- Israel pounds Khan Younis with artillery; Rafah bulldozed for ‘buffer zone’ Al Jazeera English
- Israel bombs Palestine Red Crescent building, as genocide probe looms Middle East Eye
- Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 13 civilians, including baby The Associated Press
- WHO chief deplores ‘unconscionable’ strikes on Red Crescent in Gaza The New Arab
- The Palestinian Red Crescent condemns the targeting of Al-Amal Hospital by the occupation forces and calls on the international community to provide urgent protection for the hospital [EN/AR] – occupied Palestinian territory ReliefWeb
Tag Archives: buffer
Israel informs Arab states it wants buffer zone in post-war Gaza – Reuters
- Israel informs Arab states it wants buffer zone in post-war Gaza Reuters
- Israel Wants ‘Buffer Zone’ In Gaza; Will Qatar, Egypt Agree To Squeeze Strip? I Details Hindustan Times
- Rejecting US stance, PM told Blinken that IDF will create buffer zone ‘deep’ into Gaza — report The Times of Israel
- Israel-Hamas war: Israel informs Arab states it wants buffer zone in post-war Gaza | WION WION
- Israel Moots Post-War ‘Buffer Zone Plan’; Will Qatar, Egypt Agree To Squeeze Gaza? I Details Hindustan Times
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Bruce Buffer Visits London’s Famous Savile Row Ahead of UFC 286 Edwards vs Usman – UFC – Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Bruce Buffer Visits London’s Famous Savile Row Ahead of UFC 286 Edwards vs Usman UFC – Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC 286 weigh-in results: Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman official for trilogy bout, one fighter misses by 3.5 pou… MMA Fighting
- Dana White talks Covington as a backup for UFC 286, Jones vs. Miocic, Conor McGregor’s USADA situation, more MMA Junkie
- What is wrong with Leon Edwards? Bloody Elbow
- ‘Pork pies?…B*******?!’ | UFC 286 stars guess Cockney slang! | Featuring Edwards, Usman & more! Sky Sports
- View Full Coverage on Google News
FAA Says Detroit Metro Airport, 49 Other Airlines Getting Buffer Zones To Block 5G Signals – CBS Detroit
(CBS Detroit) — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says the Detroit Metro Airport is one of 50 airports to have a temporary protection buffer zone from 5G cellular signals.
This comes as a number of airports report fears that 5G signals could interfere with flight controls.
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The FAA says the buffer zones will minimize any potential interference and last for six months. The administration is working with airlines to determine exactly how instruments perform in this new environment.
AT&T and Verizon confirmed earlier this month they will hold off on activating 5G services near airports until Jan. 19, and that in the meantime, officials will continue working on adapting French-style restrictions on 5G to the United States.
In December, the FAA issued an urgent warning that it planned to ban pilots from using a key aircraft instrument amid concerns that 5G signals could interfere with the devices — a decision the agency said would likely lead to widespread flight delays and diversions.
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In a statement, the FAA thanked the wireless carriers.
“Safety is the core of our mission and this guides all of our decisions,” the agency said. “We look forward to using the additional time and space to reduce flight disruptions associated with this 5G deployment.”
Click here to view the full list of airports getting a buffer zone.
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FAA Announces the 50 Airports That Will Have 5G Buffer Zones
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday published a list of the 50 U.S. airports that will have buffer zones, or areas where AT&T and Verizon have agreed to limit 5G signals for six months.
In a statement, the FAA said it worked with the aviation community to determine where the buffer zones would reduce the risk of disruptions, considering factors such as traffic volume, the number of low-visibility days, and geographic location. The agency said that many airports are not currently affected by AT&T and Verizon’s upcoming 5G deployment, a service the wireless companies will activate on Jan. 19 after various delays.
The buffer zones aim to reduce the potential interference of 5G antennas with airplane instruments, called radar altimeters, that tell pilots how far they are from the ground. They help pilots navigate and land planes during bad weather and prevent crashes.
Airports on the list include Dallas Love Field, a major passenger hub for Southwest Airlines, and Chicago O’Hare, which is a large hub for United Airlines and American Airlines. Facilities that serve as hubs for cargo and private jets, such as airports in Indianapolis, Northern New Jersey, and New York City, were also part of those selected.
