Dec 21, 2004

Quote of the day

"American consumers have no problem with carcinogens, but they will not purchase any product, including floor wax, that has fat in it."
Dave Barry

Ooooh My back! (naproxen warning)

The FDA stopped short of urging patients to seek alternatives to the large class of drugs. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs include ibuprofen (such as Motrin and Advil), naproxen (such as Naprosyn and Aleve) and the COX-2 inhibitors Celebrex (chemical name celecoxib) and Vioxx (rofecoxib).

“It may be a problem for all nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, because we've never had an opportunity to examine this question,” said John Breitner of the University of Washington and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, the leader of the Alzheimer's study.

Then again, Breitner and others said, some of the warning signals emerging may be false alarms.

In the Alzheimer's study, for example, in which 70 persons experienced a stroke or heart attack out of 2,500 participants, the 50 percent increase in risk seen with naproxen may or may not prove to be “statistically significant” — a scientific term that would suggest the association is not simply due to chance. More analysis needs to be done before that question is settled, Breitner said, but he characterized the level of evidence as “enough to cause some concerns.”

Be very afraid!

Along with all the big fears have been dozens of lesser ones: saccharin, swine flu, cyclamates, endocrine disrupters, deodorants, electric razors, fluorescent lights, computer terminals, road rage, killer bees—the list goes on and on.

In this tradition, the association of cell phones and brain cancer has emerged as a contemporary concern, flourishing despite a lack of conclusive evidence of any direct link. I was drawn to one British study which suggested that cellular radiation actually improved brain function, but it got little publicity. And, of course, the best-documented hazard from cell phones—their use while driving—is largely ignored. (Handheld cell phones are only marginally more dangerous than speaker phones. The real danger comes from using a phone at all while driving.)

Fittingly, the century ended with one final, magnificent false fear: Y2K. For years, computer experts predicted a smorgasbord of horrors, ranging from the collapse of the stock market to the crash of airplanes. Some people withdrew their savings, sold their houses and moved to higher ground. In the end, nobody seemed to notice much of anything at all.

“I’ve seen a heap of trouble in my life, and most of it never came to pass,” Mark Twain is supposed to have said. At this point in my life, I can only agree. So many fears have turned out to be untrue or wildly exaggerated that I no longer get so excited about the latest one. Keeping fears in perspective leads me to ignore most of the frightening things I read and hear—or at least to take them with a pillar of salt.

For a time I wondered how it would feel to be without these fears and the frantic nagging concerns at the back of my mind. Actually, it feels just fine.

I recommend it.

Source: Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves

By Michael Crichton
Published: December 5, 2004

We’re all going to freeze! Or is it sizzle?

It may be mostly forgotten now, but back then many climate scientists shared his concern: Temperatures around the world had fallen steadily for 30 years, dropping half a degree in the Northern Hemisphere between 1945 and 1968. Pack ice was increasing. Glaciers were advancing. Growing seasons had shortened by two weeks in only a few years.

In 1975, Newsweek noted “ominous signs that weather patterns have begun to change…with serious political implications for just about every nation.” Scientists were predicting that “the resulting famines could be catastrophic.”

"Human beings never tire of discussing the
latest report that tells us the end is near."

But it is now clear that even as Newsweek was printing its fears, temperatures already had begun to rise. Within a decade, scientists would be decrying a global warming trend that threatened to raise temperatures as much as 30 degrees in the 21st century. Such predictions implied palm trees in Montana, and they have since been revised downward. By 1995, the UN midrange estimates were about 4 degrees over the next 100 years. Although concern about warming remains, the prospect of catastrophic change seems increasingly unlikely.

Source:
Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves

By Michael Crichton
Published: December 5, 2004

Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves

By Michael Crichton
Published: December 5, 2004

This year I turned 62, and I find I have acquired—along with aches and pains—a perspective on the world that I lacked as a younger person. I now recognize that for most of my life I have felt burdened by highly publicized fears that decades later did not turn out to be true.

I was reminded of this when I came across this 1972 statement about climate: “We simply cannot afford to gamble…We cannot risk inaction. Those scientists who [disagree] are acting irresponsibly. The indications that our climate can soon change for the worse are too strong to be reasonably ignored.” This author wasn’t concerned about global warming. He was worried about global cooling and the coming ice age.

We’re all going to freeze! Or is it si

5 Golden Rules for Simplifying the Holidays

5 Golden Rules for Simplifying the Holidays

From Michelle Singletary in her syndicated column "The Color of Money":

1. The best present is your presence.

2. It really is the thought that counts.

3. It's the quality, not the quantity, of the gifts that matters.

4. Presents are forgotten but debt isn't.

5. Nobody sees a therapist as an adult because they didn't get a life-size Barbie or Xbox as a child.

Notice for Federal Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT Due January 2, 2005

Notice for Federal Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT Due January 2, 2005
Many manufacturing facilities that are major sources of federal Hazardous Air Pollutants and are not subject to other Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards (MACT) will be subject to the Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT.
The Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT requires subject facilities to submit an Initial Notification by January 2, 2005, which is one year after the MACT was finalized.

The information required to be included in the notification includes:

The name and address of the owner or operator;
The address (i.e., physical location) of the affected source;
An identification of the relevant standard (for the Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT the relevant standard is 40 CFR 63 Subpart MMMM) , or other requirement, that is the basis of the notification and the source's compliance date (The Compliance date for the Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT is January 2, 2007);
A brief description of the nature, size, design, and method of operation of the source and an identification of the types of emission points within the affected source subject to the relevant standard and types of hazardous air pollutants emitted; and
A statement of whether the affected source is a major source or an area source.

An example Initial Notification Letter can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/gp/initialvf.pdf

The notification should be sent to your Department of Natural Resources air compliance engineer with a copy sent to the US Environmental Protection Agency at the address below:

US Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604

More information on the Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT can be found at these websites:
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/aw/air/mact/
www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/misc/miscpg.html

Submitted by
Tom Henning
Short Elliott Hendrickson

Brower Web - David Brower's Digital Base Camp

"Polite conservationists leave no mark
save the scars upon the Earth
that could have been prevented
had they stood their ground."

–David Brower

David Ross Brower was born in Berkeley, California on July 1, 1912. He founded Earth Island Institute and was president of Earth Island Action Group. Brower was a life-long wilderness enthusiast and engaged in conservation battles starting in 1938 and ending in 2000 with his death at the age of 88.

Mr. Brower joined the Sierra Club in 1933, became a member of its board of directors in 1941, and was its first executive director from 1952 to 1969. He saw the club's membership grow from 2,000 to 77,000, and successfully urged the formation of the Sierra Club Foundation (in 1960) before leaving the club staff on request in 1969. He was re-elected to the Sierra Club board again in 1983, 1986, 1995, and 1998. In 1969 he founded Friends of the Earth, along with the League of Conservation Voters, and initiated the founding of independent FOE organizations in other countries. FOE is now multi-national and operating in sixty-eight countries.

