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Religious violence, abuse growing: world study
WASHINGTON — Religious-linked violence and abuse rose around the world between 2006 and 2009, with Christians and Muslims the most common targets, according to a private US study released Tuesday.
“Over the three-year period studied, incidents of either government or social harassment were reported against Christians in 130 countries (66 percent) and against Muslims in 117 countries (59 percent),” said the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life study.
In 2009, governments in 101 nations, more than half the globe, used at least some measure of force against religious groups. A year earlier only 91 nations had done so, the report said.
As of 2009, more than 2.2 billion people, or nearly a third of the world’s population of 6.9 billion, lived in countries where religious restrictions had risen substantially since Read more…
Solar Storms Building Toward Peak in 2013, NASA Predicts
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| This image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the X6.9 solar flare of Aug. 9, 2011 near the western limb (right edge) of the sun. CREDIT: NASA/SDO/Weather.com |
Solar flares like the huge one that erupted on the sun early today (Aug. 9) will only become more common as our sun nears its maximum level of activity in 2013, scientists say.
Tuesday’s flare was the most powerful sun storm since 2006, and was rated an X6.9 on the three-class scale for solar storms (X-Class is strongest, with M-Class in the middle and C-Class being the weakest).
Flares such as this one could become the norm soon, though, as our sun’s 11-year cycle of magnetic Read more…
Report: Global smart card shipments will overtake mag-stripe by 2015
Smart card shipments, which include contactless payment cards, EMV and non-EMV payment cards, will reach one billion during 2011, according to a recently released report from ABI Research, a market intelligence company specializing in global connectivity and emerging technology.SBI Cards, a joint venture between State Bank of India and GE Capital, has announced that is has migrated to the EMV platform for the majority of its new customers and cards. It is the first credit card company in India to do so.
“The launch of the EMV chip-based cards for over 85 percent of our new cards will help our customers with greater security features and also help us launch more relevant offers for our customers. We will move to EMV for 100 percent of all new customers and cards within a few weeks,” said Kadambi Narahari, CEO, SBI Cards.
ABI Research forecasts that smart card shipments will overtake mag-stripe card shipments by 2015. Smart cards are being endorsed over mag-stripe cards, especially in developing countries, because of the enhanced security and widespread adoption.
“The entire banking population worldwide is Read more…
Ethnic Unrest Flares in China
Violence in Xinjiang late last month has once again focused attention on the ethnic unrest in one of China’s largest provinces, where the Muslim Uighur ethnic group forms 41.5 percent of the total population.The latest incident took place in Kashgar, the province’s second largest city, where Uighurs make up 80 percent of the population. On July 31, a group set fire to a restaurant in the city and attacked bystanders with knives, killing eight people and injuring more than a dozen more. City police shot dead four suspects at the scene, while two others were reportedly killed two days later.
This incident comes on the heels of violence that took place on July 30 in Kashgar, where two men hijacked a truck after killing its owner and proceeded to mow down pedestrians before attacking passersby with knives. Six people were killed in the incident and Read more…
Do Violent Video Games Really Make Us Violent?
Bang Bang you’re… fine?
Psychologists reveal how you really feel about video games
Two lecturers at the University of Huddersfield have uncovered new research that contradicts a wide stream of consciousness in the media.
Drs Simon Goodson and Sarah Pearson, who both lecture in Psychology, have revealed how playing a sporting video game is more emotionally evocative than a violent one.
Comparing brain activity from participating gamers, the team compiled data for the differing genres of video game to see how certain events in the game stimulate the player.
As Simon explains, the idea for the experiment derived from greatly over-exaggerated media scoops, suggesting violence is stimulated by aggressive video games:
“There was an assumption among reports that because a game Read more…
Powerful Solar Flare Could Have Caused Serious Damage: Earth ‘Lucked Out’
The sun unleashed its most powerful solar flare in four years Tuesday — an eruption that could have had serious consequences on Earth if it had taken place on the side of the sun facing the planet.
“We lucked out because the site of the eruption at the sun was not facing the Earth, so we will probably feel no ill effects,” Joe Kunches, a space scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center, told MSNBC.
So far, it appears that any consequence felt on the Earth will not cause human injury. A minor proton storm currently on the Earth’s surface could affect satellites in high-altitude orbits, and radiation briefly disrupted Read more…
Food Riot Fears Strike Japan
The government lies and cover-ups are coming to a head, and residents of Japan are now scrambling to acquire non-radiated rice and other foods.
Via Alexander Higgins:
Fears of food riots strike Japan after rice trading is halted due to a 40% price spike triggered by massive hoarding of the remaining radiation free rice supply.
It is time to start paying very close attention the events unfolding in Japan as the nation teeters on the verge of food riots which may serve as an example of what other nations in a similar situation would face.
As we approach the 5 month marker since the onset of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan has repeatedly assured the public that the nation’s food supply was safe from radiation. Japan has given those reassurances despite warnings from experts that the nuclear fallout has already surpassed Read more…
Surprise Underwater Volcanic Eruption Discovered
The chain is all that is visible of an ocean-bottom hydrophone, an instrument that detects earthquakes, buried in about six feet of new lava produced by a recent eruption at the Axial Seamount. Credit: Bill Chadwick, Oregon State University, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.An undersea volcano has erupted off the coast of Oregon, spewing forth a layer of lava more than 12 feet (4 meters) thick in some places, and opening up deep vents that belch forth a cloudy stew of hot water and microbes from deep inside the Earth.
Scientists uncovered evidence of the early April eruption on a routine expedition in late July to the Axial Seamount, an underwater volcano that Read more…
Russia creates new mega-powerful ballistic missile
Russia creates new mega-powerful ballistic missile. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported about the progress in the domestic missile industry. First and foremost, the first missile regiment has been rearmed completely with state-of-the-art Yars mobile missile systems. Secondly, Russian engineers have developed Liner sea-based strategic missile. The new missile is said to be twice as more powerful as the Bulava missile, which had a number of failures during test-launches.
Officials from the ministry said that the first missile regiment armed with latest Yars missile complexes was on full duty. The complexes are equipped with RS-24 thermonuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles. The missile was developed by engineers of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology under the guidance of academician Yuri Solomonov. The missile has been created with the use of technological solutions used in Topol-M systems, which significantly shortened the terms and costs of the production.
The new missile will strengthen the Read more…
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