Empirical evidence for two distinct effects : low-level d-d fusion in metals and anomalous excess heat

Abstract only.There are at least two distinct phenomena present in so-called cold-fusion experiments. First, there is a confirmed effect showing energetic products of d-d fusion (e.g., neutrons and tritons) in metals at low levels. This is true 'cold fusion' with some metals enhancing the d-d-fusion rate better than others. This small nuclear effect is now fully repeatable, when the metals are properly prepared. I will discuss early and confirming published data. Second, there is an excess heat effect observed in some experiments, properly called 'anomalous excess heat' since we do not know with certainty where the energy originates. I consider the anomalous heat to be real but a separate phenomenon from the small enhanced-fusion effect in metals

In Defense of the Land Residual Theory and the Absence of a Business Value Component for Retail Property

The temptation is strong for arguing that property values can be broken down into land, improvements, and business value, as only land and improvements are subject to property tax. As sympathetic as the authors are to this motivation, the notion of a long-run business value component for retail property is refuted and the land residual value theory reasserted, while at the same time admitting the possibility of first owner entrepreneurial or development-based value creation. It is argued that any excess property productivity will eventually become attached to the land, and last that option values are an important aspect of land values that would be affected when suggesting that the appropriate value of a given property is the cost of substituting adjacent property.

Occurrence of Corbicula manilensis Phillipi in the Lower Minnesota River

On March 2, 1978, several empty shells of the fresh water clam, Corbicula manilensis Phillipi, were collected in the Minnesota River near the Blackdog electric generating plant in Burnsville, Minnesota. Since this Asiatic species was first observed in America in 1935, it has spread into all major river systems of North America. Its northernly extension in the Mississippi River system was, however, thought to end in northeast Iowa and to exclude Minnesota. Occurrence of this species is a potential liability because it often exerts a disruptive influence in the community that it invades

Radiocarbon From Nuclear Testing Applied to Age Validation of Black Drum, Pogonias cromis

Radiocarbon ((14)C) in the world\u27s oceans increased sharply between 1950 and 1970 as a result of the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. Through comparison with the (14)C time series reconstructed from atmospheric measurements and marine carbonates, Kalish, in 1993, used the (14)C concentration measured in fish otolith cores as a means of confirming the annulus-based age estimates for some South Pacific fish species. Here we report the pre-and postbomb (14)C chronology of North Atlantic adult black drum (Pogonias cronis), assumed to be between 15 and 42 yr of age on the basis of otolith annulus counts. According to accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) assays, (14)C in otolith cores in creased sharply between 1958 and 1964, with a timing and magnitude which was very similar to that of the atmospheric bomb (14)C signal. The correspondence between the two (14)C chronologies indicates that the annulus-based age assignments were accurate on average to within 1-3 yr. Differences between the black drum Delta(14)C chronology and that of other marine carbonates in the North Atlantic are explained by the estuarine habitat of young-of-the-year black drum and by the fact that estuarine Delta(14)C values more closely reflect atmospheric values than surface ocean values. At present, there is no other age-validation technique that can confirm the absolute age of long-lived fish species with comparable levels of accuracy

Computational-level Analysis of Constraint Compliance for General Intelligence

Human behavior is conditioned by codes and norms that constrain action. Rules, ``manners,'' laws, and moral imperatives are examples of classes of constraints that govern human behavior. These systems of constraints are ``messy:'' individual constraints are often poorly defined, what constraints are relevant in a particular situation may be unknown or ambiguous, constraints interact and conflict with one another, and determining how to act within the bounds of the relevant constraints may be a significant challenge, especially when rapid decisions are needed. Despite such messiness, humans incorporate constraints in their decisions robustly and rapidly. General, artificially-intelligent agents must also be able to navigate the messiness of systems of real-world constraints in order to behave predictability and reliably. In this paper, we characterize sources of complexity in constraint processing for general agents and describe a computational-level analysis for such \textit{constraint compliance}. We identify key algorithmic requirements based on the computational-level analysis and outline an initial, exploratory implementation of a general approach to constraint compliance.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for presentation at AGI 2023 (revised in response to reviewer suggestions

