Funding coal in Southeast Asia is ‘collective suicide’

eco-business.com – Experts at the Unlocking capital for sustainability forum observed that the finance sector, hampered by a short-term approach to investing, is lagging on sustainability, and that the financing of coal should be phased out as soon as possible.

Schools are teaching 10 million girls to code

Editor’s note: This is a guest blog by Hadi Partovi, tech entrepreneur and investor, and CEO of the education non-profit Code.org.

In the last few years, schools globally have made real strides towards gender equality in computer science.
In the last few years, schools globally have made real strides towards gender equality in computer science.  (Photo: Code.org)

Today, for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we celebrate the progress made towards reducing the gender gap in computer science, and we urge schools worldwide to help balance the scales in this critical 21st century subject.
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Surgical care – an overlooked entity in health systems

Worldbank.org

Five billion peopletwo thirds of world populationlack access to safe and affordable surgical, anesthesia and obstetric (SAO) care while a third of the global burden of disease requires surgical and/or anesthesia decision-making or treatment. Treating the sick very often requires surgery and anesthesia. Despite such huge burden of disease, safe and affordable SAO care is often overlooked.

Why? It may be because surgery and anesthesia are not disease entities. They are treatment modalities that address the breadth of human disease — infections, non-communicable, maternal, child, geriatric and trauma-related disease and injuries, and international development agencies have been focusing on vertical disease-based programs. Tiếp tục đọc “Surgical care – an overlooked entity in health systems”

“No Time to Waste” in Ending female genital mutilation

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FGM is a taboo and complicated topic in Liberia and it is dangerous for women to speak out about it. Credit: Travis Lupick / IPS

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 7 2018 (IPS) – More than 200 million women around the world have experienced some kind of female genital mutilation (FGM) and more could be at risk, a UN agency said.
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Sea-level legacy: 20cm more rise by 2300 for each 5-year delay in peaking emissions

02/20/2018 – Peaking global CO2 emissions as soon as possible is crucial for limiting the risks of sea-level rise, even if global warming is limited to well below 2°C. A study now published in the journal Nature Communications analyzes for the first time the sea-level legacy until 2300 within the constraints of the Paris Agreement. Their central projections indicate global sea-level rise between 0.7m and 1.2m until 2300 with Paris put fully into practice. As emissions in the second half of this century are already outlined by the Paris goals, the variations in greenhouse-gas emissions before 2050 will be the major leverage for future sea levels. The researchers find that each five year delay in peaking global CO2 emissions will likely increase median sea-level rise estimates for 2300 by 20 centimeters.

Sea-level legacy: 20cm more rise by 2300 for each 5-year delay in peaking emissions

Every delay in peaking emissions by 5 years between 2020 and 2035 could mean additional 20 cm of sea-level rise (Mengel et al 2018)

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Ước mơ thơ trẻ

 Phạm Thuỳ Dương

Mình còn nhớ đó là khoảng năm lớp 3, khi mình được bước vào thế giới thú vị của cô bé Tottochan hiếu động đáng yêu cùng những ký ức trong trẻo về ngôi trường Tomoe độc đáo trên những toa tàu. Có lẽ những ai đã đọc “Tottochan, Cô Bé Bên Cửa Sổ” đều mơ ước về một môi trường giáo dục hướng tới sự phát triển tự nhiên như Tomoe, nơi trẻ em được tôn trọng, lắng nghe với tình yêu thương, khiến chúng lớn lên mạnh mẽ với lòng tự tin.

Phải chăng anh Bút Chì cũng đã được truyền cảm hứng từ Tottochan mà lập ra Toa Tàu, “nơi người lớn được là trẻ con và trẻ con được là chính mình”; hay Hang Dao và Quỳnh Anh với Potato Kids – những lớp học ngoại khóa cho trẻ em ở Hà Nội và Vy Le với Trại Hè Trẻ Đồng Xanh ở Hội An, “nơi trẻ được sống trong thiên nhiên và học từ thiên nhiên”?

Tiếp tục đọc “Ước mơ thơ trẻ”

A phone that says “no” to little kid fingers

technologyreview
An algorithm for detecting who’s swiping the screen could help make phones child-proof.

It may soon be possible for your phone to automatically figure out whether it’s you or your five-year-old who’s swiping the screen—and, if it’s the latter, block apps you want to keep off-limits to kids.

That’s the vision of researchers at the University of South Carolina and China’s Zhejiang University, who’ve created an algorithm that can spot whether your kid is accidentally trying to, say, order from Amazon without your knowing. Tiếp tục đọc “A phone that says “no” to little kid fingers”

Peru protects one of world’s last great untouched forests

Inhabitat

In collaboration with local and international conservation groups, the Peruvian government has established Yaguas National Park in the country’s far eastern territory to permanently protect millions of acres of pristine rainforest. “This is a place where the forest stretches to the horizon,” Corine Vriesendorp, a conservation ecologist at The Field Museum in Chicago, told the New York Times. “This is one of the last great intact forests on the globe.” The forest is so massive that the clouds which form above it may impact precipitation in the Western United States while many unique species of animals and plants are found only in Yaguas. The National Park designation also protects land inhabited by several tribes of indigenous peoples.

 

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How Southeast Asia is innovating with smart grid technology

IOTI_Nations in the Asian region are using a unique approach to smart grid technology to keep up with dizzying growth.

