According to the high-energy equations used by Louis Crane the actual energy produced by a million ton black hole is 56 petawatts, the equivalent of 0.62 kilograms of mass-energy radiated away per second, meaning a lifespan of less than 17 years. To keep the black hole operating it has to be continually force-fed new mass, else it will eventually decay, exploding in an immense blast of high energy particles.

Louis Crane is sceptical of the suggested alternative space-drives – for example wormholes and warp-drives – since the negative energy needed to keep such distorted space-time stable has yet to be demonstrated in such large amounts. To colonize the Universe, Crane believes, intelligent life will need to create and control black holes, thus completing the circle which created that life in the first place.

Crane’s current research is to apply quantum gravity theory to the finer details of the process of creation and decay of low-mass black holes. The possible creation of miniature black holes by the LHC will help refine and constrain quantum gravity theory, perhaps even give us clues towards creating matter annihilating black holes. Another important area of research is the question of how to convert the intense radiation output from a black hole into a useful exhaust stream. The finer practicalities may well take centuries to achieve, but the implications go well beyond even the lifetime of our Universe, affecting the evolution of countless more daughter universes we may create in the aeons ahead

North Korea is really really f***ed so far this year. Their dry season, where food shortages happen, is between March and May, and this year farm output is horrible. [1 Korea Herald article] The North was depending on some food donations from the south, but they hit snags due to Chinese food export regulations. People are quite literally starving to death right now, just as they were in the 90s.

During this time of trouble, the regime attempted to do a currency revaluation, by chopping two zeros off each unit of currency. They also capped how much currency you could trade in, which seriously ass-raped anyone who had been responsibly saving money. The reason they did this was to stop "profiteers' and traders from making so much money.

However the revaluation had a terrible effect in that Chinese traders who had previously been accepting NK currency no longer want to come in and do business. These black-market traders that NK was trying to crack down on actually bring a large amount of food into the country. By essentially swiping all their money, these traders have stopped bringing food, which has only exacerbated the food shortage. The government official in charge of the currency revaluation has been executed. [2 UK Timesonline article ]

During this whole debacle, they're also trying to execute a transition of power to one of Dear Leader's sons, who has never run a country and has no cult-of-personality around him. Satisifaction with the regime is at an all time low, even among elites. [3 Korea Herald article]

It is heavily speculated that the regime will either topple or the transition will not go well as shown in OP's article. Also, an amazing article which summarizes most of it up is [4 UK Times Online article].

The world's second biggest economy, which wants to double its provision for its fuel consumption, will make an announcement in June on whether it indends to press ahead with the plants, the Nikkei business daily said.

Japan has few energy resources and relies on nuclear power from 53 plants for nearly one third of its domestic electricity needs.

The government is eager to boost its energy self-sufficiency ratio, which stands at 18 percent at home and at 38 percent with government and corporate interests overseas taken into account, the report said.

The government is looking to build eight nuclear plants by 2020 and at least six more by 2030 to double the figure to 70 percent. It will provide funding to companies looking to work on nuclear power projects

China Per Capita GDP Estimates
2010  $4150
2011  $4870
2012  $5760
2013  $6860
2014  $8070
2015  $10800
2016  $12800  - Exceeds the $11906 cutoff for World Bank High Income
2017  $15100  - Probably exceeds an inflation adjusted cutoff 
2018  $17300
2019  $18800
2020  $20300

Population growth in China, the world’s most populous country, is slowing and currently stands at 0.5 percent annually. China surpassed the 1.2 billion population mark in 1994 and reached 1.3 billion in 2006.

According to the latest revisions, India is projected to become the world’s most populous country in 2025. The population growth rate in India currently is about 1.4 percent, nearly three times that of China. The difference in the growth rate between the two countries is explained by fertility. India’s total fertility rate — the number of births a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — is currently estimated at 2.7 and projected to decline slowly, and that is driving population growth in the country.

One of the consequences to China’s declining fertility rate is that the number of new entrants to China’s labor force may be near its peak. The population ages 20-24 is projected to peak at 124 million in 2010. This peak is earlier than in India, which is projected to reach 116 million in 2024.

