Tác giả: Đào Thu Hằng

I'm from Hanoi, Viet Nam. I'm an author of Dot Chuoi Non (dotchuoinon.com/author/hangbelu/), a blog on Positive thinking, founded by Dr. Tran Dinh Hoanh, an attorney in Washington DC. I'm a co-founder of Conversations on Vietnam Development - cvdvn.net, a virtual think tank. I am a co-founder of two companies in Viet Nam working on children education services. I advise companies on STEAM education, English language education for children and students in Vietnam. I'm studying the Buddha's teaching and the teaching of Jesus. I practice mindful living including meditation. I hold a PhD on Sustainable Energy Systems from University of Lisbon and Aalto University. I graduated from Hanoi University of Technology on Environmental Engineering. I obtained a Master degree of the same major from Stanford University and Nanyang Technological University. My English-language blog at: hangbelu.wordpress/. I play table tennis as a hobby.

Ikea plans mushroom-based packaging as eco-friendly replacement for polystyrene

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ 1 bình luận

telegraph.co.uk

Swedish retail giant looks at biodegradable fungus-based packaging to replace polystyrene, which is tricky to recycle

Instantly recognisable: Ikea

Furniture giant Ikea is considering packaging some of its products with fungi. Photo: REX FEATURES

9:30PM GMT 24 Feb 2016

Ikea plans to use packaging made with mushrooms as an eco-friendly replacement for polystyrene, the Swedish retail giant has revealed.

The flat-pack furniture retailer is looking at using the biodegradable “fungi packaging” as part of its efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling, Joanna Yarrow, head of sustainability for Ikea in the UK said.
Tiếp tục đọc “Ikea plans mushroom-based packaging as eco-friendly replacement for polystyrene” →

Vietnam’s first carmaker to launch nonprofit electric bus service

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
Vietnam’s first carmaker to launch nonprofit electric bus service

Vinfast announced Thursday the establishment of VinBus, which will offer passenger transportation services in major Vietnamese cities.

The company said that the Vinbus Transport Service Co. will operate under a non-profit model, aiming to develop a modern public transportation system that reduces pollution and noise in Vietnam’s major cities.

The company will exclusively produce and run electric buses, it said.

VinBus has a charter capital of VND1 trillion ($42.88 million), and expects to start running bus routes in 5 major cities: Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.

In the short term, the company plans to operate 3,000 electric buses made by VinFast.

At present, the VinFast bus factory is still under construction. German industrial manufacturing giant Siemens has agreed to provide the technology and components to build electric buses here.

Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam’s first carmaker to launch nonprofit electric bus service” →

From Carter to Trump: How has climate policy changed?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Technologyreview

So, how did we get here?

In the 90s, we laid out a plan of action to stop global warming. In 2006 we ran a global warming cover story titled “It’s Not Too Late.” Our 2016 issue marked the ‘point of no return,’ but held on to a message of hope; the damage could be lessened if we took some drastic action. Tiếp tục đọc “From Carter to Trump: How has climate policy changed?” →

Phân biệt hai từ Giới (Gender) và Giới tính (Sex)

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

English: What Is The Difference Between “Gender” And “Sex”?

*Để tránh nhầm lẫn, trong bài dưới đây từ Gender được dịch là Giới và từ Sex là Giới tính

Khi hai từ có cùng một nghĩa, chúng ta gọi chúng là từ đồng nghĩa. Khi hai từ có nghĩa khác nhau nhưng lại được sử dụng thay thế cho nhau, thì ta cần tìm hiểu về ý nghĩa thực của những từ đó.

Lấy ví dụ về hai từ Giới – Gender và Giới tính – Sex. Trong khi nhiều người thường dùng hai từ này thay thế cho nhau, nhưng ý nghĩa và cách sử dụng của hai từ lại khác biệt đáng kể và do đó là rất khác nhau. Bởi vì chúng ta thường nói về con người khi sử dụng những thuật ngữ này, vậy nên điều cốt yếu là chúng ta hiểu được nghĩa đúng của các từ khi dùng để tôn trọng người mà ta nói đến

Từ sex có nghĩa là gì? Tiếp tục đọc “Phân biệt hai từ Giới (Gender) và Giới tính (Sex)” →

Dumping plastic waste in Asia found destroying crops and health

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Thomson Reuters Foundation

Plastic waste imports into Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam jumped from mid-2017 to early 2018, leading to illegal operations dumping and open-burning.

plastic waste canada
Plastic waste in shipping containers started arriving illicitly in the Philippines from Canada in 2013 and have been decaying in the shipyard ever since. Environmentalists have called on Prime Minister Trudeau to take back the garbage but to no avail. Image: Metro Clark Waste Management Corp.

