Nuclear Plant Operating Extensions and Update on Nuclear Heavy Manufacturing Supply Chain

NY Times - The USA is contemplating indefinite operating extensions.

Increasingly dependable and emitting few greenhouse gases, the U.S. fleet of nuclear power plants will likely run for another 50 or even 70 years before it is retired -- long past the 40-year life span planned decades ago -- according to industry executives, regulators and scientists.

With nuclear providing always-on electricity that will become more cost-effective if a price is placed on heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions, utilities have found it is now viable to replace turbines or lids that have been worn down by radiation exposure or wear. Many engineers are convinced that nearly any plant parts, most of which were not designed to be replaced, can be swapped out.

"We think we can replace almost every component in a nuclear power plant," said Jan van der Lee, director of the Materials Ageing Institute (MAI), a nuclear research facility inaugurated this week in France and run by the state-owned nuclear giant EDF.

"We don't want to wait until something breaks," he said. By identifying components that are wearing down and replacing them, he said, suddenly nuclear plants will find that "technically, there is no age limit."

Reactors are getting extensions to 60-70 year plant life.
Half of US reactors have licenses extending to 60 years.

Operating extensions in europe

Heavy Manufacturing Status

The very heavy forging capacity in operation today is in Japan (Japan Steel Works), China (China First Heavy Industries and China Erzhong) and Russia (OMZ Izhora). New capacity is being built by JSW, Shanghai Electric Group (SEC) and subsidiaries in China, and in South Korea (Doosan), France (Le Creusot) and Russia (OMZ Izhora and ZiO-Podolsk). New capacity is planned in UK (Sheffield Forgemasters) and India (Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Bharat Forge Ltd). In China the Harbin Boiler Co. and SEC subsidiary SENPE are increasing capacity.

12+ heavy forging sets per year now
About 40 heavy forgings set per year by end of 2012

Japan

Japan Steel Works 14,000 t x 2 600 max
4/yr set now and 12 /yr in 2012

MHI Nil, uses forgings to make RPVs double
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) will spend JPY 15 billion ($138 million) to double its capacity to make nuclear reactor pressure vessels and other large nuclear components by 2011. However, it does not have its own forging capacity. Also MHI will triple production space and add processing tools at its factory in Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture. The company aims to reduce the time to make a reactor vessel from three years to two, and to triple annual sales to 600 billion yen in ten years from 200 billion yen in 2007.

South Korea
Doosan 13,000 t
17,000 t 540

China CFHI 15,000 t, 12,500 t 580tons max 3/yr now and 5/yr by 2012
Harbin Boiler 8000 t
Shanghai (SEC) 15,000 t? 600 2.5/yr now and 6/yr in 2012
China Erzhong + Dongfang 12,700 t 600 3/yr in 2012

China's heavy manufacturing plants can make about seven sets of pressure vessels and steam generators per year, a doubling from 2007, but this is projected to rise to 20 sets per year by 2015.

India L&T 15,000 t ?
600 (in 2011)

BHEL
Bharat Forge 14,000 t

Europe Areva, SFARsteel 11,300 t 250
Sheffield 10,000 t 15,000 t 500
Saarschmiede 8670 t
ENSA Nil, uses forgings to make RPVs

USA Lehigh 10,000 t 270

Russia OMZ Izhora 12,000 t 15,000 t 600 2/yr now , 4/yr in 2012
ZiO-Podolsk ?, 4/yr in 2012

Russia's main reactor component supplier is OMZ's Izhorskiye Zavody facility at Izhora which is doubling the production of large forgings so as to be able to manufacture three or four pressure vessels per year from 2011. This represents a RUR 12 billion ($430 million) investment. OMZ is expected to produce the forgings for all new domestic AES-2006 model VVER-1200 nuclear reactors (four per year from 2016), plus exports. At present Izhora can produce the heavy forgings required for Russia's VVER-1000 reactors at the rate of two per year and it is manufacturing components for the first of two Leningrad II VVER-1200 units and for Novovoronezh II, as well as Belene's VVER-1000. These forgings include reactor pressure vessels, steam generator shells, reactor internals, and heavy piping. It shipped steam generator shells to ZiO-Podolsk for finishing.


FURTHER READING

IEAE - list of the age and power levels of world reactors.

Links to IAEA charts on nuclear reactors

Search the IAEA database of reactors


Operating extensions in Europe
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5A430M20091105

More Exaggerated Climate Change Claims Causing Backlash as More Are Debunked

The Times UK online reports on more potential errors IPCC Synthesis Report to government leaders

The most important is a claim that global warming could cut rain-fed north African crop production by up to 50% by 2020, a remarkably short time for such a dramatic change.

This weekend Professor Chris Field, the new lead author of the IPCC’s climate impacts team, told The Sunday Times that he could find nothing in the report to support the claim. The revelation follows the IPCC’s retraction of a claim that the Himalayan glaciers might all melt by 2035.

The Sunday Telegraph reveals new factual errors and poor sources of evidence in the IPCC reports.

Last weekend, the Telegraph revealed that the panel had based claims about disappearing mountain ice on anecdotal evidence in a student’s dissertation and an article in a mountaineering magazine.

And on Friday, it emerged that the IPCC’s panel had wrongly reported that more than half of the Netherlands was below sea level because it had failed to check information supplied by a Dutch government agency.

The Globe and Mail and other sources that are usually very pro-environmentalism and climate change are reporting "The Great global Warming Collapse"

Walter Russell Mead has coverage

The Dutch government has demanded that the IPCC correct its erroneous assertion that half of the Netherlands is below sea level. Actually, it’s only about a quarter. A prediction about the impact of sea level increases on people living in the Nile Delta was taken from an unpublished student dissertation. The report contained inaccurate data about generating energy from waves and about the cost of nuclear power

But many climate scientists now sense a sinking ship, and they're bailing out. Among them is Andrew Weaver, a climatologist at the University of Victoria who acknowledges that the climate body has crossed the line into advocacy. Even Britain's Greenpeace has called for Mr. Pachauri's resignation. India says it will establish its own body to monitor the effects of global warming because it “cannot rely” on the IPCC.

None of this is to say that global warming isn't real, or that human activity doesn't play a role, or that the IPCC is entirely wrong, or that measures to curb greenhouse-gas emissions aren't valid. But the strategy pursued by activists (including scientists who have crossed the line into advocacy) has turned out to be fatally flawed.

By exaggerating the certainties, papering over the gaps, demonizing the skeptics and peddling tales of imminent catastrophe, they've discredited the entire climate-change movement. The political damage will be severe. As Mr. Mead succinctly puts it: “Skeptics up, Obama down, cap-and-trade dead.” That also goes for Canada, whose climate policies are inevitably tied to those of the United States.

