Food is running out, and it becomes more and more expensive!

Some experts claim that the banks and the stock market traders responsible for the increase of food prices. At the same time, some experts have sought the causes of poverty on the other.

The riots raged in many countries between the 2007th and 2008. year: Thousands of people demonstrated against the excessive price of food in Morocco, in the so-called "bread riot". The growth rate in Mexico has caused the so-called "tortilla crisis". Violent demonstrations rocked Pakistan, Somalia and India. In Burkina Faso and Senegal, people took to the streets because "expensive life." The reason for all these riots was a jump in the price of basic foodstuffs.

Prices of rice, wheat, corn and soybeans are increased several times between June 2007. and June 2008. In Ethiopia, the price of corn has risen by almost 200 percent, wheat prices have jumped in Somalia for the 300, and in Sudan for about 90 percent.

Many say that they are responsible for that speculation in the market of foodstuffs. Through agricultural funds, banks, hedge funds and state-investors may be betting on the future price of foods such as wheat, corn or soy. "Some banks offer special fund investors, who profit if the price of raw materials increases. The money is then invested in line with that, "explains Markus Hen of the NGO Viid. Viid and other non-governmental organizations such as Oxfam or Fudwatch believe that these mechanisms bear some responsibility for the lack of food.

Controversial blame speculators

Researchers from the University of Halle-Wittenberg oppose the Gladys. Viewing scientific articles and studies in the period since 2010. to 2012. led them to the conclusion that the provision of financial speculation does not cause high food prices - but other factors: "People are now better than before the food, especially meat products available. This increases the demand for natural resources. "Explains Ingo Pies, economic ethicist University Halle-Wittenberg and co-author of the research. In addition, subsidies for fuel ecological impact on the market. Large areas are used for growing plants that receive energy, and therefore are not available for agriculture.

At the same time, representatives of non-governmental organizations accuse the researchers of Halle-Wittenberg that did not take into account all relevant studies. "They discussed the studies that suit themselves," says Markus Hen Viid from the organization. Studies that did not fit were criticized in detail, and the results are simply different ones were accepted, he said. However, Ingo Piejs says that some studies that have sent the organization "does not refer to the scientific literature, but the literature they were not written by scientists."

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recognizes that speculation regarding agricultural land increased sharply since 2008, but to them it is not a direct cause of the price increase. "That kind of financial speculation may have a partial influence on the movement of prices, but the long-term growth rate can not be explained," says Carmel Cahill, chief adviser to the Directorate for Trade and Agriculture Organization of the organization.

The increasing rates

And Michael Brintrup from the German Institute for Development Policy follows the discussion about food trade. Read a study from the University of Halle, and advocates a different view. "For a lot of factors affecting prices. For example, they can change because they are in the United States, Russia and Australia decreased yields, "he explains. It would be very difficult to determine the exact impact of speculation.

The OECD says that the prices of foodstuffs such as corn, rice and wheat, continued to rise because of population growth. "The price of wheat has just increase by 80 percent, and it would be logical to affect the price of bread," said Momar Ndao, Chairperson of the consumer health organization ASCOSEN in Senegal. Pierre Nakoul, chairman of similar organizations in Burkina Faso confirms this: "Recently we had a problem, because the bakers went on strike due to the increasing price of wheat." Expensive food for many will mean starvation.

Advice from the European Union

Non-governmental organizations seeking to force banks and other financial actors to refrain from speculation in basic foodstuffs. Commerzbank, the second largest bank in Germany, she decided to terminate the offer of investment in the sector, in November 2011.

Scientists at the University Halle-Wittenberg that do not attach great importance. "Financial speculation sideshow. We have to ask the important questions, "says Ingo Pies. In the first place it is important "to correct the mistakes of politicians, strengthen markets and to support the transfer of technology. We need technology to reach developing countries. "This would allow for more production, and it is necessary to feed nine billion people in 2050. year, says Ingo Pies for DW.

