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Beat the Pollution with the Plume Air App  


Extreme heat waves are happening with alarming regularity. Summer used to be the time for kids to be outside non-stop. Now, both children and adults need more information on how to protect their health from a wide range of pollutants in the air.

Plume Air Report is my go-to tool. There are others, but Plume is my favorite. It is available free as an iOS and Android download.

Innovator, Romain Lacombe, is the founder and CEO of Plume. He has a varied background which includes environmental economics, math, banking, a stint in Silicon Valley, and a Fulbright scholarship. Open Data, which is a key premise behind Plume, is one of his top concerns.

During the COP21 conference in Paris, Lacombe co-organized the international event "Data Against Climate Change." He believes that data can boost "climate innovation," as well as serve as an instrument of assessment and evaluation.

Equally important for Lacombe is delivering to users a drill down on pollution history for specific areas via "geolocation." This illustrates hourly shifts, and daily comparisons to annual levels. Lacombe defines this as "making the air more transparent."

Plume's World Air Map collects beyond 500,000 data points every day from 11,000 stations, in order to build "predictive models" for over 200 metro localities. For those vicinities without a station, a combination of Artificial Intelligence and data science can estimate air pollution levels on a 60-minute basis. Emissions become a concrete entity, "democratizing access to environmental information."



The map contains hexagons of different sizes and colors to demarcate city population size (from 1 million to 10 million), and city pollution (from black indicating a Plume index of +300 to two shades of blue ranging from 0-20 and 20-50). Twenty countries are listed alphabetically; 150 cities cover North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

In the morning, I have a Plume Index Air Quality message waiting for me, with information about the current level of pollution. Living in New York City, change can be dramatic from day to day, and even within a 24-hour period. The more polluted the air is, the higher the number.

Individuals can set their level of sensitivity as Low, Normal, or High. Favorite activities to check in on are represented by icons symbolizing running, bicycling, going outdoors with young children, and eating outside. With the hourly breakdown, it makes it easier to plan activities. You can also be informed of the temperature and the UV Index. The primary pollutants of ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide are noted, and compared with mean yearly averages. At times when pollution is HIGH, I am advised to "Take it easy" with almost everything. I even get a special message stating: "IMPACT IF CHRONIC EXPOSURE. The air has reached a high level of pollution. Higher than the maximum limit for 24 hours established by the World Health Organization (WHO)."

You don't have to be a geek to appreciate the deeper look into air pollution that Plume makes available. Clicking on the "head icon" with the brain center brings you to a series of concise evaluations about pollution specifics including:" What is it? Where Does It Come From? What are the risks?"

In the section Everything You Should Know About Pollution, there is information on the "inversion layer," which traps pollutants. I particularly liked the descriptions of frequently used terms like Nitrogen Dioxide, Ozone, Sulphur Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, VOCs, and Particulate Matter. Many people are familiar with the verbiage, but don't always fully grasp how or why their health is impacted.

In 2015, during the month of March, Paris hit a calamitous concentration of air pollution -- beyond the numbers of Beijing. Plume Labs informed the French government of the circumstances. In response, officials took steps to cut vehicle traffic by 50 percent for a full day.

Lacombe has written: "Air pollution is an invisible enemy, but we can fight back: actionable information helps limit our exposure, improve our health and well-being, and make our cities breathable."

Each year, air pollution leads to almost 7 million deaths around the world. It is presently the world's fourth-largest health threat. If we want to avoid the highest level of pollution on the Plume scale, Airpocalypse -- where everyone is advised to stay indoors a consideration of how serious a problem air pollution is must be addressed.


Tell Your Governor: Support the Clean Air Plan

Images: Courtesy of Plume Labs

This article originally appeared on the website Moms Clean Air Force.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

 
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r0B0t: This is the robot Dallas police used to kill shooter  
More about Northrop Grumman, Remotec, Dallas Pd, Robot, and Bomb  
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r0B0t: Modern micro living: Yves Béhar unveils robotic house Ori - wallpaper.com  

wallpaper.com

Modern micro living: Yves Béhar unveils robotic house Ori wallpaper.com These days, it seems bigger isn't better — and with the unveiling of Ori, the intelligent, robotic house system designed by Fuseproject's Yves Béhar it's further confirmation that slim is in. Globally, as domestic spaces shrink and living costs rise ... and more »

 
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r0B0t: Cozmo the tabletop robot will be user-programmable  
Cozmo, a diminutive robot companion, packs some impressive technology and will be far more customizable than originally expected when it's released this fall. Anki announced on Monday that Cozmo will launch with an SDK, enabling users to leverage it...  
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r0B0t: Do androids dream of aesthetic creep? Hail the robots of post-human art  

Goshka Macuga's uncanny android is just the latest in an army of artist's robots that began invading 100 years ago with one question: what is it to be human?

The androids have arrived, at least a century after modern art prophesied them. Artificial humans are advancing from the screens and pages of science fiction into our art galleries to look their flesh and blood cousins eerily in the eye.

Artist Goshka Macuga, shortlisted for the Turner prize in 2008, has created a talking android for her latest exhibition at the Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin. It has black hair and bushy beard and talks philosophy: an intellectualtake on the Action Man toys I used to play with as a child. Macuga's robot has all the spooky uncanniness of a synthetic person with a realistically moulded face and bionic arms. Most robots have futuristic names, or cosy ones to suggest they are cute and friendly. Macuga's creation is called To the Son of Man Who Ate the Scroll.

Continue reading...  
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r0B0t: Trilobites: Stingray Robot Powered by Light, and Living Rat Cells  
Among other applications, a new artificial stingray can teach scientists more about how the heart beats.  
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r0B0t: Today's Best Deals: Dash Button Blowout, Better Posture, Smarter Deadbolt  

A huge Dash button promotion, a fitness tracker that improves your posture, and keypad-enabled deadbolts lead off Monday's best deals.

http://deals.kinja.com/todays-best-li…

Bookmark Kinja Deals and follow us on Twitter to never miss a deal. Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more, and don't forget to sign up for our email newsletter.

Top Deals

If you're curious about Amazon Dash buttons, there's never been a better time to stick them around your house. As part of a Prime Day countdown promotion, Prime members can purchase all the buttons they want for just $1 each, down from the usual $5. Plus, you'll still get a $5 credit the first time you use it, meaning Amazon's literally paying you to buy household essentials.

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Amazon's Second Annual Prime Day Is Tomorrow: Here's Everything You Need To Know

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$175 is a fair amount of cash for a single floorstanding speaker, even one that has dual subwoofers built right in, but $175 is the best deal Amazon's ever listed on the Klipsch R-26F by over $100, and it's only half its usual price, meaning you can buy a pair for the price of one.

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While you can't control these Schlage deadbolts with your smartphone, the ability to unlock your front door with a passcode is perfect for house sitters or overnight guests, or for just unlocking the door while you're carrying groceries.

$69 is the best price Amazon's ever listed, and you can choose from several different finishes to match your decor. Just note that that is a Gold Box deal, so don't get locked out of these savings.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NJJ1MQ/…

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The world is full of fitness trackers that can count your steps and estimate calories, but today only, we've found a deal on a wearable device that can also help you improve your posture.

The Lumo Lift is a tiny clip that you attach to your clothing like a Fitbit One, but in addition to counting your steps, distance, and calories burned, it'll also start vibrating whenever you slouch. Assuming you heed its warnings and start sitting or standing up straight, this has the potential to meaningfully improve your life in a way that counting steps might not.

Today only, Prime members can snap one up for just $50, which is $30 less than usual, and a match for the best price we've ever seen.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N9P8GMW/…

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Your next TV really should have HDR support, and this 2016 Samsung 4K fits the bill for $590.

http://gizmodo.com/sonys-new-tv-t…

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That's still a little expensive (though not too extravagant for a 50" set), but it gets you a great upscaling engine, local dimming, smart apps, Samsung Smart View, and yes, HDR. Today's price is the best we've ever seen, and about $60 less than Amazon's current price (which is itself Amazon's all-time low).

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$175 is a fair amount of cash for a single floorstanding speaker, even one that has dual subwoofers built right in, but $175 is the best deal Amazon's ever listed on the Klipsch R-26F by over $100, and it's only half its usual price, meaning you can buy a pair for the price of one.

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At $180, the FLIR ONE thermal imager is undoubtedly a luxury. But still, it's predator vision for your phone! It also normally sells for $250, and today's extended Lightning deal price is the best Amazon's ever listed.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00…

https://www.amazon.com/FLIR-ONE-Therm…

http://gizmodo.com/the-smaller-ch…

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French press is your favorite way to make coffee, and it'll be an even more aesthetically pleasing process with this 100% stainless steel press for just $24.

http://lifehacker.com/most-popular-c…

We've seen less expensive french presses before, but if you prefer this model's shiny and simple design, $24 is a fine price.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015A2BQ50/…

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The Logitech G502 was your choice for best gaming mouse (though you don't need to be a gamer to appreciate its benefits), and the upgraded Proteus Spectrum model (which includes fully adjustable backlighting) is on sale for an all-time low $60 today.

http://co-op.kinja.com/most-popular-g…

http://lifehacker.com/improve-your-v…

The marquee spec here is the DPI range of 200-12,000, adjustable on the fly. There are also five easily movable and removable weights, and 11 customizable buttons, along with the classic Logitech dual-mode scroll wheel. Mechanical microswitches and a braided cable are also nice touches.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B019OB663A/…

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Ready to get swole? Today only, Amazon's offering big discounts on performance nutrition products from the likes of BSN, EAS, Clif, and more, for Prime members only.

Inside, you'll find dozens of powders, shakes, bars, and more in a variety of flavors and formulas. Just note that the big red price listed is not the deal price in most cases. Look a little below that for the Prime price to see what you'll actually pay.

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Amazon's virtual shelves are awash in $20 Bluetooth earbuds, but if you're willing to pay a bit more for superior sound quality, Jaybird's Wirecutter-recommended X2 sport earbuds have never been cheaper. Just note that this deal is only available today, and only for Prime members.

https://www.amazon.com/Jaybird-Sport-…

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If wall-mounting your TV has been on your to-do list, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better deal on a mount. This model holds TVs up to 55", can extend up to 15" away from the wall, and can swivel and articulate in any direction, all for just $21.

https://www.amazon.com/Mounting-Dream…

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These $6 deals from Andake can support your neck, your back, and your senses while sleeping on a plane. If you have any long trips on the horizon, these are no-brainers.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01…

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Few activities will give you as much self-satisfaction making some fuckin' pasta from scratch, and this discounted roller makes it (relatively) easy to spin out both thin spaghetti and wide fettucini noodles. Plus, your friends will see it sitting out on your counter and think you're some kind of culinary savant.

https://www.amazon.com/Imperia-Pasta-…

http://adequateman.deadspin.com/lets-make-some…

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We love shining a spotlight on good mini flashlight deals, and at $6 for a two-pack, you could scatter these all around your home. They're even zoomable, so you can focus or widen the beam depending on the situation.

Update: Sold out, but here's a larger and brighter version of the flashlight for $6.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016UGGBHS?…

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If you've got the space for it, this feature-packed NordicTrack treadmill is marked down to $449 on Amazon today as part of a Gold Box deal. That's the best price ever listed, and a great deal for any treadmill that inclines up to 10%, and includes 20 built-in workouts, a space-saving fold-up design, and a lifetime frame warranty, and a 25 year motor warranty.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0193V3DJ6/…

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LOFT wants to play a game, to solve “mystery” if you will, with their Mystery Flash Sale. Lucky for you, you don't need to sign up for emails to get any discount; that's what we're here for. Use the code LUCKY50 to get 50% off your entire regular-priced purchase.

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Anker, purveyor of your favorite battery packs, charging cables, Bluetooth speakers, earbuds, and more, just released a deluge of promo codes and discounts on dozens of products in preparation for Prime Day.

There are too many deals to list on this page, but head over to our dedicated post for all of the links and promo codes.

http://deals.kinja.com/ankers-preppin…

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$10 is a great price for any 32GB microSD card, but it's basically unheard of for an 80MB/s model from a reputable manufacturer like Samsung.

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Select…

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Sugru is right up there with binder clips and the Raspberry Pi in Lifehacker's pantheon of must-have gear, and you can stock up today with 8-packs from Amazon for just $18 each.

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-diy-mir…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008URBC9I/…

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We've seen plenty of deals on “premium” Google Cardboard-compatible VR headsets, but this is one of the only ones we've seen that includes a magnetic button on the side, which means you won't have to pair an external Bluetooth remote to navigate within VR apps. Seriously, if you haven't played with Google Cardboard yet, you'll have so much fun.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FU98R1E?…

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If you still enjoy the feel of an old-fashioned paper magazine, Amazon's selling 6-month subscriptions to dozens of popular titles today, including Vanity Fair, Wired, Popular Science, and a lot more. Just note that this is a Gold Box deal, meaning it's only available today.

