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A source in Takum told The Nation the youths who were between 18 and 22 were returning from a wedding programme in Wukari in a Toyota Hummer bus at about 8.30am when they ran into a group of gunmen between Chechenji and Kofai Ahmadu villages.
It was gathered the gunmen hijacked the vehicle they were travelling with and drove the 26 passengers, including the driver of the bus to an unknown destination.
When contacted, Taraba spokesman, DSP David Misal, confirmed the incident.
He said the police received a report that the 26 persons were missing.
He said the police was yet to establish whether it was a case of kidnap, adding that the police have commenced investigation into the matter.
The PPRO further disclosed there was no communication between the criminals and either the relations of the victims or the police since their disappearance on Wednesday morning.


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Colonial Hills, Taylors, SC
Colonial Hills is a neighborhood in Taylors, SC with a population of 0.
Taylors is a city in Greenville county, SC with a population of 25,101. The median household income is $46,986.
Some of the data listed here may be outdated, please check out Colonial Hills local info
and Taylors local info
for more info.

domain: sociology


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A newsletter from the union, sent to staff members at Friends Life, highlighted issues such as a lack of employee engagement, less flexible working conditions and poor pay terms.
It said: “Friends Life does seem to be making money due to the pain employees are going through and so can share some money with them as well as the shareholders.”
The comments come as Friends Life reported pre-tax profits of £178m in its half-year results up to 30 June 2012. This was down from £406m in June 2011.
The February newsletter said negotiations about pay claims were progressing, however, its pay survey showed that staff felt they were working harder than ever but were not being rewarded. The survey also noted that employee benefits had been eroded.
Meanwhile, negotiations over 150 jobs that have been put at risk since December are continuing at Friends Life.
A spokesman for Friends Life said the firm took employee engagement seriously and has recently introduced new flexible benefits, adding: “We have had considerable change within the company in the past year and we understand this has been challenging for our colleagues, as it has been in many businesses and sectors over recent years.”
The insurer is separately in talks about the future of the Sesame Bankhall Group, which it owns.
Denis Mitchell, managing director of Cornwall-based Demelza Lifestyle Financial Planners, said: “A lot of insurance companies need to make changes. We have had issues with getting adviser charging in place.
“Friends Life is a combination of a lot of businesses. We have used it for protection and had the odd administrative issue. This may be due to all the different brands.”


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Living in central London, you tend to almost never drive. You see, it’s easier getting around on foot (I tend to not go for this option), train, bus etc. and even taking an Uber means no tedious task of looking for parking! However, on certain occasions, you will have to make a journey into the suburbs and my goodness, getting into the car after months feels like you’re taking your driving lesson all over again! This is exactly how I felt when I was invited to Skewd Kitchen.
Skewd Kitchen is a hidden Turkish establishment located allllll the way in suburbia heaven, Cockfosters. Yup, you’ll know it as the last stop of the Piccadilly line! I was debating between taking the train and the car, but when I put Cockfosters in to my navigation, it estimated a full 90 minutes to get there by train and 50 minutes by car. Sigh, looks like it was going to be a long drive!
I got there almost 20 minutes late, but just in time for food so here we go!
A good and varied selection of dips that included hummus, cacik (a cucumber, mint, and yoghurt sauce), beetroot tarator (roasted beetroot with yoghurt and garlic), taramasalata, and smashed eggplant.
Filo pastry stuffed with peppers mushrooms, cheese and beef, served on a red pepper sauce. The filling was a little too plain for my liking.
Tiny little flat breads that had been topped with minced lamb, crushed tomatoes, and diced peppers. I’ve had my fair share of lahmacuns but found Skewd Kitchen’s to be average and nothing out of the ordinary.
A large hunk of warm goat cheese that sat upon a tart roasted beetroot puree, and finished off with crushed walnuts, caramelised shallots, and a drizzle of balsamic. A classic yet fantastic combination with the tart beetroot and sweet honey and balsamic complementing the creamy goat cheese incredibly well. The walnuts and diced beetroot added a great textural contrast too.
I always find lamb shish to be quite tough and chewy, especially if it hasn’t been eaten within 0.05 seconds of being served. Skewd Kitchen have a magic trick though, the lamb fillet remained tender and butter soft even after the photoshoot, and the smokiness from the charcoal helped to mask any lamby flavour.
An incredibly juicy skewer of chicken shish.
Chopped chicken shish which lay on a bed of smoked and smashed aubergines, with a pot of hung yoghurt for dunking. The chicken was super juicy, just like the shish, and although had a great flavour in itself, was taken to the next level with the garlic infused aubergine.
Adana kebab that lay on a spicy tomato and onion based sauce. I didn’t get a chance to try this dish, but it received positive feedback from the table.
Adana kebab that had been wrapped in lavash bread, topped with a tomato and onion sauce, and doused in hot and melted charcoal butter. Phwoar this was definitely my favourite dish of the evening, and I couldn’t get enough of the butter soaked dish. The adana was incredibly juicy with the halep sauce adding a kick of flavour, as well as being toned down with the yoghurt and buttery lavash bread. I wish I could pour everything in melted charcoal butter.
The spinah and feta pide was quite simple and I found this to be quite dry, and would have liked more chilli to help cut through the cheese. The Sultan’s Pide was a meat-lovers dream, topped with beef sujuk, diced lamb, and kasar cheese. I found both the cheese and meat to be quite greasy and claggy, which did not really go well with the dry pide.
These fiery little guys had most of the tables grabbing for their water – absolutely deadly but still delicious.
Another simple accompaniment of barbecued mushrooms and onions which had been cooked over the coal pit. They had then been finished off with pomegranate molasses and sumac powder. Both were really, really enjoyable and incredibly simple.
Here are a few desserts that I unfortunately did not get to try:
As we were a table of 20, I couldn’t tell you what the total bill amounted to, but I would guess that a meal at Skewd Kitchen would average out to £50 for 2 people including drinks and service. Whilst some of the classic dishes were a miss, like the lahmacun and pide, Skewd Kitchen really excelled in their grills. The wrapped beyti was fantastic as was the classic shish, and the steamed burgers were superbly good too. Would I return? For sure, but only if I was in the are!

domain: food


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Reference group developed for cities policy
A Cities Reference Group has been established to advise the federal government on cities policy.
The group includes leading thinkers on issues pertaining to cities in Australia, as well as international experts.
“Our cities agenda is all about positioning our cities to be the best they can be in the future,” said Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation Angus Taylor.
“I’m looking forward to working with the Reference Group as we continue to refine our cities policy, foster new ideas for innovation and collaboration, and shape the way we measure performance of our cities.”
Establishment of the Cities Reference Group builds on the work already undertaken with other governments, industry and experts to deliver on the government’s Smart Cities Plan.
The Smart Cities Plan, released in 2016, sets out a vision for Australia’s cities based on smart policy, smart investment and smart technology.
It aims to position Australian cities to succeed in the 21st-century economy and supports productive, accessible, livable cities that attract talent, create jobs and encourage innovation and growth.
Terms of reference and membership for the Cities Reference Group can be found here.
The first meeting is scheduled for 26 April.
Further information on the Smart Cities Plan is available at the Smart Cities website.
A $1.5 million investment in cybersecurity capability has been made by the NT Government as part...
The winners of the IDC Smart Cities North America Awards have now been announced.
A new case management system is needed to deal with 350,000 cases per year in the state's...

domain: news


text:
Obagi skin Health Restoration and Rejuvenation treatments are unique and comprehensive!
Obagi Systems are scientifically tested and address the skin's function to create change at the cellular level.
"Obagi Medical Products result in younger, healthier looking skin. Our Systems help reduce the visible signs of ageing such as fine-lines, wrinkles, pigmentation and uneven texture"
Contained in the range there are a number of products designed to treat AcneGet complimentary skin assessment

domain: medical


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Westport Country Playhouse will host Letters to Our Daughters, a special community event celebrating International Women’s Day.
The event will feature a diverse group of performers and writers, including Tony Award winners Joanna Gleason and Kelli O’Hara, and best-selling author Jane Green, on Wednesday, March 8, at 7 p.m.
The program is curated by Samantha Goober and Anne Keefe. The evening is free of charge, by reservation with the Playhouse’s box office. The program is geared for ages 14 and up.
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
“International Women’s Day is a great way of reminding us to celebrate the women in our lives, not just on this day, but every day,” said Goober. “On March 8, we are looking forward to welcoming a group of vibrant women on our stage with a wealth of different backgrounds and experiences to share the words of an equally vibrant group of women writers from around the world.”
The event’s title, Letters to Our Daughters, is taken from a collection of essays by Maya Angelou called Letters to My Daughter. “In the spirit of her words, we adopted the title and changed it to reflect this event,” said Keefe.
Readers of works by female writers will include Farah Bala, actress on television’s Broad City; Danielle Davenport, regional theater actress; Joanna Gleason, Tony Award-winning actress; Jane Green, best-selling author; Khadija Gurnah, founder of Project Ejaba, an organization that advocates for Muslim youth; Ann Harada, actress on television’s Smash and the film Sisters; Wilhelmine Hartong, theater instructor at Regional Center for the Arts and WCP LGBT Night performer; Elise Kibler, Broadway actress; Pamela Lewis, director of the All Stars Project of Bridgeport; Aleta Mitchell, actress in WCP’s 2014 production of Intimate Apparel; Kelli O’Hara, Tony Award-winning actress; Patricia Russo, executive director of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale; and Sharone Sayegh, Broadway actress.
Writers whose works will be represented in the evening’s program include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Maya Angelou, Nora Ephron, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Helen Keller, and Jessica Valenti.
Performers and authors are subject to change.
Community Partners for Letters to Our Daughters are the Anti-Defamation League, the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, and YWCA of Darien/Norwalk.
For more information or to reserve free tickets, call the box office at 203-227-4177 or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets are available online 24/7 at westportplayhouse.org. More information on International Women’s Day is available at internationalwomensday.com.

