Author: admin

Meteorites reveal another way to make life’s components

meteorite 4567890

A meteorite analyzed in the study at its collection site in Antarctica.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 9, 2012) — Creating some of life’s building blocks in space may be a bit like making a sandwich — you can make them cold or hot, according to new NASA research. This evidence that there is more than one way to make crucial components of life increases the likelihood that life emerged elsewhere in the Universe, according to the research team, and gives support to the theory that a “kit” of ready-made parts created in space and delivered to Earth by impacts from meteorites and comets assisted the origin of life.

Continue reading… “Meteorites reveal another way to make life’s components”

The health insurance industry could be destroyed by a $1000 test

DNA test

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act bars insurers from denying coverage or raising premiums on individuals who show a genetic predisposition toward particular diseases.

The cost of sequencing an individual genome will soon be less than $1,000, reports the New York Times. That’s not nothing, but given what most health care costs, it’s not much. And it means that an individual mandate — or something much like it — is inevitable.

Continue reading… “The health insurance industry could be destroyed by a $1000 test”

295 words and phrases blocked by Chinese internet censors

chinabloggersevadesensor

The Chinese government is not shy about its Internet censorship, even launching an official campaign known as the Golden Shield Project, or “Great Firewall.”

Most people in the world who get into trouble on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites fail to exercise a bit of healthy self-censorship. A new Carnegie Mellon University study has identified the 295 words and phrases the Chinese government looks for when it steps in and forcibly blocks communication between its own citizens.

Continue reading… “295 words and phrases blocked by Chinese internet censors”

Planting trees in the Mongolian Desert to fight dangerous dust storms in Seoul

mongolia-nomadic-family-ger-gobi-desert

A nomadic family outside their ‘ger’ (yurt) in the Gobi desert near Choir, Mongolia.

It’s not quite the proverbial butterfly flapping its wings creating a hurricane across the world, but desertification in Mongolia is generating dangerous dust storms thousands of miles away.

Former South Korean Ambassador to China Kwon Byong Hyon made the connection more than a decade ago, and has helped spearhead an effort since then to plant trees in Mongolia, hoping to improve both the lives of nomadic desert herders there and the air quality his own children are exposed to back home in Seoul…

Continue reading… “Planting trees in the Mongolian Desert to fight dangerous dust storms in Seoul”

Narrow the Gapp challenges app developers to narrow the pay gap

99181194

Unequal pay isn’t just unfair, it’s illegal.

After President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act nearly 50 years ago, on average women are still paid less than their male counterparts for doing comparable jobs in the U.S. — that’s called the pay gap. It means that each time the average woman starts a new job, she’s likely to start from a lower base salary than her male counterparts.

Continue reading… “Narrow the Gapp challenges app developers to narrow the pay gap”

Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.