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AIU News + Essays + Education + Culture + Science + Technology + Art + Design + Body + Mind + Spirit + Environment + Human Rights + Animal rights + Urban Design + About AIU
December 1,
2020. Volume 26
of the Journal of
Organizational
Consulting
(February 2020
p. 30) publishes a work by Yuval
Dror and Itamar Rogovsky
entitled: Groups as an
Organization Metaphor: In
Reaction to Leading Transformations
in Organizations.
The authors argue that this
original approach can expand
the arc of creative change
options and facilitate organizational
development in media uncertain of accelerated
changes. This approach, among
others, is part of the contents
of the new Promotion No. 40
of the International Seminar
on Organizational Development
taught by Prof. Rogovsky
in Barcelona, in Spanish, and
the Workshops “Embracing
Uncertainty” sponsored by the
Association of Alumni of Barcelona.
Organizational Analysis
is published in Hebrew.
Dr. Itamar Rogovsky has
completed a Post Doctorate
program in Business Administration
in AIU.
Graduating from any university
Marks just the beginning only
The many hurdles that one faces
Completing assignments in phases
Managing time and studies literally
Planning mindfully and practically
All that has to be learnt in stages
In addition to consulting lecturers
Time to time as often as necessary
A true-blue student’s ethical duty.
Student years are always precious
Treasured, unforgotten as one ages
Being an esteemed alumnus is easy
Resume-enhancing academically
Learning for life ultimately ensures
An enlightened and wise alumnus
December
14, 2020. It is
vital for AIU to
share knowledge
in society
and make such
knowledge accessible to anyone
who wishes to overcome,
update and use it so that it can
actually have a positive impact
on the community and country
where they live regardless of
their social, economic status,
ethnicity or religion, etc. That
is why Atlantic International
University agrees to academically
sponsor the outstanding
book “PENTA, Special Command
in the Age of Unawareness,
Changegineering,
Cognitive Organizational
Dynamics” written by Dr.
Alberto Levy.
This book includes a Prologue
written by Dr. Itamar
Rogovsky, of Israel, a very
outstanding AIU graduate
student (Doctoral and Post-
Doctoral level).
Find here Dr. Alberto Levy’s
book waiting for them to enjoy
their reading:
https://content.
bhybrid.com/publication/7b41bff6/
mobile/
December
11, 2020.
Quantum
Matrix SpA,
the company
of one of our graduates,
Sebastián Gómez Verdejo, has
won the AVONNI 2020 award
in the Mining and Metallurgy
category, with the technology
developed by the subscriber
and called “Dust Remove”.
The award is given to those
who have stood out for their
excellence, creativity and
contribution in the field of
innovation. This award is managed
by the Ministry of Science,
Technology of Chile, who determine
each year the integration
of the jury. This award is run by
universities, research centers
and science centers.
Dr. Gómez Verdejo has
completed a PhD program
in Chemistry at Atlantic
International University
and is currently enrolled in
a Postdoctoral Program in
Electrochemistry.
AIU is proud to share with
you some videos about members
of our family. May you
enjoy and be inspired.
| Jorge José Luis Grass Compte Doctor of Education Education Argentina |
Christopher Ramogaladi Bachelor of Social Sciences Business Management Botswana |
Johnson Sambitla Tita Fangmbung Doctor of Science Conflict Resolution and Peace Building Cameroon |
Lobe Mpoh Constant Doctor of Business Administration Business Administration Cameroon |
Gissella Garate Tabja Bachelor of Business Administration Business Administration Peru |
Shane Anthony Mohammed Doctor of Philosophy Leadership and Governance Trinidad & Tobago |
| Giannina Costa Lizama Doctor of Science Information Technology Chile |
Kennedy Jairus Chitsamatanga Doctor of Business Administration International Business China |
Nelson Oswaldo Monroy Puentes Bache lor of Science Architecture Colombia |
Mary Aluya Rechain Bachelor of Science Civil Engineering Côte d'Ivoire |
Cary Hermo Beatisula Doctor of Science Geotechnical Engineering Philippines |
Raheela Khalid Doctor of Science Health Science United Kingdom |
| Ramona Teresa Gómez Bueno Doctor of Education Linguistics Dominican Republic |
Victoria Simón Sosa Doctor of Education Educational Sciences Dominican Republic |
Eugenio Leopoldo Sierra Guerrero Doctor of International Relations Foreign Policy and Diplomacy Dominican Republic |
Olivier Dardol Diaz Bache lor of Accounting Accounting Dominican Republic |
Karangwa Jean Bosco Master of Civil Engineering Transportation Engineering Rwanda |
Bise Wood Saint Eugene Bachelor of Sociology Sociology USA |
| Edwin Manuel Pujols Soto Doctor of Education Mathematics Dominican Republic |
Ershed Kalahane TelfortErshed Kalahane Telfort Master of Business Administration Finance Dominican Republic |
Graham L Peveller Doctor of Philosophy Transsexuality England |
Mónica Ileana Monterroso Gularte Bachelor of Human Resources Human Resources Guatemala |
Francis Ansu Koroma Master of Science Information Technology Sierra Leone |
David Darlington Sombie Doctor of Management Project Management USA |
| Samy Mohamed Sayed Ibrahim Master of Business Administration Hospitality Management Egypt |
