Swarms of bees could unlock secrets to human brains

Sheffield UK (SPX)
Dec 15, 2011

Scientists at the University of Sheffield believe decision making mechanisms in the human brain could mirror how swarms of bees choose new nest sites. Striking similarities have been found in decision making systems between humans and insects in the past but now researchers believe that bees could teach us about how our brains work.

Experts say the insects even appear to have solved indecision, an often paralyzing thought process in humans, with scouts who seek out any honeybees advertising rival nest sites and butt against them with their heads while producing shrill beeping sounds.

Dr James Marshall, of the University of Sheffield's Department of Computer Science, who led the UK involvement in the project and has also previously worked on similarities between how brains and insect colonies make decisions, said: "Up to now we've been asking if honeybee colonies might work in the same way as brains; now the new mathematical modelling we've done makes me think we should be asking whether our brains might work like honeybee colonies.

"Many people know about the waggle dance that honeybees use to direct hive mates to rich flower patches and new nest sites. Our research published in the journal Science, shows that this isn't the only way that honeybees communicate with each other when they are choosing a new nest site; they also disrupt the waggle dances of bees that are advertising alternative sites."

Biologists from Cornell University, New York, University of California Riverside and the University of Bristol set up two nest boxes for a homeless honeybee swarm to choose between and recorded how bees that visited each box interacted with bees from the rival box.

They found that bees that visited one site, which were marked with pink paint, tended to inhibit the dances of bees advertising the other site, which were marked with yellow paint, and vice versa.

Tom Seeley of Cornell University, author of the best-selling book Honeybee Democracy said "We were amazed to discover that the bees from one nest box would seek out bees performing waggle dances for the other nest box and butt against them with their heads while simultaneously producing shrill beeping sounds.

We call this rough treatment the 'stop signal' because most bees that receive this signal will cease dancing a few seconds later."

Dr Patrick Hogan of the University of Sheffield, who constructed the mathematical model of the bees, added: "The bees target their stop signal only at rivals within the colony, preventing the colony as a whole from becoming deadlocked with indecision when choosing a new home. This remarkable behavior emerges naturally from the very simple interactions observed between the individual bees in the colony."

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Swarms_of_bees_could_unlock_secrets_to_human_brains_999.html.

Climate change blamed for dead trees in Africa

Berkeley CA (SPX)
Dec 15, 2011

Trees are dying in the Sahel, a region in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, and human-caused climate change is to blame, according to a new study led by a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. "Rainfall in the Sahel has dropped 20-30 percent in the 20th century, the world's most severe long-term drought since measurements from rainfall gauges began in the mid-1800s," said study lead author Patrick Gonzalez, who conducted the study while he was a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's Center for Forestry.

"Previous research already established climate change as the primary cause of the drought, which has overwhelmed the resilience of the trees."

The study, which is scheduled for publication in the Journal of Arid Environments, was based upon climate change records, aerial photos dating back to 1954, recent satellite images and old-fashioned footwork that included counting and measuring over 1,500 trees in the field.

The researchers focused on six countries in the Sahel, from Senegal in West Africa to Chad in Central Africa, at sites where the average temperature warmed up by 0.8 degrees Celsius and rainfall fell as much as 48 percent.

They found that one in six trees died between 1954 and 2002. In addition, one in five tree species disappeared locally, and indigenous fruit and timber trees that require more moisture took the biggest hit.

Hotter, drier conditions dominated population and soil factors in explaining tree mortality, the authors found. Their results indicate that climate change is shifting vegetation zones south toward moister areas.

"In the western U.S., climate change is leading to tree mortality by increasing the vulnerability of trees to bark beetles," said Gonzalez, who is now the climate change scientist for the National Park Service.

"In the Sahel, drying out of the soil directly kills trees. Tree dieback is occurring at the biome level. It's not just one species that is dying; whole groups of species are dying out."

The new findings put solid numbers behind the anecdotal observation of the decline of tree species in the Sahel.

"People in the Sahel depend upon trees for their survival," said Gonzalez.

"Trees provide people with food, firewood, building materials and medicine. We in the U.S. and other industrialized nations have it in our power, with current technologies and practices, to avert more drastic impacts around the world by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. Our local actions can have global consequences."

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Climate_change_blamed_for_dead_trees_in_Africa_999.html.

