Superconductivity Established Near 20C

This is an update on previouswork and it appears that they have successfully reached the holy grail ofsuperconductivity research.  We have roomtemperature effects that could easily be fitted into a framework that neededmodest cooling at most.  Of course,turning all this into something that is commercially useful is quite anothermatter as we have seen with the materials finding their way into cryogenicsystems today.  Yet it has been done eventhere.

This is a classic example ofscience progressing at its best.  It hastaken over a century to reach this point from the initial recognition of thepossibility.  Hundreds, if not thousands,worked toward this day.  It is still not particularlycomplete but we are glimpsing the end of the tunnel.

As I have posted, the principlerequirement of a MFEV (magnetic field exclusion vehicle) is a thin layer ofsuperconducting material at as high a temperature as possible.  This is getting us there.  Simply producing hexagonal chips of suchmaterial could easily be assembled into such a structure.

Superconductivity Near 20 Celsius - Superconductivity Approaches RoomTemperature

17 March 2011

Superconductors.ORG

Superconductors.ORG herein reports the observation of superconductivitynear 20 C.

http://www.superconductors.org/20C.htm

       In eight magnetization testsa small amount of the compound (Tl5Pb2)Ba2MgCu10O17+ consistentlyproduced sharp diamagnetic transitions (the Meissner effect) near 20 Celsius(see above graphic), and resistive transitions that appeared near 18.5C (seebelow right). These temperatures are believed accurate +/- 2 degrees.

Resistance-v-temperature tests of this material were performed using a4-point probe. Four significant bits of data resolution were necessary toresolve the 18.5C critical transition temperature (Tc) due to a lowsignal-to-noise ratio (S/N). A sharp transition appeared across just 1.5 uA ofa 220 uA signal. This suggests a superconductive volume fraction less than 1%of the bulk.

       This extraordinarily high Tc wasachieved by engineering a theoretical D223 structure (where D=11 hex) thatpushes the limit of the longest C-axis lattice that will superconduct, whilesimultaneously establishing near-optimum Pb-doping of the Tl-Cu-O blockinglayers (see structure at left).

 In 2008 a Sn-In-Pb-Tm cuprateproduced superconductivity near 195K . That material had a C-axis latticeconstant around 33 angstroms. Attempts to go beyond 33 Å within that systemfailed to produce signs of superconductivity. That fact pointed to 33 Å being arough upper size limit for a superconductive unit cell within this family ofcopper perovskites. Since the 3 Celsius superconductor discovered in December 2010,had a C axis length under 28 Å, the next attempt to advance high Tc focused onincreasing the unit cell parameters. 

       The first material attempted was(Tl5Pb)Ba2MgCu9O15+ which had a C axis length near 30 Å, but a reducedpercentage of Pb doping - around 16%, sted 20% (see below 7C graphic). (Tl5Pb)Ba2MgCu9O15+ displayeda magnetic Tc near 9C (282K) and resistive Tc near 7C (280K). This was animprovement. However, within its magnetization plot were signs of still highersuperconductivity being generated by a minority phase.

 (Tl5Pb2)Ba2MgCu10O17+, with aunit cell near 32.7 Å, was then synthesized, displaying an unambiguousdiamagnetic transition near 20 Celsius.

       These 18C and 7C structures areshown below alongside the previous world record holders for comparison.

      With two atoms of divalent Pb, theinsulating layer of the 18C superconductor is hole-doped 28.5%. This increaseddoping level approaches the optimum of 25% discovered empirically within theSn-In-Pb copper-oxide family in 2008. Additionally, 28.5% is near a 30% optimumlevel for Pb-doping found by Shao, et al, in 1995(1).

       Dots have been placed within theC1 plot below, depicting where D223(Tl5Pb2-Mg) and B223(Tl5Pb-Mg) lie relativeto the other high performance thallium-cuprates. Temperatures plotted (inKelvin) are resistive. The correlation between planar weight ratio and Tc isunmistakable.

       As with prior discoveries thatadvanced high Tc through asymmetry along the C axis, this material does notform stoichiometrically (by conventional mixing of chemicals). It must besynthesized using the layer cake method, as shown below. The prototype pelletseach had roughly 20 to 22 layers. And, even using this technique, the volumefraction is low. Thus, commercialization will have to wait for a refinementmethod to be developed.

