Fukushima Radiation cesium-134 detected off North American West Coast

Satellite measurements of ocean temperature (illustrated by color) from July 28th to August 4th and the direction of currents (white arrows) help show where radionuclides from Fukushima are transported.  

Large scale currents transport water westward across the Pacific.  Upwelling along the west coast of North America in the summertime brings cold deep water to the surface and transports water offshore.  

Circles indicate the locations where water samples were collected.  

White circles indicate that no cesium-134 was detected.  

Blue circles indicate locations were low levels of cesium-134 were detected.  No cesium-134 has yet been detected along the coast, but low levels have been detected offshore. 

Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

Monitoring efforts along the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and Canada have detected the presence of small amounts of radioactivity from the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident 100 miles (150 km) due west of Eureka, California.

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found the trace amounts of telltale radioactive compounds as part of their ongoing monitoring of natural and human sources of radioactivity in the ocean.

In the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami off Japan, the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant released cesium-134 and other radioactive elements into the ocean at unprecedented levels.

Since then, the radioactive plume has traveled west across the Pacific, propelled largely by ocean currents and being diluted along the way.

At their highest near the damaged nuclear power plant in 2011, radioactivity levels peaked at more than 10 million times the levels recently detected near North America.

WHOI marine chemist Ken Buesseler (left) helps two citizen scientists from LUSH Cosmetics gather a water sample in Vancouver, British Columbia, earlier this year. 

Courtesy of Kevin Griffin, WHOI

"We detected cesium-134, a contaminant from Fukushima, off the northern California coast.  The levels are only detectable by sophisticated equipment able to discern minute quantities of radioactivity," said Ken Buesseler, a WHOI marine chemist, who is leading the monitoring effort.

"Most people don't realize that there was already cesium in Pacific waters prior to Fukushima, but only the cesium-137 isotope.  Cesium-137 undergoes radioactive decay with a 30-year half-life and was introduced to the environment during atmospheric weapons testing in the 1950s and '60s."

"Along with cesium-137, we detected cesium-134, which also does not occur naturally in the environment and has a half-life of just two years. Therefore the only source of this cesium-134 in the Pacific today is from Fukushima."

The amount of cesium-134 reported in these new offshore data is less than 2 Becquerels per cubic meter (the number of decay events per second per 260 gallons of water).

This Fukushima-derived cesium is far below where one might expect any measurable risk to human health or marine life, according to international health agencies, and it is more than 1000 times lower than acceptable limits in drinking water set by US EPA.

The offshore radioactivity reported this week came from water samples collected and sent to Buesseler’s lab for analysis in August by a group of volunteers on the research vessel Point Sur sailing between Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and Eureka, California. 

These results confirm prior data described at a scientific meeting in Honolulu in Feb. 2014 by John Smith, a scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, who found similar levels on earlier research cruises off shore of Canada. 

Credit: Curtis Colins

Scientists have used models to predict when and how much cesium-134 from Fukushima would appear off shore of Alaska and the coast of Canada.

They forecast that detectable amounts will move south along the coast of North America and eventually back towards Hawaii, but models differ greatly on when and how much would be found.

NASA to Crash Test Helicopter to Study Safety

Anybody who says NASA researchers don't know how to have a smashing good time has not met a team at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

They are test engineers whose job it is to make aircraft safer by crashing them.

In late August those engineers plan to drop a 45-foot long helicopter fuselage from about 30 feet to test improved seat belts and seats and to collect crash-worthiness data.

NASA is collaborating with the Navy, Army and Federal Aviation Administration on the Transport Rotorcraft Airframe Crash Testbed full-scale crash tests at NASA Langley's Landing and Impact Research (LandIR) Facility.

LandIR, a 240-foot high, 400-foot long gantry, has an almost 50-year history.

It started out as the Lunar Landing Research Facility, where Neil Armstrong and other astronauts learned to land on the moon.

Then it became a crash test facility where engineers could simulate aircraft accidents.

And recently it added a big pool where NASA is testing Orion space capsule mock-ups in anticipation of water landings.

The August drop test is one of the most complicated and ambitious aircraft crash experiments at NASA Langley in recent memory.

"We have instrumented a former Marine helicopter airframe with cameras and accelerometers," said lead test engineer Martin Annett.

"Almost 40 cameras inside and outside of the helicopter will record how 13 crash test dummies react before, during and after impact. Onboard computers will also record more than 350 channels of data."