Italy Set to Surpass Germany as World's Leading Solar Market This Year

El Segundo CA (SPX)
Dec 15, 2011

After two years at the top, Germany this year is likely to lose its place as the world's top photovoltaic (PV) solar market, slipping to No. 2 behind former runner-up Italy, according to an IHS iSuppli PV Market Brief report from information and analysis provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).

PV solar system installations in Germany during 2011 are expected to decline to 5.9 gigawatts (GW), down 20 percent from 7.4 GW in 2010. Meanwhile, Italy in 2011 is set to install up to 6.9 GW worth of PV systems, nearly double the 3.6 GW from 2010, as presented in the table attached.

"Propelled by residential and institutional investors who support green initiatives as well as sustainable funding, Germany has been the world's leading country for PV installations since 2009," said Dr. Henning Wicht, director and principal analyst for photovoltaics at IHS.

"However, installations in the country stalled in the first half of 2011. And while the market recovered in the second half, the increase was insufficient to generate growth for the whole year. Meanwhile, the Italian government's attractive incentives boosted the country's installations massively, giving it the top position worldwide."

New PV solar installations in Germany in the first half of 2011 amounted to only 1.7 GW-less than a third of total for the entire year. High PV module prices early in the year caused buyers to hold off purchases until costs moderated.

However, figures from the German Grid Agency reported installations of 2.3 GW from June to September, exceeding the original IHS estimate of 2.2 GW. A mini boom also materialized in Germany in October, November and December because of reduced system prices and changes of tariffs expected in January 2012..

Meanwhile, Italy this year added more solar capacity than any other country thanks to attractive tariffs and changing subsidy schemes from the government in Rome. After a modest second quarter, installations in Italy are estimated to have reached a far-more robust 2 GW in the third and fourth quarters, helping that country jump to the top of the PV market this year.

US comes in third
Following in the wake of the two giant European players will be the United States in third place, with 2.7 GW worth of installations in 2011; China in fourth, with 1.7 GW; Japan in fifth with 1.3 GW and France in sixth with approximately 1.0 GW of new installations.

In all, new global installations this year will reach 23.8 GW, up a robust 34 percent from 17.7 GW in 2010. Table 1 compares the rankings of the Top 6 countries in 2010 and 2011.

PV prices shake down in an intensely competitive market
Despite the worldwide increase in new PV installations this year, component prices in the solar supply chain-stretching from wafers to modules-are on the decline. In the third quarter, for instance, large PV systems were being offered in Germany at 1.60 euros-or about $2.13-per watt, down from 1.80 euros; with residential rooftop installations also declining to 1.90 euros, a reduction from 2.20 euros.

Among less favorably positioned Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers in Germany, desperation selling had driven module prices to levels reaching 0.68 euros per watt.

The weak demand in Europe will lead to further price battles in 2012, with overall module prices forecast to reach 0.65 euros-or $0.80-in March 2012, IHS believes.

The primary field of contention will be module and polysilicon prices. Already, spot pricing for polysilicon has dropped below $30 per kilogram as of early November, and spot prices of $20 are possible by the March/April time frame given the continuing decline in demand. Meanwhile, module prices will be driven by production costs, with the rapid fall in the cost of silicon expected to pave the way for cheaper modules to be produced.

Given the intense competition in the market and the current oversupply, gross profit margins from wafer to module production will be in the single-digit range.

Even best-in-class companies will not be able to escape the pressure on margins, and savvy business plans will need to be adopted by firms to navigate the crunch, IHS believes. In a recent example, American manufacturer First Solar Inc. has chosen to postpone the commissioning of a solar plant in Vietnam. Other manufacturers also will have to excel in their operations and increase performance without spending in order to stay profitable.

Still, the overall picture could improve soon. System prices are expected to stabilize in the fourth quarter this year at 1.50 euros per watt for ground and at 1.80 euros for rooftops, due to increasing orders.

Worldwide demand also is expected to pick up by April 2012, driven by demand in Europe as well as by supportive local programs coming online in China and the emergence of new markets such as India.

A healthier business environment for the PV industry could well emerge by the end of the first half of 2012-but only if demand returns as a reaction to the low system prices on the market.

Source: Solar Daily.
Link: http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Italy_Set_to_Surpass_Germany_as_World_Leading_Solar_Market_This_Year_999.html.

True South Renewables To Commission 10MW Solar Power Project

Huntington Beach CA (SPX)
Dec 15, 2011

True South Renewables has announced that it has been selected to oversee the commissioning of a 10 megawatt (MW) solar power plant in eastern Ontario, south of Ottawa.

