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.

The Facial Recognition Technology Genie Is Out of the Bottle

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

IOTI.COM

The potential for misuse of facial recognition technology is real, but its power may be too great for many to ignore.

Brian Buntz | May 30, 2018

The ACLU is worried about a Kafka-esque near future where police and other government agencies harness the power of facial recognition technologyto identify undocumented migrants, minority activists or individuals joining public protests. As such, the organization is demanding that online retail giant Amazon stop selling “dangerous” face recognition technology to law enforcement, which could potentially help police identify individuals from footage gathered from a variety of sources, including surveillance cameras in public and retail establishments, as well as from police body cameras.

How the coffee industry is about to get roasted by climate change

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

theconverstion

Fall is always a good time to create new habits, and coffee chains know it.

These days, they are desperately trying to find any excuse to get you to drink their java.

Many chains used National or International Coffee Day, just passed, as a reason to offer their coffee at a discount, or even for free — with some conditions, of course.

For restaurant operators, there’s no better hook than coffee to get repeat business. It’s a great scheme that seems to be working for some. Given what’s looming on the horizon, however, offering free coffee may no longer be an option for businesses.

Coffee demand around the world is shifting. Europe still accounts for almost one third of the coffee consumed worldwide, but China has doubled its consumption in just the last five years. Tiếp tục đọc “How the coffee industry is about to get roasted by climate change” →

Trans-ASEAN education can play a role in building a regional community

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
thconversation.com

Exchange students from several universities in ASEAN countries at a university in Thailand. Encouraging trans-ASEAN student mobility is a huge challenge. Thiranun Kunatum/Shutterstock

As the celebration for last year’s 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) wanes, ASEAN now face the tasks to realise the ambitious vision of an integrated socio-cultural, economic and political community. Education is one of the sectors identified as having a pivotal role in this community building process.

ASEAN plans to enhance the quality of human resources in the region and forming a regional identity, while contributing to economic growth. Among the various action plans set out at the 14th ASEAN Summit in Cha-Am Hua-in in 2009, regionalisation of higher education profiles was high on the agenda. Tiếp tục đọc “Trans-ASEAN education can play a role in building a regional community” →

Plastic and paper scrap imports choke Vietnamese ports

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Large-scale waste dumping has reportedly choked Vietnamese ports, with hundreds of containers loaded with plastic and paper scraps lying unclaimed, forcing authorities to impose a temporary ban on waste imports.

Tan Cang – Cai Mep International Co., Ltd (TCIT), a terminal services company, in a letter to shipping lines and customers, said it would suspend imports of plastic and paper scrap as a similar decision earlier by another operator, Saigon Newport Corporation (SNC), had led to overcapacity at TCIT terminals.

“From 25th of June to 15th of October, TCIT will stop receiving all imports laden containers of plastic waste,” a letter signed by general director Chang Fa Wei said. Ngo Minh Tuan, deputy head of SNC, in an official communication, claimed previously that about 5,200 containers of plastic and paper waste have been stored for 90 days or longer at its port.

TCIT Port authorities are alarmed that more than 1,132 containers with plastic and paper waste have been stacked up at the port for last few months.

“Customers are not coming forward to claim the scraps. It’s a complicated situation,” Nguyen Thai Thuong, a senior employee of TCIT, told CGTN over the phone.

“The Chinese ban on waste import is the main reason behind the surge of plastic and paper waste imports, undoubtedly.”

The Chinese ban has meant a diversion to Vietnam of the now unwelcome cargo.

Tiếp tục đọc “Plastic and paper scrap imports choke Vietnamese ports” →

Landslides in Mekong Delta get more severe

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
thesaigontimes.com
Van Huynh Tuesday,  May 29,2018,00:00 (GMT+7)
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Five houses collapse after a landslide along the O Mon River’s in Can Tho City on May 21 – PHOTO: LE HOANG VU

CAN THO – Landslides across the Mekong Delta region are getting more unpredictable and increasing in terms of location and speed, according to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research.

After two landslides along the O Mon River in Can Tho City this month, 12 houses sank into the river, 28 houses collapsed, 35 others were on the brink of sliding, and a long stretch of roads and riverside crops were destroyed.

According to the city’s committee for natural disaster prevention-control and search-rescue, the two landslides caused damages of some VND30 billion. The city has provided nearly VND600 million to support affected households.

