AUDI STEPS CLOSER TO PRODUCTION OF ALL-ELECTRIC SUV, PICKS FACTORY WHERE 2018 AUDI Q6 E-TRON WILL BE MADE

AUDI STEPS CLOSER TO PRODUCTION OF ALL-ELECTRIC SUV, PICKS FACTORY WHERE 2018 AUDI Q6 E-TRON WILL BE MADE


AUTOMOBILES & MORE
Audi Steps Closer to Production of All-Electric SUV, Picks Factory Where 2018 Audi Q6 e-tron Will Be Made
BY NIKKI GORDON-BLOOMFIELD
• JANUARY 21, 2016


Since it debuted the Audi e-tron Quattro Concept SUV at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show last fall, Volkswagen’s premium marque Audi has been hard at work preparing the all-electric crossover for production as a 2018 model-year car.


AUDI’S NEW ELECTRIC SUV WILL BE MADE IN BELGIUM.

Offering a claimed 500-kilometers of range (310 miles) on the overly-optimistic NEDC test cycle, the all-electric model, rumored to be called the 2018 Audi Q6 e-tron, will fit in between the Audi Q7 and Audi Q5 in the Audi SUV lineup. If we ignore the Audi R8 e-tron sports car (a special low-volume, build-to-order variant of the popular R8 sports car) the Q6 e-tron will become Audi’s first mass-produced electric car.

Since Audi committed to the car’s production back in November, the German automaker has been gradually drip-feeding us information about what we can expect from the new car, from its capabilities to recharge from a special high-power CCS quick charge station from empty to 80 percent full in 30 minutes to its flush door handles OLED lights and wireless charging capabilities.

Now, it has disclosed where the high-end plug-in will be manufactured: Audi Brussels, Belgium.


UNVEILED IN FRANKFURT THIS PAST FALL, THE Q6 E-TRON WILL ENTER PRODUCTION IN EARLY 2018

Audi says the Audi Brussels production facility, located on the southwest side of Belgium’s capital city, will become a key plant for electric mobility at the Volkswagen Group, manufacturing both the unnamed 2018 model-year electric SUV as well as other future Volkswagen-group electric cars.

Alongside the production facility, Audi plans to construct a battery manufacturing plant similar to ones found alongside Nissan’s LEAF production facilities in Sunderland UK, Smyrna Tennessee and Oppama Japan. Making the high-capacity 95 kilowatt-hour battery pack that gives the Audi electric SUV its long range, the facility will also eventually produce battery packs for other Volkswagen-group vehicles, most of which are likely to use Volkswagen’s recently-developed MQB electrification toolkit.

To make space at the Audi Brussels facility, Audi says it will shift production of the A1 subcompact car to its facility in Martorell, Spain. In turn, the Audi Q3 — which is currently produced in Martorell — will have its production shifted to Audi Hungaria in Györ, Hungary.

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ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΤΗΣ ΧΑΛΕΠΙΟΥ ΠΑΥΛΟΥ ΑΓΝΟΕΙΤΑΙ ΕΔΩ ΚΑ ΤΡΙΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ!

Ο ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΤΗΣ ΧΑΛΕΠΙΟΥ ΠΑΥΛΟΥ ΑΓΝΟΕΙΤΑΙ ΕΔΩ ΚΑ ΤΡΙΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΝΕΙΣ ΔΕΝ ΓΝΩΡΙΖΗ ΚΑΤΙ ΓΙΑ ΑΥΤΟΝ.
ΔΕΙΤΕ ΕΝΑ ΑΠΟΣΠΑΣΜΑ ΑΠΟ ΕΝΑ ΠΡΟΣΦΑΤΟ ΒΙΝΤΕΟ ΜΕ ΜΙΑ ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΤΟΥ!

"Δεν μπορούμε να κάνουμε θρησκευτικά κράτη ... η θρησκεία δεν είναι φανατισμός ... ο Θεός δεν είναι Βασιλεύς Επίγειος": είπε προφητικά, ανάμεσα σε άλλα πολύ σημαντικά, ο Σεβασμιώτατος Μητροπολίτης Χαλεπίου Παύλος στην τελευταία του συνέντευξη που παραχώρησε στην Πεμπτουσία, όταν είχε επισκεφθεί το Άγιον Όρος και πριν από τον εμφύλιο πόλεμο στην Συρία και την απαγωγή του.

Συμπληρώθηκαν 1000 μέρες από την απαγωγή του Σεβ. Μητροπολίτου Χαλεπίου κ. Παύλου, ο οποίος απήχθη στις 22 Απριλίου του 2013 μαζί με τον Συρακωβίτη Μητροπολίτη Γρηγόριο στα σύνορα Τουρκίας.

