Global Voices » Science

Egypt: Historical Arabic Manuscripts Put Online

Mohamed Adel — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:15:37 +0000

Egypt's Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Wellcome Library and King’s College London Digital Humanities Department have recently launched the Wellcome Arabic Manuscript Cataloguing Partnership (WAMCP). The manuscripts collection comprises around 1000 manuscript books and fragments relating to the history of medicine. All content is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 2.0).

South Korea: Continuing Mad Cow Controversy Over US Beef Imports

Lee Yoo Eun — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:35:10 +0000

Since last week, South Korea has seen continuing protests against importing beef from the United States after mad cow disease broke out in California. The Korean government dispatched its inspection team to the US to quell the public anger incited by the government's unkept promise to halt the beef imports immediately the disease was detected. However, the inspection team's lack of control over the investigation process and the biased member selection process further deepened South Korean's distrust of the government.

South Korea's Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries sent a nine-person inspection team that checked infected cattle and meat packing facilities in the United States right after the disease was detected. They returned only to announce on May 11, 2012, there is no real human health threat posed by American beef and concluded that the country will maintain its quarantine inspections regime on the beef without halting imports, a solution that totally contradicts the government's promise made in 2008. The Korean public responded to this result with heated discussions and criticism online.

One of South Korea's prominent political bloggers IamPeter clarified [ko] the reason for public distrust of the government's version of the story:

원래 광우병 미국 현지 조사단은 정확한 실태 파악을 위해 발병 농장 방문, 사체의 조직 검사 등 모든 의혹을 밝힐 수 있는 조사를 하기로 되어 있었습니다. 그러나 지금 광우병 미국 현지 조사단은 미국 측이 허용하는 장소만 가서 구경만 하고 있습니다. 광우병 발병 현지 목장 방문은 아예 하지도 못했고, 광우병 소의 사체 조직 검사도 미국 측에 의해 좌절됐습니다. 도축장 방문도 수출용이 아닌 내수용 도축장에만 갔다 왔습니다. 결국 광우병 미국 현지 조사단이 했던 일은 아무것도 없습니다. 그저 미국이 보여주는 지정된 코스를 충실하게 견학만 하고 있습니다.

The inspection team was supposed to carry out a thorough inspection including visiting the farm where the disease was detected and having a biopsy on the dead cow in order to dispel every suspicion. However this inspection team merely toured around some places which the US side allowed them to visit. They never even made it close to the farm where the disease broke out and the biopsy was also turned down by the US. And the visit to meatpacking facilities was limited to the domestic facilities and not the one handling beef which will be exported internationally. In summary, the inspection team did nothing. They had a field trip to some spots and stayed on a travel route all planned out by the US.

A brochure of anti US beef import protest planned on May 12 (left). Image shared by twitter user @hudanchu

Sarcastic comments ridiculing the inspection team inundated blogs and the twittersphere. Lee Hyang-ah commented [ko] below a related news article:

세금으로 미국여행 잘하고왓지뭐…자기들이 미국가서 광우병조사한다고하면 아이고 오시느라고 고생많았습니다. 앉아서 커피나 먹으면서 같이 얘기해봅시다. 이럴줄알앗나?? 뭔 뜻으로 조사단을 보냇는지 모르겟다.

They had a quite a good trip to the US with the taxpayer's money. Did they really think the US would welcome them when they came over to inspect for mad cow disease? Did they really think the US would say, “What a trip you had. Come and take a seat over here and discuss this issue over a coffee”? Really? I don't see the reason for dispatching the inspection team.

A net user @555773 tweeted [ko]:

[…]농장에도 방문도 못하고 조사한 결과가 이상이 없다며 검역 강화에만 치중하면서 중단은 하지 않고 국민의 불안감만 안기고 있는 정부를 신뢰할수 없다

They (referring to the mad cow disease inspection team) did not even visit the farm (where the disease broke out). The government is trying so hard to persuade us that US beef is safe and want to focus on continuing the quarantine regime, instead of halting the imports. And this kind of behavior makes South Korean people more anxious and harder to trust the current government even more.

Baek Chan-hong (@mindgood) tweeted [ko]:

헛물만 켜다온 광우병 조사단 “미국산 쇠고기 안전” 결론…그럴거면 이메일로 조사하지.

The dispatched team's inspection was totally useless. And they concluded that US beef is safe. Is this all we can get? Then it could have been better to inspect the case via email.

Another Twitter user @korea486 tweeted [ko]:

광우병 조사단 귀국,미국 쇠고기 이상 없다고 발표했군요! 광우병 조사단? 관광단 유람단 아니였나? 이 이인간들 미국소 먹을까요? 안 먹을까요?

