Half of all food 'thrown away' claims report

BBC News, 10 January 2013 

Related Stories

• Sixty-day bread could cut waste
• Population and consumption 'key'
• Why do we waste so much bread?

The report said half the food bought in

Europe and the US ended up in the bin

As much as half of the world's food, amounting to two billion tonnes worth, ends up being thrown away, a UK-based report has claimed.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers said the waste was being caused by poor storage, strict sell-by dates, bulk offers and consumer fussiness.

The study also found that up to 30% of vegetables in the UK were not harvested because of their physical appearance.

The institution's Dr Tim Fox said the level of waste was "staggering".

'Waste of resources'

The report said that between 30% and 50% of the four billion tonnes of food produced around the world each year went to waste.

It suggested that half the food bought in Europe and the US was thrown away.

Dr Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: "The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world's growing population - as well as those in hunger today.

"It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food.

"The reasons for this situation range from poor engineering and agricultural practices, inadequate transport and storage infrastructure through to supermarkets demanding cosmetically perfect foodstuffs and encouraging consumers to overbuy through buy-one-get-one-free offers."

And he told the BBC's Today programme: "If you're in the developing world, then the losses are in the early part of the food supply chain, so between the field and the marketplace.

"In the mature, developed economies the waste is really down to poor marketing practices and consumer behaviour."

Population growth

The report - Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not - also found that huge amounts of water, totalling 550 billion cubic metres, were being used to grow crops that were never eaten.

The institution said the demand for water for food production could reach 10 to 13 trillion cubic metres a year by 2050.

The United Nations predicts there will be an extra three billion mouths to feed by 2075 as the global population swells to 9.5 billion.

Dr Fox added: "As water, land and energy resources come under increasing pressure from competing human demands, engineers have a crucial role to play in preventing food loss and waste by developing more efficient ways of growing, transporting and storing foods.

"But in order for this to happen governments, development agencies and organisation like the UN must work together to help change people's mindsets on waste and discourage wasteful practices by farmers, food producers, supermarkets and consumers."

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Recycling food for Brazil's high rollers

One third of world's food is wasted, says UN study

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

A wind investment deep in the heart of Texas: Google

Gloogle Blog, January 9, 2013

In late December, while most of us were busy wrapping presents, our Treasury team was tying a bow on our most recent renewable energy deal: an approximately $200 million equity investment in a wind farm in west Texas that generates enough energy to power more than 60,000 average U.S. homes.

Spinning Spur Wind Project is located in Oldham County, a wide open, windy section of the Texas Panhandle located about 35 miles from Amarillo. The 161 megawatt facility was built by renewable energy developer EDF Renewable Energy, a veteran in the industry that has overseen more than 50 other clean energy projects. Spinning Spur’s 70 2.3 MW Siemens turbines started spinning full time just before the end of the year, and the energy they create has been contracted to SPS, a utility that primarily serves Texas and New Mexico.

We look for projects like Spinning Spur because, in addition to creating more renewable energy and strengthening the local economy, they also make for smart investments: they offer attractive returns relative to the risks and allow us to invest in a broad range of assets. We’re also proud to be the first investor in an EDF Renewable Energy project that is not a financial institution, as we believe that corporations can be an important new source of capital for the renewable energy sector.

Spinning Spur joins 10 other renewable energy investments we’ve made since 2010, several of which hit significant milestones in the past year:

• The Atlantic Wind Connection received permission to begin permitting, an important step in advancing the construction of the United States’ first offshore backbone electric transmission system (more in this new video).
• Shepherds Flat, one of the world’s largest wind farms with a capacity of 845 MW, became fully operational in October.
• The Ivanpah project, which is more than 75 percent complete and employs 2,000+ people, recently installed its 100,000th heliostat, a kind of mirror (more in this new video).
• Just yesterday (PDF), the fourth and final phase of Recurrent Energy's 88MW solar installation in Sacramento County, Calif., reached commercial operation.

Altogether, the renewable energy projects we’ve invested in are capable of generating 2 gigawatts of power. To give a better sense of what that really means, we came up with some comparisons :

Here’s to a clean, renewable 2013!

Posted by Kojo Ako-Asare, Senior Manager, Corporate Finance

Oil sands' toxins 'accumulate in freshwater ecosystems'

BBC News, Mark Kinver, Environment reporter, 8 January 2013

Related Stories

• EU to vote on oil sands pollution
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Studies have shown that oil sands
 operations lead to pollutants being
released into water systems

Toxic pollutants released by oil sands mining operations are accumulating in freshwater ecosystems, research by Canadian scientists suggests.

