In recent years, the ultracold quantum gases known as Bose-Einstein condensates and single ions confined in electromagnetic traps have both been used to explore a wide range of problems in fundamental physics.

Writing in this week's Nature, the team from the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge describe the immersion of a single trapped ytterbium ion in a Bose-Einstein condensate of neutral rubidium atoms.

They showed that they can control the two systems independently, and study their interactions. They also observe 'sympathetic cooling' of the ion by the condensate - an effect that might ultimately prove useful in quantum computing.

According to Dr Michael Köhl: "We placed a single charged Ytterbium atom into a Bose-Einstein condensate, which at only a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero is the coldest thing in the universe."

The results could be used to cool quantum computers - devices that, by employing the laws of quantum mechanics, can solve certain computational tasks much faster than any existing computer. Basic quantum processors already exist but they are not yet surpassing the fastest normal computers.

"Today's most powerful quantum computers are made from single atoms, like our Ytterbium, trapped in vacuum, but they need to be refrigerated in order to compute correctly. Usually this is done with laser light, which is quite complicated, expensive, and it interrupts the computing process. With our new technique, quantum computers could be cooled continuously in the future which could pave the way to a more widespread application," says Dr Köhl.

The picture shows the team's experimental apparatus comprising of the ion trap inside the vacuum chamber. The inset shows schematically the single ion (red) in the Bose-Einstein condensate (dark grey).

Improved control of the motional and internal quantum states of ultracold neutral atoms and ions has opened intriguing possibilities for quantum simulation and quantum computation. Many-body effects have been explored with hundreds of thousands of quantum-degenerate neutral atoms1, and coherent light–matter interfaces have been built. Systems of single or a few trapped ions have been used to demonstrate universal quantum computing algorithms and to search for variations of fundamental constants in precision atomic clocks. Until now, atomic quantum gases and single trapped ions have been treated separately in experiments. Here we investigate whether they can be advantageously combined into one hybrid system, by exploring the immersion of a single trapped ion into a Bose–Einstein condensate of neutral atoms. We demonstrate independent control over the two components of the hybrid system, study the fundamental interaction processes and observe sympathetic cooling of the single ion by the condensate. Our experiment calls for further research into the possibility of using this technique for the continuous cooling of quantum computers. We also anticipate that it will lead to explorations of entanglement in hybrid quantum systems and to fundamental studies of the decoherence of a single, locally controlled impurity particle coupled to a quantum environment

Until now, quantum atomic gases and single trapped ions have been treated separately in experiments. Now a team from the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge has combined the two, in the form of a hybrid quantum system composed of a Bose–Einstein condensate of neutral atoms and a trapped atomic ion. They achieve independent control over the two systems, study the fundamental interaction processes and observe sympathetic cooling of the single ion by the condensate. Possible avenues of research that this could lead to include the continuous cooling of quantum computers, and explorations of entanglement in hybrid quantum systems.

Financing the project appears to be the main question, with China offering to bankroll the Burmese line in exchange for the country's rich reserves of lithium, a metal used in batteries.

"We will use government money and bank loans, but the railways may also raise financing from the private sector and also from the host countries," said Mr Wang, indicating the new lines would also be used to carry freight.

European experts say the current low maritime transport costs make it harder to justify an EU-China rail line on commercial grounds however.

High-speed railways will connect all of China’s provincial capitals and cities with more than 500,000 citizens by 2020, serving more than 90 percent of the population, the Ministry of Railways said.

Times Online UK: Continental Europe now has 3,600 miles of high-speed line in operation, with a further 2,000 under construction. China will have 6,000 miles open by 2012.

NY Times: China is investing $292.9 billion (2 trillion RMB) in a nationwide high-speed, energy efficient rail network.

China accelerated its high-speed-rail development plan last year in the wake of the global financial crisis, saying it would increase the passenger network by a third to 16,000 kilometers, or about 10,000 miles, by 2020. The centerpiece of the service is a 1,318-kilometer line with 16 kilometers of tunnels that will cut the trip between Beijing and Shanghai to five hours from 10. The Beijing / Shanghai high speed line is set to open 2012.

The Chinese Railway Ministry says that the new system makes economic sense: A two-track bullet train can transport 160 million people a year, compared with 80 million for a four-lane highway.