domain: entertainment


The first half of 2022 has been filled with K-drama projects that star the top Korean actors and actresses.
It has been a pretty great time to be a K-drama fan, seeing that big names have constantly appeared in recent works. For example, we have Son Ye Jin with “Thirty Nine”, Park Min Young with “Forecasting Love and Weather”, Kim Tae Ri with “Twenty Five Twenty One”, Lee Min Ho with “Pachinko”, and most recently, Ji Chang Wook with “The Sound of Magic”. So, below are how these works have performed with such stars in their cast list.
Lee Min Ho
After not having any new work for 2021, Lee Min Ho returned in a completely different image for the 2022 series “Pachinko”. While the series is exclusive to Apple TV+, it managed to achieve better reviews compared to Lee Min Ho’s previous work “The King: Eternal Monarch”, which ended up performing below expectations.
In “Pachinko”, Lee Min Ho transformed into Koh Han Su, the first love interest of the female lead. This character first appeared just as rich as Lee Min Ho’s previous character, but as the show went on, managed to show more complexities with his turbulent past and jaded personality.
Lee Min Ho’s 2022 return has truly proven the megastar as more than a one-trick pony, and is an evidence that challenges are no issue to the actor.
Son Ye Jin
“Thirty Nine” was the first K-drama of top actress Son Ye Jin for a while, following her 2019 series “Crash Landing On You”. Like all her other previous works, Son Ye Jin managed to deliver an outstanding acting performance, and delivered a perfectly friendly and kind, yet emotional and torn Cha Mi Jo.
Unfortunately, “Thirty Nine” was not as successful as expectations due to its somber atmosphere that contradicts initial posters. Certain details in the plot were also said to be controversial, leading to unremarkable viewerships and low discussion. However, there are still a large number of viewers who find the series their thing, and who were deeply impacted as the series ran its course.
Park Min Young
After her last appearance in the 2020 series “When The Weather Is Fine”, Park Min Young once again returned to office attire for her 2022 project “Forecasting Love And Weather”, where she starred alongside young actor Song Kang. Once again, Park Min Young played to her strengths with an office drama, but the series’ pretty bland plotline wasn’t enough to retain its audiences.
Regarding her role, Park Min Young easily transformed into the beautiful, independent, and fashionable head of the forecasting department. However, there was nothing too remarkable about this role, and it didn’t feel too much different from the actress’s previous characters in “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim” and “Her Private Life.”
Kim Tae Ri
Since Kim Tae Ri’s last K-drama acting chops in the 2018 series “Mr. Sunshine”, the actress never disappoints. This time around, she participated in “Twenty Five, Twenty One”, a super well-received series that succeeded both critically and commercially, and is one of the best in 2022 so far.
In the series, Kim Tae Ri became 14 years younger, playing the high school freshman and professional fencer Na Hee Do. Despite being in her 30s, Tae Ri managed to look not a day older than 18, and her manners and acting also exuded youthfulness. It was thanks to this brilliant performance that Kim Tae Ri has later crowned the Best Leading Actress at the 2022 Baeksang Arts Awards – one of the most prestigious acting awards in Korea.
Kim Woo Bin
Kim Woo Bin has been absent since the 2016 series “Uncontrollably Fond” due to his cancer treatment. After 6 years, the actor finally returned as the quiet but extremely romantic captain Jung Joon of “Our Blues”. Despite his little screen time in the omnibus K-drama, Kim Woo Bin still managed to deliver spectacular chemistry with his co-star Han Ji Min.
Despite facing some controversies, “Our Blues” saw high viewership ratings and a lot of public discussion. Meanwhile, Kim Woo Bin only improved after his long hiatus, with convincing actions, gazes, and expressions. So far, “Our Blues” and Kim Woo Bin’s portrayal in the series are totally watch worthy.
Ji Chang Wook
Missing from the Korean small screen since the late 2020 web-drama “Lovestruck in the City”, Ji Chang Wook also made a grand return in the first half of 2022. This year in particular will be pretty hectic for Ji Chang Wook’s fans, seeing that alongside his recently released Netflix drama “The Sound of Magic”, there are already 2 more upcoming projects. Unfortunately, since “The Sound of Magic” is an Netflix original with a musical format, it wasn’t going viral like Chang Wook projects often do. However, the series still achieved some notable accomplishments and was most-watched in many nations.
Through “The Sound of Magic”, Ji Chang Wook also got the chance to boast his beautiful singing and dancing skills. His character shined throughout the series, and would be among the most iconic of the actor.
2022 is truly a year of success for K-dramas, with many big stars making their comebacks and hit series being released. Hopefully, the rest of the year will be filled with just as quality works.


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Stars like Eddie Murphy, Snoop Dogg, Wesley Snipes, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Mike Epps showed up and showed out at the premiere of Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name in Westwood over the weekend.
theGrio caught up with the incredible cast to discuss the highly-anticipated film about one of Black Hollywood’s unsung heroes, Rudy Ray Moore.
Check back for exclusive interviews with the cast before the film hits select theaters on October 4. Dolemite Is My Name will hit Netflix on October 25.
Here are a few of our favorite photos from the star-studded premiere:
Eddie Murphy stars as Rudy Ray Moore, a floundering comedian who has an epiphany that turns him into a word-of-mouth sensation.

domain: celebrity


text:
Mother’s Day is coming! I love celebrating my mom, and this year I made some little plaques that I think she’ll find hilarious (after, of course, I explain what “Bae” means). These are crazy fast to make, so if you accidentally wait a few weeks and realize you have nothing for your ever-lovin’ mama the night before Mother’s Day, whip these up and you can pretend you were on top of it all along.
- 6 x 6″ wooden boards (found at Michaels)
- patterned paper
- spray adhesive
- alphabet stickers
Make Time: 10 Minutes
Step 1: Trim your patterned paper to the size of your wooden boards.
Step 2: Spray a light coat of adhesive onto one side of the boards. Carefully align the paper on the board so that all edges and corners are even. Press the paper onto the wood.
Step 3: Decide on some fun phrases that your mom would love, and spell them out with your stickers.
Give them to mama and make her giggle! She can place them around the house, on shelves, hang them on the wall — any old place! I can’t decide which I like best, but “Mom is Bae” is pretty hilarious, right? What would you have them say for your mom? xoxo
P.S. You are the hottest mom I know.
38 thoughts on “DIY Wood Plaques for Mother’s Day”
Oh my gosh these are amazing. “Word to your mother” – I can’t get enough! So great.
Aren’t they so fun?! Thanks for the love ?
I would make my wonderful mama a series of her most classic advice through the years: Pretty is as pretty does. See it through. Wear clean underwear.
That my dear, is a brilliant idea! ?
Oh, I love these!
thanks a million! ?
So clever, I love these! Thanks for sharing!
So happy that you love them as much as I do! ?
These are so cute! The entire time I was reading these though, I thought, “My mom wouldn’t know what any of these things mean!” Insert laughing and crying emoji here 😉
Oh.my.gosh! So funny and SO true for a lot of moms out there! ?
I have no idea what I’m going to do for my mom and my mother-in-law!! This might be perfect for them!! =)
They are the perfect option—especially if it’s a last-minute gift idea! ?
Seriously such a great idea! I love this!!!
Thanks doll! ?
What a great idea, I love it!
that seriously means so much—thank you!
Ha! Love Mom is Bae.
so funny, right?! ?
Ha–these cracked me up. I love “word to your mother.” And the style is super beautiful for being such a simple technique.
Thank you…your comment pretty much made my day!
thanks, very brilliant idea. I love it
you’re so sweet! thanks doll!

domain: artistic


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Fruit pulps make excellent sherbets and frozen yogurts. Adding fiber or pulp back into your juice is a great way to increase the storage life of the juice in the refrigerator. "Adding 15 different things will make it a murky brown color," explains Leone. When you juice citrus fruits, the juicer tends to have a slight oily feeling. Each of our raw, organic juices are created using an industrial grade, hydraulic cold press juicer. Juice Pulp Fritters: A surprisingly simple recipe using kale, carrot and chard. Green Juice Pulp Crackers Apple Juice Pulp Pancake Seed Flatbread/Crackers Beetroot Bread Roll. I do this with orange peels regularly.
This is done by adding natural packs, which are technically natural flavors created by… fragrance companies. Try steam distilling. The bottom line.
Rinse well. So you don't miss out on the fiber, you can add some of the pulp back into the juice or use it in cooking. Try adding fruit pulp to muffin batter, or use vegetable pulp when making broth, pasta sauce or casseroles. Worm It – Along the same lines, you can feed your leftover pulp to the worms in your garden . You can also add a piece of cucumber. Really all you need is some yogurt, fruit pulp, and honey.
How to Make Juice Pulp Powder. Our Cold Pressed Juice lineup. It usually strips away most of the solid matter, including the seeds and pulp, from whole fruits and vegetables. Make an Italian favorite into a nutrient rich dish by using pulp to make vegetarian Spaghetti & Meatballs. Learn how to care for your gear juicers and get the most out of it. Compost your pulp and add it to your garden.
Next time you’re blending garbanzo beans, tahini, olive oil, and herbs in the food processor for a simple homemade hummus, go ahead and add some leftover pulp to it, as well. For the strainer, use an old toothbrush to get the remnants out.
6. Get the recipe from: Sweet Simple Vegan 8. 20 Creative Uses for Leftover Juice Pulp Compost It – Probably the easiest way to use up leftover juice pulp is to toss in into your compost heap or compost bin . The pulp can also be baked in muffins, made into frozen treats, used to make soup, or dehydrated. You are probably fine eating pulp from the juice made in a Jack LaLanne juicer. The pulp will probably be still wet which means it has not been squeezed well. It usually strips away most of the solid matter, including the seeds and pulp, from whole fruits and vegetables.
Sometimes you may want to put the pulp back into the juice.
Fiber helps prevent further oxidization which in turn will help the juice from degrading. Juicing is a process that extracts the juices from fresh fruits and vegetables.. Veggie Burgers
Other Ideas on Utilizing Pulp. If you juice at home, you can stir some of the pulp back into the juice or use it in cooking. While this is not much oil, it is basically free compared to buying it online.
I hope you found my Beginner’s Guide to Juicing useful. Here are 9 ways to utilize your pulp from your freshly made juices! A few simple ideas include adding a few spoonfuls of pulp back into your juice or using in a vegetable soup. To combat this, the orange juice companies add flavor late in the process. As a general rule of thumb, choose a variety of textures and ingredients, while keeping flavors complementary. This makes orange juice taste like, well, orange juice. Final Thoughts. The peels for a five pound bag of oranges will yield me about 15 mL of orange essential oil. If you’re using a quality juicer like the Mod Cold Press Juicer, however, the pulp will be dry enough to use in a range of other delicious recipes, including burgers and vegetable crackers.


