Bring On The Heat

According to the World Economic Forum, in retaliation to European Union sanctions and embargoes, Russia cut EU gas flows by around 80% between May and October 2022 (WEF, 2022). The EU, in turn, has had to not only reduce energy consumption within the public and private sectors but has also scrambled to find energy alternatives to compensate for its energy shortcomings. However, due to the EU’s rejection of Russian oil and gas, there are now opportunities to embrace more sustainable energy alternatives quicker than previously expected. This could lead to a faster transition towards the use of cleaner and more sustainable renewable energies and promote the development of green technologies, and a hope that potential climate goals can be achieved. How has the green transition in the EU accelerated since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine

A study in intertextuality and religious identity in selected novels of Egyptian literature

This study explores and analyzes the representation of religious identity in selected works of Egyptian fiction from the mid to late twentieth century including such authors as: Naguib Mahfouz, Edwar al-Kharrat, Bahaa Taher, Abdel-Hakim Qasim, Ibrahim Abdel-Meguid, etc

Carbonated Sections from Komatiite Flow- Top Alteration Zones in the Barberton Greenstone Belt: Implications for Near-surface Archean Environments

Over a dozen komatiitic flows in the 3.2-3.5 Ga Barberton Greenstone Belt are topped with unique green silica- and carbonate-rich rocks, which likely formed from interaction of the cooling lava flow with seawater shortly after deposition. This study focuses on an alteration zone in the Mendon Formation. Two styles of alteration are observed in this alteration zone: silicification and carbonation. The goal of this study is to characterize the carbonates in the alteration zone, constrain the timing of alteration, test whether the alteration zones are due to interaction with seawater after deposition, and estimate the elemental fluxes between the rock and the altering fluid. If the zones of silica and carbonate rich rocks are alteration zones due to near-surface interaction with seawater, then studying them will provide constraints on Archean near-surface environments. Cross-cutting relations indicate that after eruption of the komatiitic lava, serpentinization then wholesale replacement of the komatiite by quartz, carbonate, and Cr-muscovite took place before quartz and carbonate veins formed. After vein formation, a sedimentary chert cap was deposited and vertical black chert dikes were emplaced. Carbonates in the alteration zone are compositionally and isotopically homogeneous in veins and the host rock. They are ferroan dolomites, Ca1.0Mg0.7Fe0.3(CO3)2 with d18O ~20‰ and d13C ~2‰. The chemical and isotopic homogeneity of the carbonates suggests that they formed in equilibrium with a large aqueous reservoir, probably seawater. Using the isotopic composition of the carbonates within the samples, a seawater of ~86°C is calculated

Magnetically Mediated Transparent Conductors: In2_2O3_3 doped with Mo

First-principles band structure investigations of the electronic, optical and magnetic properties of Mo-doped In$_2$O$_3$ reveal the vital role of magnetic interactions in determining both the electrical conductivity and the Burstein-Moss shift which governs optical absorption. We demonstrate the advantages of the transition metal doping which results in smaller effective mass, larger fundamental band gap and better overall optical transmission in the visible -- as compared to commercial Sn-doped In$_2$O$_3$. Similar behavior is expected upon doping with other transition metals opening up an avenue for the family of efficient transparent conductors mediated by magnetic interactions