Author: Daniela

  • Life Teems in one of the most isolated places on earth

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    In Popsci, Francie Diep reports on a new study of Lake Vostok – Antartica’s largest sealed lake: For this study, the Ohio biologists examined ice gathered from just underneath Lake Vostok’s glacier, at the lake’s southern edges. Scientists think such ice, called accretion ice, represents water from the surface of the lake that froze to…

  • Wednesday Prayer

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    Adhan is the first call to prayer. The Adhan is uttered in a loud, albeit sweet melodious, voice to announce to the faithful that it is time for the Obligatory Prayer and to invite them to offer the prayers. Those who perform Adhan are known as ‘Muedhin.’ The honour of being the first Muedhin goes…

  • Amazon’s Unfulfillment Centers

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    Originally posted on The Dish: A Financial Times article spotlights Amazon’s shipping warehouse in the former coal-mining town of Rugeley, England. John Brownlee follows up: The issue at Rugeley is not that workers are ungrateful for the jobs Amazon has given them, or even that they find these jobs unpleasant. Most of Rugeley’s workers come from mining…

  • Mandela Family Feud and African Culture

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    Although this article by Nokuzola Mndende in IOL News centers on the family feud over the bones of the deceased children of Nelson Mandela, the information about African culture, family structure, clans and traditional religion is so fascinating I’ve post it in its entirety: The family feud over the bones of the deceased children of…

  • Cracks in GMO Empire Beginning to Appear

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    When it comes to food policy, Monsanto always seems to be at the fore.  Will Fantle tells us why in EcoWatch: From the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to foreign policy, Congress, state governments, elections and the courts, the feverish politics of genetically modified foods (GMOs) have infected decision making and dramatically tilted policies towards the desires…

  • Life Pie Chart

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  • Alan Stivell – Renaissance de la harpe celtique

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  • Groundwater Depletion Worsening All Over the World

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    A pioneering new study by University of California scientists says the arid Middle East is rapidly getting drier. They say groundwater depletion in the Tigris-Euphrates-Western Iran region is happening much faster than people expected. Depletion is quickened by farmers who pump water from limited underground aquifers to feed crops. These aquifers will not be replenished,…

  • The Power Of Maps

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    Originally posted on The Dish: Cartographer Denis Wood considers his craft: I’ve seen maps that I find completing terrifying. Maps of uranium mining and of various illnesses in the Navajo reservations—they’re just insane. They just make you furious. Bill Bunge’s map—which I still think is one of the great maps, the map of where white commuters…

  • Kathmandu – A House of Poems

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    Many of us are familiar with Kathmandu from the Speilberg franchise Indiana Jones.  We think of it as a remote hovel with seedy bars, inhabited by unsavory characters, in the middle of nowhere.  Here’s reportage from The Himilayan on a literary programme, held at the Image Ark Gallery, that provides a real glimpse into the…