If you look around you, there are fear messages all around you. The news is saturated with fear messages and most conversations tend to revolve around some form of fear. With fear being in the main stream, it can be challenging and you can even get weary if you're trying to hold the light when no one else seems to be doing that around you.
I get it. I've seen angels since I was a child. I read people's energies and know things about them that they may never understand. I've brought bugs back to life when they were squooshed and it seemed there was no hope for them with my healing gift. I've fought for my right to just feel what I feel without being told I'm crazy or too sensitive and in the process of it all I have lost myself many times, fallen and scraped my knees more times than I can count, lived on the streets, I have been beaten and still I wondered why no one else felt the things that I did deep in my soul.
One word. FEAR.
Everyone is emotionally sensitive. Everyone has spiritual gifts. Everyone can tap into their inner wisdom, the light, God, Infinite Spirit and be in the flow of manifesting what they desire. Many have lost their way.
They've been told to be a certain way. Boys have been told not to cry, to tough it out and macho up. Girls have been told "Shhhh... that's not very lady like" and this still happens because I see it every day. Over the years people have been placed into categories, held up to expectations by others, told they were bad, given tools for war rather than tools for peace and love and now we live in a world where people are struggling to feel love, struggling to feel happy and struggling to get through tough times.
So let's bring in some light. You may identify with some part of this. I wanted to be transparent because there is a gift in my rich past experience and I know that. I would be selfish not to share it with you so I share it with the intention that it spark some light within you.
How to turn fear into love.
First of all you must be willing to buck the crowd at times. Not everyone is going to get the light right away. Some may go away and others may take a while to come around. It's not about them. It's about YOU claiming your right to light and to living your life from that place. That means getting up and sending light to the people in your home, at work, at the store and doing everything you do in the light.
Create a practice that will help you tune into more love and light in your heart. Meditate, journal, read spiritual books, join a spiritual group, hire a mentor who can hold the space for you and practice saturating yourself in lighter thought forms, lighter feelings, lighter perceptions. The heavier stuff will start to fall away.
Face the fears about being in the light and thinking you'll be rejected. When you release rejection and the fears around BEING YOU for all that you are then a cellular change begins to take place. Energetically you begin to shift into a different way of being. You'll naturally be in harmony with the world around you and resistance, challenges and obstacles will start to disappear.
You have a right to be the light. In fact it is your spiritual responsibility to everyone on this planet. Fear has only created pain, separation and war. Only love and light will remove fear from your life.
You owe it to yourself, your family and the rest of the world to finally drop your story, drop the fear, drop the pain, drop the drama and claim today that you will begin to write a new story that will fulfill you, heal you, nurture you, support you and in turn spread to those around you.
Marilyn Rodriguez, Transformation Specialist, is a spiritual adviser, certified master energy therapist, coach and ordained minister. She is an author and speaker and has shared the virtual stage with thought leaders including Bob Proctor, Marianne Williamson, Marci Shimoff and Bruce Lipton. She is the founder of Miracle Solutions helping people to clear personal blocks and transform their lives guaranteed.
Go to marilynrodriguezmiraclesolutions.com to get a free 15 minute Energy Clearing Breakthrough session. Providing useful self development, self empowerment and self esteem tips and reviews online.
Step aerobics can help you lose the weight and keep it off!
If you want to do something right, you need to plan for it. Planning beforehand makes you seek the most effective approach that is invaluable to the success of your undertaking.
The same principle applies for weight loss. There are a lot of weight loss plans, but not all of them are effective for the long term.
If you want to achieve your desired weight and keep it that way for good, then you have to choose and incorporate the following routines. They are guaranteed to be the best and most effective ways for your permanent fitness goal.
Cardio exercises comprise of physical activities that not only improve one?s well-being but are effective at achieving permanent weight loss as well. They teach you to target on burning a pound a week. Sustainable weight loss is a slow but sure process.
It is not about crash diets and getting your desired figure in just a month?s time?it is about having the discipline to eat right and burn those extra calories diligently.
You have to be careful when you plunge into this goal. It is advisable that you consult your doctor first and ask him what the best exercise routine and intensity is for you.
Check out the following cardio exercises:
1. Running
Running is probably one of the most uncomplicated physical activities aside from walking or brisk walking. It works well at hoisting up your heart rate rapidly, and you can do it almost anytime, anywhere. An average person burns 300 calories in a 30-minute 5.2 mph run.
But if you can?t handle the intensity, start slow. You don?t have to force yourself to speed up at the first try. Nevertheless, make it a point to at least run 45 minutes a day so that you get the stamina and endurance you need.
2. Swimming Routines
Swimming, aside from being a fun and relaxing activity, is also an effective calorie burning exercise routine. If you are a beginner, recommended stroke techniques are freestyle and breaststroke. Spending 30 minutes doing breaststrokes burns 400 calories off your system.
3. Step Aerobics
Step aerobics is another good calorie burner. It is preferred by a lot of women who want to tone their legs, hips, or behinds. With this exercise, you can easily lose 400 pounds in half an hour. You can take classes at the gym or buy a good aerobic DVD, if you prefer to do the routine at home.
Aside from cardio exercise routines, you can also do some strength training or resistance exercises; just don?t make them the cornerstone of your weight loss plan.
Making these exercise routines a part of your lifestyle is the ultimate key to achieving your fitness goals. Pick one that you enjoy the most and let it help you reap long-enduring, desirable results!
Bored With Exercise? Want to Have Fun WHILE You Get Fit?
FitDeck is a unique deck of playing cards containing illustrations and instructions describing dozens different exercises, stretches, and movements.
One of the best things about FitDeck is that it breaks up the monotony of doing the same old exercises in the same exact order every time.
By shuffling the cards, you are guaranteed a new and fresh workout every time ? and we all know the physiological and psychological benefits of such variety.
The ?no-equipment? FitDecks contain exercises that require only your body weight to perform. There are also FitDecks of 26 cards which use equipment such as resistance bands, medicine ball, balance ball, dumbells, kettleballs, etc.
With FitDeck?s 37 titles, you now have the ability to take these benefits to a whole new level. Mixing and matching different FitDecks together will create a one-of-a-kind cross-training experience.