The mad cow disease inspection team returned from the US and announced there is nothing wrong with US beef. Did they just call themselves an inspection team? I thought they were a tour team. What do you think- will they eat US beef in the future?

Cho Neung-hee(@mbcpdcho), a producer at MBC who is also a former chief producer of investigative journalism show “PD Notebook” tweeted [ko]:

조사단장을 맡은 주이석 질병방역본부장은 지난 2008년 4월 미국쇠고기 졸속협상시 협상단 실무담당자였다. 2008년 6월에는 PD수첩 제작진을 형사처벌해달라며 대검찰청에 수사의뢰서를 제출하고 관련 진술을 한 사람으로 조사의 객관성과 공정성이 의심된다.

The leader of the inspection team Joo E-suk, also the head of the animal quarantine office, was actually the one who handled the administrative stuff during the US beef import negotiation process back on April 2008. On June 2008, he even requested an investigation of PD Notebook reporters (who covered the danger of the mad cow disease) by the Supreme Prosecutor's Office and indeed testified against us. I highly doubt this investigation's objectivity and fairness.

Some news reports revealed that scientists and scholars who are against the US beef imports were excluded from the team.

The government argues the most recent case in California is a very rare atypical case and the case is unlikely to have caused by animal feed. However, another tweet [ko] by Cho made references to some US officials from the Clinton and Obama administrations who said they cannot verify for the moment whether there is any possible connection between the disease and the animal feed and they can't confirm the origin of this atypical case. Cho added [ko]:

[…] 학자들의이 반론으로 미국정부도 그 원인을 모른다고 후퇴했는데.. 유독 한국 농식품부는 사료가 원인이 아니라고 ‘추정'된다며.. 그러니 안전하다며.. 국민을 설득하려는지 참으로 안타깝군요. 사전예방의 법칙! 어디갔어?

Due to scholars arguments, even the US government have stepped back and acknowledged that they don't know clear reasons for the disease outbreak. But South Korea's Food/Agriculture Department alone ‘assumes' that the animal feed is not the cause of the problem, so it is safe. It is so pathetic to see them trying hard to persuade Korean people. Where did the rule of “Prevention” (in health policy) go in this country ?

IamPeter added [ko] after his analysis:

“정형 광우병은 없어졌다”고 했는데, 세계동물보건기구(OIE)의 2011년 광우병 통계에는 총 광우병 29건 중 정형 26건, 비정형 3건으로 나와 있습니다. […] 광우병에 대한 과학적인 결론은 100% 진실이 없습니다. 아직 정확하게 규명되지 않은 일들이 많기 때문입니다. 그렇기에 더욱 위험합니다. 과학적으로 규명되지 않았기에 위험하지 않다는 주장은 ‘바다의 깊이를 현재 모른다'라고 말해놓고, ‘그러니 빠져도 괜찮다'라는 말과 다를 바가 없습니다.

The government said that the ‘typical' disease case has disappeared. But according to OIE's [note: OIE refers to International Office of Epizootics which still known by its French acronym Office International des Epizooties] statistics on mad cow disease in 2011, among the total 29 mad cow disease cases, 26 cases of were ‘typical' and three were ‘atypical' cases […] There is no 100 percent verified scientific truth in the mad cow disease controversy yet, since there are lots of parts that need to be proven. That is what makes this situation more dangerous. (The current South Korean government's) logic is, ‘It is not dangerous since the risk of the disease has not yet been scientifically proven'. To me it seems like saying, “We don't know the depth of the ocean yet, so it is okay to fall into it”.

Egypt: Country's First Research University At Risk

Salah Almhamdi — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:35:22 +0000

Since last year the fate of Nile University, Egypt's first research university, has been uncertain. Its purpose-built campus has been “conceded” to the Zewail City of Science and Technology, an initiative of renowned Egyptian-American scientist and 1999 Nobel Chemistry Prize winner Ahmed Zewail.

Nile University had been scheduled to move to the campus at the beginning of 2011, but when Mubarak was toppled from power, it was announced that the land and buildings would instead be allocatd to the Zewail City of Science and Technology.

Nile University has suffered because of its association with Ahmed Nazif, a former prime minister who last year received a one-year suspended sentence on corruption charges. It has been argued that by reallocating the land the state was “rectifying” the situation. However, Egypt's netizens are almost unanimous in their condemnation of the move.