Through the years, David Brower had a profound impact on the state of America's wild lands by helping to create national parks and seashores in Kings Canyon, the North Cascades, the Redwoods, Great Basin, Alaska, Cape Cod, Fire Island, the Golden Gate, and Point Reyes; and in protecting primeval forests in the Olympic National Park, and wilderness on San Gorgonio. He played a major role in keeping dams out of Dinosaur National Monument, the Yukon, and the Grand Canyon, in establishing the National Wilderness Preservation System, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (which resulted in the Land and Water Conservation Fund), and in raising the twin questions:

"What kinds of growth must we have?"

"What kinds can we no longer afford?"

Earth Island Institute, Brower Fund, and biennial Fate and Hope of the Earth Conferences, all of which Mr. Brower founded in 1982, will continue to work to bring peace, environmental, social justice, and other groups together to achieve peace on and with the Earth. Mr. Brower recently founded the Global Conservation, Preservation, and Restoration (CPR) Service to help catalyze the restoration of natural and human systems. In 1988 and 1990-92, he led delegations to Lake Baikal in Siberia at Soviet request to aid its protection and restoration. In the fall of 1994, he co-founded the Ecological Council of Americas as a network of organizations in the Americas focused on problems of environment and economic integration. Mr. Brower developed plans for the creation of a National Biosphere Reserve System, as well as for a National Land Service to replace the current Bureau of Land Management and to have a new mission of protecting and restoring both public and private lands in the United States.

In civilian climbing and ski mountaineering, Mr. Brower made 70 first ascents, summer and winter, in Yosemite and the Western United States, participated in a historic attempt on Mount Waddington (Canada), led the first ascent of New Mexico's Shiprock (1939), and trekked to 18,000 feet in the Himalaya below Mount Everest (1976) and to Thyangboche (1984). He received the First Class Skier award in 1942, and, from 1939 to 1956, in the Sierra Club Wilderness Outings Program, he initiated the knapsack, river, and wilderness threshold trips and led some 4,000 people into remote wilderness.

David Brower was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times (in 1978, 1979, and 1998 -- jointly with professor Paul Ehrlich).

In October 1998, Brower received the Blue Planet Prize for his environmental accomplishments. The Blue Planet Prize is awarded annually by the Asahi Glass Foundation of Japan and is the richest environmental prize in the world.

Comments about Brower's efforts have ranged widely. John McPhee's Encounters With the Archdruid is about Mr. Brower and three of his natural enemies -- and is in its twenty-seventh printing. Mr. Brower especially liked what Russell Train said when he was chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality in the Nixon administration: "Thank God for Dave Brower; he makes it so easy for the rest of us to be reasonable."

Dec 20, 2004

Prozac Found in U.K. Drinking Water Supply

Traces of the anti-depressant Prozac (fluoxitine) have been found in the United Kingdom's water supply. London's Observer Sunday newspaper reported that a report from the Environment Agency warned that the drug is accumulating in rivers and groundwater used for drinking supplies. Scientists believe that Prozac finds its way into the water table from treated sewage and some speculate that it may affect human fertility.

The Environment Agency has reportedly held a series of meetings with the pharmaceutical industry to determine whether there are any risks from Prozac to the environment or to human health.

A spokesman for Britain's Drinking Water Inspectorate tried to calm fears, reporting that the traces found were unlikely to be a danger to health. Several sources report this spokesman as saying that "It is extremely unlikely that there is a risk, as such drugs are excreted in very low concentrations. Advanced treatment processes installed for pesticide removal are effective in removing drug residues." Britain's Liberal Democrats have already criticized the Inspectorate's statement. Environment spokesman Norman Baker is quotes as saying that it looked "like a case of hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting public".

According to the Observer article, 24 million prescriptions for Prozac are written in Great Britain every year a country with a population of 60 million. SSRIs such as Prozac have become somewhat controversial in recent years. These medications are increasingly prescribed to children, sometimes without proof of their effectiveness. Some have been linked to increases in suicides. Prozac itself has been found to be helpful for some children and teenagers.

Source:
http://mentalhealth.about.com/od/psychopharmacology/a/prozacuk804.htm

Has a 200 mpg carburetor been suppressed by the oil industry?

Has a 200 mpg carburetor been suppressed by the oil industry?

Source: Times Online
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003

Oil Industry Suppressed Plans for 200-MPG Car

The original blueprints for a device that could have revolutionized the motor car have been discovered in the secret compartment of a tool box. A carburetor that would allow a car to travel 200 miles on a gallon of fuel caused oil stocks to crash when it was announced by its Canadian inventor Charles Nelson Pogue in the 1930s.

But the carburetor was never produced and, mysteriously, Pogue went overnight from impoverished inventor to the manager of a successful factory making oil filters for the motor industry. Ever since, suspicion has lingered that oil companies and car manufacturers colluded to bury Pogue’s invention.

Now a retired Cornish mechanic has enlisted the help of the University of Plymouth to rebuild Pogue’s revolutionary carburetor, known as the Winnipeg, from blueprints he found hidden beneath a sheet of plywood in the box. The controversial plans once caused panic among oil companies and rocked the Toronto Stock Exchange when tests carried out on the carburetor in the 1930s proved that it worked.

Patrick Davies, 72, from St Austell, had owned the tool box for 40 years but only recently decided to clean it out. As well as drawings of the carburetor, the envelope contained two pages of plans, three test reports and six pages of notes written by Pogue. They included a report of a test that Pogue had done on his lawnmower, which showed that he had managed to make the engine run for seven days on a quart (just under a litre) of petrol. The documents also described how the machine worked by turning petrol into a vapor before it entered the cylinder chamber, reducing the amount of fuel needed for combustion.

Mr Davies has had the patent number on the plans authenticated, proving that they are genuine documents.

He said: “I couldn’t believe what I saw. I used to be a motor mechanic and I knew this was something else altogether. I was given the tool box by a friend after I helped to paint her house in 1964. Her husband had spent a lot of time in Canada.”

The announcement of Pogue’s invention caused enormous excitement in the American motor industry in 1933, when he drove 200 miles on one gallon of fuel in a Ford V8. However, the Winnipeg was never manufactured commercially and after 1936 it disappeared altogether amid allegations of a political cover-up.

Dr Murray Bell, of the University of Plymouth’s department of mechanical and marine engineering, said he would consider trying to build a model of the Pogue carburetor.

Engineers who have tried in the past to build a carburetor using Pogue’s theories have found the results less than satisfactory. Charles Friend, of Canada’s National Research Council, told Marketplace, a consumer affairs program: “You can get fantastic mileage if you’re prepared to de-rate the vehicle to a point where, for example, it might take you ten minutes to accelerate from 0 to 30 miles an hour.”

CHINA has overtaken the US as Australia's biggest source of imports

Trade deficit made in China

December 11, 2004

CHINA has overtaken the US as Australia's biggest source of imports, as our appetite for its cut-price clothes, furniture, electrical goods and machinery continues to fuel the growing trade deficit.

Imports from China totaled $1.8billion in October, moving ahead of the US for the first time. Our imports from the US totaled $1.6 billion.

In October, we sold goods worth more than $1billion to China, compared with $846million to the US and $2 billion to Japan. Our biggest exports to China are iron ore, wool and crude oil.