Make exercise fun again ? check out FitDeck exercise cards now! You won?t find a less boring or more fun (and effective) way to work out!
Author Bio: Julian Hooks is a former collegiate athlete, a health & fitness enthusiast, and the owner of www.dietbrandreviews.com. There he provides in-depth Medifast reviews one of the best diet plans for weight loss.
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In mock elections between female candidates, the deeper-voice carried the vast majority of the votes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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You vote for politicians based on their views, right? That's how it works in theory. But other factors can sway your vote. Like a politician's voice. Because studies show that the deeper the voice, the more electable the candidate. And not just for men. Deeper voiced women have an advantage over other women, even when they're running for positions traditionally held by women, like the school board or PTA president. So says a study in the journal PLoS ONE. [Rindy C. Anderson and Casey A. Klofstad, Preference for Leaders with Masculine Voices Holds in the Case of Feminine Leadership Roles]
Researchers played undergrads recordings like this. [Women?s voices.] Then they asked the students to vote for one of them for the school board or the PTA. In each mock election, the deeper voiced woman snagged about 70 percent of the votes.
Women's voices naturally deepen with age, so the researchers say we might be biased to select older women as leaders. And previous studies have shown that women with deeper voices are seen as more competent, trustworthy and strong. Margaret Thatcher used that to her advantage?she was famously coached to deepen her voice. Other politicians might do well to follow her lead, when they make their pitch to voters.
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EDC offering up to 30 scholarships annually, 25 of which go to undergraduate university or college students interested in pursuing a career or furthering their studies in international business, with up to 5 additional scholarships for students in programs which combine business with environmental or sustainability studies. The scholarships are awarded to?currently enroll in a full-time accredited bachelor?s degree at a Canadian public university or college. The deadline for the Scholarships of application is February 4, 2013.
Study Subject(s):?Subject is?International Business. Course Level:?This scholarship is available for pursuing ?undergraduate?degree?level. Scholarship Provider:?Education Development Center Scholarship can be taken at:?Canada
Eligibility: To be eligible, you must be: -a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada -currently enrolled in a full-time accredited bachelor?s degree at a Canadian public university or college. -in second, third or fourth year (but not final year) -returning to full-time post-secondary studies for the 2013-2014 academic year -enrolled in a program focused on international business, finance, economics, or a combination of business with environmental/sustainability studies. -in excellent academic standing Business experience outside Canada will be considered an asset.
Scholarship Open for International Students:?The students of Canada can apply for this scholarship.
Scholarship Description: Through our Community Investment ? Youth Education Program, EDC helps build the capacity of the next generation of business leaders by awarding scholarships to Canadian students with a demonstrated interest in international business. EDC created the International Business Scholarships because international trade is critical to Canada?s economic prosperity and we?re dedicated to helping students like YOU ? the next generation of business leaders ? to succeed.?We award up to 30 scholarships annually, 25 of which go to undergraduate university or college students interested in pursuing a career or furthering their studies in international business, with up to 5 additional scholarships for students in programs which combine business with environmental or sustainability studies. An EDC scholarship is worth a $4,000 cash award. Scholarships are awarded in spring, and issued in autumn at the start of each academic year.
Number of awards offered:?30 Scholarships are offered.
Duration of award:?Not Known
What does it cover??An EDC scholarship is worth a $4,000 cash award.
Other Benefits:?Not Known
Selection criteria:?Not Known
Notification:?Not Known
How to Apply:?The mode of applying is?online.
Scholarship Application Deadline:?Do submit your applications till?February 4, 2013.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? Nicole Ari Parker was motivated by frustration. For Star Jones, it was a matter of life or death. Toni Carey wanted a fresh start after a bad breakup.
All three have launched individual campaigns that reflect an emerging priority for African-American women: finding creative ways to combat the obesity epidemic that threatens their longevity.
African-American women have the highest obesity rate of any group of Americans. Four out of five black women have a body mass index above 25 percent, the threshold for being overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By comparison, nearly two-thirds of Americans overall are in this category, the CDC said.
Many black women seem to be unaffected by being generally heavier than other Americans.
Calorie-rich, traditional soul food is a staple in the diets of many African-Americans, and curvy black women are embraced positively through slang praising them as "thick" with a "little meat on their bones," or through songs like the Commodore's "Brick House" or "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child. A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and The Washington Post earlier this year found that 66 percent of overweight black women had high self-esteem, while 41 percent of average-sized or thin white women had high self-esteem.
Still, that doesn't mean black women reject the need to become healthier.
Historically black, all-female Spelman College in Atlanta is disbanding its NCAA teams and devoting those resources to a campus-wide wellness program. In an open letter announcing Spelman's "wellness revolution," president Beverly Daniel Tatum cited a campus analysis that found many of Spelman's 2,100 students already have high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes or other chronic ailments.
"Spelman has an opportunity to change the health trajectory of our students and, through their influence, the communities from which they come," Tatum's letter said.
Jones, who underwent open heart surgery in 2010 at age 47 and now urges awareness about heart disease among black women, was met by an overflow crowd earlier this year when she convened a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation panel on black women and obesity.
"We have to get ourselves out of being conditioned to think that using soft words so we don't hurt peoples' feelings is doing them any favor," Jones said. "Curvy, big-boned, hefty, full-figured, fluffy, chubby. Those are all words designed to make people feel better about themselves. That wasn't helpful to me."
Jones once embraced being large and fabulous, at 5 feet 5 inches tall and 300 pounds. But under that exterior, she said, she was morbidly obese, suffering from extreme fatigue, nausea, lightheadedness, heart palpitations and blurred vision. Now, she advises women to make simple changes such as reducing salt intake, exercising 30 minutes a day, quitting smoking, controlling portion sizes and making nutritious dietary choices.
Nutritionist and author Rovenia M. Brock, known professionally as Dr. Ro, agrees with Jones. She said getting active is only about 20 percent of the fight against obesity. The rest revolves around how much people eat. "Our plates are killing us," she said.
Brock said "food deserts," or urban areas that lack quality supermarkets, are a real obstacle. She suggested getting around that by carpooling with neighbors to stores in areas with higher-quality grocery options or buying food in bulk. She also suggested growing herbs and vegetables in window-box gardens.
