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2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Wikipedia - Mar. 11 (Research) - The 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami was an 8.9-magnitude megathrust earthquake that created tsunami waves of up to 10 metres (33 ft). The earthquake focus was reported to be off the Oshika Peninsula, the east coast of Tōhoku on 11 March 2011, at 05:46 UTC (14:46 local time) at a depth of 24.4 kilometres (15.2 mi). News reports by Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) indicate that at least 300 people have died and another 530 are missing in six different prefectures, although it is feared the total number of dead could be far higher. The magnitude of 8.9 made it the largest earthquake to hit Japan in recorded history and the seventh largest in the world since records began.

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Fox News Channel controversies

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Wikipedia - Nov. 16 (Research) - Critics of Fox News Channel have accused the network of having a bias favoring the political right and the Republican Party. Fox News has publicly denied such charges, stating that, while its commentators are self-described conservatives, the reporters in the news room provide separate, neutral reporting.

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United States Consumer Price Index

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Wikipedia - Nov. 01 (Research) - The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a time series measure of the price level of consumer goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which started the statistic in 1919, publishes the CPI on a monthly basis. The CPI is calculated by observing price changes among a wide array of products in urban areas and weighing these price changes by the share of income consumers spend purchasing them. The resulting statistic, measured as of the end of the month for which it is published, serves as one of the most popular measures of United States inflation; however, the CPI focuses on approximating a cost-of-living index not a general price index.

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Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Wikipedia - Aug. 03 (Special Report) - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a federal statute that was signed into law in the United States by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (signed into law on March 30, 2010), the Act is the product of the health care reform agenda of the Democratic 111th Congress and the Obama administration. The law includes a large number of health-related provisions to take effect over the next four years, including expanding Medicaid eligibility, subsidizing insurance premiums, providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits, prohibiting denial of coverage/claims based on pre-existing conditions, establishing health insurance exchanges, and support for medical research. The costs of these provisions are offset by a variety of taxes, fees, and cost-saving measures, such as new Medicare taxes for high-income brackets, taxes on indoor tanning, cuts to the Medicare Advantage program in favor of traditional Medicare, and fees on medical devices and pharmaceutical companies;[2] there is also a tax penalty for citizens who do not obtain health insurance (unless they are exempt due to low income or other reasons).[3] The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the net effect (including the reconciliation act) will be a reduction in the federal deficit by $143 billion over the first decade.[4] There was also a provision that buyers and sellers of gold would be subject to an additional tax on such items.[5]

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Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Sun, 16 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Wikipedia - May. 16 (News Report) - The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Deepwater BP oil spill, Macondo blowout and the Gulf gusher)[3][4] is a massive ongoing oil spill and oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico that started on April 20, 2010. The spill followed a blowout that caused an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig, which then sank off the coast of Louisiana. Eleven rig workers are missing and presumed dead; the explosion also injured 17 others. The oil spill covers a surface area of at least 2,500 square miles (6,500 km2) according to estimates reported on May 3, 2010 by Reuters.[5] The oil spill, originating from a deepwater oil well 5,000 feet (1,500 m) below sea level, was estimated[4] to be discharging 5–100 thousand barrels (210,000–4,200,000 US gallons; 790,000–16,000,000 litres) of crude oil daily[6] (146–2,920 U.S. gallons or 550–11,100 L per minute).[7] This figure is disputed. The spill is expected to eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill as the worst US oil disaster in history.[8] Experts fear that due to factors such as petroleum toxicity and oxygen depletion, it will result in an environmental disaster whether it reaches Gulf coast or not, damaging the Gulf of Mexico fishing industry, tourism industry, and habitat of hundreds of bird species.[9][10] Crews are working to block off bays and estuaries, using anchored barriers, floating booms, and sand-filled barricades along shorelines. BP was principal developer of the Macondo Prospect oil field and leased the drilling rig from Transocean Ltd.[11] The U.S. Government has named BP as the responsible party in the incident and will hold the company accountable for all cleanup costs resulting from the oil spill.[12][13] BP has accepted responsibility for the oil spill and the cleanup costs but indicated that the accident was not their fault as the rig was run by Transocean personnel.[14] One plan, in progress, is to lower a smaller containment box hat to funnel the leaking oil, through a pipe system, up to a ship on the surface (see diagram). Initial attempts to install a larger dome resulted in failure, due to the accumulation of clathrate hydrate crystals (methane clathrate). Other plans include having the robots wrap the leaking pipes in outer casings, and shooting objects into the main leak.

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Geothermal Power

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Wikipedia - Apr. 01 (Special Report) - Geothermal power (from the Greek roots geo, meaning earth, and thermos, meaning heat) is power extracted from heat stored in the earth. This geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, and from solar energy absorbed at the surface. It has been used for bathing since Paleolithic times and for space heating since ancient Roman times, but is now better known for generating electricity. Worldwide, about 10,715 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power is online in 24 countries. An additional 28 gigawatts of direct geothermal heating capacity is installed for district heating, space heating, spas, industrial processes, desalination and agricultural applications. Geothermal power is cost effective, reliable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly, but has historically been limited to areas near tectonic plate boundaries. Recent technological advances have dramatically expanded the range and size of viable resources, especially for applications such as home heating, opening a potential for widespread exploitation. Geothermal wells release greenhouse gases trapped deep within the earth, but these emissions are much lower per energy unit than those of fossil fuels. As a result, geothermal power has the potential to help mitigate global warming if widely deployed in place of fossil fuels. The Earth's geothermal resources are theoretically more than adequate to supply humanity's energy needs, but only a very small fraction of it may be profitably exploited. Drilling and exploration for deep resources costs tens of millions of dollars, and success is not guaranteed. Forecasts for the future penetration of geothermal power depend on assumptions about technology growth, the price of energy, subsidies, and interest rates.

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Bianca Di Angelo

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:02:49 -0700

Wikipedia - Jun. 22 (Opinion) - Bianca di Angelo is the twelve-year-old daughter of Hades. She has a younger brother named Nico, but information about her mortal parent is currently unknown. She appears only in one book, The Titan's Curse.

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