Mitigating climate change? Guiding responsible research in geoengineering

Mar. 14, 2013 ? Geoengineering, the use of human technologies to alter Earth's climate system -- such as injecting reflective particles into the upper atmosphere to scatter incoming sunlight back to space -- has emerged as a potentially promising way to mitigate the impacts of climate change. But such efforts could present unforeseen new risks. That inherent tension, argue two professors from UCLA and Harvard, has thwarted both scientific advances and the development of an international framework for regulating and guiding geoengineering research.

In an article published March 15 in the journal Science, Edward Parson of UCLA and David Keith of Harvard University outline how the current deadlock on governance of geoengineering research poses real threats to the sound management of climate risk. Their article advances concrete and actionable proposals for allowing further research -- but not deployment -- and for creating scientific and legal guidance, as well as addressing public concerns.

"We're trying to avoid a policy train wreck," said Keith, a professor of public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. "Informed policy judgments in the future require research now into geoengineering methods' efficacy and risks. If research remains blocked, in some stark future situation, only untested approaches will be available."

"Our proposals address the lack of international legal coordination that has contributed to the current deadlock," said Parson, a professor of law and faculty co-director of the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment at the UCLA School of Law. "Coordinated international governance of research will both provide the guidance and confidence to allow needed, low-risk research to proceed and address legitimate public concerns about irresponsible interventions or a thoughtless slide into deployment."

In their paper, the authors state that progress on research governance must advance four aims:

• Allow low-risk, scientifically valuable research to proceed.
• Give scientists guidance on the design of socially acceptable research.
• Address legitimate public concerns.
• End the current legal void that facilitates rogue projects.

Parson and Keith argue that scientific self-regulation is not sufficient to manage risks and that scientists need to accept government authority over geoengineering research. They emphasize that initial steps should not require new laws or treaties but can come from informal consultation and coordination among governments.

The authors also propose defining two thresholds for governance of geoengineering research: a large-scale threshold to be subject to a moratorium and a separate, much smaller threshold below which research would be allowed. Keith, for example, is currently developing an outdoor experiment to test the risks and efficacy of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering, which would fall below the proposed allowable threshold.

The authors emphasize that this article proposes only first steps. In the near term, these steps frame a social bargain that would allow research to proceed; in the long term, they begin to build international norms of cooperation and transparency in geoengineering.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. E. A. Parson, D. W. Keith. End the Deadlock on Governance of Geoengineering Research. Science, 2013; 339 (6125): 1278 DOI: 10.1126/science.1232527

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/0lMU5gx_ziQ/130314141014.htm

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Zinio Guest Post: A Survival Guide for Magazine Lovers

The ticking time bomb that has defined the intersection of print and digital publishing went off over the past few weeks. It?s not the fault of any executive, technology or business model. It?s simply the beginning of a new cycle of magazine content and delivery. It you love magazines, it?s all about discovery and great value right now. If you don?t like magazines, this explosion increases the chances that you just might change your mind.

Think about this: We?re coming off a week in which one of the world?s biggest publishing companies (Time Inc.) tried to sell its library to another of the world?s biggest publishing companies (Meredith). The deal fell apart. And in the same week, another global giant (News Corp) announced that its newly spun-off publishing division will get a $2.5 billion cash infusion, some of which will spawn a new WSJ.Money print magazine, and some of which will go to digital newspaper publishing.

This mass change, growth, and implosion is the reality for publishers over the next few years. It?s print vs. digital, and a game of survival of the fittest. Behind the scenes, some publishing executives are clinging to the vision that print will still be the best business magazine model for the right content and the right audience. And then others are seeing the dramatic changes with the long-term view that digital models will win out. This is happening faster than most people think.

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Go beyond the parades and legends, and you will find a world of new content about Ireland on Zinio. Check out a more authentic Ireland in this Guest Post.

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In the middle is one constant truth: Magazines want subscribers. And, the most profitable subscribers are those found on digital platforms. That?s why consumers have seen an uptick in aggressive ads for apps that represent a magazine, or an entire publishing company. It?s also why they have seen more aggressive efforts from iTunes, Google and even Zinio.

So how does this turn into a survival guide for the magazine lover? It?s a great time to be a magazine consumer. And believe it or not, it?s a great time to be a publisher.

