%feed  
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andwhynot/29517303560/  
Ghosts of Westminster Bridge  

AndWhyNot posted a photo:

Sight see-ers and selfie snappers pause on Westminster Bridge, etching their silhouettes faintly against the glowing sky.

10-stop long exposure plus grad for sky.
_____
» LongExposures website and blog
» @LongExposures on twitter
» LongExposurePhotography on facebook

 
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/52836039@N02/29773992316/  
View from the Eye (DSC00223-Edit)  

Michael.Lee.Pics.NYC posted a photo:

Jubilee Bridges seen from the London Eye

MichaelLeePicsNYC.com

Art prints available here

 
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/flcherb/29515901860/  
Sun Spot...  

JH Images.co.uk posted a photo:

This is looking back from Canary Wharf to the City of London at sunset. It produced lovely golden light.

 
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https://500px.com/photo/173514057/mt-taranaki-by-ronnie-li  
Mt Taranaki by Ronnie Li  

Mt Taranaki by Ronnie Li

Ronnie Li: Photos

 
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https://500px.com/photo/173489715/brussels-belgium-by-remo-scarf%C3%B2  
Brussels, Belgium by Remo Scarfò  

Brussels, Belgium by Remo Scarfò

Brussels North High-Rise.

Remo Scarfò: Photos

 
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https://500px.com/photo/173483227/a-prelude-to-autumn-by-richard-beresford-harris  
A Prelude to Autumn by Richard Beresford Harris  

A Prelude to Autumn by Richard Beresford Harris

Langkofel of the Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy.

Richard Beresford Harris: Photos

 
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https://500px.com/photo/173480987/gloomy-days-by-jessica-drossin  
Gloomy Days by Jessica Drossin  

Gloomy Days by Jessica Drossin

One of my children, sad he can't go outside. Please follow me here: Facebook I Google + I Twitter I Instagram Edited with JD Beautiful World Foundations and Fine Art Tints available here.

Jessica Drossin: Photos

 
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http://twitter.com/TheEWT/status/778194707964948480 
We're counting down to the CITES CoP! The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna... https://t.co/liSpDKdOjf 
https://t.co/liSpDKdOjf 

%feed  
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-l-morgan/lets-make-it-a-green-peac_b_12098750.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green  
Let's make it a green peace  


Today (21 September), around the globe, we mark Peace Day 2016 knowing that for many peace is nowhere to be found; not today, and unless things change dramatically in many places, not any time soon.

2015 saw the number of refugees and displaced people reach record numbers - surpassing even post-World War II. It is with heavy hearts that we follow the news from around the world: the images are heartbreaking: a terrified child, a ruined hospital, a capsized boat, a city bombed to the ground, a community at the end of their tether. For every image that catches the media attention, many others go unnoticed. Suffering and grief beyond comprehension and beyond the limits of what people should have to endure, are the daily reality for many.

And while we cannot pretend to comprehend, we can, and must, ask ourselves - what must we do?

For Greenpeace, this is a question we grapple with, hold ourselves accountable to: how do we contribute to making our world more green and peaceful? Answers are not straightforward and are never sufficient. Collaborating with and supporting other non-governmental organisations, partners and communities opposing violence is one step in the right direction. Using our skills to help those impacted by conflict is another. These are necessary and important but are also after the fact.

One additional answer, one that we are passionate about, is - speaking up against the idea that the only way to achieve security is through military might and that borders and weapons hold the key to a peaceful existence. Instead, we believe we must work to address the root causes leading to conflicts, to try and prevent them from occurring, or escalating in the first place. We must all work alongside communities to identify non-violent solutions to problems.

War is the ultimate challenge to peace; violence is the most extreme form of threat. But peace cannot be solely defined by the absence of war or conflict. This is not just playing with words.

It underpins what approach we take to achieving peace. Governments spend a fortune on 'defense' - guns, bombs, war planes and the ultimate weapon - nuclear weapons. By comparison there is currently very little focus on and very little time and money spent on proactively preventing conflict.

The twentieth century model of security, based on military might, is no longer applicable. The notion that weapons are the way to safety, military dominance is a mark of superiority, and "what happens over there stays over there" are powerful myths that many see only leading to more violence and suffering and rarely resolving conflict. Peace in the 21st century means more than the absence of war.

