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Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise. –Sigmund Freud
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HeatIng uP! rIse In vIolence InfotaInMent lInked to clImate cHange Sunday, 4 August, 2013
today (4TH AUGUST)
8 Germany invades Belgium in response to which, Britain declares war on Germany. 8 Denmark cedes the Danish West Indies to the United States for $25 million. 8 US launch 1st satellite into lunar orbit from manned spacecraft. 8 Anne frank is arrested by Nazis.
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the resurrection of a million year old comet! A graveyard of comets has been discovered in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, astronomers said friday, and the inactive comets are being dubbed “Lazarus” comets as they have the ability to spring back to life after millions of years of inactivity. Colombian scientists made the startling discovery of these so-called “Lazarus” comets, described in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and said they may hold the clue to these wanderers of the Solar System. The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter contains millions of small celestial objects, ranging in size from 1 kilometre, 3,280 feet, to 800 kilometres, 497 miles. These chunks of ice and rock are often perceived as “falling stars,” but are now being seen as “Lazarus” comets, a nod to the biblical figure Lazarus who was resurrected by Jesus Christ several days after his death. “we found a graveyard of comets”, said Ignacio ferrín of the University of Anitoquia in Medellin, Colombia, according to the AfP. “Imagine all these asteroids going around the Sun for aeons, with no hint of activity. “we have found that some of these are not dead rocks after all, but are dormant comets that may yet come back to life if the energy that they receive from the Sun increases by a few per cent.” Comets are believed to originate on the edge of the planetary system and have stretched and oval-shaped orbit patterns around the sun. The trips are also believed to be only once every several thousand years. Shorter trips, only lasting a hundred centuries or so, are known to be similar to such sightings as Haley’s Comet. ferrín noted that these “Lazarus” comets can get reactivated when they pass relatively close to Jupiter, the biggest planet of the Solar System, and the shape of their orbits is tugged. This can decrease the distance between the comet and the Sun, resulting in a tiny rise in average temperature which in turn warms the subsurface ice and the gases it contains. NEWS dESk
NewS DeSK
HIFTS in climate are strongly linked to increases in violence around the world, a study suggests. US scientists found that even small changes in temperature or rainfall correlated with a rise in assaults, rapes and murders, as well as group conflicts and war. The team says with the current projected levels of climate change, the world is likely to become a more violent place. The study is published in Science. Marshall Burke, from the University of California, Berkeley, said: “This is a relationship we observe across time and across all major continents around the world. The relationship we find between these climate variables and conflict outcomes are often very large.” The researchers looked at 60 studies from around the world, with data spanning hundreds of years. They report a “substantial” correla-
tion between climate and conflict. Their examples include an increase in domestic violence in India during recent droughts, and a spike in assaults, rapes and murders during heatwaves in the US. The report also suggests rising temperatures correlated with larger conflicts, including ethnic clashes in Europe and civil wars in Africa. Mr Burke said: “We want to be careful, you don’t want to attribute any single event to climate in particular, but there are some really interesting results.” The researchers say they are now trying to understand why this causal relationship exists. “The literature offers a couple of different hints,” explained Mr Burke. “One of the main mechanisms that seems to be at play is changes in economic conditions. We know that climate affects economic conditions around the world, particularly agrarian parts of the world. “There is lots of evidence that changes in economic conditions affect people’s decisions about
whether or not to join a rebellion, for example.” But he said there could also be a physiological basis, because some studies suggest that heat causes people to be prone to aggression. “It is a major priority for future research to distinguish between what is going on in each particular situation.” The scientists say that with the current projected levels of climate change the world is likely to become a more violent place. They estimate that a 2C (3.6F) rise in global temperature could see personal crimes increase by about 15%, and group conflicts rise by more than 50% in some regions. Commenting on the research, Dr Stephan Harrison from the University of Exeter said it was a “timely study”. “What they have found is entirely plausible... For example, we already know that hotter and drier weather causes an increase in urban violence. Likewise, during cooler and wetter weather people tend to stay indoors, and the threat diminishes.” However, other researchers
yesterday the samosa, today the croissant! Syrian religious group bans delectable delight for being ‘un-islamic’ CoURTeSY DM A Syrian religious group have banned croissants because they symbolise western oppression. A Sharia committee issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, declaring croissants ‘haram’, which means they are forbidden in Islamic law. The group, which operates in a rebel-held area of Aleppo, said that they have ‘colonial’ significance. They claim that the pastry’s crescent shape celebrates European victory over Muslims, reported Al Arabiya. Islamic sharia committees have declared several strict fatwas in rebelcontrolled areas of Syria. Aleppo’s society usually adheres to moderate Islamic teachings. A fatwa was issued on Facebook prohibiting ‘Muslim women wearing makeup and tight clothes
that reveal physical features from going out.’ Another, issued by the Council of the United Judiciary, gave a year in jail for those not fasting during Ramadan. Member of the opposition Syrian National Coalition Samir Nashar said there are civil movements resisting the extremist tendencies of such committees. He also told Asharq al-Awsat that the FSA should unite its forces in Aleppo and work to prevent the expansion of these committees.