Australia has been running monthly trade deficits of about $2 billion since April last year.

http://finance.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11656823%255E462,00.html

U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes: October 2004

U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes: October 2004

The U.S. Import Price Index rose 1.5 percent in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. An 11.7 percent increase in import petroleum prices last month more than offset a 0.2 percent decline in the price index for nonpetroleum imports. Export prices were up 0.7 percent in October, following a 0.4 percent rise in September.

Import Goods

Import prices were up 1.5 percent in October, the fourth consecutive monthly advance and largest increase for the index since May. The rise was attributable to an 11.7 percent jump in petroleum prices. The price index for petroleum has trended upward since June 2003, when the index rose 24.8 percent. For the year ended in October, petroleum prices were up 67.6 percent. In contrast, nonpetroleum import prices fell 0.2 percent last month, the first decline for the index since October 2003. Prices for nonpetroleum imports rose 2.7 percent over the October 2003-2004 period. Led by the sharp increase in petroleum prices, overall import prices were up 9.7 percent over the same timeframe.

The October decrease in nonpetroleum prices was led by a 1.1 percent decline in the price index for nonpetroleum industrial supplies and materials, a drop attributable to falling prices for lumber and other finished building materials. Despite the decline, nonpetroleum industrial supplies and materials prices increased 12.8 percent over the past 12 months. Import capital goods prices fell 0.2 percent in October, led by falling computer prices. The price index for capital goods has not increased since January and was down 1.3 percent over the past year. A 0.6 percent drop in prices for foods, feeds, and beverages also contributed to the October decline in nonpetroleum prices and resulted from lower vegetable prices. Foods, feeds, and beverages prices were up 6.0 percent for the year ended in October.

Import automotive vehicle prices rose 0.4 percent in October, partially offsetting the declines in other nonpetroleum prices. The increase was the largest since October 2003 and was attributable to year-end model changeovers. Prices for automotive vehicles were up 1.8 percent over the past 12 months. The price index for consumer goods was unchanged last month and was up a modest 0.5 percent for the year ended in October.

Export Goods

Export prices rose 0.7 percent in October, led by a 1.0 percent increase in nonagricultural export prices, which more than offset a 1.3 percent drop in agricultural prices. The advance in nonagricultural prices was the largest monthly increase since October 1990. Prices for nonagricultural exports increased in 11 of the past 12 months and were up 5.2 percent over that period. Overall export prices also were up for the year ended in October, increasing 4.5 percent.

Nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials prices, up 2.5 percent in October, led the increase in nonagricultural export prices. Rising prices for chemicals, fuel, and metals all contributed to the increase. Prices for nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials were up 16.6 percent over the past year.

Higher prices for capital goods and for automotive vehicles were also factors in the increase in nonagricultural prices. The price index for capital goods rose 0.4 percent, the largest monthly gain since April 1995. Capital goods prices had been relatively stable over the past six months prior to October and rose 1.0 percent for the year ended in October. Prices for automotive vehicles increased 0.2 percent in October, attributable to both higher parts prices and year-end model changeovers. The index was up 0.9 percent over the past 12 months. Consumer goods prices fell 0.1 percent in October but were up 1.1 percent over the past year.

The 1.3 percent decrease in agricultural exports in October resumed the recent downward trend for the index, following a 1.7 percent increase in September. In October, declining prices for soybeans and corn more than offset higher vegetable and fruit prices. Agricultural prices fell 1.3 percent over the past 12 months.

Imports by Locality of Origin

Led by higher petroleum prices, the price indexes for imports from Latin America, from the European Union, and from Canada all rose in October. Prices of imports from Latin America were up 2.6 percent, the largest increase since February 2003. The index was up 16.3 percent for the year ended in October. Import prices from the European Union and from Canada each were up 0.6 percent in October. Over the past year, the indexes were up 7.1 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively.

Prices for imports from Japan increased 0.2 percent last month after a modest 0.1 percent decline in September. Import prices from Japan were up 1.7 percent over the past 12 months.

Import prices from the Asian Newly Industrialized Countries were unchanged last month and for the year ended in October.

Import and Export Services

Both import and export air passenger fares were down in October due to seasonal price declines. Import air passenger fares fell 4.6 percent in October, following a similar 4.1 percent decrease the previous month. The index was up 0.8 percent for the year ended in October. Export air passenger fares also declined last month, falling a more modest 1.9 percent after decreasing 6.8 percent in September. Notwithstanding the recent declines, export air passenger fares were up 6.2 percent over the past year.

From Bureau of Labor Statistics

This release has been edited for length. You can find the original at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ&sdn=economics&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bls.gov%2Fnews.release%2Fximpim.n

They’re Recycling Theır Brain Power

“I became a chemist because I love chemistry,” she explains Elaine Marten.

So Marten was delighted when she learned about Waste Reduction Partners (WRP), an extraordinary group of retired scientists and engineers in Asheville. “I signed right up,” she says with a laugh. “And now they have me working harder than I did when I was getting paid for it!”

Waste Reduction Partners was founded in 1992 on a simple but powerful concept: Americans are living longer and healthier lives (35 million of us are now over 65, a number projected to rise to 80 million by 2050). And retirees are often eager to continue using the work skills they spent a lifetime developing. At the same time, many environmental challenges cry out for just the expertise these retirees possess.

“What WRP does is bring the people to where they’re needed,” says Terry Albrecht, 39, the group’s energetic director—and the only staff member under 60. One thing that’s needed in Asheville are new ways to deal with water shortages and overflowing landfills—the environmental fallout from the area’s decade of economic growth.

The good news is that by reducing waste, businesses and governments usually can cut pollution and save money. However, they’re often leery of the up-front costs incurred in figuring out a plan of action. And consultants with the necessary know-how can charge as much as $500 a day.

“I became a chemist because I love chemistry,”
says Elaine Marten. “I didn’t stop loving it
just because I’d retired.”

That’s where WRP comes in. Funded mostly by the state of North Carolina, the group’s skilled retirees can provide any institution with a confidential evaluation of how it can improve its environmental performance. In return, they receive a small per diem, travel costs and, as Marten puts it, “the sense that you’re making a difference.”

This lure has been strong enough to attract to WRP more than 40 engineers, architects and scientists with former careers in textiles, electric utilities, aerospace and the chemical and paper industries. Among them, they have more than 1000 years of professional experience and hold more than 100 patents. “It’s a fantastic collection of talent,” says Albrecht.

If Asheville schools and businesses want to install energy-efficient lighting, they can call upon Art Lins, 80, a Westinghouse electrical engineer for four decades. The area’s large textile industry can consult with Tom McCullough, 74, a former fabric specialist for Levi Strauss. Other business inquiries might be referred to Bob Schornstheimer, 87, who spent 36 years at B.F. Goodrich; Don Hollister, 78, a former Northrop aeronautical engineer; or Wayne Rumble, 69, a retired general manager who, in his spare time, invented a new kind of golf club that’s now manufactured worldwide.