       This discovery is being releasedinto the public domain without patent protection in order toencourage additional research. Synthesis was by the solid state reactionmethod.

        The below stoichiometricratios were used for the ODD layers:

PbO 99.99%   (Alfa Aesar)   2.88 moles (gr.)

Tl2O3   99.99%   (Alfa Aesar)   7.366moles 

BaCO3   99.95%   (Alfa Aesar)  2.546 moles

CuO   99.995%   (Alfa Aesar)   4.106moles

       ...and the below ratios forthe EVEN layers.

MgO   99.95%     (Alfa Aesar)  1.04 moles (4x stoichiometric)

CuO   99.995%   (Alfa Aesar)   4.10 moles(4x stoichiometric)

       The chemical precursors werepelletized at 70,000 PSI and sintered for 35-36 hours at 865C. The pellet wasthen annealed for 10 hours at 500C in flowing O2. The magnetometer employedtwin Honeywell SS94A1F Hall-effect sensors with a tandem sensitivity of 50mv/gauss. The 4-point probe was bonded to the pellet with CW2400 silver epoxyand used 7 volts on the primary. Temperature was determined using an Omega type"T" thermocouple and precision OP77 DC amplifier.

RESEARCH NOTE: The copper-oxides are strongly hygroscopic.All tests should be performed immediately after annealing.

E. Joe Eck

© 2011 Superconductors.ORG

All rights reserved.

1. The Synthesis and Characterization of HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8+ Superconductors withSubstitution of Hg by Pb, by H.M. Shao, C.C. Lam, P.C.W. Fung, X.S. Wu, J.H.Du, G.J. Shen, J.C.L. Chow, S.L. Ho, K.C. Hung, and X.X. Yao, Physica C Volume:246, 1995 Page(s): 207-215 

Florida Tree Islands are Ancient Middens

Again we are continuing todevelop evidence of extensive human settlement throughout semi tropical Florida.  This was effectively confirmed by theearliest post Columbian penetration of these lands but those exploratory forayswere exploratory at best.  Thus we havescant information as indigenous populations promptly collapsed. 

Archeology is now establishingthe existence of uplifted midden based platforms that acted as likely townsites.  Obviously waste was tossed ontothe edges of the camps and the platforms grew steadily over thousands of years.

It is reasonable to presume thatshellfish was consumed daily by everyone as that was the local staple incoastal waters.  In fact, these localeswere well nigh impenetrable for anything but canoes and thus land game waslikely a rarity.  Thus fish and shellfishmust be consumed. 

As we know on the West coast,such a system can support huge populations were shell fish and salmon providedsustenance for communities of even ten thousand and produce huge middens.

Now we know were the hugepopulations in Floridaactually lived.

Ancient Trash Heaps Gave Rise To Everglades Tree Islands

by Staff Writers

Santa Fe NM(SPX) Mar 23, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Ancient_Trash_Heaps_Gave_Rise_To_Everglades_Tree_Islands_999.html

Garbage mounds left by prehistoric humans might have driven the formation ofmany of the Florida Everglades' tree islands, distinctive havens of exceptionalecological richness in the sprawling marsh that are threatened by humandevelopment.

Tree islands are patches of relatively high and dry ground that dot themarshes of the Everglades. Typically a meter(3.3 feet) or so high, many of them are elevated enough to allow trees to grow.They provide a nesting site for alligators and a refuge for birds, panthers,and other wildlife.

Scientists have thought for many years that the so-called fixed treeislands (a larger type of tree island frequently found in the Everglades' mainchannel, Shark River Slough)developed on protrusions from the rocky layer of a mineral called carbonatethat sits beneath the marsh. Now, new research indicates that the real triggerfor island development might have been middens, or trash piles left behind fromhuman settlements that date to about 5,000 years ago.

These middens, a mixture of bones, food discards, charcoal, and humanartifacts (such as clay pots and shell tools), would have provided an elevatedarea, drier than the surrounding marsh, allowing trees and other vegetation togrow. Bones also leaked phosphorus, a nutrient for plants that is otherwisescarce in the Everglades.

"This goes to show that human disturbance in the environmentdoesn't always have a negative consequence," says Gail Chmura, apaleoecologist at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and one of the authors of the study.