The 10 MW site is part of a larger group of projects that utilize thin film panels to produce electricity connected to the local Hydro One distribution grid. Solar energy generated will offer a source of distributed generation in eastern Ontario to meet the peak demands of about 3,500 homes.

More than 200 workers have been employed locally since design, engineering and construction activities commenced in early 2010.

The commissioning activity coincides with the opening of a new office for True South Renewables Canada Ltd. in Ontario. The California-based company has opened offices in Texas and New York over the past year. The Ontario presence marks True South Renewables' first office location outside the United States

"We are thrilled with the opportunity to bring our technical expertise to solar projects in Ontario," said Jeff Shields, President of True South Renewables Canada Ltd.

"It is a very exciting time for solar in Ontario right now. Establishing a permanent foothold in the region will ensure that True South is going to be a strategic part of the industry's growth and much needed O and M services in Ontario. We are here for the long haul," Shields added.

The scale of the Ontario market is one of the largest in North America, second only to California. The current install based of photovoltaic solar in Ontario is estimated to be approximately 450MW and growing rapidly.

Source: Solar Daily.
Link: http://www.solardaily.com/reports/True_South_Renewables_To_Commission_10MW_Solar_Power_Project_999.html.

Breakthrough design will produce conversion efficiency far in excess of current solar technology

Santa Barbara CA (SPX)
Dec 15, 2011

Solar3D has announced the results of a simulated test of its new solar cell design that projects the conversion efficiency to be in excess of 25%. The test results indicate that the company's innovative design will produce conversion efficiency far in excess of current solar technology.

"We are very encouraged by these test results," said Jim Nelson, President and CEO of Solar3D.

"We are now evaluating various methods of fabricating a prototype. If the results of our tests hold up in fabrication, as we expect, then our product's performance will be among the very highest conversion efficiencies achieved by silicon solar cells."

After completion of its prototype, the company's management plans to seek a manufacturing partner that will participate in bringing its 3-dimensional solar cell to market. Likely manufacturing partners include some of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturers.

Nelson continued, "These test results are very exciting and give us a great deal of confidence in the development path we have chosen. We think that our novel 3-dimensional solar cell has the potential to dramatically change the economics of solar power. A high efficiency solar cell manufactured with low cost silicon could result in the lowest cost per watt in the industry."

"Increasing conversion efficiency and reducing manufacturing costs will ultimately drive solar to economic parity with the low cost alternatives," said Nelson.

"With the increased efficiency that comes from our new design, we take a giant step in that direction."

Source: Solar Daily.
Link: http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Breakthrough_design_will_produce_conversion_efficiency_far_in_excess_of_current_solar_technology_999.html.

Torture systemic in Kyrgyzstan, U.N. says

GENEVA, Switzerland, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The new government in Kyrgyzstan needs to take measures to end impunity in cases of torture by law enforcement officials, a U.N. envoy said.

Juan Mendez, U.N. special envoy on torture, provided a briefing following his recent trip to the central Asian country.

Mendez said the aim of his visit was to investigate circumstances surrounding violence that followed an April 2010 coup, promote peace and reconciliation and ensure those responsible for the violence are held accountable.

An April 2010 coup led former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee to Belarus. Following the coup, at least 470 people were killed in ethnic conflicts near Osh and Jalal Abad.

Mendez found that torture in the country was widespread and systemic. He said it was common and committed as a way to extract confessions from detainees by authorities working for the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Almost all detainees indicated that they were subjected to mistreatment or beating since the moment of apprehension and delivery to a police station for the purpose of extraction of confessions by means of torture," he said in a statement.

Bishkek, he added, needs to revamp its system by creating a justice system that meets international norms.

His visit came at the invitation of Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev, who took office in November.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/12/14/Torture-systemic-in-Kyrgyzstan-UN-says/UPI-64001323878301/.

Bell peppers exported from Gaza for first time in years

Wednesday 14/12/2011

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The first two truckloads of bell peppers was set to be exported from Gaza to Europe on Wednesday through the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, in addition to four truckloads of strawberries.

Israel allowed 210-220 trucks loaded with aid and necessities to reach the Strip. It is bound for the trade, agriculture and transportation sectors, Palestinian officials said.

The trucks included 20 new vehicles, two trucks with solar power systems from the Italian government to generate electricity, one truck filled with energy authority needs, and 11 trucks of cement and metal.

Forty trucks of construction material for UNRWA projects and five for USAID were allowed in too.

Limited amounts of gas were allowed to be pumped into the Strip as well.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444860.