A study of sediment in nearby lakes showed the level of pollutants, known as PAHs, had risen since the 1960s when oil sands development began.

However, the researchers added that PAH concentrations were still lower than those found in urban lakes.

The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

PAH refers to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - a group of chemicals that have been shown to affect aquatic organisms and birds. PAHs have also been described as being responsible for damaging food crops.

The chemicals occur naturally in coal, crude oil, and petroleum; they are also present in products made from fossil fuels, such as creosote and asphalt.

PAHs also can be released into the air during the burning of fossil fuels and organic matter - the less efficient the burning process, the more PAHs are given off. Forest fires and volcanoes produce PAHs naturally.

Digging the dirt

Using sediment cores from five lakes within a 35km (22-mile) radius of major oil sands facilities and one remote lake (90km/56 miles from the facilities), the researchers assessed the ecological impact of oil sands developments on freshwater ecosystems.

Core samples showed a rise in PAH
concentrations since the development
of oil sands mining

Analysis of the samples showed that PAH levels were now 2.5-23 times greater than levels from about 1960.

In their paper, the team wrote: "PAH ratios indicate temporal shifts from primarily wood combustion to [decomposed organic material] sources that coincide with greater oil sands development.

"Canadian interim sediment quality guidelines have been exceeded since the mid-1980s at the most impacted sites."

Oil sands, also known as tar sands, have only recently considered to be a viable component of the world's oil reserves as a result of rising energy prices and the development of technology that has made its processing profitable.

These factors has resulted in a marked increase in the extraction and processing of oil sands in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan, which account for 97% of the nation's proven reserves and is the world's third largest reserve.

The researchers say that in 1980, daily production was 100,000 but has grown to about 1.5 million barrels a day, It is projected to reach 3.7 million barrels by 2025, they added.

Sticky situation

The development of the oil sands sector has been controversial, prompting an at-times polemic debate between those in favour of utilising the resource to cushion the Canadian economy from shocks in global energy prices and those who say the environmental costs are too high.

In 2010, The Star newspaper reported that concerned residents on the shores of Lake Athabasca (downstream from one of the region's major oil sands facilities) had called for the federal government to commission an independent study to assess the impact on the area's water bodies.

The call came after local people said a growing number of landed fish where showing signs of deformities.

They voiced concern that there was not an effective system of environmental monitoring was in place.

At the time, the federal environment minister said he was listening to calls for a monitoring programme.

The researchers behind the PNAS study said that there was conflicting findings among the few long-term PAH datasets that existed, with some suggesting increases in limited areas, while other recording no increase between the 1950s and 1998.

"Establishment of background PAH concentrations and historic loadings is essential and would allow the impacts of development, including industrial PAH contributions, to be compared with the natural range... in lake sediment from the region," they wrote.

"As noted repeatedly in previous assessments of the impacts of the Alberta oil sands operations, insufficient monitoring data and a poor understanding of pre-development conditions have attempts to determine the scope of pollution from oil sands development."

Muddy waters

The team concluded that the findings from their study had to be considered in a wider environmental context.

"As a consequence of climate warming, the physical processes that lakes experience can be altered," they said.

"Longer ice-free season and enhanced thermal stability, coupled with higher surface-water temperatures and the redistribution of nutrients within the water column, contribute to greater algal production within many lake ecosystems."

They concluded: "Analyses of sediment cores from five lakes near major oil sands operations and remote Namur Lake demonstrate that modern PAH concentrations and fluxes, including DBTs, are well above 'natural' pre-development levels."

But, they added: "The ultimate ecological consequences of decades-long increases in aquatic primary production, coupled with greater PAH loadings to lakes in the oil sands region, are unknown and require further assessment."

US Supreme Court leaves stem cell research alone

Google – AFP, 7 January 2013

The US Supreme Court building is pictured on June 27, 2012, in

Washington, DC (Getty Images/AFP/File, Chip Somodevilla)

WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court declined Monday to take up an appeal concerning stem cell research, thus allowing the federal government to continue funding it.

The top US court did not give a reason for its decision, which ends a long judiciary saga.

The appeal had come from two researchers working with adult cells rather than embryonic stem cells.