Carlos Alberto Carcach Alfaro Doctor of Philosoph y Criminology El Salvador |
Juanita Nsue Bacale Bache lor of Marke ting Marketing and Administration Equatorial Guinea |
Natividad Ondo Bindang Bache lor of Finance and Banking Finance and Banking Equatorial Guinea |
Ronald Ebunola Johnson Bachelor of Science Computer Science Sierra Leone |
Surjit Singh Doctor of Philosophy Business Administration USA |
| Juan Pablo Pacheco Herrera Bache lor of Business Administration Management Guatem ala |
Luis Fernando González Herrera Bachelor of Science Computer Engineering Honduras |
José Adalberto Palma Gómez Doctor of Science Psychology Honduras |
Marcella Artelene Royal Bachelor of Legal Studies Legal Studies Jamaica |
Johan Nieuwoudt Master of Science Mining Engineering South Africa |
Deven D. Cozad Doctor of Science Psychology USA |
| Orinthia Fisher-Howe Doctor of Business Administration Strategic Management Jamaica |
Motebang John Makhetha Doctor of Philosophy Educational Management Lesotho |
Eric G. Lewis Master of Science Project Management Liberia |
Daniel Wolopa. Horace, Jr. Bachelor of Science Environmental Science Liberia |
Lada Dominic Bachelor of Humanitarian Health Humanitarian Health South Sudan |
Aura M. Calderon Alonzo Bachelor of Science Nutrition USA |
| Lourenço Moio Adamsone Bachelor of Science Project Management Mozambique |
Bernardo Celestino Raquito Master of Management Rural Development Mozambique |
Aboubacar Saidou Doctor of Science Phsiotheraphy Niger |
Chukwudi Gerald Nnanna Doctor of Philosophy Business Administration Nigeria |
Valentín García Barragán Bache lor of Science Educational Information Systems Spain |
Elizabeth Makonese Master of Clinical Psychology Mental Health Counseling USA |
| Asuquo Bassey Ita Dcotor of Business Administration Business Administration Nigeria |
Oluwafemi Ikotun Bachelor of Interior Design Interior Design Nigeria |
Eduardo Alexis Gómez Bonagas Bachelor of Science Hydrology and Water Resources Management Panama |
Esther Pelly Batia Doctor of Healthcare Administration Healthcare Administration Papua New Guinea |
Rozenhout Wesley Paitoe Master of Science Leadership and Change Management Suriname |
Marecia Williams-Knights Bachelor of Finance Finance and Business Management West Indies |
| Francisco Britez Leguizamón Bachelor of Science Systems Engineering Paraguay |
Deyner Vargas Bachelor of Science Psychology Peru |
Max Omar Peralta Guevara Bachelor of Science Industrial Engineering Peru |
Carlos Alberto Quipuzcoa Urdanivia Bachelor of Science Civil Engineering Peru |
Mathew Uwaigbe Oyourane Master of Science Health Science Sweden |
Minyoi Ilishebo Bachelor of Science Civil Engineering Zambia |
| Armando Said Granados Flores Bache lor of Economics Urban Economics Peru |
Andres Ibero Reyes Inca Amaro Bachelor of Science Mechanical Engineering Peru |
Yesica M. Rojas Aponte Bachelor of Business Administration Marketing Peru |
Melquiades Sindolfo Vilchez Chamorro Master of Science Civil Engineering Peru |
Margaret Maulana Doctor of Business Administration Healthcare Administration Zimbabwe |
|
Elizabeth Dzita
Abdur Rashid
Yiying Liang
Margaret Maulana
These topics dig in to see
the critical role from
health and safety angle
which illustrate the collective
responsibility of all to ensure
businesses stay afloat which
also benefit third parties at the
long run especially at these
uncertain times that lay ahead
in wait for global business due
to the covid-19 pandemic.
The “Machine vs. Tools”
analogy being used to highlight
the tips for saving business
was a phrase utilized
by one operative from one of
my previous experience, the
operator referred to the line
management team as “machine”
and then denoted to
the shop-floor operators as
“tools”. At first I seem lost and
it was obvious to the operators
I did not get the message
which made them laugh and
one of the operator explained,
the “machine” vs. “tools”
phrase meaning the shop-floor
operators are used without
caring for their personal
safety and wellbeing and from
their perspective ‘safety’ is
a kind of special tool used to
window dress the pathetic
situation. These are the kinds
of mistrust commonly found in some business when the
safety and wellbeing of workers
are neglected for solely
production or profit making.
Tools are things that help
you to do your job or
achieve result, or a person
who is used or controlled by
another person.
Machine
is a piece of equipment
designed to do a particular
job. Machine Tools: tools for
cutting or shaping metal,
wood driven by a machine.
Wear and tear rate of any machine
tools increases when required
minimum maintenance
frequency is not adhere to in
accordance to standard operating
maintenance practice or
machine tools maintenance
manual instruction, which
lead those managing the tools
into a false safety engineering
believe that the tools can
continue in operation and be
discarded and replaced whenever
its usefulness is no longer
forthcoming, failing to understand
that the effectiveness
of tools are tied to adhering
to the maintenance guideline
which prolong the life of
the tools, added value with
cost effectiveness which may
also quickly become a way of
thinking that will ultimately
affect the machine setting in
quick machine inefficiency
and deterioration.