The EU intends to adopt new rules for agricultural markets early next year. The Chairperson of the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development in the European Parliament on the occasion of DW says: "We really need to fight against speculation. But we should not forget that the real reason for instability in agriculture is a big difference between supply and demand. "    

Kilogram must on a diet

Changes in the international prototype of the basic unit of mass can ruin science experiments that are very accurate measurements needed.

Kilogram may need to diet, since the cylindrical piece of metal that defines the basic unit of weight "stout" for a few tens of milligrams due to external contamination, according to a study just published in the American magazine "Metrology", reports Fox News.

Because of this situation, any state that has a copy of this standard weight, or international prototype kilograms (MPC), has a slightly different definition of weight, which can spoil the scientific experiments that require very precise measurements.

The consequences, as studies indicate U.S. magazine, I felt in international trade cases and in the case of goods which are very strict traffic restrictions based on weight - such as radioactive materials.

However, the "surplus" could be removed without damage to the ICC using ozone and ultraviolet radiation, according to the January issue of "Metrology".

This cleaning technology could be widely adopted as a standard way to measure the basic unit maintains consistent.

According to Richard Davis, metrologists-consultant to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris, it is a practical technique that does not require too much money and investing, what is the potential for wide acceptance. But Davis was not involved in the study, according to Fox News.

Kilo has become an international standard 1875th , and then made ​​cylindrical piece of ground or MPC. It consists of an alloy of platinum and iridium, height and diameter of 39 millimeters, which is kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.

Official copies are available prototype of the kilogram as a national prototype, with Parisian kilogram, known as a kilogram, compared to about every 10 years.

In the eighties of the 19th century made ​​the 40 pounds of prototypes that were handed Metre Convention signatory countries. Even then, however, scientists found that the pound could be "put on weight" due to the deposition of dust and various other substances on its surface.

To reduce the risk of surface deposition, made ​​the MPC in the form of cylinders and put them in the laboratory with filtered air, constant temperature and pressure, but there was no way to completely avoid contamination, said British metrologist Peter Kampson the University of Newcastle. Cleaning is currently carried out by well-trained technicians erased cylinders antilops piece of leather soaked in alcohol.

However, as each country clean your MPK in a different way in a different time, prototypes do not significantly differ in weight.

Scientists want to get rid of defining long-term weight over the piece of metal, and Kampson believes that "the definition be changed in the next five to 10 years." According to him, one way would be to use an electromagnetic device that consistently produces the same amount of power that could then be calculated by weight.

The prototype kilogram "won" 50 micrograms in 100 years

By scientific definition, the error in the actual weight of the basic unit of mass is zero. However, in practice, it is said that two micrograms error.

The international prototype of the kilogram appears to have "won" about 50 micrograms in 100 years. The observed variation is the prototype has stimulated the search for a new definition of kilogram.

It is true that for any object in the universe (except as provided for in France), which had a mass of one kilogram of 100 years ago and that has not changed since then, now be considered to have a mass of more than 50 micrograms per kilogram.

This perspective eliminates the purposes of standard units of mass, because the standard does not need to change over time.  

The Milky Way 17 billion planets size of Earth

The Milky Way galaxy is at least 17 billion planets whose size is similar to Earth, according to the estimates of two independent groups of American astronomers, which were published on Monday.

Estimates are based on fresh data, which came from a NASA probe "Kepler", launched 2009th with the task of finding "terrestrial" world.

This does not mean that all those potentially habitable planets, but so many welcome starting point to search for worlds similar to our own, the agency assesses the Associated Press (AP).

Scientists have yet to find Earth's twin sister - so not just one that is similar in size, but also one that is located in the so-called "goldiloks zone", where it is neither too hot nor too cold, so water can exist in liquid state of matter.

The team with Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University estimated that at least one of the six stars in the Milky Way has a terrestrial planet size.

Another team, at Berkeley, University of California and the University of Hawaii has estimated, using a different method, that 17 percent of stars in the Milky Way galaxy have planets that are similar in size as Earth.

The results were presented Monday at the American Astronomical Society.

