August 3, The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said the Bushehr nuclear plant is up and running, and connected to Iran’s power grid.
It is sending out low amounts of electricity for now. It’s scheduled for full operation by the end of the year.
The plant was built with Russian help. Russia will deliver nuclear fuel rods and retrieve spent fuel. Iran says it will build 20 more nuclear plants.
In Japan some of the fastest selling books are how to books that show you how to get out’a town in case of a natural disaster.
The 9.0 quake of March 11 was the motivator for such books. Even though Tokyo was at least a hundred miles from the epicenter of the quake, the public transportation systems went down. About 6 million people walked or rode bikes home.
People who did well walking out had road maps, or had read the 2005 book Map for Walking Home in the Event of an Earthquake. The book was the result of experiences of the editors in a 2004 earthquake.
Amazingly the book was undergoing a revision when the March 11 quake hit. In fact one of the editors ended up walking home over the next two days, it proved to be useful in making the revisions: “For example, there were big advertising signs above the roads, which can break and fall on pedestrians, and such potentially dangerous sites we included on the maps.”-Tatsuya Nakajima, Shobunsha Publications
Since then 150,000 of the books have sold. Prior to that, 1 million copies had sold. Here’s one good reason such books are in demand, cell phones did not work on March 11: “People could not access online maps on their mobile phones right after the quake because telecom systems were overloaded. That’s probably why the demand for paper maps has increased and this book has sold well since.”-Tomoko Okawa, Shobunsha Publications
A subsidiary of Shobunsha Publications has recently solved that problem, at least if you have an iPhone, a downloadable app that does not require an active cell service to work.
A hospital in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, admitted that children had been injected with too much radiation.
Since 1999, at least 84 kids were injected with high doses of radioactive technetium. The isotope is used to help examine internal organs.
The doses were in excess of the limit set by the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine. One boy was given 20 times the limit.
Radiological technicians admitted they intentionally gave the children the higher doses, because they were afraid the kids wouldn’t sit still long enough to get a good image of their internal organs!!!
“We are positioned to bring the first 2,500 metric tons of manufacturing capacity online in the coming weeks, and we continue commissioning key systems on site.”-Scott Paul, CEO of Hoku Corporation
After years of continued promises of local hiring and construction delays, due to financial problems, Hoku claims it will finally start polysilicon production within weeks.
However, Idaho Power insists that Hoku pay up front for its electricity, Hoku officials claim they’ve already paid $5.3 million to the utility. This is just part of a long list of financial problems the wannabe polysilicon maker has had.
It’s ironic that a solar power “products and services” company must rely on an old fashioned electric utility to provide power to run their new 2,500 metric tons of polysilicon factory.
Hoku Corporation has already lost $10.2 million during the second quarter of 2011. The solar power products company is based in Hawaii. Their polysilicon Hoku Materials plant is located in Pocatello, Idaho.
Hoku has been getting financial help from a Chinese company; Tianwei New Energy Holdings.
Hoku salesmen oversold their company’s product, and now they’re scrambling to issue refunds, and offer discounts on existing contracts for waiting so long for their product.
All current orders for polysilcon are delayed, no thanks to the financial problems that have delayed construction of the Pocatello plant for the past couple of years. Expect Hoku to continue reporting losses as a result.
2010: HOKU TURNING TO CHINA TO HELP FINISH POCATELLO PLANT
“Although the exact mechanism of the anti-cancer effect of saffron is unclear, studies in animals and in human cells have even suggested that saffron can inhibit certain cancers.”-Amr Amin.
The Science Daily reports that a study shows that the expensive spice, Saffron, can stop some cancers.
Researchers at the United Arab Emirates University, fed saffron to 24 rats daily, for 24 weeks. They also injected them with liver cancer inducing compounds.
For a control group they kept eight rats, who got the liver cancer injection, but received distilled water instead of saffron.
Only four of the 24 saffron fed rats developed cancerous growths, whereas six of the eight rats from the control group developed cancer.
The next phase of the study is to put humans with liver cancer on a saffron rich diet.
The expensive spice is made from the Crocus sativus flower. It is also used to treat depression, inflammation, memory loss, and as an antioxidant.
“Chinese exporters today have a significant price advantage, and combined with eBay’s global reach, it creates a very powerful business opportunity.”-Jay Lee, eBay Asia-Pacific.
California based eBay is seeing huge yuan signs, not dollar signs. That’s because the online auction and retail site is making big gains in China.
Just a few years back anyone in the U.S. who bought something from China, through eBay, had to wait nearly two months to get their item. Now it’s taking less than a month (I know, I’ve bought a couple of things from China through eBay).
That reduction in shipping time is helping to boost eBay’s China operation: “Now it takes only seven to 10 days for Chinese products sold through eBay to reach any destination in the U.S.”-Jeff Liao, eBay Greater China. (Personally I haven’t experienced that fast of shipping time)
At the end of 2010, 20% of eBay sales were outside the United States, most of which involved China. EBay officials predict their Chinese operation to grow an amazing 30%-40% every year!
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is sending a team of experts to a nuclear power plant in the state of Virginia, that was hit by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake on August 23.
The North Anna nuclear power station is about 20km (12 miles) away from the epicenter of the strongest quake to hit the east coast state in 114 years.
The NRC now admits the plant had experienced tremors that exceeded the level it was designed to withstand.
“Wild birds may introduce the virus, but people’s actions in poultry production and marketing spread it.”–Juan Lubroth, UN Food and Agriculture Organization
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is warning of a new mutant strain of H5N1 (Bird Flu). They say it’s spreading throughout southern China, and Vietnam.
Current vaccines do not work on this latest strain.
The UN is predicting the mutant H5N1 virus could spread to Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Korean and Japan. The last H5N1 outbreak peaked in 2006.
Google has agreed to pay $500 million in fines, for running illegal Canadian pharmacy adds.
The U.S. Department of Justice, said it is illegal to mail prescription drugs from outside the country. Many of the Canadian online pharmacies did not require a prescription either.
Google officials admit they knew what they were doing could get them into trouble, so they set up a fund to pay any fines, if they were caught.
“Samsung welcomes the Düsseldorf District Court’s decision to suspend the pan-European preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.”– Rachel Jones, Samsung
Early in August Apple filed a complaint with the EU, over the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Apple claims the Samsung tablet is too similar to the iPad 2. At first the EU court agreed, but has now allowed the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab in most EU member countries.
One legal analysts, Frank Mueller, says Apple still has a chance to beat Samsung, because the EU laws are too ambiguous, and open to much interpretation. However, if Apple pursued the case it would “…reinforce a lot of people’s impression that Apple’s enforcement of design-related rights is… overreaching in some areas.”