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Nanaimo Inuktun Services lend Fukushima expertise

27/2/2015

US Navy Operation Tomodachi, before true radiation known

Nanaimo Inuktun Services Ltd is lending expertise in Fukushima

Inuktitut Services, Nanaimo BC, has developed an important robotic component that may help in the cleanup of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The small, remotely driven robot will be the engine pulling a “snake” of sensors venturing into and under one of the melted nuclear reactors at the wrecked plant.

Inuktun Services in small town Nanaimo produced a robot capable of travelling within a four inch(10cm) pipe, pulling a series of sensors. It is planned for the snake to descend below the melted reactor core to determine radiation levels and to send enough information to those in charge of clean up so that decisions can be made about the best way forward.

Currently, it is unknown how hot or radioactive the melted cores are.

The nuclear power plant on the east coast of Japan was wrecked March 11, 2011 has been spewing radiation. People were evacuated, many domestic animals died, agricultural land was contaminated, a radioactive cloud dropped radiation onto N. America and untold amounts of radioactive water have leaked into the Pacific Ocean. After four years, the end of the pollution is not in sight. The robo-snake offers a small hope that some constructive clean-up will happen soon.

In spite of Japanese PM Shizo Abe’s assurances that the radiation leaks are under control, troubling news continues to refute his words.
Japan Times.

US airmen Operation Tomodachi

On Tuesday an Asian News agency reported that high levels of radioactive rain water have been funneled into the ocean. The private electrical company TEPCO, has apparently known about this additional radiation source, but took no steps to correct it until now.

Tokyo Electric said it has been aware since last spring that radiation levels in water running in one of the plant gutters rise when it rains but had confirmed the source of the contamination only on Tuesday. Channel News Asia

The cleanup of the radioactive site has been plagued with rumours of Yakuza involvement. Earlier this month an executive with one of the clean-up companies was fined for hiring and abusing a 15 year old boy to do radioactive cleanup. In the US, a class action suit is being heard on behalf of Navy personnel exposed to radiation. TEPCO is being sued for a coverup of the seriousness of the radiation leaks.

Related:
Fukushima sickens US sailors

Sources:
Global News
Inuktun Services, Ltd

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Replacing palm oil with yeast

25/2/2015

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Palm oil is used in a myriad of places around the world. From face creams to biodiesel, palm oil is everywhere in today’s modern world. Why? Because it’s a cheap, versatile substance that remains soft but solid at room temperature, is non-toxic and edible and can be produced by trees and sunlight.

It sounds like an all around winner but as the palm oil industry has grown along with massive tropical plantations of the oil palm, major environmental damage is becoming evident. About 87% of the world’s palm oil is produced from plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia. The ripping up of rain forests has far reaching deleterious effects on the people and animals that were living there.

Now the insatiable appetite for palm oil is industrializing tracts of land in Africa. Nigeria is leading the way in leasing out land for palm oil plantations.

Researchers at the University of Bath may have come up with an alternative to digging up the tropical forests and evicting the people and animals living there. Dr. Chris Chuck working with the university’s Centre for Sustainable Technology has worked with his team to develop a fungus that produces oil that can mimic the qualities of palm oil. The name of the organism, Metschnikowia pulcherrima, is a mouthful but its needs are humble. The researchers are currently growing it in vats and feeding it a variety of food stocks.

It does not seem picky, happily digesting straw and waste food.

It is early days in their research. It is estimated that it will take about five years before industrial production of the oily yeast is in full swing.

The humble requirements of the yeast will also bring into line the cost for the finished product making it competitive with the palm oil industry.

This useful little organism is widely used in the winemaking industry and is being investigated for its antimicrobial properties.

Sources:
Treehugger
The Guardian
University of Bath

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California train derails injuring scores

24/2/2015

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Modern commuter train in LA

A commuter train heading into Los Angeles collided with a tractor trailer unit just outside the town of Oxnard, derailing. The tractor trailer unit burst into flames upon impact and four of the train cars derailed, causing numerous injuries, some critical.

The crash happened at a level crossing at Oxnard, northwest of Los Angeles.

BBC News reports "A commuter train has hit a lorry which had driven on railway tracks, causing four carriages to derail northwest of Los Angeles.
The vehicle was engulfed in flames and 28 people were injured, train operator Metrolink said, four critically."

