You are here

Home

Global

Oldest Baby Boom in North America Sheds Light on Native American Population Crash

Tue, 2014-07-01 22:40 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Sites like Pueblo Bonito in northern New Mexico reached their maximum size in the early A.D. 1100s, just before a major drought began to decrease birth rates throughout the Southwest. Credit: Nate Crabtree

Scientists chart an ancient baby boom—in southwestern Native Americans from 500 to 1300 AD

phys.org - June 30, 2014

Washington State University researchers have sketched out one of the greatest baby booms in North American history, a centuries-long "growth blip" among southwestern Native Americans between 500 to 1300 A.D.

It was a time when the early features of civilization—including farming and food storage—had matured to where birth rates likely "exceeded the highest in the world today," the researchers write in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A crash followed . . .

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - PNAS - RESEARCH - Long and spatially variable Neolithic Demographic Transition in the North American Southwest

 

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
US - SouthWest
General Topic Tags: 
Adaptation
Agriculture
Capacity
Climate
Collapse
Culture
Demographics
Drought
Food
Growth
Land Use
Limits
Population
Resilience
Scarcity
Sustainable Development
Vulnerability
Water
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report

China Leads World to Solar Power Record in 2013

Tue, 2014-07-01 18:17 — Kathy Gilbeaux

earth-policy.org - by J. Matthew Roney - June 18,2014

In the last two years, countries around the world have added almost as much new solar photovoltaics (PV) capacity as had been added since the invention of the solar cell. . .

. . . China—the leading manufacturer of PV—had until recently installed very little solar power at home. Those days are over.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
China
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report

Trash Concentration in Ocean as Dangerous as Climatic Change

Sun, 2014-06-29 17:53 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

timesofindia.indiatimes.com - June 17, 2014

SYDNEY: Large concentrations of trash in the oceans, also known as "plastic soups", are as dangerous as climatic change, one of the experts in the field, Mike Moore said, Australian media reported.

These high concentrations of ocean garbage "are currently killing a more animals than climate change", Moore said.

. . . "We are facing a new phenomenon. In fact, it is a new habitat which does not have precendents in the planet's history," Moore added.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - Tracking the garbage deserts of the ocean

RESEARCH - Origin, dynamics and evolution of ocean garbage patches from observed surface drifters

(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Environment
Oceans
Pollution
Waste
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

Promising solution to plastic pollution

Sun, 2014-06-29 15:50 — Maeryn Obley

Harvard's Wyss Institute - Turning shrimp shells into plastic: Harvard's Wyss Institute comes up with fully degradable bioplastic.

Image:  Harvard's Wyss Institute - Turning shrimp shells into plastic: Harvard's Wyss Institute comes up with fully degradable bioplastic.

news.harvard.edu - May 5th, 2014

For many people, “plastic” is a one-word analog for environmental disaster. It is made from precious petroleum, after all, and once discarded in landfills and oceans, it takes centuries to degrade.

Then came apparent salvation: “bioplastics,” durable substances made from renewable cellulose, a plant-based polysaccharide.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)
(SEE ALSO CBS' COVERAGE ON THIS STORY)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Environment
Ideas
Research
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

Eight (No, Nine!) Problems With Big Data

Sun, 2014-06-29 15:45 — Maeryn Obley

nytimes.com - April 6th, 2014 - Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis

Big data is suddenly everywhere. Everyone seems to be collecting it, analyzing it, making money from it and celebrating (or fearing) its powers. Whether we’re talking about analyzing zillions of Google search queries to predict flu outbreaks, or zillions of phone records to detect signs of terrorist activity, or zillions of airline stats to find the best time to buy plane tickets, big data is on the case. By combining the power of modern computing with the plentiful data of the digital era, it promises to solve virtually any problem — crime, public health, the evolution of grammar, the perils of dating — just by crunching the numbers.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Communication
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

Technology: using power for good

Sun, 2014-06-29 15:38 — Maeryn Obley

Social media and increasingly accessible smartphones help groups mobilise around the world. Photograph: Prasit Chansareekorn/Flickr Vision

Image: Social media and increasingly accessible smartphones help groups mobilise around the world. Photograph: Prasit Chansareekorn/Flickr Vision

theguardian.org - March 13th, 2014 - Hansdeep Singh, Jaspreet Singh and Linda Raftree

Technology has huge potential to be used for social good. Mobiles and mapping software can be used to gather data, and visualise patterns and trends; predictive analytics can be used to help translate 'big data' into useful statistics; unmanned aerial vehicles can monitor real-time crises; and social media helps mobilise groups around the world.

These technologies are getting more accessible to diverse groups by the day.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Communication
Technology
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report

Strawberry Trees Offer Free Public Solar Charging for Gadgets

Sun, 2014-06-29 15:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submittted by Margery Schab   

      

Strawberry Energy

treehugger.com - by Derek Markham - March 14, 2014

In a bid to bring more renewable energy choices to the public, while educating people on the benefits of solar power, one Serbian startup is building public solar charging stations that will energize mobile gadgets and serve as a social hub.

The vision of Strawberry Energy is to make renewable energy sources more accessible for all people, and to show that solar power and other clean energy solutions aren't just abstract concepts, but are instead practical and desirable. The way they're helping to get that message across is through their public solar charging stations, dubbed Strawberry Trees, which offer free charging for mobile devices, and in some cases, free WiFi.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Technology
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

Facebook Conducted Psychological Experiments On Unknowing Users

Sat, 2014-06-28 17:16 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

CREDIT: AP Photo/Gus Ruelas

thinkprogress.org - by Annie-Rose Strasser - June 28, 2014

The latest way that Facebook has been peeking into its users’ personal lives may be the most surprising yet: Facebook researches have published a scientific paper that reveals the company has been conducting psychological experiments on its users to manipulate their emotions.

The experiments sought to prove the phenomenon of “emotional contagion” — as in, whether you’ll be more happy if those in your Facebook news feed are.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

RESEARCH STUDY - Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Adaptation
Communication
Research
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report

This is now the deadliest ebola outbreak on record — and it’s getting worse

Fri, 2014-06-27 12:24 — Elhadj Drame

It begins in the morning. The victim awakens feeling unwell. They’re without appetite. Their head aches. Sore throat. Fever. Chills.

What’s happening to the victim’s body isn’t dissimilar to other diseases that attack the immune system, but this one’s substantially more aggressive. “Exactly when and where you caught Ebola virus is unclear,”wrote Lancaster University lecturer Derek Gatherer. “It can take anywhere between two and 21 days from initial infection to the first symptoms. 

Click here for complete article

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
Africa
Conakry
Guinea
General Topic Tags: 
Disease
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

'Drastic action is needed' now to stop Ebola epidemic

Fri, 2014-06-27 12:14 — Elhadj Drame

(CNN) -- The World Health Organization says "drastic action is needed" to stop the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. It has sent teams of experts to help locals deal with the epidemic and WHO plans to meet next week to discuss how to contain it.

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
Africa
Conakry
Guinea
General Topic Tags: 
Disease
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

Pages

Subscribe to Global
howdy folks
Page loaded in 1.498 seconds.