Under Sponsorship of Khafji Governor and Participation of ... 2 Year 10 ol.No: 119 ecemer 2 Joint Operation’s News O n Friday, November 29th, 2019, Khafji Joint Operations (KJO)

Year 10 Vol.No: (119) December 2019 M O N T H LY N E W S

Technical Support Supervisor Salem Al-DousariManaging Editor Falah Al-AjmiEditor-in-Chief Eng. Riyadh Al-Hassan Editing Supervisor Abdullah Al-Shammari

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KJO Celebrates Opening the Spring Camp for 2019/2020 Season

KJO Bids Farewell to Al-Khateeb and Receives Al-Otaibi

KJO Interacts with RECSO Clean Sea Event

On Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019, Khafji Joint Operations launched the campaign of sowing seeds in Khafji surroundings, under the sponsorship of Khafji Governor, Mohammad S. Al-Hazza, in the presence of EDI Abdullah M. Al-Qahtani on behalf of C-JOC Eng. Azeb Al-Qahtani, as well as MCB Eng. Mohammad Al-Khalil, MPG Eng. Riyadh Al-Hassan, and a number of government and military officials, together with KACST, Khafji Volunteers team, Athar Volunteers Team, and a number of students.

The campaign lasted for two days and targeted four locations; particularly, the surroundings of SWCC, Khafji Borders, equestrian club, and KJO Spring Camp.The team of sowing the desert seeds comprised team leader Eng. Tawfiq Al-Dakheel from KJO, KACST director Eng. Nayef Al-Shammari, Khafji Volunteers Leader Ahmad Al-Rashed, Athar Volunteers Leader Yousef Al-Otaibi, and environment activist Al-Waleed Al-Najem. There were 10 participants from Khafji Volunteers Team and 23 participants from Athar Volunteers Team,

including eight females. The purpose of the campaign is to combat desertification, spread awareness about environment, enhancing vegetation, improving the environment view and protecting environment. KJO participated through CBD Agriculture Division, Cleaning Division, and Catering Division, and supplied 45 workers, as well as cleaning containers, equipment and vehicles. Moreover, ISD security men participated together with an ambulance car and full healthcare team from MSD.

Under Sponsorship of Khafji Governor and Participation of KACST and Volunteers

KJO Launches the Campaign of Sowing Seeds in Khafji Surroundings

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Year 10 Vol.No: (119) December 2019

Joint Operation’s News

On Friday, November 29th, 2019, Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) opened KJO Spring Camp for the season of 2019/2020, under the sponsorship of Khafji Governor; Mohammad S. Al-Hazza and C-JOC Eng. Azeb M. Al-Qahtani, in the presence of KJO Executive Directors, Department Managers, and a number of government officials, together with a large number of employees. The opening events started at 3:00 P.M. by receiving the families and children in various programs; including clowns, drawing on faces, drawing by Henna, inflatable games, open theatre, competitions, and anthems.

At 7:00 P.M. the official opening of the Camp started by displaying a presentation about the events, then C-JOC delivered a speech welcoming Khafji Governor and appreciating the efforts of the organizers from KJO Departments. He added: “KJO presents this opening ceremony to KJO employees and their families as a gift for their hard and dedicated work. This camp is under our priorities and we have to develop it more and more every year by continuous improvement of the cultural and social aspects and participating in the various activities of KJO employees and Khafji Community”.

Then the operetta started by the chanter Fahad Mahfoudh, and many national paints and portraits were displayed about Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Spring Camp. Thereafter, the Saudi folkloric dance started and then the attendees proceeded to the dinner banquet. KJO Departments participated in the opening ceremony; including firefighters from ISD, First aid and Clinic from MSD, Agriculture and Housekeeping from CBD, and organization and media from PGD. Also, the security authorities participated in securing the area and Khafji Volunteer Team participated in organizing the celebration.

