Washington — Onshore oil and gas wells need appropriate well planning and control measures in place to “mitigate the potential for the ignition of flammable material,” the Chemical Safety Board says.

Washington — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is reinstating several previously withdrawn provisions of a final rule intended to address gaps in offshore drilling safety identified after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Washington — A Mine Safety and Health Administration proposed rule intended to reduce worker exposure to respirable crystalline silica “does not demand enough from operators,” Reps. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Alma Adams (D-NC) claim.

Washington — The death of an offshore worker conducting a pressure test on a well surface casing has prompted the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to issue a safety alert.

Washington — Alarmed by a rising trend of hand and finger injuries caused by improper use of hand tools, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has issued a safety alert.

Washington — Recent Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement performance-based risk inspections have uncovered “several critical issues” related to welding and burning operations, according to an agency safety alert.

Washington — A new Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement final rule codifies existing agency practice related to the review and approval of projects that will feature “new or unusual technology” – including equipment used in high-pressure or high-temperature environments.

Washington — Offshore oil and gas workers should be mindful of potential hazards – and maintain frequent communication with co-workers – when helicopters operate near cranes at offshore facilities.

The recent CFI FCICA Convention in Orlando challenged the industry to raise the bar on installer recruitment, expand high-quality training, and expand awareness of the latest installation techniques and technologies.

The high-performance laminate flooring offers marble and porcelain visuals in a user-friendly, click-lock tile. 

Visual Components, developer of 3D simulation software, surveyed more than 300 manufacturing decision-makers in the U.S., UK and Germany.

Featuring a hydrophobic coating on the beveled edge, Tarkett Home's technology repels water and includes a watertight locking system to prevent water from reaching the core, maintaining the integrity and appearance of the floor.

In Brazil, the company will ocean-raise Forever Oceans Amberjack, known locally as ‘Olho de Boi’ or Remeiro. This versatile finfish is praised for its taste, protein, nutrition and is rich in Omega-3.

The construction industry in Nigeria plays a pivotal role in economic growth, yet it faces a critical challenge: a shortage of skilled labor. This study aims to identify the key factors influencing skilled labor availability in Nigerias construction sector and propose actionable solutions. Through an extensive literature review and distribution of questionnaires to construction professionals...

The post Where Is the Workforce? Understanding the U.S. Labor Shortage and Working Toward Solutions was curated by information for practice.

Volume 17, Issue 1, April 2024, Page 21-34. Read the full article ›

The post Measurement invariance of the short form CES-D among old adults living alone in China was curated by information for practice.

"The Boy & The Octopus" is a touching holiday short about a tiny octopus who latches onto a young beachgoer and refuses to let go.

Older homes are the only ones many Americans can afford, but they are costly to fix and maintain, especially for seniors. A patchwork of programs to help are underfunded and have years-long waitlists.

The Retail Technology Show (RTS), the leading industry event that connects retail’s changemakers and leading tech providers, has announced the shortlist of its 2024 Innovation Awards, which champion progressive, best-in-class technologies and solutions.

Experts at the Mayo Clinic have identified certain eating habits that can shorten one's lifespan, revealing that even foods that are considered healthy can have a negative impact. According to their research, it's best to avoid consuming too many diet drinks as they often contain sugar substitutes that can be harmful. Furthermore, inadequate water intake can also speed up the aging process and lead to poor health. Juices with high sugar content should also be consumed in moderation, with natural alternatives being the preferable option. Frequent consumption of soda can lead to rapid weight gain and excessive cholesterol production.

[Inter-Korea] :
North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Tuesday morning, just hours before the start of the U.S. presidential election.   South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) said it detected the launches around 7:30 a.m. from the Sariwon area in North Hwanghae ...

[more...]

[Economy] :
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo says the government will consult with the justice ministry and consider expanding the scope of the E-7 visa for professional workers, if the shipbuilding industry deems it necessary.  Han made the remark during a news conference on Wednesday when asked how the government plans ...

[more...]

Large-bandwidth pulses produced by cutting-edge X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) are of great importance in research fields like material science and biology. In this paper, a new method to generate high-power ultrashort FEL pulses with tunable spectral bandwidth with spectral coherence using a dielectric-lined waveguide without interfering operation of linacs is proposed. By exploiting the passive and dephasingless wakefield at terahertz frequency excited by the beam, stable energy modulation can be achieved in the electron beam and large-bandwidth high-intensity soft X-ray radiation can be generated. Three-dimensional start-to-end simulations have been carried out and the results show that coherent radiation pulses with duration of a few femtoseconds and bandwidths ranging from 1.01% to 2.16% can be achieved by changing the undulator taper profile.