The payoff has been enormous. Since Jan. 1, 2000, WRP’s clients have produced 109.1 million fewer pounds of solid waste while using 105.8 million fewer gallons of water and 14.8 million fewer kilowatt hours than they would have without the retirees’ help. Total saved: $5.75 million. In comparison, WRP’s entire budget during this period was less than $500,000.

But the organization is now setting its sights even higher: If it’s good to reduce the amount of trash that Asheville sends to the landfill, it would be even better to sell it. As Tom McCullough puts it, “Just like in nature, somebody’s waste is someone else’s wealth.”

One of the retirees found a way to turn wood pallets destined for the dump into beautiful flooring.

For instance, traditionally, one of the greatest uses for hardwoods in America has been for pallets—the platforms used to transport just about everything. Annually, 305,000 tons of pallets are sent to dumps in North Carolina alone. Inspired by this waste, David Lowles, 65, a retired Silicon Valley entrepreneur, created a process to recycle the pallets’ high-quality wood into flooring. The beautiful samples created from sequences of oak, maple, walnut and cherry are already on sale at a high-end Asheville store.

Meanwhile, Elaine Marten’s current chemistry project is finding a use for the 130,000 tons of fly ash the area’s coal-burning utility produces annually. In collaboration with North Carolina State University, Marten is exploring a method to combine it with hog waste (also plentiful) to create a material suitable for cinder blocks and driveways. The final product is as hard as comparable materials but significantly lighter —not to mention “completely odor-free,” notes Marten. WRP estimates that it could be sold to the construction industry at $38 per ton. That means the utilities could help produce a $4 million-a-year product with what they used to pay to throw away!

Not surprisingly, one WRP scientist sums it up as “a win-win-win situation: It’s good for business, good for the environment and good for us volunteers.” Moreover, as America’s population ages, Terry Albrecht emphasizes that there’s no reason WRP’s success can’t be duplicated across the country. “Conserving water, energy and everything else is vital,” he says. “But people are the most important natural resource of all.

By Jonathan Schwarz
Source: http://archive.parade.com/2004/1031/1031_scientists1.html

Posted by: Christopher Haase

Email: haase@neutralsolution.com

Voice (262) 238-5576 Fax (262) 238-5586

ESS, Winner of the "Excellence in Environmental Performance Award"

Environmentally Sensitive Solutions, Inc. 6320 Eastwood Court Mequon, WI 53092

Visit ESS at: www.neutralsolution.com www.neudishcare.com www.neutralcleaning.com

Finding gold in oil stocks

Finding gold in oil stocks
Share prices of energy companies have soared together with oil prices this year, so it can be tempting to think that now is hardly a great time to buy petroleum stocks. But there are good deals to be found among energy stocks, writes Fortune magazine columnist Abrahm Lustgarten, as he outlines strategies. Fortune

The machines are taking over!

Any catalog of false fears and counterfeit crises must include examples of the ever-present threat posed by technology. Nobody of my generation will ever forget the looming crisis of too much leisure time, an issue much discussed in the 1960s. Since machines would soon be doing all our work, we needed to learn watercolor painting and macramé to pass the time. Yet, by the end of the century, Americans were regarded as overworked, overstressed and sleepless. The crisis of leisure time had gone the way of the paperless office.

More sinister were the health threats posed by technology, such as the fears about cancer from power lines. The great power-line scare lasted more than a decade and, according to one expert, cost the nation $25 billion before many studies determined it to be false.

"Sinister health threats posed by technology—such
as fears about cancer from power lines—eventually
were shown to be false."

Ironically, 10 years later, the same magnetic fields that were formerly feared as carcinogenic now were welcomed as healthful. People attached magnets (the best ones were imported from Japan) to their legs and backs, or put magnetic pads on their mattresses, in order to experience the benefits of the same magnetic fields they previously had avoided. Magnet therapy even became a new treatment for depression.

Source:
Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves

By Michael Crichton
Published: December 5, 2004

Theoretical physics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Theoretical physics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from Physical theory)

Theoretical physics attempts to understand the world by making a model of reality, used for rationalizing, explaining, predicting physical phenomena through a "physical theory". There are three types of theories in physics; mainstream theories, proposed theories and fringe theories.

Some physical theories are backed by observation, whereas others are not. A physical theory is a model of physical events and cannot be proved from basic axioms. A physical theory is different from a mathematical theorem. Physical theories model reality and are a statement of what has been observed, and provide predictions of new observations.

Physical theories can become accepted if they are able to make correct predictions and avoid incorrect ones. Physical theories which are simpler tend to be accepted over theories which are complex. Physical theories are more likely to be accepted if they connect a wide range of phenomena. The process of testing a physical theory is part of the scientific method.

Theoretical physics is just one important part of physics; the other part is experimental physics. The difference between theoretical physics and mathematical physics is that mathematical physics finds the mathematical rigor required in mathematics to be more important than the contact with experiments and observations.

Contents [hide]

1 Mainstream theories

2 Proposed theories

3 Fringe theories

4 See also

[edit]

Mainstream theories

Mainstream theories (sometimes referred to as central theories) are the body of knowledge of both factual and scientific views and possess a usual scientific quality of the tests of repeatability, consistency with existing well-established science and experimentation.

Some examples of mainstream physical theories are:

[edit]

Proposed theories

The proposed theories of physics are relatively new theories which deal with the study of physics which include scientific approaches, means for determining the validity of models and new types of reasoning used to arrive at the theory. Proposed theories can include fringe theories in the process of becoming established (and, sometimes, gaining wider acceptance). Proposed theories usually have not been tested.

Some examples of proposed physical theories are:

[edit]

Fringe theories

Fringe theories include any new area of scientific endeavor in the process of becoming established and some proposed theories. It can include speculative sciences. This includes physics fields and physical theories presented in accordance with known evidence, and a body of associated predictions have been made according to that theory.

Some fringe theories go on to become an widely accepted part of physics. Other fringe theories end up being disproven. Some fringe theories are a form of protoscience and others are a form of pseudoscience. The falsification of the original theory sometimes leads to reformulation of the theory.

Some examples of fringe physical theories are:

* These theories are both proposed and fringe theories.

Theory of everything - form Wikipedia,

Theory of everything

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A theory of everything (TOE) is a theory of theoretical physics and mathematics that fully explains and links together all known physical phenomena (i.e. "everything"). Initially the term was used with an ironical connotation, to refer to various overgeneralized theories. For example, an uncle of Ijon Tichy— a famous hero of Stanislaw Lem's science fiction stories of early 1970s — was known to work on "General Theory of Everything" (Polish: "Ogólna Teoria Wszystkiego"). Over time, the term stuck in popularizations of quantum physics to describe a theory that would unify the theories of the four fundamental interactions of nature, possibly due to the influence of The Theory of Everything, a book with material written by Stephen Hawking but disowned by him.

Contents [hide]

1 Mainstream physics

2 Speculative ideas

2.1 Time Cube
2.2 Burkhard Heim and quantised general relativity
2.3 Eino Kaila

3 External link

[edit]

Mainstream physics

Albert Einstein was the first serious scientist who spent most of his life trying to find a TOE; he believed that the only task was to unify general relativity and electromagnetism.