Under the sponsorship of Khafji Governor and C-JOC

KJO Celebrates Opening the Spring Camp for 2019/2020 Season

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On Wednesday, November 27th, 2019, Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) arranged an honoring party to bid farewell to Eng. Mohammad Al-Khateeb; Ex-EDO, on the occasion of his retirement, and to receive his successor in the position of EDO, Eng. Abdullah Al-Otaibi. C-JOC Eng. Azeb M. Al-Qahtani delivered an opening speech welcoming the attendees, and highlighted the dedicated efforts of Al-Khateeb during the tenure of his service. He also congratulated Al-Otaibi for assuming his

new posion, and wished him all success in enhancing the previous achievements and continuing them. In turn, Al-Khateeb delivered a speech in which he extended his appreciation to C-JOC, EDs, Department Managers and all KJO employees, and expressed his pride for the period he spent serving KJO. He appreciated his colleagues and the attendees for arranging this honoring party for him. Thereafter, C-JOC and EDs presented Al-Khateeb with gifts. OND also presented him with an appreciation gift by

Eng. Abdullah Al-Mutairi on behalf of OND. The colleagues of Al-Khateeb have also presented him with a memorial gift and trophy. It is worth mentioning that Al-Khateeb joined KJO at the end of 2010 as EDO, and was in-charge of four Departments, namely; OFD, OND, EDD and TMD. At the end of the party, all took group photos and proceeded to the lunch banquet prepared in honor of the honorees.

In Presence of C-JOC and Executive Directors

KJO Bids Farewell to Al-Khateeb and Receives Al-Otaibi

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In Cooperation between SCE and KJOSCE Holds an Engineering Services Development Forum in Khafji

On Thursday, November 28th, 2019, the Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE) held a forum for developing the engineering services in cooperation with Khafji Joint Operations (KJO), under the sponsorship of Khafji Governor; Mohammad S. Al-Hazza, in King Salman Cultural Center, in presence of EDI Abdullah M. Al-Qahtani on behalf of C-JOC Eng. Azeb Al-Qahtani, and EDH Mubarak Al-Saeedi. SCE Branch Director in Eastern Province; Dr. Kamal Al-Hamad, opened the activities of the forum by welcoming the participants and lauded the cooperation between SCE and KJO for arranging this forum for the first time in Khafji. Among those who participated in the forum are:

- Eng. Saleh Al-Omar, Director of the Professional Tests in SCE: He spoke about carrying on the engineering professions, the conditions, applications and criteria thereof, and the penalties of the violators. - Dr. Mohammad Al-Mohaini from King Fahad University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM): He talked about the smart networks and the future of energy in Saudi Arabia and the world. He shed light on the current and future projects which will develop the power network in Saudi Arabia to be smart and coping with the latest technologies, as well as the current and future clean sustainable energy projects. - Eng. Alawi Al-Majed, from Occupational Health and Safety Association: He talked about the occupational health and

safety. - Eng. Abdul Aziz Al-Suwailem, Director of Public Relations in American Petroleum Association, Saudi Arabia Division: He talked about the role of the Association in petroleum engineering. - Eng. Saad Al-Shiha, from American Association for Mechanical Engineering, Saudi Arabia Division: Talked about mechanical engineering. 130 engineers participated in this forum, from KJO, Khafji Municipality, SWCC and SEC. At the end of the forum, Khafji Governor honored SCE Eastern Province Branch Director and KJO for supporting this forum, and also honored the speakers of the forum.

Under the sponsorship of Khafji GovernorKJO Interacts with RECSO Clean Sea Event

On Thursday, November 28th, 2019, Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) arranged an event for cleaning Khafji Beach in interaction with the annual activity of the Regional Clean Sea Organization (RECSO). The event was organized in King Salman Cultural Center at Khafji Corniche, under the sponsorship of Khafji Governor; Mohammad S. Al-Hazza, in the presence of EDO Eng. Abdullah Al-Otaibi, EDI Abdullah Al-Qahtani, Department Managers and government officials, as well as a big number of KJO employees and students. MTM Eng. Mohsen Al-Zobi delivered the

opening speech, in which he said: “We are keen to involve our children in this annual event for cleaning seas in Gulf Region to instill such principle in them as a religious, moral and national duty, and to keep a healthy marine environment for the coming generations”. The students of Mustaqbal Private School and Haroun Al-Rasheed School made a show regarding the theme of this event. Thereafter, Ahmad Al-Qallaf, from ELD, delivered a speech in which he highlighted the impacts of people on the marine environment, and the method and benefits of protecting such environment. He also dealt with the

guidelines and procedures of handling pollution and instilling the concept of keeping the sea clean and protecting environment as a principle in all people. Eng. Muqbel Al-Dhaferi, from ISD, then introduced the rules of safety for the visitors of the beach, while Eng. Ghazi Al-Ruwaili, from CBD highlighted the role of KJO in cleaning Khafji Beach by arranging regular campaigns for cleaning the beach and protecting the environment in general, and the marine environment in particular, as well as arranging awareness lectures for this purpose. The event ended by proceeding to Khafji

