Study Sees Climate Change Impact on Alaska

Many of Alaska’s roads, runways, railroads and water and sewer systems will wear out more quickly and cost more to repair or replace because of climate change, according to a study released yesterday.
Higher temperatures, melting permafrost, a reduction in polar ice and increased flooding are expected to raise the repair and replacement cost of thousands of infrastructure projects as much as $6.1 billion for a total of nearly $40 billion — about a 20 percent increase — from now to 2030, according to the study, by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
The cost estimates are based on the needs of nearly 16,000 pieces of public infrastructure, including airports and small segments of roads.
Temperatures have risen by an average of two to five degrees in different parts of the state in recent decades, and the changes have already been linked to problems like coastal erosion in remote Alaskan villages and wildfires. The researchers who wrote the report said their estimates for increased costs were based on “middle-of-the-road” forecasts for warming in a place where projects were designed to endure the cold.
The study is the first of its kind in Alaska, and its authors emphasize that it does not project costs for things like moving villages, protecting the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, fighting wildfires or protecting private property that may be affected.

Oil trades above $70 a barrel

Prices shot back up above the psychologically important $70 a barrel mark on Friday, trading at a level last seen 10 months ago for the second time in two days on worries about gasoline supplies.
With most U.S. refineries expected to increase output in the coming months after finishing maintenance, pressure on gasoline was expected to drop. Still, prices could remain high because increased refinery capacity puts greater demands on crude availability.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 61 cents to $70.18 a barrel in electronic trading by midday in Europe.
The Nymex crude contract had settled 60 cents higher at $69.57 a barrel on Thursday in the U.S. after rising as high as $70.52 and trading above $70 for several hours — the first time it did so in the past 10 months.
The U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that gasoline inventories dropped 700,000 barrels in the week ended June 22. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a 1.1 million barrel gain.
The EIA report also showed that crude oil supplies rose 1.6 million barrels to 350.9 million barrels last week, above the average estimate of a 1 million barrel increase. Refinery utilization rebounded 1.8 percentage points to 89.4 percent, higher than estimates of a gain of 0.8 percentage points.
Heating oil futures rose by more than 2 pennies to $2.0391 a gallon.

NASA moves up next shuttle launch

NASA has changed the launch date on its next space shuttle mission to the international space station to August 7, two days earlier than the previous target, officials said on Thursday.
The new date will give NASA a bit more time to get air Endeavour off the launch pad during what is shaping up to be a busy time for rocket launches at the Eastern Test Range, which includes the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
NASA plans to launch its next Mars probe on August 3 and an Atlas launch to put a new military communications satellite into orbit is planned for August 11.
Endeavour will carry another piece of the space station's exterior beam and a large module filled with supplies and equipment.
The crew includes a teacher, named Barbara Morgan, who trained as the backup for teacher-in-space Christa McAuliffe for the 1986 Challenger mission.
McAuliffe and her six crew mates were killed during liftoff due to a booster rocket failure.

A Tiny ‘Green’ PC That Doesn’t Need the Desktop

The Enano E2 is a tiny, silent PC with a footprint, and a carbon footprint, that makes most standard-size PCs look like S.U.V.’s.
Enano says that thanks to their small size and low-power processors, its 6.8-by-8.8-inch computers offer power savings of up to 70 percent when compared with full-size PCs. Enano also promotes the E2’s small size as offering improved efficiency over larger, bulkier PCs and cases. An optional mounting bracket allows the E2 to hang from a flat-screen monitor, removing it from the desktop entirely.
The E2 has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and up to three gigabytes of memory. There are four U.S.B. ports, an Ethernet port, an optional TV tuner and a video-out port for connecting the device to a television. In most configurations the computer includes a DVD reader and burner and up to 300 gigabytes of hard drive space.
Prices for the E2 line range from $1,825 for the EX7400U with a 2.16-gigahertz processor to $1,245 for the 1.67-gigahertz EX5500.