External cameras will capture images of an unusual looking helicopter. Instead of the usual Marine gray, technicians painted one entire side in black polka dots over a white background.

It is not a fashion statement, but a photographic technique called full field photogrammetry. Each dot represents a data point.

High speed cameras filming at 500 images per second track each dot, so after everything is over, researchers can plot and "see" exactly how the fuselage buckled, bent, cracked or collapsed under crash loads.

NASA Langley is planning to stream the crash test August 28 on the Internet live at about 1 p.m. EDT at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-lrc

NASA crashes helicopter to study safety

NASA researchers will drop a 45-foot-long helicopter fuselage from a height of about 30 feet to test improved seat belts and seats and advance experimental techniques and crashworthiness data.

NASA is collaborating with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and Federal Aviation Administration on the Transport Rotorcraft Airframe Crash Test Bed full-scale crash tests at Langley's Landing and Impact Research Facility.

"We have instrumented a former Marine helicopter airframe with cameras and accelerometers," said lead test engineer Martin Annett.

Martin Annett

"Almost 40 cameras inside and outside the helicopter will record how 13 crash test dummies react before, during and after impact."

During the test, onboard computers will record more than 350 channels of data as the helicopter is swung by cables, like a pendulum, into a bed of soil.

Just before impact, pyrotechnic devices release the suspension cables from the helicopter to allow free flight.

The helicopter will hit the ground at about 30 mph. The impact condition represents a severe but survivable condition under both civilian and military requirements.

For the first time ever in any test, technicians installed a video game motion sensor in the helicopter. "We want to see if it is useful as an additional way to track the movements of the dummies," said test engineer Justin Littell.

The outside of the fuselage also is new for this test. Technicians painted one entire side in black polka dots over a white background—a photographic technique called full field photogrammetry. Each dot represents a data point.

High-speed cameras filming at 500 images per second track each dot, so after over the drop researchers can plot and see exactly how the fuselage buckled, bent, cracked or collapsed under crash loads.

Another crash test of a similar helicopter equipped with additional technology, including composite airframe retrofits, is planned for next year.

Both tests are part of the Rotary Wing Project in the Fundamental Aeronautics Program of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

The US Navy provided the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter fuselages, seats, crash test dummies and other experiments for the test.

The Army contributed a litter experiment with a crash test dummy.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provided a side-facing specialized crash test dummy and part of the data acquisition system.

Cobham Life Support-St. Petersburg, a division of CONAX Florida Corporation, also contributed an active restraint system for the cockpit.

NASA will use the results of both tests in efforts to improve rotorcraft performance and efficiency, in part by assessing the reliability of high performance, lightweight composite materials.

Researchers also want to increase industry knowledge and create more complete computer models that can be used to design better helicopters.

The ultimate goal of NASA rotary wing research is to help make helicopters and other vertical take-off and landing vehicles more serviceable—able to carry more passengers and cargo—quicker, quieter, safer and greener. Improved designs might allow helicopters to be used more extensively in the airspace system.

ESA Raises Safety Levels in Peru: El Brocal Mine

Like astronauts, heavy-equipment operators in remote mines can benefit from long-distance monitoring using space technology.

An ESA spin-off company has raised safety for dozens of drivers at the El Brocal mine in Peru by predicting their fatigue.

In far-flung mining operations around the world, drivers typically work 12-hour shifts, driving trucks and loaders of 160-180 tonnes - the size of a small apartment block.

Combine the gruelling schedule with even a small mistake, and you have a recipe for disaster.

"Sixty-five percent of serious accidents are caused by fatigue," says Jean Verhardt, founder and CEO of EstrellaSat.

Jean Verhardt

Truck driving made safer in Peru mine
Following an extensive high-altitude field trial of the Driver Fatigue Management System, in November 2012 EstrellaSat recently closed its first contract, and is now setting up the system covering 30 drivers operating 10 vehicles at a high-altitude mine in the Peruvian Andes.

"We saw during the field trial that keeping drivers aware of their fatigue status in real time substantially reduced fatigue levels," says Steve Dixon, Chief Operating Officer, Stracon GyM S.A.

"We expect that the fully operational fatigue service will result in a long-term reduction in driver fatigue levels at our mines,"

The next version of the system will draw even more on space technology.

