Pentagon to Allow Women in Combat

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will lift a longstanding ban on women serving in combat, according to senior defense officials.

The services have until this May to come up with a plan to implement the change, according to a Defense Department official.

That means the changes could come into effect as early as May, though the services will have until January 2016 to complete the implementation of the changes.

"We certainly want to see this executed responsibly but in a reasonable time frame, so I would hope that this doesn't get dragged out," said former Marine Capt. Zoe Bedell, who joined a recent lawsuit aimed at getting women on the battlefield.

The military services also will have until January 2016 to seek waivers for certain jobs -- but those waivers will require a personal approval from the secretary of defense and will have to be based on rationales other than the direct combat exclusion rule.

The move to allow women in combat, first reported by the Associated Press, was not expected this week, although there has been a concerted effort by the Obama administration to further open up the armed forces to women.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously recommended in January to Secretary Panetta that the direct combat exclusion rule should be lifted.

"I can confirm media reports that the secretary and the chairman are expected to announce the lifting of the direct combat exclusion rule for women in the military," said a senior Defense Department official. "This policy change will initiate a process whereby the services will develop plans to implement this decision, which was made by the secretary of defense upon the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey sent Panetta a memo earlier this month entitled, "Women in Service Implementation Plan."

Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images

Soaring With the First Woman Fighter Jet Commander Watch Video

Instant Index: Divers Save Dolphin; Orangutans Play With iPads Watch Video

Extreme Cold Takes Its Toll on Freezing Nation Watch Video

"The time has come to rescind the direct combat exclusion rule for women and to eliminate all unnecessary gender-based barriers to service," the memo read.

"To implement these initiatives successfully and without sacrificing our warfighting capability or the trust of the American people, we will need time to get it right," he said in the memo, referring to the 2016 horizon.

Women have been officially prohibited from serving in combat since a 1994 rule that barred them from serving in ground combat units. That does not mean they have been immune from danger or from combat.

As Martha Raddatz reported in 2009, women have served in support positions on and off the frontlines in Iraq and Afghanistan, where war is waged on street corners and in markets, putting them at equal risk. Hundreds of thousands of women deployed with the military to those two war zones over the past decade. Hundreds have died.

READ MORE: Female Warriors Engage in Combat in Iraq, Afghanistan

"The reality of the battlefield has changed really since the Vietnam era to where it is today," said Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a former military helicopter pilot who lost both her legs in combat. "Those distinctions on what is combat and what is not really are falling aside. So I think that after having seen women, men, folks who -- cooks, clerks, truck drivers -- serve in combat conditions, the reality is women are already in combat."

Woman have been able to fly combat sorties since 1993. In 2010, the Navy allowed them on submarines. But lifting restrictions on service in frontline ground combat units will break a key barrier in the military.

READ MORE: Smooth Sailing for First Women to Serve on Navy Submarines

READ MORE: Female Fighter Pilot Breaks Gender Barriers

Panetta's decision will set a January 2016 deadline for the military service branches to argue that there are military roles that should remain closed to women.

In February 2012 the Defense Department opened up 14,500 positions to women that had previously been limited to men and lifted a rule that prohibited women from living with combat units.

Panetta also directed the services to examine ways to open more combat roles to women.

However, the ban on direct combat positions has remained in place.

Read More..

Accidental physics: Why mass has a split personality

MacGregor Campbell, contributor

We interact with the concept of mass every day. Without it, gravity wouldn't keep us firmly planted on Earth. But mass is also a component of inertia, making it hard, for example, to push a stalled car.

On the surface, inertia and gravity don't seem to have much in common. But in experiments, these two versions of mass always give the same results. Although we've been aware of the coincidence since Galileo's day, the only explanation, proposed by Einstein, has been much disputed.

In this video, we delve into the split personality of mass, exposing the conundrum that lies at the core of one of the most basic concepts in physics. For more on the topic, read our full-length feature article, "Sacrificing Einstein: Relativity's keystone has to go".

For more mind-bending animations, check out our previous explainers to find out, for example, how to change the past, or if space is really infinite.

Read More..

PUB, PWN Technologies sign MOU

SINGAPORE: National water agency PUB will work with a Dutch water supply company in the search for innovative water solutions to meet Singapore's growing water demand more efficiently and boost its status as a global hydrohub.