The world’s recyclable plastic is being shipped to Asia where it is illegally dumped, buried or burned in the country with the lightest regulations, environmentalists warned on Tuesday calling for greater transparency in the global waste trade.
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Researchers see health effects across generations from popular weed killer – Glyphosate

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

sciencedaily

‘Dramatic increases’ in several diseases

Date:April 23, 2019

Source:Washington State University

Summary: Researchers have found a variety of diseases and other health problems in the second- and third-generation offspring of rats exposed to glyphosate, the world’s most popular weed killer. In the first study of its kind, the researchers saw descendants of exposed rats developing prostate, kidney and ovarian diseases, obesity and birth abnormalities.

Washington State University researchers have found a variety of diseases and other health problems in the second- and third-generation offspring of rats exposed to glyphosate, the world’s most popular weed killer. In the first study of its kind, the researchers saw descendants of exposed rats developing prostate, kidney and ovarian diseases, obesity and birth abnormalities.

Michael Skinner, a WSU professor of biological sciences, and his colleagues exposed pregnant rats to the herbicide between their eighth and 14th days of gestation. The dose — half the amount expected to show no adverse effect — produced no apparent ill effects on either the parents or the first generation of offspring. Tiếp tục đọc “Researchers see health effects across generations from popular weed killer – Glyphosate” →

Genetic innovation: ‘Nothing that we eat is natural’

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ 1 bình luận

euractive

By Florence Schulz | EURACTIV.de | translated by Daniel Eck

 Apr 3, 2019 (updated:  Apr 8, 2019)

A recent judgement from the European Court of Justice in the case of “CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing” is causing debate since July 2018. [igorstevanovic/ Shutterstock]

Languages: Deutsch

The world is in constant need of more food and new genetic engineering methods such as the CRISPR gene editing method offer a solution. However, these remain contested, EURACTIV Germany reports. Tiếp tục đọc “Genetic innovation: ‘Nothing that we eat is natural’” →

China, home to the world’s biggest cryptocurrency mining farms, now wants to ban them completely

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

SCMP

  • Bitcoin, the world’s most traded cryptocurrency, is now at around US$5,200, its highest level in four months
Zheping Huang

Zheping Huang Published: 1:03pm, 9 Apr, 2019

An employee inspects machines for the production of bitcoin and lightcoins. Photo: AFP
An employee inspects machines for the production of bitcoin and lightcoins. Photo: AFP

China’s top economic planning body has proposed new rules that would see the closure of all local cryptocurrency mining facilities if enacted – a move that would potentially end the country’s dominance in the energy-hungry, yet lucrative industry.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Monday

unveiled amendments

to its guidance for adjustments to the nation’s industrial structure, including categories that are encouraged, restricted and eliminated. Cryptocurrency mining was included among sectors to be eliminated immediately. The new list is under public consultation until May 7.

The NDRC did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via a message board on its website.

Cryptocurrency mining is the process of validating transactions in digital forms of money like bitcoin and ethereum in exchange for new coins given as a reward. The specialised computers used for the mining activity consume large amounts of electricity.

Tiếp tục đọc “China, home to the world’s biggest cryptocurrency mining farms, now wants to ban them completely” →

Study finds workers in Vietnamese factories have been harassed, groped and even raped

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
Gold standard: Deuter’s factory in Vietnam. Deuter is an outdoor wear company that has dealt with excessive overtime (a major trigger for harassment and abuse) and is an example of good practice and how brands can influence change.

theguardian 

Gold standard: Deuter’s factory in Vietnam. Deuter is an outdoor wear company that has dealt with excessive overtime (a major trigger for harassment and abuse) and is an example of good practice and how brands can influence change. Photograph: Deute

Female factory workers producing clothing and shoes in Vietnam – many probably for major US and European brands – face systemic sexual harassment and violence at work, the Observer can reveal.
Tiếp tục đọc “Study finds workers in Vietnamese factories have been harassed, groped and even raped” →

Investor–State Dispute Settlement Reform Talks Resume at UNCITRAL

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

IISD

The next meeting of a United Nations working group debating options for reforming investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) will take place in New York from April 1 to 5.

Two years into the process, it remains unclear whether this work will lead to the desired reforms or what shape these changes may ultimately take.

UN Headquarters New York
The next chapter in reforming ISDS agreements moves to New York in April 2019.

