1
Health
The 'Love Hormone' as Sports Enhancer
The brain hormone oxytocin facilitates the ability to read other people's emotions and deepens bonds between group members. It is also almost certainly an essential, if unacknowledged, player in most sports competitions.
2
Opinion
Workers Must Get a Bigger Slice of the Pie
For Europe’s economy to grow, labor must be given a larger share of national income.
3
World
And on Your Left, Behind Those Walls, Lobbyists Are at Work
A walking tour in Berlin tries to raise awareness of lobbying in Germany, a country with a low tolerance for money in politics.
4
Health
Signing Up to Help Fight Alzheimer's
A registry of people willing to participate in Alzheimer's studies was formed. Its goal: to provide information, raise public awareness, debunk nonsense and help accelerate the pace of research.
5
World
Russian Judge Dismisses Suit Against Madonna
The singer was sued by antigay groups who contended that during a concert in August she violated a local law against advocating homosexuality.
6
Opinion
Coal Boom Unabated in Asia
China and India lead in plans for fleets of new coal-fired power plants.
7
N.Y. / Region
Demand for Electricians Soars After Hurricane
Water-damaged homes must be inspected, and sometimes repaired, before Con Edison will turn the power back on.
8
N.Y. / Region
City Will Test a Disaster Housing Prototype Both Innovative and Inside the Box
The city’s emergency management office has been developing a new line of temporary housing for future disasters using shipping containers — a multistory prototype is in the works.
9
U.S.
Tech’s New (Geographical) Frontier: ‘Silicon Prairie’
From Des Moines to Omaha to Kansas City — a region known more for its barns than its bandwidth — a start-up tech scene is blossoming.
10
World
Remake of 'Red Dawn' Changes Its Political Hue
The 1984 cult film "Red Dawn" had Soviet troops invading the United States. A remake of the movie replaced the Soviets with Chinese invaders, but with China now the world's second-largest film market, the producers have digitally transformed the bad guys into North Koreans.
11
N.Y. / Region
New Ethics Rule Will Make Some Donors’ Names Public
Givers of more than $5,000 to political advocacy and other groups will be named, but the entire amounts will not be specified.
12
World
Reopening an 18-Year-Old Wound in Argentina
Jewish leaders have been angered by moves to improve ties with Iran, accused of shielding people who prosecutors in Argentina say authorized a 1994 attack on a community center in Buenos Aires.
13
World
Missile’s Firing, Bomb Blasts and Sirens Shatter Gaza Calm
People waiting for foreign ministers to arrive at a Gaza hospital were startled by a nearby rocket launching, then by a deluge of wounded in the firefight with Israel.
14
Sports
Endurance Athlete Takes Obesity Path For a Stiffer Test
Jarmo Pitkanen, who is 5-foot-11, gained 100 pounds to run his first multiple-day endurance footrace and is on a quest to be one of the world’s rare obese endurance athletes.
15
Science
A Tsunami in Switzerland? Lake Evidence Says Yes
Researchers say a large deposit of sediment in Lake Geneva is evidence of a deadly tsunami from the sixth century caused by a rockfall, and it could happen again.
16
Business Day
Court Allows Liquidation of Hostess
In granting Hostess's motion, Judge Robert D. Drain of the Federal Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York cited the need for a quick and orderly shuttering of the company to avoid letting its assets molder.
17
U.S.
Texas: Two Dead, Many Injured in 140-Car Pileup
Two people died and more than 80 were hurt Thursday when at least 140 vehicles collided in eastern Texas in a pileup on Interstate 10.
18
Fashion & Style
Indulging the Man Who Has It All
18th-century snuffboxes from top craftsmen are on display in a Paris gallery.
19
Opinion
Why We Love Politics
The new movie about Abraham Lincoln is a rare celebration of the paradoxical nobility of politics, its high vision often realized precisely through less-than-noble means.
20
Business Day
A Family Farm’s Crisis: Its Rice Contains Arsenic
Faced with studies that found inorganic arsenic, a carcinogen, in rice, Lundberg Family Farms is struggling to reassure its customers, who greeted the news with panic.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenic_contamination_of_groundwater
Groundwater arsenic contamination areas
These are just where it has been reported.
Arsenic is far more prevalent.
Water purification solutions
Small-scale water treatment
A review of methods to remove arsenic from groundwater in Pakistan summarizes the most technically viable inexpensive methods.[26]A simpler and less expensive form of arsenic removal is known as the Sono arsenic filter, using three pitchers containing cast iron turnings and sand in the first pitcher and wood activated carbon and sand in the second.[27] Plastic buckets can also be used as filter containers.[28] It is claimed that thousands of these systems are in use and can last for years while avoiding the toxic waste disposal problem inherent to conventional arsenic removal plants. Although novel, this filter has not been certified by any sanitary standards such as NSF, ANSI, WQA and does not avoid toxic waste disposal similar to any other iron removal process.
