David cameron and President Xi Jingping are expected to sign a deal this afternoon agreeing to Chinese investment in a new nuclear power station in Somerset.
It will be largest inward investment ever in the UK. France's EDF and CGN, a Chinese nuclear consortium, are poised to agree to build the plant,
and possibly two more. Where will the power stations be built? The first will be built at Hinkley Point on the Somerset coast,
and is expected to open by 2025 at a cost of £25bn. China is likely to cover about 30%of the cost.
This will be the third power station at the site. Hinkley Point A was shut down in 2000,
The government insists that 25,000 jobs will be created by the new power station-Hinkley Point C -and enough energy to power six million homes.
Two other stations at Sizewell in Suffolk, and Bradwell in Essex, could follow. The plant at Bradwell would be designed Chinese,
The UK government has been criticised for guaranteeing the price that will be paid for any electricity the new Hinkley Point reactor produces.
critics such as Greenpeace say, higher energy bills for consumers. Security concerns have also been raised about allowing China a central role in Britain's nuclear future.
The Solar Trade Association thinks solar power could provide the same amount of electricity for half the subsidy cost.
This is the so-called strike price. The government has maintained all along that it will not provide any public subsidies to the nuclear industry.
It would not actually be illegal to do so, but the government would need permission from the European union.
How does the price work in practice? In essence, the government has guaranteed EDF a price of £92. 50 per megawatt hour (Mwh),
or £89. 50 if EDF develops another new reactor in Sizewell, Suffolk. This simply reflects the fact that EDF's costs will be lower per reactor
if it builds two of them. If the market price of electricity falls below this level, the government has said in effect it will make sure EDF receives the difference between the two prices.
The wholesale price of electricity at the moment is about £45/Mwh. If the wholesale price remains at this level
then EDF will receive an additional £47. 50/Mwh. In practice, this money will not come from taxpayers (that would count as a subsidy),
but from consumers of electricity. The strike price works the other way as well-EDF has to refund the difference
if the price of electricity is above £92. 50/Mwh. For example, if the wholesale price is £110/Mwh,
then it has to refund £18. 50/Mwh. Again, this money goes back to bill payers, not to the government.
But why the need for any guaranteed price? Nuclear reactors cost a lot of money, and EDF wants to build two of them.
The final bill for just Hinkley is estimated at £24. 5bn. Even for a massive company like EDF, this is a huge investment,
which makes it inherently risky. For example, if the price of electricity falls, or becomes more volatile,
the company could lose a lot of money. And because the plant would take 10 years to build,
there is simply too much uncertainty to commit to such a huge investment without such comfort, investors would argue.
For this reason, EDF needs an added incentive to build the reactors. Knowing it will receive a guaranteed price for the electricity generated at Hinkley provides some kind of certainty that the investment will be worthwhile-in other words, profitable.
For its part, the government has been unable to play different energy companies off against each other, as German power giants RWE and E on decided long ago against building new plants in the UK.
It has, therefore, been forced to negotiate with EDF. But this doesn't mean EDF holds all the cards-the company is desperate to get Hinkley Point C started so it can serve as a blueprint for similar power stations across the world.
So what does it mean for bills? Until we know the price of electricity on the open market
when Hinkley Point C starts generating power, we simply won't know if it is a good or bad deal.
If the electricity price is below the strike price, then bills will probably be higher than they would otherwise be.
Conversely, if it is above the strike price, then bills would be lower. It will also depend on the energy mix at the time.
In other words, how much of your electricity is generated by nuclear power. At the moment, almost 20%of the UK's power is generated by nuclear reactors
but this is likely to fall in the short term as the UK's current nuclear capacity is decommissioned.
Better-insulated homes and more-efficient gadgets, could also lower usage in the future. This is all very well,
but why are we building new nuclear power plants? Precisely because there will be a shortfall in electricity generation as a result of existing nuclear-and coal and gas-power stations shutting down.
The question then is how to make up this shortfall. The government is committed to renewable energy, such as solar and wind power,
but to get enough generating capacity from these sources will take too long, it says,
so another solution is needed. In theory, it could simply increase power generation from traditional fossil fuels such as coal and gas,
but stringent, legally-binding carbon dioxide emissions targets mean this is not possible. There is some room for an increase in gas-generated power
but as we import most of this gas, the government has concerns about energy security-it wants us to generate our own power,
not rely on others for it. So, in the government's eyes, that leaves nuclear. And it wants EDF to lead by example,
paving the way for other power companies to invest in new reactors in the UK, because two new reactors will not be enough
#Boy, 15, held in NI over Talktalk hack Metropolitan Police said a house had been searched in County Antrim on Monday afternoon at about 16:20 GMT.