Tech

Storage

• EMTEC Click 3.0 64GB Flash Drive | $15 | eBay
• Samsung 128GB USB 3.0 Nano Flash Drive | $29 | Amazon
• WD Elements 2TB Portable External Hard Drive | $70 | Staples

Power

• Dozens of Anker products on sale | Amazon
  

Audio

• Jaybird X2 Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headphones | $80 | Amazon Prime
• Yamaha HPH-MT220 Studio Monitor Headphones | $179 | eBay
• Inateck 2-In-1 Wireless Bluetooth Transmitter and Receiver | $17 | Amazon | Use code LVQTOQWC
• AUKEY In-Ear Headphones with Built-in Mic | $10 | Amazon | Use code PRIMEAU7

Home Theater

• Samsung 50-Inch LED 2160p Smart 4K Ultra HDTV | $650 | Best Buy
• Toshiba 49-Inch LED 1080p HDTV | $250 | Best Buy
• TV Wall Mount Bracket for Most of 26-55 Inches TVs | $21 | Amazon

Computers & Accessories

• LG 27-Inch 1920x1080 AH-IPS LED Monitor | $150 | eBay
• Acer H6 Series 23" IPS LED HD Monitor | $100 | Best Buy

PC Parts

• CRYORIG H7 Tower Cooler For AMD/Intel CPUs | $30 | Newegg
• ROSEWILL FBM-05 Dual-Fan Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case | $15 | Newegg | After $15 rebate
• Seagate Hybrid Drive 2TB MLC/8GB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s NCQ 3.5" Desktop SSHD | $85 | Newegg

Mobile Devices

• Mpow 3 in 1 Clip-On Smartphone Lens Kit | $9 | Amazon | Use code MNGCL8T6
• Mpow Extendable Bluetooth Aluminum Selfie Stick | $7 | Amazon | Use code CJPCS3MP

Photography

• Manfrotto Allegra 10 Messenger Bag | $15 | B&H
• 40 Accessories for GoPro | $11 | Amazon | Use code VQGRGFIR

Home

• Buy an Amazon Dash Button for $1, Get a $4.99 Credit After First Press | Amazon
• Schlage Camelot Keypad Deadbolt | $69 | Amazon
• Bissell 3624 SpotClean Professional Portable Carpet Cleaner - Corded | $129 | Amazon
• Bissell Hard Floor Expert Multi-Cyclonic Bagless Canister Vacuum, 1547 - Corded | $170 | Amazon
• Bissell 86T3/86T3QBig Green Deep Cleaning Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner Machine | $378 | Amazon
• Honeywell Febreze Tower Fan | $45 | eBay
• Sharpie Permanent Ultra Fine Point Markers Assorted Colors Pack Of 24 | $8 | Office Depot | After Coupon 74147800
• Sharpie Permanent Fine Point Markers Assorted Colors Pack Of 24 | $8 | Office Depot | After Coupon 74147800
• Brother P Touch PT 90 Personal Handheld Labeler | $8 | Office Depot | After Coupon 74147800
• Bestway Dreamair Inflatable Premium Airbed Mattress w/ Pump - Queen | $40 | eBay
• General Electric 5,000 BTU Window Air Conditioner | $112 | Walmart
• Oak Leaf Self Adhesive Sticky Clothes Towel Hooks,, 6 PCS Hooks | $8 | Amazon
• Andake Inflatable Pillow Suitable as Travel Pillow, Neck pillow, Best Pillow for Supporting Neck | $6 | Amazon | Use code OKJTP599
• Andake Versatile Inflatable Pillow | $6 | Amazon | Use code ODMAC559
• Andake Silk Sleep Mask with Ear Plugs | $6 | Amazon | Use code EM588DNA

Kitchen

• Imperia Pasta Maker Machine (150) By Cucina Pro | $37 | Amazon
• Boston Warehouse Shark Oven Mitt | $8 | Amazon
• Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ Pro Complete 4-Speed Blender | $100 | eBay
• iCoffee 12 Cup Coffee Maker with Steam Brew Technology | $50 | Staples
• Homdox 18/10 Stainless Steel French Press Coffee Maker , 8 Cups , 1 Liter , 34 Oz | $24 | Amazon | Use code EOPD53L8

Tools & Auto

• Hausbell 7W Mini LED Flashlight, 2-Pack | $6 | Amazon | Use code HB7W2P30
• Gorilla Carts 600 lb. Poly Garden Dump Cart | $64 | Home Depot
• Ultrafire CREE XM-L T6 Tactical Zoomable 5000 Lumen LED Flashlight | $5 | eBay
• Rechargeable Tactical 3W LED Flashlight | $10 | eBay
• Etekcity Lasergrip 774 Non-contact Digital Laser Infrared Thermometer | $11 | Amazon | Use code 6OHFC577
• Etekcity MSR-R500 Digital Multimeter, Volt Amp Ohm Meter with Diode and Continuity Test | $10 | Amazon | Use code JEY4T7T4
• WeatherHandler All Season Auto Mat Set | $10 | Sears
• Turtle Wax Scratch and Swirl Remover, 11 Ounce | $2 | Walmart
• Vacmaster 2.5-Gallon 2.0-Peak HP Wet/Dry Vac | $27 | Walmart
• Craftsman Speed-Lok 100-PC Impact Drill and Drive Set | $15 | Sears
• Milwaukee 7 PC Magnetic HollowCore Metric Nut Driver Set | $17 | eBay

Lifestyle

Apparel

• Patagonia Fitted Corduroy Pants - 32" Inseam - Women's | $44 | REI

Beauty & Grooming

• Oral-B - Pro 5000 Smart Rechargeable Bluetooth Toothbrush | $100 | eBay
• Trophy Skin Microderm Machine | $135 | Woot

Camping & Outdoors

• 10' Golf Practice Driving Cage | $30 | eBay
• RockBirds S3 Foldable Silicone Sports Water Bottle FDA Approved 17Oz Blue | $8 | Amazon | Use code TW6WTFSG
• Attmu Beach Blanket Mat, Water-ResistantOutdoor Mat- 78 in x 59 in - Blue Stripe | $13 | Amazon | Use code FVMCXBQQ
• 2-Pack Fazitrip Quick Drying Towel/Microfiber Towels /Sport Towels /Travel Towels with Carry Mesh Bag | $8 | Amazon | Use code OKJST788

Fitness

• Prime Members Get up to 50% Off Performance Nutrition Products | Amazon | Today Only
• NordicTrack T 6.5 S Treadmill | $449 | Amazon

Media

Movies & TV

• Preorder The Iron Giant: Signature Edition | $10 | Amazon
• Empire Records | $5 | Amazon
• The Usual Suspects | $5 | Amazon
• Les Miserables | $6 | Amazon
• Far From The Madding Crowd | $8 | Amazon
• Star Trek: Original Series - Three Season Pack | $50 | Best Buy

Books

• Mudbound | $2 | Amazon
• The Collectibles: The Collectibles Trilogy, Book 1 Audiobook | $3 | Amazon

Gaming

Peripherals

• Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth 2016 - Mechanical Gaming Keyboard | $80 | Newegg

PC

• FREE Prince of Persia The Sands of Time | Ubi
• The Sims 4 | $30 | Origin | Digital Deluxe version just $5 more

PlayStation 4

• Sony PlayStation 4 Console Limited Edition Uncharted 4 Bundle | $370 | Best Buy
• Resogun | $6 | Amazon
• Trine Enchanted Edition | $6 | Amazon
• Minecraft | $15 | Amazon
• NHL 16 | $30 | Amazon

Xbox One

• Transformers Devastation | $20 | Amazon
• Quantum Break | $29 | Amazon
• NHL 16 | $30 | Amazon

Wii U

• Kirby and the Rainbow Curse | $32 | Best Buy
• Skylanders Superchargers Supercharged Combo Pack: Bowser and Clown Cruiser | $13 | Amazon

3DS

• Project X Zone 2 | $14 | Amazon
• Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth | $20 | Amazon

Toys

• Miposaur | $39 | Amazon
• WowWee Robotic Enhanced Vehicles (R.E.V), 2-Pack | $38 | Amazon
• K'NEX Sky Sprinter Roller Coaster Building Set | $50 | Amazon
• All Star Baseball Card Bundle | $23 | Woot

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Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more, and don't forget to sign up for our email newsletter. We want your feedback.

 
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r0B0t: Change up your space with robotic furniture from Ori  
Need a way to dramatically improve your living space? How about robotic furniture? No, it's not some far-off dream for the future. It's a collaboration between MIT Media Lab spin-off Ori with designer Yves Béhar.  
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r0B0t: Geeks Are Angry About Iron Man Becoming a Black Girl—But Not for the Reason You'd Think  

This article originally appeared in Vulture.

When Marvel Comics announced that a 15-year-old black girl named Riri Williams would be taking over as Iron Man later this year, the company was prepared for an attack from the right. Indeed, Brian Michael Bendis—the veteran scribe who introduced Riri in an Iron Man comic a few months ago and who will be writing her upcoming adventures—sounded a bit cocky about the high ground he held against his potential critics.

“Some of the comments online, I don't think people even realize how racist they sound,” he told Time in the article unveiling the move, referring to past assaults on Marvel for replacing traditionally white characters with nonwhite ones. “All I can do is state my case for the character, and maybe they'll realize over time that that's not the most progressive thinking.” Ironically, progressive thinking is what fueled the most pointed backlash to the news. The new Iron Person was emblematic of Marvel's efforts to become more representative of marginalized groups, but she also prompted a difficult question: What does progress really look like in superhero fiction?

The geek commentariat on Twitter swiftly and collectively reached two incriminating realizations about Riri. First, this black female character was created by and will be written by a white man. The contrast irked some on a creative level: “You can't call these diverse stories without diverse voices,” tweeted writer Carly Lane. Others looked at the problem from a financial standpoint: As pseudonymous blogger theblerdgurl put it, “I am happy to c a girl who looks like me as a lead in a #Marvel comic. I just wish someone who looks like me cld profit from it. #IronMan.”

That pecuniary line of criticism led to the second, more startling realization: Not only was this black female not being written by a black female, Marvel has no black female writers. Indeed, experts struggled to name a single black woman to have ever written a Marvel comic during the company's 77-year history. “Still can't think of a Sister who ever wrote for Marvel,” tweeted columnist Joseph P. Illidge. “Q for the superhero comics historians: has a black woman ever written an ongoing series for Marvel?”tweeted podcaster Al Kennedy, and when no one could come up with one, he followed up by saying, “Jeez. Feel like an prime idiot for not picking up on this before now. Easy to be in a cocoon as a white dude.”

Indeed. For much of the history of superhero fiction, the genre lived in that cocoon—white men paid other white men to write stories targeted at white men. As such, the most important characters were, themselves, white men: Batman, Superman, Captain America, Spider-Man, and the like. This is, of course, not unique to comics; it's true of all entertainment. But in the past few years, superhero comics have been morphing into something more multifaceted and representative, and they've been doing it in a way that movies and television can't.

Marvel has taken the lead on this front, using a fascinating tactic to get attention for their diversity pushes. Instead of trying to sell readers on new characters who aren't lily-white dudes, they simply rebrand their intellectual property. There's a long tradition of different people taking on the monikers of existing superheroes after the originals die or retire, so why not use that trope in a way that pushes the envelope on identity politics? You're not going to get much mainstream media attention by pitching the idea of a black girl who uses a robot suit. But if you say she's Iron Man—a name familiar to anyone who's purchased a movie ticket in the past eight years—all of a sudden, you've got yourself a Time headline. It's much harder to do those kinds of swaps in film and TV. Doing an all-female reboot of Ghostbusters or theoretically casting a person of color as James Bond is an exceedingly costly gamble; comics are cheap to make, so you can go back on your experiment with little risk.

The experiments have thus been plentiful. First came the 2011 introduction of Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino kid from Brooklyn who took up the role of Spider-Man during a period when Peter Parker was out of commission. Then came the 2012 shift in which Captain Marvel was recast as a woman. The next year, a new Ms. Marvel was introduced who, unlike her predecessor, was Pakistani-American and Muslim. There were twin announcements in 2014 that there would be a new, female Thor and a black man wielding the shield of Captain America. Last year brought yet another surprise: White-bread Bruce Banner would no longer be the Hulk—that emerald mantle would be held by a Korean-American kid. Now, we've got Riri.

All of those changes are pretty inarguably positive. It's hard to claim that making marginalized identities more prominent is anything but a step in the right direction. But how far does that step really stretch? To be sure, it's important for fans of the insanely lucrative and ever-growing superhero genre to see people like themselves on the page and on the screen. If you thrill to the antics of spandex-clad do-gooders, you deserve to not feel invisible, especially if you're a young person whose notion of identity and self-worth are still being formed.

And yet, Marvel has been undermining its own efforts in a number of ways. First of all, a lot of the changes have felt decidedly impermanent. The original Thor is still stomping around in the cosmos, waiting in the wings if and when his corporate overlords ever want to bring him back into the spotlight. The same goes for the Hulk. Puny Bruce Banner can go green whenever Marvel needs him to. Even more odd are the situations of Spidey and Cap. In each case, the replacement and the original are still operating in the Marvel universe under the name “Spider-Man” and “Captain America,” respectively. If there are two superheroes with the same name, and one's had that name since your grandfather was a kid—and has that name in a multibillion-dollar film franchise—why would you ever assume the nonwhite newbie will outlast him?

Luckily, there are no signs that Ms. Marvel or Captain Marvel will revert to their original statuses—no one is sharing their mantles. Even better, those two characters, in their new incarnations, have repeatedly interrogated race and gender (and, in the case of Ms. Marvel, faith). The rest have touched on identity politics only lightly, though often memorably. Thor has struggled with the fact that no one seems to take her as seriously as her predecessor, the black Captain America has dealt with racist hate groups, the Korean-American Hulk has challenged Asian-nerd stereotypes, and Miles has wrung his hands over whether he feels comfortable with people talking about his ethnicity.

The issue being addressed in the past 24 hours is the fact that four of the most lucrative and famous of these characters—Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America—are being narratively stewarded by people who don't share their ethnic or gender identities. Their solo titles are all being written by white men. That's certainly not to say white people can't write about race or men can't write about gender. Of course they can. And Bendis is a very talented writer—his stories about Riri could be dazzling and groundbreaking.

But the post—Riri outcry is about matters that are larger than any one story decision: Why should we be prioritizing white, male creators' takes when a nonwhite, non-male character is put in the foreground? Aren't we losing a tremendous opportunity by not having people who look like those characters tell their stories? And isn't it frustrating that, as theblerdgirl noted, a black woman won't pick up the paycheck for a story about a black girl, especially after Marvel has reaped so much goodwill and praise for introducing one?

All of that said, it would be a shame to look at the critiques that progressive nerds are making about the Iron Man news and conclude that they're calling for a kind of identity siloing, in which only black people can write black characters, only women can write women, and so on. Marvel just needs more black creators and women creators, period, doing all kinds of series. Things are getting better, as of late. According to industry analyst Tim Hanley, nearly 19 percent of the company's creators are female, a number that's been generally rising in recent years. Last year, there was an outcry over the paucity of black creators on Marvel titles; there are a few more now, including none other than Ta-Nehisi Coates.

However, looking at the backlash to the Riri announcement, one is reminded of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's oft-quoted line about gender on the Supreme Court: “People ask me sometimes, ‘When do you think it will it be enough? When will there be enough women on the court?' And my answer is when there are nine.” If a black girl can dream of flying as high as Tony Stark, it's perfectly reasonable for geeks to dream of a superhero-comics publisher whose staff is as diverse as its characters.