Nile University, Giza, Egypt. Image by Mahmoud Allam, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

In a recent post blogger Zeinab Mohamed outlined the situation:

In 2000 The Zewail city of science and research’s corner stone was set up in a location in 6th of October area and 300 acres were allocated to that project. It was too good to be true then the project faced a lot of red tape and bureaucracy and in the end Zewail left and returned back to the States. […] Now after the ousting of Mubarak and during the good old days of PM Essam Sharaf, we found out that the old project of Zewail is resurrected again in which for sure is something great but there was a price: wiping out the Nile University (NU) and merging it inside the new Zewail city without even recognizing its achievements. Zewail will take the NU, its students and researches for no price at all!! The buildings of those 127 acres re-allocated to NU are now part of Zewail city. Not only that, but the buildings and the NU facilities were closed for months in front of the NU students with no regard for their researches!!

Image from the Facebook page of Save NILE University: Don't Kill Research in Egypt

Nile University teacher Mahmoud Allam commented [ar]:

أما الإدعاء بأن هذا المقر كان يخص مشروع الدكتور زويل فهذا غير صحيح فبعد أن وضع حجر أساس عام 2000 توقف المشروع ولم تقم أى جهة بأى أعمال بناء أو خلافه وظلت هذه الأراضى صحراء حتى قامت وزارة الاتصالات بشرائها عام 2003 والصور المصورة فى عام 2004 تثبت ذلك و من المثير أيضا أن هذه الصور تثبت أن موضع حجر أساس جامعة العلوم التكنولوجيا (جامعة زويل) الذى تم وضعه عام 2000 يقع فعليا حقيقة خارج حدود مقر جامعة النيل

The claim that this building belonged to Dr Zewail's project is untrue. After he layed the foundation stone in 2000, the project stopped and no one was undertaking any building or other work. The land was desert until the Ministry of Telecommunications bought it in 2003, and the photos taken in 2004 confirm that. What is also interesting is that these photos prove that the location of the foundation stone of the the University of Science and Technology (Zewail University) which was laid in 2000 actually lies outside the limits of Nile University site.

Journalist Salamah Abdulhameed added [ar]:

الأنكى أن زويل الذي يواجه بحملة علمية من جانب علماء مصريين محترمين في جامعة النيل لم يمنحني شخصيا حتى الأن مبررا واحدا مقنعا لأصدق أنه غير راغب في إزالة هذا الكيان العلمي القائم منذ خمس سنوات ويحقق نجاحا مشهودا […] هو فقط يرغب في هدمها قبل أن “يتلكك” ويعود من حيث أتى إلى الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية التي يحمل جنسيتها.

The worst thing is that Zewail, who is facing a campaign from respected Egyptian scientists at Nile University, has not until now provided a single convincing reason to make me believe that he is not willing to dismantle this scientific establishment that has been in existence for five years, and is achieving noticeable success. […] He just wants to destroy it [Nile University] before he “hesitates” and goes back to where he came from, to the United States where he has citizenship.

However, Egyptian poet Farouk Goweda supports Zewail City and wrote [ar]:

هناك اعتقاد لدي المسئولين في جامعة النيل ووزارة الاتصالات أن مدينة زويل انتزعت منهم الأرض والمنشآت التي أقامتها جامعة النيل, رغم أن الحقائق تقول أن الأرض كانت مخصصة من البداية لمشروع زويل وهناك نصب تذكاري فيها يؤكد ذلك..

There is a belief amongst the officials of Nile University and the Ministry of Telecommunications that Zewail City acquired by extortion the land and the facilities that were established by Nile University, despite the fact that the land was dedicated from the beginning to the Zewail project and there is a memorial that confirms that…

Logo of Save Nile University campaign. Image from the Facebook page of Save NILE University: Don't Kill Research in Egypt

Zeinab Mohamed linked to the online campaign:

The students and the researchers have launched a big campaign to Save NU whether online or offline through protests and sits in. Here is the official Save NU website and its official FB page. They do not want to be a part of the Zowail city.

Assistant researcher Heba Shalaby stands by the position of Nile University, and addressed its faculty and students:

@HebaShalaby: As long as your cause is righteous, and you're doing your best, you have nothing more to worry about.

Kenya: Young Man Invents Wooden Extension Cable

Ndesanjo Macha — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:02:25 +0000

Kenyan young man invents wooden extension cable, AfriGadget reports: “A young man from Kiandutu slums in Thika had always wanted to be an electrical engineer, but lack of fees denied him a chance to further his studies. And yet this has not dampen his resolve to put his mark on the world of electrical engineering.For starters, he has devised a way of making wooden extension cables, which as NTV’s Jane Ngoiri reports, is causing quite a stir in his neighbourhood.”

