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Jill Stein's Dangerous Anti-Science Campaign  

On July 28th, 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to ever be nominated for president on a major party ticket in the United States. Her primary battle was hard-won against democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, who ran an insurgent campaign within the Democratic Party. He attempted to paint Clinton as a corrupt, corporate Democrat without the will or ability to work toward genuine political reform. He eventually endorsed Clinton for president and moved to nominate her by acclamation at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. But among his millions of followers, another candidate's name was beginning to circulate.

Dr. Jill Stein is a medical doctor and political activist who currently hails from Massachusetts. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University before going on to receive a degree from Harvard Medical School. Throughout the 1990s, she was known among environmentalists for her work fusing human health to environmental concerns. She also won the role of Town Meeting Seat in Lexington, Massachusetts in 2005 and was reelected to the seat once.

As Stein's influence grew, she earned the nomination of the Green Party and ran for President of the United States in 2012, garnering less than half of one percent of the popular vote and securing no electoral votes.

This year, once again the Green Party nominee, she hopes to change that through a populist appeal to Bernie Sanders voters. Stein laid the groundwork by essentially offering Bernie Sanders the option of running as the Green Party nominee in place of her when he lost to Clinton. It was a shrewd move, as she knew he was going to stick with Clinton. Her offer, combined with his rejection, would signal to less politically astute supporters that he wasn't serious about reform and caved to the Democratic machine.

Of course, this isn't even slightly true. Sanders dramatically altered the Democratic Party platform, which was a huge victory for his movement and would've been impossible had he defected to the Green Party before the election cycle was complete. Only through supporting the Democratic Party could he hope to see his reforms fully adopted during a Democratic administration, and he's shown himself willing to play ball, albeit begrudgingly.

Stein's plan to court left-wing voters disillusioned with the Democrats worked better than political watchers had anticipated. Her media stock rose as she engaged in pointed anti-Clinton rhetoric. In Stein's world, Hillary Clinton is irredeemably corrupt with an appetite for war and loathing for the environment. Never mind that Clinton's actual voting record doesn't support the caricature. Stein's barbs aren't meant to reveal truth, rather provoke. Her style is remarkably similar to Donald Trump in its vapidity. One of her nastiest tweets attacked Clinton as a mother.

Green Party pandering for media attention has begun to take a more dangerous turn as Stein winks at dangerous conspiracy theories. Her comments in seeming support of the anti-vaccination fringe raise alarm, especially because she's repeated variations of them in multiple settings.

Here's what Stein, a medical doctor, told the Washington Post:

“There were concerns among physicians about what the vaccination schedule meant, the toxic substances like mercury which used to be rampant in vaccines. There were real questions that needed to be addressed. I think some of them at least have been addressed. I don't know if all of them have been addressed.”

Notice the Trumpian ending. Stein just doesn't really know if vaccines are totally safe. This is disturbing stuff, given a trend of vaccine skepticism being promoted by medically illiterate celebrities and known fraudsters like Dr. Joseph Mercola, who's been repeatedly warned by the FDA over federal law violations.

Stein was directly asked about the Green Party stance on vaccinations in a Reddit AMA and replied, “I don't know if we have an ‘official' stance.” She then continued with a paragraph full of conspiratorial fear-mongering about regulatory agencies, a favorite target of the anti-science homeopathy and “alternative medicine” movements.

Recently, Stein went so far as to suggest wireless signals are bad for children's brains and punctuated her reckless statement with this alarmist soundbite: “We make guinea pigs out of whole populations and then we discover how many die.” (Apparently, for all Stein is vehemently against, casual references to animal testing doesn't make the list.)

The stunning lack of medical and scientific literacy, from a seasoned medical professional who certainly knows better, continues in her food policy. Her official platform states, “Label GMOs, and put a moratorium on GMOs and pesticides until they are proven safe.” This is absurd, as GMOs have been repeatedly found to be safe. There's zero serious scientific debate on this point, because the evidence is in and results are clear. GMO crops could save hundreds of thousands of children's lives in a single year. Stein is trying to stop their development to satisfy anti-science extremists.

Her non-medical pandering often dips into comical absurdity, such as the time she suggested appointing fugitive Edward Snowden to her Cabinet if she won the election. I'm all for principled whistle-blowing, but the idea of nominating a guy who leaked government secrets to the media as Secretary of Homeland Security seems beyond ridiculous. Pardoning Snowden is probably the right thing to do, installing him in the White House is just frightening.

Another chuckle-worthy nugget related to national security, taken from her platform: “Ban use of drone aircraft for assassination, bombing, and other offensive purposes.” That's the whole statement. Would she rather send manned aircraft and put more of our military in harm's way? She's not for disbanding the armed forces, so maybe that's the case. Hard to say when her platform is little more than a talking points cheat sheet.

The whole charade of Stein's media-driven candidacy covers the fact that the Green Party has no ground game. This is a one-candidate show, not a genuine reformist party working to change a system from the local level. Unlike the Libertarian Party, the Green Party doesn't hold a single state house seat. If this was a party sincere about its mission, it would be building infrastructure from the local level.

Instead, we have what amounts to a celebrity campaign seemingly designed to foil the Democrats. In a year where our democracy is threatened by a terrifying demagogue, the Green Party is revealing itself to be reckless and full of hot air. A vote for Jill Stein is a vote that doesn't go to the only candidate who can realistically defeat Donald Trump.

Liberals deserve better than Jill Stein. Luckily, with the assistance of Bernie Sanders, they already have the most progressive Democratic Party platform in history. Hillary Clinton may not be an ideological firebrand, but she listens to voters and makes serious policy proposals informed by their concerns. That's what a democratic leader does, and that's why she has my enthusiastic vote.

Jill Stein needs to head back to the drawing board and reevaluate her priorities.

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Being Overweight Makes The Brain Age Faster -- Much Faster  

Scientists have long suspected that being overweight affects the brain. Now, a neuroimaging study from the University of Cambridge provides dramatic new evidence of how great the effects can be (Ronan et al., 2016).

The study, published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, compared a group of people with a normal Body Mass Index (BMI) of 19.5 to an overweight and obese group with a BMI averaging 43.4. It found that “cerebral white matter volume in overweight and obese individuals was associated with a greater degree of atrophy, with maximal effects in middle-age.”

The biggest changes were seen in the brain's white matter, the tissue responsible for communicating information between regions of the brain. White matter makes up around half the volume of the brain, and it connects various regions of gray matter to coordinate their functions. It joins all four of the brain's lobes (frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital) with each other, and with the emotional brain or limbic system in the center.

The researchers looked at the brains of 527 people aged 20 to 87. They found few differences in the brains of younger people. By age 50, however, the effects of obesity in the brain were dramatic, with the brain of an obese 50 year old, for instance, looking like the brain of a lean 60 year old.

 Other studies have shown that obesity is associated with other diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. An examination of the lifespan differences found that obesity cuts 8 years off your lifespan. But when the effects of obesity-related diseases are factored in, the difference rises to 30 years (Grover et al., 2015).

One of the brain study's investigators, Professor Sadaf Farooqi of the Institute of Metabolic Science at Cambridge, says: “We don't yet know the implications of these changes in brain structure. Clearly, this must be a starting point for us to explore in more depth the effects of weight, diet and exercise on the brain and memory.”

This raises the intriguing question of whether weight loss can reverse the brain atrophy found in overweight people. One of the study's authors, professor Paul Fletcher of the Department of Psychiatry wonders “whether these changes could be reversible with weight loss, which may well be the case.”

While long term weight loss is elusive, with research showing that most dieters regain even more weight than they lost, there are several new studies demonstrating that it is possible. When emotional eating is successfully treated, not only do dieters maintain their new weight, they continue losing weight over time.

A study at Bond University found that using EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques, a common treatment for psychological trauma, dieters lost an additional 11.1 lb over the course of the subsequent year (Stapleton, Sheldon et al., 2012; Stapleton, Bannatyne et al., 2016). Lead researcher, psychology professor Dr. Peta Stapleton, is now using neuroimaging to study the brains of these successful losers. This will provide clues as to whether the atrophy noted in the Cambridge study is reversible.

References

Ronan, L., Alexander-Bloch, A. F., Wagstyl, K., Farooqi, S., Brayne, C., Tyler, L. K., & Fletcher, P. C. (2016). Obesity associated with increased brain-age from mid-life. Neurobiology of Aging.

Grover, S. A., Kaouache, M., Rempel, P., Joseph, L., Dawes, M., Lau, D. C., & Lowensteyn, I. (2015). Years of life lost and healthy life-years lost from diabetes and cardiovascular disease in overweight and obese people: a modelling study. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 3(2), 114-122.

Stapleton, P., Sheldon, T., & Porter, B. (2012). Clinical benefits of Emotional Freedom Techniques on food cravings at 12-months follow-up: A randomized controlled trial. Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, & Treatment, 4(1), 13-24.

Stapleton, P., Bannatyne, A., Porter, B., Urzi, K.C., & Sheldon, T. (2016). Food for thought: A randomised controlled trial of emotional freedom techniques and cognitive behavioural therapy in the treatment of food cravings. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. In press.

-- 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: Curiosity has disproved 'old idea of Mars as a simple basaltic planet' - Phys.Org  

Phys.Org

Curiosity has disproved 'old idea of Mars as a simple basaltic planet' Phys.Org This artist's concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. As NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) celebrates ... Alien megastructure star's strange behaviour can't be understood with traditional explanations, scientists sayThe Independent NASA just dumped a trove of photos of Mars' dunes, craters, and mountainsThe Verge NASA Selects Companies Mars Orbiter Studies25 minutes agoPhotonics.com The Inquisitr -Wired.co.uk -Engadget -TechCrunch all 22 news articles »

 
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Wildlife officials urge people to stop painting endangered turtle shells  

‘If you want to paint something, paint a rock,' Florida officials implore after shells of a threatened tortoise species were found daubed with paint

Wildlife officials in Florida have urged people to not illustrate the shells of a threatened tortoise species after several animals were found daubed with paint.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has released photos of gopher tortoises that were painted red and a shade of turquoise. The FWC said the “illegally painted” tortoises were at risk from paint fumes and from toxins that could be absorbed into the bloodstream via the shell.

