WASHINGTON ? On the eve of the crucial New Hampshire primary, President Barack Obama told supporters Monday that the Republicans vying for his job out on the campaign trail are no different from the ones opposing his policies on Capitol Hill.
Speaking at an evening fundraiser at a Washington hotel, Obama several times dismissed "the Republicans in Congress and the candidates who are running for president," saying both groups were trying to eliminate needed environmental protections, roll back the minimum wage, dismantle Medicare and gut spending on education, research and infrastructure.
"Republicans in Congress and these candidates, they think that the best way for America to compete for new jobs and businesses is to follow other countries in a race to the bottom," Obama said. "We can't go back to this brand of you're-on-your-own economics."
The president didn't mention any of the Republicans by name, and made only a couple of passing references to New Hampshire. But it was his most explicit effort yet to link the GOP presidential field with the unpopular Republicans in Congress ? a strategy the White House has been signaling it would employ.
Obama also sought to recapture some of the energy of his 2008 campaign, telling about 700 supporters at the Capitol Hilton that their work was far from finished in 2012.
"The very core of what this country stands for is on the line," he said, adding, in another swipe at the GOP field: "Don't take my word for it. Watch some of these debates that have been going on up in New Hampshire."
Obama didn't talk about Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, but did tell supporters at one point that a sense of common purpose still exists in the country ? even if "maybe it doesn't exist here in Washington and maybe not on the presidential debate stage of New Hampshire, but out in America, it's there."
Supporters paid $100 per ticket to see Obama speak at the reception as the president got back on the fundraising trail for the first time in 2012, something he'll be doing with increasing frequency through the November election.
At an earlier event Monday at the swanky Jefferson Hotel, Obama joined around 25 guests for a closed-press round table discussion with tickets $45,000 each and proceeds split between his campaign and the Swing State Victory Fund, which supports Democrats in battleground states.
SRNL research paves way for portable power systemsPublic release date: 9-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Angeline French angeline.french@srnl.doe.gov 803-725-2854 DOE/Savannah River National Laboratory
Developments by hydrogen researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) are paving the way for the successful development of portable power systems with capacities that far exceed the best batteries available today. SRNL's advances in the use of alane, a lightweight material for storing hydrogen, may be the key that unlocks the development of portable fuel cell systems that meet the needs for both military and commercial portable power applications.
SRNL has demonstrated a practical path to portable power systems based on alane and similar high capacity hydrogen storage materials that provide the sought-after high specific energy, which means the amount of energy per weight. Their accomplishments to date include developing a lower-cost method of producing alane, developing a method to dramatically increase the amount of hydrogen it releases, and demonstrating a working system powering a 150 W fuel cell. Portable power equipment manufacturers are looking for systems that can provide specific energies greater than 1000 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg); that's more than 2 to 3 times the capacity of the best primary lithium batteries today. "Higher specific energy means more energy per weight," said SRNL's Dr. Ted Motyka. "The goal is to provide sufficient energy to a system that is light enough to be carried by a soldier or used in unmanned aircraft and other applications where weight is a factor."
Hydrogen, at 33,000 Wh/kg, has the highest specific energy of any fuel, so it is a natural candidate to fuel such high-capacity systems. The challenge, however, has been developing a material for storing hydrogen with both the high capacity and the low weight needed for portable systems.
SRNL has been working for years on developing several light-weight, high capacity solid-state hydrogen storage materials for automotive applications. While most of these materials do not meet all the various requirements needed for automotive applications, many may be viable for small portable power systems.
One of the most promising materials is aluminum hydride, (AlH3) or alane. Alane, while not a new material, has only in the last few years been considered as a hydrogen storage material for fuel cell applications. SRNL researchers are among only a handful of researchers, worldwide, currently working with alane and beginning to unwrap its material and engineering properties.
Dr. Motyka, Dr. Ragaiy Zidan and Dr. Kit Heung, all of SRNL, led a team to characterize and optimize alane as a hydrogen storage material, develop a small hydrogen storage vessel containing alane, and demonstrate hydrogen release at delivery rates suitable for powering small commercial fuel cells. The results of that work are attracting interest from several commercial companies working in the area of portable power systems.
Alane is one of the classes of materials known as chemical hydrogen storage materials. Like metal hydrides, chemical hydrogen storage materials provide a solid-state storage medium for hydrogen. Unlike metal hydrides, however, chemical hydrogen storage materials, like alane, do not readily reabsorb hydrogen, so once their hydrogen is released the material must be chemically reprocessed to restore its hydrogen. An advantage of alane is its very high hydrogen capacities; it can store twice as much hydrogen, in the same volume, as liquid hydrogen, and can do so at the very high gravimetric capacity of 10 wt%. Alane also exhibits very favorable discharge conditions, making it one of the ideal chemical hydrogen storage materials.