That is the exact situation
businesses find themselves
when system failed to take
into consideration the safety
and wellbeing of its workforce
resulting in business gradually
failing is likened to the tools
seen as less important to the
machine and therefore denied
maintenance as required which
slowly the same mind set will
affect the machine. These
become dangerous and create
a toxic work environment
once a section of the workforce
(operator) mindset descend to
these level of thought and in
most cases the line managers
are aware but simply don’t
care or sometimes subtly down
played it and result to a divide
and rule method.
This state of affairs is also
one of the factors that trigger
stressful working condition
with moral and motivation
low, setting an unsafe conditions
and behaviors where
business objective is no
longer a team pursuit and goal
oriented by all but seen by a
segment of the workforces as
a one sided business relationship
and some management
self interest for profit making
through an unethical conduct
and this unsafe behavior slowly
impacting the “machine”
wear and tear where part of
the profit are not plunged in
to care for the maintenance
of the machine tools as well,
just as the tools maintenance was neglected to be discarded
with a replacement solution
upper most in the wrong
direction so will head count
reduction be uppermost as a
solution when business begins
to fail once it become obvious
workers pool can no longer be
sustained, the management
will resort in sacrificing the
already disgruntled workforce
through the same flawed line
management who themselves
created this situation in the
first place thereby saving their
job and self interest which is
only a short time measures to
sacrifice the workers and save
the numbers, has the business
continues without retracting
its wrongful machine tools
maintenance care/ or workers
safety and wellbeing policies
on a cliff edge, the business
is doomed for a soon free fall,
maybe the business board
may realize too late and begins
to search for an emergency
safety net.
Line management who
are supposed to be business
leaders do not listen
or consider the safety and
wellbeing of their workers,
they will soon learn to see
business declining.
When business leaders failed
to comply or respect an agreed
and established management
system objective and strategy,
but taking any of the success
and passing the buck to the
subordinate worker, that is
when workers begin to lose
confidence in the leadership
and management system.
During one of my survey
on ‘occupational stress and
the impact’ an unusual survey
finding was made and from
my previous work experience,
workers are willingly to
conceal the implication of the
boss wrongful orders to the
boss when things begin to go
wrong. This is not necessarily
the right thing to do but
because the boss doesn’t listen
and consider their safety
and wellbeing of his workers,
further undermining the business
interest by their action
and inaction.
“People work for a decent
wage, but shall go the extra
mile for praise, recognition
and reward”
—Dale Carnegie.
When operator perceives production
interest is considered
well above their safety and
wellbeing which also begins
to impact on a critical production
ingredient ‘training’, also
neglected with no innovative
idea or sustaining operational
equipments, while management
looks for flimsy business
excuse to fly round the globe,
continuing with the series of
errors that brought business
to its sorry state with false
mindset that tools can easily be
discarded and replaced while
forgetting that it takes time to
build experience and team.
Machine cannot produce
without necessary tools, tools
are necessary to ensure machine
production lines run.
Machine Tools interact in
daily operation to bring out the
best of every machine and her
product, without the tools the
machine cannot be manipulated
to improve on occasional
set-back which keep production
line running and save
money by driving efficiencies.
Machine Tools care and
maintenance like the workers
safety and well-being is
as equally important as the
management and business
interest survival. The secondary
coercion of machine tools
and worker interest is not for
the long time system benefit for
the business goal. Tools are the
accessories that keep the machine
production line running.
Therefore, in order to keep the
machine operating optimally,
the tools maintenance must be
timely conducted and should be
integrated into system objective
and business goal strategy
Tips to save business a fall
out of the article which senior
level of the group should be
the drivers:
• Use and distribution of human
resource idea for effective
conformity to management
system adopted, must ensure
the system is strictly adhered
to, respected and complied
with by all (the entire team are
the frontline internal customers)
from top to bottom
and must not been seen as
a compliance for the bottom
ranks only.
• Leadership is essential to
the success of any business
as clearly stated by all known
system management practices;
therefore leadership must be
seen to be demonstrated in
such a way that leaves no one
in doubt.
• Leadership must continually
advocate the importance
of the entire team and ensure
its line management team
follow through with due diligence
in so doing building occupationally
friendly environment
with internal tracking
mechanism.
• Performance base issue
should be made transparent
with companywide standard of
measurement established within
the system, which should
not be left for line supervision
manager discretion which
often is skewed or manipulated
to his/her predetermined
result based on personal greed
tied loyalty above loyalty to
the growth and interest of the
system or business which often
erode the business vision and
objective.
• Fairness when seen to be
implemented leave little or no
room for bad feeling in reward
and recognition or any other
form of benefit that drives
innovative or creative thinking
resulting in smart thinkers
that upheld meritocracy and
not mediocrity. These are the
game changers in any business
that help the business to adapt
when the market changes.
We are still in the festivities
of a year that
is ending and another that
begins. We never imagined
that 2020 was going to be as
we have lived it: a pandemic
that doesn’t end.
We started this 2021 very
different from what we might
think. We don’t know what to
propose as goals because everything
will depend on what
happens with the pandemic.
We know that in all countries
there are many sick
people, many people dead
as a result of the pandemic,
many people without work
and economies heading for
recession. They tell us that
the vaccines will already be
at the beginning of the year,
but they will take a long time.
It’s possible a year or more for
the entire population to be
vaccinated.
