Greek scientists roll up for better hydrogen fuel storage June 25, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Energy, Science.add a comment
The thorny problem of how to store hydrogen fuel safely for future vehicles and portable gadgets could be solved by simply storing it in nanoscopic scrolls of carbon.
Scientists in Greece say they have found a way to make so-called “carbon nanoscrolls” store more hydrogen than any other material.
By adding impurities to rolled sheets of carbon in detailed computer simulations, they found they could control how tightly the scrolls wind up and, hence, how much hydrogen they adsorb. This result is very promising because it provides a potential solution to one of the major problems of hydrogen storage for mobile applications, says George Froudakis at the University of Crete, who led the work.
Hydrogen has been much touted as the clean fuel of the future for electric vehicles and portable devices. But, despite holding more energy than hydrocarbon fuels, its incredibly low density makes it difficult to store in sufficient quantity to make it worthwhile.
Liquefying hydrogen by placing it under great pressure is both expensive and potentially dangerous. Even then, with a density of just one tenth that of water, it would be necessary to store four times the volume of liquid to match the energy content of gasoline.
“Most of the scientists working on this field of research believe that the solution to this problem will arise from the synthesis of new materials,” Froudakis says.
Indeed, in 2003 the US Department of Energy (DOE) set a target of developing novel materials capable of reversibly storing enough hydrogen to make up 6% of their total weight by 2010. The idea is to find materials with high surface areas that soak up hydrogen at much higher densities than previously possible, and without the need for extreme cooling or pressurisation.
To address this problem, Froudakis and colleagues carried out computer simulations to see how the hydrogen uptake of carbon nanoscrolls could be affected by adding quantities of different alkali metals. These impurities cause the atomic distance between the layers of a scroll to vary. Their findings suggest that adding lithium ions should increase the uptake of hydrogen at atmospheric pressure and room temperature from 0.19% to 3.31%.
This is twice the amount that other materials have achieved. Furthermore, hydrogen uptake should increase as the temperature is reduced, the researchers say. These are significant quantities of hydrogen, says Frantisek Svec, a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in California, US. but they still fall short of the DOE targets. Also, as the study is only a simulation, the results will need to be confirmed experimentally. “Unfortunately, in practice, these carbon-based materials are most often much less encouraging,” Svec says.
NatWest Island Games XII in Rhodes, Greece June 25, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Sports & Games.add a comment
The 12 NatWest Island Games set for Rhodes, Greece from June 30, 2007 to July 6, 2007
Rhodes will host the NatWest Island Games XII from June 30 to July 6, 2007. In the past, Rhodes has successfully organised many world and international sports events, but this will be the largest in part due to the staging of fourteen different sports simultaneously. The Island Games are open to island countries with populations of no more than 120,000 people.
HomeboyMediaNews wishes the best for all the world’s athletes who will arrive in Rhodes, Greece.
We encourage them to go for the gold, but to also remember that each one of them is an ambassador of their country.
Visit the Official Website of City of Rhodes > http://www.rhodes.gr/portal_en/
Visit the Official Island Games Website > http://www.rhodes2007.info/default.php
A Cretan village is turning into a mini Hollywood June 25, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in MoviesLife Greek.add a comment
The village of Fres, nestled between the town of Hania and Rethymnon on Crete, has become Greece’s little Hollywood. Last summer Costas Kapakas was there shooting his social comedy drama “Uranya,” while this year he is replaced by Olga Malea and her crew of “First-Time Godfather.”
The locals at the main square of Fres have become veterans in all things filmmaking. When the assistants to the director or producer shout “Quiet! Rolling!” they all know that the chit-chat needs to stop, as they have become intimately acquainted with the jargon of a film set.
There is one thing different about this experience, because they feel more closely connected to the movie, which is set on Crete and related to its recent history. The story is set in 1963 and in one scene being rehearsed and filmed, a young boy, Alex, representing Nikos Papandreou, son of the late prime minister Andreas, is preparing to make a speech to the mighty Manedaki and Foundedaki families, under the watchful eye of the party’s village top dog, Panagakis, played by Greek actor Antonis Kafetzopoulos.
The boy, played by Tex Pardiu, mumbles something incomprehensible, making the families wonder at the speech prepared by the son of the “chief”, Andreas Papandreou, wonderfully portrayed by an unrecognizable Giorgos Kimoulis, who poses in a poster behind his son.