Meanwhile, countries remain frustrated with the current system, and have extensively voiced their concerns in the ongoing multilateral ISDS reform discussions being held under the Working Group III process within the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Tiếp tục đọc “Investor–State Dispute Settlement Reform Talks Resume at UNCITRAL” →

Ethics guidelines for trustworthy Artificial Intelligence

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Today, the High-Level Expert Group on AI presents their ethics guidelines for trustworthy artificial intelligence. This follows the publication of the guidelines’ first draft in December 2018 on which more than 500 comments were received through an open consultation.

Download the guidelines

Visit the website

According to the guidelines, trustworthy AI should be:

(1) lawful –  respecting all applicable laws and regulations

(2) ethical – respecting ethical principles and values

(3) robust – both from a technical perspective while taking into account its social environment Tiếp tục đọc “Ethics guidelines for trustworthy Artificial Intelligence” →

Wetlands help protect us from floods and purify our water

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
news.trust.org
by Zita Sebesvari and Yvonne Walz | United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security
Friday, 22 March 2019 07:53 GMT

Despite the many benefits of wetlands, their potential is still not fully utilisedEvery day climate-related disasters are happening all around the globe, and this trend will keep increasing. Just between 1998 and 2017, “climate-related and geophysical disasters killed 1.3 million people and left a further 4.4 billion injured, homeless, displaced or in need of emergency assistance”, according to U.N. figures.

On this year’s World Water Day, it is important to highlight the importance of protecting wetlands, so that they can maintain their natural structure and way of functioning. Wetlands such as floodplains, marshes, mangroves and peatlands help decrease flooding by increasing the infiltration of excess water into the soil. Along coastlines, they can also act as a natural buffer and reduce the energy of waves and currents, reducing exposure to storms and surges. Tiếp tục đọc “Wetlands help protect us from floods and purify our water” →

YouTube Executives Ignored Warnings, Letting Toxic Videos Run Rampant

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

bloomberg

Proposals to change recommendations and curb conspiracies were sacrificed for engagement, staff say.

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Illustration: Graham Roumieu
By  Mark Bergen

 Updated on 

Wojcicki, YouTube’s chief executive officer, is a reluctant public ambassador, but she was in Austin at the South by Southwest conference to unveil a solution that she hoped would help quell conspiracy theories: a tiny text box from websites like Wikipedia that would sit below videos that questioned well-established facts like the moon landing and link viewers to the truth.

Wojcicki’s media behemoth, bent on overtaking television, is estimated to rake in sales of more than $16 billion a year. But on that day, Wojcicki compared her video site to a different kind of institution. “We’re really more like a library,” she said, staking out a familiar position as a defender of free speech. “There have always been controversies, if you look back at libraries.”

Since Wojcicki took the stage, prominent conspiracy theories on the platform—including one on child vaccinations; another tying Hillary Clinton to a Satanic cult—have drawn the ire of lawmakers eager to regulate technology companies. And YouTube is, a year later, even more associated with the darker parts of the web. Tiếp tục đọc “YouTube Executives Ignored Warnings, Letting Toxic Videos Run Rampant” →

How can digitalisation ease the plight of Southeast Asia’s smallholder farmers?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

eco-business.com

Although smallholders provide four out of every five plates of food eaten in the region, they remain some of the poorest people due to a lack of information, capital and funding. A new digital platform of mobile agri-tech solutions is out to change this.

smallholder farming
Yohanes Sugihtononugroho (right), co-founder of the CROWDE app, talks to a farmer in Pangalengan, West Java, Indonesia. Image: CROWDE
By Zafirah Zein

What if rural, smallholder farmers in Asia could harness the power of digital technology to access solutions that were previously within each of only wealthy, large-scale farmers and agribusiness corporations?

Their labourious work supporting the global production of food and other consumer products would be more productive and profitable, and make farming, a waning profession in Asia, more attractive to young people, according to Paul Voutier, director for knowledge and innovation at Grow Asia, a Singapore-based, multi-stakeholder partnership platform that seeks to improve farmer livelihoods.
Tiếp tục đọc “How can digitalisation ease the plight of Southeast Asia’s smallholder farmers?” →

Vietnamese supermarkets go back to leaves, leaving plastic bags

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ 2 bình luận

By Thi Ha, Dat Nguyen   April 3, 2019 | 08:13 am GMT+7

Vietnamese supermarkets go back to leaves, leaving plastic bags

At least three supermarket chains in Vietnam are using banana leaves to wrap vegetables. Photo by VnExpress/Nghe Nguyen

Several Vietnamese supermarkets have started using banana leaves to wrap vegetables in an effort to reduce plastic waste.

Shoppers at Lotte Mart in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7 were recently surprised to see scallions, okra and other vegetables produce wrapped in banana leaves.

Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnamese supermarkets go back to leaves, leaving plastic bags” →