In addition, the list includes airports in Austin, Nashville, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, and San Francisco, among many others.
The FAA’s announcement comes amid a temporary ceasefire between transportation regulators and aviation groups, who worry that 5G antennas near some airports could affect the accuracy of altimeters’ readings, and telecommunications regulators and wireless companies, who maintain that 5G technology will not pose safety issues.
On Monday, AT&T and Verizon agreed to pause their 5G rollout for two additional weeks at the request of federal agencies. The move was a rapid about-face from the wireless companies, which just a day earlier had fervently put their foot down and said that agreeing to the petition would have been “an irresponsible abdication of the operating control required to deploy world-class and globally competitive communications networks.”
AT&T and Verizon bought nearly all of the C-band radio spectrum auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission last year, spending a combined total of nearly $70 billion, to improve their 5G networks.
Over the next six months, which is how long AT&T and Verizon have agreed to keep the buffers in place around the 50 airports, the FAA will work with aerospace manufacturers and airlines to confirm whether planes can safely operate after the wireless companies’ 5G service is turned on.
FAA details 50 airports that will have 5G buffer zones
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday disclosed a list of 50 U.S. airports that will have buffer zones when wireless carriers turn on new 5G C-band service on Jan. 19. (George Frey, Reuters)
Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday disclosed a list of 50 U.S. airports that will have buffer zones when wireless carriers turn on new 5G C-band service on Jan. 19.
AT&T and Verizon on Monday agreed to buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce the risk of disruption from potential interference to sensitive airplane instruments like altimeters. They also agreed to delay deployment for two weeks, averting an aviation safety standoff.
The list includes airports in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Detroit, Dallas, Philadelphia, Seattle and Miami. Salt Lake City is not on the list.
The FAA said it does not “not necessarily” mean that low-visibility flights cannot occur at airports that are not among the 50.
AT&T and Verizon, which won nearly all of the C-Band spectrum in an $80-billion auction last year, declined comment.
On Thursday, the FAA renewed warnings that despite the agreement 5G wireless service could still disrupt flights, saying “even with the temporary buffer around 50 airports, 5G deployment will increase the risk of disruption during low visibility” including “flight cancellations, diverted flights, and delays during periods of low visibility.”
Some major airports such as Denver, Atlanta and Ronald Reagan Washington National are not on the list because 5G is not yet being deployed, while others are not on the list because “5G towers are far enough away that a natural buffer exists.”
Other airports not listed do not currently have the ability to allow low-visibility landings, the FAA said. It said the delay would allow it to evaluate ways to minimize disruptions, and also gives companies more time to prepare.
“If there’s the possibility of a risk to the flying public, we are obligated to pause the activity, until we can prove it is safe,” the FAA said.
ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin Burke, who heads the association representing U.S. and Canadian airports, said on Friday the FAA list “is largely irrelevant because the entire aviation system is about to be adversely impacted by this poorly planned and coordinated expansion of 5G service in and around airports.” He said the “so-called fix will create winners and losers within the airport community, and the entire aviation system will suffer under the terms of this deal.”
Airlines for America, a trade group representing U.S. passenger and cargo carriers, said it appreciated the “FAA’s efforts to implement mitigations for airports that may be most impacted by disruptions generated by the deployment of new 5G service.”
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Study Confirms Southern Ocean Is Absorbing Carbon – Important Buffer for Greenhouse Gas Emissions
January 3 – August 15, 2012
The waters circling Antarctica absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release, serving as a strong carbon sink and an important buffer for greenhouse gas emissions.
New observations from research aircraft indicate that the Southern Ocean absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases, confirming that it is a strong carbon sink and an important buffer for the effects of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Previous research and modeling had left researchers uncertain about how much atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) gets absorbed by the chilly waters circling the Antarctic continent.
In a
May 14, 2012
When human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere, some of the gas is absorbed by the ocean, a process that can slightly slow carbon accumulation in the atmosphere and the global temperature increases that go with it. Part of this is due to upwelling of cold water from the deep ocean. Once at the surface, colder, nutrient-rich water absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere—usually with the help of photosynthesizing organisms called phytoplankton—before sinking again.