In the United States small "under the sink" units have been used to remove arsenic from drinking water. This option is called "point of use" treatment. The most common types of domestic treatment use the technologies of adsorption (using media such as Bayoxide E33, GFH, or titanium dioxide) or reverse osmosis. Ion exchange and activated alumina have been considered but not commonly used.
Large-scale water treatment
In some places, such as the United States, all the water supplied to residences by utilities must meet primary (health-based) drinking water standards. Regulations may necessitate large-scale treatment systems to remove arsenic from the water supply. The effectiveness of any method depends on the chemical makeup of a particular water supply. The aqueous chemistry of arsenic is complex, and may affect the removal rate that can be achieved by a particular process.Some large utilities with multiple water supply wells could shut down those wells with high arsenic concentrations, and produce only from wells or surface water sources that meet the arsenic standard. Other utilities, however, especially small utilities with only a few wells, may have no available water supply that meets the arsenic standard.
Coagulation/filtration (also known as flocculation) removes arsenic by coprecipitation and adsorption using iron coagulants. Coagulation/filtration using alum is already used by some utilities to remove suspended solids and may be adjusted to remove arsenic. But the problem of this type of filtration system is that it gets clogged very easily, mostly within two to three months. The toxic arsenic sludge are disposed of by concrete stabilization, but there is no guarantee that they won't leach out in future.
Iron oxide adsorption filters the water through a granular medium containing ferric oxide. Ferric oxide has a high affinity for adsorbing dissolved metals such as arsenic. The iron oxide medium eventually becomes saturated, and must be replaced. The sludge disposal is a problem here too.
Activated alumina is an adsorbent that effectively removes arsenic. Activated alumina columns connected to shallow tube wells in India and Bangladesh have successfully removed both As(III) and As(V) from groundwater for decades. Long-term column performance has been possible through the efforts of community-elected water committees that collect a local water tax for funding operations and maintenance.[29] It has also been used to remove undesirably high concentrations of fluoride.
Ion Exchange has long been used as a water-softening process, although usually on a single-home basis. Traditional anion exchange is effective in removing As(V), but not As (III), or arsenic trioxide, which doesn't have a net charge. Effective long-term ion exchange removal of arsenic requires a trained operator to maintain the column.
Both Reverse osmosis and electrodialysis (also called electrodialysis reversal) can remove arsenic with a net ionic charge. (Note that arsenic oxide, As2O3, is a common form of arsenic in groundwater that is soluble, but has no net charge.) Some utilities presently use one of these methods to reduce total dissolved solids and therefore improve taste. A problem with both methods is the production of high-salinity waste water, called brine, or concentrate, which then must be disposed of.
Subterranean Arsenic Removal (SAR) Technology SAR Technology
In subterranean arsenic removal (SAR), aerated groundwater is recharged back into the aquifer to create an oxidation zone which can trap iron and arsenic on the soil particles through adsorption process. The oxidation zone created by aerated water boosts the activity of the arsenic-oxidizing microorganisms which can oxidize arsenic from +3 to +5 state SAR Technology. No chemicals are used and almost no sludge is produced during operational stage since iron and arsenic compounds are rendered inactive in the aquifer itself. Thus toxic waste disposal and the risk of its future mobilization is prevented. Also, it has very long operational life, similar to the long lasting tube wells drawing water from the shallow aquifers.
Six such SAR plants, funded by the World Bank and constructed by Ramakrishna Vivekananda Mission, Barrackpore & Queen's University Belfast, UK are operating in West Bengal. Each plant has been delivering more than 3,000 litres of arsenic and iron-free water daily to the rural community. The first community water treatment plant based on SAR technology was set up at Kashimpore near Kolkata in 2004 by a team of European and Indian engineers led by Dr. Bhaskar Sen Gupta of Queen's University Belfast for TiPOT.[30][31][32][33]
SAR technology had been awarded Dhirubhai Ambani Award, 2010 from IChemE UK for Chemical Innovation. Again, SAR was the winner of the St. Andrews Award for Environment, 2010. The SAR Project was selected by the Blacksmith Institute - New York & Green Cross- Switzerland as one of the "12 Cases of Cleanup & Success" in the World's Worst Polluted Places Report 2009. (Refer: www.worstpolluted.org).