Tip #1: You can find more: Essentially whatever interests you now has a digital magazine to go with it. Global barriers are gone. Auto fans can now find more than 500 magazines to fill their interest. Wedding fans can find over 150 choices digitally. All can be read on any device at hand.

Tip #2: Now reading can happen anywhere: Android, Blackberry, iPhone or PC. What device you have no longer matters. What does matter is, when you are in the middle of a conversation and want to show the person you are speaking to a visual example of what you need, you have a magazine?s newsstand right at your fingertips.

Tip #3: The savvy shopper gets the deal. While the digital magazine marketplace explodes, many publishers are making it even more attractive to try digital content by dropping prices. For example: Zinio recently launched our Spring Cleaning program, which gives consumers up to 50% off on a slew of design, decorating and gardening titles. You will see more of these kinds of deals available throughout the year, changing with the seasons.

Tip #4: New world meets old world. ?Magazines, even in digital formats, offer something long forgotten by the web: long form editorial. And now, digital magazine publishers can marry that with Twitter feeds and other social networks, right inside the pages of a magazine. It?s pretty amazing.

Tip #5: Publishers are not sitting still for this. And this makes consumers happy.If you?re a publisher, it is a time of transition and on the other side of transition is opportunity. Sometimes we get caught up in the cool technology that allows content exploration, international editions and even the entire process that makes magazines accessible anywhere anytime. And lately we?re caught up in this print vs. digital debate. But when you look at the basics of what publishing companies are doing, it?s all about making content accessible. There?s an urgency to that process now because consumers are in flux. The business is in flux. Consumers are watching new subscription deals and new membership models come at them with speed and volume.

This time is fantastic for magazine consumers, publishers and even skeptics. At Zinio we are thrilled to be a vital part of it, but the most important thing is that we are making content available to the consumer as they want it, when they want it. Because after all it?s all about you, and you, the customer, are always right. Share your favorite digital magazine survival tips.

Source: http://www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/13305-zinio-guest-post-a-survival-guide-for-magazine-lovers

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Tobacco industry appears to have evaded FDA ban on 'light' cigarette descriptors

Mar. 13, 2013 ? New research from Harvard School of Public Health (HPSH) shows that one year after the federal government passed a law banning word descriptors such as "light," "mild," and "low" on cigarette packages, smokers can still easily identify their brands because of color-coding that tobacco companies added to "light" packs after the ban. These findings suggest that the companies have, in effect, been able to evade the ban on misleading wording -- thus still conveying the false and deceptive message that lights are safer than "regular" cigarettes.

In addition, the companies failed to apply for applications to have these products approved as "new products" as called for by the law.

The study was published online March 13, 2013 in Tobacco Control.

"The tobacco industry was found guilty by a federal court in 2006 for deceptively promoting 'light' cigarettes as safer after countless smokers who switched to lights died prematurely, thinking they had reduced their health risks. After a new federal law was passed in 2009 to end the tobacco industry's deceptive marketing practices, the industry has apparently circumvented it by using new and sophisticated ways to deceive consumers and has not sought Food and Drug Administration approval for these products as required by law," said study co-author Gregory Connolly, director of the Center for Global Tobacco Control at HSPH and professor of the practice of public health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

After the U.S. Surgeon General's 1964 report found that cigarette smoking causes disease, tobacco companies began marketing "light" cigarettes with ventilation holes that allowed air to mix with smoke, which the companies said would limit the amount of smoke a person would inhale. However, a 2001 National Cancer Institute (NCI) report found that smokers compensate for the lower smoke yield in "light" cigarettes -- and thus ingest as much tar and nicotine as "regular" cigarettes -- by smoking more intensely, more often, or by blocking the ventilation holes with their fingers or lips.

In 2006, a U.S. federal court ruled that tobacco companies should be banned from any future use of descriptive words that convey a false health message. The FDA -- given the authority to regulate tobacco products in 2009 as part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act -- subsequently issued its ban.

To see whether the tobacco companies were complying with or circumventing the ban, the HSPH researchers examined retailer manuals from the tobacco company Philip Morris; manufacturers' annual reports filed with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health; national cigarette sales data; and the results of a 2011 national public opinion survey that included questions about smokers' perceptions of their brands being "light" or regular.

