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Today is World Lion Day, when we celebrate the king of beasts and reflect on the significance of lions as their future remains precarious. Lions have captivated most of us since childhood, serving as an iconic symbol of Africa and one of the most recognizable wildlife species throughout the world. Yet in just a quarter century, their numbers have declined by half due to pervasive threats like poaching, conflict with humans, habitat destruction, and loss of connectivity across their historic range. To fight these threats, WCN’s Conservation Partners, Ewaso Lions and Niassa Lion Project, work tirelessly on-the-ground with communities to reduce human-lion conflict and to protect and manage lion landscapes. Ewaso Lions’ work in northern Kenya and Niassa Lion Project’s efforts in Mozambique’s spectacular Niassa National Reserve is critical to helping people and lions coexist and thrive together. WCN’s Lion Recovery Fund (LRF) is also helping to bring back lions across Africa. The LRF supports the most effective projects focused on the recovery of lion populations and the restoration of their habitats. In just three years, the LRF has invested $11 million dollars in over 100 lion conservation projects that have successfully reintroduced lions back to wild spaces, combated wildlife criminals, and developed nuanced methods of encouraging peaceful coexistence between lions and local communities. The LRF’s goal is to double the number of lions in the wild by 2050. To learn more about the most recent measures the LRF has taken toward achieving this goal, read the latest LRF progress report. World Lion Day is also a great opportunity to learn more about the characteristics that make lions so singular in the animal kingdom. For example, lions are the only big cats that live in large social groups, known as prides. Some experts believe that this sociality developed so that lions had better odds of controlling key territory that was teeming with prey, such as the confluence of rivers. Land between water sources would attract thirsty game and have more vegetation, which both fed prey species and gave lions more cover when hunting. In a savanna environment crowded with other predators vying for their next meal, forming prides gave lions the advantage at holding desirable hunting grounds and protecting their cubs from threats. | <urn:uuid:711a6f8d-6925-4314-bf97-7d8831889bdf> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://wildnet.org/celebrate-world-lion-day-2020/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141181179.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20201125041943-20201125071943-00248.warc.gz | en | 0.957484 | 635 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Lions abandoned the independence that other big cats prefer in order to gain a competitive edge at securing quality territory that they then pass down through generations within the pride, boosting the survivability of their offspring. The unique social structure of lions is just one aspect of what makes them so special, and through research and restorative programs, conservationists and local people are ensuring that these remarkable big cats will be around for future generations to appreciate. There is still much to do in order to bring lions back across Africa, but the work of the LRF, as well as that of Ewaso Lions and Niassa Lion Project, is laying the vital groundwork for their recovery. And above all, your continued support is what makes these lion conservation efforts possible. Together, we can help lions reclaim their kingdom. Happy World Lion Day! | <urn:uuid:711a6f8d-6925-4314-bf97-7d8831889bdf> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://wildnet.org/celebrate-world-lion-day-2020/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141181179.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20201125041943-20201125071943-00248.warc.gz | en | 0.957484 | 635 | 3.09375 | 3 |
One organization facilitates research on sick canines to help generate treatments for children and animals. Two of our most vulnerable and precious family members have a more special bond than imagined. Every year, 16,000 children and 6 million pet dogs receive diagnoses of remarkably similar cancers. Resources to find a cure for either have been limited, but with joined forces, that could change. Working in biotech, I witnessed firsthand the slow and difficult process of cancer drug development, especially for kids. That’s why, in 2016, I founded the Canines-N-Kids Foundation as a way to promote integration of research efforts benefiting both kids and pet dogs, with the aim of bringing resources to the fight and accelerating progress. The time was right: Research continues to uncover and validate profound clinical and biological similarities between certain pediatric and canine cancers. Our work supports comparative oncology, the study of naturally occurring cancers in animals and the comparison and potential application of the findings to their human counterparts. This work can contribute to a better understanding of cancer biology and underlying genetic factors, helping scientists quicken the development of new treatments and cures that benefit both children and animals. Specifically, it can involve clinical trials evaluating treatments in pet dogs that have cancer, with a goal of finding new therapies not only for the animals but also for children with the disease. An example of how this works comes from an early-stage National Cancer Institute (NCI) trial in 2015, which tested an experimental drug, NHS-IL12, in canine patients with melanoma to determine dosing and side effects. During the trial, NCI researchers discovered that the drug, which has properties of both a targeted agent and an immunotherapy and works by activating the immune system against cancer, also showed signs of efficacy: It helped shrink the pet dogs’ tumors. This promising data led the NCI to start a clinical trial in people with advanced solid tumors, which is enrolling patients now (NCT01417546). As momentum picks up in comparative oncology and data continues to emerge, we are getting closer every day to understanding the biology, complexities and characteristics of shared canine and childhood cancers, which will enable us to have even more successes. Last fall, Canines-N-Kids hosted a first-ever Paws for a Cure Research Symposium in cooperation with Merck Research Laboratories in Boston. | <urn:uuid:f7ee0ea5-bb25-4514-9441-a895a27f15e8> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.curetoday.com/view/bonded-for-life | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141188146.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20201126113736-20201126143736-00328.warc.gz | en | 0.942698 | 1,108 | 2.59375 | 3 |
