Mere mention of the Paris climate talks is enough to make James Hansen grumpy. The former Nasa scientist, considered the father of global awareness of climate change, is a soft-spoken, almost diffident Iowan. But when he talks about the gathering of nearly 200 nations, his demeanor changes.
“It’s a fraud really, a fake,” he says, rubbing his head. “It’s just bullshit for them to say: ‘We’ll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little better every five years.’ It’s just worthless words. There is no action, just promises. As long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned.”
James Hansen, father of climate change awareness, calls Paris talks 'a fraud'
'Good without God': Nebraska atheists take over nativity to promote tolerance
When Christmas comes to Lincoln, Nebraska this year, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus will find there is no room in the inner halls of the state capitol – and no manger either.
Instead, there will be an 8ft “happy humanist” next to a “reason tree” dedicated to science and “human intellectual achievement”.
Pesticide In Milk May Be Linked To Parkinson's Disease
A pesticide that was present in milk in the early 1980s may be linked to signs of Parkinson's disease that are showing up in people today, according to a new study.
The researchers looked at Japanese-American men in Hawaii, where the pesticide was frequently used, and found that those who drank more than two cups of milk daily at the start of the study had 40 percent fewer brain cells in an area of the brain called the substantia nigra 30 years later, on average, compared with similar men who drank less than two cups of milk per day.
Climate change means days are getting longer, scientists find
The impact of climate change may appear to be overwhelmingly negative but there is a bright spot for those who struggle to find enough time in the day: melting glaciers are causing the rotation of the Earth to slow thereby lengthening our days, new research has found.
Harvard University researchers have provided an answer to a long-held conundrum over how shrinking glaciers are affecting the rotation and axis of the Earth, calculating that the duration of a day has lengthened by a millisecond over the past 100 years.
NY Senate Majority Leader and son found guilty on all counts in corruption case
The next job Dean Skelos gets for his son will have to be in the prison commissary.
The former state Senate Majority Leader was convicted Friday of bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges for abusing his powerful post to enrich his son. The Manhattan Federal Court jury also convicted his son Adam, 33, of aiding and abetting in the scheme.
The felonious father and son face up to 130 years in prison when they're sentenced by Judge Kimba Wood early next year - the same amount of time former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is facing after his conviction on corruption charges last month.
Advocacy groups not satisfied with climate negotiations thus far
A draft climate agreement unveiled from U.N.-backed talks in Paris kicks many of the critical issues down the road, environmental activists said.
A 27-page draft text, as it stands, lays out an agenda to keep warming trends below a threshold considered acceptable to island and coastal nations. The draft does little, however, to address secondary concerns like migration.
For many Medicaid patients, hepatitis C wonder drugs are out of reach
It took years for Dara Dundon to realize that something was off with her health.
She felt lethargic, almost like she was getting the flu. But it wasn’t until she had hip replacement surgery in 2005 that a doctor discovered the cause: hepatitis C.
Untreated, hepatitis C can lead to liver disease, which is often deadly. So Dundon asked her doctor about a new drug, Harvoni, with cure rates above 90 percent in three months or less of treatment.
Politico: America’s secret arsenal
To this day it remains one of the most sophisticated and mysterious offensive operations ever launched: Stuxnet, the computer virus specifically engineered to attack Iran's nuclear reactors. Discovered in 2010 and now widely believed to be a collaboration between the U.S. and Israel, its existence raised an urgent question: Just what is the U.S. government doing to attack its opponents in the cyber-realm?
Stuxnet's origins have never been officially acknowledged, and the extent of American meddling in malware is still unknown. But for the past few years there’s been something new developing within the U.S. military that has taken "cyber" from a theoretical idea to a deliberate—if secretive—part of U.S. policy.
Dem senators call on Pentagon for transparency on child sex abuse
Three female Democratic senators are pushing the Pentagon for more transparency on child sex abuse cases in the military, following a recent report highlighting the prevalence of such cases.
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) sent Defense Secretary Ashton Carter a letter Tuesday urging him to reform the military judicial system "so that it is transparent and accountable."
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