Monthly Archives: March 2014

Book Preview: 'A Look at 'Pillar to the Sky' by William Forstchen

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Could NASA scientists build an elevator to space? Science fiction author William Forstchen explores that and many other cosmic questions in his newest novel, "Pillar to the Sky" (Tor Books, February 2014).

"Pillar to the Sky" is the first book released under the NASA-Inspired Works of Fiction program, an initiative to pair up scientists and authors to create exciting, and science-minded fiction. The book follows two scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center as they go on a mission to make their space elevator concept into a reality.

Forstchen wrote about space elevators for "Boy's Life" magazine in the 1980s and he is a professor of history at Montreat College in North Carolina. Forstchen has co-authored books with former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, and he also authored "One Second After," a science fiction novel about the dangers of an electromagnetic pulse-emitting weapon. Forstchen and his publisher Tor Books send Space.com this one-chapter preview of "Pillar to the Sky," which is now available in stores and online:

CHAPTER 1 Eighteen Years Earlier Goddard Space Flight Center

"Dr. Rothenberg?"

Erich Rothenberg, director of the division of advanced propulsion designs, and who oversaw interns assigned to the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, looked up over the top of his wire-framed glasses. There was no welcoming smile, just a cool gaze as Gary Morgan stood nervously in the doorway.

"So you are one of my new interns for the summer?" Erich asked. "I already told them there is no need for interns hereat least, those who want a solid future. May I suggest you just go back to the personnel office and ask for a different assignment."

Gary didn't move. He had been warned by "veterans" who had served as interns with Dr. Rothenberg that this was his typical greeting, the first winnowing-out process in which more than one graduate student had taken him at his word and fled.

He stood his ground.

"I volunteered for this division, sir. It is why I came to Goddard for the summer and asked to be assigned to you."

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Book Preview: 'A Look at 'Pillar to the Sky' by William Forstchen

NASA's Van Allen Probes reveal zebra stripes in space

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

19-Mar-2014

Contact: Susan Hendrix Susan.m.hendrix@nasa.gov 301-286-7745 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Scientists have discovered a new, persistent structure in one of two radiation belts surrounding Earth. NASA's twin Van Allen Probes spacecraft have shown that high-energy electrons in the inner radiation belt display a persistent pattern that resembles slanted zebra stripes. Surprisingly, this structure is produced by the slow rotation of Earth, previously considered incapable of affecting the motion of radiation belt particles, which have velocities approaching the speed of light.

Scientists had previously believed that increased solar wind activity was the primary force behind any structures in our planet's radiation belts. However, these zebra stripes were shown to be visible even during low solar wind activity, which prompted a new search for how they were generated. That quest led to the unexpected discovery that the stripes are caused by the rotation of Earth. The findings are reported in the March 20, 2014, issue of Nature.

"It is because of the unprecedented resolution of our energetic particle experiment, RBSPICE, that we now understand that the inner belt electrons are, in fact, always organized in zebra patterns," said Aleksandr Ukhorskiy, lead author of the paper at The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL, in Laurel, Md. "Furthermore, our modeling clearly identifies Earth's rotation as the mechanism creating these patterns. It is truly humbling, as a theoretician, to see how quickly new data can change our understanding of physical properties."

Because of the tilt in Earth's magnetic field axis, the planet's rotation generates an oscillating, weak electric field that permeates through the entire inner radiation belt. To understand how that field affects the electrons, Ukhorskiy suggested imagining that the electrons are like a viscous fluid. The global oscillations slowly stretch and fold the fluid, much like taffy is stretched and folded in a candy store machine. The stretching and folding process results in the striped pattern observed across the entire inner belt, extending from above Earth's atmosphere, about 500 miles above the planet's surface up to roughly 8,000 miles.