The results of a study of the structural and reflective characteristics of short-period multilayer X-ray mirrors based on Mo/B4C at wavelengths 1.54 Å, 9.89 Å and 17.59 Å are presented. The period of the samples varied in the range 8–35 Å. The average widths of the interfaces were ∼3.5 and 2.2 Å at one and the other boundaries, with a tendency for weak growth with any decrease in the period. The interlayer roughness was ∼1 Å. The research results indicate promising prospects for the use of multilayer Mo/B4C mirrors for synchrotron applications.

Our study compares short-range order parameters refined from the diffuse scattering in single-crystal X-ray and single-crystal electron diffraction data. Nb0.84CoSb was chosen as a reference material. The correlations between neighbouring vacancies and the displacements of Sb and Co atoms were refined from the diffuse scattering using a Monte Carlo refinement in DISCUS. The difference between the Sb and Co displacements refined from the diffuse scattering and the Sb and Co displacements refined from the Bragg reflections in single-crystal X-ray diffraction data is 0.012 (7) Å for the refinement on diffuse scattering in single-crystal X-ray diffraction data and 0.03 (2) Å for the refinement on the diffuse scattering in single-crystal electron diffraction data. As electron diffraction requires much smaller crystals than X-ray diffraction, this opens up the possibility of refining short-range order parameters in many technologically relevant materials for which no crystals large enough for single-crystal X-ray diffraction are available.

It is pointed out that many authors are unaware that the particular choice of unit-cell origin determines the irreducible representations to which octahedral tilts in perovskites belong. Furthermore, a recommendation is made that the preferred option is with the origin at the B-cation site rather than that of the A site.

Shot from the film “The Boss Baby: Family Business”; Credit: Dreamworks

Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Lael Loewenstein, Wade Major and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases on streaming and on demand platforms.

• "The Forever Purge," in wide release

• "The Boss Baby: Family Business," in wide release & on Peacock

• "Long Story Short," at Laemmle’s Glendale; & on VOD/Digital (including Vudu, FandangoNow & Google Play)

• "The Tomorrow War," on Amazon Prime Video

• "The One And Only Dick Gregory," premieres on Showtime July 4 at 9 pm PT, available on demand on Showtime following that

• "No Sudden Move," on HBO Max

• "The Ladykillers (Originally released in 1955)," at Laemmle Theaters (Royal, Town Center 5, Playhouse 7)

• "America: The Motion Picture," on Netflix

Our FilmWeek critics have been curating personal lists of their favorite TV shows and movies to binge-watch during self-quarantine. You can see recommendations from each of the critics and where you can watch them here.

Guests:

Lael Loewenstein, film critic for KPCC; she tweets @LAELLO

Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and CineGods.com

Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The Biden administration is opening the West Coast to offshore wind. Companies have largely focused on the East Coast, like this wind farm off Block Island, Rhode Island.; Credit: Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration plans to open the California coast to offshore wind development, ending a long-running stalemate with the Department of Defense that has been the biggest barrier to building wind power along the Pacific Coast.

The move adds momentum to the administration's goal of reaching 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035, coming just weeks after the country's first large-scale offshore wind farm was approved off the coast of New England. Today, the country has just a handful of offshore wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean, with around a dozen wind farms being developed in federal waters off the East Coast.

"It's an announcement that will set the stage for the long term development of clean energy and the growth of a brand new made-in-America industry," says national climate adviser Gina McCarthy. "Now we're thinking big and thinking bold."

The agreement identifies two sites off Central and Northern California with the potential to install massive floating wind turbines that could produce 4.6 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power 1.6 million homes.

Interest in offshore wind on the West Coast has grown for years, especially with California's own ambitious goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The deep waters off the coast have the potential to produce a significant amount of energy.

But the Defense Department has largely objected to the idea, since the Navy and Air Force use the area for training and testing operations. In response to the growing interest, the Navy released a map in 2017 putting large swaths of California waters off limits.

In 2018, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management solicited interest from wind developers. But negotiations with the Department of Defense have been slow going ever since, effectively blocking wind development off California.

Tuesday's announcement outlines a compromise for a 399-square-mile area off Morro Bay, a site that's appealing to renewable energy companies because of existing transmission lines nearby that once service a retired power plant. It also identifies a location off Humboldt County in Northern California.

"It's our view that the world faces a grave and growing climate crisis," says Dr. Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy. "Climate change is both a threat to the Department of Defense's operations around the world and an existential challenge to our ability to maintain resilience here at home."

Another key site, just offshore from the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, was not included in Tuesday's deal. California's last-remaining nuclear plant is scheduled to completely close by 2025, freeing up more potential transmission lines for offshore wind.

