The Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) in Guyana on Wednesday hosted a youth perspective conference on climate change and clean energy, with the aim of getting today’s generation involved in ideas that can mitigate this ongoing issue.The National Library was filled to capacity with representatives of CYEN in Guyana, the United Nations, local institutions and most importantly, students of several secondary schools.United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Coordinator Mikiko Tanaka underscored the importance of Guyana’s natural resources to finding solutions to end climate change. One of the alarming things that were mentioned about climate change is the continuous rise in sea levels owing to melting icecaps. This is caused by increased atmospheric temperature, but industrial emissions also pose a threat.While a majority of Guyana’s people reside on the coastland where the land is meters below sea level, global warming poses as a threat not only to the people but to rare species of animals as well.“Climate change became a major world problem and something that requires us all to unite together to urgently find solutions and to stop this global warming,” saidUNDP Resident Coordinator Mikiko TanakaTanaka.“By 2100, we will be another 65 centimetres below the sea. Storms around the world are worsening…” she added.Shanomae Rose of the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Guyana was also among the list of speakers, who noted that talk on environmentalism should come from concern about what is happening and protection of our surroundings against degradation.“It is not only our concern but also our action. As youths, we need you to express your concerns, ask questions and take actions. In today’s society, we need to be a little more bold, because in order for us to create a Guyana that will be resilient, we need more actions,” said Rose.One of the topics that were discussed is the way forward, and sustainability is one of the directions that favoured the Earth. Another issue is the fact that the youths of today are not aware of what is happening in their communities because of the impact of social media and technology.“The only way we can get you engaged is if you remain informed … There are many ways for our young people to get involved,” she said.In the first half of this year, the Office of Climate Change (OCC) had pledged to continue its work to improve sustainability by executing projects, which were articulated in the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).The LCDS is a national strategy launched under the previous Administration in 2009 and seeks to create a low-deforestation, low-carbon, climate-resilient economy with the objective of transforming the country while combating climate change. This is mainly through the projects to prevent deforestation and preserve forest resources.
After losing two straight to start their longest road trip of the year, the Warriors (15-9) will try to get their season back on track in Atlanta (5-18). With newfound center issues, can the champs beat the young Hawks?Read all about the matchup below.When/Where: State Farm Arena, 4:30 p.m. (NBCSBA) Projected Hawks’ starters: John Collins, Taurean Prince, Dewayne Dedmon, Trae Young, Kevin HuerterHawks stock report: These days the Hawks are prioritizing development over winning. …
ALAMEDA — The Raiders placed Gabe Jackson on injured reserve Tuesday with a left elbow injury, meaning the fifth-year guard will miss the last two games of the season.Jackson was injured in the Raiders 24-21 win over Pittsburgh and did not play in a 30-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.Coach Jon Gruden acknowledged Monday at his weekly press conference that Jackson’s injury was problematic. “Gabe Jackson is suffering from a very legitimate elbow injury and it’s hard to block …
New fossil evidence puts the squeeze on Darwinians, making butterflies appear suddenly, with complex mouth parts, before there were any flowers to pollinate. Time to rescue the theory again.Keeping the evolutionary story consistent is like having to modify a play with the characters constantly making their entry earlier than they were supposed to. We’ve seen that numerous times. The latest is about butterflies (Lepidopterans), the darlings of the insect world. Reporters are scrambling to keep the crown on King Charles (Darwin) in the aftermath of fossil butterfly scales found in Jurassic rock they claim is 70 million Darwin Years older than the evolution script says they were supposed to appear on stage. This means they appeared already as modern-looking butterflies 200 million Darwin Years ago.Moths and butterflies existed during Jurassic era, millions of years before flowering plants, team reports (Science Daily). “A team of scientists report on new evidence that primitive moths and butterflies existed during the Jurassic period, approximately 50 million years earlier than the first flowering plants, shedding new light on one of the most confounding cases of co-evolution.” It wasn’t co-evolution, though, if butterflies lived just fine for 50 million Darwin Years before the plants they were supposed to co-evolve with first appeared.Scientists have accidentally found the oldest ever butterfly or moth fossils (The Conversation): Now researchers in the Netherlands