Rice University catalyst may lead to clean, inexpensive hydrogen production for fuel cells
October 23, 2015
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A new catalyst just 15 microns thick has proven nearly as effective as platinum-based catalysts but at a much lower cost, according to scientists at Rice University. The catalyst is made of nitrogen-doped graphene with individual cobalt atoms that activate the process. (credit: Tour Group/Rice University)

Graphene doped with nitrogen and augmented with cobalt atoms has proven to be an effective, durable catalyst for the production of hydrogen from water, according to scientists at Rice University.

The Rice University lab of chemist James Tour and colleagues has developed a robust, solid-state catalyst that shows promise to replace expensive platinum for hydrogen generation. (Catalysts can split water into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen atoms, a process required for fuel cells.)

The latest discovery, detailed in Nature Communications, is a significant step toward lower-cost catalysts for energy production, according to the researchers.

Disordered graphitic carbon doped with nitrogen and augmented with cobalt atoms serves as an efficient, robust catalyst for hydrogen separation from water. The material discovered at Rice University could challenge more expensive platinum-based catalysts. (credit: Tour Group/Rice University)

Cost-effective replacement for platinum

“What’s unique about this paper is that we show … the use of atoms,” Tour said, instead of the conventional use of metal particles or nanoparticles. “The particles doing this chemistry are as small as you can possibly get.”

Even particles on the nanoscale work only at the surface, he explained. “There are so many atoms inside the nanoparticle that never do anything. But in our process, the atoms driving catalysis have no metal atoms next to them. We’re getting away with very little cobalt to make a catalyst that nearly matches the best platinum catalysts.” He said that in comparison tests, the new material nearly matched platinum’s efficiency to begin reacting at a low onset voltage (the amount of electricity it needs to begin separating water into hydrogen and oxygen).

The researchers discovered that heat-treating graphene oxide and small amounts of cobalt salts in a gaseous environment forced individual cobalt atoms to bind to the material. Electron microscope images showed cobalt atoms widely dispersed throughout the samples. They also tested nitrogen-doped graphene on its own and found it lacked the ability to kick the catalytic process into gear. But adding cobalt in very small amounts significantly increased its ability to split acidic or basic water.

The new catalyst is mixed as a solution and can be reduced to a paper-like material or used as a surface coating. Tour said single-atom catalysts have been realized in liquids, but rarely on a surface. “This way we can build electrodes out of it,” he said. “It should be easy to integrate into devices.”

Cobalt atoms shine in an electron microscope image of a new catalyst for hydrogen production invented at Rice University. The widely separated cobalt atoms are bound to a sheet of nitrogen-doped graphene. (credit: Tour Group/Rice University)

“This is an extremely high-performance material,” Tour added. He noted platinum-carbon catalysts still boast the lowest onset voltage. “No question, they’re the best. But this is very close to it and much easier to produce and hundreds of times less expensive.”

Atom-thick graphene is the ideal substrate, Tour said, because of its high surface area, stability in harsh operating conditions, and high conductivity. Samples of the new catalyst showed a negligible decrease in activity after 10 hours of accelerated degradation studies in the lab.

Rice colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and the University of Houston were also involved in the research.

Rice University | H2 evolution

Abstract of Atomic cobalt on nitrogen-doped graphene for hydrogen generation

Reduction of water to hydrogen through electrocatalysis holds great promise for clean energy, but its large-scale application relies on the development of inexpensive and efficient catalysts to replace precious platinum catalysts. Here we report an electrocatalyst for hydrogen generation based on very small amounts of cobalt dispersed as individual atoms on nitrogen-doped graphene. This catalyst is robust and highly active in aqueous media with very low overpotentials (30 mV). A variety of analytical techniques and electrochemical measurements suggest that the catalytically active sites are associated with the metal centres coordinated to nitrogen. This unusual atomic constitution of supported metals is suggestive of a new approach to preparing extremely efficient single-atom catalysts.

