This week, the National Reconnaissance Office declassified a trove of documents pertaining to the long defunct “Tagboard” drone program, a reconnaissance effort so ahead of its time that it seemed like science fiction until only recently. In the 1960s, the United States found itself in a unique position: Nuclear programs in both China and the Soviet Union posed a clear threat to American security, and a number of burgeoning technologies promised to potentially lift the veil of secrecy created by the vast distances separating American experts from adversary programs.
After a U-2 spy plane piloted by Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960, there was a growing emphasis on finding ways to get eyes on enemy programs without placing American pilots at risk. The A-12 “Oxcart,” predecessor to the legendary SR-71 Blackbird, promised to make photographic surveillance a less-risky venture, and early national reconnaissance satellites launched in 1960 offered more capabilities than ever before, but U.S. Department of Defense officials soon recognized that even the capabilities afforded by these two new technological marvels weren’t enough to keep America’s fingers on the pulse of the world’s nuclear developments.
“In view of the political sensitivity to overflight of certain denied areas, such as China, by manned collection systems and the technical and other limitations of the current satellite program, the Tagboard operational capability has been developed to collect against objectives of national interest located in areas where manned operations could provoke incidents potentially embarrassing to the United States,” a memo from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, penned in 1969, reads.
And thus, Lockheed’s D-21 Mach 3-capable drone was born. Built largely out of titanium and boasting a 19-foot wingspan, the D-21 was a 12-ton drone originally designed to ride atop the A-12. Once deployed, the D-21 could fly more than 3,000 miles, capturing a swath of territory 16 miles wide for the entirety of its flight before ejecting its 5,600-exposure film cartridge and self-destructing. From there, a specially equipped JC-130 would scoop the canister out of mid-air as it descended by parachute, or, failing that, a Navy ship could fish it out of the ocean.
But the program was hampered by disaster. On July 30, 1966, one of two A-12s that had been converted into D-21 drone carriers was conducting a test launch about 300 miles off the coast of California when the drone’s ramjet engine failed to fire. The drone slammed back down onto the fuselage of the A-12 while traveling in excess of Mach 3.2, ripping the fuselage away from the wings. As the fuselage tumbled helplessly downward, the pilot and engineer were able to eject, but the engineer ultimately drowned.
As a result, a decision was made to adjust the launch procedure for the D-21. Instead of carrying it to speeds in excess of Mach 3 for its ramjet motors to fire up, it was converted to use rocket boosters to carry it to the requisite speed after being fired from a much slower B-52 heavy payload bomber.
Within three years of the accident, the D-21 had been converted and was, as far as the National Reconnaissance Office was concerned, ready for action over China, where satellites had failed to provide sufficient coverage to shed any light on a number of high-priority targets tied to Chinese nuclear weapons programs. Radar-evading stealth had yet to be developed and the U.S. actually assumed that China would be able to spot and even track the fast-moving drone as it screamed across their skies, but the SA-2 air-defense missile systems employed by China at the time weren’t considered a threat at that speed or altitude.
Four total D-21 reconnaissance missions were launched over China in the following years and each effort was met with failure. On the third run, executed on March 4, 1971, the flight was successful but the parachute on the film canister failed to deploy properly, preventing the JC-130 from capturing it mid-air. Then, an issue attributed to “procedural errors” made a subsequent ship-based effort end in failure as well, with the film sinking into the ocean.
The program was ultimately shelved in favor of manned surveillance flights and increasingly capable satellite technology, but the NRO’s supersonic surveillance drone from the 1960s would go on to inform future unmanned efforts, and likely will for decades to come.


The debate over torture really should not be happening… and there is evidence that the American people cannot tolerate it. American POW’s were tortured during the Vietnam war. Despite the best efforts of the North Vietnamese government, the truth about its treatment of our men became known; in large part due to the efforts of Captain Jeremiah Denton. Captain Denton was one of the famous “Alcatraz Gang” kept separate from other prisoners because of their open defiance. Denton was put on display in a North Vietnamese propaganda film produced for the International Red Cross. Forced to recite a script, Denton was able to blink the word T-O-R-T-U-R-E in Morse code to get the true message to the world.
Watch the video here. This is true multi-tasking.
The anti-war movement thought it had… ironclad allies in angry POW’s returning home from captivity. It seemed only logical to radicals like Tom Hayden and his wife Jane Fonda; the US government sent them to Vietnam, and then left them to languish in deplorable conditions(though the Haydens would never admit to the wretched state of North Vietnamese prisons) there was a clear expectation that the men would join the anti-military movement. Captain Denton had been in prison so long, his own son had grown up, served in Vietnam, and come home. Denton was the first POW off the plane in 1973, and his words ring true to this day:
“We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances. We are profoundly grateful to our Commander-in-Chief and to our nation for this day. God bless America.”


Since Chinese character possess complicated structure, a great mount of handwriting experience is essential to learning Chinese characters. However, young learners often lack motivation for writing Chinese characters, and are hard to maintain their writing interest. In order to help them overcome their learning difficulties, a game-based Chinese character learning system, called CharacterMonster, is developed based on three design principles: Animal companions, open learner models, and learning stages. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of game-based system on young learners’ learning achievement, motivation, and interest. The study used a quasi-experimental between-group design, where 48 third graders participated in the experiment. Participants in the control group (n = 23) used a learning system and those in the experiment group (n = 25) used a game-based learning system. The results indicated that: (1) Young learners in both groups gained increased learning achievement but no significant difference was found. (2) Young learners in the experimental group had more increased motivation in the “attention”than those in the control group. (3) Young learners in the experimental group had higher interest in the “extension” than those in the control group.
|Effective start/end date||2017/08/01 → 2018/07/31|
- game-based learning
- Chinese character learning
Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.


If President Obama wants to avoid an economic calamity next year, he could always show up at a press conference bearing two shiny platinum coins, worth... $1 trillion apiece.
Okay, that sounds utterly insane. But ever since last year, some economists and legal scholars have suggested that the “platinum coin option” is one way to defuse a crisis if Congress can’t or won’t lift the debt ceiling soon. At least in theory.
The U.S. government is, after all, facing a real problem. The Treasury Department will hit its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit by next February at the latest. Unless Congress reaches an agreement to raise that borrowing limit, the government will no longer be able to borrow enough money to pay all its bills.
Last year, Republicans in Congress resisted lifting the debt ceiling until the last minute — and then only in exchange for spending cuts. Panic ensued. So what happens if there’s another showdown this year?
Enter the platinum coins. Thanks to an odd loophole in current law, the U.S. Treasury is technically allowed to mint as many coins made of platinum as it wants and can assign them whatever value it pleases.
Under this scenario, the U.S. Mint would produce (say) a pair of trillion-dollar platinum coins. The president orders the coins to be deposited at the Federal Reserve. The Fed then moves this money into Treasury’s accounts. And just like that, Treasury suddenly has an extra $2 trillion to pay off its obligations for the next two years — without needing to issue new debt. The ceiling is no longer an issue.
“I like it,” says Joseph Gagnon of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “There’s nothing that’s obviously economically problematic about it.”
In theory, this is much like having the central bank print money. But, says Gagnon, the U.S. government would simply be using the money to keep spending at existing levels, so it wouldn’t create any extra inflation. And if it did cause problems, the Fed could always counteract the effects by winding down some of its other programs to inject money into the economy.
Is the platinum coin option really legal? Apparently so. It was discussed during the 2011 debt-ceiling crisis by Jack Balkin, a law professor at Yale Law School. Under law, he noted, there’s a limit to how much paper money the United States can circulate at any one time, and there are rules that limit how many gold, silver and copper coins the Treasury can mint.
But there’s no such limit when it comes to platinum coins. It’s right there in the U.S. legal code: “The Secretary may mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time.”
Problem solved, right?
Well, maybe not. This strategy is hardly risk-free. Opponents could plausibly argue that the original law was intended to set rules around commemorative coins, not to finance the operations of the government. And, of course, the political blowback would be fierce.
Indeed, even Balkin now says that he thinks the platinum-coin option is too risky. If Congress can’t or won’t lift the debt ceiling, then most likely the Obama administration would have to start shutting down parts of government so that it doesn’t default on its debt. That, in theory, would prod Congress to act.
“All those other ideas [like the platinum coin option] are very uncertain, and they could lead to complicated litigation,” says Balkin. “A government shutdown is much more straightforward.”
The platinum coin is only one of many out-of-the-box ideas that have been proposed to avoid a debt ceiling crisis. Some legal scholars have suggested that Obama could declare the debt ceiling unconstitutional under the 14th amendment. Last year, Gagnon suggested that the Treasury Department could start selling off its gold reserves to pay its bills until Congress raised the ceiling.
But the consensus seems to be that all of these options are wildly unlikely. A recent report by Chris Krueger, a policy analyst at Guggenheim Partners, suggested that ideas like a 14th amendment challenge or the platinum coins “are VERY low probability options.”
But not impossible. And if, for whatever reason, Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations, then some of these wacky ideas may get more attention.


