Dutch police eagle on standby at Nato summit to take down drones

DutchNews, May 23, 2017

A police eagle in uniform. Photo: Eric Brinkhorst via HH

There will be an extra Dutch visitor at Thursday’s Nato summit in Brussels – an eagle trained to take down drones, news agency ANP reported. 

Dutch police have been involved training eagles to catch drones since early last year and decided to go ahead with the project last September, after a successful trial. 

Now one bird, an American sea eagle, will be on standby in Brussels in case drones are flown in unauthorised airspace, ANP said. 

In total, 29 government leaders and heads of state, including US president Donald Trump, will attend the meeting amid a massive security operation. 

A police eagle was also on duty in Rotterdam last week when Feyenoord celebrated winning the Eredivisie.

China hosts Silk Road summit in shadow of North Korea missile

Yahoo – AFP, Yanan WANG, Laurent THOMET, May 14, 2017

China's President Xi Jinping speaks at the opening ceremony of the Belt and
Road Forum, in Beijing, on May 14, 2017 (AFP Photo/Greg Baker)

China touted on Sunday its new Silk Road as "a project of the century" at a summit highlighting its growing leadership on globalisation, but a North Korean missile test threatened to overshadow the event.

President Xi Jinping was preparing to host leaders from 29 nations for the two-day summit in Beijing when US and South Korean military officials confirmed that Pyongyang had launched a ballistic missile.

Delegations from North Korea and the United States were expected at the forum, though not their leaders. Few Western heads of government made the trip.

The summit is showcasing Xi's cherished One Belt, One Road initiative, a revival of the Silk Road that could cement China's growing global clout on trade and geopolitics.

"This is indeed a gathering of great minds," Xi said, addressing leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Xi pledged to pump an extra $124 billion in funds into the initiative, calling it "a project of the century" in a "world fraught with challenges".

Map showing China's ambitious plan to revive the ancient Silk 

Road trade routes (AFP Photo)

The Chinese-bankrolled project seeks to link the country with Africa, Asia and Europe through an enormous network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks.

The initiative spans some 65 countries representing 60 percent of the world population and around a third of global gross domestic product. The China Development Bank has earmarked $890 billion for some 900 projects.

The project is seen as a practical solution to relieve China's industrial overcapacity. But it could also serve Beijing's geopolitical ambitions as Washington retreats into "America First" policies.

While Xi did not mention North Korea during his speech to the delegates, the Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement saying it opposes such missile tests.

It urged all parties to "exercise restraint and refrain from further aggravating the tension in the region".

North Korea relies heavily on trade with China for its economic survival, and US President Donald Trump has urged Xi to use that leverage to put pressure on Pyongyang.

The White House called on all nations to impose "far stronger sanctions" following the latest test, which came days after South Korea elected a new president.

Sunday's missile launch "is absolutely an embarrassment to Beijing but it also shouldn't be overstated", Christopher Balding, economics professor at Peking University, told AFP.

"This will not overshadow (the summit) in an enormous way but it will absolutely continue to raise US frustrations with Beijing," he said, adding that Washington was "frustrated" that North Korea was also invited to the summit.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks with his Chinese counterpart Xi

 Jinping during a bilateral meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, 

on May 14, 2017 (AFP Photo/WU HONG)

Respecting sovereignty

Xi focused on his initiative, boasting that it represented a "road for peace", but he cautioned "all countries should respect each others' sovereignty... and territorial integrity".

He warned that "isolation results in backwardness".

The new financing that he promised on Sunday includes 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) for the Silk Road Fund and lending schemes worth 380 billion yuan. He also urged financial institutions to contribute 100 billion yuan.

Praising Xi's initiative, Putin warned that "protectionism is becoming the norm".

"The ideas of openness, trade freedom are rejected more and more, very often by those who were their supporters not so long ago," Putin said.

For his part, Erdogan said Belt and Road was "going to be the kind of initiative that will put an end to terrorism".

India, whose Prime Minister narendra Modi is seen on May 12, 2017, has voiced 

displeasure at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a Belt and Road project aimed 

at linking northwestern China to the Arabian Sea (AFP Photo/Ishara S. Kodikara)

Indian concerns

Some Belt and Road projects are raising concerns in certain countries.

India has voiced displeasure at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a Belt and Road project aimed at linking northwestern China to the Arabian Sea.

The route cuts through Gilgit and Baltistan in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, disputed territory that India claims is illegally occupied.

Human Rights Watch raised fears on Saturday about the treatment of people along the new Silk Road route in Central Asian nations with poor track records in infrastructure projects.