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'Green News Report' - August 9, 2016  
The Green News Report is also available via...





IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: In Rio Olympics' opening ceremony, Brazil goes big on global warming and the environment; U.S. government to use global warming 'litmus test' for all new projects; Melting Arctic ice uncovering anthrax and toxic waste; Happy Earth Overshoot Day; PLUS: Florida gets approval to release GMO mosquitoes... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): What Happens to the U.S. Midwest When the Water's Gone?; Researchers find unsafe levels of industrial chemicals in drinking water of 6 million Americans; Climate Changes at Rio Olympics is Risky For The Health and Performance of Athletes; Chevron Wins Big in $9.5 Billion Oil Pollution Case. But It's Not Over; A Year After Toxic River Spill, No Clear Plan To Clean Up Western Mines; Two former Republican EPA administrators throw support to Clinton... PLUS: Customers Could Pay $2.5 Billion for Nuclear Plants That Never Get Built... and much, MUCH more! ...

'Green News Report' is heard on many fine radio stations around the country. For additional info on stories we covered today, plus today's 'Green News Extra', please click right here to listen!

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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: 'Green News Report' - August 9, 2016  
The Green News Report is also available via...

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: In Rio Olympics' opening ceremony, Brazil goes big on global warming and ...

Read more: Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, Global Warming Deniers, Green News, Green News Report, Regulation, Renewable Energy, Republicans, Video, Arctic, Greenland, Anthrax, Toxic Waste, Rio Olympics, Olympics, Deforestation, Earth Overshoot Day, Council on Environmental Quality, Brazil, Zika, Florida, Gmos, Cdc, Keystone XL Pipeline, Green News

 
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Landscape of Big Ben  

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Summer dreaming  

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Dusk descends,
the meadow quietens,
rest, and dream summer dreams - ready for a new day.

 
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The Fight Against ISIS in Libya (20 photos)  

As my colleague Dominic Tierney points out, the United States has now picked a side in Libya's civil war—the UN-backed, internationally recognized, Government of National Accord (GNA)—and has begun coordinated airstrikes against ISIS positions in Libya. However, ISIS and the GNA are only two of dozens of competing militias and groups involved in the chaotic struggle to gain control of Libya since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic has spent much of the past two months in Libya with fighters loyal to the GNA, mostly brigades from Misrata, as they waged ground battles with ISIS in the town of Sirte. Tomasevic: "When everyone shouts 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Great) I know that a tank or a cannon will fire."

 
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The Inevitability of Dirty Bombs  

In the years since the September 11 attacks, the U.S. government has spent billions in the name of fighting terrorism. However, America has largely ignored one critical threat: dirty bombs. According to Steven Brill, the author of The Atlantic's September 2016 cover story “Are We Any Safer?”, a dirty bomb is easy to construct and potentially disastrous. In this video, Brill explains what would happen to Washington, D.C. if a dirty bomb were to hit, and how the federal government can and should prepare its citizens for such a destabilizing event.

 
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r0B0t: Roomba 980 review: Living in the future with a robot vacuum cleaner - International Business Times UK  

International Business Times UK

Roomba 980 review: Living in the future with a robot vacuum cleaner International Business Times UK Having a robotic vacuum cleaner buzzing around while you get on with something else feels a lot like living in the future. Of all the technology we have smartphones, tablets, Wi-Fi, electric cars a cleaning robot is the one which will make you ... Dyson 360 Eye vacuum review: the robot that sucks (but in a good way)The Guardian iRobot's Roomba 960 is Their Cheaper Wi-Fi Connected Robot VacuumChip Chick all 3 news articles »

 
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Michael Green: Demanding Protection From Fossil Fuels  
The fossil fuel industry has been at the center of the climate change debate, for good reason. We urgently need to transition from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources in order to stave off catastrophic climate disaster.

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Neil Zevnik: Why We Need To Get 'Back To The Roots'  
Back To The Roots was founded by two eager and dedicated Berkeley grads. The startup aims to change the way the next generation views and experiences its relationship to everyday foods.

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HANG OUT - HANG OM  

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r0B0t: A new photoshopping chatbot shows artificial intelligence is more fun when it's dumb - New Statesman  

New Statesman

A new photoshopping chatbot shows artificial intelligence is more fun when it's dumb New Statesman This, more than anything else, is the best way to summarise Microsoft's latest AI chat bot, Murphy, “the robot with imagination”. Designed by the company's Azure Machine Learning Team the same people behind last year's immensely popular age-guessing ... and more »

 
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r0B0t: Is Pokémon Go racist? How the app may be redlining communities of color - USA TODAY  

USA TODAY

Is Pokémon Go racist? How the app may be redlining communities of color USA TODAY SAN FRANCISCO — While playing the popular augmented-reality game Pokémon Go in Long Beach, a city that is nearly 50% white, Aura Bogado made an unsettling discovery — there were far more PokéStops and Gyms, locations where people pick up ... Best Free Pokémon Go Bots: What is Necrobot and how do I automatically snipe Pokémon?TrustedReviews Pokémon Go introduces 'Sightings' function to track nearby creaturesDaily Mail Pokemon Go Gets New 'Nearby' TrackerPC Magazine Tech Times -TechRadar -Mirror.co.uk -Forbes all 247 news articles »

 
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Architectural Abstract by KevinThornton  

Architectural Abstract by KevinThornton

Architectural Abstract

KevinThornton: Photos

 
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One Final Push On Clean Air Standards For Our National Parks  

Earlier this year, we celebrated when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put forth a new set of proposals that would control the polluting haze in our National Parks caused by sources like nearby coal plants, oil and gas operations, and vehicles. Now we're marking the end of the comment period with one last request that you submit your comment calling for strong regional haze standards.

So far, Sierra Club members, supporters, and allies have submitted nearly 90,000 comments asking the EPA to require that states enact clear, robust, and uniform haze control plans nationwide.

This year, the U.S. national park system turns 100, and it's essential that we protect these national treasures from the dangerous air pollution that results from weak clean air protections. Air pollution still threatens many of our national parks, the vitality of local economies that depend on them, and the health of visiting families and nearby communities.

This is why we're asking the EPA for the strongest regional haze standard possible. Strong regional haze safeguards will improve public health for park visitors as well as the communities surrounding major sources of pollution. This means fewer asthma attacks, respiratory diseases, heart attacks, and deaths associated with haze pollution.

The current Regional Haze Rule is working to drive reductions in air pollution emissions, but existing loopholes allow greedy polluters to avoid timely cleanup of the country's most iconic wild places just so they can continue to pad their pockets. We can't allow states to delay for years implementation of the next set of hazing reducing requirements.

You can help - take action and submit your comment before 11:59pm ET Wednesday, August 10, urging the Obama administration to finalize the strongest possible haze pollution protections and give states the clarity and stronger tools they need to act.

Help ensure not only that your next trip to a national park will include clear skies, but that our children and generations to come will have the ability to enjoy the natural beauty our national parks were intended to preserve.

-- 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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Jupiter's Red Spot Is Red Hot  
What Jupiter's spot is not, is tranquil. New infrared images taken by Boston University scientists on a NASA telescope in Hawaii show that whereas Jupiter's north and south poles are...

-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com  
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Construction starts on huge Chinese cosmic-ray observatory  
Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory will attempt to understand the origin of cosmic rays  
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I Have A DNAddiction  

There is something heavy on my heart that I want to share. I have been in denial about it for two years and frankly I am embarrassed by the truth of the matter. So today I admit that I suffer from... TAA.

Terminal Ancestry Addiction.

There is not a morning, afternoon, or evening that I can resist searching, researching, or discovering information about my ancestry.

It began in 2010 when I was tasked to locate records on my 2xs great grandfather on Ancestry.com. The paper trails were only the gateway drugs to my addiction but DNA testing was the hard core stuff. It took me. I became full blown TAA in 2014 after taking 3 DNA tests. It started off innocently. I was only looking for one person, one connection.

Nobody told me this would happen.

There are days that I can go on binges, not eating, not bathing and not working. You will find me in a manic state, gaunt and disheveled, locked away in several TAA sites: AncestryDNA.com, 23&ME, Family Tree DNA, familyserach.org ― the crack houses of ancestry addicts. Other days I have not even seen my own face in the mirror while lost on Gedmatch.com. It's a den of obsession. A rabbit hole. I am possessed by the dead. Trapped in the snares of U.S. census, slave logs, Freedman Bureau records, wills and probates, passenger logs, and Dawes Native American Rolls.

I am the Walter White of family trees, always looking to build a better meth lab (That's a Breaking Bad reference in case you didn't get that). 

One of the side effects of TAA is CO ― Cousin Overdose. Your life becomes overrun with cousins. I have three DNA tests, each with 50+ pages of 50 cousins per page. That's thousands of unknown relatives. Cousins all over the country. Cousins all over the world. Cousins of every different ethnicity. Cousins here. Cousins there. Cousins everywhere! I can't bat an eye without seeing a cousin. I can't pass a person on the street without wondering, “Are you my cousin? Please spit in this tube.” 

I am guilty of neglecting my immediate and living family for the new and the dead. I wish my family would share in my excitement and manic ancestral discoveries. They don't. They don't want my drug. They don't care about their Neanderthal percentages or how much KhoiSan we are. They could care less about having more cousins and they sure in hell don't want their buried and dead secrets unearthed.

I am InDNA Jones and I must find the family jewels ― even if it means I journey alone.

I have even convinced some of my dearest friends and family into trying this DNA drug with me. I've shared the swab, passed the test tube, and begged them to just scrape for me. Just spit for me. Why? Because Ancestry loves company. So to them I apologize for my influence.

The ancestors made me do it.