PUB signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PWN Technologies to collaborate on advanced water treatment, as well as strengthen Singapore-Dutch industry relations.

Both sides will work together to reap scientific and technological benefits by developing knowledge-intensive programs and projects.

The MOU was signed following a promising trial of PWN Technologies' demonstration plant at Choa Chu Kang Waterworks.

-CNA/ac

Read More..

Google's Native Client reaches ARM-based Chromebooks

Google has finished a version of its Native Client programming technology that extends beyond mainstream x86 PC processors into the world of ARM chips.

Native Client, or NaCl for short, is designed to let programmers easily adapt the C or C++ software they've written for native software so that it can run as a part of Web apps, too. It's designed for high performance, but it's also got security mechanisms built in to counter the risks of running malicious code directly on the processor. The first version of NaCl, though, only worked on personal computers using Intel or AMD's x86 chips.

Google's David Sehr announced NaCl for ARM today with version 25 of its NaCl software developer kit, which programmers use to build NaCl programs.

The technology is designed so that programmers can bring their existing code to the Web -- for example, game designers who have written a physics engine in C++. But NaCl has been at odds with the Web philosophy in one important way, namely, that NaCl software doesn't simply run on any device with a browser.

Extending to ARM is thus an important for NaCl, because ARM chips power almost every smartphone out there. But this version of NaCl doesn't do that -- it only works on the new ARM-based Samsung Chromebooks.

To reach mobile phones, Google is banking on a revamp called Portable Native Client, or PNaCl. It adopts a low-level translation technology called LLVM that adapts native code to a variety of processors.

"With Portable Native Client, we'll be able to support not just today's architectures, but also those of tomorrow - and developers won't have to recompile their app," Sehr said in the blog post.

With PNaCl, programmers will be able to produce a single package (with the .pexe extension rather than NaCl's .nexe extension) that will run on all supported devices. With today's approach, programmers must produce separate .nexe files for ARM and for x86.

Another major challenge for Native Client is attracting support. It's built into Chrome, but no other major browser maker supports it, and Mozilla is downright frosty about NaCl.

So far you can only get NaCl software through Google's Chrome Web Store. That's also a big departure from the ordinary Web, where you simply point a browser at a Web page to fetch the necessary HTML, CSS, and JavaScript software.

That'll change with PNaCl, too, Google said. The Chrome Web Store is required today to ensure software is compatible with different chip architectures, Google said in a statement. PNaCl sheds this chip-architecture constraint.

Read More..

The Promise and Perils of Mining Asteroids

Encouraged by new space technologies, a growing fleet of commercial rockets and the vast potential to generate riches, a group of entrepreneurs announced Tuesday that they planned to mine the thousands of near-Earth asteroids in the coming decades.

The new company, Deep Space Industries (DSI), is not the first in the field, nor is it the most well-financed. But with their ambition to become the first asteroid prospectors, and ultimately miners and manufacturers, they are aggressively going after what Mark Sonter, a member of DSI's board of directors, called "the main resource opportunity of the 21st century." (Related: "Asteroid Hunter to Be First Private Deep-Space Mission?")

Prospecting using miniaturized "cubesat" probes the size of a laptop will begin by 2015, company executives announced. They plan to return collections of asteroid samples to Earth not long after.

"Using low cost technologies, and combining the legacy of [the United States'] space program with the innovation of today's young high tech geniuses, we will do things that would have been impossible just a few years ago," said Rick Tumlinson, company chairman and a longtime visionary and organizer in the world of commercial space [not sure what commercial space means].

"We sit in a sea of resources so infinite they're impossible to describe," Tumlinson said.

Added Value

There are some 9,000 asteroids described as "near-Earth," and they contain several classes of resources that entrepreneurs are now eyeing as economically valuable.

Elements such as gold and platinum can be found on some asteroids. But water, silicon, nickel, and iron are the elements expected to become central to a space "economy" should it ever develop.

Water can be "mined" for its hydrogen (a fuel) and oxygen (needed for humans in space), while silicon can be used for solar power systems, and the ubiquitous nickel and iron for potential space manufacturing. (See an interactive on asteroid mining.)