They had asked the Supreme Court to halt financing for stem cell research on the grounds that federal law banned the creation and destruction of embryos for scientific study.

Shortly after taking office in 2009, President Barack Obama lifted restrictions on such financing that had been imposed by George Bush. Stem cell research is said to be promising for finding new treatments for a variety of diseases.

Financing through the National Institutes of Health was authorized for cells from frozen embryos that were left over from fertility treatments.

A federal judge banned the financing in 2010, but an appeals court in Washington reversed the ruling in 2012. This court said the federal ban does not apply to previously existing embryos that resulted from in vitro fertilization procedures.

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Look, no embryos! The future of ethical stem cells

Life created from eggs made from skin cells

"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism, Higgs Boson), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)

”… There are several things that are going to happen in mainstream science. First, you're going to find some secrets of DNA and they're going to be embryonic. Start watching scientists discover the embryonic cells and the magic within them. You already know that unusual stem cells exist in the placenta. You also know that the pre-programmed adult stem cells are still there in the body. But what about the DNA of the unborn? (Intellectuals, please keep reading, for to stop now will create unrest.) Second, your work today Yawee, will represent "the perfect template" without using what you did in Lemuria. That's why you're the Human who will do this. It's an extension of why you came here, and is perfect for 2012 and beyond.

These embryonic cells of the unborn are untouchable by society, and they might as well be on Mars, for no science is going to try to use these cells in a 3D manner, which is all you know how to do at this point. If they try, it won't work anyway. There are quantum processes you are learning about that are not only non-invasive, but actually helpful and that can transfer attributes from one biological cell to another and from one Human to another. Think "wireless" [Kryon human again]. What you thought would take wires over 1,000 miles long is now done with satellites. It's an analogy that shows you that you are moving into totally new understandings of the transfer of energy. Let's discuss the mother in that temple for a moment. …”


"... I want to define life for you - not biological life, but spiritual life. So for all those intellectuals, just hold on, for many won't like this. Spiritual life, as measured by Spirit, is when a Human has free choice. When is that? It's when they take their first breath. Not in utero. There will be those who will say, "That's wrong, that's wrong. The soul in the woman's body is alive!" Just wait. I'm talking about spiritually. That which Spirit sees, and it's when you come from the other side of the veil and take your first breath.

A child with the mother has no free choice. That child is linked to the choice of the mother until it is born. It is, indeed, a soul in preparation for free choice, and there are many attributes that are spiritual that we have discussed before about how that soul reacts. But now I'm discussing life with polarity [duality], free choice.

But let's discuss that "child inside" for a moment, for there is a process I want you to know about. I want to talk about 240 days into the pregnancy. At about that time, the child has perfect DNA. It hasn't taken its first breath. The DNA hasn't measured the energy of the planet yet, since it is contained. Did you realize that? Inside the womb is a perfect child. The child's DNA has all the attributes of the Akash and also the parent, but it's different in a way you have not been told. The DNA is 100% as designed.

The quantum instructions within the DNA are all talking to the biology of the child,, getting ready for the first breath. ..."

Albinos struggle for love

RNW, Anne Mireille Nzouankeu, Yaoundé,  3 January 2013

(Photo: Anne Mireille Nzouankeu)

Because they are “whites” born of black parents, albinos face discrimination every day and struggle to find love.

Every Sunday, a dozen albinos get together to sing in a neighbourhood of Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital. For them, singing is a form of therapy that helps them cope with the stigma they face. 

Nelly Kemezong

“I experience stigmatisation every single day of my life. When I take a taxi, at the market and in all public places, people give me strange looks. Some poke fun at me with phrases like: ‘the white girl with cat’s eyes’,” says Nelly Kemezong, a 24-year-old albino woman.

Curse

Emmanuel Koum, 29, explains that it's extremely difficult him to find a girlfriend: “I’ve met a few girls who told me that their families are against them dating an albino. In fact, in most families, the idea of anyone having an albino partner is hard to accept”, he says.

Emmanuel explains that “in some cultures, being albino is considered a bad omen or a curse. So people tend to believe that someone who gets married to or who even dates an albino will never be happy. The family will try to do everything they can to destroy the relationship.”

Not enterprising

What is most surprising is that albinos themselves practice discrimination against other albinos.

“I don’t want to marry an albino man. I’ve never loved one. Albino men are too soft, too passive and not enterprising enough”, Nelly explains.