hungry bear StealS entire duMPSter! NewS DeSK Security cameras at the Edelweiss restaurant in Colorado Springs
picked up on an unusual scene on Wednesday evening. In the footage a bear can be seen reaching up and opening the lid of a
waste food bin, having a look inside and then pulling the wheelie container across the concrete car park and out of the view of the cameras. The owners of the restaurant posted the video of the bear’s raid on Facebook with the comment: “Intruder stealing the dumpster last night. WOW this must be the Mama.” But this wasn’t the last of the animal that the restaurant saw. The bear enjoyed its rubbish bin meal so much that it was filmed returning for more the next evening. Again it drags the bin from the car park for its tasty treat. Edelweiss employees have reportedly been told to keep a look out when they are taking rubbish out into the car park in case the bear makes another return.
have questioned whether climate breeds conflict. Work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested that this environmental factor was not to blame for civil war in Africa. Instead, Dr Halvard Buhaug, from the Peace Research Institute Oslo, Norway, concluded that the conflict was linked to other factors such as high infant mortality, proximity to international borders and high local population density. Commenting on the latest research, he said: “I disagree with the sweeping conclusion (the authors) draw and believe that their strong statement about a general causal link between climate and conflict is unwarranted by the empirical analysis that they provide.” I was surprised to see not a single reference to a real-world conflict that plausibly would not have occurred in the absence of observed climatic extremes. If the authors wish to claim a strong causal link, providing some form of case validation is critical.”
us woman says alIens mutIlated Her cows A Missouri rancher who has found multiple cows mysteriously mutilated thinks aliens could have something to do with the disturbing deaths. Since December 2011, Lyn Mitchell of Mitchell County, Mo., has found three of her cows mutilated, according to NBC affiliate KSHB. Each animal had various body parts cut off, such as their tongues, ears, udders and reproductive organs. On July 9, she found a dead cow with a char mark outlining its body. One July 19, she found another with its heart exposed and teats cut off. She said the cuts looked surgically done and claimed she saw no blood despite the wounds. The local sheriff’s department and a veterinarian couldn’t provide answers — and so Mitchell isn’t ruling out extraterrestrials. “The more it happens, the more questions you get. And the more you learn, you find more and more things that make you ask more questions,” she told KSHB. CBS St. Louis’s KMOX notes that police are “not ruling out the possibility of aliens.” “we’re having to look at this from two sides,” Robert Hills, Henry County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy, told the network. “Some people believe that there are aliens that are involved in this or the possibility of the occult going to the other end of the spectrum, we’ve talked to other people that say that just when cows die that’s what happens to their bodies.” “we know that there have been quite a few deaths of cattle this year in Missouri due to the ergot fungus that may have lead to these animals’ deaths,” he added. “we’re just not able to determine what the cause of death is at this point.”Discovery News raises the possibility that the cows were mutilated, not by aliens, but by natural predators like vultures, crows, maggots and blowflies. Carrion-eaters will often eat soft tissue first. And the site notes that “in many cases, what has been described by ranchers and others as cuts with ‘surgical’ precision turned out to be ordinary decomposition.” Mitchell is not the first to link cattle mutilations and aliens is nothing new, however. There’s even a History Channel special dedicated to the supposed phenomenon. NEWS dESk