See also: Ta-Nehisi Coates Annotates His Black Panther Debut

 
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r0B0t: The Season Two Premiere of Mr. Robot is Streaming on Twitter Right Now  

Hey, Robot-heads and Robot-head-ettes! For the next few hours, you can see the Season Two premiere of Mr. Robot, the USA show from Sam Esmail, on your choice of social networks. It's on Twitter right here:

It's also available on YouTube and the show's homepage, although it's broadcasting live there, while the Twitter version lets you start from the beginning. This season, is Mr. Robot machine or mannequin? Watch and find out!

 
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r0B0t: Moving the Needle on Trade - The Weekly Standard (blog)  

Moving the Needle on Trade The Weekly Standard (blog) "We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot, and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was," Dallas Police Chief David Brown said at a news conference. "Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger. and more »

 
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London during sunset.

 
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...Late summer early fall sunrise over Fanshawe Golf course on the outskirts of London On.Canada

 
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Felt so lucky to catch these guys doing bubbles with this amazing sunset behind them in Southbank. I was inside of a pub on Saturday when I noticed the pink hues in the sky and ran away quickly to photograph. Took a bunch of shots to capture this. Hope you like it as much as I did. :)

We have a Photo Walk this week. Come and join us if you are in London. :)

This is also my entry for #flickrfriday #sunset

Thanks for all your support, Flickr Friends!

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La Gusella - Passo Giau by Andrea Livieri  

La Gusella - Passo Giau by Andrea Livieri

This is the beautiful La Gusella mountain at Passo Giau (Dolomites - Italy), and one of my favorite places to photograph.

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Momentum by Moisés Rodríguez

Thanks for your visit. If you wish, you can also find my work here: Instagram | Facebook

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r0B0t: Dallas police chief says 'we're asking cops to do too much in this country' - Washington Post  

War on the Rocks

Dallas police chief says 'we're asking cops to do too much in this country' Washington Post A chorus of voices asking for unity after the deaths of black men at the hands of police in Baton Rouge and outside St. Paul, Minn., were mixed with angry partisan finger-pointing. ... Charles H. Ramsey, who served as police chief in Philadelphia and ... This is Not the Killer Robot You're Looking For: Dallas Police Used a Precision-Guided Munition to Kill the ShooterWar on the Rocks Is it right to use robots to kill?TRT World Dallas is the latest battlefield in the United StatesDeutsche Welle Jackson Clarion Ledger -Merced Sun-Star -D Magazine all 10,559 news articles »

 
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r0B0t: Anki introduces tool that allows developers to hack its Cozmo A.I. robot - VentureBeat  

VentureBeat

Anki introduces tool that allows developers to hack its Cozmo A.I. robot VentureBeat Cozmo is a playful, intelligent robot with an essence of artificial intelligence. As VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi described it, it's “something like Eve the robot in Pixar's Wall-E animated film.” Anki cofounder and president Hanns Tappeiner explained ... Hanging out with Anki's Cozmo, the toy robot putting AI at our fingertipsThe Verge Small But Dope! The Anki Cozmo Robot ForkliftstupidDOPE.com (blog) all 12 news articles »

 
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r0B0t: Here are the finance jobs most likely to be impacted by robots - CNBC  

CNBC

Here are the finance jobs most likely to be impacted by robots CNBC Highly paid financial services jobs that involve a lot of of data collection and processing are just as susceptible to automation as jobs in lower-paid professions, such as construction, retail and refuse collection, the study found. The financial ... and more »

 
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r0B0t: This new robotic furniture is inspired by origami - CNET  

CNET

This new robotic furniture is inspired by origami CNET Yves Béhar is the face of smart tech design. His work on various projects -- most notably Jawbone and the August Smart Lock -- has earned him and his Fuseproject studio awards and name recognition in an industry where yesterday's innovations are today ... Coming To Market: An Apartment In A Box That Morphs At The Press Of A ButtonCo.Design (blog) ori is the robotic, moving furniture developed by fuseproject + yves béhar with MITDesignboom (blog) New Robotic Furniture System Transforms Tiny ApartmentsCurbed Architectural Digest -Engadget all 8 news articles »

 
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r0B0t: As Dallas Debate Unfolds, Israel Shows 'Killer Robots' Don't Have to Be Deadly - Haaretz  

Haaretz

As Dallas Debate Unfolds, Israel Shows 'Killer Robots' Don't Have to Be Deadly Haaretz But, it seems, the future is here. The use of a police robot loaded with explosives to kill Micah Xavier Johnson, who shot and killed five police officers during a protest march in Dallas last week, has brought an international ethics debate over the ... and more »

 
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r0B0t: America's Cognitive Dissonance - CounterPunch  

America's Cognitive Dissonance CounterPunch Instead of trying to capture him alive, perhaps allowing us to learn more about whether his experience abroad affected his mental stability, a “drone” (robot-delivered) bomb was used to blow him up, a tactic associated with the military, never before ...

 
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Family Or Property -- The Legal Value Of Our Animal Companions  
My dog, Eve, was recently bitten by a rattlesnake while we were hiking. We were a long way from a veterinarian and I wondered whether I would lose her. I didn't hesitate to tell the emergency vet that they should spare no expense trying to save her, because Eve is an integral part of my family. If you share your home with a companion animal you likely feel the same way. According to a 2015 Harris poll, 95 percent of households with companion animals consider them part of their family. But because animals are considered "property" under the law, there's no guarantee that value will be accounted for in the situation of a wrongful death, for example. When a court is asked to calculate the value of a beloved companion animal, the determination is typically based purely on the animal's market value, that is, what it would cost to "replace" them.

But that may be starting to change. Animal law is a relatively new legal field, pioneered by 37-year-old nonprofit the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Like any movement for social change, progress--especially legal progress--takes time. Sweeping legal victories happen, but more often than not, the change is incremental. But the overall trend in animal valuation offers hope -- we're seeing more courts recognize that beloved non-human animal family members have intrinsic value, which must be reflected in damages their families are entitled to by law.

Two recent legal decisions we've been following are representative of this step forward. In March 2016 an Oregon rancher was awarded nearly $250,000, including $100,000 for emotional damages, after three of his Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs were shot and killed by two brothers out hunting. He will also be compensated for the value of the dogs as property. This decision is an important step in the recognition that animals have inherent value. While $100,000 can never bring back the dogs, the award recognizes that animals have value far beyond mere property under the law.

Another recent case reminds us that while we are moving forward, there's no guarantee that a companion animal's intrinsic value will be given the weight it deserves in the courtroom. In May 2012, the Monyak family of Georgia left their dogs Lola and Callie at a boarding facility while on vacation. The staff mistakenly gave Callie's daily dose of Rimadyl--an anti-inflammatory drug for arthritis--to Lola during their twelve-day stay. Not only did Callie not get the medicine she needed, Lola, a much smaller dog, was subjected to repeated overdoses, resulting in acute kidney failure. The Monyaks spent tens of thousands of dollars on extensive veterinary treatment to save Lola, but she eventually died from her injuries in March 2013. For years the family has been fighting a legal battle for compensation for the vet bills and for Lola's intrinsic value.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed an amicus, or "friend of the court," brief in support of the Monyaks, urging the Georgia Supreme court to affirm a previous Court of Appeals decision permitting damages that exceed Lola's market value, and to include Lola's intrinsic value. Lola was a dachshund mix, making her "market value" essentially $0. The Court made its decision earlier this month, but the results were mixed. It allowed recovery of vet bills in excess of market value, which is a positive step, but it held that compensating for Lola herself would be based on fair market value rather than her "actual value to the owner" or "intrinsic value."

The different outcomes in these two cases show that our laws are catching up to where we are as a society, but until animals are no longer classified as mere property, there's no guarantee that mourning families like the Monyaks will be able to achieve justice for their beloved family members.

The subtle progress we're seeing matters. These are the seeds of change on a much larger scale, and for those of us watching closely, we know that progress for companion animals is just the beginning. When it comes to non-human animals, it's easiest for us to see the value in our companion animals, and so their treatment under the law functions as a bellwether for treatment of all animals, like those subject to brutal factory farming practices.

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The Hidden Consequences of Food Waste  
I've spent much of my working life digging into the problem of waste. One of the most important things I've learned is that solving our waste problem requires we look at the whole system, not just our own contribution to it. Sometimes that feels big and daunting, but it also offers many more opportunities to bring about positive changes.

Food waste is especially unforgivable. Millions of people are malnourished or going hungry, not only in developing countries but here in the US, while grocery stores, restaurants and homes are throwing away tons of perfectly edible and nutritious food every day. But the problem is not just the food that's wasted when leftovers go in the trash. It's also all of the greenhouse gas emissions, water, biodiversity loss and soil & air pollution that was generated to create that food only for it to be tossed away uneaten. To understand the full impact of wasting food, we have to look at where that food comes from and where the wasted food goes.

Let's unpack this a bit, starting with snack foods. Not so long ago, big food manufacturers discovered that palm oil could be used instead of butter or trans fats in a vast number of baked goods and other foods. This was very convenient as trans fats had started to get a bad name. You'll find palm oil (or one of its many aliases) in all kinds of food from Quaker granola bars, to Betty Crocker cake mix, to Fritos chips and Dunkin' Donuts.

Palm oil comes from tropical countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and parts of Africa. As we've tried to ditch the trans fats from our diets, demand for palm oil has shot up and these countries are now chopping down thousands of acres of lush tropical rainforests, to clear the way for palm tree plantations. Indonesia has lost over a quarter of its forest since 1990 - an area the size of Germany - which is a tragedy for the indigenous communities and tigers, orangutans and other endangered species which need the forest to survive. Companies have made progress towards buying more responsibly produced palm oil but deforestation still continues, so we should all be mindful of wasting food that may have cost more than just the dollars we paid for it. You can sign this petition to help encourage food companies to stop destroying rainforests for palm oil.

The supply chain for beef has similar problems. This time the trail of destruction leads to the Amazon rainforest. The cattle sector in Brazil has historically been the largest driver of deforestation in the Amazon as ancient forests are cleared to create grazing pastures for cows, that become steaks and burgers. Supermarkets are the largest market for Brazilian cattle products but globally few of them are willing to guarantee the beef they sell is free from deforestation, or violations of indigenous rights in the Amazon.

This isn't the only problem associated with meat production. Aside from the ethical concerns of raising animals for human consumption, livestock is the most significant contributor to nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of streams, rivers and coastal waters worldwide. They're also major emitters of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the livestock sector is responsible for about 14% of global emissions, as much as the transportation sector. These problems show why choosing plant based foods over meat can help heal the planet.


The seafood industry is responsible for a different kind of damage. Tuna - one of the most popular sources of affordable protein - is often caught using longlines, as are swordfish and marlin. These are fishing lines over 60 miles long with thousands of hooks on to catch the fish. Longlining is notorious for high levels of 'bycatch', which is the catching of wildlife like threatened seabirds, turtles and sharks that weren't the intended prize. Around 100 million sharks, tens of thousands of sea turtles and tons of other marine life are killed every year. The destructive, inhumane and controversial practice of shark finning mainly takes place on tuna longline vessels. Longliners rarely return to land, and usually offload their catches to other vessels at sea. Out of sight of any kind of enforcement, they often operate illegally and in violation of human and workers' rights.

All this is to show that there are many good reasons to think twice about wasting perfectly good food. But I don't want to leave you with the feeling that our food system is doomed to destroy the planet. Some very real solutions already exist. Ecological farming uses modern techniques to farm with nature, not against it. Rotating crops and planting a diversity of options for example (rather than a single crop for many miles, like the oil palm plantations of Indonesia) plays a crucial role in food security, nutrition and human health as well as increasing resilience to erratic weather changes within a farm.

Phasing out chemical use (such as pesticides and herbicides) in food production is another example. Organic farms support 34% more plant, insect and animal species than conventional farms. For pollinators like bees, the number of different species was 50% higher on organic farms. This is of vital importance, since bees and other pollinators maximise global food production through their pollination services. These are just a few examples of how we can reduce the environmental impacts of food production, more of which are explained here.

We can all play an important role in making sure the food scraps we don't use aren't causing further damage to our planet. Rotting food waste that goes into landfill is a major source of climate polluting methane. Composting is a simple thing we can all do to help prevent this. You don't need a fancy compost bin to get started. I've seen neighborhood composting programs in India and the Philippines that use old barrels, or just long ditches with some worms in!

Whatever you're lucky enough to put on your plate each day, it's clear we all need to appreciate where it comes from and be motivated to make sure every last bite, scrap and rind goes to good use.

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Anticipating The Future 'Black Lives Matter' National Park  
Speaking at "Carver Day" last Saturday on the tranquil, pastoral grounds of George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, MO, I told the audience that I'm very much looking forward to the day when a unit is added to the National Park System commemorating the success of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.


I could feel George Washington Carver's essence in the forest and in the clearing where this home was built by Moses Carver in 1881 that GWC visited. When I touched this tree I imagined that I was connecting with him through space and time.

Never having been perfect, our country has come through many tumultuous times on the way toward "liberty and justice for all." The places and events that have had the most pivotal effect in our evolution are protected in our National Park System to show us from whence we have come, and what we must do to continue to honor our debt to our ancestors and our responsibility to our descendants.

It is no more optimistic to envision a 'Black Lives Matter' National Monument in our future than it would have been to imagine the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail on "Bloody Sunday" 1965. That day when the hounds of hell were loosed upon Dr. Martin Luther King and the peaceful marchers for voting rights, when young John Lewis (today's longtime Congressman) was beaten within an inch of his life and many others were critically wounded by law enforcement, who would have thought that it would become enshrined in the National Park System as one of the most pivotal events in our history?



Ranger Randall Becker (l) and Superintendent James Heaney epitomize the high caliber employees of the National Park Service and pose for a picture in front of the GW Carver bust with our new friend Josiah.

Yet indeed the horror that a majority of white Americans and President Lyndon Johnson felt at seeing the pictures coming out of the event roused the President to declare to Congress:

"The cause of the marchers must be our cause too..." and "really it is all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome."

The Voting Rights Act followed shortly thereafter with the park being established in 1996 to protect that historical legacy.

Similarly Alcatraz Island commemorates the Indians of All Tribes Occupation, (1964, 1969-71) and the newly-minted Stonewall Inn National Monument marks the place where members of the LGBT community rose up in 1969 to force recognition of their unequal treatment at the hands of the law.