Current mainstream physics concepts require that a TOE unify the four fundamental interactions of nature: gravity, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force; it should also explain the spectrum of elementary particles. There has been progress toward a TOE in unifying electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force in an electroweak unified field theory and in unifying all of the forces except for gravity (which in the present theory of gravity general relativity is not a force) in grand unified theory. One missing piece in a theory of everything involves combining quantum mechanics and general relativity into a theory of quantum gravity.

The only serious candidate for a theory of everything at the moment is superstring theory / M-theory; current research on loop quantum gravity may eventually play a fundamental role in a TOE, but that is not its primary aim. These theories attempt to deal with the renormalization problem by setting up some lower bound on the length scales possible. Also, early 21st century theories of everything tend to suppose that the universe actually has more dimensions than the easily observed three of space and one of time. The motivation behind this approach began with the Kaluza-Klein theory in which it was noted that adding one dimension to general relativity would produce the electromagnetic Maxwell's equations. This has led to efforts to work with theories with large number of dimensions in the hopes that this would produce equations which are similar to known laws of physics. The notion of extra dimensions also helps to resolve the hierarchy problem which is the question of why gravity is so much weaker than any other force. The common answer involves gravity leaking into the extra dimensions in ways that the other forces do not.

In the late 1990s, it was noted that one problem with several of the candidates for theories of everything was that they did not constrain the characteristics of the predicted universe. For example, many theories of quantum gravity can create universes with arbitrary numbers of dimensions or with arbitrary cosmological constants. One bit of speculation is that there may indeed be a huge number of universes, but that only a small number of them are habitable, and hence the fundamental constants of the universe are ultimately the result of the anthropic principle rather than a consequence of the theory of everything.

There is also a philosophical debate within the physics community as to whether or not a "theory of everything" should be seen as the fundamental law of the universe. One view is the hard reductionist view that the TOE is the fundamental law of the universe and that all other theories of the universe are a consequence of the TOE. Another view is that there are laws which Steven Weinberg calls free floating laws which govern the behavior of complex systems, and while these laws are related to the theory of everything, they cannot be seen as less fundamental than the TOE. Some argue that this explanation would violate Occam's Razor if a completely valid TOE were formulated.

Other possibilities which may frustrate the explanatory capacity of a TOE may include sensitivity to the boundary conditions of the universe, or the existence of mathematical chaos in its solutions, making its predictions precise, but useless.

Dec 19, 2004

List of theoretical physicists - Wikipedia

List of theoretical physicists

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The following is a list of theoretical physicists:

Dec 17, 2004

Apple scurrying to meet iPod demand

Apple Computer says its manufacturer of the popular portable music players is working as fast as possible to make and ship new iPods, but some consumers are struggling to find their favorite model online or at Best Buy or Target. One electronics retailer expressed concern the company is giving its chain of Apple retail stores priority on iPod inventory. The Wall Street Journal

Survey finds scalding water at most hotels

Survey finds scalding water at most hotels
A study of 142 hotels in the U.S. found showers and faucets at most of the properties were capable of delivering scalding temperatures. Managers of several hotels, however, said water temperature was not an issue at their properties and most shower-related complaints involved the amount of water pressure. San Francisco Chronicle

The Economic Outlook for 2005

The Economic Outlook for 2005
What does 2005 hold for the economy?
Expert predictions are gravitating toward a good, but not great, economy next year. GDP is expected grow between 3.5% to 4%, but the falling dollar or a drop in home prices could ripple negative effects throughout the economy.

Read on here:
href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1108.cfm

Dec 16, 2004

Chemical Spill Forces Evacuation in Watertown, Wisconsin

Hazmat crews from Milwaukee responded after a tanker truck spilled toluene diisocyanate while unloading the chemical at Reiss Industries. The spill sent five people to the hospital and forced others out of their homes.
Watertown police removed barricades blocking Hart and 9th Streets about 7 p.m. Wednesday night, though the spill was not fully cleaned up.
"The main thing that needs to be done is get the product off the ground," said Mayor John David.
The mayor says this morning, a trucker was unloading the liquid, which is used to harden plastics, when a valve wouldn't close and about 1,000 gallons of the toxic chemical spilled onto the parking lot, into the storm sewer, and into a nearby ditch.
"There was concerns regarding our drinking water. There is not a problem with our drinking water. It was never in danger," said Fire Chief Henry Butts.
But people who breathe the chemical's vapors could be in danger, so police shut outside vents to two nearby plants, closed roads, and evacuated 21 homes -- until special testing devices flown in from Michigan confirmed the air was safe for all but one house next to the spill.
Residents, who had to wait hours to return home, were frustrated that local firefighters had to call Milwaukee's Hazmat team to shut the stuck valve.
The mayor says if it had been a warm day, more people may have been hurt and thousands may have been evacuated. He said he's thankful the chemical froze right away and did little harm, but he's worried about who's going to pay for the clean up. He says the cost could easily run into the "tens of thousands" of dollars.
The five employees exposed to the chemical were all released from the hospital.
A private contractor remained on the scene Wednesday night moving the frozen chemical into barrels. The mayor says the entire clean up probably won't be done until Thursday evening.

----- Original Message

6 million tons of solvents were released in the U.S.

About 6 million short tons of solvents were released in the U.S. These releases not only have a tremendous impact on the environment, but can also result in short and long-term human health concerns. For these reasons, regulations have been introduced to cut back on the acceptable amounts of harmful solvents released into the environment.

Particularly harmful chemicals on the TRI list under the category of “Persistent, Bio-accumulative Toxic pollutants” (PBT’s) are highly toxic, long-lasting substances that can build up in the food chain to levels that are harmful to human health and the environment. These contaminants can be transported long distances and move readily from land to air and water. The EPA’s Waste Minimization Program has drafted a strategy to reduce 53 PBT’s in RCRA-regulated waste through voluntary Pollution Prevention (P2) efforts [2]. The goal was a 10% cut in PBT’s found in the RCRA-regulated waste by 2001, and a 50% cut by 2005, as measured by TRI reports. The 2001 goal has been achieved, but meeting the 2005 goal will be more difficult. The focus of this initiative is to reduce the environmental impact of industrial pollutants, rather than merely the volume.

JibJab's Grumpy Santa

	Santa Claus!
	This Land!
	Good to be in DC!
	Miracle on 234th Street
	Ahnuld for Governor
	Founding Fathers
	The Musical
	Who's Your Papua
	Funny Foreign Names
	Bush Versus Gore
	Cooking with Clinton

EPA intends to delegate authority to Wisconsin for federal drinking water rules

ICAGO (Oct. 28, 2004) -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 intends to delegate authority to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for certain federal drinking water rules. The rules govern the definition of a public water system, Consumer Confidence reports, interim enhanced surface water treatment, disinfection/disinfectant byproducts and the authority to assess administrative penalties when water systems violate regulations.

To be delegated authority, Wisconsin's rules must be at least as stringent as federal rules. Notice of the proposal was published in the Federal Register on Monday, Oct. 18.

Anyone who objects to the delegation of authority may request a public hearing by writing to Joseph Janczy, U.S. EPA (WG-15J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, or e-mailing him at janczy.joseph@epa.gov by Nov. 17.