In the 2012 President's Budget Request, the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) is terminated. As a result, all resources, databases, tools, and applications within this web site will be removed on January 15, 2012. For more information, please refer to the NBII Program Termination page.
Aerial view of Grand Prismatic Spring [Photo: Jim Peaco, 2001, National Park Service]
In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a law declaring that
Yellowstone would forever be "dedicated and set apart as a public park
or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." With
this designation, the region became the world's first national park.
Today, approximately 3 million visitors each year explore the 3,472
square miles that make up Yellowstone National Park.
is widely recognized for its unique geothermal activity, resulting from
the Park's position atop an active volcano. In all, Yellowstone is home
to approximately 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers,
including the most famous: Old Faithful.
Populations of five
protected species--bald eagle, grizzly bear, lynx, whooping crane, and
gray wolf--reside in the Park. Over three hundred bird species and over
1,700 species of vascular plants have been recorded across the craggy
mountainsides and open valleys.
Ecological regions, or "ecoregions," denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and environmental resources, and are delineated according to their common physical environment and biological characteristics. Ecoregions are a type of spatial classification tool used by scientists, resources managers, and conservation organizations to regionalize biogeographic areas.
Level 2 Ecoregions of the Mountain Prairie Region [Image: Big Sky Institute, Montana State University]
Cold deserts are distinguished by their aridity, unique shrub and cactus vegetation, lack of trees, and topography consisting of plains and tablelands.
South-Central Semi-Arid Prairies
This ecoregion, which comprises the south-central part of North America's Great Plains, is warmer and was once composed of a different mosaic of potential vegetation than the prairie to the north.
Once mostly covered by tallgrass prairie, this ecoregion comprises the eastern part of the Great Plains. Now, most of its productive land is in intensive cropland agriculture.
West-Central Semi-Arid Prairies
This ecoregion, comprising the north-western part of the Great Plains, was once covered by mixed grass prairie. It is drier than the Temperate Prairies and colder than the South-Central Semi-Arid Prairies.
The Western Cordillera ecoregion is characterized by rugged, high, mostly forested mountains with some open, wide valleys.
An ecoregion is a land area defined by ecological and geographical boundaries. Ecoregions are delineated according to their common physical environment (soil, climate, landforms) and biological characteristics (plant and animal communities).
Ecoregions are a type of spatial classification tool used by scientists, resources managers, and conservation organizations to regionalize biogeographic areas. This regionalization is done to organize complex natural systems into discrete units with boundaries.
Ecoregion boundaries indicate a change in the physical environment and ecological structure of a geographic area. While the changes may occur abruptly, change can also be gradual. Therefore, it is important to remember that ecoregion boundaries are approximations of areas of biogeographic change.
Ecoregion classifications are used to facilitate analyses of biological diversity and assist habitat conservation planning efforts. This type of classification aids management efforts because it facilitates coordination across geopolitical borders (county, city, state, and national). There are a number of different types of ecoregion classification systems that have been created by various management organizations (e.g. the Bailey/ US Forest Service system, the Omernik/US EPA classification, and the World Wildlife Fund classification system). The ecoregion classifications differ in the delineation methods and application. This portal uses the Omernik/US EPA ecoregion classification system.
Ecoregions are initially grouped broadly (Level 1), and from there are broken down into more narrow ecological assemblages (Levels 2-4). There are 15 Level 1 ecoregions in North America which delineate the major ecological zones within the continent. These 15 ecoregions are further broken down into 52 Level 2 ecoregions which highlight ecological diversity at the sub-continent level. There are approximately 200 Level 3 ecoregions in North America which describe the physical and ecological characteristics of an area at a regional scale. Level 4 ecoregions are the most narrow and describe ecological assemblages at a localized level.


Difference between Exchange Stability and Price Stability!
It is easy to see that the various objectives of monetary policy are interrelated. They also usually conflict with one another.
Thus, the objective of price stability may conflict with the objective of exchange rate stability.
Also the attainment of full employment may conflict with the goal of price stability, while the achievement of a high rate of economic growth may not always be compatible with the exchange rate stability and so on.
Exchange Stability vs. Price Stability:
Exchange stability and price stability are the two contradictory goals of monetary policy. It is difficult to pursue them simultaneously. Some economists, therefore, favour exchange stability at the cost of price stability (exchange rate stabilisation). As a matter of fact, however, both these objectives have their relative advantages and disadvantages which we have already discussed in the previous sections.
It has now to be decided which objective should be aimed at. The best course is that a mid-way solution of harmonising both objectives should be aimed at. Then, the question may arise whether it is possible to do so, or whether the two objectives, price stability and exchange stability, are really compatible with each other.
Of course, the above two objectives are contradictory under the gold standard. According to the rule of the gold standard, stability of exchange rates alone should be aimed at and no parallel efforts be made to stabilise the domestic price level. A monetary policy aiming at both will miserably fail in its mission and would achieve nothing.
However, under certain conditions, these two objectives may be found quite consistent and compatible. For instance, the monetary authority can work for both if its gold reserves are sufficiently large to maintain exchange stability, continuing to export gold and not to have recourse to credit contractions, consequent upon such outflow of gold. In such cases, domestic price and economic stability as well as exchange stability can be ensured.
Similarly, a country can sterilise the influx of gold and not allow it to have an inflationary impact on the domestic price level. But, in a strict sense, this amounts to the violation of the rules of the gold standard game.
Secondly, it may be pointed out that both the objectives can be harmonised when the policy adopted by the monetary authority for maintaining stable exchange rates also coincides with the policy of price stabilisation. For instance, if there is an outflow of gold, a contraction of credit is to be initiated according to the rules of the gold standard, which may, however, also become necessary, at the same time, if the economy has been operating at full employment level and internal prices have been rising.
Similarly, an expansionist money policy may be conducive to both exchange stability and price stability when there is an influx of gold in the country and there is need of credit expansion to stimulate investment, employment and prices in the economy. Such a coincidence, however, is rarely observed.
It is sometimes argued that there is no real inconsistency between price stabilisation and exchange stabilisation if the world as a whole could pursue a unified monetary policy by means of close co-operation between the governments or the central banks of different countries, so that equilibrium in the external as well as internal conditions will be maintained throughout.
Though this is an ideal thought, it is very far from being practical In reality, the interpretation of the broad principles and objectives of monetary policy varies from country to country and the result is a disequilibrium which calls for a disharmony between the two accepted objectives, viz., price stability and exchange stability.
In the present era, however, exchange stability is assigned secondary importance as compared to internal price stability because modern States have accepted the prime duty of welfare maximisation and reasonable exchange flexibility is permissible under the ambit of control of the International.
Monetary Fund of which most of the countries are members. In fine, today, the goals of full employment and economic growth have assumed superiority over the stability goal and hence, the object of a monetary policy is to follow a price policy corresponding to the needs of the country concerned in view of its growth and employment policy.


Jagjivan Ram, popularly known as Babuji was a national leader, a freedom fighter, a crusader of social justice, a champion of depressed classes, an outstanding Parliamentarian, a true democrat, a distinguished Union Minister, an able administrator and an exceptionally gifted orator.
He had a towering personality and played a long inning, spanning over half a century in Indian politics with commitment, dedication and devotion.
Jagjivan Ram was born in a small village, Chandwa in Shahabad District, now Bhojpur, in Bihar on 5 April 1908 to Shobhi Ram and Vasanti Devi. Jagjivan Ram imbibed his idealism, humanitarian values and resilience from his father, who was of a religious disposition and the Mahant of the Shiv Narayani Sect. He was still in school when his father passed away leaving young Jagjivan in the care of his mother. Under his mother's guidance, Jagjivan Ram passed his Matriculation in first division from Arrah Town School. Despite facing caste based discrimination, Jagjivan Ram successfully completed the Inter Science Examination from the Banaras Hindu University and later graduated from the Calcutta University.
Jagjivan Ram had organized a number of Ravidas Sammelans and had celebrated Guru Ravidas Jayanti in different areas of Calcutta (Kolkata). In 1934, he founded the Akhil Bhartiya Ravidas Mahasabha in Calcutta and the All India Depressed Classes League. Through these Organizations he involved the depressed classes in the freedom struggle. He was of the view that Dalit leaders should not only fight for social reforms but, also demand political representation.
on 19 October 1935, Babuji appeared before the Hammond Commission at Ranchi and demanded, for the first time, voting rights for the Dalits.
Babu Jagjivan Ram played a very active and crucial role in the freedom struggle. Inspired by Gandhiji, Babuji courted arrest on 10 December 1940.
After his release, he entrenched himself deeply into the Civil Disobedience Movement and Satyagraha. Babuji was arrested again on 19 August 1942 for his active participation in the Quit India Movement launched by the Indian National Congress.
Babuji had a long and distinguished political career of over five decades. Starting his public life as a student activist and freedom fighter, he went on to become a Legislator at the young age of 28 in the year 1936 as a nominated member of the Bihar Legislative Council.
He was a member of the All India Congress Committee from 1940 to 1977 and was in the Congress Working Committee from 1948 to 1977. He was in the Central Parliamentary Board from 1950 to 1977. Due to his astute political acumen, he was dear to stalwarts like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Smt. Indira Gandhi.
Babu Jagjivan Ram had the unique distinction of serving as a Member of the Central Legislature uninterruptedly for over four decades. Till his last breath, he was a sitting member of the Lok Sabha- his Eighth term- consecutively since the First General Election. Babuji has had the distinction of being the longest-serving Minister in the Government of India. Jagjivan Ram was known for his apt handling of Parliamentary business. His oratory skill was well-acknowledged and admired in Parliament. As a Union Minister, he introduced numerous Bills in the Lok Sabha and piloted their passage in Parliament.
In post-independent India, Babuji's contribution to nation-building has left an indelible mark. He was the Minister of Labour during 1946-52, a portfolio he held again in 1966-67. Besides the Labour Ministry, the other Ministries he held were Communications (1952-56), Railways (1956-62), Transport and Communications (1962-63), Food and Agriculture (1967-70), Defence (1970-74), and Agriculture and Irrigation (1974-77). When the Janata Party Government, headed by Morarji Desai was formed in 1977, Jagjivan Ram joined it as a Cabinet Minister, holding the Defence portfolio. He also became the Deputy Prime Minister and held the Defence portfolio from 24 January 1979 to 28 July 1979.
As Labour Minister, he introduced time-tested policies and laws for labour welfare. He was instrumental in enacting some of the landmark legislations for labour, viz. the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Indian Trade Union (Amendment) Act, 1960; the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, etc. He laid the foundation of social security by way of enacting two important Acts, namely, the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 and the Provident Fund Act, 1952.
Babu Jagjivan Ram symbolized the dawn of a new era of assertion, equality and empowerment for the depressed classes. As a member of the Constituent Assembly, he played an active role in formulating the provision for State intervention for the advancement of socially backward classes by way of reservation in public employment and reservation of seats in legislatures for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. He was instrumental in the making of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955. For his unwavering support and relentless struggle for the cause of the downtrodden, he has been rightly called the 'Messiah of Dalits'.
Leaving behind the message of equality, Babuji breathed his last on 6 July 1986 at New Delhi. As a national leader who shared his political career with many generations, from Mahatma Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi, he has left the legacy of a sincere and dedicated political leader, a committed public servant, freedom fighter, social reformist, revolutionary and true humanist.
Department of Posts released commemorative postage stamp on
Issued Date :05.04.1991
Denomination :100 Paise