The boy was arrested on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences. He has been taken into custody at Antrim police station
and is being questioned by detectives from the Police Service of Northern ireland. A search of the address is ongoing
and inquiries continue. A police statement said this was a joint investigation involving the Police Service of Northern ireland (PSNI),
and detectives from the Metropolitan Police Cyber crime Unit (MPCCU). News that the Talktalk website had been hit by a"significant and sustained cyberattack"broke last week.
The phone and broadband provider, which has over four million UK customers, said banking details
and personal information could have been accessed. A criminal investigation was launched on Thursday. The company said it did not know how much of their customer information had been encrypted.
At the weekend, Talktalk's chief executive said the attack was"smaller"than originally thought. Dido Harding said any credit card details taken would have been partial
and the information may not have been enough to withdraw money"on its own"."Card details accessed were incomplete-with many numbers appearing as an x-and"not usable"for financial transactions,
it added. Business leaders have called for urgent action to tackle cyber crime in the wake of the Talktalk attack.
On Monday, MPS said an inquiry would be launched into the cyberattack that could have put customers'details at risk.
Culture minister Ed Vaizey told the House of commons the government was not against compulsory encryption for firms holding customer data.
Shares in the telecoms company fell more than 12%in Monday trading, extending its losses from last week,
when news of the attack first emerged d
#EU votes down net neutrality protection The European parliament has voted against a set of rules intended to safeguard"net neutrality"in the EU. A series of amendments to a regulation on how internet traffic is managed in Europe were rejected all by MEPS.
Proponents of net neutrality, who demand that web traffic be treated equally by networks, have criticised already the move.
The existing legislation, which was accepted, will be developed into regulations. Campaigners have said that provisions for protecting net neutrality in the existing text of the rules are too vague and many worry that it will be easy for internet firms to strike deals with content providers
which may not be advantageous for everyone. For example it is thought that so-called"zero rating"agreements, in which customers can access certain sites
and services for free outside their data plans, might become more widespread. While this could be beneficial for those who want to access content from those providers,
others worry that it will stifle innovation. The rules, however, do stipulate that network companies will not be able to offer
or market paid-for access to"fast lanes"."Traffic management, they add, should be based on objective technical requirements.
Clear vote Although some campaigners had suggested there might be growing support for the amendments within the parliament,
all were voted down in large majorities. It is thought that many MEPS would have been reluctant to begin a process of amending the regulation given that it might have delayed another aspect of the rules-the abolition of mobile data roaming charges.
The result is"hardly surprising"according to legal expert Chris Marsden at the University of Sussex, given that many of the major parties represented in the parliament all supported the regulation text without amendments.
The Body of European Regulators (BEREC) would now have nine months to issue guidelines to bodies like Ofcom in the UK,
he added.""So, by September next year we will have the guidelines and the real enforcement work begins,
"he told the BBC. Dr Marsden also said there were still plenty of unknowns, such as what form regulations on"zero ratings
"and fast and slow lane services might actually take. There was also the issue of how laws in The netherlands, Slovenia and Finland
-which all have special net neutrality protections in place-would be affected. Some initial guidelines, Dr Marsden added, would not be ready until 2016.'
'Regrettable'decision Michael Theurer, a liberal German MEP described the outcome as"regrettable"and added that he felt the regulations as passed do not include a clear definition of net neutrality to inform regulators.
Prior to the vote, the inventor of the world wide web Sir Tim Berners-Lee and a host of tech companies had expressed their support for the amendments
and urged MEPS to vote them through. Firms which has supported openly the amendments included: Netflix Reddit Kickstarter Vimeo Foursquare Soundcloud"The fact is that
what we use the internet for in 2015 is vastly different from those early days when Tim Berners-Lee was inventing the web,
"commented Chris Green of business consultancy Lewis as he pointed out that the rise of video streaming had placed extra burdens on network companies."
"Maintaining that information flow is an expensive process and the cost of running that infrastructure is falling on the shoulders of ISPS."
"For them, a two-tier internet makes much more sense, "he told the BBC. What is net neutrality?
