main ingredient in the most effective water-splitting catalysts, the process is currently too costly to be economically viable.

Comsewogue High School students Shweta and Shilpa Iyer entered the lab as the search for a cost-effective replacement was on.

The Brookhaven team had already identified some promising leads with experiments demonstrating the potential effectiveness of low-cost molybdenum paired with carbon, as well as the use of nitrogen to confer some resistance to the corrosive, acidic environment required in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis cells. But these two approaches had not yet been tried together.

The students set out to identify plentiful and inexpensive sources of carbon and nitrogen, and test ways to combine them with a molybdenum salt.

"The students became excited about using familiar materials from their everyday lives to meet a real-world energy challenge," Chen recounted. The team tested a wide variety of sources of biomass -- leaves, stems, flowers, seeds, and legumes -- with particular interest in those with high protein content because the amino acids that make up proteins are a rich source of nitrogen. High-protein soybeans turned out to be the best.

To make the catalyst the team ground the soybeans into a powder, mixed the powder with ammonium molybdate in water, then dried and heated the samples in the presence of inert argon gas. "A subsequent high temperature treatment (carburization) induced a reaction between molybdenum and the carbon and nitrogen components of the soybeans to produce molybdenum carbides and molybdenum nitrides," Chen explained. "The process is simple, economical, and environmentally friendly."

Electrochemical tests of the separate ingredients showed that molybdenum carbide is effective for converting H₂O to H₂, but not stable in acidic solution, while molybdenum nitride is corrosion-resistant but not efficient for hydrogen production. A nanostructured hybrid of these two materials, however, remained active and stable even after 500 hours of testing in a highly acidic environment.

"We attribute the high activity of the molybdenum-soy catalyst (MoSoy) to the synergistic effect between the molybdenum-carbide phase and the molybdenum-nitride phase in the composite material," Chen said.

Structural and chemical studies of the new catalyst conducted at Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) and the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) are also reported in the paper, and provide further details underlying the high performance of this new catalyst.

"The presence of nitrogen and carbon atoms in the vicinity of the catalytic molybdenum center facilitates the production of hydrogen from water," Muckerman said.

The scientists also tested the MoSoy catalyst anchored on sheets of graphene -- an approach that has proven effective for enhancing catalyst performance in electrochemical devices such as batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, and water electrolyzers. Using a high-resolution transmission microscope in Brookhven's Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, the scientists were able to observe the anchored MoSoy nanocrystals on 2D graphene sheets.

The graphene-anchored MoSoy catalyst surpassed the performance of pure platinum metal. Though not quite as active as commercially available platinum catalysts, the high performance of graphene-anchored MoSoy was extremely encouraging to the scientific team.

"The direct growth of anchored MoSoy nanocrystals on graphene sheets may enhance the formation of strongly coupled hybrid materials with intimate, seamless electron transfer pathways, thus accelerating the electron transfer rate for the chemical desorption of hydrogen from the catalyst, further reducing the energy required for the reaction to take place," Sasaki said.

The scientists are conducting additional studies to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of the interaction at the catalyst-graphene interface, and exploring ways to further improve its performance.

In the paper, the authors -- including the two high-school students -- conclude: "This study unambiguously provides evidence that a cheap and earth-abundant transition metal such as molybdenum can be turned into an active catalyst by the controlled solid-state reaction with soybeans?The preparation of the MoSoy catalyst is simple and can be easily scaled up. Its long-term durability and ultra-low capital cost satisfy the prerequisites for its application in the construction of large-scale devices. These findings thus open up new prospects for combining inexpensive biomass and transition metals?to produce catalysts for electro-catalytic reactions."

Additional collaborators in this research were Chiu-Hui Wang and Yimei Zhu of Brookhaven Lab.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Wei-Fu Chen, Shilpa Iyer, Shweta Iyer, Kotaro Sasaki, Chiu-Hui Wang, Yimei Zhu, James T. Muckerman, Etsuko Fujita. Biomass-Derived Electrocatalytic Composites for Hydrogen Evolution. Energy & Environmental Science, 2013; DOI: 10.1039/C3EE40596F

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/z7rfSFKmS_U/130424103132.htm

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Bangladesh building collapse: Is the country's reputation among the injured?