Among the biggest challenges the team addressed were the limited amount of readily available commercial alane, and its high cost to produce which could be significant impediments to widespread use. As part of this project, they initially developed a bench-scale system to produce the quantities of alane needed for experimental and optimization studies. This work led to the development of a new and potentially lower cost process for producing alane. "Our process overcomes some of the handicaps of traditional methods for producing alane," says Dr. Zidan. "This novel method minimizes the use of solvents, and is able to produce pure, halide-free alane."
Work led by Dr. Zidan also resulted in a process to increase the amount of hydrogen that can be extracted from alane. This two-step process was found to double the amount of hydrogen that can be liberated from alane using a traditional one-step process.
A major part of this project was to evaluate alane systems for compatibility with small fuel cell applications. Preliminary results on a proof-of-concept vessel containing approximately 22 grams of alane showed that the system could scale nicely to meet the required hydrogen release rate for a small 100-watt fuel cell system. Based on those results a larger system containing 240 grams of alane was designed, fabricated and tested with a 150 watt commercial fuel cell. The results show that the system was able to operate the fuel cell at near full power for over three hours and at reduced power for several more hours.
###
Work to date was funded under SRNL's Laboratory Directed Research & Development program, which supports highly innovative and exploratory research aligned with the Laboratory's priorities. The success achieved so far has attracted additional funding from the DOE's Fuel Cell Technologies Program in the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, along with interest from commercial firms.
SRNL is DOE's applied research and development national laboratory at SRS. SRNL puts science to work to support DOE and the nation in the areas of environmental stewardship, national security, and clean energy. The management and operating contractor for SRS and SRNL is Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
SRNL research paves way for portable power systemsPublic release date: 9-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Angeline French angeline.french@srnl.doe.gov 803-725-2854 DOE/Savannah River National Laboratory
Developments by hydrogen researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) are paving the way for the successful development of portable power systems with capacities that far exceed the best batteries available today. SRNL's advances in the use of alane, a lightweight material for storing hydrogen, may be the key that unlocks the development of portable fuel cell systems that meet the needs for both military and commercial portable power applications.
SRNL has demonstrated a practical path to portable power systems based on alane and similar high capacity hydrogen storage materials that provide the sought-after high specific energy, which means the amount of energy per weight. Their accomplishments to date include developing a lower-cost method of producing alane, developing a method to dramatically increase the amount of hydrogen it releases, and demonstrating a working system powering a 150 W fuel cell. Portable power equipment manufacturers are looking for systems that can provide specific energies greater than 1000 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg); that's more than 2 to 3 times the capacity of the best primary lithium batteries today. "Higher specific energy means more energy per weight," said SRNL's Dr. Ted Motyka. "The goal is to provide sufficient energy to a system that is light enough to be carried by a soldier or used in unmanned aircraft and other applications where weight is a factor."
Hydrogen, at 33,000 Wh/kg, has the highest specific energy of any fuel, so it is a natural candidate to fuel such high-capacity systems. The challenge, however, has been developing a material for storing hydrogen with both the high capacity and the low weight needed for portable systems.
SRNL has been working for years on developing several light-weight, high capacity solid-state hydrogen storage materials for automotive applications. While most of these materials do not meet all the various requirements needed for automotive applications, many may be viable for small portable power systems.
One of the most promising materials is aluminum hydride, (AlH3) or alane. Alane, while not a new material, has only in the last few years been considered as a hydrogen storage material for fuel cell applications. SRNL researchers are among only a handful of researchers, worldwide, currently working with alane and beginning to unwrap its material and engineering properties.
Dr. Motyka, Dr. Ragaiy Zidan and Dr. Kit Heung, all of SRNL, led a team to characterize and optimize alane as a hydrogen storage material, develop a small hydrogen storage vessel containing alane, and demonstrate hydrogen release at delivery rates suitable for powering small commercial fuel cells. The results of that work are attracting interest from several commercial companies working in the area of portable power systems.
Alane is one of the classes of materials known as chemical hydrogen storage materials. Like metal hydrides, chemical hydrogen storage materials provide a solid-state storage medium for hydrogen. Unlike metal hydrides, however, chemical hydrogen storage materials, like alane, do not readily reabsorb hydrogen, so once their hydrogen is released the material must be chemically reprocessed to restore its hydrogen. An advantage of alane is its very high hydrogen capacities; it can store twice as much hydrogen, in the same volume, as liquid hydrogen, and can do so at the very high gravimetric capacity of 10 wt%. Alane also exhibits very favorable discharge conditions, making it one of the ideal chemical hydrogen storage materials.
Among the biggest challenges the team addressed were the limited amount of readily available commercial alane, and its high cost to produce which could be significant impediments to widespread use. As part of this project, they initially developed a bench-scale system to produce the quantities of alane needed for experimental and optimization studies. This work led to the development of a new and potentially lower cost process for producing alane. "Our process overcomes some of the handicaps of traditional methods for producing alane," says Dr. Zidan. "This novel method minimizes the use of solvents, and is able to produce pure, halide-free alane."
Work led by Dr. Zidan also resulted in a process to increase the amount of hydrogen that can be extracted from alane. This two-step process was found to double the amount of hydrogen that can be liberated from alane using a traditional one-step process.