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"[A]ll artists . . . live off faith. You hear a note but have to have the faith that you will hear the next one. Or tell you where to find the next note."
Tour: Joshua Tree 2nd Leg (Europe)
Venue: Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
See more concerts in the Glasgow area.
Attendance: 10,000 (Capacity: 10,000)
Almost complete show (missing first two songs):
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Polly Manning writes that Swansea Prison is failing the men in its care
Leanne Wood calls for an informed debate about extending the vote to prisoners
Leanne Wood argues that the devolution of criminal justice offers an opportunity to do things differently
Robert Jones questions whether the super prison being built in Wrexham will bring the claimed economic benefits.
Robert Jones says plans for a new super prison in north Wales are at odds with the region’s real needs


Antimony is used in ductile cast iron melts to avoid graphite degenerations like exploded graphite and chunky graphite. However, the effect of Sb in the melt on the crystallization of ductile cast iron is still unknown, therefore the aim of our investigations. The current study presents thermodynamic calculations showing that at the beginning of the eutectic solidification, Mg3Sb2 is formed. Furthermore, the amount of Sb increases in the austenite and decreases in the remaining melt during solidification. An experiment was conducted, in which a higher amount of Sb than usual was added to a ductile iron melt. In the microstructure of the Sb-containing sample, a higher graphite precipitate count was measured than in the reference sample without Sb. The graphite spheroids of the Sb-containing sample show an almost perfect roundness and a very smooth surface. However, lamellar outgrowths from the graphite spheroids were also observed. Using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, it could be shown that Sb-containing phases have been formed, which are located in the pearlitic matrix and also in graphite spheroids. As a result of spectroscopic investigations, it can be assumed that Sb-containing phases act as nucleant for graphite nucleation. Further investigations by Auger electron spectroscopy showed that a thin layer of Sb at the interface between graphite and matrix has been formed. It seems that this layer constricts the diffusion of carbon to the spheroidal graphite and acts as a surfactant favoring a layer-by-layer growth of the graphite spheroids.
During solidification of mostly thick-walled ductile iron castings, the graphite has a tendency to degenerate during eutectic growth, which results in exploded or even chunky graphite. Possible reasons are long solidification times, high amounts of Si and the presence of Ce in the melt.1
According to References 2,3,4, small amounts of Pb, Bi or Sb in a defined stoichiometric ratio with Ce can neutralize the detrimental effects of Ce on graphite growth by forming intermetallic phases in the melt. That is why mainly in large ductile iron castings very small amounts of Sb between 20 and 40 ppm are added to the cast iron melt to avoid the formation of chunky graphite. Even in ductile cast irons without any Ce in the melt, the addition of Sb to the melt is a proven instrument to suppress these undesirable graphite morphologies.
Kovac5 and Liu et al.6 detected Sb at the interface between graphite spheroids and matrix. Kovac assumed that Sb is blocking the transfer of C from the melt or from austenite to the spheroids. Liu et al. proposed that Sb acts as a scavenger for the harmful effects of oxygen at the interface between graphite spheroids and the melt.
However, there is no detailed knowledge about the effect of Sb on the graphite growth during the solidification of ductile iron melts. The present study was initiated to allow further insights into the mechanism of Sb on the crystallization of ductile iron melts.
Thermodynamic calculations using the THERMOCALC database SSOL4 were performed to simulate the phase formation as well as the distribution of Sb in the melt and in the austenite during the solidification of ductile iron. Here, a local thermodynamic equilibrium is assumed at the interface between solid and liquid. Assuming full miscibility in liquid phase and complete suppression of diffusion in solid phase, the Scheil–Gulliver model was used. For the thermodynamic calculations, the elements Fe, C, Si, Mn, Mg and Sb were considered. The element contents were taken from the experiment of the Sb-containing melt and are given in Table 2. Figure 1 shows the calculated formation of solid phases during solidification.
The solidification starts with the formation of primary austenite at a temperature of 1173 °C followed by the eutectic solidification beginning at 1167 °C. Almost simultaneously with the eutectic growth, the formation of Mg3Sb2 starts at 1166 °C. No more Mg3Sb2 phase will be formed from about 1150 °C until the end of solidification due to a strongly decreasing Mg content in the liquid, shown in Figure 2.
Figure 3 shows the calculated development of the amounts of antimony in austenite and in the remaining liquid during solidification. From the results, it can be assumed that Sb is also solute in austenite.
For the investigation of the effect of Sb on the graphite morphology, a furan resin-based sand mold with two rectangular-shaped cavities of 60 × 60 × 25 mm size was prepared. For addition of Sb to the ductile cast iron melt, an in-mold addition process was applied, which means that into one of the cavities 1.9 g technically pure, fine-grained Sb was placed. Such a high content of Sb was chosen in order to increase the probability of detecting it in the microstructure of ductile cast iron.
Furthermore, a ductile cast iron melt was prepared. The base melt, consisting of pig iron, ductile iron returns and steel scrap, was melted in a medium frequency induction furnace with a melt capacity of 35 kg. FeSi75 and graphite were added to reach the target chemical composition. The melt was treated at 1505 °C with a Mg-containing master alloy. The composition of the master alloy was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and is given in Table 1.
An additional inoculation was not performed. The melt was cast at 1370 °C into the mold and cooled down to room temperature. The chemical composition of the ductile cast iron was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, respectively, by carrier gas hot extraction for determining the contents of carbon and sulfur.
In Table 2, the chemical compositions of the reference specimen and the Sb-containing specimen are given.
Samples of 10 × 10 × 6 mm were taken out of the geometrical center of the cast cuboids and grinded and polished. A deep-etching process using 3% HNO3 was performed to visualize the surface of graphite nodules. For microstructure investigations, light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used. Besides EDX, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) has been applied to localize the added Sb in the specimens. The Auger system consists of a scanning electron microscope modified for ultrahigh vacuum and a hemispherical electron energy analyzer (Omicron GmbH). The advantage of AES is the high spatial resolution that is of the order of the electron beam diameter in lateral direction (here a few nanometer) and 1–4 nm perpendicular to the surface. The depth resolution is determined by the inelastic mean free path of the Auger electrons which is of the order of 0.5 nm for electrons in the energy range of 50–200 eV and continuously rising up to about 4 nm for electrons from 200 to 2000 eV. Because of such a small probed volume, it is possible to detect fractions of a monolayer of an element at surfaces or interfaces. A quantitative analysis can be performed by employing the concept of sensitivity factors.7
In Figure 4, the graphite morphologies in the geometric centers of both non-etched specimens are shown. In the microstructure of the specimen SG-R in Figure 4a first indications of exploded graphite can be observed. The graphite nodule count amounts to 156 mm−2. The microstructure in Figure 4b shows, besides almost perfectly formed graphite spheroids, lamellar outgrowths from the graphite spheroids as well as intergranular flake graphite. This is a typical form of graphite degeneration caused by Sb.4 In the Sb-containing specimen SG-Sb, the graphite nodule count is 197 mm−2.
Figure 5 shows a graphite spheroid embedded in a fully ferritic matrix from the deep etched specimen SG-R. The surface can be described as a coarse and partially rugged structure.
In Figure 6, a graphite spheroid of the deep etched specimen SG-Sb is presented, which is embedded in the lamellar structure of pearlite. The pearlitic structure is caused by the high amount of Sb in ductile cast iron.
The graphite spheroid in the Sb-containing specimen is characterized by a high roundness and very smooth surface. However, lamellar graphite outgrowing from spheroids can occasionally be observed, shown in Figure 7.
Looking at the locations of Sb in the microstructure of the specimen SG-Sb, scanning electron microscopy combined with EDX and AES was used, respectively. In the microstructure of the deep etched specimen SG-Sb, small phases, characterized by bright dots, are finely distributed in the pearlitic matrix, Figure 8a. At a higher magnification in Figure 8b, different phases can be seen in the matrix. A semiquantitative EDX analysis was used for determining the compositions of the phases, listed in Table 3. The Sb-containing phases are located inside the matrix as well as at grain boundaries. Regarding the thermodynamic calculations, these might be Mg3Sb2 phases, which have been formed during solidification. The bigger angular phases in Figure 8b do not contain Sb and might be Fe3P and TiC or NbC mixed phases, respectively.
In Figure 9, a SEM–EDX mapping shows Mg, S and Sb in the center of a graphite spheroid. This indicates that beside the usual found substrates based on Mg, S, Al or Si also MgSbS-containing particles might have acted as substrates for the graphite nucleation.
We also investigated graphite spheroids’ substrates by AES. Unfortunately, substrates inside the graphite spheres are not accessible by AES because of the small escape depth of Auger electrons. Thus, we examined substrates in polished specimens, where some nucleants are excavated. Figure 10a shows an example of such a substrate surrounded by graphite. A typical Auger spectrum that has been taken from the position marked by the red square in Figure 10a is displayed in Figure 10b.
The constituents are Si, C, Sb, O, Cu, and S in order of decreasing concentration. It should be noted the carbon signal probably originates from small graphite flakes; the oxygen might be due to the etching process or is caused by contamination from the atmosphere. At different positions on the same substrate, the measured concentrations deviate significantly—an evidence of an inhomogeneous composition.
To get a contamination free surface for further investigations, one of the SG-Sb specimens was fractured inside the ultrahigh vacuum system of the AES instrument. Figure 11a shows a typical image from a fractured sample. A graphite spheroid in the lower right position and several spherical recesses where graphite spheres have been pulled out of the matrix by fracturing can be seen. The Auger signal from the graphite spheroids corresponds to clean graphite-like carbon without any other elements. The matrix consists mainly of pearlite with a carbide-like carbon Auger signal, also discernable by the lamellar structure of the matrix. Both signals are given in Figure 11b. It becomes visible, that the peak shapes of the Auger transitions are significantly different for graphite and carbide, which is in correspondence with Reference 8.
