Jul 26

In this video Mercola.Com talks about Omega-3 fats vs Omega-6 and Omega-9 fats. The speaker suggests eating fish like salmon on a regular basis, because it is a natural source of long chain Omega-3 fats. The second suggestion is to stay away from supplements containing Omega-6 and Omega-9 fats; those should be consumed in its natural forms, like olive oil (contain Omega-9 and Omega-6 fats) and most liquid oils (usually contain large amounts of Omega-6 fats). Typical western diet has sufficient amounts of Omega-6 and Omega-9 fats and does not require dietary supplementation. Watch the video below for more details.

 

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Mar 19


An example of daily food plan guidelines generated by MyPyramid.Gov is provided below. This plan is a 2400 calorie food pattern and based on average needs for a 34 year old male, 5 feet 9 inches tall, physically active less than 30 minutes a day, in the healthy weight range. Eating these amounts from each food group daily may help you gradually reach a healthier weight. (Personal calorie and nutrient needs may be more or less than the average, and it is recommended to consult a qualified nutritionist for a personalized plan.)

GRAINS                 8 ounces
VEGETABLES          3 cups
FRUITS                  2 cups
MILK                     3 cups
MEAT & BEANS      6.5 ounces


Make Half Your Grains Whole
Aim for at least 4 ounces of whole grains a day.

Vary Your Veggies
Aim for this much every week:
Dark Green Vegetables = 3 cups weekly
Orange Vegetables = 2 cups weekly
Dry Beans & Peas = 3 cups weekly
Starchy Vegetables = 6 cups weekly
Other Vegetables = 7 cups weekly

Oils & Discretionary Calories
Aim for 7 teaspoons of oils a day.
Limit your extras (solid fats & sugars) to 360 Calories per day.

Physical Activity
Physical activity is also important for health. About 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity most days can help you manage your body weight and prevent gradual gain. About 60 to 90 minutes daily can help you maintain weight loss. If you are inactive, work up to these amounts gradually.

Comments on MyPyramid.Gov Daily Food Plan guidelines
MyPyramid.Gov Food Plan recommends 3 cups of low-fat or non-fat milk every single day for an adult person! From my experience most adult americans do not consume 3 cups of milk on a daily basis. (While yogurts and yogurt smoothies are  an excellent source of calcium, most yogurt based products are “overloaded” with sugars.) Dear reader, how many cups of milk did you drink yesterday?

Reference: http://www.mypyramid.gov/mypyramid/index.aspx

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Sep 17
BP published its internal investigation report for Deepwater Horizon rig explosion at Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010 (Links to Video, Presentation Slides, Executive Report and Full Report are below).

The investigation found eight major factors that contributed to Macondo well explosion and oil and gas leak. A sequence of failures involving a number of different parties, mainly BP, Transocean and Halliburton, led to the explosion and fire which killed 11 people and caused widespread pollution in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP’s managers and contractors involved with well exploration made mistakes that contributed to the tragedy. In its report BP blamed many of the errors on Transocean Ltd, the owner of Deepwater Horizon rig, and on service provider Halliburton Co.

Bloomberg.Com reports that: “BP’s report concealed the well’s “fatally flawed” design, which “set the stage” for the explosion, Vernier, Switzerland- based Transocean said Sept. 8. The driller, Transocean, cited a series of cost-savings decisions by BP that added risk. Cathy Mann, a spokeswoman for Houston-based Halliburton, said the report had “substantial omissions and inaccuracies” and that BP dictated design and testing procedures for the well.”

             

Watch BP video (29 mins)

   

Picture: Deepwater Horizon Rig Schematic Drawing

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Sep 08

Dropbox is a secure hosting service which enables users to synchronize files automatically between multiple computers and mobile devices. A change made to a file on one computer will be nearly immediately updated online and on other computers and mobile devices linked to the Dropbox folder. This is by far the easiest way to share files and folders across desktops, laptops, computer tablets and smart phones.

Dropbox service was founded in 2007 by MIT graduates Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi. The service uses SSL transfers for synchronization and stores data via AES-256 encryption. There are both free and paid services, each with varying options. The free service comes with 2 GB of free online storage.

Dropbox supports different versions of Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux (official and unofficial), as well as versions of mobile devices, such as the iPhone, iPad, Android, and BlackBerry, and a web-based client for when no local client is installed. Dropbox has now an App for iPhone and iPod touch in the AppStore!