Brian Buntz | Nov 14, 2017

When asked to come up with a list of innovative industries, you would probably be unlikely to put the utility sector near the top. There is, of course, the quiet innovation of utilities modernizing their grid, experimenting with smart grid technology and moving to clean energy, but most utilities don’t embrace the agile experimentation of startups. The regulated nature of the industry and the conservative nature of many public utilities commissions just don’t reward that kind of behavior. 
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UNESCO: Happy Schools a framework for learner well-being in the Asia Pacific

Download full report here

All human beings aspire to be happy, and as the philosopher Aristotle is often cited to have said: ‘Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence’ (Crisp, 2000). Indeed, all human endeavours, starting from birth and throughout life, are pursued to this end, and require for happiness to be embedded within them. The schooling experience is perhaps the most influential of these endeavours in terms of shaping the course of our lives. Schools that can promote happiness, referred to in this report as ‘happy schools’, are key to ensuring better well-being, health, and achievement as well as success in future life and work. Education systems must also value the unique strengths and talents of learners by recognizing that there are ‘multiple intelligences’ that each deserve equal importance (Gardner, 1993). As such, promoting learner happiness and well-being in schools does not imply that learning be made easier or require less effort, but rather, that such approaches could help fuel a genuine love of learning in and of itself. Tiếp tục đọc “UNESCO: Happy Schools a framework for learner well-being in the Asia Pacific”

Photographer Spends Years Taking Photos Of Endangered Animals, They’re Heartbreakingly Beautiful

animalchannel.co

 

When you think of ‘endangered species,’ what do you think of? Maybe a tiger or a polar bear? But, what about a saiga or a white-bellied pangolin?

Sadly, there are now 41,415 on the ‘red list,’ and approximately 16,306 of them are endangered and threatened with extinction. British photographer Tim Flach was on a mission to capture as many photos of these endangered species as possible. The results are heartbreakingly beautiful.

After spending two years tracking down these elusive species, Flach created a body of work fittingly titled Endangered. His photos offer us a rare glimpse into the lives of these gorgeous, threatened creatures.

Flach’s stunning photos are a reminder for us to have respect for Mother Nature and all of its inhabitants. Before you know it, these unique, wonderful animals will no longer be sharing this planet with us.

1. Philippine Eagle

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Pack of Dogs

artfido.com

Dog-themed playing cards by San Fran artist John Littleboy?

The cards, aptly named Pack of Dogs, is the latest project from John who operates a kooky and creative online playing card shop known as Artiphany. “Transformed by an artist’s imagination, these ordinary playing cards are a small box of treasure,” he writes about the canine-inspired set on his website.

Triển lãm “Ban thờ ngày Tết”, Hà Nội

Hanoigrapvine
Đăng vào 

Triển lãm: 08:00 – 12:00 và 14:00 – 17:00, 02/02 – 03/03/2018
(thứ sáu, thứ bảy, chủ nhật: 08:00 – 12:00, 14:00 – 17:00 và 19:00 – 22:00)
Không gian văn hóa Đình Kim Ngân, 42 Hàng Bạc, Hà Nội

Thông tin từ nhà tổ chức:

Trước rằm tháng Chạp (15 tháng 12 âm) nhà nhà đã bắt đầu quét dọn gian thờ, bao sái chân nhang, đánh bóng các đồ thờ tự và bày biện để chuẩn bị rước ông Táo (thần bếp) lên chầu trời. Người thành phố thì quan niệm ngày 23 tháng Chạp, ông Táo chầu trời mới kết thúc chu trình làm việc của gia đình trong năm, thêm nữa đó mới là lúc người ta rảnh rỗi công việc và có thời gian để làm việc này. Thế nên, đại đa số gia đình thành thị thường làm việc này sau ngày 23 tháng Chạp với ý nghĩa là tiễn tất cả những gì cũ kỹ, tồn di của 1 năm mới ra đi để đón những điều mới mẻ cùng một mùa xuân mới đang đến. Sau khi lau dọn bàn thờ, đồ thờ xong, người ta lại lau lại 1 lần nữa bằng nước đun ngũ vị hương để tẩy uế, trừ tà và tạo ra một hương thơm thoang thoảng trên bàn thờ ngày tết. Tiếp tục đọc “Triển lãm “Ban thờ ngày Tết”, Hà Nội”

Cá kho làng Vũ Đại xuất ngoại đón Tết

vnexpress.vn

Chuẩn bị 10.000 niêu cá cho dịp Tết Bính Thân, tăng 40% so với năm ngoái nhưng cơ sở cá kho làng Vũ Đại vẫn lo cháy hàng sớm.

Là đặc sản nổi tiếng của làng Đại Hoàng (Hà Nam), những năm gần đây, món cá kho làng Vũ Đại ngày càng được nhiều gia đình ưa chuộng mỗi dịp xuân về. Trao đổi với VnExpress, ông Trần Bá Nghiệp – chủ cơ sở cá kho Trần Luận cho biết thay vì đặt vào đầu tháng một như năm ngoái, từ giữa tháng 12/2015, nhiều khách hàng đã rục rịch tới đăng ký cho dịp Tết. Đến nay, lượng đặt đã lên tới 1.000 niêu, chưa kể số lượng bán của đại lý.

Tiếp tục đọc “Cá kho làng Vũ Đại xuất ngoại đón Tết”

Hydrogen: Fuel for Our Future?

worldwatch.org

Hydrogen-powered cars like this one may be commonplace in the future.

Hydrogen Powered CarOn July 18, BP and GE announced plans to jointly develop up to 15 new hydrogen power plants for generating electricity over the coming decade. The hydrogen will be derived from fossil fuels, including coal and natural gas. While the plants will emit greenhouse gases, the companies will employ carbon capture technologies they claim will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 90 percent. Although the operations will not be pollution-free, some environmentalists welcome the companies’ investment in hydrogen technology as a key development in bringing about a hydrogen economy. Tiếp tục đọc “Hydrogen: Fuel for Our Future?”