USA: The Hudson River tunnel ..[ 1848 ]

NJ governor kills Hudson River tunnel due costs

A rendering of the ARC Tunnel project's proposed Penn Station Expansion.

Credit: Reuters/NJ Transit/Port Authority of NY & NJ

By Jon Hurdle

TRENTON, NJ | Thu Oct 7, 2010 6:58pm EDT

TRENTON, NJ (Reuters) - One of the biggest U.S. transport projects ended on Thursday after New Jersey's governor said the state could not afford the risk that a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River could cost billions more than planned.

Republican Governor Chris Christie, who took office in January, said the $8.7 billion budget for the tunnel between New Jersey and New York City's midtown Manhattan could rise to more than $11 billion and even surpass $14 billion.

"We simply can't spend what we don't have," Christie told a news conference. "I had to figure out how I was going to pay for it. We simply can't."

Christie inherited the tunnel project from former Democratic Governor Jon Corzine. He halted work in mid-September for 30 days and asked his staff and federal transportation officials to review the cost estimates.

Under the original deal, the federal government and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were each to pay $3 billion, with $2.7 billion coming from a combination of other federal funds, including stimulus and clean air funding, as well a contribution from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

But crucial to the funding plan was that New Jersey was to pay anything above the $8.7 billion estimate.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood requested to meet with Christie after the governor told him of his decision. The meeting is scheduled for Friday in Trenton, the governor's spokesmen said.

Christie's decision means no contract has been signed for completion of the project and the federal funding was not secured.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New Jersey Transit both declined to comment on the termination of the project. New York Governor David Paterson said he was disappointed but respected Christie's decision and understood "the difficulty of governing in our current economic climate."

Christie has garnered national attention for progress made tackling the state's record $11 billion budget deficit during his first year in office. He has been invited by other Republicans across the country to campaign for them ahead of the November 2 congressional elections in a multi-state tour that has added fuel to speculation that he might consider a presidential run.

Christie is pushing a lean-government, low-tax agenda that includes limiting annual increases in the state's property taxes, the highest in the nation. He has refused to raise money by increasing taxes on gasoline, among the lowest-priced in the country.

New Jersey Democratic Party Chairman John Wisniewski said there was no evidence that the Hudson River tunnel would exceed its estimated budget and accused Christie of canceling the project in a bid to fuel his growing national profile.

"It fits with his national agenda," Wisniewski said. "There is no better time to get public works projects than now and the governor is throwing away this opportunity."

One century-old Hudson River commuter train tunnel runs between New Jersey and Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station. Transit advocates say the tunnel is so overcrowded that commuters frequently endure long delays.

Christie had repeatedly stressed that New Jersey is too cash-poor to pay for any cost overruns by itself. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who supported the project, has said the city did not have money to contribute to the project.

Digging for the tunnel, which was estimated to create 6,000 jobs, began in June 2009. It was to open in 2018.

Critics have called Christie overbearing and confrontational toward the New Jersey state legislature, which is Democrat-controlled. But his fans praise his straight talk, his forceful style and his record of getting things done.

A major driver of weather and climate....[ 1847 ]

A Little Water Goes a Long Way

Posted October 7, 2010

 

(506 KB, PDF) acquired August 1 - 31, 2010

Of the 1.39 billion cubic kilometers (331 million cubic miles) of water on Earth, just a thousandth of 1% (1.39 million cubic km) exists as water vapor. Yet this tiny amount of water has an outsized influence on the planet: It is a potent greenhouse gas and a major driver of weather and climate.

This map shows the distribution of water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere during August 2010. Even the wettest regions would form a layer of water only 60 millimeters (2.4 inches) deep if the entire column of air was condensed from the top of the atmosphere to the surface. The map was compiled from observations by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A) on NASA’s Aqua satellite.

The map is one of several ways scientists can visualize the movement of water around the planet, as demonstrated in a new fact sheet examining the water cycle. Here is an excerpt:

“Studies have revealed that evaporation from oceans, seas, and other bodies of water provides nearly 90% of the moisture in our atmosphere. Most of the remaining 10% is released by plants through transpiration. Plants take in water through their roots, then release it through small pores on the underside of their leaves. In addition, a very small portion of water vapor enters the atmosphere through sublimation, the process by which water changes directly from a solid (ice or snow) to a gas.

