News old(archieve)

DEC 24

Temperature above normal in Capital
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

NEW DELHI: Delhiites experienced another warm December morning on Monday with the temperature remaining well above normal.

While the minimum temperature was recorded at 11 degrees Celsius, the maximum was 23 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature was three degrees above normal. The weatherman predicted mainly clear sky and similar maximum and minimum temperatures for Tuesday.

The temperatures have been unusually high for this time of the year.

DEC 24

Green energy from chicken fat?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

WASHINGTON: Scientists at the University of Arkansas have signalled the end of future clean energy woes by exploring supercritical methanol as a method of converting chicken fat into biodiesel fuel.

The researchers say that the findings may develop commercially viable fuel out of plentiful, accessible and low-cost feedstocks and other agricultural by-products. R E Babcock, professor of chemical engineering said that the findings would lead the energy producers to think on combining petroleum-based diesel with a biodiesel product.

"Major oil companies are already examining biodiesel as an alternative to petroleum," he said.

"With the current price of petroleum diesel and the results of this project and others, I think energy producers will think even more seriously about combining petroleum-based diesel with a biodiesel product made out of crude and inexpensive feedstocks," he added.

The study led by Babcock deliberated low-grade chicken fat and tall oil fatty acid to a chemical process known as supercritical methanol treatment. Supercritical methanol treatment dissolves and causes a reaction between components of a product — in this case, chicken fat and tall oil — by subjecting the product to high temperature and pressure.

The substances became "supercritical" when they were heated and pressurized to a critical point, the highest temperature and pressure at which the substance can exist in equilibrium as a vapor and liquid.

The findings revealed that chicken fat and tall oil treated with supercritical methanol produced biodiesel yields in excess of 89 and 94%, respectively. According to Brent Schulte, a chemical-engineering graduate student in the university’s College of Engineering who conducted the research said Biodiesel provides an effective, sustainable-use fuel with many desirable properties.

DEC 24

Minimum temperature at 6-year high

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

NEW DELHI: While a white Christmas may be a distant dream for Delhiites, even the usual chill may be missing this time. At 12.8 degrees Celsius (five degrees above normal), the minimum temperature recorded on Sunday was the highest that Delhi has witnessed in the past six years. It was five degrees more than the recorded minimum on the same day last year. Christmas eve will be equally warm, predicts the Met department.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 23 degrees Celsius (normal). This was three degrees below the maximum recorded on Saturday. Maximum humidity was 60%. A western disturbance, say Met department officials, is responsible for the rise in temperature. "It has led to the formation of cloud cover. The effects will last till Monday at least and may linger even longer," said an official.

The highest minimum temperature on December 23 in the past six years, before Sunday’s high, was in 2003 when it went up to 11 degrees Celsius. The maximum in this period was 25 degrees Celsius, in 2002 and 2005. The coldest December 23 in the past six years was in 2003, when the maximum temperature fell to 16 degrees Celsius.

While the morning remained comparatively warm, the evening becomes chilly again due to the strong breeze. Making the most of the warm Sunday afternoon, people thronged places like India Gate and zoo. In fact, many parents took the opportunity to visit historical monuments as well. ‘‘Winter is the best time to go sight-seeing in Delhi but the biting chill also makes it very uncomfortable. However, Sunday morning was extremely pleasant. My children and I visited Red Fort and Old Fort. We topped it off with lunch at Chandni Chowk - paranthas,’’ said Aradhna Joshi, a housewife.

According to the Met department’s forecast, Monday will also remain partly cloudy and the minimum temperature might go up even further to settle around 14 degrees Celsius. Visibility is likely to fall to about 200 m by 5 am but is expected to improve gradually.

DEC 24

SCI-FILES - No cold comfort this season

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com

I F THE chill is getting to you, don't blame the weather - blame biochemistry. Research published in the Journal of Neuroscience explains how ‘cold fibres' that connect neurons near the spinal cord to nerve endings in the skin help us sense the cold. A protein called TRPM8 alerts these fibres when to relay cold signals up the spine to the brain.

» read more

DEC 24

Camel ‘plague' puzzles scientists

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com

AN UNPRECEDENTED number of camels across North Africa and the Middle East died last year, researchers have discovered. The several thousand deaths have baffled scientists who are probing toxins, antibiotic pollution, viruses and climate change as possible causes.

» read more
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