We are left thinking: what
happened so that what we are
experiencing is happening.
A lot of science and a lot of
technology and we are in this
situation. We need to think
about what we are and what
we do as human beings.
What has been the development
of humanity so that we
have reached this situation?
a) We are going to see the
development of socio-political
relations.
b) Let’s see the development
of science.
If we start with the first human
groups, over there with
the invention of writing, we
have little information about
the remains found and about
their conservation.
Let’s think about human
groups from the transition
from collectors to producers.
With production we can think
of human settlements. We
can consider this stage for the
fourth millennium B.C. Here
we talk about communal property.
People defeated in wars
become slaves and are the ones
who do the heavy lifting.
The division of History by
age is known to us, a division
that is made according
to major events. In the
Ancient Ages, great cultures
such as China, India, Greece,
Persia and others developed.
The Ancient Age is considered
from the appearance
of Scripture until the fall of
the Western Roman Empire,
about 4,000 years.
The Middle Age is characterized
by the feudal regime:
those who have nothing are
the servants and the Lords.
We speak in the Middle Ages
of a great war, of the Crusades,
back in the 11th century
A. C. The interest of the Crusades
was commercial.
In the Middle Age, cities
emerged as the group of human
beings not dependent on
the fiefdom and with a greater
vision of the world.
From the twelfth century
the decline of the feudal system
began and the National
States emerged. The rebellions
began. The Russian state
arises with the liquidation of
Mughal rule in 1440.
We still speak as the basis of
the social system: servitude.
With the end of the absolute
monarchy and the fall of the
Eastern Roman Empire, the
Modern Age began.
With the development of
cities and central governments
we have the development
of commerce. The
rebirth of the Greco-Roman
culture, in the 15th and 16th
centuries, originates the
rebirth of that culture, the
Renaissance. The renaissance
meant: development of
science and art and the consideration
of human beings as
the center of life.
Here we talk about: Leonardo
da Vinci. (1452-1519) ·
Michelangelo Buonarroti.
(1475-1564) · Rafael Sanzio.
(1483-1520) · Titian. (1477) -1576)
· Machiavelli. (1469-1527) ·
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
(1547-1616) · Miguel de Montaigne.
(1533-1592) · William
Shakespeare. (1564-1616)
Along with the arts and letters
are the expeditions, which
were made from the development
of scientific knowledge.
Contact from Europe to America
is coming. The development
of relations with the East
arises through navigation.
The culmination of the
Renaissance brings us The
Enlightenment in the 18th
century. A work is published
with all the knowledge called
the Encyclopedia; it was
published in 28 volumes.
Among the main collaborators
we have Diderot, D’Alembert,
Holbach, Helvetius, Voltaire,
Montesquieu and Rousseau.
The French Revolution, the
English Revolution and the
American Independence are
considered as the events that
mark the beginning of the
Contemporary Age.
We are already facing events
that will mark the development
of States and the decline
in the power of monarchies,
becoming constitutional
monarchies. The world at the
beginning of the Contemporary
Age develops between
the domination of the new
conquered lands and the dismemberment
of the absolute
monarchies.
The development of sciences,
with experimentation and
mathematics, for any knowledge.
Today we also work with
a qualitative and quantitative
method: the holistic model.
With a new world, with science
and greater commerce,
comes the domain of goods
and the ideas of ownership of
goods: whether the State or
individuals.
Among the great scientists
we can mention the following:
Einstein- Concepts of space
and time · Heisenberg - Uncertainty
Principle · Pauli - Principle
of exclusion · Niels Bohr
- Principle of Complementarity
· Planck and Sochrödinger
- Subatomic World Relations
· Dilthey - Psychology and
History · Wundt, Brentano,
James and Piaget - Psychology
· Weber - Sociology ·
Wittgenstein - Philosophy of
Science · Bertalanffy - Biology
· Bertrand Russell - Mathematics
· Habermas- Interest
· Morin - The translation of
the world · Bunge - Physics
- symbolic representation of
objects · Prigogine - Dissipative
structures - open systems ·
J. S. Bell - Structure of Matter ·
Bohm - Involved Order · Thom
- Morphogenesis · Lazslo -
Productive tensions · Stapp
- Organic Universe · Sheldrake
- The Morphic Resonance ·
Dobbs - Theory of positrons.
Nowadays world has a
great development but what
happened so that with so
much science and technology
a virus has stopped world
society. If we start to analyze
all the development that
we have achieved, there’s
something that remains in the
pipeline: we have not worked
for understanding among human
beings.
We expand the
physical world, we develop
commerce to have goods, we develop science to know
where we are, but how to live
so that each human being
has a decent space; we have
not done. We say that we
have a knowledge society, but
that knowledge is for a few
because the system of possession
of wealth and the benefit
of science is for 10% of the
world’s population.
In addition, what we have
in abundance is misinformation
through social networks.
Political systems deal with
human beings only for profit.
The search for the good for all
living beings doesn’t exist.
Why has the pandemic
generated by the Coronavirus
not been controlled with so
much science and technology?
As easy as the following:
It meant cost to governments
and discovering the vaccine
would not generate as much
profit as the marketing mad
rush where the infrastructure
was already built.