Following the collapse of a garment factory building on Wednesday morning in Bangladesh, physicians at nearby hospitals were overwhelmed by the number of people needing attention. It appears factory owners ignored a warning not to let workers into the building when a crack was noticed on Tuesday.?

By Serajul Quadir,?Reuters, Ruma Paul,?Reuters / April 24, 2013

Relatives mourn a victim at the site where an eight-story building housing several garment factories collapsed in Savar, Bangladesh, Wednesday. The building collapsed Wednesday morning, killing dozens of people and trapping many more in the rubble, officials said.

AP Photo/ A.M. Ahad

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An eight-story building that housed garment factories and shops collapsed in Bangladesh?on Wednesday, killing nearly 100 people and injuring more than a thousand, officials said.

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One fireman told Reuters about 2,000 people were in the Rana Plaza building in Savar, 30 km (20 miles) outside Dhaka, when its upper floors slammed onto those below. An official at a control room set up to provide information said 96 people were confirmed dead and more than 1,000 injured.?The Daily Star, a leading Bangladeshi newspaper, put that number at 106.

At the site of the collapsed?Rana Plaza building, a frantic effort was underway to find and rescue victims. Television reports showed young women workers, some apparently semi-conscious, being pulled out by firefighters and troops.

Doctors at local hospitals said they were unable to cope with the number of victims brought in.

The building collapse, which follows a November fire at the?Tazreen Fashion factory?on the outskirts of Dhaka that killed 112 people, has compounded concerns about worker safety and low wages in Bangladesh.

The two major incidents, and a third in January that killed seven people, could taint Bangladesh's reputation as a source of low-cost products and services and call attention to Western retailers and other companies that obtain products from the country. But industry people and worker's groups in the United States say the lure of cheap manufacturing costs will keep retailers and buyers turning to Bangladesh.

Edward Hertzman, a sourcing agent based in New York who also publishes the trade magazine Sourcing Journal says pressure from U.S. retailers to keep a lid on costs continues to foster unsafe conditions.?Hertzaman's clients include clothing manufacturers and retailers like PacSun, Oxford Industries Lucky,?Buffalo.

Following the Tazreen fire, giant U.S. retailer?Wal-Mart?Stores Inc. said it would take measures to alleviate safety concerns, while?Gap Inc.?announced a four-step fire-safety program.

"It is going to take much more than retailers issuing press releases or paying compensation to victims," Hertzman said. "They're going to have to stop beating up the factories and start paying higher prices."

Entry level wages in these factories start at 14 cents an hour, said?Charles Kernaghan, with the?The Institute?for Global Labour and Human Rights. The non-profit works with factory workers in Bangladesh?and other parts of the world to help better working standards.

"The companies will stay in Bangladesh?despite all the problems...In?China, a comparable wage would be at least $1 an hour," Kernaghan said.

Hertzman, whose trade publication has offices in Bangladesh, said?New Wave Bottoms Limited?occupied the second floor,?Phantom Apparels Ltd?on the third floor,?Phantom Tack Ltd?on the fourth floor and?Ethar Textile Ltd?on the fifth.

U.S. children's clothing retailer Children's Place said that while New Wave had manufactured clothes for the company in the past, it hadn't at the time of the accident.

The New Wave website listed 27 main buyers, including firms from Britain,?Denmark,?France,?Germany,?Spain,?Ireland,?Canada?and the?United States.

Cracks in building?

"I was at work on the third floor, and then suddenly I heard a deafening sound, but couldn't understand what was happening. I ran and was hit by something on my head," said factory worker Zohra Begum.

Mohammad Asaduzzaman, who was in charge of the area's police station, said factory owners appeared to have ignored a warning not to allow their workers into the building after a crack was detected in the block on Tuesday. Kernaghan, of the The?Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights?said the owner "sweet talked them into working, and assured them there was no danger."

Bangladesh, which employs about 3.6 million people in the garment industry, is the second-largest apparel exporting country in the world. But it has also gained a reputation for political red tape, worker strikes and poor working standards in its many garment factories, where factory owners have been accused by non-profits and unions of exploiting workers.