Steve Dixon

Working with ESA's human spaceflight directorate, EstrellaSat is now developing a vest with sensors that measure temperature, heart rate and other physiological data to pinpoint risky fatigue in drivers even more accurately, and in time get them out from behind the wheel.

ESA's Technology Transfer Programme Office's Business Incubation Centres (BICs) have been set up to support the spin off of space technology to non-space applications and to foster new European business based on research and development in European space programmes.

The seven BICs in the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, the UK and Belgium are supporting over 60 start-ups every year, totalling more than 180 to date.

Boeing Defends 787 Dreamliner Safety

Boeing was forced to defend the safety of its 787 Dreamliner airplane on Wednesday after three incidents in three days, saying it had “extreme confidence” in the innovative design and technology used in the plane.

The 787 has been in operation for 15 months, and Boeing has so far delivered 50 airplanes to eight airlines, including All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and United Airlines.

Since then, a small number of 787s have had small electrical fires, fuel leaks or other problems, prompting a safety advisory from federal regulators.

This week, the National Transportation Safety Board opened a formal investigation after an electrical fire broke out in a lithium-ion battery pack used to power the auxiliary unit in a 787 operated by Japan Airlines that was parked at Logan International Airport in Boston. The fire occurred on the ground after the passengers and crew had gotten off.

On Tuesday, another of the airline’s 787s, also in Boston, was delayed for nearly four hours after a fuel leak. And on Wednesday, All Nippon canceled a domestic flight after a computer on board erroneously showed problems with the plane’s brakes.

These problems followed an earlier incident, in December, when a United Airlines 787 was forced to divert after one of its six electric generators failed in midflight.

Mike Sinnett, the 787’s chief project engineer, said Wednesday that the program suffered from no more problems than other new planes, like Boeing’s 777 when it was introduced in the mid-1990s.

The 787’s operational reliability — a measure of how often it leaves the gate on time without a mechanical problem — is in the high 90 percent, he said, a rate similar to the 777 at the same time in its production life.

“This is par for the course for any new airplane program,” Mr. Sinnett said in a conference call with reporters. “We have a responsibility and obligation to help assure people about the integrity and the robustness of the design.”

Asked whether the plane was safe, he responded: “Absolutely, I am 100 percent convinced the airplane is safe to fly. I fly on it myself all the time.”

Xfire system projects a bike lane onto the road

A lot of people won’t ride a bicycle on city streets because they’re scared that a vehicle will run into them.

This fear certainly isn’t helped by the many drivers who unknowingly get dangerously close to cyclists while driving alongside them.

Xfire’s Bike Lane Safety Light is designed to address that problem by using lasers to project a virtual bike lane on the road around the bike.

The folks at Xfire aren’t the first to think of this idea, incidentally. Designers Alex Tee and Evan Gant came up with a very similar concept in 2009, which seems to now be commercially available as the Laser Lite Lane.

British design student Emily Brooke, on the other hand, built a one-off device that projects a symbol onto the pavement in front of the cyclist, to let drivers know that a bicycle is approaching from the rear.

Powered by two AAA batteries, the device uses dual 5-milliwatt red lasers to project two lines onto the asphalt, extending back from either side of the bike’s rear wheel.

While those lines don’t do anything to physically protect the cyclist, they do provide motorists with an attention-getting visual guide as to how much distance they should be keeping.

The device also serves as a standard tail light, incorporating five “extremely bright” red LEDs.

True, some people just won’t care about lines on the road, but in many cases drivers simply don’t realize how much space a cyclist requires – this is a way of letting them know, not unlike those side-extending safety flags that some riders use.

SpaceX Dragon Spaceship: Safety Panel Includes Former Astronauts and Space Experts

Credit: SpaceX/Dragon Spacecraft

The private spaceflght company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is aiming to launch the first crewed commercial spaceship to the International Space Station and has assembled a team of experts and former astronauts to help make it happen.

To that end, the Hawthorne, Calif., based SpaceX has established an independent safety advisory panel has been established to provide an objective review of the company's Dragon space capsule and its carrier, the Falcon 9 rocket, the company announced Thursday (March 29).

SpaceX is already designing an unmanned capsule, called Dragon, to bring supplies to and from the space station. A crucial test flight of the Dragon capsule is scheduled to occur on April 30, but the company is also working toward its other goal of one day using a version of Dragon to taxi astronauts to the orbiting outpost.

