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The early human societies living on the Planet had to store food between harvests and keep accounts, which laid the foundations for banking and finance, but if they exhausted the fertility of their soil they either withered away or conquered other lands. Religions played an important part in controlling the societies but there were many wars as empires waxed and waned. Seen in a historical setting, the Oil Age, which opened only about 150 years ago, is an exceptional epoch when energy from petroleum fuelled the rapid expansion of industry, transport, trade and agriculture, allowing the human population to grow six-fold in parallel. But oil and gas are finite resources subject to depletion, meaning that the rising production of the past will be matched by a corresponding decline in the future. The status of depletion is hard to estimate as public data are unreliable but the evidence suggests that the Second Half of the Oil Age dawns. The transition threatens to be a time of great tension, especially in the oil-rich Middle East, but there is much that can be done to plan and prepare for the changed circumstances, once people and their governments come to understand that depletion is imposed by Nature.

Two independent experiments that demonstrate memories for single quantum excitations with storage times on the order of a millisecond—two orders of magnitude longer than reported so far—should help to bring practical long-distance quantum-communication networks a step closer. Quantum memories for the storage and retrieval of quantum information are extremely sensitive to environmental influences, which limits their storage times. The ground states of atoms and ions are potential candidates for quantum memories, but although coherence times of the order of a few seconds for atoms1,2 and hundreds of seconds for ions3,4,5 have been demonstrated, long-lived storage and retrieval of single quantum excitations remains an outstanding challenge. Here, we report a quantum memory using the magnetically insensitive clock transition in atomic rubidium confined in a one-dimensional optical lattice. We observe quantum memory lifetimes exceeding 6 ms, more than two orders of magnitude longer than previously reported6. This advance is an important step towards the realization of long-distance quantum networks and the controlled production of complex entangled states of matter and light.

SUMMARY Ranitidine bismuth citrate is a novel compound formed from ranitidine and a bismuth citrate complex. In conscious dogs, ranitidine bismuth citrate had similar activity to ranitidine hydrochloride as an inhibitor of histamine-induced gastric acid secretion when oral doses containing equivalent amounts of ranitidine base (0.1 or 0.3 mg/kg) were compared. In the rat, ranitidine bismuth citrate (3–30 mg/kg p.o.) prevented gastric mucosal damage induced by ethanol (fundic damage) and indomethacin (antral damage). Ranitidine hydrochloride and tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate were also effective against indomethacin induced damage, but were both significantly less potent than ranitidine bismuth citrate in this model. Ranitidine hydrochloride was inactive against ethanol-induced damage. In vitro, ranitidine bismuth citrate (1 mmol/L) inhibited human pepsin isoenzymes 1, 2, 3 and 5. Pepsin 1 was inhibited to a similar extent by ranitidine bismuth citrate, bismuth citrate and tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate at concentrations equivalent to 1 mmol/L bismuth, but ranitidine (1 mmol/L) was inactive. Ranitidine bismuth citrate was more potent than tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate as an inhibitor of pepsins 2, 3 and 5. Ranitidine bismuth citrate inhibited both Helicobacter pylori (effective concentration 4–32, μg bismuth/ml) and H. mustelae (1–4,μg bismuth/ml); similar results were obtained with tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate. Bismuth citrate was slightly less effective, and ranitidine hydrochloride was inactive (> 125, μg/ml). In ferrets naturally colonized with H. mustelae, oral treatment with ranitidine bismuth citrate, 12 or 24 mg/kg twice daily for 4 weeks, caused a dose related clearance of H. mustelae. Qualitatively similar results were obtained in a small study with tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate and bismuth citrate.

When we call oil and gas fossil fuels, we admit that they were formed in the geological past and are therefore subject to depletion. Oil provides 40% of traded energy, 90% of transport fuel, and is critical for agriculture. The oil industry has great knowledge and experience. It has searched the world with sophisticated technology, always looking for the biggest and best prospects. Extrapolation of the discovery trend of the past, therefore, offers the best means of forecasting future discovery and production. Since oil has to be found before it can be produced, it follows that production has to mirror discovery after a time-lag. World discovery on this basis peaked in 1964, meaning that the corresponding peak of production is now imminent. The consensus of published reports of the total endowment of ‘conventional oil’ is just under 2000 × 109 barrels. To this has to be added bitumen, heavy oils, deepwater oil, polar oil and natural gas liquids, bringing the total to about 2700 × 109bbl: Experience to-date shows that the peak in any country comes at, or before, the midpoint of depletion, which respects both the physics of the reservoir and the fact that most of the oil in any country occurs in a few large fields. Accordingly, we can expect global peak to come around 2010, followed not long afterwards by the peak or plateau of gas. The world must now prepare for the transition to declining oil and gas supply. Market economics that inevitably encourage rapid depletion have done immense damage by persuading governments to ignore resource constraints. In the past, geologists had a mission to identify the resources of the world for the benefit of mankind, and indeed they have still more to do in identifying what remains to be found in ever smaller and more difficult fields. But a far more important new mission is to explain just how finite the resources are, so that governments may adopt policies to cut demand, for which there is great scope, and bring on renewable energies as fast as possible. Failure to recognize the consequences of depletion leads to international tensions with countries vying with each other for access to the remaining oil supply, half of which lies in just five Middle East countries.

