November 27, 2020 12:43 AM By Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares stalled near record highs on Friday as investors weighed renewed doubts about a highly-anticipated coronavirus vaccine against hopes that some of the region’s economies will recovery quicker than their Western peers. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.11% but remained with striking distance of a life-time peak touched this week. Australian shares were down 0.56%. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.12% in choppy trade. Shares in China rose 0.37% after data showed Chinese industrial profits hit a nine-year high. South Korean stocks also rose 0.05%. U.S. S&P 500 e-mini stock futures fell 0.29% in Asian trade. U.S. financial markets were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and will trade on a partial schedule later on Friday. U.S. oil prices extended their declines from a seven-month high due to signs of oversupply. British drugmaker AstraZeneca’s coronavirus drug was touted as a “vaccine for the world” due to its inexpensive cost, but the efficacy of the vaccine is now facing more intense scrutiny, which experts say could delay its approval. Several scientists have raised doubts about the robustness of results showing the shot was 90% effective in a sub-group of trial participants who, by error initially, received a half dose followed by a full dose. “With global case numbers having now topped 60 million... there is certainly some rough terrain ahead for the global recovery, and that can create economic scarring,” analysts at ANZ Bank wrote in a memo. MSCI’s broadest gauge of world stocks was up 0.02% on Friday in Asia, sitting just below a record high reached in the previous session. Doubts about the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine have placed renewed focus on the current state of the pandemic, which looks grim for many places. U.S. hospitalizations for COVID-19 are at a record and experts warn that Thanksgiving could lead to further infections and deaths. More than 20 million people across England will be forced to live under the toughest restrictions even after a national lockdown ends on Dec. 2. Partial lockdowns in some European countries have also raised concern about economic growth. The European Central Bank’s chief economist highlighted these concerns in dovish comments on Thursday, which pushed European bond yields lower. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets/shares-stuck-near-peaks-u-s-oil-futures-extend-declines-idUKKBN287019 Germany plans nearly 180 billion euros in new debt for 2021 November 27, 2020 4:35 AM By Reuters Staff BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany plans to borrow almost 180 billion euros ($214.60 billion) next year, nearly double the amount initially foreseen, as Berlin extends aid measures to mitigate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Europe’s biggest economy, lawmakers told Reuters on Friday. Germany’s parliamentary budget committee of lawmakers agreed on the plans in the early hours of Friday after 17 hours of talks, saying it is the second largest amount of net new borrowing in the history of post-war Germany. “The new borrowing is the right thing to do. You cannot save your way through a crisis,” said Greens lawmaker Sven-Christian Kindler. Planned new debt of 179.82 billion euros for next year compares to 96 billion euros initially envisaged by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz in September. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has taken unprecedented steps to help companies and small businesses get through the crisis, freeing up billions of euros to prevent the economy shrinking further. To fund the measures, it needs to borrow more than planned. Parliament this year suspended Germany’s debt brake in the constitution to allow the government to take on net new debt of up to 218 billion euros to finance rescue and stimulus measures. However, coalition sources have said it was unlikely to need the full amount. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-budget-debt/germany-plans-nearly-180-billion-euros-in-new-debt-for-2021-idUKKBN2870B3?il=0 In the real world, just how far off from economic implosion are we? What happens after Christmas when thousands of North American and European businesses close for good? Below, a look at the harsh reality outside of the deluded stock casinos. More stock mania anyone? Bitcoins? Cruise lines? Airplanes? L.A. Mansion Sale at $52 Million Discount Exposes Luxury Reality Sophie Alexander and John Gittelsohn November 25, 2020 (Bloomberg) -- After more than three years on the market, a Beverly Hills mansion initially listed for $100 million has sold at less than half that price. The 20,000-square-foot (1,900-square-meter) house -- dubbed “Opus” in a flashy marketing campaign -- sold this week for $48.4 million, including furniture, according to a Multiple Listings Service report. It’s the latest luxury Los Angeles property to go for a steep discount in the midst of a pandemic that has left the area partially locked down for months, deterred foreign buyers and kept out-of-state investors away. The market is particularly tough for so-called spec houses, built by developers with lofty price expectations that have often proved unrealistic. “It was never worth that to begin with,” Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel, said of Opus’s original $100 million price tag. “High-end properties are moving, but they’re not moving for prices that are disconnected from the market.” Spec homes with sky-high asking prices are outliers even within the luxury market, where the bid-ask price spread has narrowed, properties receive multiple offers, time on the market has plunged and other measures indicate a shortage of supply, according to Miller. Demand for luxury property has surged nationally -- in Los Angeles, South Florida, the Hamptons and Greenwich, Connecticut, he said. But spec houses priced above $100 million usually move for half or less the asking price, if they sell at all. “There’s a big gap between what the owners are willing to sell for and buyers are willing to pay,” Mauricio Umansky, chief executive officer of the Agency, said about developers of ultra-luxury homes. “They didn’t underwrite correctly.” Even sellers of non-spec houses have had to ratchet back their price expectations. Before heading to prison for her part in the 2019 college scandal, actress Lori Loughlin sold her Bel Air mansion for $18.75 million, a nearly 50% drop from the $35 million she originally sought. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi asked $40 million for their Montecito home that sold for $33.3 million. Uber Technologies Inc. co-founder Travis Kalanick purchased his $43 million Bel Air mansion at a 42% price cut this year. More https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/la-mansion-sale-at-dollar52-million-discount-exposes-luxury-reality/ar-BB1bm4dy?ocid=uxbndlbing German COVID-19 restrictions set to last into 2021 November 26, 2020 9:50 AM By Reuters Staff BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will probably have to stick with measures to dampen the coronavirus pandemic into January, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, while her chief of staff suggested that restrictions might be needed until March. “Given the high number of infections, we assume that the restrictions which are in place before Christmas will continue to be valid until the start of January, certainly for most parts of Germany,” Merkel told parliament. Merkel agreed with leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states late on Wednesday to extend and tighten the coronavirus lockdown until Dec. 20, but ease rules over the Christmas holidays to let families and friends celebrate together. Merkel said the increase in coronavirus cases was still much too high and the number of deaths a reason for concern. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 22,268 to 983,588, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday, while the death toll rose by 389 to 15,160. Merkel’s chief of staff said rules limiting social contact might be needed for longer. “We have difficult winter months ahead of us. This will continue until March,” Helge Braun told RTL television. “After March, I am very optimistic because we will probably be able to vaccinate more and more people and it will be easier to keep infection rates low with the spring.” Merkel said vaccines could arrive before Christmas. Germany imposed a month-long “lockdown lite” on Nov. 2 to rein in a second wave that is sweeping much of Europe. Bars and restaurants are closed but schools and shops remain open. From Dec. 1, private gatherings will be limited to five people. Over Christmas, that number will rise to 10, not counting children, although families are asked to avoid social contact for a week ahead of visits. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-germany/german-covid-19-restrictions-set-to-last-into-2021-idUKKBN2860MU New lockdowns crush French, German consumer confidence in November November 26, 2020 10:14 AM By Richard Lough, Riham Alkousaa PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) - French and German consumer confidence plunged in November as new coronavirus restrictions crushed any prospect of a quick return to normal in the euro zone’s two biggest economies, data published on Thursday showed. Restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment venues have had to shutter up this month in both countries under new restrictions to contain a new wave of COVID-19 infections. While retail shops have remained open in Germany, non-essential stores had to close in France. They will be able to reopen on Saturday under strict sanitary protocols. The latest restrictions leave household demand pent-up heading into the holiday season, pushing back prospects for a consumer-led economic recovery into next year. In France, which was put back under one the strictest lockdowns in Europe on Oct. 30, consumer confidence fell this month to its lowest level since December 2018, surpassing levels reached in March and April during a first and even harsher lockdown. France’s official stats agency, INSEE, said its consumer confidence index fell four points to 90, worse than the average expectation in a Reuters poll of economists for 92. ---- In Germany, consumer morale fell further heading into December as a partial lockdown hit households’ income expectations and their willingness to buy, a survey showed. The GfK institute said its consumer sentiment index, based on a survey of around 2,000 Germans, dropped to -6.7 in November from a revised -3.2 in the previous month. The reading missed a Reuters forecast for a narrower drop to -5.0. GfK consumer expert Rolf Buerkl said although retail shops remained open so far, the shutdown of restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment venues since Nov. 2 clouded consumers’ mood. Rising cases of COVID-19 are increasing uncertainty, so Germans are holding onto their money, Buerkl added. “The hopes for a rapid recovery that arose in early summer have definitely been dashed,” Buerkl said. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-france-economy-consumersentiment/new-lockdowns-crush-french-german-consumer-confidence-in-november-idUKKBN2860XR Share of UK workers on furlough at highest since June, as second lockdown hits November 26, 2020 9:51 AM LONDON (Reuters) - The proportion of British workers on furlough has jumped to its highest level since late June following the introduction of a temporary four-week lockdown across England to reverse a second wave of COVID cases, official figures showed on Thursday. Businesses reported that 15% of staff on average were on furlough between Nov. 2 and Nov. 15, up from 9% in the previous survey which covered the second half of October, the Office for National Statistics said. Britain’s government placed England under a four-week lockdown which started on Nov. 5 which closed restaurants, pubs, non-essential retailers and most other businesses open to the public. Finance minister Rishi Sunak had intended to terminate the furlough programme at the end of October, but the second wave of COVID cases forced him to extend it until the end of March. At its peak in May, the programme supported 8.9 million jobs - almost a third of all employees - and it has been the single most expensive part of Britain’s COVID economic support programme, costing 43 billion pounds ($57 billion) so far. On Wednesday, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that take-up in November would rise to 21% of the workforce due to lockdowns in England and other parts of the United Kingdom, before declining to 12% in early 2021 as restrictions eased. Without the programme, Britain would see a significantly bigger rise in unemployment than the peak of 7.5% pencilled in for next year, the OBR said. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-furlough/share-of-uk-workers-on-furlough-jumps-to-highest-since-june-ons-idUKKBN2860VT?il=0 Fuller, Smith & Turner cuts workforce by 20%, posts first-half loss November 26, 2020 7:28 AM (Reuters) - British pub operator Fuller, Smith & Turner Plc said on Thursday it had cut 20% of jobs since the start of this financial year and reported a first-half loss of 22.2 million pounds hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company, which employed 4,957 according to its latest annual report, said the adjusted pretax loss for the six months ended Sept. 26, compared with a profit of 17.9 million pounds a year ago. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fuller-smith-results/fuller-smith-turner-cuts-workforce-by-20-posts-first-half-loss-idUKKBN2860JN In other news, Reuters puts the cart before the horse. With a year end Tesla stock bonanza expected on December 21, money is rotating back into high risk bets. But with unemployment and business failures set to soar in early 2021, massive global free Magic Money Tree “money” is going to flow like Niagara. Fiat currency turmoil lies ahead in 2021. Have coronavirus vaccines killed the gold rally? November 25, 2020 5:33 PM By Peter Hobson LONDON (Reuters) - Gold has tumbled from record highs as investors, eyeing an end to the coronavirus pandemic, move money to riskier assets. But while some analysts now believe the rally has peaked, others say prices may still have room to rise, at least for a while. Gold has traditionally been seen as a safe investment, and investors bought record amounts as the pandemic tore through the global economy. Those purchases pushed prices from $1,500 an ounce in January to an all-time high of $2,072 in August, and forecasters including Bank of America said it could soon reach $3,000. But the announcement of several highly effective coronavirus vaccines this month has cemented expectations for an economic rebound, pressuring gold down to $1,800. “The gold and silver markets are running out of air,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke. “As we expect a continued improvement of the economic environment next year, safe-haven demand should fade.” Investors pulled a record $4 billion from gold funds in the week to Nov. 18, said Bank of America. The bank has abandoned its $3,000 price target. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-gold-price-graphic/have-coronavirus-vaccines-killed-the-gold-rally-idUSKBN2852QF Finally, 2021 is about to start where 2020 left off. Disney to lay off about 32,000 workers in first half of 2021 November 26, 2020 6:23 AM (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co said on Wednesday it would lay off 32,000 workers, primarily at its theme parks, an increase from the 28,000 it announced in September, as the company struggles with limited customers due to the coronavirus pandemic. The layoffs will be in the first half of 2021, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this month, Disney said it was furloughing additional workers from its theme park in Southern California due to uncertainty over when the state would allow parks to reopen. Disney’s theme parks in Florida and those outside the United States reopened earlier this year without seeing new major coronavirus outbreaks but with strict social distancing, testing and mask use. Disneyland Paris was forced to close again late last month when France imposed a new lockdown to fight a second wave of the coronavirus cases. The company’s theme parks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo remain open. Disney did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on whether the 28,000 layoffs announced earlier were included in the latest figure, but a spokesperson for the company confirmed to Variety that the figure includes the previously announced number. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-disney-parks-layoffs/disney-to-lay-off-about-32000-workers-in-first-half-of-2021-idUKKBN2860FB Exclusive: Foxconn to shift some Apple production to Vietnam to minimise China risk November 26, 2020 10:09 AM By Yimou Lee TAIPEI (Reuters) - Foxconn is moving some iPad and MacBook assembly to Vietnam from China at the request of Apple Inc, said a person with knowledge of the plan, as the U.S. firm diversifies production to minimise the impact of a Sino-U.S. trade war. The development comes as the outgoing administration of U.S. President Donald Trump encourages U.S. firms to shift production out of China. During Trump’s tenure, the United States has targeted made-in-China electronics for higher import tariffs, and restricted supplies of components produced using U.S. technology to Chinese firms it deems a national security risk. Taiwanese manufacturers, wary of being caught up in the tit-for-tat trade war, have moved or are considering moving some production from China to countries such as Vietnam, Mexico and India. Foxconn is building assembly lines for Apple’s iPad tablet and MacBook laptop at its plant in Vietnam’s northeastern Bac Giang province, to come online in the first half of 2021, the person said, declining to be identified as the plan was private. The lines will also take some production from China, the person said, without elaborating how much production would shift. “The move was requested by Apple,” the person said. “It wants to diversify production following the trade war.” Foxconn said in statement: “As a matter of company policy, and for reasons of commercial sensitivity, we do not comment on any aspect of our work for any customer or their products”. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Taiwan’s Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, on Tuesday announced a $270 million investment to set up a new subsidiary called FuKang Technology Co Ltd - a move the person said was aimed at supporting the Vietnam expansion. The contract manufacturer also plans to make television sets at the Vietnam plant for clients including Japan’s Sony Corp, with the beginning of such production slated for late 2020 to early 2021, the person said. Sony declined to comment. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-foxconn-vietnam-apple-exclusive/exclusive-foxconn-to-shift-some-apple-production-to-vietnam-to-minimise-china-risk-idUKKBN2860XN Winter Watch. The Arctic winter sea-ice expansion and northern hemisphere snow cover. From around mid-October, the northern hemisphere snow cover usually rapidly expands, while the Arctic ice gradually expands back towards its winter maximum. Over simplified, a rapid expansion of both, especially if early, can be a sign of a harsher than normal arriving northern hemisphere winter. Perhaps more so in 2020-2021 as we’re in the low of the ending sunspot cycle, which possibly also influenced this year’s record Atlantic hurricane season. Update: we seem to have started new sunspot cycle 25 this month , though it’s unlikely to affect 2020-2021s coming winter. Northern Eur-Asia turned snowy fast in mid-October. The Arctic sea ice expansion was slow, and from a very low level at the end of September, but with the vastly expanded snow cover, sea ice formation sped up. With the Laptev sea ice virtually back to normal, at the end of the third week of November I’m starting to think that it will likely be a normal to slightly warmer winter ahead for western Europe. The failure of the Kara Sea ice to return to normal, leads me to bet on a warmer western European winter ahead. Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice. http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ https://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/ims/ims_gif/DATA/cursnow_asiaeurope.gif “Practically all government attempts to redistribute wealth and income tend to smother productive incentives and lead toward general impoverishment. It is the proper sphere of government to create and enforce a framework of law that prohibits force and fraud. But it must refrain from specific economic interventions. Government's main economic function is to encourage and preserve a free market. When Alexander the Great visited the philosopher Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for him, Diogenes is said to have replied: "Yes, stand a little less between me and the sun." It is what every citizen is entitled to ask of his government.” Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson. Covid-19 Corner This section will continue until it becomes unneeded. U.K. Takes Steps to Get AstraZeneca Vaccine Approved Before EU By Alex Morales November 27, 2020, 12:01 AM GMT · Government invokes rule in attempt to skirt European regulator · Ministers want to begin Covid vaccination program next month Health Secretary Matt Hancock asked the U.K. medical regulator to potentially bypass its European Union counterpart and approve the supply of AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid vaccine to speed its deployment. Until the end of the year, when the U.K. exits a post-Brexit transition period, vaccines there must be authorized by the European Medicines Agency. But on Friday, Hancock said he invoked a special rule allowing Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to authorize a temporary supply of the vaccine Astra is developing with Oxford University if the data is robust enough, after it showed positive results in trials this week. “We have formally asked the regulator to assess the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, to understand the data and determine whether it meets rigorous safety standards,” Hancock said in a statement. “This letter is an important step toward deploying a vaccine as quickly and safely as possible.” By speeding up the regulatory approval process, the U.K. hopes to be able to begin its mass vaccination program next month. The government has purchased 100 million doses of the shot in advance, and estimates 4 million of them will be available by year end. But Hancock’s action will also make a political point with the U.K. close to completing its departure from the EU: that Brexit will enable the government to act more nimbly in the country’s interest outside of the bloc’s bureaucracy. Developer No. of Vaccine Doses Secured by U.K. Oxford/AstraZeneca 100 million GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur 60 million Novavax 60 million Valneva 60 million BioNTech/Pfizer 40 million Janssen 30 million Moderna 5 million Trial data earlier this week showed the Astra/Oxford vaccine stopped an average of 70% of participants from falling ill, raising hopes authorities may be able to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. But questions over some of the trial results prompted Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive officer, to tell Bloomberg News on Thursday that the company will probably conduct an additional global trial to assess the vaccine’s efficacy. More https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-27/u-k-takes-steps-to-get-astrazeneca-vaccine-approved-before-eu?srnd=premium-europe South Korea braces for bed shortages as coronavirus cases near nine-month high November 27, 2020 3:58 AM SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea reported more than 500 new coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day