We need to replace a narrow paradigm, a national security approach based on military might, and a fear of those different from ourselves with one that reflects a broader understanding of true security - human security. Human security focuses on protecting and promoting the dignity, empowerment and fulfilment for all people. It means not only protecting people from threat, but creating the kind of environmental, social, political, and economic systems that support and enhance people flourishing alongside each other and their environment.

A healthy environment is key to human security. Caring for the environment is a necessity, not a luxury. Our fates and that of the natural world are intimately connected. We humans cannot survive, nor live peacefully, without a healthy, functioning environment.

Nobel Peace Laureate Willy Brandt once said: "Peace is not everything, but without peace everything is nothing." This logic applies even more-so to the natural world that provides us with the basis for our very existence.

Much of the damage we are inflicting on our planet is irreversible. We are now at a critical juncture, a tipping point, where overstepping our planetary boundaries is leading us down a path to growing instability, resource scarcity, fear, crisis and potential conflict. Some of the adverse impacts of climate change are already unavoidable. Crisis will continue to occur. It is how we choose to respond that matters.

Resource scarcity (water, arable land, energy) does not have to lead to conflict. In fact, research shows that often, it can create the conditions for rival parties to cooperate.

Sharing our scarce resources fairly and protecting the global Commons for us all are two essential ways to achieve a green and more peaceful world.

We can address the issues of growing resource scarcity and the local and global impacts of climate change by promoting sustainable options to resource scarcity.

Take energy for example. Conflicts are always complex, but around the world, the quest for resources and conflict often go hand-in-hand. Current conflicts in Iraq, Ukraine, Sudan, the South China Sea to Nigeria are all to an extent, linked to the ownership, access and transport of fossil fuels.

"Resource wars" are not new. But today we can overcome them. Energy is a key example for how transitioning to sustainable, clean renewable sources, could not only reduce conflict, but make life easier and more bountiful for billions. Worldwide 1.3 billion people - equivalent to 18% of global population - continue to live without access to electricity. 2.6 billion people are without clean cooking facilities. This is a problem especially for displaced people and refugees. Renewable energies are already helping to transform lives around the world, and Greenpeace is doing our part contributing to this by both mapping the road to 100% renewable energy for all, as well as working on the ground connecting people (for example in India, Italy and Lebanon).

Our vision is for a world where the intimate, symbiotic relationships between peace and the environment are cherished and acted upon. We stand for a world where people co-exist peacefully with one another and with nature. We stand for a world where the limits of our resources are respected, celebrated and shared. But to get there we must choose cooperation over conflict. We must choose equity and sustainability over greed, human dignity and courage over exploitation.

We stand for peace.

And as one of our founders said: Let´s make it a green peace.


Co-written by Jennifer Morgan and Bunny McDairmid - Executive Director Greenpeace International (a shared leadership role)

-- 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.

 
gaia  

%feed  
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johan-rockstrom/from-compassion-to-care-o_b_12096930.html?utm_hp_ref=science&ir=Science  
From Compassion to Care on Climate: Why The Dalai Lama's Visit to Brussels Raises Some Serious Questions For The EU  
The Dalai Lama's visit to Brussels recently was hardly low-key. A crowd of 10,000 people turned up to listen to His Holiness's speech on individual commitment and global responsibility, after prominent scientists, psychologists, ethnologists, economists and other experts from far and wide had gathered for a conference on the themes of 'Power and Care' during the previous two days.

It is to be hoped that the impact that these discussions have on the Brussels policy scene does not end there, however. In one speech, the Dalai Lama reflected that, while compassion is a feeling essentially experienced on the mental level, care for others is rather defined by action. When it comes to restoring the Earth's delicate balance and tackling climate change, it's time for the EU to add more care to its compassion.

The Dalai Lama in conversation with Johan Rockström on the "Great Acceleration" in consumption and production and the impact on Earth's life support system. Image: Nikolet Zwart

Let us recall the extremely compelling scientific reasons for why we should care in the first place. While the Earth's climate has always changed to a greater or lesser extent, the last 11,000 years - known as the Holocene epoch - have been remarkably stable. It is this climatic stability that has allowed humanity to cultivate land, sustain ourselves and flourish during that time.

Since the industrial revolution and especially in the last few decades, however, humans have stretched Earth and its resources to breaking point. Cutting down trees at unsustainable rates, overfishing and burning the fossil fuels that release heat-trapping greenhouse gases into our atmosphere and contribute to global warming - these human actions have taken us to the limits of the planetary boundaries, defined uncompromisingly by nature, within which we reduce risk of Earth slipping into a new state.

