Battery safety concerns ground Boeing 787 and the issue with using “Lithium-ion Batteries”

Battery safety concerns ground Boeing 787 and the issue with using “Lithium-ion Batteries”

January 19th, 2013

The US and Japan have grounded their Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts due to concerns over it battery safety. Recently, a battery-fault warning on an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner in Japan forced an emergency landing. A battery overheated and started a fire in an empty 787 operated by Japan Airlines (JAL) at Boston’s Logan International Airport. The aviation authority of the US, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered that 787s in the United States be grounded until their batteries are shown to be safe, the first such action since 1979.  United Airlines reported a problem in one of its six 787s with the wiring in the same area as the battery fire on JAL’s airliner.
The Matter:

• Why Lithium batteries?

1. Unusually high energy density
2. Can be moulded into a variety of shapes

Although all air-planes have batteries, but the Dreamliner requires powerful batteries because Dreamliner’s control systems are driven entirely by electrical signals in place of the hydraulic controls found in traditional generations of jets. So, Boeing depends in part on lithium-ion batteries, which provide quick and powerful charges. Designers needed something which is light in weight and at the same time gives high power output. So, they opted for Lithium-ion technology batteries which have an unusually high energy density, which means the units can be smaller and thus lighter for a given amount of power than traditional batteries.
Lithium-ion technology is the same technology that we see in in the batteries of most modern smartphones and laptop computers, where the demands are rather similar, but on a much smaller scale.
Another big advantage of using Lithium-ion units: These can be moulded into a variety of shapes and thus, provide flexibility to design and fit them in awkward places, which is a key concern when space is at a premium.
Airbus A380 superjumbo also uses the same technology in batteries but in the Drealiners these batteries are used on a much more extensive scale.
Now, with advantages, there is a potential disadvantage of using lithium-ion batteries:

• Lithium-ion batteries require more careful management than other types of battery due to the ‘Thermal Runaway problem’.

We all remember the reports in Newspapers, TV Channels about batteries in laptops and mobile-phones smoking and catching fire.Thus, Lithium ion batteries can be prone to what is referred to as thermal runaway as a result of the very of chemistry involved. As a battery reaches a specific temperature, it can start self-heating with potentially disastrous consequences.
Also these batteries are Vulnerable to problems and leaks of battery fluid. When the problem of leakage starts, the fuel can in turn ignite automatically.

Black Holes are growing faster than previously believed

January 19th, 2013

 

Scientists from Swinburne University have revealed that the growth of super massive black holes, which are present at the centers of galaxies, does not occurs in the same way as it was previously thought.

Previous Thoughts and New Discovery:
Previous Thoughts:
It was thought that black holes increased their mass in step with the growth of their host galaxy. Both black holes and budding stars competed for the available gas to feed for their growth but the ratio of ratio of black hole mass to galaxy mass was thought remain preserved. It was thought that the star clusters contained a constant 0.2% of the galaxy mass.
New discovery:
It has now been discovered that Black holes have been growing much faster than we previously thought. It has been found that in big galaxies each ten-fold increase of a galaxy’s stellar mass is associated with a much larger 100-fold growth in its black hole mass. However, the opposite behavior exists among the tightly packed clusters of stars that are observed at the centres of smaller galaxies and in disk galaxies like our Milky Way because smaller the galaxy, the greater the fraction of stars in these dense, compact clusters which makes them dominant over black holes. Scientists also claim to have solved long-elusive mystery of “Intermediate Mass” black holes with masses between that of a single star and one million stars. As per researchers, numerous galaxies already known to contain a black hole – albeit of a currently unknown mass – should contain these missing `intermediate mass’ black holes which may be big enough to be seen by new generation of extremely large telescopes. These black holes will also hold the potential to consume planets and stars venturing too close to them.

 

IRFC to issue Tax-free bonds

IRFC to issue Tax-free bonds

January 18th, 2013

With an aim to raise Rs.8,886 crore, Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd (IRFC) will launch a tax-free bond issue. This would enhance IRFC resources for buying rolling stock for the Indian railways.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has authorized IRFC to issue bonds up to Rs.10,000 crore during 2013 financial year.
The public issue of tax-free, secured, redeemable, non-convertible bonds in the nature of debentures will open on January 21, 2013 and close on January 29, 2013. The bonds have been rated with highest ratings AAA/stable by Crisil, CARE AAA by Care and AAA by ICRA which implies that the bonds have highest degree of safety with regard to timely servicing of financial obligation and carry lowest credit risk.
What is IRFC?
IRFC is a dedicated financing arm of the Ministry of Railways. IRFC’s prime aim is to raise money from the market in order to partly arrange finance for the planned expenditure of the Indian Railways. The money arranged by IRFC is utilized for the acquisition of rolling stock assets and for meeting other developmental needs of the Indian Railways. The borrowing programme of IRFC is guided by the requirements projected by Ministry of Railways.
Thus following are the Objectives of IRFC:

1. To finance the acquisition of Rolling Stock assets to be leased to MOR on the best possible rates and terms.
2. To tap domestic as well as Overseas Markets for funds at the most competitive rates & terms by issue of tax-free and taxable bonds/FRNs/Foreign Currency Loans/medium term loans from Banks to achieve plan financing target fixed by MOR.
3. To achieve ’zero complaint status’ trhough improved customer service to the bondholders/investors/lenders.
4. To ensure optimum utilization of resources.
5. To constantly review the debt portfolio for possible restructuring to lower the cost.

