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eqq-us · 6 years ago

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We are the First to Innovate a Flatbed Unmanned Airborne Aircarft Carrier and Unique Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) EQQ Mother Hen and Parasite Chicks We are the first to innovate a "Flatbed Unmanned Airborne Aircraft Carrier" comprising of a wide-range of missions capabilities unmanned aerial system (UAS) that would have the ability to enhance air power, and information capabilities for military deterrence . The EQQ Unmanned Airborne Aircraft Carrier concept was innovated based on 100 years of aircraft industry improvements and assessing the assumptions of success and failures of these systems, including existing manned and unmanned aircraft capabilities, performances and shortfalls, rapid development of new technologies, communications capabilities, mission management technology and the development of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. The most significant novel application in this concept is the prospect of developing a family of UAV systems that integrate into all unmanned and manned systems, space and human systems that would finally evolve into a single force structure. NATO - NOARD and USNORTHCOM Deterrence Policies The NATO - NORAD and USNORTHCOM defence and deterrence development could play a significant role for future military strategies and readiness to protect and defend all NATO nations. These developments suggest that 21st century and beyond need more aggressive military strategy plans that would prevent major wars, in fact, not to start wars. Nonetheless, the U.S., Canada and the NATO Allies focus on maintaining and developing advanced conventional military capabilities and military modernization strategies in the event of deterrence failure, and conflicts. Since Canada benefits from the deterrent effects provided by NATO, NORAD and USNORTHCOM, it is important that the modernization strategy should be carried out based on “all-domain” awareness and missions capabilities that will require strengthening U.S. and allied conventional military capabilities identified by these organizations and nations. This modernization strategy recognizes the capabilities most needed to defend against all potential adversaries. Since deterrence is traditionally focused on conventional and nuclear capabilities, also space and cyber domains, however, it is crucial that the Air Force must maintain the air power superiority and the information superiority. These superiorities would strengthen deterrence and defence posture, and adapt to a multi-domain threat environment. Air Power Superiority and Information Superiority When it comes to deterrence, it is important to gain "air power superiority" and "information superiority". In particular, multi missions operational capabilities, and uninterrupted airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. This means the ability to obtain information from not only high-mid and low altitudes; also multiple systems that have the ability to operate with each other and access areas where manned and unmanned systems are unable to go. EQQ Mother Hen and Parasite Chicks ________________________________________________________________ History of Airborne Aircraft Carrier ________________________________________________________________ The aviation history demonstrated that between 1917 and after World War II, the United States, Soviet Union, Britain, and Germany expressed their keen interest in experimenting with airborne aircraft carriers in the sky. Particularly, capable of carrying parasite fighter aircraft, with the ability to launch and recover in midair. History revealed that these concepts weren't completely successful, especially regarding recovering parasite aircraft back onto the mother aircraft. In fact, these dreams faded almost three-quarter century ago, mainly due to lack of finding an effective solution on recovery capabilities. Nonetheless, the U.S. and other nations continued to remain interested in the airborne aircraft carrier concept. In the early 1970s, the U.S. aerospace industry brought various designs along the line of the original idea, using an existing platform, Boeing 747 jumbo jet as a flying mother aircraft carrier. This design was considered basically changing wing layouts and using the early system of belly hatch on a trapeze system. However, this also did not materialize. Presentations and Conferences Advanced Technologies in Defence & Security 2014 - Prague Czech Republic EXHIBITOR: Future Forces conference is a highly recognized international event in defence & security field organized biennially in Prague Czech Republic. 32nd International Conference Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering, Nantes, France SPEAKER PRESENTATION: The largest and well recognized engineering society in the world that promotes the art, science & practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe. IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity EXHIBITOR:At the AUVSI 2013, Washington D.C. conference the IEEE recognized that the EQQ Flatbed Unmanned Aerial System was one of the most interesting concepts. ASM - 2012 - ArcticNet Conference Vancouver, B.C. Canada EXHIBITOR: ArcticNet is supported by the Government of Canada, through the Networks of Centers of Excellence program. The key objective of ArcticNet is to contribute to the development and dissemination of the knowledge needed to formulate adaptation strategies and national policies to help Canadians face the impacts and opportunities of Arctic climate change and modernization. AUVSI Israel 2012 Conference -Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International PAPER ACCEPTED: AUVSI Israel 2012 accepted our technical paper and provided us an opportunity for an oral presentation on the EQQ Flatbed Unmanned Airborne Aircraft Carrier concept. The confereance was chaired by the Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D) of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International 2011 - Washington D.C. USA EXHIBITOR: Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Washington D.C. - 2011 This association is the world leading organization representing the opinion of the unmanned systems and robotics community. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) - 2014 USA. EXHIBITOR:The world's largest organization dedicated to the advancement of unmanned systems and robotics. The AUVSI members work in the defense, civil and commercial markets. Washington D.C. USA - displayed a model of the EQQ Flatbed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - 2013. EXHIBITOR: In 2013 AUVSI's Unmanned Systems Conference held in Washington, DC. This convention featured high tech military equipment and new aerospace technologies were displayed by leading industries . 23rd Annual International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference Alaska USA - 2013 PAPER ACCEPTED: International Offshore and Polar Engineering the primary objective is to disseminate scientific knowledge and provide a timely exchange of technical expertise and information.The Society annual conference, the Annual International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference (ISOPE Conference), has held one of the worlds largest of its kind with refereed papers. Presentation and Exhibitor. AUVSI Unmanned Systems North America 2012 - Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas USA EXHIBITOR: AUVSI 2012 was another successful event that we were able to introduce the EQQ Flatbed Unmanned Airborne Carrier concept to the aerospace industry and the military. We received positive comments and built-up a roadmap for future development of our concept International Association of Wildland Fire 2012 - Seattle Washington PRESENTATION: For 26 years the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) provides a significant contribution and constant commitment to the global wildland fire community. The IAWF principle objective is to facilitate vital information and promote advance knowledge of wildland fire activities and educate firefighters and the community on wildfire. Unmanned System Canada 2011 - Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada SPEAKER PRESENTATION: The Unmanned System Canada represents, promotes and facilitates the Canadian unmanned vehicle community to achieve Canadian and worldwide goals.

