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An international team of scientists has demonstrated a revolutionary new way of magnetic recording which will allow information to be processed hundreds of times faster than by current hard drive technology. The researchers found they could record information using only heat - a previously unimaginable scenario. They believe this discovery will not only make future magnetic recording devices faster, but more energy-efficient too. The results of the research, which was led by the University of York's Department of Physics, are reported in the February edition of Nature Communications. York physicist Thomas Ostler said: "Instead of using a magnetic field to...

Revisiting the resilient lifestyle… Things finally collapse, and you go to the basement, start digging out survival gear and freeze dry food. You gather the family around the radio, shotgun in hand and begin worrying about how long the “stuff” will last. OR You get up at six AM as usual, open a bag of your favorite coffee, mixing it 50/50 with the chickory root you gathered in the summer. Opening the spout on the Big Berkey water filter, you fill the percolator you picked up at a yard sale, for 2 bucks. You set the coffee on the woodstove...

Killer Russian heatwave product of climate changeLooking at local warming in the region from 1880 to 2010, Stefan Rahmstorf and Dim Coumou with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research found an 80 percent likelihood that the heatwave was due to climate change. "For July temperature in Moscow, we estimate that the local warming trend has increased the number of records expected in the past decade fivefold, which implies an approximate 80 percent probability that the 2010 July heat record would not have occurred without climate warming," Rahmstorf and Coumou write.

Texas has warmest summer on record of any state The blistering heat experienced by the nation during August, as well as the June through August months, marks the second warmest summer on record according to scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, N.C. The persistent heat, combined with below-average precipitation across the southern U.S. during August and the three summer months, continued a record-breaking drought across the region. The average U.S. temperature in August was 75.7 degrees F, which is 3.0 degrees above the long-term (1901-2000) average, while the summertime temperature was 74.5 degrees F, which is...

Dallas is closer to a new heat record, now that it has registered the second-most hundred-degree days in a year, with 57. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more.

Most people in Texas and neighboring areas may have to wait until fall for lasting relief from the heat. Many more days of triple-digit heat are on deck as iron-clad high pressure at most levels of the atmosphere continues to squat over the south-central U.S.

Drought Withering Away Any Chance Of Recovery Tess Pennington July 27th, 2011 Ready Nutrition The following article has been generously contributed by Tess Pennington of Ready Nutrition. Editor’s Note: On a recent trip through Central Texas we noticed land that had been plush with hay, corn and vegetables is now completely barren. It’s been so dry for the last six months in Texas that we’ve broken just about every record since the 1890′s. One of the ranchers in the area we were visiting says that he is being forced to sell all 1500 head of cattle on his property due...

Americans sweltered today in the scorching heat in what was officially the hottest day of the year in scores of cities across the country. The heatwave covered a million square miles, affecting 141million Americans. New York's Manhattan experienced the hottest ever July 22 recorded, with an overwhelming 104-degree temperature in Central Park. The Washington DC region continued to be smothered in heat and humidity with temperatures reaching 102 degrees but with a heat index of more than 120 - hotter than Death Valley at daybreak

A Miami art school student is set to file a lawsuit against Alonzo Mourning claiming that the former Heat star crashed his Porsche into the student's car on the Julia Tuttle Causeway early Sunday morning before fleeing. Mourning did return to the scene, however, nearly an hour later in a separate car driven by his wife Tracy. William Candelario, 21, a student at Miami International University of Art and Design, claims he was driving back from Miami Beach on the Julia Tuttle in his 2010 Audi when he got into an accident with another car, and came to stop near...

The eighth annual Mexican Interior Repatriation Program will feature one flight a day instead of two and is expected to cost the U.S. government about $10 million. Under the voluntary program, non-criminal Mexican illegal immigrants caught by the Border Patrol in Arizona are offered free flights to Mexico City. From there, they are given bus passes to return to their hometowns. The goal of the annual summer initiative is to prevent illegal immigrants from trying to cross the border again in the hopes of saving lives during the scorching summer months when hundreds die each year in Arizona.

At 5:20 PM EST(4:20 local time), 7-11-2011, the Weather Underground website showed the heat index in Paducah, KY, to be 153 degrees (99 degrees with a 92 degree dew point). I've never seen it like this. (I'm in another part of the state, where the heat index is a paltry 111...I feel like a piker). Post your astounding summer weather reports here...how hot is it where you are?

How exactly did this one happen? (Reportedly from the July 1st print edition of USA Today)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla (Reuters) – Above-average temperatures were hitting across the southern United States on Tuesday, with drought-parched west Texas and north Florida bearing the brunt of the heat. A high of 110 degrees is forecast for Midland, Texas on Tuesday, shattering the city's daily record of 105 degrees set in 1945, said Victor Murphy, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth. Florida's capital city of Tallahassee is expected to reach 102 degrees, breaking the previous record of 99 degrees, Murphy said. Southern parts of Georgia and Alabama will also top the century mark. The average temperature this time...