The idea that data should be ferried from place to place as quickly as possible, regardless of
is how most people assume the internet works. That's the essence of net neutrality.
However, it's possible to decide to prioritise certain types of data over others-perhaps, for example,
by charging the producers of such data a fee to make sure their content gets delivered promptly.
For big video streaming sites, the prospect is worrying. They could find themselves coughing up lots of money in fees simply to give their users the same experience as before.
Some argue however, that such fees are fair since it costs internet service providers a lot of money to keep providing such content,
no matter how popular the streaming sites become. How could the rules affect internet use? Part of the problem with the rules in their current form, argued Joe Mcnamee at the European Digital Rights campaign group,
is that they are ambiguous.""As the text currently stands there is no indication as to how much abuse of dominance would be permissible under this arrangement,
"he told the BBC. The sort of scenarios that could impact internet use include the creation of"fast lanes"and"slow lanes"or the creation of"zero ratings"in
which some services may be accessed without using up any of the internet user's data quota. In Belgium, for example, some mobile phone companies currently allow unlimited access to Twitter
and Facebook while all other data usage is part of a monthly plan. In a few countries such as The netherlands
such practices are allowed not. Who had argued that the amendments be adopted? Besides a host of net neutrality campaigners, inventor of the world wide web Sir Tim Berners-Lee had added his voice to those supporting the amendments."
"If adopted as currently written, these rules will threaten innovation, free speech and privacy, and compromise Europe's ability to lead in the digital economy,
"he wrote in a blog. And a string of tech companies signed a letter to the president of the European parliament, Martin Schulz,
asking MEPS to adopt the amendments. The firms included Netflix, Tumblr, Vimeo, Kickstarter and Reddit."
and investors because they were concerned deeply about the impact of the European parliament's network neutrality proposals on start-up innovation in Europe,"Stanford professor Barbara van Schewick,
what deals could be sought by internet firms with content providers. But in other countries, such as India,"zero rating"is allowed."
#Major earthquake strikes Nepal A major earthquake has struck eastern Nepal, two weeks after more than 8, 000 people were killed in a devastating quake.
The latest earthquake hit near the town of Namche Bazar, near Mount everest. The US Geological Survey said it had a magnitude of 7. 4. An earthquake on 25 april,
centred in western Nepal, had a magnitude of 7. 8. The latest tremor was felt as far away as the Indian capital Delhi,
which was damaged badly in last month's earthquake.""This is a really big one,"Prakash Shilpakar,
Reports said people rushed from buildings in Kathmandu as the quake struck at 12:35 local time (07:50 GMT.
The epicentre of the latest earthquake was 83km (52 miles) east of Kathmandu, in a rural area close to the Chinese border.
Shallower earthquakes are more likely to cause more damage at the surface. The BBC's Yogita Limaye, who was with an aid convoy in Nepal
when the latest earthquake struck, tweeted:""We're safe. Did feel the earth shake for quite a long time.
#Sri lanka first to protect mangroves Sri lanka has become the first nation in the world to comprehensively protect all of its mangrove forests.
A scheme backed by the government will include alternative job training, replanting projects and microloans.
"No nation in history has protected ever all of its mangrove forests and Sri lanka is going to be the first one to do so,
""It is not only that mangroves sequester an order of magnitude more carbon than other types of forest,
which is primarily an anaerobic environment-without oxygen. As a result, the organisms that usually lead to the decomposition of organic material are not present,
meaning the carbon remains locked in the environment for longer. Because of their surrounding habitat and the lack of readily available fuel
mangrove forests are also not susceptible to forest fires. But mangroves also offer coastal communities a more direct and immediate form of protection,
"After the 2004 (Indian ocean) tsunami, it became evident-particularly in Sri lanka which was impacted severely-that those villages that had suffered intact mangroves significantly less damage than those that did not.
A report by the International union for conservation of nature (IUCN) published 12 months after the devastating tsunami compared two coastal villages in Sri lanka that were hit by the wall of water.
It showed that two people died in the settlement with dense mangrove and scrub forest,
Healthy fish populations, sustained by healthy mangrove forests, have provided also livelihoods and nutrition for millions of small-scale fishermen and their families for generations, allowing coastal communities to sustain themselves.
Costing livelihoods Anuradha Wickramasinghe, chairman of Sudeesa, said:""People live in these areas because they depend on the mangroves
"Shrimp farmers have been either legally or illegally cutting down mangroves. Farmed shrimps, or prawns, account for more than half of the global demand for the crustaceans.