have discovered Lepidoptera fossils that are older than any previously found, proving these familiar insects have been around for at least 200m years,” worries paleontologist David Martill. “The particular type of fossils found mean we have to rethink Lepidoptera evolution.” [insert Tontologism here; see Darwin Dictionary].The Oldest Butterflies on Earth Had No Flowers to Feed On (Live Science). “Some of the fossils share features with modern moths in the suborder Glossata, which have a straw-like proboscis that can suck up fluids like nectar,” writes Darwinist reporter Laura Geggel. “Given their complexity, and the time it would’ve taken to evolve to have such complex features, these fossils push the calculated age of glossatan moths back by about 70 million years to the Late Triassic ‘refuting ancestral association of the group with flowering plants,’ the researchers wrote in the study.”Monarch butterfly using proboscis to suck nectar from a flower (Illustra Media)Darwinians still have some tricks to keep Darwin’s crown glued onto his mummy’s head. They can say that butterflies slurped on gymnosperm sap before the flowers cornered the butterfly market. That could be reasonable, since butterflies can eat tree sap and other things. They could introduce ghost lineages, imagining butterfly ancestors further back in time than they had assumed. And they can use the sidestepping tactic, smiling for the press and saying that the embarrassing situation “sheds light on evolution.”What they cannot do is show the public a series of fossils showing the gradual evolution of a proboscis, which is admittedly one of the “complex features” that should have taken time to evolve even for Darwinians. The Illustra Media film Metamorphosis shows this complexity it detail, showing close-up footage of the proboscis coming out of the chrysalis as two long half-tubes that the adult fastens together with its palpi (mouth parts). Even more challenging for evolution, this complex structure forms inside the chrysalis from a previous form—the caterpillar—that did not have a proboscis, and fed on different food. The obstacles these facts present to evolutionary theory are explained in the film.Martill hedged his bets, saying,If the fossil record can be pushed back 70m years in one stroke, it may get pushed back even further, and we’d need another way to explain the change.Whatever the trigger for the development of the butterfly proboscis, it was clearly an evolutionary innovation that resulted in phenomenal diversity and added immensely to the beauty of planet Earth.Insect fossils incl. moth at Florissant Fossil Beds (Darwin date 34 my). Photo by David Coppedge.The source paper in Science Advances advances another conundrum: these delicate little flying insects managed to survive the Triassic extinction (the “end-Triassic biotic crisis), another tangle in the convoluted story of evolution that unravels if butterfly origin precedes the catastrophe. The authors admit, “the early evolutionary history of these insects remains murky and mired in an exceedingly poor fossil record.” Now that fossil evidence pushes butterflies 70 million years back, does the paper explain how the proboscis evolved? Their answer invokes the “mother-of-necessity” angle in Darwinian storytelling: “Development of the proboscis may be regarded as an adaptive innovation to sucking free liquids for maintaining the insect’s water balance under arid conditions.” This idea should be testable. Go into the desert and see if it evolves on you. If it doesn’t, then death also “may be regarded as an adaptive innovation” to free up the gene pool for humans who happen to evolve straw-like mouths.About Those Flowers…An article on Phys.org tantalizes readers with news about “the origin of flower-making genes.” Does it succeed? Only by hand-waving about a “likely” just-so story. First, though, the author claims his turf. The first sentence announces, “Flowering plants have evolved from plants without flowers.”The DAM Law appeared on schedule in the discussion of flowering plants: namely, the phrase “Darwin’s Abominable Mystery.” Look in Science Daily, where the phrase is part and parcel of the story about the origin of flowering plants. It also appears in Science Daily‘s latest confabulation about “How flowering plants conquered the world.” Here’s the story; is it plausible?Over the last thirty years researchers have shown that the flowering plants have unparalleled rates of photosynthesis. This has allowed them to grow faster and to outcompete ferns and conifers which had dominated ecosystems for hundreds of millions of years. The secret to the metabolic success of flowering plants is their specialized leaves that facilitate faster rates of water transport and carbon dioxide uptake. But how were the flowering plants able to build leaves capable of these high rates of transpiration and photosynthesis?This new research provides a mechanism. By scouring the literature for data, the authors argue that these anatomical innovations are directly linked to the size of their genome.This speculation, naturally, does nothing to explain the origin of photosynthesis itself. It makes the beauty of large leaves a matter of accident (the Stuff Happens Law). And what good is an answer that creates more problems than it solves?Although this research answers a major question, it opens the door to many more. Why were the flowering plants able to shrink their genomes more than other plant groups? What innovations in genome structure and packing have the flowering plants exploited? How have the ferns and conifers managed to elude extinction despite their large genomes and cells?Evolutionists are not perturbed by having more questions, because it provides job security for storytellers.The mystery is not abominable. Darwin is. “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,” says the Good Book, “But those who deal faithfully are His delight.” (Proverbs 12:22) (Visited 892 times, 1 visits today)FacebookTwitterPinterestSave分享0