We recorded Auger spectra at several positions of the fractured surfaces, especially at the interfaces between graphite spheres and the matrix and the interface between ferrite and cementite layers of the pearlite. We have found Sb only at the spherical recesses where graphite spheroids have been removed. An AES spectrum recorded from the position marked by a rectangle in Figure 11a is shown in Figure 11c.
Three elements have been detected by AES: Fe, Sb, and C. The carbon signal is a superposition of a contribution of carbon in graphite (residual graphite from the detached sphere) and carbon in carbide (cementite), respectively. This can be concluded from the peak shapes of the Auger transitions that are different for graphite and carbide, shown in Figure 11b. After removing some material by argon ion sputtering, a pure carbide-like carbon Auger signal and iron from pearlite remain in the spectrum (not shown here). The Fe Auger intensity from the recess in Figure 11c is about a factor of two smaller than the Fe Auger intensity after removal of the Sb and the graphite-like carbon. Considering Auger electrons from Fe with 705 eV kinetic energy and exponential damping with an inelastic mean free path of 2 nm, this corresponds to a damping of the Fe Auger intensity by an about 1-nm-thick layer. In order to determine a detailed structure of the interface between the graphite spheroid and the surrounding pearlite matrix, we calculated the intensities of the Auger transitions of Fe, C, and Sb for several model systems and compared these intensities with our measurements. In these models, the graphite-like carbon should be on top due to its origin from the spheroids. We found a good agreement between the calculations and the experiment for two atomic graphite monolayers and a layer of Sb with a monoatomic height on top of pearlite. The total thickness of such a layer corresponds also quite well to the estimated thickness of the intermediate layer of about 1 nm.
For some regions where we recorded Auger spectra from the spheroids recesses, we found a slightly reduced Sb Auger intensity. This might be caused by holes in the Sb layer. Thus, we conclude that the Sb monolayers occasionally have holes where the matrix is in direct contact with the graphite spheroids.
The eutectic solidification of a near eutectic ductile iron starts with nucleation and growth of graphite. With further solidification, a growing austenite shell will surround the graphite spheroids. The carbon from the melt diffuses through the austenite shell to the graphite spheroids. Antimony seems to be involved in both crystallization processes, in nucleation as well as in growth of graphite.
From thermodynamic calculations, we know that Sb forms phases with Mg during solidification. However, in our experimental work with ductile iron Sb has been found together with Mg and with other elements like S, Si, and Cu in the matrix of ductile iron as well as in the center of graphite spheroids. Thus, Sb-containing phases might also act as substrates for graphite nucleation in addition to many other nucleation effective substrates. That effect can be substantiated by the fact that a higher count of graphite spheroids occurs in the Sb-containing ductile iron than in ductile iron without Sb. The number of the Sb-containing substrates depends on the element concentrations in the melt and on the phase formation energy. We assume that the phase formation with Sb and the formation of interface Sb layers around graphite spheroids are competing processes in Sb consumption. Accordingly, there is an interrelation between the number of graphite spheroids, graphite spheroids’ diameters and the smoothness of the graphite surface.
The mechanism of the formation of suitable substrates for graphite nucleation has often been analyzed and resulted in many different phases or phase mixtures. In our investigations using AES, the compositions of those substrates inside graphite spheroids seem to be quite inhomogeneous. For a better understanding of the efficacy and mechanism of different substrates on graphite nucleation, further research is necessary. We plan the development of a method to dissect the graphite spheroids to lay open the substrate and a laterally resolved chemical analysis of the substrates layer by layer in a depth profile.
The increased nodule count and a smaller diameter of the spheroids when Sb has been added to the melt can also be explained by a diffusion barrier formed by the Sb layer in accordance with Kovacs.5 He already assumed in 1981 that a thin layer of Sb at the interface between matrix and graphite works as a diffusion barrier for carbon during the eutectic solidification. Our Auger results confirm the presence of Sb between matrix and graphite nodules.
However, we think that the Sb layer does not inhibit but rather limits the diffusion of carbon through the Sb layer. Additionally, Sb influences the carbon integration after diffusion through the Sb layer in such a way that the spheres grow in a layer-by-layer mode. The carbon atoms are preferentially attached at step edges of the surface, and/or the growth of three-dimensional islands is suppressed which is why only two-dimensional islands nucleate at the surface. The extremely smooth surfaces of the carbon spheres in our specimens support this assumption. Furthermore, Sb and other elements from the fifth main group are well known as surfactants (surface active agents) in the literature.9,10 Surfactants are applied in homo-epitaxial as well as in hetero-epitaxial growth in vacuum on semiconductors to improve the layer-by-layer growth (Frank–van der Merwe mode). For our case, we propose the following mechanism for the Sb-mediated growth of spheroidal graphite. The accumulation of Sb at the interface between graphite spheres and the matrix is probably caused by a reduction of the interface energy by the Sb interlayer. Hence, it is clear that a continuous Sb interlayer rather than other Sb arrangements such as thicker zones of a Sb enrichment should be formed if enough Sb from the melt/austenite could be supplied. If the Sb layer covers the graphite sphere completely, a consolidated diffusion barrier is formed which reduces the further diffusion of carbon to the graphite surface. The barrier would be more perfect, the smoother the graphite surface is. Rough surfaces and even monoatomic steps would distort the Sb layer, and a distorted layer has probably a larger transmissibility for C atoms, Figure 12. The black rectangle in Figure 12 symbolizes a section of the graphite sphere. The black circles represent C atoms forming the outermost graphite layer and as constituent of the surrounding matrix/melt. The Sb layer (gray circles) covers the graphite sphere and is locally strained at the step edge of the top graphite layer. This leads to a higher transmissibility of C atoms through the Sb layer and an incorporation of the C atoms at the step edge. Thus, addition of further C atoms occurs at steps and would result in a step flow growth at the interface of graphite spheroids and the melt. Therefore, the smooth surfaces of the graphite spheroids are a result of the surfactant-mediated growth of graphite in the early stage of eutectic solidification.
The lamellar outgrowths at some of the graphite spheroids in Figure 7 seem to be inconsistent with this model of a surfactant-mediated growth. We think that in this case the otherwise continuous Sb layers are locally interrupted. This assumption is supported by the reduced Sb Auger signal in some of the recesses as mentioned before. Without the Sb layer, a diffusion barrier is locally missing and C atoms from the austenite/melt are attached to the graphite spheroids with an increased growth rate and a lamellar outgrowth can occur.
However, in Reference 11 it is shown that lamellar outgrowths have a preferred growth along the crystallographic a direction, which is different compared to the growth along the c direction of the graphite spheroids. The reason for that change of growth direction is still unknown and subject of further investigations.
The effect of Sb in ductile cast iron was investigated. From thermodynamic calculations, it could be seen that during the eutectic solidification Sb forms stable precipitations with Mg and Sb and is also solute in the matrix. For a better understanding of the effect of Sb during nucleation and growth of the graphite austenite eutectic casting, experiments with ductile iron containing no and a higher amount of Sb were carried out. In the experimental investigations, we found a higher graphite nodule count in the specimen with elevated Sb concentration. Antimony leads to a very smooth surface of the graphite spheroids and occasionally to lamellar outgrowths from graphite spheroids. We have located Sb in the matrix and in the center of the graphite spheroids as Mg- and Sb-containing phases and at the interface between graphite spheroids and the pearlitic matrix. It can be concluded that Sb forms precipitations together with Mg and other elements which may act as effective substrates for the nucleation of graphite.
A comparison of Auger data with calculations leads to the assumption that Sb forms a monolayer at the interface between graphite spheroids and matrix. Presumably, the impact of the Sb monolayer is that it acts as a diffusion barrier for carbon. Carbon atoms are attached preferentially at step edges due to local distortions in the Sb diffusion barrier resulting in a layer-by-layer growth of the graphite spheroids, which might be the reason for their very smooth surfaces. The occurrence of lamellar outgrowths has been discussed, which might be caused by a local deficiency of Sb at the interface between graphite and matrix. Here, further investigations are necessary.
W. Baer, Chunky graphite in ferritic spheroidal graphite cast iron: formation, prevention, characterization, impact on properties: an overview. Int. J. Metalcast. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40962-019-00363-8
E.N. Pan, C.N. Lin, H.S. Chiou, Effects of lead and solidification conditions on graphite structure of heavy-section DI. AFS Trans. 103, 265–273 (1995)
A. Javaid, C. Loper Jr., Production of heavy-section ductile cast iron. AFS Trans. 103, 135–150 (1995)
R.K. Buhr, The effects of Pb, Sb, Bi and Ce on microstructure of heavy section nodular iron castings. AFS Trans. 79, 247–252 (1971)
B.V. Kovacs, Pearlite stabilization in cast irons. AFS Trans. 89, 79–96 (1981)
B.C. Liu, T.X. Li, Z.J. Rue, X.Y. Yang, E.Q. Huo, C.R. Loper, The role of antimony in heavy-section ductile iron. AFS Trans. 98, 753–757 (1990)
D. Briggs, J.T. Grant, Surface Analysis by Auger and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (IM Publications and Surface Spectra Limited, Chichester, 2003). ISBN 1901019047
I.F. Ferguson, Auger Microprobe Analysis (Hilger, Bristol, 1989), pp. 55–99. ISBN 0-85274-147-2
D. Kandel, E. Kaxiras, Surfactant mediated crystal growth of semiconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 75(14), 2742–2745 (1995)
H. Matsuhata, K. Sakamoto, K. Miki, Behaviors of surfactant atoms on Si(001) surface. J. Electron Microsc. 53(4), 325–337 (2004)
B. Tonn, J. Lacaze, S. Duwe, Degenerated graphite growth in ductile iron. Mater. Sci. Forum 925, 62–69 (2018)
Open Access funding provided by Projekt DEAL. We thank Sandra Korte for performing the Auger measurements and Silke Lenk for performing the scanning electron microscopy.
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This paper is an invited submission to IJMC selected from presentations at the 2nd Carl Loper 2019 Cast Iron Symposium held September 30 to October 1, 2019, in Bilbao, Spain.
About this article
Cite this article
Dekker, L., Tonn, B. & Lilienkamp, G. Effect of Antimony on Graphite Growth in Ductile Iron. Inter Metalcast 14, 827–835 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40962-020-00434-1
- ductile cast iron
- graphite nucleation
- graphite growth
- auger electron spectroscopy