It seems Brexit is not the only thing the European Union is focusing on, as it appears the 27-member bloc is now starting to push for more environmental reforms. In a shocking move, the European Union has actually proposed a region-wide ban of plastics. What does this move entail? What do figures in various industries have to say about this landmark maneuver? How will this impact the EU’s goals for sustainability within the next two decades? Today is not a good day for throwaway plastic products such as straws, cutlery, and cotton buds, as a new proposal from the EU may ban all of them across Europe. The ban follows various attempts to reduce plastic waste in Britain, which in itself is part of a global initiative to reduce pollution for the sake of the environment. According to the European Commission, which made the proposal, the ban targets 10 of the most single-use plastic products that are found on the seas and beaches of Europe. The proposal in itself aims to cut marine litter among those items, which can help stave off at least £188-billion off environmental damage bills over the next decade. This is because marine litter amounts to at least 70-percent of other rubbish found in the waters across Europe. Under the proposal, single-use plastic products will now be banned if ever affordable alternatives become available. These include the aforementioned sticks for balloons, drink stirrers, straws, plates, cutlery, and cotton buds. These will have to be made from materials that are sustainable. Meanwhile, single-use coffee cups from plastic will now be allowed only if their lids and caps are attached to the cup itself. According to Frans Timmermans, EU Vice President, Europeans need to act together in order to solve the region’s plastic problem. While the proposal will definitely work towards reducing single-use plastics in markets, the affordable alternatives in the future would hopefully suffice to replace the needs for these plastic products. The proposal also set out rules on how EU member states will have to participate and meet their personal targets for single-use plastic production. In fact, they’re going to be obligated to collect 90-percent of all throwaway drink bottles that exist in their nations by 2025. The idea of banning single-use plastics has come from Michael Gove, Environment Secretary in the United Kingdom. | <urn:uuid:737a438a-e44d-47e0-8333-35cb03251230> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://balticcompass.org/total-ban-eu-proposes-region-wide-plastic-ban/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141194171.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20201127191451-20201127221451-00408.warc.gz | en | 0.958502 | 613 | 3.078125 | 3 |
State authorities such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Immigration Administration joined many local governments in issuing public letters to foreign expats living in China and providing epidemic-related information. “We need facts, not fear,” asserted Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus when talking about the epidemic. “We need science, not rumors. We need solidarity, not stigma.” Unity among countries is key to preventing the virus from further spreading. Certainly, humanity will soon prevail over the novel coronavirus outbreak after joint efforts from forces around the world. | <urn:uuid:27a7fbeb-fa93-42a0-b998-23b542458672> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://chinareportasean.com/2020/02/09/uniting-against-a-common-enemy-china-focus/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141194171.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20201127191451-20201127221451-00408.warc.gz | en | 0.949992 | 1,130 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Today, Nov. 12, marks 60 years to the day since Meadowcroft’s founder, Albert Miller, first peered into prehistory through a groundhog burrow at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter. On that fall day in 1955, Albert found some artifacts excavated by the groundhog and decided to enlarge the hole for further investigation. His effort yielded pieces of burnt bone, flint flakes, fresh water mussel shells, and an intact flint knife, all of which validated Albert’s long-held theory that native people once used the rockshelter as a campsite. To guard against looting, Albert kept quiet about his discovery while he sought a professional archaeologist to conduct a proper excavation. That search lasted 18 years. In the spring of 1973, new University of Pittsburgh faculty member, Dr. James Adovasio, was searching for a site to conduct an archaeological field school. After hearing about Meadowcroft from California University of Pennsylvania historian, Dr. Phil Jack, Adovasio visited the site and requested permission to excavate that summer. The first radiocarbon dates came back from the Smithsonian lab while the second field school was underway in 1974. With dates confirming a human presence at the site going back 19,000 years, everyone was blown away. That evidence made Meadowcroft the oldest site of human habitation to be discovered in North America. Today, visitors from across the country and around the world can view the open archaeological excavation and see evidence of the first Americans at the spot where Albert and the groundhog first met 60 years ago. Nicknamed “Rocky” by Meadowcroft staff, a mounted groundhog displayed in the visitor center sports a Meadowcroft tee shirt and a name tag conveying his title of “On Site Archaeologist.” Rocky is a selfie magnet whose visage now serves as proof of a visit to the world renowned Meadowcroft Rockshelter. David Scofield is the director of Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. Editor’s Note: Meadowcroft is closed for the season from November to May. | <urn:uuid:7799ee47-52d2-44ab-b3f5-74877166f863> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/blog/discover-meadowcroft/meadowcrofts-own-groundhog-day | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141194171.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20201127191451-20201127221451-00408.warc.gz | en | 0.930129 | 427 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Despite spending more on education than most of its neighbors, Louisiana is producing worse outcomes for its students and paying its teachers less. Solving this problem is made more difficult by the lack of transparency around the details of exactly how and where taxpayer dollars are being spent on education. While we know Louisiana spends more than $12,000 per pupil, the cloak of secrecy surrounding the system makes it impossible for parents, teachers and other taxpayers to know where all the money is really going. However, student test results do make one thing abundantly clear – the dollars are not following the students into the classroom. While some progress has been made on student performance in recent years, the Department of Education found in 2017 that both 4th and 8th grade students in Louisiana tested well below the national average in both math and reading. Louisiana’s 4th graders ranked 48th in reading and 50th in math achievement compared to other states, while only 16 and 23 percent of 8th graders were proficient in math and reading respectively. By adding transparency to education spending, we can work to reverse these negative trends while making the system more accountable to parents, students, and all taxpayers. Congress already approved increasing educational transparency with the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. Unfortunately, this isn’t enough to cut through the shroud of mystery surrounding the details of Louisiana’s education spending. However, there is a school district in the state moving toward greater transparency, and the results have been positive for students, parents, and other taxpayers in the community. Last year, the Lafayette Parish School Board established the Lafayette Checkbook. The Lafayette Checkbook posts all Lafayette School System financial transactions online in an easily understandable format. It doesn’t take an accountant or educator to understand where the money is going, which makes the system accountable to everyone with access to the online portal. This level of transparency not only gives school districts the desire to be better stewards of tax dollars, but it also encourages schools to better live within their means. We’ve made some progress toward greater transparency in recent years, but we’re not nearly across the finish line yet. | <urn:uuid:62b2146d-4922-4afe-ab1b-81579ac606b8> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://pelicaninstitute.org/blog/louisianans-deserve-transparency-in-education-spending/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141196324.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20201129034021-20201129064021-00488.warc.gz | en | 0.955531 | 488 | 2.71875 | 3 |