Vung Liem District of Vinh Long Province nearby has also witnessed a serious landslide recently, resulting in several houses falling into the river. Following this, the provincial government has decided to ban sand exploitation at 19 sites along the rivers of Tien, Co Chien, Hau and Pang Tra with combined areas of over 1,200 hectares. Tiếp tục đọc “Landslides in Mekong Delta get more severe” →

Asia Pacific falling behind on two thirds of SDG targets

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

eco-business.com 

A UN report on the region’s lack of progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 is disheartening. What’s going wrong?

beachpollution
Asian countries are the world’s top plastic polluters, yet there is no official indicator to measure targets for life below water (Goal 14) in Asia-Pacific. Image: Shutterstock CC 2.0
By Alaine Johnson

The Asia Pacific region is failing to meet almost two-thirds of the targets set by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The world’s most populous region has fallen behind on 37 out of 57 sustainable development targets, with no progress seen in efforts to protect the oceans and forests, reduce inequality or take action on climate change, according to a report from the UN released last week.

An Australian Coal Company Tries Desperately to Sell Coal to Vietnam

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ 1 bình luận
reneweconomy.com.au

Adani’s desperate bid to sell Carmichael coal to Vietnam

By  on 25 May 2018
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adani carmichael

The invitation of an Adani Mining executive as a speaker at a “energy roundtable” in Hanoi organised by an Australian government agency is symptomatic of the desperate challenge the company faces getting its Carmichael coal project off the ground.

Adani Mining’s Senior Marketing Manager, Christine Evans, was listed by the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) to speak on “future supply opportunities, international coal procurement practice” at the roundtable on May 22. Tiếp tục đọc “An Australian Coal Company Tries Desperately to Sell Coal to Vietnam” →

Scientists analyze first ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

sciencedaily

Results reveal three major waves of migration

Date: May 17, 2018
Source: Harvard Medical School
Summary:
Researchers have completed the first whole-genome analysis of ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia Study identifies at least three major waves of human migration into the region over the last 50,000 years, each shaping the genetics of Southeast Asia.
Field workers excavate ancient human remains at Man Bac, Vietnam, in 2007. DNA from skeletons at this site was included in the current study.
Credit: Lorna Tilley, Australian National University

The first whole-genome analyses of ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia reveal that there were at least three major waves of human migration into the region over the last 50,000 years.

The research, published online May 17 in Science, complements what is known from archaeological, historical and linguistic studies of Southeast Asia, defined as the area east of India and south of China. Tiếp tục đọc “Scientists analyze first ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia” →

Các công ty bảo hiểm lớn trên thế giới đồng lòng tuyên bố thoái vốn khỏi nhiệt điện than

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

   |   Viết bởi : Thanh Huyen

Năm 2018, phong trào thoái vốn (divestment) khỏi than liên tiếp nhận được tin vui. Ngày 04/05/2018, AlizanZ, công ty bảo hiểm có tài sản lớn nhất thế giới tại nước Đức đã tuyên bố thắt chặt chính sách cung cấp bảo hiểm cho các dự án khai thác than và sản xuất điện than. Cùng thời điểm đó, công ty bảo hiểm lớn thứ hai tại Nhật Bản là Dai-ichi cũng vừa tuyên bố thoái vốn khỏi các dự án điện than được đầu tư ngoài nước.

Thoái vốn là gì?

Thoái vốn trái ngược với đầu tư, là khi các nhà đầu tư cá nhân hoặc tổ chức rút vốn đầu tư của mình.Thoái vốn ngành nhiên liệu hóa thạch là khi nguồn tài chính được đầu tư theo hướng phát triển phát thải thấp khí nhà kính và thích ứng với biến đổi khí hậu.

Thoái vốn nguyên liệu hóa thạch sẽ chấm dứt nguồn tài trợ để duy trì và phát triển nguồn nguyên liệu này, hạn chế hoạt động của các công ty nhiên liệu hóa thạch, và góp phần đòi lại công bằng cho những cộng đồng chịu tổn hại nặng nề nhất trong thời điểm khủng hoảng của biến đổi khí hậu và hiệu ứng nhà kính. Tiếp tục đọc “Các công ty bảo hiểm lớn trên thế giới đồng lòng tuyên bố thoái vốn khỏi nhiệt điện than” →

Cambridge Analytica controversy must spur researchers to update data ethics

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
A scandal over an academic’s use of Facebook data highlights the need for research scrutiny.
Revelations keep emerging in the Cambridge Analytica personal-data scandal, which has captured global public attention for more than a week. But when the dust settles, researchers harvesting data online will face greater scrutiny. And so they should.