# # #

EPA Region 5 enforcement highlights for FY 2004

EPA Region 5 enforcement highlights: nationally, FY2004 enforcement secures cleanups worth a record $4.8 billion and will stop one billion pounds of pollution

CHICAGO (Nov. 15, 2004) -- EPA enforcement actions concluded in fiscal year 2004 will reduce a projected one billion pounds of pollution and require cleanups estimated to total a record $4.8 billion significant increases from last year. Almost every other annual measure of the Agency's enforcement and compliance activity such as the number of inspections (up 11 percent from FY 2003) and investigations (up 32 percent from FY 2003) surpassed or kept pace with previous years, indicating continued progress in deterring violations of the nation's environmental laws and reflecting an emphasis on environmental benefits and compliance.

"EPA's enforcement strategy is focused on what matters most: achieving real environmental improvements that benefit everyone," said Tom Skinner, EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "We are getting significant, real-world pollution reductions through mechanisms like injunctive relief pushing companies to install more effective pollution controls - and supplemental environmental projects, which improve the environment and public health both nationwide and close to home."

Highlights of cases in Region 5 Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin include:

Ace Ethanol, Wisconsin
EPA and U.S. Department of Justice settled a case against Ace Ethanol in December 2003 for alleged violations of the Prevention of Significant Deterioration provisions of the Clean Air Act, as well as other sections of the act, such as the New Source Performance Standards and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants. Ace's ethanol dry mill processes corn into ethanol. This facility is one of 75 ethanol plants in the United States. Ace is required to install a thermal oxidizer to achieve 95 percent destruction of volatile organic compounds. The oxidizer will also reduce particulate matter and carbon monoxide. Compliance with NSPS and NESHAPs will also be required, along with appropriate compliance testing, monitoring and record-keeping. The estimated cost of these compliance measures is over $1 million. Ace agreed to pay a $337,609 civil penalty to the state of Wisconsin.

RT Automotive, Michigan
George C. Singleton of Clinton, Mich., owner of RT Automotive, was sentenced in February 2004 to serve 37 months in prison and pay $84,000 in restitution for illegal disposal of paint wastes containing flammable materials. He was previously convicted of conspiring to violate the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and on three counts of violating RCRA. In 1998, the defendant entered into an agreement with an auto salvage yard to dispose of approximately 70 drums of paint wastes containing ignitable materials. In August 1998, Singleton directed the illegal disposal of the wastes, which were placed in an abandoned trailer in an open field in Van Buren Township, Mich. Two police officers and four firefighters required medical evaluation because of exposure to fumes after approaching the trailer.

Crown E.G Inc., Indiana
Crown E.G. Inc., an environmental consulting firm that supervised the wastewater treatment facility at the Guide Corp. automotive signal manufacturing facility in Anderson, Ind., pleaded guilty and was sentenced on June 29, 2004, in Indianapolis for negligently violating the Clean Water Act. Crown will pay a $100,000 fine, serve five years probation and develop a comprehensive environmental compliance and education program. In September 1999, Guide Corp. closed an electro-plating facility at its Anderson plant and sent electroplating chemicals and wastes to its on-site facility for treatment, where large quantities of treatment chemicals were added under Crown's supervision. In December 1999, approximately 1.6 million gallons of water contaminated with the by-products of the treatment chemicals was discharged into the Anderson sewer system, which ultimately discharges into the White River, killing approximately 100 tons of fish.

David Van Dyke, Indiana
David Van Dyke, who was the certified operator of the Warsaw, Ind., Wastewater Treatment Plant, was sentenced on Nov. 18, 2003, to serve 46 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for his conviction on three counts of violating the Clean Water Act. The Warsaw Wastewater Treatment Plant discharges into Walnut Creek, a tributary of the Tippecanoe River. Van Dyke altered and falsified a lab report submitted to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. He also falsified records of the sewage plant's weekly limit for carbonaceous biological oxygen demand, ammonia, total suspended solids and E. coli bacteria. Rather than pay for sludge disposal, the defendant ordered that sludge be recirculated within the plant. This killed the plant's biological treatment system, leading to the release of untreated sewage into the creek, which killed thousands of fish in Walnut Creek between late July and early August 2002. Approximately 22,000 cubic yards of sewage sludge remains in Walnut Creek as a result of the improper operation of the facility.

In addition to the record environmental benefit and cleanup figures resulting from Agency actions during FY 2004, EPA estimates that 3.4 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediment and 9.5 million cubic yards of groundwater will be cleaned up, 1,300 acres of wetlands will be protected, and the drinking water of 4 million Americans will comply with EPA standards. Of the 4,257 cases concluded by EPA in FY 2004, 83 percent resulted in actions to bring facilities into compliance with environmental laws.

More information about EPA's enforcement program is available online at www.epa.gov/compliance/planning/results/press/2004eoy/

# # #

EPA Region 5 2004 Announcements

EPA Region 5 Recent Announcements

December

EPA recognizes two Minnesota school districts for improving school air quality
News Release #04-OPA220, released 12/03/2004

EPA Recognizes Milwaukee Public Schools for improving school air quality
News Release #04-OPA219, released 12/03/2004

EPA cites Kikkoman Foods for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA218, released 12/02/2004

November
EPA recognizes Columbus hospitality for energy efficiency and environmental leadership
News Release #04-OPA212, released 11/17/2004

EPA Cites M & M Drying for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA210, released 11/16/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Mule-Hide on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA209, released 11/16/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Nelson Paint on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA208, released 11/16/2004

EPA Region 5 enforcement highlights for FY2004
News Release #04-OPA211, released 11/15/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Lymtal on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA207, released 11/15/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Carbit Paint on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA206, released 11/15/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Viking Paints on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA205, released 11/15/2004

EPA reaches agreements with Tower Industries on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA204, released 11/10/2004

EPA cites Pharmacia for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA203, released 11/10/2004

EPA cites Youngstown Thermal Energy for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA202, released 11/10/2004

Grand Rapids Superfund site primed for new uses
News Release #04-OPA200, released 11/10/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Aexcel on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA195, released 11/4/2004

EPA cites Degussa Engineered Carbons for clean-air violations
EPA cites Spectro Alloys for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA193, released 11/3/2004

EPA cites ISG Cleveland for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA192, released 11/3/2004

EPA cites Pickens Plastics for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA190, released 11/2/2004

EPA cites Elyria Recycling for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA188, released 11/2/2004

October

EPA intends to delegate authority to Wisconsin for federal drinking water rules
News Release #04-OPA187, released 10/28/2004

EPA Reaches agreement with Morgan Advanced Ceramics
News Release #04-OPA184, released 10/28/2004

John G. Shedd Aquarium designated a Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center
News Release #04-OPA182, released 10/28/2004

EPA cites Grainger for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA183, released 10/28/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Miller Compressing
News Release #04-OPA180, released 10/26/2004

EPA reaches agreement with 3M on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA179, released 10/26/2004

EPA cites Mercury Marine for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA178, released 10/26/2004