"Stop focusing on what's not there, or what you think is not there," Brock said. "We have to get out of this wimpy, 'woe is me' mentality."
While first lady Michelle Obama has encouraged exercise through her "Let's Move" campaign targeting childhood obesity, the spark for this current interest among black women may have been comments last year by Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, who observed publicly that women must stop allowing concern about their hair to prevent them from exercising.
Some black women visit salons as often as every two weeks, investing several hours and anywhere from $50 to several hundreds of dollars each visit ? activity that, according to the Black Owned Beauty Supply Association, helps fuel a $9 billion black hair care and cosmetics industry.
In an interview during a health conference in Washington last week, Benjamin said the damage sweat can inflict on costly hairstyles can affect women's willingness to work out, and she hopes to change that. She goes to beauty industry conferences to encourage stylists to create exercise-friendly hairdos.
"I wouldn't say we use it as an excuse, we use it as a barrier," Benjamin said. "And that's not one of the barriers anymore. We're always going to have problems with balancing our lives, but we could take that one out."
Parker, an actress, understands this dilemma well. Out of personal frustration over maintaining both her workout and her hair, she created "Save Your Do" Gymwrap ? a headband that can be wrapped around the hair in a way that minimizes sweat and preserves hairstyles.
"Not just as a black woman, but as a woman, since the beginning of time, beauty has been our responsibility," Parker said in an interview. Because of that, she said, exercise has become linked with vanity instead of health.
"We've turned exercise into a weight-loss regimen," Parker said. "No. Exercise is about being grateful for the body you have and sustaining the life you have. ... Take all the hype out of the exercise and think of it as brushing your teeth."
With their mutual family histories of diabetes and high blood pressure in mind, Carey, 28, and her sorority sister Ashley Hicks, 29, co-founded the running club Black Girls Run. Carey also considered it a new beginning after a bad breakup and a move across country. Since 2009, Black Girls Run has amassed 52,000 members who serve as a support system for runners.
Black Girls Run has about 60 groups nationwide that coordinate local races in Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C, Houston and Greensboro, N.C. Most groups run at least five times a week. Next month, the running club will take its first "Black Girls Run ? Preserve the Sexy" tour to cities with high obesity rates. The tour includes health and fitness clinics with information on nutrition, hair maintenance and running gear.
"We found that when you want to get healthy and when you want to be active, it's intimidating," Carey said. "You don't know where to start. There's a little coaxing that has to go along with that."
Parker said once African-American women place value on their bodies and longevity, everything else will follow. It costs her nothing, she said, to walk around an outdoor track with her husband, actor Boris Kodjoe, or run up and down stairs with her headphones.
"One good step breeds another one," Parker said. "You're going to have one less margarita, one less scoop of Thanksgiving macaroni ... and yet you're not doing anything fanatical or dramatic."
Here?s how to win termination lawsuits: Back up your decisions with solid business reasons for the discharge?especially if you had to let people go to reduce labor costs or otherwise survive financial hardship.
Courts seldom second-guess em?ployers? efforts to cut costs, even if the company is profitable at the time. Simply put, if an employer can reasonably argue that it eliminated a position to save money (and presumably have even higher profits), then a judge won?t assume the decision was based on some other nefarious reason.
Recent case: Amy worked for Medco Health Solutions in a senior director position. She clashed with her immediate supervisor and complained to HR about what she perceived as his harsh treatment of her, which she attributed to her gender. However, she got a large bonus the same year, as well as a sizable salary increase.
Shortly after, she was reassigned to another position. The job had fewer responsibilities, but she received the same pay and benefits. Around the same time, she testified for the company in a lawsuit.
Then she was terminated after another senior manager looked at his staffing costs and determined that he could lower the labor burden by eliminating Amy?s position.
She sued, alleging retaliation for complaining about sex discrimination. She argued that she had been kept on just long enough to testify for the company and then, after she was no longer useful, she was fired.
The court dismissed her complaint. It reasoned that even if the division she worked in was profitable, that didn?t mean the company couldn?t cut its labor costs. In fact, the court said such a decision was reasonable. (Meyers v. Medco Health Solutions, No. 09-Civ-09216, SD NY, 2012)
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SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea may postpone the controversial launch of a long-range rocket that had been slated for liftoff as early as this week, state media said Sunday, as international pressure on Pyongyang to cancel the provocative move intensified.
Scientists have been pushing forward with final preparations for the launch from a west coast site, slated to take place as early as Monday, but are considering "readjusting" the timing, an unidentified spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology told North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
It was unclear whether diplomatic intervention or technical glitches were behind the delay. A brief KCNA dispatch said scientists and technicians were discussing whether to set new launch dates but did not elaborate.
Word of a possible delay comes just days after satellite photos indicated that snow may have slowed launch preparations, and as officials in Washington, Seoul, Tokyo, Moscow and elsewhere urged North Korea to cancel a liftoff widely seen as a violation of bans against missile activity.
Commercial satellite imagery taken by GeoEye on Dec. 4 and shared Friday with The Associated Press by the 38 North and North Korea Tech websites showed the Sohae site northwest of Pyongyang covered with snow. The road from the main assembly building to the launch pad showed no fresh tracks, indicating that the snowfall may have stalled the preparations.
However, analysts believed rocket preparations would have been completed on time for liftoff as early as Monday.
North Korea announced earlier this month that it would launch a three-stage rocket mounted with a satellite from its Sohae station southeast of Sinuiju sometime between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22. Pyongyang calls it a peaceful bid to send an observational satellite into space, its second attempt this year.
The launch announcement captured global headlines because of its timing: South Korea and Japan hold key elections this month, President Barack Obama begins his second term next month and China has just formed a new leadership. North Koreans also have begun a mourning period for late leader Kim Jong Il, who died on Dec. 17, 2011.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Washington was "deeply concerned" about the launch, and urged foreign ministers from NATO and Russia to demand that Pyongyang cancel its plans.
U.S. and others said the launch would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from nuclear and missile activity because the rocket shares the same technology used for firing a long-range missile.