“As an albino, I’ve had many problems both with my health and in my social life. If I marry another albino, our children will be albinos, and it will only add to these problems and perpetrate the albino race”, adds Sylvie Nana, another albino woman.

Albino rights office in Yaoundé

Emmanuel Koum who mentors many young albinos, says their lack of drive has psychological roots. “Some albinos anticipate the social stigmatisation and prefer not to fall in love to avoid disappointment”, he reveals.

No love life

Because of the stigma, very few young albinos manage to have a love life. Nelly has been in a relationship for the past few months. Her boyfriend is African and all is well. Emmanuel, on the other hand, is single like half of the young members of the singing group. 

His plea: “Albinism is not a curse. It’s only a biological anomaly. It doesn't affect a person’s emotions, abilities or intelligence. It only affects the colour of their skin. So let’s stop the stigmatisation and allow albinos to have a normal life like everyone else.”

Related Articles:

Angry, Snarly, Sad? YEAH! – 24 April 2012  (a message from Brenda Hoffman)

“… Even though parts of your physical being might shift a bit, the cellular structure shift we are discussing today will not become common knowledge for several years. The current human interior model required the study of thousands, if not millions, of humans. As is now true for those humans with achromatism (albino), the first Lightworkers will merely be noted as unusual.

Those of you at the forefront of the Lightworkers might be concerned that you will not receive adequate medical care because doctors will not understand the true you. Most doctors will not. But then, as your body shifts you will have less need of medical care. One of the important tools in your New Age kit is the regeneration of your physical body. Perhaps that concept seems like a fairy tale, yet you fully accept that starfish regenerate parts of themselves. …”

"THE NEXT 18 YEARS"–  Dec 2, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - New

(Subjects: You are looking  at a Quantum event, clearing a filter - Portal pineal , Higher self to step forward and communicate to You, Still remains in 3D but exposure to multi dimensions, Evolution of humanity, Intent, Mayan Calendar, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, 26.000 Years, Milky Way, Nostradamus, 1987, Beginning to a New Time, Channellers/Teachers, Center of Galaxy – Black hole, Bridge of Swords, Pleiadians, Children, Inventions – The discoveries (e.g. : Airplanes - Medicines – Radio .. ): These new Discoveries were given all over the planet when Human consciousness was ready for it. New Inventions are coming, the timing depends on how the middle East problems are solved, Biology reaction of quantum energy; new radio of the future, seeing quantum energy, when it is revealed all science books will have to be rewritten, This will be an AHA moment – be possible to communicate with the rest of Galaxy, NASA, Church/Religion will be effected the most by these discoveries, The quantum discovery will see the grid, life, gardens and will redefine life, DNA (3 billion pieces) evolving piece DNA are chancing, Gaia/Humanity are linked, new instruments will start to reveal the DNA variance, Evolution revealed: Autistic children have born with the removal of their 3D structure in the brain, Gaia/Spirit are testing these quantum beings  (Evolved DNA), Universe central clock = Rifs,  Globally there will be only 5 currencies, Wars on earth will be declared barbaric, Middle East, Global Unity, .. etc.) 

---------------------------------------------------

Matthew preparing us for the Golden Age – Jan 19, 2012 - Essay on 2012 by Matthew (Channeller: Suzy Ward)

“..  Animals in the wild will instinctively know not to overpopulate and those that are   carnivorous will turn to the plant kingdom for sustenance.  The albinos being born in several animal species have both spiritual and transitional significance.  You associate white with peace, and these rarities that are appearing are symbolic of the coming changes in animal nature that will end the predator-prey food chain and restore the peaceable relationship that once existed among all species, including humankind.  The instances of unlikely cross-species friendships and even nurturing of the young from one species by mothers of another are more indications of Earth’s return to her original paradise self.  Still, an extremely important factor in this is the inspiration in many souls to be advocates for the animal kingdom and alleviate their manmade plight. …”

Rare encounter: Whale watchers off the Australian east coast were lucky
enough to see Migaloo, the famous albino humpback whale

Pink elephant is caught on camera

Rare white killer whale spotted off Russian coast

Whale watchers get world's closest encounter yet with Migaloo the albino humpback off the coast of Australia
The real-life Moby Dick: Incredibly rare WHITE humpback whale spotted off coast of Norway

Higgs boson was just a start for Cern's atom smasher – other mysteries await

The Large Hadron Collider will shut down for an overhaul in preparation for exploring questions of dark matter, extra dimensions and other universes

The Guardian, Ian Sample, Tuesday 1 January 2013

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN faces a two-year shutdown while engineers
 do repairs so it can ramp up to its maximum energy in 2015 and beyond.
Photograph: Mark Thiessen/National Geographic Society/Corbis

When it comes to shutting down the most powerful atom smasher ever built, it's not simply a question of pressing the off switch.

