tagged w/ College_Current
-
Parts of the world may have to be abandoned because severe water shortages will leave them uninhabitable, the United Nations environment chief has warned.
Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, said water shortages caused by over-use of rivers and aquifers were already leading to serious problems, even in rich nations. With climate change expected to reduce rainfall in some places and cause droughts in others, some regions could become 'economic deserts', unviable for people or agriculture, he said.
Steiner argued that only urgent action to combat global warming and poverty could prevent the creation of thousands of 'environmental refugees'. Previous UN agreements to reduce global warming emissions and the Millennium Development Goals on poverty had not been met. His warning echoes those of other environment leaders, who have said that water shortages could be the greatest threat posed by climate change.
'In many ways [water] is the most dramatic expression of mismanagement of natural or nature-based assets,' Steiner said. 'The day a person or a community is bereft of water is the day that your chance of even the most basic life or livelihood is gone and economic activity seeps away.
'Unchecked climate change will mean that some parts of the world will simply not have enough water to sustain settlements both small and large, because agriculture becomes untenable and industries relying on water can no longer compete or function effectively. This will trigger structural changes in economies right through to the displacement of people as environmental refugees.'
Steiner said it was not possible to identify specific places at risk, but said vulnerable areas were those which were already considered to be 'water scarce' because of dry weather and a lack of infrastructure to store and transport water. Last week a study of the water footprints of 200 nations led by conservation group WWF warned that 50 countries were already experiencing 'moderate to severe water stress on a year-round basis'.
This week experts from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification meeting in Turkey will warn that high food prices and endemic droughts are jeopardising the lives of hundreds of millions of people, particularly in Africa.
Some of the most dramatic examples of water shortages this year include conflict-stricken Sudan, the dramatic drying of Lake Faguibine in Mali on which 200,000 mostly nomadic people depend, fatal clashes over drying boreholes in northern Kenya, and economic and social crisis on the sparsely populated border between Bolivia and Argentina, according to Unep. Oxfam has estimated that 25 million people have been affected by the most recent drought in Ethiopia.
Rich nations are not immune. California has declared a state of emergency over water shortages, Australia has committed billions of dollars to cope with drought, and governments in Europe have been forced to ship in water to stop communities running dry.
'A plant, never mind a human being, simply cannot live without water,' said Steiner. 'It's not a matter of how we can live for three years without some water; these are not the kind of things we can do for a while and recover.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/02/climate-change-desertification-water-drought
Parts of the world may have to be abandoned because severe water shortages will leave... more
-
-
The pineal gland, located in the centre of the brain, is about a quarter of an inch in size, reddish-gray, and weighs about one-tenth of a gram. Unlike other parts of the brain which come in pairs, the pineal gland is singular. Its location in the center of the brain and presence in other species indicates it is an older part of humanity's evolutionary brain system.
The pineal gland is present in all lower vertebrae. In other species, like birds, reptiles and frogs, the pineal gland is called the parietal eye or "third-eye" as its functions closely resemble that of an actual eye. In these other species, the pineal gland has components of an actual eye, with a cornea, rod and cone. It is considered to be the vestige of a functional sense organ of early primitive vertebrates.
Directly affected by the light taken in through the eyes, the pineal regulates sleep, menstrual cycles, mating seasons, hibernation, seasonal flight patterns and many other "instinctual" behaviors.*1The pineal gland, located in the centre of the brain, is about a quarter of an inch in... more
-
-
Tempo -- Not Personal Taste -- Is the Key to Heart Benefits, Study Shows
"Take two tunes and call me in the morning" isn't usual advice from heart doctors, but maybe it should be.
Luciano Bernardi, MD, and colleagues aren't suggesting music as a substitute for a healthy lifestyle and heart medicines. However, music could enhance heart health, they note.
Learning to play music may help even more. Musicians showed more heart sensitivity to music in Bernardi's study, which appears in Heart's advance online edition.
Bernardi works at Italy's University of Pavia.
Music is well known for setting the mood. Think of a harp's formal, delicate sounds; rock and roll's rebel yell; the forlorn howl of the blues; or the sheer force of a gospel choir singing as if their lives depended on it.