Annisul Huq, former president of the Bangladesh?Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters that the BGMEA noticed the cracks on the?Rana Plaza?Tuesday and asked the owner to take corrective steps.

"The owner should not have used the factory while the cracks had developed, but it was a day of 'hartal' yesterday and he probably got no engineers to look at it," Huq said.

Hartals, or strikes, have been a persistent problem in the country, creating uncertainties in the supply chain and bottlenecks for business operations.

In March, The?American Federation Of Labor?& Congress Of Industrial Organizations filed a petition before the United States Trade Representative to remove Bangladesh?from the list of eligible beneficiary developing countries. "The government of Bangladesh?continues to fail to take steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights," the AFL-CIO said.?

Ghosts of Tazreen?

In November, the Tazreen accident raised questions about how much control Western brands have over their supply chains for clothes sourced from Bangladesh.

A?Wal-Mart?supplier had subcontracted work to the Tazreen factory without authorisation. Since then,?Wal-Mart?has said it is trying to get a better handle on its supply chain and to monitor safety at factories that produce its goods.

The?Bangladeshi government?subsequently confirmed workers' complaints about unsafe conditions, and also said the factory owner and supervisors prevented staff from leaving the premises after a fire alarm sounded.

Wal-Mart?said Wednesday it still could not determine whether a factory in the building that collapsed was producing goods for the company.

Hertzman, the textiles broker, said the Tazreen fire has prompted his clients to pressure agents in the factories to be more accountable for safety.

"I've had two clients in the past two months who have said they need to go and inspect the factories in Bangladesh?before placing orders for private label goods made for major usa retailers," said Hertzman.

He did not want to name the clients, but said one of them supplies apparel to Costco and the other supplies young men's clothes for retailers like Ross Stores, Sears and Macy's

"Bangladesh?is the longest lead-time country and a difficult country to work in, so the only way it becomes competitive is by offering the lowest (cost). That's the Catch-22," he said.

"If the factories want to raise prices to make up for rising wages and costs, the buyers say, 'Oh why do we want to go to Bangladesh?if I could go to?China,?Vietnam,?Latin America?etc for a similar price?"

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/M_LZg8QjLLA/Bangladesh-building-collapse-Is-the-country-s-reputation-among-the-injured

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Illinois River flood waters begin to recede

PEORIA HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) ? Floodwaters began a slow, inch-by-inch retreat Wednesday in inundated Peoria, Ill., offering hope to residents who watched helplessly as the Illinois River reached a 70-year high and swamped their homes and businesses.

In downtown Peoria, tens of thousands of white and yellow sandbags stacked 3 feet high lined blocks of the scenic riverfront, holding back waters that already had surrounded the visitors' center and restaurants in the 114-year-old former train depot. Across the street, smaller sandbag walls blocked riverside pedestrian access to the headquarters of heavy equipment maker Caterpillar and the city's arts and culture museum.

The flood will take its toll economically on Peoria, but authorities watching the receding waters expressed relief that, so far, no lives have been lost.

Elsewhere, there were no reports of other significant Midwestern population centers in peril, but officials were urging caution because of predictions that waterways will remain high through early May and sustain pressure on earthen levees.

Concerns persist along the Mississippi River in southeast Missouri, where smaller levees had been overtopped or breached, especially in Lincoln and Pike counties. But sandbag levees in the unprotected towns of Clarksville, Mo., and Dutchtown, Mo., were holding ahead of expected crests later in the week.

Officials in Peoria said the Illinois River finally crested Tuesday at 29.35 feet, eclipsing a 70-year record.

Because the water made numerous roads around the city impassable, firefighters had been especially concerned about being able to battle blazes since the water made numerous roads around the area impassable.

Their closest call came late Tuesday when an above-ground gasoline storage tank at a former boat repair business broke loose, raising concerns of potential disaster if it got swept south into downtown Peoria.

Peoria Heights Fire Chief Greg Walters and others managed to lasso it and wrangle it to shore.

"That's the only real issue we've had at this point," Walters said. "We're fortunate in that respect. I'm feeling blessed. Fingers crossed."