Sonter, an Australian mining consultant and asteroid specialist, said that 700 to 800 near-Earth asteroids are easier to reach and land on than the moon.

DSI's prospecting spacecraft will be called "FireFlies," a reference to the popular science fiction television series of the same name. The FireFlies will hitchhike on rockets carrying up communication satellites or scientific instruments, but they will be designed so that they also have their own propulsion systems. The larger mining spacecraft to follow have been named "DragonFlies."

Efficiencies

It all sounds like science fiction, but CEO David Gump said that the technology is evolving so quickly that a space economy can soon become a reality. Providing resources from beyond Earth to power spacecraft and keep space travelers alive is the logical way to go.

That's because the most expensive and resource-intensive aspect of space travel is pushing through the Earth's atmosphere. Some 90 percent of the weight lifted by a rocket sending a capsule to Mars is fuel. Speaking during a press conference at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying in California, Gump said that Mars exploration would be much cheaper, and more efficient, if some of the fuel could be picked up en route. (Related: "7 Ways You Could Blast Off by 2023.")

Although there is little competition in the asteroid mining field so far, DSI has some large hurdles ahead of it. The first company to announce plans for asteroid mining was Planetary Resources, Inc. in spring 2012—the group is backed by big-name investors such as Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, filmmaker James Cameron, and early Google investor Ram Shriram. DSI is still looking for funding.

Owning Asteroids

While these potential space entrepreneurs are confident they can physically lay claim to resources beyond Earth, there remain untested legal issues.

The United Nations Space Treaty of 1967 expressly forbids ownership of other celestial bodies by governments on Earth. But American administrations have long argued that the same is not true of private companies and potential mining rights.

While an American court has ruled that an individual cannot own an asteroid—as in the case of Gregory Nemitz, who laid claim to 433 Eros as a NASA spacecraft was approaching it in 2001—the question of extraction rights has not been tested.

Moon rocks brought back to Earth during the Apollo program are considered to belong to the United States, and the Russian space agency has sold some moon samples it has returned to Earth-sales seen by some as setting a precedent.

Despite the potential for future legal issues, DSI's Gump said his group recently met with top NASA officials to discuss issues regarding technology and capital, and came away optimistic. "There's a great hunger for the idea of getting space missions done with smaller, cheaper 'cubesat' technology and for increased private sector involvement."

Everyone involved acknowledged the vast challenges and risks ahead, but they see an equally vast potential—both financial and societal.

"Over the decades, we believe these efforts will help expand the civilization of Earth into the cosmos, and change what it means to be a citizen of this planet," Tumlinson said.

Read More..

Biden, Clinton and the Medicare-Eligible Primary

Barack Obama was a 40-something fresh face when he won the presidency in 2008.  He's gotten older in four years, but he was up against another older man -- Mitt Romney -- to keep his job.

But Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden -- two of the top potential Democratic replacements for Barack Obama four years from now -- will be either in or approaching their 70s when the next presidential election rolls around.

Related: A new ABC News/Washington Post Poll finds Clinton with a 19 percent favorability advantage over Biden.

Smiling, jolly Biden sure did look like he could mount a campaign in a little under four years as he bounded along the inaugural parade route, hale and lively.

In an interview that aired on CNN today, Biden said he hasn't determined whether he'll seek the presidency in 2016.

"Oh there's a whole lot of reasons why I wouldn't run. I haven't made that decision and I don't have to make that decision for a while," Biden told CNN's Gloria Borger.

Asked if he's ready to run against Clinton in 2016, Biden said, "I haven't made that judgment and Hillary hasn't made that judgment."

Joe Biden Luncheon Joke: 'I'm Toasting You, Chuck' Watch Video

Joe Biden Proud to be Obama's Vice President Watch Video

Vice President Biden Shops at Costco, Calls for Extension of Middle Class Tax Cuts Watch Video

"In a couple years, I think he's going to take a hard look at it," Beau Biden, the vice president's son and the attorney general of Delaware, said on MSNBC. "I hope he does."

Clinton, in her final days as secretary of state, says she needs a rest from public service and politics. But there isn't anybody who doesn't see her as one of Democrats' top contenders to replace Obama in 2016. She'd be the first woman president, but she'd also be one of the oldest.