China mulls halting savings tax

The Chinese government is considering suspending or reducing a 20% tax currently in place on bank savings, state media has reported.
The move to change the tax - introduced in 1999 - would be aimed at making saving in banks more attractive.
Shares have replaced banks as the most popular place to invest money - with China's stock market climbing 130% in 2006 and by more than 50% in 2007.
However, there are concerns that the stock market has become overheated.
Better returns
Strong demand from domestic investors, many of whom are using savings to buy shares, is helping to underpin gains on the stock market.
One of the main factors behind the jump in the market has been a willingness among ordinary people, such as students and pensioners, as well as investors and businesspeople, to buy shares.
Instead of leaving their savings in bank accounts, many people are now using the cash to buy shares in the hope of receiving better returns.
In May this year, Beijing opted to triple the tax on stock transactions to 0.3% to try to damp down the enthusiasm of private investors.

The Robots contribution in the next Generation

What does the future hold for robot applications? How will robots affect society in five years; 10 years; 20? These are typical questions received by Robotic Industries Association. Following is a look forward based on a correspondence I recently sent to a student to address in a small way a very big question: ''How will robots affect future generations?''.
Robots in Your Every Day Life
Let's start with life as we know it. Did you know that your life is affected virtually every day by robots?

If you ride in a car, an industrial robot helped build it. If you eat cookies, such as the Milano brand from Pepperidge Farm, there are robot assembly lines to help make and pack them. The computer you use to send e-mails and use for research almost certainly owes its existence, in part, to industrial robots. Industrial robots are even used in the medical field, from pharmaceuticals to surgery.

From the manufacturing of pagers and cell phones to space exploration, robots are part of the every day fabric of life.

Robots: Past and Present
Thirty years ago, a person who pondered robots would probably never have guessed that robot technology would be so pervasive, and yet so overlooked. A 19 year-old author named Isaac Asimov, who in 1939 started writing science fiction about humanoid robots, inspired some of the first popular notions about robots. Before him it was Karel Capek, a Czech playwright, who coined the word 'robot' in his 1921 play ''R.U.R.'' And even in millennia past, some folks conceived of artificial people built of wire and metal, even stone, known by some as ''automatons,'' or manlike machines.

Today, robots are doing human labor in all kinds of places. Best of all, they are doing the jobs that are unhealthy or impractical for people. This frees up workers to do the more skilled jobs, including the programming, maintenance and operation of robots.

A simplified definition of a robot is that it must be a device with three or more axis of motion (e.g. shoulder, elbow, wrist), an end effector (tool), and that it may be reprogrammed for different tasks. (This disqualifies most of the toy ''robots'' sold at stores.)

Robots that work on cars and trucks are welding and assembling parts, or lifting heavy parts --the types of jobs that involve risks like injury to your back and arm or wrist, or they work in environments filled with hazards like excessive heat, noise or fumes-dangerous places for people. Robots that assemble and pack cookies or other foodstuff do so without the risk of carpal tunnel injury, unlike their human counterparts. Robots that make computer chips are working in such tiny dimensions that a person couldn't even do some of the precision work required.

In the health industry, robots are helping to research and develop drugs, package them and even assist doctors in complicated surgery such as hip replacement and open heart procedures. And the main reason robots are used in any application is because they do the work so much better that there is a vast improvement in quality and/or production, or costs are brought down so that companies can be the best at what they do while keeping workers safe.

Robots Keep the Economy Rolling
High-quality products can lead to higher sales, which means the company that uses technology like robots is more likely to stay alive and vital, which is good for the economy. In addition to improving quality, robots improve productivity, another key element to economic health.

To think about how robots might affect future generations, consider what happened a few hundred years ago when the industrial revolution began. For instance, in 1794 Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, and later the concept of interchangeable parts for mass production of manufactured products. His inventions spurred growth in the United States, increased productivity in a variety of industries, and created more job opportunities as companies throughout the world adopted his technology and ideas.

In 1961, Joseph Engelberger sold the first industrial robot to General Motors Corporation, where it performed machine loading and unloading duties in an environment that was hot and dirty, and in fact dangerous to humans. That was 40 years ago...before personal computers and the Internet. A lot of technology evolved that helped make the industrial robot the affordable, successful machine it is today.

