Now comes a real shocker. Mr Wei, the CEO of Chinese shipping giant Cosco is looking into the feasibility of running a cargo shipping fleet using nuclear power.
The New York Times James Kantor is reporting that Mr Wei told the British maritime newspaper Lloyd’s List that his company was consulting with Chinese nuclear companies to see if the idea was practicable.
Citrus growers - we're struggling to save industry
Citrus growers are starting out the new decade in what many of them view as their final fight for survival. The threat from so-called citrus greening - also called Huanglongbing or yellow dragon disease - is so great that growers, who by nature grouse at any levy on their fruit, have voted to further tax themselves to pay for the international last stand against the tree killer.
Equine disease restricting horse transport into NM
An equine disease that can result in acute illness and sometimes death is restricting the transport of some horses into New Mexico. The New Mexico Livestock Board has barred the import of horses from Texas counties that have confirmed cases of equine piroplasmosis. Racehorses will not be allowed to enter a New Mexico racetrack until they have a negative equine pirophasmosis test within six months.
New Mexico tech expert - terrorist was inept
Snips: Federal investigators say the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, attempted to detonate 80 grams of the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or PETN, as Northwest Flight 253 was on final approach to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport from Amsterdam.
"In order to make this stuff work, you have to know what you're doing," said Van Romero, an explosives expert with Tech's Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center in Socorro.
Intentionally creating an explosion with hard-to-detect components is no simple task, Romero said. It usually involves the blending of one or more types of explosives, often referred to as an explosives "train," he said.
At one end of the train is a relatively stable explosive that is not easily detonated; at the other end is another type of explosive that is very volatile and easy to detonate. In between can be a moderately sensitive explosive — called a booster — that bridges the explosive power of the highly sensitive explosive with the more stable explosive that does the bulk of the destruction.
For example, highly sensitive nitroglycerine could be used to detonate a booster, which in turn detonates the stable explosive.
"PETN is one of those explosives that's in the middle," Romero said. "It's fairly sensitive, but not super sensitive so that you have to constantly worry about it when you're handling it."
Because of those properties, PETN is used commercially as a booster in mine blasting operations, for example.
Saudi Arabia calls for Iran to free Bin Laden daughter
After fleeing house arrest and seeking refuge at a Saudi embassy in Tehran, the government of Saudi Arabia is asking Iran to free the daughter of Usama Bin Laden.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia announced that it is holding talks with the government of Iran over the issue of repatriating Imam Bin Laden, the daughter of Usama Bin Laden, after she escaped house arrest and sought refuge in a Saudi embassy in Tehran, according to AFP.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said at a news conference that they are negotiating with the Iranian government and it's being considered as a humanitarian issue. However, he has declined to provide any specific details noting that it could complicate the situation.
The 17-year-old daughter ran away from a family compound in Tehran to the embassy. The girl wants to leave Iran and says she, at least eleven siblings and a wife of Bin Laden are being held under house arrest.
Nuclear is the only way to go!!