Beach to check the beach cleaning equipment used by KJO, and all participated in cleaning the beach; including the students, volunteers and KJO cleaning staff. It is worth mentioning that RECSO is an oil industry co-operative organization, established by the oil companies in GCC Countries, functioning on the concept of «mutual aid» under the slogan “Commitment to a clean Gulf” since 1972. The prime responsibility of RECSO is to protect the regional seas and environment from oil pollution emanating from operations, shipping and other related activities of its members in the region.

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On Sunday, December 8th, 2019, MOF Eng. Abdul Kareem Al-Thuwaini opened the activities of the workshop arranged by OFD Production Engineering and Well Services Division. The workshop was coordinated between Dr. Abdullah Al-Dhaferi, Superintendent of OFD Production Division, and the Director of Production Engineering Department in the Southern Area of Saudi Aramco, Eng. Hamad Al-Marri. The participating team of OFD comprised Superintendent Dr. Abdullah Al-Dhafeiri, Eng. Sultan Al-Aklubi, Eng. Badr Al-Enazi, Eng. Saad Al-Sadiri, Eng. Shebl Fouad, Eng. Cornil Dodan and Jaber Mahdi, as well as other participants from EDD, MSS and OND. Saudi Aramco team comprised Eng. Emad Al-Abbad, Eng. Fouad Al-Sultan and Eng. Ahmad Al-Mousa. The workshop lasted for two days and was held in the 3D hall of EDD, and dealt with several technical subjects related to production engineering. At the beginning of the workshop, Al-Aklubi welcomed the attendance and highlighted the importance of holding such workshops to share knowledge and discuss mutual issues. Then Eng. Saad Al-Sadiri introduced the safety moment, and an introductory presentation was displayed by Al-Mousa about the Production Engineering Division in the Southern Area of Saudi

Aramco. The presentation included an overview about the most important roles and tasks assigned to the Engineering Sector, as well as the fields and types of wells available there, and the adopted methods of production there. The Production Engineering and Well Services Division made a presentation about KJO, by Eng. Badr Al-Enazi, showing the most important fields, the number of wells, the adopted methods of production, the marine platforms, the methods of gathering production and transmission through the main pipelines from the offshore production platforms to the onshore production facilities for final handling, storage and shipment. Al-Abbad then made a technical presentation about the operational excellence in the fields of the Southern Area of Saudi Aramco, in which he highlighted the latest methods to follow up and evaluate the departments and divisions, help them in

promoting their performance and improving both of the scientific and practical aspects to achieve easy follow-up, evaluation and development. Al-Mousa presented the major annual objectives and challenges set for the departments, for the purpose of appraising and improving their performance, as well as other aspects like safety, managing costs, productivity and continuity of performance. In the second day, Eng. Al-Sultan presented the methods of integrated monitoring and control of wells to ensure applying the best safety and integrity criteria and achieving the sought production targets of each well. He also demonstrated the programs used by Saudi Aramco to follow up wells, arrange them as per their importance, evaluate and manage risks and take the required procedures in the due time for maintenance and safety. Eng. Saad Al-Sadiri then highlighted the methods used by KJO to monitor and control wells, the programs of maintaining wellheads and safety valves in Khafji Field. He demonstrated the techniques used for checking corrosion in the internal part of wells, compiling the data collected through the various means and technologies and using them to achieve the required integrity, improving effective monitoring of wells and reaching the most accurate diagnosis for the technical problems, so that to rationalize the maintenance costs. In turn, Al-Mousa presented the methods used by Saudi Aramco to store and manage data and programs of production engineering and well control and monitoring. Al-Aklubi has similarly presented the methods used by KJO in storing and managing the data and programs of production engineering and well control. The attendance shared the learned lessons and knowledge regarding the engineering fields, and all recommended holding other workshops to cover other aspects of mutual concern. At the end of the workshop, the organizing team extended appreciation to C-JOC Eng. Azeb Al-Qahtani and EDO Eng. Abdullah Al-Otaibi for their support. It is worth mentioning that this is the first workshop of its kind held in cooperation between KJO and Saudi Aramco regarding production engineering.

