US Mayors and Governors united in keeping with the Paris Accord

Cnn.com – June 2017 – USA |

In a recent press meeting, Trump has confirmed that he will be taking the USA out of the Paris accord, a global agreement on reducing emissions and limiting climate change.

 

This news has quite rightly been met by large amounts of opposition and outcry from fellow Politicians, who can clearly see the benefits on both national and international scales of adhering to the treaty.

 

In spite of Trump’s stupidity, a number of Mayors and Governors have confirmed they will be keeping to the treaty, and honor the goals to reduce global warming.

 

It will be interesting to see how this rift will affect American politics. It is clear that Trump has made a number of controversial decisions in relation the environment in his short tenure. Will this come back to bite him in the not see distant future?

 

To read the full article, follow the reference title above.

Accidental hero halts ransomware attack and couldn’t be more pleased

Guardian.com – May 2017 – UK and US |

Many were concerned after a complex ransomware attack was seen to be spreading around a number of important systems, including FedEx, Telefonica and the NHS.

The un-named hero saw the attacks being reported about in the news, before deciding to take action and try and decipher the code behind it. Through his efforts, he was able to find a kill switch written into the malware, incase the creator wanted to halt its spread.

To read more about the story, follow the reference link above.

Futuristic solution to the Pacific Garbage patch ready for action

Engadget.com | May 2017 | Global |

Ocean pollution in the form of plastics is one of the greatest threats to environmental health that our planet faces at present. Year on year, increasing amounts of plastic are being dumped into our oceans, negatively affecting delicate ecosystems and environmental phenomena. As part of this, the ‘great pacific garbage patch’ has developed, a collection of various types of pollutants and plastics, being brought together by major ocean currents.

To deal with this issue, The Ocean Cleanup, a dutch foundation, have developed a novel system for collecting and basically harvesting the tonnes upon tonnes of plastic debris in our seas. They system works by using floating 50, 0.6 mile length screens anchored to the ocean floor, to capture and trap debris and moved by the currents.

A statement from the organizations leader, Boyan Slat, said that they expected the system to be able to clean up half of the massive garbage patch in 5 years, at a relatively low cost (in comparison to other and earlier designs).

To read more on this story, follow the reference link above.

1st woman to officially run Boston Marathon does it again, 50 years later

Cnn.com – America – April 2017 |

In 1967, Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to officially enter and complete the Boston marathon. Now, 50 years later, she returned to compete at the event wearing her iconic 261 bib. The number has become so important that marathon organizers retired the bib in Switzer’s honor, on completion of this year’s race.

Switzer’s initial entry to the Boston marathon was un-heard of, and controversial at the time. Although there were no specific rules stating that woman could not compete, high-performance sports were a male-dominated arena, and that was the cultural norm.

Switzer however changed this, and in the face of physical and verbal abuse, completed the marathon in four hours and twenty minutes. This led the way for woman in sport, helping more individuals engage and compete in a variety of events, at the highest levels.

To read more about Switzer’s experience and comments on the Boston marathon, please follow the reference title above.