She's the most traveled secretary of state in history and newly eligible for Medicare -- she turned 65 on Oct. 26. But Clinton, before a fall and treatment for a blood clot, could clearly still keep up with her younger staffers on whirlwind round-the-globe tours.

She'd be the same age as Ronald Reagan when he took office as the oldest first-termer in history. Biden, at 70 right now, would be the oldest newly elected president to take the oath of office at 74.

Nancy Pelosi bristled -- and maybe rightfully so -- when a 20-something reporter asked recently if she should step down as leader of House Democrats to make room for a younger generation.

"Let's for a moment honor it as a legitimate question," Pelosi said, chuckling. "Although it's quite offensive, although you don't realize it, I guess."

She said the question would never be asked for a man. But it is true that the top three Democrats in the House are all in their 70s.  John Boehner, the top Republican in the country as speaker of the house, is 63. His two deputies are in their 40s.

Anecdotally, age could be a problem. Obama, after all, beat two older men. Bill Clinton beat three older men in presidential races if you count Ross Perot. But usually age is not the overriding issue in a campaign. Reagan actually scored points declaring at a debate with the younger Walter Mondale, "I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience."

We emailed the Yahoo! News columnist Jeff Greenfield, who has covered a lot of presidential campaigns, to weigh in.

Read More..

Could botox change your life for the better?

Michael Bond, consultant

(Image: Thierry Du Bois/Reporters/Eyevine)

In The Face of Emotion, Eric Finzi explores how one of the world's most popular cosmetic procedures could alleviate depression

THE idea that emotions and feelings are triggered by changes in the body, rather than the other way round, seems counter-intuitive. Yet this idea has been entertained by psychologists for more than a century. In 1890, the father of them all, William James, wrote: "Common-sense says, we lose our fortune, are sorry and weep; we meet a bear, are frightened and run; we are insulted by a rival, are angry and strike... The more rational statement is that we feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble."

Recent research has put flesh on the bones of these musings. Neurobiologists such as Antonio Damasio of the University of Southern California have demonstrated that emotions begin with actions - rapidly increased heart rate, for example - and end with the perception of those actions - the sensation of fear or anger. Damasio calls this the "body loop": the brain learns of the body's response to change via chemical and electric signals conveyed by the bloodstream and nervous system. Thus feeling follows behaviour; the mind follows the body.

In The Face of Emotion, Eric Finzi explores how this plays out in facial expressions. There is no doubt these are integral to the way we embody and experience emotions: simply forcing your face into a smile or frown will induce feelings of happiness or sadness. Finzi, an American dermatological surgeon, is a fundamentalist in the church of embodied emotion. He believes facial expressions are "the power behind the throne", the principal driver of our moods and feelings.

More than that, he thinks he can change people's feeling of mental well-being by manipulating what they can do with their face. And for some years he has been doing just that by injecting botox into the corrugator, or "frowning", muscle of depressed patients to prevent it from contracting. This, he reasons, interrupts the feedback loop to the brain that causes their negative outlook and thus improves their mood.

It sounds incredible. Finzi seems to be saying that people with depression can cure themselves just by looking happier, or by repressing their ability to look sad. Yet he describes some striking success stories. One person who had had severe depression for 13 years felt so much better after botox that he decided not to take his Prozac. Another who had tried therapy and various antidepressants with no effect reported a "dramatic improvement" after Finzi's work. Finzi mentions several clinical trials, such as one last year in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, that confirm his findings.

Is this a solution to depression or is it merely cosmetic? Time and more research will tell. Finzi does acknowledge the treatment is no cure, and that the injections need repeating every few months to maintain the effect. He says his patients do not feel better simply because they look better - not all of them had pronounced frown lines before treatment (a contracting corrugator does not always leave wrinkles). Yet given the effect of social interaction on mood, it is possible that some of the improvement is due to those around the treated person reacting more positively to a brighter countenance.

This is one of several questions that Finzi fails to address. He has a knack of glossing over or not recognising potential downsides. What are the effects of not being able to express sadness or anger? How might it affect the way we relate to others, beyond boosting our ability to bluff in poker? Some studies, not mentioned in the book, suggest that because botox impairs people's capacity to mimic facial expressions, it can make them seem less trustworthy or likeable. None of this gets much of a look-in. It all sounds a bit too good to be true.