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eqq-info · 6 years ago

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yasbxxgie · 7 years ago

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The Strange Worms That Live On Erupting Mud Volcanoes: A chain of volcanoes oozing out hot mud may not sound like a nice place to live, but for one group of worms it is paradise

At the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, in cold dark waters miles away from anywhere, lie five active volcanoes.

But these are not your typical volcanoes, belching out hot molten lava. They are mud volcanoes, and as the name suggests they are spewing out warm mud – as well as methane gas.

It sounds pretty inhospitable, and to humans it would be, but these strange volcanoes are home to billions of small worms. These creatures survive without light. But how they do it is only just starting to be revealed.

The story begins in 2009. Scientists from the ArcticNet projectwere on a research ship, using sonar to map part of the Beaufort Sea, which lies north of Canada and close to Alaska. They discovered large circular structures between 250 and 750m below the surface.

Changes in the sound waves reaching the ship suggested that large volumes of gas were bubbling up from the sea floor: a sign of volcanic activity. The most likely culprits were mud volcanoes.

These are formed when a vent in the Earth's surface releases gases. Mud flows from the seafloor and forms a cone-shaped mound around the vent. Compared to normal volcanoes, mud volcanoes are much cooler.

In 2013 a team of scientists from around the world decided to take a closer look. They set sail aboard the Canadian icebreaker CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier (SWL).

The expedition was one of the first of its kind to take place in the Arctic Ocean. Working in October, the team had only a short window before the sea ice became too thick – making the area above the mud volcanoes inaccessible and potentially trapping them there.

The first thing the team needed was a detailed map of the area. To get this, they programmed an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) shaped like a torpedo to fly down to 50m above the seabed. Once there, the AUV moved back and forth over the area, much like a person mowing a lawn.