Looking for advice...Those of us in Texas have no experience in Rioting. There is a really good chance that the Mavs will finish off the Heat tomorrow night and I'm really worried that us Texans will just look foolish trying to Riot with no experience at it. I'm afraid it will be embarrassing, most of us will try to buy Flat Screens, storm a Wal-Mart with coupons, pick up trash instead of dumping it on the streets, and the minute the cops tell us to disperse we're all going to do it...It will just be silly, if we start any...

So I was a Dallas Mavericks fanatic for 26 years, and swore off the NBA after ( my own thoughts ) the 2006 Finals manipulations. I was no longer willing to pour my emotion and time into what I considered a fixed enterprise.

St. Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Transportation is warning motorists to watch out for roads that might buckle without warning. MnDOT spokesman Kent Barnard said the heat and humidity had caused pavement to heave on some Twin Cities metro highways. Monday afternoon lanes were closed in I-94 in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Barnard said heat damaged roads in more than 20 places. Barnard said he has not heard of accidents associated with buckling pavement. But he'd heard reports of damage to cars. Older concrete highways are more prone to heave up, as debris fills the cracks between the...

Enlarge Image Energized. Spiking a conventional thermoelectric material with sodium and selenium creates regions in the crystal that conduct electricity more readily (blue and gold), boosting the material's performance. Credit: Adapted from Y. Pei et al., Nature, 473 (5 May, 2011) Engineers have come up with a handful of uses for computer chip-like devices that chill objects when plugged in or convert waste heat into electrical power—stuff like car seats that cool drivers on hot days and coolers that chill drinks when plugged in. But by-and-large, these devices, known as thermoelectrics, have remained too inefficient to make much of...

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a resent paper posted at arXiv.org and submitted to Astrophysical Journal, Dan Hooper and Jason Steffen, physicists at Fermilab in Illinois, present the theory that cold and dark planets, not heated by a star, could be heated by dark matter. In theory, this dark matter could produce habitable planets outside of what is known as a habitable zone. While no one knows exactly what dark matter is, it is believed to make up about 83 percent of the universe. The most accepted theory is this dark matter is made up of what are called WIMPs, or weakly...

...black smoke was seen rising at the No. 3 reactor building...surface temperatures...have topped the maximum levels...high-level radiation amounting to at least 500 millisieverts per hour was detected...

Facing sharp criticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski defended his agency’s new “net neutrality” rules to regulate traffic on the Internet at a congressional hearing Wednesday morning. “Some people say that our open Internet framework doesn’t go far enough. Some people say it goes too far. I think we got it about right,” the chairman told the panel in his opening statement. Rep. Greg Walden, the Oregon Republican who chairs the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, which oversees communications policy, has called the FCC action adopted late last year a regulatory overreach. Mr. Walden,...

When the Knicks and the Miami Heat tangle, it is usually a veteran, versatile All-Stars who decides the game. On Thursday night, it appeared that the game would be won or lost by a veteran, versatile, goggle-wearing All-Star.

Heating-oil prices are at the highest level for the season in more than 10 years due to a combination of brutal winter weather and speculators pushing up crude-oil prices. The average price of heating oil in Massachusetts is now $3.46 a gallon. That’s 61 cents higher than last year’s average and more than $1 more than the average five years ago, according to the state’s Department of Energy Resources.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson isn't surprised that the revamped Miami Heat are struggling initially, but he thinks if they don't get it together soon coach Erik Spoelstra's days could be numbered. ESPN 1000, Chicago Lakers coach Phil Jackson joined "The Waddle & Silvy Show" to discuss the possibility of Pat Riley coaching the Heat; the Lakers' chance of breaking the Bulls' 72-win mark; and the future of the Bulls and Derrick Rose. After adding LeBron James and Chris Bosh to go along with Dwyane Wade, Miami has limped to an 8-6 record. Wade has been banged up, Mike...

Will you have a warm house to come home to this winter? If so, you should consider yourself to be very fortunate. With the United States experiencing the highest levels of long-term unemployment that it has seen since the Great Depression, millions of Americans families are simply out of money. All across America this winter, families are going to be forced to make some heart breaking decisions. For many, the choice will come down to either heating their home or putting food on the table. According to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, more than 10 million U.S. households...

This was a tough one to figure out what category this should go in! Well .. Anyway .. I need some advice from an expert on electrical use. Been out of work for over two years now and I am 'squeezing' every dime to survive! Here is my question: I live in a two story, vinyl sided home. I have an electric fireplace downstairs (12.5 amps +120 volts= 1500 watts) and the same upstairs. I also have .. what I think is a 2.5 ton 'Heat Pump'. I have No Clue, (being from Florida) What or how a heat pump...

