China has Developed a New Method to Extract Uranium from Seawater Cheaper and More Efficiently

New Scientist reported that China has developed a new way to extract uranium from seawater efficiently and more economically, possibly paving the way for a large-scale industrialization of uranium extraction.

China has developed a new method for uranium extraction

China Leads the World in Nuclear Power Plant Expansion

According to New Scientist, China is leading the world in building new nuclear power plants, which will only be aided as they have developed a new method for efficient extraction of uranium from seawater. New Scientist reported that "half of the nuclear reactor projects currently under construction are in China," with their installed nuclear capacity to surpass both the US and European Union by 2030.

China has developed this as New Scientist reports that "the world's oceans hold an estimated 4.5 billion tonnes of uranium, which is more than 1000 times the amount that is available through mining."

China Develops New Method for Trapping Uranium with Electric Fields

Previous experiments have harvested uranium from seawater using artificial sponges made of a polymer material. Then there was a method that trapped uranium using an electric field.

According to New Scientist, researcher Shuangyin Wang at Hunan University along with colleagues have developed a new electrochemical method that is both cheaper and more efficient to extract uranium from seawater.

When they tested the method, they were able to extract 100% of the uranium from East China Sea and 85% of the uranium from the South China Sea. 

The Cost Savings of New Uranium Extraction Method

They did this by running 1 liter of seawater through the system using two copper electrodes - one positive and one negative, and both collect uranium. This highly efficient method allows both electrodes to gather uranium with incredible cost savings.

Previous electrochemical methods cost $360 per kilogram of uranium extracted, while this new method claims that it cost $83 per kilogram of uranium extracted.

Wang Jianlin and Dailan Wanda Group to Build $8.7 Billion Chinese Hollywood

Wang Jianlin of the Dailan Wanda Group

The Dailan Wanda Group want to bring Hollywood to China.

On Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, Wang Jianlin announced that his Dailan Wanda Group will spend 50 billion yuan ($8.7 billion USD) to build the world's largest entertainment district in Qingdao, China. Movie stars in attendance of the announcement were Leonardo di Caprio, John Travolta, Nicole Kidman, and Ewan McGregor.

The Dailan Wanda Group's investment could create the world's most influential film industry in China. If successful, it would trump Hollywood's influence in the film industry. Wang Jianlin also hopes that an annual film festival in Qingdao, China would rival that of the annual Cannes Film Festival.

The Dailan Wanda Group has already signed a preliminary deal with global film and television giants for 30 foreign and 100 local films a year. The new state-of-the-art film complex, called the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis (or Chinese Hollywood), will house 20 studios, movie theaters and its own film museum. It is expected to be fully operational by 2017.

Wang Jianlin made this comment: "The future of the world's film industry is in China because we have 1.3 billion people. We will have the biggest film business in the world by 2018."

He went on to say: "Our cultural [entertainment] business is number one in China, but what about the world? This is our future investment direction. Our goal is to become on of the top 10 cultural companies in the world."

The Dailan Wanda Group has donated $20 million USD to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (host of the Oscars). In return, the academy is now a big supporter of the Qingdao film festival.

The Dailan Wanda Group bought the AMC cinema chain in 2012 for $2.6 billion to add to their portfolio of hotels and department stores. Wang Jianlin already has 75 shopping centers and 40 five-star hotels, among others that currently being built.

Image credit: Flickr Creative Commons by World Economic Forum

My Battle With Blizzard: The Frequency of Phishing is Intensifying

Battle.net Logo

I am being hacked, cracked, spammed, spooled [sending too much to the printer], & phished by "Blizzard Entertainment". That's what the sender line says anyway.  But I don't believe it is really Blizzard Entertainment. I think its some nefarious guy waiting behind a computer monitor attempting to phish in my pond. 

You see, I played World of Warcraft for a short period of time back in 2005.  That is where the connection to Battle.net comes in.  Somehow they got my email.  But they didn't get the memo.

I didn't play long enough to update over to the Battle.net account, which all World of Warcraft players have to get to play nowadays.  Since I never converted, I don't have Battle.net credentials.  But the scammers don't know that.  They are saying my Battle.net account has been compromised, and want to check it out for me.  Wow, those are really friendly guys.  Always on the lookout for me.  Not!

In the past month, the tactics of the email have escalated.  The threat level is now orange [which is right below red].  Below is one of their new emails, which is screaming: "We're getting really desperate...so please give us your info.!"

Phishing email from fake Battle.net Account Team



One thing I noticed, is that when I hover over the first link above that is supposed to take me to http://us.battle.net/verifyconfirm.html the actual redirect link is: http://worldofwarcraft.account-management-info.net/verifyconfirm.html

Hmmm. Something isn't right here.  And on top of that, the most recent email was sent as 'High Priority' (an exclamation point next to it, meaning very urgent).

The IP address from the most recent email was: 124.2.40.168, originating in Korea. The one before that was: 112.65.246.26, originating in China.

It looks like they are starting to get out the big guns, bringing China into this. That only means one thing: I'm am going to have to get out my secret weapon in this cyber-war: invincibility...because I've got tiger blood & Adonis DNA. Winning!