The radiation belts are dynamic doughnut-shaped regions around our planet, extending high above the atmosphere, made up of high-energy particles, both electrons and charged particles called ions, which are trapped by Earth's magnetic field. Radiation levels across the belts are affected by solar activity that causes energy and particles to flow into near-Earth space. During active times, radiation levels can dramatically increase, which can create hazardous space weather conditions that harm orbiting spacecraft and endanger humans in space. It is the goal of the Van Allen Probes mission to understand how and why radiation levels in the belts change with time.

"The RBSPICE instrument has remarkably fine resolution and so it was able to bring into focus a phenomena that we previously didn't even know existed," said David Sibeck, the mission scientist for the Van Allen Probes at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Better yet, we have a great team of scientists to take advantage of these unprecedented observations: We couldn't have interpreted this data without analysis from strong theoreticians."

NASA launched the Van Allen Probes in the summer of 2012. APL built and operates the probes for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. This is the second mission in NASA's Living With a Star program, which Goddard manages. The program explores aspects of the connected sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society.

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NASA's Van Allen Probes reveal zebra stripes in space

Heads of Four Qatar Charitable Societies Travel to Jordan NextFriday

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MENAFN - Qatar News Agency - 19/03/2014

(MENAFN - Qatar News Agency) Heads of the Qatar Red Crescent, Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF), the Organization of Islamic Call, and Qatar Charity will lead a delegation visiting Jordan from 21st to 24th of March. During the visit, the delegation will officially announce the extension of the Fund for the Treatment of Wounded Syrians in Jordanian Hospitals. The representatives of the four Qatari societies will discuss ways of strengthening coordination among parties to the Fund and following up the implementation of the project. They have also a scheduled visit on their agenda to check on the wounded at the Jordanian hospitals. The 4 day program begins with a tour at Zaatari refugee camp to inspect the conditions of its residents. The delegation will also pay a visit to the medical service contractors - Jordanian hospitals that provides surgical operations covered by the Fund for the Treatment of Wounded Syrians. Following the tour, the delegation will visit the office of QRC Mission in Jordan for a briefing on psychological support program designed for refugees. The visiting delegation is planning to hold a press conference during which more details on extending the timeframe of the Fund and its total budget will be revealed. The objectives of such step are to bolster efforts, mobilize support, and provide necessary health care to confront the increasing numbers of the wounded refugees fleeing Syria due to the escalating violence. The first phase of the fund began its services in November 1st, 2013, at a cost of QAR 4 mln treating 273 wounded Syrians up to date, 29% were in critical condition, 45% suffered mild cases, and 26% sustained eye injuries. The four charitable societies had delegated the responsibility of implementation to the Qatar Red Crescent based on its expertise in the provision of medical services that conform to the highest of international standards. QRC has entered into bilateral agreements with a number of hospitals and specialized medical centers in Jordan in order to treat the wounded Syrians, including the Islamic Hospital, Dar Al-Salaam Hospital, Shami Center for Eye Treatment and the Dhaleel Hospital for the treatment of kidney patients. It also signed a MoU with the UNHCR to provide medical treatment for Syrian refugees at Zaatari camp suffering from renal failure. The Fund was created in a bid to strengthen efforts in the medical field in light of the growing numbers of wounded Syrians and the insufficiency of the existing services which led to the death of large numbers of people. The poor medical services have had a major impact on the Syrian people, forcing many of the wounded to flee Syria in difficult, lengthy and dangerous ways, amid reports on the rise of refugee numbers escaping to Jordan due to the violence that has erupted nearly 2.5 years ago. A similar QRC project to treat the wounded began in Jordan in 2012 at a cost of 500,000 followed by a later collaboration with Qatar Charity with a budget of 1,700,000. This program had a significant impact on medical treatment and alleviating the suffering of the wounded Syrians who sustained life-threatening injuries in the spine, head and blood vessels

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Heads of Four Qatar Charitable Societies Travel to Jordan NextFriday

The Red Road Project: Trading Substances for Substance (in News)

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One youth-led initiative in Nova Scotia is getting Mikmak youth off drugs and booze, through culture.