The US-based organisation said Chinese authorities have "heightened surveillance and repression to prevent potential unrest that could impede" Belt and Road plans in the western Xinjiang region.

The train, carrying whisky, soft drinks, baby products and pharmaceuticals,
will take 18 days to make the 12,000-km (7,500-mile) journey

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"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013. They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader. Remember where you heard it... in a strange, esoteric meeting with a guy in a chair pretending to channel. [Kryon being factious... Kryon humor] Then when you hear it, you'll know better, won't you? "Maybe there was something really there," you'll say. "Maybe it was real," you'll say. Perhaps you can skip all the drama of the years to come and consider that now? [Kryon humor again]

These leaders are going to fall over. You'll have a slow developing leadership coming to you all over the earth where there is a new energy of caring about the public. "That's just too much to ask for in politics, Kryon." Watch for it. That's just the beginning of this last phase. So many things are coming. The next one is related to this, for a country in survival with sickness cannot sustain a leadership of high consciousness. There is just too much opportunity for power and greed. But when a continent is healed, everything changes. .."

".. Many years ago, the prevailing thought was that nobody should consider China as a viable player on the economic stage. They were backward, filled with a system that would never be westernized, and had no wish to become joined with the rest of the world's economic systems. Look what has happened in only 30 years. Now, look at Africa differently …”

Stratospheric solar plane makes first test flight

Yahoo – AFP, May 5, 2017

Raphael Domjan, who initiated the SolarStratos project, shakes hands with pilot
Damian Hischier after the first test flight in Payerne, Switzerland (AFP Photo/
Fabrice COFFRINI)

Payerne (Switzerland) (AFP) - The first solar plane aimed at reaching the stratosphere made an initial low-altitude test flight over Switzerland Friday.

The SolarStratos, a super-light, sleek, white two-seater aircraft with long wings covered with solar panels, took off from Payerne at 8:00 am (0600 GMT), according to an AFP photographer at the airbase in western Switzerland.

"The maiden flight of the prototype ... went off without a hitch," the SolarStratos team said in a statement.

Pilot Damian Hischier took the craft for a seven-minute test flight, reaching an altitude of 300 metres (nearly 1,000 feet), it said.

"The group will now study the test flight results before scheduling a longer flight at higher altitude," the statement added.

Eventually, the plane is expected to be able to fly at an altitude of 25,000 metres (82,000 feet), an impossible feat using a propulsion-driven aircraft.

Swiss adventurer Raphael Domjan, who is behind the project, aims to take the plane on its first stratospheric flight next year.

Harness potential

"We must continue to work hard to learn how to harness the potential of this solar-powered treasure," he said Friday.

"We want to demonstrate that with current technology, it is possible to go beyond what fossil fuels offer."

The SolarStratos is 8.5 metres long, with long wings covered with 22 square metres (237 square feet) of solar panels, which are meant to provide it with 24 hours of autonomous flying time.

The plane weighs just 450 kilos (992 pounds).

Domjan, who in 2012 became the first person to sail around the world in a fully solar-powered boat, is aiming to go on a five-hour mission into the stratosphere: two hours up and three hours back.

The stratosphere lies above Earth's lowest atmospheric layer, called the troposphere.

At middle latitudes, the stratosphere runs from a lower boundary of about 10,000 metres to an upper boundary of about 50,000 metres.

Until now, reaching the stratosphere has required large quantities of energy or helium.

Reaching an altitude of 25,000 metres will pose huge technical and human challenges, SolarStratos points out on its website.

The plane and pilot will also be subject to temperatures as low as -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit), it said.

And for weight reasons, the aircraft will not be pressurised, forcing Domjan to wear a spacesuit, meaning he will not be able to get out of the plane using a parachute in the case of an emergency, SolarStratos said.

The project comes after two of Domjan's compatriots, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, completed the first-ever round-the-globe trip in a solar plane last July, in a bid to showcase the possibilities for the future of renewable energy.

Related Article:

Solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 lands in Ohio in latest US stage of record-breaking journey

Made-in-China passenger jet set to take wing

Yahoo – AFP, Albee ZHANG, May 3, 2017

The C919's test flight comes after almost a decade of effort by Chinese
 authrorities to build a domestic aviation giant and reduce reliance on
Boeing and Airbus

China is expected within days to carry out the maiden test flight of a home-grown passenger jet built to meet soaring Chinese travel demand and challenge the dominance of Boeing and Airbus.

The C919, built by state-owned aerospace manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), was set to take wing over Shanghai and could be cleared for takeoff as early as Friday, according to state media.