The severity of the injuries includes head trauma and back and neck injuries as well as broken limbs. The train engineer is among those badly injured. The accident could have been worse. The Metrolink train was fitted out with new safety equipment designed to minimize forces to passengers in case of an accident or derailment.

It has been reported that the truck driver was uninjured and fled the scene but has since been apprehended.

Eye witnesses reported that the safety arms to close off the level crossing did not descend as the train approached but a spokesperson for Metrolink stated that all safety equipment was operating. The train engineer spotted the truck on the tracks early enough to begin braking. The train was travelling at 79mph(127 km/h) just prior to the accident.

A Metrolink spokesperson said "the train struck the lorry at a speed between 40 mph to 50 mph (65-80km/h).

Sources:
BBC News
CBC News
USA Today
Los Angeles Times

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Leaked spy files reveal skulduggery

24/2/2015

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The Middle East television station Al Jazeera dropped a bombshell on the public Monday when it revealed that it had come into possession of leaked, secret documents. The world will remember Israel’s President Binyamin Netanyahu addressing the UN Assembly with his simple visual aids, claiming that Iran was on the brink of producing Nuclear Weapons.

Some of the leaked files include a message from Israel’s security/spy organization Mossad that advises the president that Iran is not currently building nuclear weapons capability. This advice was given to the president less than a month after he accused the Iranians of plotting to build a bomb.

That view tracks with the 2012 US National Intelligence estimate, which found no evidence that Iran had thus far taken a decision to use its nuclear infrastructure to build a weapon, or that it had revived efforts to research warhead design that the US said had been shelved in 2003. Al Jazeera

Yet Netanyahu is still planning to address the UN again in early March to underscore the danger that the Islamic Republic is posing for his country.

The leaked information was in a communication between Israel and South Africa. There probably was a great deal of communications after weapons blueprints and software were stolen from weapons manufacturer Denel, in S. Africa. When two culprits were arrested and charged, they revealed that their customer was the State of Israel.

Al Jazeera and The Guardian UK are working together on what they call the Spy Cables. They promise more embarrassing disclosures in the days to come.

As an aside, the Academy of Motion Pictures awarded an Oscar to the documentary Citizen Four, based on Edward Snowdon’s whistleblowing.

Sources:
Al Jazeera
The Guardian UK

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South Sudan kidnappers take scores of boys

23/2/2015

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Armed kidnappers surrounded the town of Malakal in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State and abducted at least 89 boys. The armed men conducted house to house searches and took away any that they thought older than 12. It is believed that the children are destined to become child soldiers.

UNICEF has come out with strongly worded condemnation of the action.

S. Sudan has been embroiled in a vicious civil war since December 2013 when a disagreement between President Salva Kir and his deputy Rick Machar led to fighting that has killed thousands and displaced about one and a half million people.

The conflict between supporters of the President and those of his deputy has devolved into nasty fighting along tribal lines – Dinka vs Nuer people.

There have been peace talks held in Ethiopia but they have not stopped the violence. Now it seems that even the rebel group is splintering. The former top rebel negotiator has condemned his former leader, Rick Machar and gone over to Salva Kir’s camp. General Koang is now reported to be in Juba.

General Lul Koang, who accused South Sudanese rebel leader Dr. Riek Machar of asking for what he described as “impossible demands” unexpectedly deserted his position this week and joined the government. South Sudan News Agency

It seems that General Koang’s former allies are furious about the defection.

Greater Fangak Community appeal to all resistance fighters to remain firm and united for common cause, not to be discourage by Lul ,s desertion that will not affect the movement because he did not fight for the rights of freedom that he give up soon South Sudan News Agency

South Sudan began its existence peacefully when a referendum received support to separate from Sudan. After decades of fighting it was hoped that the south would be able to govern peacefully and fairly. It is all too obvious that that hasn’t happened.

Sources
Sudan Tribune
CNN
South Sudan News Agency

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Nanaimo Inuktun Services lend Fukushima expertise

Replacing palm oil with yeast

California train derails injuring scores

Leaked spy files reveal skulduggery

South Sudan kidnappers take scores of boys

Barbara McPherson

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