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KABUL, Nov. 10, 2009 – Afghan National Police and international forces seized 250 tons of suspected bomb-making material and detained 15 people in a Nov. 8 raid in southeastern Afghanistan, military officials reported. Based on reliable information, the combined force searched a warehouse in Kandahar province, where they seized 1,000 100-pound bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and detained 15 people. They found an additional 4,000 100-pound bags of fertilizer at a nearby compound, and also seized 5,000 components used in improvised explosive devices. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is a key ingredient in IEDs and is illegal in Afghanistan. “This was a...

Industrial Materials Shine As Global Economy Seen TurningCitigroup analysts envision near-60% EPS gain in materials sector next year Kate Gibson MarketWatch Nov. 9, 2009, 3:23 p.m. EST NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- With industrial materials among the first to benefit as the global economy turns, the sector ranks as the No. 2 performer among the S&P 500's 10 industry groups so far this year -- and Citigroup analysts now see nearly a 60% earnings-per-share rebound as likely for the sector in 2010. Bankers' Clients Want More Love, More MoneyBonds of trust between investment banks and their clients have in some cases...

A research group in Germany has discovered a semiconducting material that can switch its semiconducting properties -- turning from one type of semiconductor to another -- via a simple change in temperature. This intriguing behavior may make the material useful in efforts to create better performing integrated circuits, which form the backbone of almost all electronic devices. Semiconductors are essential to integrated circuits, and any significant advances in semiconductor materials could mean big changes for the future of electronic technologies. For example, this new finding may further developments in data-storage technology. At a more fundamental level, the material could change...

Some home builders already struggling in Florida's dismal housing market are facing another headache: The Chinese-made drywall they used is causing unpleasant odors and possibly leading to electric problems in dozens of homes constructed during the housing boom.

New ways of squeezing out greater efficiency from solar photovoltaic cells are emerging from computer simulations and lab tests conducted by a team of physicists and engineers at MIT. Using computer modeling and a variety of advanced chip-manufacturing techniques, they have applied an antireflection coating to the front, and a novel combination of multi-layered reflective coatings and a tightly spaced array of lines — called a diffraction grating — to the backs of ultrathin silicon films to boost the cells’ output by as much as 50 percent. The carefully designed layers deposited on the back of the cell cause the...

HAVANA – Cuba has turned down U.S. storm relief handouts, but is asking for trade restrictions to be lifted so it can buy American materials to assist in its recovery from Hurricane Ike, officials said Thursday. "Cuba hasn't asked the United States government to give it anything," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement ...

By mimicking a brick-and-mortar molecular structure found in seashells, University of Michigan researchers created a composite plastic that's as strong as steel but lighter and transparent. It's made of layers of clay nanosheets and a water-soluble polymer that shares chemistry with white glue. Engineering professor Nicholas Kotov almost dubbed it "plastic steel," but the new material isn't quite stretchy enough to earn that name. Nevertheless, he says its further development could lead to lighter, stronger armor for soldiers or police and their vehicles. It could also be used in microelectromechanical devices, microfluidics, biomedical sensors and valves and unmanned aircraft. Kotov...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained two terrorists and discovered bomb-making materials south of Baghdad Sunday night. Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, reported a drive-by shooting at their checkpoint at approximately 8:45 p.m.; the soldiers returned fire, causing the terrorists to flee their vehicle on foot. A quick reaction force from Company C, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, responded to the checkpoint and captured the two terrorists. In the vehicle, the Soldiers seized various bomb-making materials. -30- FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS RELEASE,...

Chilly chip shatters speed record The world's fastest silicon-based microchip has been demonstrated by scientists in the US.The prototype operates at speeds up to 500 gigahertz (GHz), more than 100 times faster than desktop PC chips. To break the world record, the researchers from IBM and the Georgia Institute of Technology had to super-cool the chip with liquid helium. The team believes the device could eventually speed up wireless networks and develop cheaper mobile phones. "Faster and faster chips open up new applications and reduce costs for existing products," said Professor David Ahlgren of IBM. Exotic chips At the...