Να αναφερθεί ότι οι δύο ιεράρχες απήχθησαν από ένοπλους αντάρτες, ενώ νεκροί είναι ο οδηγός και ο διάκονος του μητροπολίτη που τους συνόδευαν.

Ο Πατριάρχης Αντιοχείας κ. Ιωάννης ο οποίος είναι κατά σάρκα αδελφός του Μητροπολίτη Χαλεπίου, καθημερινά κάνει έκκληση για τον Μητροπολίτη Παύλο για τον οποίο μέχρι σήμερα δεν έχουν καμία πληροφορία.

Παραθέτουμε παρακάτω μερικά βίντεο με τον Σεβασμιώτατο Μητροπολίτη Χαλεπίου, ώστε να ακούσουμε την φωνή του και να μην τον λησμονούμε στην καθημερινή μας προσευχή!

Σεβασμιώτατε ευχόμαστε να σας ξαναδούμε μια μέρα και να λάβουμε την ευχή σας, από τα άγια χέρια σας...

Why Solar and Wind Are Thriving Despite Cheap Fossil Fuels

Low oil prices are rattling stock markets, but investors remain bullish on solar, wind, and other clean energy. Here are three reasons why.

The prolonged plunge in fossil fuel prices is rippling across the globe. Yet it’s barely put a dent in the booming market for clean energy, heralding perhaps a new era for wind and solar.



Oil prices of less than $30 a barrel—the lowest in 12 years—have shaken stock markets and ravaged the budgets of major producers such as Russia and Saudi Arabia. Along with falling gas prices, they’ve slashed the profits of fossil fuel companies, which are delaying dozens of billion-dollar projects and laying off thousands of workers.


In Texas, home to shale-rich oil deposits, once-crowded trailer parks that housed workers are now largely empty.


But solar, wind, and other clean energy? They’re expanding. Last year, they attracted a record $329 billion in investment—nearly six times the total in 2004, according to a report this month by Bloomberg New Energy Finance or BNEF. Wind and solar also installed a record amount of power capacity.


The clean energy revolution is not entirely immune to cheap oil, which has lowered prices at the pump. In the United States, where gas prices are now below $2 a gallon in many places, sales of SUVs rose last year while those for electric or fuel-sipping hybrid cars fell.


“We’re not saying there’s no impact, but we’re not seeing a significant impact yet,” says Angus McCrone, BNEF’s chief editor. “There’s a lot of momentum behind clean energy.”


He and other experts explain why:

1. Prices have fallen as government incentives have risen.


Oil and gas may now be a lot cheaper than a few years ago, but solar and wind are cheaper, too. Since 2008, according to U.S. government data, prices have plummeted 60 percent for large-scale solar, and 40 percent for wind.


Solar and wind are “competitive in many countries,” says Alex Klein, senior research director of renewables at IHS Energy, a research firm. He notes they don’t compete much with oil, used mostly as a transportation fuel, but they do compete with natural gas, often used to power plants that produce electricity.


Despite low natural gas prices, solar and wind accounted for 60 percent of new U.S. power capacity last year and will likely account for 70 percent this year, saysMarlene Motyka, U.S. alternative energy leader at Deloitte.


Such competitiveness is new. “The last time oil was at this price, the cost of renewables was much higher,” says Jonathan Grant, director of the climate change team at PwC (also known as PricewaterhouseCoopers.)


Their economics could improve. “For renewables, particularly solar, substantive improvements in cost and efficiency are not only possible but likely,” writes Sott Nyquist, director of McKinsey & Company's Houston office. In contrast, he says, coal is facing steeper costs partly because of tighter U.S. regulations, and gas is already using technologies that are highly efficient.


Solar and wind got a huge boost in December, when the U.S. Congress renewed their tax credits for another five years. BNEF expects this extension will add an extra 20 gigawatts of solar power—equal to the total amount installed via solar panels in the U.S. prior to 2015.

2. Demand has expanded, driven partly by public policy.


Countries are looking to renewable energy to meet the pledges they made as part of the UN climate accord last month in Paris. They agreed to cut the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are emitted when oil, gas, or coal are burned.


Some, such as India, also see renewables as a way to reduce their severe air pollution. China is cutting back its use of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, even though it’s cheap.


Developing countries in Africa, where many people don’t have access to a central power grid, are pursuing solar projects as a quicker and less costly way to provide electricity. Wealthier countries are using solar to create microgrids that can keep the lights on when storms like Hurricane Sandy knock out the grid.


