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Personal Relationships Key to Successful Diplomacy: Mulroney

*Former prime minister’s speech honours Alan Gotlieb, former ambassador to U.S.*

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, the man entrepreneur Peter Munk described as “one of our greatest statesmen,” attributed much of his success – and Canada’s under his leadership – to the personal relationships he and his ambassador cultivated with leaders south of the border.

Mulroney spoke at a University of Toronto conference, Diplomacy in the Digital Age, Oct. 13, an event held in honour of Alan Gotlieb, the former ambassador to the United States who served three prime ministers. (more…)

Two Seemingly Unrelated Phenomena Share Surprising Link

Science

A coupled line of swinging pendulums apparently has nothing in common with an elastic film that buckles and folds under compression while floating on a liquid, but scientists at the University of Chicago and Tel Aviv University have discovered a deep connection between the two phenomena. (more…)

Astronomers Find Bounty of Failed Stars

Science

*One youngster only six times heftier than Jupiter*

TORONTO, ON – A University of Toronto-led team of astronomers has discovered over two dozen new free-floating brown dwarfs, including a lightweight youngster only about six times heftier than Jupiter, that reside in two young star clusters. What’s more, one cluster contains a surprising surplus of them, harbouring half as many of these astronomical oddballs as normal stars.

“Our findings suggest once again that objects not much bigger than Jupiter could form the same way as stars do. In other words, nature appears to have more than one trick up its sleeve for producing planetary mass objects,” says Professor Ray Jayawardhana, Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics at the University of Toronto and leader of the international team that made the discovery. (more…)

Oil Exploration Would Endanger The Most Biodiverse Region in The Western Hemisphere, Say Scientists

Environment

AUSTIN, Texas — An international team of scientists that includes two University of Texas at Austin researchers has found that Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park, which sits on top of massive reserves of oil, is in the single most biodiverse region in the Western Hemisphere.

The announcement is part of a final push for the Yasuní-ITT Initiative at the United Nations General Assembly. The initiative proposes that Ecuador receive compensation for half of the revenues the nation would lose by protecting the estimated 846 million barrels of oil that lie beneath the forest. (more…)

New Computer Programme Promises to Save the Whales

Nature

Researchers at the University of Montreal have developed a computer programme that enables regulators to evaluate the ecological and economic tradeoffs between marine mammal conservation, whale watching and marine transportation activities in the Saint Lawrence Estuary. (more…)

Great Speeches: How to Know One If We Hear One

Media, Politics

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With the season for political oratory hard upon us, how does the rhetoric of this year’s crop of presidential contenders measure up? (more…)

IBM Joins European Consortium to Build a Smart Grid Using Renewable Energy

Technology

Armonk, NY and Copenhagen, Denmark & COPENHAGEN, Denmark – 13 Oct 2011: IBM today announced it has joined a collaborative consortium to help develop an energy grid that uses at least 50 percent of renewable energy sources, such as wind power, solar energy and biogas. Led by a European Union-funded consortium, the EcoGrid EU project will demonstrate a smart energy grid that will allow smart devices to use renewable electricity based on near real-time pricing and availability. (more…)

WHOI Teaming with Flatley Discovery Lab in Search for Effective Treatments for Cystic Fibrosis

Health, Science

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has signed a $1.18 million agreement with the Flatley Discovery Lab in Charlestown, Mass., to investigate and supply marine microbial extracts as possible treatments for cystic fibrosis (CF).

The life-shortening respiratory disease has eluded attempts at a cure, although researchers have been successful in some cases at adding years to a person’s lifespan, primarily through treatment with antibiotics. (more…)