In the French-Swiss countryside on the far side of Geneva, staff at the Cern particle physics laboratory are taking steps to wind down the Large Hadron Collider. After the latest run of experiments ends next month, the huge superconducting magnets that line the LHC's 27km-long tunnel must be warmed up, slowly and gently, from -271 Celsius to room temperature. Only then can engineers descend into the tunnel to begin their work.

The machine that last year helped scientists snare the elusive Higgs boson – or a convincing subatomic impostor – faces a two-year shutdown while engineers perform repairs that are needed for the collider to ramp up to its maximum energy in 2015 and beyond. The work will beef up electrical connections in the machine that were identified as weak spots after an incident four years ago that knocked the collider out for more than a year.

The accident happened days after the LHC was first switched on in September 2008, when a short circuit blew a hole in the machine and sprayed six tonnes of helium into the tunnel that houses the collider. Soot was scattered over 700 metres. Since then, the machine has been forced to run at near half its design energy to avoid another disaster.

The particle accelerator, which reveals new physics at work by crashing together the innards of atoms at close to the speed of light, fills a circular, subterranean tunnel a staggering eight kilometres in diameter. Physicists will not sit around idle while the collider is down. There is far more to know about the new Higgs-like particle, and clues to its identity are probably hidden in the piles of raw data the scientists have already gathered, but have had too little time to analyse.

But the LHC was always more than a Higgs hunting machine. There are other mysteries of the universe that it may shed light on. What is the dark matter that clumps invisibly around galaxies? Why are we made of matter, and not antimatter? And why is gravity such a weak force in nature? "We're only a tiny way into the LHC programme," says Pippa Wells, a physicist who works on the LHC's 7,000-tonne Atlas detector. "There's a long way to go yet."

The hunt for the Higgs boson, which helps explain the masses of other particles, dominated the publicity around the LHC for the simple reason that it was almost certainly there to be found. The lab fast-tracked the search for the particle, but cannot say for sure whether it has found it, or some more exotic entity.

"The headline discovery was just the start," says Wells. "We need to make more precise measurements, to refine the particle's mass and understand better how it is produced, and the ways it decays into other particles." Scientists at Cern expect to have a more complete identikit of the new particle by March, when repair work on the LHC begins in earnest.

By its very nature, dark matter will be tough to find, even when the LHC switches back on at higher energy. The label "dark" refers to the fact that the substance neither emits nor reflects light. The only way dark matter has revealed itself so far is through the pull it exerts on galaxies.

Studies of spinning galaxies show they rotate with such speed that they would tear themselves apart were there not some invisible form of matter holding them together through gravity. There is so much dark matter, it outweighs by five times the normal matter in the observable universe.

The search for dark matter on Earth has failed to reveal what it is made of, but the LHC may be able to make the substance. If the particles that constitute it are light enough, they could be thrown out from the collisions inside the LHC. While they would zip through the collider's detectors unseen, they would carry energy and momentum with them. Scientists could then infer their creation by totting up the energy and momentum of all the particles produced in a collision, and looking for signs of the missing energy and momentum.

One theory, called supersymmetry, proposes that the universe is made from twice as many varieties of particles as we now understand. The lightest of these particles is a candidate for dark matter.

Wells says that ramping up the energy of the LHC should improve scientists' chances of creating dark matter: "That would be a huge improvement on where we are today. We would go from knowing what 4% of the universe is, to around 25%."

Teasing out the constituents of dark matter would be a major prize for particle physicists, and of huge practical value for astronomers and cosmologists who study galaxies.

"Although the big PR focus has been on the Higgs, in fact looking for new particles to provide clues to the big open questions is the main reason for having the LHC," says Gerry Gilmore, professor of experimental philosophy at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge.

"Reality on the large scale is dark matter, with visible matter just froth on the substance. So we focus huge efforts on trying to find out if dark matter is a set of many elementary particles, and hope that some of those particles' properties will also help to explain some other big questions.

