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Chiefs at Cern in Geneva have now confirmed that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - switched on last autumn and hailed as the scientific breakthrough of the year - will run at only half of its intended energy when it resumes in November. The LHC came to a catastrophic halt nine days after the switch-on, and even after repairs will stay at half its planned energy during 2010. The magnificent instrument - hailed as the fastest thing on earth, the hottest property in the solar system and the coolest machine in the galaxy - will indeed accelerate hydrogen nuclei to velocities that approach the speed of light in a vacuum, but until the people with spanners and screwdrivers are sure that they have fixed everything, half energy is the best anyone can hope for.Particles will accelerate in two directions around the 27 kilometre tunnel with energies of 3.5 tera-electron volts to achieve collision energies of 7 TeV, rather than the 14 TeV the LHC was designed to generate. This is still more powerf

STOCKHOLM, Aug 21 (IPS) - The widespread water scarcity in the African continent, impacting on the lives of nearly 300 million people, may be aggravated further by several new threats, including climate change, transboundary disputes and the negative fallout from military conflicts.

. Rival accuses leader of 'stealing' the ballot. government supporters claim landslide victoryHamid Karzai will face a crisis of legitimacy and a legal challenge to his re-election if he is proclaimed the outright winner of Afghanistan's presidential ballot on Tuesday, opponents and an UN official warned today, as his chief rival accused him of 'stealing' the election.In a withering attack on an election process that Afghanistan's international backers are desperate should be seen as legitimate, Abdullah Abdullah pinned the blame on Karzai and his team for what he claimed were fraudulent results emerging from the country's southern and eastern regions. He told the Guardian: 'It was led by Mr Karzai. He knew. He knew that without this he cannot win, about that I have no doubt in my mind.'Karzai's supporters, who have been collating their own results from individual polling stations, are convinced that the president has won a landslide victory with more than 50% of the vote. Some are pre

. Rival accuses leader of 'stealing' the ballot. government supporters claim landslide victoryHamid Karzai will face a crisis of legitimacy and a legal challenge to his re-election if he is proclaimed the outright winner of Afghanistan's presidential ballot on Tuesday, opponents and an UN official warned today, as his chief rival accused him of 'stealing' the election.In a withering attack on an election process that Afghanistan's international backers are desperate should be seen as legitimate, Abdullah Abdullah pinned the blame on Karzai and his team for what he claimed were fraudulent results emerging from the country's southern and eastern regions. He told the Guardian: 'It was led by Mr Karzai. He knew. He knew that without this he cannot win, about that I have no doubt in my mind.'Karzai's supporters, who have been collating their own results from individual polling stations, are convinced that the president has won a landslide victory with more than 50% of the vote. Some are pre

The South american nation, long an alternative energy powerhouse, is pushing ahead to drill into a major off-shore oil field

The U.S. price of gasoline went unchanged from two weeks ago, holding at an average of $2.64 per gallon. That's according to the national Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday. Analyst Trilby Lundberg says the latest average price of regular gasoline... Sponsored Topics: Gasoline and diesel usage and pricing - Gallon - Gasoline - Energy - Business

UNICEF expressed concern about the impact on children and women of the current crisis in Yemen following the escalation of hostilities in the north. 'It is estimated that over 100,000 persons have been displaced by the latest round of fighting, many of them are children,' said Aboudou Karimou Adjibadé, UNICEF representative in Yemen.

New Scientist has an update on the so-called 'gigantic jets' first discovered in 2003 — these are lightning bolts that reach from cloud tops upward into the ionosphere, as high as 90 kilometers. (There's a video at the link.) What's new is that researchers from Duke University have managed to measure the electrical discharge from a gigantic jet and confirm that they carry as much energy skyward as ordinary lightning strikes carry to the ground. According to the article, 'Gigantic jets are one of a host of new atmospheric phenomena discovered in recent years. Other examples are sprites and blue jets.' of this story at Slashdot.