Computer models suggest that 40 percent of the human-produced CO2 in the ocean worldwide was originally absorbed from the atmosphere into the Southern Ocean, making it one of the most important carbon sinks on our planet. But measuring the flux, or exchange, of CO2 from the air to the sea has been challenging.
Many previous studies of Southern Ocean carbon flux relied heavily on measurements of ocean acidity—which increases when seawater absorbs CO2—taken by floating, drifting instruments. The new research used aircraft to measure changes in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere over the ocean.
“You can’t fool the atmosphere,” Long said. “While measurements taken from the ocean surface and from land are important, they are too sparse to provide a reliable picture of air-sea carbon flux. The atmosphere, however, can integrate fluxes over large expanses.”
For the new study, researchers used airborne measurements from three field experiments: ATom, HIPPO, and ORCAS. Collectively, the field experiments captured a series of snapshots (or profiles) of the vertical change in carbon dioxide across various altitudes of the atmosphere and various seasons. For example, during the ORCAS campaign in early 2016, scientists saw a drop in CO2 concentrations as the plane descended and also detected high turbulence near the ocean surface, suggesting an exchange of gases. Such profiles, along with several atmospheric models, helped the team better estimate the flux of carbon.
Video by NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio and data from the ECCO-Darwin Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Model.
China Oct exports beat forecasts, offer buffer to slowing domestic economy
BEIJING, Nov 7 (Reuters) – China’s export growth slowed in October but beat forecasts as booming global demand for holiday seasons, an easing power crunch and mitigating supply chain disruptions offset some pressures facing the world’s second-largest economy.
Imports, however, missed analysts’ expectations, likely pointing to the overall weakness in domestic demand.
Outbound shipments jumped 27.1% in October from a year earlier, slower than September’s 28.1% gain. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast growth would ease to 24.5%.
Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said the strong exports would help to mitigate the weakening domestic economy, and offer the government with more room to manoeuvre economic policy.
“The government can afford to wait ’til the year end to loosen monetary and fiscal policies, now that exports provide a buffer to smooth the economic slowdown,” he said.
Recent data has pointed to a manufacturing slowdown. Factory activity shrank for a second month in October, an official survey showed, while growth in industrial output eased to the lowest since March 2020 – the first wave of the pandemic. read more
However, under heavy government intervention, some supply constraints have started to ease in recent weeks. A power crunch – triggered by a shortage of coal, tougher emission standards and strong industrial demand – has started to ease after heavy government intervention.
Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday that China’s government will take measures to support the industrial sector as the economy faces renewed downward pressures.
Imports jumped 20.6% in October from a year earlier, accelerating from a 17.6% gain in September but missing the expectations for a rise of 25%.
China’s crude oil imports plunged in October to their lowest since September 2018, while coal imports slowed as domestic production boomed. Purchases of iron ore slipped for a second month on easing demand. read more
China posted a trade surplus of $84.54 billion last month, above the poll’s forecast of $65.55 billion and September’s $66.76 billion surplus.
The country’s economy grew 4.9% in the July-September quarter from a year earlier, the weakest reading since the third quarter of last year.
China’s trade surplus with the United States was $40.75 billion in October, Reuters calculations based on customs data showed, down from $42 billion in September.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai pledged last month to exclude some Chinese imports from tariffs while pressing Beijing over its failure to keep some promises made in a “Phase 1” trade deal made under the Trump administration.
Reporting by Albee Zhang, Stella Qiu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sam Holmes and William Mallard
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Here’s How Kids Are Using Soft Drinks to Fake Positive Results on COVID-19 Tests
Children are always going to find cunning ways to bunk off school, and the latest trick is to fake a positive COVID-19 lateral flow test (LFT) using soft drinks.
So how are fruit juices, cola, and devious kids fooling the tests, and is there a way to tell a fake positive result from a real one? I’ve tried to find out.
First, I thought it best to check the claims, so I cracked open bottles of cola and orange juice, then deposited a few drops directly onto LFTs. Sure enough, a few minutes later, two lines appeared on each test, supposedly indicating the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19.
It’s worth understanding how the tests work. If you open up an LFT device, you’ll find a strip of paper-like material, called nitrocellulose, and a small red pad, hidden under the plastic casing below the T-line.