references:
Huilong Fei, Juncai Dong, M. Josefina Arellano-Jiménez, Gonglan Ye, Nam Dong Kim, Errol L.G. Samuel, Zhiwei Peng, Zhuan Zhu, Fan Qin, Jiming Bao, Miguel Jose Yacaman, Pulickel M. Ajayan, Dongliang Chen & James M. Tour. Atomic cobalt on nitrogen-doped graphene for hydrogen generation. Nature Communications 6, Article number: 8668; DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9668 (open access)
related:
Cobalt atoms on graphene a powerful combo

http://www.kurzweilai.net/cobalt-atoms-on-graphene-a-low-cost-catalyst-for-producing-hydrogen-from-water

Every time a person learns a fact or a skill, they change their brain, says Lara Boyd, a brain researcher and professor at the University of B.C.
Photograph by: Martin Dee
The brain has an amazing ability to change and that ability has countless implications for education, about 600 teachers and other education professionals were told Friday.

Every time a person learns a fact or a skill, they have changed their brain, said Lara Boyd, a brain researcher and professor at the University of B.C. This ability of the brain to change itself is called neuroplasticity.

“There is no drug that promotes neuroplasticity,” Boyd said, adding that neuroplasticity can be both positive, as in learning, and negative, as in addiction or chronic pain. Health, including stress, obesity and other issues, affects the ability of the brain to change itself.

“Chronic stress is very bad for brain health and learning,” she said, adding that meditation, exercise and getting enough sleep can help counter the effects of stress and improve the brain’s ability to learn.

Boyd is working on a research project at UBC that uses magnetic resonance imaging to study how the brain changes in students with learning disabilities as they learn.

Even the brains of children with learning difficulties can be improved with the right conditions and training, said Michael Merzenich, founder of the Brain Plasticity Institute, a research company that develops treatments for people with severe neurological impairments.

All changes in the brain are physical changes and they begin at birth, Merzenich said.

“The product of all that change is the unique person that you are. We come into the world an unformed neurological mess and the brain organizes itself … into something unique and wonderful and special,” Merzenich said.

Sometimes circumstances, genetics or environment can compromise brain development, but Merzenich said neuroplasticity works throughout our lives and is reversible.

“Every child born has this great gift,” Merzenich said. “It’s wrong of us not to help every child make the most of us and it’s wrong of us not to make the most of it in our lives. Very few people make the most of it in their own lives.”

Merzenich has developed BrainHQ, a computer-based brain training program that he said can improve neurological ability at any age.

Adele Diamond, a neuroscientist at UBC, spoke about the development of executive functions like thinking before acting, resisting temptations, being disciplined or staying focused.

These skills are critical for success in school and in life, she said.

“Executive functions predict academic performance … better than does IQ.”

She said these skills can be improved in very young children with training and practice, without drugs or expensive equipment. Some ways to build these skills include social play, reducing stress and getting enough sleep.

The pre-frontal cortex, which controls executive function, is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable, Diamond said.

Just like overall brain plasticity, executive functions suffer when people are stressed, sleep deprived, lack nourishment or are not physically fit, Diamond said.

When it comes to math and the brain, it’s critical to get young children used to the connections between math symbols (numbers like 2 or 6) and the quantities that they represent, said Daniel Ansari, a researcher into the development of math skills.

“How important is numeracy? Low numeracy is associated with risks for unemployment, physical illness, depression and incarceration,” Ansari said. “And improvements in mathematical competence are related to economic growth.”

He said many teachers and parents have math anxiety and that gets passed to their children and students.

To achieve gains in numeracy, it’s important that kids use quantities and number symbols in their play — and that doesn’t mean just memorizing arithmetic calculations, he said.

He suggests games like Snakes and Ladders and others that help children make the connection between numbers and the quantities they represent.

“Talk with your children about numbers — help your children carve out their world in terms of numbers,” he said.

The Neuroplasticity and Education conference was hosted by Eaton Arrowsmith, which has educational programs that help students with learning difficulties.