A major part of this project was to evaluate alane systems for compatibility with small fuel cell applications. Preliminary results on a proof-of-concept vessel containing approximately 22 grams of alane showed that the system could scale nicely to meet the required hydrogen release rate for a small 100-watt fuel cell system. Based on those results a larger system containing 240 grams of alane was designed, fabricated and tested with a 150 watt commercial fuel cell. The results show that the system was able to operate the fuel cell at near full power for over three hours and at reduced power for several more hours.
###
Work to date was funded under SRNL's Laboratory Directed Research & Development program, which supports highly innovative and exploratory research aligned with the Laboratory's priorities. The success achieved so far has attracted additional funding from the DOE's Fuel Cell Technologies Program in the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, along with interest from commercial firms.
SRNL is DOE's applied research and development national laboratory at SRS. SRNL puts science to work to support DOE and the nation in the areas of environmental stewardship, national security, and clean energy. The management and operating contractor for SRS and SRNL is Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Couldn't get enough of our Nokia liveblog? Well, thanks to YouTube, now you can pretend to be there, and imagine the heady atmosphere hundreds of increasingly fatigued tech journalists see how Nokia's plans on breaking America. Marvel as the phone we saw heavilyleaked arrives as expected, jump as Ballmer booms out of the mic system and sigh as nothing much else is revealed. The video's embedded after the break.
This is on top of yesterday?s twin attacks that killed 26 Christians.
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) ? Members of a radical Muslim sect attacked a church in northeast Nigeria during a worship service, part of a series of assaults that killed at least 13 people, authorities said Saturday.
The church shooting came as Boko Haram members attacked a beauty salon and fought government forces Friday night as part of its continuing sectarian battle against Nigeria?s weak central government. In the last few days alone, the group has killed at least 44 people, despite the oil-rich nation?s president declaring a state of emergency in regions hit by the sect.
In Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, gunmen covered their faces with black cloth when they attacked Apostolic Church, local police commissioner Ade Shinaba said. Shinaba said at least eight worshippers died in that attack.
At a nearby beauty salon, at least three others were killed in a similar attack.
?Three gunmen with their faces covered with black cloth burst into my salon and started shooting at customers, chanting, ?God is great, God is great,?? said Stephen Tizhe, 35.
Posted by ZIP on Saturday, January 7, 2012, at 11:00 am |
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Sick and tired of spying on the neighbors the old-fashioned way? Good news, all. Interactive Toy Designs showed off two new products in its not-so-subtly named Wi-Spi line of remote control vehicles. Really driving the notion home is the Intruder, the name given to the little red sports car. The helicopter, on the other hand, is called just that, though we're sure you can intrude upon people with the thing, if you really put your mind to it. Both vehicles have built-in cameras that beam live feeds to your iPhone or Android devices. You can also record the video and upload it instantly to social networking sites, to really get that spying 2.0 feel. The Intruder and Helicopter are both arriving in the fall, for $100 and $120, respectively.
Back in November, we took the pricey LaCie Big Disk Thunderbolt SSD for a spin. The outfit has just outed two more Thunderbolt storage solutions at CES: the 2big and eSATA hub Thunderbolt series. Boasting blazing transfer rates of up to 311 MB/sec, the Lacie 2big is housed in its signature solid-aluminum casing while featuring RAID security, hot-swappable disks, daisy chain compatibility and storage capacities of up to 8TB. Looking to make use of those eSATA drives you've got lying around? The eSATA Thunderbolt series connects the latest Mac to an external enclosure outfitted for two of the aforementioned drives. If two storage units won't suit your workload, the hub also packs a secondary Thunderbolt port that allows up to 12 eSATA drives (six docks) to be connected to your machine -- all while sporting 3 Gb/sec speeds. You'll have to wait until later in Q1 2012 to get your mitts on either of these, though, which gives you a bit of time to get your piggy bank in order.
Saiba qual ? o certo e o errado dos looks de Ashley Greene e copie o estilo da atriz!
Primeiro look: ERRADO! O vestido regata pink, que ? mais justo no quadril, n?o valorizou o corpo perfeito de Ashley Greene e, provavelmente, far? o mesmo com voc?, brasileira cheia de curvas. O modelo com decote profundo (nada indicado para quem tem pouco busto, pior ainda se usado sem suti?) tem pegada vulgar e foi arrematado com bordados de mi?angas super out. Sem falar da bolsa-carteira brilhante e da rasteira spicy ex?tica. Nada a ver com um look descolado!
Segundo look: CERTO! O ar rom?ntico do vestido em um corseletado de estampa floral deixou Ash super in. O modelo sessentinha ? vers?til e pode ir a festas, shoppings e baladas- se voc? ama ser fashionista o tempo todo. A bolsa retr? roxa brilhante com fecho redondo deixou a escolha ainda mais vintage, que ficou completa com pulseira simples de pedras nude e sand?lia vermelha animal print de arrasar!
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Public release date: 9-Jan-2012
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