Alfin Cites Evidence of Black Carbon and Stratospheric Water Vapour Effects

A new study of the effect of black carbon on the melting of Himalayan glaciers demonstrates that 90% of melting is due to aerosols -- not CO2. More than 30% of melting is due to black carbon aerosol, and probably considerably more than 30%.

There is also new climate science on stratospheric water vapour.

scientists from NOAA have published research in Science that challenges the core assumptions of the global warming camp...

...the fundamental assumption in global warming dogma, that carbon dioxide is the most important factor in global warming, is simply not true...the research does allude to human emissions having a much smaller role in climate change than previously thought...

Miskolczi is not the first scientist to introduce the idea of "negative feedback" into atmospheric studies. MIT's Richard Lindzen has been discussing negative feedbacks in climate for many years.

In fact, wherever you look in the atmosphere, the biosphere, or the oceans, you find negative feedbacks are predominant in climate. Otherwise by now the Earth would have experienced runaway climate change in various directions, and never have come back. Instead, when one looks at the history of Earth's climate, one sees fractal cycles that repeat over several overlapping time scales.

Update- Study Says Ice Cap Melting Faster than Predicted

The head of the largest climate change study ever undertaken in Canada says the Arctic sea ice is thinning faster than expected.

Nature Geoscience paper -Climate response to regional radiative forcing during the twentieth century

We conclude that decreasing concentrations of sulphate aerosols and increasing concentrations of black carbon have substantially contributed to rapid Arctic warming during the past three decades.

It is easier and cheaper to reduce black carbon - soot to zero. Plus there could be investigation of cheap ways to make all of the ice caps as white as possible. Just like painting roofs white would provide a cooling effect. Whiter ice caps would reflect more heat and would lessen any melting. Why go after CO2 first when it is among the slowest and most expensive things to do ?

All Time Inflation Adjusted Movie Box Office Record Predictions

Avatar has a domestic box office of $630 million and will have a final domestic box office of $730-760 million

Box Office Mojo Inflation Adjusted totals

This will place Avatar 11th-14th on the inflation adjusted all time domestic list.

There is talk about re-releasing Titanic in 3D in late 2010 There is no uncertainty that a 3D release of Titanic will happen. The only uncertainty is the release date.

Titanic 3D box office added to Titanic's total will easily move it up to 3rd place on the all time inflation adjusted list.

All six Star Wars movies will be released in 3D.

I would guess the new Star Wars 3D movies will start releasing on May 16, 2012 for the 35th anniversary of Star Wars original release. The first major re-release of a special edition was in 1997 for the 20th anniversary. The latest the release would occur is 2017 for the 40th anniversary.



Star Wars will have solid box office as there is a generation of new fans of the new Clone Wars TV series. Plus people under 20 who will have never seen the movies on the big screen.

Star Wars will pass Gone with the Wind to become the top grossing movie of all time.

The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi should both move into the top 10 all time upon the 3D re-release.


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China Edge in Renewable and Nuclear Power

excerpt from China's edge in renewable energy by Keith Bradsher THE NEW YORK TIMES

* China's biggest advantage might be its domestic demand for electricity, which is rising 15 percent a year. To meet demand in the coming decade, according to statistics from the International Energy Agency, China will need to add nearly nine times as much electricity generation capacity as the United States will. As a result, Chinese producers of generating equipment enjoy enormous efficiencies from large-scale production

* In China, power companies have to buy new equipment anyway, and alternative energy, particularly wind and nuclear, is increasingly priced competitively. Interest rates as low as 2 percent on bank loans — the result of a savings rate of 40 percent and a government policy of steering loans to renewable energy

* China's low labor costs are an advantage in energy. Although wages have risen sharply in the past five years, Vestas still pays Chinese assembly line workers only $4,100 a year.

* The Chinese government charges a renewable energy fee to all electricity users. The fee increases residential electricity bills by 0.25 to 0.4 percent. For industrial users of electricity, the fee doubled in November to roughly 0.8 percent of the electricity bill. The fee revenue goes to companies that operate the electricity grid, to make up the cost difference between renewable energy and coal-fired power.

New nanoscopic material enables cartilage to Grow

Northwestern University researchers are the first to design a bioactive nanomaterial that promotes the growth of new cartilage in vivo and without the use of expensive growth factors. Minimally invasive, the therapy activates the bone marrow stem cells and produces natural cartilage. No conventional therapy can do this.

"Unlike bone, cartilage does not grow back, and therefore clinical strategies to regenerate this tissue are of great interest," said Samuel I. Stupp, senior author, Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, and Medicine, and director of the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine. Countless people -- amateur athletes, professional athletes and people whose joints have just worn out -- learn this all too well when they bring their bad knees, shoulders and elbows to an orthopaedic surgeon.

Damaged cartilage can lead to joint pain and loss of physical function and eventually to osteoarthritis, a disorder with an estimated economic impact approaching $65 billion in the United States. With an aging and increasingly active population, this figure is expected to grow.

6 page pdf PNAS - Supramolecular design of self-assembling
nanofibers for cartilage regeneration

Molecular and supramolecular design of bioactive biomaterials could have a significant impact on regenerative medicine. Ideal regenerative therapies should be minimally invasive, and thus the notion of self-assembling biomaterials programmed to transform from injectable liquids to solid bioactive structures in tissue is highly attractive for clinical translation. We report here on a coassembly system of peptide amphiphile (PA) molecules designed to form nanofibers for cartilage regeneration by displaying a high density of binding epitopes to transforming growth factor β-1 (TGFβ-1). Growth factor release studies showed that passive release of TGFβ-1 was slower from PA gels containing the growth factor binding sites. In vitro experiments indicate these materials support the survival and promote the chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. We also show that these materials can promote regeneration of articular cartilage in a full thickness chondral defect treated with microfracture in a rabbit model with or even without the addition of exogenous growth factor. These results demonstrate the potential of a completely synthetic bioactive biomaterial as a therapy to promote cartilage regeneration.

"Cartilage does not regenerate in adults. Once you are fully grown you have all the cartilage you'll ever have," said first author Ramille N. Shah, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine. Shah is also a resident faculty member at the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine.

Type II collagen is the major protein in articular cartilage, the smooth, white connective tissue that covers the ends of bones where they come together to form joints.

"Our material of nanoscopic fibers stimulates stem cells present in bone marrow to produce cartilage containing type II collagen and repair the damaged joint," Shah said. "A procedure called microfracture is the most common technique currently used by doctors, but it tends to produce a cartilage having predominantly type I collagen which is more like scar tissue."