Three reactors at the power plant could benefit from a change to use uranium fuel at a higher level of enrichment. This will boost thermal power output, officials said, while and increasing safety and using less uranium. The swap from fuel enriched to 2.4% uranium-235 to new rods with an average enrichment of 3% will boost thermal power output by 5% - enough to yield 200 MWe in net output across the three reactors that could eventually use the new fuel

The self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction in the core of the 220 MWe (gross), indigenously designed, pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) was reached on 23 January, 2010.

The next step for the new unit will be grid connection, at which stage the unit will be regarded as fully operational. The start-up of Rajasthan unit 6 will bring the number of nuclear power reactors in operation in India to 19, with a combined generating capacity of 4560 MWe. Total capacity will increase to 7280 MWe when new reactors are completed in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The graphene sample, was produced epitaxially - a process of growing one crystal layer on another - on silicon carbide. Having such a significant sample not only proves that it can be done in a practical, scalable way, but also allows the scientists to better understand important properties.

The second key breakthrough of the project was measuring graphene's electrical characteristics with unprecedented precision, paving the way for convenient and accurate standards to be established. For products such as transistors in computers to work effectively and be commercially viable, manufacturers must be able to make such measurements with incredible accuracy against an agreed international standard.

The international standard for electrical resistance is provided by the Quantum Hall Effect, a phenomenon whereby electrical properties in 2D materials can be determined based only on fundamental constants of nature. The effect has, until now, only been demonstrated with sufficient precision in a small number of conventional semiconductors. Furthermore, such measurements need temperatures close to absolute zero, combined with very strong magnetic fields, and only a few specialised laboratories in the world can achieve these conditions.

Graphene was long tipped to provide an even better standard, but samples were inadequate to prove this. By producing samples of sufficient size and quality, and accurately demonstrate Hall resistance, the team proved that graphene has the potential to supersede conventional semiconductors on a mass scale.

Furthermore, graphene shows the Quantum Hall Effect at much higher temperatures. This means the graphene resistance standard could be used much more widely as more labs can achieve the conditions required for its use. In addition to its advantages of operating speed and durability, this would also speed the production and reduce costs of future electronics technology based on graphene.

The quantum Hall effect1 allows the international standard for resistance to be defined in terms of the electron charge and Planck's constant alone. The effect comprises the quantization of the Hall resistance in two-dimensional electron systems in rational fractions of RK = h/e2 = 25 812.807 557(18) Ω, the resistance quantum. Despite 30 years of research into the quantum Hall effect, the level of precision necessary for metrology—a few parts per billion—has been achieved only in silicon and iii–v heterostructure devices. Graphene should, in principle, be an ideal material for a quantum resistance standard, because it is inherently two-dimensional and its discrete electron energy levels in a magnetic field (the Landau levels) are widely spaced. However, the precisions demonstrated so far have been lower than one part per million. Here, we report a quantum Hall resistance quantization accuracy of three parts per billion in monolayer epitaxial graphene at 300 mK, four orders of magnitude better than previously reported. Moreover, by demonstrating the structural integrity and uniformity of graphene over hundreds of micrometres, as well as reproducible mobility and carrier concentrations across a half-centimetre wafer, these results boost the prospects of using epitaxial graphene in applications beyond quantum metrology

In 2040, the Chinese economy will reach $123 trillion, or nearly three times the economic output of the entire globe in 2000. China's per capita income will hit $85,000, more than double the forecast for the European Union, and also much higher than that of India and Japan. In other words, the average Chinese megacity dweller will be living twice as well as the average Frenchman when China goes from a poor country in 2000 to a superrich country in 2040. Although it will not have overtaken the United States in per capita wealth, according to my forecasts, China's share of global GDP -- 40 percent -- will dwarf that of the United States (14 percent) and the European Union (5 percent) 30 years from now.

It's the same story with the relative decline of a Europe plagued by falling fertility as its era of global economic clout finally ends. Here, too, the trajectory will be more sudden and stark than most reporting suggests. Europe's low birthrate and its muted consumerism mean its contribution to global GDP will tumble to a quarter of its current share within 30 years. At that point, the economy of the 15 earliest EU countries combined will be an eighth the size of China's.