Yet The Face of Emotion is well worth reading. The scientific debate about the regulation of the emotions is as lively as ever, and this is a provocative and insightful contribution. Some of the outcomes Finzi reports look remarkable, even if the mechanism is unclear. As one satisfied patient testifies after receiving botox to reduce his anger, "I don't really understand how this is working, but my wife says keep it up."

Book information:
The Face of Emotion: How botox affects our mood and relationships by Eric Finzi
Palgrave Macmillan
£16.99/$27

Follow @CultureLabNS on Twitter

Like us on Facebook

Read More..

Govt unveils measures to ease air pollution in Beijing

BEIJING : The mayor of China's capital Beijing has unveiled new measures to ease the chronic air pollution in the city.

This follows criticism earlier this month, when Beijing experienced a record level of pollution, at 30 to 45 times above recommended safety levels.

The aim of the measures is to cut the density of major air pollutants by 2 per cent, as well as improve the monitoring and release of public information on air quality.

In an effort to paint the skies blue again, 180,000 old vehicles will be taken off the roads this year.

The government is also promising to control the excessive growth of new car sales. About 250,000 new cars hit the roads of Beijing each year.

In other measures, the heating systems of 44,000 old homes and coal-burning boilers will be replaced with clean energy systems.

Beijing is under more pressure to speed up the construction of a green city, after its air pollution index hit a record high over a week ago.

This issue is also expected to be a focus at the upcoming National People's Congress to be held in March this year.

One Beijing resident said: "Every year the government says it has new measures to improve air quality but every time it is only talk without action. This leaves us very upset."

Another commented: "Perhaps there are too many social problems, let us solve them slowly. We should still have confidence."

A third noted: "There has to be a process as we develop from merely fighting for survival to learning to care about the environment. This cannot be rushed."

- CNA/ms

Read More..

GeeksPhone announces Firefox OS phones for developers

GeeksPhone's lower-end Keon, left, and higher-end Peak are designed for programmers wishing to improve Firefox OS, Mozilla's browser-based operating system.

(Credit:
GeeksPhone)

A small Spanish start-up called GeeksPhone has started selling phones that let developers get a taste of Mozilla's new Firefox OS.

GeeksPhone announced two 3G phones for the browser-based operating system, the lower-end Keon and higher-end Peak. The phones, while geared for programmers rather than mainstream customers, make Mozilla's open-source mobile OS a lot more real, since programmers will be able to develop apps as well as to debug and advance the underlying operating system.

Firefox OS is Mozilla's ambitious attempt to build an operating system that brings more openness to the walled gardens of Apple's iOS and Google's
Android. Although the latter is an open-source project, it's run in secrecy by Google and its corporate allies and is closely linked to Google's ecosystem of app distribution and online services. Apple's iOS is even more closely locked down, with proprietary source code and only Apple-approved apps on the app store.

Walled gardens or not, iOS and Android have been very popular for phones and
tablets, and it's not clear whether the mass market truly wants an alternative even if it shuns lock-in. And even if some customers do value the openness, it won't be easy for Firefox OS to gain a competitive foothold.

But the GeeksPhone models at least make it possible for Mozilla and its allies -- Telefonica, Qualcomm, among others -- to try.

However, it's not yet clear how much the phones will cost or when they'll ship. CNET has contacted GeeksPhone and will update this post if they reply.

According to its LinkedIn profile, GeeksPhone is based in Madrid, Spain, and has 10 or fewer employees. It got its start in 2009 when it launched an Android phone.

The Keon has a 1GHz Qualcom Snapdragon S1 processor, 3.5-inch screen, 1,580mAh battery, and 3MP camera; the higher-end Peak has a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 4.3-inch screen, 1,800mAh battery, and 8MP camera.

Both phones also have 4GB of ROM, 512MB of RAM, a MicroSD slot, 802.11n wireless networking, light and proximity sensors, GPS, an accelerometer, and a camera flash.

Firefox OS is a browser-based operating system. Although it draws on Android and Linux for foundational software, it runs Web apps written with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. That makes it a mobile analog to Google's Chrome OS.