The Northwestern gel is injected as a liquid to the area of the damaged joint, where it then self-assembles and forms a solid. This extracellular matrix, which mimics what cells usually see, binds by molecular design one of the most important growth factors for the repair and regeneration of cartilage. By keeping the growth factor concentrated and localized, the cartilage cells have the opportunity to regenerate.

Together with Nirav A. Shah, a sports medicine orthopaedic surgeon and former orthopaedic resident at Northwestern, the researchers implanted their nanofiber gel in an animal model with cartilage defects.

The animals were treated with microfracture, where tiny holes are made in the bone beneath the damaged cartilage to create a new blood supply to stimulate the growth of new cartilage. The researchers tested various combinations: microfracture alone; microfracture and the nanofiber gel with growth factor added; and microfracture and the nanofiber gel without growth factor added.

They found their technique produced much better results than the microfracture procedure alone and, more importantly, found that addition of the expensive growth factor was not required to get the best results. Instead, because of the molecular design of the gel material, growth factor already present in the body is enough to regenerate cartilage.

The matrix only needed to be present for a month to produce cartilage growth. The matrix, based on self-assembling molecules known as peptide amphiphiles, biodegrades into nutrients and is replaced by natural cartilage.

The PNAS paper is titled "Supramolecular Design of Self-assembling Nanofibers for Cartilage Regeneration." In addition to Stupp, Ramille Shah and Nirav Shah, other authors of the paper are Marc M. Del Rosario Lim, Caleb Hsieh and Gordon Nuber, all from Northwestern.

FURTHER READING

3 pages of supplemental material

Blocking interleukin-10 protein boosts Immune Memory and Could Enhance Vaccine Effectiveness

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a potential new way to stimulate the immune system to prevent or clear a viral infection. By blocking the action of a key protein in the mouse immune system, they were able to boost immune "memory" in those mice—work that may one day help doctors increase the effectiveness of human vaccines designed to prevent viral infections.

Immune memory in humans (or mice) is what allows the body—after an initial exposure to a virus—to quickly recognize, respond to, and eliminate that same virus upon some later exposure. Viral vaccines basically work through this mechanism.

Not all vaccines are 100 percent effective, however, and doctors would like to have ways of enhancing the ability of vaccines to induce immune memory. As described in an advance online Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on January 26, 2010, the Scripps Research scientists were able to do just that. They significantly boosted immune memory in mice by blocking a protein called interleukin-10 (IL-10).

It may be possible to achieve the same effect in humans, says Oldstone. If a chemical that blocks IL-10 could be formulated and administered with a vaccine, it may specifically enhance the effectiveness of that vaccine. However, even if such chemicals could be discovered, it would likely take years to develop and test their safety and effectiveness before they were ready for widespread commercial use.

Thermoelectic Updates

2009 Thermoelectrics Applications Workshop - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE)

79 page pdf - The Growth Potential of Thermoelectrics

Why Use Thermoelectrics?
If the 220 M Personal Vehicles in the US had Thermoelectric Generators powering Thermoelectric Coolers/Heaters (HVAC)
* Save 4.5 Billion gals/year of fuel
* Reduce Greenhouse Gases by 69.5 Million Metric Tons of CO2 /year

27 page pdf - Can Thermoelectrics Help Energy Savings and Emission Reduction Goals in the United States?

* Solid-state cooling, heating and power generation
* Small, light-weight. Potentially very reliable and rugged
* Electrically powered with very few (or no) moving parts
* Distributed (and spot) cooling/heating/temperature control/heat pumping
* No gaseous pollutants/CO2 replacement for cooling/heating applications
* Interfaces well with electrified systems



Technical Details

36 page pdf - Overview of thermoelectrics in Japan

29 page pdf with overview of thermoelectrics in China


51 page pdf- An Overview of Thermoelectric Waste Heat Recovery Activities in Europe

Thermoelectrics for space RTGs

Qualcom chief Operating Officer Becomes CEO of Memjet - No products Yet

Wall Street Journal reports that Len Lauer has a reputation as a communications-industry heavyweight. After more than 10 years at IBM, he took jobs like chief executive of Bell Atlantic-New Jersey and COO of Sprint Nextel before joining Qualcomm in late 2006. In becoming CEO of Memjet, he is changing industries to lead an ambitious effort to shake up the printer market.

Memjet hopes to market it calls a “page wide” print head, which remains stationary and lays down ink across a page as the paper moves past it. That increases printing speeds by eight to 10 times, Lauer says. He estimates its technology will print 60 pages per minute; while some conventional inkjet printers advertise 30 to 32 pages per minute, they more often complete six pages or so in that time, he says. Lauer also estimates that Memjet’s ink costs will be 30% to 40% lower than current inkjet technology.

* Memjet has more than 600 employees, with about 400 of its engineers in Sydney
* Memjet has raised “hundreds and hundreds of millions” of dollars. Its biggest investor is Argonaut Private Equity.
* Memjet expects to start delivering products in the second half of this year, initially targeting office printers, label printers and other business applications
* Memjet has missed many deadlines before



Memjet website

China Indicates They Will Not be Locked to a Lower Economic Level by Taking Lower Per Capita Greenhouse Gases

China Daily - Do three errors mean breaking point for IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ) ?

I was impressed by the presentation of Dr Fred Singer, an atmospheric physicist and founding director of the US Weather Satellite Service, who challenged the IPCC findings with his research data.

In the next few days, I talked with several scientists, including Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the IPCC chair, and asked them about Singer's data. All of these scientists brushed aside Singer's arguments, saying that the IPCC's primary finding is indisputable: "Warming in the climate system is unequivocal".

I believed the IPCC reports, which summarize the research of some 4,000 scientists, but I had some serious reservations. For one thing, the IPCC reports contained very little data from Chinese researchers. I was told the IPCC refused to consider Chinese data because the Chinese research was not peer-reviewed.

China is not a small country. Its landmass spans several climate zones and includes the roof of the world. I have to wonder how data from China would affect the IPCC's findings.

Several Chinese scientists who have gone over the IPCC report believe that the IPCC may have overstated the link between global temperature and CO2 in the atmosphere.

In a paper published in the December issue of the Chinese language Earth Science magazine, Ding Zhongli, an established environmental scientist, stated that the current temperatures on earth look normal if global climate changes over the past 10,000 years are considered.

Ding's paper highlighted the fact that in its policy suggestions, the IPCC offered solutions that would give people in rich countries the right to emit a much higher level of greenhouse gas per capita than people in developing countries. It in effect set limits on the economic growth of developing countries, which will result in furthering the gap between rich and poor countries."

