PARIS — Talks among major carbon emitters aimed at speeding negotiations towards a new pact on climate change ended Friday after making some headway but failing to remove roadblocks ahead of a summit in July. ‘We achieved a consensus on the need for long-term and medium-term goals for reducing greenhouse-house gases… but we have not quantified targets at this stage and we regret this,’ said France’s secretary of state for European affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet. The two-day talks in Paris gathered ministers from Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United States. The 16 economies account for around four-fifths of global output of greenhouse gases — the carbon pollution, stemming mainly from fossil fuels, that traps heat from the Sun and is damaging Earth’s climate system. Launched by US President George W. Bush last September, the so-called Major Economies Meetings (MEMs) aim at fast-tracking negotiations towards a new UN pact on climate change by the end of 2009. The process also looks at how to enlist smart technology and energy-intensive industries to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. MEM leaders are to meet on the sidelines […]
NEW HAVEN — The moment he strode into Woolsey Hall Friday afternoon, late but just in time for a photo op, Arnold Schwarzenegger changed the climate of Yale’s austere gathering of governors and gave the sweltering crowd a boost of energy - and a lot to think about. In what was intended as a historic replay of a landmark meeting on conservation called by President Theodore Roosevelt 100 years ago, Yale brought together governors and officials from several states this week to sign a declaration calling on the federal government to get moving on climate change. Schwarzenegger came to sign the declaration and to deliver his own brand of eco-politics: As a fiercely independent Republican governor of California, he perhaps has done more to fight global warming than any other governor in the nation. And he makes no bones about his differences with Congress and the Bush administration. ‘In California, we say don’t wait for Washington, because Washington is asleep at the wheel,’ he said. Like many who spoke at the conference, he is looking to the next administration for decisive action: ‘Things will begin to pick up speed after Inauguration Day.’ That sentiment matched the […]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Through the ages, the sound of music in myriad incarnations has captivated human beings and made them sing along, and as scholars have suspected for centuries, the mysterious force that shapes the melodies that catch the ear and lead the voice is none other than math. It’s geometry, to be more precise, and now, a trio of 21st-century music professors from Florida State University, Yale University and Princeton University have analyzed and categorized in brand-new ways the mathematics intrinsic to musical harmony. Their cutting-edge collaboration has produced a powerful tool they call ‘geometrical music theory,’ which translates the language of music theory into that of contemporary geometry. The research is described in the April 18 issue of the journal Science, where the publication of work by music theorists and composers is rare if not unprecedented, said Clifton Callender, an assistant professor of composition in FSU’s College of Music. Callender is co-author of the paper ‘Generalized Voice-Leading Spaces’ with Ian Quinn of Yale and Dmitri Tymoczko of Princeton. ‘Our research offers a variety of tools for understanding and exploring music by drawing upon contemporary mathematics in natural and musically relevant ways,’ Callender said. ‘It also […]
NEW YORK — Consumer and media research firm Scarborough Research is reporting that broadband penetration has increased more than 300 percent since 2002. Broadband is defined as U.S. adults who have a DSL or cable modem Internet connection in their household. In 2002, 12 percent of U.S. adults had a broadband connection in their household. Now, almost half (49 percent) have broadband  an increase of more than 300 percent, bringing broadband penetration to a mainstream level. San Francisco is the top local U.S. market for broadband penetration, according to Scarborough. Other top broadband markets include Boston and San Diego. In these cities, 61 percent of adults have a broadband connection in their household. Broadband subscribers are more likely than other Internet users to be engaged with Internet content. They are 30 percent more likely than total Internet users to have downloaded podcasts during the past month, 29 percent more likely to have downloaded/watched TV programs and 27 percent more likely to have downloaded/listened to other audio clips during this timeframe.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU’s ‘Mr Euro’, has given the clearest warning to date that the world authorities may take action to halt the collapse of the dollar and undercut commodity speculation by hedge funds. Momentum traders have blithely ignored last week’s accord by the G7 powers, which described ‘sharp fluctuations in major currencies’ as a threat to economic and financial stability. The euro has surged to fresh records this week, touching $1.5982 against the dollar and £0.8098 against sterling yesterday. ‘I don’t have the impression that financial markets and other actors have correctly and entirely understood the message of the G7 meeting,’ he said. Mr Juncker, who doubles as Luxembourg premier and chair of eurozone financiers, told the Luxembourg press that he had been invited to the White House last week just before the G7 at the urgent request of President George Bush. The two leaders discussed the dangers of rising ‘protectionism’ in Europe. Mr Juncker warned that matters could get out of hand unless America took steps to halt the slide in the dollar. # Read more by Ambrose Evans Pritchard World central banks last intervened eight years ago – with mixed success – buying […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
