An accurate identification of a problem is crucial for a satisfactory solution. Does it make sense, in a country with extremely low rainfall, where 95% of water for agriculture comes from groundwater, to rely entirely on crops that require lots of water? No, of course not! But Suadi Arabia is ruled by members of an…
Giving support to others may have more brain benefits than receiving support. A new study suggests that giving social support to others may benefit the giver more than the receiver on a neurobiological level. The researchers used fMRI brain imaging to pinpoint three specific brain benefits of giving social support to others. The February 2016 study, “The…
A new study published in Science Advances shows that the global freshwater crisis is worse than previously thought. Other studies focus on annual figures and fail to take into account seasonal fluctuations in rainfall. The new study assesses “blue water scarcity globally at a high spatial resolution on a monthly basis” and finds that two-thirds of the…
From a recent article in The Ecologist: The Gates Foundation – widely assumed to be ‘doing good’, is imposing a neoliberal model of development and corporate domination that’s opening up Africa’s agriculture to land and seed-grabbing global agribusiness, writes Colin Todhunter. In the process it is foreclosing on the real solutions – enhancing food security,…
Architecture student Magnus Larsson details his bold plan to transform the harsh Sahara desert using bacteria and a surprising construction material: the sand itself.
“One thing that keeps me puzzled, despite having studied finance and economics at the world’s best universities, the following question remains unanswered. Why is it that 5,000 units of our currency is worth one unit of your currency where we are the ones with the actual gold reserves? It’s quite evident that the aid is…
In a rare example of the precautionary principle, the Mayor of Borgofranco d’Ivrea in Piedmont, Italy has ordered two schools to use ethernet instead of wireless. While there may still be some doubt about the extent of damage to children’s health by microwaves there can be no doubt at all about the lack of logic in…
A community in a remote mountainous area of Greece has created its own access to the internet via a wireless mesh network. As well as serving the local people, free wi-fi is available for visitors. This is a truly autonomous network. When something goes wrong, people work together to fix it. It’s helping to bring together…
To view the mainstream media reports and the publicity from internet.org may give the impression that Zuckerberg is doing something laudable, providing “internet” access for free to poor people. Digging deeper only encounters obstruction by way of weasel-worded vagueness about the actual services provided. To be honest, I only spent a couple of hours researching…
A 200-year-long drought 4,200 years ago may have killed off the ancient Sumerian civilization, according to Matt Konfirst, a geologist at the Byrd Polar Research Center Thanks largely to the mainstream obsession with ‘climate change’, research into historical disasters that focuses on climate is getting more funding. Mainstream reporting of this research is skewed towards supporting…