Ancient Chinese considered three a breaking point. They could forgive two errors, but not a third. Now that the IPCC has admitted three "human" errors, isn't it time scientists gave its work a serious review?

Pajamas Media has coverage

Optical Resolution with 17 nanometer resolution

The upper panel shows the topographical measurement of a diindenoperylene film. Lighter shades stand for higher areas, darker ones for lower areas. In the lower panel the topographical and the optical measurements are superimposed – the latter one in the red and yellow colour range; the brighter the colour, the higher the luminescence intensity. (Image: Research Group of Prof. Meixner, University of Tübingen)

Physical Review Letters - Nanoscale Spectroscopic Imaging of Organic Semiconductor Films by Plasmon-Polariton Coupling

Tip-enhanced near-field optical images and correlated topographic images of an organic semiconductor film (diindenoperylene, DIP) on Si have been recorded with high optical contrast and high spatial resolution (17 nm) using a parabolic mirror with a high numerical aperture for tip illumination and signal collection. The DIP molecular domain boundaries being one to four molecular layers (1.5–6 nm) high are resolved topographically by a shear-force scanning tip and optically by simultaneously recording the 6×10^5 times enhanced photoluminescence (PL). The excitation is 4×10^4 times enhanced and the intrinsically weak PL-yield of the DIP-film is 15-fold enhanced by the tip. The Raman spectra indicate an upright orientation of the DIP molecules. The enhanced PL contrast results from the local film morphology via stronger coupling between the tip plasmon and the exciton-polariton in the DIP film.

Nano-patterning Provides Large Boost for Solar Cells and Other Solar Improvements

1. Advanced Functional Materials - Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Nanorods with Aligned Chain Orientation for Organic Photovoltaics

A structured polymer solar cell architecture featuring a large interface between donor and acceptor with connecting paths to the respective electrodes is explored. To this end, poly-(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) nanorods oriented perpendicularly to indium tin oxide (ITO) glass are fabricated using an anodic aluminum oxide template. It is found that the P3HT chains in bulk films or nanorods are oriented differently; perpendicular or parallel to the ITO substrate, respectively. Such chain alignment of the P3HT nanorods enhanced the electrical conductivity up to tenfold compared with planar P3HT films. Furthermore, the donor/acceptor contact area could be maximised using P3HT nanorods as donor and C60 as acceptor. In a photovoltaic device employing this structure, remarkable photoluminescence quenching (88%) and a seven-fold efficiency increase (relative to a device with a planar bilayer) are achieved.

3 page pdf with supplemental information

Ars Technica has coverage

While the absolute efficiency of the new array—just 1.12 percent—is not cutting edge, the patterning technique is cheap and can be done on a large scale, and is unlikely to be limited to just this material system. Other recent polymer cells have claimed efficiencies of 5.5 percent, for example, and the micro- and nano-pillar approach works with traditional photovoltaic materials, too. There is still much work to be done in the optimization of the processing conditions, but this is yet another piece of the puzzle that may make polymer solar cells a viable option for power generation.

2. Nanowerk - Quantum dot polymer hybrids greatly improve the efficiency of organic solar cells

Researchers were able to attain an efficiency of 2 percent by using so-called quantum dots composed of cadmium selenide. These measurements, well above the previous efficiency ratings of 1 to 1.8 percent.

Organic solar cells belong to the so-called third generation of solar cells and are still in the developmental stage. The world record for purely organic solar cells, a type in which both components of the photoactive layer consist of organic materials, is currently at 7 percent for layers created through wet chemical methods. Organic solar cells have many advantages over the conventional silicon cells typically used for large-scale energy production: Not only are they are considerably thinner and more flexible, they are also less expensive and quicker to produce. They are thus better suited for powering everyday devices and systems which are not in constant use, such as sensors or electrical appliances. In the long run, organic solar cells could drastically reduce our dependence on batteries and cables.

The cost of solar power could be cut 30 percent without improving the performance of individual solar cells, says Daniel Alcombright, vice president for North America at Solon Corporation

* highly-paid electricians spend hours constructing assemblies for conduits, when such things could be built for less in a factory.
* Larger solar modules with quick mount frames could also reduce overall construction costs.
* standardized plans for solar farms, so that each new project doesn't have to be engineered anew.
*low cost tracking systems and software for optimizing their performance in different locations and from season to season could increase power output from the same solar panels.

Princeton scientist traps electrons to make spin qubits in a quantum computing advance

Princeton University's Jason Petta has demonstrated a method that alters the properties of a lone electron without disturbing the trillions of electrons in its immediate surroundings. The feat is essential to the development of future varieties of superfast computers with near-limitless capacities for data.

Petta, an assistant professor of physics, has fashioned a new method of trapping one or two electrons in microscopic corrals created by applying voltages to minuscule electrodes. Writing in the Feb. 5 edition of Science, he describes how electrons trapped in these corrals form "spin qubits," quantum versions of classic computer information units known as bits.

When the electrons in Petta's experiment are in what he calls their quantum state, they are "coherent," following rules that are radically different from the world seen by the naked eye. Living for fractions of a second in the realm of quantum physics before they are rattled by external forces, the electrons obey a unique set of physical laws that govern the behavior of ultra-small objects.

Scientists like Petta are working in a field known as quantum control where they are learning how to manipulate materials under the influence of quantum mechanics so they can exploit those properties to power advanced technologies like quantum computing. Quantum computers will be designed to take advantage of these characteristics to enrich their capacities in many ways.

In addition to electrical charge, electrons possess rotational properties. In the quantum world, objects can turn in ways that are at odds with common experience. The Austrian theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1945, proposed that an electron in a quantum state can assume one of two states -- "spin-up" or "spin-down." It can be imagined as behaving like a tiny bar magnet with spin-up corresponding to the north pole pointing up and spin-down corresponding to the north pole pointing down.

An electron in a quantum state can simultaneously be partially in the spin-up state and partially in the spin-down state or anywhere in between, a quantum mechanical property called "superposition of states." A qubit based on the spin of an electron could have nearly limitless potential because it can be neither strictly on nor strictly off.

New designs could take advantage of a rich set of possibilities offered by harnessing this property to enhance computing power. In the past decade, theorists and mathematicians have designed algorithms that exploit this mysterious superposition to perform intricate calculations at speeds unmatched by supercomputers today.

Petta's work is using electron spin to advantage.

"In the quest to build a quantum computer with electron spin qubits, nuclear spins are typically a nuisance," said Guido Burkard, a theoretical physicist at the University of Konstanz in Germany. "Petta and coworkers demonstrate a new method that utilizes the nuclear spins for performing fast quantum operations. For solid-state quantum computing, their result is a big step forward."