Our National Park and public lands system System protects the natural (e.g. Grand Canyon) cultural (e.g. Berryesa Snow Mountain National Monument in Nevada celebrating its first anniversary today,) and historic (e.g. Ford's Theater where President Lincoln was shot) treasures "unimpaired for the benefit of this and future generations."

When we arrive at a Black Lives Matter National Monument, it will signal that Americans held together and came through this very challenging time with a greater understanding of our oneness as a nation of diverse heritage, ethnicities, religious backgrounds and sexual orientation. We would have come to appreciate the strength in our diversity.

There could be no more glorious or appropriate place to hone and share this vision than the George Washington Carver National Monument. The park protects the birthplace of the so-called 'Peanut Man' and the 'secret garden' of the enslaved, orphan youth who would come to save American agriculture, change history and the world.


These young Junior Rangers are all smiles having just earned the badges that they're proudly wearing. Pastor Harold Wallace brought them and other members of Jackson Memorial Baptist Church in Kansas City to Carver Day in the park.

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in," GW Carver famously observed. He said the plants spoke to him and communicated their secrets.

The green countryside approaching the park remains undeveloped for miles. I could picture the young orphan boy with the high falsetto voice roaming through the woods, talking with the plants and animals. From nursing ferns back health in his secret garden he would grow up to rescue America's failing agricultural industry, create more than 300 healing, nutritious and industrial products; testify before Congress (though a congressman from the south asked insultingly whether he'd brought watermelon to go with the peanuts, GWC's presentation impressed the committee so that they increased his time); train and inspire countless other scientists; become celebrated by an American president; earn membership in the Royal Society of Arts in England among only a handful of other Americans to have that honor, and have a national park created in his honor.

GW Carver's exploits are so much the stuff of legend that no one treatment could ever adequately describe him. But clues can be drawn from the fact that the legislation establishing the Monument was passed unanimously by Congress shortly after his death in 1943, one chamber governed by Democrats and the other by Republicans.

It "was the first National Park established to memorialize the life and scientific contributions of a man in agricultural science, the first to an African American, the first to a man other than a president, and the first in world history to interracial understanding and peace."

It also had strong international racial overtones. After America declared war in 1941 Richard Pilant, a distant relative of the Carver family who'd been working to get the monument established positioned it thus: "It became of necessity a war measure designed to show (the enemy) that America is a land of opportunity for all races."


As my new friend Josiah and I strolled through the meadows where George Washington Carver walked he showed me the jeweled bug that had befriended him and when I invited him to race down the path he said yes and "I'll take it easy on you."


In the sanctuary of demonstrated peace and boundless universal love for humanity, I entreated the audience to let the streaming videos of recent police interactions with African Americans serve as our version of pictures from "Bloody Sunday" or the gory photographs of young Emmett Till's mutilated body in 1955 so shocked America's conscience that it helped spur the Civil Rights Movement. Let us recognize and address the problems inherent in our system as we mourn the wanton killing of our fellow citizens by police officers and deranged individuals. Let us honor the sacrifice and investment of our ancestors that suffered through so much to give us the country we have today, for the sake of all those proud new Junior Rangers who earned their badges at the Monument Saturday and all those who will come after us.

Here's to the day when "Black Lives Matter" is an unnecessary affirmation as that ethic is cemented in the creation of a national park commemorating the legacy of this time.

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Orphaned Baby Raccoons At WildCare  
WildCare's Wildlife Hospital treats nearly 4,000 ill, injured and orphaned wild animal patients from over 200 species every year. Meet a few of our patients in the story below.



Baby raccoons are, without a doubt, some of the most charming, amusing and delightful patients we treat in our Wildlife Hospital. Because they are incredibly intelligent and curious, raising orphaned raccoons to be healthy, and to ensure they will be both successful and appropriately wild, is a daunting job!

Raccoons may be incredibly cute, but they are wild animals, and these little babies will grow into fierce adult raccoons with sharp teeth and powerful strength. Raccoons do not make good pets. As with all of the orphaned patients at WildCare, these babies will be raised to be completely wild, and they will be released into their natural habitat as soon as they are old enough.

But while they're still young, they need a lot of care, and volunteer Raccoon Foster Care Team Leader, Marie-Noelle Marquis and volunteer Raccoon Foster Care Specialist, Shelly Ross are up to the challenge. Right now WildCare has 31 orphaned raccoons in care, and we expect that number to continue rising as the summer continues.

Shelly currently has five furry orphans in her care. She has had several of these babies almost since they were born, feeding her neonate charges with special raccoon formula every two to four hours while they were still tiny with their eyes tightly sealed shut. She is now starting the process of introducing them to solid foods and (as seen in the video above) helping them discover things like moving water.

Each little orphan has his or her own sad tale about why he or she is orphaned. Shelly relates the following details about her little charges and provided us with the amazing photos in this story too!

Shelly writes:

Patient #0510 (female) - came in on April 30, born (estimate) April 25. The intake form for this baby raccoon says "Mom left in a hurry." This raccoon, at around 3 weeks old, got really really sick. I honestly didn't think she'd make it. Marie-Noelle took her for about 10 days and she survived and now is back with her group and is doing great - you'd never know she hit a rough patch early on (on top of whatever rough patch landed her with us!)

Patient #0520 (male) #0521 (female) - came in May 1, born April 28. These babies were found in an attic, where they had been crying for two days with no sign of Mom. Although we can frequently reunite mother raccoons with their young (raccoons are EXCELLENT moms!) the finder of these babies wouldn't allow a reunite attempt on the property. These two are siblings, and the boy is the biggest one in the group of five I currently have in care.

Patient #0547 (male) came in May 5, born April 28. His intake form said he was orphaned, found alone in a yard. When he arrived at WildCare, he was really, really cold, which can be deadly to a tiny baby animal. He was wheezing when he came in but he's doing great now and is the mellowest of the group.

Patient #0867 (male), came in June 8. We estimate him to have been born around April 18. He's the oldest of the group but is the scrawniest. We think his Mom was hit by a car and he was in a den in a tree for a week, starving.

This little raccoon probably had at least one sibling in the den with him that didn't survive. He must have finally flung himself out of the den and was found on the ground under the tree. He was a mess when he came in! His eyes were really sunken, and I've never seen one who looked, or felt like him. He was skin and bones! At his age, this baby should have weighed about 800 grams, but he was 338! He's a fighter though... it took about 24 hours before he started to perk up and about two days for his eyes to stop looking sunken.

He's still half the size he should be at 520 grams, and he's at least 400 grams less than everyone else, but he's spunky and has no idea he's smaller, nor do his fellow raccoons realize he's not their size. He's still being fed more often than the others but he's likely always going to be a small raccoon.

After Shelly sent in all the stories above, Marie-Noelle provided some additional details about little Patient #0501:

The homeowner heard a horrible fight between two raccoons on their roof in the middle of the night. This was most likely a male raccoon trying to mate with this baby's mom. It's true that male raccoons will kill a female's babies in order to mate with her since a mother raccoon will not mate again if she already has a litter to care for.

Apparently the mother raccoon successfully fought off her would-be suitor, and, once the fight subsided, the homeowners heard the back and forth of mom going in and out of the den. The homeowners knew they had a raccoon den and had decided to let the mother raise her litter and wait the 12 weeks until the family left on their own before sealing up the den site. This is something WildCare both recommends and applauds! A raccoon den on your property is only a temporary situation, mom and babies will move on, leaving the den, as soon as the babies are old enough to travel.

The sound of mom going in and out of the den lasted until about 5am. When the homeowner went to check the den, they noticed a blood smear in the entry point, indicating that the mother raccoon had been injured in the fight, and one baby left behind. (That was little #0510) The homeowners brought the baby raccoon to WildCare, and we attempted a reunite that night. The homeowner said there were originally 5 babies in the den and we were hoping mom simply ran out of time to grab all of them before the sun came up.

When we brought little #0510 back to her den, she was just a few days old, with her eyes and ears still tightly sealed shut. However, she immediately started calling for mom once she recognized the scent of the den. Unfortunately mom did not return, so this little girl went into Foster Care with Shelly. We will never know why mom didn't return for her, but we hope the mother raccoon's injuries healed well and her other kits are safe.

________________________

All of the baby raccoons featured in this story will be in care with our Foster Care volunteers for several more weeks. As they wean off milk formula, and start eating the foods they will find in the wild, they will also see Shelly (or any humans) less and less. These babies will grow up relying almost entirely on their fellow orphans, and will be resourceful, wily and wild raccoons by the time they are released.

Story and photos by Shelly Ross

WildCare is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization supported almost entirely by private donations and individual memberships. Visit us online at wildcarebayarea.org.

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The Internal Combustion Engine - Is the End in Sight?  
When Volkswagen engineers were challenged to enable small diesel engines to meet stringent US standards for nitrogen oxide pollution, they tried - tried - and failing -- cheated.

Now VW has agreed to one of the largest pollution penalties in history - whose hidden underside is that the engineers are still failing. Of the $15 billion VW has so far committed, $5 billion is to balance the environmental harm done by the 500,000 cheat-cars - as you might expect. The other $10 billion, $20,000 per vehicle, designated to deal with the cars, not the air, will not, however, fix the vehicles. Even given an effectively unlimited budget, engineers have not yet figured out how to make these cars emit less NOx pollution without creating an equally disastrous increase in CO2 emissions. If such a solution ever emerges, owners of these cars can get their vehicles cleaned up - but that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, owners can drive the cars for another two years, then turn them in to be scrapped. They get paid the value of the car not on the day they turn it in, but on the day, perhaps years earlier, when the cheating as revealed. So their incentives are to drive the car until the final deadline, and then sell it back for more than its value. During these two years the pollution continues.

Given the complexities of the Clean Air Act, and the threat of litigation by the purchasers of the cars (who are not the real victims, those who breathe the pollution are) this wasteful use of $10 billion may have been forced on regulators. What the settlements makes crystal clear, however, is that VW's engineers, with an unlimited budget, could not produce diesel engines that met US NOx standards, and retained the fuel efficiency that makes automakers (and customers) love diesels.

Auto and truck makers have made remarkable progress in cleaning up soot, hydrocarbons, sulfur, and carbon monoxide from internal combustion engines, while making those engines more efficient so that carbon pollution per passenger or ton mile could be lowered. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollutants from gas powered engines can also be cleaned up. Auto-makers like diesels because they squeeze more energy out of fuel - but they also make it much harder to control NOx emissions. VW didn't cheat to save a few dollars - it cheated because it couldn't make its small diesel cars meet US standards. (Large diesels deal with NOx with a cumbersome, bulky urea injection system, which cannot be accommodated in smaller models.)

This engineering limit on diesels is running into a global revolution of attitudes about air pollution. Deaths from air pollution are becoming a larger and larger catastrophe and a bigger and bigger political issue. New studies from the International Energy Agency calculated that 6.5 million people each year die from air pollution; similar studies emerge regularly from the World Health Organization. Governments and business can no longer conceal the death toll, and publics are unwilling to tolerate it. Governments are acting. The VW settlement is not the only regulatory crackdown on internal combustion engines.

The Chinese government has drastically modified its entire development strategy to respond to citizen pressure about lethal pollution. The Indian government is scrambling to deal with growing public anger. In Europe, where auto manufacturers have been massively manipulating emission testing results, and urban air quality degrading as a result, public outcry has led cities to begin banning significant segments of the European auto fleet. New EU pollution testing systems will make it much more difficult and expensive for auto manufacturers to game emission tests, leaving diesel vehicles in particular at risk.

Climate concerns and fuel efficiency standards are also making internal combustion an outmoded technology. The US is moving forward with new heavy duty fuel efficiency and pollution standards for diesels. Countries like India and China are passing more stringent pollution rules and eliminating fuel subsidies. US auto companies are complaining - falsely - that they cannot meet the current round of fuel economy standards; they are rightly concerned that the next round of post 2021 standards, is likely to exceed the capacity of internal combustion engines to meet. This will force a rapid increase in market share for electric cars.

As shared fleet transportation companies like Uber and Lyft seize more and more market share, electric vehicles become more and more and more competitive. Vehicles which drive 100,000 miles a year recover the purchase price of an EV from savings on fuel and maintenance 6 times faster than a car driven only 15,000 miles.

Oil powered transportation is becoming the most important climate threat. For both the US and Europe, 2015 was the year in which climate pollution from transportation exceeded emissions from electricity. Oil, not coal, is now the biggest danger. That means that advocacy, philanthropic and political energy that has focused on emissions from coal is going to take a closer look at oil. This closer look will increase the pressure on the internal combustion engine, which stands out as the main technology sustaining demand for oil.

Governments all over the world - California, the Netherlands, Britain, Germany among them -- are considering outright bans on the sale of internal combustion engines. (A month ago Norway almost implemented its proposed 2025 ban.) More immediately, Germany, South Korea, Sweden and China are aggressively increasing incentives for EV's. India's car manufacturers have joined with the government to phase out IC passenger vehicles by 2030.

Elon Musk has dubbed the internal combustion engine, powered as it is by thousands of small explosions inside its cylinders, a "remarkable kludge." Automotive engineers have indeed made modern gasoline and diesel engines perform remarkably - but now the limits are being reached.

In 1969 the California State Senate rejected - by one vote - a bill by then State Senator, later Congressman, Anthony Beilenson, to ban the sale of cars powered by internal combustion engines. Beilenson's bill, motivated by a conviction that California's critical air pollution crisis could not be solved by gasoline powered autos, has stood for almost half a century as an example of environmental over-reach.

Now technology trends, public insistence, industry investment, and government policy are all signaling that Beilenson's dream - an end to the burden of a transportation system powered by exploding gasoline or diesel combustion engines - is coming within grasp.

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Momentum Growing for HFC Agreement as Vienna Talks Kick Off  

The post co-authored with Bhaskar Deol

After eight years of heated deliberations, countries are finally coming close to an agreement to phase down the super-potent heat-trapping chemicals called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the Montreal Protocol. Talks towards an HFC deal resume next week in Vienna, and expectations are rising.

HFC use is growing rapidly in air conditioning, refrigeration and other sectors, especially in rapidly growing developing nations. Pound for pound, the climate impact of HFCs is thousands of times greater than that of carbon dioxide. Replacing HFCs with climate-friendlier alternatives can help avoid 0.5˚C of global warming by the turn of the century.