"When it comes to manned spaceflight, safety is our top priority," Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and chief designer, said in a statement. "These experts will provide us with important insights as we prepare to carry astronauts on the next generation of American spacecraft."

NASA - Spray Bars to Help Test Engine Icing

Ron Colantonio (left), manager of the Atmospheric Environment Safety Technologies Project at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, discussed with NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden the latest testing and research on airplane engine icing during the administrator's February 2012 visit to the center.

Colantonio showed Bolden how a large horizontal array of spray bars, such as those pictured, would emit a cloud of ice crystals in high-altitude, low pressure conditions that match those an airliner might experience in flight.

NASA scientists are mounting a research campaign using flight and ground tests to solve this aviation mystery, in which ice crystals associated with warm-weather storms can be ingested into the core of a hot jet engine, melt and then re-freeze.

As larger amounts of ice build up, some of the ice can break off and cause damage inside the engine, or melt and cause the engine to lose power or shut down altogether in a flameout.

Part of the research effort involves using the spray bars to simulate the icing conditions in engines on the ground at the Propulsion Systems Laboratory at Glenn. Eventually, a full-scale engine will be mounted opposite the bar array.

Image Credit: NASA/Marvin Smith

Smart paint uses Fly Ash to revolutionize structural safety - Scottish Research

Dr. Mohamed Saafi, University of Strathclyde. Credit: University of Strathclyde

An innovative low-cost smart paint that can detect microscopic faults in wind turbines, mines and bridges before structural damage occurs is being developed by researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

The environmentally-friendly paint uses nanotechnology to detect movement in large structures, and could shape the future of safety monitoring.

Traditional methods of assessing large structures are complex, time consuming and use expensive instrumentation, with costs spiraling into millions of pounds each year.

However, the smart paint costs just a fraction of the cost and can be simply sprayed onto any surface, with electrodes attached to detect structural damage long before failure occurs.

Dr Mohamed Saafi, of the Strathclyde University's Department of Civil Engineering, said: "The development of this smart paint technology could have far-reaching implications for the way we monitor the safety of large structures all over the world.

"There are no limitations as to where it could be used and the low-cost nature gives it a significant advantage over the current options available in the industry. The process of producing and applying the paint also gives it an advantage as no expertise is required and monitoring itself is straightforward."

The paint is formed using a recycled waste product known as fly ash and highly aligned carbon nanotubes. When mixed it has a cement-like property which makes it particularly useful in harsh environments.

Dr Saafi explained: "The process of monitoring involves in effect a wireless sensor network. The paint is interfaced with wireless communication nodes with power harvesting and warning capability to remotely detect any unseen damage such as micro-cracks in a wind turbine concrete foundation.

"Wind turbine foundations are currently being monitored through visual inspections. The developed paint with the wireless monitoring system would significantly reduce the maintenance costs and improve the safety of these large structures.

"Current technology is restricted to looking at specific areas of a structure at any given time, however, smart paint covers the whole structure which is particularly useful to maximise the opportunity of preventing significant damage."

The research has been carried out at Strathclyde with Dr Saafi working alongside David McGahon, who initiated the work as part of his PhD project.

With fly ash being the main material used to make the paint, it costs just one percent of the alternative widely used inspection methods.

A prototype has been developed and tests have shown the paint to be highly effective. It is hoped further tests will be carried out in Glasgow in the near future.

Dr Saafi added: "We are able to carry out the end-to-end process at the University and we are hoping that we can now demonstrate its effectiveness on a large structure.

"The properties of the fly ash give the paint a durability that will allow it to be used in any environment which will be a massive advantage in areas where the weather can make safety monitoring particularly difficult.

"The smart paint represents a significant development and is one that has possibly been overlooked as a viable solution because research tends to focus on high-tech options that look to eliminate human control. Our research shows that by maintaining the human element the costs can be vastly reduced without an impact on effectiveness."

Radioactive waste: Technology makes waste storage safer

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers have developed new technology capable of removing radioactive material from contaminated water and aiding clean-up efforts following nuclear disasters.

The innovation could also solve the problem of how to clean up millions of tonnes of water contaminated by dangerous radioactive material and safely store the concentrated waste.

Professor Huai-Yong Zhu from QUT Chemistry said the world-first intelligent absorbent, which uses titanate nanofibre and nanotube technology, differed from current clean-up methods, such as layered clays and zeolites, because it could efficiently lock in deadly radioactive material from contaminated water.