The narrow-body jet represents nearly a decade of effort in a state-mandated drive to reduce dependence on European consortium Airbus and US aerospace giant Boeing.

"The first flight itself is not a huge deal. (But) of course, it's going to be a hugely symbolic moment in the evolution of China's aviation industry," said Greg Waldron, Asia managing editor at industry publication Flightglobal.

The C919 is the country's first big passenger plane and the latest sign of growing Chinese ambition and technical skill, coming one week after China launched its first domestically made aircraft carrier and successfully docked a cargo spacecraft with an orbiting space lab.

The C919 can seat 168 passengers and has a range of up to 5,555 kilometres (3,444 miles).

Long way to go

China is a huge battleground for Boeing and Airbus, with its travellers taking to the skies in ever-growing numbers.

China homegrown jet

The Chinese travel market is expected to surpass the United States by 2024, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Airbus has estimated Chinese airlines will need nearly 6,000 new planes over the next two decades, while Boeing foresees 6,800 aircraft. Both put the combined price tags for those planes at around $1 trillion.

But aviation analysts said Shanghai-based COMAC has a long journey ahead before it can challenge the lock held on the market by Boeing and Airbus.

"This is an important milestone for China with this new aircraft. But for it to move to the next stage, which is to sell this product, is not going to be so easy," said Shukor Yusof, an analyst with Malaysia-based aviation consultancy Endau Analytics.

But COMAC may be able to rely on purchases by fast-growing Chinese airlines as it looks to get sales off the ground.

COMAC had already received 570 orders by the end of last year, almost all from domestic airlines.

Waldron agreed it will take time, but said that over the next century China will become a world aviation player.

"You are going to have three big companies. You will have Boeing, you will have Airbus, and you will have COMAC," he said.

Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) had already 

received 570 orders by the end of last year, almost all from domestic airlines

China has dreamed of building its own civil aircraft since the 1970s, when it began work on the narrow-body Y-10, which was eventually deemed unviable and never entered service.

COMAC's first regional jet, the 90-seat ARJ 21, entered service in 2016, several years late.

Long-haul ambition

The ARJ 21 is currently restricted to flying Chinese domestic routes as it still lacks the crucial US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification that would allow it to fly US skies.

The C919's first test flight had been due to take place in 2016 but was delayed.

Besides the C919, China is also working with Russia to develop a long-haul wide-bodied jet called the C929.

Although the C919 is made in China, foreign firms are playing key roles by supplying systems as well as the engines, which are made by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric (GE) of the US and France's Safran.

During a visit to COMAC in 2014, President Xi Jinping said not having a homegrown plane left China at the mercy of foreign industrial groups, state media reported at the time.

China last August launched a new multi-billion dollar jet-engine conglomerate with nearly 100,000 employees, with the hope of powering its own planes with self-made engines.

After the C919's first flight, it will still need to pass a series of tests to obtain Chinese airworthiness certification before it can sell the aircraft.

China also has for years been in talks with the FAA to obtain certification for both the ARJ 21 and the C919, without result.

#UPDATE Chinese-built large passenger plane takes off on maiden test flight https://t.co/ZCRMBzxaf9 pic.twitter.com/DcQ2rQZRaJ

— AFP news agency (@AFP) May 5, 2017

Students claim breakthrough with biodegradable car

DutchNews, May 1, 2017

The Lina, built from flax fibre panels, takes shape.

 A team of students at Eindhoven University have built the world’s first fully biodegradable car using flax fibres. 

‘It’s the first car in the world that can be completely recycled,’ said team member Loes van der Beuken. The students are applying the finishing touches to the car by May 8 ready for its inspection by the vehicle licensing agency RDW. They then hope to begin road trials.

 ‘Flax has an extremely resilient structure,’ Van der Beukentold NOS. ‘If you overlay it at different angles you can make panels that stand comparison with carbon fibre and aluminium, which are used extensively in regular car production.’ 

The project has won support from TomTom’s Traffic Solutions division. Its president, Carlo van de Weijer, said: ‘Yesterday’s stupid idea is tomorrow’s breakthrough. They’ve thought of something that would never have occurred to me.’ 

The lightweight materials used in the Lina’s construction have the added benefit of reducing its fuel consumption, but the effect is cancelled out by the greater energy needed to produce the car. The Lina has an electric motor and can carry four people. 

Van de Weijer said the project was promising but it was unlikely to be rolling off factory production lines in the near future. ‘Manufacturers tend to be reticent with these sorts of experiments in house. But I’m sure they will be keeping a close eye on what the students are doing.’