The first essential factor that is often overlooked: the enormous investment China is making in education.

I [Robert Fogel] estimate that China's rapid urbanization, which shifts workers to industry and services, added 3 percentage points to the annual national growth rate.) However, productivity is increasing even for those who remain in rural areas. In 2009, about 55 percent of China's population, or 700 million people, still lived in the countryside. That large rural sector is responsible for about a third of Chinese economic growth today, and it will not disappear in the next 30 years.

Third, though it's a common refrain that Chinese data are flawed or deliberately inflated in key ways, Chinese statisticians may well be underestimating economic progress. This is especially true in the service sector because small firms often don't report their numbers to the government and officials often fail to adequately account for improvements in the quality of output.

Fourth, and most surprising to some, the Chinese political system is likely not what you think. Although outside observers often assume that Beijing is always at the helm, most economic reforms, including the most successful ones, have been locally driven and overseen.

Finally, people don't give enough credit to China's long-repressed consumerist tendencies. In many ways, China is the most capitalist country in the world right now. In the big Chinese cities, living standards and per capita income are at the level of countries the World Bank would deem "high middle income," already higher, for example, than that of the Czech Republic.

[Describes Europes expected economic decline because of demography and lifestyle choice.]

An unexpected technological breakthrough could also shake things up, though this isn't the sort of thing economists can base predictions on.

Year GDP(yuan) GDP growth USD/CNY China GDP China+HK US GDP  US Growth 
2007 25.8          13      7.3        3.5       3.7   13.8   1.1      Past Germany
2008 31.4           9.6    6.85       4.6       4.8   14.3  -3.1    
2009 34.2           8.9    6.83       5.0       5.2   13.9   0.7      Passing Japan
2010 37.6          10      6.5        5.8       6.0   14.0   1.5      Past Japan
2011 41.0           9      6.0        6.8       7.0   14.2   1.9
2012 44.7           9      5.6        8.0       8.2   14.4   2.1
2013 48.7           9      5.1        9.6       9.8   14.7   3
2014 53.1           9      4.7       11.3      11.5   15.2   3
2015 57.9           9      4.2       13.8      14.0   15.6   3
2016 63.1           9      3.8       16.6      16.8   16.1   3        Past USA
2017 68.1           8      3.5       19.5      19.7   16.6   3
2018 73.6           8      3.2       23        23.2   17.1   3
2019 79.5           8      3         26.5      26.8   17.6   3
2020 86             8      3         28.6      28.9   18.1   3
2021 93             8      3         30.9      31.2   18.7   3
2022 100            8      3         33.4      33.7   19.2   3
2023 108            8      3         36.0      36.3   19.8   3
2024 117            8      3         38.9      39.2   20.4   3
2025 126            8      3         42.0      42.3   21.0   3
2026 136            7      3         45.4      45.7   21.6   3
2027 146            7      3         48.6      48.9   22.3   3
2028 156            7      3         52.0      52.3   23.0   3
2029 167            7      3         55.6      55.9   23.6   3
2030 179            7      3         59.5      59.8   24.4   3

This network will give the domestic air travel industry a run for its money. The Wuhan-Guangzhou express train service line charges a standard fare of 490 yuan (RM246.61) for a one-way trip. Travelling by air — which takes 1.5 hours — costs between 280 yuan and 930 yuan for a one-way ticket.

China will have 86,000km of railway by the end of this year, making it second only to the United States, which has 260,000km. By 2012, the figure will increase to 110,000km, including 13,000km of high-speed tracks serving 42 passenger lines.

Within three years, passengers will be able to use that express railway network to go from Beijing to most provincial capitals within eight hours.

Four lines traversing each of this vast country’s arteries will connect most major transport hubs, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Taiyuan and Nanjing.

And by 2020, China plans to have high-speed railways covering 80 per cent of the current domestic flight network and 70 per cent of the country’s key cities, said the paper, citing a Ministry of Railway blueprint.

State media reported that the State Council, or Cabinet, last week also approved plans for 22 Chinese cities to build subways at a cost of 882 billion yuan.

So while it might be a while yet before the Chinese have an integrated subway, inter-city rail and high-speed national rail system, that network is well on the way, said Ng.