Overnight guests rushed to safety as lions slip loose from Sydney zoo enclosure
Zoo keepers tranquilised and returned one cub while the remaining four made their way back of their own accord.
On NZ farm, scientists reduce cow burps to save the world
New Zealand will become the first country to price agricultural emissions, including methane emissions from burping cows and sheep, whose digestive systems produce methane when breaking down vegetation.
NZ bans export of live animals by sea
The ban had been well flagged and comes after a ship that left its shores with nearly 6,000 cows and 43 crew members capsized in 2020 off Japan.
A visit to the zoo
While the crowds are back, Zoo Negara shows the wear and tear from the years as well as the pandemic.
Survival of the fittest for Zoo Negara
Once a major tourist attraction, the zoo appears to be back on its feet after the pandemic but still in need of a revamp.
Free caged minds and stop building more zoos
Instead of building more zoos, we should focus on improving sub-standard establishments to ensure that they meet the necessary standards of housing, husbandry, welfare and health for the animals.
Animal shelters scratch along as Covid after-effects roll on
Many can no longer afford to continue caring for the animals brought to their doorsteps.
Birds of a feather come flocking together
Parrot enthusiasts meet up to share their love for this intelligent and social bird.
Parrot lovers look beyond the cage in letting their pets fly free
For them, the term 'feathered friends' takes on a whole new meaning.
Four dead, hundreds hurt as stands collapse in Colombia bullring
A full three-story section of wooden stands filled with spectators collapsed, throwing dozens of people to the ground, according to images broadcast on social media.
Fighting rabies in Selangor together
NGOs should work with the authorities to educate the public about the dangers of rabies and to help place strays in loving homes.
African swine fever detected in over 3,000 pigs in Perak
To date, 990 pigs have been culled although authorities say that the infection will not affect the supply of pork in the state.


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domain: game


After BMW took the new generation of X6 out for a ride in the cold Sweden, it is now time for the X1 to be spied out for a spin in some heavy winter conditions also in Sweden, but in the much farther North. It appears that the X1 is […]
Post Tagged with: "F48"
BMW is preparing the launch a new era of high tech luxury car, for its segments on the go, and no matter what some may think, the car manufacturer might be a winner this year in front of Mercedes-Benz`s models. I am referring to the fresh new X1 that has […]


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Gosh, it feels so weird to be using my main laptop again, after what feels like a lifetime and more…
Dodgy keyboard though, makes me understand why I struggled to use this for a long time. But, it now means I can explore artwork ideas for my next book of poetry, so I am excited!
Nice to have a laptop with space on the hard drive.
Hopefully going to be a creative weekend.
Life is a weird journey, you learn something new every day…
Continue reading “Thursday Reflections”
Writing blog entries on my phone seems to be the easiest way these days. I’m not complaining…
Continue reading “Inspiration Wednesday”
Inspiration comes in the form of many different things. A feeling you can’t quite describe in enough words, but you still try.
Continue reading “Bubble Of Creative Thought”
Hello, good evening and this is another post from yours truly.
Continue reading “Writer Problems”
It’s Friday and the 13th, which doesn’t occur too often in the year…
However, it was quite a still day, but the mind never stops thinking and analyzing.
Continue reading “Friday Thoughts”
You know it’s been a wonderful day when you’re exhausted, but happy.
Heart is full of gratitude and love for the ones in my life. Blessed in many ways, and I’m beginning to write more as well, which is truly a nice feeling too.
Continue reading “Motivating Thursday”
That feeling when you know what to write about, but you have no idea how to articulate it…
Continue reading “Inspired But Still Lost For Words”
Life has an interesting way of getting your attention. Whether that’s good or bad, I’m not sure. But, I’ll survive…
Continue reading “Bittersweet Monday”
Despite the quirks of today, I feel grateful in many ways…
Continue reading “Gratitude For Peace Of Mind”

domain: hobby


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I considered bidding on some of these eggs the last time he had them I contacted him via email to get more information he literally copied the information from the ad and sent it to me. His flock is totally mixed I dont care for that. I will continue to look for the careful breeders.
Ahhh, yeah...YOU CAN'T GET A BLUE COPPER FROM TWO BLACK PARENTS. It is not possible. black x black = black. In order to get blue, you have to have a blue or splash parent.
8s on a color chart? In your dreams honey...
I wouldn't buy a single egg from one of these ovabid or ebay people without an egg chart next to the eggs they are selling. There are a few good ones out there and the majority don't give a hoot about the breed. They are just trying to make a buck.
I truly believe these people that think they have the 7-9s out of any marans, let alone blue coppers are suffering from Wishful Thinking Syndrome. Oh, I know there are a few poeple out there that can get 7s pretty regularly from some of the black copper lines, but the 8-9s, not likely. And if they are getting them, they sure as heck are not selling them. You can bet your bootie on that one.
You are much better waiting to get on a list from a good breeder that actually cares about the qualities you are looking for.
As an example, I waited, and here are my blue coppers from the last few days against some cochin and buff rocks. The one on the left is a 5, the rest are 4s. I am happy with those and will be able to increase our little flock with that level of color.
Kris is right. I just bought some copper blue Marans eggs on ebay. I am throwing them away. Literally. They were 1s and 2s and some were the size of bantam eggs. I know of 2 good sellers on ebay. Don't risk it. Not money well spent.


The Congress government in Chhattisgarh has recently arrested a man over a social media post. Mangelal Agrawal of Musra Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon was arrested after he had shared a video which claimed that the Bhupesh Baghel government’s nexus with inverter manufacturing companies is the reason behind the rampant power cuts in Chhattisgarh.
Bhupesh Baghel’s government was so disturbed by the social media post that they had proceeded to level sedition charges on Agarwal.
The news of a man being arrested over a social media post and being charged with sedition created an uproar all over. Chhattisgarh’s Congress government, however, seems hell-bent on keeping dissenting voices muzzled.
Journalist Manak Gupta had shared a Tweet, where he had stated that after widespread outrage, the sedition charges against Agarwal have been dropped but Agarwal’s post is an allegation, not a rumour. Sharing another tweet, he had stated that when the people of Chhattisgarh are suffering due to the frequent power cuts, the government is arresting people for even complaining about it. Gupta had demanded Agarwal’s immediate release.
However, the Congress, who was till last week, whining over some journalist being arrested by the Yogi government in UP, has proceeded to tag Manak Gupta’s employers, News 24, and has attempted to brazen out the arrest of a man over a social media post.
Perhaps in an attempt to bully Gupta over his question to the Bhupesh Baghel government, the official handle of Chhattisgarh Congress had asked tagging his employers whether they endorse Gupta’s opinion.
.@news24tvchannel चैनल से अनुरोध है कि वह तत्काल स्पष्ट करे कि उनके एंकर @manakgupta द्वारा फैलाये जा रहे झूठ पर चैनल का क्या रुख है?
क्या यह चैनल का विचार है या एंकर का निजी विचार?
क्या इस ट्वीट को चैनल की सहमति पर झूठ फैलाने जैसे नजरिये से भी देखना उचित रहेगा? https://t.co/17ktE89Mz1
— INC Chhattisgarh (@INCChhattisgarh) June 15, 2019
The Congress official handle has also asked whether Gupta’s tweet can be seen as the Channel is agreeing to spread lies.
It is a remarkable level of brazenness and hypocrisy displayed by a party whose president had made grandiose statements and condemned the UP government for arresting a journalist for spreading fake news and a couple of persons for running an unlicensed news channel without any official permit just days ago.
If every journalist who files a false report or peddles fake, vicious RSS/BJP sponsored propaganda about me is put in jail, most newspapers/ news channels would face a severe staff shortage.
The UP CM is behaving foolishly & needs to release the arrested journalists. https://t.co/KtHXUXbgKS
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 11, 2019
It seems Congress is oblivious and even defensive about the rights of people’s freedom of expression being trampled over in states where they are in power. Congress and Rahul Gandhi have not uttered a word against journalists and common people being arrested in states ruled by them. Worse, they seem to take the right of free speech only as a political tool and speak about it only when it is seemingly infringed in a state that is ruled by BJP.