Death By Black Hole Firewall Incineration It Shall Be

Black holes are a perennial favorite among physics buffs, who by now have the usual facts about such objects down pat: Most black holes form when stars explode as supernovae; all that matter collapsing into a dense object from which nothing, not even light, can escape, because of the strong gravitational effects. Lurking deep within a black hole is a point that is infinitely small and dense called the singularity. While nothing can escape a black hole once it crosses the event horizon, thanks to a peculiar quirk of the quantum vacuum, it evaporates over time, emitting radiation (Hawking radiation) in the process -- and how long it takes for the black hole to evaporate depends on its size (the bigger it is, the longer it takes to evaporate).

BIG PIC: Black Holes Face Off In Galactic Death Match

Oh, and if, say, an astronaut happened to accidentally cross the event horizon, he or she would technically be in freefall and thus wouldn't notice anything particularly unusual -- not at first. It's only as said astronaut approached the singularity that gravity would become so extreme, s/he would be "spaghettified."

Except now that might not be the case. There's a hypothesis currently being bandied about by theoretical physicists that, instead, the unfortunate astronaut would encounter a massive wall of fire as s/he tried to cross the event horizon and burn up before s/he got anywhere near the singularity.

Call it the 'Paradox of the Firewall.'

He'd been puzzling over a nagging suspicion that something wasn't quite right with the conventional picture of what happens at the event horizon for years, and was never quite able to put those misgivings to rest. When Polchinski and a few colleagues started playing around with toy models, essentially running the argument for Hawking radiation in reverse, it brought a few salient issues into sharp focus It started earlier this year at the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, where string theorist Joe Polchinski is permanently ensconced.

ANALYSIS: Black Hole Behemoth Found Guilty of Star's Murder

The result was a controversial paper claiming that in order to not have a firewall at the event horizon, physicists would need to sacrifice another one of their cherished assumptions. Per a Simons Science News article (by yours truly):

At the heart of this particular puzzle lies a conflict between three fundamental postulates beloved by many physicists.

The first, based on the equivalence principle of general relativity, leads to the No Drama scenario: Because Alice is in free fall as she crosses the horizon, and there is no difference between free fall and inertial motion, she shouldn’t feel extreme effects of gravity.

The second postulate is unitarity, the assumption, in keeping with a fundamental tenet of quantum mechanics, that information that falls into a black hole is not irretrievably lost.

Lastly, there is what might be best described as “normality,” namely, that physics works as expected far away from a black hole even if it breaks down at some point within the black hole — either at the singularity or at the event horizon.

Want to get rid of the firewall? It'll cost you, per Polchinski et al., and that price is either conceding that information is lost (which should make Stephen Hawking and his collaborator Kip Thorne pretty happy, since they famously embraced this view in the 1990s), or modifying quantum field theory in some significant way.

ANALYSIS: Our Galaxy's Black Hole Has the 'Munchies'

Naturally, not everyone agrees. That paper spawned a flurry of others, many aimed at countering the controversial assertions, plus a couple of blog posts: one by Polchinski (over at Cosmic Variance) and another by Caltech physicist John Preskill. (There's also this latest take at Quantum Moxie.)

It's a complicated, multi-faceted problem, as the Simons Science News article makes clear, and much of the discussion is highly technical. But it's such an intriguing idea, it's worth sharing even just a few simple details.

Physicists are still hammering out a consensus on the solution, and many expect the firewalls argument to be disproved in the end, but it's bound to be interesting along the way, so grab the popcorn and watch the sparks fly, if you dare.

Until it gets resolved, physics fans can have a bit of fun debating the best way to die by black hole: would you choose spaghettification as you approach the singularity, or incineration by a firewall?
 