“The Chinese government has the Japanese model in mind. In about 15 to 20 years, China’s rail transport system might look very much like Japan’s.”

A superpower is a state with a leading position in the international system and the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests; it is traditionally considered to be one step higher than a great power.

Alice Lyman Miller (Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School), defines a superpower as "a country that has the capacity to project dominating power and influence anywhere in the world, and sometimes, in more than one region of the globe at a time, and so may plausibly attain the status of global hegemon.

The term was first used in 1943 by Nicholas Spykman and then in 1944 by William T.R. Fox. Fox said in 1944 there were three states that were superpowers: Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The British Empire was the most extensive empire in world history, which was considered the foremost great power and by 1921, held sway over 25% of the world's population and controlled about 25% of the Earth's total land area, while the United States and the Soviet Union grew in power in World War II.

USSR and US economies (1989) according to 1990 CIA The World Factbook
                          USSR              US 
GDP (1989 - millions $)  2,659,500      5,233,300 
Population (July 1990) 290,938,469    250,410,000 
GDP Per Capita ($)           9,211         21,082 
Labor force (1989)     152,300,000    125,557,000 

Country	GDP (2010 nominal)	GDP (2009 nominal)	PPP 2010	Population
China	5,263	4,758	9200	1345
Hong Kong	221	209	307	7.1
Russia	1,364	1,243	2165	141.9
Ukraine	120	116	366	46.1
Belarus	54	50	125	9.7
Kazakhstan	121	107	196	15.4
Azerbaijan	47	38	93	8.5
Georgia	11.8	11.3	25.3	4.4
Uzbekistan	35	31	77	27.4
Armenia	9.8	10.5	21	3.0
Lithuania	39.4	40.4	70	3.4
Latvia	25.5	27	43	2.3
Estonia	18.5	18.8	31.4	1.3
Kyrgyzstan	5.1	4.9	12.4	5.3
Tajikistan	5.5	5.4	13.7	6.7
Moldova	5.2	5.1	11.8	3.8
USSR Total	1862	1708	3251	279.2

The LARP effort initially centered on a series of short quadrupole models at Fermilab and Berkeley Lab and, in parallel, a four-meter-long magnet based on racetrack coils, built at Brookhaven and Berkeley Lab. The next step involved the combined resources of all three laboratories: the fabrication of a long, large-aperture quadrupole magnet.

In 2005 DOE, CERN, and LARP agreed to set a goal of reaching, before the end of 2009, a gradient, or rate of increase in field strength, of 200 tesla per meter (200 T/m) in a four-meter-long superconducting quadrupole magnet with a 90-millimeter bore for housing the beam pipe.

This goal was met on December 4 by LARP’s first “long quadrupole shell” model magnet. The magnet’s superconducting coils performed well, as did its mechanical structure, based on a thick aluminum cylinder (shell) that supports the superconducting coils against the large forces generated by high magnetic fields and electrical currents. The magnet’s ability to withstand quenches – sudden transitions to normal conductivity with resulting heating – also was excellent.

Although the successful test of the long model was a major milestone, it is only one of several steps needed to fully qualify the new technology for use in the LHC. One goal is to further increase the field gradient in the long quadrupole, both to explore the limits of the technology and to reproduce the performance levels demonstrated in short models. A second goal is to address other critical accelerator requirements, such as field quality and alignment, through a new series of models with an even larger aperture (120 millimeters).

Although 3D microprocessors will use up less energy and generate less heat, they will still warm up. This is why John R. Thome’s team is in charge of developing a revolutionary cooling system. Channels with a 50-micron diameter are inserted between each core layer. These microchannels contain a cooling liquid, which exits the circuit in the form of vapour, is brought back to the liquid state by a condenser and finally pumped back into the processor. Next year, a prototype of this cooling system will be implemented and tested under actual operating conditions – but without a processor