North Korea has unveiled missiles designed to target U.S. soil and has tested two atomic bombs in recent years, but has not shown yet that it has mastered the technology for mounting a nuclear warhead to a long-range missile. Six-nation negotiations to offer North Korea much-needed aid in exchange for nuclear disarmament have been stalled since 2009.
China, the North's main ally and aid provider, noted its "concern" after North Korea declared its plans. It acknowledged North Korea's right to develop its space program but said that had to be harmonized with restrictions including those set by the U.N. Security Council.
In Seoul, officials at the Defence Ministry, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Foreign Ministry said Sunday they couldn't immediately find what might be behind the possible delay.
North Korea may hold off if Washington actively engages Pyongyang in dialogue and promises to ship stalled food assistance to the country, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Seoul's Dongguk University.
In February, the U.S. agreed to provide 240,000 metric tons of food aid to North Korea in exchange for a freeze in nuclear and missile activities. The deal collapsed after North Korea attempted to launch a long-range rocket in April. That rocket broke up seconds after liftoff.
Analyst Baek Seung-joo of the South Korean state-run Korea Institute for Defence Analyses in Seoul said China must have sent a "very strong" message calling for the North to cancel the launch plans.
"North Korea won't say it would delay the launch due to foreign pressure so that's why they say scientists and technicians are considering delaying it," he said.
Before you leave this page and think about what kind of a sick, crazy nut I am- a divorced single mom giving out relationship advice- please do give me a chance and hear me out.? I don?t claim to be an expert at anything which closely relates to relationships, but I have learned an important thing or two in my past failures, so to speak.? In all the rubble left by my broken relationships, I?ve been able to unearth an essential ingredient which spells the success of love and romance.? And that is communication.
Communication is a significant factor which binds two people in a loving relationship.? How you communicate your feelings to your partner will greatly determine the fate of your union.
The problem with us women is that we tend to talk too much, that men oftentimes just shut down all auditory acuity.? They don?t listen, and this sends us into fits of rage which hell?s fury cannot hold a candle to.
So is it ever possible to really get through to a man?? The key is in not pointing out his flaws.? As much as we?d like to change him, we simply can?t, and shouldn?t.? We can?t just ask him to stop smoking, and expect him to quit cold turkey.
When talking to a man, we try not to blame him.? If we want to try to get him to do something for us, or to ?change?, we do so in a way which doesn?t accuse.? For instance, if you?re sick and tired of him always coming home late at night without letting you know where he?s at, here?s what you can say:
I don?t like that I feel angry, and that I sound like I?m always complaining.? What do you think can we do to fix this?
The less words the better.? It?s about letting him know that you?re frustrated without directly blaming him for anything.? And by asking him about what he thinks, you are passing on the problem to him.? You?re now giving him the opportunity to make things better.
Because a man constantly faces a barrage of information from work and whatnot, he gets distracted and tunes you out.? They aren?t great multi-taskers like us women, remember?? But if we tell him our feelings and emotions in ways he can hear, and without pointing a finger, that puts him back in the zone.
Synthetic fuel could eliminate US need for crude oilPublic release date: 5-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Sullivan js29@princeton.edu 609-258-4597 Princeton University, Engineering School
The United States could eliminate the need for crude oil by using a combination of coal, natural gas and non-food crops to make synthetic fuel, a team of Princeton researchers has found.
Besides economic and national security benefits, the plan has potential environmental advantages. Because plants absorb carbon dioxide to grow, the United States could cut vehicle greenhouse emissions by as much as 50 percent in the next several decades using non-food crops to create liquid fuels, the researchers said.
Synthetic fuels would be an easy fit for the transportation system because they could be used directly in automobile engines and are almost identical to fuels refined from crude oil. That sets them apart from currently available biofuels, such as ethanol, which have to be mixed with gas or require special engines.
In a series of scholarly articles over the past year, a team led by Christodoulos Floudas, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Princeton, evaluated scenarios in which the United States could power its vehicles with synthetic fuels rather than relying on oil. Floudas' team also analyzed the impact that synthetic fuel plants were likely to have on local areas and identified locations that would not overtax regional electric grids or water supplies.
"The goal is to produce sufficient fuel and also to cut CO2 emissions, or the equivalent, by 50 percent," said Floudas, the Stephen C. Macaleer '63 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science. "The question was not only can it be done, but also can it be done in an economically attractive way. The answer is affirmative in both cases."
Accomplishing this would not be easy or quick, Floudas said. A realistic approach would call for a gradual implementation of synthetic fuel technology, and Floudas estimated it would take 30 to 40 years for the United States to fully adopt synthetic fuel. It also would not be cheap. He estimates the price tag at roughly $1.1 trillion for the entire system.
The research makes up an important part of a white paper recently produced by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the nation's largest chemical engineering association. In the paper, the chemical engineers call for a greater integration of energy sources and urge policymakers to consider chemical conversion processes as a potential method to produce cleaner and cheaper fuels.
"Right now we are going down so many energy paths," said June Wispelwey, the institute's director and a 1981 Princeton alumna. "There are ways for the system to be more integrated and much more efficient."
The paper was written by Vern Weekman, one of Floudas' co-researchers. Weekman, a lecturer at Princeton, is the former director of the Mobil Central Research Laboratories and a past president of AIChE.
Weekman said the main reason the industry has not embraced synthetic fuels has been cost. Although he said the economics are "still on the edge," Weekman noted that rising prices for crude oil and improvements in the efficiency of synthetic fuel production have made the process far more viable than before.
"The main reason we wrote the paper was to get the planning agencies the national academies, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Defense Department thinking about this," Weekman said. He added that it was important that the agencies consider "this key link of using chemical processes to produce conventional fuels."
In the Princeton research, Floudas' team found that synthetic fuel plants could produce gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels at competitive prices, depending on the price of crude oil and the type of feedstock used to create the synthetic fuel. About two-thirds of crude oil consumed by the United States is used for transportation fuel, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA said the United States imports about 45 percent of its annual crude oil consumption.