Magnetically levitating graphite can be moved with laser

By changing the disk's temperature, the laser can change the disk's levitation height and move it in a controlled direction, which has the potential to be scaled up and used as a light-driven human transportation system. Laser light or sunlight can also cause the levitating disk to rotate at over 200 rpm, which could lead to a new type of light energy conversion system. org. The researchers, Dr. " "The most important point in this work is the achievement for a real-time motion control technique which can move a magnetically levitating diamagnetic material without contact for the first time in the world," Abe told Phys. Now in a new study, researchers for the first time have used a laser to control the motion of a magnetically levitating graphite disk. Masayuki Kobayashi and Professor Jiro Abe of Aoyama Gakuin University in Kanagawa, Japan (Abe is also at CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency in Tokyo), have published their study on optically controlling the motion of maglev graphite in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Magnetic levitation has been demonstrated for a variety of objects, from trains to frogs, but so far no one has developed a practical maglev-based actuator that converts some external source of energy into motion. "Because this technique is very simple and fundamental, it is expected to apply to various daily living techniques, such as transportation systems and amusement, as well as photo-actuators and light energy conversion systems.

The levitation position of diamagnetic materials has previously been controlled by changing the applied magnetic field, but so far no one has successfully controlled maglev motion in the second way, by changing the material's diamagnetic properties with an external stimulus such as temperature, light, or sound In order to magnetically levitate, an object's total magnetic force must not only be repulsive, but the repulsion must also be stronger than the force of gravity. Although all materials have some diamagnetism, it is usually too weak to allow them to magnetically levitate. As the researchers explain, magnetic levitation occurs due to an object's diamagnetism, which repels magnetic fields. One of the strongest diamagnetic materials is graphite. Magnetic levitation only occurs when a material's diamagnetic properties are stronger than its ferromagnetic and paramagnetic properties (which attract magnetic fields). The height at which a diamagnetic material levitates can be controlled by two factors: the applied magnetic field and the material's own diamagnetic properties.

Here, the researchers did just that by using a laser to reversibly control the temperature of a graphite disk levitating over a block of permanent magnets. They demonstrated that, as the graphite's temperature increases, its levitation height decreases, and vice versa. The researchers explain that the change in temperature causes a change in the graphite's magnetic susceptibility, or the degree to which its magnetization reacts to an applied magnetic field. On an atomic level, the laser increases the number of thermally excited electrons in the graphite due to the photothermal effect. The more of these electrons, the weaker the graphite's diamagnetic properties and the lower its levitation height.

Rotation also occurs when the set-up is exposed to sunlight. Applications could include a low-cost, environmentally friendly power generation system and a new type of light-driven transportation system. By converting solar energy into rotational energy, the disk can reach a rotational speed of more than 200 rpm, which could make it useful for applications such as optically driven turbines. " Whereas the laser was aimed right in the center of the graphite disk when controlling its height, aiming it at the edge of the disk changes the temperature distribution, and thus magnetic susceptibility distribution, in such a way that the repulsion force becomes unbalanced and the graphite moves in the same direction as the light beam. "In this case, it is predicted that friction disrupts the rotation of the maglev turbine. "As for the actuator, the maglev graphite can convey anything that has almost the same weight as the levitating graphite disk. The distorted temperature distribution causes the levitating graphite disk to rotate, with the direction and rotational speed depending on the irradiation site. The researchers predict that the ability to control maglev-based motion with a laser could lead to the development of maglev-based actuators and photothermal solar energy conversion systems. To rotate the levitating graphite disk, the researchers replaced the rectangular prism-shaped magnets beneath the disk with a stack of cylindrical-shaped magnets, and again aimed the laser at the disk's edge. So, if the scale expansion of the photo-actuator system is achieved, it is not a dream that a human on the maglev graphite can drive himself. Therefore, we would like to develop a light energy conversion system with a high energy conversion efficiency with reference to the so-called MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems) technique. In addition to controlling the height of maglev graphite, the researchers found that they could also make the graphite move in any direction and rotate it by changing the site of irradiation. "At this moment, we are planning to develop a maglev turbine blade suitable for this system," Abe said.

Physics Enters A New Era

After the Higgs boson, what new discoveries will we make? 

Physicists haven’t observed it directly yet, but they’re getting much closer If the previous era was about understanding the physics of everyday stuff, the next will be dominated by the attempt to grasp more elusive realms, including one of the most mysterious of all: dark matter. On July 4, 2012, a panel of scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva announced the discovery of a new particle, the long-anticipated Higgs boson (or something very much like it). The rest is dark matter. Astronomers have verified that the universe has about five times more matter than we can account for with the “ordinary” particles we’ve discovered here on Earth. The Higgs is the final piece of the Standard Model of particle physics, a theory that accounts for everything we experience in our lives, from rocks to puppies to stars and planets. After decades of searching and billions of dollars, the Higgs discovery marked the end of one era and the beginning of another, which scientists will embark upon in 2013.