At the centre of the controversy is Aleksandr Kogan, a psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, UK. In 2014, he recruited people to complete a number of surveys and sign up to an app that handed over Facebook information on themselves — and tens of millions of Facebook friends. Kogan passed the data to SCL, a UK firm that later founded controversial political-consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica in London. (All those involved deny any wrongdoing.) Tiếp tục đọc “Cambridge Analytica controversy must spur researchers to update data ethics” →

The ethics of catching criminals using their family’s DNA

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
nature.com
A high-profile arrest in California shows how the long arm of the law can now extend into DNA databases to check for relatives.
  PDF version
Authorities search the home of a suspected killer

The use of ancestral DNA data to track a suspected murderer raises some troubling ethical questions.Credit: Rich Pedroncelli/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Last week’s arrest of a suspect in the Golden State Killer case in California has highlighted how DNA samples that have been volunteered for one purpose — in this case, genealogy — can be used for other reasons, often without the donor’s explicit consent. Several ethicists have expressed concern about US detectives using a genealogy website in this way. Coming so soon after the reuse of Facebook data in political campaigns in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it’s another example of how new technology and techniques lead to unexpected conundrums, and how ethical and societal debate must catch up. Tiếp tục đọc “The ethics of catching criminals using their family’s DNA” →

Internet Freedom Rapidly Degrading in Southeast Asia

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
By Pascal LaureynReprint |    |  Print |  |En español

PHNOM PENH, Feb 15 2018 (IPS) – Researchers recently evaluated 65 countries which represent 87 percent of internet users globally. Half of them experienced a decline of internet freedom. China, Syria and Ethiopia are the least free. Estonia, Iceland and Canada enjoy the most freedom online.

The most remarkable evolution comes from Southeast Asia. A few years ago, this was a promising region. The economy was growing, democracy was on the rise. Malaysia had free elections, Indonesia started an anti-corruption campaign and the social rights of Cambodian garment workers were improving.

“A few years ago, social media were safe havens for activists. But today these media companies are too cooperative with the autocratic regimes.” –Ed Legaspi of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance

“Internet helped these movements grow,” says Madeline Earp, Asia research analyst with Freedom House. “All kinds of organisations and media started using internet more and more. That was hopeful.” Tiếp tục đọc “Internet Freedom Rapidly Degrading in Southeast Asia” →

Europe’s biggest insurance group Allianz stops insuring coal companies

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

DW

Europe’s biggest insurance group, Germany-based Allianz, stops selling policies to coal companies effective immediately under efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuel and foster climate-saving energy policies.

    
Allianz Versicherungskonzern Zentrale bei München (picture-alliance/dpa)

Munich, Germany-based Allianz Group announced on Friday that it would refuse insurance coverage of coal-fired power plants and coal mines with immediate effect, and would aim to get rid of all coal risks in its business by 2040.

Read more: How can the world move beyond fossil fuels?

In addition, Europe’s biggest insurer said it would stop investing in companies that do not cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

“We want to promote the transition to a climate-friendly economy,” said chief executive Oliver Bäte, adding that the company wanted to get “even more serious on global warming.” Tiếp tục đọc “Europe’s biggest insurance group Allianz stops insuring coal companies” →

Vietnam’s Champion for Renewable Energy: Q&A with Goldman Prize Winner Khanh Nguy Thi

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
WRI
by Katie Pastor Katie Pastor – April 30, 2018       

Khanh Nguy Thi grew up near a coal plant in Bac Am, a village in northern Vietnam. While Nguy Thi’s lifelong dream was to become a diplomat, the memory of pollution in her hometown pulled her toward work in water conservation and community development.

In 2011, Khanh founded the Green Innovation and Development Centre (GreenID) to promote sustainable energy development in Vietnam. She also started the Vietnam Sustainable Energy Alliance, a network of 11 Vietnamese and international environmental organizations that collaborate on regional energy issues. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam’s Champion for Renewable Energy: Q&A with Goldman Prize Winner Khanh Nguy Thi” →