Impact contribution of prebiotic reactants to Earth

It is proposed that the AIB amino acid at the K/T boundary were synthesized during entry of a comet. However, whether they were synthesized or supplied directly from space, the concentration of amino acids in the shallow K/T sea would have been about 10(exp -7) M. It is probable that clays were the dominant sinks for the amino acids in the K/T sea and in the primordial ocean. Because clay removed amino acids from sea water quickly, the amino acid contribution must be studied from individual comets in order to evaluate the effectiveness of comets for chemical evolution. Such an evaluation shows that comets would have produced amino acid concentration higher than equilibrium concentrations of amino acid from corona discharge at all times preceding the age of the oldest fossils. The perferred sites for chemical evolution of cometary amino acids are in cloud drops and tide pools where the concentration of amino acids would have been the highest. Life could have originated at the surface even during periods of intense bombardment of the earth before 3.8 billion years ago

Carbon Trading with Blockchain

Blockchain has the potential to accelerate the deployment of emissions trading systems (ETS) worldwide and improve upon the efficiency of existing systems. In this paper, we present a model for a permissioned blockchain implementation based on the successful European Union (EU) ETS and discuss its potential advantages over existing technology. We propose an ETS model that is both backwards compatible and future-proof, characterised by interconnectedness, transparency, tamper-resistance and high liquidity. Further, we identify key challenges to implementation of a blockchain ETS, as well as areas of future work required to enable a fully-decentralised blockchain ETS

Comparative studies of lunar, Martian, and Mercurian craters and plains

The spatial distribution of lunar smooth plains is not consistent with experimental simulations of melt rock emplacement during cratering in layered materials. Nor is it consistent with the location of melt rocks (suevite) near the Ries basin. Lunar smooth plains surrounding Imbrium are most extensive in areas where pre-existing craters are most degraded. This observation suggests that plains form by impact of basin and local primary crater ejecta, together with deposition of debris excavated by the resultant secondary cratering events. Craters within the belt of smooth plains surrounding the Caloris basin on Mercury are most degraded nearest the basin; this suggests that Mercurian smooth plains must, at least in part, be emplaced in a manner similar to plains surrounding the Imbrium basin. Mercurian uplands have a primary crater population deficient in small crater diameters (less than approximately 30 km). Lunar uplands far from major basins also have a crater population deficient in small crater sizes. Martian cratered terrain exhibits a similar crater deficiency, which was previously interpreted as due to obliteration of small craters (less than approximately 30 km) by some surface process. A crater size distribution deficient in small sizes (less than approximately 30 km) on the Mercurian, lunar, and Martian uplands has implications for the origin of debris bombarding the inner solar system during the period recorded by these surfaces. It is proposed that during late heavy bombardment, the inner solar system was inundated with bodies that broke up under tidal fission as they approached the planets. Such a mechanism would lend to production of a crater population deficient in small crater sizes, and it would also explain the large degree of spatial clustering of primary craters on Mercury, the moon, and Mars

Institutional Allocation In Initial Public Offerings: Empirical Evidence

We analyze institutional allocation in initial public offerings (IPOs) using a new dataset of US offerings between 1997 and 1998. We document a positive relationship between institutional allocation and day one IPO returns. This is partly explained by the practice of giving institutions more shares in IPOs with strong pre-market demand, consistent with book-building theories. However, institutional allocation also contains private information about first-day IPO returns not reflected in pre-market demand and other public information. Our evidence supports book-building theories of IPO underpricing, but suggests that institutional allocation in underpriced issues is in excess of that explained by book-building alone.

RAM-Efficient External Memory Sorting

In recent years a large number of problems have been considered in external memory models of computation, where the complexity measure is the number of blocks of data that are moved between slow external memory and fast internal memory (also called I/Os). In practice, however, internal memory time often dominates the total running time once I/O-efficiency has been obtained. In this paper we study algorithms for fundamental problems that are simultaneously I/O-efficient and internal memory efficient in the RAM model of computation.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of ISAAC 2013, getting the Best Paper Awar

Energy levels and radiative rates for transitions in Fe V, Co VI and Ni VII

Energy levels, Land\'{e} $g$-factors and radiative lifetimes are reported for the lowest 182 levels of the 3d$^4$, 3d$^3$4s and 3d$^3$4p configurations of Fe~V, Co~VI and Ni~VII. Additionally, radiative rates ($A$-values) have been calculated for the E1, E2 and M1 transitions among these levels. The calculations have been performed in a quasi-relativistic approach (QR) with a very large {\em configuration interaction} (CI) wavefunction expansion, which has been found to be necessary for these ions. Our calculated energies for all ions are in excellent agreement with the available measurements, for most levels. Discrepancies among various calculations for the radiative rates of E1 transitions in Fe~V are up to a factor of two for stronger transitions ($f \geq 0.1$), and larger (over an order of magnitude) for weaker ones. The reasons for these discrepancies have been discussed and mainly are due to the differing amount of CI and methodologies adopted. However, there are no appreciable discrepancies in similar data for M1 and E2 transitions, or the $g$-factors for the levels of Fe~V, the only ion for which comparisons are feasible.Comment: This paper of 78 pages including 9 Tables will appear in ADNDT (2016

Bulk and thin films of FeTe: A Moessbauer study

Studies of bulk and thin films of FeTe using Moessbauer spectroscopy showed that FeTe has one noncubic Fe (+2) site which is 3d2 4s 4p3 hybridized. The presence of dangling bands was indicated in spectra of FeTe thin films. The films showed a tendency of texture formation. The substrate was observed to influence the film structure and nature of bonds in films