Dropbox main features are demonstrated in this video:

Below is Drew Houston’ video presentation of Dropbox file syncronization between computers with different operating system, Mac and Windows:

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Aug 23

BASF introduced epoxy resin and coating technology to reinforce wind turbine blades. Animation (link below) shows how rotor blades are manufactured with vacuum infusion process.

Animation: http://www.basf.com/group/corporate/en/news-and-media-relations/science-around-us/wind-energy/animation 

 

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Aug 23

BP is preparing to bring to the surface failed Blowout Preventer (BOP)
http://tinyurl.com/bp-lifting-bop

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Aug 17

As of Tue, Aug 17, 2010 BP is on standby to get government approval to drill final 50 feet to intersect MC252 well annulus (space between rock formation and well casing) at about 800 feet above oil reservoir.

Below are quotes from BP’s briefing with Kent Wells on sealing Macondo well (Aug 10, 2010):

“We do know that we pumped about 200 barrels of cement or so out of the casing. Did it go into the reservoir? Did some go into the reservoir? Did some go up in the annulus? That’s an unknown.”

“We’re planning to intersect the well about 800 feet above the reservoir. And where we are right now with the relief well, we’re just at the shoe of the outer casing. And so we’re now going to start to go down to the place where we can intersect the annulus. And the annulus we’re describing is the annulus between the casing of the Macondo well and just the rock formation. It’s not an annulus between casing and casing. We’re going to intersect it at a point where it’s basically rock and then there’s an annulus and then there’s casing. And that’s where we plan to intersect.”

“And what we don’t know is exactly what we’ll find in that annulus. It could be mud. It could be oil. It could be cement. We just don’t know.”

Sources:
BP’s Briefing with Kent Wells on Aug 10, 2010:    http://bit.ly/c5Cysu  
BP’s Press Releases with Kent Wells:  http://bit.ly/cqaiRk

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Aug 10

Kent Wells of BP said on August 6 during the briefing that BP pumped just a little over 500 barrels of cement down the casing. He added “I think it was roughly about 200 barrels into the formation and the rest remained in the casing”. BP plans to remove failed Blowout Preventer after well is killed on August 15 – 20, and install a formal plug during regulatory abandonment procedure.

Source: http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/downloads_pdfs/BP_technical_audio_08062010.pdf

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Jul 15

Starting from mid June, Congress made multiple requests to BP to explain condition of the leaking well and provide facts about possible oil leak into rock formation surrounding the wellbore (read letters here).

All along since the Macondo Well ruptured on April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico, BP was designing a well cap from “scratch” with two objectives in mind: 1) to contain all leaking oil and 2) to have possibility to shut-in the well. As we learned from Congress, Steven Chu, Admiral Thad Allen and independent sources BP knew about sea floor oil leaks they discovered during Top Kill operation, but was not forthcoming about oil sipping from sea floor.

It is not surprising after Top Kill procedure BP’s press briefings did not mentioned anything about designing an impermeable well cap. The first week of July BP installed mini Blowout Preventer, a cap with three RAM valves that serves dual purpose: to contain all leaking oil and to shut-in well if wellbore can hold oil reservoir pressure.

Admiral Thad Allen said it took so long to design this cap because BP had to manufacture and test this specially designed cap from scratch.

Kent Wells of BP mentioned in one of BP’s briefings that Macondo well will be considered intact, or unbroken, if wellbore can hold 8,000 – 9,000 psi pressure during well integrity test. If pressure is found significantly lower than 8,000 psi that would imply oil sips into surrounding rock formation. Oil leaking into rock formation poses a great risk of sea bed erosion and all measures are taken to avoid such outcome.

Congress Letters to BP, source link:
http://globalwarming.house.gov/files/LTTR/2010-06-13_BPWellIntegrityFollowup.pdf

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Jul 15

Dr. William Kerr of Harvard Business School Published a Study on Immigrants and US Innovation.

Abstract:

How does high-skilled immigration affect innovation in receiving countries? This column examines how large fluctuations in the admissions levels of H-1B visa holders between 1995 and 2008 influenced US patenting. It suggests higher H-1B admissions increased US innovation through the direct contributions of the immigrants without crowding out those of natives.

An article by William Kerr & William Lincoln,
published online 15 July 2010

Full Article Source:  http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/5296

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