The Simplest Explanation Of Global Warming Ever
Earth energy budget diagram, with incoming and outgoing radiation (values are shown in W/m^2). Satellite instruments (CERES) measure the reflected solar, and emitted infrared radiation fluxes. The energy balance determines Earth's climate.
Eerie Photos of History's Deadliest Pandemic
In 1918, it is estimated that about 500 million people — or about one third of the world’s population — caught influenza, otherwise known at the time as the “Spanish Flu." It was the deadliest disease outbreak in recorded history, with between 50 million and 100 million people worldwide being killed. In the United States alone, 675,000 died and the average life expectancy fell by about 12 years between 1917 to 1918. The virus spread quickly because of World War I, with soldiers in close quarters passing the disease to one another then traveling far and wide, spreading the disease throughout the world.
Listen to a Gadget That Translates Thoughts Into Speech
Big Talk Researchers from Columbia University have created a system that translates thoughts into recognizable speech — and its potential impact on people who’ve lost their ability to speak is extraordinary. “Our voices help connect us to our friends, family, and the world around us, which is why losing the power of one’s voice due to injury or disease is so devastating,” researcher Nima Mesgarani said in a blog post. “With today’s study, we have a potential way to restore that power.
How where you're born influences the person you become click2x
As early as the fifth century, the Greek historian Thucydides contrasted the self-control and stoicism of Spartans with the more indulgent and free-thinking citizens of Athens. Today, unique behaviors and characteristics seem ingrained in certain cultures. Italians wildly gesticulate when they talk.
Trump's Budget Wouldn't Erase Deficits, CBO Said
Under President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2018, there would have been hundreds of billions of dollars in deficits each year from 2018 to 2027, according to projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. That contradicts Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney’s claim that the U.S. “would actually be on a glide path to balancing the budget” had Congress enacted Trump’s desired plan. CBO did say that deficits and debt would be lower under Trump’s plan than they would have otherwise been under law at the time.
Canada Revenue Agency is tough on regular taxpayers but goes easy on those with offshore accounts, audit finds
The tax man goes easy on wealthy Canadians with offshore bank accounts while being harsh on regular taxpayers, according to a damning report made public by the federal auditor general Tuesday. Wealthy tax cheats are given more time to find receipts and they get their interest and penalties waived, even if they didn’t ask for it. Meanwhile, if a salaried employee can’t find a receipt, it’s automatically disallowed and they’re reassessed, the report said. “Most taxpayers are individuals with Canadian employment income. We found that the (Canada Revenue Agency) requested information from these taxpayers more quickly, and gave less time to respond, than it did with other taxpayers, such as international and large businesses, and taxpayers with offshore transactions,” said the report. In the five years from 2013-2018, the CRA accepted voluntary disclosures from 140 people who were already being audited, and waived $17 million they owed in interest and penalties.
The treasure trove of unique genomes hiding in plain sight
Jenn Liv There’s a boxed warning that comes along with Plavix, the anti-blood-clotting drug that hit the market in 1997. If you’re a “poor metabolizer,” it warns, the drug may not be effective for you and might even lead to negative effects.
Stories from American Experience
In November of 1924, two women pose for a picture outside the Virginia Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded. Mother and daughter, they were separated some dozen years before, when municipal authorities decided that Emma Buck couldn’t provide adequate care for her little girl, Carrie, no more than six at the time. Despite the years apart, their relationship seems affectionate. Before the camera, Emma rests a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. Now 18, Carrie has recently been separated from her own daughter. That child, born out of wedlock, has been adopted by the Dobbs family — the same people who fostered Carrie.
Muslims lived in America before Protestantism even existed
The first words to pass between Europeans and Americans (one-sided and confusing as they must have been) were in the sacred language of Islam. Christopher Columbus had hoped to sail to Asia and had prepared to communicate at its great courts in one of the major languages of Eurasian commerce. So when Columbus’s interpreter, a Spanish Jew, spoke to the Taíno of Hispaniola, he did so in Arabic. Not just the language of Islam, but the religion itself likely arrived in America in 1492, more than 20 years before Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door, igniting the Protestant reformation. Moors – African and Arab Muslims – had conquered much of the Iberian peninsula in 711, establishing a Muslim culture that lasted nearly eight centuries. By 1491, the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella completed the Reconquista, defeating the last of the Muslim kingdoms, Granada.
Trump is using the government as a bargaining chip – like a dictator would
“I have the absolute right to do national emergency if I want,” Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday. The wonderful thing about Trump’s presidency (I never thought I’d begin a sentence this way), is he brings us back to basics. The basic difference between a democracy and a dictatorship comes down to means and ends. Democracy is about means, not ends. If we all agreed on the ends (such as whether to build a wall along the Mexican border) there’d be no need for democracy.
Could consciousness all come down to the way things vibrate?
Why is my awareness here, while yours is over there? Why is the universe split in two for each of us, into a subject and an infinity of objects? How is each of us our own center of experience, receiving information about the rest of the world out there? Why are some things conscious and others apparently not?