Currently, large scale SAR plants are being installed in USA, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
The Hungarian solution
Hungarian engineer László Schremmer has recently discovered that by the use of chaff-based filters it is possible to reduce the arsenic content of water to 3 microgram/litre. This is especially important in areas where the potable water is provided by filtering the water extracted from the underground aquifer.[34]I could easily understand if relations in California are toxic.
1
Health
The 'Love Hormone' as Sports Enhancer
The brain hormone oxytocin facilitates the ability to read other people's emotions and deepens bonds between group members. It is also almost certainly an essential, if unacknowledged, player in most sports competitions.
2
Opinion
Creating a Vital Long View for Gauging Environmental Change
Scientists build part of a continent-wide system for monitoring long-term change in important ecosystems.
3
World
A Change in the Afghan Fighting Season, Borne on the Raindrops
Soldiers emerged from their rooms and flinched as raindrops startled them, then held hands out in disbelief, as young children might with snowflakes.
4
Opinion
Workers Must Get a Bigger Slice of the Pie
For Europe’s economy to grow, labor must be given a larger share of national income.
5
World
And on Your Left, Behind Those Walls, Lobbyists Are at Work
A walking tour in Berlin tries to raise awareness of lobbying in Germany, a country with a low tolerance for money in politics.
6
World
Russian Judge Dismisses Suit Against Madonna
The singer was sued by antigay groups who contended that during a concert in August she violated a local law against advocating homosexuality.
7
Health
Signing Up to Help Fight Alzheimer's
A registry of people willing to participate in Alzheimer's studies was formed. Its goal: to provide information, raise public awareness, debunk nonsense and help accelerate the pace of research.
8
World
Remake of 'Red Dawn' Changes Its Political Hue
The 1984 cult film "Red Dawn" had Soviet troops invading the United States. A remake of the movie replaced the Soviets with Chinese invaders, but with China now the world's second-largest film market, the producers have digitally transformed the bad guys into North Koreans.
9
N.Y. / Region
Demand for Electricians Soars After Hurricane
Water-damaged homes must be inspected, and sometimes repaired, before Con Edison will turn the power back on.
10
N.Y. / Region
City Will Test a Disaster Housing Prototype Both Innovative and Inside the Box
The city’s emergency management office has been developing a new line of temporary housing for future disasters using shipping containers — a multistory prototype is in the works.
11
U.S.
Tech’s New (Geographical) Frontier: ‘Silicon Prairie’
From Des Moines to Omaha to Kansas City — a region known more for its barns than its bandwidth — a start-up tech scene is blossoming.
12
Sports
Endurance Athlete Takes Obesity Path For a Stiffer Test
Jarmo Pitkanen, who is 5-foot-11, gained 100 pounds to run his first multiple-day endurance footrace and is on a quest to be one of the world’s rare obese endurance athletes.
13
N.Y. / Region
New Ethics Rule Will Make Some Donors’ Names Public
Givers of more than $5,000 to political advocacy and other groups will be named, but the entire amounts will not be specified.
14
World
Missile’s Firing, Bomb Blasts and Sirens Shatter Gaza Calm
People waiting for foreign ministers to arrive at a Gaza hospital were startled by a nearby rocket launching, then by a deluge of wounded in the firefight with Israel.
15
Science
A Tsunami in Switzerland? Lake Evidence Says Yes
Researchers say a large deposit of sediment in Lake Geneva is evidence of a deadly tsunami from the sixth century caused by a rockfall, and it could happen again.
16
Business Day
Court Allows Liquidation of Hostess
In granting Hostess's motion, Judge Robert D. Drain of the Federal Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York cited the need for a quick and orderly shuttering of the company to avoid letting its assets molder.
17
Opinion
Coal Boom Unabated in Asia
China and India lead in plans for fleets of new coal-fired power plants.
18
Style
The Youngest Thanksgiving Hosts
When children are allowed to really help with the Thanksgiving meal, they're invested in making the party a success.
19
U.S.
American Carriers Are Left Behind in Cargo Program
A program that subsidizes the shipment of United States military cargo was started as a way to boost American shipping, but it is dominated by overseas shipping giants.
20
U.S.
Seeking Ways to Raise Taxes but Leave Tax Rate As Is
Negotiators are floating a number of ideas that they hope will avoid a looming fiscal crisis and appease both Democrats and Republicans by raising taxes without increasing the top tax rate.Federal Taxes (US); Federal Budget (US); United States Politics and Government; Taxation; Income
Taxes are a price of civilization. They are inseparable.
We must tax where the money is or allow massive inflation.
Bipartisanship is inaction by other means.
House guests.
.
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