Chmura will be presenting her research tomorrow, Tuesday 22 March, atthe American Geophysical Union's Chapman Conference on Climates, PastLandscapes, and Civilizations. About 95 scientists have converged on Santa Fe this week todiscuss the latest research findings from archeology, paleoclimatology,paleoecology, and other fields that reveal how changes in regional and globalclimate have impacted the development and fates of societies.

In a previous scientific investigation of tree islands, MargoSchwadron, an archeologist with the National Park Service,cut through the elevated bedrock at the base of two islands and discovered thatit was actually a so-called "perched carbonate layer," because therewas more soil and a midden below. Later, a team including Chmura's graduatestudent Maria-Theresia Graf performed additional excavations in South Florida and found more of the perched carbonatelayers.

Chemical analysis of samples of these curious perched layers revealedthat they are made up partially of carbonates that had dissolved from thebedrock below, Chmura says. The layer also contains phosphorus from dissolvedbones, she adds. Her team concluded that trees are key to the formation of thislayer: During South Florida's dry season,their roots draw in large quantities of ground water but allow the phosphatesand carbonates dissolved in it to seep out and coalesce into the stone-likelayer.

The perched carbonate plays a key role in letting tree islands reboundafter fires: because it does not burn, it protects the underlying soil, and itmaintains the islands' elevation, allowing vegetation to regrow after the fire.Humans are now threatening the existence of tree islands, by cutting down trees(whose roots keep the perched layer in place) and artificially maintaining highwater levels year-round in some water control systems, which could cause thelayer to dissolve.

Chmura's team now wants to explore exactly when trees started growingon the tree islands

Giant Bunny

It has long been possible tobreed out huge rabbits and it was quite likely that on some island we would runacross a giant bunny.  That is nowaccomplished with the discovery of these fossils.

Obviously they failed to survivecontact with man, but it would have been surprising if they had.

Anyway, it is Easter and this isan appropriate tale for the time

King of Rabbits: Ancient, Gigantic Bunny Discovered

Charles Q. Choi, LiveScienceContributor

Date: 21 March 2011 Time: 03:02 PM ET

A reconstruction of Nuralagus rex in a landscape with a living Europeanrabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus in the foreground for comparison.

CREDIT: Meike Köhler 

http://www.livescience.com/13340-giant-rabbit-fossils-minorca-island.html

Just in time for Easter, the skeleton of a giant rabbit has beendiscovered, one that was once about six times the size of today's bunnies.

The fossils of the giant were discovered on the islandof Minorca off the coast of Spain,a fact reflected in the rabbit's scientific name, Nuralagus rex, "theMinorcan king of the rabbits." [Illustrationof giant rabbit]

"I needed four years to recover a good sample of N. rex bonesbecause they were in very hard red stone," paleontologist Josep Quintanaat the Catalan Institute of Paleontology in Barcelona, Spain, told LiveScience."To pull the bones out from the matrix, it was necessary to use somehundreds of liters of acetic acid, a very concentrated vinegar — very hard andpatient work! But it was worthwhile, of course."

When the bunny lived approximately 3 million to 5 million years ago, itweighed about 26 pounds (12 kilograms), about six times the size of the livingEuropean rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). [Fossilsof Oldest Rabbit Relative Found]

The fact that it got so big on Minorcaseems to follow the so-called "island rule." On islands, big animalsoften get smaller, due to limited food, while small animals often get bigger,due to lack of predators.

Foot bones of Nuralagus rex, the giant rabbit whose remains werediscovered on the island of Minorca.

"For most of their over 40-million-year history, members of therabbit family have fit well within the size range exhibited by relativelywell-known modern members of the family. Now, discoveries on Minorca have addeda giant to the mix, a 25-pound, short-legged rabbit," said rabbit researcherMary Dawson at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, who didnot take part in this study.

As big as it was, N. rex might have been easy prey today — itlost the ability to hop. The long, springy spine of a typicalmodernrabbit was lost in N. rex, replaced by a short, stiff spine thatwould make leaping difficult.

"I think thatN. rex would be a rather clumsy rabbit walking —imagine a beaver out of water," Quintana said.