A UN report published in November 2012 warned that the growing demand for prawns meant that valuable mangrove forests were still being felled
so fishermen are losing income so it costs them their livelihoods.""So they know about the importance of mangroves
800 hectares (21,800 acres) of existing mangrove forests by providing alternative job training, funding microloans to people in exchange for protecting local mangroves forests.
Its pages contain nanoparticles of silver or copper, which kill bacteria in the water as it passes through.
In trials at 25 contaminated water sources in South africa, Ghana and Bangladesh, the paper successfully removed more than 99%of bacteria.
Dr Teri Dankovich, a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie mellon University in Pittsburgh, developed and tested the technology for the book over several years, working at Mcgill University in Canada and then at the University of Virginia."
"It's directed towards communities in developing countries, "Dr Dankovich said, noting that 663 million people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water."
or copper ions-depending on the nanoparticles used-as they percolate through the page.""Ions come off the surface of the nanoparticles,
and those are absorbed by the microbes, "Dr Dankovich explained. According to her tests, one page can clean up to 100 litres of water.
Dr Dankovich had tested already the paper in the lab using artificially contaminated water. Success there led to the field trials
"It's really exciting to see that not only can this paper work in lab models,
"There was one site where there was literally raw sewage being dumped into the stream, which had very high levels of bacteria."
which she and her students currently make by hand, and move on to trials in which local residents use the filters themselves."
"For example, Dr Dankovich's work with ide in Bangladesh has explored whether a filter, holding one of the book pages,
Dr Daniele Lantagne, an environmental engineer at Tufts University, said the data from the trials showed promise."
The"drinkable book"has passed now two key stages-showing that it works in the lab,
whether it would remove other disease-causing microorganisms.""I would want to see results for protozoa and viruses,
"Dr Kyle Doudrick studies sustainable water treatment at the University of Notre dame in Indiana. He agreed that the book system would be especially powerful
if it could also tackle non-bacterial infections, such as the tiny parasite cryptosporidium which recently caused a health scare in Lancashire.
Its pages contain nanoparticles of silver or copper, which kill bacteria in the water as it passes through.
In trials at 25 contaminated water sources in South africa, Ghana and Bangladesh, the paper successfully removed more than 99%of bacteria.
Dr Teri Dankovich, a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie mellon University in Pittsburgh, developed and tested the technology for the book over several years, working at Mcgill University in Canada and then at the University of Virginia."
"It's directed towards communities in developing countries, "Dr Dankovich said, noting that 663 million people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water."
or copper ions-depending on the nanoparticles used-as they percolate through the page.""Ions come off the surface of the nanoparticles,
and those are absorbed by the microbes, "Dr Dankovich explained. According to her tests, one page can clean up to 100 litres of water.
in English as well as the local language Dr Dankovich had tested already the paper in the lab using artificially contaminated water.
"It's really exciting to see that not only can this paper work in lab models,
"There was one site where there was literally raw sewage being dumped into the stream, which had very high levels of bacteria."
"More work to to Dr Dankovich and her colleagues are hoping to step up production of the paper,
which she and her students currently make by hand, and move on to trials in which local residents use the filters themselves."
"For example, Dr Dankovich's work with ide in Bangladesh has explored whether a filter, holding one of the book pages,
Dr Daniele Lantagne, an environmental engineer at Tufts University, said the data from the trials showed promise."
The"drinkable book"has passed now two key stages-showing that it works in the lab,
whether it would remove other disease-causing microorganisms.""I would want to see results for protozoa and viruses,
"Dr Kyle Doudrick studies sustainable water treatment at the University of Notre dame in Indiana. He agreed that the book system would be especially powerful
if it could also tackle non-bacterial infections, such as the tiny parasite cryptosporidium which recently caused a health scare in Lancashire.
the researchers argue that their new method for controlling brain cells could improve on"optogenetics","a technique that uses light rather than sound.
Consequently, using optogenetics to control brain circuits in a mammal currently requires a fibre-optic implant.
this is the property that makes it useful for medical sonograms.""This could be a big advantage
"said the study's first author Stuart Ibsen, from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California.
whether this could work in a mammalian brain, "said Dr Sreekanth Chalasani, who runs the lab behind the work.
For now, the team's research relies on the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, a well-studied critter with precisely 302 neurons.