TAA is curable theoretically, but practically as curable as the meaning of life is discoverable. The more roadblocks you hit, the worse the addiction grows. You will pull out your hair, grit your teeth, and bite your nails until the mystery is solved. A few other contributors and triggers to the persistence of the addiction are close DNA matches who keep their trees private ― or worst ― refuse to communicate or have no information at all.

Addicts spend hours and hours perseverating on why? Hours trying to find a way around their closed doors. Why won't they share their ancestors with me? They're my ancestors too! Why?!

I need more ancestors! Give me more ancestors!

The more ancestors you discover, the further you dig. I have dug until I unearthed Charlemagne from the tomb. He is now framed and on the family wall.  

“That's not just a medieval emperor. That's my 39th great grandpa.”

I imagine being bounced on his knee as a little royal tyke as he tells me stories of his royal conquests.

My spouse thinks I've gone mad. Maybe I have. TAA is a Honey Badger and Honey Badger don't care. My soul can no longer rest until I know every last single great grandparent as far as history can record.

With TAA the world begins to close in on you, growing smaller and smaller, as everyone becomes... RELATED.

Maybe my cousin Stedman Graham could invite me over to his and Oprah's house in Santa Barbara and we can sit on the veranda for mint julep sweet tea and buttered scones in the Pacific breeze. Eat your hearts out world. Maybe I'll call up Blake Shelton, Lance Bass, and Barack Obama to invite them to our family reunion for 7th+ cousins. We can eat Barbecue and play dominoes and sing N'Sync songs.

Can you imagine the family photos? Now that's America. 

“And Blake, don't forget to bring Gwen and the baby along. We'd love to see them.”

Did I just name drop. Maybe? I'm addicted. Don't judge me… and my family.

It is such a weight lifted to declare my truth and share my addiction. Acceptance is the first step to recovery. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms you may be suffering from Terminal Ancestry Addiction too. Well you are not alone. There are thousands of us like you ― likely your cousins. We even have television shows, Who Do You Think You Are? and Finding Your Roots that are dedicated to this addiction.

Sidenote: I am convinced that Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Pablo Escobar of DNA.

I write this letter as I suffer from ancestry withdrawal while attempting to go cold turkey for just one day. I'm shaking like an ancestry.com tree leaf. I don't know if I can make it. I really don't know. They're calling me. Calling me. I need more of that double helix. Just one more ancestor hint.

Please pray for me… or at least open up your damn family trees.

Luv,

Quincy

(your 1st - 8th cousin)

-- 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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National Engineering & Construction Recruitment Exhibition, Birmingham  
Exhibition: 25 Nov 2016 - 26 Nov 2016, Birmingham, United Kingdom.  
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http://twitter.com/StanSinyo/status/763057396919001094 
@TrevorNcube beautiful but just double check they might be endangered species under CITES statutes & can only be watched from a distance 
http://ifttt.com/missing_link?1470763159 

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Fencing While Black  

In 2015, the fencer Nzingha Prescod—her mother named her after a warrior queen from Angola—became the first black woman to win an individual medal at the Senior World Championships. This short film by Anderson Wright, NZINGHA, follows Prescod's fencing journey under the tutelage of the African American fencer Peter Westbrook. Now, she's competing for the United States at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “I wouldn't want to leave this sport without something that represented how much of my energy I put into it,” she says. “If I were to medal at the Olympics, it would show so many little kids that just because you don't see someone that looks like you doing this, doesn't mean it's impossible.”

 
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r0B0t: Chinese M&A: Beijing courts Berlin - Financial Times  

Financial Times

Chinese M&A: Beijing courts Berlin Financial Times At this year's Hannover Messe, the world's biggest industrial fair, it was one of the stars of the show: an elegant, ultra-sensitive robot known as an Iiwa that can pour a beer and brew a cup of coffee. Angela Merkel and ... “Kuka is a successful ... and more »

 
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r0B0t: ICYMI: Robot tattoo artist and healing coral reefs  
Today on In Case You Missed It: Scientists were able to program soft materials to shift their shape on digital command, which is only a precursor to our biggest tech news of this episode: That an industrial robot normally used to put together cars...  
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Playing a Video Game Could Cut the Risk of Dementia by 48%, Suggests a New Study  

Video games, the world has come to realize, can do good. Twenty or thirty years ago, people had a harder time accepting this, much to the frustration of daily-gaming youngsters such as myself. I remember deciding, for a school science project, to demonstrate that video games improve “hand-eye coordination,” the go-to benefit in those days to explain why they weren't all bad. But as our understanding of video games has become more sophisticated, as have video games themselves, it's become clear that we can engineer them to improve much more about ourselves than that.

The New Yorker‘s Dan Hurley recently wrote about findings from a study called Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE), which began with three thousand participants back in 1998. “The participants, who had an average age of 73.6 at the beginning of the trial, were randomly divided into four groups. The first group, which served as control, received no brain training at all. The next two were given ten hours of classroom instruction on how to improve memory or reasoning. The last group performed something called speed-of-processing training” by playing a kind of video game for ten hour-long sessions spread over five weeks.

A decade into the study, some of the participants received extra training. 14 percent of the group who received no training met the criteria for dementia, 12.1 percent did in the group who received speed-of-processing training, and only 8.2 percent did in the group who received all possible training. “In all, the researchers calculated, those who completed at least some of these booster sessions were forty-eight-per-cent less likely to be diagnosed with dementia after ten years than their peers in the control group.”

Intriguing findings, and ones that have set off a good deal of media coverage. What sort of video game did ACTIVE use to get these results? The Wall Street Journal‘s Sumathi Reddy reports that “the exercise used in the study was developed by researchers but acquired by Posit Science, of San Francisco, in 2007,” who have gone on to market a version of it called Double Decision. In it, the player “must identify an object at the center of their gaze and simultaneously identify an object in the periphery,” like cars, signs, and other objects on a variety of landscapes. “As players get correct answers, the presentation time speeds up, distractors are introduced and the targets become more difficult to differentiate.”

You can see that game in action, and learn a little more about the study, in the Wall Street Journal video above. Effective brain-training video games remain in their infancy (and a few of the articles about ACTIVE's findings fail to mention Lumos Labs' $2 million payment to the government to settle charges that the company falsely claimed that their games could stave off dementia) but if the ones that work can harness the addictive power of an Angry Birds or a Candy Crush, we must prepare ourselves for a sharp generation of senior citizens indeed.

Note: The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study was funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Related Content:

This Is Your Brain on Exercise: Why Physical Exercise (Not Mental Games) Might Be the Best Way to Keep Your Mind Sharp

Daily Meditation Boosts & Revitalizes the Brain and Reduces Stress, Harvard Study Finds

Becoming Bilingual Can Give Your Brain a Boost: What Recent Research Has to Say

Dementia Patients Find Some Eternal Youth in the Sounds of AC/DC

Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities and culture. He's at work on a book about Los Angeles, A Los Angeles Primer, the video series The City in Cinema, the crowdfunded journalism project Where Is the City of the Future?, and the Los Angeles Review of Books' Korea Blog. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on Facebook.

Playing a Video Game Could Cut the Risk of Dementia by 48%, Suggests a New Study is a post from: Open Culture. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, or get our Daily Email. And don't miss our big collections of Free Online Courses, Free Online Movies, Free eBooks, Free Audio Books, Free Foreign Language Lessons, and MOOCs.

 
cogdis  

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Photos of the Day: Aug. 9, 2016  

Explore the news of the day with these images from around the world.  
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Snapchat, Instagram Stories And The Internet Of Forgetting  
It's a response to a demand: on an internet that always remembers, we are fighting for places we can go to forget.  
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The Person In Charge Of Making Sure Our First Contact With Aliens Goes Well  
It's looking more and more likely that Mars might already be inhabited — by Martians. Very tiny ones. Which concerns Cassie Conley, whose full-time job at NASA is to make sure that we don't royally screw up our first encounter with aliens, however small.  
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Scoping Out Comic-Con With 'Lord Of The Rings' Superfan Margaret Atwood  
"Oh, there's Gandalf!” Margaret Atwood says in the closest her soft alto voice gets to a shout, pointing at a costumed nerd with a staff and a wizard's hat. She's on the floor of the annual Day-Glo carnivalslashtrade show that is Comic-Con International: San Diego, and the 76-year-old author is surprisingly calm among the hordes.  
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... by Jürgen Kramer  

... by Jürgen Kramer

...

Jürgen Kramer: Photos

 
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Fears That 'Diverse & Qualified are Mutually Exclusive' Paralyze Change in Park Service  
A comprehensive assessment of the National Park Service in 2012 to determine how prepared it is to achieve its vision of a racially diverse and inclusive workforce, found the Service at Stage 2 (Awareness) on the six-stage Diversity Continuum. The Service identified workforce diversity as a key component for our national parks to remain relevant to the changing demographics and interests of the American public.

"...the time for action is now! By acting on the assessment's findings and recommendations today, the NPS will be strengthened for long term success, relevance, and sustainability," the report concluded urgently.

Today, on the eve of its 100th anniversary August 25, 2016, the Service and its sister agencies in the Department of Interior have made zero percentage gains in moving diversity forward, according to high ranking officials.

Many land managers hearing this news might roll their eyes and think it is inevitable, since for years they've told us that non-white Americans do not care about the national parks or nature. Executives have told me and Frank and other diversity leaders to our face,

"It's a 'problem' we really want to address but we don't know how. . . it is so difficult to know what to do... the community is not responding to us...." etc.


These images accompanying Dr.Carolyn Finney's current article in Outsideonline show a small cross section of game changing environmentalists of color.

It has become increasingly difficult to balance this viewpoint with the reality we know - that growing numbers of diverse land management professionals and youth are clamoring at the door for opportunity and most often being turned away. The Green 2.0 Report of 2014 identified a persistent "green ceiling" that keeps participation of non-whites in environmental employment or decision making around 16%, while we're approaching 40% of the general population.

While the park service and other land managers posit non-white Americans as the problems, turning the lens inside the service shows the shocking reality. The 2012 assessment of approximately one third of the Park Service's workforce revealed:

"Diversity" and "Qualified" are seen as mutually exclusive.