Sun Education Reportert

sherlock@vancouversun.com

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/brain+ability+change+implications+learning/11463529/story.html

Researchers at Stanford are developing a special technology compatible to Google Glass that would allow the device to become a wearable behavioural aid to help treat children with autism. The device, researchers say, could help children born with autism recognize, classify, and basically “see” the emotions of other people.
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According to the Autism Glass Project, over 1 million children under the age of 10 have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the US alone. The illness makes recognition of facial emotions, which is essential for communication and interaction, difficult for these children. The new device will help autistic children in socializing and recognizing emotions through different social cues that the glass will provide.
Project founders Catalin Voss and Nick Haber of Stanford are developing the software. It uses the device’s video camera to capture facial expressions and then compares them with vast databases of photos of faces. The program then sends a text message that pops up right in front of the child’s eye, notifying them whether the person they are talking to is feeling happy, sad, angry, and so on.
According to Slate, the application operates like a game or, as Voss calls it, an “interactive learning experience.” Through the Google Glass eyewear, children are asked to, say, find someone who is happy. When they look at someone who is smiling, the app recognizes this and awards “points.”
The researchers have tested the software in a lab with about 40 children. Now, they are starting a clinical trial with 100 kids at home, with parents driving the software.
“First, we had make sure that a six-year-old would actually wear this,” Wall says. “We’ve been able to show that. But we’ve also been able to see change in these kids, at least in the lab.”
The researchers then monitor performance in the game and combine their analysis with video analysis and parental questionnaires to build a ‘quantitative phenotype’ of Autism for each participant in the study. By tracking this over time, the team can show how their device helps improve emotion recognition over the long term.
The project is still accepting participant for the study and interested parents can sign up here.

http://www.ischoolguide.com/articles/30856/20151023/google-glass-treat-autism.htm

Many people who exercise regularly say they do so as much for the mental relief from stress as the physical. Now a new Canadian study says resistance training may have a lasting positive effect on the brain.
The study, published October 12 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is called “Resistance Training and White Matter Lesion Progression in Older Women: Exploratory Analysis of a 12-Month Randomized Controlled Trial“.
Teresa Liu-Ambrose is director of the Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of B.C. and worked on the study. She says the results were a surprise to the team.
“What’s most exciting is we didn’t expect resistance training to have these types of effects,” she told Vancouver Metro. “Most people think of running and swimming … as being good for the brain, but what we are finding is that strength training certainly does have similar benefits.”
The study, a 52-week randomized controlled trial, had the aim of assessing whether resistance training slows the progression of white matter lesions in older women. Researchers enlisted 155 “community-dwelling” women between the ages of 65 and 75 who had evidence of white matter lesions on an MRI.
A lesion is an area of tissue that has been damaged through injury or disease. Approximately 95% of adults 65 and older have such lesions.
Participants were divided into three groups. One group did resistance training once a week. A second group twice a week, and a third group underwent a twice-weekly “balance and tone” routine. Upon completion of the trial, the researcher found the group of women who exercised twice week had a “significantly lower” volume of white matter lesions than did the group that exercised just once a week. They found no significant difference between the balance and tone group and the latter.
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Liu-Ambrose thinks the findings are important because of the accessibility of resistance training to a wide group of people.
“It’s impactful because not everybody does have the ability to partake in aerobic-based exercises like running or swimming, especially among older adults,” she said. “They might have other conditions that reduce their ability to have that mobility, so resistance training can modify it.”
Other studies have established a link between physical activity and a reduction in white matter lesions, but not specifically from resistance training. Last year, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used accelerometers to track activity levels in 88 people between the ages of 60 and 78 and found a strong association between increased activity and lower levels of damage to white-matter tracts. Previous studies, said lead researcher Agnieszka Burzynska, relied on participants to simply describe how much activity they were getting.
A study led by Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto suggests white matter disease exacts a heavy toll on those who may have acquired it through smoking, drinking alcohol, a lack of exercise, a poor diet, or a combination of all of the above.
“White matter disease is a covert operator. It can slowly strangle the brain’s connecting pathways over time,” says Brandon P. Vasquez, a PhD candidate and lead author of a 2014 study published in the British Journal of Neuropsychology called “The neuropsychological profile of vascular cognitive impairment not demented: A meta-analysis“.
“Many people may have white matter lesions and not even know that they do or that they should seek clinical testing for a diagnosis,” adds Vasquez. “This can occur because individuals may be unaware of incremental changes to cognition, or because they ignore mild changes that they attribute to the aging process. This makes it difficult to nail down a more precise prevalence rate in the Canadian population.”

