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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Smoke Up: An Interview With The Creator Of The Ultracool Pax Vaporizer

If you enjoy smoking fine botanical products, including, but not limited to, tobacco, you owe it to yourself to check out the Pax by Ploom, a compact vaporizer with a spacious oven and a few features that make the experience of lighting up quite a treat. The guys at Ploom have been working on vaporizers for a while, introducing the Ploom ModelOne in 2010. This small e-cigarette used small pods to release fragrant smoke. The Pax, however, uses electricity versus butane and can burn almost anything.

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Monday, June 18, 2012

Vatican blames media for latest scandal - again

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Why Mashable Is in Rio to Build the Future We Want

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

China puts its first woman astronaut into orbit

By Maxim Duncan

JIUQUAN, China | Sun Jun 17, 2012 7:22am EDT

JIUQUAN, China (Reuters) - China put its first woman into orbit on Saturday, one of three astronauts to attempt a critical space docking in the latest challenge for the country's ambitious space programme.

A Long March rocket blasted off in the early evening from the remote Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the northwestern Gobi Desert, carrying with it the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft and the three astronauts, including 33-year-old female fighter pilot Liu Yang.

This is China's fourth manned space mission since 2003 when astronaut Yang Liwei became the country's first person in orbit, and comes as the United States has curtailed manned launches over budget concerns and changing priorities.

The launch was carried live on state television, and until moments before blast-off, a camera showed the three astronauts in the cabin occasionally waving. A red placard with the Chinese symbol for good fortune hung behind them.

Within days, the astronauts will try to dock with the orbiting Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 1 module launched last September, part of a 13-day mission crucial to China's ambition to put a space station in orbit around 2020.

"I believe that we can achieve this goal, because we already have the basic technological capability," Zhou Jianping, the chief designer of China's manned space engineering project, told reporters before the launch.

A successful manned docking mission for China would be the latest show of the country's growing capabilities in space, to match its expanding military and diplomatic clout.

Still, Beijing is playing catch up with the United States and Russia, which, along with other countries, jointly operate the International Space Station some 240 miles above Earth.

Rendezvous and docking techniques such as those which China is only testing now were mastered by the United States and the former Soviet Union decades ago, and the 10.5 meter-long Tiangong 1 is a trial module, not a full-fledged space station.

Linking with the unmanned module will be an important hurdle in China's efforts to acquire the technological and logistical skills needed to run a full space lab that can house astronauts for long stretches.

Fears of a space arms race with the United States and other powers mounted after China blew up one of its own weather satellites with a ground-based missile in January 2007, though China has insisted its programme is peaceful.

"China's manned space programme has never been for military purposes. It is mainly to research how mankind can go into space, use space peacefully," He Yu, the general commander of China's manned spacecraft project, said before the launch.

The United States will not test a new rocket to take people into space until 2017, and Russia has said manned missions are no longer a priority.

But NASA has begun investing in U.S. firms to provide commercial spaceflight services and is spending about $3 billion a year on a new rocket and capsule to send astronauts to the moon, asteroids and eventually to Mars.

Chinese scientists have talked of the possibility of sending a man to the moon after 2020, the final step in a three-stage moon plan, which includes the deployment of a moon rover in 2013 and the retrieval of lunar soil and stone samples around 2017.

China's space programme has come a long way since late leader Mao Zedong, founder of Communist China in 1949, lamented that the country could not even launch a potato into space.

(Writing by Michael Martina in Beijing; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Suu Kyi to make bittersweet return to Oxford

LONDON (AP) ? Before Aung San Suu Kyi was a prisoner of conscience and a political icon, she inhabited a world of children's birthday parties, university libraries and bicycle-filled English suburbs.

The leader of Myanmar's democracy movement spent years in the university city of Oxford with her English academic husband and their two sons. She left one day in 1988 to care for her sick mother, thinking she would be gone for weeks. Almost a quarter of a century later, she is about to return for the first time.

On Monday, Suu Kyi begins a weeklong trip to Britain as part of a European tour. Her itinerary includes talks with Prime Minister David Cameron, an address to Parliament and a meeting with Prince Charles.

But the most bittersweet moment will likely be her homecoming to Oxford, where on Wednesday the 66-year-old will finally accept the honorary doctorate she was awarded in 1993, while she was under house arrest in Yangon.

Oxford looks much the same as when she left, a traffic-clogged jumble of spires and bridges and Gothic college buildings. But her children are grown and her beloved husband, Michael Aris, is dead.