Media Advisory: EPA joins students from Kenwood Academy to sample Chicago River
News Release #04-OPA177, released 10/21/2004

EPA cites CSN for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA175, released 10/21/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Ashland Inc. on hazardous waste violations; includes $650,000 fine and cleanup order
News Release #04-OPA174, released 10/20/2004

EPA cites GNW Aluminum for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA166, released 10/18/2004

State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) Opens its Sixth Biennial Three-Day Run
News Release #04-OPA167, released 10/6/2004

EPA cites Cleveland Corp. for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA165, released 10/6/2004

EPA cites B&B Metals for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA164, released 10/6/2004

EPA cites Aluminum Recovery Technologies for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA163, released 10/6/2004

Media Advisory: EPA scientists share environmental research with practical applications
News Release #04-OPA161, released 10/5/2004

EPA reaches agreement with M.C. Aluminum America
News Release #04-OPA160, released 10/5/2004

EPA cites Allied Metal for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA159, released 10/5/2004

EPA notifies Citation Corp. of clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA158, released 10/5/2004

EPA wraps up $1.8 million Little Bay De Noc, Gladstone, Mich., cleanup
News Release #04-OPA154, released 10/4/2004

EPA cites BP Whiting refinery for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA157, released 10/4/2004

EPA cites Von Roll for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA156, released 10/4/2004

EPA cites Nufarm Americas for pesticide export violations

September

EPA awards $3.5 million to Indiana University to operate Great Lakes air monitoring network
News Release #04-OPA152, released 9/29/2004

EPA awards $39,288 in grants to three Wisconsin organizations for environmental education projects
News Release #04-OPA147, released 9/27/2004

Detroit River's "Black Lagoon" to be first Great Lakes Legacy Act cleanup
News Release #04-OPA151, released 9/27/2004

EPA orders Perma-Fix to comply with hazardous air-pollutant standards
News Release #04-OPA145, released 9/27/2004

EPA cites Cognis for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA144, released 9/23/2004

EPA cites Trialco for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA143, released 9/23/2004

MEDIA ADVISORY: EPA To brief news media on its acid rain progress report released today
News Release #04-OPA142, released 9/22/2004

EPA awards $23,000 in environmental education grants to two Minnesota organizations
News Release #04-OPA141, released 9/22/2004

EPA awards $32,256 in environmental education grants to three Michigan organizations
News Release #04-OPA139, released 9/22/2004

EPA awards $28,570 in environmental education grants to four Indiana organizations
News Release #04-OPA127, released 9/22/2004

EPA awards $36,786 in environmental education grants to four Illinois organizations
News Release #04-OPA126, released 9/22/2004

EPA Reaches agreement with Superior Aluminum Alloys
News Release #04-OPA140, released 9/21/2004

EPA settles with Gas City for hazardous chemical reporting violations at 30 Illinois
gas stations
News Release #04-OPA137, released 9/20/2004

EPA cites J. L. French for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA136, released 9/20/2004

EPA Cites J & J Cores for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA135, released 9/20/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Aquascape Designs; includes $36,650 fine and sale stoppage
News Release #04-OPA134, released 9/16/2004

EPA changes smog classification for Detroit
News Release #04-OPA133, released 9/16/2004

EPA names Eagan and Waseca, Minn., wastewater treatment plants among best-operated in region
News Release #04-OPA125, released 9/10/2004

EPA grant to fund Minnesota Department of Health asthma project
News Release #04-OPA124, released 9/10/2004

Hazardous chemical reporting roundup: EPA settles Avon, Ind., case; issues 4 new complaints
News Release #04-OPA105, released 9/8/2004

Grant award helps students monitor Upper Peninsula Superfund Site
News Release #04-OPA119, released 9/1/2004

August

EPA reaches agreement with Midwest Energy on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA123, released 8/31/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Abbott Labs on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA115, released 8/25/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Beta Steel on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA114, released 8/25/2004

EPA cites Royster-Clark for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA111, released 8/18/2004

MEDIA ADVISORY: EPA Administrator Leavitt in Ashland, Wis., to gather information on Great Lakes issues and cleanup
News Release #04-OPA108, released 8/10/2004

EPA names Breese, Ill. wastewater treatment plant among best-operated in region
News Release #04-OPA106, released 8/04/2004

EPA names Indiana wastewater treatment plants among best-operated in region
News Release #04-OPA103, released 8/04/2004

EPA update meeting on St. Regis Paper site August 12, 6 P.M.
News Release #04-OPA104, released 8/04/2004

JULY

EPA reaches agreement with Greener Pastures; Includes $25,000 fine and immediate sale stoppage
News Release #04-OPA102, released 7/29/2004

EPA cites Morgan Electro Ceramics for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA101, released 7/21/2004

EPA cites Intrametco for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA100, released 7/21/2004

EPA gives Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Southwest Michigan $1,147,593 watershed grant
News Release #04-OPA098, released 7/20/2004

EPA gives $1,289,904 watershed grant to Upper Sangamon River
News Release #04-OPA097, released 7/20/2004

EPA cites Grainger for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA096, released 7/20/2004

EPA cites Erler Industries for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA095, released 7/16/2004

EPA cites Lesaffre Yeast for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA094, released 7/16/2004

Initial EPA-ordered removal of contaminated soil from St. Regis Paper Co. site complete
News Release #04-OPA090, released 7/1/2004

JUNE

Media advisory: EPA Administrator to Award Clean School Bus grant to Indiana
News Release #04-OPA088, released 6/30/2004

EPA plans to name Kenosha County Wisconsin as not meeting new, health-based soot standard
News Release #04-OPA087, released 6/29/2004

EPA issues list of Ohio counties it plans to name as not meeting new, Health-Based Soot Standard
News Release #04-OPA086, released 6/29/2004

EPA issues list of Michigan counties it plans to name as not meeting new, Health-Based Soot Standard
News Release #04-OPA085, released 6/29/2004

EPA issues list of Indiana counties it plans to name as not meeting new, Health-Based Soot Standard
News Release #04-OPA084, released 6/29/2004

EPA issues list of Illinois counties it plans to name as not meeting new, Health-Based Soot Standard
News Release #04-OPA083, released 6/29/2004

MEDIA ADVISORY: EPA to brief news media on areas it plans to name as not meeting new soot standard
News Release #04-OPA082, released 6/28/2004

Hazardous chemical reporting roundup: EPA settles cases in Milwaukee and Indiana; issues new complaints in St. Paul, Ashtabula
News Release #04-OPA080, released 6/24/2004

EPA cites Jupiter Aluminum for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA079, released 6/22/2004

EPA settles with American Progressive Circuits on hazardous waste violations
News Release #04-OPA077, released 6/18/2004

EPA cites Tower Industries for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA076, released 6/18/2004

EPA: Ohio now meets health-based sulfur dioxide standard
News Release #04-OPA075, released 6/18/2004

EPA announces 2004 Brownfields Grants; $10 million for Wisconsin
News Release #04-OPA074, released 6/15/2004

EPA Administrator Leavitt announces 2004 Brownfields Grants in Milwaukee, June 15, 9 A.M.
News Release #04-OPA073, released 6/14/2004