A Future in Service Robots?
Who knew all the effects the robot would have? Maybe Mr. Engelberger, often referred to as the ''Father of Robotics,'' could foresee much of what was to come. He eventually sold his company, called Unimation, and became a pioneer in service robots, a sector of robotics in its infancy, but which is predicted to eventually exceed the market for industrial robots. He lectures even today that service robots must have the following criteria to succeed:

• nificent physical execution (they have to be really good at what they do);
• Sensory perception (one or more of the five senses, like sight, touch, etc.);
• A ''quasi-structured'' living environment (things have to be predictable)
• Prior knowledge of their environment and duties (programmed with expert skills and knowledge);
• A good cost/benefit standard (reasonable cost compared to expected duties).

These are high standards indeed! Most people can do service tasks very efficiently compared to any current robotic alternative. Most service robots would cost far more than human labor does at this time (although Mr. Engelberger did demonstrate a successful business model for a cost-effective system for hospital robot ''gofers'' when he created the HelpMate company).

The opportunity for robotics arises when you ask if there are enough skilled people to do certain tasks at a reasonable price, like elder care, an industry greatly lacking in skilled labor and laborers. Much thought has been put into development of robotic helpers for the infirmed and elderly.

Untapped Robot Applications Abound
According to the RIA, 90% of companies with robotic manufacturing applications have not installed their first robot. Yet more than 115,000 robots are installed in the U.S. today, making it second only to Japan. Material handling and assembly are among the leading applications poised for growth within the robotics industry.

The future for robots is bright. But, how will robots affect future generations? Sometimes you can get ideas for the future by looking into the past and thinking about the changes we've seen as a result of other great inventions, like the cotton gin, airplane or Internet. Perhaps one day we will have true robotic ''helpers'' that guide the blind, assist the elderly. Maybe they'll be modular devices that can switch from lawn mower to vacuum cleaner, to dish washer and window washer.

Maybe one day ''robots'' will be so small they will travel through your blood stream delivering life-saving drugs to eliminate disease. Perhaps they will have a major role in the educational and entertainment industries. Law enforcement and security may become major users of robotics. (Robots already have been deployed for such hazardous tasks as bomb disposal, hostage recovery, and search and rescue operations, including at the World Trade Center.)

Certainly, robots will always have a role in manufacturing. They are invaluable to the trend of product miniaturization, and they provide an economical solution for manufacturing the high-quality products mandated for success in a global economy.

Industrial robots are somewhat underrated in today's society, but the world owes much to the productivity and quality measures imparted by robotics. Their effect on future generations may well be the assistance they provide in manufacturing faster computers, more intelligent vehicles and better consumer and health products.

Throughout the year, more than 10,000 visitors from all over the world turn to Robotics Online for information to help them understand the industry.

How Many Memories Fit In Your Brain?

If you were to walk into an unfamiliar room, look around briefly and then close your eyes, how much could you could remember of what you saw? I’ll give you a chance to find out how your visual memory compares with other people’s, but be warned: your memory is probably worse than you imagine.
Consider an experiment that was done by Daniel Simons, a psychologist at the University of Illinois. He or a member of his lab would walk up to a pedestrian on the street and ask him or her for directions. While the pedestrian was responding, workmen carrying something large (like a door frame) would walk between them. As the workmen passed, the experimenter switched places with someone else. Only half of the pedestrians noticed, even though the two people could be quite different.
We can’t quite replicate that experiment online, but there’s another test for short-term visual memory you can take here. It lasts about five minutes and is part of an experiment at the Visual Cognition Laboratory at Harvard University, an online project founded by Joshua Hartshorne, a graduate student in psychology.

