Tag Archives: world

What is The Real Meaning of Christmas?

By Guest PostDecember 22, 2011Culturebest seller, Bible, biblical material, biblical stories, biblical text, brian j turner, christian background, christmas, curriculum materials, david spriggs, during phase 1, eleanor holmes, esther reed, exeter, key stage 3, king james version, project, rob freathy, stories in bible, university of exeter, visual artist, world

There are thousands of stories in the Bible and a visual artist in Exeter is currently on a 30-year mission to paint the whole lot.

The University of Exeter is incorporating some of what will eventually be a series of up to 3,000 artworks by Brian J Turner into new school curriculum resources that explore how biblical stories are read and interpreted.

The Art of Narrative Theology in Religious Education project is being led by Drs Esther Reed and Rob Freathy from the Department of Theology and Religion and the Graduate School of Education at the University of Exeter. The aim of the project is to get school pupils to investigate biblical stories and how people, whether from a Christian background or not, interpret and use them to make sense of their world and their role within it, particularly how they can live a good life. (more…)

Scientists, Philosophers and Theologians Poised To Ask: “Why Is There Anything?”

By Guest PostOctober 5, 2011Culture, Scienceastrophysics, bernard carr, della rocca, denys turner, eros and allegory, james van pelt, julian barbour, metaphysician, michael della rocca, most renowned scholars, poland, pontifical academy of theology in cracow, priyamvada natarajan, sir martin rees, the end of time, universe or multiverse, why is there anything, why is there anything in the universe, world

Some of the world’s most renowned scholars, in fields as diverse as astrophysics, philosophy, and religious studies, will convene on the Yale campus October 6-9 to ponder the most fundamental existential question of all: “Why Is There Anything in the Universe?”

The idea for a conference to discuss a philosophical question that has perplexed great minds throughout the ages grew out of an informal conversation and debate over a cup of coffee between Yale professors Priyamvada Natarajan, a cosmologist in the Astronomy department, and Denys Turner, who teaches in the department of Religious Studies and the Yale Divinity School and is the author of “Eros and Allegory” and “The Darkness of God,” among other titles. Michael Della Rocca, a metaphysician who teaches at the philosophy department, soon joined the effort. James van Pelt, who co-founded Yale’s Initiative in Religion, Science & Technology, was enlisted to coordinate the ambitious, quintessentially trans-disciplinary program, which now includes a stellar roster of physical scientists, theologians and philosophers. (more…)

Mastering Disaster: Students Create Software to Save Lives

By Guest PostJuly 7, 2011Technologybosnia and herzegovina, brazil, chulalongkorn university, claire bonilla, czech republic, dam collapse, disaster victims, echo project, edward g happ, European Union, Facebook, flood, floodsim project, floodwaters, geographical information assistant, global positioning system, igor peric, imagine cup, imagine cup 2011, international red cross and red crescent societies, jon perera, kriangkrai pipatvilaikul, largest student technology competition, maps, microsoft sponsored event, nethope, new york city, northern thailand, pdas, personal digital assistants, smartphone application, social networks, software projects, spread of cholera, spu, team gina, terra, thailand team newkrean, tsunami, world, zbynek poulicek

*At the Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals, dozens of student teams showcase software projects that in some cases are already improving disaster relief efforts.*

REDMOND, Wash. – July 7, 2011 – When floodwaters swept across northern Thailand last fall, Kriangkrai Pipatvilaikul knew he had to help. So he boarded a bus with fellow students from Chulalongkorn University and went to a devastated village he had seen on TV.