Around the world, alcohol is consumed in a range of different environments and settings – some associated with higher levels of harm than others. This section overviews some of the interventions that have been targeted to reduce harm in drinking settings – especially bars and clubs. Harms such as violence, injury and drunkenness can be reduced through the safer design of drinking venues, the provision of food, the use of strengthened glass or non-glass receptacles (see section 9), and the training of staff on responsible service (see section 10). This section includes a number of guidelines and reviews – including a randomised controlled trial of the groundbreaking ‘Safer Bars’ programme in the USA.
This document is a comprehensive review of the evidence of effectiveness for eight different harm reduction approaches that target drinking in licensed premises: training programmes for bar staff and bar management, house policies and venue risk assessments, agreements among groups of bar owners, enforcement, laws and regulations, designated driver and ride services, community mobilisation, and patron education. The review found an abundance of local interventions to reduce problems in bars – all with strong “face validity” but varied quality. However, very few of them had been rigorously evaluated in order to create a collective evidence base.
Graham K, Osgood WD, Zibrowski E, Purcell J, Gliksman L, Leonard K, Pernanen K, Saltz RF, Toomey TL (2004) The Effect of the Safer Bars Programme on Physical Aggression in Bars: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Drug and Alcohol Review, 23(1), pages 31 - 41
The Safer Bars Programme from Canada is one of the best evaluated and pioneering projects to encourage the safer design and practices of drinking venues. This document is an evaluation of the Programme, which consists of two interventions - a risk assessment workbook (to be completed by bar managers) and a three-hour training session focused on reducing aggression. After over 700 observations, the authors conclude that this intervention can reduce severe and moderate physical aggression in bars.
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide access to this document at the present time. Please check again at a later date.
Bars have become a mainstay of alcohol consumption in many societies – a place where large numbers can gather and drink socially. However, there is a growing evidence base linking a variety of alcohol-related harms (such as aggression, violence, public disorder and injuries) with bars – and, more importantly, with identifiable and changeable characteristics of a bar. This document is a review of published empirical evidence that identifies risk factors in bars.
Luke LC, Dewar C, Bailey M, McGreevy D, Morris H & Burdett-Smith P (2002) A Little Nightclub Medicine: The healthcare implications of clubbing. Emergency Medicine Journal, 19, pages 542 - 545 (PDF, 145 KB)
This study explores the scale and range of acute medical problems among patients who present to an inner city accident and emergency department after attending nightclubs in Liverpool, England. There were 777 cases - mainly as a result of assaults. Lacerations were the most common injury. The authors make numerous recommendations to address this – including unbreakable glass or plastic containers (see Section 9), medical care at nightclubs, preventing over-crowding, and targeted policing.
This document is an undated pamphlet designed to guide pub and bar owners who wish to reduce potential violence in their premises. The practical advice includes providing food, avoiding ‘bottle-necks’ (where many people need to squeeze through small spaces – often near amenities such as the washrooms), simple decorations, and calm music.
New York City Police Department & New York Nightlife Association (2007) Best Practices for Nightlife Establishments. New York (USA): New York City Police Department & New York Nightlife Association (PDF, 165 KB)
This document aims to assist owners of bars and clubs in New York to develop and maintain safer premises that are free from illicit drugs, underage drinking, drunkenness, violence, commercial sex work and/or sexual offences. This advice has been issued by the New York Police Department as a “general road map” towards reducing the harms associated with licensed premises in the night-time economy.


Even with a deal to stop the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions, scientists warn, the world will become increasingly unpleasant. Without a deal, they say, the world could eventually become uninhabitable for humans.
For the next two weeks, thousands of diplomats from around the globe will gather in Lima, Peru, for a United Nations summit meeting to draft an agreement intended to stop the global rise of planet-warming greenhouse gases. The meeting comes just weeks after a landmark announcement by President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China committing the world’s two largest carbon polluters to cuts in their emissions. United Nations negotiators say they believe that advancement could end a longstanding impasse in the climate talks, spurring other countries to sign similar commitments.
But while scientists and climate-policy experts welcome the new momentum ahead of the Lima talks, they warn that it now may be impossible to prevent the temperature of the planet’s atmosphere from rising by 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. According to a large body of scientific research, that is the tipping point at which the world will be locked into a near-term future of drought, food and water shortages, melting ice sheets, shrinking glaciers, rising sea levels and widespread flooding — events that could harm the world’s population and economy.
Recent reports show that there may be no way to prevent the planet’s temperature from rising, given the current level of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere and the projected rate of emissions expected to continue before any new deal is carried out.
That fact is driving the urgency of the Lima talks, which are expected to produce a draft document, to be made final over the next year and signed by world leaders in Paris in December 2015.
While a breach of the 3.6 degree threshold appears inevitable, scientists say that United Nations negotiators should not give up on their efforts to cut emissions. At stake now, they say, is the difference between a newly unpleasant world and an uninhabitable one.
“I was encouraged by the U.S.-China agreement,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University and a member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a global body of scientists that produces regular reports on the state of climate science. But he expressed doubts that the threshold rise in global temperature could be prevented.
“What’s already baked in are substantial changes to ecosystems, large-scale transformations,” Mr. Oppenheimer said. He cited losses of coral reef systems and ice sheets, and lowering crop yields.
Still, absent a deal, “Things could get a lot worse,” Mr. Oppenheimer added. Beyond the 3.6 degree threshold, he said, the aggregate cost “to the global economy — rich countries as well as poor countries — rises rapidly.”


What causes spitting up during different stages of your baby’s growth? How much is normal? When should a doctor be contacted about spit up? These are all good questions for parents of newborns to consider. Let’s get the conversation started.
First Things First, What’s the Difference Between Spit Up And Vomit?
Both spit up and vomit are messy and involve the contents of a baby’s stomach ending up on clothes, furniture, and whatever else may be nearby!! But what it basically comes down to is how this happens. Spitting up is the easy flow of a baby’s stomach contents through his or her mouth. This often happens when the baby burps. Vomiting occurs when the flow is forceful and shoots out inches rather than dribbling from the mouth. The act of spitting up typically looks effortless, doesn’t cause pain, and isn’t forcefully done. Babies usually don’t seem to mind or notice spit up.
What’s Going On With Newborn Spit Up?
Whether breastfed or bottle-fed, the first few days after birth babies will often be spitting up amniotic fluid along with their meal. Because newborns’ stomachs are still quite small, an influx of liquid can be a lot to handle. As their stomach is expanding they will gradually be able to hold more milk. Technically, spit up is also referred to as reflux. No medication is needed to control this, and it’s not an allergic reaction, it’s totally normal.
How Much Baby Spit Up Is Normal?
There is very little cause for concern as long as spitting up doesn’t interfere with a baby’s well-being. If they seem comfortable, are eating well, and gaining weight, everything is most likely quite normal. It’s easy to overestimate the amount your baby has spit up. Remember, if your baby is gaining weight then they aren’t being harmed by the calories lost through spitting up.
When Do Babies Stop Spitting Up?
Expect spit up to get more frequent until about 3 months of age, and then gradually start to slow down as baby gets stronger and can sit up on their own. Most babies stop spitting up by 12 months.
Reflux (Infant GERD)
Some babies continue to have severe reflux as they get older. If this is accompanied by other symptoms or poor weight gain, spit up might indicate that your baby has a condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease, also known as infant GERD. If you notice excessive drooling, uncontrollable crying, poor sleep, and erratic feeding patterns, then you should talk to your child’s pediatrician.
Tips to Reduce Spitting Up
- Feed your baby in a more upright position and follow each feeding with 30 minutes in an upright position.
- Let your baby’s stomach settle by avoiding immediate active play or the use of an infant swing.
- Avoid overfeeding by feeding your baby smaller amounts, more frequently.
- Try burping your baby. Frequent burps during and after each feeding can keep air from building up in your baby’s stomach.
- If you’re breastfeeding, experiment with your own diet. Your baby’s doctor might suggest that you eliminate dairy products or certain other foods from your diet.
Ask us Anything! If you have questions about spit up or newborn care contact us at 573-777-7627. The Tiger Pediatrics team is here to provide the education and support necessary for new and growing families.