Latonia Wilson says she was only trying to do something nice for jurors. “I just thought it would be fun,” she said. “Especially at Christmastime.” Ken Clark, though, thought it was an obvious effort to buy campaign materials with taxpayers’ money. “I’m just amazed that she would even try it,” he said. Wilson is a Democrat who will be seeking her second term next year as district clerk. Clark is a Republican who will be seeking a third term as Precinct 4 commissioner. “Everything is going to be looked at politically,” Wilson said. “I’m not sure what the issue necessarily...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28, 2005 – A routine patrol yielded significant results Nov. 27 when Task Force Baghdad soldiers discovered terrorists' weapons and bomb-making materials and detained four suspects in the Abu Ghraib district of western Baghdad, military officials reported. Soldiers from B Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, were traveling through an area known for attacks with improvised explosive devices when they saw something suspicious in a chicken coop behind a farmhouse. They discovered what first appeared to be unexploded ordnance buried in the ground but slightly exposed on the surface. Explosive experts were called in and they destroyed...

Working with a material 10 times lighter than steel - but 250 times stronger - would be a dream come true for any engineer. If this material also had amazing properties that made it highly conductive of heat and electricity, it would start to sound like something out of a science fiction novel. Yet one Florida State University research group, the Florida Advanced Center for Composite Technologies (FAC2T), is working to develop real-world applications for just such a material. ~snip~ Buckypaper is made from carbon nanotubes -- amazingly strong fibers about 1/50,000th the diameter of a human hair that were...

TAJI, Iraq – Task Force Baghdad Soldiers captured a terror suspect and seized bomb making materials from his home during a cordon and search operation conducted in a Taji neighborhood on the evening of Sept. 20. The Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment Soldiers, also seized 20 flares, four rocket-propelled grenades, and additional evidence indicating the suspect had been building bombs. The Soldiers took the suspected terrorist into custody for questioning.

Scientists at The University of Manchester have discovered a new class of materials which have previously only existed in science fiction films and books. A team of British and Russian scientists led by Professor Geim have discovered a whole family of previously unknown materials, which are one atom thick and exhibit properties which scientists had never thought possible. Not only are they ultra-thin, but depending on circumstances they can also be ultra-strong, highly-insulating or highly-conductive, offering a wide range of unique properties for space-age engineers and designers to choose from. Professor Andre Geim said: "This discovery opens up practically infinite...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

...Take for instance Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials, which will soon become a movie series. Pullman’s books are enormously popular with children and adults alike for their appealing central characters, imaginative touches, and thrilling adventures. The movie adaptations will no doubt attract a loyal following as well. That’s a disturbing thought, because one of the major themes in His Dark Materials is the foolishness and wickedness of Christianity and the need to get rid of it. The characters essentially re-enact the story of Satan’s rebellion against God and the temptation in the Garden of Eden. But this time, the...

Hi all; After reading/hearing various opinions on the reliability of various CD-R recording materials ("the blue cyanine-coated CD-Rs are the least reliable, while the silver- and gold-colored CD-Rs are most reliable"), I wanted to hear whether any FReepers were knowledgeable about this. I'm archiving family photos and music onto CD-R and want to use the most durable medium, if any difference exists.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hundreds of medical and commercial facilities across the country have radioactive materials that could be used for a "dirty bomb" attack, a congressman says. A requirement to track the material by serial numbers was scrapped in 1985 and in many cases monitoring has been left to state health officials, according to Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., co-chairman of a bipartisan congressional task force on nuclear nonproliferation. Forty-eight states have at least one facility using radioactive materials and 17 states have at least one facility that uses more than 1 million curies of the material for irradiation or sterilization,...

MORE EXPLORE FEATURES Lost in Space Problems with the space shuttle and the International Space Station have knocked NASA off its moorings By Mark Alpert Image: NASAALBATROSS? The International Space Station. Critics of human spaceflight have a saying: "If God had wanted people to go into space, He would’ve given them more money." This reworked adage has never seemed more appropriate than during the recent battles in Washington, D.C., over the future of the space shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). Both programs are facing severe cutbacks as NASA’s new administrator, Sean O’Keefe, tries to bring order to...