"Even including the capital costs, synthetic fuels can still be profitable," said Richard Baliban, a chemical and biological engineering graduate student who graduated in 2012 and was the lead author on several of the team's papers. "As long as crude oil is between $60 and $100 per barrel, these processes are competitive depending on the feedstock," he said.
The core of the plan is a technique that uses heat and chemistry to create gasoline and other liquid fuels from high-carbon feedstock ranging from coal to switchgrass, a native North American grass common to the Great Plains. The method, called the Fischer-Tropsch process, was developed in Germany in the 1920s as a way to convert coal to liquid fuels.
The chemistry is complicated, but it basically takes the carbon and hydrogen from the feedstock and reassembles them into the complex chains that make up fuels like gasoline and diesel. Essentially, the feedstock material is heated to 1,000 to 1,300 degrees Celsius and converted to gas, and using the Fischer-Tropsch process, the gas is converted to chains of hydrocarbon molecules. These hydrocarbon chains are then processed over catalysts such as nickel or iron. The end products include fuels, waxes and lubricants normally made from crude oil.
The Princeton team's method adds a step to recycle CO2 through the process to reduce the amount of the gas vented by the plants. Baliban said there is a limit to how much CO2 can be economically recycled, although plants could also trap unused CO2 emissions for later storage.
Over the years, engineers have refined the original Fischer-Tropsch method to increase efficiency. But the high cost of building new synthetic fuel plants, coupled with the low price of crude oil, has made synthetic fuels too expensive for widespread acceptance.
As the price of oil has increased, however, synthetic fuels have become more practical. The U.S. government has undertaken a number of projects to look into the process; in particular, the Defense Department has studied synthetic fuels as a way to supply transportation fuel without depending on overseas suppliers.
In its work, the Princeton team looked at a broader picture. In a July article in the AIChE Journal, the team found that the United States could meet its entire demand for transportation fuel by building 130 synthetic fuel plants across the country. The article, with Josephine Elia, a graduate student in chemical and biological engineering as the lead author, made its assessment using three feedstocks: coal, natural gas and biomass. To avoid switching farmland from food production to crops used for fuel production which would hurt the food supply the researchers only included non-edible crops such as perennial grasses, agricultural residue and forest residue.
The plants modeled in their scenario were placed in proximity to both feedstock supplies and markets for fuels. The analysis factored in external costs such as water supplies and electricity to power the plants' machinery.
Ultimately, the team recommended construction of nine small, 74 medium and 47 large plants producing 1 percent, 28 percent and 71 percent of the fuel, respectively. Most of the plants would be clustered in the central part of the country and in the Southeast. The state with the highest level of fuel production would be Kansas, which would have 11 large synthetic fuel plants. Texas would have the largest number of plants, but because of the scattered nature of feedstock in that state, most of those plants would be medium-sized.
The researchers found that the largest contributor to the price of synthetic fuel would be the cost of building the plants, followed by the purchase of biomass and then electricity. They estimated that the nationwide average cost of producing the synthetic equivalent of a barrel of crude oil would be $95.11, although the cost varies regionally. The cost in Kansas, where most production would occur, would average $83.58 for the equivalent of a barrel of crude oil.
The cost could be much lower if plants eliminated biomass and used only coal and natural gas to run the process, Floudas said, but that would eliminate most of the environmental benefit.
"If you want to have a 50 percent reduction in emissions, you need to have the biomass," he said.
In many ways, synthetic fuels are cleaner than petroleum fuels. The heavy metal and sulfur contaminants of petroleum fuels can be captured in the synthetic plants before the fuel is shipped out. Synthetic fuels also can be used in gasoline and diesel engines with no need for modifications, unlike many biofuels. The biofuel ethanol, for example, is commonly mixed with gasoline, but high levels of ethanol require modifications to car engines and pose special challenges for starting at low temperatures.
Floudas said that synthetic fuels also would allow carbon reduction with the fleet of cars currently on the road. Even if the country immediately converted to zero-emitting electric or fuel cell vehicles, millions of internal combustion vehicles would still be driving. By switching to synthetic fuels, he said, the country would have the opportunity to reduce those emissions, even if it they would not be completely eliminated.
"This is an opportunity to create a new economy," Floudas said. "The amount of petroleum the U.S. imports is very high. What is the price of that? What other resources to do we have? And what can we do about it?"
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Synthetic fuel could eliminate US need for crude oilPublic release date: 5-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Sullivan js29@princeton.edu 609-258-4597 Princeton University, Engineering School
The United States could eliminate the need for crude oil by using a combination of coal, natural gas and non-food crops to make synthetic fuel, a team of Princeton researchers has found.
Besides economic and national security benefits, the plan has potential environmental advantages. Because plants absorb carbon dioxide to grow, the United States could cut vehicle greenhouse emissions by as much as 50 percent in the next several decades using non-food crops to create liquid fuels, the researchers said.
Synthetic fuels would be an easy fit for the transportation system because they could be used directly in automobile engines and are almost identical to fuels refined from crude oil. That sets them apart from currently available biofuels, such as ethanol, which have to be mixed with gas or require special engines.
In a series of scholarly articles over the past year, a team led by Christodoulos Floudas, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Princeton, evaluated scenarios in which the United States could power its vehicles with synthetic fuels rather than relying on oil. Floudas' team also analyzed the impact that synthetic fuel plants were likely to have on local areas and identified locations that would not overtax regional electric grids or water supplies.
"The goal is to produce sufficient fuel and also to cut CO2 emissions, or the equivalent, by 50 percent," said Floudas, the Stephen C. Macaleer '63 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science. "The question was not only can it be done, but also can it be done in an economically attractive way. The answer is affirmative in both cases."
Accomplishing this would not be easy or quick, Floudas said. A realistic approach would call for a gradual implementation of synthetic fuel technology, and Floudas estimated it would take 30 to 40 years for the United States to fully adopt synthetic fuel. It also would not be cheap. He estimates the price tag at roughly $1.1 trillion for the entire system.
The research makes up an important part of a white paper recently produced by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the nation's largest chemical engineering association. In the paper, the chemical engineers call for a greater integration of energy sources and urge policymakers to consider chemical conversion processes as a potential method to produce cleaner and cheaper fuels.