“First-Time Godfather” is a movie that marks a change of course for Malea as a filmmaker. After several romantic comedies, the director has now turned to a screenplay she wrote together with Nikos Papandreou, based on one of his own autobiographical short stories.
After a long day on set, Malea explained that the focus of her new film is not political. “I don’t think of politics much, it was not one of our concerns. We are making the movie from the point of view of the child. The comedy and the situations are what is most interesting. But there is a political basis as well. Panagakis could not have existed in Greece at any other time than the summer of 1963, after the assassination of Grigoris Lambrakis.”
Malea is also keeping a cool head over the mixed reviews her previous films have received. “You obviously want everyone to enjoy your films, but that’s impossible. Thankfully, there are many different points of view and quite a few people who watch them.”
One of the main roles in her new film, that of Mrs Panagaki, is performed by a veteran, Eleni Kastani, who also hails from Crete and who has a perfect grasp of the accent. Malea finds her marvelous, and has taken to talking in the Cretan dialect on the set herself.
“I know these women well,” said Kastani. “I see them in my mother’s old photo albums. Mrs Panagaki is married to the local party president, but she is the pillar of the family. She helps him deal with the family’s problems. She is not interested in politics. All she cares about is supporting her husband and her family.”
Inspired by life on Hydra island June 25, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Arts ExhibitionsGreece.add a comment
Retrospective on veteran master Panayiotis Tetsis captures artist’s expressive perception of Hydra island
The Tetsis exhibition at the historical Pavlos Koundouriotis Mansion on Hydra opened last week on the artist’s 82nd birthday. Open until September 15, it brings together both older and newer works by Tetsis that belong to collections.
Once, talking about his work, artist Panayiotis Tetsis said he wanted to express his homeland, the place where he had grown up, adding that all these years his eyes have been seeing the light that falls on Greece. No other words could give a better description of his series of works currently on display at the historical Pavlos Koundouriotis Mansion on Hydra. The exhibition opened last Friday, the day that Tetsis turned 82, in a festive setting and the presence of his friends.
For Tetsis, Hydra means much more than his own works. The island encapsulates his love for young artists, whom he used to welcome as an excellent host with homemade chickpea soup at the School of Fine Arts branch in the port, long walks by the wintry sea, traditional sweets, and bouquets made of rosemary and lemon-tree leaves, which Tetsis makes for his guests.
This affection is expressed in his work, whose content includes boats, capes and houses. The artist’s paintings, which adorn the mansion’s impressively crafted stone walls, are like snapshots of life on the island.
“Every now and then, the dangers that threaten Hydra do grow. Somebody wants to construct hotel facilities, uproot trees, and spoil the purity that’s been preserved, with difficulty, until today,” Tetsis said at the exhibition’s opening. “Nevertheless, concern for its preservation remains. But, for how much longer? This is the question that torments me,” he continued.
The exhibition’s opening was attended by younger-generation artists who consider Tetsis to be somewhat of a spiritual father. Apparently touched, Michalis Madenis stood proudly in one corner. The master offered words of love for Stefanos Daskalakis’s most recent show. Maria Filopoulou, Dafni Angelidou and Irini Iliopoulou stood at the seasoned artist’s side. Upright, in good spirits, and sincerely humble, Tetsis resembled a patriarchal figure of Greek art, with a warm embrace for all.
The exhibition, which runs through September 15, brings together both older and newer works by Tetsis. Combined, they present the profile of a significant artist with a penchant for color. His brush depicts the deep green of cypress trees, the sea’s dark fury and the fullness of the summer sun.
Athens Festival presents tribute to dancer William Forsythe June 25, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Hellenic Athens Festival.add a comment
The ‘Three Atmospheric Studies’, is William Forsythe’s most political work to date
William Forsythe, one of the great pioneers of contemporary dance, is the object of a major tribute by the Athens Festival this summer. Structured in three parts, the tribute will feature, for the first time ever in Greece, two seminal works by the American choreographer created during his 20-year term at the Frankfurt Ballet (1984-2004), works that have been incorporated into the repertory of some of the world’s greatest dance companies. The tribute also includes some of his most recent creations with his current dance company and an exhibition of installations by Forsythe titled “City of Abstracts.”
Starting at the Athens Concert Hall on Wednesday and Thursday, the tribute will be launched with a Lyon Opera ballet production of “Limb’s Theorem” (1990), while on July 9 and 10, the Royal Ballet of Flanders will take the stage at the same venue with Forsythe’s masterpiece “Impressing the Czar,” a three-act ballet which parades all the greatest epochs of classical dance, from the time of the imperial ballets to the great pioneer George Balanchine.