The resulting map revealed five giant mud volcanoes. They were 600 to 1,100m across, and up to 30m tall.

Next the scientists wanted to see them close-up. For this, they used a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) that beamed back a live high-definition video of the sea floor.

It showed that most of the mud volcanoes had remarkably flat tops surrounded by a circular ridge.

"The volcanoes are so large that you can only see a small part of them at any one time," says Charlie Paull of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, California, US. "They erupt frequently and release gas and mud, which bubbles out onto the seafloor. The mud has a viscous texture like the top of a very thick stew."

The eruptions contain many different chemicals. First on the list is methane, otherwise known as natural gas.

"The gas coming out of the volcanoes is biogenic methane, which means that it is produced by the decomposition of organic matter and bacteria, and not from oil deposits trapped underground," says Paull.

A lot of Earth's methane is trapped below the seabed as "gas hydrate", an ice-like crystal of methane and water. Hydrates form when the intense pressures at depths of over 500m freeze the methane and water. When mud volcanoes erupt near gas hydrates, the methane in the hydrates can escape, along with methane from deep underground.

The world's mud volcanoes are estimated to release 27 million tonnes of methane every year, about 5% of annual global emissions.

The Beaufort Sea volcanoes also spew out water rich in dissolved compounds, such as sodium bicarbonate. The water seems to be a mixture of seawater, water from snow and rain, and water from deeply-buried clay.

"When clay minerals get buried they are exposed to increasing pressure and temperature," says Paull. "The pressure causes the clay structure to change, which results in a release of water from the clay."

And then, of course, there's the mud, which spills out onto the cold floor of the Arctic Ocean.

It is nowhere near as hot as a molten lava eruption, and quickly gets cooled by seawater. Still, the frequent eruptions warm the seas, and water temperatures as high as 9.1 °C were recorded around the flat tops of the volcanoes.

It seems the volcanic activity acts as a beacon, attracting life to the area. Along the slopes of the mud volcanoes and their flat tops, there are vast communities of tubeworms.

The ROV's cameras revealed vast thickets of worms. A small mechanical arm attached to the ROV grabbed some of these worms and carried them back to the surface.

The Beaufort Sea tubeworms are only 7-8cm long. However, they are distantly related to giant tube-dwelling annelid worms that are found near deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Such worms can be 2m long.

Both groups of worms survive without light, under intense pressures and in water that is often laced with acid and toxic gases. They can cope with a wide range of temperatures. Often one end of a tubeworm can experience near-freezing temperatures, while the other end is exposed to hot fluids flowing out of the seafloor.

They have no eyes, no stomach and no anus. Instead, they somehow feed on the gases pumped out of the volcanoes.

The scientists aren't sure whether it's the methane gas itself that the worms feed on, or hydrogen sulfide, which is made when the nearby microbes oxidise methane.

"The tubeworms are using either methane or hydrogen sulfide as an energy source," says Paull.

The process is called chemosynthesis. The worms perform a chemical reaction, either on methane or hydrogen sulphide, and this releases electrons – which supply energy.

"The tubeworms probably aren't performing the reaction themselves," says Paull. "I think it's likely that bacteria living inside the tubeworms are doing all the work. The tubeworms bring in methane and oxygen, the two things that bacteria need, and the bacteria get to work synthesizing new organic matter."

If that is true, the worms are "farming" the bacteria within their guts. They provide a stable, chemical-rich environment for the chemosynthetic bacteria, which in turn serve as food for the worms.

Hydrogen sulfide has the advantage that the worms can turn it into sulfur, which they can store much like our bodies store fat. They cannot store methane, and have to use it there and then.

Interestingly, the tube worms seem to prefer some areas of the volcanoes over others.

The worms were primarily found on the flat tops of the mud volcanoes, not on the slopes. The size of these colonies ranged from 10cm across, with only a few dozen worms, to extensive thickets of worms filling most of the ROV camera's field of view.