Blair Pumphrey also hoped for good luck, but he wasn't so fortunate. On Wednesday, he was moving out of his small, brick rental home ? its basement flooded to the rafters and the garage swamped. His backyard resembled a lake, with an occasional goose swimming by.

A small wall of sandbags he put up with friends days earlier held off the river for a time, but it proved futile.

"Once the basement started leaking, there was no stopping it," said Pumphrey, 29, an electrician and member of the Illinois Air National Guard. "Then when the river came around the front, there was nothing I could do."

Among those still in their homes was Mark Reatherford. The 52-year-old unemployed baker has lived for decades in his split-level, which has a view of a small park and the Illinois River. By Tuesday afternoon, as a chilly rain fell, the river had rolled over the park and reached Reatherford's home, creating a 3-foot-deep mess in the basement.

He cleared out the basement furniture and was hoping the main floor would stay dry. But he hadn't dismissed the idea of abandoning his home in Peoria Heights, about 150 miles southwest of Chicago.

"You can't get a better view than what we've got here," he said, acknowledging "I'm getting too old to deal with this."

Nearby, retired Caterpillar crane operator Roland Gudat spent much of Tuesday afternoon on his porch swing, marveling at the river, which had swamped houses down the street but largely spared his home of 46 years. The 73-year-old said he had pumped from his basement hundreds of gallons of water that had seeped up from the saturated ground.

Gudat remarked that he'd never seen the river so high, but nonetheless could not tolerate the gawkers that were using neighborhood driveways to turn around.

"I told them this isn't a damn cul-de-sac," he said. Gudat and his neighbors placed saw horses in their driveways, forcing sightseers to reverse back down the road.

"If they knock those saw horses over, I'm gonna turn their keys off and call the cops. Don't come here and bug people in misery," he said.

In southwestern Indiana, floodgates have been installed to keep the Wabash River from overrunning Vincennes, which was founded in 1732. Some strategic spots in the state's oldest town have been reinforced with sandbags. The weather service projected a crest on Saturday about 12 feet above flood stage, the highest in nearly 70 years.

The Grand River at Grand Rapids, Mich., which reached record levels recently has receded about 2 feet. Weather officials said it was expected to fall below flood stage Thursday, but it was unclear when the hundreds of people evacuated could return to their homes.

___

Salter reported from St. Louis. Associated Press writer Don Babwin in Chicago contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cautious-relief-peoria-water-levels-fall-163335218.html

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Mysterious hot spots observed in a cool red supergiant

Public release date: 24-Apr-2013
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Contact: Aeron Haworth
aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk
44-161-275-8387
University of Manchester

Astronomers have released a new image of the outer atmosphere of Betelgeuse one of the nearest red supergiants to Earth revealing the detailed structure of the matter being thrown off the star.

The new image, taken by the e-MERLIN radio telescope array operated from the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, also shows regions of surprisingly hot gas in the star's outer atmosphere and a cooler arc of gas weighing almost as much as the Earth.

Betelgeuse is easily visible to the unaided eye as the bright, red star on the shoulder of Orion the Hunter. The star itself is huge 1,000 times larger than our Sun but at a distance of about 650 light years it still appears as a tiny dot in the sky, so special techniques combining telescopes in arrays are required to see details of the star and the region around it.

The new e-MERLIN image of Betelgeuse published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, shows its atmosphere extends out to five times the size of the visual surface of the star. It reveals two hot spots within the outer atmosphere and a faint arc of cool gas even farther out beyond the radio surface of the star.

The hot spots are separated by roughly half the visual diameter of the star and have a temperature of about 4,000-5,000 Kelvin, much higher than the average temperature of the radio surface of the star (about 1,200 Kelvin) and even higher than the visual surface (3,600 Kelvin). The arc of cool gas lies almost 7.4 billion kilometres away from the star about the same distance as the farthest Pluto gets from the Sun. It is estimated to have a mass almost two thirds that of the Earth and a temperature of about 150 Kelvin.