To Share Knowledge of Production EngineeringKJO Holds a Workshop in Cooperation with Saudi Aramco

| Science |

| Environment || Safety |

A safe work environment is a productive one. No matter the size or type of the business, procedures for safety in the workplace are a necessity for all staff. Safety measures protect employees as well as equipment and business property. Avoiding or minimizing injuries and damage to equipment and facilities will result in fewer expenses and more profit for a business.

Workplace Safety Hazard IdentificationIdentifying workplace safety hazards and issues is the first step in protecting employees. Common work safety concerns can include ergonomics, presence of hazardous chemicals, mechanical problems, noise pollution, restricted visibility, dangers of falling and weather-related hazards. Issues with non-ergonomic equipment may cause human health problems, including sore backs and carpal tunnel syndrome. Chemicals can explode, causing burns, or pose the danger of poisoning.

Mechanical safety issues can occur related to the operation of any machine in the workplace. Noise and visibility issues can compromise an employee’s hearing and sight. Falls resulting from poor housekeeping or negligence can cause serious injury and death; procedures should be in place to prevent them. Ice, snow and rain can create hazards of their own; employees need to be trained how to operate equipment safely when weather conditions are bad.

Workplace Safety PoliciesEach business should have a safety policy in place, created either by management or in a joint effort between management and staff. Every employee has a role in carrying out the safety policies. A safety handbook should be created identifying safety issues and spelling out consequences of not following the appropriate safety procedures.

Importance of Safety TrainingTraining is necessary so that employees will know the importance of safety and how to practice safety in the workplaces. Depending on the type of equipment used, the training may be required by a federal mandate. For example, any workplace that operates a forklift must provide training for employees for its safe operation. Training can come from outside experts hired to teach classes or employees specially trained to perform safety instruction.

Workplace Safety EquipmentAppropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) must be available to anyone who comes in contact with a potential work safety hazard. This can include hard hats, protective eyewear, earplugs, shoes, gloves and clothing. Even an office worker who delivers a message to a work area near a potential safety hazard must put on the appropriate PPE.

Benefits of Workplace SafetySafety in the workplace results in fewer accidents, which results in fewer costs for worker’s compensation, less down time for employees, and less retraining time for workers otherwise needed to replace an injured worker. Avoiding damage to equipment will result in fewer repair costs. Worker performance is improved when workers know how to prevent injuries and have confidence in management›s active role in protecting their safety.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/

What Is Workplace Safety?

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Panorama

“Biodegradable” plastic doesn›t do what you think it does. Your paper or metal straw takes only a tiny sip at the problem of plastic pollution. And your supposedly eco-conscious cloth grocery bag is more damaging to the environment than conventional plastic bags—unless you reuse it literally thousands of times. In other words, many of our ideas about plastic and the environment are confused. And that may be getting in the way of the fight against global warming.

Take the ruckus over single-use plastic bags and straws, which the conservative British magazine The Spectator predictably but correctly pegged as a “moral panic.” The hullabaloo has spurred restaurateurs to roll out cups and utensils made from biodegradable materials such as polylactic acid (PLA), a polyester derived from starchy plants, including corn and sugarcane. The popular myth is that you can safely toss such items onto the forest floor or into the ocean, and microbes will break them down into raw materials that will magically be reborn as daisies or seahorses.

Not so much. In America and Europe, the technical standards for biodegradability are mostly about industrial composting. Put a plastic bag or bottle into a composting vessel, throw in some microorganisms and turn up the temperature to between 50 and 60 degrees Celsius (122 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit). If 90 percent of the material is released as carbon dioxide within 180 days, then you get to call the item “biodegradable” or “compostable.”

In other words, a biodegradable material is one deliberately designed to dump its carbon into the atmosphere at the end of its life cycle. Even worse, if biodegradable plastic ends up in an oxygen-deprived landfill rather than a composting facility, anaerobic decomposition will turn it into methane, a gas that warms the planet from 34 to 86 times as much as carbon dioxide. And if you dump biodegradables into the ocean, they break up into tiny bits that choke marine animals long before they degrade appreciably.

Globally, we produce an eye-popping amount of plastic—some 380 million tons a year, virtually all of it from fossil-fuel feedstocks. So it›s understandable why

consumers would cling to the comforting 1980s-era idea that plastic can be engineered to disappear back into the environment. But the reality is that 60 percent of all the plastic ever produced is accumulating in landfills or as litter.