The used absorbents can then be safely disposed without the risk of leakage, even if the material became wet.

“One gram of the nanofibres can effectively purify at least one tonne of polluted water,” Professor Zhu said.

“This saves large amounts of dangerous water needing to be stored somewhere and also prevents the risk of contaminated products leaking into the soil.”

The technology, which was developed in collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and Pennsylvania State University in America, works by running the contaminated water through the fine nanotubes and fibres, which trap the radioactive Cesium (Cs+) ions through a structural change.

“Every year we hear of at least one nuclear accident. Not only is there a risk of contamination where human error is concerned, but there is also a risk from natural disasters such as what we saw in Japan this year,” he said.

Professor Zhu and his research team believed the technology would also benefit industries as diverse as mining and medicine.

By adding silver oxide nanocrystals to the outer surface, the nanostructures are able to capture and immobilise radioactive iodine (I-) ions used in treatments for thyroid cancer, in probes and markers for medical diagnosis, as well as found in leaks of nuclear accidents.

“It is our view that just taking the radioactive material in the adsorbents isn’t good enough. We should make it safe before disposing it,” he said.

“The same goes for Australian sites where we mine nuclear products. We need a solution before we have a problem, rather than looking for fixes when it could be too late.”

With a growing need to find alternatives to meet global energy needs, Professor Zhu said now was the time to put safeguards in place.

YouTube - 3 Way Street Artist video tracks scary traffic Funny!!

With New York city’s push to expand the number of dedicated bike lanes, commuting is now… less safer?

As counterintuitive as it sounds, the prospect of such a scenario was raised this last week by a short viral video titled “Three Way Street,” that provides viewers with a bird’s eye view of the day-to-day near hazards of an intersection in New York City. The video was created by Ron Gabriel as part of his master’s thesis project at the School of Visual Arts.

NASA Shuttle Endeavour - A retrospective video

Built to replace the Shuttle Challenger, tragically lost just after lift-off. Consequently Endeavour, nemed by US schoolchildren, carries more safety equipment and re-designed systems than the older models.

First Aid | Epilepsy Scotland

Simple Partial Seizures

A simple partial seizure could affect the person's movement, smell, taste, hearing, sight, breathing, heart beat, digestion or any mixture of these. They may experience, for example, twitching of an arm and nausea. The person does not lose consciousness and is fully aware of, but cannot control, what is happening.

What to do

• Stay with the person and offer reassurance until the seizure has passed
• Sometimes a simple partial seizure can act as a warning or 'aura' that a second seizure (usually a tonic-clonic or a complex partial seizure) will soon start.
• If this is the case, the person may need help in getting to a quiet and safe place.

Complex Partial Seizures

The person may experience strange or unusual feelings, lose their sense of time and appear distant from who and what is happening around them. This type of seizure can make someone behave in an odd, random or inappropriate way, such as lip smacking, plucking at clothes, moving aimlessly or compulsively around a room. Unlike simple partial seizures, there will be some loss or alteration of consciousness.

What to do

• Gently lead them from any source of danger
• Do not restrain or interfere unnecessarily with the person
• The seizure should be allowed to run its natural course
• Speaking softly and calmly may help
• Offer reassurance afterwards

Absence Seizures (previously known as petit mal)

Absence seizures consist of a brief loss of consciousness and are easily mistaken for daydreaming. The person (usually a child) stops what they are doing, remains motionless, blinks, and stares into space. Soon, the person will recover and may not be aware that a seizure has occurred.

What to do

• Absence seizures are usually very brief and often pass unnoticed
• If you witness an absence seizure stay with the person for a while to make sure they do not suffer any injury
• Tell the person what has happened
• If a child is in the classroom, repeat any information they have missed

Tonic-clonic seizures (previously known as grand mal)

The tonic-clonic seizure is the most widely recognised seizure. The person will lose consciousness and fall to the ground.


The person will stiffen (the tonic phase) and then jerk (the clonic phase).
Breathing may become irregular and as a result the person could turn slightly blue. The person may also make grunting noises, bite their tongue or cheek, or be incontinent.

After a couple of minutes the jerking normally stops and the person will slowly regain consciousness. They may feel groggy, sleepy and confused for some time afterwards and have a headache or aching limbs. How long it takes to feel ok again varies from one person to the next.