It was not just a persistent and vociferous global demand that forced the International Cricket Council ( ICC) to change its own decision and revert to a 14-team World Cup in 2015. A major reason was that there was a pressing, though silent, pressure from within the ICC that forced,It was not just a persistent and vociferous global demand that forced the International Cricket Council ( ICC) to change its own decision and revert to a 14-team World Cup in 2015. A major reason was that there was a pressing, though silent, pressure from within the ICC that forced it to give minnows another opportunity following their superb performance this year.A top Irish official said that 90 per cent of ICC’s 105 member countries had quietly exerted pressure on the Sharad Pawar-headed world body to allow the Associate countries to compete in the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.Also, a threat by the Associates to seek legal opinion against the ICC if it denied them the opportunity could have played a role, though Cricket Ireland (CI) CEO Warren Deutrom would not speculate as to how much that contributed to the final outcome.”From the moment the April decision was made (by the ICC), there was a near unanimous consensus from stakeholders that it needed to be changed. The speed with which the president (Pawar) reinstated the matter for the (Executive) Board’s consideration was ample testament to this,” Deutrom told MAIL TODAY.”And it wasn’t just 90 per cent of the ICC’s member countries that sought a reversal, but also 90 per cent of FICA [Federation of International Cricketers Association] members surveyed and 90 per cent of 17,000 fans surveyed on Cricinfo ,” he revealed.Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland.Deutrom disclosed that the Clive Lloydheaded ICC cricket committee, too, had recommended to the chief executives’ panel that the Associate countries should be retained after their superb performance in the 2011 World Cup.”It was also a recommendation of both the ICC Development and cricket committee. I think the ICC Board should be greatly commended for having the courage to review its decision,” he said.advertisementThe ICC chief executives’ committee last week decided not to press for a 10- team World Cup in 2015, following pressure from all around, including possibly a few Test-playing countries.But from the 2019 tournament, the World Cup will be a 10-team affair, with promotion- relegation coming into play for the first time.The top-eight ranked full members, or Test-playing nations, at a given time on the ICC list will automatically qualify while the bottom two places will be filled through a qualifying round. Deutrom, however, did not completely rule out re- opening of the debate later.”On the basis that the original 10- team decision was predicated on minimising one- sided uncompetitive fixtures, it’d appear reasonable to judge whether the Associates should have guaranteed places in 2019 based on their performances in 2015,” he said.”Should there be clearly competitive Associates at that event, as there were this time, it may be prudent to re- open the debate.” Cricket Ireland had the backing of the Irish government, particularly its sports minister, on the World Cup issue, and Deutrom is grateful to the ICC for retaining the tournament format.”I don’t believe there was any one moment or issue that crystallised the decision- making; rather, the ICC Board clearly realised that fairness was the primary consideration. In addition, the Board was about to approve a strategic plan in which meritocratic pathways for its major events were about to be enshrined, which meant that reestablishing the pathway to 2015 was consistent with that vision,” he averred.The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) also welcomed the new lifeline for the minnows. “It is wonderful to hear that we have a chance to qualify for the 2015 World Cup. We had felt completely shut out by the earlier decision which seemed like cricket was becoming a closed shop,” said ACB CEO Nasimullah Danish.”For the 2011 World Cup, we came close to qualifying. This time we’ll try again and, even if we do not make it, at least we have the chance to try and we have the hope and excitement that come with the opportunity.”There were reports that the ICC decided to revert to the 14- team format only after a deal with its 36 Associate member countries that the number of participating countries for the World Twenty20 in 2012 and 2014 would remain 12.Deutrom, however, says that the decision was taken only on merit.”My personal feeling is that this ( deal) was never a consideration in the World Cup debate,” he said.