Region / Country GDP (PPP)
                  mill. of International dollars      GDP Share percentage (%) 
World                                329,417                             100 
Ming China                            96,000                              29.2 
Mughal India                          74,250                              22.6 
Far East (excluding China, India, 
Japan, Russia)                        24,088                               7.3 
Africa                                22,000                               6.7 
Spanish Empire                        20,789                               6.3 
France                                15,559                               4.7 
Italian States                        14,410                               4.4 
Ottoman Empire                        12,637                               3.8 
Germany                               12,432                               3.8 
Russia and Central Asia               11,447                               3.5 
Japan                                  9,620                               2.9 
Eastern Europe (excluding Russia)      8,743                               2.7 
Spain                                  7,416                               2.1 
British Isles                          6,007                               1.8 

Total production of all versions was approximately 3,155, of which approximately 1,925 remain in service as of 2002, and some 1,265 are considered to be operational

The B61 has been deployed by a very wide variety of U.S. military aircraft. Aircraft cleared for its use have included the B-58 Hustler, B-1, B-2, B-52, and FB-111 strategic bomber aircraft; the F-100 Super Sabre, F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, F-111 and F-4 Phantom II fighter bombers; the A-4 Skyhawk, A-6 Intruder, and A-7 Corsair II attack aircraft; the F-15 Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagle; F22 Raptor; British, German and Italian Panavia Tornado IDS aircraft, plus Belgian and Dutch F-16 Fighting Falcon can also carry the B61.

Though exact numbers are hard to establish, research done by the Natural Resources Defense Council suggests approximately 480 are deployed with United States Air Force units in various European countries

The B61 is a variable yield bomb designed for carriage by high-speed aircraft. It has a streamlined casing capable of withstanding supersonic flight speeds. The weapon is 11 ft 8 in (3.58 m) long, with a diameter of about 13 in (33 cm). Basic weight is about 700 lb (320 kg), although the weights of individual weapons may vary depending on version and fuze/retardation configuration.

The newest variant is the B61 Mod 11, a hardened penetration bomb with a reinforced casing (according to some sources, containing depleted uranium) and a delayed-action fuze, allowing it to penetrate several metres into the ground before detonating, damaging fortified structures further underground [2]. The Mod 11 weighs about 1,200 lb (540 kg). Developed from 1994, the Mod 11 went into service in 1997 replacing the older megaton-yield B53 bomb, a limited number of which had been retained for anti-fortification use. About 50 Mod 11 bombs have been produced, their warheads converted from Mod 7 bombs. At present, the primary carrier for the B61 Mod 11 is the B-2 Spirit.

Most versions of the B61 are equipped with a parachute retarder (currently a 24-ft (7.3 m) diameter nylon/Kevlar chute) to slow the weapon in its descent, giving the aircraft a chance to escape the blast (or to allow the weapon to survive impact with the ground in laydown mode). The B61 can be set for airburst, ground burst, or laydown detonation, and can be released at speeds up to Mach 2 and altitudes as low as 50 feet (15 m). Fusing for most versions is by radar.

The B61 is a variable yield, kiloton-range weapon called "Full Fuzing Option"(FUFO) or "Dial-a-yield" by many service personnel. Tactical versions (Mods 3, 4, and 10) can be set to 0.3, 1.5, 5, 10, 60, 80, or 170 kiloton explosive yield (depending on version). The strategic version (B61 Mod 7) has four yield options, with a maximum of 340 kilotons. Sources conflict on the yield of the earth-penetrating Mod 11; the physics package or bomb core components of the Mod 11 are apparently unchanged from the earlier strategic Mod 7, however the declassified 2001 Nuclear Posture Review [3] states that the B-61-11 has only a single yield; some sources indicate 10 KT, others suggest the 340 kiloton maximum yield as the Mod-7.

Brown adipose tissue is different from white fat pads. It contains loads of mitochondria, miniature power stations which among other things can 'burn' fat. In doing this, they normally generate a voltage similar to that of a battery, which then provides energy for cellular processes. However, the mitochondria of brown fat cells have a short circuit. They go full steam ahead all the time. The energy released when the fat is broken down is released as heat.

'This is actually what is intended,' Professor Alexander Pfeifer from the Bonn PharmaCentre explains. 'Brown fat acts like a natural heating system.' For example, babies would get cold very quickly without this mechanism. Up to now, it was thought that brown fat only occurred in newborn babies and was lost with age. However, this year different groups were able to show that this is not true: even adults have a deposit of brown fat in the neck area. But with very overweight people this deposit is only moderately active or is completely absent.