Lifting weights may slow brain aging, says new UBC study

Human hands may have developed the ideal shape over time for punching, according to a new study using male cadaver arms.

By using the arms to punch a dumbbell while in different positions – a clenched fist, a relaxed fist and an open-palmed slap – scientists were able to determine that the clenched fist made it much safer to serve someone a knuckle sandwich without getting hurt.

Then President George W Bush emphasises a point with his clench fist in Washington in 2006. Photo: AP

The findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, bolsters a controversial theory that ties human physiology to a violent past.

Compared with non-hominin primates such as chimpanzees, humans have developed a very different hand structure, with a shorter palm, shorter fingers and a relatively longer thumb. This is thought to be a result of hands evolving for more dexterity, allowing our predecessors to wield and manipulate tools.

“That’s the standard argument, it makes all kinds of sense. … There’s every reason to believe that,” said lead author David Carrier, a comparative physiologist at the University of Utah.

Then Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clenches his fist at a public gathering west of Tehran in 2006. Photo: AP

But Carrier and colleagues have put forth a different, perhaps complementary idea: that as the human hand was becoming more delicate, it may have evolved into just the right shape to fit into a fist – all the better for punching opponents without accidentally breaking one’s own bones.

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It’s a controversial idea, and one that Carrier has been building upon for some time: Last year, he and colleagues released a paper showing that the male human face may have evolved to withstand more impacts from being punched – presumably during competitions for mates.

For this study, Carrier focused on the fist. He obtained nine male arms from body donor programs and, by attaching fishing line to the tendons connected to muscles in the forearm, researchers could control the wrist, thumb and forefingers. They attached strain gauges to the delicate bones in the palm known as the metacarpals, which would be at a high risk of being damaged or broken during a fight.

The researchers mounted each hand to a platform that swung like a pendulum, bringing the fist into contact with a padded dumbbell with an accelerometer embedded in it. This allowed them to measure the force that the fist was experiencing on contact.

One arm ended up being too arthritic, but the scientists used the other eight to wail on the padded weight in three different positions – a clenched fist, an unclenched fist (without the protection of a thumb and fully curled fingers) as well as an open hand slap.

As expected, they found that the clenched fist, with the fingers tightly curled into the palm and the thumb providing reinforcement across the knuckles, reduced deformation in the metacarpals, lowering the risk of breakage.

As hands grew more dexterous and delicate, the first shape allowed male humans to keep using it as a weapon, presumably to compete for access to potential mates – a behaviour that’s seen in many other primates, Carrier said.

Carrier’s line of research has its critics and has attracted controversy. The comparative biomechanist says it’s because some might (incorrectly) come to the conclusion that such findings could be used to sanction violent behaviour.

“I think some of that’s understandable. There’s a fear that if there is evidence that we are anatomically specialised for aggressive behaviour, that might in some way justify violence, might justify aggression, might justify bad behaviour,” Carrier said. “And the way I respond to that is by saying understanding is not justification.”

– MCT

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/73308314/human-fist-evolved-to-punch-new-study-says

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Oct. 23 (UPI) — Scientists say a unique enzyme-producing bacterium, found deep below the ocean surface, could help neutralize greenhouse gas pollution.

On the floor of the deep ocean are hydrothermal vents. Relative to the cold darkness of the deep sea floor, life flourishes around these vents. Here lives Thiomicrospira crunogena, a bacterium that makes an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase.