"Right now we are going down so many energy paths," said June Wispelwey, the institute's director and a 1981 Princeton alumna. "There are ways for the system to be more integrated and much more efficient."
The paper was written by Vern Weekman, one of Floudas' co-researchers. Weekman, a lecturer at Princeton, is the former director of the Mobil Central Research Laboratories and a past president of AIChE.
Weekman said the main reason the industry has not embraced synthetic fuels has been cost. Although he said the economics are "still on the edge," Weekman noted that rising prices for crude oil and improvements in the efficiency of synthetic fuel production have made the process far more viable than before.
"The main reason we wrote the paper was to get the planning agencies the national academies, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Defense Department thinking about this," Weekman said. He added that it was important that the agencies consider "this key link of using chemical processes to produce conventional fuels."
In the Princeton research, Floudas' team found that synthetic fuel plants could produce gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels at competitive prices, depending on the price of crude oil and the type of feedstock used to create the synthetic fuel. About two-thirds of crude oil consumed by the United States is used for transportation fuel, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA said the United States imports about 45 percent of its annual crude oil consumption.
"Even including the capital costs, synthetic fuels can still be profitable," said Richard Baliban, a chemical and biological engineering graduate student who graduated in 2012 and was the lead author on several of the team's papers. "As long as crude oil is between $60 and $100 per barrel, these processes are competitive depending on the feedstock," he said.
The core of the plan is a technique that uses heat and chemistry to create gasoline and other liquid fuels from high-carbon feedstock ranging from coal to switchgrass, a native North American grass common to the Great Plains. The method, called the Fischer-Tropsch process, was developed in Germany in the 1920s as a way to convert coal to liquid fuels.
The chemistry is complicated, but it basically takes the carbon and hydrogen from the feedstock and reassembles them into the complex chains that make up fuels like gasoline and diesel. Essentially, the feedstock material is heated to 1,000 to 1,300 degrees Celsius and converted to gas, and using the Fischer-Tropsch process, the gas is converted to chains of hydrocarbon molecules. These hydrocarbon chains are then processed over catalysts such as nickel or iron. The end products include fuels, waxes and lubricants normally made from crude oil.
The Princeton team's method adds a step to recycle CO2 through the process to reduce the amount of the gas vented by the plants. Baliban said there is a limit to how much CO2 can be economically recycled, although plants could also trap unused CO2 emissions for later storage.
Over the years, engineers have refined the original Fischer-Tropsch method to increase efficiency. But the high cost of building new synthetic fuel plants, coupled with the low price of crude oil, has made synthetic fuels too expensive for widespread acceptance.
As the price of oil has increased, however, synthetic fuels have become more practical. The U.S. government has undertaken a number of projects to look into the process; in particular, the Defense Department has studied synthetic fuels as a way to supply transportation fuel without depending on overseas suppliers.
In its work, the Princeton team looked at a broader picture. In a July article in the AIChE Journal, the team found that the United States could meet its entire demand for transportation fuel by building 130 synthetic fuel plants across the country. The article, with Josephine Elia, a graduate student in chemical and biological engineering as the lead author, made its assessment using three feedstocks: coal, natural gas and biomass. To avoid switching farmland from food production to crops used for fuel production which would hurt the food supply the researchers only included non-edible crops such as perennial grasses, agricultural residue and forest residue.
The plants modeled in their scenario were placed in proximity to both feedstock supplies and markets for fuels. The analysis factored in external costs such as water supplies and electricity to power the plants' machinery.
Ultimately, the team recommended construction of nine small, 74 medium and 47 large plants producing 1 percent, 28 percent and 71 percent of the fuel, respectively. Most of the plants would be clustered in the central part of the country and in the Southeast. The state with the highest level of fuel production would be Kansas, which would have 11 large synthetic fuel plants. Texas would have the largest number of plants, but because of the scattered nature of feedstock in that state, most of those plants would be medium-sized.
The researchers found that the largest contributor to the price of synthetic fuel would be the cost of building the plants, followed by the purchase of biomass and then electricity. They estimated that the nationwide average cost of producing the synthetic equivalent of a barrel of crude oil would be $95.11, although the cost varies regionally. The cost in Kansas, where most production would occur, would average $83.58 for the equivalent of a barrel of crude oil.
The cost could be much lower if plants eliminated biomass and used only coal and natural gas to run the process, Floudas said, but that would eliminate most of the environmental benefit.
"If you want to have a 50 percent reduction in emissions, you need to have the biomass," he said.
In many ways, synthetic fuels are cleaner than petroleum fuels. The heavy metal and sulfur contaminants of petroleum fuels can be captured in the synthetic plants before the fuel is shipped out. Synthetic fuels also can be used in gasoline and diesel engines with no need for modifications, unlike many biofuels. The biofuel ethanol, for example, is commonly mixed with gasoline, but high levels of ethanol require modifications to car engines and pose special challenges for starting at low temperatures.
Floudas said that synthetic fuels also would allow carbon reduction with the fleet of cars currently on the road. Even if the country immediately converted to zero-emitting electric or fuel cell vehicles, millions of internal combustion vehicles would still be driving. By switching to synthetic fuels, he said, the country would have the opportunity to reduce those emissions, even if it they would not be completely eliminated.
"This is an opportunity to create a new economy," Floudas said. "The amount of petroleum the U.S. imports is very high. What is the price of that? What other resources to do we have? And what can we do about it?"
###
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TEHRAN ? His son is named after the river born where the Tigris and Euphrates meet. His wife once complained that he loved a rare species of yellow deer more than her.
His realm runs from sprawling salt deserts to the snowcapped peaks of the Zagros Mountains, from southern marshes along the Persian Gulf to damp northern forests known as the "cloud jungle."
Mohammad Darvish, 47, is Iran's green gladiator, engaged in a quixotic, often lonesome quest to elevate his homeland's environmental IQ. In a nation where security and economic concerns overshadow threats to a varied and fragile ecosystem, he even dares to oppose nuclear power, sacrosanct to Iran's leaders.
"It is budding, but it is far from being a movement," the indefatigable Darvish says of environmental consciousness in Iran. "But I am sure the environment will be a full-fledged movement one day, and Iran will have Green [political] parties that will send members to parliament."