Lead author Dr Anita Richards, from The University of Manchester, said that it was not yet clear why the hot spots are so hot. She said: "One possibility is that shock waves, caused either by the star pulsating or by convection in its outer layers, are compressing and heating the gas. Another is that the outer atmosphere is patchy and we are seeing through to hotter regions within. The arc of cool gas is thought to be the result of a period of increased mass loss from the star at some point in the last century but its relationship to structures like the hot spots, which lie much closer in, within the star's outer atmosphere, is unknown."

The mechanism by which supergiant stars like Betelgeuse lose matter into space is not well understood despite its key role in the lifecycle of matter, enriching the interstellar material from which future stars and planets will form. Detailed high-resolution studies of the regions around massive stars like the ones presented here are essential to improving our understanding.

Dr Richards, who is based in Manchester's School of Physics and Astronomy, added: "Betelgeuse produces a wind equivalent to losing the mass of the Earth every three years, enriched with the chemicals that will go into the next generation of star and planet formation. The full detail of how these cool, evolved stars launch their winds is one of the remaining big questions in stellar astronomy.

"This is the first direct image showing hot spots so far from the centre of the star. We are continuing radio and microwave observations to help decide which mechanisms are most important in driving the stellar wind and producing these hot spots. This won't just tell us how the elements that form the building blocks of life are being returned to space, it will also help determine how long it is before Betelgeuse explodes as a supernova."

Future observations planned with e-MERLIN and other arrays, including ALMA and VLA, will test whether the hotspots vary in concert due to pulsation, or show more complex variability due to convection. If it is possible to measure a rotation speed this will identify in which layer of the star they originate.

###

Notes for editors:

The new Betelgeuse image and a copy of the paper that accompanies it, entitled 'e-MERLIN resolves Betelgeuse at wavelength 5 cm: hotspots at 5R*,' are available on request.

e-MERLIN, the UK's national radio astronomy facility, is operated from the Jodrell Bank Observatory by The University of Manchester on behalf of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. Its power lies in its combination of the sharpness of view afforded by telescope separations of up to 217km, and its ability to detect very faint signals resulting from the array's high bandwidth optical fibre connections. By connecting seven large radio telescopes, stretching from Cambridge to Cheshire (including the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank), e-MERLIN is able to produce images with the same detail as the Hubble Space Telescope but at radio rather than visible wavelengths. The signals from the telescopes are brought to Jodrell Bank on a dedicated optical fibre network whose high bandwidth allows the detection of very faint sources of radio emission. At Jodrell Bank 210 Gb of data arrive from the seven telescopes each second. These signals are combined in the correlator, a specialised supercomputer which carries out one thousand million million operations per second. For the signals from each telescope to be accurately combined, they must be synchronised at the level of a few million millionths of a second. The application of these fibre technologies and signal synchronisation techniques have led to e-MERLIN being designated as a pathfinder for what is planned to be the world's largest radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array.

---

[ | E-mail | 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.

Public release date: 24-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Aeron Haworth
aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk
44-161-275-8387
University of Manchester

Astronomers have released a new image of the outer atmosphere of Betelgeuse one of the nearest red supergiants to Earth revealing the detailed structure of the matter being thrown off the star.

The new image, taken by the e-MERLIN radio telescope array operated from the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, also shows regions of surprisingly hot gas in the star's outer atmosphere and a cooler arc of gas weighing almost as much as the Earth.

Betelgeuse is easily visible to the unaided eye as the bright, red star on the shoulder of Orion the Hunter. The star itself is huge 1,000 times larger than our Sun but at a distance of about 650 light years it still appears as a tiny dot in the sky, so special techniques combining telescopes in arrays are required to see details of the star and the region around it.

The new e-MERLIN image of Betelgeuse published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, shows its atmosphere extends out to five times the size of the visual surface of the star. It reveals two hot spots within the outer atmosphere and a faint arc of cool gas even farther out beyond the radio surface of the star.

The hot spots are separated by roughly half the visual diameter of the star and have a temperature of about 4,000-5,000 Kelvin, much higher than the average temperature of the radio surface of the star (about 1,200 Kelvin) and even higher than the visual surface (3,600 Kelvin). The arc of cool gas lies almost 7.4 billion kilometres away from the star about the same distance as the farthest Pluto gets from the Sun. It is estimated to have a mass almost two thirds that of the Earth and a temperature of about 150 Kelvin.