The thickets, which Paull describes as "as dense as grass in a hayfield", contained millions of worms. They were clustered around old mud flows. This makes sense, because the tubeworms need a steady supply of either methane or sulfide to survive, and the mud flows would provide that

However, there were no worms around the newer mud flows, even though they are richest in methane. One of the volcanoes, which was both the youngest and the most active, was almost devoid of worms.

"This volcano is different because it is the youngest," says Paull. It may be that this mud volcano is so active, and the mud flows on it so young, that the worms haven't yet been able to colonise it.

The tubeworms may simply be growing very slowly.

Some tubeworms are remarkably long-lived. In 2000, researchers found tubeworms that took 170-250 years to grow 2m long. They lived in cold seeps, another type of chemosynthetic environment, around the Gulf of Mexico.

We do not yet know how quickly the Beaufort mud volcano worms grow. But having such a slow growth rate would make them slow to colonise the mud flows, explaining why the new mud flows are uninhabited.

The speed at which the mud volcanoes erupt and change may also explain why they are, apart from the worms, more or less uninhabited.

"We didn't see the common hallmarks associated with other methane and hydrogen sulfide environments, such as various types of clams, mussels and bigger tubeworm species," says Paull. "I personally think that that's because the top of the volcanoes are churning over too fast for worms and other animals to accumulate there."

You may think it would be a disadvantage for a slow-growing tubeworm to live in a dynamic environment such as a mud volcano, as it might not have time to breed before being buried by boiling mud. However, it is not clear that the eruptions directly harm the worms once they are in place.

The whole setup is eerily similar to another mud volcano, on the other side of the world.

A genetic analysis of the Beaufort tubeworms shows that they are closely related to siboglinid tubeworms living on the Håkon Mosby mud volcano, in the Norwegian Arctic.

The Håkon Mosby volcano was discovered in 1989 by researchers at the University of Bergen. It lies 1250m beneath the sea, much deeper than the volcanoes in the Beaufort Sea. It is also much flatter, only rising 10m above the ocean floor. It covers an area of about 2 sq km and belches out mud, water and methane from its centre.

Every year, Håkon Mosby emits several hundred tons of methane. It is thought to have been active for at least 40 years. The methane is a greenhouse gas, but most of it never makes it to the atmosphere, as microbes and tubeworms break it down.

In fact, mud volcanoes like this may be remarkably common.

A study published in 2000 estimated that there are between 1000 and 100,000 mud volcanoes in the deep sea – plus all the ones on land.

Yet despite this, mud volcanoes like Håkon Mosby and the Beaufort Sea volcanoes remain mysterious. We do not even understand why they are so active.

Normal volcanic eruptions can be triggered by earthquakes and shifting tectonic plates. But earthquakes are rare in the Arctic. Scientists took seismic measurements of Håkon Mosby from 2008 to 2010, and found no clear evidence that tremors triggered eruptions.

Researchers believe that a series of chambers beneath the volcano, possibly reaching as deep as 1000m beneath the seafloor, are feeding methane gas and mud to the mud volcano. Similar chambers could exist below the Beaufort Sea volcanoes.

We are only just scratching the surface of these underwater volcanoes. But now is the time to find out.

The Arctic is warming due to man-made climate change, and many countries and companies are interested in sending shipping through, or exploiting its vast reserves of oil and gas. If we are to protect its unique marine life, including the tubeworms of the Beaufort Sea, we will first need to understand them.

#arcticnet project #bbc #animals #science #bbc earth #mud volcanoes #volcanoes #arctic ocean #autonomous underwater vehicle #auv #biogenic methane #methane #beaufort sea #tubeworms

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best-technology-news · 6 years ago

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Nunavut youth turn the tables on southern researchers at ArcticNet conference https://ift.tt/2A4mDw0

#articles about technology #latest technology gadgets #latest technology updates #science and technol

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bblsc · 7 years ago

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Des petits fruits nordiques pour ménager son foie

Une étude publiée dans Diabetologia, la revue de l’Association européenne pour l’étude du diabète, révèle en effet que certains petits fruits nordiques contiennent des molécules anti-inflammatoires qui réduisent l'accumulation de triglycérides dans le foie et préviennent la résistance à l'insuline.