In addition, each ruler is
more occupied in perpetuating
themselves in having
power, for all the perks that
they achieve, than seeing
that the population has the
necessary well-being. Now the
economy is stopped because
the workers are infected and
the benefit that the governments
were seeking can’t be
achieved. There is a recession
on the horizon and now they
do want a fast vaccine to keep
production going. That they
think about the welfare of human
beings is a utopia.
It’s the same with education;
governments have the right to
say: this is legal and this is not.
The point is that they make
the knowledge-oriented curricula
that can maintain their
power. It’s a domesticating
education. The coronavirus
is going to disappear because
it has stopped the economic
gains of the powerful and now
they cry for the well-being of
the citizens, I mean, of the
workers. The problems arise
because all development is
for the goods and wealth of
a few. From what we have
seen, throughout History,
coexistence is something that
has not been worked on. Now
with people confined to their
homes we see a lot of violence.
We have to learn to live with
others. The benefits of coexistence
are:
a) The care of our space of life;
the planet Earth, because we
all live there.
b) The opportunity for education
for all because that way
we can all be responsible for
our well-being.
c) Fewer conflicts because we
would resolve differences
for the good of all parties.
d) Production according to the
needs of human beings and
stop producing just to profit.
e) Health for all because we
would have less expenses for
it by stopping the mad rush
of working to buy and buy.
f) The goods would be enough
for everyone to produce for
what we actually need.
We have to educate
ourselves in coexistence
because it does generate
well-being for everyone.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Brom, J. (2017). Esbozo de Historia Universal: Grijalbo.
| UNESCO (2004) – Historia de la Humanidad- Planeta- Grandes
Publicaciones. | Prehistoria e inicios de la civilización- La aparición del
Hombre. Volumen I - Del año 3,000 a. C. al 700 a. C. Volumen 2. | Del
siglo VII a. C. al siglo VII d. C. Volumen 3. | Del siglo VII al siglo XVI. Del
nacimiento del islam al descubrimiento de América. Volumen 4. | Del
siglo XVI al siglo al siglo XVIII. Los grandes navegantes y los primeros
imperios coloniales. Volumen 5. | El siglo XIX. La revolución Industrial.
Volumen 6 | EL siglo XX. La globalización de la cultura. Volumen 7 | El
siglo XX. Evolución de la ciencia y la cultura en el mundo. Volumen 8.
What is it with this thin sheet of
paper that makes it so precious?
It’s not only the proof of acquired
knowledge but plays into the reputation
game of where you were trained.
Being a graduate from Harvard Law
School carries that extra glitz, doesn’t
it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma
is the perfect ending to the modern
tragedy of [traditional] education.
Why? Because universities and
curricula are designed along the three
unities of French classical tragedy:
time, action, and place. Students meet
at the university campus (place) for
classes (action) during their 20s (time).
This classical model has traditionally
produced prestigious universities, but it
is now challenged by the digitalisation
of society –which allows everybody
who is connected to the internet to
access learning– and by the need to acquire
skills in step with a fast-changing
world. Universities must realise that
learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If
technological diffusion and implementation
develop faster, workers will have
to constantly refresh their skills.
The university model needs to
evolve. It must equip students with the
right skills and knowledge to compete
in a world ‘where value will be derived
largely from human interaction and the
ability to invent and interpret things
that machines cannot’, as the English
futurist Richard Watson puts it. ...
Read full text:
One of the world’s largest collections
of prehistoric rock art has been
discovered in the Amazonian rainforest.
Hailed as “the Sistine Chapel of the ancients”,
archaeologists have found tens
of thousands of paintings of animals
and humans created up to 12,500 years
ago across cliff faces that stretch across
nearly eight miles in Colombia.
Their date is based partly on their
depictions of now-extinct ice age
animals, such as the mastodon, a
prehistoric relative of the elephant
that hasn’t roamed South America for
at least 12,000 years. There are also
images of the palaeolama, an extinct
camelid, as well as giant sloths and
ice age horses. These animals were all
seen and painted by some of the very
first humans ever to reach the Amazon.
Their pictures give a glimpse into
a lost, ancient civilisation. Such is the
sheer scale of paintings that they will
take generations to study.
The discovery was made last year,
but has been kept secret until now as it
was filmed for a series to be screened
in December: Jungle Mystery: Lost
Kingdoms of the Amazon. ... The documentary’s
presenter, Ella Al-Shamahi,
an archaeologist and explorer, told
the Observer: “The new site is so new,
they haven’t even given it a name yet.”
...
Read full text:
Einstein’s theory of special relativity
brought us one of the most
famous equations in science, E=mc2,
and showed that energy and mass are
equivalent. In our modern, high-tech
world, operations involving digital
information storage and processing
require huge amounts of energy. This
gives way to the theory behind the
mass-energy-information equivalence
principle, the idea that because
a bit of information is energy, it must
have mass as well.
Landauer’s principle links thermodynamics
and digital information
through logical irreversibility. Experiments
have proven the process of
deleting a bit of information dissipates
heat energy, but after information
is created, it can be stored with no
energy loss. Melvin Vopson proposes
this happens because once information
is created, it acquires finite mass.
“This idea is laboratory testable in
principle,” said Vopson. He suggests
taking mass measurements of a digital
data storage device when it has full
memory. If it has more mass than
when the device’s memory is cleared,
then that would show the mass-energy-
information equivalence is correct.
If the theory was to be confirmed, the
implications would have an impact
that could change the way we see the
entire universe. ...