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I've been a fan of Australian artist Lara Cameron's designs since Walter discovered her moo cards awhile back. Her use of color and composition immediately caught my fancy. Lara's designs have given us memorable business, greeting, and holiday cards that garner many compliments. Our love of these cards led us to discover her fun personal blog which in turn led me to her business and products, which are so great I must share them.
Lara creates whimsical patterns which she applies to textiles and stationery. Her blogs contain truly creative uses for her beautiful products, like these tissue box covers. Plus, the images of the screenprinting process she uses on her fabrics have gotten me really excited for the binding and printmaking class I begin in January.
Lara now has an online shop where you can buy items from her business, Ink & Spindle. These would make excellent gifts (just a hint I thought I'd throw out there, since my birthday IS coming up soon). If you enjoy Lara's work, be sure to check out the Ink & Spindle blog. I'm really looking forward to her 2009 releases. Here's a sneak peak of a design she calls antique keys, which she promises will be out forthwith:

domain: design


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Substrate tailored coatings
A class of protected coatings for superalloys is described in which the coatings compositions are based on the compositions of the underlying substrate. By tailoring the coatings to the substrate composition, diffusional stability results and the other mechanical properties of the coating such as coefficient of thermal expansion and modulus, are similar to that of the substrate. The coating contains 7.5-11% Al, 9-16% Cr, 0.1-0.5% Hf, 2-8% Ta, 0.01-0.8% Y, balance Ni along with other elements all chosen to be similar in type and quantity to the substrate composition.
Latest United Technologies Corporation Patents:
This invention relates to the field of protective overlay coatings for superalloy articles.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A primary problem which must be addressed in order to improve the performance and longevity of gas turbine engines is that of oxidation of the high temperature turbine components. The structural superalloy materials employed for gas turbine components have some degree of inherent oxidation resistance, however, the compositional compromises necessary to achieve the ultimate in mechanical properties generally result in the reduction of the materials' oxidation resistance to below that which is required for long-term use. In addition, the trend in gas turbine engines is always towards increasing temperatures to improve performance and efficiency. The oxidation rate of materials increases dramatically with increasing temperature.
For these reasons, for at least twenty years it has been customary to use protective coatings on gas turbine engine components. Such coatings are two general types, the aluminide type and the overlay type. Aluminide-type coatings are produced by diffusing aluminum into the surface of the component at elevated temperature in order to provide an aluminum rich surface zone which increases the material's oxidation resistance by providing sufficient aluminum to develop a protective alumina scale and providing sufficient aluminum to reform this scale as it spalls from the surface under use conditions. The aluminide-type coatings are generally quite thin and are life limited by the further diffusion of the aluminum into the component and by spallation of the aluminum oxide surface scale, both of which ultimately reduce the surface aluminum level to below the level which will form an alumina surface scale. However, such coatings are desirable for high performance engines inasmuch as the components coated with aluminide coatings are found to have substantially enhanced resistance to thermal fatigue when compared with overlay coated parts.
Overlay-type coatings consist of a discrete layer of an oxidation resistance alloy which is deposited on the surface of the component by means which include, for example, vapor deposition or plasma spraying. Overlay coatings are generally developed to be inherently oxidation resistant but they are developed in large measure without much consideration of the substrate to which they are to be applied. Thus, for example, a single overlay coating composition may be applied to many different composition substrates. Of course, such overlay coatings are optimized for oxidation resistance by more or less trial and error approach in which coated samples are tested and the coating then modified and retested. However, such trial and error techniques start from an arbitrary oxidation resistant material baseline rather than from the substrate composition.DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to describe techniques which can be used to develop substrates specific protective coatings by starting with the substrate composition and modifying it to improve its oxidation resistance without significantly reducing its other important properties.
It is another object of this invention to describe coated articles in which the substrate composition is highly similar to the coating composition.
These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are accomplished by the present invention.
Basically, a substrate composition is modified to arrive at the coating composition by increasing the aluminum contents somewhat, maintaining the chromium content at a level sufficient to guarantee the formation of an alumina surface layer, reducing the molybdenum and tungsten where present and substituting for them tantalum, and adding the elements yttrium, hafnium, and optionally silicon. The resultant coating has a microstructure which is similar to that of the substrate, in contrast to the microstructure of prior art overlay coatings which have had a variety of phases in the coating not found in the substrate.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the best mode for carrying out the invention and the accompanying drawings.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a photomicrograph showing a superalloy substrate having an invention overlay coating before high temperature exposure;
FIG. 2 shows the coated article of FIG. 1 after a 100 hour exposure at 2100.degree. F; andBEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, coatings can be designed which are effective in protecting substrates and which are based on and derived from the substrate composition.
The microstructure of superalloys of commercial interest consists essentially of a gamma (nickel solid solution) matrix containing strengthening gamma prime precipitates (based on the phase Ni.sub.3 Al) A broad composition range which encompasses such commercial alloys is presented below in Table I.
TABLE I ______________________________________ (Wt. Percent) ______________________________________ Al 3-7 Ti 0.5-5 Cr 5-18 Co 0-20 Mo 0-7 W 0-14 Ta 0-14 Cb 0-4 V 0-2 Re 0-4 Hf 0-0.1 Y 0-0.2 C 0-0.2 B 0-0.02 Zr 0-0.5 Ni bal ______________________________________
Of course, Table I covers many superalloy compositions and those skilled in the art will be able to determine those compositions which are of particular utility for their applications. It is also known from copending U.S. application Ser. No. 565,492, to incorporate controlled amounts of certain minor elements in structural superalloy materials for the purposes of improving their oxidation resistance.
The coating which will be found to provide highly useful protection for such a substrate will microstructurally consist of at least 90 volume percent of the gamma and gamma prime phases and contain less than 10% by the volume of other phases such as the beta (NiAl) phase. This substantial microstructural similarity between the substrate and the coating goes a long way toward rendering the mechanical properties of the coating similar to the mechanical properties of the substrate, thereby reducing thermomechanically induced damage during service. It is preferred that the volume fraction of the gamma prime phase in the coating be similar to that of the substrate, although the aspects of the coating composition which will be subsequently described which involves increasing the the aluminum content will generally result in the coating having a gamma prime volume fraction which is somewhat greater than that of the substrate.
The desired coating composition is arrived at from the substrate composition by increasing the aluminum content sufficiently to insure that the oxide layer or scale which results in service, is alumina. In practice it will be found that aluminum content of from about 7.5 to 11 wt. % in the coating will provide this desired result. Less aluminum may not produce alumina scales, more aluminum will result in the formation of undesirable extraneous phases in the microstructure. Those skilled in the art know quite well that the nature of the oxide layer is determined not only by the aluminum content but also by the chromium content and for this reason it is preferred that the coating contain from about 9 to about 16 wt.% chromium.
Commercial structural superalloys are strengthened not only by the gamma prime phase but by additions of refractory metals which include tantalum, tungsten, molybdenum, rhenium and columbium. It is desirable that the coating be as similar as possible to the substrate composition but a variety of effects interfere with this goal. In particular, molybdenum and tungsten have both been found to have deleterious effects on the oxidation performance of superalloys. Consequently, even though some alloys may contain as much as 10 or 12 wt. % of these elements, it is desirable that in the coating composition they be limited to a maximum of about 4 wt. % each, and preferably a maximum of about 3 wt. % each. Reducing these elements in the coating composition will reduce its strength and thereby render it perhaps more susceptible to various coating performance problems which are related to mechanical properties. For this reasons, the molybdenum and tungsten can be replaced in whole or in part by tantalum which is found to have a beneficial effect on oxidation performance and will also provide a substantial strengthening effect. The tantalum content in this coating composition will range from 2 to 8 wt. %. When the molybdenum and tungsten levels are reduced it is desirable that the tantalum substitution be performed on an essentially equiatomic basis. Tantalum and tungsten (and also rhenium) have atomic weights of about 180 while molybdenum and columbium have atomic weights of about 90. In order to compare the atomic percentages of the various refractory constituents, one can multiply the tantalum, tungsten and rhenium contents by half. Thus, for example, a substrate containing 3 wt. % tantalum, 9 wt. % tungsten, 1 wt. % molybdenum would have its tantalum and tungsten content multiplied by one half and its molybdenum content multiplied by one in order to arrive at a comparative number 7 and this number could then be compared with that of a coating containing 6 wt. % tantalum which would have an effective number of 3. Thus, the coating in this case would have 43% of the atomic percentage of refractory metals when compared with the substrate. It is preferred that on an atomic basis that the coating contain at least 30% of the refractory composition of the substrate and preferably at least 40%.
