Tag Archives: Europe

Aggressive Efficiency and Electrification Needed to Cut California Emissions

By Guest PostMay 27, 2011Environmentbehavioral changes, berkeley lab, california, california energy future¬¬, carbon capture and sequestration, CCS, demand for energy, domestic cooking, electrification, energy future, Europe, greenhouse gas emissions, jeff greenblatt, jim mcmahon, max wie, nobel prizes, nuclear energy, population, renewable, renewable energy sources, scientific innovation, university of california, water heating

*Berkeley Lab joint report offers a variety of scenarios to reduce emissions to 80% below 1990 levels.*

Berkeley, CA — In the next 40 years, California’s population is expected to surge from 37 million to 55 million and the demand for energy is expected to double. Given those daunting numbers, can California really reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, as required by an executive order? Scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who co-wrote a new report on California’s energy future are optimistic that the target can be achieved, though not without bold policy and behavioral changes as well as some scientific innovation.

The report, titled “California’s Energy Future—The View to 2050,” draws a series of energy system “portraits” showing how California can meet its ambitious emissions targets using a combination of measures and energy sources that may include electrification, enhanced efficiency, nuclear energy, renewable energy sources, grid modernization, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). (more…)

New Website Highlights Musical Groups’ Summer European Tours

By Guest PostMay 6, 2011EntertainmentEurope, istanbul, music lovers, musical groups, passion for music, summer, summer 2011, Sweden, the spizziwinks, uppsala, whiffenpoofs, whim 'n rhythm, yale, yale baroque ensemble, yale glee club, yale groups, yale music, yale schola cantorum

Music lovers vacationing or living in Europe this summer won’t have to wait to come back to campus for some Yale-made music; they can just drop by one of the many concerts being presented by Yale groups touring the region.

Each summer, musical groups from Yale travel the world to share their passion for music. A new website, “Yale Music in Europe, Summer 2011,” tracks the whereabouts of eight of these troupes: Yale Schola Cantorum, Redhot & Blue, Yale Glee Club, Whim ‘n Rhythm, Yale Alumni Chorus, Whiffenpoofs, The Spizziwinks(?) and Yale Baroque Ensemble. (more…)

Evolution of Human ‘Super-Brain’ Tied To Development of Bipedalism, Tool-Making

By Guest PostApril 22, 2011Scienceafrica, ants, archaeological evidence, archaeologist, Arctic, bees, bipedalism, don river, Europe, evolution of human mind, fossil, france, Germany, honeybees, human ancestors, human brain, human mind, john hoffecker, kostenk, lucy, modern mind, moscow, russia, social insects, stone tools, super brain, university of colorado boulder, waggle dance

Scientists seeking to understand the origin of the human mind may want to look to honeybees — not ancestral apes — for at least some of the answers, according to a University of Colorado Boulder archaeologist.

CU-Boulder Research Associate John Hoffecker said there is abundant fossil and archaeological evidence for the evolution of the human mind, including its unique power to create a potentially infinite variety of thoughts expressed in the form of sentences, art and technologies. He attributes the evolving power of the mind to the formation of what he calls the “super-brain,” or collective mind, an event that took place in Africa no later than 75,000 years ago. (more…)

Gypsies: The Mystical Tribe

By PravdaApril 9, 2011Culturecentral europe, croatia, dom, egypt, Europe, german scientist, gypsies, gypsy day, heinrich moritz gottlieb grellman, hungary, iberian, indian films, international roma day, irish travellers, lom, london, luli children, luries, lyuli, lyulis, middle ages, nomadic peoples, roma, russian gypsies, russian roma people, samarqand, sanskrit, sinti, symbols of the gypsies, uzbekistan, western branch, world gypsy congress, yeniche people

The International Roma, (Gypsy) Day was founded at the first World Gypsy Congress, which took place in London on April 8, 1971. The congress gathered representatives from 30 countries. The national symbols of the gypsies – the flag and the anthem – were approved at the congress. The gypsies of the whole world became one single nation.