We gather for the American Society of Naturalists meetings at Asilomar State Beach to argue about life. We share our most specialized natural history discoveries and our broadest theories about the nature of evolution. We debate the scale and strength of adaptation, sketch out complex feedback loops connecting ecological and evolutionary processes, and weigh the behavioral and life history strategies which organisms use to deal with fluctuating environmental pressures. Are there observable, unambiguous patterns of convergence and divergence, stasis and change, or is most of what we see the product of historical contingency? And when the day’s presentations are done, I go tide pooling. In the fading January afternoon light, I trip my way along the Pacific coastline, pausing at every patch of water pooling amid the rugged topography of the rocks. I love tide pooling. Every pool is an experiment, a unique ecological community thrown together at random by one tidal flow and swept away just as violently by another. Some are disappointing, mainly sand and bits of shell, and a stray hermit crab scuttling among broken stems of kelp. Some are saturated with green mats of algae that choke out any life underneath. But a few are wonderfully diverse, microcosms of the ocean nestled in a fissure of rock. Several pools harbor giant pastel Anthopleura sola anemones as big around as my hand. It’s astonishing that something so large could live in such a tiny patch of habitat, and such an unstable one at that. For every anemone submerged in a pool, there are many others left exposed. They curl their tentacles into the center of their bodies to hold in what little moisture they can and gather an armor of shell fragments, pebbles, and sand to protect their epithelium from the elements. They will weather long, brutal hours of scarcity until the water returns. Many may die waiting. I try not to squelch them with a careless boot fall as I skirt the lapping waves. It seems that making a living in the tidal basin is a matter of pure serendipity. Some anemones sink in deep pools that persist for months undisturbed, others settle in shallow, ephemeral puddles that dry and refill with the daily cycle of the tides. In large pools fed by regular flows, anemones glut themselves on a replenishing bounty of zooplankton, copepods, mollusks, and wayward fish. | <urn:uuid:03f7e97d-7d15-44a5-a068-4ed3ea2e5dfe> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://sarahjmcpeek.com/2020/01/11/tide-pooling/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141216175.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20201130130840-20201130160840-00568.warc.gz | en | 0.940531 | 1,001 | 2.71875 | 3 |
In small secluded pools, they scrabble for detrital scraps washed in by the occasional wave. From rock to rock, crevice to crevice, chances of survival vary dramatically. Can there be a winning strategy to prosper on such an uncertain terrain? During high tide, anemones may detach from the rock and swim between pools, but should they bother? Stray too far ashore and you may never reach the tides again, or you may drop in with a larger, rival anemone that will shred you ragged with its defensive acrorhagi tentacles. If your pool is plentiful and deep, it seems safest to stay, but for how long? The next tide could wash in a feast of nutritious krill, or a predatory Pisaster sea star with a taste for tentacles. How could an anemone possibly anticipate what the tides will bring tomorrow? Yet somehow they persevere, because some individuals are fat, shiny, and vibrantly colorful. Are these hardy survivors better adapted to their harsh and capricious world? Perhaps some inherited a higher metabolic efficiency that allowed them to quickly outgrow their predators and competitors, or tissues that retain moisture like a sponge when the tide recedes. Perhaps they were merely fortunate to find a plentiful food source and a dependable habitat. Above the dunes, we ask: how powerful and predictable of a force is selection, really? Is it like the gentle tides, subtly yet continuously molding populations to their environment? Or does successful adaptation require catastrophic environmental pressure, like a rogue riptide crashing over the rocky coastline? How much of survival is pure dumb luck? Staring out at the expanse of dark, rippling water, I am overwhelmed by the enormity of our unknowns. Will we ever understand how nature really works? Or will we return over and over to these same unsolvable, improbable questions? A playful wave laps over my boots, beckoning my gaze downward to the colors in the rock pool at my feet. I kneel to examine it more closely. At the bottom hides a small A. sola. This one has cleverly buried itself in white sand, leaving only its pink tentacles exposed to snag a passing meal. As scientists, we develop questions as deep and vast as the ocean, yearning to decipher the true story of life’s wild diversity. And then we go tide pooling. | <urn:uuid:03f7e97d-7d15-44a5-a068-4ed3ea2e5dfe> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://sarahjmcpeek.com/2020/01/11/tide-pooling/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141216175.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20201130130840-20201130160840-00568.warc.gz | en | 0.940531 | 1,001 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, medical first responders and health care workers have relied on plastic-based, single-use personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks and gowns to shield themselves from the coronavirus. The result has been a quickly growing mountain of plastic waste. How to deal with the glut of used medical-grade PPE? There aren’t any silver bullets, and none of the options are very attractive. Under guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), trashed PPE is treated like any other medical waste, usually with a sanitation process followed by landfilling or controlled incineration — both of which have significant downsides. Incineration spews millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, for example, and landfills leak toxic pollutants into groundwater. That’s at least better than unregulated disposal, which can emit toxic chemicals into the environment and create a disease transmission vector. But instead of these deleterious options, a group of experts from the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies in Dehradun, India, has suggested an alternative: PPE should be liquefied into “renewable” fossil fuels and burned. It’s a process called pyrolysis — also known as “chemical recycling” — and it uses heat to break down plastic in a deoxygenated environment, turning it into liquid oil that can then be burned for energy. In a paper published Tuesday in the journal Biofuels, researchers said it was the most common and most promising method for degrading polypropylene, a main ingredient in N95 respirators, surgical masks, and single-use protective gowns. Compared to landfilling and plastic incineration, they called chemical recycling an “environmentally friendly” alternative. “It is an efficient and economical method of recycling polypropylene,” the study said, arguing that chemical recycling can not only prevent plastic pollution that would cause “severe after-effects to humankind and the environment,” but can also create a “clean” liquid fuel to meet increasing global energy demand. But is it really recycling if the plastic doesn’t get turned back into plastic? Critics from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) said no in a report last week, pointing out that so-called “chemical recycling” doesn’t create a closed loop for used plastic. Once it’s thrown away, it gets burned as a fossil fuel and never becomes another bottle, grocery bag, piece of packaging, or surgical mask, ever again. | <urn:uuid:0901e641-31ef-4257-9d26-5fee07c2b8c4> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://wisingupthemarks.com/2020/08/09/rights/the-world-is-drowning-in-used-face-masks-should-we-turn-them-into-fuel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141216175.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20201130130840-20201130160840-00568.warc.gz | en | 0.933987 | 1,534 | 3.296875 | 3 |