Department of Labor
Mine Safety and Health Administration
Meter Test Leads Short While Testing Contactor
An electrical near-miss accident occurred on September 29, 2007, at an underground mine in District 8.
This accident occurred as a repairman was correcting a problem on a continuous mining machine. The
previous shift reported that the left-hand conveyor motor was pulling 20-amps more than the right-hand
conveyor motor. The repairman locked and tagged-out the continuous mining machine. He examined the
conveyor motor leads inside the controller and found evidence of heating. After tightening the connection
on the contactor, the repairman decided to check the voltage on the conveyor-motor line starter and
scrubber-motor line starter for voltage drops. The repairman energized the continuous miner and used a
Triplett 310 Meter, rated at 1200 volts, to test phase-to-ground voltage on top of the conveyor-motor
contactor. He then tried to test A-phase on the scrubber contactor and his meter showed no voltage. The
repairman noticed that the red test lead on the meter had unintentionally disconnected from the meter, and
he reconnected it. He then tested between the A-phase and the B-phase on the line starter. When he made
this test, a phase-to-phase fault occurred between the tips of his meter test leads. The tips of the meter
test leads melted, and an electrical arc occurred. The repairman was wearing gloves and was sent to the
hospital for observation. He sustained no injuries in this near miss accident.
New style vacuum contactors are now used in the continuous mining machine's controller, instead
of the older style air contactors. The vacuum contactors have decreased physical separation between
phase-lead connectors. This resulted in the meter test lead tips shorting the two phase conductors.
Test and trouble shoot energized circuits only when necessary.
When testing and trouble shooting energized circuits:
- Only make voltage readings phase-to-ground
- Wear gloves and protective clothing
- Pay close attention to the placement of meter test leads
This information was provided by concerned
miners in an effort to eliminate accidents. Accident or "close
call" information within District 8 may be shared by contacting
the MSHA office at (812) 882-7617.


|Terminus lands on Atlantis|
Destroyer of Worlds, Machine Intellect of Destruction, The Cosmic Recycler. Terminus is all of these appelations. A vast machine, Terminus appears to be some sort of ancient war relic, possibly a direct indicator of the fate of the Coreward Expanse stellar civilization that perished four million years ago. The device is roughly the size of a small moon, and utilizes fold-space drive technology, a clear indicator that it is a relic of this lost civilization.
Terminus first appeared in 2679 when it dropped out of fold space into the Alphs Cygni system, a Earth colony world called Atlantis about two centuries old with a thriving population on a rich Earth-norm planet. Terminus laid waste to the modest local military and then proceeded to enter the planet's orbit, descending to the surface where it began a process somewhat akin to a terraforming/strip-mining process. In the course of the attack it released an airborne cloud of destructive nanites which systematically devasted the biological organisms of the planet's ecosystem, reducing them to a fine pulp; almost no one survived the attack.
By the time Comonwealth forces arrived, Terminus was gone, and only the survivors on the fringe of the system could relay what had happened; belters and other mining activities in the outer rim of the solar system, along with a handful of colonists working on terraforming the fifth planet in the system had recorded in as much detail as possible just what happened. As for Atlantis, the planet was dead, it's atmosphere tainted with a lethal nanovirus that destroyed organic tissue, and the Terminus appeared to have systematically destroyed each major city on the planet. In the course of the attack it appeared to have strip mined the world of specific resources, and it is speculated that it used those resources to fuel its own construction of both the nanovirus and other unknown needs of the machine.
Inability to track Terminus led to a decade of panic, but the destructive machine did not resurface until 2742 when it dropped in on the Procyon system, a heavily industrialized primeworld of the Commonwealth which also contained a major fleet shipyard. Procyon was already well-defended, so the appearance of Terminus near Procyon V led to a systematic and extreme space battle which appeared to damage Terminus, but at the cost of nearly 70% of the Procyon defense fleet; Earth fleets arrived within hours (Procyon is roughly 11 light years away) and engaged as well, followed by Fadelik warships which utilized direct nuclear and electromagnetic bombardment. Miraculously, Terminus was driven away....but it reappeared a week later in the Delta Rigonis system where a modest colony in the Tetragon Sector immediately fell and it completely devoured the resources and life forms of the planet with no resistance. This did not do much for Tetragon-Commonwealth relations at the time.
The victory at Procyon V emboldened the Federated Commonwealth into developing a strategy for fast-response protection of its core worlds to insure that Terminus, or things like it, could not pose a threat. In later years when the Tetragon Union formed, a similar strategy was taken, although intelligence leaks suggested the Terminus had fallen on seven more worlds in that region of space.
Today the Terminus remains a nebulous boogeyman of space with terrifying potential for destruction. The last known appearance of the machine was a decade ago, when it appeared near the moon colony at Tau-668 in the Tau Sigonis system and left nothing but an asteroid field in its wake. A special fleet of reserve ships called the Terminus Reactionary Force remains on call in the fifty light-year radius around the Sol System, utilizing the fastest state of the art Transitional Drives for quick response, armed with an array of the most powerful weaponry available to serve as a deterrent against Terminus incursion. The Aegis Division has a special branch in Research & Division dedicated to studying the fragments and bits of debris left behind by the machine from prior investigations to divine its secrets.
|The Battle for Procyon V|