Many respondents view the NPS culture as risk averse, highly bureaucratic, and too hierarchical to implement change.

Employees assessed felt that the agency's 100 year-old traditions determine rather than influence today's decision.

The NPS "experience" from cradle to grave is almost a requirement for success at the NPS and is highly valued.

Inclusion and diversity are not consistently seen as a priority at the park level...

Employees expressed a lack of confidence that changes will be made, based on past experience.

As a lover of the Park System, it could break my heart that four years since this assessment and recommendations, only minimal progress has been made in diversifying the workforce upon which the sustainability of the system depends. President Obama has made tremendous gains in expanding the System to include units that honor the contributions of a diverse spectrum of America, including the Harriet Tubman, Cesar Chavez and Stonewall National Monuments; promoting Every Kid in a Park that privileges 4th Graders to take their families to the parks for free, and programs such as Fresh Tracks enabling young urbanites from the Lower 48 to connect with their peers and environment in Alaska.

But the structural/cultural underpinning of the Service that determines who gets to know about our parks, who gets to work in them, what stories are told and who gets to feel intimately that they "belong" to us, urgently needs to change. Trumpeting the Centennial when this vital sustainability change has not been made makes me think of caretakers at the Tower of London throwing themselves a big anniversary party while the Crown Jewels are in jeopardy. It wouldn't happen.


Members of the Next100 Coalition including Angelou Ezeilo (4th from left) and members of her Greening Youth Foundation Historically Black Colleges & Universities Initiative (HBCUI) Leaders met with Secretary Sally Jewell (center) at the Department of the Interior last Friday and asked her to support our request for a Presidential Memo.

I am very appreciative of the great job the Park Service does in taking care of our parks, and some of my best friends are among these high caliber public servants. Yet from the vantage point of 20 years' involvement with our national parks and the desire to see my fellow Americans' lives and the future of our parks improved through a mutual relationship, I must insist on changes being made. We cannot risk 'more of the same' that will leave us at the same place of aspiration in 2116. We know this is possible as we today we are hearing exactly the same statements made about "goals," and "challenges" that we've heard since 1995.


Devin Lightner, a member of the HBCUI which works in partnership with the Park Service is interning at the Statue of Liberty and looking forward to a career protecting our public lands. Founder Ezeilo said that with approximately 40 positions in the 3-year old program, she had more than 2000 eager applicants this year.


It's an arduous process to secure a job with the National Park Service, involving navigating the daunting JobsUSA application platform which managers tell us challenge even them. It often requires serving as volunteers or working on a seasonal basis for many years, and includes a preference for Veterans of our Armed Forces. The retirement of almost 25% of its workforce projected for the end of this year creates opportunities to employ a wider spectrum of the American public, but it will not happen if the current environment persists inside the service.

Bottom line is that our national parks - the source of the jobs that current leaders seem to feel are only suited to white Americans - will disappear if we do not develop a more inclusive constituency that loves and supports them.

For the benefit of our parks, our people and our country, it's time for park leaders to have a "come to Jesus" moment where we embrace long overdue change and refuse to enter the second 100 years with the same pejorative attitudes. That's why Frank and I have joined the Next100 Coalition asking President Obama to issue a Presidential Memo on the Centennial, laying out a vision for the next century of parks. The Memo proposes proven ways for the Service to become more inclusive and to be held accountable.

Please join me in helping create that change by supporting the Next 100 Coalition's petition to President Obama here.

-- 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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Plan to replant millions of trees in central England in trouble  
Some 8.5 million trees have been planted in central England under the National Forest scheme, but the rate of planting has dwindled here's why  
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Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bridge  

The death of a family pet is difficult, especially when you have to make the awful decision to put your pet down. When the time came for my family to make that decision last month, I was not expecting it to be as difficult for me as it was, and the moment we made it, shit got real — cue the Flo Rida song, “Going Down For Real” (too soon?).

If you have ever read anything I've written, or talked to me at any length, you will know I am not a proponent of extending life just because we can. Having been a critical care nurse for a short while, I have seen the suffering that is caused by doing “everything possible.” Animals are lucky; they are allowed to be humanely euthanized when they no longer enjoy any quality of life. As firm believers in this, my wife and I knew we had to make that difficult end-of-life decision for our dog. If it was me, I'd beg to be humanely put down, so please remember this post when my time comes!

Almost 15 years ago, my wife decided to surprise me with a puppy. She had been searching the pet adoption site, Petfinder.com, for months for the “perfect” dog, and she found her in Staten Island, NY. So, one brisk, clear weekend morning in October, with me sick with the flu, we drove 1.5 hours north from Philly to NY. When we pulled up, we spotted ourselves an adorable 9-week-old, fawn-colored pit bull puppy waddling along outside. It was love at first sight and a forever home for that puppy.

We spotted ourselves an adorable 9-week-old, fawn-colored pit bull puppy waddling along outside. It was love at first sight and a forever home for that puppy.

Like all excited new parents, we showed her off to everyone we could think of that day, going from place to place. We ended up at my in-law's house, where she was given the name Scout, after the character in Harper Lee's book, To Kill A Mockingbird (our daughter, born 10 years later was to be named Harper after Ms. Lee herself). 

For the first few weeks we did nothing but sit on the floor with Scout for hours playing with her and loving on her. For us, she was the epitome of a perfect puppy. But we have a biased home when it comes to pit bulls. As anyone who has owned a pit bull can attest, they truly are the sweetest of dogs. Dating back to the 1900s, pit bulls were considered “nanny dogs,” due to their sweet temperament and intelligence. And our Scout was no exception!

Over the years Scout grew to become a 75-lb. lap dog who just wanted to be with her people. She loved to sit up front with us in the car, lay on top of us on the couch, and sleep between us in our bed! She was gentle to the point of complete passiveness with kids and people alike, she adored cats, and she loved the dogs who had grown up with her. The only time Scout ever growled at a person was when she sensed her people were in trouble and needed protecting. We had a visitor outstay their welcome in our home once and the situation became tense; Scout let the visitor know it was time to go! We were so proud of her and from then on we knew she would always protect us — as we would her!

When our daughter was born, the love affair between dog and child began. Scout and Harper loved each unconditionally from the time Harper was born until the day Scout passed. After Scout died, we went through our old photos. One after the other was of Harper and Scout — hugging each other in the car, in the back yard, on the couch, at the park — different locations, but same big smiles, same embrace, same unconditional love. They did this together for more than 10 years. The sweetest, most genuine of relationships: a girl and her dog. A dog and her girl. 

Scout started visibly declining in November of last year, and then slowly over the following months she became less and less mobile and having more and more visits to the vet. Then finally, after a week of not eating, not going for walks, throwing up and having diarrhea, we came home one evening to find Scout sitting in a puddle of diarrhea, either unable to get up or unaware, or maybe a little of both. It was then we knew it was time.

We decided to euthanize Scout at home, in the place she knew and felt most safe. I called Lap of Love Hospice Care to come to the house that next day and do the deed. Not wanting Scout to be alone that night, I slept in the kitchen on the floor with her, wishing she would just die in her sleep.

It was the hardest decision of my adult life. But in the end, it was the best decision we could have made for Scout...

The next day she was visited, and utterly spoiled, by many of the people who knew her as a puppy and who loved her over the many years of her life. When 5 o'clock rolled around, and the fateful knock at the door came, I lost it — we all did! It was the hardest decision of my adult life. But in the end, it was the best decision we could have made for Scout, and as my sister stated on her Facebook page later that day: “Steak and potatoes and vanilla ice cream surrounded by friends and family, not a bad last day on earth! Love you Scout Dog!”

I wasn't expecting to be so emotional, and was completely caught off guard by the depth of sadness I felt in the hours and days following. After all, Scout lived a long, happy life and it was time. I pride myself on being a realist and understanding the doctrine of impermanence. I also have a pretty good grasp of the realities of life and death being a resuscitation scientist. But all of that was out the window, I was a hot mess! I missed her and that was all there was to it. I still do. It has taken me multiple tries to even write this post. 

After Scout died and her body was taken away, we were sitting in our kitchen, looking out at our back yard through our sliding glass doors. A cardinal flew into our yard, sat for a moment and then flew away. My wife became quite excited — apparently seeing a cardinal is a sign of hope when someone dies... momentary solace for a bunch of skeptics! 

When we are ready, our family has decided to foster shelter dogs instead of adopting, at least at first. In the U.S., approximately 2.4 million adoptable dogs (and cats) are put down every year, about one EVERY 13 seconds! Which means there are many dogs that need a good home and we have a good home that will always need a dog (or two)!  

For now, we will remember our incredible dog Scout, knowing that she has gone over the Rainbow Bridge — a term I just learned during this ordeal taken from a poem of the same name — and as the poem says, “So long gone from [our] life but never absent from [our] heart[s].”

We love you Scout dog!

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A Day In The Operating Room -- Time Warps For A Cardiac Bypass Patient  


In medicine, there is a saying that the training is onerous but the rewards are many. More often than not, these rewards come coated in a myriad of shapes, including lucrative incentives, personal gratification, warm contentment, and a sated joy among many others. For many physicians, a last wound-closure of the day, a smile on their patients' faces, and warm, heartfelt regards from them carry immense significance. Yet, for many others, lucrative incentives seal their fate, becoming a bane to the integrity of the medical profession as a whole.

Medicine ought to be a profession of compassion, empathy and sincerity, first and foremost. Focus too much on medicine's lucrative decoys, and you reap the worst possible crop: a warped focus. For many physicians in Pakistan--especially those that work in the private sector--this certainly seems to be the case. Delving into the 4 months I spent shadowing a Cardiothoracic surgeon, who I will not name, will delineate a picture of Pakistan's medical care sector that is astoundingly perturbing but simultaneously essential to highlight.