A child with cerebral palsy may need mobility assistance and around-the-clock care. Medical bills and other expenses can quickly accumulate. Your family shouldn’t have to suffer financially because of a mistake made by medical professionals. If there were monitoring problems during your labor, and your child has since been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you should consider all of your options, including filing a medical malpractice claim. Doing so can offer your family more security and better care for your child. | <urn:uuid:09c6530c-9e75-4436-9f4c-0e58d1e4627c> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.ltke.com/blog/2017/10/cerebral-palsy-can-result-from-inadequate-fetal-monitoring/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141216175.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20201130130840-20201130160840-00568.warc.gz | en | 0.957138 | 569 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Explanation: This colorful skyscape features the dusty Sharpless catalog emission region Sh2-155, the Cave Nebula. In the composite image, data taken through narrowband filters tracks the glow of ionized sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms in red, green, and blue hues. About 2,400 light-years away, the scene lies along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the royal northern constellation of Cepheus. Astronomical explorations of the region reveal that it has formed at the boundary of the massive Cepheus B molecular cloud and the hot, young stars of the Cepheus OB 3 association. The bright rim of ionized interstellar gas is energized by radiation from the hot stars, dominated by the bright star just above picture center. Radiation driven ionization fronts are likely triggering collapsing cores and new star formation within. Appropriately sized for a stellar nursery, the cosmic cave is over 10 light-years across. |<< Previous APOD||This Day in APOD||Next APOD >>| | <urn:uuid:7dcff5d0-bd61-402e-8f9d-ee7b90645088> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=34071 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141685797.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20201201231155-20201202021155-00648.warc.gz | en | 0.861647 | 212 | 3.578125 | 4 |
Can you imagine a language without numbers? The Piraha, an indigenous people of Brazil, speak a language that uses only eight consonants and three vowels, depending instead on tones, stresses, and syllable lengths to express meaning. The simplicity of their language means they can hum or whistle whole conversations! They also have no words, or concepts, for numbers. The modern world would be bewildering without numbers, but the Piraha don't see any use for them. There is a word that means a “small size or amount,” a word for a “somewhat larger size or amount,” and a word for “a bunch,” but no words for individual numbers. Why no words for numbers? The most likely reason is that the Piraha have never needed them. Nothing in their way of life requires counting or differentiating between specific numbers of items, so their language never developed those words. The Piraha also seem to have no interest in learning about numbers or arithmetic, again because their culture does not require the knowledge. Why study something of no practical value to your life? There is a word in the Piraha language for all other languages that translates as “crooked head.” They see all other languages as “laughably inferior” and show no interest in learning them. It’s hard for us to imagine an existence without numbers. Even the way we measure time requires numerical words and representation. How do you think life would be different without the concept of numbers? | <urn:uuid:7af3f686-725c-45fb-bc9f-5397077bd17b> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | http://blog.vocabnetwork.com/2013/10/21/language-matters-speaking-without-numbers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141685797.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20201201231155-20201202021155-00648.warc.gz | en | 0.951864 | 320 | 3.375 | 3 |
Vairaumati would then give birth to a powerful chieftain, creating the Areoi tribe. In Gauguin’s depiction, Vaïraümati sits naked holding a flowering seed, a symbol of fertility. It has been suggested that by portraying his mistress as Vaïraümati, Gauguin sees himself in the place of Oro, the war god. In an early self-portrait painted in Brittany, Gauguin represented himself in a position that evoked Jesus on the crucifix. Gauguin also appropriated elements of ancient Egyptian art to portray Vaïraümati, specifically her straight posture combined with the choice to paint her face turning three-quarters towards the viewer, similar to poses seen in Ancient Egyptian artworks. Japanese art has also influenced Gauguin’s use of flat colors, as well as the relative absence of light and shadows. While the bright, bold colors used in Seed of the Areoi are complementary – the yellow of the trees set off against the purple of the mountains, with natural tones interspersed throughout – they were still considered quite shocking for the time. Speaking of his inspiration, Gauguin explained, “…the landscape with its bright, burning colors dazzled and blinded me… it was so simple to paint things as I saw them.” The use of color in this painting leads credence to the argument that Gauguin was painting a stylized, idealized version of the islands, using colors that were nowhere to be seen in nature. | <urn:uuid:8f138dca-93cd-4529-a223-38698693e191> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://blog.singulart.com/en/2019/08/07/seed-of-the-areoi-paul-gaugins-most-controversial-work/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141685797.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20201201231155-20201202021155-00648.warc.gz | en | 0.980811 | 1,874 | 2.9375 | 3 |
El Niño Tracker - March 2015
After months of vacillating sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, limited coordination between oceanic and atmospheric conditions favorable to El Niño formation, and ongoing confusion regarding the strength of the various diagnostic signals, El Niño has “officially” arrived in North America. This is late in the season to declare an El Niño, and the so-called spring predictability barrier makes it difficult to anticipate how seasonal changes, particularly westerly wind bursts, will help or hinder the ongoing conditions favorable to El Niño. This has been a strange season. Strong signals in early 2014 stalled in summer and into fall, delaying the event’s onset until this month, when ocean-atmosphere coupling and an additional Kelvin wave again indicated more favorable conditions for an El Niño event. The most recent forecasts offer mixed signals regarding El Niño. On Mar. 5, the NOAA-Climate Prediction Center (CPC) issued an El Niño advisory, maintaining a 50–60 percent probability of a weak El Niño event developing and extending through the summer. On Mar. 10, the Japan Meteorological Agency declared the El Niño event likely to have ended, with greater likelihood of a return to El Niño than ENSO neutral conditions in the summer. On Mar. 17, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology elevated its El Niño tracker from neutral back to watch status, noting the “unusual conditions” in the tropical Pacific, including warmer-than-average SST anomalies (Fig. 1-2). On Mar. 19, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) and CPC reasserted a 50–60 percent probability of this El Niño event extending into summer 2015 (Fig. 3), similarly noting atypical (or even strange) conditions that have made characterizing this particular event difficult. The North American multi-model ensemble shows a weak event extending into summer (Fig. 4), and corroborates the forecast discussion that suggests an increased possibility of a stronger El Niño signal extending into 2016. While the models are bullish on the possibility of a moderate to strong event, this will depend on how ocean and atmospheric conditions progress from summer into fall. With a seemingly definitive El Niño declaration, we are finally out of “El Limbo”. While forecasting or characterizing this event has been difficult for all involved, the complexity of this El Niño will be of interest to climatologists for years to come. | <urn:uuid:c460b39b-75a2-4e6c-9bc9-fd86d58b3b7b> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://climas.arizona.edu/blog/el-ni%C3%B1o-tracker-march-2015 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141685797.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20201201231155-20201202021155-00648.warc.gz | en | 0.893198 | 597 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Scientists solve the case of the missing subplate, with wide implications for brain science
The disappearance of an entire brain region should be cause for concern. Yet, for decades scientists have calmly maintained that one brain area, the subplate, simply vanishes during the course of human development. Recently, however, research has revealed genetic similarities between cells in the subplate and neurons implicated in autism—leading a team of Rockefeller scientists to wonder: what if subplate cells don't actually vanish at all? In a new paper, which appears in Cell Stem Cell, Ali H. Brivanlou, the Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Professor, and postdoctoral associate Zeeshan Ozair demonstrate that subplate neurons survive, and in fact become part of the adult cerebral cortex, a brain area involved in complex cognitive functions. The team outlines a connection between subplate neurons and certain brain disorders, and further identifies a strategy for treating such disorders via innovative stem cell techniques. A happier fate
In the developing brain, the subplate sits below the cortical plate, a precursor to the cortex. During some stages of development, the subplate is the largest layer of the brain—making its ultimate disappearance all the more confounding. "The understanding about the subplate was that it expands and then the cells of the subplate just die out. But we hypothesized: What if these subplate cells are not dying? What if they're just moving to a different level of the cortex—becoming part of the cortex?" says Brivanlou. He and his colleagues found ample support for this idea. In samples of brain tissue from various developmental stages, they detected PRDM8, a protein expressed in migrating neurons that helps cells move into the cortical plate. They also detected PRDM8 in subplate-like neurons that they generated from stem cells; and experiments showed that these laboratory-grown subplate neurons wandered away from their original location. All of these findings pointed not to cell death, but to cell movement. Far from a site of demise, the subplate seems to nurture the development of functional and diverse cells. Ozair and Brivanlou observed that subplate neurons mature into various types of deep projection neurons—cells found in the deepest layers of the cortex. The subplate's subplot
In other experiments, the researchers modulated the levels of WNT signaling, a pathway known to guide many developmental processes. | <urn:uuid:5dd9efd5-ec1f-4433-8f3a-954662ba6ab5> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-06-scientists-case-subplate-wide-implications.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141685797.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20201201231155-20201202021155-00648.warc.gz | en | 0.918334 | 799 | 3.578125 | 4 |
They found that the level of WNT signaling determined the fate of subplate neurons: low levels yielded projection neurons that extend within the cortex, and high levels yielded neurons that project to other brain areas. These findings have significant implications for understanding brain disorders. Projection neuron abnormalities have been linked to several neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism; and Brivanlou and Ozair's research suggests that these abnormalities manifest very early in development. "A lot of the genes associated with autism are first expressed in the subplate," says Ozair. "And if subplate neurons don't die but instead become part of the cortex, they will carry those mutations with them." In addition to shedding light on the early stages of brain disorders, the research presents new hope for preventing or treating such disorders through stem-cell therapy. For example, the scientists hope that their findings will one day make it possible to treat neurodegenerative disease using techniques to generate scarce neuronal subtypes from subplate-like stem cells. "The deep layers of the cortex are involved in many diseases: Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's, and Huntington's disease all kill off specific types of deep-projection neurons," says Ozair. "When we think about cellular-replacement therapy, we need to think about how these cells are made in the first place." Brivanlou adds: "This research shows us how to generate these neurons directly, because we know the signaling mechanism that is necessary for their fate to be unveiled." | <urn:uuid:5dd9efd5-ec1f-4433-8f3a-954662ba6ab5> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-06-scientists-case-subplate-wide-implications.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141685797.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20201201231155-20201202021155-00648.warc.gz | en | 0.918334 | 799 | 3.578125 | 4 |
Chief Dan George: Actor and Activist, Longshoreman, Actor, Musician, Lecturer, Poet, Activist, Environmentalist, First Nations leader. Temporary Exhibit at the Alberni Valley Museum
October 3, 2020 – March 31, 2021
Tsleil-Waututh Chief Dan George (1899-1981) is remembered for many things, including his career as an actor and an advocate for Indigenous people. This exhibition explores his life and legacy. Chief George came to national attention in 1967 through his famous centennial speech, “Lament for Confederation”. Thereafter, as a speaker, a writer and an actor with an international reputation, he promoted greater understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and inspired others to follow in his path on the long journey toward reconciliation. An illustrated timeline provides the broader context, highlighting significant events and individuals in British Columbia and Canada that contributed to the progression of rights for Indigenous peoples. Organised by the North Vancouver Museum and Archives in collaboration with the George family. | <urn:uuid:2e040b85-a673-4c2f-b941-9035d44c98a2> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://playinpa.ca/exhibits/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141685797.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20201201231155-20201202021155-00648.warc.gz | en | 0.964923 | 214 | 2.953125 | 3 |
DOE Releases Roadmap for Cold War Era Nuclear Waste Cleanup