"I'm sure within herself it'll be an extremely emotional moment," said Peter Popham, author of "The Lady and the Peacock," a biography of Suu Kyi. "When she left in March 1988 she expected to be away for a while, possibly a few months, but certainly not 24 years."

Suu Kyi arrived in Oxford in 1964 from a background marked by both privilege and tragedy.

She had been educated at a convent school in New Delhi, where her mother was ambassador for the country then known as Burma. Her father, Gen. Aung San, a political leader who negotiated Burma's independence from Britain, had been assassinated by political rivals in 1947, when she was 2.

She studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University's then-women-only St. Hugh's College, a handsome collection of red brick Edwardian buildings set in extensive gardens.

Student friend Ann Pasternak Slater recalled a striking figure whose "firm moral convictions and inherited social grace contrasted sharply with the tatty dress and careless manners, vague liberalism and uncertain sexual morality" of her English counterparts.

Suu Kyi was not a party animal ? she tasted alcohol just once, to see what it was like ? but did embrace other Oxford traditions.

In the essay collection "Freedom From Fear," Pasternak Slater described her learning to operate a punt ? Oxford's characteristic flat-bottomed boats ? and to ride a bicycle, swapping her traditional Burmese long skirt, the lungi, for a pair of white jeans.

While at Oxford, Suu Kyi met Aris, a Himalayan scholar who later served as tutor to the children of the king of Bhutan. They married in 1972 ? on condition that if her country ever needed her, she would go.

Neither imagined how high the price would be.

"She thought she might go to Burma one day to set up a mobile library once the kids were grown and Michael was retired," said Rebecca Frayn, screenwriter of "The Lady," a recent feature film about Suu Kyi. "They had a little dream that he would grow orchids."

The couple lived in Bhutan and London, then settled in Oxford when Aris got an academic post. Suu Kyi looked after sons Alexander and Kim and pursued doctoral studies.

Frayn said the future Nobel peace laureate embraced her role as academic wife and "utterly devoted mother."

"She was famed for her exquisitely organized birthday parties," Frayn said. "The common thing is that she did whatever she did to the Nth degree."

In March 1988, Suu Kyi returned to Myanmar to nurse her dying mother, and found herself on the front line of mass pro-democracy protests that erupted soon after. The hospital where her mother was being treated was inundated with injured demonstrators.

As the daughter of a national hero, Suu Kyi was an instant emblem of the movement. She embraced her destiny and helped form the National League for Democracy ? with the support of her far-off husband.

"From the outset, they knew it was a tough decision to go into politics," Popham said. "But I don't think any of them had an idea of how hard it was going to be. Michael thought the regime would collapse within months and they would be reunited by Christmas 1988."

In fact, Aris saw his wife only a handful of times after she left Oxford.

The NLD won elections in 1990, but was kept from power by the military junta. Suu Kyi spent much of the next 20 years under house arrest, finally being released in November 2010. In April, she won a seat in the country's national assembly, and is campaigning for further reform.

The couple's predicament took a cruel twist in 1997, when Aris was diagnosed with what turned out to be terminal prostate cancer. The junta would have allowed Suu Kyi to leave Myanmar to visit him ? but she feared she would not be allowed to return. He applied 30 times for visas to visit her; all were rejected.

"He was adamant she shouldn't come back," Frayn said. "He was convinced (his visa) would be granted and he would die in her arms."

Aris died in Oxford on his 53rd birthday in 1999. He had not seen his wife in more than three years.

Frayn said the years of separation had left a "complex emotional legacy" for Suu Kyi's sons, now in their 30s.

Kim Aris lives in Oxford and has visited his mother several times since her release from house arrest. Elder brother Alexander ? who at age 18 delivered the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize address on behalf of his mother ? lives in a Buddhist community in Portland, Oregon. Neither has given interviews to the media.

Suu Kyi, too, rarely speaks of her emotions ? a reflection, Frayn said, both of her Buddhist faith and of her political convictions.

"She is surrounded in the National League for Democracy by people who spent many years in prison, and in some senses her context is that she got off lightly compared to a lot of her close political colleagues," Frayn said. "She has said that this is in a sense her cross to bear, the long-term separation from her sons.

"A journalist once said to her that her story was like a Greek tragedy. She absolutely rebuked him and said: I made a choice."