The Biden administration has set a goal of jump-starting the country's offshore wind sector with 30 gigawatts of projects by 2030. Those wind farms will foster tens of thousands of jobs, according to the White House, between renewable energy installers, manufacturers and steelworkers.

"This is a major breakthrough — a major advancement that will allow California to start planning for its carbon-free electricity goals with offshore wind firmly in the picture," says Nancy Rader of the California Wind Energy Association, who also pointed to the challenges. "Offshore wind development off the coast at Morro Bay and Humboldt will require a major port facility in each area to construct the floating platforms and assemble the turbines that will require continued proactive planning by the state and federal governments."

Still, the areas identified in the agreement may not be enough for hitting the administration's clean electricity goal, as well as California's. The state is planning to get 100% of its electricity from zero-emission sources by 2045. To reach that, renewable energy needs to triple statewide with offshore wind playing a key role, reaching 10 GW, according to a recent state analysis. Tuesday's deal could provide just half of that.

A potential lease auction for the offshore wind sites could be held in mid-2022. But the projects will still have to negotiate concerns about the potential impacts on California's fishing industry and shipping channels, as well as any environmental concerns about sensitive ecosystems.

"Far too many questions remain unanswered regarding potential impacts to marine life which is dependent on a healthy ecosystem," says Mike Conroy of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "The fishing industry has been told these areas work best for offshore wind developers; but no one has asked us what areas would work best for us."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Over the last 25 years, deep-water oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has increased significantly.

To transform the offshore oil and gas industry’s safety culture, operators, contractors, subcontractors, associations representing these groups, and federal regulators should collaborate to foster safety throughout all levels of the industry and confront challenges collectively, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has ordered the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to suspend all work on a study to review and update the bureau’s offshore oil and gas operations inspection program to enhance safety.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identifies strategies for improving the reliability of bolts used in offshore oil and gas drilling rigs, thereby reducing the risk that a bolt failure could cause a spill of oil, drilling fluids, or natural gas into the environment.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced it will award up to $10 million through a new funding opportunity to support research projects that will advance understanding and facilitate improvement of safety culture in the offshore oil and gas industry.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced $7.25 million in grant awards for eight projects focused on strengthening safety culture in the offshore oil and gas industry.

Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals are still faced with staffing shortages due to the sheer volume of patients, staff illnesses, and non-COVID care that cannot be delayed.

Exporting just over half of U.S. crude oil exports in 2020, Corpus Christi, Texas, is on its way to becoming the Gulf of Mexico’s oil hub. As tankers equipped with millions of barrels of oil, cruise in and out of the city, safety is a top priority for the Gulf Research Program (GRP).

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced it is now accepting applications for the Offshore Energy Safety track of the 2021 Early-Career Research Fellowship (ECRF).

Eleven years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Gulf Research Program’s Offshore Situation Room event examined how to make sure another offshore oil spill doesn’t happen — and how we can be better prepared if it does.

Six scientists have been selected for the Offshore Energy Safety track of the Early-Career Research Fellowship (ECRF), announced the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A new report says wind turbine generators used in offshore wind farms can interfere with navigational radar used by ships to avoid collisions, posing challenges for safe maritime navigation.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced today its 2022-2024 cohorts of Early-Career Research Fellows in the Offshore Energy Safety and Education Research tracks.

The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on the continuing, decades-long problem of medical product supply chain disruptions. Drug and medical device shortages — life-threatening for some — also affect the entire U.S health care system, costing millions of dollars annually. New resources from the National Academies offer insights.

Most of the offshore oil and gas industry operating in the Gulf of Mexico has improved its management of systemic risk in recent years, according to a new report that also points out where uneven progress and critical gaps remain for industry and regulators to address.

In a call with analysts, CEO Pat Gelsinger attributed their slower uptake to software related to Gaudi and a recent transition from the second to third generation of the chip.

The newest tropical depression in the northwestern Pacific Ocean formed Sunday, Sept. 11 far to the east of the big island of Japan. Tropical Depression 17W didn't have a long life, however, as the final warning on the system was issued 12 hours later. By Sept. 12 the storm lost its tropical characteristics.

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How to best handle supply chain shortages.

The new product joins the company's line of crackers, flatbreads, and other snack items.

The ingredient aims to help producers amplify tomato flavor in response to shortages.

Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery was recently able to talk to Richard Galloway, oils consultant, United Soybean Board, about puff pastry applications, high oleic soybean shortening, and soy-based baker's margarine

Pizzey Ingredients says its BlendPūr Flax provides bakers with a way to lower ingredient costs, while adding nutrition to products and cleaning up product labels.