Absorbed to the red pad are antibodies that bind to the COVID-19 virus. They are also attached to gold nanoparticles (tiny particles of gold actually appear red), which allow us to see where the antibodies are on the device.
When you do a test, you mix your sample with a liquid buffer solution, ensuring the sample stays at an optimum pH, before dripping it on the strip.
Two COVID-19 at-home tests show fake positives due to cola and orange juice. (Mark Lorch)
The fluid wicks up the nitrocellulose strip and picks up the gold and antibodies. The latter also bind to the virus, if present. Further up the strip, next to the T (for test), are more antibodies that bind the virus.
But these antibodies are not free to move – they are stuck to the nitrocellulose. As the red smear of gold-labeled antibodies passes this second set of antibodies, these also grab hold of the virus.
The virus is then bound to both sets of antibodies – leaving everything, including the gold, immobilized on a line next to the T on the device, indicating a positive test.
Gold antibodies that haven’t bound to the virus carry on up the strip where they meet a third set of antibodies, not designed to pick up COVID-19, stuck at the C (for control) line. These trap the remaining gold particles, without having to do so via the virus.
This final line is used to indicate the test has worked.
Acid test
So how can a soft drink cause the appearance of a red T line?
One possibility is that the drinks contain something that the antibodies recognize and bind to, just as they do to the virus. But this is rather unlikely. The reason antibodies are used in tests like these is that they are incredibly fussy about what they bind to.
There’s all sorts of stuff in the snot and saliva collected by the swabs you take from the nose and mouth, and the antibodies totally ignore this mess of protein, other viruses, and remains of your breakfast. So they aren’t going to react to the ingredients of a soft drink.
A much more likely explanation is that something in the drinks is affecting the function of the antibodies. A range of fluids, from fruit juice to cola, have been used to fool the tests, but they all have one thing in common – they are highly acidic.
The citric acid in orange juice, phosphoric acid in cola and malic acid in apple juice give these beverages a pH between 2.5 and 4. These are pretty harsh conditions for antibodies, which have evolved to work largely within the bloodstream, with its almost neutral pH of about 7.4.
Maintaining an ideal pH for the antibodies is key to the correct function of the test, and that’s the job of the liquid buffer solution that you mix your sample with, provided with the test.
The critical role of the buffer is highlighted by the fact that if you mix cola with the buffer – as shown in this debunking of an Austrian politician’s claim that mass testing is worthless – then the LFTs behave exactly as you’d expect: negative for COVID-19.
So without the buffer, the antibodies in the test are fully exposed to the acidic pH of the beverages. And this has a dramatic effect on their structure and function.
Antibodies are proteins, which are comprised of amino acid building blocks, attached together to form long, linear chains. These chains fold up into very specific structures. Even a small change to the chains can dramatically impact a protein’s function.
These structures are maintained by a network of many thousands of interactions between the various parts of the protein. For example, negatively charged parts of a protein will be attracted to positively charged areas.
But in acidic conditions, the protein becomes increasingly positively charged. As a result, many of the interactions that hold the protein together are disrupted, the delicate structure of the protein is affected and it no longer functions correctly. In this case, the antibodies’ sensitivity to the virus is lost.
Given this, you might expect that the acidic drinks would result in completely blank tests. But denatured proteins are sticky beasts. All of those perfectly evolved interactions that would normally hold the protein together are now orphaned and looking for something to bind to.
So a likely explanation is that the immobilized antibodies at the T-line stick directly to the gold particles as they pass by, producing the notorious cola-induced false-positive result.
Is there then a way to spot a fake positive test? The antibodies (like most proteins) are capable of refolding and regaining their function when they are returned to more favorable conditions.
Above: A COVID-19 test with a fake positive caused by cola and a COVID-19 test that used cola after it was washed with a buffer.
So I tried washing a test that had been dripped with cola with buffer solution, and sure enough, the immobilized antibodies at the T-line regained normal function and released the gold particles, revealing the true negative result on the test.
Children, I applaud your ingenuity, but now that I’ve found a way to uncover your trickery I suggest you use your cunning to devise a set of experiments and test my hypothesis. Then we can publish your results in a peer-reviewed journal.
Mark Lorch, Professor of Science Communication and Chemistry, University of Hull.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.