Devant la poursuite de la contestation en Iran, Washington et les Européens semblent vouloir miser sur un changement politique. A leurs yeux, le dossier nucléaire n’est plus aussi prioritaire…[courrierinternational.com]
In recent years, American ideas about psychiatric disorders have spread around the globe. Is that really good for the world’s mental health? [nytimes.com]
© Alex Trochut
People with bipolar disorder are at risk for an array of fatal illnesses, according to a review of 17 studies involving more than 331,000 patients.
[nytimes.com]
Digital Painting Analysis
Computer processing of digital images of artwork is an emerging and rapidly growing cross-disciplinary activity. To help stimulate this interaction, this website provides up-to-date information on the activities and progress of digital analyses of paintings by Vincent van Gogh and other painters.
digitalpaintinganalysis.org
The computer says no
THE ability of computers to analyse complex digital images is growing rapidly. Robots are being fitted with powerful vision systems that allow them to recognise and hold things. Satellite images of the Earth can be scanned for tiny features, or pictures from deep space searched for strange objects. Medical images can be analysed to find out what might be going on inside a human body. Now digital imaging is learning how to spot art forgeries too.
Virtual Water by the World Water Council
Virtual water is the amount of water that is embedded in food or other products needed for its production. For example, to produce one kilogram of wheat we need about 1,000 litres of water, i.e. the virtual water of this kilogram of wheat is 1,000 litres. For meat, we need about five to ten times more.
Virtual Water by Timm Kekeritz on traumkrieger GmbH
One of the most important research papers in this field is Chapagain, A.K. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2004), »Water footprints of nations«, Value of Water Research Report Series No. 16, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands.
Designer Timm Kekeritz created a poster, visualizing parts of their research data, to make the issue of virtual water and the water footprint perceptible.
- Pharm Aid
Genetically altered corn, banned for health reasons, pops up in U.S. aid shipments to Guatemala
StarLink, a type of genetically altered corn that generates its very own built-in pesticide was found in parcels of the world food Program (WFP) of the United Nations bound for Guatemala.
- Chronic Arsenic Poisoning:
History, Study and Remediation
New solutions for the water poisoned with arsenic. Simple and cheap technologies could -now- solve the problem.
Water & Sanitation at the MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering
Susan Murcott, Lecturer
Arsenic Biosand Water Filter for Rural Nepal
Household water treatment
- Winning the wine war
Could DNA help the fight to keep bottle labels honest?
- Things grow better with Coke
Coca-Cola can draw 5 lakh litres of water daily
Coke vs People: The Heat is On in Plachimada
Does Coca-Cola really make a good pesticide?
- DOSSIER : MAIN BASSE SUR L’EAU DES VILLES
- Oubliez l’OPEP, voici les exportateurs d’eau potable
It is truth ?
- The Truth About Harvard ? and Faculty Group Rebukes Harvard President With Vote
- Can Harry Potter save ancient forests ?
Seen this Monday on ecoblog.it, an Italian blog about ecology and everything for who – really – cares about planet hearth, two post that pre-occupied myself a little.
The article about PM10 that links to La Repubblica (a major Italian daily newspaper) told about 310.000 Europeans died every years because of bad air quality and high pollution level…
The other one posted last Friday is about this serious study “Scripps Researchers Find Clear Evidence of Human-Produced Warming in World’s Oceans”…
Anyway, I hate Mondays…
Environment DG Mission Statement:
“Protecting, preserving and improving the environment for present and future generations, and promoting sustainable development.”
Last summer, while the Americans were focused on the Iraq crisis and on the presidential campaign, the American chemical industry was worried about what occurred in Europe…
The European Commission for Environment has put a final touch on the REACH – Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals - project, the first attempt for data acquisition on the 30.000 chemicals marketed in the United States and in the world.
In 1976, the Congress adopted Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the actual problem of the TSCA is that 80 % of the chemical substances today on the market were introduced before 1979. But Europe, at the time, followed the American model, in facts, the TSCA constituted an international reference.
In 2004 very high concentrations of toxic substances were found in some tested Americans and Europeans blood: last June at the WHO convention in Budapest, World Wildlife Fund detected 44 dangerous products in the blood of EU staff, including Margot Wallstrom, current vice-president of the communication at the European Commission.
In 2005 the American Chemical Council has to find new lobbying methods in a new international context dealing with an institution including twenty-five countries and twenty national languages. “All was new for us: new Parliament, new procedures, new political parties “, recognizes Joe Mayhew, adviser as a chief at American Chemical Council.
Update: Lobbying Code of Conduct?
The Brussels branches of leading American lobbying companies (Weber Shandwick, Hill & Knowlton, Burson Marsteller and Fleishman Hillard) met in January to form the European Public Affairs Consultancies Association (EPACA). Limited to lobbying firms and excluding the lobbying staff of big multinational corporations, the new association provides for strict disciplinary procedures for members who fail to comply with a code of conduct laid down by the European Commission.
Open source license allows people to commercialize products based on the procedure. All that is required is that improvements to the technique itself be shared with all others users.
Maybe the most -yet- interesting project is TransBacter, the project which focuses on the use of bacteria outside the genus Agrobacterium for gene transfer to plants. Most of patents in that field are property of Monsanto, the dominant patent holder, who says, “open source biotech seems to complement, not threaten, our business model”.
Hope that does not mean : Monsanto will improve is own technique with open source biotech !
The agricultural firm makes already people eat shit thanks to its own patents, how will be good the shit with stolen open source technique ?
See more on
bioforge.net
Science Commons
Nature.com
The Economist | Science & Technology
According to a testimony diffused on BBC Radio operator Five, the police force of Avon and Somerset recommends the Bristol bars owners to vaporize WD-40 on all the plane surfaces in their toilets.
Goal: to make flee the consumers of cocaine.
Secure Flight it’s a new system for screening airline passengers and is managed by The Transport Security Administration, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security. This software update will use government data bases, particularly that of the Terrorist Screening Center.
The last week’s appointment of Michael Jackson as deputy secretary for homeland security is a coincidence. As deputy secretary for transportation during the first Bush administration, Jackson set up TSA and initiated the CAPPS 2 program (Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening Program).
Maybe he thinks you will have more fun at the airport after a rush with Halo !
Have a look the the “security guru” web site for more info.
UPDATE :
At end of 2004 the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published an -free of charge !!! (is there people paying for Microsoft product update ?) – update of its CD-ROM that contains a suite of tools for handling digital fingerprint images. Fingerprint Image Software (FIS) is destined for the FBI (really ?) and Department of Homeland Security, is also distributed to other agencies as well as to the manufacturers of biometric equipment and software and to researchers.
Great job ! The “Colombia plans” reduced half the surface of the fields of coca in Colombia. But Monsanto sells its products in this country too such as the needed one to resist to Roundup, a killer for any kind of coca plants, mmmh…not sure.
Thanks to transgenic the regular coca plant is now 2.7m (9ft) tall and produce four times as much cocaine as ordinary plants, is called boliviana negra and resist to the glyphosate.
Also the DEA is always fighting drugs production around the world with enthusiasm, how explain to them this strange FDA decision about authorizing test ecstasy on terminal cancer patients…?