Carbonic anhydrase removes carbon dioxide in organisms, turning CO2 and water into bicarbonate. It’s already used in industrial carbon capturing processes, but its efficacy is limited. That’s why researchers at the University of Florida are excited about their newly-discovered deep-sea bacteria.

Living among the warm, gaseous environs of hyrdothermal vents makes T. crunogena and its enzyme uniquely adapted to live inside an industrial smoke stack.

“This little critter has evolved to deal with those extreme temperature and pressure problems. It has already adapted to some of the conditions it would face in an industrial setting,” Robert McKenna, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Florida’s College of Medicine, explained in a press release.

McKenna is the lead author of a new paper on the enzyme, published this week in the journal Acta Crystallographica D.

Researchers think the enzyme could be suspended in a solvent and installed as a filter inside a flue or exhaust pipe. But for such technology to work, scientists need a lot of the enzyme.

McKenna and his colleagues have found a way to synthesize the enzyme in the lab using E. coli bacteria, avoiding the long trip to the bottom of the ocean and back. There efforts have so far produced several milligrams of the carbonic anhydrase. Much more will be needed if the enzyme is to be employed on the industrial scale.

While the bacterium’s carbon-conversion rate isn’t all that efficient, researchers are hopeful they’ll be able to improve the biotechnology with further testing.

“You want it to do the reaction faster and more efficiently,” said Avni Bhatt, a graduate research assistant working with McKenna. “The fact that it has such a high thermal stability makes it a good candidate for further study.”

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/10/23/Scientists-say-deep-sea-bacteria-could-neutralize-CO2/7061445611189/

SEOUL, Korea–(Business Wire)–At Oracle OpenWorld 2015, Samsung Electronics is showcasing premier enterprise solutions created for Samsung’s top-rated mobile devices and developed on Oracle’s industry-leading architecture. Together, Samsung and Oracle are improving the end-user experience by delivering solutions unique to Samsung devices and Oracle Mobile Cloud Service.
From smartphones to tablets to wearables, Samsung and Oracle are driving enterprise mobility and enabling professionals to be more productive. The new Cordova plug-in for Samsung developers, also on display at Oracle OpenWorld, makes enterprise app development easier through the packaging of key APIs for one of the best Android business experience on the market. The Cordova plug-in integrates into Oracle’s developer tools, while granting access to Samsung’s unique hardware features such as multi-window and S Pen.

“As two of the world’s leading drivers of enterprise mobility, Samsung and Oracle are positioned to deliver an ideal user experience that pushes the boundaries of productivity in the workplace,” said Rick Segal, vice president of Samsung Electronics Enterprise Business Team. “Our alliance with Oracle is not only powering professionals and businesses through mobility, but also enabling developers and systems integrators to produce unique enterprise solutions that help organizations reach new levels of growth and success.”

All enterprise solutions presented by Samsung at Oracle OpenWorld are immediately available for incorporation into the daily professional environment. Examples include solutions from systems integrators such as HCL and AuraPlayer, which will be displayed on a range of devices including the Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy Tab A. HCL’s predictive maintenance solution allows the management of machinery and heavy equipment that typically created a backlog of paper files. AuraPlayer’s collision reporting system enables rapid entry of critical incidents so that transportation authorities can take immediate action.

Wearables are the next generation of innovation in business, and Samsung will highlight several use cases of wearables at Oracle OpenWorld. Australian business solutions provider Rinami built a field asset management tool specifically designed to work with wearables, which will be demoed on the Samsung Gear S2. Australian Agricultural Company, one of the largest producers of wagyu beef, worked with Rinami to create a wearable app that improved livestock management. Instead of carrying cumbersome laptops and field notebooks, ranchers are able to collect data, interpret in the field and make actionable decisions through their mobile device app for dramatic increases in production.