The U.S. Department of Energy has recently released an Engineering and Technology Roadmap, which details initiatives aimed at reducing the technical risks and uncertainties associated with cleaning up Cold War era nuclear waste over the next ten years. The roadmap also outlines strategies to minimize such risks and proposes how these strategies would be implemented, furthering DOE's goal of protecting the environment by providing a responsible resolution to the environmental legacy of nuclear weapons production. "The roadmap seeks to build on the department's previous successes in technological innovation, which have contributed greatly to the enhanced safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of our environmental management projects," said Jim Rispoli, DOE's assistant secretary for environmental management. "As we work to improve technologies and processes to safely dispose of Cold War era nuclear waste at sites across the country, this roadmap will serve to guide the development of an increasingly strong and responsive applied research and engineering program." Specifically, the roadmap consists of thirteen strategic initiatives that address anticipated technical risks and uncertainties in the following six areas: waste processing; groundwater and soil remediation; deactivation, decommissioning, and facility engineering; spent nuclear fuel; challenging materials; and integration and cross-cutting initiatives. DOE's National Laboratories, led by Savannah River National Laboratory, will spearhead the integration of these engineering and technology efforts. | <urn:uuid:4ac45211-fc19-46d0-b2ba-b2e518978859> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://ohsonline.com/articles/2008/03/doe-releases-roadmap-for-cold-war-era-nuclear-waste-cleanup.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141727782.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20201203124807-20201203154807-00008.warc.gz | en | 0.935742 | 278 | 2.6875 | 3 |
A combination moral guidebook and Japanese history resource illustrates the code of samurai warriors, explaining its importance and how it can be incorporated into everyday life. Third-generation Japanese-American Whaley shares elements of her heritage with the aim of enlightening and inspiring readers to adopt some samurai practices. The debut book highlights the historical significance of the Bushido code among Japanese warriors and, consequently, its effect on Japanese society as a whole. The Bushido code emphasizes the following principles: courage, integrity, benevolence, respect, honesty, honor, loyalty, and ganbaru (a Japanese word meaning “to persist”). The book is separated into eight chapters: one dedicated to each concept. Each chapter begins with a thorough description of what the principle meant to Japanese warriors, what it conveys today, and how it can be successfully applied to everyday life. This is followed by stories of Japanese or Japanese-American figures who embodied the principle discussed in that chapter (“Integrity” features the Asian-American politician Daniel K. Inouye, who enlisted in the Army during World War II—receiving several accolades, including the Bronze Star and the Medal of Honor—and served as a U.S. senator from Hawaii). In addition, well-known quotations are inserted throughout the book, when relevant to the particular chapter (for example, “Courage” offers the Japanese proverb “Even a hunter cannot kill a bird that comes to him for refuge”). Whaley’s passion for Japanese culture and heritage is evident in each page, as she includes patient explanations and well-researched details. The stories included in each chapter are the heart of the book. They effectively provide historical background, as well as a reference of how each principle can be upheld to the highest degree. These tales would be just as powerful—or perhaps more so—if presented separate from the motivational aspect of the work. In attempting to accomplish too much, the volume becomes scattered and distracting at times. The introduction of each chapter is reasonable, but is followed by a forceful encouragement for readers to adopt each principle in order to find success in their own lives, which eventually becomes repetitive. Additionally, the inspirational quotations break the flow of the writing, which serves as inspiration enough. A thorough exploration of samurai culture and values and their impact on Japanese history— informative and invigorating, though laden with heavy-handed motivational mantras. | <urn:uuid:98935ed4-e992-47f2-87e1-75b8c65d4c3b> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lori-tsugawa-whaley/courage-samurai/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141727782.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20201203124807-20201203154807-00008.warc.gz | en | 0.954902 | 499 | 2.71875 | 3 |
The push and pull of this dynamic would be reborn in two-man vaudeville acts and in the staged antagonisms between animator and his cartoon creation. Thus, not only do a cartoon character's white gloves and enlarged facial features indicate its representational debts to the visual/static signifiers of blackface, Sammond also convincingly locates the performative and dynamic tropes underlying both. "Labor" highlights how shifting labor relations, increasing production demands, and changing public perceptions about animation studios resulted in "the standardization of artists as workers" (89). Bringing these labor conditions in conversation with the focus of his book, Sammond reads the cartoon character's rebellious spirit as a manifestation of line animators' collective frustrations over their working conditions. Changes in the animator's relationship to his product not only affected labor relations, but also the representation of cartoons and space, which Sammond pursues further in his third chapter, "Space." Technological innovations—including the introduction of sound to animation, for instance—intensified labor divisions and changed the infrastructure of the animation studio in ways that further distanced the animator from a finished cartoon. Moreover, 1930s cartoons began to rely more on "a unified cinematic space—an idea that the worlds depicted in movies were located elsewhere" (128). Sammond also considers how these changes affect spatial relations within theaters themselves. How cartoons negotiate ideas of space on the screens upon which they were projected, among audience members, and within theaters mattered significantly to how they regulated social formations, especially race. Chapter four, "Race," delves further into social formations and shows how American racial matrices find expression beyond racist caricature, providing a fuller account of the nation's relationship to minstrelsy and its afterlives. An "eternal... | <urn:uuid:892771fc-9ae7-43fb-8ed1-344183ece5a8> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://muse.jhu.edu/article/657176/pdf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141745780.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20201204223450-20201205013450-00088.warc.gz | en | 0.945306 | 877 | 2.890625 | 3 |