The study describes how Philip Morris removed the terms "light," "ultra-light," and "mild" from cigarette packs and substituted new brand names and colors. For example, the "Marlboro Light" brand was renamed "Marlboro Gold," "Marlboro Mild" was renamed "Marlboro Blue," and Marlboro Ultra-light" was renamed "Marlboro Silver." Other tobacco companies made similar changes. The cigarettes themselves remained unchanged, however; the percentage of ventilation in each category of "light" sub-brands was the same after being renamed and given a new color descriptor. Ventilation is the principle determinant of whether a cigarette is called "light."

In addition, the study notes that a Philip Morris brochure for retailers stated, "Some cigarette and smokeless packaging is changing, but the product remains the same. For trade use only: not to be shown or distributed to consumers."

In the public opinion survey, more than 90% of the smoker respondents said that, one year after the FDA ban, they found it either "somewhat easy" (10%) or "very easy" (82%) to identify their usual brand of cigarettes -- in other words, they still thought of certain brands as "light" even though the packages did not use the "light" descriptors.

"This study demonstrates the continued attempts of the industry to avoid reasonable regulation of tobacco products. Scrutiny is needed by the FDA and courts to ensure that tobacco manufacturers comply with the law and that their products no longer convey false impressions of reduced risk," said study co-author Hillel Alpert, research scientist in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The results will be presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Nicotine and Tobacco research on March 14, 2013 in Boston.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Harvard School of Public Health, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Gregory N Connolly, Hillel R Alpert. Has the tobacco industry evaded the FDA's ban on ?Light? cigarette descriptors? Tobacco Control, 13 March 2013 DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050746

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/K808zoTTzpQ/130313182251.htm

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92% No

All Critics (75) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (69) | Rotten (6)

It's a funny look at the way the media warp public opinion, and a curiously hopeful one.

On every level, "No" leaves one with bittersweet feelings about democracy, love and the cost of compromise.

If you can shake off the inherent grossness of mining the Pinochet years for yet another Mad Man-style deification of zeitgeist-grasping salesmen, this is moderately interesting stuff.

If there are fewer white-knuckle showdowns than in a Hollywood movie, the trade-off is a cool, ironic intelligence that ripples off the screen and up the years to where we live.

"No" stands proudly in a select sub-category of historical fiction films that work, completely and satisfyingly, as their own movies.

Garc?a Bernal quietly carries this film as a soft-spoken kid in blue jeans and untucked shirt.

Stirring as a celebration of voter empowerment, No may also inspire pangs of wistful nostalgia.

Fascinating work from director Pablo Larrain and screenwriter Pedro Peirano, who manage to slip into the skin of a beleaguered country and detail the urgency of a revolution, sold one jingle at a time.

Swims upstream against high-definition with a defiantly lo-fi approach that's also ingeniously evocative of the historical period.

Wildly colorful strokes, full of bitter humor.

It's a fascinating and surprisingly fun look behind the scenes of politics and media.

An Oscar-nominated win for more than just political junkies.

A worthy and a quite interesting slice of modern international history ...

Paranoia mixes neatly with optimism in this dramedy about the ad campaign that made Chile democratic.

It hangs on three ideas...While each...is intriguing, the execution of all is less than satisfying.

Larra?n's script is punctuated by dark bursts of humour, and the filmmaker knowingly navigates his audience to a nail-biting - though never cloying, and fully warranted - climax.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_2012/

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Editorial: Microsoft is singing the right tune with some wrong notes

In an episode of Elementary, a TV reinvention of Sherlock Holmes, there is an audacious product placement for the Microsoft Surface tablet. Holmes, a techno-adept detective working in New York, whips out a Surface to do some quick research. He snaps on the keyboard with the same hearty click made famous in Microsoft commercials. Then the kickstand! The patented three-step maneuver is so distinctly set apart within the scene, there might as well be a blinking "Advertisement" notice across the sequence. (Holmes follows up by searching on Bing, turning the product placement into an ecosystem placement.)

I don't know whether seeing a fictional genius using Surface helps sales, but if so, it's not helping enough. The Surface slate is on the skids in retail, as are Windows 8 computers. It is perhaps not surprising that Microsoft's retail users are slow to migrate from the familiar (PCs running Windows 7 and XP) to the unfamiliar (PCs running the radically different Metro interface, and a new product category in Surface). But swampy sell-through is definitely surprising financial analysts, some of whom are cutting Microsoft's revenue forecasts.

