The Copenhagen Diagnosis: Updating the World on the Latest Climate Science

The Copenhagen Diagnosis is a summary of the global warming peer reviewed science since 2007. Produced by a team of 26 scientists led by the University of New South Wales Climate Research Centre, the Diagnosis convincingly proves that the effects of global warming have gotten worse in the last three years. It is a timely update to the UN’s Intercontinental Panel on Climate Change 2007 Fourth Assessment document (IPCC AR4). The report places the blame for the century long temperature increase on human factors and says the turning point ";must come soon";. If we are to limit warming to 2 degrees above pre-industrial values, global emissions must peak by 2020 at the latest and then decline rapidly. The scientists warned that waiting for higher levels of scientific certainty could mean that some tipping points will be crossed before they are recognized. By 2050 we will effectively need to be in a post-carbon economy if we are to avoid unlivable temperatures

Development of methods for the preparation of radiopure ⁸²Se sources for the SuperNEMO neutrinoless double-beta decay experiment

A radiochemical method for producing 82Se sources with an ultra-low level of contamination of natural radionuclides (40K, decay products of 232Th and 238U) has been developed based on cation-exchange chromatographic purification with reverse removal of impurities. It includes chromatographic separation (purification), reduction, conditioning (which includes decantation, centrifugation, washing, grinding, and drying), and 82Se foil production. The conditioning stage, during which highly dispersed elemental selenium is obtained by the reduction of purified selenious acid (H2SeO3) with sulfur dioxide (SO2) represents the crucial step in the preparation of radiopure 82Se samples. The natural selenium (600 g) was first produced in this procedure in order to refine the method. The technique developed was then used to produce 2.5 kg of radiopure enriched selenium (82Se). The produced 82Se samples were wrapped in polyethylene (12 μm thick) and radionuclides present in the sample were analyzed with the BiPo-3 detector. The radiopurity of the plastic materials (chromatographic column material and polypropylene chemical vessels), which were used at all stages, was determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The radiopurity of the 82Se foils was checked by measurements with the BiPo-3 spectrometer, which confirmed the high purity of the final product. The measured contamination level for 208Tl was 8-54 μBq/kg, and for 214Bi the detection limit of 600 μBq/kg has been reached.</p

Measurement of the 2 nu beta beta decay half-life and search for the 0 nu beta beta decay of Cd-116 with the NEMO-3 detector

The NEMO-3 experiment measured the half-life of the 2 ν β β decay and searched for the 0 ν β β decay of 116 Cd . Using 410 g of 116 Cd installed in the detector with an exposure of 5.26 y, ( 4968 ± 74 ) events corresponding to the 2 ν β β decay of 116 Cd to the ground state of 116 Sn have been observed with a signal to background ratio of about 12. The half-life of the 2 ν β β decay has been measured to be T 2 ν 1 / 2 = [ 2.74 ± 0.04 ( stat ) ± 0.18 ( syst ) ] × 1 0 19     y . No events have been observed above the expected background while searching for 0 ν β β decay. The corresponding limit on the half-life is determined to be T 0 ν 1 / 2 ≥ 1.0 × 1 0 23     y at the 90% C.L. which corresponds to an upper limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass of ⟨ m ν ⟩ ≤ 1.4 – 2.5     eV depending on the nuclear matrix elements considered. Limits on other mechanisms generating 0 ν β β decay such as the exchange of R-parity violating supersymmetric particles, right-handed currents and majoron emission are also obtained

Final results on ⁸²Se double beta decay to the ground state of ⁸²Kr from the NEMO-3 experiment

Using data from the NEMO-3 experiment, we have measured the two-neutrino double beta decay ( 2\nu \beta \beta) half-life of ^{82}Se as T_{\smash {1/2}}^{2\nu } \!=\! \left[ 9.39 \pm 0.17\left( \text{ stat }\right) \pm 0.58\left( \text{ syst }\right) \right] \times 10^{19} y under the single-state dominance hypothesis for this nuclear transition. The corresponding nuclear matrix element is \left| M^{2\nu }\right| = 0.0498 \pm 0.0016. In addition, a search for neutrinoless double beta decay ( 0\nu \beta \beta) using 0.93 kg of ^{82}Se observed for a total of 5.25 y has been conducted and no evidence for a signal has been found. The resulting half-life limit of T_{1/2}^{0\nu } > 2.5 \times 10^{23} \,\text{ y } \,(90\%\,\text{ C.L. }) for the light neutrino exchange mechanism leads to a constraint on the effective Majorana neutrino mass of \langle m_{\nu } \rangle < \left( 1.2{-}3.0\right) \,\text{ eV }, where the range reflects 0\nu \beta \beta nuclear matrix element values from different calculations. Furthermore, constraints on lepton number violating parameters for other 0\nu \beta \beta mechanisms, such as right-handed currents, majoron emission and R-parity violating supersymmetry modes have been set

Calorimeter development for the SuperNEMO double beta decay experiment

SuperNEMO is a double-β decay experiment, which will employ the successful tracker–calorimeter technique used in the recently completed NEMO-3 experiment. SuperNEMO will implement 100 kg of double-β decay isotope, reaching a sensitivity to the neutrinoless double-β decay (0νββ) half-life of the order of 1026 yr, corresponding to a Majorana neutrino mass of 50–100 meV. One of the main goals and challenges of the SuperNEMO detector development programme has been to reach a calorimeter energy resolution, ΔE∕E, around 3%∕E(MeV) σ, or 7%∕E(MeV) FWHM (full width at half maximum), using a calorimeter composed of large volume plastic scintillator blocks coupled to photomultiplier tubes. We describe the R&D programme and the final design of the SuperNEMO calorimeter that has met this challenging goal

Search for Neutrinoless Quadruple-beta Decay of Nd-150 with the NEMO-3 Detector

We report the results of a first experimental search for lepton number violation by four units in the neutrinoless quadruple-β decay of 150Nd using a total exposure of 0.19 kg·y recorded with the NEMO-3 detector at the Modane Underground Laboratory (LSM). We find no evidence of this decay and set lower limits on the half-life in the range T1/2 > (1.1–3.2) × 1021 y at the 90% CL, depending on the model used for the kinematic distributions of the emitted electrons

Interaction entre la temperature ambiante et la concentration en energie du regime sur les performances de croissance et l'utilisation de l'energie chez le porc

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