Macedonia: Video Streaming for the Civil Society

Filip Stojanovski — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 01:26:54 +0000

Vo živo.mk (”Going Live” in Macedonian) is a new service dedicated to providing video streaming and recordings of civil society events in Macedonia. The first event to be covered is a public debate on “What kinds of scientific research and teaching are enabled through the new Law on Higher Education?” scheduled to take place on Friday, March 30, at the GEM Club [mk].

Brazil: Thoughts on Access to Science on Document Freedom Day

Sara Moreira — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:16:45 +0000

In the Document Freedom Day, March 28, Brazilian blogger and professor Ladislau Dowbor writes [pt] about open access to science, and questions the price of information. He also shares his views on the role of professors in the face of intelectual property, and an article about an online boycott by 8,209 researchers who are seeking to set academic research free.

Blogger Analysis on North Korea's Expected Rocket Trajectory

Lee Yoo Eun — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 04:44:30 +0000

North Korea Tech blog wrote about North Korea's rocket launch which is scheduled for next month. The blogger, after analyzing the International Maritime Organization's documents, predicted that the rocket will drop to earth in two stages off the western coast of South Korea and to the east of Luzon Island in the Philippines.

Video: Surfers, Fishermen and Radiation in Post Earthquake Japan

Juliana Rincón Parra — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:58:27 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011 and Refugees.

Journalist Lisa Katayama and filmmaker Jason Wishnow are documenting the lives of people dealing with radiation in a post-earthquake Japan. In We Are All Radioactive, they are including 50% footage made by themselves in the areas around Fukushima Power Plant that had a meltdown after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, and 50% footage made by residents who were given waterproof digital cameras so they could tell their own story on surviving the earthquake and now dealing with radiation. The story comes to us via The Laughing Squid.

Back in March 11, 2011, a 9.0 earthquake off the Pacific Coast off Tohoku struck Japan. This, the strongest ever earthquake recorded to hit Japan, and the subsequent tsunami waves of up to 40.5 meters devastated great parts of the coastal regions of the country and caused the meltdown of nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, irradiating the neighboring areas including the ocean waters.

Although many areas have been rebuilt and people relocated, others are struggling to return to their lives before the earthquake. For those who live to be in the water, like surfers, or those that live from the water, like fishermen, understanding how their lives may change due to radiation could be the key to their continued wellbeing.

Through crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo, We Are All Radioactive is raising funds to release the different episodes of their web series progressively: as soon as they get enough money for one episode, they release it through their site until they complete all four episodes. Since launching their campaign, they have released the first episode, launched their website on the anniversary of the earthquake on March 11 and on March 21 they will share the second episode of the series on their site.

From their fundraising site blurb:

We Are All Radioactive combines technology, entertainment, and solid investigative journalism to provide answers to fundamental questions about radiation and the complexities of disaster response on both a political and sociological level.

Our footage also touches on the work of Architecture for Humanity, Greenpeace, Surfrider Foundation, and Safecast — all major global non-profits dedicated to helping Japan respectively with post-earthquake reconstruction, human and environmental rights, water safety, and radiation monitoring.

In the first episode of the series we meet transplanted American surfer Autumn, who visited Japan and decided to stay in Sendai. After the earthquake, she teamed up with other local surfers and fishermen to try and figure out how to rebuild lives through work on their beaches and communities.

Updates on how crowdfunding efforts are coming along and new releases are available at the projects Facebook page We Are All Radioactive. Videos and the website are in both Japanese and English, and include information such as a timeline outlining the history of Japan with Nuclear Energy and links to meet the four characters from the series: Autumn from episode 1, surfer Konno, humanitarian worker Kasahara trying to understand the effects of radiation on the community, including the life of his unborn child and an artist collective who are exploring the impacts of the disaster with risky endeavours.

Boat launching ceremony image from We Are All Radioactive Sneak Peek on Facebook Page

This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011 and Refugees.

Russia: First Woman in Space Turns 75 Years Old

Donna Welles — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:39:43 +0000

Just days before the world celebrated International Women's Day last week, Valentina Tereshkova - the first woman to enter space - celebrated her 75th birthday.

Although the Space Race had its origins in the years following WWII, when the United States and the Soviet Union began cultivating rocket-based missile technology, it did not officially commence until the Soviet Union launched an artificial satellite called Sputnik in 1957. Yuri Gagarin became the first human to enter space in 1961, when he piloted the ship Vostok 1 (the Russian word for East). A few years later, Vostok 6 was launched and Ms. Tereshkova became the first woman to journey into space.