Also, visitors to Oracle OpenWorld can learn about the Samsung Enterprise Alliance Program (SEAP). SEAP is the program highlighting a wide range of global enterprise partners and developers to provide business customers with differentiated solutions built on Samsung mobile devices.

Collaboration with Oracle is a part of Samsung’s continued efforts to expedite key mobile application development for enterprises such as the recent Samsung Business Services’ work in the U.S. in the areas of workforce management and business tasks.

Oracle OpenWorld takes place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA from October 26 to 29. Samsung will be providing live demos and guided tours at Booth 1221 and the Mobile Showcase in Moscone South.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies, redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, cameras, digital appliances, printers, medical equipment, network systems and semiconductors and LED solutions. We are also leading in the Internet of Things space through, among others, Smart Home and Digital Health initiatives. We employ 319,000 people across 84 countries with annual sales of US $196 billion. To discover more, please visit our official website at http://www.samsung.com and our official blog at global.samsungtomorrow.com.

About Oracle OpenWorld

Oracle OpenWorld 2015 delivers the ultimate cloud experience. The industry’s most important business conference includes thousands of educational sessions and features demos and exhibitions from hundreds of partners and customers from around the world showcasing Oracle’s comprehensive cloud offerings, including an integrated stack of applications, platform and infrastructure services, as well as converged systems and industry solutions. Tens of thousands of in-person attendees and millions online gain valuable product and industry-specific insight to help them transform their businesses with Oracle. Oracle OpenWorld 2015 is being held October 25 through October 29 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information; to register; or to watch Oracle OpenWorld keynotes, sessions, and more, visit Oracle OpenWorld 2015. Join the Oracle OpenWorld discussion on Twitter #oow15, Facebook, and the Oracle OpenWorld blog.

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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151023005384/en/

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2717876#ixzz3pPmLkB3u

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The thing to remember about Amazon’s new $50 Fire tablet is that it’s a $50 tablet.

It’s not as light or as thin as a tablet that costs five or six times more. The camera isn’t as good, and the screen isn’t as sharp. But it works well as a budget device for the basics — reading, Facebook, video and, of course, shopping on Amazon.

Over the years, Amazon.com Inc. has done a good job of making tablets affordable for the masses. The new Fire tablet is Amazon’s cheapest yet, joining a fall lineup that maxes out at $230 ($15 more if you want Amazon to remove ads on the lock screen). By contrast, Apple’s iPads start at $269, ad-free.

Of course, you get less for $50.

The Fire started shipping again Thursday after a limited run quickly sold out, despite these trade-offs:

— THE FEEL: The 7-inch tablet is bulky, about two-thirds as thick as a deck of cards. This runs counter to a trend of gadgets getting thinner and thinner. But this is reasonable for budget devices, as they use older, larger components to cut costs. At 11 ounces, the tablet also feels heavy for a device that size.

— LOWER RESOLUTION: The screen is just short of displaying video in full high definition, otherwise known as 1080p. As Amazon’s HDX tablets and Apple’s “Retina” iPads tout super-sharp displays, the screen on the new Fire feels retro.

Photos and video display fine. Where the lower resolution is most noticeable is with small text. When reading, some of the vertical lines in d’s and l’s look fat. It feels like a typewriter with metal type that hasn’t been cleaned of gunk, forming misshaped letters when some of that gunk hits the ink ribbon. (For our younger readers, typewriters are machines that produce letters on paper, rather than a screen. And paper is a sheet of writing material made from trees.)

— TAKING PICTURES: The main camera is just 2 megapixels, compared with 5 or 8 megapixels on higher-end Amazon tablets. Photos come out fuzzy, and low-light images have plenty of colour distortion. The camera’s lens also isn’t able to capture as much as other gadgets from the same distance. It’s as though the camera has a permanent zoom. That said, most people already have smartphones with decent cameras. There’s no need to pay more to duplicate technology.