Despite a shrinking younger population, China’s labor force may continue to grow for several years since the population ages 20 to 59 (prime working ages) is not expected to peak until 2016 at 831 million, an increase of 24 million from the current estimated level.

China and India together account for 37 percent of the world’s population

The Department of Energy's budget request for FY2011 currently includes more than $1,000 million for small, light water reactors whose allowed market is limited to military vessels. It would seem that technologies used in that program could be used as the basis for prototype licenses for systems like the mPower and NuScale in a process that could take far less than 10 years.

Silicon-based image sensors – the technology used today for all digital cameras including handheld, professional, mobile phone, security and automotive cameras – capture on average a mere 25 percent of light. QuantumFilm captures between 90-95 percent, enabling better pictures in even the most challenging lighting conditions. This increase in efficiency will deliver improvements across the entire imaging market, allowing QuantumFilm to be the de-facto next generation camera platform. The first target market for QuantumFilm is mobile handsets, where there is the greatest demand for small, high performance image sensors.

The technology, called a quantum light optic, will be sold to three of the five major LCD manufacturers and integrated into commercial displays by 2011, says Seth Coe Sullivan, founder and chief technology officer of QD Vision.

QD Vision, which was spun out of research at MIT, is already using quantum light optic technology to improve the efficiency of light-emitting diodes. The first lighting products based on the technology will be available by February 2010 (about now)

This new process for fabricating inorganic nanocomposites gives us unprecedented ability to tune composition and control morphology.

The researchers anticipate demand from users seeking this latest addition to the Foundry’s arsenal of materials synthesis capabilities, as this mix-and-match approach to nanocomposites could be used in an infinite list of applications, including materials for such popular uses as battery electrodes, photovoltaics and electronic data storage.

“The beauty of our method is not just the flexibility of compositions that can be achieved, but the ease with which this can be done. No specialized equipment is required, a variety of substrates can be used and the process is scalable,” said Ravisubhash Tangirala, a Foundry post-doctoral researcher working with Milliron.

A paper reporting this researcher titled, “Modular inorganic nanocomposites by conversion of nanocrystal superlattices,” appears in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition and is available in Angewandte Chemie International Edition online. Co-authoring the paper with Milliron and Tangirala were Jessy Baker and Paul Alivisatos.

Inorganic nanocomposites have recently emerged as a means of
controlling material functionality through morphology, as well as
composition, to give rise to combinations of properties not generally
found in homogeneous single-phase materials. However, the
development of nanocomposites is hindered by the lack of general
fabrication methods capable of controlling morphology over a wide range
of compositions. Here we report the preparation of inorganic
nanocomposites through the post-assembly replacement of organic
ligands in nanocrystal (spheres, rods, binary, etc) superlattices with
inorganic chalcogenidometallate clusters (CMCs). Separate synthesis and
processing of the nanocrystals and CMCs enables complete compositional
modularity, while allowing the nanocrystal assemblies to retain their
original morphology.

An all-printed rectifier that can provide at least 10 V dc from a 13.56-MHz radio frequency identification (RFID) reader and an all-printed ring oscillator that can generate at least 100 Hz of clock signal to read a 96-bit RFID tag in a second under the dc power provided by the rectifier should first be printable on plastic foils for the realization of roll-to-roll (R2R) printed ultralow cost RFID tags. Here, we describe a practical way to provide all-printed and R2R-printable antenna, rectifiers, and ring oscillators on plastic foils and demonstrate 13.56-MHz-operated 1-bit RF tags. The all-printed and R2R-printable 13.56-MHz 1-bit tags can generate 102.8 Hz of clock signal as the tag approaches the 13.56-MHz RFID reader.

Inertial Electrostatic fusion can make power at about 5/8 the cost of conventional plants (most is BOP, Balance of Plant costs) process steam at 1/3 the cost of others, make synfuels (ethanol) at less than $0.5/gallon, destroy nuclear waste, and make space engines commercial, etc, etc. The basic physics is summarized in Bussards IAC paper in October, 2006. And in much earlier papers in the early 1990's. All still valid.

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.