On my first day of shadowing, I entered the OR where a cardiac-bypass procedure was underway. With the surgical tools all lined up neatly on the surgeon's desk, I keenly observed the surgeon deftly make his first incision, focusing and precociously planning his next move, much like a chess player at work. As I watched the process take place seamlessly, a frenetic banging on the OR door rendered me agape--startled. Midway through the procedure, a hospital chief surgeon interrupted, "This patient has not paid all his dues. In addition, there is no guarantee that he will be able to afford the cost later either since his cosigner has now declined to afford the costs of his treatment". With my jaw wide agape, still, I noted the befuddled expression on the surgeon's face. In response, the surgeon exclaimed, "Let me finish the procedure; we can talk about this issue later on." Yet, despite the surgeon's response, which boasted a hint of disappointment, the chief kept arguing, subtracting from the crucial time the patient had left. However, despite the chief's order to stop the surgery midway through due to non-payment, the surgeon carried on, undeterred. There are two types of physicians, I assume. There are physicians that lust solely for lucrative incentives that come entrenched in medicine; yet, at the same time, there are physicians that have an empathic conscience. The chief surgeon indubitably belonged to the first category, and so, midway through the procedure, walked out the OR, ordered the staff, I assume, to turn off the life-support machine for the OR we were in, and then continued with his daily roaster, assured--and proud, no less--of his ostensible boldness.

Within the OR I was in, I promise, a hubbub besieged us. With scalpels clattering, hands a blur, and the surgeon's cacophonous shrieks now omnipresent, I fell into a reverie of brooding, introspection and perusal, feeling a sense of doom which was novel to me. "Why on earth would someone actively do, or even come close to doing something as cold-blooded as what the chief surgeon did? What could be his rationale? Is money more important than a poor man's life? Or was this man's blood, who was now about to evaporate from earth, cheaper than mine, or the chief surgeon's?" But the more potential reasons I came up with to see any sane justification in the chief's doing, the more I despised the chief's repugnant, vile course of action.

In the end, like an autumn tree, bare and dejected--on the verge of collapse--I left the OR with the realization that I had seen a man die in front of myself--not because of his disease, but because of his financial status.

For me, the word medicine thus conjures images of selfishness, apathy and indifference--traits that even every individual should expunge from his/her persona, leave alone a physician. But at the same time, the word medicine also brings a ray of hope, and a realization of the amends that must be made. Maybe if not now, later. If not me, maybe someone else. But such brutality must terminate eventually, for it can not possibly sustain a people of any nation, race or sect.

For me, medicine is a double-edged word; while it hurls such obscure images of cold-bloodedness towards my face, it also motivates me to grow, to observe, and to learn so that I may be able to positively contribute--even if to an infinitesimal extent--toward overcoming this wrongdoing someway, somehow, someday.

-- 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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How the Microbes Inside Us Went From Enemies To Purported Superhealers  

Science writer Ed Yong talks about his new book, which looks at diet and the microbiome and whether poop transplants and probiotics are all they're cracked up to be.

 
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Watch hot 'stars' shower ... again. It's Perseid meteor showtime  

Pretty than normal with a little help from friendly gas giant

Glowing meteors streaking across the night sky marks the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower which is expected to be an even more striking spectacle this year, thanks to Jupiter.…

 
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r0B0t: The Science Guy - Big Think  

Big Think

The Science Guy Big Think People already use automated trains, elevators, and most planes have some kind of autopilot system. In the more developed countries, that is. In less developed countries, the idea of robots taking over isn't nearly as scary. Outside of major cities ... and more »

 
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r0B0t: Four ways that artificial intelligence can benefit universities - Times Higher Education (THE) (blog)  

Times Higher Education (THE) (blog)

Four ways that artificial intelligence can benefit universities Times Higher Education (THE) (blog) We need AI systems that move beyond the machine learning and neural network techniques that dominate the work of the main AI protagonists within and beyond education, such as "robot tutor" Knewton and Google's game-playing algorithm, DeepMind. and more »

 
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Why You Should Give Yourself One Night Each Week  
One of the more recent steps I've taken to increase my happiness is to start going to a regular dance class. I sat down and wrote a list of things that made me happy, and then considered how I could do more of them. Climbing and dancing were right up there on the list. Then I was lucky enough to find this total beginners dance class which is very silly and very fun. I also started swing dancing and found a gang of people to climb with.

I'd say spending one evening a week dancing and one evening climbing has made a massive difference to my happiness. I feel much better in my skin because my body is used to exercise, and I've also made some really nice new friends. It also has a lasting effect across the rest of the week. Even when the rest of my life feels a bit gloomy, I'm looking forward to Tuesday evenings to get my swag on. (That's what Beyoncé calls it. I'm not 100% sure I've used the term correctly. Don't judge.)

Can I encourage you all to take a moment out of your day to watch this cockatoo getting his swag on to Backstreet's Back. You might have watched it before, but it's worth a repeat. Apparently there are very few animals that can actually dance, i.e. move spontaneously to a beat - mainly different types of parrot and the odd Asian elephant. But we humans are at it all over the world. Dance seems to be a natural instinct for us, with almost all human cultures having developed some form of dance. Apparently the evolutionary reason for this may be to spot genetically robust mates, to ward off other people from your mate, and/or to foster a sense of community.

To be honest, none of these fully feel like they capture the whole picture. For me, there is something about switching off the analytical part of my brain and putting my focus into moving instead that feels amazing. Also, there is a big difference between how I feel practicing a dance move to a teacher saying "ONE two three four, ONE two three four" to when they play the music and switch it up loud. Suddenly I get a jolt of energy and joy and just let rip.

There is a lot of evidence that dancing is good for you, physically and mentally. In fact, one study even indicated an 8-week tango course has comparable effects to an 8-week meditation course, decreasing depression and increasing satisfaction with life, effects that were maintained even a month after the courses ended. Another study showed reduced depression following salsa lessons, though over half the participants dropped out - a common problem in my experience with dance classes.

I've also seen evidence that dancing can help with cognitive health, as anything does which requires you to learn new stuff, and memorise things, e.g. complicated moves. It also helps with decision making as you have to decide which move to make next, and seems to delay dementia. And the range of movement and balance required in most dances mean it is particularly good exercise for the body.

Although there is lots of research implying dance is the bees knees, I don't think it has to be dance to get the happiness hit. If anything, my climbing evening is more important to me. I just think the key is to spend one night a week doing something purely for your own enjoyment, especially if you feel like you are improving at it. We can be blocked by the fear of having to face a class full of new people or worrying we won't know the right steps. But it can transform your week, even when you have to drag yourself out after a tough day at work.  
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Books We Digg: What To Read Before Summer Is Over  
Here are some of our very favorite books to soak up and squeeze out the last bits of summer.  
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ExxonMobil Takes the Olympic Gold in Deceitful Advertising  
ExxonMobil wants you to know that it has a long "to-do" list.

In an ad it debuted during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics on Friday night, the world's largest oil company presented itself as nothing more than a merry band of do-gooders who were "mapping the oceans," "turning algae into biofuel," and "defeating malaria."

"And you thought we just made the gas," joked a woman at the end, giving us a knowing smile.

And you thought we just made the gas. #EnergyLivesHere pic.twitter.com/4328aORwot

— ExxonMobil (@exxonmobil) August 5, 2016

By now we've learned that Exxon does a lot more than make the gas: they make a lot of hot air, as well. Thanks to an expose last fall by journalists at InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times, we learned that as early as the 1970s, Exxon scientists had concluded that the continued use of their product, fossil fuels, would have a devastating impact on the climate.

Instead of warning the public--say, by buying an ad during the Olympics--company executives buried the results and pumped millions of dollars into misleading the public about global warming, while lobbying against political efforts to deal with the problem.

Exxon didn't admit what they knew about global warming because addressing the crisis would require them to change their core business: drilling for more oil and gas. Exxon was a fossil fuel company, full stop, and despite any fancy advertising, that's exactly what they are today. At their 2015 shareholder meeting Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson famously batted down shareholder requests to diversify the company's portfolio to include renewable energy, saying simply, "We choose not to lose money on purpose." (Exxon then went on to post its lowest profits in years as oil prices plummeted). This year, the company defeated similar shareholder resolutions urging them to move away from fossil fuels or even just report on the company's climate impact.

None of this has stopped Exxon from pretending it's really just a philanthropic entity with a little oil business on the side. It's a textbook move of corporate greenwashing, just like BP renaming itself "Beyond Petroleum" or Chevron touting their efforts in energy efficiency.

With Exxon under investigation by multiple state Attorneys General for potentially lying about climate change, it's no wonder they're investing so heavily in advertising.

"Having a prominent corporate responsibility message helps you defend against people who are attacking you in the court of public opinion," a marketing consultant told the New York Times back in 2009, when oil companies were rushing to improve their image around the Copenhagen climate talks. "Companies realize the court of public opinion is very important to them. They need in a sense to project their virtues."

Those virtues are often grossly overstated. While it's laudable that Exxon puts millions into fighting malaria, for instance, the money is fractions-of-pennies on the dollar when it comes to the amount they're spending on searching for more fossil fuels. And in the long run, it's those fossil fuels that may have the larger impact on the disease: numerous studies have shown that unchecked climate change will expand the range of mosquito born diseases and other health disasters.

Exxon deserves some credit for its good deeds, but those few acts of altruism don't outweigh the company's crimes. We don't give a bankrobber a Get Out of Jail Free card for planting a couple daisies on his way back from the heist. We're not going to let Exxon off the hook for producing a few nice advertisements while they continue to try and rob us of a safe climate future.

-- 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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Contamination from marine mammals may hamper recovery of California condors  
Biologists have discovered high levels of pesticides and other contaminants from marine mammals in the tissues of endangered California condors living near the coast that they say could complicate recovery efforts for the largest land bird in North America.  
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WATCH: Lessons In Wound Healing From Our Favorite Fly  

You may know the caddis fly as a fishing lure. But bioengineers hunting a better way to seal wounds and set bones say the larvae of these insects have a few tricks we should try to mimic.