A first reunion with Real Madrid in the Champions League final is Gonzalo Higuain’s chance to get his own back at his former club for never truly appreciating him and an opportunity to shake his reputation as a big game bottler.The conbative Argentine striker became the most expensive player ever in Italian football when he swapped Napoli for Juventus last year in an acrimonious transfer which left fans who felt betrayed burning replicas of his number nine shirt.His 90 million euro ($100.56 million) price tag, meanwhile, had many observers scratching their heads at the thought of Juve paying so much for a player renowned for failing to put away the simplest of chances when it mattered most.When a wayward header from Germany’s Toni Kroos bounced into Higuain’s path in the 2014 World Cup final, the Argentina striker raked the ball wide of the far post.In the 2015 Copa America final against Chile Higuain slid a rolling pass from Ezequiel Lavezzi into the side netting and later ballooned his penalty over the bar in the shootout.History repeated itself in the 2016 Copa America Centenario final with Chile when Higuain missed a third chance in a third consecutive final, collecting a third straight runners-up medal with his country.Those misses would have chimed with Madrid supporters who remembered his crucial wasted chances in Champions League eliminations by Olympique Lyonnais and Borussia Dortmund.Set against those mishaps were his 89th minute strike to snatch a 4-3 win from 3-1 down over Espanyol in his first season which sparked Madrid’s unlikely title win in 2007 and three prolific campaigns in which he scored more than 20 league goals.advertisementCriticism was never far away when things did not go his way, however, and that weighed heavily on a sensitive, unpredictable character like Higuain, who quit the club in 2013 for Napoli, later admitting he cried when he left Madrid.’Pipita’ had a slow start to life at Juventus after his bitter departure from Napoli but enjoyed plenty of support from the ‘Old Lady’s’ fans and hit form around the turn of the year, scoring seven times in five league games on his way to 24 goals which fired Juve to a sixth straight Serie A title.”Juve is similar to Real Madrid, they prepare you to win,” Higuain said in February. “But the supporters are not as demanding as Madrid. It’s not in their culture to boo their own players.”He showed his gratitude by celebrating his thumping strike at Monaco in the Champions League semi-final first leg by leaping over the advertising boards and crossing the running track behind the goal to salute the travelling fans.His second-half goal doubled his previous count of two in 24 Champions League knockout games, putting Juventus on their way to Cardiff and ending his hoodoo in Europe’s top competition.Now Higuain has the chance to put right his dismal record in finals, against the club that put him on the map but never called him one of their own.($1 = 0.8950 euros)
Viking Ocean Cruises, part of Viking Cruises, has welcomed its first cruise ship, Viking Star, into the New York harbor as part of its inaugural North American voyage. The 930-passenger ship docked at Manhattan Cruise Terminal on October 13, 2016, after sailing past the Statue of Liberty with a reception by New York Fireboats.Built at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard, the 47,800 gross ton Viking Star was delivered in March 2015.Featuring a length of 228.2 meters and a width of 28.8 meters, the Viking Star is the first of six ocean-going ships ordered by Viking Cruises.The second cruise ship, the Viking Sea, was christened in May this year. Viking Ocean Cruises said it will launch four additional ocean sister ships in the coming years, including the Viking Sky and Viking Sun in 2017, Viking Spirit in 2018 and the remaining, yet-to-be-named ship in 2020.On October 11, 2016, Viking officially commemorated its first US port of call in Boston, holding a maritime plaque ceremony. This is the first time Viking has sailed into North American ports, which are part of the company’s new itineraries exploring the Americas and the Caribbean.Image Courtesy: Viking Cruises
The GEANCO Foundation will hold its annual Hollywood fundraiser on Saturday, October 6, at Spectra in the Pacific Design Center to rally support for vulnerable women and children in Nigeria.Oscar-nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, Doctor Strange, The Martian) and Golden Globe-nominee David Oyelowo (Gringo, Selma, Queen of Katwe) will engage in a keynote conversation about philanthropy and Africa.“David and Chiwetel are passionate supporters who are deeply involved with our work in Nigeria,” said Afam Onyema, the Foundation’s Co-Founder and CEO. “I’m honored to have them headline this important event.”Oscar-nominated actor and GEANCO’s 2016 Global Promise honoree Benedict Cumberbatch (Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Strange, Sherlock) is the Honorary Gala Chair. Expected Special Guests include Sam Adegoke (The CW’s Dynasty), Dayo Okeniyi (Hunger Games, Shades of Blue), Grammy-nominated musician Jidenna, Fox Sports television personality Marcellus Wiley, Mark Johnson (Oscar- and Emmy‑winning Producer of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and Rain Man) and Billy Ray (Oscar-nominated writer of Captain Phillips and The Hunger Games). Sponsors include Creative Artists Agency, Leaf Group, HBO, Latham & Watkins LLP, Pender Capital and Neuro Drink.Event proceeds will underwrite GEANCO’s medical missions, which provide free joint replacements and minimally-invasive surgeries to poor Nigerians. Donations will also support the foundation’s David Oyelowo Leadership Scholarship for Girls, which provides tuition, medical care and professional psychological support to young female victims of terrorism and gender inequality.VIP and General Admission tickets are available for purchase on the event website. Guests will enjoy lively Nigerian music, a premium open bar and delicious African appetizers while mingling with leading celebrities and entertainment industry heavyweights.The Program kicks off at 7:30 p.m. with a musical performance and the celebrity keynote discussion.For more information on The GEANCO Foundation, visit Geanco.org.