E-Carrel: An Environment for Collaborative Textual Scholarship

The E-Carrel project aims to address the preservation of, access to, and re-uses of humanities electronic text files. It enables dynamic, growing resource projects as repositories for new knowledge. It provides for on-line distributed data and tools that are open to new scholarly enhancement through a user friendly tagging tool, sophisticated use of stand-off markup and annotation (leveraging RDF capabilities), and a browsing system anyone can use. It creates a secure system of text preparation and dissemination that encourages collaboration and participation by anyone interested in the texts. To insure the endurance of authenticated texts, multiple copies are distributed on the Internet. Foundation texts anchor a system for maintaining and growing project usefulness beyond the originators’ interest and the functions they imagined. Increasing access to humanities texts as useful, adaptable, reliable source materials that can be re-purposed will increase interest in continued maintenance, which are critical for long-term preservation and access

Bomb Radiocarbon Age Validation for the Long-Lived, Unexploited Arctic Fish Species \u3ci\u3eCoregonus clupeaformis\u3c/i\u3e

The growth rates of freshwater fish in the Arctic would be expected to be very low, but some previous studies of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) have reported relatively rapid growth and longevity estimates of less than 15 years. We used bomb radiocarbon chronologies to validate an ageing method based on otolith sections for lake whitefish in both an unexploited Arctic lake (MacAlpine Lake; longevity 50 years) and a lightly exploited temperate population (Lake Simcoe; longevity 49 years). Our results confirm previous suggestions that other ageing methods can seriously underestimate lake whitefish age after ~5–8 years. A Chapman–Robson estimate of instantaneous natural mortality rate (M) of 0.12 in the unfished Arctic lake was one-quarter of that measured in other Arctic lake whitefish populations, and one-third of that predicted by Pauly’s (1980) growth–temperature equation. The high estimates of M reported in other whitefish studies and by Pauly’s equation are almost certainly due to their being based on (incorrect) scale or surface otolith ages. Radiocarbon dating confirms that any attempt at predicting sustainable production for long-lived freshwater fishes like lake whitefish will need to be based on accurate ages derived from otolith sections

Response of Otolith Microchemistry to Environmental Variations Experienced by Larval and Juvenile Atlantic Croaker (Micropogonias Undulatus)

Minor and trace elements incorporated into otoliths during growth may permanently record environmental conditions experienced by fishes. To determine the validity of this approach, we used laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) to assay sectioned otoliths from juvenile Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) collected from each of three sites in the Neuse River, North Carolina, and the Elizabeth River, Virginia. Elemental concentrations at the center of the otoliths did not differ between locations, although both Mg : Ca and Ba : Ca were significantly higher at the edge of otoliths from the Neuse River than from the Elizabeth River. Three of the elements (Mg : Ca, Sr : Ca, and Ba : Ca) showed significant variation across otoliths. Sr : Ca, and to a lesser extent Mg : Ca, showed progressive decreases as the fish moved from offshore spawning sites to estuarine nursery areas. The opposite pattern was shown by Ba : Ca. We hypothesize that these patterns were related to the elemental concentrations within oceanic and estuarine water masses. Although both Sr : Ca and Ba : Ca seem to be useful tracers of offshore-inshore migration of estuarine-dependent species, the sensitivity of the technique to more subtle changes in water chemistry remains to be determined

Navigating the Digital Divide

The digital divide has now been analyzed for over a decade. Many in the field believe it is time to reflect on where we are today. Has the concept lost all meaning as academics and policy-makers grapple with the issues? Is the digital divide just a more subtle way of discussing poverty and social exclusion or is it a valid new formulation for discussing recent and novel changes occurring in an information society? Much of the content of the following special edition journal is based on papers given at a May 2003 conference on International social welfare policy and practice for vulnerable groups: International perspectives on social justice and technology - held concurrently at the Universities of Calgary and Regina, Canada. The conference involved over 100 participants from North America, South America, and Europe, and over 30 peer reviewed papers delivered in person or in real time via electronic media from such remote sites as Boston, New York, and Amsterdam

Hybrid electric aircraft : state of the art and key electrical system challenges

In both Europe and the USA, the aerospace sector is actively pursuing revolutionary design concepts to further improve the environmental impact of air travel. This is partly a result of increasing pressure on the industry from government and other organisations to reduce emissions , despite the continuing increase in air traffic [1] . The aggressive targets set by NASA and the EU [1, 2, 3] (e.g. the Advisory Coun cil for Aviation Research and Innovation in Europe has a target of a 75% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 90% reduction of NOx emissions by 2050) cannot be achieved through marginal improvements in turbine technology or aircraft design. Rather, disruptive technologies and more innovative aircraft must be considered