Together, evaporation, transpiration, and sublimation, plus volcanic emissions, account for almost all the water vapor in the atmosphere. While evaporation from the oceans is the primary vehicle for driving the surface-to-atmosphere portion of the hydrologic cycle, transpiration is also significant. For example, a cornfield 1 acre in size can transpire as much as 4,000 gallons of water every day.

Water continually evaporates, condenses, and precipitates, and on a global basis, evaporation approximately equals precipitation. Because of this equality, the total amount of water vapor in the atmosphere remains approximately the same over time.”

NASA image by Robert Simmon, using AIRS & AMSU data. Caption compiled by Mike Carlowicz.

Instrument: Aqua - AIRS

NASA Image of the Oct 7th..[ 1846 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

And Away

The nose of an inflatable half-scale model of a NASA F/A-18 in front of the NASA Aeronautics exhibit points skyward as a host of hot-air balloons ascend at the 2010 International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M. 

Image Credit: NASA/Jay Levine

Πέμπτη, 7 Οκτώβριος 2010 7:00:00 πμ

Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile..[ 1845 ]

Russia's Bulava missile hits target in test

MOSCOW, October 7 ., RIA Novosti

A ballistic missile launchrom a Bulava submarine-

A test warhead from a Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile successfully hit its target on the Kura test range in Russia's Far East Kamchatka region, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

The missile was fired from the Dmitry Donskoy submarine in the White Sea.

Bulava test launches were put on hold after a failed launch on December 9, 2009, which was caused by a defective engine nozzle.

The Bulava (SS-NX-30), a three-stage liquid and solid-propellant submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), has officially suffered seven failures in 13 tests.

2 Japanese-American share chemistry 2010 Nobel...[ 1844 ]

Nobel Prize in chemistry a chance to ponder Japan's scientific strengths

(Mainichi Japan) October 7, 2010+

Akira Suzuki and Ei-ichi Negishi have won the 2010 Nobel Prize in chemistry together with American Richard Heck, just two years after another Japanese national won the prize.

Japanese scientists also won the chemistry prize for three years in a row from 2000 to 2002 -- their achievements have brought the prize significantly closer to Japan.

The 2010 prize was awarded for the scientists' work in organic synthesis, one of Japan's specialties. The award is not only an encouragement for the nation, but will also spur young people's interest in science and the culture of craftsmanship. We are delighted by the achievement.

The framework of the various organic compounds that are useful in medicine and other areas of our daily lives is built upon carbon. For this reason, reactions that bind carbon atoms are extremely important in forming many organic compounds.

It is very difficult, however, to get carbon to react. And, as soon as the reactivity is increased, impurities emerge.

Suzuki and Negishi were awarded the Nobel Prize "for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis." By adding a small amount of palladium to reactions as a catalyst, they were able to efficiently and accurately bond targeted carbon atoms, and produce new synthetic compounds.

Heck, who could be described as the pioneer of such reactions, developed what is known as the "Heck coupling reaction." Negishi extended this reaction to develop a reaction called the "Negishi coupling." The "Suzuki coupling" developed by Suzuki is a completed version. It is used extensively in pharmaceutical products, liquid crystals and the synthesis of chemical fibers. The Nobel committee no doubt took the extensive application of these reactions into consideration in awarding the scientists the prize.

Many Japanese contributed to the development of cross couplings, and many reactions are named after their Japanese developers. Three names were picked out this time in connection with palladium-catalyzed reactions, but there are likely others whose work would merit the same recognition. It is certain that the breadth of Japanese scientists in this field led to Suzuki and Negishi being honored.

We remember that Osamu Shimomura, who won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, produced results through a finding in fundamental science that was sparked by his own interests. What he discovered became an indispensable tool in biological science. In a similar vein, the 2010 prize was probably the fruit of the scientific world's efforts, whereby a chemical reaction based on basic science led the way to better reactions.

Under such circumstances, we cannot gaze comfortably on the current state of science in Japan. There are many issues that need to be addressed, including the decline of basic research funding at universities, and the weak state of the system bridging the gap between basic science and its application.

The scientific world is in the midst of an international battle, and the rise of emerging nations threatens Japan's strength in craftsmanship. We want to use the 2010 Nobel Prize as an opportunity to think about what has enabled Japan to remain at the top of the field of organic chemistry amid such circumstances.

Click here for the original Japanese story

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