A new mobile phone charger that will work with any handset has been approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations body. Industry body the GSMA says that 51,000 tonnes of redundant chargers are generated each year. Currently most chargers are product or brand specific, so people tend to change them when they upgrade to a new phone. However, the new energy-efficient chargers can be kept for much longer. The GSMA also estimates that they will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 13.6m tonnes. ‘This is a significant step in reducing the environmental impact of mobile charging,’ said Malcolm Johnson, director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau. ‘Universal chargers are a common-sense solution that I look forward to seeing in other areas.’ The charger has a micro-USB port at the connecting end, using similar technology to digital cameras. It is not compulsory for manufacturers to adopt the new chargers but the ITU says that some have already signed up to it. ‘We are planning to launch the universal charger internationally during the first half of 2010,’ Aldo Liguori, spokesperson for Sony Ericsson told the BBC. ‘We will roll it […]
There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising. And fewer also see global warming as a very serious problem – 35% say that today, down from 44% in April 2008. The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 4 among 1,500 adults reached on cell phones and landlines, finds that 57% think there is solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been getting warmer over the past few decades. In April 2008, 71% said there was solid evidence of rising global temperatures. Over the same period, there has been a comparable decline in the proportion of Americans who say global temperatures are rising as a result of human activity, such as burning fossil fuels. Just 36% say that currently, down from 47% last year. The decline in the belief in solid evidence of global warming has come across the political spectrum, but has been particularly pronounced among independents. Just 53% of independents now see solid evidence of global warming, compared with 75% who did so in April […]
WASHINGTON — Over the next three years, Americans will be required to replace nearly all their traditional light bulbs with cooler, more energy-efficient bulbs under a 2007 bill signed by President Bush. But almost all of the 100 production lines needed to churn out new bulbs are expected to be built overseas. Similar scenarios are likely to play out for wind turbines, solar cells and other key elements in the emerging global market for clean energy. That’s the gloomy prospect faced by federal officials and business leaders alike as they confront the twin challenges of combating climate change and trying to keep the U.S. competitive in the multi-trillion dollar race to develop and sell new energy systems. President Obama stressed the opportunities — and acknowledged the challenges — in a speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston today. ‘From China to India, from Japan to Germany, nations everywhere are racing to develop new ways to producing and use energy,’ he said. ‘The nation that wins this competition will be the nation that leads the global economy. I am convinced of that. And I want America to be that nation.’ Energy Secretary Steven Chu […]
CHICAGO — Junk food elicits addictive behavior in rats similar to the behaviors of rats addicted to heroin, a new study finds. Pleasure centers in the brains of rats addicted to high-fat, high-calorie diets became less responsive as the binging wore on, making the rats consume more and more food. The results, presented October 20 at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting, may help explain the changes in the brain that lead people to overeat. ‘This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests obesity and drug addiction have common neurobiological underpinnings,’ says study coauthor Paul Johnson of the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla. To see how junk food affects the brain’s natural reward system – the network of nerve cells that release feel-good chemicals – Johnson started at the grocery store. He loaded up on typical Western fare, including Ho Hos, sausage, pound cake, bacon and cheesecake. Johnson fed rats either a standard diet of high-nutrient, low-calorie chow, or unlimited amounts of the palatable junk food. Rats that ate the junk food soon developed compulsive eating habits and became obese. ‘They’re taking in twice the amount of calories as the control rats,’ says Johnson’s coauthor […]
The big profits made by some of Wall Street’s leading banks are ‘hidden gifts’ from the state, and taxpayer resentment of such companies is ‘justified,’ George Soros, the fund manager, said in an interview with the Financial Times. ‘Those earnings are not the achievement of risk-takers,’ Mr Soros said. ‘These are gifts, hidden gifts, from the government, so I don’t think that those monies should be used to pay bonuses. There’s a resentment which I think is justified.’ Mr Soros, who joins a transatlantic chorus calling for limits on risk, leverage and compensation at big banks, said proprietary traders belong at hedge funds, not at banks, and that the compensation at Wall Street companies should be limited to prevent excessive risk. ‘With the too-big-to-fail concept comes a need to regulate the payments that employees receive,’ said Mr Soros, who will elaborate on his views in lectures in Budapest next week. Some bankers have argued that limits on pay would make it difficult for them to retain their most talented risk-takers. Mr Soros agreed and said this would be a good thing. ‘That would push the risk-takers who are good at taking risks out of Goldman […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
