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Mexican authorities on Sunday raised the warning level for the Popocatepetl volcano to one step below red alert as smoke, ash and molten rock spewed into the sky posing risks to aviation and far-flung communities below. The huge volcano that towers above Mexico City is considered one of the most dangerous in the world because some 25 million people live within a 60-mile radius. Sunday's increased alert level - to 'yellow phase three' - comes a day after two Mexico City airports temporarily halted operations due to falling ash, which also forced 11 villages to cancel school sessions.

New method can pull rare earth elements from electronic waste and coal ash.. When a pulse of current goes through a tube containing coal ash, a flash of light indicates rapid heating. Rare earth elements then become much easier to extract.. As chemists scramble to find ways to reclaim valuable metals from industrial waste and discarded electronics, one team has found a solution that sounds a little like magic: Zap the trash with flashes of electric heat. Rare earth elements (REEs) present an environmental paradox. On one hand, these dozen or so metals, such as yttrium and neodymium, are vital...

The eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma, located off the northwestern coast of Africa, has been erupting for nearly eleven weeks with no signs of abating. Soon the eruption could be La Palma’s longest in over 500 years. The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on Sept. 19 and led to the evacuation of thousands of residents. For the last 75 days, the volcano has spewed lava out of fissures, unleashed plumes of ash and toxic gasses, and acid rain. After two and a half months of non-stop volcanic eruptions, some parts of the island...

SPIEGEL ONLINE talks to historian and Oxford professor Timothy Garton Ash about the European Union's weak image in the world, the limits to EU expansion and how Europe should tackle Russia and Iran.Timothy Garton Ash is Professor of European Studies at St. Antony's College, Oxford, a senior fellow at the Stanford University-based think tank the Hoover Institution and a founding member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a new European think tank. He has earned renown for a genre of writing he calls the "history of the present." His eight books feature historical analysis of transformations undergone in Europe...

Ubinas Volcano Volcanic Ash Advisory: continuous ash emissions to 24000 ft (7300 m) Saturday Jul 20, 2019 04:30 AM | BY: VN Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Buenos Aires warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 24000 ft (7300 m) altitude or flight level 240 and is moving at 20 kts in SE direction. The full report is as follows:

THE STATION for today is as noted in the missal, in the church of St. Trypho, martyr; but this church having been destroyed many centuries ago, the station is now in that of St. Augustine, which is built on the same site. COLLECT Adesto, Domine, supplicationibus nostris, et concede ut hoc solemne jejunium, quod animabus corporibusque curandis salubriter institutum est, devoto servitio celebremus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Give ear, O Lord, to our prayers, and grant that we may, with true devotion, observe this solemn fast which was wholesomely instituted for giving health to both our souls and...

THE STATION today is in the church of the holy martyrs, St. John and St. Paul. COLLECT Inchoata jejunia, quæsumus Domine, benigno favore prosequere: ut observantiam, quam corporaliter exhibemus, mentibus etiam sinceris exercere valeamus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Graciously favor us, O Lord, we beseech thee, in the fast we have undertaken: that what we observe outwardly, we may perform with sincere minds. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. EPISTLE LECTIO ISAIÆ PROPHETÆ. LESSON from ISAIAS the PROPHET. Cap. LVIII Ch. LVIII Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Clama, ne cesses, quasi tuba exalta vocem tuam, et annuntia populo meo scelera...

ALTHOUGH THE LAW OF FASTING began yesterday, yet Lent, properly so called, does not begin till the Vespers of Saturday next. In order to distinguish the rest of Lent from these four days which have been added to it, the Church continues to chant Vespers at the usual hour, and allows her ministers to break their fast before having said that Office. But beginning with Saturday, the Vespers will be anticipated; every day (Sundays excepted, which always exclude fasting), they will be said at such an early hour that when the faithful take their full meal, the evening Office...

Violet Privileged Feria YESTERDAY THE WORLD WAS BUSY in its pleasures, and the very children of God were taking a joyous farewell to mirth: but this morning, all is changed. The solemn announcement, spoken of by the prophet, has been proclaimed in Sion: the solemn fast of Lent, the season of expiation, the approach of the great anniversaries of our Redemption. Let us, then, rouse ourselves, and prepare for the spiritual combat. But in this battling of the spirit against the flesh we need good armor. Our holy mother the Church knows how much we need it; and therefore...

