Despite continued reports of economic growth in Africa, much of the continent remains wracked by poverty, with roughly one in five citizens saying they frequently lack food, clean water and medical care, according to the largest survey of African citizens.
This suggests the growth is not trickling down to the poorest citizens or that actual growth rates are inflated, said Carolyn Logan, assistant professor of political science at Michigan State University and deputy director of the survey, called the Afrobarometer. (more…)
An analysis of a quality measure that Medicare Advantage plans self-report to the government finds that the insurers almost always err in their own favor. More elderly receive high-risk medications than the plans acknowledge, according to the study published Sept. 30 in Annals of Internal Medicine.(more…)
AUSTIN, Texas — Two species of tawny brown singing mice that live deep in the mountain cloud forests of Costa Rica and Panama set their boundaries by emitting high-pitched trills, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered.
Although males of both the Alston’s singing mouse (Scotinomys teguina) and Chiriqui singing mouse (S. xerampelinus sing to attract mates and repel rivals within their respective species, the findings show for the first time that communication is being used to create geographic boundaries between species.
In this case, the smaller Alston’s mouse steers clear of its larger cousin, the Chiriqui. (more…)
The term cloud telephony is popularly used nowadays. But what is it? Cloud telephony is a very broad term with several definitions, but no definitive ones. Understandably this causes confusion and apprehension for businesses when considering cloud telephony systems. The simplest way to define cloud telephony is that it is a system that integrates applications, web services and IT infrastructure over the Internet.
Is Cloud Telephony Good for your business?
There are several computing models that can be used as a framework for cloud telephony that allows any type of business to scale their requirements instantly, be it an upscale or downscale manner. In other words, cloud telephony can be used practically by any type of business, small to medium to large businesses. (more…)
Afrikas ältester Nationalpark durch britische Ölfirma bedroht
Der WWF hat heute bei der nationalen Kontaktstelle der Organisation für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (OECD) in Großbritannien Beschwerde gegen die britische Ölfirma Soco International PLC eingereicht. Die Naturschutzorganisation wirft dem Unternehmen vor, durch ihre Pläne zur Erkundung und Förderung von Ölvorkommen im Virunga Nationalpark die Umwelt- und Menschenrechtsrichtlinien der OECD systematisch zu unterlaufen und damit dort lebende Menschen und Tiere bewusst großer Gefahren auszusetzen. Der WWF fordert Soco auf, die Suche nach Öl in Afrikas ältestem Nationalpark sofort einzustellen.
„Socos Aktivitäten zur Ölförderung in diesem Naturjuwel sind eine massive Bedrohung für die Bewohner von Afrikas artenreichstem Nationalpark“, sagte Johannes Kirchgatter, Afrika Referent beim WWF Deutschland. „Wenn der Konzern sich nicht aus dem Nationalpark zurückzieht, verletzt er die OECD-Leitsätze für multinationale Unternehmen. Wir drängen auf sofortigen Abzug.“ Der Virunga Nationalpark in der Demokratischen Republik Kongo entstand aus dem 1925 ins Leben gerufenen Albert Nationalpark und ist Heimat von knapp 200 der vom Aussterben bedrohten Berggorillas. Seit 1979 ist er zudem UNESCO Weltnaturerbe. (more…)
Last week, Apollo 15 commander David R. Scott, a visiting professor at Brown and one of 12 men to walk on the Moon, addressed Professor Jim Head’s introductory geology classes. He discussed the scientific returns of the Apollo missions and encouraged students to look to Apollo as a template for future human exploration of planetary bodies.
After the near-disaster of Apollo 13, NASA’s lunar exploration program stood at a crossroads. President Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him to Earth had been achieved, and many wondered, given the dangers, if it might be time to scrap Apollo. (more…)
Daya Bay neutrino experiment releases high-precision measurement of subatomic shape shifting and new result on differences among neutrino masses
The international Daya Bay Collaboration has announced new results about the transformations of neutrinos – elusive, ghostlike particles that carry invaluable clues about the makeup of the early universe. The latest findings include the collaboration’s first data on how neutrino oscillation – in which neutrinos mix and change into other “flavors,” or types, as they travel – varies with neutrino energy, allowing the measurement of a key difference in neutrino masses known as mass splitting.
“Understanding the subtle details of neutrino oscillations and other properties of these shape-shifting particles may help resolve some of the deepest mysteries of our universe,” said Jim Siegrist, Associate Director of Science for High Energy Physics at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the primary funder of U.S. participation in Daya Bay. (more…)
A unique housing arrangement between a specific group of tree species and a carbo-loading bacteria may determine how well tropical forests can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a Princeton University-based study. The findings suggest that the role of tropical forests in offsetting the atmospheric buildup of carbon from fossil fuels depends on tree diversity, particularly in forests recovering from exploitation.
Tropical forests thrive on natural nitrogen fertilizer pumped into the soil by trees in the legume family, a diverse group that includes beans and peas, the researchers report in the journal Nature. The researchers studied second-growth forests in Panama that had been used for agriculture five to 300 years ago. The presence of legume trees ensured rapid forest growth in the first 12 years of recovery and thus a substantial carbon “sink,” or carbon-storage capacity. Tracts of land that were pasture only 12 years before had already accumulated as much as 40 percent of the carbon found in fully mature forests. Legumes contributed more than half of the nitrogen needed to make that happen, the researchers reported. (more…)
