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UNESCO World Heritage Sites Threatened by Tourism

By Guest PostNovember 25, 2010Culturearchitectural monuments, chinese government, christina cameron, cultural, cultural and historical heritage, machu picchu, magnificent landscape, mount danxia, natural sites, old quebec, peru, peruvian government, post-war era, reddish sandstone, revenue, tourism, unesco world heritage program, world heritage sites

Machu Picchu Temple of the Sun (also named "the watch tower"). The stones of its dry-stone walls built by the Incas can move slightly and resettle without the walls collapsing. Image credit: Fabricio Guzmán. Source: Wikipedia

The UNESCO World Heritage program aims to protect cultural and natural sites considered important to the common heritage of humanity. However, many of these sites are now threatened by excessive tourism, according to Christina Cameron, professor at the Université de Montréal School of Architecture and holder of the Canada Research Chair on Built Heritage.

A case in point is Machu Picchu in Peru. “This site should receive no more than 2,000 visitors per day, but it currently welcomes twice as many,” says Cameron, who sounded the alarm while speaking as a panelist at a celebration commemorating 25 years of Old Québec being such a site.

“The UNESCO World Heritage convention was established in a spirit of solidarity and international cooperation in order to share best practices for conservation,” says Cameron. “It was the post-war era and people were seeking for a way to bring together members of the international community. Tourism was never an objective of the convention. In fact, these sites were meant to be protected from it.” (more…)

World Politics: Balance of Power Between the U.S. and China

By Guest PostNovember 25, 20101 commentEconomy, Politicsamericans, China, chinese, chinese education system, college graduates, edward stern, Facebook, hubei province, industrial power, jobless, middle east, super power, united states, world war, YouTube

For the first time since establishing itself as a world super power following World War I, the United States appears like it may be losing its footing. The prosperous nation’s economy is tanking. Thousands of Americans are jobless, with houses being foreclosed left and right. Americans have little confidence in their beleaguered government, which is in serious debt. There is little consensus amongst politicians or citizens regarding important issues, which has led to great party-based divisions in the country. The country is fighting a losing battle in the Middle East, and has been at war continuously since World War II. (more…)

Low Education, Income Levels Linked to Depression Among Urban Black Fathers

By Guest PostNovember 25, 2010Cultureanxiety, black fathers, black men, depression, economic conditions, fragile families, marilyn sinkewicz, mental health, rufina lee, substance

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A new University of Michigan study finds that black fathers are 50 percent more likely to be depressed than men in the general population. One quarter of black fathers were depressed at some time over the five-year course of the study.

Additionally, black fathers with lower levels of education and income have elevated rates of depression. Depression is twice as prevalent among those without a high school education. (more…)

Study Portends Greater Anticipated Global Warming

By Guest PostNovember 25, 2010Environmentanticipated global warming, climate models, current global models, warming predictions

Current state-of-the-art global climate models predict substantial warming in response to increases in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The models, though, disagree widely in the magnitude of the warming we can expect. The disagreement among models is mainly due to the different representation of clouds. Some models predict that global mean cloud cover will increase in a warmer climate and the increased reflection of solar radiation will limit the predicted global warming. Other models predict reduced cloudiness and magnified warming. (more…)

Getting a Tighter Grip on Cell Division

By Guest PostNovember 25, 2010Sciencebungo akiyoshi, cell, cell division, chinese handcuff, chromosomes, DNA, genetic information, kinetochore, microtubule, sue biggins

*Molecular “machine” responsible for pulling chromosome copies apart is isolated and seen in action outside the cell*

The dance of cell division is carefully choreographed and has little room for error. Paired genetic information is lined up in the middle of the cell in the form of chromosomes. The chromosomes must then be carefully pulled apart so that the resulting daughter cells each have an identical copy of the mother cell’s DNA. (more…)

Microsoft Offerings Help Overcome Holiday Overload

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2010Technologyben rudolph, bing, black friday, brooke burke, Facebook, happy holidays, lisa gurry, Microsoft, oprah winfrey, thanksgiving, windows

*With the holiday shopping season just around the corner, Microsoft has been partnering with celebrities to promote Bing as a cure for holiday overload. The company is also showcasing new PCs as gift ideas and partnering with Southwest Airlines to offer travelers a free holiday photo with Santa.*

REDMOND, Wash. – Nov. 24, 2010 – As Black Friday looms, Microsoft is trying to help consumers survive the holiday crunch through high-tech gift ideas, a stress-free shopping experience, and even a chance to meet St. Nick himself.

The day after Thanksgiving has long marked the start of the holiday shopping season, and Black Friday has become the busiest shopping day of the year. Microsoft has been busy trying to get out the word that Bing can help shoppers “cut through the clutter this holiday season,” said Lisa Gurry, director of marketing. (more…)

Biologists Report More Bad News for Polar Bears

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2010Environment3-d computer models, brown bears, climate change, ecology, Environment, extreme environment, genetic studies, global warming, graham slater, grizzly bears, ice ages, polar bears, van valkenburgh, vegetables

*Climate change will force them south, where they are unsuited for the diet*

A polar bear breaks through thin Arctic Ocean ice Aug. 23, 2009. Image credit: Canadian Coast Guard/USGS

Will polar bears survive in a warmer world? UCLA life scientists present new evidence that their numbers are likely to dwindle.

As polar bears lose habitat due to global warming, these biologists say, they will be forced southward in search of alternative sources of food, where they will increasingly come into competition with grizzly bears.

To test how this competition might unfold, the UCLA biologists constructed three-dimensional computer models of the skulls of polar bears and grizzly bears — a subspecies of brown bears — and simulated the process of biting. The models enabled them to compare the two species in terms of how hard they can bite and how strong their skulls are. (more…)

Samlink Turns to IBM for New Services Agreement

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2010Technologydata center operations, finland, heikki sirve, ibm, information technology, infrastructure, it, johan sandell, pc, personal computer, samlink

*IBM to manage the IT infrastructure of over 400 bank branch offices and deploy a cloud learning environment*

HELSINKI, Finland, – 24 Nov 2010: IBM announced today it has signed a new agreement with Samlink to manage the information technology (IT) infrastructure for the company’s more than 400 bank branch offices across Finland. The five-year, EURO 28 million agreement signed this month follows the IT agreement between the two companies inked one year ago in November 2009 in which IBM enabled Samlink to achieve greater efficiency in its data center operations.

IBM will manage overall IT operations and internal workstations for Samlink and its clients including self-service kiosks, wireless networks, workstation and maintenance, desktop, servers, and printers. (more…)

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