In 1666, a huge fire that started in a tiny bakery burned down most of London – because it was so big, it was called the Great Fire of London.
The fire lasted four days, and burned down over 13,000 homes. There are a lot of reasons why the fire was so large, mostly to do with the way houses were built – a lot of them were made from wood, and were very close together.
Top 10 facts
- The Great Fire of London happened between 2-5 September in 1666.
- The fire began in a bakery in Pudding Lane.
- Before the fire began, there had been a drought in London that lasted for 10 months, so the city was very dry.
- In 1666, lots of people had houses made from wood and straw which burned easily. Houses were also built very close together.
- We know what happened during the fire because people back then wrote about it in letters and newspapers – for instance, Samuel Pepys wrote about it in his diary.
- Artists who were alive in 1666 painted pictures of the fire afterwards, so we know what it would have looked like if we’d been there too.
- To fight fires during this time, people would have used leather buckets, metal hooks and water squirts.
- People whose homes had burned down lived in tents in the fields around London while buildings were rebuilt.
- When houses were rebuilt, a lot of them were made in bricks instead of wood, and they weren’t built so close together.
- Sir Christopher Wren designed a monument to remember the Great Fire of London, which still stands today.
- 2 September 1666A fire broke out in a bakery on Pudding Lane in London a little after midnight, and eventually spread across most of the city
- 6 September 1666The very last fire was extinguished early in the morning by a crew led by Samuel Pepys
- 25 September, 1666A Commons Committee is set up to look into what caused the fire
- 10 October 1666A day of fasting was held to commemorate the fire, and collections were taken up to raise money to help poor people who had lost their homes
- 27 October 1666Robert Hubert was hanged at Tyburn for starting the fire – he confessed that he did this, but it later turned out that he was innocent and that the fire was an accident
- 22 January 1667The Commons Committee wrote a report about the fire, and the King’s Council decided that the fire was an accident
- 1668New fire prevention regulations for London were approved by Parliament
- 1671Work began on the monument to the Great Fire of London
- 1677The monument to the Great Fire of London was finished
- 1680Nicholas Barbon sets up the first fire insurance company, the Fire Office
Did you know?
- The huge fire began early in the morning in a tiny bakery on Pudding Lane owned by a man called Thomas Farriner. He’d forgotten to put out the fire in his oven the night before.
- Samuel Pepys was worried that the fire was becoming too large, and asked King Charles II for help.
- Lots of people went to St. Paul’s Cathedral to escape from the fire because it was made from stone – stone does not burn. But, some of the roof was made from wood, so this didn’t turn out to be a very good plan.
- The fire burnt down a lot of buildings – over 13,000 houses, 87 churches and even St. Paul’s Cathedral!
- Around 70,000 people lost their homes in the fire. These people had to set up tends in the fields around London so they had a place to stay.
- Houses burned so easily because they were made from wood and straw. Plus, they were built close together along narrow streets, so the fire was able to move around easily and quickly.
- In March 1667, Samuel Pepys wrote that he could still see some cellars that were smoking from the fire – six months after it was put out!
Look through the gallery below and see if you can spot all these pictures:
- A painting of the great fire of London by an unknown artist – the Tower of London is shown on the right
- A painting of the Great Fire of London by an unknown artist around 1670 – it shows Ludgate, the westernmost gate of the London wall
- A drawing of St. Paul’s Cathedral on fire
- A map of central London in 1666
- A map showing the area of London that was burned in the fire
- A picture of firehooks, which were used in the 17th century to pull down burning buildings in an effort to contain fires
- An eyewitness account of the Great Fire of London
- John Evelyn
- Samuel Pepys
- King Charles II
- Sir Christopher Wren
- Monument to the Great Fire of London
- The top of the monument to the Great Fire of London
- The street sign for Pudding Lane, where the fire began
- A plaque marking where the fire began on Pudding Lane
- A piece of charred wood from the Great Fire of London
- Remains of a leather firebucket believed to have been used to fight the Great Fire of London
- A fire hook
- A water squirt
- What wooden houses in the 1660s looked like
- A typical baker’s oven from the 1660s
Thomas Farriner’s family was trapped upstairs in their house when the fire broke out, and they had to escape through a window into the house next door. Their maid was too scared to jump, and died in the fire.
People didn’t have large fire hoses in the 1660s – they would have carried water in leather buckets, squirted water through a big syringe (like a squirt gun), and pulled down burning buildings with long metal hooks.
There was a big argument about how to fight the Great Fire. The fire fighters wanted to tear down houses that might get burned so the fire wouldn’t spread so quickly, but the Lord Mayor of London disagreed. In the end, King Charles II had to ask for the houses to be pulled down, but by then the fire had already grown very big.
Because the fire destroyed so much, some people thought that someone meant to start it – not that it was an accident in a bakery.
It is recorded that only six people died in the fire, but this may not be true – sometimes when poor people died their deaths weren’t recorded.
The houses that were rebuilt were made from bricks instead of wood, which doesn’t burn. The new streets were also designed to be wider, and sewers were installed so the city was more sanitary.
When the houses and shops that had been destroyed in the fire were being rebuilt, people thought it would also be a good idea to build a monument to remember the Great Fire of London. It was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and took six years to build – it is 61 metres high, which also the same distance between where it stands and site in Pudding Lane where the fire began. It has a bronze sculpture on the top to look like flames.
The first proper London Fire Brigade was created in 1866, which is 200 years after the Great Fire.
Names to know:
Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) – Christopher Wren was a famous architect who designed St. Paul’s Cathedral. He had some ideas for how London could be rebuilt after the Great Fire, but the plans were rejected. Instead, he designed a monument to the Great Fire near where it began on Pudding Lane.
Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) – Samuel Pepys is most famous for keeping a diary for most of the 1660s, so he wrote a lot about the Great Fire in 1666. He also played an important part in helping to fight the fire by warning King Charles II that more needed to be done on the day the fire broke out – so, the King himself and the Duke of York took charge.
King Charles II (1630-1685) – King Charles II ruled from 1660-1685, and was king during the Great Fire of London. He helped the fire fighters, gave rewards to people who tried to stop the fire, and helped people who were hungry and homeless after the fire was over.
James, Duke of York (1633-1701) – The Lord High Admiral of England. Along with King Charles II, James took charge of the fire fighting efforts and helped to end the Great Fire. James’ guards acted as policemen to keep people and shops safe during the fire.
John Evelyn (1620-1706) – John Evelyn warned King Charles II in 1661 that the way houses in London were built would mean that a fire would be a disaster. When the Great Fire happened in 1666, he wrote about it in his diary – he walked around the city on 7 September and wrote about how people who had lost their homes were camping in the fields, and that the ground and charred wood was still so hot that holes burned in his shoes.
Thomas Farriner (1616-1670) – Thomas Farriner was a baker and owned the shop were the first fire broke out on 2 September 1666 that eventually led to most of London burning down. He was a baker to King Charles II.
Just for fun...
- This interactive story mixes facts about the fire with multiple-choice questions to answer along the way.
- A trivia quiz about the Great Fire of London.
- A quick quiz about the fire.
- See London before and after 1666 in an animation of the Great Fire
Find out more:
See for yourself
- Visit the monument to the Great Fire of London near Monument tube station in London. There are stairs in the middle of the column that you can walk up, meaning you can see far across the city when you get to the top.
- You can also see another memorial to the Great Fire of London, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner in Smithfield, which marks the spot where the fire stopped.
- The Museum of London has items from the Great Fire.
- The London Fire Brigade Museum has an exhibit about the fire fighting equipment that was used in 1666.


Vegetation Health Index (VHI)
Index name: Vegetation Health Index (VHI).
Ease of use: Green.
Origins: The result of work done by Kogan with NOAA in the United States.
Characteristics: One of the first attempts to monitor and identify drought-related agricultural impacts using remotely sensed data. AVHRR data in the visible, infrared and near-infrared channels are all used to identify and classify stress to vegetation due to drought.
Input parameters: AVHRR satellite data.
Applications: Used to identify and monitor droughts affecting agriculture around the world.
Strengths: Coverage over the entire globe at a high resolution.
Weaknesses: The period of record for satellite data is short.
Resources: The calculations and sample case studies are given in the literature. VHI maps can be found online at http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/emb/vci/VH/vh_browse.php.
Kogan, F.N., 1990: Remote sensing of weather impacts on vegetation in non-homogeneous areas. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 11:1405–1419.
Kogan, F.N., 1997: Global drought watch from space. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 78:621–636.
Kogan, F.N., 2001: Operational space technology for global vegetation assessments. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 82(9):1949–1964.


Silver nanoparticle have been used as antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antiangiogenic
due to its unique properties such as physical, chemical, and biological properties. The present study show
antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities of silver nanoparticles alone and in combination with conventional
antibiotics against various human pathogenic bacteria as a simple, reliable, cost-effective and green method
using silver ions.”
“The recent increase in the incidence of infections due to bacterial resistance to antibiotics has been
recognized as an alarming problem, especially in the hospital environment with the probability of cross-infection.
Silver–Water solution as an antibacterial has no bacterial resistance and out of 96 tests, 5 were synergistic
and 89 were additive.”
“Dietary Silver Intake of 3 ppm Silver Mineral for an Adult:
30 ml per day for 300 years remaining under the lifetime NAOEL reference of 10 grams.
10 ml per day for 900 years remaining under the lifetime LOAEL reference of 10 grams.
10 ml a day for 2250 years remaining under the lifetime LOAEL reference dose of 25 grams.”


Arquebus (harquebus, harkbus or hackbut), the light muzzle-loading smoothbore firearm of the late 15th to 17th century. The French term »arquebuse«, a corruption of the German »Hakenbüchse« (hook gun), originally referred to a medieval hand cannon fitted with a barrel hook which could be hooked into a wall or embrasure to absorb the tremendous recoil of the weapon. In the late 15th century, the term »arquebuse« was used for lighter matchlock firearms developed in France, which could be fired with or without a forked rest. In German, this new weapon became known as Arkebuse to differentiate it from the earlier Hakenbüchse. As the 16th century progressed, the term arquebus was used for the light forkless firearm, to differentiate it from the heavier weapon which became known as the musket. The soldiers armed with these firearms were called arquebusiers and musketeers, respectively.


Fracking Water Pipelines Garner Legal Scrutiny
A practice oil and gas companies use to transport water for fracking is attracting legal scrutiny.
"To get their water, energy companies lay temporary pipelines atop private property," NPR reported. "But a county commissioner and a class-action lawsuit are raising questions about the common practice."
What is that common practice, exactly? NPR explained: "To unlock the oil and gas trapped in tight shale formations like this, oil and gas producers pump in millions of gallons of pressurized water. To bring freshwater in, and move waste fluid out, the industry strings miles of temporary plastic pipe along the side of the road."
But in Oklahoma, officials are questioning the legality of these pipelines. The pipelines run across land owned by private citizens, but counties have the right to use pieces of that land—specifically, the counties use strips of land along the sides of roads, the report said. Public utilities often make use of those areas for pipelines.
Oil companies use these strips, as well. "Oil companies fill out a permit, pay the county a fee — $250 per mile is standard — and lay the temporary water lines in the counties’ [strips of land]," the report said.
Now, officials are questioning if that should be allowed. For instance, Randy McMurphy, the District 2 Commissioner in Woods County, said to NPR: “[The practice] is not considered a public utility. It’s for private gain. Anything that’s not a public utility or has to do with public transportation needs to have the permission of the abutting landowner and the commissioner.”
The issue began to heat up last spring. That's when McMurphy stipulated that, in his jurisdiction, energy providers need the permission of landowners before they construct new water lines on the side of county roads, the report said.
"McMurphy says oil companies complained about his permit change," the report said.
The issue is in court, as well. "Several prominent landowners in northwest Oklahoma share Commissioner McMurphy’s reading of the law. In March 2013, they filed a class-action lawsuit against a pair of Oklahoma energy giants — Sandridge and Chesapeake — over water lines they say were laid without permission or financial compensation," according to the report.
Water pipelines installed on the side of the roads are a key way oil and gas companies transport water for the fracking process. "Pipelines are less costly than trucking," the Associated Press explained.
Interested in fracking? Check out Water Online's Produced Water Solution Center.
Image credit: "Oklahoma Sunrise," © 2008 Dare*2*Dream, used under an Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
Want to publish your opinion?


Department store mogul turned Postmaster General
It was during Wanamaker’s administration, the Post Office Department issued the first U.S. commemorative postage stamps. The 15-stamp series commemorating Columbus’s voyage were issued in time for the World Columbian Exposition of 1893.
According to the National Postal Museum,"The stamps were an immediate hit with the growing numbers of stamp collectors in the U.S. and abroad. Wanamaker faced Congressional criticism over the new program as a waste of funds, but collectors eagerly purchased and saved the stamps. Two billion Columbian stamps were sold for a total of $40 million and the commemorative stamp program is still going strong."
Prior to serving as Postmaster General, Wanamaker was a pioneer of the American department store and was founder of the famous Philadelphia department store that bore his name.
Shown above is a portrait of Wanamaker painted by Leopold Seyffert(1887-1956). Seyffert created the painting for the Post Office Department in 1919, a quarter century after Wanamaker left office.
For more on Wanamaker, click here.