Darvish, working from a state-run botanical reserve on the western outskirts of this traffic-clogged capital, is a subtle but persistent voice, direct but non-threatening in his message as he warns about desertification, deforestation, pollution, climate change and other perils to this mostly arid land.
Unlike the country's understandably edgy political activists, who face the constant threat of police harassment, Darvish has a carefree demeanor. Each Sunday, he spreads his message in a morning spot on state TV. He also writes a widely read environmental column in a moderate newspaper and a blog focusing on Iran's ecology.
As in the West, much of the public discussion about Iran among its citizens focuses on the sanctions-driven economic crisis and the cataclysmic prospect of war, both related to Tehran's nuclear development efforts.
The West and Israel allege that Iran harbors a hidden agenda to build an atomic bomb. Tehran contends that its research is for purely peaceful purposes: energy generation and the production of isotopes for cancer treatment.
Iran's ever-vigilant information overseers have tolerated Darvish's anti-nuclear advocacy, perhaps in part because the theme is a relatively discreet one in his work, far from a crusade. His opposition is based on ecological threats, he emphasizes, not strategic ones.
"I am not a nuclear scientist, but I believe producing nuclear energy to be used for electricity is too costly and prone to environmental hazards," Darvish says, sitting on a bench in a wooden cabin on the reserve's rambling grounds.
"In any natural disaster, or if Israel attacks us, then nuclear pollution is our most dangerous hazard.? Why should we increase our vulnerability by using nuclear plants for energy, while more environmentally friendly technology is available?"
Darvish avoids polemics. As a public worker ? he is one of several managers at the state reserve ? his preferred style is to address issues, not attack officials.
"Darvish, at the end of the day, is a state employee and civil servant," says Naser Karami, a climatologist and editor of an environmental news agency who agrees with many of Darvish's positions.
Karami says Iranians are "being told one lie after the other" about environmental threats in a country that doesn't get high marks for safeguarding its natural heritage.
Iran ranked 114th among 132 nations in 2012 on the so-called Environmental Performance Index, which tracks various indicators of environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. Switzerland ranked No. 1; Iraq finished last. (The United States, where the index was developed on a pair of Ivy League campuses, ranked 49th, just ahead of Argentina and behind Australia.)
The air was so polluted in Tehran this week that Iranian authorities announced Monday that schools and state-run offices would be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, essentially shutting down much of the capital.
Darvish, a native of Tehran who has a master's degree in environmental management from Tehran University, traces his passion to childhood trips to the zoo and summers spent at his grandfather's rural home. There he was exposed to livestock, wildlife and a sense of liberation.
"I strolled and daydreamed," he recalls of that youthful idyll.
Iranians are not impervious to environmental concerns. The Internet and a growing eco-tourism sector have helped raise awareness. Road construction and pipeline-laying in sensitive areas stir up public emotions, as do emissions-linked urban air pollution and oil contamination.
"There is much more awareness" compared with a decade ago, says Darvish. Still, he says, environmental activism remains largely confined to elite circles. It is well off the radar screens of most Iranians, who are focused on paying bills and feeding their families.
I would love to do more gaming on my Sony PlayStation Vita, but there just aren?t enough games I?m interested in. And I?d love to do more gaming on my iPhone or Android handsets, but I still long for physical controls despite years of having gotten used to touch. PhoneJoy?s new Play controller, which opened for pre-orders on Kickstarter today, is a blend of both those worlds and is extra impressive for being platform agnostic. It works with iOS, Android and even desktop PCs, and has a unique design that means it?ll fit your phone perfectly ? no matter what phone you have.
The Play is PhoneJoy?s latest, but the company is far from new to this: It has made controllers before ? especially controllers aimed at connecting via Bluetooth to computers and mobile devices ? designed to emulate a console experience. PhoneJoy is touting the Play as a way to turn your smartphone of choice into a portable console, and judging by past reviews, it?s the company that could actually realize this vision, which is one that others have tried before.
The secret sauce lies in a telescoping design that allows the Play to accept any size smartphone between two control pods featuring analog joysticks, a d-pad, buttons and shoulder paddles. Since it adjusts, so long as your device is 153mm long or shorter, and 14mm thick or thinner, it can be made to fit. You can even play in portrait mode while keeping the controls on the left and right side of the device, a handy feature for some puzzle games designed for vertical orientation.
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PhoneJoy?s controller connects via Bluetooth 3.0, has around 20 hours of battery life and features 14 buttons in total in addition to the two pressure-sensitive?analog joysticks. When folded down, it?s only 102mm wide and 87mm high and slides nicely into a front pocket for easy portability when not in use. It can also work without a phone when connected to a Windows, Mac or Linux computer, extended to a user?s preferred length.
On mobile devices, it?ll require that games support Bluetooth accessory controls, but that?s a growing group thanks to competing devices already on the market. Any game that works with iCade will work with PhoneJoy, for example, and the company puts the conservative total of supported titles at north of 300. The project is looking for $50,000 from backers, with pre-orders of?devices?starting at just $50 with an anticipated ship date of April 2013.
PhoneJoy already has a working prototype, which you can check out in the video below. As you can see, it seems to vastly?improve?the experience of playing GTAIII on an HTC One X, and the company says this is just a basic working product that should be much more refined once it hits mass production.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Free agent outfielder Shane Victorino and the Boston Red Sox are close to completing a three-year deal worth $39 million, a person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press on Tuesday
The person, speaking at the baseball winter meetings under condition of anonymity because the contract wasn't finalized, said paperwork for the contract was being completed.
Victorino hit a combined .255 with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs last season for Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also stole a career-high 39 bases. The Dodgers obtained Victorino in a late July trade with the Phillies.
Nicknamed The Flyin' Hawaiian, Victorino tweeted that he planned to spend the day in Maui on a snorkeling trip aboard the Alii Nui catamaran.
"Amazingly beautiful day," he tweeted.
A two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner, Victorino turned 32 Friday. He also had been pursued by the Cleveland Indians.
Victorino played mostly center field for the Phillies and shifted to left with the Dodgers. He likely would play right field for the Red Sox but could shift to center if Jacoby Ellsbury is traded or leaves as a free agent after next season.
