Our Hotter, Wetter, More Violent Future

Our Hotter, Wetter, More Violent Future

Earth’s atmosphere seems to have found a way to get back at the human race. For almost three centuries, we humans have been filling the air with carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases. Now, it turns out, the climate change these emissions have wrought is turning people against one another. So says a review, published today, of 60 studies on how climate change helps spark conflict throughout the world. The researchers found a surprisingly close link between climate change and civil wars, riots, invasions and even personal violence such as murder, assault and rape. Rising temperatures are especially provocative. A shift toward greater warmth of one standard deviation caused personal violence to increase by 2.5 percent and intergroup conflict by 24 percent. (One standard deviation varies from place to place; in an African country, for example, it could amount to a warming of 0.6 degrees Fahrenheit for a year.) Read more of this post

N.Y. Resort Owners Charged With $96 Million Ponzi Fraud

N.Y. Resort Owners Charged With $96 Million Ponzi Fraud

A money manager and a real estate developer already facing a regulator’s fraud lawsuit were charged with running a $96 million Ponzi scheme and diverting the proceeds to their New York beachfront resort. Brian R. Callahan, 43, and his brother-in-law Adam J. Manson, 41, were charged in a 24-count indictment unsealed today in federal court in Central Islip, New York. They pleaded not guilty and were released on bond. The men are accused of telling investors that their money was going into hedge funds and other investment vehicles while actually much of it was going to the unprofitable 117-unit Panoramic View Resort & Residences in Montauk. Read more of this post

Nicotine-addicted turtle smokes half a pack of cigarettes a day

Nicotine-addicted turtle smokes half a pack of cigarettes a day

Thursday, August 1, 2013 – 16:39

AsiaOne

Several Chinese news programmes ran reports of a turtle in Changchun who smokes ten cigarettes a day. The reptile picked up the dirty habit when its owner flipped the animal to remove a thorn from the animal’s underbelly. To prevent the turtle from snapping his jaws, the man – who is a chef – put his cigarette in the turtle’s mouth. From then on it was hooked. The turtle makes chirping noises when it wants smokes or walks over to its owner when he’s puffing away. The owner said he’s trying to get his pet to quit, not due to concern for the turtle’s health but because he’s shelling out too much on tobacco.

Education: You can’t improve by sticking with what works

Education: You can’t improve by sticking with what works

In a book, What’s the Use of Lectures?, Mr Donald Bligh notes that lectures have been compared to reading and independent study, projects, discussion and audio and video learning. None of the comparators have been shown to be more effective in transmitting information.

5 HOURS 34 MIN AGO

In a book, What’s the Use of Lectures?, Mr Donald Bligh notes that lectures have been compared to reading and independent study, projects, discussion and audio and video learning. None of the comparators have been shown to be more effective in transmitting information. In other words, reading and independent study are just as good as listening to a lecture. Video delivery of content is just as good as a live lecture. Numerous studies have not shown that lectures are better than any of the other forms of education, but the converse is also the case. Read more of this post