Radioactive Glass Beads May Tell the Terrible Tale of How the Fukushima Meltdown Unfolded

ScientificAmerican

The microscopic particles unleashed by the plant’s explosions are also a potential environmental and health concern

Radioactive Glass Beads May Tell the Terrible Tale of How the Fukushima Meltdown Unfolded
The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power plant after a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 14, 2011 in Futaba, Japan. Credit: Getty Images

On March 14 and 15, 2011, explosions unleashed invisible radioactive plumes from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, crippled three days earlier when the strongest recorded earthquake in Japan’s history triggered a massive tsunami. As the plumes drifted over the neighboring countryside, their contents—including radioactive cesium, a by-product of the plant’s fission reactions—fell to the ground and over the ocean.

What no one knew or expected was the fallout also contained bacteria-size glassy beads, with concentrations of radioactive cesium that were far higher than those in similar-size motes of tainted dust or dirt. Tiếp tục đọc “Radioactive Glass Beads May Tell the Terrible Tale of How the Fukushima Meltdown Unfolded”

Glyphosate’s kidney disease link: More science, less politics (commentary)

mongabay

on 5 March 2019

New airport for Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay puts the popular destination at extreme risk of overtourism

Tourist boats in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province. Picture: AFP

SCMP

  • Improved infrastructure makes the Unesco World Heritage Site increasingly accessible, hopes to welcome 16 million tourists in 2020
  • Travellers already complain of overcrowding and rubbish-infested water

Ha Long Bay’s postcard-perfect karst islets have long attracted travellers to its Unesco-approved seascape. In 2017, the destination (population circa 1,500), in northern Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province, welcomed almost 7 million international and domestic visitors, according to website Halong Bay Tourism. The region’s tourism department hopes to receive up to 16 million tourists by the end of next year, “and to rake in VND30-40 trillion (US$1.3-1.7 billion) in revenue”, it states, on its website.

Taking a major step towards achieving that goal, on December 30, Vietnam opened Van Don International Airport, which considerably cuts travel time to Ha Long Bay for overseas visitors. What was once an eight-hour round trip from Hanoi is now just over an hour from an airport that, when fully operational, will connect the bay with 35 cities, including Hong Kong, Macau and 10 in mainland China.

Tiếp tục đọc “New airport for Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay puts the popular destination at extreme risk of overtourism”

The global impact of coal power

Sciencedaily

Date: February 19, 2019

Source:ETH Zurich

Summary:With data and modelling from almost 8,000 coal power plants, researchers present the most comprehensive global picture to date of climate and human health impacts from coal power generation.

Coal-fired power plants produce more than just the carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming. When burning coal, they also release particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury — thus damaging the health of many people around the world in various ways. To estimate where action is most urgently required, the research group led by Stefanie Hellweg from ETH Zurich’s Institute of Environmental Engineering modelled and calculated the undesired side effects of coal power for each of the 7,861 power plant units in the world.

The last five years have been Earth’s warmest since records began in 1880

February 7, 2019A depiction of how temperatures have risen over North America from 2014 to 2018

From dispensing toilet paper to shaming jaywalkers, China powers up on facial recognition

Channelnewsasia

The country has one of the world’s most powerful facial recognition systems, which is being used in various ways, but concerns have been raised, as the programme Why It Matters finds out.

Even as Facebook’s #10yearchallenge sparks concerns that the social media giant is mining data for facial recognition AI, China’s facial recognition systems are already a reality in everyday life. Why It Matters host Joshua Lim finds out how public restrooms use it to prevent people from taking too much toilet paper; and how jaywalkers are identified, then publicly shamed on a digital billboard.
Tiếp tục đọc “From dispensing toilet paper to shaming jaywalkers, China powers up on facial recognition”

Woman Killed by Fire in Menstruation Hut, as Nepal Fights a Tradition

nytimes
A chhaupadi hut in the village of Pali, western Nepal. Women who observe the taboo are banished to mud or stone huts, some of them no bigger than closets.CreditCreditTara Todras-Whitehill for The New York Times

By Bhadra Sharma and Kai Schultz

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Parbati Bogati knew what to do when her period came.

Ms. Bogati, 21, sequestered herself in an abandoned house, in keeping with a centuries-old taboo that declares menstruating women impure, officials from her area in rural western Nepal said.

As the temperature dropped below freezing on Wednesday evening, she tried to keep warm, apparently burning wood and clothing.

By the next morning, her legs were charred and she was dead.

“It seems she also died from suffocation,” said Lal Bahadur Dhami, the deputy superintendent of the area’s police. At least three other peopledied this year while following the same superstition.

The taboo, which has its roots in Hinduism, is called chhaupadi, from the Nepali words meaning someone who bears an impurity. During women’s periods, it bars them from touching neighbors’ food or entering temples. They cannot use communal water sources or kitchen utensils. It is considered bad luck to touch them.