Engineering Pathway Blog marked the anniversary of Ms. Tereshkova's space flight last year, and in doing so highlighted the fact that upon her re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, she had logged more flight time than all of her American counterparts combined:

Today in History – June 16, 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space aboard the Soviet Union’s Vostok 6. At the time, Tereshkova had completed three days in space, more than the flight time of all the American astronauts put together. […]

Tereshkova has received a number of medals and distinctions, including two Orders of Lenin; recognition as a Hero of the Soviet Union; the United Nation Gold Medal of Peace; the Simba International Women’s Movement Award; and the Joliot-Curie Gold Medal. In 2000, she was named “Greatest Woman Achiever of the Century” award by the International Women of the Year Association.

Woman of the Week Blog - a publication dedicated to honoring those who have made significant contributions to engineering or science - provided insight into Ms. Tereshkova's background:

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born March 6th, 1937 in Bolshoye Maslennikovo in the Yaroslavl Oblast of the Soviet Union. Her father, Vladimir Aksyenovich Tereshkov was a tractor driver, and her mother, Elena Fedorovna, worked in a textile plant. She had a younger brother and an older sister. Valentina's father Vladimir went missing in action in the Finno-Russian War of 1939-1940, and so Valentina and her siblings were raised by their mother.

Due to World War II, Valentina didn't begin attending school until she was 8 years old. At 17 she had to leave school to work at a textile mill in order to help support her family; however, she continued her education through a correspondence course. Valentina learned to sky dive through an auxiliary organization of the Soviet Air Force located in her town (Yaroslavl). She made her first jump in 1959 and created a Parachute Club at the textile mill where she worked. […]

My Mail.ru user Irina quoted [ru] General Lieutenant Nikolai Kamanin as he provided his account of Ms. Tereshkova's flight:

“I spoke with Tereshkova a few times. It seemed that she was tired but she didn't want to admit it. […] We looked at the television camera and saw that she was asleep. I woke her up and talked to her about the landing she was going to have to make by hand. [There were difficulties with the orientation of the ship and we were all very worried]. […]”

Irina then provided commentary about Ms. Tereshkova's time in space as well as her landing in Russia:

Despite the nausea and physical discomfort, she completed 48 revolutions around the earth and spent almost 3 days in space. She kept a journal and took photographs of the horizon which were used later to detect aerosol layers in the atmosphere.

The Vostok 6 landed safely in the Baevski region of the Altai territory, about 620 kilometers northeast of Karaganda. […]

Ms. Tershkova herself was then quoted as she discussed what it felt like to see the planet Earth fade into the distance:

“When I catapulted I thought to myself in silent horror, - which I finally admitted 44 years later - I saw the lake below me and my first thought was, “The lord has sent one woman who will be reclaimed into the water!”

Woman of the Week Blog elaborated on the physical and mental demands of Ms. Tereshkova's three days in orbit:

The flight was not without difficulty; the orbiter was oriented incorrectly and needed to be corrected, unfortunately it took her a day to convince ground control. Valentina became queasy during the flight and became sick. To reduce what ground control perceived as space sickness, Valentina was told to stay strapped into her chair for the three day duration of the flight. When she finally landed, she suffered a blow to her nose that resulted in a dark bruise. In the propaganda tours that followed, she had to wear heavy makeup to conceal the bruise.

Polly's Piece of Peace Blog discussed in a 2011 post Ms. Tereshkova's life journey following the historic flight:

After her pioneering flight, she was honoured as a Hero of the Soviet Union and received the Order of Lenin. She studied at the Zhukovskiy Military Air Academy, graduating in 1969. Tereshkova also held several positions in the Soviet government and the Communist Party. As a spokesperson for the USSR, she received the United Nations Gold Medal of Peace, among other international awards, including the Order of Friendship from Russian President Medvedev this past April. Briefly married to a fellow cosmonaut, she gave birth to the first child of parents who had traveled in space: a daughter, who later became a doctor.

Member of the first squad of cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova was awarded the Order of Friendship. April 12, 2011. Photo credit: www.kremlin.ru (CC BY 3.0)

Russell Phillips' Blog concluded a 2011 post about Ms. Tereshkova by providing a brief summary of her life, including her continuing wish to journey to Mars:

When Tereshkova left school to start work at the age of 16, she continued her education via correspondence courses. She graduated with distinction from Zhukovskiy Military Air Academy in 1969, and earned a doctorate in engineering in 1977. During her 70th birthday celebrations, she said that she’d like to fly to Mars, even if it was a one-way trip.

Japanese Police Raided North Korean-linked Science Association

Lee Yoo Eun — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 08:07:54 +0000

Police in Tokyo raided the office of a North Korean-linked science association over illegal PC exports allegations. North Korea Tech blog explains the association's past records and suspicions surrounding them.

