Growing up in the slums of the Philippines, Dr. Astrid S. Tuminez did not have the luxury of eating regular breakfast as a child. She was one of seven kids and life was hard for her family. She had only one pair of socks, which she would wash once a week. When it rained, she plugged the holes in her shoes with lollipop wrappers. When she was five years old, the Catholic nuns in the city invited Tuminez and her sisters to attend their school. That’s when her life changed.(more…)
According to study co-authored by UCLA ecologist, the answer is devastating news for Earth’s largest animals
Many of the world’s largest herbivores — including several species of elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses and gorillas — are in danger of becoming extinct. And if current trends continue, the loss of these animals would have drastic implications not only for the species themselves, but also for other animals and the environments and ecosystems in which they live, according to a new report by an international team of scientists.(more…)
Lab experts are leading contributors to the IPCC Working Group III’s Fifth Assessment Report on climate change mitigation.
The bad news: a major transformation of our current energy supply system is needed in order to avoid a dangerous increase in global temperatures. The good news: the technologies needed to get there are mostly readily available. These are some of the main conclusions reached by experts from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and their Working Group III co-authors on the Fifth Assessment Report of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (more…)
As a roomful of environmental scientists discussed the 100-pound “bigheaded” carp from Asia invading upper Midwestern rivers, Peter Sorensen thought about the common carp.
A century earlier, that fish had also been introduced and become invasive, causing major aquatic damage that persists to this day. (more…)
Builds a Massive Network of Local Cloud Hubs for Businesses Worldwide with 40 Data Centers Across Five Continents
ARMONK, N.Y. – 17 Jan 2014: IBM today announced plans to commit over $1.2 billion to significantly expand its global cloud footprint. This investment includes a network of cloud centers designed to bring clients greater flexibility, transparency and control over how they manage their data, run their business and deploy their IT operations locally in the cloud.
This year IBM plans to deliver cloud services from 40 data centers worldwide in 15 countries and five continents globally, including North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. IBM will open 15 new centers worldwide adding to the existing global footprint of 13 global data centers from SoftLayer and 12 from IBM. Among the newest data centers to launch are China, Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, London, Japan, India, Canada, Mexico City and Dallas. With this announcement, IBM plans to have data centers in all major geographies and financial centers with plans to expand in the Middle East and Africa in 2015. (more…)
Gaming companies flock to IBM SoftLayer’s cloud, adding to 130 million players worldwide
ARMONK, N.Y. and AMSTERDAM – 15 Jan 2014: SoftLayer, an IBM Company, today announced that game development studio KUULUU and world’s largest online game servers provider Multiplay are using IBM SoftLayer’s cloud capabilities to power widely popular games such as Battlefield 4 and RECHARGE. KUULUU tapped into SoftLayer’s cloud for higher performance and scale for their newest game created with Linkin Park, the most popular band on Facebook with 55 million followers, called RECHARGE, while Multiplay utilizes SoftLayer cloud to support the mega title Battlefield 4. (more…)
Plans to reverse the effects of global warming by mimicking big volcanic eruptions would have a catastrophic impact on some of the most fragile ecosystems on earth, new research has shown.
Geo-engineering – the intentional manipulation of the climate to counter the effect of global warming – is being proposed as a last-ditch way to deal with the problems of climate change.
However, new research co-authored by University of Exeter expert Angus Ferraro suggests geo-engineering could cause massive changes to rainfall patterns around the equator, drying the tropical rainforests in South America and Asia and intensifying periods of drought in Africa. (more…)
Lady Gaga enables followers to embrace their awkwardness while deepening the perceived relationship they feel they have with the celebrity
COLUMBIA, Mo. – According to recent statistics, more than 175 million tweets are sent daily, and 11 accounts are created every second on Twitter. One celebrity who boasts the highest amount of global subscribers is singer Lady Gaga who enjoys more than 40 million Twitter followers. Now, University of Missouri communication researchers have found that online social media gives users an outlet to embrace their differences and provide emotional support to others while deepening perceived relationships they feel they have with celebrities. (more…)