Sweden-based conditional access specialist Cryptoguard has developed a range of solutions that are designed to enable smaller operators to deliver the same range of services as their large-scale counterparts, as CEO Kjell Carlswärd explained to Digital TV Europe.How do the content security needs of small-scale service providers typically differ from those with larger customer bases?Generally I do not see the needs of smaller operators being different than those of big operators. The problem seems rather to be that the small operators may not have the financial strength to invest in their own CAS. Our business model has been a success for small operators choosing Cryptoguard’s CAS, since we have a unique custom pricing model, which means that all operators can afford to make the investment. The decision path is shorter for a small operator and new technology can therefore be launched quickly in those nets. Actually, if the big operators have just one advantage against the small players, it is that they have their own marketing departments, and so can profile new features in its network professionally. But again, the small operators are incredibly important to us. And we hope they see us as important to them. Many smaller operators who have chosen our solution often have more features – NVOD, OTT, VOD – than the big operators, and, indeed, at a very attractive price. What we do not develop ourselves, we can provide through several extremely talented middleware companies with which we have established cooperation. We provide the operator with an eco-system containing box, CAS and smartcard and also, really importantly, our own-created SMS. We also have a cardless system that some operators want, although I am of the opinion that it is best to separate the security keys from the chip in the box. In addition it is actually a commercial for the operator to use cards, even if inexperienced operators think otherwise.How significant is demand for pre-paid solutions? Is this a growing market and, if so, in which regions and what is driving this?Prepaid solutions are an option that we offer. We have already launched, four years ago, CryptoLITE, which was offered not only in developing countries but also in Sweden to very small networks where a server is not used. We have created software for different headends so no server is needed. Another market where prepaid solutions are interesting is point-to-point satellite transmission.Do you believe that the separation of network infrastructure provider from service provider – with multiple service providers operating over the same network – is likely to be a growing trend? If so, what is driving this?Yes, we experience that today. We have patented a unique solution, CryptoMulti, which allows multiple service operators in the same network to manage the end user’s smartcard. What we often heard earlier from cable operators using QAM techniques is that there is limited frequency and therefore that they can’t offer more space to more service providers. In IP networks, this works easily and when we took on this QAM problem, we developed a technique that in fact really can handle it. Today, therefore, a network owner can take a role akin to a communications provider, and rent out his network to multiple service providers if Cryptoguard CAS is used, whether it’s an IP network, QAM network or both.To what extent is it possible for different service providers to share a common infrastructure while differentiating their offerings? What common forms of differentiation could you envisage, if any?As I said there is no restriction in this any more, if subscribers use one Cryptoguard card. Then, the subscriber can be a customer to one or more service providers at any time, or choose from among several service providers. You could have one provider of family films, or another that has unique sports programming for example. Everything is controlled by the same smartcard, using the same server of each of the operators.How significant is the market in the Middle East for the solutions you offer?The Middle East is interested in the latest technology. We have security solutions for OTT, which is a market that has grown very quickly. But other markets are important to us. Content providers have increased their demand for secure transmission of content. We’re proud of our state-of-the-art CW fingerprinting technology to detect card sharing networks to the individual subscriber level. We also send different CWs to all smartcards.Cryptoguard is a Swedish conditional access system provider, founded 2007. It delivers its CA system to over 110 operators in Sweden and several other countries. Cryptoguard is focusing on new markets in eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. Cryptoguard CAS can be used in terrestrial, satellite, cable, IP or hybrid networks.