The giant probably also had poor hearing and vision, with relativelysmall eye sockets and internal ear parts. Its senses likely deteriorated forthe same reason it got so large — it did not have predators to worry about. Assuch, it probably lacked another key trait often associated with rabbits —long ears. The bunny likely sported relatively small ears for its size.

Based on the rabbit's curved claws, the researchers suspect the animalwas most probably a digger that lived on roots and tubers it unearthed. Itsneighbors included bats, large dormice and giant tortoises.

Quintana proposes that this newfound giant might make a good mascot forthe island. "I would like to use N. rex to lure students andvisitors to Minorca," he said.

The scientists detailed their findings online today (March 21) in theJournal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Starchild Skull Conjecture

This week we got a really good look at the mtDNA of theStarchild Skull.  The evidence conformscompletely to my conjectures relating to human history and development over thepast thirty thousand years as I have posted throughout this blog over the lastthree years or so.

It is possible that life not based on Earth was responsiblefor upgrading Earth based primates into a range of advanced primates includingourselves, yet this explanation is plausibly unnecessary.

Modern humanity has been extant for at least 70,000 yearsand in some form for at least 200,000 years. For 70,000 years individuals have existed equal to the task of fittinginto our own modern society if integrated from childhood.  Up to 15,000 years ago such human populationswere restricted to the tropics and to the coastal plains of the continentalshelf.  This was still ample to sustain apopulation of one billion.

In time, the modern world emerged.  They mastered space travel and DNAmanipulation as we are doing now and as we will largely master within thelifetimes of most reading these words. It is really happening that fast. At the same time they mastered the art of the Magnetic Field Exclusion Vessel(MFEV).  This is recognized as a UFO inour own skies today and the key breakthroughs were make just this past year ortwo.  We will have it inside the next twodecades. 

This presented mankind twenty thousand years ago with amassive opportunity.

It became possible to evacuate Earth itself and to shift thepopulation into space habitats able to hold a million or so each and undertake amassive repositioning of the crust itself in order to end the Northern Ice Age.  The habitats are easy to build and could bebuilt today once we have the MFEVs.  Itis noteworthy that some such habitats may well have been placed in safegeological structures after the crustal shift as an additional option.  This would explain the obvious ongoing UFOtraffic we observe.

The MFEVs make it trivial to move personnel from high embarkationpoints to the space habitats.  The craftmay well have been called Arks and could easily carry hundreds at a time.  It appears that the text regarding the storyof Noah is a copy of an original history of Earth’s deliberate resettlementafter the crustal shift.

Once this was accomplished, the crust was shifted thirtydegrees south along an arc running through Hudson’s Bay using the directed impact of acomet at the Pole.  Recent work has begunthe process of collecting and understanding the evidence of the comet impactfrom 12900 BP.  Both the Himalayas andthe Andes were thrown up at this time andlocal subsidence also occurred.

A couple thousand years on, settlement groups were placed oneach continent at least and likely three or four on the Eurasian land mass.  Australasiamay not have had such a colony.  Thepurpose was to jump start agriculture and commence the terraforming of Earth tomake it completely suitable for the huge populations that it is capable ofsupporting.  Without getting too involvedin this, a figure of 100 billion is defensible. We have a lot of work to do.

Conjecture 1:               The aliens (UFOs) we are aware ofare earth descended humanoids genetically adapted to living in space.  Multiple species were created in order toprovide a range of useful characteristics. They were enhanced over and above those needs that are earth specific.

Conjecture 2:               Weare such a species enhanced in order to terraform Earth.  We are not told this in order to get us towork a lot harder and to quit whining. We are now reaching critical mass in population and knowledge thatallows us to reconnect.  It must happensoon, although they will likely just wait for us to produce a MFEV and come onup.

Conjecture 3:               Immortalitythrough machine copying is plausible and provides a mechanism by whichindividuals can do a short tour of duty on Earth as a embedded ‘soul’  We are going to try and do this ourselves withinthe next thirty years.

These are extraordinary conjectures and extraordinaryclaims.

The reason I am writing this today is that the mtDNA work onthe Starchild Skull has now delivered extraordinary evidence of everything Ihave just said within the mtDNA itself. The mtDNA is explainable only as enhanced primate mtDNA.  The add-ins are there and can beisolated.  What also cannot be denied isthat the rest follows the same patterns as we follow.  So unless you want to believe that DNA arisesindependently in the same order as a natural law, this is primate  mtDNA that has been actively improved, asevidenced anyway by the special features in the skull.