When 25-year-old Henry Opukahaia first set foot in the town of Cornwall, Connecticut in 1817, he carried on his shoulders the far-reaching hopes and dreams of some of Connecticut’s most powerful religious leaders. The charismatic young man, one of the first native Hawaiians to convert to Christianity, was also one of the first students of Cornwall’s newly established Foreign Mission School, an academy designed to give foreign-born converts the skills and theological training they needed to become Christian missionaries in their native communities. Opukahaia, whose name Americans often spelled “Obookiah”, was born on the island of Hawaii in 1792. When he was 10, his parents were killed in a tribal dispute, and young Opukahaia left Hawaii in search of a better life by joining the crew of a Connecticut-based merchant ship that had anchored near his village. On the circuitous voyage back to New Haven, Opukahaia was taught rudimentary English by a fellow Hawaiian crew member. Once in New Haven, in 1810, he adopted the English name of Henry and spent the next several years receiving a formal education while living with, and working for, a number of the city’s ministers. A quick study, and enthusiastic convert to Christianity, Henry Opukahaia repeatedly expressed a desire to return to Hawaii in order to help spread the Gospel to his countrymen. His pleas, combined with the uptick in religious fervor sweeping New England during the Second Great Awakening, inspired some of the region’s leading ministers to found the Foreign Mission School in 1816, out of a belief that foreign populations would better respond to the Christian message if it were delivered by one of their own people. During the 10 years the Foreign Mission School was in existence, it taught and trained over 100 foreign-born missionaries, most of whom were either born in Pacific Rim nations like Hawaii, China, and Polynesia or belonged to Native American tribes like the Cherokee. The first class was admitted in 1817 and consisted of 12 students, including several Hawaiians. There, Opukahaia began writing his memoirs while laboring to create an English-Hawaiian dictionary and Hawaiian spelling and grammar books. One of the inspiring forces behind the establishment of the Foreign Mission School, the handsome, personable, and hard-working Opukahaia proved an ideal “poster boy” for the theological academy. | <urn:uuid:953e8ff1-33ee-4de3-8de5-b3e7b919bbe6> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://todayincthistory.com/2020/02/17/february-17-henry-opukahaia-and-connecticuts-foreign-mission-school-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141745780.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20201204223450-20201205013450-00088.warc.gz | en | 0.973373 | 712 | 3.0625 | 3 |
The earliest porcelains, though, were brittle, so a hybrid with a metal interior for strength and a fused exterior porcelain layer for appearance came into prominence. Today, advances in materials have led to all-porcelain crowns strong enough to withstand biting forces. While the metal-porcelain hybrid still account for about 40% of crowns installed annually, the all-porcelain types are steadily growing in popularity. Regardless of the type, though, the process for fitting any crown is relatively the same. The first step is to reshape the affected tooth so that the future crown will fit over it, followed by an impression mold of the tooth a dental technician will use to form a custom crown. Once the new crown has been prepared, we then permanently bond it to the tooth. With a crown, you’ll be able to enjoy normal function and have a tooth that looks as healthy and normal as its neighbors. Be aware, though, that your underlying tooth is still subject to decay — so diligent, daily hygiene and regular dental visits are a must. With proper care your newly crowned tooth can continue to serve you and your smile for many years to come. If you would like more information on dental restoration options, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Crowns & Bridgework.” | <urn:uuid:43ef4e66-3222-4b8c-90f0-85829c99ceb3> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.pensacoladentistry.com/blog/date/2020-03-01.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141745780.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20201204223450-20201205013450-00088.warc.gz | en | 0.946664 | 1,801 | 3.015625 | 3 |
September 16 will mark forty years when thirty-two women from across Canada were sworn in as the first women to join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The swearing-in ceremonies were the first step in a long journey toward their acceptance as police officers. While they were considered equal on paper, the women had to work hard to prove themselves as police officers. The challenges they faced began early in their careers. During their training at the RCMP’s academy in Regina, Saskatchewan, the women came under criticism. Some people questioned whether female Mounties would be putting the lives of male police officers in danger because they lacked the brawn and physical stature they thought was necessary to handle violent situations. Mountie wives were resistant to the idea of attractive young women riding alone with their husbands in a police cruiser. Rumours spread throughout the RCMP that the women looked more like football players after all of the physical exercise they underwent during training. And the women were devastated to learn that they would not be wearing the same uniform as male Mounties, a decision that set them apart as different from the men from the outset. Many Canadians struggled with women’s changing role in society. They assumed that women working in a male-dominated occupation wanted to be like men. Few people realized that the first female Mounties had no intention of being like their male peers. They joined the RCMP for a number of reasons. Some wanted a new and challenging career. Others wanted job security and better pay. Many were eager to join an organization steeped in the history of the nation. Five of the first women were carrying on the family tradition established by brothers and fathers who were also police officers. Still others had altruistic reasons for joining, fulfilling a strong desire to help people. Not many people understood that the first female Mounties wanted to define themselves as police officers on their own terms. Despite the opposition, the first women to join the RCMP proved the naysayers wrong. The late Superintendent W.F. MacRae, in charge of recruit training at the academy in 1975, said it best: “There is absolutely no reason why women cannot do police work. People say you couldn’t send them here and there. What they are talking about is muscle and muscle is only a small part of the job. | <urn:uuid:16c66005-648f-4f7f-a73f-c062645c558a> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://bonniereillyschmidt.com/2014/09/13/female-mounties-celebrating-forty-years/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141169606.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20201124000351-20201124030351-00448.warc.gz | en | 0.986162 | 533 | 3.359375 | 3 |
If needed, we give medications to control nausea and vomiting,” she continued. “Some patients with chronic kidney disease benefit from being fed a prescription diet designed for pets with kidney disease. Other therapies are tailored to the individual patient’s needs.”
So without treatment for kidney disease, can a dog or cat suffer from complete kidney failure? According to Heseltine, the answer is yes. Kidney failure can occur in both acute and chronic kidney disease, depending on the severity of the case. Heseltine emphasizes the importance of the kidneys in the body and explains that a lack of filtration can lead to deadly consequences. “The kidneys have many important roles, including filtering toxins from the body. When the kidneys cannot filter adequately, the toxins build up in the blood stream and make the pet sick,” she said. “We assess this by measuring urea and creatinine concentrations in their blood. These increased lab values do not occur until approximately 75% of kidney function has been lost. Patient outcome depends on how high the lab values are, how sick the pet is, whether the underlying kidney disease can be treated, and how quickly the kidney damage is progressing,” she continued. “Some patients with chronic kidney disease live for many years, while for other patients decisions about quality of life have to be made.”