RBI introduces Dollar- Rupee swap facility

RBI introduces Dollar- Rupee swap facility

January 18th, 2013

RBI has introduced a dollar-rupee swap facility.
Objective: To increase the flow of credit to the export sector to support incremental Pre-shipment export Credit in Foreign Currency (PCFC) by banks.
As per RBI, banks will have the option to avail rupee refinance to the extent of the swap with RBI under a special export credit refinance facility. The facility will be available to banks from January 21 till June 28, 2013, for a fixed tenor of three or six months.
The total limit for the banking system works out to $6.5 billion. Banks will be able to buy US dollars up to its eligible swap limit from RBI and at the same time sell the same amount of dollars forward as per the term of the swap, at the prevailing market rates for swaps of similar tenor. At the end of the swap term, the banks will exchange the dollars against the rupees with RBI.
RBI will decide upon the number of banks that can access the facility, the maximum amount of swap that RBI would contract with banks and the maximum limit each bank can do on a particular day after taking into account market conditions.

India among major victims of ‘Red October’

India among major victims of ‘Red October’

January 18th, 2013

What is RED OCTOBER ?
 ‘Red October’ (or ‘Rocra’ for short) = A Cyber spying campaign (a cyber-espionage network) launched in 2007 by unidentified criminals that have been secretly stealing important data from many computer systems used by government agencies, military, nuclear, gas and oil industries, aerospace, private companies, etc. in many countries since 2007.
The cyber-espionage network has been uncovered by experts at Russia’s Kaspersky Lab. As per Kaspersky Lab, Russia’s multinational computer security company, the ‘Red October’ malware called Backdoor.Win32.Sputnik, has been stealing confidential data.
It has infected hundreds of victims around the world in 8 main categories:

1. Government
2. Diplomatic / embassies
3. Research institutions
4. Trade and commerce
5. Nuclear / energy research
6. Oil and gas companies
7. Aerospace
8. Military

The majority of infections are actually from the embassies of ex-USSR country members. India is one of the main victims of ‘Red October’ cyber espionage attack along with Russia which is the worst hit and many other countries like Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belgium and the United States. Russia tops the list of countries with 38 detected infections, India ranks fifth with 14 infections. The United States is also on the list with 6 attacks. The Kaspersky Lab is continuing its investigation in collaboration with international law enforcement agencies and national Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT).
Based on our Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) a list of countries with most infections (only for those with more than 5 victims):

• Country-Infections
  RUSSIAN FEDERATION-35
  KAZAKHSTAN-21
  AZERBAIJAN-15
  BELGIUM-15
  INDIA-14
  AFGHANISTAN-10
  ARMENIA    10
  IRAN; ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF TURKMENISTAN-7
  UKRAINE-6
  UNITED STATES-6
  VIETNAM-6

Source of Iodine oxide gas responsible for destruction of ozone over oceans identified

January 17th, 2013

Scientists at the University of York and Leeds in Britain have established that the majority of ozone-depleting gas iodine oxide observed over the remote ocean comes from a previously unknown marine source. As per researchers, the main source of iodine oxide can be explained by emissions of hypoiodous acid (HOI) – a gas not yet considered as being released from the ocean – along with a contribution from molecular iodine.
Since the 1970s when methyl iodide (CH3I) was discovered as everywhere in the ocean, the presence of iodine in the atmosphere has been understood to come mainly from emissions of organic compounds from phytoplankton — microscopic marine plants.
As per latest research,  reactive iodine, along with bromine, in the atmosphere is accountable for the destruction of huge amounts of ozone – around 50 % more than estimated by the world’s most advanced climate models – in the lower atmosphere over the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Scientists quantified gaseous emissions of inorganic iodine following the reaction of iodide (compound of iodine with another element or group) with ozone in a series of lab experiments and formation of both molecular iodine and HOI.
Researchers call it a self destruction mechanism, where more concentration of ozone leads to formation of more halogen gases which in turn destroy it.
This reaction could be responsible for around 75% of observed iodine oxide levels over the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

Scientists develop drug to help paralyzed walk again

Scientists develop drug to help paralyzed walk again

January 12th, 2013

As per scientists at Stanford University, they have developed a drug called LM11A-31 which they claim could help paralyzed people walk again. During tests on mice with no movement in their lower limbs, the drug was found to allow them to walk with ‘well-coordinated steps’ and even to replicate swimming motions.
The drug was tested for its ability to prevent the death of cells called oligodendrocytes. These cells cover and protect axons, long projections of a nerve cell, by wrapping them in a myelin sheath that protects the fibres. Besides functioning as axon insulation, myelin allows for the rapid transmission of signals between nerve cells.