Red Road participants: Back row: Charlie DeWilde, Cody Crowe, Storm Christmas, Aaron Prosper. Dakota Francis, Ssvvy Simon, Keigan Sack, EJ Sock, Sutherland Greer Julian, Samson Milliea. Front: Brittany Prosper, Alyssa Abram, Anoogwa Pictou, Natalia Ramirez, Cruzer Meuse, Graham Marshall. Caroline Sylvester, Haley Bernard, Kyle Isaac, Shanika MacEachern, Jody Paul (pink shirt), Darian Bernard, and Maureen Nicholas (very last). Photo courtesy of Red Road Project.

[Editor's note: This is part of a series of reports on successful youth-focused projects resulting from collaboration between Indigenous communities and philanthropic organizations. Leading Together is itself a collaboration of Journalists for Human Rights, Tyee Solutions Society, Wawatay Native Communications Society, and the J. W. McConnell Family Foundation which commissioned this journalism. In the coming weeks look for more Leading Together stories from across Canada running Tuesdays and Wednesdays in The Tyee.]

On a bright midsummer afternoon, Haley Bernard surveyed the Pictou Landing First Nation with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the rural Mi'kmaq community is like a close-knit family. On the other, it's plagued by drug and alcohol abuse.

The need: Helping Indigenous youth in Mi'kmaq communities turn away from drug and alcohol abuse.

The project: The Red Road Project introduces Indigenous youth to a healthy lifestyle through cultural activities, convened by local youth leaders.

What worked: Adapting cultural traditions to activities, such as organizing the cultural camp for youth leaders; working through youth leaders across social media; engaging outside youth-engagement initiatives such as LOT; bringing on charismatic youth leadership for the project in the second year.

Challenges: Building genuine band and community ownership of activities; getting youth to show up to activities in new initiatives.

Lessons learned: Work through credible community contacts; adapt cultural practices to context in authentic ways.

She wants to see change -- a generation of culturally strong, educated youth who are drug and alcohol free. Bernard hopes the Red Road Project will lead the way.

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The Red Road Project: Trading Substances for Substance (in News)

Red Raiders open homestand against North Texas

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Provided by Texas Tech Athletics

Texas Tech returns to the friendly confines of Rocky Johnson Field on Wednesday evening when the Red Raiders host North Texas in a 6 p.m. doubleheader. Tech enters this week coming off a seven-game road trip to the West Coast where the Red Raiders finished 4-3 overall to improve to 22-9 on the season. This will be the third-straight season where the Red Raiders and Mean Green (19-8) have met on the softball diamond as the two teams have split neutral site contests the past two years. This will be North Texas' first trip to Lubbock since the 2009 season.

ON THE HORIZON

The Red Raiders will have little time off before returning to Rocky Johnson Field Friday evening to start a three-game series against Texas State. Texas Tech will host the Bobcats at 7 p.m. Friday before 4 p.m. and 12 p.m. first pitches on Saturday and Sunday to close the series. The three-game series is the final non-conference action for the Red Raiders until opening Big 12 Conference play against No. 12 Baylor on March 28-30 at Rocky Johnson Field.

INSIDE THE NORTH TEXAS SERIES

Wednesday night's opener against the Mean Green will mark the eighth all-time meeting between Texas Tech and North Texas as the two teams will be meeting for the third consecutive season. North Texas owns a 4-3 advantage in the series with wins in four of the last five meetings, including a 5-3 victory on Feb. 22 last year in San Marcos. The Mean Green will be making their first visit to Lubbock since the 2009 season when North Texas handed the Red Raiders a 6-1 loss at Rocky Johnson Field. The last two meetings between the two schools have come at neutral sites as Tech claimed a 10-0 victory on Feb. 24, 2012, in an eight-inning contest at the Texas Shootout in Waco.

RED RAIDERS LOOK TO CONTINUE SUCCESS AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE FOES

Texas Tech has traditionally found success in home non-conference games under head coach Shanon Hays as the Red Raiders are 68-6 in such contests over his four-plus seasons. Hays boasts an impressive .919 winning percentage when facing non-conference opponents at Rocky Johnson Field. Tech heads into this week riding an eight-game home winning streak that is its longest since winning 19-straight early in the 2011 season.