A March Madness get together will have plenty of snacks, but you can enjoy the party while protecting your teeth. We’ve put together a few tasty game day snacking ideas so that while you’re out watching the games, you can keep your teeth healthy and strong. Of course, regardless of what you eat, don’t forget to brush!
The best food choices for the health of your mouth include cheeses, chicken or other meats, nuts, and milk. These foods protect tooth enamel by providing the calcium and phosphorus needed to remineralize teeth (a natural process by which minerals are re-deposited in tooth enamel after being removed by acids), so when you’re hitting the snack table in between quarters, keep an eye out for the nuts and cheese.
Other great choices include firm or crunchy fruits (for example, apples and pears) and vegetables. The water in these foods dilutes the effects of the sugars they contain and eating them stimulates the flow of saliva, which helps protect against decay. Look for the apples, carrots and cucumbers in the snack line.
Of course, great oral hygiene habits are crucial for good health. Follow these tips to make your routine solid :
- Brush your teeth regularly. Brush at least twice a day and preferably 30-60 minutes after every meal and snack.
- Use a fluoride-containing toothpaste.
- Floss at least once a day.
- Use a mouth rinse daily.
- Visit your dentist regularly for checkups and cleanings—typically twice a year.
If you or your child’s a member of an organized sports league, be sure to wear your mouthguard. Because accidents can happen during any physical activity, wearing a mouthguard during sports helps limit the risk of mouth-related injuries to your lips, tongue, and soft tissues of your mouth. Custom mouth guards also help you avoid chipped or broken teeth, nerve damage to a tooth, or even tooth loss.


PRINCETON-BY-THE-SEA — Bay Area fishermen are worried that the Dungeness crab season could be delayed by high levels of a naturally occurring toxin that”s harmful to humans.
State officials are conducting tests to determine the levels of domoic acid in the crab and expect to announce the results midweek. The acid is found in phytoplankton, or algae, that are eaten by shrimp and other organisms whose remains are eventually consumed by the bottom-feeding crustaceans.
Don Marshall, a fishermen out of Pillar Point Harbor in San Mateo County, said the Northern California fleet is worried that the commercial season, slated to open Nov. 15 in time for Thanksgiving, could be delayed for weeks and even months. The Nov. 7 opening of the recreational season could also be pushed back.
“If we lose the Thanksgiving market and the holiday market, that”s a crusher for us,” said Marshall, who is president of California”s Small Boat Trollers Association.
Marshall said he isn”t worried about the season being cancelled altogether, because he expects the algae bloom, associated with warm ocean temperatures, will eventually dissipate when the winter brings colder currents down from the north.
The toxic algae are also causing problems in Oregon and Washington, the latter of which shut down the final months of the Dungeness crab fishery this summer along much of its coast.
“This whole thing was unprecedented,” said Dan Ayres, spokesman for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We”ve never had a closure with Dungeness crab of this magnitude.”
Washington officials also closed the razor clam fishery this summer, causing a roughly $20 million loss for coastal communities that rely on recreational clamming as a draw for tourists, Ayres said.
Phytoplankton are the building blocks of the ocean”s food supply, converting sunlight and inorganic nutrients into organic compounds that serve as food for other organisms.
Harmful blooms occur when the phytoplankton multiply to the point where there are about 1 million cells per liter of water, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration”s Northwest Fisheries Science Center.
At that point the algae produce biotoxins that are among the world”s most toxic compounds, according to NOAA. Mild domoic acid poisoning may include vomiting and diarrhea. Severe cases can be fatal.
Contact Aaron Kinney at 650-348-4357. Follow him at Twitter.com/kinneytimes.


Marijuana's health effects LATimes / Itai Danovitch / 10,5,2010 Proposition 19 would legalize marijuana in California, but voters should be aware of the health risks associated with using the drug. In the debate on legalizing marijuana, which Californians will vote on in November in the form of Proposition 19, the health risks of marijuana are often overlooked. Legalizing marijuana will almost certainly lead to a decrease in its price and an increase in its use, according to a recent Rand Corp. study. And because no drug or medicine is without side effects, increased marijuana use will mean increased health risks. But what kind of risks? Supporters of legalization say marijuana is no more harmful than caffeine, whereas advocates of criminalization suggest that marijuana is highly toxic. Like other complex health issues, the truth lies somewhere in between. The California Society of Addiction Medicine is an association of physicians specializing in the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions. Though neutral on the issue of marijuana legalization itself, the society is concerned that Proposition 19 spreads misinformation about marijuana by stating: "Cannabis is not physically addictive, [and] does not have long-term toxic effects." Unfortunately, this statement ignores a large body of national and international scientific research over the last four decades that proves marijuana can be addictive. Addiction levels lower than caffeine About 9% of adults who use marijuana develop an addiction to it. Among people who begin smoking before the age of 18, this number is as high as 17%. Although addiction to marijuana does not cause dramatic physical dependence, it can lead to substantial problems in education, work and relationships. In fact, addiction to marijuana is defined by the inability to stop using despite recognition of harmful consequences. Without harmful consequences, there is no diagnosis of addiction. The short-term effects of marijuana intoxication are well established. As part of the high produced by marijuana, intoxication impairs memory and learning. Marijuana use also impairs driving, causing a twofold to threefold increase in accidents. Though not as dramatic as the fifteenfold increase in accidents caused by alcohol intoxication, marijuana's impact on traffic safety does have significance. Statistics and source please! The long-term effects of marijuana are not often recognized because they are subtle, but they can have a cumulative impact over time. In people with preexisting vulnerabilities, marijuana use can unmask psychiatric problems such as schizophrenia. Many people with anxiety and depression use marijuana to soothe their symptoms; however, there is evidence that over time it may actually make these problems worse. The latest studies point out that marijuana is not a causation for schizophrenic behavior. Smoked marijuana irritates the linings of the respiratory passages and can lead to inflammation and bronchitis. Although marijuana has not been definitively shown to cause cancer, smoked marijuana has been linked to precancerous changes in the lungs. Source please These long-term effects of marijuana are not as dramatic as those seen in other, "harder" drugs of abuse, but they do take a toll, and that toll appears to be greatest among people who begin smoking marijuana during adolescence, before the brain and body are finished maturing. Duh,maybe that is why the proposition does not legalize marijuana for under 21. Long-term marijuana use has not been shown to reduce general measurements of intelligence; however, there is evidence that the processing of highly complex information is slowed. Even after 28 days of abstinence, brain scans of long-term marijuana users show less activity in regions serving memory and learning. Less activity,,,,less activity means nothing about intelligence,it could designate that people that smoke marijuana regularly are more settled in their mind. The bottom line is that although marijuana is less hazardous to health than many other legal or illegal drugs, it is not without risk, and voters and potential users need to fully understand this. We do understand the risks and accept them. Among treatment professionals, there is widespread consensus that incarcerating people for marijuana use or possession is wrong, and therefore, an alternative policy is long overdue. If we are to promote the public health, however, we need to anticipate and deal with the consequences of our policy decisions. California already does an abysmal job of making treatment resources available to people addicted to marijuana and other drugs, including adolescents. In the advent of legalization, there will be an increased need for prevention programs, education and treatment services. Translation: give the addiction treatment industry a guaranteed source of income. The decision to legalize marijuana is in the hands of California voters. It is vital that they make their decision on the basis of accurate facts. And if Californians do legalize marijuana, they should insist that revenue from its taxation be applied toward any problems that arise from its increased use. Sounds like a good idea,but if no problems arise because of legalized marijuana,the money should go back to the people! Itai Danovitch is an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He is a member of the California Society of Addiction Medicine's Committee on Public Policy. Translation: Just as with the dispensaries,police organizations and green market dealers,they lose money on court ordered rehab for marijuana users.


Maycock has traced the architectural history of Carbondale from its founding in 1852 to just prior to World War II. Like numerous other midwestern towns established along recently constructed railroads, Carbondale emerged essentially because of the newly chartered Illinois Central Railroad. The railÂroad provided economic stimulus, but the personal involvement and commitment of Carbondaleâs citizens also proved major facÂtors in the townâs architectural development.
Architecturally, Carbondale followed the fashions of the times, with some local variaÂtions, although like many small towns it was from 10 to 20 years behind major metroÂpolitan areas. With the exception of the uniÂversity buildings, structures in Carbondale were designed and erected not by trained arÂchitects but by Âlocal carpenters and owners who had seen buildings elsewhere or read about them in periodicals and architectural pattern books of the period.â These buildÂings Âserve as direct reflections of the comÂmunityâs progress at various points in its history.â
The present study covers 130 years and digs into the roots of a typical 19th-century railroad town in Illinois. The book concenÂtrates on the older section of town, that which existed before the Âskyrocketing enÂrollments at Southern Illinois University put unforeseen pressures on the town, causing widespread demolition and alteration of older buildings to accommodate the sudden increase in population.â
Although Carbondale today is totally difÂferent from the settlement laid out by Daniel Brush, the city did spring from the roots Maycock describes. Maycock gives the reader ample opportunity to compare CarÂbondale then and now. About half of her 138 photographs show historic Carbondale, half the contemporary city. She includes a map of early Carbondale to enable the reader to match the city as it was against the Carbondale of today. Included also is a map of rail lines, showing cities and towns along the IlliÂnois Central that came into being for the same reason Carbondale did.