PKG turns on the heating

The scientists from Bonn, Heidelberg, Cologne, Martinsried and the Federal Institute of Drugs and Medical Products (BfArM) were now able to show which signals prompt the body to produce brown fat cells. A signalling pathway which is controlled by the PKG enzyme takes on a key role in this process. This signalling pathway results in the stem cells of the fatty tissue becoming brown fat cells. For this it switches on the mass production of mitochondria and ensures that UCP is formed, the substance that creates the short circuit. 'Furthermore, we were able to show that PKG makes brown fat cells susceptible to insulin,' Alexander Pfeifer explains. 'Therefore PKG also controls how much fat is burnt in general.'

Mice without PKG have a lower body temperature, as the researchers were able to show with a thermographic camera. Above all, animals in the thermal image lack an 'energy spot' between the shoulder blades, i.e. the place where normally the brown fat is active.

Babies get cold quickly. That is why nature has equipped them with a special heating system, brown fat cells. Their only purpose is to burn fat, thereby generating heat. It only has recently become known that such cells also occur in adults. Scientists at the University of Bonn have now found a new signalling pathway which stimulates the production and function of brown fat cells. They propose using the natural heating system in order to just 'burn' unwanted excess fat. Scientists from Heidelberg, Cologne, Martinsried and the Federal Institute of Drugs and Medical Products (Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, BfArM) were also involved in the study. The results will be published in the journal Science Signaling on 1st December (doi: 10.1126/scisignal.2000511).

As far as the biosensor is concerned, "the design itself is not really new," says Luke Lee, director of the Biomolecular Nanotechnology Center at the University of California at Berkeley. Others have developed similar designs, although Lee notes that none are as user-friendly as the COCHISE system. Unlike the other devices, Lee says, the biosensor devised by Guerrieri and Bocchi and their collaborators offers a way to cleanly deliver cells to the chip and manipulate them.

Meijers group introduced a new class of materials, called supramolecular polymers. He showed for the first time that polymers, that are not consisting of long chains in which the repeating units are bound by strong (covalent) interactions but connected by weaker (non-covalent) interactions, can have very good and unique materials properties. The research foreseen will allow him to make the next step in the development of these materials and to introduce more complex functionalities to these supramolecular systems.

trillion    10^12 terascale
quadrillion 10^15 petascale 
quintillion 10^18 exascale
sextillion  10^21 zettaascale
septillion  10^24 yottascale
octillion   10^27 

Support for these various systems was very varied between countries. For example, less than half (41%) of Swiss drivers supported a system designed to prevent drivers exceeding the speed limit, while in Ireland, 81% support the introduction of such a system. However, this high level of support by the Irish drivers can be partly explained by recent publicity campaigns targeting speed behaviour. It appears that some countries do not like the idea that their behaviour is being controlled, e.g. Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands, although this is less the case in other countries, e.g. Ireland, France and the United Kingdom. In addition to automatic speed cameras, some countries already use cameras to detect drivers not stopping at red lights (‘red runners’) and some use camera technology to monitor ‘tail-gating’ - where drivers of vehicles fail to keep an adequate distance between their vehicle and the one in front of them.
The rapid progress being made in new technologies means that in the future a wide variety of behaviour will be monitored, and perhaps enforced. At present, drivers are more likely to support new technologies designed to enforce red light violations than to detect speeding. As with other new technologies, Swiss drivers are the least favourably disposed to speed radars (at 42%) while the Irish (at 87%) are among the most supportive.
In many countries, drivers declare themselves as being in favour of both types of system (e.g. Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Poland and the United Kingdom) or opposed to both (e.g. Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). These results are probably influenced by the current situation in each country and the drivers’ use of and experience with such devices.
While existing vehicle identification devices
make it possible to have access to some services (e.g. automatic payment of tolls) they may become increasingly useful to the police to, for example, identify those who exceed speed limits, or who infringe other laws. Overall, 61% of European drivers would be ready to install such an identification system in their cars, with the highest level of support being found in Italy and Slovenia; however, only 51% would support such systems being used by the police. There are significant differences between countries. The Irish were very supportive of such a system, while the German speaking countries, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, were typically against them.
Drivers are more in favour of the use of ‘black boxes’, which could record vehicle speeds, steering, braking behaviours, etc., which could help to explain how an accident happened, than they are towards such devices which could be used by the police to enforce traffic laws.Three elements appeared to determine the drivers' attitude such towards new technologies:
- What the system was to be used for;
- Their familiarity with the systems; in some countries, drivers may feel that the use of speed cameras have reached saturation levels, while drivers unfamiliar with a given technological device can tend to overestimate both its advantages and drawbacks;
- The drivers' attitudes towards enforcement and the importance they give to their freedom to behave as they wish