EMANUEL NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Sydni Emanuel was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon after hitting .565 last weekend (13-for-23) at the Titans Classic and San Diego State Classic. She is just the second Red Raider freshman to ever garner a conference weekly award, joining Amanda Renfro, who was honored as the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week twice in 1998. Emanuel finished with two or more hits in four of six games last weekend, including a 4-for-4 performance in the Titans Classic finale against host Cal State Fullerton last Friday. The Missouri City, Texas native totaled a .583 on-base percentage and frustrated opponents on the base paths from there, stealing nine bases to bump her season total to a conference-leading 28 already this season. Emanuel stole at least one base in all six games, including two in three-consecutive games against UNLV, Fullerton and Long Beach State. She ended the weekend ranked as the Big 12 leader for hits, runs scored, stolen bases and triples. She is also second in the league with a .447 batting average and third with 62 total bases.

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Red Raiders open homestand against North Texas

Unidentified objects UFO near the Sun on NASA satellite images – March 16, 2014 – Video

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Unidentified objects UFO near the Sun on NASA satellite images - March 16, 2014
The sun had disappeared We see the stars, but did not see the sun! This is not a defect and the reorientation of the satellite! Sun - The Portal! I #39;m looking...

By: myunhauzen74

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Unidentified objects UFO near the Sun on NASA satellite images - March 16, 2014 - Video

NASA and Joint Center for Energy Storage Research Team up to Conduct Research for Batteries to be Used in Space

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NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio and the DOE Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) Argonne, Ill., are collaborating to develop next generation batteries for use in future space missions.

The coordinated effort announced today combines JCESRs deep knowledge of the basic science in energy storage research with NASA Glenns expertise engineering battery technologies with aerospace applications. JCESR and Glenn intend to perform the required research so that NASA can identify promising technologies to develop, test and build prototypes for use in NASA missions for planetary exploration.

Todays lithium-ion batteries, which hold more than twice the energy of those released in 1991, power our cellular phones, laptops and electric vehicles. But even when brought to their energy storage potential, lithium-ion batteries will not meet NASAs needs. Capitalizing on JCESRs research,Glenn will focus on developing next generation batteries with energy capacities beyond those of lithium-ion batteries to meet the aggressive goals of the space program.

As part of the collaboration, Glenn will serve as a potential "first adopter" of developed high potential battery technologies suitable for aerospace applications. Some of the application areas NASA has identified for use of next generation batteries are Extravehicular Activity suits, exploratory rovers and green aviation.

NASA Glenn scientists, researchers, and engineers have a decades long heritage of making major breakthroughs in energy storage in support of our countrys exploration of space and international leadership in commercial and military aviation," said Robert J. Shaw, Director of Venture Development and Partnerships at Glenn. "Our efforts include fundamental research, technology development, hardware system integration and performance testing."

"We deeply appreciate the efforts of our DOE colleagues at Argonne," added Shaw. "Were excited and committed to this collaboration opportunity."

"The beyond lithium-ion space is rich with opportunity and mostly unexplored," said George Crabtree, Director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research. "In this collaboration, JCESR will share fundamental research results with NASA, enabling them to develop technologies that benefit the space program and, ultimately, society as a whole through commercialization opportunities with a wide range of applications."

NASA Glenn, in partnership with U.S. industry, universities, and other Government institutions, develops critical systems technologies and capabilities that address national priorities. Our world-class research, technology and capability development efforts are keys to advancing space exploration of our solar system and beyond, while maintaining global leadership in aeronautics. Our work is focused on technological advancements in space flight systems development, aeropropulsion, space propulsion, power systems, nuclear systems, communications and human-related systems.