In concrete terms, this means that, after several consecutive months of record-breaking high temperatures, last month was tied with July 2016 as the hottest month the world has seen in the last 136 years. Arctic sea ice is melting at alarming rates with hugely disruptive consequences on the way in which heat is distributed around the world. The Great Barrier Reef - the world's largest reef system and one of the most beautiful sites on earth - is bleaching. Climate change has contributed to recent floods in the US, India and China, wildfires in Canada and drought in Africa.

Indeed, the EU's care for our climate need not exclusively be motivated by compassion for others - Europe, too, is extremely vulnerable to the negative changes to which it has contributed. Research suggests that the devastating June floods in France - which caused one billion euros worth of damage - were aggravated by global warming. The continent is also expected to suffer from a combination of ever scarcer fresh water and rising sea levels.

EU Heads of State and policymakers within the EU institutions are not oblivious to these facts. Few of them would challenge the statements of leaders like EU Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete when he called tackling climate change 'our solemn duty' and said that 'Europe has some of the broadest shoulders in the world and we are ready to continue leading by example'.

And yet, Europe, which has long prided itself on being a leader when it comes to climate action, is not doing all it can to save us - Europeans and non-Europeans - from the worst effects of global warming.

As I and other scientists have argued elsewhere, the scale of the decarbonisation challenge to meet the targets set out in last December's Paris Agreement is often underplayed in public discourse, and this is the world's biggest gamble. To limit warming to 2˚C compared to pre-industrial levels and have a fair chance of limiting warming to 1.5˚C drastic and immediate action would be needed within and outside of Europe to change the way we produce energy and goods on a level that we are still far from today. The world has already warmed by over 1˚C since the industrial revolution started, and even 1.5˚C and 2˚C worlds would impact our lives and those of the biosphere severely.

In the same paper in the journal Earth's Future, my colleagues and I assert that only a carbon roadmap will put the world on course to collapse GHGs and create the essential carbon sinks for Earth-system stability. The Paris Agreement has provided a framework for action and defined our end goals, but we must have a global plan for exactly when and through what means they will meet this challenge.

Progress has of course been made, globally and in Europe: renewable technology is developing at a rate few predicted, as is the battery storage technology that, when coupled with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, has the capacity to revolutionise energy generation. Renewable energy costs are falling, investment in renewable technologies is rising and jobs are being created. The existence of the Paris Agreement is itself a huge step forward, with all countries, on paper at least, putting a second-half-of-the-century time limit on the bringing down global greenhouse gas emissions to net zero.

The impacts of climate change are only getting worse, however - neither the EU nor any other country or bloc should ever feel justified in responding to calls for greater ambition by claiming that they have done enough. Upcoming Montreal Protocol negotiations to include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the list of banned substances used in the refrigeration industry due to their atmospheric warming potential provide the EU and the world with an opportunity to further prove their commitment to climate action, especially as viable and less harmful alternatives to HFCs already exist. Negotiations on reducing aviation emissions within the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and talks at COP22 in November to iron out the fine details of the Paris Agreement do the same.

To return to the title of the conference led by the Dalai Lama, then, EU politicians certainly have the 'Power' to effect change - they must now make sure that 'Care' is at the heart of how they use it.

-- 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.

 
science  

%feed  
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johan-rockstrom/from-compassion-to-care-o_b_12096890.html?utm_hp_ref=science&ir=Science  
From Compassion to Care on Climate: Why The Dalai Lama's Visit to Brussels Raises Some Serious Questions For The EU  
The Dalai Lama's visit to Brussels recently was hardly low-key. A crowd of 10,000 people turned up to listen to His Holiness's speech on individual commitment and global responsibility, after prominent scientists, psychologists, ethnologists, economists and other experts from far and wide had gathered for a conference on the themes of 'Power and Care' during the previous two days.

It is to be hoped that the impact that these discussions have on the Brussels policy scene does not end there, however. In one speech, the Dalai Lama reflected that, while compassion is a feeling essentially experienced on the mental level, care for others is rather defined by action. When it comes to restoring the Earth's delicate balance and tackling climate change, it's time for the EU to add more care to its compassion.