Petta's spin qubits, which he envisions as the core of future quantum logic elements, are cooled to temperatures near absolute zero and trapped in two tiny corrals known as quantum wells on the surface of a high-purity, gallium arsenide chip. The depth of each well is controlled by varying the voltage on tiny electrodes or gates. Like a juggler tossing two balls between his hands, Petta can move the electrons from one well to the other by selectively toggling the gate voltages.


Spin qubits, which could be the core logic elements of quantum computers, are cooled in a device called a dilution refrigerator to temperatures near absolute zero in order to exploit the mysterious rules of quantum mechanics.

P doped Graphane Calculations Predict Will Superconduct at 90K

Graphane is graphene with a lot of hydrogen. Graphene is two dimensional sheet of carbon. Graphane was made for the first time only last year at the University of Manchester. P-doped diamond nanowires might have similar properties. Copper oxides superconduct in an entirely different way to conventional BCS superconductors (after Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer, who worked out the theory behind them). p-doped graphane should superconduct in the same way as the old fashioned BCS superconductors.

6 page pdf arxiv - Doped graphane: a prototype high-T
c electron-phonon superconductor

We show by first-principles calculations that p-doped graphane is a conventional superconductor with a critical temperature (Tc) above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. The unique strength of the chemical bonds between carbon atoms and the large density of electronic states at the Fermi energy arising from the reduced dimensionality synergetically push Tc above 90K, and give rise to large Kohn anomalies in the optical phonon dispersions. As evidence of graphane was recently reported, and doping of related materials such as graphene, diamond and carbon nanostructures is well established, superconducting graphane may be feasible.

Technology Review arxiv blog has coverage

They calculate that p-doped graphane fits the bill exactly and should superconduct in the old-fashioned BCS way at 90K. What's more they say there are hints that p-doped diamond nanowires might have similar properties.

Various groups are already playing around with doped diamond nanowires.

p-doping at wikipedia

A P-type semiconductor (P for Positive) is obtained by carrying out a process of doping, that is adding a certain type of atoms to the semiconductor in order to increase the number of free charge carriers (in this case positive).

When the doping material is added, it takes away (accepts) weakly-bound outer electrons from the semiconductor atoms. This type of doping agent is also known as an acceptor material and the vacancy left behind by the electron is known as a hole.

The purpose of P-type doping is to create an abundance of holes.

A Critique of the Canadian Think Tank Report That Claims There Will be No Nuclear Energy Revival Before 2030

Centre for International Governance Innovation - The Future of Nuclear Energy to 2030 and its Implications for Safety, Security and Nonproliferation [40 page pdf]

The purpose of this project was three-fold:
• to investigate the likely size, shape and nature of the purported nuclear energy revival to 2030 – not to make a judgement on the merits of nuclear energy, but rather to predict its future;
• to consider the implications for global governance in the areas of nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation; and
• to make recommendations to policy makers in Canada and abroad on ways to strengthen global governance in these areas.

The report is broadly biased in what is included and how it is presented and the conclusions are wrong. The report can be summarized - "we think that nuclear power will develop slowly up to 2030 but then in case it does not let use push for legislation to make sure it does go even slower."

They say that there will be little net nuclear power added but do not
have a breakdown of which nuclear reactors will be shutdown and when. There will be no more German reactors shut down as the politics have shifted.

The report tries to also claim high prices for world nuclear build as the major factor in preventing more nuclear build. They also claim that lack of subsidies for nuclear will prevent it as well. The report does not look at prices for nuclear build in China and South Korea or Russia or India. Most of the future world nuclear build is on order for Asia. So any failure for world wide nuclear build has to look at the prices in Asia.

This is like saying there will be no growth in human population from now to 2030 and only looking at the birth rate of europeans and americans while ignoring African and asian birth rates.

They also say that maybe China will generate 5% of electricity from
nuclear power. They do not also then quantify that amount as 70GW in 2020 and 160-200 GW in 2030. Those would be significant additions.

They looked at nuclear energy in terms of number of reactors and nameplate Gigawatts in order to say that things have been flat from 2000 to 2008. In 2000, there was 2449.92 billion kwh generated by nuclear energy. The world total was 2601 billion kwh in 2008. So even in a time of no new nuclear reactors there was an increase of 5.8% in nuclear power generation. The nuclear revival is only starting to kick into gear this year in terms of significant nuclear reactor additions.

Here is the expected new nuclear power generation from 2010-2014

2010 9 new reactors, 6.2 GWe (shifted the two Canadian Reactors to 2011)
2011 11 new reactors, 9.3 GWe
2012 10 new reactors, 9.92 GWe
2013 12 new reactors, 13.08 GWe
2014 14 new reactors, 13.63 GWe

by 2014 the world generation should be about 3120 billion kwh.

500 billion kwh will be comparable to added generation from solar and wind power. Wind generated about 260 billion kwh in 2008.

China is expected to add 70GWe of nuclear power by 2020 and have about 300 GWe by 2030.



There will be significant conventional uprating of existing reactors and South Korea is developing annular fuel (dual cooled fuel) technology which can uprate existing reactors by up to 50%. The dual cooled fuel technology could begin implementation around 2020 and could be widespread for the legacy reactors by 2030. Also, existing reactors are getting operational extensions for have 70-80 year lives. This will mean there will be very few reactors shutdown by 2030.

* The report states that the thorium fuel cycle will not be viable by 2030.

Ironically, China was investigating the use of Thorium in CANDU reactors (from Canada)

Lightbridge formerly Thorium Power on Track for Thorium fuel Assemblies for 2021

Lightbridge is certifying thorium/uranium fuel assemblies in Russia which will be usable in existing and future pressure water reactors [40 page pdf]

India is completing a 500 MW breeder reactor that will have a thorium blanket

Started construction of a 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam and this is now under construction by BHAVINI. The unit is expected to be operating in 2010, fuelled with uranium-plutonium oxide (the reactor-grade Pu being from its existing PHWRs). It will have a blanket with thorium and uranium to breed fissile U-233 and plutonium respectively. This will take India's ambitious thorium program to stage 2, and set the scene for eventual full utilization of the country's abundant thorium to fuel reactors. Four more such fast reactors have been announced for construction by 2020. Initial FBRs will be have mixed oxide fuel but these will be followed by metallic-fuelled ones to enable shorter doubling time.

* the CIGA report also dismissed breeder reactors

China has bought two of the Russian 880 MWe fast neutron reactors

The BN800 has a fuel burn-up of 70-100 GWd/t. Maximum fuel burn up is 950 GWd/t (Gigawatt days per ton) and current reactors have a burnup of 30-60 GWd/t. This will reduce the amount of nuclear waste or unburned fuel, which is also cited as an issue in the report. India should have five breeders by 2020.