And from a climate scientist›s point of view, that may actually be a good thing. Of course, it›s a crime that so much plastic waste gets into terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. But we won›t outgrow our need for plastic anytime soon: for one thing, it substitutes for heavier materials in cars and planes, which saves fuel. On top of that—and this is my main point—plastic can function as an artificial carbon sink. If we›re going to extract carbon from the ground at all, far better that it ends up in a

soda bottle that will last 400 years than in the combustion chamber of your car.

If we want to save Earth, we should stop obsessing over

biodegradability and invest instead in plastics that are bio-based. Plants use photosynthesis to convert water and CO2 from the atmosphere into sugars, starch and cellulose, all of which can be processed to make plastics. PLA

is one of those, but it›s designed to be composted, which makes it

carbon-neutral at best. The most exciting work in this area focuses

on nonbiodegradable plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which

Coca-Cola uses in its PlantBottle. The current version, introduced in 2009, uses PET that is 30 percent plant-based. Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have announced bottles made from 100 percent plant-derived PET, although neither has a market-ready version yet.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change points out that to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C above preindustrial levels, we may need to remove tens to hundreds of gigatons of CO2 from the atmosphere, ideally by 2050. If the world fully converted to nonbiodegradable bioplastics starting in 2020, the carbon sequestered over the next 30 years could amount to more than 10 gigatons—which would be a good start. When it comes to plastic, it›s time to think more flexibly.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/

Wait, Plastic Can Be Good for the Environment?

It’s usually made from petroleum, which is better in a landfill than in a tank of gasoline

Inside a new microprocessor, the transistors — tiny electronic switches that collectively perform computations — are made with carbon nanotubes, rather than silicon. By devising techniques to overcome the nanoscale defects that often undermine individual nanotube transistors (SN: 17/19/7), researchers have created the first computer chip that uses thousands of these switches to run programs.

The prototype, described in the Aug. 29 Nature, is not yet as speedy or as small as commercial silicon devices. But carbon nanotube computer chips may ultimately give rise to a new generation of faster, more energy-efficient electronics.

This is “a very important milestone in the development

of this technology,” says Qing Cao, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign not involved in the work.

The heart of every transistor is a semiconductor component, traditionally made of silicon, which can act either like an electrical conductor or an insulator. A transistor’s “on” and “off” states, where current is flowing through the semiconductor or not, encode the 1s and 0s of computer data (SN: 13/2/4). By building leaner, meaner silicon transistors, “we used to get exponential gains in computing every single year,” says Max Shulaker, an electrical engineer at MIT. But “now performance gains have started to level off,” he says. Silicon transistors can’t get much smaller and more efficient than they already are.

A chip made with carbon nanotubes, not silicon, marks a computing milestone

| Management |

| Health |

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Panorama

I am amazed at how many managers and supervisors in leadership programs I facilitate say they “don’t really know how to coach.” We know coaching works. In a survey from the International Coach Federation and Human Capital Institute, 51 percent of respondents from organizations with what they believed were strong coaching cultures reported revenue above that of their industry peer group, and 62 percent of employees in those organizations rated themselves as highly engaged.

Years ago, as a young salesperson, I reported to a manager who never coached me and never worked with me, ever. How can someone be a sales manager if they don’t coach or develop their team? As former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli once said, “I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their maximum potential.”

If you are a key executive or owner of a company, you need to ask yourself a critical question: Are your leaders coaching their direct reports? If you want results and maximum impact, then one of your

most important responsibilities has to be coaching the coaches, and here are some suggestions for doing just that.

Hold Them Accountable

Let your managers know that you expect them to coach every direct report on a regular and consistent basis. To me, the biggest asset you have is the undeveloped potential of your team members. The leader coach needs to develop that potential to the fullest extent. Hold them accountable by asking for a monthly coaching report, and make that activity part of their annual

performance review.

Train Them

I find that, unfortunately, most leaders are not organically good at coaching, because talking about tough topics can lead to conflict with the person they›re coaching. Even qualified leaders often don’t know how to handle it, because they haven’t received coaching in their own career and seen it modeled. Training is essential for

developing the competence and confidence to be an effective coach.