— WI-FI: The Fire has an older, single-band form of Wi-Fi that doesn’t support the highest available speeds, technically known as the 802.11ac standard. In practice, that means signal range and data speed might be lower. But in my limited testing, the new tablet downloaded a video file faster than last year’s HDX 8.9 tablet from Amazon, which has dual-band Wi-Fi, so this is hardly cut-and-dried. Many other factors affect performance, even if you have top-of-the-line technology.

In fact, the inexpensive Fire tablet surprised me in many ways. The display has in-plane switching technology, which means it can be viewed from an angle — twice as wide as standard screens, according to Amazon. The tablet was also fast for Web surfing, email and other common tasks. It seemed to take an extra second or two to launch video on Hulu and Netflix, but playback was smooth once it started.

Unlike iPads, the Fire allows you to set up multiple profiles, including ones for kids, and to establish parental limits on apps and usage time. But the Amazon tablet doesn’t have anti-glare technology found in the latest iPads, nor does it have a fingerprint reader to bypass passcodes.

Promised battery life is seven hours, which is reasonable for $50.

And as with other Amazon devices, the Fire tablet works nicely with other Amazon services, including Kindle e-books, Audible audiobooks, Prime video streaming and e-commerce. Just swipe right from the home screen to scroll through the various services. After signing in with my Amazon account, the shopping page reminded me what type of replacement vacuum bags I need. I also found a mini plunger to deal with that nagging clogged sink in my kitchen.

A swipe to the left gets you recently accessed content and apps, plus recommendations. It’s a good way to get to frequent tasks without spending a lot of time moving around icons on the home screen. Older Amazon devices will get this feature, too, with an upcoming software update.

The app selection isn’t as robust as what’s available on iPads, Android and Windows devices. Amazon tablets run a custom version of Android, and many Android apps haven’t been adapted. You get many of the major ones, but not all.

The Fire is a good option for kids. They won’t complain about what’s missing, and if they lose the device, it’s only $50 to replace. Amazon will even sell you six for the price of five, so each family member can have one.

I’d be highly disappointed with the Fire if its price tag were $250 or more. But it’s not — not even close.

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VANCOUVER — Six new civic sites in Vancouver are offering free public Wi-Fi as part of a plan to have 43 wireless hot spots throughout the city.

During the summer, the networks were added to Mount Pleasant, Champlain Heights, Coal Harbour and Roundhouse community centres as well as Langara and Fraserview golf course clubhouses.

The next four sites to offer Wi-Fi will be Creekside Community Recreation Centre, the Gathering Place, Trout Lake Community Centre and the McCleery Golf Course Club House.

The remaining 33 sites are expected to be connected by the first quarter of 2016.

In April, Telus was awarded the contract to install the public Wi-Fi at all 43 locations at no cost to the city.

The Vancouver Public Library has provided free Wi-Fi in all 22 locations since 2007. It has also been installed at city hall and the park board office.

A digital strategy report presented to city council in April assessed Vancouver’s extent of digital services in comparison to other cities around the world. It found that Vancouver lags behind cities such as Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Portland and Manchester.

Here’s how to connect to #VanWiFi:

Select the #VanWiFi network name from your device’s Wi-Fi settings.

Open your browser. You will be automatically redirected to a #Wi-Fi terms and conditions page. Read and click to accept.

You’ll be redirected to the #VanWiFi home page and connected to the Internet.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/vancouver+rolls+free/11460372/story.html#ixzz3pPiEdC9F

October 23, 2015

UBC researchers are trying to understand the native yeast population in B.C.’s vineyards as part of an initiative to develop a unique character for B.C. wine internationally.

Yeasts growing naturally on grapes affect the flavor, texture and nuances of wine. Most B.C. vineyards use commercial yeasts cultured from vineyards in Europe.

“Our yeasts are adapted to our climate and berry surface and may be able survive better than something more used to growing in the south of France,” said Vivien Measday of UBC’s Wine Research Centre and Michael Smith Labs.

http://news.ubc.ca/2015/10/23/researchers-aim-to-magnify-the-influence-of-microbes-in-b-c-wine/