The Joint Center for Energy Storage Research is amajor partnershipthat integrates researchers from many disciplines to overcome critical scientific and technical barriers and create new breakthrough energy storage technology. Led by theU.S. Department of Energys Argonne National Laboratory, partners include national leaders in science and engineering from academia, the private sector, and national laboratories. Their combined expertise spans the full range of the technology-development pipeline from basic research to prototype development to product engineering to market delivery. Funding for JCESR is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.

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NASA and Joint Center for Energy Storage Research Team up to Conduct Research for Batteries to be Used in Space

NASA releases first interactive mosaic of lunar North Pole

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Scientists, using cameras aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), have created the largest high resolution mosaic of our moons north polar region. The six-and-a-half feet (two-meters)-per-pixel images cover an area equal to more than one-quarter of the United States.

Web viewers can zoom in and out, and pan around an area. Constructed from 10,581 pictures, the mosaic provides enough detail to see textures and subtle shading of the lunar terrain. Consistent lighting throughout the images makes it easy to compare different regions.

"This unique image is a tremendous resource for scientists and the public alike," said John Keller, LRO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "It's the latest example of the exciting insights and data products LRO has been providing for nearly five years."

The images making up the mosaic were taken by the two LRO Narrow Angle Cameras, which are part of the instrument suite known as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC). The cameras can record a tremendous dynamic range of lit and shadowed areas.

"Creation of this giant mosaic took four years and a huge team effort across the LRO project," said Mark Robinson, principal investigator for the LROC at Arizona State University in Tempe. "We now have a nearly uniform map to unravel key science questions and find the best landing spots for future exploration."

The entire image measures 931,070 pixels square nearly 867 billion pixels total. A complete printout at 300 dots per inch considered crisp resolution for printed publications would require a square sheet of paper wider than a professional U.S. football field and almost as long. If the complete mosaic were processed as a single file, it would require approximately 3.3 terabytes of storage space. Instead, the processed mosaic was divided into millions of small, compressed files, making it manageable for users to view and navigate around the image using a web browser.

LRO entered lunar orbit in June 2009 equipped with seven instrument suites to map the surface, probe the radiation environment, investigate water and key mineral resources, and gather geological clues about the moon's evolution.

Researchers used additional information about the moon's topography from LRO's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, as well as gravity information from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, to assemble the mosaic. Launched in September 2011, the GRAIL mission, employing twin spacecraft named Ebb and Flow, generated a gravity field map of the moon -- the highest resolution gravity field map of any celestial body. LRO is managed by Goddard for the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. LROC was designed and built by Malin Space Science Systems and is operated by the University of Arizona. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., managed the GRAIL mission for SMD.

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NASA releases first interactive mosaic of lunar North Pole

NASA Extends Lockheed Martin Contract to Support International Space Station

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a one-year contract extension on the Cargo Mission Contract 2 valued at$22 million.

The extension ensures continuation of processing services, including support planning, coordination, preparation and packing of standardized containers for cargo delivery to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Through this extension, Lockheed Martin will also manage Flight Crew Equipment support, which includes buying, maintaining and preparing items for the ISS crew such as clothing, housekeeping and personal hygiene items, laptop computers and audio and visual equipment.

The extension beginsApril 1and is the first of four options in the original Cargo Mission Contract awarded inDecember 2010.

"Lockheed Martin has a history of outstanding performance on the Cargo Mission Contract, providing the International Space Station program with affordable, responsive and flexible solutions," saidRick Hieb, vice president of exploration and mission support for Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions. "We look forward to continuing our support to NASA and the International Space Station with innovative and efficient processing to meet their future cargo provisioning needs."

Through this program, Lockheed Martin manages, stores and maintains more than 3 million items for the ISS crew. Additionally, the team annually exports and ships about 25,000 pounds of cargo to launch locations around the world, includingRussia,Kazakhstan,Japan,French Guianaandthe United States.

As the ISS program continues to evolve, Lockheed Martin has been flexible in responding to and supporting a variety of changes in manifests. The team has quickly worked late requests to keep the ISS supplied with critical items to sustain the crew and continue important scientific research.