There are factory mass produced small reactors under development by China, Russia, and Hyperion Power Generation. China's first 200 MWe pebble bed should be ready by 2013. Russia has plans for several 100 MWe SVBR-100 reactors. Hyperion Power Generation could have the first of its 25 MWe fast neutron reactors in 2013.

* the CIGA report also quotes Amory Lovins for its impact of nuclear power to offset carbon dioxide.

This site has noted the problems with Amory Lovins work before more than once

I also disagree with the CIGA take on proliferation and security, but wanted to focus on how their prediction for 2030 is wrong. Basically the CIGA point of view -we think that nuclear power will develop slowly up to 2030 but then in case it does not let use push for legislation to make sure it does go even slower. The position here is nuclear power will develop far more quickly than the CIGA position and CIGA is misguided on proliferation and security.

FURTHER READING
The Toronto Star has an article by Tyler Hamilton on the research report

Nextbigfuture discussed the issue of nuclear proliferation and incremental risk and lack of correlation in this article

Here is a discussion of nuclear costs analysis and wind energy costs

The project was delayed for more than a year partially due to bad weather (on second thought, that might not be just a first of a kind issue for off-shore wind farms). The projected total cost will be $357 million, approximately $85 million more than the initial estimate. Considering the size of the array and its capacity factor, that cost overrun is comparable to exceeding the budget for a 1600 MWe Areva EPR by more than $5 Billion dollars.

Assuming a generous 40% CF for the 60 MWe peak capacity wind farm, the total cost of $357 million is equivalent to paying $19 Billion for a single 1600 MWe nuclear power plant that can operate at a modest average capacity factor – for a nuclear plant – of 80%.

However, please do not cry for the investors in the project. Their profitability will be assured by the rules of Germany’s feed in tariff laws which will guarantee that the project owners will receive $0.18 per kilowatt hour for their generated power.

Observers of the political turmoil now underway in Ontario over the media reports that AECL bid $26 billion to build two new ACR1000 reactors (2,220 MW) are in good company trying to make sense of these figures.

The news media, notably the Toronto Star, had a field day with the numbers sticking provincial politicians like they were morsels on a shish-ka-bob skewer. The problem with all the fire, smoke, and spit from the grill is that the numbers are undoubtedly wrong and wrongly reported in the news media.

First, $26 billion is an aggregate number that includes two reactors, turbines, transmission and distribution infrastructure (power lines or T&D), plant infrastructure, and nuclear fuel for 60 years as well as decommissioning costs. The most important number in the whole controversy has gone largely without notice and that is the delivered cost of electricity from the plants is in the range of five cents per kilowatt hour.


In a conference call with nuclear energy bloggers on July 17, a spokesman for Areva declined to provide exact numbers, but did not specifically dispute a report in the Toronto Star on July 14 which pegged the cost of two 1,650 EPR reactors at $7.8 billion. Doing the math, that comes out to just under $2,400/Kw which is a very competitive price.

Car Bodywork Could Double as Battery and T-Shirts Could Become Batteries

1. Imperial College of London- Parts of a car’s bodywork could one day double up as its battery, according to the scientists behind a new €3.4 million project announced today.

Researchers from Imperial College London and their European partners, including Volvo Car Corporation, are developing a prototype material which can store and discharge electrical energy and which is also strong and lightweight enough to be used for car parts.

The researchers believe the material, which has been patented by Imperial, could potentially be used for the casings of many everyday objects such as mobile phones and computers, so that they would not need a separate battery. This would make such devices smaller, more lightweight and more portable.

In the new project, the scientists are planning to develop the composite material so that it can be used to replace the metal flooring in the car boot, called the wheel well, which holds the spare wheel. Volvo is investigating the possibility of fitting this wheel well component into prototype cars for testing purposes.

The team says replacing a metal wheel well with a composite one could enable Volvo to reduce the number of batteries needed to power the electric motor. They believe this could lead to a 15 per cent reduction in the car’s overall weight, which should significantly improve the range of future hybrid cars.

The researchers say that the composite material that they are developing, which is made of carbon fibres and a polymer resin, will store and discharge large amounts of energy much more quickly than conventional batteries. In addition, the material does not use chemical processes, making it quicker to recharge than conventional batteries. Furthermore, this recharging process causes little degradation in the composite material, because it does not involve a chemical reaction, whereas conventional batteries degrade over time.

2. Stanford researchers have moved from making batteries from paper to making batteries from cloth. Your-T-shirt could become a lighted, moving display The material will enable a t-shirt battery to hold three times more power than a regular cellphone battery.

A team of Stanford researchers is producing batteries and simple capacitors from ordinary textiles dipped in nanoparticle-infused ink. The conductive textiles – dubbed "eTextiles" – represent a new class of integrated energy storage device, born from the synthesis of prehistoric technology with cutting-edge materials science.

"We have been developing all kinds of materials, trying to revolutionize battery performance," said Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford. "Recently, we started to think about how to make batteries in a very different way from before."

While conventional batteries are made by coating metallic foil in a particle slurry and rolling it into compact form – a capital-intensive process – the new energy textiles were manufactured using a simple "dipping and drying" procedure, whereby a strip of fabric is coated with a special ink formula and dehydrated in the oven.

The procedure works for manufacturing batteries or supercapacitors, depending on the contents of the ink – oxide particles such as LiCoO2 for batteries; conductive carbon molecules (single-walled carbon nanotubes, or SWNTs) for supercapacitors. Up to now, the team has only used black ink, but Cui said it is possible to produce a range of colors by adding different dyes to the carbon nanotubes.

Cui's team had previously developed paper batteries and supercapacitors using a similar process, but the new energy textiles exhibited some clear advantages over their paper predecessors. With a reported energy density of 20 Watt-hours per kilogram, a piece of eTextile weighing 0.3 0.030 [correction made here -error was in original press release] kilograms (about an ounce, the approximate weight of a T-shirt) could hold up to three times more energy than a cell phone battery

Stretchable, Porous, and Conductive Energy Textiles

Recently there is strong interest in lightweight, flexible, and wearable electronics to meet the technological demands of modern society. Integrated energy storage devices of this type are a key area that is still significantly underdeveloped. Here, we describe wearable power devices using everyday textiles as the platform. With an extremely simple “dipping and drying” process using single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) ink, we produced highly conductive textiles with conductivity of 125 S cm−1 and sheet resistance less than 1 Ω/sq. Such conductive textiles show outstanding flexibility and stretchability and demonstrate strong adhesion between the SWNTs and the textiles of interest. Supercapacitors made from these conductive textiles show high areal capacitance, up to 0.48F/cm2, and high specific energy. We demonstrate the loading of pseudocapacitor materials into these conductive textiles that leads to a 24-fold increase of the areal capacitance of the device. These highly conductive textiles can provide new design opportunities for wearable electronics and energy storage applications.