To run those Web apps, Firefox OS naturally uses the Gecko browser engine that's also the foundation of Firefox. Mozilla is adapting the engine with new interfaces to let Web apps take advantage of all the hardware features. Firefox OS got its start with the project name Boot to Gecko, or B2G.

Using this browser-based approach poses some technical challenges, but it also means that a huge amount of services already work on the phone, at least in principle, simply by pointing the phone at a Web page.

Mozilla and its allies are aiming the phone initially at developing markets where customers are upgrading to smartphones from lower-end feature phones. Telefonica believes the Firefox OS phones will be much less expensive than iPhones.

Read More..

Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")

As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and other companies evacuated personnel from Algeria, it was not immediately clear how widely the peril would spread in the wake of the hostage-taking at the sprawling In Amenas gas complex near the Libyan border.

Map by National Geographic

Algeria, the fourth-largest crude oil producer on the continent and a major exporter of natural gas and refined fuels, may not have been viewed as the most hospitable climate for foreign energy companies, but that was due to unfavorable financial terms, bureaucracy, and corruption. The energy facilities themselves appeared to be safe, with multiple layers of security provided both by the companies and by government forces, several experts said. (See related photos: "Oil States: Are They Stable? Why It Matters.")

"It is particularly striking not only because it hasn't happened before, but because it happened in Algeria, one of the stronger states in the region," says Hanan Amin-Salem, a senior manager at the industry consulting firm PFC Energy, who specializes in country risk. She noted that in the long civil war that gripped the country throughout the 1990s, there had never been an attack on Algeria's energy complex. But now, hazard has spread from weak surrounding states, as the assault on In Amenas was carried out in an apparent retaliation for a move by French forces against the Islamists who had taken over Timbuktu and other towns in neighboring Mali. (See related story: "Timbuktu Falls.")

"What you're really seeing is an intensification of the fundamental problem of weak states, and empowerment of heavily armed groups that are really well motivated and want to pursue a set of aims," said Amin-Salem. In PFC Energy's view, she says, risk has increased in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—indeed, throughout Sahel, the belt that bisects North Africa, separating the Sahara in the north from the tropical forests further south.

On Thursday, the London-based corporate consulting firm Exclusive Analysis, which was recently acquired by the global consultancy IHS, sent an alert to clients warning that oil and gas facilities near the Libyan and Mauritanian borders and in Mauritania's Hodh Ech Chargui province were at "high risk" of attack by jihadis.

"A Hot Place to Drill"

The attack at In Amenas comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the oil industry in Africa. (See related gallery: "Pictures: The Year's Most Overlooked Energy Stories.") Forecasters expect that oil output throughout Africa will double by 2025, says Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of the energy and sustainability program at the University of California, Davis, who has counted 20 rounds of bidding for new exploration at sites in Africa's six largest oil-producing states.

Oil and natural gas are a large part of the Algerian economy, accounting for 60 percent of government budget revenues, more than a third of GDP and more than 97 percent of its export earnings. But the nation's resources are seen as largely undeveloped, and Algeria has tried to attract new investment. Over the past year, the government has sought to reform the law to boost foreign companies' interests in their investments, although those efforts have foundered.

Technology has been one of the factors driving the opening up of Africa to deeper energy exploration. Offshore and deepwater drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil led to prospecting now under way offshore in Ghana, Mozambique, and elsewhere. (See related story: "New Oil—And a Huge Challenge—for Ghana.") Jaffe says the Houston-based company Anadarko Petroleum has sought to transfer its success in "subsalt seismic" exploration technology, surveying reserves hidden beneath the hard salt layer at the bottom of the sea, to the equally challenging seismic exploration beneath the sands of the Sahara in Algeria, where it now has three oil and gas operations.

Africa also is seen as one of the few remaining oil-rich regions of the world where foreign oil companies can obtain production-sharing agreements with governments, contracts that allow them a share of the revenue from the barrels they produce, instead of more limited service contracts for work performed.

"You now have the technology to tap the resources more effectively, and the fiscal terms are going to be more attractive than elsewhere—you put these things together and it's been a hot place to drill," says Jaffe, who doesn't see the energy industry's interest in Africa waning, despite the increased terrorism risk. "What I think will happen in some of these countries is that the companies are going to reveal new securities systems and procedures they have to keep workers safe," she says. "I don't think they will abandon these countries."

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

Read More..