Lockheed Martin also supports NASA's Johnson Space Center inHoustonby providing systems engineering and analysis, control center design, development and operations, life sciences services, human in-the-loop simulations, and a broad range of engineering, science and technical services activities.

Headquartered inBethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 115,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2013 were$45.4 billion.

For additional information, visit our website:http://www.lockheedmartin.com

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NASA Extends Lockheed Martin Contract to Support International Space Station

Photonics And The Future Of Medicine

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By Clinton Shaffer

Photonics West serves as the perennial indicator of market trends for the photonics and optics industries. At this years event, held last month in San Francisco, one of the pervasive themes I observed at both the technical conference and the exhibition was the increasing role photonics and optics are playing in the development of advanced biomedical technologies. That trend is poised to continue well into the future.

I touched on this topic in my article Executive Perspectives On The World Of Optics And Photonics, which recapped a special panel session held during Photonics West 2014. The majority of the C-level panelists representing some of the most prominent technology providers in the industry agreed that the medical and life science markets were key to their companies success in 2013 and would continue to be a major area of emphasis moving into 2014.

The strong connection between optics and photonics and the biomedical sector was a theme repeated at many of the booths I visited on the Photonics West exhibit floor. What follows is a sampling of noteworthy new components and systems from the show that are representative of the cutting-edge solutions available to OEMs in the medical and life science industries.

Part of the appeal of photonics technology in the biomedical industry is its ability to miniaturize designs, and Coherents BioRay lasers only 95 mm long and weighing in at less than 70 g are perfectly aligned with that concept. While they were designed for integration into small, point-of-care medical devices, they can also be used as a cost-effective alternative for instrumentation in life science research and diagnostic applications. The lasers low heat output (up to 50 mW) and focusing optics also contribute to easy integration. They are currently available at five visible wavelengths: 405 nm, 450 nm, 488 nm, 520 nm, and 640 nm.

Another interesting Coherent product tailored to biomedical applications was the Fidelity femtosecond fiber laser. Its short pulsewidths (sub-70 fs at 1055 nm) and high-power capacity make the Fidelity ideal for applications in optogenetics, a booming field of research in the biomedical industry. Used in conjunction with a tunable femtosecond laser, the long wavelengths from the Fidelity can be used to activate specific groups of neurons, while the tunable laser interrogates others.

An additional application for Fidelity is second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging for preclinical purposes. The lasers wavelength is long enough for deep tissue penetration, but not so deep that the backscattered SHG is too weak.

The 6-watt LS-6 light source from Excelitasis another compact photonic product designed specifically for healthcare and life science applications. It generates light over a continuous spectrum, providing micro-second duration pulses ranging from UV to IR. Its broad range and high efficiency make it useful for applications like drug discovery, in-vitro diagnostics, proteomics, and absorption analysis, among others.

The LS-6 boasts an enhanced enclosure design, in which the flash lamp, power supply, and trigger circuit all reside within an electromagnetic interference (EMI) suppressant enclosure. In addition, the light source uses Xenon flash lamps, which are associated with high stability (<1 percent CV) and long lifetimes.

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Nanotube composites promise solar cell efficiency boost

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March 19, 2014 // Paul Buckley

Researchers at Ume University in Sweden have discovered that controlled placement of the carbon nanotubes, CNTs, into nano-structures gives them the ability to transport charges up to 100 million times higher than previously measured.

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CNTs are one dimensional nanoscale cylinders made of carbon atoms that have high tensile strength and exceptional electron mobility.

There is an increasing trend of using carbon based nanostructured materials as components in solar cells. Due to their properties, carbon nanotubes are expected to enhance the performance of current solar cells through efficient charge transport inside the device. To achieve the highest performance for electronic applications, the carbon nanotubes need to be assembled into a well-ordered network of interconnecting nanotubes. So far conventional methods used today are far from optimal which results in low device performance.