Johan Rockström in conversation with the Dalai Lama discussing the "Great Acceleration" in industrial production and the impact on Earth's life support system Image: Nikolet Zwart

Let us recall the extremely compelling scientific reasons for why we should care in the first place. While the Earth's climate has always changed to a greater or lesser extent, the last 11,000 years - known as the Holocene epoch - have been remarkably stable. It is this climatic stability that has allowed humanity to cultivate land, sustain ourselves and flourish during that time.

Since the industrial revolution and especially in the last few decades, however, humans have stretched Earth and its resources to breaking point. Cutting down trees at unsustainable rates, overfishing and burning the fossil fuels that release heat-trapping greenhouse gases into our atmosphere and contribute to global warming - these human actions have taken us to the limits of the planetary boundaries, defined uncompromisingly by nature, within which we reduce risk of Earth slipping into a new state.

In concrete terms, this means that, after several consecutive months of record-breaking high temperatures, last month was tied with July 2016 as the hottest month the world has seen in the last 136 years. Arctic sea ice is melting at alarming rates with hugely disruptive consequences on the way in which heat is distributed around the world. The Great Barrier Reef - the world's largest reef system and one of the most beautiful sites on earth - is bleaching. Climate change has contributed to recent floods in the US, India and China, wildfires in Canada and drought in Africa.

Indeed, the EU's care for our climate need not exclusively be motivated by compassion for others - Europe, too, is extremely vulnerable to the negative changes to which it has contributed. Research suggests that the devastating June floods in France - which caused one billion euros worth of damage - were aggravated by global warming. The continent is also expected to suffer from a combination of ever scarcer fresh water and rising sea levels.

EU Heads of State and policymakers within the EU institutions are not oblivious to these facts. Few of them would challenge the statements of leaders like EU Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete when he called tackling climate change 'our solemn duty' and said that 'Europe has some of the broadest shoulders in the world and we are ready to continue leading by example'.

And yet, Europe, which has long prided itself on being a leader when it comes to climate action, is not doing all it can to save us - Europeans and non-Europeans - from the worst effects of global warming.

As I and other scientists have argued elsewhere, the scale of the decarbonisation challenge to meet the targets set out in last December's Paris Agreement is often underplayed in public discourse, and this is the world's biggest gamble. To limit warming to 2˚C compared to pre-industrial levels and have a fair chance of limiting warming to 1.5˚C drastic and immediate action would be needed within and outside of Europe to change the way we produce energy and goods on a level that we are still far from today. The world has already warmed by over 1˚C since the industrial revolution started, and even 1.5˚C and 2˚C worlds would impact our lives and those of the biosphere severely.

In the same paper in the journal Earth's Future, my colleagues and I assert that only a carbon roadmap will put the world on course to collapse GHGs and create the essential carbon sinks for Earth-system stability. The Paris Agreement has provided a framework for action and defined our end goals, but we must have a global plan for exactly when and through what means they will meet this challenge.

Progress has of course been made, globally and in Europe: renewable technology is developing at a rate few predicted, as is the battery storage technology that, when coupled with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, has the capacity to revolutionise energy generation. Renewable energy costs are falling, investment in renewable technologies is rising and jobs are being created. The existence of the Paris Agreement is itself a huge step forward, with all countries, on paper at least, putting a second-half-of-the-century time limit on the bringing down global greenhouse gas emissions to net zero.

The impacts of climate change are only getting worse, however - neither the EU nor any other country or bloc should ever feel justified in responding to calls for greater ambition by claiming that they have done enough. Upcoming Montreal Protocol negotiations to include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the list of banned substances used in the refrigeration industry due to their atmospheric warming potential provide the EU and the world with an opportunity to further prove their commitment to climate action, especially as viable and less harmful alternatives to HFCs already exist. Negotiations on reducing aviation emissions within the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and talks at COP22 in November to iron out the fine details of the Paris Agreement do the same.

To return to the title of the conference led by the Dalai Lama, then, EU politicians certainly have the 'Power' to effect change - they must now make sure that 'Care' is at the heart of how they use it.

-- 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.

 
science  

%feed  
http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/20/antikythera_mechanism_shipwreck_yields_2100_yearold_bones/  
2,000 year old man found dead near 2,000 year old computer  

Antikythera mechanism shipwreck yields old bones

Video The ancient shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera has already yielded up archeological wonders but now marine archeologists have found a body buried in the wreck that could yield up some clues as to the ship's origins.…

 
science  

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Science360NewsServiceBreakingStory/~3/8DYjeYw0mao/simulation-posits-legendary-leapers-different-spring-stiffness  
Simulation posits why legendary leapers have different 'spring' stiffness  

Full Text:

A new research paper tells a story of the grasshopper and the bullfrog, but it's no children's tale. Instead, it describes biomechanical simulations that help to explain why the two jumping animals have very different stiffnesses in the springs -- tendons in the frogs and tendon counterparts called apodemes in the grasshoppers -- that store energy for their leaps. The difference, the science suggests, is the time they typically take before they take off.