Extraordinary Conjectures need Extraordinary Evidence.  We now have it.  There is plenty of other conforming evidencefloating out there and often commented on here. These conjectures could never have arisen without that.

MSU Creates New Engine Design

This joins a long list ofinnovative engine designs that have been worked on over the years.  They all have specific advantages that makethem attractive to continue development, yet usually run into the limitations imposedby materials.  That is why we still usethe same engine geometry developed a century ago.

This one looks attractive andlooks to be naturally light.  One hopesit makes it into the market.

The video could not betransferred, so for a longish discussion – no demo – use the link to get thevideo.

MSU researchers create a new engine prototype (w/ video)

March 17, 2011 byKatie Gatto 

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Michigan State University have built aprototype, based on the research first released in 2009, of the Wave DiskGenerator -- an engine that does not have pistons, crankshafts or valves.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-msu-prototype-video.html

This newmodel, which does away with the internal combustion engine of the past, has thepotential to reduce auto emissions up to 90 percent, when compared to thecurrent emissions level. This is because the engine uses roughly 60 percent ofits fuel for propulsion, when you compare this to the typical cars engine thatuses only 15 percent of fuel for propulsion, we can see how the increase ispossible.

The new engine prototype is built with a disc-shaped shock wavegenerator that is about the size of a sauce pan, and will require notransmission system, cooling system, emissions regulation or fluids, whichmeans that you will end up not only doing something good for the planet, butyou will end up with less in maintenance costs, if this new prototype evercomes to the market.

The engine works like this: a rotor, with a wave-like pattern carvedinto channels. The fuel and air enter and mix through the central inlets. Therotor then spins, blocking the exit of gasses. As the pressure builds it willgenerate a shock wave that will compress the mixture. Once it is ignited anoutlet opens to let the hot gases escape, and your car can move as usual.

The engine prototype was shown off by Norbert Müller and othercolleagues at Michigan State Universityat a meeting with the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency.

© 2010 PhysOrg.com

New Megawatt Superconducting Motor 98% Efficient

Here we see a marine motorprototype that uses superconducting technology. Slowly but surely each component of a superconducting energy system isnow been assembled.  We start with thebig machines as de did with stem and we did with electrical and with fuel basedsystems.  They all take years ofincremental design improvement.

Combining this with generators andthe new thin superconducting cables and we have a technology package that canbe installed industrially in plants and ships.

The age of superconductivity isalmost here and will soon dominate new builds. 

98% efficiency is pretty neat.

New Megawatt Superconducting Motor Tops Japanese Output Record

Nov. 01, 10

http://www.khi.co.jp/english/rd/news/detail/20101101.html

Tokyo, November 1, 2010 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announcedtoday that its prototype superconducting motor has broken a new record. Themotor achieved Japan’shighest power output of 450 kW in a test conducted at Kawasaki’s AkashiTechnical Institute in Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture.This achievement marks yet another breakthrough in Kawasaki’s research and development intospace and energy-saving superconducting motors for large vessel propulsionsystems as well as large-scale industrial drive systems.

1.About the Breakthrough

Superconductivity is a unique phenomenon that has been observed inspecific materials. When these materials are cooled to ultralow temperatures,they demonstrate absolutely no electrical resistance. If applied to variousdevices and systems, this phenomenon can significantly boost efficiency.

Superconducting coils incorporated into the design of the prototypemotor’s rotor are cooled with cryogenic gas. Eliminating the need for an ironcore to generate a strong magnetic field, these coils have enabled Kawasaki to build a motorthat's half the size of conventional models. This most recent test wasconducted on a prototype motor with a designed output of 1 MW. When two out ofsix coils were installed on each pole, the motor’s power output reached 450 kW withan outstanding efficiency rate* of 98% to top the Japanese record. The testresults suggest that motor output will reach 1 MW when all coils are installed.

*Motor efficiency is the ratio of mechanical energy output toelectrical energy input.