Lead author Dr Anita Richards, from The University of Manchester, said that it was not yet clear why the hot spots are so hot. She said: "One possibility is that shock waves, caused either by the star pulsating or by convection in its outer layers, are compressing and heating the gas. Another is that the outer atmosphere is patchy and we are seeing through to hotter regions within. The arc of cool gas is thought to be the result of a period of increased mass loss from the star at some point in the last century but its relationship to structures like the hot spots, which lie much closer in, within the star's outer atmosphere, is unknown."

The mechanism by which supergiant stars like Betelgeuse lose matter into space is not well understood despite its key role in the lifecycle of matter, enriching the interstellar material from which future stars and planets will form. Detailed high-resolution studies of the regions around massive stars like the ones presented here are essential to improving our understanding.

Dr Richards, who is based in Manchester's School of Physics and Astronomy, added: "Betelgeuse produces a wind equivalent to losing the mass of the Earth every three years, enriched with the chemicals that will go into the next generation of star and planet formation. The full detail of how these cool, evolved stars launch their winds is one of the remaining big questions in stellar astronomy.

"This is the first direct image showing hot spots so far from the centre of the star. We are continuing radio and microwave observations to help decide which mechanisms are most important in driving the stellar wind and producing these hot spots. This won't just tell us how the elements that form the building blocks of life are being returned to space, it will also help determine how long it is before Betelgeuse explodes as a supernova."

Future observations planned with e-MERLIN and other arrays, including ALMA and VLA, will test whether the hotspots vary in concert due to pulsation, or show more complex variability due to convection. If it is possible to measure a rotation speed this will identify in which layer of the star they originate.

###

Notes for editors:

The new Betelgeuse image and a copy of the paper that accompanies it, entitled 'e-MERLIN resolves Betelgeuse at wavelength 5 cm: hotspots at 5R*,' are available on request.

e-MERLIN, the UK's national radio astronomy facility, is operated from the Jodrell Bank Observatory by The University of Manchester on behalf of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. Its power lies in its combination of the sharpness of view afforded by telescope separations of up to 217km, and its ability to detect very faint signals resulting from the array's high bandwidth optical fibre connections. By connecting seven large radio telescopes, stretching from Cambridge to Cheshire (including the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank), e-MERLIN is able to produce images with the same detail as the Hubble Space Telescope but at radio rather than visible wavelengths. The signals from the telescopes are brought to Jodrell Bank on a dedicated optical fibre network whose high bandwidth allows the detection of very faint sources of radio emission. At Jodrell Bank 210 Gb of data arrive from the seven telescopes each second. These signals are combined in the correlator, a specialised supercomputer which carries out one thousand million million operations per second. For the signals from each telescope to be accurately combined, they must be synchronised at the level of a few million millionths of a second. The application of these fibre technologies and signal synchronisation techniques have led to e-MERLIN being designated as a pathfinder for what is planned to be the world's largest radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array.

---

[ | E-mail | 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/2013-04/uom-mhs042313.php

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Gale Announces National Geographic Kids | Cengage Learning

First Resource Focused on Younger Audiences Joins National Geographic Virtual Library

Farmington Hills, Mich., April 23, 2013 ? Gale, part of Cengage Learning and a leading publisher of research and reference resources for libraries, schools and businesses, today announced the launch of National Geographic Kids, the fourth resource in the National Geographic Virtual Library product line. This new resource contains material appropriate for younger audiences, and boasts unique content that is not duplicated in other available National Geographic Virtual Library products.

?National Geographic magazine is loved and recognized by all audiences and ages, even though the content is often more accessible for advanced learners,? said Frank Menchaca, senior vice president, global product management, research, school & professional, Cengage Learning. ?With the launch of National Geographic Kids, we?re able to offer content and navigation that is age appropriate and is supportive of curriculum and learning standards adopted by many states nationwide.?