"So far, astronomy has provided all the information on dark matter, and many of us are working hard to deduce more of its properties. Finding something at the LHC would be wonderful in helping us in understanding that. Of course one needs both the LHC and astronomy. The LHC may find the ingredients nature uses, but astronomy delivers the recipe nature made reality from."

Another big mystery the Large Hadron Collider may help crack is why we are made of matter instead of antimatter. The big bang should have flung equal amounts of matter and antimatter into the early universe, but today almost all we see is made of matter. What happened at the dawn of time to give matter the upper hand?

The question is central to the work of scientists on the LHCb detector. Collisions inside LHCb produce vast numbers of particles called beauty quarks, and their antimatter counterparts, both of which were common in the aftermath of the big bang. Through studying their behaviour, scientists hope to understand why nature seems to prefer matter over antimatter.

"Unlike supersymmetry or the Higgs, there's no theory of antimatter that we can test," says Tara Shears, a physicist who works on the LHCb detector. "We don't know why antimatter behaves a little differently to normal matter, but perhaps that difference can be explained by a deeper underlying theory of particle physics, which includes new physics that we haven't found yet."

Turning up the energy of the LHC may just give scientists an answer to the question of why gravity is so weak. The force that keeps our feet on the ground may not seem puny, but it certainly is. With just a little effort, we can jump in the air, and so overcome the gravitational pull of the whole six thousand billion billon tonnes of the planet. The other forces of nature are far stronger.

One explanation for gravity's weakness is that we experience only a fraction of the force, with the rest acting through microscopic, curled up extra dimensions of space. "The gravitational field we see is only the bit in our three dimensions, but actually there are lots of gravitational fields in the fourth dimension, the fifth dimension, and however many more you fancy," says Andy Parker, professor of high energy physics at Cambridge University. "It's an elegant idea. The only price you have to pay is that you have to invent these extra dimensions to explain where the gravity has gone."

The rules of quantum mechanics say that particles behave like waves, and as the LHC ramps up to higher energies the wavelengths of the particles it collides become ever shorter. When the wavelengths of the particles are small enough to match the size of the extra dimensions, they would suddenly feel gravity much more strongly.

"What you'd expect is that as you reach the right energy, you suddenly see inside the extra dimensions, and gravity becomes big and strong instead of feeble and weak," says Parker. The sudden extra pull of gravity would cause particles to scatter far more inside the machine, giving scientists a clear signal that extra dimensions were real.

Extra dimensions may separate us from realms of space we are completely oblivious to. "There could be a whole universe full of galaxies and stars and civilisations and newspapers that we didn't know about," says Parker. "That would be a big deal."

Related Articles:

What is the Higgs Boson?

The God Particle
 (" ... This means that we can say, literally, that love is in the air!  ...)

Higgs boson: it's unofficial! Cern scientists discover missing particle


2013 - The Aquarian Shift & Anthropocene Radiation Pt. 1 - 30 Dec 2012 (Channeled message from Archangel Metatron by Tyberonn) - New

"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism, Higgs Boson), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)


"THE NEXT 18 YEARS"–  Dec 2, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - New
(Subjects: You are looking at a Quantum event, clearing a filter - Portal pineal , Higher self to step forward and communicate to You, Still remains in 3D but exposure to multi dimensions, Evolution of humanity, Intent, Mayan Calendar, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, 26.000 Years, Milky Way, Nostradamus, 1987, Beginning to a New Time, Channellers/Teachers, Center of Galaxy – Black hole, Bridge of Swords, Pleiadians, Children, Inventions – The discoveries (e.g. : Airplanes - Medicines – Radio .. ): These new Discoveries were given all over the planet when Human consciousness was ready for it. New Inventions are coming, the timing depends on how the middle East problems are solved, Biology reaction of quantum energy; new radio of the future, seeing quantum energy, when it is revealed all science books will have to be rewritten, This will be an AHA moment – be possible to communicate with the rest of Galaxy, NASA, Church/Religion will be effected the most by these discoveries, The quantum discovery will see the grid, life, gardens and will redefine life, DNA (3 billion pieces) evolving piece DNA are chancing, Gaia/Humanity are linked, new instruments will start to reveal the DNA variance, Evolution revealed: Autistic children have born with the removal of their 3D structure in the brain, Gaia/Spirit are testing these quantum beings  (Evolved DNA), Universe central clock = Rifs,  Globally there will be only 5 currencies, Wars on earth will be declared barbaric, Middle East, Global Unity, .. etc.) 