Tiếp tục đọc “Woman Killed by Fire in Menstruation Hut, as Nepal Fights a Tradition”

Thúc đẩy kiến thức bản địa và thực hành nông nghiệp tốt trong thích ứng với biến đổi khí hậu

TÀI LIỆU

XÁC ĐỊNH VÀ SỬ DỤNG KIẾN THỨC BẢN ĐỊA TRONG THÍCH ỨNG VỚI BIẾN ĐỔI KHÍ HẬU DỰA VÀO CỘNG ĐỒNG, 2014 tại đây

THÚC ĐẨY KIẾN THỨC BẢN ĐỊA VÀ THỰC HÀNH NÔNG NGHIỆP TỐT TRONG THÍCH ỨNG BIẾN ĐỔI KHÍ HẬU, 2017 tại đây

The only Vietnamese nominated for Women In Open Source award 2019 by Red Hat

Founder of FOSSASIA Hong Phuc Dang is among the 10 finalists that are nominated for #Women In Open Source award by Red Hat.

Please cast your vote for her & support our #OpenSource initiative in Asia!
Link: https://www.redhat.com/en/about/women-in-open-source

Interview with Hong Phuc Dang , the founder of FOSSASIA, at the Open Source Summit.

CVD’s co-founder at Horasis Asia Meeting 2018

Horasis – a global visions community committed to inspiring our future – provides a unique platform for companies from emerging and developed markets to globalize their organisations.

Horasis convened the 2018 Horasis Asia Meeting in Binh Duong New City, Vietnam, over 25-26 November.. The Horasis Asia Meeting brought together over 500 of the foremost leaders from across Asia including the top leadership of Vietnam. The meeting was co-hosted by Binh Duong Province in the effort to welcome more investor to the city and to Vietnam.

Hang Dao, co-founder of CVD, was a speaker at the meeting in 2018 in the climate change to discuss about Climate Change impacts. Hang Dao’s speech focused on the unprecedented climate challenges that Mekong Delta of Vietnam is facing, and how we can see them as exciting development opportunities coming along: Resilient infrastructures from renewable energy to transportation – roads and airports – should be more developed in the region; education should be particularly invested; tourism should be more sophisticated; hitech investors should be encouraged to move into the area; and most importantly, Vietnam should let the Mekong Delta area be free to develop and not keep Mekong Delta as an agriculture region for purely food security purposes, namely by rice-first policy. Tiếp tục đọc “CVD’s co-founder at Horasis Asia Meeting 2018”

Ministry considers putting solar-power projects up for auction

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) is considering new measures for the solar power industry.

vietnamnet bridge, english news, Vietnam news, news Vietnam, vietnamnet news, Vietnam net news, Vietnam latest news, vn news, Vietnam breaking news, solar power, EVN

MOIT is considering auctioning solar power projects

The ministry recently asked for the government’s permission to approve another 17 solar power projects. Deputy Minister Hoang Quoc Vuong said MOIT is considering auctioning solar power projects to choose the best and most capable investors. Tiếp tục đọc “Ministry considers putting solar-power projects up for auction”

Cựu Ngoại trưởng Mỹ John Kerry: Việt Nam không nên là “tù nhân” của năng lượng than

Dân trí
Phát biểu tại Diễn đàn Kinh tế Việt nam 2019 bàn về chủ đề Chủ động ứng phó với biến đổi khí hậu và củng cố An ninh năng lượng đảm bảo phát triển bền vững diễn ra sáng nay (17/1) tại Hà Nội, cựu Ngoại trưởng Mỹ John Kerry khẳng định: Việt Nam không cần thiết phải là “tù nhân”, lệ thuộc vào năng lượng than.

Ông John Kerry, người đang là Chủ tịch danh dự Quỹ hòa bình quốc tế Carnegie nhấn mạnh: Tôi luôn ấn tượng với nguồn năng lượng của người dân Việt Nam, đa số dân trẻ hướng tới tương lai và có mối quan hệ tốt hơn với thế giới.

Cựu Ngoại trưởng Mỹ John Kerry: Việt Nam không nên là tù nhân của năng lượng than - Ảnh 1.

Cựu Ngoại trưởng Mỹ ngài John Kerry tại Diễn đàn Kinh tế Việt Nam năm 2019.

Ông Kerry cho rằng, hiện thách thức của mỗi quốc gia là khác nhau nhưng nhu cầu đều giống nhau đó là năng lượng. “Lựa chọn của chúng ta về năng lượng là phải chú ý đến biến đổi khí hậu. Biến đổi khí hậu đang diễn ra rồi. Nhu cầu về than của Đông Nam Á hiện nay vẫn tăng và tăng cao nhất ở Đông Nam Á với mức 5% so với thế giới”, ông Kerry nói. Tiếp tục đọc “Cựu Ngoại trưởng Mỹ John Kerry: Việt Nam không nên là “tù nhân” của năng lượng than”