WASHINGTON, DC — The national trade association of America’s wind industry says in 2008 the industry had another record growth year – the third record year in a row and generated more than $18 billion in revenues. This year, the United States passed Germany to become the world leader in wind generation, said the American Wind Energy Association in its year-end report. AWEA says that this summer, the U.S. wind industry reached the 20,000-megawatt installed capacity milestone, doubling installed wind power generating capacity since 2006. By the end of September, the U.S. had over 21,000 megawatts of wind capacity up and running. Germany had 22,300 megawatts, but U.S. windpower developers sprinted to the end of the year while German wind development slowed. ‘With additional projects coming on line every week since, the wind industry is on its way to charting another record-shattering year of growth,’ AWEA said in its report. That 21,000 megawatts of capacity are expected to generate over 60 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2009, enough to serve over 5.5 million American homes. This means that in 2009 wind power is estimated to displace the burning of 30.4 million short tons […]
A new vehicle arrives to break an old record THE early days of motoring produced a three-horseless race, as it were. To start with, electric and steam-powered vehicles outsold those with newfangled internal-combustion engines. However, the invention of the starter motor and the longer range of the petrol- and diesel-powered models eventually gave those vehicles the edge, and electric and steam-powered cars drifted into obscurity. Now, with the benefit of advanced electronics and lightweight batteries, electric cars are staging a comeback. Could steam cars do the same? This week, a group of engineers known as the British Steam Car Challenge have been completing the initial test runs of a 7.7-metre (25-foot) steam car which they hope will travel at more than 274kph (170mph). Early next year they will ship it to America for high-speed testing. Eventually, they hope to beat the land-speed record for steam cars. The existing record, 205kph, was set in 1906 by Fred Marriott, driving a souped-up version of a production vehicle called a Stanley Steamer. To beat it, the Challengers have to make two high-speed runs within an hour, which means turning their vehicle around rapidly, refilling it with water and firing up […]
MOSCOW and NEW YORK — Russia is bracing for further unrest as the rouble on Friday slid to a new low against the euro after a succession of moves to devalue its currency. A cut on Friday extended six weeks of devaluations by Russia’s central bank designed to offset the impact of the global economic crisis and falling oil prices as the country’s main export commodity approached its lowest level since 2004. Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, warned Russia faced ‘unprecedentedly difficult and dangerous circumstances and could be ‘heading into a black hole. ‘It is not clear what the fate of our rouble will be or if society has sufficient financial and moral resources, he said. After the depreciation, which was the eighth so far this month, the rouble declined as much as 1.2 per cent to Rbs29.06 versus the dollar on Friday, a four year low. The rouble has now lost nearly 20 per cent of its value against the US currency since August. Analysts at Barclays Capital said the best case scenario would see Russian policymakers, facing the mounting evidence of a recession, allowing a one-off depreciation of 10 per cent or more. […]
The Secret Service agent in Kansas City peered hard at a counterfeit $100 bill, ran a finger over it and grimaced in disgust. It was bad, ugly work. ‘Too slick, too, said Charles Green, special agent in charge. More counterfeiters are using today’s ink-jet printers, computers and copiers to make money that’s just good enough to pass, he said, even though their product is awful. In the past, he said, the best American counterfeiters were skilled printers who used heavy offset presses to turn out decent 20s, 50s and 100s. Now that kind of work is rare and almost all comes from abroad. Among American thieves, the 22-year veteran said sadly, ‘it’s a lost art. But as art fades, greed goes on. Ink-jet counterfeiting is thriving. Part of the problem, Green said, is that the government has changed the money so much to foil counterfeiting. With all the new bills out there, citizens and even many police officers don’t know what they’re supposed to look like. Moreover, many people see paper money less because they use credit or debit cards. The result: Ink-jet counterfeiting accounted for 60 percent of $103 million […]
When it comes to penises, length matters more to men than to women, according to a new study that reviews more than 60 years of research and debunks numerous sex myths. About 90 percent of women actually prefer a wide penis to a long one, according to two studies included in the review. Eighty-five percent of women reported being satisfied with their partner’s penis size, compared to only 55 percent for men. The review, conducted by Drs. Kevan Wylie and Ian Eardley of the Porterback Clinic and Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield and St. James’ Hospital in Leeds, United Kingdom, respectively, combines results from more than 50 international research projects into penis size and small penis syndrome (SPS) conducted since 1942. ‘The issue of attractiveness to women is complex, but most data suggest that penile size is much lower down the list of priorities for women than such issues as a man’s personality and external grooming, the researchers write. Drawing upon the results of 12 relevant studies, the review, detailed in the British Journal of Urology (BJU) International, finds that the average erect penis is about 5.5 to 6.2 inches long and about 4.7 to 5.1 […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