The three major-party candidate for governor turned up the volume on their criticism of each other tonight during a debate on Twin Cities Public Television's Almanac. After more than two dozen debates, DFLer Mark Dayton, Republican Tom Emmer and the Independence Party's Tom Horner appeared for the last time together on TV before Election Day. The final debate is Sunday afternoon on MPR. Dayton criticized Emmer's cuts-alone approach to erasing a projected $5.8 billion state budget deficit as a recipe for local property tax increases. He said Emmer's reductions in health and human services would have human consequences. "We're talking...

LeBron James(notes) and the Miami Heat were showered with chants of “overrated!” They sure looked that way in their debut as a team formed to win a championship. The old Big Three of the Boston Celtics, playing under the franchise’s 17 title banners, beat the new Big Three of James, Dwyane Wade(notes) and Chris Bosh(notes) 88-80 on Tuesday night. The Heat, though, knew it would take time to jell.

A super La Nina is developing. Historically, these strong La Nina events drop the Earth’s average temperature around one degree Fahrenheit, and the drop comes quickly. As a result, some of the same places that had record heat this summer may suffer through record cold this winter.La Nina is the lesser-known colder sister of El Nino. La Nina chills the waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean, and in turn cools the entire planet for one to two years or more. This chilling has the potential to bring bone-numbing cold to many parts of the world for this and the following...

The heat wave that has gripped Southern California reached a high point Monday afternoon, with triple-digit temperatures from the coast all the way inland. As of noon, Weather.com reported that downtown L.A. was broiling at 109 degrees; Santa Monica hit 106, West Hollywood was at 111 and Long Beach was at 107. The National Weather Service warned of extreme heat and red-flag fire dangers Monday. A small fire broke out in Ladera Heights but was quickly put out. Another small brush fire was contained Sunday night in South Pasadena. On the energy front, California consumers are expected to use more...

Through Thursday, the temperature at Philadelphia International Airport has averaged 81.8 degrees for the month, 4.4 degrees above normal. The way forecasts are shaping up, the city is headed for its third-hottest July on record, a shade behind 82.4 in 1872 and 82.1 in 1994. The last below-normal day in the city was July 2; there have been just six below-normal days in Philadelphia in the last two months.

MOSCOW — Dozens of Russians, many of them drunk, are drowning daily as they head to water to escape a heatwave, an emergencies ministry official said on Wednesday. Vodka-drinking groups -- some with small children -- can be seen at lakes and ponds in and around the Russian capital where the current three-week heatwave may set a record of 37 Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit) this weekend. "Russia's Emergencies Ministry is very worried by the current situation. In the last day alone, 49 people drowned (in Russia), including two children, Vadim Seryogin, a department head at the ministry, told a news conference....

Syria was said to have halted military exercises amid a troop epidemic. The Syrian opposition has asserted that President Bashar Assad ordered the suspension of military training. Assad was said to have issued the order in mid-June 2010 amid an epidemic of diarrhea at army camps. The Syrian military, said to have come under increasing domination by Iran, has not acknowledged the training suspension.

WASHINGTON - Another record-breaking day of heat is roasting the D.C. region Wednesday. Reagan National Airport has recorded a temperature of 102 setting a new record for July 7. BWI-Thurgood Marshall has also sent a new record by going into the triple digits. The heat index will make it feel like 105 degrees. A heat advisory is in effect until 11 p.m. Wednesday.

NEW YORK (AP) - It's just no fun in the sun. That was the conclusion in the streets of the Bronx as 14-year-old Miguel Pena and 13-year-old Vincent Quiles walked their bicycles up a hill on one of the hottest days in the past decade in the Northeast. "Man, this stinks," said Miguel, who, like his friend, was wearing a white handkerchief to keep the sweat out of his eyes. "We just got out of school, and this is supposed to be when we have fun, but this is too much. We thought it would be cooler on the bike,...

New York (CNN) -- A heat wave of historic proportions could strike some northeastern states as forecasters warn of prolonged triple-digit temperatures that could trigger "a dangerous situation," the National Weather Service advised Monday. The Weather Service has issued an excessive-heat advisory for several northeastern cities to take effect Monday afternoon as humidity levels gradually increase, producing heat index values to persist and surpass 100 degrees....

Three hundred travelers started the summer with an airplane nightmare they will not soon forget. Hundreds of Newark-bound passengers sat for four hours on a tarmac in a stifling cabin after bad weather diverted their flight from London in Connecticut and union regulations grounded it there. To make matters worse, passengers said, the plane's generators shut down for the second time, leaving them with no air conditioning and sweltering temperatures that reached 100 degrees. Some people on the inauspicious Virgin Atlantic flight fainted from the heat, said Andrew Porwancher, of Princeton, N.J. One passenger was taken to a hospital, but...