The students joined scores of volunteers arriving at the same village with food, water and medical supplies. As they helped with the relief effort, the group heard about a harder hit area, one that hadn’t made the news, and they decided to push on. What they found shocked them. As they paddled through the submerged town, desperate villagers surrounded their boat and tried to grab whatever food they could. The students realized no other volunteers had been there despite the short distance from the previous site. (more…)

Alina Kabaeva Rules Russia’s Politics

By PravdaJune 25, 2011Politicsalina kabaeva, attorney general, barbara boxer, big politics, dancer from morocco, eric golub, evil tongues, indian clubs, kabaeva, karima el mahroug, moscow korrespondent newspaper, norah o donnell, olympic champion, oprah winfrey, phil donahue, rhythmical gymnasts, ruby, russian woman, sex scandal, sexiest women in politics, Silvio Berlusconi, state duma, steadman graham, tamara holder, tina fey, vladimir putin, washington times communities, world

No matter what evil tongues may say, a fact remains a fact. Alina Kabaeva bid farewell to her ribbons, hula-hoops and Indian clubs to conquer politics. Her achievements in politics continue to grow at an impressive pace. For example, Kabaeva, formerly one of world’s most prominent rhythmical gymnasts, has recently been listed as one of world’s sexiest women in politics.

The idea to make the list of most attractive women in politics belongs to US-based journalist Eric Golub. The journalist made a curious list indeed. He did not rate the members of his list from the point of view of their physical attraction. Mr. Golub divided them into three groups: centrist, leftist and rightist female politicians. As a result, 30 women from different countries of the world found themselves in Mr. Golub’s melting pot. (more…)

Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Severely Impairs Reproduction in Atlantic Croaker, Researchers Find

By Guest PostJune 16, 2011Environment, Scienceandrogens, aromatase, atlantic croaker, coast of louisiana, coastal regions, dead zone, enzyme, estrogens, female sex hormones, fish population, gulf of mexico, hypoxic area, hypoxic coastal zone, hypoxic dead zone, impairment of reproductive output, low oxygen waters, male sex hormones, marine animals, marine science, marine scientist, masculinized, neuroendocrine function, ovarian masculinization, oxygen levels, peter thomas, reproductive impairment, saydur rahman, second largest seasonal hypoxic zone, sperm and eggs, the university of texas at austin, thomas and rahman, world

AUSTIN, Texas — Atlantic croaker living in the large Gulf of Mexico “Dead Zone” exhibit severe reproductive impairment with potential long-term impacts on the fish’s population abundance, researchers from The University of Texas at Austin’s Marine Science Institute have found.

Males and females were found to produce dramatically fewer sperm and eggs. In addition, females in the hypoxic Dead Zone waters were masculinized — some 20 percent actually produced sperm in their ovaries. The sex ratio was also heavily skewed toward males in the hypoxic area. (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…)

WaterWheel Will Bring Clean Water to a Thirsty World

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 20111 commentEnvironmentclean water, colm fay, cynthia koenig, dow sustainability innovation student challenge, India, rajasthan, rolling water barrel, waterwheel, wello, wheel, world

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Cynthia Koenig knows that by reinventing the wheel she could change the world. In a few months, she hopes to make a difference in India.

Koenig, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, created the WaterWheel, a 20-gallon rolling water barrel and Wello, the business that distributes it in developing countries, where clean water is scarce. (more…)

China Becomes World’s Largest Producer of Gold

By PravdaFebruary 9, 2011Economyartem cherniavsky, central bank of russia, China, china gold association, economic and financial security, eurozone, fujian, georgy luntovsky, gold, gold mining, gold reserves, goldenfront, henan, international monetary fund, Jiangsu, nonferrous metals, production volume, provinces, russia, shandong, South Africa, world, world leading economies, yunnan

In 2010, China mined the record amount of gold in the world. The production volume of nonferrous metals in China amounted to 340.88 tons, which is 8.57% higher than a year earlier, and continues to grow. In recent years, China has consistently increased the amount of its gold reserves. Nevertheless, experts believe that China has a long way to go to reach the level of the world leading economies.

According to the China Gold Association, in 2007 China ranked first in terms of gold mining. It outran South Africa and is holding this position to this day. Starting 2004, the volume of production of the precious metal in China has been steadily growing. In 2009 it amounted to 313.98 tons. The volume of the gold imported by China within ten months of 2010 amounted to 209.72 tons, which is six times more than the year before, Rosbalt reported. (more…)