The Earth is warmer today than at any point the last 400 years, and likely the last millennium, a committee convened by the National Academy of Sciences concluded in a report released Thursday.
Congress sought the 155-page analysis of Earth's past temperatures after a dispute erupted a year ago, when Texas Congressman Joe Barton sharply questioned the methods of Michael Mann and two other researchers, who had published scientific papers stating the Northern Hemisphere was warmer during the late 20th century than at any time in the past 1,000 years. ... more »
|
|||||
|
Create a free Reader Account
to post comments. Login
Get free daily SCIY Notable SCIY Topics
Search
Category Folders (below) Click folder names for contained articles, Click 'Main Page' to return. Recommended Links
RSS Newsfeeds
Main Page RSS
|
Monday, June 26
Scientific panel confirms rising temperatures over the past 400 years
by
ronjon
on June 26, 2006 01:54AM (PDT)
Sunday, June 25
WHO Confirms Human Transmission In Indonesian Bird Flu Cluster
by
ronjon
on June 25, 2006 02:21AM (PDT)
An Indonesia woman who was the index case in the bird flu cluster last month was responsible for transmitting the deadly infection to other members of her family, a World Health Organisation official confirmed.
WHO also said that limited human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus did occur last month and that the H5N1 virus had mutated "somewhat." However the mutation was not serious enough to trigger an avian influenza pandemic. more » Saturday, June 24
The Not So Good Earth: Village victims of a coal boom in China
by
ronjon
on June 24, 2006 07:26AM (PDT)
...Here in this small village in the central province of Shanxi, three large coal mining operations had been burrowing underground for coal — day and night, sometimes with dynamite. And from far below, they had cracked the earth.
The village of Shangma Huangtou is just the latest victim of a coal mining boom that is devastating large swaths of north China, where some of the nation's richest coal deposits lie. China is the world's largest producer of coal, and much of it is mined here. While Shanxi provides the fuel that powers China's sizzling economy, thousands of acres of land are sinking because of the ravages of underground coal mining. ... more » Friday, June 23
Modern humans as early as 100,000 years ago?
by
ronjon
on June 23, 2006 02:07PM (PDT)
Archaeologists say they have found evidence that in one respect people were behaving like thoroughly modern humans as early as 100,000 years ago: they were apparently decorating themselves with a kind of status-defining jewelry — the earliest known shell necklaces. ... more »
Thursday, June 22
Honoring Architect/Philosopher Paolo Soleri, on his 87th Birthday
by
ronjon
on June 22, 2006 12:00PM (PDT)
Paolo Soleri celebrated his 87th. Birthday this week at Arcosanti. Staff, visitors, and members of Paolo's "School of Thought" gathered for the traditional "frugal soup," in which Paolo cooks and serves a healthy but small meal to remind us of the great inequities remaining in our world.
During his long and productive life, Paolo has been an inspiration for many people around the world, especially those of us who have had the good fortune to know him personally. (I spent several years in the mid-90's studying and working with him at Arcosanti.) ... more » Wednesday, June 21
Paolo Soleri's 'Arcosanti' & 'Theory of Arcology': AV a prototype for "a new species?"
by
ronjon
on June 21, 2006 12:00PM (PDT)
As I was reading this introduction to Paolo's theory of "arcology," a strange idea suddenly came to mind. What if the "new species" predicted by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother appears not as an individual, but in the form of a new kind of collective architectural entity? As Paolo so elegantly puts it below, "In an arcology, the built and the living interact as organs would in a highly evolved being." If so, would Auroville not take on a whole new significance? Could this be why the Mother spent the last years of her life working so intensively on creating the conditions for Auroville to manifest?
In 1970, the Cosanti Foundation began building Arcosanti, an experimental town in the high desert of Arizona, 70 miles north of metropolitan Phoenix. When complete, Arcosanti will house 5000 people, demonstrating ways to improve urban conditions and lessen our destructive impact on the earth. Its large, compact structures and large-scale solar greenhouses will occupy only 25 acres of a 4060 acre land preserve, keeping the natural countryside in close proximity to urban dwellers. Arcosanti is designed according to the concept of arcology (architecture + ecology), developed by Italian architect Paolo Soleri. In an arcology, the built and the living interact as organs would in a highly evolved being. This means many systems work together, with efficient circulation of people and resources, multi-use buildings, and solar orientation for lighting, heating and cooling. ... more » Sunday, June 18
The "Anything into Oil" thermal conversion process breakthrough ... Clean up India, at a profit?
by
ronjon
on June 18, 2006 12:00PM (PDT)
I wonder if this now proven process could be used to help clean up India -- at a profit!
... Three tanker trucks arrive here on peak production days, loading up with 500 barrels of oil made from 270 tons of turkey guts and 20 tons of pig fat. Most of what cannot be converted into fuel oil becomes high-grade fertilizer; the rest is water clean enough to discharge into a municipal wastewater system. ... The thermal conversion process can take material more plentiful and troublesome than straw—slaughterhouse waste, municipal sewage, old tires, mixed plastics, virtually all the wretched detritus of modern life—and make it something the world needs much more than gold: high-quality oil. ... more » Saturday, June 17
The Conversion of the Vital - The Mother
by
ronjon
on June 17, 2006 10:34AM (PDT)
The vital is the fountain-head of life, the energy without which nothing can be accomplished.
It is also the source of all our emotions, feelings, desires and impulses. Purified, it can become the perfect instrument for all we have to realise in the world.
The Mother said that the training of the vital was the most important, the most indispensable of all forms of education. But she added, "it is seldom taken up in a comprehensive and methodical way."