Australia: Climate Skeptics in Denial Over Heartlandgate Controversy

Kevin Rennie — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 05:25:12 +0000

Allegations of the Heartland Institute funding an Australian scientist to promote climate skepticism have brought denials from fellow skeptics in response to a barrage of criticism.

dana1981 at Skeptical Science ‘Getting skeptical about climate science skepticism’ was quick to share “major exposé posts on DeSmogBlog” in Heartland Insider Exposes Institute's Budget and Strategy:

Heartland's policy positions, strategies and budget distinguish it clear as a lobby firm that is misrepresenting itself as a “think tank” - it budgets $4.1 million of its $6.4 million in projected expenditures for Editorial, Government Relations, Communications, Fundraising, and Publications, and the only activity it plans that could vaguely be considered policy development is the writing of a curriculum package for use in confusing high schoolers about climate change.

Jennifer Marohasy is a regular critic of climate change activists on her self-titled blog. She reposted Heartland’s denial and a statement by Bob Carter, the scientist in question, with a clear message in Tiny Budget for Heartland Institute Trying to Counter Global Climate Madness and Scientific Fraud:

The Heartland Institute is a 28-year-old national nonprofit organization with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems.

Response from Heartland Institute

In the war on climate change ….. Your Democracy’s John Richardson was concerned about the sources of Heartland’s funding:

But the cache raises an equal number of questions – such as the identify of an anonymous donor that has been a mainstay of Heartland. The unnamed donor, who contributed $4.6m in 2008, has since scaled back contributions. Even so, the donor's $979,000 contribution in 2011 accounted for 20% of Heartland's overall budget, the fundraising plan says.

In a detailed post at Australian Climate Madness, Simon accepted Heartland’s claims that documents had been “fabricated”. He was also keen to dismiss comparisons with the email controversy Climategate:

In terms of moral equivalence, what Heartland is doing is not surprising; seems to be no different than what other advocacy groups do. The IPCC is a very different organization, and also the CRU/UEA, with explicit requirements for government accountability. So in terms of a scandal, I would have to say that Heartlandgate is nowhere near Climategate.

Online media site Crikey has reported on the leaks and raised the role of an Australian think tank:

The Institute for Public Affairs has previously sponsored Heartland’s climate change conferences — where Carter has been a regular speaker — which almost exclusively feature experts and academics who disagree that human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases through burning fossil fuels represent a significant risk.

Jennifer Marohasy, quoted above, worked for the IPA as a researcher for 5 years.

In a follow-up on the Crikey blog Rooted, Amber Jamieson speculated about the identity of the alleged donor in Who’s the Anonymous Donor keeping a climate sceptic think tank afloat?

Meanwhile Joanne Nova, of JoNova: Science, carbon, climate and tax - Tackling tribal groupthink, seemed upbeat about the controversy:

The believers of man-made-weather-disasters are wetting themselves with excitement. It painful to watch grown men drool.

She saw Heartland as a very efficient operation and took a swipe at climate change advocates on the public payroll:

And if Bob Carter receives an honorarium type amount of $1500 a month, the pull of those big dollars must be powerfully tempting for people like Tim Flannery who struggle along on about $1200 each day he works.

Climate researcher Tony Rafter’s tweet seemed apt, given all the claims and counterclaims of hypocrisy:

@tonyrafter 12:26 AM - 16 Feb 12
“If you like your hypocrisy sandwiches served with a side order of double standards” check out the #Heartlandgate leaked docs! bit.ly/wBV2Kn

Issues related to funding of and by think tanks, and their independence and objectivity, are an ongoing source of online debate down under.

Slovakia, Hungary: Shrouded in Smog

Tibor Blazko — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:15:09 +0000

Blogger Ulrika Lejnarová, highlighting air pollution data from the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute [sk], wonders [sk] why Slovakia, while often paying attention to the critical conditions in Hungary [en], is doing little to inform its own citizens of the domestic situation adequately, in order to avoid health complications.

Trinidad & Tobago: Implementation Key in DNA Bill

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:35:26 +0000

The TnT River says of the amended DNA Bill, which was recently passed “after a 14 hour sitting of the Senate”: “It is a positive step in the right direction, but this action definitely needs proper planning and stringent execution for continued success.”

Brazil: Is the Weather Wacky?

Melissa Mann — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:06:46 +0000

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise noted.]

Talking about the weather may be mere elevator chit-chat but, come rain or shine, there is no honest conversation that does not make some reference to the weather. With the recent droughts in the southern region, floods in the southeast region and atypical weather in the Northeast, terms like El Nino, La Nina and convergence zone have made their way into our everyday vocabulary and become the topic of many conversations.