Change Their Mindset

When I was a vice president in corporate America and asked people to meet with me, they always thought they were in trouble. Why? Because the only conversation they had with leaders in the past was disciplinary. I believe there are two different kinds of coaching: corrective and developmental. An example of corrective coaching is a discussion to modify an unproductive

behavior, like being late to work too often. Developmental coaching is talking about someone’s career goals and how to develop the skills, knowledge or expertise to help them get there. The reality is the leaders need to be having more developmental coaching conversations. That change of mindset can increase sales, increase productivity and boost morale.

Reward and Incentivize

The reality is humans do what they are rewarded for doing. Put together a leader›s compensation package or provide a bonus for their role as a coach. Far too often, we reward managers for meeting business objectives, but don’t set or reward coaching objectives. Create a “coach of the year” award for one manager each year, and generally compliment leaders for coaching and developing team members.

The bottom line is, if you want success and growth, you have to coach the coaches.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/

How to Coach Your Boss

Vaping or using e-cigarettes for a long period of time was associated with an increased risk of respiratory diseases -- including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, chronic bronchitis and asthma -- in a new study.

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on Monday, is among the first bodies of research to examine the link between e-cigarette use and respiratory disease in the long-term, by analyzing e-cigarette use and respiratory disease during a three-year period.

«I was a little surprised that we could find evidence on incident lung disease in the longitudinal study, because three years is a while but most studies that look at the development of lung disease go over 10 to 20 years,» said Stanton Glantz, senior author of the study and director of University of California, San Francisco›s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

«It›s the first longitudinal study in the general population to link e-cigs with chronic lung disease,» he said. «My guess is that if we were

to come back and do this study in another five years, we would probably find bigger effects.»

The study involved analyzing data from 32,320 adults in the United States on whether the adults have ever been told by a health professional that they had lung or respiratory conditions and whether they ever used e-cigarettes or smoked cigarettes or other combustible tobacco, among other demographic and clinical variables.

The data, which came from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health, were collected in 2013 to 2016.

The data showed that the risk of developing respiratory disease was significantly associated with former and current e-cigarette users -- and there was a stronger separate association with former and current smokers of cigarettes or other combustible tobacco, who either only smoked cigarettes or were users of both e-cigarettes and cigarettes.

At what age do kids start smoking cigarettes?

«The risks of e-cigarettes and cigarettes are

independent of each other, and so if you›re a dual user -- meaning you›re smoking and using e-cigarettes at the same time -- you have the risks of smoking multiplied by the risks of e-cigarette use,» Glantz said.

«The odds of developing lung disease for the e-cigarette users was increased by about a factor of 1.3, and for the smokers it was about 1.6. If you›re a dual user, it›s 3.3,» he said about the new study.

The study had some limitations, including that it was based on data the adults self-reported, which lends itself to recall bias.

The study adds to a proliferation of research

aimed at measuring the impact of e-cigarette use on the lungs, heart, blood vessels and brain -- but experts have cautioned that much of that research remains in its early stages, often taking place in the lab or in animals.

The new study «applies to people as they use e-cigarettes in the real world,» Glantz said.

Overall, «we›re still learning so much about e-cigarettes,» Dr. Maria Rahmandar, pediatrician and medical director of the Substance Use & Prevention Program at

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children›s Hospital of Chicago, who was not involved in the new study, previously said in October.

When it comes to specifically vaping e-liquids, she said, «even these components that seem like they should be safe, we have no idea what they do once they›re heated up, aerosolized and broken down into their byproducts, and what effect those have, especially when they›re broken down into teeny tiny ultrafine particles that can go into deep parts of the lung.»

https://edition.cnn.com/

Vaping linked with long-term risk of respiratory disease in new study

Because carbon nanotubes are almost atomically thin and ferry electricity so well, they make better semiconductors than silicon. In principle, carbon nanotube processors could run three times faster while consuming about one-third of the energy of their silicon predecessors, Shulaker says. But until now, carbon nanotubes have proved too finicky to construct complex computing systems.

One issue is that, when a network of carbon nanotubes is deposited onto a computer chip wafer, the tubes tend to bunch together in lumps that prevent the transistor from working. It’s “like trying to build a brick patio, with a giant boulder in the middle of it,” Shulaker says. His team solved that problem by spreading nanotubes on a chip, then using vibrations to gently shake unwanted bundles off the layer of

nanotubes.

Another problem the team faced is that each batch of semiconducting carbon nanotubes contains about 0.01 percent metallic nanotubes. Since metallic nanotubes can’t properly flip between conductive and insulating, these tubes can muddle a transistor’s readout.