States and local governments are pushing low-carbon or carbon-free energy alternatives as well. In the U.S., dozens of states now require they account for at least a certain amount of their electricity. On Thursday, New York Governor AndrewCuomo announced the state will spend $5 billion over a decade to promote clean energy. Hawaii has pledged to get all its power from renewables by 2045, Vermont has pledged to get 75 percent by 2032 and California, 50 percent by 2030.


I don’t see businesses stepping back.
Marlene Motyka

3. Corporate and investor support is strong.


Companies are making similar pledges. The Paris climate summit prompted a “tipping point” in corporate support, says a report this month from Influence Map, a nonprofit based in the United Kingdom. The report says more than half of the world's largest companies now back steps to cut heat-trapping emissions and a third support putting a price on carbon.


“The corporate side is here to stay. I don’t see businesses stepping back,” says Deloitte’s Motyka. In a recent Deloitte analysis, more than 55 percent of companies report generating some of their electricity on-site, 13 percent of which comes from solar panels or wind turbines.


Renewables are attracting capital. A recent study by Goldman Sachs says the combined market size of low-carbon technologies—including wind, solar, LEDs, and hybrid or electric vehicles—now exceeds $600 billion, about the size of the U.S. defense budget.


Investments are expected to rise. Some oil-importing countries, including China and India, have saved money from low prices that they can invest in renewables. Even some oil-exporting countries are investing in solar. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran and Kuwait are trying to curb fossil fuel use at home so they can maximize profits for oil exports.


“Fossil fuels will be here for decades to come, but their share will fall,” says PwC’s Grant. Even in the transportation sector, where oil is so important, he expects electric vehicles will eventually catch on—but not because of price.


Consumers will see them as more “desirable,” he says, noting EV perks such as dedicated parking spots and use of HOV lanes. Besides, he says they promise all sorts of self-driving and gee-whiz tech features, adding: “They’re much cooler.”


The story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

Watch Mesmerizing Video Of Baby Octopus Hatching

The miracle of life is an amazing thing. But it’s even more amazing when we get an up close look at something actually being born. This is definitely true of these hundreds of octopus being born.

In video taken by Pang Quong in Port Phillip Bay in Australia, we get front row seats to an octopus birth. This particular species, the pale octopus, also known as Octopus pallidus, lays its eggs in small caves. Sometimes it uses submerged litter to its advantage and lays their eggs on any hard surface like a small bottle or even a tire. They even take advantage of these objects other times during the day to hide from any predators.

According to Quong, the female stays with her eggs until they all hatch. Quong visited the octopus mother over the course of three weeks to check on the status of the mother in the making. Put together, this footage is the final result. At the end of the video, you can even see the dozens, possibly hundreds of hatching octopus and the empty shells that they left behind.

This species can be found in much of the waters off Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

Watch the entire mesmerizing video here.

Toby Price brings home KTM's 15th consecutive DAKAR victory | KTM

Δημοσιεύτηκε στις 22 Ιαν 2016

Red Bull KTM factory rider Toby Price celebrated an emphatic win at the 2016 Dakar Rally, giving KTM its 15th consecutive victory at the event aboard his KTM 450 RALLY factory machine. For more information visit http://www.ktm.com/

Bolivia's second largest lake, Poopó, has all but dried up, threatening the livelihood of fishing communities and spelling ecological disaster for hundreds of species.

Bolivia's Second Largest Lake Has Dried Out. Can It Be Saved?


El Niño, climate change, and mismanagement of water are all to blame, scientists say.





This combo of satellite images shows Bolivia's Lake Poopó filled with water on October 11, 1986, left, and almost dry on January 16, 2016, right.
PHOTOGRAPH BY USGS, ASSOCIATED PRESS

By Brian Clark Howard



PUBLISHED JANUARY 21, 2016


Bolivia's second largest lake, Poopó, has all but dried up, threatening the livelihood of fishing communities and spelling ecological disaster for hundreds of species. The Bolivian government is blaming dry weather spurred by El Niño and a changing climate, but that's not the whole story.



Located in a shallow depression high in the Altiplano Mountains in southwest Bolivia, the lake has shrunk to just two percent of its former size, which was approximately 380 square miles (1,000 square kilometers), or about twice the size of Los Angeles.

 Misuse of the water supply and a failure on the part of the Bolivian government to act on existing management plans are partly responsible for the rapid drying of the lake over the past few years, says Lisa Borre, a senior researcher with the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies in New York, who studies lake ecosystems.


"The lake was very shallow, only a few feet deep, and it is in an arid climate, so its level fluctuates a lot with the weather," Borre says, adding that Poopó has shrunk significantly a number of times in the past, "but it's never been this bad."


Some scientists have suggested that recovery may not be possible, although Borre thinks the basin is likely to fill again once rains return. Still, there are important lessons to be learned.