Approximately 2000 derelict (abandoned) mine sites exist in New South Wales (Australia) from mining and prospecting activities that date back to the mid 1800s. The major objective of this study was to identify a range of native species suitable for use in the rehabilitation of three major derelict mine sites identified in New South Wales namely Howell (Zn, Cu, Ag, Pb), Mole River (As) and Woodsreef (asbestos) through glasshouse pot trials. Waste rock material from each of the three sites was subject to four treatments namely a control, tailings, mulch and tailings/mulch treatment, with 13 species (trees, shrubs and grasses) and four replicates (total of 624 pots).The Mole River and Howell waste rock and tailings provided a similar chemical environment for plants at the start of the experiment (deficient nitrate-N, low pH, high EC) compared to the Woodsreef substrates (deficient nitrate-N, high pH, low available P, high Mg). At the completion of the experiment, Mole River generally had the least favourable chemical environment for plants (highest Zn, Fe, Mn), Howell was intermediate and Woodsreef the best (highest Ca, Mg, pH and lowest metals). Two grass species, Cynodon dactylon and Dicanthium sericeum, exhibited the highest emergence rate (40%), although the emergence of 11 out of 13 species was greater than 12%. In general, mean annual height growth and cover of all species was higher in the mulch and tailings/mulch treatments than the control and tailings treatments. Cynodon dactylon recorded the highest mean annual height increase across the species (66 cm yr-1), with the tree species,Eucalyptuscamaldulensis and Casuarina cunninghamiana, also exhibiting relatively good growth. Mean percentage mortality of all species was generally lowest in the Woodsreef substrate, intermediate in the Howell and highest in the Mole River materials. Mulch treated pots recorded the lowest mortality at all sites. With the exception of Dicanthium sericeum, Aristida ramosa and Casuarina cunninghamiana, mean biomass estimates for all species were significantly higher in the mulch and tailings/mulch treatments compared to the control and tailings treatments. Cynodon dactylon yielded more biomass (mean = 5 t ha-1) in comparison to the other species. The direct implications of these results to the rehabilitation of derelict mines in the New England Tablelands are also discussed.

Analyse de la depletion des reserves petroliere et gaziere mondiales, a moyen terme. Etude de l'incertitude des previsions, des problemes d'evaluation et de la perception du phenomene d'appauvrissement des gisements, par les differents acteurs (compagnies petrolieres, agence gouvernementale, OPEP).

Use of electrosynthetic methodology allows the production of hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) either mononitrated at tyrosine 23 or bisnitrated at tyrosines 20 and 23, but never nitrated at tyrosine 53. This is a different sequence from that obtained by the chemical nitrating agent tetranitromethane, and when reduced by dithionite, the selectively modified enzyme can be anchored at pH 5 via the unique aromatic amino group to magnetic beads or other suitable matrices. HEWL so immobilised loses less than 10% of cell-wall lytic activity compared with the approximately 50% loss of activity when immobilised by conventional methodology at pH 9 via essentially random reaction at lysine residues and other functionalities which are nucleophilic at this pH. This result offers promise as a general method for selective protein immobilisation in biosensors and similar applications. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Arsenic (As) is one of four metals/metalloids in tobacco being considered for regulation. In vitro toxicological response to As varies substantially, determined primarily by valence and compound speciation, and inorganic arsenite (As(III)) compounds are the most toxic to humans. This study uses X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) to determine valence states of As from the tobacco plant to the crucial combustion stage that creates respirable smoke. Samples studied include cultivated plants (some burdened with additional As), reference standards, and commercial products, along with smoke condensate and ash from these samples. The relative contributions of As(III) and As(V) to the XANES spectra are analyzed, and a consistent pattern of redox changes emerges. Tobacco leaf and manufactured products tend to be dominated by As(V) whereas combustion produces respirable smoke invariably in As(III) form and ash invariably as As(V). The valence state of precursor tobacco is not a controlling factor because all the As mobilized in smoke is reduced during combustion. This study concludes that tobacco combustion exposes smokers to potentially the most toxic forms of arsenic, and this exposure is magnified in regions where arsenic is present in tobacco crops at relatively high concentrations.