Boston finished last in the AL East this season and is trying to boost its offense. On Monday, the Red Sox reached a $39 million, three-year contract with Mike Napoli, an All-Star catcher with Texas this year.
"We see him as a first baseman primarily, but with the ability to catch," new manager John Farrell said. "We would have him catch in spring training early on, but then certainly make sure that we've got enough reps at first base for not only him to feel comfortable there, but for us as well."
E-mail's importance to our personal lives is comparable to its importance in our professional lives. How should the two mix? Is using "xo" at the end of emails in workplace correspondence a uniquely female phenomenon? In a discussion Monday at HuffPost Live, Jessica Bennett, writer at Tumblr, told host Alicia Mendenez that "even government agencies are XOing!"
However, does signing emails with hugs and kisses undermine a woman's professionalism?
"To me it's a signal of being under the 30 range versus all of us over 40," Jocelyn Greenky, author of "A Girl's Guide To Office Politics" said. "That would never happen. I have never ever sent a message to a colleague or a boss, ever, with an XOXO underneath, and to me that just really identifies a lack of professionalism."
When people hear about exotic plants invading a new environment, there is usually a negative connotation. They often think of plants like kudzu, Chinese privet, or Japanese honeysuckle, whose thuggish behavior can push out the native plants in their backyard or local parks.
While this worse case scenario can happen, it isn't always the case, according to ecologists at Winthrop University and Brown University in an articlepublished in the journalEcology Letters.
"Basically, we found that exotics plants grow more and can essentially out-compete natives, which normally is a problem," said lead author Matthew Heard, a Winthrop biology faculty member. "But in these communities there are also insects, which prefer to eat exotic plants instead of natives and can keep their growth in check. As a result, native plants, which are less susceptible to these insects can thrive even when exotic plants that are better competitors are nearby."
Heard wrote his Ph.D. dissertation at Brown on how native and exotic plants coexist along the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. His former advisor, Brown University Assistant Professor Dov Sax, is the paper's co-author
In the paperpublished online Nov. 19, Heard and Sax note that there has been little experimental fieldwork conducted to determine what factors allows native and exotic plants to live side by side. While there have been many potential explanations tossed out, it turns out that just being different is the main reason that they can actually coexist.
"It turns out that in many places, native and exotic plants can actually live together," Heard said. "And this means that exotic plants aren't inherently bad like many people think, but it also means that it is important to figure out what is driving this balance between these two groups."
How long this precarious balance will remain is unknown, but for now it isn't just the case of exotic species being problematic. Instead it's the story of how differences between two groups of plants allow them to survive along side each other.
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Brown University: http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau
Thanks to Brown University for this article.
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After 50 years of guiding children through wildlife and ecology on his own, Ranger Rick is getting a helping hand in the form of a younger sibling.
National Wildlife Federation, via PR Newswire
Ranger Rick Jr. magazine features photos of wildlife.
National Wildlife Federation, via PR Newswire
Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures is a storybook app for the iPad.
The National Wildlife Federation, the publisher of the Ranger Rick magazine, which is intended for children ages 7 to 12, is starting a counterpart for younger readers. The new magazine, called Ranger Rick Jr., will feature Ricky Raccoon, who will serve as a mascot for children ages 4 to 7.
As interest in ecology has grown, the editors at the wildlife federation said now was a good time to engage beginning readers who are curious about animals.
?We are reaching out to them with content they want to know,? said Lori Collins, the editor of Ranger Rick Jr. ?It?s not like this is an easier version of the content. It?s totally different content.?
The magazine will feature age-appropriate facts and photography about wildlife around the world and include activities intended to inspire children to explore wildlife in their own neighborhoods.
Unlike Ranger Rick, who serves as an educator, Ricky is more eager and curious, Ms. Collins said. ?Ricky is just as amazed and awed by these animals as our readers are,? she said.
The first issue of Ranger Rick Jr. came out Nov. 15. As with its sister publication, it will be published 10 times a year and will be free of advertising. Newsstand price is $3.99, and annual subscriptions are $19.95.
Circulation for Ranger Rick is about 400,000, said Mary Dalheim, editorial director for children?s publications at the National Wildlife Federation, and she expects a similar circulation for Ranger Rick Jr.
Of course, children have grown smarter about technology, and Ranger Rick has kept pace. His publication, already available in digital form, has been repurposed as an iPad magazine app that takes children on an interactive tour of his virtual treehouse.
?We tested this magazine with kids, and they loved the idea of exploring these rooms,? Ms. Dalheim said. ?This delighted them to wonder what?s behind the doors and exploring new content.?
The magazine app will include stories, activities and videos curated by the magazine editors and produced by FableVision Studios. Starting with the first issue on Wednesday, it will be published five times a year for $4.99 each or $19.99 for an annual subscription.
Younger readers will get their own iPad app called Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures. To emphasize the difference, Ms. Collins said, Appventures will be a digital storybook that will focus on a single animal each time. The first one, which was released in November, visits lions in the grasslands of Africa. The app takes advantage of the iPad?s technology by using the internal gyroscope, for instance, to offer panoramic views of the African plains.
The app, which costs $4.99, was developed in partnership with Moonbot Studios, the studio behind the animated short ?The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,? which won an Academy Award this year.
The saga of Polymer Vision has been defined by optimistic plans braced by second chances when financial reality came crashing in, with no happily ever after or definite end in sight. Unfortunately, there may not be much more of a story to tell. CTO Edzer Huitema claims that Wistron has shut down Polymer Vision entirely: while it's keeping the intellectual property behind the rollable display company it acquired in 2009, it has reportedly dismissed all associated staff after unsuccessful attempts to find a buyer. We've asked Wistron for a more formal confirmation and an explanation, and we'll let you know if there's an update. However, it's possible that Polymer Vision's technology was simply past its prime. As +Plastic Electronics notes, Polymer Vision and the Readius came at a time before mobile tablets and giant smartphones, when it wasn't clear that we would tolerate big screens in our pockets; while flexible displays are still in development, some of Polymer Vision's biggest advantages have faded away.
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