"Bubbles like these are used already to improve the contrast in some medical ultrasound imaging. They can be injected into the bloodstream,
"although this term had already been applied to the idea of combining ultrasound scans with genetic tests for prenatal diagnosis."Light-based techniques are great for some uses and
"But when we make the leap into therapies for humans, I think we have shot a better with noninvasive sonogenetics."
a professor of neuroscience at University college London, described the study as"a nice'proof-of-principle'demonstration...
"I would urge extreme caution about extrapolating this work to other species-especially mice or humans."
"It will be a much greater challenge to get such a technique to work in a big brain within a skull
#US House rejects NSA phone data trawl The US House of representatives has voted to end the National security agency's bulk collection of Americans'phone records.
The bill would empower the agency to search data held by telephone companies on a case-by-case basis. Bulk collection was revealed in 2013 by ex-security contractor Edward Snowden.
The amendments would ban the agency's mass collection of telephone data-phone numbers, time and duration of calls-as well as emails and web addresses."
"said House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, who voted in favour of the bill.""These fundamental concepts are not mutually exclusive
The FDA has approved previously medical devices-including prosthetics-that have been 3d printed. The new drug, dubbed Spritam,
was developed by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals to control seizures brought on by epilepsy. The company said that it planned to develop other medications using its 3d platform.
Printing the drug meant it could package up to 1, 000 milligrams into individual tablets. The 3d printed pill dissolves in the same manner as other oral medicines.
Being able to 3d print a tablet offers the potential to create bespoke drugs based on the specific needs of patients,
rather than having a one product fits all approach, according to experts.""For the last 50 years we have manufactured tablets in factories
and shipped them to hospitals and for the first time this process means we can produce tablets much closer to the patient,
"said Dr Mohamed Albed Alhnan, a lecturer in pharmaceutics at the University of Central Lancashire.
It would mean that medical institutions could adjust the dose for individual patients with just a simple tweak to the software before printing.
Previously, such personalised medicine would have been extremely expensive to produce, said Dr Alhnan. 3d printing works by creating an object layer by layer.
In the case of medicines printers are adapted to produce pharmaceutical compounds rather than polymers which are used more usually.
Such methods are already proving very useful in healthcare with doctors using the system to create customised implants for patients with injuries or other conditions.
And dentists, for example, use 3d printers to create replica jaws and teeth as well as other dental implants s
#Helper robots tested inside model flat Robots designed to help elderly people live more independently are being tested in a replica apartment.
The"living lab",built by Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL), mimics a single-storey flat and contains a network of Wi-fi cameras and sensors.
Scientists believe it is the first time helper robots have been developed in a"real-life"environment. Dr Praminda Caleb-Solly, from BRL, said the robots could step in
"if someone forgets to eat or take medicines"."They will be tested to see how they overcome realistic scenarios,
like navigating household clutter or picking things up for mobility-impaired residents. Wi-fi cameras and sensors have also been installed on furniture, doors, medicine bottles, fridges,
plugs and kettles inside the flat, dubbed the Personalised Assisted living facility. The sensors will gather data to create a picture of a person's individual habits and needs.
One of the features is a telepresence robot, which allows nurses, social workers or doctors to monitor patients remotely.
Dr Caleb-Solly said:""If an alert is sent because there is no activity in the house
when a person would normally be up and about, an alert might be sent to the carer remotely."
"If there is no response from the person then the carer could activate the telepresence robot
and see if there is a problem.""The studio will also enable elderly people, carers and clinicians to give their views on
what they think is important.""It's important for us to work in a participatory way for the people
whose homes its going to be said in Dr Caleb-Solly. BBC Points West business correspondent, Dave Harvey:
There have been other caring robots, all over the world. Several were developed at the Bristol Robotics Lab,
the largest academic research centre of its kind in the UK. But they have all been born in labs,
The new centre is the first in the world to build a real life apartment, with its own bedroom, bathroom,
kitchen and lounge as a reality check for the robot scientists. And they have another unique ingredient,
just as important as the high tech sensors, computers, and voice synthesisers. Older people, have been recruited to help the lab scientists assess their work.
How do older people respond to an automated machine asking them if they want to play a game?
What happens when Molly, the robot carer, talks to someone who has dementia? These are vital questions,
and the new lab hopes that asking them in a real-life situation will improve their work.
How long before robots can live with us, keep a watchful eye over us in old age?"
It is hoped the apartment will speed up the development process s
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