 
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Thomas Telford Scientist of the Day Thomas Telford, a British...  











http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Menai_Suspension_Bridge_Dec_09.JPG

Thomas Telford Scientist of the Day

Thomas Telford, a British civil engineer, was born Aug. 9, 1757.  

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“Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), and counter-proposals by Namibia and Zimbabwe to…” https://t.co/iJ5tAEyDIB 
https://t.co/iJ5tAEyDIB 

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r0B0t: This robot lawyer helps the newly evicted file for housing aid - Washington Post  

Washington Post

This robot lawyer helps the newly evicted file for housing aid Washington Post He's the creator of DoNotPay, an online robot that has successfully challenged over 160,000 parking tickets for drivers in London and New York City. Following the success of ... “Automation can be helpful, but it can also be incredibly flawed. A lot of ...

 
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r0B0t: Dyson 360 Eye vacuum review: the robot that sucks (but in a good way)  

British cleaner maker's first robot vacuum was worth waiting for, but costs a lot, can't do the stairs and isn't perfect despite being the best available right now

Dyson's 360 Eye robot vacuum cleaner has finally been released in the UK after an extensive trial in Japan and it claims to be the best available. How does it stack up against the market leading Roomba and is it really worth buying?

Continue reading...  
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Malcolm Gladwell Asks Hard Questions about Money & Meritocracy in American Higher Education: Stream 3 Episodes of His New Podcast  

Image by Kris Krüg, via Flickr Commons

Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History podcast kicked off this summer and in his very first episode, he took on the question of how women have broken into male-dominated fields, and the many reasons that so often hasn't happened. Having set this tone, Gladwell asks in a more recent inquiry—a three-part series spanning Episodes 4 through 7—a similar question about what we might call meritocracy in education, a value fundamental to liberal democracy, however that's interpreted. As Gladwell puts it in “Carlos Doesn't Remember,” “This is what civilized societies are supposed to do: to provide opportunities for people to make the most of their ability. So that if you're born poor, you can move up. If you work hard, you can improve your life.”

Over some sentimental, homespun orchestration, Gladwell points out that Americans have told ourselves that this is our birthright, “that every kid can become president.” We have seen ourselves this way despite the fact that at the country's origin, higher offices were solely the property of propertied men, a small minority even then. Lest we forget, for all their good intentions, Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack and later collection, “The Way to Wealth,” were written as satires, “relentlessly scathing social and political commentary,” writes Jill Lepore, that mock wishful thinking and exaggerated ambition even as they offer helpful hints for organized, diligent living. Americans, the more cynical of us might think, have always believed impossible things, and the myth of meritocracy is one of them.

But Gladwell, skimming past the cultural history, wants to genuinely ask the question, “is it true? Is the system geared to serve the poor smart kid, or the rich smart kid?” Apart from our beliefs and political ideologies, what can we really say about what he calls, in economics terms, “the rate of capitalization” in the U.S.? This number, Gladwell explains, measures “the percentage of people in any group who are able to reach their potential.” Better than “its GDP, or its growth rate, or its per-capita income,” a society's capitalization rate, he says, allows us to judge “how successful and just” a country is—and in the case of the U.S. in particular, how much it lives up to its ideals.

The first episode in the series (Episode 4 of the podcast, stream it above) introduces us to Gladwell's first subject, Carlos, a very bright high school student in Los Angeles, and Eric Eisner, a retired entertainment lawyer who devotes his time to scouting out talented kids from low income families and helping them get into private schools. Eisner did exactly that for Carlos, finding him a place in an upscale private Brentwood school in the fifth grade. Early in Gladwell's interview with Carlos, the question of what James Heckman at Boston Review identifies as the “non-cognitive characteristics” that inhibit social success comes up. These are as often “physical and mental health” and the soft skills of social interaction as they are access to something as seemingly mundane as a pair of tennis shoes that fit.

Carlos, a “really, really gifted kid,” Gladwell reiterates, cannot make it into and through the complicated social system of private school without Eisner, who bought him new tennis shoes, and who provides other material and social forms of support for the students he mentors. Students like Carlos, Gladwell argues, need not only mentors, but patrons in the mold of an ancient Roman patrician: “not just any advocate: a high-powered guy with lots of connections, who can get you in and watch over you.” The key to class mobility, in other words, lies with the arbitrary noblesse oblige of those who have already made it, generally with some considerable advantages of their own. The remainder of the episode explores the obvious and non-obvious problems with this modern-day patronage system.

In “Food Fight,” the next part of the mini-series on “capitalization,” Gladwell and his colleagues open the door on the world of prestigious liberal arts colleges' dining services, starting at Bowdoin College in Maine, a place where the food services are “in a whole different class.” Bowdoin's excellent food, Gladwell argues, represents a “moral problem.” To help us understand, he makes a direct comparison with Bowdoin's elite competitor, Vassar College, whose student dining is more in line with what most of us experienced at college; in one student's understated phrase, there's “room for improvement.” What the food comparison illustrates is this: when many elite institutions doubled their financial aid budgets a decade or so ago to increase enrollment of low-income students, other budget lines, so Vassar's president claims, took such a hit that food, facilities, and other services suffered.

Vassar's current president transformed the student body from primarily full-tuition-paying students to primarily students “who pay very little.” The egalitarian move means the college must lean too heavily on its endowment and on the paying students. Gladwell doesn't delve into what we've also been hearing about for at least the last decade: as institutions like Vassar accept and fund increasing numbers of low-income students, other schools charged legally with providing for the public good, like the University of California system, have raised tuition to levels unaffordable to thousands of prospective students.

Colleges across the country may have raised tuition rates to their current astronomical levels in part to better fund poorer applicants, but they have also faced stiff criticism for spending huge amounts on athletics, building projects, and exorbitant administrative salaries. The food comparison presents us with an either/or scenario, but the moral problem inhabits a much grayer reality than Gladwell acknowledges. Likewise, in the story of Carlos, we come to understand why smart kids from poor neighborhoods face so many impediments once they arrive at elite institutions. But we don't hear about why so many poor kids fail to achieve at all due to what what Heckman calls “the principle source of inequality today”—children born into poverty begin life at a severe disadvantage from the very start, leading to social divisions of the “skilled and unskilled” even in early childhood.

We do get a broader picture in the final episode in the series, “My Little Hundred Millions,” in which Gladwell looks into another moral problem: In the story of Henry Rowan, who in the early ‘90s donated $100 million to a tiny university in New Jersey, we see a stark contrast to the way most philanthropists operate, almost as a rule making their generous gifts to elite, already wealthy schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. This system of philanthropy perpetuates inequality in higher education and keeps elite institutions elite, even as—in places like Vassar—it gives them the reserve capital they need to fund lower-income students. Like any complex institutional system with a long, tangled history of exclusion and privilege, higher education in the U.S. offers us a very good model for studying inequality.

To hear Gladwell's full assessment of meritocracy or “capitalization,” you'll need to listen to the full series as it builds on each example to make its larger point. Each episode's webpage also includes links to reference documents and featured books so that you can continue the investigation on your own, correcting for the podcast's blind spots and biases. What Gladwell's series does well, as do many of his pop sociological bestsellers, is give us concrete examples that run up against many of our abstract preconceptions. It's an interesting approach—structuring an extended look at exceptionalism and its problems around three exceptional cases. But it is these cases, with all their complications and complexity, that often get lost in over-generalized discussions about higher education and the myths and realities of social mobility.

Related Content:

Malcolm Gladwell Has Launched a New Podcast, Revisionist History: Hear the First Episode

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Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness

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The Olympic Feat of Urban Sustainability  

This week, the eyes of the world are on the city of Rio de Janeiro, as visitors and Cariocas alike revel in the celebration of an historic moment: the first time the Olympics and Paralympics Games have ever been held in South America.

The Games are all about competition between individuals, teams and nations. We cheer for our nations and delight in the competitive spirit of the games. And yet, when we speak of the Olympics, we don't discuss host countries -- we talk instead about host cities. And the Olympic Games are only one example of how cities are commanding greater influence on the national stage, an evolution that has significant implications for our global community.

While nations go to great lengths to best other countries in everything from economic growth to football, the story at the city level is quite the contrary: it is a quiet but powerful story of collaboration and cooperation, especially when it comes to taking action against climate change.

As megacity mayors, we have long considered cities laboratories for great ideas, but it wasn't until the COP21 climate negotiations in Paris last year that we recognized the scope of our capacity as local leaders to influence the course of the planet. World leaders made a commitment through the Paris Agreement, but it's up to cities to deliver on that ambition and prevent runaway climate change. How cities develop in the coming years will set the stage for humanity as a whole.

The good news is that for more than a decade, the mayors of the world's megacities have come together with passion and momentum to share knowledge and drive measurable and sustainable action on climate change through the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40). Today, 85 cities are members of the network, representing 650 million people and a quarter of the world's economy.

Created and led by cities, C40 is focused on tackling climate change and driving urban action that reduces greenhouse-gas emissions -- C40 cities have already committed to reducing their emissions by a total of more than 3 gigatons of C0₂ by 2030 -- the equivalent of taking 600 million cars off the road. Mayors are sharing ideas, driving ambition and creating the momentum that will be essential in keeping the increase in global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

Crucially, the exchange of ideas between cities is genuinely global. More than half of the cities in the C40 network are from Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East -- these city leaders are showing incredible commitment to low-carbon development and climate action.

In anticipation of the Olympic Games, Rio has prioritized legacy projects -- investments in or improvements to the city, like improved public transport -- that will directly benefit the people of Rio. For every one Real they have spent on the Olympic Games, they have invested five Reais on ensuring a sustainable legacy for the city.

And cities are taking every opportunity to pursue the twin goals of urban sustainability and economic growth. For Rio, the Olympics have given us the chance to coordinate all efforts toward a common goal: an eye toward a better future for the city. The Games provided Rio with an opportunity to move toward a more sustainable, equitable and green future, enhancing urban mobility, fortifying and unifying the city's data systems, revitalizing neglected areas of the city and undertaking some of the most ambitious legacy projects an Olympic City has ever seen.