We calculate the A and B hyperfine constants for the low-lying states of 229Th3+ using a high-precision relativistic all-order approach. By combining these calculations with measurements of the 6d and 5f hyperfine constants [C. J. Campbell et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 223001 (2011)], we determine the magnetic dipole \mu=0.360(7)\mu_B and the electric-quadrupole Q=3.11(6) eb moments of the 229Th nucleus. Our value for \mu is five times more accurate and is 22% smaller than the best previous value \mu=0.46(4) \mu_B [S. Gerstenkorn et al., J. Phys. (Paris) 35, 483 (1974)], while our value for Q is the same, but 2.5 times more accurate than the 2011 result. A systematic study of hyperfine structure in eight other monovalent atoms supports our claim of 2% level uncertainty for $\mu$ and Q in 229Th+3., Comment: 5 pages

The Oil industry is in transition between growth and decline as the world approaches the Midpoint of the depletion of its conventional oil. Assessing the world's oil endowment is bedevilled by problems of definition to distinguish conventional from unconventional oil and to specify the precise nature of reserves. The database in the public domain is weak with important reported reserve numbers having a “political” content. New methods have been developed to estimate the ultimate recovery of conventional oil, and hence the undiscovered potential. That in turn gives the amount remaining, (here 932 Gb) which is unevenly distributed with about half in just five Middle East countries. Applying Depletion Rates (percentage of the remaining produced each year) to the Remaining allows construction of a depletion model under alternative scenarios of world demand, with a few well-endowed countries in a swing role. The model suggests that the scene is set for another oil price shock as these countries gain an increased share of the market, which will in turn herald a deepening long-term shortfall in supply due to resource constraints. It may be an historical turning point with colossal political and economic implications, imposing a more sustainable lifestyle on mankind.

The foregoing discussion has described the extremely unreliable nature of public data. There are, in addition, various confidential industry databases of varying cost, access, quality and credibility. With these constraints, it becomes impossible to forecast future production with any degree of scientific exactitude. This in turn has facilitated those with motives to ignore or distort the issue of depletion, leaving the man-in-the-street relatively uninformed of what awaits him. The Economist prefers not to recognise depletion as imposed by Nature because it tends to undermine the notion of market supremacy, the bedrock of his subject. It offends his near-doctrinaire faiththat supply must meet demand in an open market, and that one resource replaces another as the need arises with new technology breaking barriers. The Politician prefers not to face the issue because it would call for unpopular fundamental shifts of policy. In practice, his interest is not served by posing a problemunless he has a palatable solution. The Investor for his part does not want to know because it undermines the credibility of the assumptions upon which his portfolio was built. But at the end of the day, we all desperately need to know because our very future is at stake. Fortunately, there is now a new awakening despite the many vested interests bent on obfuscation. The recent financial and economic crisis affecting the world underlines the importance of coming to terms with reality.

The Region, as herein defined, comprises a number of countries on the southern margin of Asia from Pakistan in the west to Vietnam in the east, as well as Australasia and the Pacific Islands. It excludes China, North Korea and the former Soviet Union, on account of their Communist background. It covers a diverse terrain of 19 million km2, made up of two ancient shield areas, comprising the margins of the Siberian Shield to the north and that of Australia to the south, which are separated by mobile island arcs, largely following tectonic plate boundaries. Various, mainly Tertiary, sedimentary basins flank the shields and mobile belts, and some of them, especially offshore, are prospective for oil and gas.

The reporting standards for both production and reserves are atrociously weak in many countries, so it is necessary to explain the process of analysis as adopted here in some detail. For example, the 2011 edition of the BP Statistical Review, which is widely taken as an authoritative source coming from a major oil company, reports unchanged reserves in 36 countries. Yet it is not remotely plausible that new discovery and/or an upward revision of the amount recoverable should exactly match production over the past year.

The table lists the standard deviation of the range of published data on reserves. A relative confidence ranking in the validity of the underlying assessment is also given: the lower the Surprise Factor, the less the chance for revision. The region has been very thoroughly explored leaving little scope for surprise. The high standard deviation, as regards Canada’s reported reserves, reflects the anomalous reporting on non-conventional oil in the tar-sands by the Oil and Gas Journal

A major cause of confusion in oil statistics is that there is no standard definition of the boundary between the so-called Conventional and Unconventional oil and gas. It is clearly important to make clear distinctions because the different categories have different distributions, rates of extraction, costs and other characteristics. In this study, it has been found expedient to recognise what is termed Regular Conventional Oil (>17.5 o API) and Gas, defined to exclude the following categories, which are designated as Non-Conventional

The Region, as herein defined, extends from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, including the Persian Gulf. It is made up primarily of barren lands including the famous deserts of Arabia, together covering some six million square kilometres and also includes some mountain ranges, including especially the Zagros Mountains of Iran.

Latin America, which for this purpose is defined as South America, Mexico and the Caribbean islands, includes ten significant oil producing countries. The region is dominated by Venezuela and Mexico, having the largest reserves of Regular Conventional Oil. Two of the countries also have substantial Non-Conventional deposits in the form of the deepwater oil and gas of Brasil and the heavy oils of Venezuela.