Proteins are the microscopic mechanisms
that drive the behavior of
viruses, bacteria, the human body and
all living things. They begin as strings
of chemical compounds, before twisting
and folding into three-dimensional
shapes that define what they can do —
and what they cannot.
For biologists, identifying the precise
shape of a protein often requires
months, years or even decades of
experimentation. It requires skill, intelligence
and more than a little elbow
grease. Sometimes they never succeed.
Now, an artificial intelligence lab
in London has built a computer
system that can do the job in a few
hours —perhaps even a few minutes.
DeepMind, a lab owned by the same
parent company as Google, said on
Monday [Nov. 2020] that its system,
called AlphaFold, had solved what is
known as “the protein folding problem.”
Given the string of amino acids
that make up a protein, the system can
rapidly and reliably predict its threedimensional
shape. This long-sought
breakthrough could accelerate the
ability to understand diseases, develop
new medicines and unlock mysteries
of the human body.
Computer scientists have struggled
to build such a system for more than
50 years. For the last 25, they ... Read full
text:
When the Diamond Princess, a
cruise ship suffering from an
outbreak of covid-19, arrived in Japan
in February [2020], it seemed like a
stroke of bad luck. A small floating petri
dish threatened to turn the Japanese
archipelago into a big one. In retrospect,
however, the early exposure taught the
authorities lessons that have helped
make Japan’s epidemic the mildest
among the world’s big economies, despite
a recent surge in infections. ...
After trained quarantine officers and
nurses were infected aboard the ship,
despite following protocols for viruses
that spread through droplets, Mr Oshitani’s
team [virologist who sits on an
expert panel advising the government]
concluded that the virus spread through
the air. As early as March, Japanese officials
began warning citizens to avoid
the san-mitsu or “3cs”: closed spaces,
crowded places and close-contact settings.
... Crowded subways pose little
risk, if windows are open and passengers
wear masks ... Sitting diagonally,
rather than across from each other ...
In addition to the 3cs, the Japanese
government warns of five more specific
dangers: dinner parties with booze;
drinking and eating in groups of more
than four; talking without masks at
close quarters; living in dormitories
and other small shared spaces; and using
changing or break rooms. ...
Read full text:
Read full text:
An mRNA vaccine has never been
mass-produced and licensed to
treat an infectious disease. The mRNA
vaccines to treat the novel coronavirus
would be the first. ... The biotechnology
giants Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech
announced [November 2020] that they
had seen promising results as they
near the end of clinical trials for their
vaccine candidates. Both vaccines are
likely to be produced on a wide scale
and distributed en masse to the public.
Yet what is particularly striking is that
both are mRNA vaccines, mRNA being
short for “synthetic messenger RNA.”
Understanding why these are so novel
requires some background on the history
of vaccination. ...
“Live-attenuated vaccines are often
very effective but they sometimes induce
adverse events” ... Another related
subtype of vaccines are called protein
subunit vaccines... Viral vector-based
vaccines, and genetic vaccines like
those which use DNA and RNA, are the
second and third main vaccine technologies.
“When you use viral-vectoredbased
or genetic vaccines, you deliver
a blueprint that will allow the host cells
to produce protein antigens that will
then induce an immune response” ...
you’re giving the cells a blueprint rather
than a piece of the pathogen itself ...
Read full text:
This wearable 360-degree camera
offers an unobtrusive way to
record moments from a first-person
point of view. It has three built-in
FHD cameras to capture your environment
and connects directly to the
accompanying app, where you can
stitch your footage together to create a
masterpiece.
The FITT360 also boasts 64GB
worth of built-in internal memory for
continuous recording, which you can
extend to up to 128GB with the external
memory card slot. It lasts up to 70
minutes, too, thanks to its long-lasting
1920 mAh battery.
Plus, if you’re not recording, it
doubles as a Bluetooth headset to take
phone calls or listen to recordings. No
wonder it was so successful on Kickstarter.
...
Of all experimental cars unveiled
so far, Nissan’s new ‘GT-R (X)
2050’ concept could be the craziest
one yet. It’s a self-driving supercar that
you “wear” as an exoskeleton, facedown,
and control with your mind.
The revolutionary idea was conceptualized
by Nissan intern Jaebum
Choi. Nissan Design America’s vice
president David Woodhouse was so
fascinated by it, he had the company
build a 1:1 model.
The ‘GT-R (X)’ can only fit one, and
has a height of just two feet tall, while
its length is a generous 10 feet.
Essentially, the vehicle makes you
feel like Iron Man, giving you a sense
of “machine and the human [becoming]
one.” The driver wears a race
suit, and “docks” in the lightweight
car with their body faced down and
laid out in an X shape. They have on a
helmet, which, when slotted into the
vehicle, switches on a virtual-reality
vision camera. ...
Scottish designer Phoenix Instinct
has developed a lightweight wheelchair
with a movable axle position that
automatically adjusts the chair’s centre
of gravity to stop overbalancing.
Developed with the help of a
$500,000 development grant from the
Mobility Unlimited Challenge, which
is run by the Toyota Mobility Foundation
together with Nesta’s Challenge
Prize Centre, the Phoenix iWheelchair
uses smart technology to improve its
basic functionality.
“The wheelchair is proven to be the
most viable means of getting around
if you’re paralysed,” said Phoenix
Instinct founder Andrew Slorance.