There are six basic branches of gypsies in the world today: three western and three eastern branches. Roma, Sinti and Iberian gypsies are referred to the Western branch. The eastern group includes the Lom, the Dom and the Lyuli people. In addition, there are smaller groups of gypsies. There are several ethnographic groups of nomadic peoples in Europe. Their lifestyle is close to that of the gypsies, but their origin is different – the Irish Travellers, or the Yeniche people from Central Europe, for instance. Many specialists, who study nomadic nations, agree that the gypsy ethnos had been finally formed only by the 15^th century, when the gypsies were traveling from Byzantium to Europe. (more…)

Got Product Questions? Microsoft Has Answers – More Than 500,000 per Day

By Guest PostApril 4, 2011Technologyafrica, barbara winter, community stars, emea, Europe, florian eichinger, internet explorer, microsoft answers, microsoft answers site, microsoft consumer products, microsoft most valuable professional, microsoft product, middle east, mvp, office, ronnie vernon, windows, windows 7

*Every day more than half a million people visit Microsoft Answers to get their burning Microsoft product questions answered. The company’s recently refreshed question-and-answer forum brings together consumers, experts and technical enthusiasts into a single online community.*

REDMOND, Wash. – April 4, 2011 – Ever since he retired in 2005, Ronnie Vernon’s time has been his own. The former heavy equipment instructor gets to spend his days doing exactly what he likes to do. So each morning he fires up his computer, heads to the Microsoft Answers site, and settles in for a long day answering questions about Windows.

Vernon can’t quite explain why he spends up to 12 hours a day offering strangers tech support. “Over the years I’ve tried to figure out why people do what they do with volunteering, but I never came up with a good explanation,” said Vernon, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) community leader recognized by Microsoft for actively sharing his real world technical expertise with consumers. “Basically, you have some knowledge, you see some people who have problems, and you just like to help.” (more…)

Retail Websites Now Reach 75 Percent of European Internet Audience Each Month

By Guest PostMarch 21, 2011Technologyalbert heijn, bing ciao, Comscore, Europe, european markets, france, Germany, groupe ppr, henk pleiter, internet sessions, ireland, Netherlands, online audience, online shopping, otto gruppe, retail category, retail sites, russia, shopzilla sites, turkish visitors, united kingdom

*U.K., France, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands Lead in Retail Site Visitation and Engagement*

LONDON, UK, March 21, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released results from a study of online shopping in Europe. In January 2011, 270.6 million unique visitors in Europe visited sites in the Retail category, representing a market penetration of 74.5 percent of Internet users, up 8.5 percentage points versus last year. Retail sites also showed high penetration in individual markets, reaching at least 75 percent of the total online audience in 7 out of 18 European markets. In 2010, approximately one out of every ten Internet sessions in Europe included a visit to a retail site.

Retail Penetration and Engagement Growth in Europe

In the United Kingdom, the Retail category reached 89.4 percent of the total online audience (up 6.3 points from last year), the highest penetration of any European market. France ranked second with a reach of 87 percent (up 10.5 points), followed by Germany at 82.1 percent (up 9.0 points). Ireland and the Netherlands round out the list of markets with highest penetration, with Retail reaching 80.7 percent in Ireland (up 15.8 percentage points) and 80.2 percent in the Netherlands (up 4.9 percentage points). (more…)

Asia Arms Itself to the Teeth

By PravdaMarch 19, 2011WeaponsBeijing, China, chinese arms, defense products, defense technologies, egypt, Europe, Germany, global export, India, largest importer of arms, latin america, middle east, Pakistan, russia, russian federation, south korea, stockholm international peace research institute, usa, world

India became the world’s largest importer of arms during 2006-2010, a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. The share of India’s world arms shipments made up nine percent. China’s share was evaluated at six percent. The list of other active arms importers includes South Korea (6%) and Pakistan (5%). The largest exporters of arms in the world are the USA, Russia and Germany.

According to SIPRI experts, Russia remains the primary supplier of arms and military hardware to India. Russia’s share in arms transfers to India during the recent five years was evaluated at 82 percent. (more…)

Brazil Continues to Celebrate After Carnival

By Guest PostMarch 8, 20112 commentsPoliticsArgentina, brazil, brazil and the united states, brazilian steel industry, bridge, carnivals, coffee trade, cold war, cultural difference, diamonds, Economy, Europe, footballers, Germany, joseph smith, language barriers, major global power, popular world view, portuguese, president roosevelt, rio branco, russia, south america, spanish speaking countries, sugar industry, superpower, united states, usa, world war two

The popular world view of Brazil may be triggered by thoughts of spectacular Carnivals and skilled footballers, yet the country is also determined to be regarded as a major global power.

The most comprehensive historical review of Brazilian relations with superpower USA has been written by a University of Exeter historian and identifies how the relationship has developed over the last 200 years. (more…)