Kotura Announces Technology Breakthrough in Low Voltage, High Speed Silicon Photonic Modulator

Kotura, Inc., a leading provider of Silicon Photonics products, today announced demonstration of an industry leading modulator with two-volt, peak-to-peak driving voltage, and permitting the use of inexpensive CMOS drivers. Equally impressive, the Kotura modulator achieved speeds in excess of 11 GHz and an ultra-low energy consumption of 50 femtoJoules per bit. The on chip device loss of 2 dB is among the lowest ever demonstrated.

“This technology breakthrough will enable the development of silicon photonics circuits for optical interconnect,” commented Dr. Ashok Krishnamoorthy, Principal Investigator on this project and a Distinguished engineer and Director at Sun Microsystems. “This promises to significantly increase the penetration of optical interconnects within computing systems – starting with the high-end, where interconnect is a bottleneck, and working down into volume applications. This development opens the door for wavelength-multiplexed optical interconnects, which will reduce the complexity impact of connectors and cabling in such systems. Silicon photonics solves this problem by enabling high bandwidth connectivity over longer distances at lower power than copper wires. A high-speed, low-power modulator is a key component in these circuits.”

“WDM has the potential to lower the cabling complexity and cost of optical interconnects by orders of magnitude” added Mehdi Asghari, CTO of Kotura. “A single silicon photonics device will require 10’s to 100’s of modulators, one for each wavelength of light. Our modulator has the right combination of low drive voltage, low power consumption, small size and low insertion loss to integrate many of these into a single chip.”

The Kotura modulator was developed as part of the DAPRA’s Ultraperformance Nanophotonic Intrachip Communications (UNIC) program in conjunction with Sun Microsystems, under the leadership of Dr. Jagdeep Shah. A technical paper, “Low Vpp, ultralow-energy, compact, high-speed silicon electro-optic modulator,” by Dong et al. was recently published in Optics Express, The International Electronic Journal of Optics.

The power levels per bit are what are needed to achieve 80 terabit per second. More must be done to get the communication speed up.

Breakthrough in Creating First Generation Artificial Pancreas

Using sophisticated computer software, researchers were able to coordinate the actions of a commercially available continuous glucose monitoring device and insulin pump to allow automatic insulin delivery in response to real-time glucose readings.

While using the artificial pancreas system, the children maintained blood sugar levels in the normal range 60% of the time, compared with 40% of the time while using a conventional insulin pump. Between 50% and 70% of hypoglycemic emergencies happen at night.

If that goes well, he says the artificial pancreas could be clinically available within three to five years for overnight use.

It will probably take longer to determine if the system can be used 24 hours a day. Daytime blood sugar control, especially around mealtimes, poses a special challenge

The system proved better than a conventional insulin pump for maintaining optimal blood sugar levels during the night in a study from the U.K.'s University of Cambridge.

The newly published study included 19 children and teens with type 1 diabetes who used the artificial pancreas system for 33 nights and a conventional insulin pump for 21 nights in a hospital setting.

During certain nights, the delivery systems were challenged by having the children eat a large meal or exercise before bedtime. Both of these activities increase the risk for nighttime hypoglycemia.

While using the artificial pancreas system, the children maintained blood sugar levels in the normal range 60% of the time, compared with 40% of the time while using a conventional insulin pump. Between 50% and 70% of hypoglycemic emergencies happen at night.

40% of cancers are potentially preventable and Magnetic Nanoparticles Could Combat Cancer

1. International Union Against Cancer - 40% of cancers are potentially preventable.

The risk of developing cancer can significantly be reduced through simple measures:

* Stop tobacco use and avoid exposure to second-hand smoke
* Limit alcohol consumption
* Avoid excessive sun exposure
* Maintain a healthy weight, through eating healthily and exercising regularly
* Protect against cancer-causing infections

2.

Scientists at Georgia Tech and the Ovarian Cancer Institute have further developed a potential new treatment against cancer that uses magnetic nanoparticles to attach to cancer cells, removing them from the body. The treatment, tested in mice in 2008, has now been tested using samples from human cancer patients. The results appear online in the journal Nanomedicine

“Often, the lethality of cancers is not attributed to the original tumor but to the establishment of distant tumors by cancer cells that exfoliate from the primary tumor,” said Scarberry. “Circulating tumor cells can implant at distant sites and give rise to secondary tumors. Our technique is designed to filter the peritoneal fluid or blood and remove these free floating cancer cells, which should increase longevity by preventing the continued metastatic spread of the cancer.”

In tests, they showed that their technique worked as well with at capturing cancer cells from human patient samples as it did previously in mice. The next step is to test how well the technique can increase survivorship in live animal models. If that goes well, they will then test it with humans.

Advancing to Human Wall Crawling

A palm-sized device invented at Cornell that uses water surface tension as an adhesive bond could enable humans to walk on walls like spiderman

The rapid adhesion mechanism could lead to such applications as shoes or gloves that stick and unstick to walls, or Post-it-like notes that can bear loads, according to Paul Steen, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, who invented the device with Michael Vogel, a former postdoctoral associate.

The device is the result of inspiration drawn from a beetle native to Florida, which can adhere to a leaf with a force 100 times its own weight, yet also instantly unstick itself. Research behind the device is published online Feb. 1 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The device consists of a flat plate patterned with holes, each on the order of microns (one-millionth of a meter). A bottom plate holds a liquid reservoir, and in the middle is another porous layer. An electric field applied by a common 9-volt battery pumps water through the device and causes droplets to squeeze through the top layer. The surface tension of the exposed droplets makes the device grip another surface -- much the way two wet glass slides stick together.

"In our everyday experience, these forces are relatively weak," Steen said. "But if you make a lot of them and can control them, like the beetle does, you can get strong adhesion forces."

The device is about to switched to lose adhesion

For example, one of the researchers' prototypes was made with about 1,000 300-micron-sized holes, and it can hold about 30 grams -- more than 70 paper clips. They found that as they scaled down the holes and packed more of them onto the device, the adhesion got stronger. They estimate, then, that a one-square-inch device with millions of 1-micron-sized holes could hold more than 15 pounds.

To turn the adhesion off, the electric field is simply reversed, and the water is pulled back through the pores, breaking the tiny "bridges" created between the device and the other surface by the individual droplets.