What to do

• Keep calm and note the time the seizure starts and how long it lasts
• Clear a space around the person and prevent people from crowding round
• Cushion the person's head with whatever is available
• Loosen any tight clothing round the neck and gently remove glasses (if worn)
• Watch the seizure carefully and if possible let it run its natural course
• Turn the person into the recovery position as soon as the jerking stops
• Be reassuring during the recovery period and tell the person about the seizure
• Stay, if possible, until the person is no longer confused

What not to do

• Do not try to lift or move the person while the seizure is happening unless there is an immediate danger (e.g. they are on a busy road, at the top of stairs, at the edge of water, near a fire or hot radiator)
• Do not try to stop the jerking or restrain the person
• Do not put anything in the person's mouth or between their teeth
• Do not offer the person something to drink until they are fully conscious
• Do not fuss around the person while they are recovering from the seizure

There is no need to call an ambulance unless:

• It is the person’s first seizure
• One seizure follows another without any recovery in between
• The convulsive or jerking part of the seizure lasts more than 5 minutes or longer than is usual for the person
• The person has been badly injured

First Aid | Epilepsy Scotland

Aerospace Safety still an issue in Far East

Rescue workers inspect the scene of a small plane crash near Karachi Airport in Pakistan.

A Beechcraft 1900 plane that was carrying the employees of an oil company to Bhet Shah oil field in the southern province of Sindh went down minutes after take-off.

All 21 people on board the small charter plane were killed in the accident

ESA Envisat Images: Improve safety in icy Southern Ocean

An award-winning new website is using realtime imagery from ESA's Envisat satellite to provide a wealth of information on sea ice to aid safe passage through the treacherous waters of the Antarctic.

Although remote, the Southern Ocean is an increasingly busy route for sea traffic.

These seas are used more and more to conduct scientific research, transport freight, harvest fertile fishing grounds and carry tourists to experience one of Earth's last wildernesses.

However, ever-changing pack ice and icebergs pose a serious danger to marine safety – as demonstrated by the loss of the MS Explorer tourist ship in 2007

Owing to the remote and inhospitable nature of the Southern Ocean, satellite imagery offers the only real practical means of obtaining timely information on sea ice required for the safe passage of marine traffic. While safety may be a primary concern, so is cost, as sea ice can significantly delay passage times.

For some years, ESA has been providing these key data to aid navigation – but the 'Polar View' ice-monitoring service in the Antarctic has recently been greatly improved by a wealth of satellite images made accessible through a new interactive website.

Agreement between ESA and EMSA furthers maritime safety

ESA - Observing the Earth - Agreement between ESA and EMSA furthers maritime safety

ESA and the European Maritime Safety Agency have signed a further Agreement to ensure that satellite data are available to enhance maritime safety and help combat pollution from shipping.

The Agreement was signed at ESA Headquarters in Paris on 2 July by ESA's Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain, and the Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Willem de Ruiter. This Agreement, which covers cooperation between the two agencies for the use of space-based systems and data in support of maritime activities, follows an earlier Agreement that expired in March this year.

The signing of the new Agreement further strengthens collaboration between ESA and EMSA for the development and use of space-based technologies with respect to keeping European seas safe.

The role of EMSA is to contribute to the enhancement of the overall maritime safety system within the European Union and support the implementation of European policy in the field of maritime safety and security. As such, one of its goals is to reduce the risk of marine pollution and to assist Member States in tracing illegal discharges at sea using satellite monitoring.

British nuclear watchdog issues grave concerns on safety of French & Japanese reactors

nuclear safety watchdog has warned that French and US-Japanese reactors planned for construction in Britain could be rejected unless safety concerns were met.

The Health and Safety Executive said it has some concerns about features of both designs of the reactor technologies, proposed for use in a new generation of British nuclear power stations.

"We continue to believe that the UK EPR could be suitable for construction on licensed sites in the UK," it said in a report released Thursday.

"However, we have identified a significant number of issues with the safety features of the design that would first have to be progressed.

"If these are not progressed satisfactorily then we would not issue a design acceptance confirmation," the report said.

The executive conducted a safety review of the AP-1000 reactor put forward by US nuclear firm Westinghouse, now owned by Japan's Toshiba, and the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) from French power giant Areva.

"As is normal for complex assessment projects of this type, we are identifying technical questions and issues that we are requesting Westinghouse to address," the report said.

Final approval of the designs is not due to be granted until 2011.