Though Paris is a much older and more storied city, we have found innovative ways to welcome the principles of sustainability to its heart: closing the iconic Champs-Élysées to cars once a month, pedestrianizing the banks of the Seine, retrofitting buildings and establishing a citywide long-term emissions-reduction goal.

As the star power from the Paris climate talks fades, city leaders are in the trenches, tackling the daily challenges of a city's needs while creating the framework for long-lasting commitments to building cities healthier, safer and greener.

In fact, at the end of this year, mayors, urban experts, businesspeople and celebrities from around the world will come together at the C40 Mayors Summit in Mexico City. There, delegates will work to continue positioning cities as a leading force for climate action around the world, defining and amplifying their call to national governments for greater support and autonomy in delivering climate action and creating a sustainable future.

Exactly one year since the COP21 climate negotiations in Paris, these leaders in the global effort against climate change will once again provide the vision and inspiration to political leaders everywhere to deliver on the Paris Agreement. As the current Chair and Chair-Elect of C40, we are determined to see the world's largest and most influential cities continue to mobilize to deliver on this promise. Our ambition is not only to create low-carbon cities that are safe against the shocks of a rapidly warming world, but to deliver sustainable, equitable and healthy futures for millions of urban citizens worldwide.

*Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, was recently elected to succeed Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio De Janeiro, as Chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. Mayor Hidalgo will take the role in December 2016.

-- 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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The 2016 Olympic Opening Ceremony Stands Above its Predecessors  

"Peace" by frankieleon - flickr

The Olympics is more than just a sporting event. When I was a child, I was given my first sense of what the broader world was like by watching the Olympics. Watching my country engage in friendly competition with the rest of the world not only instilled a sense of national pride, but also a recognition that human beings, regardless of borders, are fundamentally the same. We may dress differently, we may speak different languages, and we may believe different things, but we all have a shared spirit of competitiveness and desire for achievement. The games also showed me that every individual has unique talents and, if we wanted to, we could band together as people to accomplish incredible feats. Just as individuals are capable of spectacular accomplishments if they work together, so are nations. With the world's eyes watching the same stadium, it always surprised me that broad issues that impact all of us were rarely highlighted. The Olympics is a showcase of humanity's capabilities, but it often shies away from assuming the role of a global agenda setter. Fortunately, this year marked a change from that tradition.

I have to say that I truly enjoyed the opening ceremony. There has been criticism levied against the ceremony, and the 2016 Olympics in general, that have primarily revolved around a lack of funding. I completely disagree with these negative appraisals, and I firmly believe that Brazil showed the world that money is only a small aspect of putting on a good show. While it is certainly true that Brazil, a country currently undergoing a severe recession, has devoted a significantly smaller budget to the event than we've seen in previous years, I thought that the performances were extremely compelling. The opening was festive, colorful, and, most importantly, impactful. Unlike its predecessors, the 2016 ceremony called viewers to action on an issue that impacts all countries and all people: climate change.

While the entire event included an underlying call for sustainability through its use of the color green and an emphasis on flora, two particular parts stood out to me. First, the video. Everyone who watched the opening ceremony knows what video I'm talking about - it was that memorable - so I won't go into too much detail. In the video, we saw ice caps melting, temperatures increasing, and major cities across the world being inundated by rising sea levels. Despite being short, this video conveyed a message of humanity being united in our struggle against the changing climate. A second memorable part of the ceremony was the Parade of Nations. Unlike previous Parades, this one included athletes carrying seeds alongside children carrying a small tree grown from the same seed being carried by the athlete. This sends a powerful message that the fight against climate change is one that transcends generations. It is our responsibility to plant the seeds of climate action so that confronting this challenge will not be as difficult for future generations as it has been for us.

We often forget that the Olympics is watched the world over. It is watched by people from all walks of life and all political persuasions. There is no better venue to present a message that needs to be heard than at these games. I am thrilled that Brazil took the initiative and included a call to climate action. Hopefully, the Rio Olympics' opening ceremony started a trend that will be used to raise awareness to the challenges faced by the global community in the future. Climate change may be our current obstacle, but it certainly won't be our last.

-- 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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Kieran Williams Photography posted a photo:

 
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Freefall by Gina Vasquez  

Freefall by Gina Vasquez

359/365 Goodnight, my dear flickrers ♥ (Inspired a bit by some Rococo paintings) facebook page | tumblr | ask.fm | blog | instagram

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Nano flower  

Full Text:

A "Nano Flower," a 3-D nanostructure grown by controlled nucleation of silicon carbide nanowires on gallium catalyst particles. As the growth proceeds, individual nanowires "knit" together to form 3-D structures. This photomicrograph was taken by Ghim Wei Ho, a Ph.D. student studying nanotechnology at the University of Cambridge. Ho--who works with professor Mark Welland, head of Cambridge's Nanoscale Science Lab--makes new types of materials based on nanotechnology (this "Nano Flower" is an example of new material). Nanometer-scale wires (about one thousandth the diameter of a human hair) of a silicon-carbon material (silicon carbide) are grown from tiny droplets of a liquid metal (gallium) on a silicon surface, like the chips inside our home computers. The wires grow as a gas containing methane flows over the surface. The gas reacts at the surface of the droplets and condenses to form the wires. By changing the temperature and pressure of the growth process the wires can be controllably fused together in a natural process to form a range of new structures, including these flower-like materials. Researchers are investigating possible applications for the structures like water repellant coatings and as a base for a new type of solar cell. This image was taken with a scanning electron microscope. Image color was modified using Adobe Photoshop.

Image credit: ©Ghim Wei Ho and Prof. Mark Welland, Nanostructure Center, University of Cambridge

 
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Making a solar energy conversion breakthrough with help from a ferroelectrics pioneer  

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Image credit: Drexel University/Ella Marushcenko

 
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Boffins clueless about cause, but the 'alien megastructure' theory remains dodgy

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r0B0t: IBM Watson's AI makes life-saving diagnosis for medical mystery leukemia patient who baffled doctors - International Business Times UK  

International Business Times UK

IBM Watson's AI makes life-saving diagnosis for medical mystery leukemia patient who baffled doctors International Business Times UK Embed Feed Are computers coming for you job? IBM's Watson correctly diagnosed a patient after doctors failed but will unlikely replace doctors like this crime-fighting robot intended to replace security guards. IBTimes US. Elementary? Robot 'Dr Watson' diagnosed rare leukemia after medics fail to find itRT all 14 news articles »

 
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Why Taylor Swift Is Asking Congress To Update Copyright Laws  

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MIT's chip fires frikkin' laser at qubits  

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Fog Hero by Den Didenko  

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Buying Used Electric Cars: The Sophisticated Buyer's Guide  

Photo courtesy of Dori Coplon-Newfield

A switch to electric vehicles (EV) can be a smart financial option for drivers, not to mention a better choice than gas guzzlers for the environment. Federal and state tax credits and rebates, in addition to cheaper fueling and maintenance costs, make many of the more than 20 new EVs on the market a wise investment. But used EVs are currently the fastest selling used cars. The 2012-2014 pre-owned EV models cost an average of just $14,495, with many under $10,000. Meanwhile, sales of conventional used cars have recently hit a record average high of $18,800. Now is a great time to be in the used EV market.

In fact, my husband and I just bought a used full-battery EV, a beautiful and fun-to-drive 2013 Nissan LEAF SV. As we deliberated about our purchase, the articles I found about the process of buying a used EV failed to provide the kind of detailed information I needed. So, dear sophisticated reader, I thought I'd do the research myself (with the help of a smart intern) and provide it to you.

Which are the cheapest used EV models?

The used version of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, with a range of 62 miles per charge, has an average price of about $9,000, the cheapest of all used EVs with similar mileage. Since it's largely out of production now, though, it may be difficult to find. Models with more widespread availability include: the 2013 Smart ForTwo at $10,060 to $11,402 with a range of 68 miles; the 2013 Nissan LEAF S at $10,097 to $13,572 with a range of 75 miles; and the 2013 Ford Focus at $13,000 to $14,000 with a range of 76 miles.

Which used EV models and model years have the longest range?

Far and away, the Tesla Model S sports the best all-electric range with well over 200 miles per charge. Used Tesla Model S cars are pricier: $45,000 to $55,000 for the 2012 and 2013 Model S. Although only available new in California and Oregon, the 2013 and beyond Fiat 500e boasts an electric range at 87 miles per charge. With Level 2 charging (240V), the battery can be replenished in about four hours. For those not on the West Coast, a close runner-up in range is the Nissan LEAF at 73 miles per charge for 2011 and 2012 models, 75 miles per charge for 2013 models, and 84 miles per charge for 2014 and 2015 models. Many say these are conservative estimates in good weather, but in very hot or cold weather, the ranges decrease.

The plug-in hybrid model with the longest range is the popular Chevrolet Volt. Most current used Volts have an all-electric range of 38 miles, but when coupled with a backup gas-powered engine, its total range is 382 miles. Other plug-in hybrid options include the Ford C-MAX Energi with 20 miles of pure electric range (model years 2014 or later) and the Fusion Energi with 19 miles of pure electric range (model years 2013 or later).

How will my used EV fare in very hot or cold climates?

Just like gasoline-powered cars, EVs experience a decline in range in extreme climates. If you live in a region with extreme weather, you may want to opt for a used EV with a built-in active thermal management system. The battery of the Ford Focus Electric has a liquid heating/cooling technology that preserves the optimum temperature of the battery, and the 2013 and beyond Nissan LEAF SV and SL trim models provide thermal management, too. As a New England driver, this definitely factored into my choice.

Will the range of a used EV decrease?

It depends. Range will decrease over time as the battery ages, but at a slow rate. In general, most users can drive around 30,000 miles or about three years before losing the first 10 percent of their range, meaning if the car was able to drive for 100 miles on a single charge when new, the range after 30,000 miles would be 90 miles. But it's worth noting that my three-year-old used LEAF indicated a range of 88 miles (even higher than the estimated original range) when fully charged at the dealership lot. Just as with traditional hybrids, braking and accelerating calmly will allow the EV's regenerative braking system to conserve more electricity, giving you longer range.

