Tuesday, December 13, 2005

After two days, the 2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire has finally been extinguished.

The fires began after a series of explosions early on the morning of 11 December 2005. The terminal, known locally as the Buncefield Depot, is an oil storage facility located near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. These were some of the largest explosions ever to occur in the country and the incident has been described as the biggest of its kind in peacetime Europe.

The Hertfordshire Fire Service chief Roy Wilsher said: “There are still some small bund (concrete container) fires, but the tanks are out.”

Fire crews would remain at the scene over the next few days cooling the area to ensure fires did not break out again, he said.

A few residents are being allowed to return to their homes within an exclusion zone set up around the site.

Friday, December 12, 2008

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has revealed the details of the cost-cutting measures for Formula One that were agreed on Wednesday in talks with the teams. The new measures are expected to save the manufacturer teams at least 30 percent of their budgets next season, with the savings increasing as more of the measures are introduced in the future. The raft of agreements has saved the teams from the threat of standardised engines until at least 2013 and savings for independent teams are predicted by the FIA to be even higher.

For next season the engines will now have to last 3 races, rather than thee current 2 race requirement, and each driver is allowed up to 8 engines throughout the year and the team is allowed a further 4 for testing. Engines will now be rev limited to 18,000 rpm and Renault managed to obtain agreement from the other teams for modifications of its engine to bring it into line with the other engines in the sport. Testing will be affected, with in season testing banned and wind tunnels not to exceed 6:10 scale or 50 metres per second. Teams will be expected to share fuel and tyre data at grand prix in an effort to save on the manpower requirement at the race weekends. The teams will also have to close their factories for 6 weeks a year. The FIA will also be conducting research into the possibility of using a medal system for F1 next season, an idea championed by Bernie Ecclestone, the boss of Formula One Management.

Starting in 2010 more changes will come into force, with the introduction of the cheaper engines being made available to independent teams, costing less than €5 million per season. Any contracts for the cheaper 2010 engines will have to be signed by the 20th of December, 2008. Another engine freeze will occur at the start of the 2010 season, with the engines from 2010 continuing through to the end of 2012. The FIA also intends to try to introduce standardised transmission systems in 2010 and will look at chassis design to determine which aerodynamic parts will be standardised or allowed to be competitive differentiators. Races will see more changes in 2010 with the use of tyre warmers and refuelling banned, and the possibility of shorter race distances has been put forward pending market research. What work the teams can engage in at the factories will also be further limited this season to reduce the manpower and other running costs.

The FIA has raised the possibility of a new power train entirely to be developed for the 2013 season, in consultation with the Formula One Teams Association, and will also discuss making Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) compulsory from 2010. KERS, which is being introduced as a voluntary measure in 2009, has divided the teams with some embracing the technology while others, such as Ferrari, have criticised it.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

A paste containing synthetic tooth enamel can seal small cavities without drilling. Kazue Yamagishi and colleagues at the FAP Dental Institute in Tokyo say that the paste can repair small cavities in 15 minutes.

Currently, fillers don’t stick to such small cavities so dentists must drill bigger holes. Hydroxyapatite crystals, of which natural enamel is made, bond with teeth to repair tiny areas of damage.

Yamagishi and colleagues have tested their paste on a lower premolar tooth that showed early signs of decay. They found that the synthetic enamel merged with the natural enamel. The synthetic enamel also appears to make teeth stronger which will improve resistance to future decay. As with drilling, however, there is still the potential for pain: The paste is strongly acidic to encourage crystal growth and causes inflammation if it touches the gums.

The paste is reported in the journal Nature.

Monday, July 17, 2006

The leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) nations met over the weekend in St. Petersburg in Russia for the 32nd G8 Summit, held under Russia’s presidency, to discuss the ongoing Israel-Lebanon crisis, the stalled world trade talks and other issues. They also met with other world leaders, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Militant-activist group Al-Qaeda has recently issued new threats to Saudi Arabia of more attacks, incidentally following what appeared to be a suicide bomber’s unsuccessful attempt to kill a Ryadh interior minister last month, Prince Mohammad bin Nayef.

A Middle East-based Al-Qaeda leader by the name of Abu Baseer al-Wuhayshi was heard saying the following on a video posted online: “If you can flee with your skin, then do so. By Allah, they will climb your walls and will come to you from where you do not expect.”

“Our heroes have woven their grave-clothes with your blood,” he went on. Nayef, who is also responsible for security affairs, was lightly injured in an August 27 attack that could have claimed his life. The bomber was a militant by the name of Abdullah bin Hassan bin Taleh Assiri, who came to meet him from Yemen to his personal residence. He claimed to wish to hand himself in and also assist a group of other Saudis in Yemen to return home. While making a phone call to one of them in the reception room where they were meeting, he blew himself up.

In the last few years, Saudi Arabia has been much a target of unrest prevalent in the Middle East. This attack was the first to be perpetrated by Al-Qaeda on a Saudi government official after a similar high-profile attack in 2004. It was also the first attack attempted on a member of the royal family.