Several different detectors are currently searching for dark matter underground, conducting experiments designed to sense a dark matter particle scattering off the nucleus of an ordinary atom. A couple of them have already yielded tantalizing evidence—not enough to convince most physicists, but enough to get people excited. The LUX detector, recently installed in a South Dakota mine, should prove the most sensitive one yet when it begins collecting data in 2013.

Alternatively, dark matter could be found by looking up into space. Scientists analyzing observations of cosmic gamma rays in 2012 discovered an unusual excess at a particular energy emanating from the center of our galaxy. One explanation for the signal is that dark matter particles are colliding and converting into high-energy radiation. This coming year will no doubt bring new data, better analysis, and maybe, just maybe, evidence that pins down dark matter once and for all.

Next-Gen Space Rovers Do Acrobatics, Look Like Medieval Weapons

The spacecraft would visit the Martian moon Phobos, or maybe an asteroid. NASA’s past few Mars rovers have been friendly robots with head-like masts and cameras for eyes, easily anthropomorphized and adored. The spiky space balls are nicknamed "hedgehogs," though they'll act more like acrobats, leaping and tumbling across the surface of moons and asteroids. The next generation might be decidedly less cute--they resemble a medieval battle mace. Marco Pavone, an assistant professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford, came up with the idea and nicknamed the hopping rovers “hedgehogs” (definitely a cheerier name than mace balls) Then one or more mace-ball rovers would deploy from the mothership (which would stay in orbit above) and leap and tumble across the surface of the moon or asteroid. The Phobos Surveyor is a new concept from researchers at Stanford, MIT and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The hedgehogs would not need much energy to hop on Phobos--the Martian moon’s gravitational field is 1,000 times weaker than that of Mars--so their inertial spinning would propel them easily. MIT and Draper Labs have a prototype moon hopper vying for the Google Lunar X Prize: The Terrestrial Lunar and Reduced Gravity Simulator, or Talaris. Here’s how it would work: The Phobos Surveyor, which Stanford’s news service describes as coffee-table-sized with two umbrella-shaped solar panels, would travel to Phobos and map the moon’s terrain. With a hopper, you don't face problems like a stuck wheel, which doomed NASA’s Spirit Mars rover. After a few months, it would deploy five or six hedgehogs, one at a time, each a few days apart. The spacecraft would communicate with each other to determine each hedgehog’s position, and determine where it should hop next That one uses ducted fans and compressed nitrogen to hover and hop around. Hoppers are a favored design for future planetary explorers because they could cover much more terrain than a rover, and could easily cross canyons and other hazardous areas.

Each hedgehog contains three discs that rotate on all three axes, and spinning them at varying speeds produces an inertial force that causes them to move. It could also have much broader benefits for the space program, too. Why the spikes? The Phobos Surveyor might measure chemical elements, while the hedgehogs might study the terrain with microscopes or other tools. All this would help scientists learn more about Phobos’ past. A quick spin can cause a hop, and spinning even faster causes them to bound across the surface. Combining a global view with on-the-ground measurements has worked quite well for NASA’s Mars program, and this would work in a similar fashion. Slight wheel spins force the hedgehogs to tumble slightly. This mission would provide a lot more information about what the moon is like Because of that weak gravity field, Phobos might be a convenient first target for human visitors. They could ensure the hedgehogs can gain purchase in any terrain, whether it is hard and rocky or soft and sandy.

The Stanford team already has a few hedgehog prototypes, and will test the latest one using a crane to simulate lower gravity. Flour will be a stand-in for asteroid dust, and the researchers will also bring in rocks and dirt to simulate Phobos. It’s part of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program, which has spawned several other creative ideas we would love to see. The team plans to present a paper describing the concept at a conference this spring.