Does the EV battery need to be replaced?

Probably not. The EV battery can last over a decade, depending on lifetime mileage and driving habits. Most EV batteries are under warranty for either eight years/100,000 miles or 10 years/150,000 miles. Most used EVs purchased right now will have at least six years left of battery life.

Where can I purchase a used EV?

Typically, dealers selling the widest variety of used EVs are in California, but there is decent inventory in the other states that follow California's Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate (Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont). Availability varies greatly by location and automaker. If the used EV make and model you want is not available at a dealership near you, one option is to order online from another dealership and have the car shipped for a price of about $500. In fact, some companies like Boulder's Green Eyed Motors and Chicago's Green Wheels even specialize in importing new and used EVs from other states and selling them. Also, some car sales websites have an "electric" filter ora specific page for EVs, such as at Carfax, Autoblog, and Kelley Blue Book. You can even browse for used EVs on Craigslist and eBay.

Are there tax incentives for purchasing a used EV?

No, only the original registered owner of an eligible vehicle can claim the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 or any state-funded rebate. However, a used EV is nearly always cheaper than a new EV even with incentives factored in.

Which used EVs can charge up the fastest?

One of the reasons I wanted a 2013 or 2014 Nissan LEAF (SV or higher trim), rather than the earlier models, was so that I could access faster charging with level 1 and level 2 charging capabilities. Level 3 fast-charging capability did not come with my LEAF, but one can add it for $700 to $1,000 on all model years of the Nissan LEAF SV and SL and for the 2014 and beyond Chevrolet Spark EV. Fast charging is a standard capability on all model years of Tesla EVs and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV as well as the higher trims of the BMW i3. The Spark EV charges most quickly on a fast charger: 80 percent capacity can be achieved in as little as 20 minutes. The LEAF, i3, and i-MiEV charge to 80 percent capacity in 30 minutes. It may be useful to check out maps of available CHAdeMO chargers and CCS chargers (uncheck all filters except CCS) to see which standard of fast-charging, if any, you can access. Tesla offers Tesla-specific "Supercharger" stations to its customers around the country, but also sells CHAdeMO adapters.

If you have a personal experience buying a used EV, let us know your tips in the comments.

Gina Coplon-Newfield is the director of Sierra Club's Electric Vehicles Initiative. Sierra Club intern Caroline Heilbrun contributed to this article.

-- 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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Australian research produces DNA test to help save rare largetooth sawfish  

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Australian scientists have developed a cutting-edge test that could give the endangered largetooth sawfish a better chance of survival.

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CubeSat Moon mission to test new Ion Drive  

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NASA and Lockheed Martin have finalised the contract for an upcoming CubeSat mission called SkyFire.…

 
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r0B0t: Can Artificial intelligence, Robots, Humanoids learn ethics and morales? Gilbert Technology Time - Daily Star Gazette  

Daily Star Gazette

Can Artificial intelligence, Robots, Humanoids learn ethics and morales? Gilbert Technology Time Daily Star Gazette Researchers at Georgia Tech believes Robots can learn to conform to human norms, the paper argues, through a method called “Quixote”, which teaches artificial agents to read stories that demonstrate human values and then rewards them for “good” ...

 
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Orange Wednesday  

Lord Eglinton posted a photo:

 
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Policy Matters: Lions, Tigers, and... Elephants!  
The threats facing the world's wild animals and wild places are massive in scale: human populations growing exponentially, ecosystems being destroyed by agriculture and extractive industries, wild animals being slaughtered en masse for their parts (elephant ivory, rhino horn, tiger bone, lion trophies, bear gallbladders, sea turtle shell...), and individual animals captured or bred to languish for a lifetime of living hell in captivity.

For those of us who work on the technical aspects of wildlife conservation, there is often no exciting rescue, no heart-pounding encounters with poachers, no days spent "in the field" tracking animals across the savannah or through the forest. There are only legislative and international policy matters. But, when we can successfully advance the policies that help animals... well, it matters!

The U.S. government recently issued significant policies that may not grab headlines, but undoubtedly advance animal welfare and wildlife conservation.

In April, two rulings gave captive tigers in America--and the people who dangerously interact with them--much-needed protection. One action from the Fish and Wildlife Service requires the sellers of tigers bred from unknown or mixed subspecies to have the same permits as those who breed "pure" tigers, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act. This will help ensure that all captive tigers are protected from the greedy ambition of those who see them as only a lucrative asset in the illegal trade in tiger parts.

Separately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture also published a technical note declaring that it is a violation of the Animal Welfare Act for members of the public to handle or feed big cats who are four weeks of age or younger. These cubs should remain with their mothers--not be passed around for sad photo opportunities.

We still have a long way to go to protect captive big cats in America--where, shockingly, there are more tigers in captivity than in all of their wild range--but the effects of these technical policy changes are profound. For example, the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo is already ending its tiger encounters as a direct result of the public contact policy.

Meanwhile, a very busy U.S. government also published a final rule further constricting the domestic commercialization of elephant ivory.

As of June 6, sport-hunted elephant trophies are limited to two per year, and most import, export, and interstate commerce of elephant ivory products is prohibited. This is a technical policy matter, yes--and hammering it out was not glamorous work. But, when you step back from the regulatory jargon, the implications for species survival are huge.

Remember that the ivory trade wiped out Africa's elephants in the 1970s and 1980s, when the population was cut from 1.3 million to 600,000. And, while there is a considerable and reasonable outcry against the carving factories of China, and the domestic ivory markets in Zimbabwe and Tanzania, the U.S. sadly remains a commercial hub for the ivory trade.

Additionally, our international colleagues are methodically crafting policies within other spheres of influence. African lion range states met in Uganda recently to determine the state of lion conservation and to identify a road map for saving the species, both through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).

Lions represent a species that has declined by almost half in the past 21 years, with fewer than 20,000 remaining (as compared to 78,500 in 1980). Only 400 of them remain in West Africa, and the only places in southern Africa where the species is stable or increasing are in four countries (where the lions are significantly fenced off from their full natural range).

The 28 lion range states recognize that trade in lion bones adds a significant threat to the species, but the path forward is not a flashy one. It involves requesting a CITES task force to focus on the deadly lion trade as part of an effort to "uplist" Africa's lions to Appendix I of the Treaty, cutting off trade that is primarily commercial. Born Free USA will be at the next CITES meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa to support this hugely important endeavor.

Born Free rescues individual animals in need. Born Free advocates for policies that matter to save entire species. Every decision in our favor is a decision in the animals' favor.

Let's pass laws, regulations, international resolutions, and global proposals that say NO ivory trade, NO lion trade, NO tiger trade, NO rhino trade, NO bear trade, NO captivity for these species, and NO human interaction with them.

The answer does not always need to be showy or easily captured in a single sound bite. Sometimes, advancing inch by inch is the right answer. Policies matter.

Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Adam

-- 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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Adam M. Roberts: Policy Matters: Lions, Tigers, and... Elephants!  
The U.S. government recently issued significant policies that may not grab headlines, but undoubtedly advance animal welfare and wildlife conservation.

Read more: Animal Welfare, Wildlife Conservation, Born Free USA, Adam Roberts, Adam M. Roberts, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Elephants, Ivory, Lions, Tigers, Cites, Green News

 
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Complete London Skyline  

klaprobean posted a photo:

 
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New Short Video: The Human Cost Of Conflict Palm Oil  
You may already be aware that many of your favorite snacks contain the controversial ingredient palm oil, since it can be found in roughly half of all packaged goods in your local grocery store. What you may not know, is that all too frequently that palm oil is produced with modern day slavery, child labor, and worker and human rights abuses.

Geographically and socially isolated, many of the millions of palm oil plantation laborers live in small villages embedded deep within a sea of tens of thousands of acres of oil palm trees. Their stories rarely make it beyond these seemingly endless rows of oil palm.

A new three minute animated video released by Rainforest Action Network (RAN), our allies at the Indonesian labor rights advocacy organization OPPUK and the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) titled, "The Human Cost of Conflict Palm Oil," takes us to these hidden plantations and tells the harrowing stories of three palm oil workers.


Please watch and share this short video to expose the human cost of the palm oil in our snack foods, and pressure companies like PepsiCo to clean up their act.

Meet Manik, Sutantri and Adi (names are pseudonyms). While their stories are individual, the conditions they face are all too common among countless workers in the palm oil industry.

Roughly 3.5 million people work on palm oil plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia and many of these workers live and die on the same plantations where they work. With few other options for employment, workers are often trapped by low wages and ever-increasing debts they could never hope to work off or earn enough to repay, and have little recourse to defend their rights if they are abused or exploited by their employers.

This June, RAN, OPPUK and ILRF released an investigative report that brought worldwide media attention to the widespread but little discussed issue of palm oil labor exploitation. Titled "The Human Cost of Conflict Palm Oil: Indofood, PepsiCo's Hidden Link to Worker Exploitation in Indonesia," the report reveals the findings of field investigations and interviews with dozens of workers completed on two palm oil plantations owned and operated by PepsiCo joint venture partner and palm oil giant Indofood. Key findings include child labor, exposure to highly hazardous pesticides, payment below the minimum wage, long-term reliance on temporary workers to fill core jobs, and use of company-backed unions to deter independent labor union activity.

Palm oil is beloved by food brands like snack food giant PepsiCo as a "cheap," trans fat-free and shelf-stable oil. Human trafficking, child labor, inadequate safety equipment resulting in routine exposure to toxic chemicals, union busting, and other labor abuses are sadly all too common on palm oil plantations, helping to keep the cost of this oil artificially low on the global market.

We can stop this. Help us tell Pepsi that cheap palm oil is not an excuse for human rights abuses: http://www.ran.org/solidarity

-- 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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rgcxyz35 posted a photo:

Storm clouds ahead but the setting sun behind me is reflected in the Walkie Talkie building on Fenchurch St.

 
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St Mary's Church Kilburn at sunset

 
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