“However, wheelchair technology
hasn’t evolved since the 80s, while
smart systems have transformed products
all around us,” he told Dezeen. ...
People in the world’s Blue Zones —
the places around the world with
the highest life expectancy— don’t
pump iron, run marathons or join
gyms. Instead, they live in environments
that constantly nudge them into
moving without even thinking about
it. They grow gardens, walk throughout
the day, and minimize mechanical
conveniences for house and yard work.
In fact, Blue Zones researchers determined
that routine natural movement
is one of the most impactful ways to
increase your life span, and a common
habit among the world’s longest-lived
populations.
Of course this might not seem realistic
in our current knowledge economy,
where we’re often tied to a desk and
in front of a computer screen all day. Moving naturally throughout the day
might sound pleasant and romantic,
but the reality is that 100 years ago
only 10% of us had sedentary jobs,
whereas today it’s 90%.
However, there are still easy ways
to add more movement into your busy
lifestyle. One of the best ways to do
this is to use an active mode of transportation.
This could mean walking
your kids to school, walking or biking
to the grocery store, to a friend’s house,
or out to dinner. Ideally you could walk
or bike to work as well (or walk/bike to
the bus or train station, if that’s more
feasible). ... If active transportation
isn’t possible in your community, you
can still find time to go out for a walk.
Read full text:
The human gut microbiome is a
world in miniature, populated by a
chatty community of bacteria, viruses,
fungi, and protozoa nestled within various
gastrointestinal niches. Over the
past decade, researchers have linked
disturbances within this complicated
microbial society to a variety of diseases.
Major depressive disorder (MDD)
is one such condition, but the studies
have been small and the findings imprecise.
A study published December
2 [2020] in Science Advances changes
all that with its vivid description of a
distinct microbiome associated with
major depressive disorder, as well as
the profile of molecules these organisms
produce. The researchers were
able to use this microbial “fingerprint”
to distinguish between individuals
with MDD and healthy controls, solely
on the composition of a few microbes
and compounds in their fecal matter.
“What this paper does is bring the
complexity of the ecology of the microbiome
into focus,” says neuroscientist
John Cryan. ... “It’s a welcome addition
to the field.” “The strength of the
paper is this dual approach to both the
metagenomics to identify the key taxa
as well as the metabolites, because in
the end we need to link whatever the
biosignature of the taxa are to the host,”
Jane Foster ... tells The Scientist. She
adds that it’s one of the first studies ...
When not busy trying to murder
humans in The Matrix, the AI
program known as Agent Smith took
time to pontificate on our nature as a
species. You can’t really consider us
mammals, he reckoned, because mammals
form an equilibrium with their environment.
By contrast, humans move
to an area and multiply “until every
natural resource is consumed,” making
us more like a kind of virus. “Human
beings are a disease,” he concluded, “a
cancer of this planet. You are a plague.”
I think, though, that it would be more
accurate to describe humanity as a
kind of biofilm, a bacterium or fungus
that’s grown as a blanket across the
planet, hoovering up its resources. ...We
turn natural materials like sand into
cement and glass, and oil into asphalt,
and iron into steel. In this reengineering
of Earth, we’ve imperiled countless
species, many of which will have gone
extinct without being described.
Collectively, these manufactured
products of humanity are known as
anthropogenic mass. And according
to a new paper in Nature, at around
1.1 teratonnes (or 1,100,000,000,000
metric tons), anthropogenic mass now
outweighs Earth’s dry biomass. That
means all the living organisms, including
vegetation, animals, and microbes.
... Annual production now sits at 30
gigatonnes, or 30,000,000,000 metric
tons. At this rate, in just 20 more years,
anthropogenic mass will go ... to nearly
tripling total dry biomass. ...
Read full text:
True environmentalists
don’t buy into The
Green New Deal. They think
all the encouraging words
from other environmentalists
are bright green lies.
Because at bottom, all the
positive noises are simply a
sop to industrialized society
and the giant industries
that run it. And according
to Bright Green Lies, the book, it’s all
about maintaining the current opulent
lifestyle, and continuing to destroy the
planet. No sacrifices will be made that
might slow the consumer economy.
This dramatic, sane and passionate
book lays out the lies with evidence
like simple math and direct observation.
It is a straightforward deconstruction
of things like “renewable”
energy, “sustainable” agriculture and
pointless optimism that it is not too
late if mankind would just take any
kind of action right now. The book is
wide-ranging and constantly challenging
of common knowledge and
perceptions. From hydropower to soil
remediation, everything gets its moment
to fail.
It is only not too late if mankind is
willing to back away from 21st century
luxuries. That means abandoning
capitalism, because capitalism cannot
stand retrenching. It is all about digging
up resources without payment,
while obtaining huge subsidies
for doing it. ...
Lifestyle over ecology
is the operating manifesto,
whether they admit
it or not say Derrick Jensen,
Lierre Keith and Max
Wilbert, the three authors of
Bright Green Lies.
These three are clearly
on the side of the planet.