In the new study, a team of physicists and chemists at Ume University joined forces to produce nano-engineered carbon nanotubes networks with novel properties by engineering CNTs into complex network architectures for the first time. The new strutures feature controlled nano-scale dimensions inside a polymer matrix.

We have found that the resulting nano networks possess exceptional ability to transport charges, up to 100 million times higher than previously measured carbon nanotube random networks produced by conventional methods, explained Dr David Barbero, leader of the project and assistant professor at the Department of Physics at Ume University.

The high degree of control of the method enables production of highly efficient nanotube networks with a small amount of nanotubes compared to other conventional methods, thereby strongly reducing materials costs.

In a previous study (Applied Physics Letters, Volume 103, Issue 2, 021116 (2013)) the research team of David R. Barbero already demonstrated that nano-engineered networks can be produced onto thin and flexible transparent electrodes that can be used in flexible solar cells. The new results are expected to accelerate the development of next generation of flexible carbon based solar cells, which are both more efficient and less expensive to produce.

Power Supplies/Batteries

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Nanotube composites promise solar cell efficiency boost

Concerns about cancer centers under health law

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Some of America's best cancer hospitals are off-limits to many of the people now signing up for coverage under the nation's new health care program.

Doctors and administrators say they're concerned. So are some state insurance regulators.

An Associated Press survey found examples coast to coast. Seattle Cancer Care Alliance is excluded by five out of eight insurers in Washington's insurance exchange. MD Anderson Cancer Center says it's in less than half of the plans in the Houston area. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is included by two of nine insurers in New York City and has out-of-network agreements with two more.

In all, only four of 19 nationally recognized comprehensive cancer centers that responded to AP's survey said patients have access through all the insurance companies in their states' exchanges.

Not too long ago insurance companies would have been vying to offer access to renowned cancer centers, said Dan Mendelson, CEO of the market research firm Avalere Health. Now the focus is on costs.

"This is a marked deterioration of access to the premier cancer centers for people who are signing up for these plans," Mendelson said.

Those patients may not be able get the most advanced treatment, including clinical trials of new medications.

And there's another problem: it's not easy for consumers shopping online in the new insurance markets to tell if top-level institutions are included in a plan. That takes additional digging by the people applying.

"The challenges of this are going to become evident ... as cancer cases start to arrive," said Norman Hubbard, executive vice president of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

Before President Barack Obama's health care law, a cancer diagnosis could make you uninsurable. Now, insurers can't turn away people with health problems or charge them more. Lifetime dollar limits on policies, once a financial trap-door for cancer patients, are also banned.

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Concerns about cancer centers under health law

Indiana man agrees to plea deal in bomb case

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Crime & Safety Headlines More Crime&Safety Crime Stoppers More Crimestoppers Crime Databases More Databases Continuing stories More Ongoing Stories Local Stories from ThisWeek By Kathy Lynn Gray The Columbus Dispatch Wednesday March 19, 2014 4:15 PM

An Indiana man stopped on Jan. 1 in Madison County with nine bombs in his van has agreed to plead guilty to possessing unregistered destructive devices.

Andrew Scott Boguslawski has signed a plea agreement and is scheduled for a hearing on April 1 in U.S. District Court in Columbus, according to court records filed today.

The charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence and a fine of $250,000.

Boguslawski, 44, of Moores Hill, Ind., is an Indiana National Guard member and was stopped on I-70 west of Columbus as he drove from Pennsylvania to Indiana. He was arrested by State Highway Patrol troopers for speeding.

Troopers searched his van after noticing a firearm between his legs. They found nine completed bombs and four nearly complete bombs, as well as an assault rifle, three pistols, another rifle, ammunition and two improvised silencers, according to his plea agreement.

The bombs were heavy plastic bottles filled with explosive powder with a length of fuse inserted in the lid, court records said. Under federal law, destructive devices must be registered.

Boguslawski originally was charged in state court, but his case was transferred to federal court this month.

@reporterkathy

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Indiana man agrees to plea deal in bomb case