Following 2015's historic Paris Climate Agreement, an HFC amendment to the Montreal Protocol will help countries meet and deepen their commitments to curb climate-changing pollution and would be another big win for the Montreal Protocol.

Through the Montreal Protocol, every nation on earth has eliminated the production and import of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). All nations will soon complete the phase-out of second set of ozone-depleters, called hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). New research confirms that the Antarctic ozone hole, first identified thirty years ago, is healing as a result of actions taken under this treaty. Phasing out CFCs and HCFCs has also delivered huge climate protection benefits, because these chemicals are also extremely powerful greenhouse gases.

HFCs were adopted as replacements for CFCs and HCFCs. HFCs don't deplete ozone and pack a smaller heat-trapping punch than CFCs. But if HFC use continues growing, it will block our chances of meeting the Paris goal of holding global warming below a 2˚C increase. Now that better alternatives—both fluorocarbons and non-fluorocarbons—are available, it's time to move on from HFCs. Developing countries can enlist the Protocol's help to leapfrog to solutions that are better for the climate and for business.

Much progress has been made since the first HFC amendment proposals were tabled eight years ago. The European Union, the United States, Japan, Australia, the state of California, and other jurisdictions are implementing stringent HFC reduction policies. A suite of environmentally preferable alternatives are being developed by chemical companies, deployed by appliance manufacturers, and purchased by customers.

For example, HFO-1234yf—a refrigerant with less than 1/1000th the heat-trapping potency of the HFC it replaces—is already being used in millions of car air conditioners across the world. Consumers have purchased millions of room air conditioners that use viable, energy efficient alternative refrigerants such as HFC-32 or HC-290 (propane). Building chillers are being commercialized with energy efficient, lower-potency refrigerants such as HFO-1233zd, HFO-1234ze, HC-290. Some sectors, such as insulating foams, are skipping HFCs and jumping directly to HFOs and hydrocarbons. As alternative chemicals and products reach maturity, their costs come down. The transition pathways for industries in both developed and developing countries are becoming clearer and better understood.

When the Montreal Protocol parties meet again in Vienna next week, they must build upon the progress and momentum generated last year in Dubai and this April in Geneva. They can use the 10-day Vienna meeting to start writing the details of the HFC phase-down agreement. If negotiators do their job, the long-sought treaty amendment can be signed when they meet next in Kigali, Rwanda this October. Here is what Parties need to achieve in Vienna this month:

• In Geneva in April, negotiators largely resolved concerns about assuring workable alternatives for countries with the world's highest temperatures, such as in the Middle East. They also started working out criteria for funding assistance for the technology transition in developing countries. In Vienna, parties need to move quickly to resolve concerns about access to patented technologies and the availability of financing.
• As one concrete step towards closing the deal, the parties can task their Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) to further analyze transition costs, ahead of the Kigali meeting.
• The parties also must come closer together on the dates for freezing and reducing HFC production and import, and on formulas for country baselines. An early freeze date is critical to avoid unnecessary HFC growth and to speed the transition to next-generation alternatives. Three of the amendment proposals include freeze dates in the early 2020s for developing countries, while India's proposal, introduced a year ago, would postpone a freeze for more than a decade. There's a growing consensus, however, that it would make little sense for countries like India to build up their air conditioning industries using outmoded chemicals and product designs, only to find themselves stuck in a technological backwater.
• Developing countries need strong assurances, however, that developed countries will take the lead in cutting their own HFCs; that they will continue commercializing making available safer alternatives; and that they will contribute sufficient resources to the Multilateral Fund to help developing country industries with the costs of transition. The U.S., the European Union, Japan, and other donor countries have pledged to contribute those added resources. Now it's time to for countries to negotiate and firm up their mutual commitments to phase-down schedules and Multilateral Fund support. That's the proven path to past agreements under the Montreal Protocol.

There are many signs that countries are ready to “do the deal” on HFCs this year. Commitments to adopt a Montreal Protocol HFC amendment this year are now a regular feature of G-7 and G-20 communiques, as well as many bilateral meetings. In June, for example, Indian Prime Minister Modi and U.S. President Obama pledged to work for a Montreal Protocol HFC amendment this year with “an ambitious phasedown schedule” for all countries and “increased financial support” to the Protocol's Multilateral Fund to help developing countries with implementation. The same day, the U.S. and China reaffirmed their joint commitment to completing an ambitious HFC deal this year, in a communique from the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

The Montreal Protocol is the world's most successful environmental treaty, already doing double duty saving the ozone layer and curbing climate change. With global climate action needed now more than ever, sealing an HFC deal under the Montreal Protocol is the biggest thing that can be done this year to build on the Paris agreement and protect our children's future. 

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A UN Centered on People, Planet and Shared Prosperity  

Oftentimes, the United Nations is the only bastion of hope for many people around the world in difficult circumstances. The United Nations that the world requires demands innovative, accountable and efficient leadership to guide it in adapting itself to the challenges that lie ahead.

Informed by the foundational principles of the United Nations Charter, my vision calls for a United Nations that is: centered on people, planet and prosperity; driven by issues; and focused on delivering positive impact.

We must make this Organization work for the people and planet in a manner that promotes the greatest prosperity for all. It must be propelled by the need to address the issues at hand and not by organizational arrangements.

An issues-based approach propels us from the silos that divide us to the issues that connect us. Through pursuing an issues-based approach that connects us and is centered on delivering sustainable impact in support of people, planet and prosperity, we are compelled to promote economies of scale, reduce unnecessary duplication, and be more inclusive and effective in our partnerships.

In today's world, the only way to deliver positive impact is by listening carefully to people and working in unison with local, regional and international partners. The Secretary-General must inculcate a culture of humility in the daily work of the Organization in its effort to faithfully implement and support Member States' decisions and their decision-making processes.

Also, it is not enough for the United Nations to effectively respond to existing crises. It must lead with the foresight to anticipate and prevent crises on the horizon.

Our focus on people, planet and shared prosperity must be premised on the guiding principles of sustainability and building resilience. Promoting sustainable development, as called for in the 2030 Agenda, reduces vulnerability in the long-term. Building resilience necessitates considering women and youth as an integral part of our solutions.

Ensuring reliable financing for development is critical to reduce the vulnerability that incites conflict, generates humanitarian need and imperils human rights. We must think in new ways that profit from South-South cooperation, leveraging triangular support and private-sector engagement to foster sustainable and innovative solutions for all.

Our actions must be imbued with respect for the primacy of national ownership. The Organization must enable collaboration with national and local communities and actors to strengthen their capacities as a first resort in all of its responses.

In an era of great interconnectedness, the problems that confront us transcend borders. It is vital that we work to implement a viable and robust strategy for zero tolerance to terrorism together with a reinvigorated focus on disarmament and nonproliferation. The role of climate change and other environmental pressures in igniting humanitarian need and conflict must be considered.

The Secretary-General must galvanize efforts to end conflict through preventative diplomacy and political dialogue, exercising good offices and leveraging regional partnerships.

All our efforts must be underpinned by the promotion of human rights. The Organization must spare no effort to use the tools at its disposal to promote human rights in a manner that is holistic, inspirational, up-front and that recognizes the responsibility that is incumbent upon sovereign states.

Partnership and inclusivity call on us to build on commonality where it exists, but acknowledge that strength emanates from diversity. We must do more to leverage the influence, political and economic weight, and contextual knowledge of regional actors to promote peace, invest in preparedness and disaster-risk reduction, and cultivate prosperity.

This approach demands a Secretary-General with the courage of conviction to listen to, heed guidance from, propose solutions to and work together with Member States, to find common ground, build confidence and cultivate trust.

As Chief Administrative Officer of the organization, it is incumbent upon the Secretary-General to support the stewardship of reform and review processes in close consultation with Member States. It is also the responsibility of the Secretary-General to foster flexibility and nimbleness, and to provide the managerial oversight to hold the Organization accountable to its membership, to the people around the world it aspires to serve, and to the ideals codified in the Charter.

Accountability implies transparency, performance, and due diligence, beginning with senior leadership and cascading throughout the Organization. It requires an organizational culture that is accountable, action-oriented and focused on impact. The Secretary-General must provide the visionary leadership and strong management to steer the Organization toward this culture. Such an Organization is also fully representative of our world, both in terms of gender and geography. I will strive to achieve these objectives, including gender parity at the top, as a key driver of change.

While serving the United Nations for over a decade in humanitarian, peace and security and management sectors, I have seen the Organization and its membership work closely together to devise creative solutions to respond to unprecedented challenges: This must become the rule.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post regarding the selection and appointment of the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. A new Secretary-General will take office on January 1, 2017, and each of the declared candidates for the position was invited to participate in this blog series. The President of the General Assembly noted that, this year, the selection process will have more transparency than ever before. The declared candidates for the position are listed by the UN here. To see all the posts in the series, visit here.

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Ancient supernovae likely exposed biology on our planet to a long-lasting gust of cosmic radiation, which also affected the atmosphere, new research suggests. This would have had a massive effect on the terrestrial atmosphere and biota of the time.  
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No Matter How Fast They Run, Pamplona's Bulls Are Doomed  
It's cruelty masquerading as celebration. Terrorized animals, thrust into a world of screaming, slick surfaces, physical torment, and, in the end, serial, protracted stabbing.

It's the annual eight-day running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, as four dozen animals are chased down narrow cobblestone streets among thick, taunting crowds. They are funneled toward the bullring in town and later finished off by the picadors and matadors with their cutting swords and knives. It's only by suspending any empathy for the animals that any participant or spectator to this carnage can deem this a joyful experience.

In the run-up to this year's spectacle -- after assembling investigative footage from 2015 -- Animal Guardians and other groups (including Humane Society International) have released a video that tells the real story, stripped bare of the senseless reverie and phony thrill-seeking that accompanies it. You'll see how the whole thing culminates for the animals -- with open-air, unpunished acts of malicious cruelty.

Besides the running of the bulls, thousands of bull fiestas are held across Spain each year where, once again, the animals are tortured and killed. At fire bull fiestas, for instance, bulls' horns are set alight and the animals teased by onlookers while firecrackers explode all around. This week, HSI and its partners won a long battle when we succeeded in putting a stop to this year's Toro de la Vega, which takes place annually in Tordesillas, Castile and in the León region of Spain. The event involves hordes of spear-wielding men on horseback chasing and stabbing a bull to death.

We are zeroing in on the world's most appalling spectacles of malice to animals, including bullfighting. And there's growing worldwide disfavor with this gratuitous violence toward innocent animals. Between 2011 and 2015, there was a 25 percent decline in the number of bull fiestas. A poll commissioned by HSI last year found that 74 percent of Spaniards opposed the Toro de la Vega event. Many of the bull fiestas are partly or wholly funded by public subsidies, and the poll showed that most citizens did not think public funds should be used to support them. Some Spanish cities, such as Calonge, Tossa de Mar, Vilamacolum, and La Vajol, have independently outlawed the practice of bullfighting and, in 2012, historic legislation came into force after politicians voted to ban the outdated tradition in the Spanish region of Catalonia.

Taking on battles to end animal cruelty in foreign cultures can be difficult, as we often find ourselves aligned against apologists who invoke tradition and culture as a defense for cruelty. But with persistence, we can pull back this cloak of culture with the result that sensible people will recognize naked cruelty when they see it. HSI has, over the years, won some pretty impressive battles, like ending the world's largest animal sacrifice at the Gadhimai festival in Nepal, where half a million animals were slaughtered. In Spain, and in other countries, we will continue our fight against outmoded and cruel blood sports, including those that masquerade as tradition.

This article first appeared on Wayne Pacelle's blog, A Humane Nation.

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Interdependence, Sustainability, and a Sense of Place  
The global economy, global trade, global tourism, and immigration are here to stay. The technology of inexpensive communication, GPS, bar codes, cheap computing, containerized shipping, and a host of other innovations guarantee that supply chains will remain global. Global supply chains ensure that the food and other manufactured goods we need are made as efficiently and effectively as possible. We are part of a global economy, and if you want to see the economic impact of isolation all you need to do is look at North Korea and Iran. The market forces that push the global economy have more political potency than the nostalgic nativists pushing in the other direction. That could change, but I doubt it.

That's because in addition to the economic power of the global economy, young people have grown up with inexpensive, instantaneous communication and access to global travel. They find exposure to foreign cultures, foods, and people to be interesting and exciting. Here in America, we also have people like me who are attracted to diversity and immigration. I am delighted to live in a city where 40% of those who live here were born in other countries. If the future belongs to those that are creative, smart and entrepreneurial, drawing on the entire globe for talent seems to be the way to go. The master's programs I direct at Columbia enroll students from all over the country and all over the world, and it is an exciting and successful learning experience for almost everyone.

When I traveled to Europe for a month after I graduated college in 1974, phone calls cost as much as a night in a hotel (and more than the hostels we stayed in) and we communicated with our families with something called post cards and aerograms (lightweight air mail letters). Today, young people use FaceTime, Skype, text, and phone to stay in touch with folks everywhere at any time, and the price of communication is virtually zero. The foreign becomes familiar. Xenophobia can't gain traction when you have friends on every continent. That is a growing reality for many--but not for all, as the Republican presidential race demonstrates. There is little question that the images of foreign people and places can be manipulated for propaganda and political purposes. Many Americans can see the world on the web, but do not have the resources to touch it and experience foreign travel for themselves. But when I weigh the political clout of those who want to build walls against the power of those who benefit from globalization, I believe globalism wins. In addition, the appeal of global interaction for those who can afford it, and the American self-image as a nation of immigrants, is stronger than the tendency toward isolation.

But globalization brings costs along with benefits. Protecting labor from businesses that are highly mobile and multinational is one issue. Another is that with the creation of a global culture, how does one maintain a sense of place, community, and nation against the forces of homogenization? Some of the pushback against global forces derives from appropriate fear of a loss of control and some from a sense that those attributes that made us distinctive can no longer survive. These are real concerns as local culture competes against the shiny new global culture. Food, art, music, and media can reflect distinct local forms of expression. But the forces of homogenization are everywhere. Your Starbucks latte can be purchased in Hong Kong and Hawaii, and it will look and taste the same.