"The A in Kundalini" – Oct 23, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) 
(Subjects: What is Ascension, Ascended Consciousness, Ascension on cellular level (Biology), Activate/higher Efficiency DNA (90%), Air/Electromagnetic pollution in the air, Children will be born with bigger livers for pollution protection, Children will start to have instinct (like animals), 21-12-2012, Stop Aging, Ascension of Gaia, …etc.)

Thai ‘Scavengers Club’ Turns Trash to Treasure

Jakarta Globe, Apilaporn Vechakij, January 02, 2013

This photo taken on December 23, 2012 shows former Thai 'scavenger'
Peerathorn Seniwong selecting used milk cartons at his shop in Bangkok.
By selling to the recycling plants in bulk, a cooperative created by Peerathorn
 gets a better rate than individual scavengers would manage on their own. Profits
 are then paid back in dividends and other benefits to its members such as life
 insurance, interest rates from its "rubbish bank" and help paying medical
fees. (AFP Photo/ Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)     

         

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Bangkok. Thai grandmother Nom Prom-on rummages through rubbish bins looking for bottles, cans and paper to trade for food and other goods at a recycling cooperative providing a lifeline for Bangkok’s poor.

Riding an old motorcycle with a rubbish cart attached, the 61-year-old and her husband Rai rise early to beat rival scavengers to claim the best of the city’s recyclable trash, which they take to a cash-free “zero baht shop.”

The couple have combed bins for decades, but their earnings of less than $10 per day are not always enough to live on, so they turned to the cooperative.

“When we’re starving, we can find rubbish to exchange for rice to eat, detergent, soap and everything,” said Nom, who also has grandchildren to raise and feed.

By selling to the recycling plants in bulk, the cooperative gets a better rate than individual scavengers would manage on their own.

Profits are then paid back in dividends and other benefits to its members such as life insurance, interest rates from its “rubbish bank” and help paying medical fees.

It is the brainchild of former scavenger Peerathorn Seniwong and his wife Buarin.

“We thought of how we could help the poor — then we thought of rubbish — at least every house must have rubbish,” Peerathorn, 45, told AFP.

The scheme’s 800 members include 35 households of scavengers along with other local people who heard about the shop in an area of eastern Bangkok and now bring their recyclables to trade.

A former security guard and motorcycle taxi driver, Peerathorn came up with the idea after six years of living homeless under an elevated road in Bangkok.

“Sometimes we would have to buy things like fish sauce or rice on credit at shops,” said Buarin.

“But people looked down on us as we’re poor and they’d wonder whether they would get their money back — that’s why we started our own shop.”

Fish sauce, rice, eggs, instant noodles, toothpastes and detergent are among the goods most sought by members, about 20-30 of whom visit the shop each day, Buarin added.

There are several hundred thousand scavengers in Thailand earning about 200-300 baht ($6.50-$10) a day, according to Thailand’s Institute of Packaging and Recycling Management for Sustainable Environment, which has provided education schemes for members on issues such as hygiene and sorting rubbish.

An estimate quarter of Thailand’s 15 million tons of garbage of a year is recycled — largely thanks to scavengers rather than efforts by consumers to separate their waste.

The cooperative’s success is inspiring others too, with several similar cash-free shops opening up in the capital and elsewhere.

The institute hopes that 80 cash-free recycling shops will be set up across Thailand by the end of 2013.

The project is also generating interest overseas with visitors from as far afield as Singapore, Japan and Mexico coming to see how it works.

Its success reflects changing attitudes toward rubbish, said Gloyta Nathalang, communications and environment director at Tetra Pak (Thailand) Ltd, which runs the country’s only plant for recycling used beverage cartons.

“Recycling is not an alien word any more — people are aware and want to take more action. But I think what we are lacking now is the system in place,” she said.

Peerathorn is proud of what he has achieved since his years living homeless under what people used to sarcastically call his hundred million baht roof.

Rubbish collecting has provided a good way to supplement his income, he says, and allows him flexible working hours.

“It’s better to work as a scavenger because I don’t have to be anyone’s employee. Nobody tells me what to do,” he said.

Agence France-Presse