The refractory metals include tantalum, tungsten, molybdenum, rhenium and columbium and the previously mentioned number of 30% and preferably 40% should be applied to the total of the tantalum, tungsten, molybdenum, rhenium and columbium in the substrate and in the coating. Since only tungsten and molybdenum are known to be detrimental to oxidation resistance it is possible to substitute for some tungsten and molybdenum by increasing the rhenium and columbium levels as well as the previously mentioned increase in tantalum, but increasing the tantalum level is the preferred approach.
Other major elements found in commercial superalloys are titanium and cobalt. Titanium has been occasionally observed to have a somewhat detrimental effect on oxidation resistance and it is therefore preferred that the titanium content in the coating be reduced relative to that in the substrate; in most cases complete elimination of titanium will be found to be most desirable. Preferably, the titanium content in the coating should be less than 50% of that in the substrate. On the other hand, cobalt basically has very little effect on the oxidation performance of the coating material and consequently it may be present in an amount up to 125% of that of the substrate composition meaning that if the substrate contains 10 wt. % cobalt the coating could contain anywhere from 0 to 121/2 wt. % cobalt according to the teachings of the present invention.
The commercial overlay coatings are generically referred to as MCrAlY coatings in which M may be nickel, cobalt or iron and mixtures of nickel and cobalt, Cr is chromium, Co is cobalt, and Y IS yttrium. Yttrium is present in amounts on the order of 1/2 to 1 wt. % but has a powerful effect on the oxidation resistance of the material. In some fashion, the yttrium acts to render the oxide scale which forms on the coating material very adherent to the coating material thereby substantially reducing spallation. A variety of elements, sometimes referred to as oxygen active elements, have been proposed to replace or supplement the yttrium content. These include lanthanum and cerium for replacement of yttrium and hafnium and silicon to supplement the yttrium. Other patents which relate to the concept of oxygen active elements in overlay coatings include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,419,416; 4,086,391 and 4,034,142, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Such oxygen active elements are essential to the success of the present invention and--yttrium is added in amounts of from 0.01 to 0.8% by weight, hafnium is added in amounts of 0.01 to 0.5% by weight, zirconium may be added in amounts of up to 0.5% by weight, and silicon may be added in an amount of up to 2% by weight. The yttrium and hafnium act to improve the adherence of the oxide layer while the silicon apparently acts by modifying the oxide layer so as to render it more resistant to the diffusion of oxygen.
There are several other minor elements which are commonly added to superalloy articles, particularly the polycrystalline superalloy articles. These elements are carbon, boron and occasionally vanadium. Carbon and boron (as well as zirconium) are commonly added to polycrystalline superalloy articles for the purposes of enhancing grain boundary ductility. These elements apparently have a somewhat detrimental effect on oxidation resistance and they are generally not favored for addition to coatings according to the present invention. Vanadium is added to certain superalloys for the purposes of improving mechanical properties such as tensile strength and since it has been found to have an adverse effect on oxidation, no intentional additions of vanadium are made to the present invention.
A primary benefit of the present invention which has not been fully discussed heretofore is the improvement in diffusional stability exhibited by the invention. Those skilled in the metallurgy art appreciate that when different compositions of materials are joined together and then heated to elevated temperatures, diffusion occurs between the two articles. The driving force for such diffusion is the difference in composition. In the case of overlay coatings, where the inherent oxidation resistance of the coating is the result of the alumina layer scale which forms in service, the coating can degrade from two basic mechanisms. The first is the perhaps obvious external mechanism of scale spallation. Since the scale is based on Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, every time the scale spalls, a certain quantity of aluminum is lost from the surface layer. Eventually, through this mechanism, the aluminum content of the surface composition of the coated article will drop below that necessary to produce an aluminum oxide layer. When this happens, other complex compounds such as spinels form and subsequent oxidation is extremely rapid, if not catastrophic.
The internal coating degradation mechanism involves diffusion of materials either from the substrate into the coating or from the coating into the substrate. In the first instance, for example, molybdenum and/or tungsten in the underlying substrate can diffuse into the surface of the coating and thereby interfere with the formation of protective scales. In the latter instance, an essential element from the coating such as chromium or aluminum, can diffuse into the substrate thereby eventually depleting the surface layer of chromium and/or aluminum so that the scale which forms on the outer surface of the coated article is no longer alumina. It is this latter internal mechanism which is addressed by tailoring the substrate and coating compositions to each other.
The depth of interdiffusion between the coating and the substrate can be evaluated by optical microstructural evaluation. This is done by observing what is referred to as the diffusion zone between the substrate and the coating and this zone is delineated by a change in the phases present.
The various substrate and coating compositions discussed below are presented in Table II. FIG. 1 shows an optical photomicrograph of as-processed superalloy substrate having thereon an MCrAlY coating according to the invention. A slight interdiffusion zone (approximately 10 microns) can be seen, the result of coating-substrate interaction during the elevated temperature deposition process and a 1975.degree. F./4 hour heat treatment which is a conventional heat treatment used to improve the adherence of the coating to the substrate.
FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the invention coated substrate after 100 hours of exposure at 2200.degree. F. The width of the interdiffusion zone is seen to be only slightly greater (approximately 15 microns) than that of the FIG. 1 diffusion zone. Table II also describes another substrate/coating combination according to the invention. This combination showed an approximately 15 micron diffusion zone before testing and about 20 microns after 100 hours at 2100.degree. F.
This is in contrast to a conventional substrate/coating combination which went from a 15 micron diffusion zone at the start to a 90 micron diffusion zone--if tested at 2200 F. it is estimated that the diffusion zone would have consumed the entire coating after 100 hours at 2200.degree. F.
Thus it can be seen that the coating illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, which was based on the substance composition, was substantially more diffusion resistant than the arbitrarily developed prior art coating composition.
TABLE II ______________________________________ (Invention) (Prior Art) FIGS. 1 & 2 Coat- Coat- (Invention) ing ing Substrate Coating Substrate (Wt. Substrate (Wt. (Wt. %) (Wt. %) (Wt. %) %) (Wt. %) %) ______________________________________ Cr 10 12 9 9.2 9 18 Co 5 -- 5 -- 10 23 W 4 4 9 -- 12 -- Cb -- -- -- -- 1 -- Ta 12 3 3 6.3 -- -- Mo -- -- 1 -- -- -- Ti 1.5 -- 1.5 -- 2 -- Al 5 8 7 9.8 5 12.5 B -- -- -- -- 0.015 -- Hf -- 0.3 -- 0.27 2 -- Y -- 0.3 -- 0.21 -- 0.3 Ni Bal Bal Bal Bal Bal Bal ______________________________________
Because of the similarity of the coating and substrate compositions, the mechanical properties are also well matched. Thus, for example, in a thermal fatigue test in which the onset of coating failure in a conventional overlay coated substrate is observed after 6000 cycles, a variety of substrate tailored coatings developed according to the present invention does not show signs of failure until experiencing between 7000 and 11,000 cycles.
In terms of oxidation resistance, the previously mentioned diffusion tests are a good predictor of oxidation resistance; the negligible diffusion zone shown in FIG. 2 indicates that the alloy remains able to form the necessary protective alumina scale. In fact, whereas a conventional overlay coating when tested at 2100.degree. F. has a life of about 300 hours, the coating according to the present invention was tested for over 800 hours at a higher temperature of 2200.degree. F. without displaying any signs of incipient failure.
Although this invention has been shown and described with respect to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in this art that various changes in form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention.
1. An oxidation resistant article which comprises:
- a superalloy substrate, having a microstructure which consists essentially of a gamma phase matrix containing gamma prime precipitates, consisting of (by wt.) 3-7% Al, 0.5-5% Ti, 5-18% Cr, 0-20% Co, 0-7% Mo, 0-14% W, 0-10% Ta, 0-4% Cb, 0-2% V, 0-4% Re, 0-0.1% Hf, 0-0.2% Y, 0-0.2% C, 0-0.02% B, 0-0.2% Zr, balance essentially Ni;
- a coating on said substrate, said coating being derived from and being compositionally similar to said substrate, said coating having a microstructure which contains at least 90% by volume of the gamma and gamma prime phases, consisting of (by wt.) 7.5-11% Al, 9-16% Cr, less than 4% Mo, less than 4% W, 2-8% Ta, (said tantalum being added as an equiatomic replacement for at least some of said W and Mo when these elements are present in quantities of more than about 4), 0-3% Re, 0-4% Cb, with the atomic percent of Ta+W+Mo+Re+Cb, the coating being at least 30% of the atomic percent of the Ta+W+Mo+Re+Cb in the substrate, 0.01-0.8% Y, 0.1-0.5% Hf, 0-2% Si, with no intentional additions of V, C, B or Zr, and containing Ti, in an amount less than the Ti content of the substrate composition, and the element Co in an amount up to 125% of the substrate composition, balance essentially Ni;
- said coating developing a stable alumina scale upon exposure to elevated temperature oxidizing conditions, and said coating and said substrate being diffusionally stable and having similar coefficients of thermal expansion so that said coated article is adapted to resist oxidation and thermal fatigue for extended periods.
2. An article as in claim 1 in which the Mo and W levels in the coating are each less than 3% by weight.
3. An article as in claim 1 in which all of the elements in the coating (except for Hf, Y, Si) are present in the substrate.
4. An article as in claim 1 in which the Ti content is less than 50% of the substrate Ti content.
|3928026||December 1975||Hecht et al.|
|4124737||November 7, 1978||Wolfla et al.|
|4152488||May 1, 1979||Schulke et al.|
|4198442||April 15, 1980||Gupta et al.|
|4313760||February 2, 1982||Dardi et al.|
|4339509||July 13, 1982||Dardi et al.|
|4419416||December 6, 1983||Gupta et al.|
|4447503||May 8, 1984||Dardi et al.|
|4451431||May 29, 1984||Naik|
|4512817||April 23, 1985||Duhl et al.|
|4546052||October 8, 1985||Nicoll|
Filed: Dec 22, 1987
Date of Patent: Jul 19, 1988
Assignee: United Technologies Corporation (Hartford, CT)
Inventors: Ralph J. Hecht (North Palm Beach, FL), Abdus S. Khan (Palm Beach Gardens, FL), Richard H. Barkalow (Palm Beach Shores, FL)
Primary Examiner: John J. Zimmerman
Application Number: 6/139,101