As important as global economic and cultural forces may be, I see the push for distinctive identity and a sense of place ensuring that communities and nation states will maintain their power in a more globally interconnected world. Part of it is expressed in Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY) local politics that resists development by local or global forces. This desire for community control of local land uses is powerful and growing. While part of the force behind the Brexit and Trump movements is racist xenophobia, an element of these movements is caused by a sense of lost control due to foreign forces beyond our reach. Trump, a primary beneficiary of the global economy with his global brand and real estate holdings, is cynically and effectively manipulating this anger and frustration to generate support for his inconsistent and incomprehensible policy positions. His success is in part due to his message that globalization results in loss of control.

It is true that globalization and our modern urban economy reduces independence and increases interdependence. When a rural family moves off a self-sufficient farm to a cosmopolitan city they lose control of their supply of food and shelter. They gain access to higher income, intellectual stimulation, health care and other resources, but they are not as self-sufficient as they were before. Nostalgia is a funny thing, though. When you think of the agrarian past, you might forget about the droughts, storms, pestilence, and other sources of crop failures experienced over the years; the good old days weren't always all that good. Nevertheless, the new global economy presents challenges to those who benefited from America's industrial economy. It is not simply trade and immigration that is reducing the market for labor, however, but also automation. Go to a construction site and watch the number of prefabricated pieces being hoisted by crane into place. Where once skilled construction tradesmen would appear in great numbers, today we see a few people operating machinery. Many modern factories also show the growth of automation. Workers sit in control booths operating machines and workers on the assembly line are often checking that the machines are performing as designed. Not all factories look like this, but the trend line is obvious.

The issue for workers everywhere is how do we protect ourselves from the unseen and unaccountable force of the global economy? Unions and government regulation won't work, because businesses are highly mobile and multinational. The latest trade agreements are built on the premise that in return for free trade, nations must enforce environmental and occupational health and safety regulations along with some form of living wage. It is far too early to see if these mechanisms work. The other forms of protection that younger workers are adopting are to accommodate the brain-based economy and constantly obtain the new knowledge that businesses seek from their employees. This is an insecure existence and, when coupled with the crushing level of educational debt incurred by some of our young people, is a prescription for political instability.

There are no easy answers to the issues generated by the global economy. Ensuring that the planet doesn't get used up and discarded by economic growth is a fundamental challenge. National regulation can control localized environmental problems, but are less effective in regulating climate and global marine impacts. Human labor faces the same challenges. Still, the global economy is constrained by national and local forces. The planet's environment is a precondition for human life, and so there are physical constraints on the global economy. Political stability is required for trade, as are consumers with resources to buy goods and services, and so national employment policy is necessary to ensure the healthy economy needed by global corporations. Finally, local control over the use of land constrains where global corporations can locate. While most localities compete for companies to site facilities, in addition to tax breaks they do so by demonstrating the quality of their community: its natural environment, infrastructure, schools, and political stability. Nations and communities can influence the global economy if they act strategically to defend their interests.

We have entered into a more interdependent global economy with many benefits, but despite its appeal and power, there are political and physical forces that will constrain its power. The need for a sustainable environment requires care in production, consumption, and waste management. The need for stable and growing markets requires a labor force that has meaningful work and is motivated. The human need for community and a sense of place will constrain the tendency toward a mindless homogenization of economic and social trends.

Transitions are painful. New York City's transformation was not easy. We changed from an industrial and commercial city to a global capital of ideas, communication, health care, education, business and tourism. After World War II, the garment industry was our largest business. Today, all those factories are long gone. The transition was so difficult that the city nearly went bankrupt in the mid-1970s. Drugs, crime, grime and decay were everywhere and the city lost a million people. Today, the city glistens; new buildings and parks are everywhere (along with ubiquitous tour buses). But income inequality is growing, and without subsidized housing the working and middle class would already be gone. The problems we face are new and are created by technologies and organizational dynamics new to the world. The old solutions will not work, Trump's nostalgia and racist ranting won't work, and we need to experiment with new solutions to these new problems.

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Meatless Monday: Cheap Eats for Tough Times  
These are challenging days for those of us who eat. Food's expensive. The climate change we're experiencing is killing our crops and is going to make things even worse. The House Agriculture Committee's proposed Farm Bill takes a $16 billion chunk out of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps progam). These are "near draconian cuts," as Wholesome Wave CEO Michel Nischan says. "In its current form the proposal would deny food-assistance to millions of people, many of them children."

"I normally don't consider the price when it comes to food. I buy what I want," says Rory Freedman , author of the mega-bestselling Skinny Bitch. Working with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Freedman took the SNAP challenge, spending $33 for a week's worth of food for her family.

The organic produce she usually gets wasn't an option. Likewise, sweet treats like organic fair-trade chocolate. On a $33 food budget, "there's nothing extra for indulgences." Standing in the checkout line, "holding my breath, wondering, am I going to have enough money for this, or do the walk of shame and put something back on the shelf -- that was an entirely new experience."

According to a new Oxfam America study, eight out of ten American women -- most often the family decision-makers when it comes to meals -- are willing to make changes when they understand the broader impact of what they eat. That includes going meatless once a week. Meat production sucks up 8% of our global water supply. Even a single meal where you swap beans for beef saves gallons upon gallons of water.

Going meatless saves money, too. It's why Freedman was able to meet the SNAP challenge. Her grocery bill came in at a tight $32.55. "I eat a lot of whole foods," she says. Her week's worth of groceries consisted of "fruits and vegetables, whole grains like brown rice, whole wheat pasta, beans."

Every culture has a beloved beany dish that feeds people in lean times, be it Cuban black beans and rice or Middle Eastern mjeddrah, lentil and rice pilaf. The processed food that makes up the majority of what Americans eat, the boxes and cans that clutter our shelves and our diets, the food Tracie McMillan writes about in The American Way of Eating, was not around three and four generations back. Poverty was, whether it was the Great Depression of the 1930s, the recession of the 1970s or the economic collapse of 2008.

When I put my husband through grad school, our weekly food budget was less than you'd pay for a single restaurant meal -- under $25. We did not see many -- or maybe any -- restaurant meals, but a homemade summer corn and tomato stew stands out in fond memory -- cheap, seasonal and local. Otherwise, it was a lot of rice and beans. I still have a real love for them. They're comfort foods that come from the earth, not out of a box. They're filling, nourishing, shelf-stable and cheap. They've sustained mankind for eons. They'll come through for us now.

As Freedman says, "We can eat healthy plant-based food on a very limited budget." Being vegan makes things a little easier. So do initiatives like Wholesome Wave's Double Value Coupon Program, doubling the SNAP dollars at local farmers markets so people can get twice as much fresh, local produce. The program is all the more precious now, with potential SNAP cuts looming.

Nischan and Freedman both believe consumer advocacy can help drive policy change and create a healthy, sustainable food system. I hope they're right. But we can't wait for the government's help. "We all need to take personal responsibility," says Freedman. It begins with what we eat.

Mjeddrah

1 cup brown rice
1 cup lentils
4 cups water or vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion or two small, sliced thin
1 teaspoon cumin, optional
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Pour lentils into a small bowl. Pick out discard any stems or stones. Cover with cold water. Do the same with the rice, in a separate bowl. Leave 'em to soak for 30 minutes at a minimum, for 2 hours, if you've got the time.

The lentils and rice don't need any fussing with, just let them sit.

Bring water or vegetable broth to boil into a large saucepan. Strain lentils into a sieve. Rinse in cold water. Add to broth. Do the same with the brown rice. Toss in bay leaf. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until lentils and rice are soft and fluffy and have soaked up all the liquid. Remove cover, remove from heat and set aside.

Just before serving, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion and cook, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes, until onions start to soften and turn golden and fragrant. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring, another 10 minutes or so, until onions are brown and tender. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Stir lentils and rice together gently. Remove bay leaf and season generously with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and optional cumin.

Serve pilaf lavishly topped with onions.

Serves 6 to 8.

This post originally ran on July 23, 2012,
More at soulfulvegan.com

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cheetah-portrait-wallpapers_10632_1920x1200  

Pritam.Chakraborty posted a photo:

Up close and personal with a magnificant cheetah.

 
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Climate Change May Already Be Shifting Clouds Toward The Poles  

Scientists who have been tracking cloud patterns over the past two decades say the shifts they're seeing seem to correlate closely with what's predicted by computer models of Earth's changing climate.

 
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John Quincy Adams Scientist of the Day John Quincy Adams, the...  













https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams#/media/File:John_Quincy_Adams_1843.jpg

John Quincy Adams Scientist of the Day

John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States, was born July 11, 1767.  

read more…

 
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Clashes in Kashmir (31 photos)  

At least 30 people have died after violence broke out following the death of a separatist leader in the Indian-controlled region of Kashmir. Burhan Wani, 22, was a popular leader for the group Hizbul Mujahideen, which advocates for the Muslim-majority region to secede from India. Authorities placed a curfew and restricted phones and the internet, according to the Wall Street Journal, to prevent the spread of demonstrations. Hundreds have been injured.

 
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Picadilly Circus  

npearson@soccer.on.ca posted a photo:

 
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In case of an earthquake, exit the building before updating your status  

marco18678 posted a photo:

 
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Concert look downs by Jake Chamseddine  

Concert look downs by Jake Chamseddine

Jake Chamseddine: Photos

 
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r0B0t: Should Cops Use Remote-Controlled Bomb Robots?  
Police detonated a bomb to eliminate the suspect in last week's attack in Dallas, a new tactic borrowed from America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  
robots  

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Next PM Theresa May often demands the scientifically impossible  
Theresa May is set to become leader of the Conservative party and thus UK prime minister on Wednesday, but her record on science and technology issues is poor  
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New insect imaging technique may help victims of sleeping sickness  
Researchers have employed near infrared still photographs and time-lapse video to observe the pupa of the living tsetse fly. The imaging technique may allow lab workers to identify male and female tsetse flies before they emerge as adults, which could make it easier to control them by using the Sterile Insect Technique.  
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Much more Moore's Law: Wonder-stuff graphene transistor trickery  

But this time it's a gardening job

Scientists have developed a way to “chemically grow” transistors that are only a few atoms thick in a bid to give poor old battered Moore's Law another reprieve, according to new research published in Nature Nanotechnology.…

 
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Theresa or Teresa May? Twitter confuses nude model and new PM  

Automated algorithms invite Brits to join her Punishment Party. Fnarr!

What's the difference between our Prime Minister-designate and a glamour model who appeared in the Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up video? None at all, says Twitter.…

 
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http://redirect.viglink.com?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fvideo%2Findex%2F490718%2Fwhen-exactly-was-america-great%2F%3Futm_source%3Dfeed&key=ddaed8f51db7bb1330a6f6de768a69b8  
When Exactly Was America Great?  

Nostalgia has been a central theme of the 2016 elections with politicians frequently citing the need to “restore” America to its more stable, prosperous past. But when exactly were the country's glory days? We interviewed Americans from Texas, Maryland, California, Florida, and other states to find out.

 
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The Resilience of a Teenage Para-Athlete  

The videos of 16-year-old Gabriel Neris finishing his race after losing his prosthesis in a competition in São Paulo, Brazil, garnered thousands of views. Under tremendous pain, he reached the finish line. This is an inspiring short profile of his life and athletic philosophy, produced by Stink São Paulo and directed by Douglas Bernardt.

 
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Strongman Smashes Deadlifting World Record, Immediately Passes Out  
There's no gain without pain.
Just ask Eddie Hall, who on Saturday set a new world record by deadlifting 1,102 pounds ― and then promptly passed o...

Read more: Viral Video, Gif, England, Strongman, Eddie Hall, World Deadlift Championships, Leeds, The Beast, Deadlift, Sports News

 
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Crab Finds Lost A GoPro And Takes An Awesome Underwater Selfie  
It's a shellfish selfie.
A family fishing in England last week caught a GoPro that was lost for nearly a year. While the camera itself no longer wo...

Read more: Gif, Lost Gopro, Gopro Found Underwater, Crab Selfie, Crab, Gopro Crab, Weird News News

 
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Reflections  

andre adams posted a photo:

 
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One Small Step  

ShutterJack posted a photo:

My macro shot from our LA Photowalk
#‎FlickrPhotowalk #‎FlickrLAphotowalk

 
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Morning Swim by Tobias Hägg  

Morning Swim by Tobias Hägg

www.instagram.com/airpixels Out on a photo session in my hometown i came across this fine old man. He told me he enjoys to swim the lake early in the mornings and has been doing so ever since he was young.

Tobias Hägg: Photos

 
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Zaha by trashhand  

Zaha by trashhand

Artist: Zaha Hadid

trashhand: Photos

 
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r0B0t: Robots Replacing Developers? This Startup Uses Artificial Intelligence To Build Smart Software - Forbes  

Forbes

Robots Replacing Developers? This Startup Uses Artificial Intelligence To Build Smart Software Forbes Building software solutions based on Continuous Delivery, a set of principles and practices using Lean and heavy automation, Dev9 assembles teams that use artificial intelligence to develop custom software, eliminating strenuous processes and ...

 
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New Scientist Live tickets are on sale now  
Secure your place at our festival this September packed with debates, exhibits, demos and lots more  
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http://twitter.com/jesz12/status/752488011036758016 
There are #Endangered #sea #life! Stepping up for #Shark #Species at CITES https://t.co/IAjHxoHtJV 
https://t.co/IAjHxoHtJV 

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Cycling paramedics in epic rush to save patient who ate stale sandwich  

Adrenaline-soaked exploits worthy of Hollywood

Cancel Independence 3 and put Episode VIII on hold. Hollywood need look no further than the London Ambulance Service's Cycle Response Team for next year's summer blockbuster, after its Twitter feed revealed the gritty reality of saving East London while balanced on two wheels.…

 
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Kotkin on who made Trump and Brexit: Look in the mirror, it's you  

How Hipsters and Silicon Valley's tech plutocrats cast the poor aside

Interview Two American writers have attempted to grapple with the rise of “populism” exemplified by Donald Trump and Brexit, with both starting (if not finishing) from the Left.…

 
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Canary Wharf at sunset  

Andrew H-W posted a photo:

Olympus digital camera

 
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/europeanspaceagency/28132236802/  
CAVES2016 - Exploration Day 6  

europeanspaceagency posted a photo:

Cavenauts with support and ground teams after exiting the cave. Mission complete!