Obviously the online community could not remain silent on the issue. Especially not in the face of Brazil's readying for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20.

But what do Internet users actually think about these recurring ecological disasters and atypical climate changes? Is the conversation a mere reflection of the fact that we now have access to weather occurrences throughout the world and are aware of disasters occurring at micro- and macro-regional levels, or are we indeed in the midst of a worldwide climate change with disastrous consequences?

Storm approaching in Marau, Rio Grande do Sul, 2009. Photo by Mateus Waechter on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

As reported in an article [en] published on Global Voices in 2009 concerning the effects of heavy rains in Salvador that were mitigated on account of information circulated among the online community, while some claimed that the heavier rains were due to climate changes, João Miguel Lima left a comment claiming that:

Para os climatólogos, ainda não quer dizer que o volume de chuvas seja mudança climática. Seria necessário um intervalo de tempo maior para se perceber um padrão novo para afirmar isso; até agora é uma instabilidade do clima.

For climatologists, the volume of rain does not mean [we face a] climate change. A longer period of time is needed to observe a new pattern and confirm such a claim; right now, [we can say] it is weather instability.

Now that three years have passed, has it been long enough for us to draw more solid conclusions? Some Internet users believe so.

“Is the weather in your city wacky?“

The question was posed on a Yahoo! Answers forum by a user who triggered an online version of the ever prosaic elevator conversation:

Eu moro em Guarulhos-SP [São Paulo] e o tempo aqui cada vez está mais estranho, uma hora faz calor, outra o tempo fica nublado e friento, e outra chove e depois para de chover e faz bastante calor e depois frio. Tá uma doideira o tempo em Guarulhos, e na sua cidade?

I live in Guarulhos, São Paulo, and the weather is getting stranger and stranger here. One minute it's hot, the next it's cloudy and cold, the next minute it rains, and then it stops raining and gets really hot and then cold again. The weather in Guarulhos is wacky. What about where you live?

The same question has reverberated in many online discussions; and there are few answers to the many questions raised. According to some specialists, climate change is real. A study published by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE according to its Brazilian acronym) in June 2010, for example, points out that floods are occurring with more frequency in the city of São Paulo.

As mudanças no clima (…) indicam aumento de dias com chuvas intensas e mais freqüentes e as projeções de crescimento da população na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, que deverá dobrar de tamanho nos próximos 20 anos, especialmente nas periferias.

Climate changes… indicate an increase in the number of heavy-rain days and more frequent rains and growth projections for the population of the Greater São Paulo Metropolitan Region, which is expected to double in the next 20 years, especially in the city's outskirts.

Climate changes, combined with urban growth and rural development lacking adequate planning to ensure protection, lead to even greater social and economic consequences in both cities and suburbs.

The site Climate Changes is entirely dedicated to encouraging understanding and information-sharing regarding this phenomenon. In an article published on the site in 2009, the head of the Climate Change and Energy Program for the WWF-Brazil, Carlos Ritti, states that “climate change is the greatest environmental and development challenge of the 21st century.”

Uma série de eventos climáticos muito intensos ocorridos nesta última década já indicava que o clima do planeta está passando por uma transformação significativa.

A series of very intense climatic occurrences in the last decade have already shown that the planet's climate is undergoing notable change.

Nonetheless, between clouds and torrential rains, many people end up not knowing the difference between climate and weather, and they end up not understanding the true dimensions of this phenomenon. According to Gabriel Cabral, in an article written for the site Education World:

O tempo refere-se ao estado momentâneo que ocorre em um determinado local a partir do ar atmosférico que pode ocorrer de maneira lenta ou rápida. Em diferença, o clima refere-se ao conjunto de condições atmosféricas que ocorrem em determinados locais de forma marcante.

Weather refers to the momentary state of atmospheric air in a given locale that occurs either slowly or suddenly. In contrast, climate refers to the set of atmospheric conditions that occur in certain locations in a more remarkable manner.

Rio+20 for change?

Rio+20, the United National Conference on Sustainable Development, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, 20 years after the city also hosted the Earth Summit [en], where the concept of sustainable development was first endorsed, has already included climate change and the worldwide effects of climate change in its agenda. The UN itself already has a Convention on Climate Change [en], most recently held in Durban in November and December 2011.

According to the organization, “the Convention on Climate Change sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.”