National Geographic Kids includes the complete issues of National Geographic Kids magazine from 2009-present, 500 downloadable images, and 200 National Geographic Kids books, including reference books as well as nonfiction books on history, biography, science and technology and the National Geographic Readers, which cover wildlife, pets, nature and other topics. The interface also contains user-friendly design elements, which makes finding content more intuitive for younger audiences. National Geographic Kids is also accessible via the National Geographic Virtual Library interface, allowing for easy access and reference with the other resources in the product line. ?

The content in National Geographic Kids supports the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The books included in National Geographic Kids provide elementary and middle school students with opportunities to practice the foundational reading skills required to achieve fluency and comprehension. The CCSS also encourage students to gain an understanding of other cultures, and the National Geographic series Countries of the World and Holidays Around the World assist with that. National Geographic Kids also offers students an opportunity to engage with complex text ? the English Language Arts CCSS emphasize the need to provide all students with consistent opportunities to confront and comprehend grade?level complex text. In addition, National Geographic Kids provides high-quality informational texts suitable for primary, upper elementary and middle school English language arts, social studies and science classrooms.

?We?re excited to have this content digital and searchable for students to help support them in their learning endeavors,? said Julie Agnone, vice president, editorial operations, National Geographic Kids Publishing and Media. ?Additionally, we?re interested to see how teachers, including students working toward their teaching certification, use National Geographic Kids with their curriculum development.?

Customers have the option to purchase or subscribe to National Geographic Kids as a stand-alone product or coupled with the full National Geographic Virtual Library line. For more information on National Geographic Virtual Library or to request a trial, please visit http://www.gale.cengage.com/ngvl/ or contact Kristina Massari at kristina.massari@cengage.com.

About Cengage Learning and Gale

Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, software and services company, empowering educators and driving learner engagement through personalized services and course-driven digital solutions that bridge from the library to the classroom. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, serves the world?s information and education needs through its vast and dynamic content pools, which are used by students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the Internet. It is best known for the accuracy, breadth and convenience of its data, addressing all types of information needs ? from homework help to health questions to business profiles ? in a variety of formats. For more information, visit www.cengage.com or www.gale.cengage.com.

Source: http://news.cengage.com/school/gale-announces-national-geographic-kids/

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Appeal by doctor claims errors in Jackson trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Eighteen months after his involuntary manslaughter conviction, Michael Jackson's doctor on Monday appealed his case, claiming there were multiple legal errors at his trial.

A lawyer for Dr. Conrad Murray argued in the 230-page appellate brief that there was insufficient proof that Jackson died of an overdose of the anesthetic propofol administered by Murray.

The appeal also reiterated an often-stated defense claim that Jackson may have administered the overdose to himself.

The pop superstar died on June 25, 2009, days before he was to leave for England to perform in his ill-fated "This is It" concert. Witnesses said Murray had been giving him propofol as a sleep aid, a purpose for which it was not intended.

Attorney Valerie Wass said that because of Jackson's great fame, his doctor was used as an example by the judge who sentenced him to the highest term for involuntary manslaughter. She suggested that even if his conviction is upheld, his four-year sentence should be reduced.

Murray is eligible for release in October after serving half his sentence.

Murray's two-month trial in 2011 drew wide media coverage, and Wass argued that the judge should have excluded TV cameras from the courtroom and granted a motion to sequester jurors to keep them insulated from publicity.

"The unprecedented fame of the alleged victim combined with the pervasiveness of modern media rendered it impossible for appellant to receive a fair trial with a non-sequestered jury in a case that was televised and streamed live around the world," the appeal said.

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor had denied the defense motion, saying jurors who are sequestered often feel like prisoners and it interferes with their decision-making process. He instructed jurors daily to avoid publicity, and there was no indication that they violated the order.

The appeal also challenged the prosecution theory that Jackson was hooked up to an IV drip of propofol and left alone in his bedroom by Murray.

It called that scenario "absurd, improbable and unbelievable," and provided an exhaustive reprise of scientific testimony about Jackson's death. Murray told police he gave the singer an extremely small dose of propofol, a fact contradicted by scientists who reconstructed the events preceding the death.

Wass contended that one defense attorney, Michael Flanagan, failed to adequately cross-examine a scientist who testified to that issue. She said he and other lawyers also waited too long to ask for examination of residue in a propofol bottle found in Jackson's room, Their motion was filed 11 days after conviction and was denied.