The significance of location technology in iOS devices cannot be overstated. From navigation assistance to location-based services, location technology is an essential component that significantly enhances user experience. Over the years, we’ve seen this technology evolve from standard GPS to innovative beacon systems. This post will dive deep into the world of iOS location technology, providing you with insights into its functioning and applications.
GPS: The foundation of iOS location
The Global Positioning System (GPS), a network of about 30 satellites orbiting the earth, serves as the backbone of iOS time and space technology. GPS can determine the location of your iOS device by calculating the time it takes for signals to travel between the satellites and your device. However, GPS isn’t perfect. Obstacles like tall buildings or trees can block the satellite signal, causing issues with accuracy, especially in urban environments.
Assisted GPS (A-GPS): Enhancing Its Accuracy
To overcome the limitations of GPS, iOS devices utilize Assisted GPS (A-GPS). A-GPS uses data from cell towers to help pinpoint your location quickly and accurately. For example, when using navigation apps, you’ll notice your locality is identified swiftly even before GPS has had the chance to lock on. This quick and precise identification is due to the workings of A-GPS.
Wi-Fi and Cellular positioning: Alternative location methods
Besides GPS and A-GPS, iOS devices also use Wi-Fi and Cellular positioning to determine location. Wi-Fi positioning uses the signal strength of nearby Wi-Fi networks, while Cellular positioning uses the proximity to cell towers. Both methods offer distinct advantages: Wi-Fi positioning works well indoors where GPS signals might be weak, and Cellular positioning is useful where both GPS and Wi-Fi signals are absent. With apps such as iFoneTool you can easily override your location setting regardless of the method used for tracking.
iBeacon technology: Transforming indoor location services
Apple’s introduction of iBeacon technology revolutionized indoor time and space services. iBeacons are small Bluetooth devices that broadcast their identifier to nearby portable electronic devices, like iOS devices. Applications can then use this identifier to deliver location-based services. From guiding museum visitors through exhibits to enabling targeted advertising in stores, iBeacons have found usage in numerous industries. You can find interesting articles and reviwes on the Nogentech.
Hybrid solutions: Combining technologies for accuracy
To further improve location accuracy, iOS combines all these technologies (GPS, A-GPS, Wi-Fi, Cellular, and iBeacons) into what’s known as hybrid locality solutions. This combination ensures that even if one technology fails to provide accurate data, others can fill in. It’s this hybrid solution that ensures your iOS device can locate you with impressive precision almost all the time.
In the fast-paced world of tech, the evolution from GPS to iBeacons symbolizes how continuous innovation can enhance user experience. iOS location technology is a testament to Apple’s commitment to this belief. As we look to the future, we can anticipate even more advances in time, date,space and place technology. So, whether you’re an app developer or an end-user, understanding these technologies can help you make the most of your iOS devices. As we continue to push boundaries and blur the lines between the physical and digital world, who knows what the future holds for iOS location technology? Stay tuned!


A price cap is simply a process for establishing rates or prices that will be charged for a particular good or service. In some instances, there are governmental organizations that determine price regulation. One example is in the rates that may be charged for household utilities, such as water and electricity.
Often, there is a regional or state-level agency that is charged with the task of working with utility providers to determine a price cap for services rendered that is equitable to the consumer as well as to the supplier. Increases in rates have to meet with the approval of the state agency before the utility can implement any price changes that exceed the agreed upon limit.
In other settings, a price cap may be arrived by paying attention to the common economic indicators of supply and demand. As an example, an industry may choose to impose one for manufactured goods that will meet the demand but will not create a situation that will price anyone out of business. At the same time, a cap does allow for a degree of competitive pricing, so players in the industry retain the ability to distinguish themselves by both quality and price to the available consumer market.
There are a lot of advantages to implementing a price cap, above and beyond making sure the general public can afford basic services and goods. First, revenue-cap regulation establishes a fair balance between profit making and covering operation expenses. It can ensure that the provider makes enough profit to continue delivering services, but it does not allow the company to make an unreasonable amount of profit per consumer. This means that the provider has to look for ways to keep the operation efficient. A number of innovations on the production of goods and services have come about because suppliers had to find new ways to deliver more goods to a larger audience without increasing the price tag.
Second, the cap helps to set reasonable expectations as to what the general public should pay for services rendered. Generally, government agencies and public service commissions release details that are available to the average citizen about what it costs a utility to deliver its service. Understanding how much of the average dollar per usage actually goes into providing the service can help people understand why the current prices need to be revised, or why they should be allowed to stand. While no one likes to pay more for services, this form of regulation often makes it clear what the associated costs of that service are, which can make a price hike a little easier to deal with.
One of the key indicators used to arrive at or revise a price cap is the rate of inflation. Just as individuals are affected by inflation, so are service providers. Often, government agencies will agree with providers that an upward change in the cap is needed, so the vendors can continue to make enough profit to adequately provide services to consumers. While this may seem unfair to some consumers, people should remember that the alternative could easily be cutting back on service delivery in order to remain profitable. A realistic price helps to maintain a balance between what the consumer can afford to pay and what the providers needs to deliver the service and still realize a profit.


Monitoring glaciers with optical fibres
Seismic monitoring of glaciers is essential to improving our understanding of their development and to predicting risks. SNSF Professor Fabian Walter has come up with a new monitoring tool in the form of optical fibres. The fibres are capable of monitoring entire glaciers.
Glaciers are constantly moving and they therefore need monitoring. Satellite images give clues to their development. By listening to glaciers from inside, seismology enables scientists to understand their movements with greater accuracy. However, because seismometers are difficult to install in glacial areas, seismic monitoring coverage of glaciers is patchy. In a recent study, Fabian Walter, SNSF Professor at ETH Zurich, demonstrated that it is also possible to monitor glaciers using optical fibres. Not only are the fibres easier to install than seismometers, they also offer more measuring points. They thus represent a way of extending seismic monitoring coverage in areas that are difficult to access.
One measuring point every two meters
The study, the results of which were recently published in the journal Nature Communications (*), took place at an altitude of 2,500 metres on the Rhone Glacier in the extreme north-east of the canton of Valais. For five days during March 2019, two teams led by Fabian Walter and Andreas Fichtner, a specialist in seismology and wave physics at ETH Zurich, recorded micro-earthquakes using a 1-kilometre fibre optic cable installed a few centimetres within the snow cover on the glacier surface. Distributed acoustic sensing was used to record disturbances in the optical signal – the result of seismic events within the glacier – at regular intervals of several metres along the cable. The recordings were converted into seismograms.
In his study, Fabian Walter reports that having a much larger number of sensors across the same monitoring area – 500 measuring points acted as sensors along the 1-kilometre cable – meant that the data obtained contained more information than those from seismometers, particularly as regards localising rockfalls and icequakes. Moreover, the cable delivered a better understanding of the jerky stick-slip movements by which the glacier moves. New types of seismic waves were identified, something that had not previously been possible with seismometers. Jerky movements of this type were already known to occur in the ice sheets of Greenland and the Antarctic, but this was the first time their existence was rigorously verified in the Alps.
What is happening inside the ice
Optical fibres are already used to monitor earthquakes in certain settings; but icequake specialist Fabian Walter is one of the first scientists to work with this technology on glaciers. “There are other teams already working on the subject – in Alaska, for example – because fibre optic technology offers benefits in this type of challenging environment,” explains the researcher, who conducted his study in partnership with the Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich. “Whereas it often takes several hours to install a seismological station capable of covering only a tiny part of a glacier, all we have to do now is lay out the cable and we have hundreds of sensors. In theory, the technology enables us to cover and monitor entire glaciers.”
By measuring seismic velocities, the fibre optic cable also yields additional information, such as details of the composition of the ice. It also enables scientists to measure ice deformation rates and understand the process by which crevasses form.
Other applications remain to be tested outside glacier zones. Optical fibres are already available alongside roads and railways, and near to certain infrastructure installations. Dark fibre – in other words, optical fibres that have been installed but are not operational – could be used to monitor seismic events and prevent damage.
Promoting upcoming talent
The SNSF professorships, a funding scheme launched in 2000, has benefited 691 researchers. It was replaced by the SNSF Eccellenza scheme in 2018. Eccellenza Professorial Fellowships cover the assistant professors’ salaries and the costs of the project.
The text of this press release, a download image and further information are available on the website of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology
Phone: +41 44 632 41 62
(*) F. Walter, D. Gräff, F. Lindner, P. Paitz, M. Köpfli, M. Chmiel, A. Fichtner: Distributed Acoustic Sensing of Microseismic Sources and Wave Propagation in Glaciated Terrain, Nature Communications (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15824-6