Given the current sophistication of these devices, and the potential uses to which they could be put in the future, it seems surprising that so many drivers support their introduction. It may be that we are already resigned to their introduction, as our society is becoming increasingly advanced technologically. Perhaps it is that automation is fair in that it works the same for everyone

2000 km total length of tether (for example, 50 tethers 40 km long each) could weigh 50–100 kg (frame, solar panels, high-voltage power source, electron gun, motorised tether reels, various sensors and control processor), of which the tether mass is 10 kg. According to the new results, such a device could produce 1N thrust and produce a specific acceleration of 10–20 mm/s2. If used to move a 500 kg payload, for example, the device would produce a 30 km/s velocity change over six months.

The theoretical results presented here call for experimental verification. The verification could come from a measurement of electrosphere size, thrust force or both in a space or laboratory experiment. Two-dimensional particlein-cell or Vlasov plasma simulations might give a better estimate of the thrust force than the rough analytical calculations presented in this paper. The 2-D simulations would need to be equipped with some kind of trapped electron removal scheme. Because the electron temperature 12 eV is several thousand times smaller than the depth of the potential well, extra care should be taken into the simulations to avoid spurious trapping by numerical errors.

Although the electric sail plasma physical problem is simple in the sense that only electrostatic forces are involved, the problem spans a wide range in parameter space. The range in energy goes from 12 eV electron temperature to 20 kV tether potential. The spatial scale is from 10μm radius wires to 100 m wide potential structure and to 20–100 km long tethers, which gives 7 to 10 orders of magnitude in space. Finally, the timescales start from 0.1 ps needed for an electron to move across a 10μm wire width to several minutes needed to remove the trapped electrons (15–16 orders of magnitude). It is evident from this range of scales that a brute-force simulation approach is not fruitful. Thus, while theory is essential and simulations helpful, experimental studies are crucial in designing the electric sail.

Finally, it is worth remarking that if the electric sail thrust is indeed as large as the estimates presented in this paper indicate, the potential of the electric sail for space transportation in the solar system is enormous. Exploring the potential scientific and commerical applications and implications is, however, outside the scope of this theoretical study.

A full-scale electric sail consists of a number (50-100) of long (e.g., 20 km), thin (e.g., 25 microns) conducting tethers (wires). The spacecraft contains a solar-powered electron gun (typical power a few hundred watts) which is used to keep the spacecraft and the wires in a high (typically 20 kV) positive potential. The electric field of the wires extends a few tens of metres into the surrounding solar wind plasma. Therefore the solar wind ions "see" the wires as rather thick, about 100 m wide obstacles. A technical concept exists for deploying (opening) the wires in a relatively simple way and guiding or "flying" the resulting spacecraft electrically.

The main limitation of the electric sail is that since it uses the solar wind, it cannot produce much thrust inside a magnetosphere where there is no solar wind. Although the direction of the thrust is basically away from the Sun, the direction can be varied within some limits by inclining the sail. Tacking towards the Sun is therefore also possible.

the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs to create a review pathway for adjuvants that can become components of multiple vaccines. One, called monophosphoryl lipid A, was recently the first modern adjuvant to be approved in the U.S.—in this case as part of a vaccine for cervical cancer. We've been slow to integrate vaccine additives, bowing to imprudent activism and litigation. The European strategy of having adjuvants preapproved, as part of mock up pandemic vaccines, was smart. We should adopt it.

the FDA requires vaccines to sit for weeks after they come off the manufacturing line to make sure they haven't grown bacterial impurities. This is why most of the H1N1 vaccine supply is released in waves and won't be ready until later this winter. The FDA can work with manufacturers to develop better standardized tools, called assays, to quickly assess new vaccine.