Astronauts from five space agencies around the world are taking part in ESA's CAVES training course Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills.

The two-week course prepares astronauts to work safely and effectively in multicultural teams in an environment where safety is critical.

As they explore the caves of Sardinia they will encounter caverns, underground lakes and strange microscopic life. They are testing new technology and conducting science just as if they were living on the International Space Station. The six astronauts relying on their own skills, teamwork and ground control to achieve their mission goals the course is designed to foster effective communication, decision-making, problem-solving, leadership and team dynamics.

This year is the first international space cooperation to involve astronauts from China, Russia, Japan, ESA and America, with cosmonaut Sergei Vladimirovich, ESA astronaut Pedro Duque, taikonaut Ye Guangfu, Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide and NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Jessica Muir taking part.

Follow CAVES via twitter @ESA_CAVES or with #CAVES2016 or on the CAVES blog.

Credits: ESA-V.Crobu

 
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NASA: Moon's Ice is a Time Capsule --"Answer to a Deep Mystery" (Weekend Feature)  
 
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"Worlds in Collision" --Why Northern Mars Is Lower in Altitude Than Southern Mars  
 
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https://www.pinterest.com/pin/281543706176680/  
The Lincoln Memorial  
The Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC (© Dennis K. Johnson/Getty images) 2016-07-10 [www.bing.com/search]  
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http://twitter.com/el_bonga/status/752469659975376896 
@MurtalaIbin CITES: Convention on Int'l Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife of Fauna and Flora of which we're signatory in 1973... 1/2 
http://ifttt.com/missing_link?1468238838 

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http://thenextweb.com/insider/2016/07/11/nbc-universal-patents-method-detecting-piracy-real-time/  
NBC Universal patents a method for hunting BitTorrent pirates in real-time  

In an effort to curb piracy of copyrighted content, entertainment giant NBC Universal has patented a way to detect files being shared by large groups of people on peer-to-peer networks in real-time. The idea is that the system, which could be deployed by an internet service provider, will be able to identify files, like a movie or music album being distributed on a network (such as a BitTorrent network) by a swarm of users. When there are several users engaged in sharing the verified file, it'll raise an alarm so appropriate action, like alerting the ISP or filing a lawsuit,…

This story continues at The Next Web  
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http://journal.benbashford.com/post/147204839148  
KOSKI by Studio deForm is a board game that connects the...  

KOSKI by Studio deForm is a board game that connects the physical and digital gaming worlds together in a new, unusual and playful way. It is a combination of real toy blocks and a virtual app that evokes digital interactive game play. The Player uses an iPad as a “magical mirror” which looks onto wooden blocks. By using an augmented reality and object recognition, as the player interacts and builds with the blocks, the game soon begins to reveal it's hidden worlds, characters and stories. It unlocks new and imaginative ways to play.

 
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http://journal.benbashford.com/post/147203947138  
We're on the edge of a new frontier in art and creativity...  

We're on the edge of a new frontier in art and creativity — and it's not human. Blaise Agüera y Arcas, principal scientist at Google, works with deep neural networks for machine perception and distributed learning. In this captivating demo, he shows how neural nets trained to recognize images can be run in reverse, to generate them. The results: spectacular, hallucinatory collages (and poems!) that defy categorization. “Perception and creativity are very intimately connected,” Agüera y Arcas says. “Any creature, any being that is able to do perceptual acts is also able to create.”

 
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http://journal.benbashford.com/post/147203624413  
Pokemon Go is an online ios and android app that lets your...  

Pokemon Go is an online ios and android app that lets your discover Pokemon in the real world

 
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http://journal.benbashford.com/post/147203291453  
Meet Vi, an AI personal trainer who lives in biosensing...  

Meet Vi, an AI personal trainer who lives in biosensing earphones. She finds your ideal path to fitness and coaches you in real time.

 
technology  

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http://journal.benbashford.com/post/147202369398  
Just ask your Smart Bluetooth® Speaker BSP60 a range of...  

Just ask your Smart Bluetooth® Speaker BSP60 a range of questions, from weather information to your daily schedule and it will answer right back. You can also ask it to perform tasks like setting an alarm or timer. The voice control app supports English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish language. So get on with your day and let the Smart Bluetooth® Speaker BSP60 assist you.

 
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http://journal.benbashford.com/post/147202242658  
Aido is an interactive personal home robot. He's an all in one...  

Aido is an interactive personal home robot. He's an all in one package that comes with the best of home automation, security, assistance, entertainment and much more!

 
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http://journal.benbashford.com/post/147202100878  
Tapia will warm your heart with jokes and laughter after a long...  

Tapia will warm your heart with jokes and laughter after a long day at the office. She will also help keep you that much closer to loved ones who are miles away by taking photos of your happy times together. Additionally, Tapia gives you helpful updates on weather conditions when you are headed out, and can play music when asked to set the mood or help you relax. As a roommate, friend, and daily partner, this robot will stay faithfully by your side and evolve right along with you on life's journey.

 
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http://journal.benbashford.com/post/147201925403  
VYO SOCIAL ROBOT FOR THE SMART HOMEVyo is a personal assistant...  

VYO SOCIAL ROBOT FOR THE SMART HOME

Vyo is a personal assistant serving as a centralized interface for smart home devices. With both social robotics and smart homes on the brink of market feasibility, Vyo offers an alternative to the more common touch-screen and voice-control interfaces. Vyo's design is that of a peripheral robot, straddling the boundary between home appliance and social presence. Users interact with the device using physical icons and quiet gestures, promoting the domestic sense of home technology.

 
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316  

316

 
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https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/4-10-july-2016/design-ind/  
Design industry performing well despite shrinking profit margins  

Design has performed favourably against other sectors in a new piece of research which looks at the state of the marketing and creative industries.

Accountant Kingston Smith's Marketing Monitor report which looks at the strength of all sectors from the last year finds that across the marketing services industries consultancies are “delicately poised”, as they enter post-Brexit economic uncertainty.

The general state of play for all sectors is that there have been modest increases in fee income, which are becoming increasingly overshadowed by worsening margins.

Despite this there were also broad trends showing that the industry had recovered from the financial crisis.

Top 30 design consultancies increase gross income

Branding and design is performing well according to the report, which finds that its “top 30” (unnamed) design consultancies generated an additional £13.5 million in gross income year-on-year compared to last year's report.

However the gross income wasn't turned into operating profit and therefore profit margins are down one percentage point to 10.3%.

Kingston Smith recommends that a well run design consultancy should be generating operating profits of at least 15% of fee income and ideally 20%. While 11 of the top 30 hit 15% only five were in excess of 20%.

Talent shortages

One metric for looking at the health of the health of a consultancy is by comparing employment costs and fee income.

The average ratio of employment cost to fee income is on the rise, creeping up by two percentage points to hit 61% this year. When freelancers are considered this figure is even higher.

Talent shortages are cited as a reason for driving up staff costs and the recommended target ratio of employment cost to fee income is 60%.

Independent's catch group owned

There are 17 independent consultancies in Kingston Smith's top 30. The profitability gap is closing between independent and group owned consultancies.

Operating profit margins are now 11% for group-owned consultancies and 10% for independents. This is four percentage points closer than last year.

Average fee income per head in the design sector has worsened and now stands just under the benchmark target of 100,000. This averages out from group-owned consultancies earning £108,000 per head and independents earning £94,000.

However the group-owned consultancies spend more on staff costs and overheads, which is why their profit margins are not much better in the end.

How to be more efficient

As design work is by it's nature project driven and freelancers are often brought in to manage peaks and troughs, getting the balance right between permanent and temporary staff is “absolutely vital to protect those slim margins” advises Kingston Smith.

Another tip it gives is to have someone to oversee capacity management and sign off additional resource.

Design consultancies need to regularly challenge whether they are using staff in the most efficient way and come up with “new and innovative ways of working” that keep up with client demands, finds Kingston Smith.

The report looked at key performance indicators across other sectors, revealing that PR had performed the best, advertising had not performed as well as the year before, while in digital gross income per head has increased although margins are being squeezed.

Meanwhile in marketing and sales productivity remains steady but spiraling operating costs have hit profit margin.

You can read the full report here.

The post Design industry performing well despite shrinking profit margins appeared first on Design Week.

 
design  

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https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/4-10-july-2016/well-know-design-business/  
How well do you know your design business?  

I recently sat down with Jack O'Hern, partner at accountancy firm Wright Vigar and an accredited DBA Expert. The starting point of our discussion was personal finances for business owners not usually a subject we broach at the DBA with our focus on the success of “the business” rather than the individuals who own it. But Jack's message is clear: unless a business owner understands their personal needs and desires with regards to their business, then it will never truly be a success.

Although business and personal success are intertwined, when you boil it down, your business success can be judged on financial metrics, whereas for yourself you need a different set of metrics that don't focus so much on money, but instead focus on the quality of your life.

“A financial advisor for a business owner shouldn't look at the business first, they should look at the person,” says O'Hern. “The business should work for the person, not the other way round.”

The business owner (or owners) need to work out what they want from their business by answering three questions:

1. Why did you set up your business in the first place?
For design consultancy owners the words “independence” and “freedom” tend to feature heavily, both creatively and financially. Do you want double-digit growth every year, or do you just want to keep a roof over your head?

2. What do you want out of your business?
You should look at whether you are getting what you want out of the business both emotionally and financially. Does it give you security? A certain standard of living? Are you happy with what you do at work on a day-to-day basis; is it what you expected you would be doing when you set up the business?

3. What is the end game?
It's important to know what you want to leave behind and how you want to leave. Are you interested in leaving a creative legacy, a thriving business that you have passed on in some form? Do you want early retirement and a life on the golf course, or do you want the opportunity to never retire but not have to deal with the stress of running a business?

Without truthful answers to these personal questions by all owners of the business it is difficult to successfully manage the business itself. They all impact on the financial decisions taken within the company.

In O'Hern's experience, the most common reaction to these questions is a realisation that the owner's original intentions on setting up a business have become lost under the morass of actually running it. That's why you need to remember what you are trying to do and then, more importantly, do something about it. This could mean firing that awkward client, investing in a big hire by bringing someone in to run the business thereby freeing up your time, or scaling back to a more manageable size so you can remain in control.

Life can impact on your work in so many ways, especially as we get older. From coping with poorly parents to putting kids through university you need to make sure that work works for you, and that starts with financial management.

The post How well do you know your design business? appeared first on Design Week.

 
design  

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https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/4-10-july-2016/aiga-get-vote-poster-campaign-looks-activate-u-s-voters/  
AIGA Get Out The Vote poster campaign looks to activate U.S. voters  

“These political posters should be looked at as tools,” says Laetitia Wolff, curator for Get Out The Vote. “Design has a real power to change behaviour.”

Get Out The Vote is the U.S. election poster campaign from the AIGA, North America's professional association for design. Through an online gallery, the campaign which happens every four years to coincide with a presidential election uses the power of design and illustration to “activate” the public and get them interested in American politics, says Wolff.

Non-partisan campaign

While the campaign hopes to encourage engagement, it also aims to be non-partisan, and so the posters do not advocate for either the Republicans or Democrats, but simply inspire people to use their vote.

“Voting demonstrates that you belong to a nation, not just a party,” says Wolff. “Though we would still love to see the likes of Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump use the posters as part of the campaigns.”

The AIGA's Get Out The Vote campaign was first launched in 2004, and looks to both high and low profile designers to create posters that can be included within its online gallery.

Milton Glaser and Paula Scher

The initiative receives submissions from the likes of Milton Glaser and Paula Scher, and a number of other designers, the only specification being that they need to be a member of the AIGA to submit a design. The AIGA has 26,000 members across the continent, spread across 70 different hubs in the U.S.

Exhibition spaces of curated work

Alongside an online gallery of all submissions, which at the moment totals around 150 for this year, there are also exhibitions held in conjunction with the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention, which are both taking place later this month. An exhibition of select design works is also held at the AIGA Design Conference in Las Vegas in October.

While the online gallery includes all submissions, the exhibitions are more selective, including a curated selection of 45 posters to correlate with this year being the 45th presidential election from “design influencers” and a hand-picked selection of others.

Making “beautiful imagery” a political tool

Wolff says the campaign aims to make issues that affect everybody more “visible, legible and accessible”, through using “beautiful imagery” to interest and activate people into starting a conversation about politics.

“Good design makes choices clear,” says Wolff. “Designers have an important responsibility to use their work as a communication tool and to engage citizens including themselves.”

The campaign has also partnered with the League of Women Voters this year, a non-partisan organisation which aims to mobilise and educate the public, both male and female, about voting. Together, the organisations host events throughout the year to encourage more people to vote by engaging them with design.

Posters can be submitted until 8 November

All AIGA members can contribute posters through the Get Out The Vote submission form until 8 November, the date of the U.S. presidential election.

The organisation also encourages site viewers to download and share the posters, using hashtags #AIGAvote and #GetOutTheVote, with the hope of activating more voters.

These are some of the posters submitted so far this year:

The post AIGA Get Out The Vote poster campaign looks to activate U.S. voters appeared first on Design Week.

 
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London mayor Sadiq Khan blocks extra funds for garden bridge  

Further doubt cast on future of proposed bridge after preparatory work halted over fears about public funding

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Why Partnership is Essential When Solving Global Challenges  


This article has been submitted as part of the Natural Capital Coalition's series of blogs on natural capital by Camilla Toulmin, British economist, former Director and senior fellow of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

While philosophers can create progress in their fields with nothing more than brain, pencil and paper, an objective understanding of complex natural and social systems necessitates more than can be achieved by any single person. What is needed to advance our knowledge and to refine our policy in this field, is collaboration, and partnership.

First, between disciplines, so that the different tools, ideas and perspectives of the social and natural sciences can be more broadly focused on practical problems, much in need of solutions.

Second, between scales, as our world is an inter-locking system; so much so that changes to the troposphere, 12 miles above the Earth's surface, rebound on the prospects of micro-organisms nestled deep in the soil.

Third, between different actors and agencies. While it's true that government sets the wider direction and policy framework, our resources are used and managed by people, individually and collectively - on farms, across hillsides, in the oceans, in fact, on most of the planet's surface.

And, lastly, over generations of thought. You cannot hope to understand a system today, or predict where it might be tomorrow, if you haven't understood where it has travelled from.