The research builds on previously published work that demonstrated the efficacy of what's called electro-osmotic pumping between surface tension-held interfaces, first by using just two larger water droplets.

One of the biggest challenges in making these devices work, Steen said, was keeping the droplets from coalescing, as water droplets tend to do when they get close together. To solve this, they designed their pump to resist water flow while it's turned off.

Steen envisions future prototypes on a grander scale, once the pump mechanism is perfected, and the adhesive bond can be made even stronger. He also imagines covering the droplets with thin membranes -- thin enough to be controlled by the pump but thick enough to eliminate wetting. The encapsulated liquid could exert simultaneous forces, like tiny punches.

"You can think about making a credit card-sized device that you can put in a rock fissure or a door, and break it open with very little voltage," Steen said. "It's a fun thing to think about."

There is a video through this link

Rewalk Exoskeleton for those now Needing Wheelchairs

ReWalk is a wearable, motorized quasi robotic suit from Argo Medical Technologies.

FAQ

* FDA approval is expected this year (2010).
* The price hasn’t been established yet. However, we’re targeting for an annual consumer (end-user) price comparable with typical average annual expenses of people confined to wheelchairs.
* Based on our surveys and on precedents, we strongly believe that the ReWalk™ will be partially or fully reimbursable, depending on the region (country). (for health insurance)

ReWalk provides user-initiated mobility - leveraging advanced motion sensors, sophisticated robotic control algorithms, on-board computers, real-time software, actuation motors, tailored rechargeable batteries and composite materials.

ReWalk™ works with users – not just for them. Users walk with the assistance of crutches, controlling suit movement through subtle changes in center of gravity and upper-body movements. In addition to simplifying suit control, this user participation in mobility brings tangible health and emotional benefits. ReWalk™ is not just a vertical wheelchair – ReWalk™ restores the element of control over mobility so lacking for wheelchair users.

By maintaining users upright on a daily basis, and exercising even paralyzed limbs in the course of movement, ReWalk™ alleviates many of the health-related problems associated with long-term wheelchair use. In addition to relieving suffering, this has a real impact on healthcare costs – cutting yearly expenses almost in half, and enabling both insurers and individuals to redirect funds to other avenues

Functionality:

* All day usage
* Mobility – walking, sit-to-stand, stand-to-sit, climb stairs, ascending/descending slopes, driving
* Training – replacing other training equipment at home and at rehabilitation center

Prerequisites:

* Ability to use hand and shoulders (walking with crutches)
* Healthy cardiovascular system and bone density

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Elder Care and Nurse Aid Robots

Gecko Systems is making elder care robots and mobile service robots (MSR) for other applications

They have a CareBot MSR that monitors the carereceiver.

Elderly people in nursing homes receive attention from nurses an average of nine minutes per day. These places are expensive ($45,000 to $60,000 per year) and not always easy or convenient for family members to physically visit. There is a crisis for cost effective assistance. Concern for their parents is one of the main reasons for adult children to purchase an elder care enabled CareBot MSR.

Benefits
Cost Effective Monitoring
Virtual Visits
Automatic Reminders
Companionship
Automatic Emergency Notification

Nurse Aidbot

Nurse Aid robot

Benefits

Nurse's Aide
Carrying Supplies
Errand Running
Telemedicine/Telehealth
Nurse's Aide
The CareBot™ MSR will assist medical personnel. It can contain on board a Blood Pressure monitor, Pulse monitor, or Oxygen. It is a cost effective assistant. It is able to follow the nurse while responding to commands.

Carrying Supplies
The CareBot™ MSR will carry specialized supplies , such as those for IV’s or Blood work. In addition any bandages or equipment such as a fibrillater.

Errand Running
The CareBot™ MSR will not have a problem in taking bed pans or other items to a particular patient. It can carry loads of up to 200 lbs.

Telemedicine/Telehealth
The Company's Mobile Security Robots (MSRs) augmented for TeleMedicine allow health professionals and medical experts to remotely consult with patients and health care providers giving vital, cost effective, confidential medical services to virtually any location, rural or urban, national or international. Using high quality cameras and data transfer, medical data, radiological images, sounds and patient records can be transferred from one site to another permitting physicians to consult with colleagues and specialized experts despite geographical separation

Second ‘Quantum Logic Clock’ Based on Aluminum Ion twice as precise as previous best mercury atom

The ion trap where the main action takes place in the NIST aluminum ion clock. The aluminum ion and partner magnesium ion sit in the slit running down the center of the device between the electrodes. Credit: J. Koelemeij/NIST
Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have built an enhanced version of an experimental atomic clock based on a single aluminum atom that is now the world’s most precise clock, more than twice as precise as the previous pacesetter based on a mercury atom.

The new aluminum clock would neither gain nor lose one second in about 3.7 billion years.

The new clock is the second version of NIST’s “quantum logic clock,” so called because it borrows the logical processing used for atoms storing data in experimental quantum computing.

The logic clock is based on a single aluminum ion (electrically charged atom) trapped by electric fields and vibrating at ultraviolet light frequencies, which are 100,000 times higher than microwave frequencies used in NIST-F1 and other similar time standards around the world. Optical clocks thus divide time into smaller units, and could someday lead to time standards more than 100 times as accurate as today’s microwave standards. Higher frequency is one of a variety of factors that enables improved precision and accuracy.

NIST postdoctoral researcher James
Chin-wen Chou with the world’s most precise clock, based on the vibrations of a single aluminum ion (electrically charged atom). The ion is trapped inside the metal cylinder (center right). Credit: J. Burrus/NIST

Aluminum is one contender for a future time standard to be selected by the international community. NIST scientists are working on five different types of experimental optical clocks, each based on different atoms and offering its own advantages. NIST’s construction of a second, independent version of the logic clock proves it can be replicated, making it one of the first optical clocks to achieve that distinction. Any future time standard will need to be reproduced in many laboratories.

FURTHER READING

from Arxiv 4 page pdf - Frequency Comparison of Two High-Accuracy Al+ Optical Clocks

We have constructed an optical clock with a fractional frequency inaccuracy of 8.6 × 10^−18, based on quantum logic spectroscopy of an Al+ ion. A simultaneously trapped Mg+ ion serves to sympathetically laser-cool the Al+ ion and detect its quantum state. The frequency of the 1S0$3P0 clock transition is compared to that of a previously constructed Al+ optical clock with a statistical measurement uncertainty of 7.0 × 10^−18. The two clocks exhibit a relative stability of 2.8×10^−15 −1/2, and a fractional frequency difference of −1.8×10^−17, consistent with the accuracy limit of the older clock.