Image credit: AtelierMonpli (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), CC0, Public domain or Beerware], via Wikimedia Commons

 
science  

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Science360NewsServicePictureOfTheDay/~3/WJjfB3YKTHA/star-trails-over-gemini-north  
Star trails over Gemini North  

Full Text:

Stunning to view against a summer sky, NSF's Gemini North telescope atop Maunakea in Hawaii is one of two identical telescopes that make up the Gemini Observatory. Together, the telescopes scan the entire sky over both hemispheres. Their identical 8-meter mirrors are the only ones in the world coated with silver rather than the more commonly used aluminum. This approach permits the telescopes to observe visible light, as well as increasing their sensitivity to heat generated by objects in space. The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration between the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

Image credit: Gemini Observatory

 
science  

%feed  
http://twitter.com/AWTnews/status/778139123072860160 
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international... https://t.co/DcKaKrrq9y 
https://t.co/DcKaKrrq9y 

%feed  
http://twitter.com/John_CITES/status/778136179090853888 
'What to Expect at CITES: A Sneak Peak at Upcoming Endangered Species Meeting' https://t.co/rpEzguFMP1 via @NatGeo @CITES #CoP17 
https://t.co/rpEzguFMP1 

%feed  
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100162031@N03/29514572930/  
International Departures  

Kieran Williams Photography posted a photo:

 
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%feed  
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vandaralevska/29693871552/  
Day 245 of 366: 6 am Chime  

Vanda Ralevska posted a photo:

© Vanda Ralevska
Website | Facebook | Tumblr

What is the chance of turning up on Westminster Bridge as Big Ben starts its 6 am chime and there is nobody around, not even a car? A perfect moment to be captured and remembered.

 
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http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/19/494648888/feds-to-set-rules-on-self-driving-vehicles?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=technology  
Feds To Set Rules On Self-Driving Vehicles  

Transportation officials say they will unveil a sweeping plan to make sure the federal government is involved in ensuring the safety of self-driving vehicles.

 
technology  

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http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/09/19/494574944/new-yorks-use-of-phone-alert-shines-spotlight-on-wireless-emergency-system?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=technology  
New York's Use Of Phone Alert Shines Spotlight On Wireless Emergency System  

"WANTED," blared New York's alert. "Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-year-old male." This year, nonfederal authorities have sent as many wireless emergency alerts as in the previous three years put together.

 
technology  

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http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/09/19/494279204/pundits-vs-machine-predicting-controversies-in-the-presidential-race?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=technology  
Pundits Vs. Machine: Predicting Controversies In The Presidential Race  

How well can a computer program predict which controversies around Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are likely to re-emerge in the coming weeks? Two human pundits agree to compete against the machine.

 
technology  

%feed  
http://www.npr.org/2016/09/19/494538482/npr-podcast-how-i-built-this-instagram?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=technology  
How Luck And Intuition Helped To Build Instagram  

David Greene talks to Guy Raz — host of the new NPR podcast "How I Built This" — about how the founders of the photo-sharing app Instagram got their business off the ground.

 
technology  

%feed  
http://www.npr.org/2016/09/19/493923472/the-night-instagram-launched-it-crashed-but-didnt-burn?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=technology  
The Night Instagram Launched, It Crashed, But Didn't Burn  

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched their photo-sharing app with a server that crashed every other hour. Despite a chaotic start, Instagram became one of the most popular apps in the world.

 
technology  

%feed  
http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/20/apple_seeks_patent_for_paper_bag_you_read_that_right_a_paper_bag/  
Apple seeks patent for paper bag - you read that right, a paper bag  

Not all bags, just one very cunning bag with planet-friendly gussets and folds

Apple is trying to patent a paper bag.…

 
general  

%feed  
http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/20/plutos_emitting_xrays_and_nasa_doesnt_quite_know_how/  
Pluto's emitting X-rays, and NASA doesn't quite know how  

The best words in science: 'That's odd'

The Chandra space telescope has spotted X-rays emanating from Pluto.…

 
science