"There are several reasons for this," she said: First, human thinking is in a great confusion over what concerns this particular subject; secondly, the enterprise is very difficult and to be successful in it one must have endurance, endless persistence and an inflexible will."
The sooner the importance of the vital is recognised, the better it is for the child.
The education of the vital should proceed along three main lines: first, the training of the senses, then the development of the artistic faculties, and last and most important, the enlightenment of all the inner movements.
This last step is certainly the most arduous one but it is indispensable if one wants to master one's own nature.
To be sure the vital consciousness can be changed, and this change is at the heart of the inner adventure to which the Mother beckons us. more »
"Evolutionary Letter #3," Barbara Marx Hubbard's "Evolutionary Edge"
by
ronjon
on June 17, 2006 01:24AM (PDT)
Here's one example of the many, many people and organizations inspired by the work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and deeply involved in "the wake up call for humanity." Barbara is an old friend and former colleague who is an amazing example of someone who has been deeply vitalized by personal experiences of the sacred. (She's well over 70 years old and keeps on going in spite of a serious bout with cancer that would have hospitalized or killed most of us.)
"It is clear that we have reached “Critical Mess.” Our problems cannot be resolved by doing more of the same. The dysynergy among these problems is rapidly leading to devolution. Yet, out of the crisis, even in the last few months since the awareness of global warming, there has been an increase in mass awakening. This crisis is vital for the next stage of our evolution. It is the wake up call for humanity. ..." more » Friday, June 16
Global Warming Threat Is Seen in Siberian Thaw
by
ronjon
on June 16, 2006 04:45PM (PDT)
Ancient woolly mammoth bones and grasslands locked in the Siberian permafrost are starting to thaw and could potentially unleash billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming, a team of Russian and American scientists has concluded.
The area involved is vast — 400,000 square miles. If the permafrost continues to thaw and releases heat-trapping carbon dioxide, it could dramatically increase the 730 billion metric tons already in the atmosphere, the scientists said in a study published in today's issue of the journal Science. ... more » Thursday, June 15
"Tucson Science of Cs. 06," Section 5.02. Meditation,contemplation & mysticism
by
ronjon
on June 15, 2006 12:00PM (PDT)
This article consists of "Section 5.02. Meditation,contemplation & mysticism," of the presentation abstracts presented in the previously posted article:
"Toward a Science of Consciousness 2006" Conference, Tuscon, AZ" This topic is of special interest to me and I hope to other readers of SCIY. We can dialogue about these abstracts by posting comments to this article and threaded Replies ('child comments') under each parent comment. ... more » Wednesday, June 14
Event: "The Yoga Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo," Thurs. June 29, 06. NY, N.Y.
by
ronjon
on June 14, 2006 12:00PM (PDT)
Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950), the remarkable twentieth Century sage and visionary, discovered that various forms of yoga are different facets of a comprehensive ancient practice he called Integral Yoga. Integral Yoga brings together wisdom, love, and compassion in our day-to-day practices, and aknowledges that each human being is unique and must travel a path suited to his or her unique potential. ... more »
Tuesday, June 13
"Tucson Science of Cs. 06," Section 4. Physical and Biological Sciences
by
ronjon
on June 13, 2006 06:18PM (PDT)
This article consists of a breakout into separate comments of "Section 4. Physical and Biological Sciences," of the presentation abstracts presented in the previously posted article:
"Toward a Science of Consciousness 2006" Conference, Tuscon, AZ"
These articles are of special interest to me and I hope to other readers of SCIY. By separating them each into a main comment, interested readers can ask questions or comment on each of them separately by posting individual "Replies" to each comment. ... more »
Monday, June 12
"Toward a Science of Consciousness 2006" Conference, Tuscon, AZ, USA
by
ronjon
on June 12, 2006 12:00PM (PDT)
Toward a Science of Consciousness 2006, April 4-8
Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA
The event is over and the abstracts of each presentation have now been published online at the Center for Consciousness Studies website.
The presentations are a cross-section of the current state of the art of scholarly thinking and research into the deep questions re the nature of human consciousness. They include the latest results in a host of relevant areas; including neurophysiology, cognition, artificial intelligence, computer simulations, quantum physics, philosophy an escatology.
I think they're sufficiently relevant to SCIY that I've taken the liberty of posting the entire set of abstracts here, so they can be easily searched. I've also broken them out into separate comments to which readers of SCIY can reply with our own perspectives on the matter. ... more »
Sunday, June 11
"What is suffering?" - Quoted from Shantaram
by
ronjon
on June 11, 2006 12:00PM (PDT)
I'm slowly working my way through Shantaram, the remarkable book by Gregory David Roberts I referred to in a previous post. Here's another sample of Robert's evocative writing. The setting is a discussion group of men, all of whom are leaders of the Bombay "mafia." These weekly discussions are organized and led by Khaderbhai, the charismatic "Godfather" of Bombay's officially tolerated organized crime scene.
Khaderbhai has invited a new guest to this week's session. He is known as Linbaba, a cover identity being used by the book's namesake, "Shantaram," when he arrived in Bombay after escaping from prison in his native Australia. As is the custom in the group, Khaderbhai calls on the new guest to suggest the topic of discussion ... more » Saturday, June 10
|
SCIY Index & Page Views
Recent Articles
Waltz with Bashir
Rich
Phalange Party
Rich
A Matter of Mind by J. Kepler
Debashish
Unending Desire: De Certeau's Mystics
Debashish
Recent Comments
|
|||
|
|||||