iPhone insecurity

Apple excels in creative and innovative marketing. Often it's what they don't tell you that creates the most buzz. For example, we know next to nothing about the Apple iPhone. We know little about the new Leopard release of Mac OS X. Both have generated a lot of press, and so far the hype has succeeded in distracting everyone from a very real concern: the overall security of each. When you strip away all the creative marketing, when you take away the Steve Jobs' induced hype, what you have is a new mobile phone based around an operating system that is just as vulnerable as the next one. Trouble is, Apple isn't being as forthcoming about security as other vendors.
The naked iPhone
For the moment, iPhone will be running a version of the current Mac OS 10.4; in the fall, Apple will presumably upgrade its phones to the newer Mac OS 10.5. So far, the company seems to be rolling out a series of patches, one a month for last year or so, which is good. Apple might, however, want to follow Microsoft's lead and standardize its releases to the second Tuesday of each month.
When flaws are patched, Apple often does not acknowledge the researchers who actually brought the vulnerability to its attention. Apple is known to be looking for more security reserchers. It's not an ego thing; by working with the vendor to correct the vulnerability, researchers put in long hours, usually without compensation. A public "thank you" is more than enough. But that hasn't happened.

iPhone worries
Which brings us to the iPhone. Again, no one outside of an elite few has actually held an iPhone, yet there's legitimate concern about its security. But Jobs has said that it will be a closed operating system, meaning you cannot write mobile applications for it--directly. The carrot Jobs extended to the WWDC crowd was not a software development kit (SDK) for writing applications (which the developers I spoke to all wanted), but a way to write applets within the Safari browser.

As I have seen, security researchers were able to find fault with Safari 3.0 within days of its beta. Malware today is almost always financially motivated. The crowd that stands in line on June 29 for the 6 p.m. release of the iPhone has at least $500 to spend, more with the two-year contract to AT&T. These early adopters are going to load their iPhone with important contacts--maybe even download songs and movies that have value as well. In the end, the typical iPhone user may have a target on his back.

The impact for ordinary people at the Gas prices

Gasoline prices skyrocketed in the past few months as rising demand and shutdowns at U.S. refineries strained an already tight balance between supply and demand.
The nationwide average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.164 Sunday, up 31 cents from a year ago, and 6 cents lower than the record high, not adjusted for inflation, hit May 24, according to motorist club AAA. Adjusted for inflation, the all-time high was set in March 1981 at $3.292 a gallon in today's dollars, according to the Energy Department.
The higher prices have had very little impact on the overall economy. Consumer confidence rose in May despite the surge in gasoline costs, and many retailers, such as Target, have posted strong sales in recent months. Although demand for gasoline has eased, it's still stronger than a year ago.
But for low-income households, the impact has been significant.
Misti Davison, 28, recently told her supervisors at SunBridge Care and Rehabilitation in Tuscumbia, Ala., that she's looking for a job closer to her home in Morris Chapel, Tenn. The activities assistant, who says she loves her job planning events at the senior center, has been driving 66 miles each way to work in her 1998 Nissan Altima. Davison makes $7.25 an hour.

Bush Vetoes Measure on Stem Cell Research

President Bush on Wednesday issued his second veto of a measure lifting his restrictions on human embryonic stem cell experiments. The move effectively pushed the contentious scientific and ethical debate surrounding the research into the 2008 presidential campaign.

“I think the president has issued a political fig leaf,” said Sean Tipton, spokesman for the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, an advocacy group. “He knows he’s on the wrong side of the American public.”
At the same time, Mr. Bush issued an executive order intended to encourage scientists to pursue other forms of stem cell research that he does not deem unethical. But that research is already going on, and the plan provides no new money.
“Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical,” Mr. Bush said in a brief ceremony in the East Room of the White House. He called the United States “a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred.”

Higher rates take a toll on stocks

Energy stocks fall back as crude oil falls. The 10-year Treasury yield moves higher, and stocks pull back. Home Depot leads the Dow and S&P 500. Morgan Stanley earnings impress.
One would think that falling oil prices would be great for stocks. Andrei Roman: But if energy stocks have been the reason for this spring's big rally, an energy price drop could knock the wind out of the market.
Oil prices fell on a government report showing supplies of crude and gasoline were bigger than expected. Crude in New York closed down 1.3% to $68.19, and energy stocks were falling in response. ExxonMobil was down 2.6% to $83.59 and was the biggest loser among the 30 stocks in the Dow.
A second -- and important -- issue this afternoon was rising interest rates. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to 5.14% this afternoon from 5.086% yesterday. That hit straight utilities, home builders and real estate investment trusts, all deeply sensitive to interest-rate fluctuations.