The appeal faulted the judge for refusing to admit as evidence some of Jackson's previous medical records, his contract with concert promoter AEG, and his financial documents.

"The trial court abused its discretion by excluding all evidence of Jackson's financial condition, including lawsuits pending against him because such evidence was relevant to establish Jackson's state of mind on the day he died, which may have explained his conduct that morning and supported the defense theory of the case," the appeal said.

The attorney general's office, representing the prosecution, has 30 days to respond to the appeal. Wass then has another 20 days for her response.

She said the outcome of the appellate case could have some impact on pending medical board proceedings for Murray in Texas and California. The boards will decide whether to revoke Murray's license to practice medicine in the two states.

Meanwhile, Murray may be summoned to testify in a civil lawsuit filed against AEG by Jackson's mother, Katherine. Jury selection in that case is currently underway. She claims the concert promoter was negligent in hiring Murray to care for the singer.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/appeal-doctor-claims-errors-jackson-trial-205744427.html

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Pennsylvania Online Gambling Bill A Work in Progress | Online ...

April 23, 2013

After several months of hemming and hawing, Pennsylvania state Rep. Tina Davis finally dropped her online gambling bill on Monday. House Bill 1235 (read it here) has been referred to the state Assembly Committee on Gaming Oversight for further study.

HB 1235 envisions allowing the state?s slot machine licensees to offer online slots, poker cash games and tournaments plus table games as deemed appropriate by the state Gaming Control Board. The only games that appear to be explicitly off limits are lottery games offered by the Pennsylvania State Lottery, bingo, pari-mutuel betting, keno and ?small games of chance.? Davis had originally proposed introducing a poker- and blackjack-only bill, so this would represent a significant expansion, although there is much about Davis? bill that has yet to be set in stone by the Board.

Licensees would pay a one-time non-refundable authorization fee of $5m. Licenses would be valid for three year terms and cost $500k to renew. License applications would be approved or rejected within 90 days of receipt. Once up and running, licensees would pay taxes based on 28% of gross gaming revenue on a weekly basis. This is a far cry from Davis? original proposal to charge $16.5m for a license and a 45% tax on GGR.

There doesn?t appear to be any specific ?bad actor? language in the bill?s 89 pages, although tech companies looking to partner with the state?s slots licensees will have to apply to the Board for internet gaming supplier licenses (the criteria for which has yet to be finalized).

The bill is explicitly intrastate, but would permit interstate compacts provided they are deemed to be not inconsistent with federal law or the law of any other jurisdiction ? ?including any foreign jurisdiction? ? in which an out-of-state gambler is located. However, HB 1235 would defer to the provisions of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). While HB 1235 limits participation to residents within the state?s borders, it also reflects the argument that international online gambling companies have long made in their dealings with US players, namely, that the actual wagering is considered to have taken place in whatever county the server is located, ?regardless of the registered player?s location within this Commonwealth.?

Davis? support for the state?s licensed casinos is evident in the fact that online accounts would have to be established in person at a licensee?s land-based gaming facility and online players would have to hold ?an active players? club membership which was applied for and issued at the slot machine licensee?s licensed facility.? A slots licensee that is granted an internet gaming certificate would have to guarantee that the number of slots and tables games at its land-based facility would not be permanently reduced following the launch of its online product. The licensee would have the right ?at any time with or without cause, to suspend or close any internet gaming account at its sole discretion.?

The state plans to use 55% of the taxes it collects to reduce property taxes for the elderly and a further 30% for providing free or reduced transit fares for the elderly. The remaining 15% would go to the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development Fund (whose fan base, it must be said, are skewing more and more elderly every day).

The possibility of mobile wagering is not explicitly stated in the bill, although the bill does insist that ?access to and the conduct of internet gambling activities will not occur in locations adjacent or in close proximity to historic sights, battlefields, churches and schools.? So for the moment, at least, best keep your iPhone in your pocket at Gettysburg.

Source: http://calvinayre.com/2013/04/23/business/pennsylvania-online-gambling-bill-still-very-much-a-work-in-progress/

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