"The Bolivian government is blaming El Niño and climate change, and certainly those played a role, but they are not saying that they have also failed to implement the management plan for the basin," says Borre.




The Bolivian government has not yet responded to a request for comment.




An abandoned boat lies on the dried up lake bed of Lake Poopó on January 12, 2016.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JUAN KARITA, ASSOCIATED PRESS


Lake Poopó gets most of its water from the Desaguadero River, which flows from Lake Titicaca (Bolivia's largest lake). According to the published management plan, water managers are supposed to allow flow down the river into Poopó, but they have recently allowed that to slow to a trickle.


Titicaca has plenty of water in it, so that's not the problem, Borre says. Officials just aren't opening control gates often enough to send water down the river. Some of the water is being diverted for agriculture and mining. And even when water is available, the river is often clogged with sedimentation, due to the runoff from development and mining in the area.


Poopó is high, at 12,000 feet (3,680 meters), and the area has warmed an estimated one degree Celsius over the past century, leading to an increase in the rate of evaporation from the lake. And the lack of rain over the past year has sped the process even further. But these factors weren't surprises, Borre says, they were foreseeable changes that scientists anticipated.



What happened to Lake Poopó is not unlike the drying of the vast Aral Sea in Central Asia, says Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project and a National Geographic Explorer. In both cases, a closed water system was overdrawn, with more water going out than coming in.




The drying lake has been lethal to countless fish.
PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID MERCADO, REUTERS


"This is the kind of change in hydrological systems that we'll see more of with a warming climate," Postel says. "We'll have to plan for more evaporation, whether that's a lake or a drinking water reservoir."


Poopó may not be alone. "Lots of other lakes around the world are similarly threatened by major development programs or mismanagement," Borre says.

Astronauts recently experienced an historic vegetable moment when they ate a salad made from lettuce grown on board the International Space Station.

The power source for Earth's magnetic field

Metal 'Snow' May Power Earth's Magnetic Field



Credit: Johan Swanepoel | Shutterstock.com
View full size image


The power source for Earth's magnetic field may be magnesium that has been trapped in the core since our planet's violent birth, a new model suggests.

Magnesium is the fourth most common element in the Earth's outer layers, but previously, scientists thought there was almost no magnesium in the core. Iron and magnesium don't easily mix, and researchers thought that the Earth's core was mostly iron.

However, that thinking has changed because of recent theories proposing that the Earth was born from a series of violent collisions with other protoplanets. During the impacts, temperatures and pressures were so intense that iron and metal could combine in an alloy, according to a study published today (Jan. 20) in the journal Nature. The study authors add that smashing together two planetary bodies likely injected magnesium into the core. About 1 percent of the core (by weight) could be magnesium, the new model shows. [Religion and Science: 6 Visions of Earth's Core]





"We think we now understand why the Earth has had a magnetic field for the last 4 billion years, and that the process will keep happening into the foreseeable future," said lead study author Joseph O'Rourke, a graduate student in planetary science at Caltech in Pasadena, California.

O'Rourke and study co-author Dave Stevenson, a Caltech professor, created a model of Earth's formation to investigate magnesium's behavior in the core. As Earth's core has slowly cooled, magnesium-oxide minerals are "snowing" out from the core's iron and nickel alloy, the model indicates. This solid magnesium "snow" is lighter than the liquid metal and floats outward through the liquid-metal outer core, churning it and powering the convection that produces the global magnetic field.

The new model could help solve an important question in planetary science: What has powered the Earth's magnetic field for the past 4 billion years? Many scientists think iron cooling and solidifying in Earth’s core generates the planet's magnetic field (also called the geodynamo). However, these models can't explain how the magnetic field was generated before the solid inner core formed about 1 billion years ago. The new magnesium model provides an alternative energy source.

With the new model, "you don't have to invoke anything crazy in the past to explain the geodynamo," O'Rourke told Live Science.

The new model needs to be verified with experimental tests, the researchers said. There is little evidence indicating how magnesium behaves at the temperatures and pressures produced during planetary collisions.

"The idea is an interesting one," said Rebecca Fischer, a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., who was not involved in the study. However, "before we can really, conclusively say how much magnesium goes into the core, we need better experimental data," Fischer told Live Science.

One group is already conducting such experiments. James Badro, a geophysicist at the Institut de Physique du Globe in Paris, has led studies that simulate the early Earth and appear to confirm O'Rourke and Stevenson's modeling.

"There's enough data to convince us that our model of the magnesium process works in general, but sorting out a lot of the details will require more experiments," O'Rourke said.

A magnetic field is important for life because it shields the planet and the atmosphere from the solar wind. Knowing how ancient Earth's magnetic field kicked into gear may help improve estimates of when life first appeared and inform the search for life on other planets.