Smog in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro. Photo by Pierre-Yves Dansereau on Flickr. (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Despite the objectives of Rio+20 including:

um comprometimento político renovado com o desenvolvimento sustentável, avaliar o progresso feito até o momento e as lacunas que ainda existem na implementação dos resultados dos principais encontros sobre desenvolvimento sustentável, além de abordar os novos desafios emergentes,

[a] renewed political commitment to sustainable development, identify[ing] the progress that has been made to-date and the existing gaps in the implementation of the sustainability declarations, [in addition to] address[ing] new emerging challenges,

some specialists have noted that the conference does not have a clear and specific agenda. Marina Silva, the former presidential candidate, stated in an interview granted to the newspaper Folha de São Paulo and published on the site The Echo that the draft published by the organization, containing the zero draft of the Rio+20 outcome document:

é insuficiente. Genérico, não faz uma crítica ao modelo de desenvolvimento atual e dos padrões de produção e consumo. (…) Tudo parece apontar para aquele conhecido roteiro: decepção e paralisia dos governos, enquanto a crise socioambiental só se agrava -foi assim na COP 15, 16, 17…

is deficient. It is generic, does not at all criticize the current development model or the current patterns of production and consumption…. Everything seems to point to the same old script: deception and government paralysis while the socioenvironmental crises only worsens; this was the case with the COP 15, 16, 17…

One need not be a specialist to realize that something is changing and that the repercussions go beyond the confines of the elevator. This is no longer an isolated fact affecting merely one city, but rather a combination of various elements that bring to light the impact of these climate changes. Instead of questions, however, we need to focus on the answers.

India: New Challenges to Fight Tuberculosis Worldwide

Christine Mehta — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:59:52 +0000

This page is part of our special coverage Global Development.

The Indian media and blogosphere have been locked in fierce battle over two words: “extensively,” and “totally.” If you’ve been following Indian news at all, you know that it is about the global health community’s tuberculosis debate.

India’s media sphere exploded last week with reports from Mumbai of a tuberculosis strain completely resistant to all known treatment. The Indian newspapers coined it “totally drug-resistant tuberculosis” or TDR-TB. But just a few days later the Government of India released a statement refuting the term TDR-TB, saying that the World Health Organization has no clear definition for TDR-TB, and that the TB emerging in Mumbai, India is merely another strain of extremely drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). They’re now calling it XXDR-TB, or “extensively drug-resistant TB.”

Electron microscope image of mycobacterium tuberculosis, responsible for tuberculosis. Image by Flickr user Sanofi Pasteur (CC BY-NC-ND).

The blogosphere and headlines erupted with experts and Indian citizens wondering why the Government of India and the big players in TB treatment were arguing over what to call it, rather than what to do about it.

Bharati Ghanashyam, a blogger for Journalists Against TB, summed up the outrage that erupted in the global health blogosphere following the Indian Ministry of Health's statement, “Call it any name but banish it.”

Ghanashyam commented that the TDR-TB fiasco arose on the heels of the news that India had been declared polio-free for an entire year. His question: how could India achieve such a milestone but drop the ball so badly with TB? He then noted that there was “considerable debate, denial and discussion on whether this new form can be termed TDR-TB.”

As per a report in the Indian Express, “The doctors from Hinduja have unnecessarily raised a panic alarm. The term TDR is not recognized by the WHO or the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). As of now, they are only slotted as XDR-TB cases,” said an official from the Directorate of Health Services.”

Twitter user TBVI_EU agreed with Ghanashyam:

@TBVI_EU: “So true! @bghanashyam It makes little difference what we call different forms of TB. What matters is people are dying,”

Blogger Alanna Shaikh, an expert in health consulting, got some attention from the development community for her blog post on End the Neglect: and calling the new form “TDR-TB.”

TDR-TB is exactly what it sounds like. Doctors have not yet been able to identify a treatment for this TB that will work,” she wrote. “This is a bad, bad development for global health.

The WHO claims on their website, that there is no way to determine whether strains of TB that appear resistant to drugs in the laboratory, are actually resistant to the drugs in the patient. This may seem counter-intuitive since the 12 patients suffering from a particularly virulent form of tuberculosis in Mumbai have obviously show they are not susceptible to the available drugs, the WHO is simply attempting to state that it lacks a standardized test to determine just how effective different combination of the drugs are in the laboratory vs. treating real patients.

Incidentally, India’s Ministry of Health issued a report on January 20, 2012, stating that nine out of the twelve reported patients were stable on their current treatment while three had died, confirming that the strain is susceptible to some antibiotic treatment.

One thing remains certain, the #tuberculosis Twitter stream and TB online advocacy community are adamant that tuberculosis needs to remain a high-priority for donor governments and international donor organizations like the Global Fund and the United Nations.

This page is part of our special coverage Global Development.