Most folks in the preparedness community, whether you’re a single Mom stretching meals to last til the next payday, a gardener putting up produce for later consumption, or a homesteader, or just those that like to think ahead, are concerned, in one way or the other, about hunger, not only here but the world over.
Climate change, whether you’re a devotee of global warming (or the cooling we were warned about decades before) causes a disruption in the growing and distribution of food, both here and abroad.
Those that are hungry need help. The sooner more people can become self-sufficient the better the world will be. But, in the meantime, there are people that are hungry the world over.
When there’s extreme weather, be that a hurricane, tornado, heat-wave or drought, people are affected. In other countries, children have to leave school to help in the fields. Sometimes those families can become separated from each other as one or more will have to go off in search of food. There are still places in this world where the women have to walk miles to carry water back to their homes. Often times, school aged girls have to forego their education to help feed and provide water for their households. Conflicts can arise between neighbors, and towns due to limited food and water resources.
Currently, in West Africa, a prominent water source, Lake Chad, has almost dried up due to warming in the area. Just at that location there are over 2 million displaced souls and another 8 million in need of assistance.
Similarly, in South Sudan, the rapid deforestation has led to more hunger. Farmers are abandoning their crops due to them being stolen and instead are focusing on selling charcoal, which comes from the ‘oh so needed’ trees.
Those countries aren’t alone. There’s drought in Syria and Yemen and too much water in Haiti and Bangladesh.
There are humanitarian efforts at work in these areas and more. The Perfect Climate for Hunger campaign uses education as well as action in supporting the World Food Program. The WPF works in over 80 countries by providing food assistance during disasters, helping communities build irrigation canals and terraces for growing, and helping the small local farmers by educating them how to store their harvest for food during the leaner times.
Preppers, and those in the preparedness community, know how important it is to have some food/water stored for emergencies, whether that emergency lasts a couple days, a couple weeks, and for the more prepared a year (or more). Some religions tell their followers to have a year’s worth of food on hand.
Have you checked your food storage lately? Inventoried the pantry and freezer? On your way to a more self-sufficient lifestyle do a little something for those in need. Support organizations like your local food bank, and the World Food Program whenever you can. It’ll make the world a better place.


The tanagers (sg. pronounced /ˈtænədʒər/) are a family, Thraupidae, of birds in the order Passeriformes. The family has an American distribution.
There were traditionally about 240 species of tanagers, but the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux. As more of these birds are studied using modern molecular techniques it is expected that some genera may be relocated elsewhere. Already the Euphonias and chlorophonias, which were once considered part of the tanager family, are now treated as members of Fringillidae, in their own subfamily (Euphoniinae). Likewise the genera Piranga, Chlorothraupis, and Habia appear to be related to members of the Cardinal family, and may soon be reassigned by the AOU.
Tanagers are small to medium-sized birds. The shortest-bodied species, the White-eared Conebill, is 9 cm (3.8 in) long and weighs 7 grams, barely smaller than the Short-billed Honeycreeper. The longest, the Magpie Tanager is 28 cm (11 in) and weighs 76 grams (2.7 oz). The heaviest is the White-capped Tanager which weighs 114 grams (4 oz) and measures about 23 cm (8.7 in). Both sexes are usually the same size and weight. Tanagers are often brightly colored, but some species are black and white. Birds in their first year are often duller or a different color altogether. Males are typically more brightly coloured than females.
Most tanagers have short, rounded wings. The shape of the bill seems to be linked to the species' foraging habits.
Tanagers are restricted to the New World and mainly to the tropics. About 60% of tanagers live in South America, and 30% of these species live in the Andes. Most species are endemic to a relatively small area. 18 species live in North America and Central America year round. 4 species are migratory, breeding in North America. They are the Scarlet Tanager, Western Tanager, Hepatic Tanager and the Summer Tanager. Recent molecular evidence indicates these 4 migratory species may be more closely related to the family Cardinalidae.
Most tanagers live in pairs or in small groups of 3-5 individuals. These groups may consist simply of parents and their offspring. Birds may also be seen in single species or mixed flocks. Many tanagers are thought to have dull songs, though some are elaborate.
Tanagers are omnivorous, and their diet varies from genus to genus. They have been seen eating fruits, seeds, nectar, flower parts and insects. Many pick insects off branches. Other species look for insects on the underside of leaves. Yet others wait on branches until they see a flying insect and catch it in the air. Many of these particular species inhabit the same areas, but these specializations alleviate competition.
The breeding season begin in March through until June in temperate areas and in September through October in South America. Some species are territorial while others build their nests closer together. There is little information on tanager breeding behavior or whether they are monogamous or polygamous. Males show off their brightest feathers to potential mates and rival males. Some species' courtship rituals involve bowing and tail lifting.
Most tanagers build cup nests on branches in trees. Some nests are almost globular. Entrances are usually built on the side of the nest. The nests can be shallow or deep. The species of the tree they choose to build their nest in and the nest's position varies among genera. Most species nest in an area hidden by very dense vegetation. There is still no information on the nests of some species.
The clutch size is 3–5 eggs. The female incubates the eggs and builds the nest, but the male may feed the female while she incubates. Both sexes feed the young. Five species have helpers assist in feeding the young. These helpers are thought to be the previous year's nestlings.
Phylogenetic studies suggest the true tanagers form three main groups two of which consist of several smaller, well-supported clades. The list below is an attempt using information gleaned from the latest studies to organise them into coherent related groups, and as such may contain groupings not yet accepted by or are under review by the various ornithological taxonomy authorities.


Deep learning and cloud computing help perform security related tasks
Umbo Computer Vision leverages deep learning and cloud computing to provide autonomous video security systems.
Most video security systems rely on error-prone people to monitor all the hours of video captured each day by millions of cameras installed around the world. But thanks to rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning and cloud computing, which provide a more natural understanding of scenes, objects and people within video, autonomous surveillance technology stands poised to help humans better perform security-related tasks.
If the algorithm determines that something noteworthy has occurred, an alert is sent through the web-based interface and the Umbo mobile apps.
“Human operators have to maintain a high level of concentration and divide that attention to monitor multiple occurrences in a single location,” explains Shawn Guan, CEO, Umbo Computer Vision (San Francisco, CA, USA; www.umbocv.ai), a company that leverages deep learning and cloud computing to provide autonomous video security systems. “In most states within USA and in the UK it is a licensed profession, requiring an approved training course over 3 days.”
Despite this training, notes Guan, research has found that the prevalence of human error is much higher than popularly perceived. Humans are simply not that great at monitoring for rare events across multiple video streams, with an error rate that fluctuates depending on many different, unpredictable circumstances. But with millions of hours of video being recorded each day, and limited resources for monitoring, the number of monitors that a security operator must observe is on the rise.
Umbo Learning Cameras are installed like any other security camera and Umbo Light leverages deep learning and cloud computing to help people perform security related tasks.
That’s one reason why Umbo Computer Vision’s security camera systems are currently in operation at California’s Summerhill Residential Community, Taiwan’s National Chung-Hsing University, and other locations around the world. While the Umbo Light system, as it’s called, is capable of taking in an RTSP stream from third-party cameras such as those from Axis Communications (Lund, Sweden, www.axis.com), the computer vision works the best with Umbo cameras such as the SmartDome or the SmartBullet, explains Guan.
Unlike many previous generation cameras, these cameras are cloud-first devices. This means that they do not use NVRs or servers. Instead, they are connected and powered by a Power Over Ethernet cable (PoE), streaming video data directly to media servers and storage buckets hosted on the cloud. These servers and storage buckets are hosted by a trio of cloud providers - Amazon Web Services (Seattle, WA, USA; www.aws.amazon.com), Microsoft Azure (Redmond, WA, USA; www.azure.microsoft.com), and Google Cloud (Mountain View, CA, USA; https://cloud.google.com).
“The complexities of calibration and detection are hidden from the user with a simple web-based dashboard,” says Guan. “Within this dashboard, users can easily live stream their current cameras, watch historical video footage, and review a stream of events that have recently occurred within their zones of interest. These zones of interest are drawn directly on the scene. Multiple zones can be drawn and they can be configured so that users can receive alerts from them during specific times or if the person within them lingers there for an extended period of time.”
Video scenes are processed by Umbo’s cloud providers using custom computer vision algorithms. Once Light determines that something noteworthy has occurred within the region of interest, then it sends an alert through both the web-based interface and the Umbo mobile apps - available on both iOS and Android. The computer vision algorithm is trained to function across many environments and conditions with as little setup and configuration as possible, according to Guan.
“The future of any technology is based on its ability to solve problems that humans deem important. Law enforcement and public safety agencies globally experience a broad range of potential security threats like violence, shootings, theft, rape, and riots to name just a few. If computer vision technologies can help security managers identify these events as they happen then it would revolutionize the way we police and protect our societies today.”


NPR explorations: Do robots have ethics?
Most scientists think a lot about ethics. We adhere to, and constantly work to improve, guidelines for codes of good conduct in our dealings with people and other animals.
And now, according to a new book edited by philosophers Patrick Lin and Keith Abney, and computer scientist George A. Bekey, more of us had better think about the ethics of dealing with robots, too. Robots play increasingly significant roles in medicine, recreation, and the military, among other realms.
Reviewing Robot Ethics in today's issue of the journal Nature, Braden Allenby gives an example of an ethical dilemma involving robot technology:
"Who is responsible if an autonomous military robot kills a group of civilians? The manufacturer, the commander, the operator, or the robot itself?"
Can a machine be moral? Should a robot be held to an ethical standard? Wouldn't any robot's moral code precisely duplicate its human programmer's? Or would it... since some robots can learn?
--You can connect with Barbara on Twitter.