2.Possible Applications

While ships are now starting to employ electric propulsion systemsdesigned to reduce environmental load and diversify energy sources, themaritime industry is still looking for new ways to boost fuel efficiency aswell as cut emissions in order to combat climate change even further. It’sagainst this backdrop that superconducting technology has fallen under thespotlight as a sustainable solution to the world’s mounting energy andenvironmental problems.

A vessel employing an electric propulsion system with a superconductingmotor will consume far less electricity than an ordinary diesel engine ship.What’s more, the motor’s compact size makes room for optimal hull designs thatwill reduce wave resistance. Another benefit is minimal energy loss since themotor drives the ship’s propellers directly without the use of speed reducers.Altogether these advantages of superconducting technology cut fuel consumptionby about 20%.

This year, Kawasakibegan development of a 3 MW commercial model for use with various types ofdomestic cargo vessels that will boast the world’s highest efficiency andsmallest footprint. Kawasakiis moving full speed ahead to put superconducting motors to use on medium andlarge-sized merchant ships as well as industrial power generators and drivesystems for highly efficient products designed to shrink our carbon footprint.Superconducting motors for liquefied natural gas carriers as well as tomorrow’sliquefied hydrogen carriers are making the most of cold energy to bringpropulsion system efficiency to new heights.

Kawasaki has been developing a superconducting motor under a projectcommissioned (and currently subsidized) by the New Energy and IndustrialTechnology Development Organization (NEDO) since September 2007 in cooperationwith the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, the NationalMaritime Research Institute, Japan Superconductivity Organization, and SumitomoElectric Industries, Ltd. 

New MOHO Planned

This is a brave effort, butreaching through five miles of rock is presently almost normal drilling practice,or at least the first four miles certainly is. Certainly a lot of important science will be determined and if theeffort is duplicated in the Atlantic andseveral other locations, we may have surety in our knowledge of the oceaniccrust.

The temperature handled is thereal limit here, but 600 F is a long way form the information I would like tosee.

I wonder if it may be possible topush a graphite head bit through able to handle the heat behind a hydraulicpressure head.  Fluid recovery maysuffice to characterize the material been passed through.  How about titanium with a graphenelayer?  My point is that we have not runout of tricks and it is worth the effort from a scientific and engineeringperspective.

The interesting question is howfar down on the sea bed we can really drill. We may be about to find out.

Scientists plan to drill all the way down to the Earth's mantle

March 25, 2011 byBob Yirka 

Credit: World Book illustration by Raymond Perlman and StevenBrayfield, Artisan-Chicago

(PhysOrg.com) -- In what can only be described as a mammothundertaking, scientists, led by British co-chiefs, Dr Damon Teagle of theNational Oceanography Centre in Southampton, England and Dr Benoit Ildefonsefrom Montpellier University in France, have announced jointly in an articlein Nature that they intend to drill a hole through the Earth’s crustand into the mantle; a feat never before accomplished, much less seriouslyattempted.

The Earth’smantle is the part of the planet that lies between the crust and the iron ballat its center, and to reach it, would require drilling down from a position inthe ocean, because the crust is much thinner there. Even still, it would meandrilling through five miles of solid rock. And if that doesn’t sound hardenough, temperatures increase the farther down you go, and could reach as highas 570 degrees Fahrenheit; high enough to render useless most modern drillbits. Last but not least is the problem of atmospheric pressure, whichincreases the deeper you go, to somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 millionpounds per square foot near the mantle. That last one may not seem like much ofa problem, but with exploratory drilling, it becomes a problem rather quicklywhen you remember that it’s not just a hole they plan to dig, but a hole thatcan be used to extract samples from very far below.

To retrieve a sample, the drillers would have to rely on drills withouta riser (drills that use double pipes for venting gases) which would meanpumping seawater down into the hole through the drill pipe with sufficientpressure to force whatever is being dug back up to the surface so that it canbe examined.

This would not be the first time that a sample of the mantle would be recoveredhowever, as volcanoes and such have been forcing under-crust material to thesurface for eons; it would be the first time that a sample was found thoughthat hasn’t been tainted by the process that brought it up to us, and thatscientists say, is worth whatever the cost might add up to over time as theproject carries on through years of laborious drilling.

The pair plan to begin searching for a suitable site somewhere in thePacific this spring, but don’t expect the technology, nor the funding to allowthem to start drilling tillperhaps 2018.

© 2010 PhysOrg.com