The British government decided to go ahead with a new generation of nuclear plants to replace the country's ageing nuclear infrastructure, most of which will be decommissioned by 2023. Ministers hope the first of a new generation of stations can come on stream as early as 2017.

Questions: When is the best time to go under the Knife?

Questions

1. Is it safer to have elective surgery first thing in the morning rather than in late afternoon, when doctors and nurses might be tired?



2. For the same reason, is it smarter to schedule surgery earlier in the workweek than later?



3. Is it better to avoid having elective surgery in July and August, when a new crop of residents has just started training?



4. Also, is it foolish to have elective surgery when the moon is full and, tradition has it, people can go a little off-kilter?

Answers

No, no, no and no, according to a Cleveland Clinic study that found timing isn't anything, at least when it comes to elective coronary bypass surgery.

The authors of the study, published today in the journal Anesthesiology, write that they decided to focus on elective heart bypass surgery because, thanks to "well-established protocols (for bypass surgery), there is much less variability than with other procedures." Plus, they write, "hospitals closely track morbidity and mortality for this operation", which is very encouraging. I am presuming that this is in an attempte to reduce it.

Daniel Sessler, an anesthesiologist who chairs the Cleveland Clinic's department of outcomes research, says he and his co-authors hope to examine whether timing affects other types of elective surgery, but they expect to find the same thing.

The researchers analysed the results of 18,597 elective bypass surgeries at the Cleveland Clinic from 1993 to 2006. Most were performed between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. None of the time factors — hour, day, month or phase of moon — made any difference in the outcomes of the operations.

"Fatigue is well-known to impair performance," Sessler says, citing its role in plane and car crashes. "It's highly plausible that fatigue would impair the performance of medical personnel."

But, he says, just because doctors or nurses are fatigued and make mistakes doesn't necessarily mean patients suffer. "Hospitals have extensive systems in place to minimize the consequences of any error," he says.

I hope this has answered some of your questions but I suspect it may have raised a few more!

Don't go Hungry, Eat Your Cotton Socks!

It's as true in today's world as it was in the antebellum South: cotton is king.

The plant has been cultivated for its fiber for over 7,000 years, and today it's grown by more than 20 million farmers in some 80 countries.

But while cotton accounts for nearly 40% of the fiber used worldwide to make clothing, there's one thing the plant has never been able to do well: feed people.

Cottonseeds are a rich source of protein--the current cotton crop produces enough seeds to meet the daily requirements of half a billion people a year. But the seeds can be consumed only after an extensive refining process removes the gossypol, a toxic chemical that helps protect the plant from insect and microbe infestation.

"People, pigs, chickens--none of us can stomach gossypol," says Kater Hake, vice president of agricultural research for the industry group Cotton Inc. Only cows and other ruminants can handle it.

Remove the gossypol, however, and you'd have a cheap and abundant form of protein for everyone. But get rid of all the gossypol, as plant breeders did in the 1950s, and insects will devour the defenseless cotton. Enter Keerti Rathore, a professor at Texas A&M University, who found a way around the problem through genetic engineering.

In new field-trial data, Rathore's team demonstrated that it can turn off the genes that stimulate the production of gossypol in the cottonseeds while the rest of the plant keeps its natural defenses. "This research potentially opens the door to utilizing safely the more than 40 million tons of cottonseed produced annually as a large, valuable protein source," says Norman Borlaug, an American agronomist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for developing high-yield wheat varieties that have helped increase the world's food supply.

Rathore used a new technique, called RNA interference, to construct a genetic sequence that blocked the gossypol-producing enzyme in the seeds only. After succeeding in the lab, he began a test in a greenhouse to see if the genetically modified cotton plant would survive and pass on its new trait.

Rathore's just-compiled data show that the modified cotton appears to be normal in every way other than the fact that it has instantly edible seeds. "What works in the greenhouse should hold true in the fields," he says. By the way he also says "It takes like chick peas!"

Create your own Personal Cycle Lane wherever you go

(Image: Evan Gant, IDSA and Alex Tee, Altitude Inc)
Cycle lanes are a good way of keeping bikes away from cars and minimising accidents, but they aren't available on every road.

Evan Gant at the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and Alex Tee of Altitude Inc in Somerville, Massachusetts, have designed a portable cycle "Light Lane" that straps to the back of a bike.

A laser projects an image of a cycle lane onto the road directly behind the cyclist to remind approaching cars to leave room.