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Paris Climate Change Agreement gains approval

2017年1月18日

  The Paris Agreement finally takes effect after a continuous effort to fend off the disastrous climate change. Reaching about 195 countries, the agreement endorses the goal to address the planet-warming emissions of greenhouse gases. It aims to limit the increase of global temperatures to 2°C, and if possible, to 1.5°C. Presenting the specific details to successfully eradicate the problems, however, remains a struggle. According to the Paris-based executive director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, even if the countries that signed the agreement fully achieves their initial vows, the increase will still be closer to 2.7°C. A number of companies is still yet to implement financial changes to…
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Stolen Yahoo data for sale on dark web

2017年1月17日

  Yahoo fell victim to 2013 hacking incident–weighed as the biggest data infringement in history. Personal information of Yahoo users including phone numbers, passwords, security questions, and backup email addresses had been stolen in the modus operandi. The acquired data was up for trading on the dark web, but its value had been expected to suffer since the incident had been public. Cybersecurity firm, InfoArmor, has identified Eastern Europe-based group of hackers called Group E responsible for the cybercrime. The same group was reported to have previously attacked Dropbox, Tumblr, and VK.com. This act was often led to identity theft where hackers could obtain further information. Hackers such as Group…
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Children’s love in a truck

2017年1月16日

  A transit company headquartered in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture provided its drivers emotional support through the Kodomo Museum Project. The said scheme was carried it out by designing trucks with drawings made by the drivers’ children. This project was brought about to curtail road accidents. 15 other companies in the Kansai, Kanto, and Chubu regions had participated in the project succeeding its launching two years earlier. Hirofumi Miyata, president of Miyata Traffic and head of the Kodomo Museum Project, thought opting for state-of-the-art driving equipment may not be enough to prevent the occurrence of vehicular collision. While finding a better strategy, he chanced upon a picture drawn by a driver’s…
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Experts urge malnutrition be cured to prevent health catastrophe

2017年1月13日

  Experts urge malnutrition be cured to prevent health catastrophe Otherwise governments act on it, malnutrition can harm 50 percent of the globe’s population come 2035, U.N. Agencies and experts agree. This all-pervading setback includes both famine and obesity. Currently, this food problem has spread throughout a third of the population which costs the world economy roughly $3.5 trillion annually in healthcare and lost productivity, according to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Tweaking at the margins won’t suffice and radical transformation of our food systems is needed to nourish – not just feed – 9 billion people, Patrick Webb, professor of nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition…
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Panda twins in Atlanta zoo get names

2017年1月12日

  Atlanta Zoo’s twin panda cubs, formerly known as Cub A and Cub B, receive their names during their 100-day naming celebration last December 12, 2016. Zoo Atlanta President and CEO Raymond B. King joyfully announced the cubs’ names to the public. The twins were named as Ya Lun and Xi Lun which means “Lun Lun’s elegant and happy daughters.” The panda twins are the sixth and seventh offspring of their mum Lun Lun and dad Yang Yang. The twin cubs’ names were chosen by public vote out of the seven pairs of names provided by the zoo’s panda conservation partners. The 100-day naming ceremony is a Chinese tradition that…
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Schools for young offenders instead of jails

2017年1月10日

Juvenile offenders will soon be held in schools rather than in youth jails. This is part of the United Kingdom government’s plan to put education at the center of youth rehabilitation and to reduce recidivism. Justice Secretary Liz Truss pledged an additional £15 million for this project. The project with start with two schools. Juvenile offenders will study core subjects like English and Math. To secure a better future for youth offenders who have completed their time, work training and internship programs shall also be put in place. Instrumental to this government project on youth offenders is the study of child behavioral expert, Charlie Taylor. His study is focused on…
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New York SantaCon

2017年1月9日

Revelers in New York City recently took part in a Christmas fundraiser. All alcohol-loving people attended the fundraiser aptly called SantaCon. SantaCon, besides being a fundraiser, is also known as the annual Christmas pub crawl. SantaCon involves merrymakers dressing in festive costumes and heading for the bars. Some say this event has become so rowdy that concerned citizens have had failed attempts to shut it down. The organizers say SantaCon celebrates Christmas traditions of festive dress and good cheer. It also raises a considerable amount of money for charity. In 2016, the event took place on December 10. The annual bar crawl was held in 380 cities across the US…
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Even mild smoking can cause early death

2017年1月6日

A new study suggests that non-frequent smokers still have a higher chance of dying early than non-smokers. Smoking just once per day gives one a 64% chance of dying early. Those who smoke less than one cigarette per day are also nine times more likely to die of lung cancer. On the other hand, heavy smokers or those smoking one to 10 cigarettes per day have an 87% chance at an early death than non-smokers. They are also 12 times more likely to die of lung cancer. Although this research is too limited as most of its repondents were older and caucasian, this is an important research as it is…
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University of Oxford ranked best in the world

2016年12月27日

Oxford University gained the top spot among the best ranking universities for the year 2016. Oxford surpassed California Institute of Technology this year because of a more substantial research budget and increased international reception. Oxford is really excited by this recent turn of events, being that the recent Brexit could have entirely jeopardized the university’s funding, collaborative projects and international reception. Joining Oxford are Cambridge and Imperial College London in the fourth and eight spots respectively. They join the ranks of top Amercian universities like Stanford, Harvard, Princeton & MIT. The recent positioning of the universities likewise demonstrates the rising impact of Asian universities, especially those in China, which are…
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Labor shortage

2016年12月23日

Japan’s apparent aging and decreasing population is causing the greatest shortages of manpower for labor-intensive sectors. Industries like hotels, restaurants, and elderly care facilities are less capable of offering competitive wages as they hit lowest on productivity per employee. Also, the elderly care system is undermined by government efforts that set the compensation down. In 2015, the average monthly wages in Japan fell for the fourth consecutive year. The central bank’s target for the average monthly wage increase is 2% for 2016, but the labor ministry data records an increase of only 1% in September. Adding to this labor predicament is the sabotage of employees’ bargaining power due to the…
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