Lastly, at the Pireos 260 venue, the Forsythe Company will present two recent creations: the study “Three Atmospheric Studies” on July 6-8, and the performing installation “Heterotopia” on July 10-12. “Three Atmospheric Studies” premiered in New York earlier this year and was hailed as Forsythe’s most political work to date, as it makes overt references to the war in Iraq.
“Heterotopia,” according to the Forsythe Company’s website, www.theforsythecompany.de, “is a meditation on the nature of translation and the failures that attend its efforts. The work transpires in two obscure topographies of unarticulated desire. One, a raucous and supernatural oratorio, which is performed in incomprehensible yet intelligible languages, serves as a complementary orchestra to the other, a strange assembly of listening creatures, whose futile attempts to understand the perplexing music result in still stranger actions.”
Athens Festival, tel 210 3272000 or visit > http://www.greekfestival.gr/athens_fest/
Maria Callas gown returned unharmed June 25, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Ballet Dance & Opera, Hellenic Athens Festival.add a comment
A silk gown worn by legendary opera diva Maria Callas has been returned to the Italian Cultural Institute in Athens by an anonymous source to the delight of locals and tourists planning to make the trip to the Greek capital.
The dress, which was worn by the famous diva in a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s arias, was taken in the midst of a three-day holiday break in Greece last month after being on display to mark the 30th anniversary of her death. It holds particular significance as one of a number of prized mementoes of the singer’s career and is said to be worth hundreds of thousands of euros.
However, after a public plea the dress was returned inside a package via post, with a spokesman revealing it was relatively unharmed. ”The robe seems to be unharmed beyond the deterioration the silk has already suffered because of its age” the spokesman said to the local press.
Greece is currently honouring Maria Callas, who died in 1977, with a number of cultural events after declaring year 2007 as “Maria Callas Year”.
The Athens Festival is laying on operas popularised by the singer and is also planning to showcase Luigi Cherubini’s Medea at the Ancient Epidaurus Theatre, one of Maria’s last performances.
Mixed results of Greek athletes in Munich’s Cup June 25, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Athletics.add a comment
Men’s team remains in European Cup’s Super League division; women get relegated
The Greek National men’s track and field team maintained its place in the European Cup’s top-tier Super League yesterday after ending sixth in the eight-team category at the weekend event in Munich. The bottom two teams, Ukraine and Belgium, were relegated to the lower league.
The National women’s team, however, failed to retain its place in the top league after ending seventh, five points behind Bulgaria. Spain, which ended last, 10.5 points behind Greece, joins Greece in the lower league.
France snatched the tightest of victories over Germany to retain the men’s European Cup crown. Russia’s women extended their dominance with an 11th straight win.
The tussle in the men’s competition was much tougher, as France and Germany finished level on 116 points with the same number of individual victories, the French prevailing thanks to more second places. Poland came third on 110.
Leading performances by Greek athletes included Louis Tsatoumas’s victory in the men’s long jump with an 8.16-meter performance. Periklis Iakovakis won the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 48.35 seconds. Poland’s Marek Plawgo came second with 48.90 seconds.
Fani Halkia, a Gold Medalist at the Athens 2004 Olympics in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, captured first spot at Munich’s 400-meter event with a time of 51.85 seconds, just ahead of Russia’s Zhanna Kashcheyeva, who registered 51.87 seconds.
Anastassis Gousis ended third in the men’s 200 meters with a time of 20.43 seconds. The UK’s Marlon Devonish won the event in 20.33 seconds.
Kalliopi Astropekaki ended third in the women’s 5,000-meter race with a time of 15:46.22. Volha Chuprova of Belarus won in 15:20.35.
Meanwhile, the country’s track and field federation, Segas, has announced two doping cases involving Greek athletes following the previous weekend’s national championships. The athletes, who tested positive in the first round of tests, were not named.
However, based on the limited information disclosed by Segas, one of the two athletes is a female runner of hurdle events who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The other athlete, a male sprinter whose testosterone levels exceeded normal levels, joined the Greek squad, as a substitute, at the weekend’s European Cup in Munich. Last week, Costas Filippidis, the national champion in the men’s pole vault, also failed a drugs test.
grhomeboy