Music has also gotten attention from scientists. It's shown to cut stress, upgrade athletic performance, improve movement in nerve-damaged patients, and boost milk production in cattle, write Bernardi and colleagues.
Tune Test
Bernardi's study was small. It included 24 healthy people in their early to mid-20s; half were accomplished musicians.
Participants lay down and rested quietly for 20 minutes. Then they donned headsets and listened to a random selection of music.
Meanwhile, researchers monitored their heart rates, breathing, blood pressure, and other vital signs (including during the rest period).
Musical Menu
Curious about what the participants heard? Here's the play list:
Raga (Indian classical music): "Sitar Music Meditations" by Debabrata Chaudhuri
Slow classical music: an adagio from Beethoven's 9th symphony
Fast classical music: a concerto by Antonio Vivaldi
Techno music: "You Spin Me Round" by Gigi D'agostino
Rap music: "The Power of Equality" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Dodecaphonic (12-tone) music: a slow, modern orchestral piece by the late composer Anton Webern
Tempo Trumped Taste
The study's results:
Fast tempos drove up heartbeats, breathing, and blood pressure
Slower tempos were calming
Personal taste in music didn't affect the results; only tempo mattered
During pauses between music types, heart rates, breathing, and blood pressure improved beyond that seen before the participants listened to any music.
Researchers say this suggests that any type of music -- fast or slow -- may have beneficial effects on the heart.
Musicians' Advantage
The musicians in the study were more sensitive to musical tempo.
That may be because they've learned to breathe in time with the music or to concentrate harder during fast rhythms and relax during lulls or slower passages, the researchers write.
Since the participants were all young and healthy, more research probably awaits. But the findings may be food for thought as you scroll through your musical collection.Tempo -- Not Personal Taste -- Is the Key to Heart Benefits, Study Shows
"Take... more
-
-
MycoJ
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
The "War on Drugs" does many things, including 1) put people who grow plants deemed illegal by the United States Government in jail, 2) Deliberately funnel extremely harmful drugs to poor neighborhoods via government agencies, which has now come to light due to officers coming forward (research LEAP: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) 3) Turns human beings that have been put in jail due to marijuana use into private property, using them as free, or insanely cheap labor to produce products, or as they called it 300 years ago, slavery. and 4) Puts insanely large amounts of money into the hands of insanely evil, racist, and morally corrupt people...and those are the nice guys.The "War on Drugs" does many things, including 1) put people who grow plants... more
-
-
jkw077
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
Synchronicities are those moments of “meaningful coincidence” when the boundary dissolves between the inner and the outer. At the synchronistic moment, just like a dream, our internal, subjective state appears, as if materialized in, as and through the outside world. Touching the heart of our being, synchronicities are moments in time in which there is a fissure in the fabric of what we have taken for reality and there is a bleed through from a higher dimension outside of time. Synchronicities are expressions of the dreamlike nature of reality, as they are moments in time when the timeless, dreamlike nature of the universe shines forth its radiance and openly reveals itself to us, offering us an open doorway to lucidity.
Synchronicity was one of Jung’s most profound yet least understood discoveries, in part because it cannot be appreciated until we personally step into and experience the synchronistic realm for ourselves. Jung’s discovery of synchronicity was in a sense the parallel in the realm of psychology to Einstein’s discovery of the law of relativity in physics. Because it is so radically discontinuous with our conventional notions of the nature of reality, the experience of synchronicity is so literally mind-blowing that Jung contemplated this phenomenon for over twenty years before he published his thinking about it. Jung’s synchronistic universe was a new world view which embraced linear causality while simultaneously transcending it. A synchronistic universe balances and complements the mechanistic world of linear causality with a realm that is outside of space, time and causality. In a synchronicity, two heterogeneous world-systems, the causal and acausal, interlock and interpenetrate each other for a moment in time, which is both an expression of while creating in the field an aspect of our wholeness to manifest. The synchronistic universe is beginning-less in that we are participating in its creation right now, which is why Jung calls it “an act of creation in time.”Synchronicities are those moments of “meaningful coincidence” when the... more
-
-
jkw077
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
Here is my Editing Demo Reel for 2009. hope you enjoy!