on Friday, a level unseen in nearly nine months, as a third wave of infections spread nationwide, leaving authorities scrambling to provide more hospital beds. “The situation is extremely serious and acute, as all of the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces and especially all the 25 districts in Seoul are reporting new cases,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a meeting on COVID-19 responses. The daily tally of 569 came a day after the numbers hit the highest level since March 6, when South Korea was reeling from the first major COVID-19 outbreak outside China. Of the latest cases, 525 were domestically transmitted and more than 64% of those were from the Seoul metropolitan area, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Authorities said the fresh wave is more difficult to trace and contain than early outbreaks which were concentrated in a specific region or among a certain religious group. Alarmed by the countrywide spread and increasing number of cases involving younger patients, Chung warned that daily infections could swell to 1,000 and there could be hospital bed shortages unless the contagion was brought under control. The health ministry said there are sufficient beds available for now but it could face shortfalls if the current spike continues for more than two weeks. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-southkorea/south-korea-braces-for-bed-shortages-as-coronavirus-cases-near-nine-month-high-idUKKBN28709K?il=0 Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 22,806 - RKI November 27, 2020 4:20 AM BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 22,806 to 1,006,394, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday. The reported death toll rose by 426 to 15,586, the tally showed. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-germany-cases/germanys-confirmed-coronavirus-cases-rise-by-22806-rki-idUKKBN2870AA?il=0 FDA gives emergency approval for test that detects COVID-19 immunity Nov. 25, 2020 / 10:38 AM Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Federal regulators have given emergency authorization for a new type of antibody test that can precisely assess human levels of immunity against COVID-19, developers said Wednesday. Kantaro Biosciences said the Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization for its COVID-SeroKlir antibody test kit. The company says it's demonstrated it can detect and measure levels of coronavirus-specific neutralizing antibodies. Kantaro officials say this "new generation" of testing has a broad range of applications. "It is a high-performing test that quantifies antibody levels for individuals, which medical professionals and policymakers alike can trust," Kantaro Chief Commercial Officer Sara Barrington said in a statement. RELATED HHS sends new rapid molecular COVID-19 test to 5 states "Having a numerical understanding of antibody levels can be especially powerful for patients, enabling them to take control of their health and enjoy some peace of mind during these uncertain times." Kantaro is a joint venture between New York's Mount Sinai Health System and British diagnostics company RenalytixAI. The test kit, developed in New York City this spring, has shown a 98.8% sensitivity and 99.6% specificity for detecting neutralizing antibodies that are produced by the immune system to attack the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, Kantaro said. The two-step assay, which can be used in any laboratory and without special equipment, was approved for use in the European Union last month. Kantaro said the test can accurately measure levels of COVID-specific antibodies, as opposed to all antibodies in the body, and can aid research of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The test, for instance, could determine whether people already have high levels of neutralizing antibodies due to a previous exposure. If so, they would not immediately need a vaccine, Mt. Sinai Chief Commercial Officer Erik Lium told CNBC. RELATED COVID-19 tests getting more reliable, experts say Kantaro said the test kits are being manufactured, through a partnership with Minneapolis-based Bio-Techne, with a capacity to produce as many as 10 million per month. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/11/25/FDA-gives-emergency-approval-for-test-that-detects-COVID-19-immunity/5361606312966/ Next, some vaccine links kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada. The links come from a most informative update from Stanford Hospital in California. World Health Organization - Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines NY Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html Stanford Website. https://racetoacure.stanford.edu/clinical-trials/132 Regulatory Focus COVID-19 vaccine tracker. https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker Some other useful Covid links. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html Rt Covid-19 https://rt.live/ Covid19info.live https://wuflu.live/ Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html Technology Update. With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section. Updates as they get reported. Is converting sunlight to usable cheap AC or DC energy mankind’s future from the 21st century onwards. Creating higher energy density lithium-ion batteries for renewable energy applications Improving lithium-ion battery performance, cell lifetime with graphene-coated nickel, cobalt, aluminum nanoparticle cathodes Date: November 24, 2020 Source: American Institute of Physics Summary: Lithium-ion batteries that function as high-performance power sources for renewable applications, such as electric vehicles and consumer electronics, require electrodes that deliver high energy density without compromising cell lifetimes. Researchers investigate the origins of degradation in high energy density LIB cathode materials and develop strategies for mitigating those degradation mechanisms and improving LIB performance. In the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, by AIP Publishing, researchers investigate the origins of degradation in high energy density LIB cathode materials and develop strategies for mitigating those degradation mechanisms and improving LIB performance. Their research could be valuable for many emerging applications, particularly electric vehicles and grid-level energy storage for renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. "Most of the degradation mechanisms in LIBs occur at the electrode surfaces that are in contact with the electrolyte," said author Mark Hersam. "We sought to understand the chemistry at these surfaces and then develop strategies for minimizing degradation." The researchers employed surface chemical characterization as a strategy for identifying and minimizing residual hydroxide and carbonate impurities from the synthesis of NCA (nickel, cobalt, aluminum) nanoparticles. They realized the LIB cathode surfaces first needed to be prepared by suitable annealing, a process by which the cathode nanoparticles are heated to remove surface impurities, and then locked into the desirable structures with an atomically thin graphene coating. The graphene-coated NCA nanoparticles, which were formulated into LIB cathodes, showed superlative electrochemical properties, including low impedance, high rate performance, high volumetric energy and power densities, and long cycling lifetimes. The graphene coating also acted as a barrier between the electrode surface and the electrolyte, which further improved cell lifetime. While the researchers had thought the graphene coating alone would be sufficient to improve performance, their results revealed the importance of pre-annealing the cathode materials in order to optimize their surface chemistry before the graphene coating was applied. While this work focused on nickel-rich LIB cathodes, the methodology could be generalized to other energy storage electrodes, such as sodium-ion or magnesium-ion batteries, that incorporate nanostructured materials possessing high surface area. Consequently, this work establishes a clear path forward for the realization of high-performance, nanoparticle-based energy storage devices. "Our approach can also be applied to improve the performance of anodes in LIBs and related energy storage technologies," said Hersam. "Ultimately, you need to optimize both the anode and cathode to achieve the best possible battery performance." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201124111345.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmatter_energy%2Fgraphene+%28Graphene+News+--+ScienceDaily%29 Another weekend and another temper tantrum in the White House? I wonder if they have a countdown calendar to January 20, high noon? Someone send them one for Christmas. Have a great weekend everyone. “There are men regarded today as brilliant economists, who deprecate saving and recommend squandering on a national scale as the way of economic salvation; and when anyone points to what the consequences of these policies will be in the long run, they reply flippantly, as might the prodigal son of a warning father: "In the long run we are all dead." And such shallow wisecracks pass as devastating epigrams and the ripest wisdom.” Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson.
November 27, 2020 4:35 AM By Reuters Staff BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany plans to borrow almost 180 billion euros ($214.60 billion) next year, nearly double the amount initially foreseen, as Berlin extends aid measures to mitigate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Europe’s biggest economy, lawmakers told Reuters on Friday. Germany’s parliamentary budget committee of lawmakers agreed on the plans in the early hours of Friday after 17 hours of talks, saying it is the second largest amount of net new borrowing in the history of post-war Germany. “The new borrowing is the right thing to do. You cannot save your way through a crisis,” said Greens lawmaker Sven-Christian Kindler. Planned new debt of 179.82 billion euros for next year compares to 96 billion euros initially envisaged by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz in September. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has taken unprecedented steps to help companies and small businesses get through the crisis, freeing up billions of euros to prevent the economy shrinking further. To fund the measures, it needs to borrow more than planned. Parliament this year suspended Germany’s debt brake in the constitution to allow the government to take on net new debt of up to 218 billion euros to finance rescue and stimulus measures. However, coalition sources have said it was unlikely to need the full amount. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-budget-debt/germany-plans-nearly-180-billion-euros-in-new-debt-for-2021-idUKKBN2870B3?il=0 In the real world, just how far off from economic implosion are we? What happens after Christmas when thousands of North American and European businesses close for good? Below, a look at the harsh reality outside of the deluded stock casinos. More stock mania anyone? Bitcoins? Cruise lines? Airplanes? L.A. Mansion Sale at $52 Million Discount Exposes Luxury Reality Sophie Alexander and John Gittelsohn November 25, 2020 (Bloomberg) -- After more than three years on the market, a Beverly Hills mansion initially listed for $100 million has sold at less than half that price. The 20,000-square-foot (1,900-square-meter) house -- dubbed “Opus” in a flashy marketing campaign -- sold this week for $48.4 million, including furniture, according to a Multiple Listings Service report. It’s the latest luxury Los Angeles property to go for a steep discount in the midst of a pandemic that has left the area partially locked down for months, deterred foreign buyers and kept out-of-state investors away. The market is particularly tough for so-called spec houses, built by developers with lofty price expectations that have often proved unrealistic. “It was never worth that to begin with,” Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel, said of Opus’s original $100 million price tag. “High-end properties are moving, but they’re not moving for prices that are disconnected from the market.” Spec homes with sky-high asking prices are outliers even within the luxury market, where the bid-ask price spread has narrowed, properties receive multiple offers, time on the market has plunged and other measures indicate a shortage of supply, according to Miller. Demand for luxury property has surged nationally -- in Los Angeles, South Florida, the Hamptons and Greenwich, Connecticut, he said. But spec houses priced above $100 million usually move for half or less the asking price, if they sell at all. “There’s a big gap between what the owners are willing to sell for and buyers are willing to pay,” Mauricio Umansky, chief executive officer of the Agency, said about developers of ultra-luxury homes. “They didn’t underwrite correctly.” Even sellers of non-spec houses have had to ratchet back their price expectations. Before heading to prison for her part in the 2019 college scandal, actress Lori Loughlin sold her Bel Air mansion for $18.75 million, a nearly 50% drop from the $35 million she originally sought. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi asked $40 million for their Montecito home that sold for $33.3 million. Uber Technologies Inc. co-founder Travis Kalanick purchased his $43 million Bel Air mansion at a 42% price cut this year. More https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/la-mansion-sale-at-dollar52-million-discount-exposes-luxury-reality/ar-BB1bm4dy?ocid=uxbndlbing German COVID-19 restrictions set to last into 2021 November 26, 2020 9:50 AM By Reuters Staff BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will probably have to stick with measures to dampen the coronavirus pandemic into January, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, while her chief of staff suggested that restrictions might be needed until March. “Given the high number of infections, we assume that the restrictions which are in place before Christmas will continue to be valid until the start of January, certainly for most parts of Germany,” Merkel told parliament. Merkel agreed with leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states late on Wednesday to extend and tighten the coronavirus lockdown until Dec. 20, but ease rules over the Christmas holidays to let families and friends celebrate together. Merkel said the increase in coronavirus cases was still much too high and the number of deaths a reason for concern. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 22,268 to 983,588, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday, while the death toll rose by 389 to 15,160. Merkel’s chief of staff said rules limiting social contact might be needed for longer. “We have difficult winter months ahead of us. This will continue until March,” Helge Braun told RTL television. “After March, I am very optimistic because we will probably be able to vaccinate more and more people and it will be easier to keep infection rates low with the spring.” Merkel said vaccines could arrive before Christmas. Germany imposed a month-long “lockdown lite” on Nov. 2 to rein in a second wave that is sweeping much of Europe. Bars and restaurants are closed but schools and shops remain open. From Dec. 1, private gatherings will be limited to five people. Over Christmas, that number will rise to 10, not counting children, although families are asked to avoid social contact for a week ahead of visits. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-germany/german-covid-19-restrictions-set-to-last-into-2021-idUKKBN2860MU New lockdowns crush French, German consumer confidence in November November 26, 2020 10:14 AM By Richard Lough, Riham Alkousaa PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) - French and German consumer confidence plunged in November as new coronavirus restrictions crushed any prospect of a quick return to normal in the euro zone’s two biggest economies, data published on Thursday showed. Restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment venues have had to shutter up this month in both countries under new restrictions to contain a new wave of COVID-19 infections. While retail shops have remained open in Germany, non-essential stores had to close in France. They will be able to reopen on Saturday under strict sanitary protocols. The latest restrictions leave household demand pent-up heading into the holiday season, pushing back prospects for a consumer-led economic recovery into next year. In France, which was put back under one the strictest lockdowns in Europe on Oct. 30, consumer confidence fell this month to its lowest level since December 2018, surpassing levels reached in March and April during a first and even harsher lockdown. France’s official stats agency, INSEE, said its consumer confidence index fell four points to 90, worse than the average expectation in a Reuters poll of economists for 92. ---- In Germany, consumer morale fell further heading into December as a partial lockdown hit households’ income expectations and their willingness to buy, a survey showed. The GfK institute said its consumer sentiment index, based on a survey of around 2,000 Germans, dropped to -6.7 in November from a revised -3.2 in the previous month. The reading missed a Reuters forecast for a narrower drop to -5.0. GfK consumer expert Rolf Buerkl said although retail shops remained open so far, the shutdown of restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment venues since Nov. 2 clouded consumers’ mood. Rising cases of COVID-19 are increasing uncertainty, so Germans are holding onto their money, Buerkl added. “The hopes for a rapid recovery that arose in early summer have definitely been dashed,” Buerkl said. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-france-economy-consumersentiment/new-lockdowns-crush-french-german-consumer-confidence-in-november-idUKKBN2860XR Share of UK workers on furlough at highest since June, as second lockdown hits November 26, 2020 9:51 AM LONDON (Reuters) - The proportion of British workers on furlough has jumped to its highest level since late June following the introduction of a temporary four-week lockdown across England to reverse a second wave of COVID cases, official figures showed on Thursday. Businesses reported that 15% of staff on average were on furlough between Nov. 2 and Nov. 15, up from 9% in the previous survey which covered the second half of October, the Office for National Statistics said. Britain’s government placed England under a four-week lockdown which started on Nov. 5 which closed restaurants, pubs, non-essential retailers and most other businesses open to the public. Finance minister Rishi Sunak had intended to terminate the furlough programme at the end of October, but the second wave of COVID cases forced him to extend it until the end of March. At its peak in May, the programme supported 8.9 million jobs - almost a third of all employees - and it has been the single most expensive part of Britain’s COVID economic support programme, costing 43 billion pounds ($57 billion) so far. On Wednesday, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that take-up in November would rise to 21% of the workforce due to lockdowns in England and other parts of the United Kingdom, before declining to 12% in early 2021 as restrictions eased. Without the programme, Britain would see a significantly bigger rise in unemployment than the peak of 7.5% pencilled in for next year, the OBR said. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-furlough/share-of-uk-workers-on-furlough-jumps-to-highest-since-june-ons-idUKKBN2860VT?il=0 Fuller, Smith & Turner cuts workforce by 20%, posts first-half loss November 26, 2020 7:28 AM (Reuters) - British pub operator Fuller, Smith & Turner Plc said on Thursday it had cut 20% of jobs since the start of this financial year and reported a first-half loss of 22.2 million pounds hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company, which employed 4,957 according to its latest annual report, said the adjusted pretax loss for the six months ended Sept. 26, compared with a profit of 17.9 million pounds a year ago. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fuller-smith-results/fuller-smith-turner-cuts-workforce-by-20-posts-first-half-loss-idUKKBN2860JN In other news, Reuters puts the cart before the horse. With a year end Tesla stock bonanza expected on December 21, money is rotating back into high risk bets. But with unemployment and business failures set to soar in early 2021, massive global free Magic Money Tree “money” is going to flow like Niagara. Fiat currency turmoil lies ahead in 2021. Have coronavirus vaccines killed the gold rally? November 25, 2020 5:33 PM By Peter Hobson LONDON (Reuters) - Gold has tumbled from record highs as investors, eyeing an end to the coronavirus pandemic, move money to riskier assets. But while some analysts now believe the rally has peaked, others say prices may still have room to rise, at least for a while. Gold has traditionally been seen as a safe investment, and investors bought record amounts as the pandemic tore through the global economy. Those purchases pushed prices from $1,500 an ounce in January to an all-time high of $2,072 in August, and forecasters including Bank of America said it could soon reach $3,000. But the announcement of several highly effective coronavirus vaccines this month has cemented expectations for an economic rebound, pressuring gold down to $1,800. “The gold and silver markets are running out of air,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke. “As we expect a continued improvement of the economic environment next year, safe-haven demand should fade.” Investors pulled a record $4 billion from gold funds in the week to Nov. 18, said Bank of America. The bank has abandoned its $3,000 price target. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-gold-price-graphic/have-coronavirus-vaccines-killed-the-gold-rally-idUSKBN2852QF Finally, 2021 is about to start where 2020 left off. Disney to lay off about 32,000 workers in first half of 2021 November 26, 2020 6:23 AM (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co said on Wednesday it would lay off 32,000 workers, primarily at its theme parks, an increase from the 28,000 it announced in September, as the company struggles with limited customers due to the coronavirus pandemic. The layoffs will be in the first half of 2021, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this month, Disney said it was furloughing additional workers from its theme park in Southern California due to uncertainty over when the state would allow parks to reopen. Disney’s theme parks in Florida and those outside the United States reopened earlier this year without seeing new major coronavirus outbreaks but with strict social distancing, testing and mask use. Disneyland Paris was forced to close again late last month when France imposed a new lockdown to fight a second wave of the coronavirus cases. The company’s theme parks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo remain open. Disney did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on whether the 28,000 layoffs announced earlier were included in the latest figure, but a spokesperson for the company confirmed to Variety that the figure includes the previously announced number. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-disney-parks-layoffs/disney-to-lay-off-about-32000-workers-in-first-half-of-2021-idUKKBN2860FB Exclusive: Foxconn to shift some Apple production to Vietnam to minimise China risk November 26, 2020 10:09 AM By Yimou Lee TAIPEI (Reuters) - Foxconn is moving some iPad and MacBook assembly to Vietnam from China at the request of Apple Inc, said a person with knowledge of the plan, as the U.S. firm diversifies production to minimise the impact of a Sino-U.S. trade war. The development comes as the outgoing administration of U.S. President Donald Trump encourages U.S. firms to shift production out of China. During Trump’s tenure, the United States has targeted made-in-China electronics for higher import tariffs, and restricted supplies of components produced using U.S. technology to Chinese firms it deems a national security risk. Taiwanese manufacturers, wary of being caught up in the tit-for-tat trade war, have moved or are considering moving some production from China to countries such as Vietnam, Mexico and India. Foxconn is building assembly lines for Apple’s iPad tablet and MacBook laptop at its plant in Vietnam’s northeastern Bac Giang province, to come online in the first half of 2021, the person said, declining to be identified as the plan was private. The lines will also take some production from China, the person said, without elaborating how much production would shift. “The move was requested by Apple,” the person said. “It wants to diversify production following the trade war.” Foxconn said in statement: “As a matter of company policy, and for reasons of commercial sensitivity, we do not comment on any aspect of our work for any customer or their products”. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Taiwan’s Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, on Tuesday announced a $270 million investment to set up a new subsidiary called FuKang Technology Co Ltd - a move the person said was aimed at supporting the Vietnam expansion. The contract manufacturer also plans to make television sets at the Vietnam plant for clients including Japan’s Sony Corp, with the beginning of such production slated for late 2020 to early 2021, the person said. Sony declined to comment. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-foxconn-vietnam-apple-exclusive/exclusive-foxconn-to-shift-some-apple-production-to-vietnam-to-minimise-china-risk-idUKKBN2860XN Winter Watch. The Arctic winter sea-ice expansion and northern hemisphere snow cover. From around mid-October, the northern hemisphere snow cover usually rapidly expands, while the Arctic ice gradually expands back towards its winter maximum. Over simplified, a rapid expansion of both, especially if early, can be a sign of a harsher than normal arriving northern hemisphere winter. Perhaps more so in 2020-2021 as we’re in the low of the ending sunspot cycle, which possibly also influenced this year’s record Atlantic hurricane season. Update: we seem to have started new sunspot cycle 25 this month , though it’s unlikely to affect 2020-2021s coming winter. Northern Eur-Asia turned snowy fast in mid-October. The Arctic sea ice expansion was slow, and from a very low level at the end of September, but with the vastly expanded snow cover, sea ice formation sped up. With the Laptev sea ice virtually back to normal, at the end of the third week of November I’m starting to think that it will likely be a normal to slightly warmer winter ahead for western Europe. The failure of the Kara Sea ice to return to normal, leads me to bet on a warmer western European winter ahead. Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice. http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ https://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/ims/ims_gif/DATA/cursnow_asiaeurope.gif “Practically all government attempts to redistribute wealth and income tend to smother productive incentives and lead toward general impoverishment. It is the proper sphere of government to create and enforce a framework of law that prohibits force and fraud. But it must refrain from specific economic interventions. Government's main economic function is to encourage and preserve a free market. When Alexander the Great visited the philosopher Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for him, Diogenes is said to have replied: "Yes, stand a little less between me and the sun." It is what every citizen is entitled to ask of his government.” Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson. Covid-19 Corner This section will continue until it becomes unneeded. U.K. Takes Steps to Get AstraZeneca Vaccine Approved Before EU By Alex Morales November 27, 2020, 12:01 AM GMT · Government invokes rule in attempt to skirt European regulator · Ministers want to begin Covid vaccination program next month Health Secretary Matt Hancock asked the U.K. medical regulator to potentially bypass its European Union counterpart and approve the supply of AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid vaccine to speed its deployment. Until the end of the year, when the U.K. exits a post-Brexit transition period, vaccines there must be authorized by the European Medicines Agency. But on Friday, Hancock said he invoked a special rule allowing Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to authorize a temporary supply of the vaccine Astra is developing with Oxford University if the data is robust enough, after it showed positive results in trials this week. “We have formally asked the regulator to assess the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, to understand the data and determine whether it meets rigorous safety standards,” Hancock said in a statement. “This letter is an important step toward deploying a vaccine as quickly and safely as possible.” By speeding up the regulatory approval process, the U.K. hopes to be able to begin its mass vaccination program next month. The government has purchased 100 million doses of the shot in advance, and estimates 4 million of them will be available by year end. But Hancock’s action will also make a political point with the U.K. close to completing its departure from the EU: that Brexit will enable the government to act more nimbly in the country’s interest outside of the bloc’s bureaucracy. Developer No. of Vaccine Doses Secured by U.K. Oxford/AstraZeneca 100 million GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur 60 million Novavax 60 million Valneva 60 million BioNTech/Pfizer 40 million Janssen 30 million Moderna 5 million Trial data earlier this week showed the Astra/Oxford vaccine stopped an average of 70% of participants from falling ill, raising hopes authorities may be able to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. But questions over some of the trial results prompted Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive officer, to tell Bloomberg News on Thursday that the company will probably conduct an additional global trial to assess the vaccine’s efficacy. More https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-27/u-k-takes-steps-to-get-astrazeneca-vaccine-approved-before-eu?srnd=premium-europe South Korea braces for bed shortages as coronavirus cases near nine-month high November 27, 2020 3:58 AM SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea reported more than 500 new coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day on Friday, a level unseen in nearly nine months, as a third wave of infections spread nationwide, leaving authorities scrambling to provide more hospital beds. “The situation is extremely serious and acute, as all of the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces and especially all the 25 districts in Seoul are reporting new cases,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a meeting on COVID-19 responses. The daily tally of 569 came a day after the numbers hit the highest level since March 6, when South Korea was reeling from the first major COVID-19 outbreak outside China. Of the latest cases, 525 were domestically transmitted and more than 64% of those were from the Seoul metropolitan area, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Authorities said the fresh wave is more difficult to trace and contain than early outbreaks which were concentrated in a specific region or among a certain religious group. Alarmed by the countrywide spread and increasing number of cases involving younger patients, Chung warned that daily infections could swell to 1,000 and there could be hospital bed shortages unless the contagion was brought under control. The health ministry said there are sufficient beds available for now but it could face shortfalls if the current spike continues for more than two weeks. More https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-southkorea/south-korea-braces-for-bed-shortages-as-coronavirus-cases-near-nine-month-high-idUKKBN28709K?il=0 Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 22,806 - RKI November 27, 2020 4:20 AM BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 22,806 to 1,006,394, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday. The reported death toll rose by 426 to 15,586, the tally showed. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-germany-cases/germanys-confirmed-coronavirus-cases-rise-by-22806-rki-idUKKBN2870AA?il=0 FDA gives emergency approval for test that detects COVID-19 immunity Nov. 25, 2020 / 10:38 AM Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Federal regulators have given emergency authorization for a new type of antibody test that can precisely assess human levels of immunity against COVID-19, developers said Wednesday. Kantaro Biosciences said the Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization for its COVID-SeroKlir antibody test kit. The company says it's demonstrated it can detect and measure levels of coronavirus-specific neutralizing antibodies. Kantaro officials say this "new generation" of testing has a broad range of applications. "It is a high-performing test that quantifies antibody levels for individuals, which medical professionals and policymakers alike can trust," Kantaro Chief Commercial Officer Sara Barrington said in a statement. RELATED HHS sends new rapid molecular COVID-19 test to 5 states "Having a numerical understanding of antibody levels can be especially powerful for patients, enabling them to take control of their health and enjoy some peace of mind during these uncertain times." Kantaro is a joint venture between New York's Mount Sinai Health System and British diagnostics company RenalytixAI. The test kit, developed in New York City this spring, has shown a 98.8% sensitivity and 99.6% specificity for detecting neutralizing antibodies that are produced by the immune system to attack the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, Kantaro said. The two-step assay, which can be used in any laboratory and without special equipment, was approved for use in the European Union last month. Kantaro said the test can accurately measure levels of COVID-specific antibodies, as opposed to all antibodies in the body, and can aid research of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The test, for instance, could determine whether people already have high levels of neutralizing antibodies due to a previous exposure. If so, they would not immediately need a vaccine, Mt. Sinai Chief Commercial Officer Erik Lium told CNBC. RELATED COVID-19 tests getting more reliable, experts say Kantaro said the test kits are being manufactured, through a partnership with Minneapolis-based Bio-Techne, with a capacity to produce as many as 10 million per month. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/11/25/FDA-gives-emergency-approval-for-test-that-detects-COVID-19-immunity/5361606312966/ Next, some vaccine links kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada. The links come from a most informative update from Stanford Hospital in California. World Health Organization - Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines NY Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html Stanford Website. https://racetoacure.stanford.edu/clinical-trials/132 Regulatory Focus COVID-19 vaccine tracker. https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker Some other useful Covid links. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html Rt Covid-19 https://rt.live/ Covid19info.live https://wuflu.live/ Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html Technology Update. With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section. Updates as they get reported. Is converting sunlight to usable cheap AC or DC energy mankind’s future from the 21st century onwards. Creating higher energy density lithium-ion batteries for renewable energy applications Improving lithium-ion battery performance, cell lifetime with graphene-coated nickel, cobalt, aluminum nanoparticle cathodes Date: November 24, 2020 Source: American Institute of Physics Summary: Lithium-ion batteries that function as high-performance power sources for renewable applications, such as electric vehicles and consumer electronics, require electrodes that deliver high energy density without compromising cell lifetimes. Researchers investigate the origins of degradation in high energy density LIB cathode materials and develop strategies for mitigating those degradation mechanisms and improving LIB performance. In the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, by AIP Publishing, researchers investigate the origins of degradation in high energy density LIB cathode materials and develop strategies for mitigating those degradation mechanisms and improving LIB performance. Their research could be valuable for many emerging applications, particularly electric vehicles and grid-level energy storage for renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. "Most of the degradation mechanisms in LIBs occur at the electrode surfaces that are in contact with the electrolyte," said author Mark Hersam. "We sought to understand the chemistry at these surfaces and then develop strategies for minimizing degradation." The researchers employed surface chemical characterization as a strategy for identifying and minimizing residual hydroxide and carbonate impurities from the synthesis of NCA (nickel, cobalt, aluminum) nanoparticles. They realized the LIB cathode surfaces first needed to be prepared by suitable annealing, a process by which the cathode nanoparticles are heated to remove surface impurities, and then locked into the desirable structures with an atomically thin graphene coating. The graphene-coated NCA nanoparticles, which were formulated into LIB cathodes, showed superlative electrochemical properties, including low impedance, high rate performance, high volumetric energy and power densities, and long cycling lifetimes. The graphene coating also acted as a barrier between the electrode surface and the electrolyte, which further improved cell lifetime. While the researchers had thought the graphene coating alone would be sufficient to improve performance, their results revealed the importance of pre-annealing the cathode materials in order to optimize their surface chemistry before the graphene coating was applied. While this work focused on nickel-rich LIB cathodes, the methodology could be generalized to other energy storage electrodes, such as sodium-ion or magnesium-ion batteries, that incorporate nanostructured materials possessing high surface area. Consequently, this work establishes a clear path forward for the realization of high-performance, nanoparticle-based energy storage devices. "Our approach can also be applied to improve the performance of anodes in LIBs and related energy storage technologies," said Hersam. "Ultimately, you need to optimize both the anode and cathode to achieve the best possible battery performance." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201124111345.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmatter_energy%2Fgraphene+%28Graphene+News+--+ScienceDaily%29 Another weekend and another temper tantrum in the White House? I wonder if they have a countdown calendar to January 20, high noon? Someone send them one for Christmas. Have a great weekend everyone. “There are men regarded today as brilliant economists, who deprecate saving and recommend squandering on a national scale as the way of economic salvation; and when anyone points to what the consequences of these policies will be in the long run, they reply flippantly, as might the prodigal son of a warning father: "In the long run we are all dead." And such shallow wisecracks pass as devastating epigrams and the ripest wisdom.” Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson.
No comments:
Post a Comment