L'équipe de chercheurs de l'Institut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels (INAF) de l’Université Laval et du Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire en cardiologie et en pneumologie de Québec-Université Laval a testé l'effet de polyphénols extraits de cinq petits fruits nordiques sur des souris soumises à un régime riche en sucres et en graisses. Les extraits provenant de trois des petits fruits testés, la chicouté, la busserole alpine et l'airelle rouge, ont amélioré la sensibilité à l'insuline, favorisé l'élimination de l'excès d'insuline dans le sang et réduit l'accumulation de triglycérides dans le foie.

L’hyperinsulinémie chronique contribue de façon sournoise à l’obésité et à ses complications métaboliques, rappelle le responsable de l’étude, André Marette, professeur à la Faculté de médecine. «Une alimentation riche en sucres et en graisses entraîne une résistance à l'insuline. Cette condition, qui peut conduire au diabète de type 2, force le pancréas à produire plus d’insuline pour faire entrer le glucose à l’intérieur des cellules, ce qui favorise l'accumulation de graisses dans le tissu adipeux et dans le foie. Les extraits de baies arctiques que nous avons testées permettent au foie de métaboliser l’excès d’insuline qui circule dans le sang et de rétablir la sensibilité du foie à l'insuline.»

Effets positifs des polyphénols

Les chercheurs croient que les polyphénols exerceraient leurs effets positifs sur la santé en agissant sur le microbiote intestinal. En effet, une mauvaise alimentation favoriserait certains microorganismes qui perturbent la barrière intestinale, laissant passer dans le sang des toxines qui causent une inflammation systémique de faible intensité; ce désordre serait à l'origine de la résistance à l'insuline. Les polyphénols aideraient à contrer le problème en favorisant les microorganismes bénéfiques et en restaurant l’intégrité de la barrière intestinale. «Ce n’est peut-être pas le seul mécanisme en cause, mais il est clair qu’en rétablissant le microbiote intestinal et l’intégrité de l’intestin, nous avons amélioré l’axe intestin-foie et favorisé une fonction hépatique plus normale chez les souris obèses», résume le professeur Marette.

Si les résultats de cette étude étaient confirmés chez l’humain, les personnes obèses qui affichent une résistance à l’insuline et des taux d’insuline anormalement élevés pourraient profiter de la prise d’extraits de petits fruits nordiques. La quantité de polyphénols utilisée dans l’étude équivaut, pour un adulte de poids moyen, à moins d'une tasse de baies fraîches par jour. «À cette dose, les effets obtenus sur le taux de triglycérides et sur la sensibilité à l'insuline s'approchent de ce que l'on obtient avec certains médicaments», précise André Marette.

À propos de la recherche

Cette étude a été financée par Sentinelle Nord, un important programme transdisciplinaire de l’Université Laval financé par le Fonds Apogée Canada et visant à supporter l’excellence en recherche, ainsi que par ArcticNet, les IRSC et la fondation J.A. DeSève.

Les auteurs de l'étude sont : Fernando Anhê, Thibault Varin, Mélanie Le Barz, Geneviève Pilon, Stéphanie Dudonné, Jocelyn Trottier, Philippe St-Pierre, Michel Lucas, Mélanie Lemire, Éric Dewailly, Olivier Barbier, Yves Desjardins, Denis Roy et André Marette, de l'Université Laval; Cory Harris, de l'Université d'Ottawa.

(Source: Université Laval)

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#Des petits fruits nordiques pour ménager son foie

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derekglieber · 7 years ago

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Des petits fruits nordiques pour ménager son foie

Effets positifs des polyphénols

À propos de la recherche

(Source: Université Laval)

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#Des petits fruits nordiques pour ménager son foie

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