They even use the pronoun who for
any animal, bird or insect... a very nice
touch in a relentless book of destructive
practices bent on eliminating
every other species and burning every
bit of carbon: Extinctions have gone
from just over a hundred a day to more
than two hundred every day, just in
our lifetime. • Topsoil on the prairies
has gone from 12 feet deep in the late
1800s, to inches today, requiring constant
input of artificial fertilizers on
what was once the most fertile land on
the continent. • “If your culture trashes
your environment and destroys almost
all the old growth forest in a couple of
centuries, then your civilization is not
sustainable.” • Agriculture, the biggest
crime of all, is “biotic cleansing”. •
Sustainable agriculture is an oxymoron.
• A green industrial facility is an
impossibility. ...
Read full review by David Wineberg, author of
The Straight Dope:
Sesame Street has added two new
residents, Noor and Aziz, into
its Muppet family. The twins are six
years old and come from the displaced
Rohingya Muslim community in the
world’s biggest refugee camp. They
were introduced into the show as
part of Sesame Street’s Play to Learn
humanitarian program, which hopes to
shed light on communities affected by
Rohingya and Syrian refugee crises.
Noor and Aziz were created for a
Rohingya-language educational campaign
to provide early education to
families across the globe, including the
city of Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh. Since
2017, many Rohingya families have had
to find shelter after facing attacks from
government troops. The United Nations
Refugee Agency has estimated that
over 40-percent of Rohingya refugees
in Bangladesh being children under
12 years old. UNICEF has also reported
more than 680,000 children to be living
in Cox’s Bazaar.
In a press release, Sherrie Westin,
president of Social Impact at Sesame
Workshop, stated that the new characters
will touch on the importance of
early education during the refugee crisis
and coronavirus pandemic. “These
are two very special Sesame Muppets
—for most Rohingya children, Noor
and Aziz will be the very first characters
in media who look and sound like
them,” ...
Read full text:
One would think that koalas are
easy to find and count. They’re
large. They’re fluffy. They’re mostly
immobile since they tend to sleep for
about 20 hours a day. Not so.
“It’s the fact that they don’t move
much that makes them hard to spot,”
said Desley Whisson, a wildlife ecologist
at Deakin University in Victoria.
This makes the Australian government’s
effort to count the population
of the native marsupials and record
where they live all the more daunting.
In November [2020], the government
announced that it would commit 2
million Australian dollars ($1.5 million
usd) to fund an audit of the species,
and would use new methods to do so. When the count begins, heat-seeking
drones, acoustic surveys and detector
dogs will be deployed. Individuals will
don hiking boots and head out into the
bush for some koala spotting. Many
will also look for koala droppings.
Estimates of koala populations have
historically varied wildly. In 2016,
scientists estimated there were over
300,000 koalas in Australia. In mid-
2019, the Australian Koala Foundation
estimated that fewer than 80,000
remained in the country, and said the
number could be as low as 43,000.
Concern and confusion over the koalas’
numbers intensified during bushfires ...
Read full text and watch video:
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“While Indigenous
Peoples make up
less than 4 percent of
the global population,
they protect more
than a quarter of the
world’s land area,
supporting four-fifths
of all biodiversity.”
The Bachelor's Degree in Urban
Planning (BSc) program helps
students obtain develop professional
career in planning or to further advanced
their education in a range of
other professional disciplines such as
law or public administration. A career
in planning requires knowledge of
planning philosophy, analytical methods,
problem formulation and resolution,
law and local government, and
the aesthetic, cultural, social, economic,
ecological, and physical characteristics
of human settlement. The Bachelor's
Degree in Urban Planning (BSc)
program is offered online via distance
learning. After evaluating both academic
record and life experience, AIU
staff working in conjunction with Faculty
and Academic Advisors will assist
students in setting up a custom-made
program, designed on an individual
basis. This flexibility to meet student
needs is seldom found in other distance
learning programs. Our online
program does not require all students
to take the same subjects/courses, use
the same books, or learning materials.
Instead, the online Bachelor's Degree
in Urban Planning (BSc) curriculum is
designed individually by the student
and academic advisor. It specifically
addresses strengths and weaknesses
with respect to market opportunities in
the student’s major and intended field
of work. Understanding that industry
and geographic factors should influence
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instead of a standardized one-fits-all
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philosophy addresses the dynamic and
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in the UK, and is listed in the International Directory of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
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In some cases, accredited colleges
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AIU graduation documents can include
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The School of Business and Economics
allows aspiring and practicing
professionals, managers, and entrepreneurs
in the private and public sectors
to complete a self paced distance
learning degree program of the highest
academic standard.
The ultimate goal is to empower
learners and help them take advantage
of the enormous array of resources
from the world environment in order
to eliminate the current continuum of
poverty and limitations.
Degree programs are designed for
those students whose professional experience has been in business,
marketing, administration, economics,
finance and management.
The School of Social and Human Studies
is focused on to the development of
studies which instill a core commitment
to building a society based on social and
economic justice and enhancing opportunities
for human well being.
The founding principles lie on the
basic right of education as outlined
in the Declaration of Human Rights.
We instill in our students a sense of
confidence and self reliance in their
ability to access the vast opportunities
available through information channels,
the world wide web, private, public,
nonprofit, and nongovernmental organizations in an ever expanding
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Degree programs are aimed towards
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seeks to provide dynamic, integrated,
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sciences. Our system for research and
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twenty-first century reach scientific
advance in an environmentally and
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students a demand for ethical behavior,
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With access to a global catalog created and maintained collectively by more than
9,000 participating institutions, AIU students have secured excellent research
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