Note: The following text is a quote: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/seniors-across-america-host-local-meetings-participate-health-care-tele-town-hall-m Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 07, 2010 Seniors Across America to Host Local Meetings, Participate in Health Care Tele-Town Hall Meeting with President Obama Senior Obama Administration Officials to Attend Local Meetings WASHINGTON—On Tuesday morning, senior citizens across the country will gather at a series of local meetings to participate via phone in a national tele-town hall meeting on the Affordable Care Act with President Barack Obama. Additionally, more than a dozen senior Obama Administration officials will...

Sacramento -- Attorney General candidate Kamala Harris is battling increasing criticism of her performance as San Francisco district attorney both at home and on the campaign trail with only eight days left before the primary. On May 20, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo ripped into Harris, saying she violated defendants' rights by failing to disclose to defense attorneys damaging information about a police drug lab technician who's under investigation for allegedly skimming cocaine from evidence files. Problems intensified for Harris last week when The Chronicle disclosed that a toxicologist at the San Francisco coroner's office had been labeled...

President Obama's diversity czar at the Federal Communications Commission has spoken publicly of getting white media executives to "step down" in favor of minorities, prescribed policies to make liberal talk radio more successful, and described Hugo Chavez's rise to power in Venezuela "an incredible revolution." Mark Lloyd's provocative comments - most made during a tenure at the liberal Center for American Progress think tank - are giving fodder to critics who say Mr. Obama has appointed too many "czars" to government positions that don't require congressional approval. They are also worrying to some conservatives who fear the FCC might use...

Did you hear about the terrorist attack in Europe that killed 15,000? I bet you didn't. It never made a single banner headline here in the U.S. It didn't lead the television news one day. In fact, it was treated matter-of-factly because the terrorist attack that victimized Europe was perpetrated by governments we've been conditioned to believe are "compassionate." I'm talking about what has been described as last month's disastrous heat wave that killed five times as many people as were killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks of 2001. It wasn't really the heat that killed those people –...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is firing back at Sen. Jon Kyl for calling for an end to economic stimulus spending, and they're aiming for where it hurts the most - at home in Arizona. The White House on Tuesday released letters from four cabinet secretaries to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, citing Kyl's comments and outlining transportation, housing, Indian education and other projects in his home state they said would be eliminated if the senator has his way. Kyl, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader, has said the stimulus spending hasn't succeeded in boosting the economy and...

I was wondering if any doctors here or moms or grannies have any suggestions for "prickly heat."

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's army of canvassers fanned out across the nation over the weekend to drum up support for his $3.55 trillion budget, but they had no noticeable impact on members of Congress, who on Monday said they were largely unaware of the effort. "News to me," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, a House Budget Committee member, of the canvassing. Later, his staff said that his office had heard from about 100 voters

More hypocrisy from the now President Obama. Quote: WASHINGTON — The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat. “He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”

(IsraelNN.com) Jews living in majority-Muslim countries are in a precarious situation as Israel fights the Islamist Hamas regime in Gaza. While pro-Hamas, anti-Semitic rallies and sporadic attacks are continuing worldwide, Jews in Muslim lands face an additional danger as a vulnerable minority. Synagogue Shut by Force In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim state, that nation's only synagogue was forcibly shut down and sealed. Located in an ethnic Arab neighborhood of Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, the synagogue became the focus of a Muslim mob last Wednesday following a "free speech forum" held in the city. The small Indonesian synagogue, without...

Unprecedented heat will trigger global food crisisMARTIN MITTELSTAEDT From Friday's Globe and Mail January 8, 2009 at 10:18 PM EST TORONTO — The world faces a “perpetual food crisis” because global warming will likely lead to massive and simultaneous crop failures in many regions, possibly as early as the period from 2040 to 2060, a new study says. The finding, appearing in the journal Science, is based on climate models that suggest the worst heat waves of the past – such as the one in Europe in 2003 that killed at least 30,000 people – are likely to become the...

Heat Miser is cooler, but I think I'm a snow miser ... Snow Miser vs Heat Miser

Subject: Obama Took Rezko Money Even When Heat Was Off10/13/2008 1:29:04 PM Obama Benefited From Shady Rezko Deals According to his first book, "Dreams from My Father," published in 1996, Sen. Barack Obama claims that he was a champion of the little people. "In my legal practice, I work mostly with churches and community groups, men and women who quietly build grocery stores and health clinics in the inner city, and housing for the poor," Obama wrote in the book. Yet, in the brutal winter of 1996, Obama all but ignored the little people in his district living without heat...

Call Congress back to have an up-or-down vote on a comprehensive energy bill which includes expanded drilling for oil. There is a petition here: http://www.callbackcongress.com/