EPA Administrator Leavitt awards Clean School Bus Grants to two Michigan School Districts
News Release #04-OPA072, released 6/14/2004

Media Advisory: EPA Administrator to award Clean School Bus grants to two Michigan school districts
News Release #04-OPA071, released 6/10/2004

EPA reaches agreement with City of Detroit
News Release #04-OPA070, released 6/09/2004

EPA cites M & M Drying for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA069, released 6/02/2004

EPA reaches agreement with BP Chemicals
News Release #04-OPA068, released 6/01/2004

MAY

EPA to demolish 150-foot smokestack at Aircraft Components site; final chemical cleanup under way
News Release #04-OPA065, released 5/24/2004

EPA awards Great Cities grant to Detroit to retrofit diesel-fueled garbage trucks
News Release #04-OPA064, released 5/20/2004

MEDIA ADVISORY: EPA to award Great Cities grant to retrofit diesel-fueled garbage trucks
News Release #04-OPA063, released 5/19/2004

Clean Diesel the focus of EPA Administrator Leavitt and International Truck and Engine partnership
News Release #04-OPA061, released 5/13/2004

Media Advisory: EPA Administrator Leavitt to hold Clean Diesel press event with International Truck and Engine Corp.
News Release #04-OPA060, released 5/12/2004

EPA Administrator Leavitt and Minnesota Governor Pawlenty hold press event on EPA’s new clean air nonroad diesel rule
News Release #04-OPA059, released 5/12/2004

Media Advisory: EPA Administrator Leavitt and Minnesota Governor Pawlenty to hold press event tomorrow
News Release #04-OPA058, released 5/11/2004

Area governments and corporations honored for natural landscaping projects
News Release #04-OPA057, released 5/11/2004

Lawn care tips for reducing pesticide use
News Release #04-OPA050, released 5/4/2004

University of Michigan designated best workplace for commuters
News Release #04-OPA052, released 5/3/2004

Soil cleanup begins at Cicero's Sterling Morton High School
News Release #04-OPA055, released 5/3/2004

APRIL

EPA cites Applied Composites for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA054, released 4/28/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Southwest General Health Center
News Release #04-OPA049, released 4/23/2004

EPA cites U.S. Steel for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA048, released 4/23/2004

EPA selects Minnesota youth for Presidential Environmental Youth Award
News Release #04-OPA047, released 4/22/2004

EPA cites Wabash Environmental Technologies for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA046, released 4/22/2004

EPA cites Degussa for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA045, released 4/22/2004

EPA cites Carmeuse Lime for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA044, released 4/21/2004

EPA cites Lehigh Cement for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA043, released 4/21/2004

EPA names Wisconsin counties that do not meet new 8-hour ground-level ozone standard
News Release #04-OPA041, released 4/15/2004

EPA names Michigan counties that do not meet new 8-hour ground-level ozone standard
News Release #04-OPA040, released 4/15/2004

EPA names Ohio counties that do not meet new 8-hour ground-level ozone standard
News Release #04-OPA039, released 4/15/2004

EPA names Indiana counties that do not meet new 8-hour ground-level ozone standard
News Release #04-OPA038, released 4/15/2004

EPA names Illinois counties that do not meet new 8-hour ground-level ozone standard
News Release #04-OPA037, released 4/15/2004

Get the facts before paying for air duct cleaning
News Release #04-OPA034, released 4/15/2004

EPA approves interim operating requirements for von Roll America incinerator
News Release #04-OPA032, released 4/8/2004

EPA cites eight companies for violation of Architectural Coating Rules
News Release #04-OPA033, released 4/7/2004

Bharat Mathur named as Acting Regional Administrator for U.S. EPA Region 5
News Release #04-OPA031, released 4/7/2004

MARCH

Milwaukee agency receives $150,000 job training grant from EPA
News Release #04-OPA029, released 3/31/2004

Chicago agency receives $150,000 job training grant from EPA
News Release #04-OPA028, released 3/31/2004

Three Ohio cities receive job training grants from EPA
News Release #04-OPA027, released 3/31/2004

EPA cites Bombardier for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA025, released 3/26/2004

EPA reaches agreement with demolition contractors on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA024, released 3/26/2004

EPA: Agreement signed to address Hartford, Illinois, contamination and vapor problems; meetings March 25
News Release #04-OPA023, released 3/18/2004

EPA grants exemption to Romulus injection wells
News Release #04-OPA022, released 3/17/2004

EPA proposes Evansville Soil Contamination Site to Superfund National Priorities List
News Release #04-OPA021, released 3/8/2004

EPA settles with Stolle for hazardous chemical release reporting violations; Includes gear for Local Fire Department
News Release #04-OPA020, released 3/8/2004

Eleven EPA Region 5 businesses and organizations are recognized for energy efficiency
News Release #04-OPA019, released 3/5/2004

FEBRUARY

EPA issues notice to Wisconsin for deficiencies in its air permits program
News Release #04-OPA018, released 2/24/2004

Proposed agreement with Johns Manville resolves NPL site issues
News Release #04-OPA016, released 2/11/2004

EPA cites 18 companies for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA015, released 2/11/2004

EPA settles with two Michigan companies for hazardous chemical inventory reporting violations
News Release #04-OPA014, released 2/10/2004

EPA reaches agreement with ISG Indiana Harbor on clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA013, released 2/4/2004

EPA update meeting on St. Regis Paper Site Feb. 12, 6 P.M.
News Release #04-OPA011, released 2/3/2004

EPA cites Superior Aluminum Alloys for clean-air violations
News Release #04-OPA010, released 2/2/2004

EPA reaches agreement with Barrett Paving
News Release #04-OPA009, released 2/2/2004

JANUARY

Bush administration proposes major new funding for Great Lakes cleanup
News Release #04-OPA008, released 1/29/2004

MEDIA ADVISORY: EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt to Announce Federal Funding for Great Lakes
News Release #04-OPA007, released 1/28/2004

EPA, DOJ and state of Wisconsin reach agreement with Ace Ethanol
News Release #04-OPA006, released 1/22/2004

EPA: Lucas County, Ohio, now meets health-based sulfur dioxide standard
News Release #04-OPA005, released 1/21/2004

EPA grants Clean Air Act authority to Fond du Lac Band
News Release #04-OPA004, released 1/20/2004

EPA: Minnesota student wins National Radon Action Month Poster contest
News Release #04-OPA003, released 1/13/2004

EPA orders Duluth and WLSSD to eliminate sewer overflows
News Release #04-OPA002, released 1/12/2004

EPA, Sierra Club settle with Walnutdale Farms on water pollution
News Release #04-OPA001, released 1/8/2004

Resource Pages

Dec 21, 2004

Dec 20, 2004

Theoretical physics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mainstream theories

Proposed theories

Fringe theories

Theory of everything

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mainstream physics

Dec 19, 2004

List of theoretical physicists

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

See also

Dec 17, 2004

Dec 16, 2004

EPA Region 5 enforcement highlights: nationally, FY2004 enforcement secures cleanups worth a record $4.8 billion and will stop one billion pounds of pollution