domain: chemistry


By Vamien McKalin | Oct 16, 2012 10:19 AM EDT
Microsoft is showing who is boss by dropping the Thor-like ban hammer on those unlucky few who were crazy enough to bring an illegal copy of Halo 4 on Xbox Live. The culprits were handed a heavy blow, one they can never rise from since this ban is permanent.
They are multiple reports from several Web sites on 343 Industries' response to those who tried to play Halo 4 multiplayer on Xbox Live. According to a Microsoft spokesperson:
"We have seen the reports of 'Halo 4' content being propped on the Web and are working closely with our security teams and law enforcement to address the situation,"
Soon after, Xbox 360 users began to come forward with sad tales of their accounts being banned from Xbox Live for good. The message they got was from the LIVE Enforcement Team regarding their attempt to play Halo 4 multiplayer. How sad it is for these gamers who might have spent years building their Xbox Live status into something god-like with high Gamerscores, and enough achievements unlocked to make even the most hardcore of Xbox 360 fanboy scream with jealousy.
Those who tried to play Halo 4 multiplayer on Xbox Live are crazy, and they also deserve what happened to them. Playing the single-player version of a game that hasn't been released yet is bad enough, but attempting to play the same game online is just pure madness. What did they expect was going to happen?
If you are patiently waiting for Halo 4 to hit store shelves on Nov. 6, please continue to do so and stay clear of the leaked version and the spoilers if you can control the urge to restrict yourself.
However, if for some strange reason you choose to step into murky waters and play the leaked version of Halo 4, don't go online with the game. It's Common Sense 101.
© 2013 Mobile & Apps All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.


text:
Ontario’s hospitals can’t keep up with rising hydro costs as funding increases have stalled over four consecutive years, says the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA).
Shabnum Durrani, director of public affairs with the OHA, said in an email that hospital funding in the province hasn’t kept pace with the rising costs of energy, salaries and new regulations.
“In Ontario, hydro costs have grown significantly, putting extensive pressure on a sector that is already under strain as a result of a growing and aging population with more complex health needs,” she said.
Per capita funding for hospitals in Ontario is the second lowest in the country and it has the fewest beds per capita in the country, according to the OHA.
As electricity rates rise, hospitals will have less money to spend on frontline care.
“To ensure that Ontario’s health care system remains sustainable, ongoing investments that reflect the true costs of delivering care in hospitals is needed in the future to ensure that patients have access to the same quality of care in hospitals that they have come to expect,” Durrani said.
Christine Van Geyn, Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said regular people in the province have seen their hydro rates doubling over the last 10 years, but don’t necessarily recognize the impact it’s having on the quality of care they’re getting at the hospital.
Through Freedom of Information requests the federation discovered that Ontario hospitals’ electricity bills have soared over the last five years.
Since 2012, the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital’s electricity costs have increased by 75 per cent to $1.36 million per year.
London Health Sciences’ electricity bill has increased 35 per cent since 2012 to $9.24 million while Woodstock Hospital’s bill has increased 60 per cent to $1.65 million.
Van Geyn said she believes it’s not the hospital’s problem, but the government’s problem that has forced the hospitals to spend precious dollars on electricity instead of patient care.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is a not-for-profit citizens group dedicated to lowering taxes across the country.
Hospital electricity rate increases over five years
St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital - $779,835 to $1.36 million
London Health Sciences (University Hospital and Victoria Hospital) - $6.87 million to $9.24 million
Woodstock Hospital - $1.03 million to $1.65 million
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domain: finance


text:
Eosinophil cationic protein in Henoch-Schönlein purpura and in IgA nephropathy
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In order to identify the relationship between eosinophil activation in Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) and IgA nephropathy, serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) was analyzed in both conditions. The soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) was also analyzed. The levels of ECP were significantly higher in HSP patients (mean 9.7±1.8 μg/l) than in a control group (mean 4.6±0.7 μg/l). When the HSP patients were classified into two groups, one with normal urine and one with abnormal urine, the latter showed higher levels of ECP than the former. Levels of ECP were not significantly higher in IgA nephropathy patients than in a control group. The sIL-2R levels were elevated in the serum of HSP and IgA nephropathy patients compared with controls. In conclusion, eosinophil activation may be involved in the pathogenesis of HSP but not in IgA nephropathy.
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text:
How Language Began: The Story of Humanity’s Greatest Invention, by Daniel L. Everett
Do you like fairy tales? I do too, but it is perhaps better if people are aware that they are writing fairy tales and not possessed of the belief that they actually know what they are talking about. This author manages to accomplish something that I view as very difficult to manage, and that is making me agree at least somewhat with Noam Chomsky, whose belief in innate language structures this author mercilessly and unsuccessfully attempts to skewer throughout the book. Indeed, the author seems to believe that his speculations about prehistory and his dogmatic opinions about human evolution amount to indisputable scientific truth, which makes him somewhat entertaining to read if you view this properly as a fictional and speculative account and somewhat less enjoyable if you only value books for their factual value. On the one hand, the author’s idea that human language and speech began with grammarless languages in the early mists of prehistory going back to homo erectus is somewhat interesting of an idea, and the author’s interest in obscure Amazonian languages does give him at least some comparative linguistics interests to use in imagining a fairytale of early human language acquisition in the absence of linguistic artifacts that could verify such a story.
This book is about 300 pages long and is divided into 4 parts and 12 chapters. The author begins with a list of figures, acknowledgments, and a preface and introduction. After that the author spends four chapters discussing the first hominins (I), with chapters on the rise of early humans (1), fossil hunters (2) and their fossil hunting and occasional controversies, then the departure of the early humans from Africa (3), and the way that everyone speaks languages of signs (4). After that the author discusses biological adaptations for language (II), including how humans got a bigger brain (5), what it is about the brain that makes language possible without the author believing in language-specific parts of the brain (6), what happens when the brain goes wrong (7), and a discussion of talking with tongues (8). After that the author discusses the speculative evolution of language form (III), with chapters on the development of grammar (9), how one talks with one’s hands in addition to or in place of spoken language (10), as well as the way that languages are “just good enough” to convey what the speaker is thinking or feeling (11). After that the fourth section of the book discusses the supposed cultural evolution of language (IV) with a chapter on communities and communication and the cultural context of language (12), after which the book ends with a conclusion, suggestions for further reading, notes, and an index.
Whether or not you enjoy this book will depend a great deal on your fondness for naturalistic imaginative works. This book is clearly not on as sound an empirical bias as the author believes it to be, and while I have no trouble seeing the author’s creative writing as a novella about the past that one can take or leave depending on how it matches with one’s own religious and scientific worldview, it is clear that the author has very passionate ideas that he wishes to promote but which he cannot always defend very ably. In some cases the author’s strident tone detracted from the enjoyment of the fairy tale I was reading, because it was clear that the author took his own writing far more seriously and far more literally than it was possible for me to take it. Again, if your beliefs are similar to the author’s you may find this book to be quite interesting and even persuasive, but if your worldview differs drastically, then it is best to view this book as a diverting fictional speculation about paleolinguistics from the point of view of someone who does not know as much about what he is writing about than he thinks he does, a common affliction among those who write about subjects relating to the origin of man.

domain: library


The currency of the world’s biggest energy exporter is finally doing what it’s supposed to be doing: rallying with the price of oil.
The ruble was the biggest gainer in the world on Thursday as it played catch-up with Brent crude’s surge above $77 a barrel following a national holiday. Oil had lost so much force as a driver for the currency that the 60-day correlation between the two assets has dropped to almost zero.
Thursday’s rally doesn’t necessarily mean the historic bond between the ruble and oil is making a more permanent come-back though. Investors are still wary of piling back into the ruble after being caught out holding overweight positions when the U.S. extended sanctions last month, and a recent rally in the dollar is keeping all developing-nation currencies in check.
Russia’s government also has a policy of buying foreign currency for its sovereign wealth fund when oil is above $40, which shields the exchange rate from excessive strength.
Yerlan Syzdykov, co-head of EM fixed income at Amundi SA, said in a research note last week that while fundamentals “look solid” for the ruble, it will remain a shock absorber of political risk, putting fair value at 61-62 versus the dollar. Thursday’s 2.3 percent jump took the currency to 61.75.
“We are witnessing a modest respite for emerging currencies following the recent rout,” Piotr Matys, a strategist at Rabobank in London, said on Thursday. “The ruble and its EM peers should struggle to regain their bullish momentum.”
— With assistance by Dina Khrennikova, Ksenia Galouchko, and Paul Abelsky


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Quite a few countries fertility rates are now barely sufficient to replace the population. As a result, many will have a population structure older. Many countries low fertility rates mean they are on course for a shrinking labour supply.
The implications of falling fertility rates have been recognised for some time by the United Nations Population Department (UNPD). The consequences of a country’s ageing demographic is not confined to the developed world.
Unless there is a wholesale revival in growth dynamics – and we would argue that that is now well- nigh impossible in the developed countries for policy, debt and falling fertility – the demographic time bomb, which is the ageing of developed countries with unfunded benefit and pension programmes, is going to go off within the next few years. Look into demographics before investing. Read on:
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