Microsoft is doing a lot right in placing its long bet on ecosystem coherence. But along the way it is making unnecessary mistakes.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/oY7wkUbhMn8/

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Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition gets a disc-based version, hits retail April 30th

Minecraft has already been plenty successful on the Xbox 360 as a downloadable game (and on other platforms, of course), but there will soon be another way for players to find their way into the world-building environment. Microsoft announced today that Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition will be available as a disc-based game at all the usual US retail outlets on April 30th, where it'll set you back $19.99. The game will be otherwise identical to the downloadable version, and come complete with all the features and content that will be included in the forthcoming ninth update to the game. Gamers in Australia, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan will have to wait a bit longer to get it, though, with release dates in those countries set for early June (other countries haven't been specified).

Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft

Comments

Source: PlayXBLA

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/13/minecraft-xbox-360-edition-retail/

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Bedford Sports Talk - Cabinet.com

Sports

Friday, March 1, 2013

SOCCER

BAC registration open

The Bedford Athletic Club Rec Soccer program is now open for spring 2013 registration. All age groups are welcome to register. Registration will remain open until April 15. The season starts right after spring break and runs until June 14.

To register, visit www.
bedfordrecsoccer.org and click on ?register online? at the home page.

BSL holding registration

The Bedford Soccer League and NHPSA are holding registration for Bedford Rec Spring 2013 Soccer. BSL has been running the recreation soccer program in Bedford since 1978, and 2012 saw the 34th Bedford Fall Rec Season as well as the addition of the first Spring Rec Soccer Program. With almost 300 players at age groups from preK-third grade, it?s back for 2013.

This year the program will expand to include fourth- and fifth-grade players. For more information, or to register online, please visit www.nhpsa.net. Anyone with questions, or anyone interested in volunteering as a coordinator, coach or in sponsorship opportunities, please contact Mark Beaumont at mbeaumont@nhpsa.net.

FOOTBALL

Jags registration nights

The Bedford Jaguars will be holding registration nights on March 5 and March 19 from 7-9 p.m. at McKelvie Intermediate School in Bedford. All registration details can be found on the Jaguars? website, www.bedfordjaguars.org.

Jr. Bulldogs holding event

The Bedford Jr. Bulldogs football and cheer programs will be holding a 2013 kickoff event from 6-8 p.m. on March 12 at the McKelvie School cafeteria. For more information, go to www.juniorbulldogs.org.

Jr. Bulldogs get
new helmets

The Bedford Jr. Bulldogs Football and Spirit Association, the local Pop Warner organization, announced it will invest up to $40,000 in new Riddell 360 helmets utilizing exclusive HITS technology. Riddell, one of the primary helmet makers in the industry, has created the Riddell 360, a new helmet with the primary goal of improving the health of football players.

The primary piece of technology is a hexagonal liner system inside of the helmet that is made up of energy managing materials, which, coupled with strategically-placed face mask hinge clips, help to reduce forces from frontal impacts. In terms of reducing concussions, there?s not a whole lot more that football player needs than the reduction of those impactful blows.

Virginia Tech does a series of helmet ratings, designed to assess a football helmet?s ability to reduce the risk of concussion, and in a recent examination of the 360, the study concluded that it and other new helmet technology performed best among the helmets they tested with the 360 receiving a five-star rating.

?We are very excited to provide this new technology in an effort to reduce concussions, reduce the forces of side impacts, and advanced frontal protection in a youth football helmet.? Bedford Jr. Bulldogs football equipment coordinators, Bill Kramer and Steve Krasinski said. ?Similar to any sport with contact, the Jr. Bulldogs view concussion issues very seriously.?

Shaun Kelley, President of Bedford Jr. Bulldogs football add, ?Our organization wants to do everything possible to keep our children as safe as possible while they learn and enjoy the sport of football.?

Fund raising is now under way to raise additional money needed to purchase these new helmets for every player in the Bedford Jr. Bulldogs Organization regardless of age level. The Bedford Jr. Bulldogs invites anyone interested in seeing the next evolution Riddell 360 football helmet to attend our upcoming 2013 Kick-Off Event.

Source: http://www.cabinet.com/bedfordjournal/bedfordsports/995315-308/bedford-sports-talk.html

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