My own work neatly illustrates these points. I am currently re-surveying a small village in the Sahel, the place where I first embarked on my doctoral fieldwork 35 years ago. In my work, I combine many different methods and disciplines, and rely on support from people all over the world. Researchers generally like to exchange ideas and new evidence, building a culture of sharing spanning the globe. I rely on this in my own work, as it helps me analyse what can be seen from aerial photos, compare trends in rainfall and crop yields, and learn how similar communities elsewhere have taken their own development in hand.



I have to work at multiple scales, understanding not only how the environment changes people, but also how people change the environment. National decentralisation policy has led to shifts in who exercises power and decision-making locally, while global market forces have turned these wide open sandy plains into a commodity to be bought and sold. For us to succeed in supporting local development, we need this extensive multifaceted understanding, from which to offer partnership to local people.

Gaining a livelihood in these drought-prone regions is uncertain, but people have survived and prospered here for many generations. Local farmers talk knowledgeably about how they play-off risks; by sowing millet with different growing cycles, and diversifying into sesame, maize and groundnuts for instance. I am talking with them about how they see the future, and ways to build greater resilience into their natural resource and farming systems. We apply our shared understanding of the changes they've witnessed over the last 35 years as the backdrop to aid reflections on the future. They're enjoying working with old aerial photos, and taking the black-and-white images in hand. The older men and women can point out who was farming each field as far back as the early 1950s.



The farmers and herders of this region face serious challenges ahead, as fertile land becomes scarcer, and rain falls in evermore intense storms. Even in the face of this, they can do much to manage their land, and diversify how they live in order to cope with this uncertainty. Some families continue to live in enormous domestic groups, made up of 100+ relatives, as a means to gain economies of scale, and share both assets and risks.

Many families here rely on the earnings of young men who migrate away for many months at a time. While a short-term solution, in order to prosper in the long term, people need sensible and supportive government. Government must provide stability though laws and institutions which secure rights for people and for the environment, and by investing in the public infrastructure needed to get goods to market.

I am engaging with people in local and national government, promoting the work that we do, and relaying the voices of villagers; facilitating conversations where they are able to tell their own stories.

This work is particularly important now, as the current government is handing out big areas of land to large scale agricultural enterprise; 20,000 hectares to a Chinese company for sugar-cane cultivation most recently.

However, new legislation is currently being introduced through parliament, bills that offer more secure rights to local people, as well as for local bodies which can both handle disputes, and register land. I am hoping that as farmers mobilise themselves and find common cause with neighbouring communities, they can press for ever-fairer deals when big investors loom large.

I hope to further understand these interlocked systems of natural and social capital, and believe this is possible; by combining disciplines, working at many scales, forging partnerships, and looking back in order to understand future options.

A global approach to learning and sharing is central to all such research enquiry. As we see unfold before us the extraordinary and troubling fall-out from the U.K. EU referendum result, I have ever greater concern for our natural environment, its care and conservation. While political intrigue and jostling for power offer short-lived rhetoric about how to generate jobs and livelihoods, we must keep sight of the longer term assets, on which our ultimate prosperity lies.

Collaboration across boundaries of all forms is vital to our shared understanding of the planet's complexity, where its thresholds and tipping points might lie, and how to manage and monitor change. It's therefore vital to unite and work together, regardless of the regulatory landscape, to solve the challenges that we all collectively face.

Disclaimer: Articles in this series are submitted by people who work in organizations who are part of the Natural Capital Coalition, or people who are involved in the natural capital space more generally, the views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of The Natural Capital Coalition, other Coalition organizations, or the organization that employs the author.

Follow Camilla on Twitter: @camillatoulmin
Follow the IIED on Twitter: @IIED


Camilla Toulmin is a British economist and former Director of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Her career has focused on policy research about agriculture, land, climate and livelihoods in dryland regions of Africa. She became a senior fellow of IIED in late June 2015, and is Professor of Practice at the Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University.

On 13th July 2016, The Natural Capital Coalition will launch a standardized framework for business to identify, measure and value their impacts and dependencies on natural capital. This 'Natural Capital Protocol' has been developed through a unique collaborative process; a World Business Council for Sustainable Development consortium led on the technical development and an IUCN consortium led on business engagement and piloting. The Protocol is supported by practically focused 'Sector Guides' on Apparel and Food & Beverage produced by Trucost on behalf of Coalition.

Keep up to date with the Natural Capital Coalition on Twitter: @NatCapCoalition


Keep up to date with our series on natural capital here.

www.naturalcapitalcoalition.org

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

 
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Astronomers detect new worlds unlike any detected thus far  

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Graduate students supported by the National Science Foundation helped helm two separate exoplanet discoveries that could expand researchers' understanding of how planets form and orbit stars. K2-33b, shown in this illustration, is one of the youngest exoplanets detected to date and makes a complete orbit around its star in about five days. These two characteristics combined provide exciting new directions for planet-formation theories. K2-33b could have formed on a farther out orbit and quickly migrated inward. Alternatively, it could have formed in situ, or in place.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt

 
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Sun Setting Over London  

ben.beedell1 posted a photo:

I took this shot yesterday evening just as the sun was going down ?☀️

 
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Sunset from the South Bank  

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When cells die, whether through apoptosis or necrosis, the DNA and other molecules found in those cells don't just disappear. They wind up in the bloodstream, where degraded bits and pieces can be extracted. This cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is degraded due to its exposure to enzymes in the blood but is nonetheless a powerful monitoring tool in cancer, pregnancy and organ transplantation. One fairly recent breakthrough is prenatal testing for conditions such as Down syndrome, as fragments of fetal cfDNA can be detected in a mother's bloodstream. Now, borrowing a genomics technique used in the study of the ancient past, a Cornell graduate student has come up with a diagnostic tool that can open a window into a transplant recipient's immediate future through the analysis of cfDNA.

Image credit: Sarah Nickerson/Biomedical Engineering

 
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Thames Barrier - High Tide  

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FlickrPhotowalk - Los Angeles  

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This is an installment in Tongva Park in Santa Monica, California. These weather vanes move with the wind. One of the photos from the Flickr LA Photowalk.
#‎FlickrPhotowalk #‎FlickrLAphotowalk

 
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Had a great time at the photowalk today. Discovered this under the Santa Monica Pier. The light shone down through the slats in the pier.
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Cormorants watch for trout beneath the mirror surface of the lake  

Watendlath Tarn, Borrowdale At my approach the soot-black, long-necked bird opens its hook-tipped bill, and utters a harsh croak

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I think of Judith Paris, the historical novel by Hugh Walpole, which was a bestseller in the 1930s, though little read these days. It is partly set in revolutionary Paris and partly in Watendlath, with tales of passion and murder played out against vivid descriptions of the Cumbrian countryside.

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Sunset across the Thames at Greenwich  

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Sunset across the Thames at Greenwich 2  

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On my radar: Paul Nurse's cultural highlights  

The geneticist on the joys of Alexander Calder and Nordic noir, plus virtuoso performances from Simon McBurney and András Schiff

The new Francis Crick Institute in London's King's Cross opens this summer, and by the time it reaches its full capacity later in the year will house 1,400 researchers and 400 support staff. Sir Paul Nurse, director and chief executive, describes it as “probably the biggest biomedical research laboratory building in the world”; others have affectionately dubbed it “Sir Paul's Cathedral”. Nurse, who was president of the Royal Society until last year, has become one of the most celebrated scientists in Britain. Born to a working-class family in Norfolk, his career has led him from a Harrow grammar school to some of the world's most prestigious biology and genetics laboratories and, in 2001, to the Nobel prize for medicine, for his work discovering “key regulators in the cell cycle”.

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https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jul/10/georgia-okeefe-review-tate-modern-retrospective  
Georgia O'Keeffe at Tate Modern review the sensuous and the dust-dead  

Tate Modern, London
Big skies, big stamens, big box-office… yet there are longueurs in this blockbuster retrospective

Daybreak over Texas, and Georgia O'Keeffe is out in the landscape, mesmerised by the vast skies above her. She paints everything her eyes can take in. The dawn becomes a luminous glow beneath the blue arches of her marvellous watercolour, a rising dome that hovers between the real and the abstract. The painting is small but it holds infinity.

Light Coming on the Plains III (1917) is one of the purest and most radical images O'Keeffe ever made. But it is not in this exhibition. I mention it as an image to hold in mind when walking around the blockbuster at Tate Modern, something to weigh against all the kitsch skull and flower pictures and mechanically abstracted mesas that have made her the most famous and most oversold female painter in American art.

O'Keeffe's oil paintings turn out to be dull, matte, evenly layered. They have no touch, no relish for paint

Related: The wild beauty of Georgia O'Keeffe

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https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jul/09/dr-seuss-will-see-you-now-children-books-exhibition-discover-centre-stratford  
Dr Seuss will see you now  
Interactive exhibition explores the world of the children's author

Wordplay games and interactive exhibits that recreate the worlds inside the playful mind of Dr Seuss, one of the most popular of all children's writers, are to be unveiled later this month in east London.

A year-long exhibition celebrating the work of the American creator of The Cat in the Hat and The Lorax will form the entire basement floor of the revamped venue, Discover in Stratford, from 23 July.

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http://www.designboom.com/art/didzis-jaunzems-architecture-nature-concert-hall-lativa-07-09-2016/  
DJA designs bat-centric concert hall in latvia  

composed of 10,000 laminated paper bats, the gradated installation serves as art piece and screen for video and light installations.

The post DJA designs bat-centric concert hall in latvia appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

 
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https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jul/10/starwatch-teapot-in-sagittarius  
Starwatch: Teapot in Sagittarius  

The Teapot appears to be pouring to the right, its spout represented by the stars Alnasl and Kaus Australis

Mars remains the most conspicuous object low in Britain's S sky at nightfall where it stands below the Moon on Thursday. Saturn, 17° to Mars's left and fainter, is 6° above Antares in Scorpius.

By midnight BST it is the quaintly named Teapot that hovers just above our S horizon. The Teapot is an asterism, being the most prominent part of the constellation of Sagittarius the Archer which is also identified as a Centaur a human/horse hybrid.

Related: The Large Sagittarius Star Cloud - picture of the day

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https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jul/10/bluedot-festival-frontier-jodrell-bank-jean-michel-jarre-brian-cox-underworld  
Bluedot: exploring the festival frontier  

This month, a new festival will boldly go beyond the same old weekend lineups with a boundary-breaking blend of science, music, technology and comedy

With the vast Lovell telescope as its backdrop, the first ever Bluedot festival will take place later this month, in and around the Jodrell Bank observatory in Cheshire. The three-day event will combine a weekend music festival with an interdisciplinary scientific symposium, scheduling big-name musicians alongside prominent scientists and technologists. Taking its name from the Pale Blue Dot photograph of Earth made famous by Carl Sagan, Bluedot's unusual programme hopes to inspire the sense of curiosity and wonderment suggested by its surroundings. “Bluedot offers an experience unlike any other,” says festival director Ben Robinson, “with over 300 cutting-edge artists pushing the boundaries of live performance.”

The festival will be divided into several different areas, each one programmed according to different themes. The Nebula stage, “where new stars are born”, is the arena for up-and-coming musicians; the Roots stage, situated in nearby woodland, covers folky and acoustic acts; and the Lovell stage, directly behind the famous telescope, will host the headliners, all of whom have a certain scientific flavour. These include French electro-pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre, famed for his majestic, hi-tech concerts; the shape-shifting Canadian innovator Caribou; and the brainy, maths-flecked Manchester rockers Everything Everything.

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https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jul/10/south-kilburn-estate-brent-council-alison-brooks-architects  
South Kilburn estate review homes that are streets ahead  

Thanks to the enlightened thinking of Brent council and Alison Brooks Architects, a notorious London estate that featured in Zadie Smith's White Teeth is now the site of some of the best housing in the neighbourhood

Once upon a time, goes a well-worn story, cities were made of streets. People were happy. They loved their neighbours and looked out for each other. Kids played outside. You knew where you stood: a house looked like a house and a street looked like a street. You could put out flags and tea kettles for a royal jubilee. Then ideological modern architects, in league with control-freak local councils, ripped it all up. Streets were insanitary, they said. Their residents (they thought but didn't say) were too unruly. So they had to be corralled into soulless blocks, human battery farms, gulags, surrounded by open spaces that no one wanted or owned and so became colonised by gangs and drugs.

The story is oversimplified. You don't have to look far into the literature of the past to find that alienation, dystopia and misery could flourish in good old streets. There are several ways to create successful shared spaces courts and communal gardens, for example as well as streets. Not everyone wants a house and private garden. One of the strengths of Britain's big cities is the multiplicity of ways to live that they offer, including that reviled modernist housing, some of which turns out to have qualities of its own.

Brent council's Richard Barrett remembers both ‘camaraderie' and the fact that taxi drivers would refuse to go there

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https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jul/09/suburbs-architecture-stagnation  
With the Good Life over, how can suburbia regain its place in the sun?  
It was where the interwar generation aspired to, but suburbs today are a tale of dying high streets and creeping poverty

“Try to own a suburban home,” said an advertisement by the British Freehold Land Company in the 1920s, “it will make you a better citizen and help your family. The suburbs have fresh air, sunlight, roomy houses, green lawns and social advantages.” It perfectly summarises the ideal behind suburbia, which is where most people in Britain live today.

Related: Metroland, 100 years on: what's become of England's original vision of suburbia?

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r0B0t: Killings and history challenge us to value all lives equally - Detroit Free Press  

Merced Sun-Star

Killings and history challenge us to value all lives equally Detroit Free Press Micah Johnson, the killer, did not act with the weight of history, because there is none of mass police killings by angered African Americans. And even the extreme bigotry and hatred he allegedly ... The perpetrator in Dallas was killed, blown up by a ... Merced reacts with sadness, anger, fear to violence in DallasMerced Sun-Star Micah X Johnson, the Dallas police shooter, was taken out with a robot delivered bombBlasting News all 9,127 news articles »

 
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Photos of the Day: July 10, 2016  

Bull running in Spain, Olympics trials and more in Photos of the Day.  
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Long Buried By Bad Reputation, Philistines Get New Life With Archaeological Find  

They're one of the Hebrew Bible's greatest villains, but not much is known about the ancient Philistines. An uncovered cemetery, which researchers say is the first of its kind, could change all that.

 
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