A giant mushroom-shaped cloud shot up from the Philippines’ most active volcano on Monday, darkening the skies and raining ash on communities where tens of thousands have fled after warnings of an impending eruption.Mayon volcano’s new activity prompted state volcanologists to raise the alert level one notch higher than the initial warning scientists issued last week, meaning a hazardous eruption is possible within days. Fine ash and sand fell on Legazpi, a city of about 200,000 people, and nearby areas after the midday explosion of Mount Mayon, forcing motorists to turn on their windshield wipers and headlamps, an AFP video...

Full Title: 12/14/2017 -- Alaska's Cleveland Volcano sends off 20,000 foot high blast -- West Coast be on watch The video at link is 18 minutes 17 seconds in length but the part about Cleveland Volcano begins at the 10:55 mark. An island volcano in the Aleutian Island chain sent ash to a height estimated to be "Flight level 200" (20,000 feet according to the vlogger?).

US scientists have found what it could be key for the future of the country’s ailing coal industry as they detected that ashes from local operations, particularly those around the Appalachian region, are very rich in rare earth elements. Researchers from North Carolina-based Duke University analyzed coal ashes from coal-fired power plants throughout the US, including those in the largest coal-producing regions: the Appalachian Mountains; southern and western Illinois; and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana. One of the team main conclusions was that coal waste generated by the Appalachian coal operations was the richest in rare earth...

Thirty-five years have passed since Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington, killing 57 people and raining ash throughout the state. Lisa Rainey shared a photo of jarred ash with Seattle's KIRO-TV, writing: "Ashes and a newspaper from Mount St. Helen's blast from 1980 ... my grandma and grandpa scooped up ashes in their yard from the blast.” When the photo was shared on Facebook, many viewers began to share their memories of that day – May 18, 1980.

Remember That Thou Art Dust David Mills Ash Wednesday is the holy day on which you are asked to face the facts about yourself. Letting someone smear ashes on your forehead while telling you that you are dirt is a statement that you have seen and accepted the facts about yourself, and know they’re not in your favor. And, though this isn’t as obvious, it is also a declaration of the good news.The Church doesn’t give official explanations of what her rites mean, but here’s what I think what is being said through the imposition of ashes. Even if this...

Ash Wednesday is upon us again! Here are 9 things you need to know and share . . . 1. What is Ash Wednesday? Ash Wednesday is the day that Lent begins (see: 9 things you need to know about Lent). The name comes from the fact that a particular rite is always celebrated on this Wednesday in which the faithful have ashes put on their foreheads. According to the Roman Missal: In the course of today’s Mass, ashes are blessed and distributed. These are made from the olive branches or branches of other trees that were blessed the previous...

Bill Gates recently got to check out the Omniprocessor, an ingenious machine designed and built by Janicki Bioenergy, which turns human waste into water and electricity. In places without good waste treatment plants, it could be a real game-changer.

Ready for some groovy news? Starz has ordered a follow-up series to the cult “Evil Dead” film franchise, titled “Ash vs. Evil Dead.” The new show will reteam director Sam Raimi with longtime producing partner Rob Tapert and star Bruce Campbell, who will reprise his iconic role as Ash, the stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead.

Ajai RajSeptember 8, 2014 Last Friday's eruption at Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano had many worried about the possible impacts of a larger eruption on air travel. Another eruption at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has caused a state of emergency to be declared on Big Island, as lava flows from the ongoing eruption have advanced within a mile of a residential zone. That's just one example of how much danger volcanoes pose to the U.S. — and we aren't doing much about it. Compared with Iceland, the U.S. is much more vulnerable to volcanic disasters — and has been failing at monitoring these...

An aerial flight over Yellowstone’s Midway Geyser Basin in 2004 shows Grand Prismatic Spring and Excelsior Geyser Crater, which drain into the nearby Firehole River. Courtesy of USGSIn the unlikely event of a volcanic supereruption at Yellowstone National Park, the northern Rocky Mountains would be blanketed in meters of ash, and millimeters would be deposited as far away as New York City, Los Angeles and Miami, according to a new study. An improved computer model developed by the study’s authors finds that the hypothetical, large eruption would create a distinctive kind of ash cloud known as an umbrella, which expands...

Robert Robertsson and Simon Johnson, ReutersAug. 31, 2014 STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A small new fissure eruption in an ice-free area of Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano system prompted authorities to raise their warning of the risk of ash to aviation to the highest level on Sunday. Iceland's largest volcanic system, which cuts a 190 km long and up to 25 km wide (118 miles by 15.5 miles) swathe across the North Atlantic island, has been hit by thousands of earthquakes over the last two weeks and scientists have been on high alert. In 2010, an ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, in...