-
-
A VCAM for T-mobile, about the historic moments that define a generation.
-
-
Outline: Just when we thought Polaroids were the thing of the past, Alba Mora tells us how technology is helping the world’s favorite instant camera make a comeback.
Shot on SONY DSR 570. Aspect ratio 16:9.
Would you ever let two strangers crash on your couch? Recently reporter Alba Mora welcomed two couch surfers into her Berkeley home.
Credits: Directed, written, shoot and produced by Alba Mora.
Duration: 2:09 min.
Country and Year: CNS NEWS (Berkeley Journalism TV Show) on February 2009.Outline: Just when we thought Polaroids were the thing of the past, Alba Mora tells... more
-
-
Going to Mexico for spring break is practically a rite of passage for college students in Arizona, but the state's three public universities want to warn young revelers about stepped-up violence south of the border.
The University of Arizona in Tucson has issued a travel advisory urging students not to go to Mexico, and officials at Arizona State University in Tempe and Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff said they have similar plans to warn students. The schools' spring breaks fall on the second or third weeks of March.
In its notice to students, UA cited a travel alert issued by the U.S. Department of State in October warning travelers that crime rates have increased sharply in Tijuana, Juarez and Nogales - all Mexican cities that have experienced public shootouts during the daytime in shopping centers and other public places. The department warned that criminals have followed and harassed Americans driving in border areas.
Universities that warn students of violence in Mexico are providing "sage advice," said Special Agent Tom Mangan, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
"We have had documented violence, attacks, killings, shootouts with the drug cartels involving not only the military but law-enforcement personnel," he said. "It is indiscriminate violence, and certainly innocent people have been caught up in that collateral damage."Going to Mexico for spring break is practically a rite of passage for college students... more
-
-
gooma2
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
I couldn't look at the computer screen any longer. I needed a creative outlet.One thing I like to do is make documentary films, but I guess I haven't met the right people in LA yet, so my search for that dream job continues.I couldn't look at the computer screen any longer. I needed a creative outlet.One... more
-
-
4u2c
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
In 1934 Ethyl Allen entered a pub in Rockledge, Florida. And was brutally murdered.
For the past few decades, she has been seen countless times throughout the restaurant. And that is only the beginning of the stories. Our crew went to the establishment to see what we could uncover.In 1934 Ethyl Allen entered a pub in Rockledge, Florida. And was brutally murdered.... more
-
-
This is a 10 week student project done by three students from expressions college for digital arts. Our project is about a Community center in Oakland,Ca called Youth Uprising.This is a 10 week student project done by three students from expressions college for... more
-
-
Michelle Maykin is fighting for her life, battling Leukemia for the second time in less than two years. She, along with friends and family, started Project Michelle to register bone marrow donors to the national donor pool in hopes of saving her life and the roughly 6,000 other people searching for a match. Check out ProjectMichelle.com to read her blog.Michelle Maykin is fighting for her life, battling Leukemia for the second time in... more
-
-
This is a digital video final project by Lindsay Scoggins which was recently shown at the Fine Arts department at the University of South Florida. Lindsay is a third year art student with a focus on electronic media. The assignment was to make a 3 minute maximum video comprised of appropriated footage and audio.This is a digital video final project by Lindsay Scoggins which was recently shown at... more
-
-
Watch us as we go on a letterboxing hunt!
-
-
Part three of "The American Exorcist."
-
-
This is part two of "The American Exorcist."
-
-
This is the first video on the series on "The American Exorcist."
-
-
Vinyl is back! As CD sales fall, vinyl sales are beginning to rise, and the people it appeals to find a whole host of reasons to prefer it to digital music.Vinyl is back! As CD sales fall, vinyl sales are beginning to rise, and the people it... more
-
-
Music video created to Radiohead's Talk Show Host during fall 2008 in a broadcast class at Oklahoma State University. Much thanks to our talent Brendan Stallings and of course Radiohead for its tremendous piece. We hope you like our hard work.Music video created to Radiohead's Talk Show Host during fall 2008 in a broadcast... more
-