Though kidney disease is fairly common in dogs and cats, there are ways pet owners can help prevent renal issues. Since many acute kidney disease cases are caused by toxic substances, be sure to keep poisons and pesticides away from your furry friends, as well as any specific foods or plants that can cause harm. Feeding a balanced diet is always important, but consider looking into specialized pet food that aids in preventing kidney disease. Lastly, remember to take note of your pet’s normal behavior so you are more likely to notice even the slightest change in diet, urination or defecation. Make an appointment with your local veterinarian if you notice a change in behavior that lasts several days. Although pets of all ages are susceptible to kidney disease, older pets are at an even higher risk. By monitoring your pet’s behavior and attending regular veterinary check-ups, you can help prevent kidney disease and preserve your pet’s quality of life. Pet Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. | <urn:uuid:b2ec540b-e674-4901-92f9-7f1621d0d19c> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk/kidney-disease-in-dogs-and-cats/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141169606.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20201124000351-20201124030351-00448.warc.gz | en | 0.954656 | 1,045 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Our bodies naturally do a great job of maintaining pH within a tight range, and there’s likely no need to spend extra money on something that others may not even have access to. Instead, consider donating to a charity that helps bring clean water to others, like Water.org or charity: water. Mascha Davis, MPH, RDN is a Los Angeles-based private practice dietitian who shares her love of health and wellness through a unique global perspective. From world-class U.S. medical centers to rural villages in Africa, Mascha has dedicated herself to traveling the world, spreading her love of healthy living through both her humanitarian work and private practice. Learn more at Nomadista Nutrition. | <urn:uuid:fe27171a-ce7c-406a-a2ff-becf08883182> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://wellseek.co/2018/01/07/alkaline-water-friend-fad/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141169606.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20201124000351-20201124030351-00448.warc.gz | en | 0.945139 | 1,163 | 2.734375 | 3 |
This kind of impromptu storytelling, with its unpredictable outcome, keeps students engaged and thinking creatively. Try improv. Once the domain of jazz musicians and comedians, improvisation has found its way into businesses and schools. Improv is the practice of telling stories, or playing music, without scripts. One person begins the story with a few lines, and turns to the person next to her to continue it, and so on, until everyone in the group has contributed. The inviolate rule of improv is “yes, and”—meaning every contribution is accepted, regardless of its randomness, and woven into the story. Improv sparks creativity and spontaneity, and its nonjudgmental tone frees up the introverted or fearful. Because improv tends toward playfulness, it also allows some lightness into the classroom, and to learning. Introduce real-life experiences whenever possible. What might seem bloodless or irrelevant in the classroom can come alive if students see the subject play out before them. To bring energy to science and math, for example, a teacher might take her class to a Maker Faire, where kids (and sometimes adults) use their imaginations and minds to create new things. Ostroff suggests something as simple as taking a walk in pursuit of objects that can be used to build sculptures; or, if a manufacturer is nearby, asking for their remnants to build machines. Another interesting project for teenagers is building a “box city,” in which students construct their own buildings and work to combine them into a model city. Done right, the box city will take into account economics, geography, history and culture, and give children hands-on experience with design and urban planning. Encourage doodling. Drawing pictures or coloring while listening is both common and useful: it enables the doodler to stay focused and heightens intellectual arousal. Teachers can capitalize on that benefit by including doodling in class work. For example, students can be given notebooks to doodle in when listening, and asked to do a “doodle content analysis” of their scribbles. As well, teachers might ask students to select one or more drawings to modify for an art project, or to combine several doodles into a mural. The point is to be mindful of the value of doodling—how it enhances imagination and improves focus—and to invite students to continue the practice. | <urn:uuid:8e0c7af2-191d-44ab-b8d1-9a844ffbc839> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/50429/how-to-help-older-kids-develop-a-sense-of-imagination | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141169606.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20201124000351-20201124030351-00448.warc.gz | en | 0.957499 | 1,187 | 3.9375 | 4 |
The impact was so significant that in Mexico’s southernmost state, Chiapas, an indigenous group known as the Zapatistas declared autonomy from the Mexican state in protest. Life was never easy for poor Mexican families — but NAFTA made it much harder. Meanwhile, on this side of the border, we reap the benefits of cheap farm and meatpacking labor in the form of low-priced food, thanks to the contributions of millions of undocumented workers. And how do we express our gratitude? Far too often, it’s with racism, hatred, and the desire that all the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants “go home.”
By enjoying the fruits of their labor — pun intended — every consumer becomes complicit in the exploitation of undocumented workers. Harassment, wage theft, and backbreaking work that can leave workers disabled are not uncommon. Only by bringing undocumented workers out of the shadows can we help them gain safe labor conditions. After all, if our broken immigration system is fixed, employers will no longer be able to rely on the threat of deportation to keep wages low. Improving the immigration system will require an educated debate. For starters, we must recognize the humanity of the folks who pick our fruit and process our meat. And we must examine how our own policies, like NAFTA, hurt their home countries, further spurring immigration here. | <urn:uuid:69e5c044-360f-4040-9228-b31bcce6fbba> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.mantecabulletin.com/opinion/other-views/other-side-of-immigration-debate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141169606.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20201124000351-20201124030351-00448.warc.gz | en | 0.965198 | 780 | 3.0625 | 3 |
The sensors measured on-the-ground temperatures, which indicated when the potential growing season started and ended, and the team compared these measurements with satellite imagery that showed when vegetation actually turned green and brown. The sensor data revealed that unless researchers are accounting for the types of plants they are observing, satellite data may not be the best way to tease out the temperature-based effects of urbanization on plants. The satellite-based method is commonly used to assess the start and end of growing seasons, but it may be sensing changes unrelated to the urban heat island, the team’s methods suggest. For instance, grassy lawns in the suburbs greened up more quickly than urban trees despite higher air temperatures in the city. This is because once the snow melts, grass typically greens up sooner than trees, Zipper says. “The degree to which the potential growing season gets longer is related to urban density, but the actual growing season depends on what is growing on the ground,” he explains. The study is a step toward better understanding how urban development can impact not just growing seasons but also other natural cycles, like those of water and carbon. It could also help make cities more resilient to climate change. The urban heat island effect is expected to increase as the climate warms, Zipper says, adding, “The fine-scale decisions we make in cities will be important.”
Offenbar verschärft sich der UHI-Effekt in den USA sogar noch weiter. Eine Untersuchung durch Kevin Gallo und George Xian aus dem Oktober 2016 im ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing zeigte nun, dass sich der Anteil von versiegelten wärmefördernden Flächen im Umkreis um US-Wetterstationen in den letzten 10 Jahren deutlich erhöht hat. Hier der Abstract der Studie:
Changes in satellite-derived impervious surface area at US historical climatology network stations
The difference between 30 m gridded impervious surface area (ISA) between 2001 and 2011 was evaluated within 100 and 1000 m radii of the locations of climate stations that comprise the US Historical Climatology Network. The amount of area associated with observed increases in ISA above specific thresholds was documented for the climate stations. Over 32% of the USHCN stations exhibited an increase in ISA of ⩾20% between 2001 and 2011 for at least 1% of the grid cells within a 100 m radius of the station. | <urn:uuid:1e981224-b200-4e0b-9701-64285cdb9330> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://kaltesonne.de/neues-vom-stadtischen-warmeinselefekt-aus-den-usa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141181482.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20201125071137-20201125101137-00528.warc.gz | en | 0.66877 | 4,147 | 2.609375 | 3 |
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