In search of a work-around, Shulaker and colleagues analyzed how badly metallic nanotubes affected different transistor configurations, which perform different kinds of operations on bits of data (SN: 15/9/10). The researchers found that defective nanotubes affected the function of some transistor configurations more than others — similar to the way a missing letter can make some words illegible, but leave others mostly readable. So Shulaker and colleagues carefully

designed the circuitry of their microprocessor to avoid transistor configurations that were most confused by metallic nanotube glitches.

The newly minted carbon nanotube microprocessor isn’t yet ready to unseat silicon chips as the mainstay of modern electronics. Each one is about a micrometer across, compared with current silicon transistors that are tens of nanometers across. And each carbon nanotube transistor in this prototype can flip on and off about a million times each second, whereas silicon transistors can flicker billions of times per second. That puts these nanotube transistors on par with silicon components produced in the 1980s.

https://www.sciencenews.org/

A chip made with carbon nanotubes, not silicon, marks a computing milestone

| Technology |

As part of a vision for clearer air in the city center, Amsterdam’s fire department is moving ahead with testing of a plug-in hybrid fire truck. Produced by Austrian firm Rosenbauer, the truck is designed primarily to make use of its electric drivetrain, with a diesel-powered generator also on board should operators need to call on extra firepower.Called the Concept Fire Truck (CFT), the vehicle was first presented as a design study in 2016, encouraging fire departments around the world to consider the pros and cons of going electric. And it has drawn some real interest of late, with Rosenbauer partnering with the Australian Capital Territory’s Emergency Services to develop an adapted version for Down Under, and the Berlin Fire Department to put a truck based on the CFT into regular service.Now Amsterdam is set to become the second European capital to welcome

an electric fire truck into its fleet. The truck will be based on the original CFT but feature an extended range. There’s no word on how far it will travel, but the original concept offered an electric-only range of 30 km (18.6 mi), which Rosenbauer says is sufficient for a “wide range of typical fire department operational journeys.” While the drivetrain is purely electric, the diesel generator acts as a range

extender should firefighters need to cover greater distances. The water pump for the truck’s extinguisher system is also powered electrically via the battery, and similarly, can be switched over to the generator should extra operation time be needed. There’s also Wi-Fi onboard, allowing for remote control of different functions, including the operation of firefighting drones.As part of its “Clean Air” action plan, Amsterdam will ban trucks, buses and taxis with combustion engines from the municipal area from 2025 onwards, with all private ICE cars to be banned from 2030.The two-year agreement with Rosenbauer is the first step in electrifying its fire department. The company will hand over a test vehicle at the end of 2020 to see how it fairs on the city’s narrow streets.https://newatlas.com/

Microsoft has unveiled a name and look for its new gaming console, the Xbox Series X, promising a still-more immersive experience as it fends off threats from streaming and rival Sony.The US company in June pointed to the technical abilities of its next-generation console when it announced “Project Scarlett”, saying the new machine would be four times more powerful than the current Xbox One X, which launched in 2013.At a presentation late Thursday at The Game Awards 2019, Microsoft showed off the tower-like new console for the first time and also unveiled a new wireless controller.It said older titles would remain compatible with the Series X, while promising a new gaming experience “where worlds are even more lifelike, immersive, responsive and surprising”.Pricing is yet to be announced but the release date was confirmed for the Christmas holiday season next year, when Sony’s PlayStation 5 console is also scheduled to come out.The current PlayStation 4 has outsold Xbox by more than two to one, but Microsoft will be hoping to take the battle back to Sony, which has yet to give any technical details for its own new console.“The Xbox Series X is shaping up to possibly give Microsoft the crown of most powerful console ever made again, as it did with the Xbox One X,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matthew Kanterman said.The industry as a whole should benefit from the ninth-generation console wars. Kanterman predicted sales to eclipse the current eighth generation by about 20 percent.Consoles face a potential threat from the advent of cloud gaming, however. Google last month launched its Stadia streaming service, allowing game play on any internet-connected device.

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Microsoftunveils Xbox Series X as console war heats up


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Electric fire truck to hit the streets of Amsterdam

Under Sponsorship of Khafji Governor and Participation of ... 2 Year 10 ol.No: 119 ecemer 2 Joint Operation’s News O n Friday, November 29th, 2019, Khafji Joint Operations (KJO)

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