What We Read Today 09 October 2014

Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries (and sometimes longer ones) of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.

• NYMEX crude rebounds in Asia despite uncertain demand outlook (Investing.com) Early Thursday (09 0ctober 2014) trading in Asia has crude oil prices rebounding from lows on Wednesday not seen for 18 months. Prices in Asia were up Several articles on oil are discussed ‘behind the wall’. When the New York market opens live quotes are available here.

• The Nobel Prize in chemistry goes to three men who revolutionized microscopy (Rachel Feltman, The Washington Post) This is another example of the overlap between sciences. The techniques developed could just as well be classified as physics while the applications could be classified as biology and medicine. The scientists awarded were trained as chemists so perhaps that is the rationale for recognizing this work as chemistry. The three chemists developed techniques of using pulsed light and processes that might be thought of as similar to time-lapse photography to resolve images of molecular structures far smaller than the theoretical limits imposed by the wavelength of light. Animal cells have dimensions of the order or 1 micron up to tens of microns for the largest cells (micron = micrometer = 10-6 meters = 4 x 10-5 inches – 0.00004 inches). See Wikipedia for a list of things with dimensions larger than 10 microns and also smaller than 10 microns.

The major substructure elements of cells are called “organelles” and many have dimensions less than 0.1 micron. At the theoretical limit of visible light resolution (0.2 to 0.4 micron, depending on wavelength with blue resolving better than red) cell images are resolvable, although often with fuzzy resolution imparted by the practical limitations of the optics elements degrading resolution to less than the theoretical limit. Very few very large organelles are detectable with visible light and only with extremely poor resolution.

The new technology can resolve individual molecules and by superposition of molecular images produce very high resolution images of even the smallest organelles. It has been used to study the operational steps in nerve cells, protein behavior in cells associated with Huntington’s disease and cell division in embryos. All these studies are conducted in vivo with no interference with the natural processes taking place.

• Articles about Scotland Independence and Similar Movements

Scottish independence: ‘Respect the result’ – PM (The Scotsman)

Basque separatists inch along, watching Catalonia closely (The Conversation)

From Kurdistan to Texas, Scots Spur Separatists (The New York Times)

Europe goes back to the Middle Ages: Map shows how patchwork continent would look if every separatist movement got their wish (Daily Mail) Interesting maps.

• Articles about conflicts and disease around the world

Ebola

WHO: no control over spread of Ebola (Al Jazeera)

Ebola crisis leaves Dallas a city on edge (Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press, MSN News)

U.S. to screen air passengers from West Africa for Ebola (Reuters)

Gaza

Gaza farmers struggle in war aftermath (Al Jazeera)

Turkey

Turkish-Kurdish relations threatened by ISIL (Al Jazeera)

Turkey Kurds: Kobane protests leave 19 dead (BBC News)

Turkey’s clumsy politics and the Kurdish question (Al Jazeera)

Syria

Syria declares new chemical weapons facilities (BBC News)

Allies consider ‘buffer zone’ inside Syria (Al Jazeera)

Ukraine

Welcome to Donetsk: Shocking pictures show Ukrainian airport lying in tatters as UN says at least 331 have been killed since last month’s ceasefire was agreed (Daily Mail) Lots of pictures.

UN: 3,660 killed, 8,756 wounded in Ukraine conflict since April (RT)

Russia

Russia Looks to Compensate Its Sanctioned Elite (abc News)

Russians attacked in Moscow for wearing ‘Western’ symbols (BBC News)

Top Russian Officials Are Starting to Realize That the Country’s Economy Is in Big Trouble (Slate)

Finance minister warns Russia can’t afford military spending plan (Reuters)

Russia’s borders: while Moldova shivers, is Belarus beginning to thaw? (The Conversation)

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Protest Leader Joshua Wong Pledges ‘Persistent’ Fight (NBC News)

Hong Kong Protest Leaders May Walk Away From Talks (Bloomberg)

Hong Kong protesters have sights set on global problems (The Conversation)

Pakistan

Civilians flee amid Kashmir border clashes (Al Jazeera)

There are 10 articles discussed today ‘behind the wall’, all about oil and solar energy topics.

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