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Japan OKs restart of 1st reactors since tsunami

Demonstrators raise clenched fists during a rally, protesting against restarting the Ohi nuclear power plant's reactors in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Saturday, June 16, 2012. Japan moved closer to restarting the nuclear reactors for the first time since last year's earthquake and tsunami led to a nationwide shutdown. A slogan, center, reads: "Stop restarting nuclear power plant." (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

A demonstrator raises clenched fist during a rally, protesting against restarting the Ohi nuclear power plant's reactors in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Saturday, June 16, 2012. Japan moved closer to restarting the nuclear reactors for the first time since last year's earthquake and tsunami led to a nationwide shutdown. A slogan worn by the protester reads: "Stop restarting nuclear power plant." (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

A demonstrator shouts slogans during a rally, protesting against restarting the Ohi nuclear power plant's reactors in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Saturday, June 16, 2012. Japan moved closer to restarting the nuclear reactors for the first time since last year's earthquake and tsunami led to a nationwide shutdown. The headband reads: "Unite." (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Demonstrators carry anti-nuclear signs during a rally, protesting against restarting the Ohi nuclear power plant's reactors in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Saturday, June 16, 2012. Japan moved closer to restarting the nuclear reactors for the first time since last year's earthquake and tsunami led to a nationwide shutdown. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, right, greets Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa, left, at his official residence in Tokyo Saturday, June 16, 2012. Japan moved closer to restarting the nuclear reactors for the first time since last year's earthquake and tsunami led to a nationwide shutdown. (AP Photo/Toshifumi Kitamura, Pool)

TOKYO (AP) ? Japan's government on Saturday approved bringing the country's first nuclear reactors back online since last year's earthquake and tsunami led to a shutdown of reactors nationwide.

Despite lingering safety concerns, the restart could speed the resumption of operations at more reactors across the country. The decision paves the way for a power company in western Japan to immediately begin work to restart two reactors in Ohi town, a process that is expected to take several weeks.

All of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors are now offline for maintenance or safety checks. Public opposition to the resumption of nuclear operations remains high because of the crisis the tsunami touched off at Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl.

The restart is being closely watched as an indicator of how aggressively the government will act to approve operations at other reactors.

The government has been pushing hard to bring some reactors online as soon as possible to avert power shortages as demand increases during the summer months. It says the reactors in the town of Ohi are particularly important because they are in an area that relied heavily on nuclear before the crisis, and have passed safety checks.

"Safety is our main concern," said trade and industry minister Yukio Edano. "We have approved the beginning of the restarting process. It will take some time for the reactors to begin generating electricity, and we request people continue to save energy. If there are safety problems, the process could be delayed."

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced the government's approval after Ohi's mayor and the local governor publicly stated they support the plan. Local approval isn't needed legally.

"I approve the plan because I have been assured of the government's safety efforts and because it will provide stability for our industries," Issei Nishikawa, the governor of Fukui prefecture which oversees Ohi, said after meeting Noda in Tokyo on Saturday.

Kansai Electric Power Co. officials say bringing the two reactors online now is needed to help avert a power crunch in Osaka, Japan's second-largest metropolis, and other areas in the west. They say demand is expected to peak in mid July or early August, so they need to begin work immediately to get the reactors up and running in time to avoid shortages.

KEPCO says it will take about three weeks to get the first reactor back online. It will start the plant's No. 3 reactor first, and the No. 4 reactor after that.

Last year's March 11 disaster devastated the nuclear plant in Fukushima, leading to explosions, meltdowns and massive leaks of radioactive material. Tens of thousands of residents near the plant were forced to evacuate, and large areas around the reactors there are still off limits because of the danger of exposure.

The government and power company that ran the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co., have acknowledged they were unprepared for such a disaster. They are in the process of reviewing and strengthening measures to make sure that such a disaster does not recur.

But while safety concerns still run deep, Saturday's decision could speed up efforts to get more plants running across the country.

Until now, the government had withheld approval to restart any nuclear reactors shut down for safety inspections or repairs since the disaster, and the last reactor went offline in May.

While pushing for the restart of reactors that have passed safety checks, Noda has pledged to gradually reduce Japan's reliance on nuclear power. Before the crisis, nuclear generated about one-third of Japan's electricity.

Japan is debating renewable energy targets of between 25 percent to 35 percent of total power generation by 2030, looking to Germany, which raised the proportion of renewables from 5 percent in 1990 to 20 percent by 2010.

But the sudden shutdown of nuclear plants has hit Japan's economy hard.

To offset the shortfall, utilities have ramped up oil- and gas-based generation, and that contributed to the country's biggest annual trade deficit ever last fiscal year. Noda and others argue that the higher cost of energy without nuclear will cost people their livelihoods and could cripple recovery efforts.

Associated Press

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