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China Makes 9,000 People Move So They Can Look For Aliens

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China Makes 9,000 People Move So They Can Look For Aliens

The government in China makes 9,000 people move so they can look for aliens by building the world’s largest radio telescope that shames all others constructed. And, if you’re going to look for extraterrestrial life, that’s probably the way to go. For the most part.

  • The Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) will be 1,640 feet (500 m) in girth, the largest one in the world
  • The main purpose of the telescope will be the seek out alien life
  • To build it, around 9,110 people will have to move from Pingtang and Luodian counties
  • Each individual will be given $1,800 for the inconvenience

There is an international race in being the first country to make contact with alien life or even prove its existence. It’s a commitment that China seems much more invested in than the rest of the world. Now, it’s not only about time and resources spent on such an ambitious project. It’s about even forcing people to move away so they could build a giant telescope that will be the main tool at their disposal.

The behemoth of a telescope is called Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (dubbed FAST) and it’s designed to keep an eye out for alien life. It’s the largest telescope ever made, to stand at around 1,640 feet (500 m), which is almost double to the current record holder. In comparison, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which has a girth of 984 feet (300 m) will look puny next to the Chinese giant.

According to chief scientist from China’s National Astronomical Observations, Li Di, FAST will be able to scan up to twice more areas of the sky than Arecibo, and it will have between three to five times the sensitivity. It’s in their hopes that if there is indeed alien life, this gargantuan will find it.

Unfortunately, that will not come without a cost to the citizens actually living in the area where the radio telescope will be built. In fact, 9,110 villagers residing near the Pingtang and Luodian counties are being moved away. The nice term used is “mass relocation” instead of what it actually looks like, which is more of a forced eviction. However, these have been deemed as mere assumptions since no one has given any clues on whether there is or will be resistance from the villagers.

However, each of the around 2,000 families will be given $1,800 per individual to help with the relocation and find where to live next. Whether that will be enough or not remains to be seen. Regardless, they’re unlikely to stand in the way now that the project is moving forward full steam ahead.

The purpose behind FAST is not only finding E.T. though. China is the leading nation around the world that is sending students abroad, especially for majors such as science or engineering. And, most students who get their PhD in the U.S. rarely return home. With the massive telescope, it’s in their hopes that they will be able to attract some of the brightest minds in science or astronomy.

Since 2008, China has made attempts to make their country more appealing to gifted scientists by offering bigger salaries and higher budgets. It hasn’t worked as well as they liked. Perhaps the telescope’s construction will draw in more talents and serve as a motivation for numerous students in the domain to return home. When such exceptional qualities are boasted, it is possible that many scientists will want the opportunity to test it out.

Image source: aljazeera.com

Cancer Kills 7,500 People Daily In China

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Air pollution is one of the main causes of lung cancer

In spite of decreasing mortality rates, cancer kills 7,500 people daily in China which means that the nation’s population is still at high risk of the disease.

  • 2.8 million people died due to cancer in 2015
  • 4.3 million people were diagnosed with cancer last year
  • China accounts for 27% of all cancer-related deaths worldwide
  • Lung, esophageal, liver, and stomach cancer are the most common (57%)

Researchers from the National Cancer Center Beijing, the American Cancer Society, and the University of Sydney concluded that there were 2.8 million deaths in 2015 caused by cancer. That amounts to a whopping 7,500 deaths per day, which underlines the unfortunate state of China’s health. In addition, last year there were 4.3 million new cases of cancer diagnosed. So, the death count is unlikely to slow in the following years.

The data was gathered from 72 cancer registries around China, estimating the death rates of cancer. Perhaps unsurprisingly, lung cancer was by far the most common one. The smog is still a major problem around the Asian cities, and the population is suffering gravely in terms of health. Air pollution remains a grave danger not yet fixed. Around 25% of cases were also related to smoking, which is notoriously known for increasing the risk of lung cancer.

According to lead author of the study, Dr. Wanqing Chen, cancer has become the leading cause of death in China since 2010. Worldwide, the Asian nation represents 27% of cancer related deaths and 22% of new cancer diagnoses. It’s now a “major health problem”, which apparently results in millions of deaths each year.

The researchers found that 57% of the cancer cases in China are essentially lung cancer, liver, esophageal, and stomach cancer. In comparison, those types are attributed to only 18% of cancer cases in the United States. Be it outdoor pollution or indoor pollution caused by coal burning and heating, they have a major role to play in the detriment of the population’s health.

All factors are exposing the Chinese to several environmental carcinogens, the air especially.

According to their findings, these are the result of pollution, but also of unhealthy lifestyle. Many could be prevented by adopting a healthy diet and regular exercise. It makes the situation even more unfortunate in the wake of worrying news.

The researchers also managed to estimate survival rates from the patients. Their data suggested that 36.9% of all cancer patients diagnosed in 2015 will survive around 5 years. Women had a much higher rate of 47.3% in comparison to men’s 29.3%. Admittedly, their lack of proper data and examination of records from just 22 clinics could have skewed their results.

In spite of unfortunate news and exceedingly amount of deaths, the mortality rate have been reportedly declining. The numbers for men dropped by 21.4% and by 21.1% for women. The silver lining seems to be that the situation is getting better, but, at the same time, the silver lining surrounds a very dark cloud hanging over China’s population.

Image source: pri.org

Is China a Better Deal than the U. S. for Latin America?

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The U.S. are traditionally Latin America’s main trading partner, but since their economical agreements come along with their insistence on imposing the conventions of open markets and Western style democracy, the countries of Central and South America are increasingly tempted to do business with China, who offers cash while making no such demands.

With important primary resources like oil and soybeans and with an acute need for capital, the Latin American countries seem to be the perfect trade partner for China. Not only have Chinese investments in Latin America risen by 71% within the last year, but, according to President’s Xi Jinping declarations, China’s plan is to double its trade volume with this region over the next decade, in order to reach a figure of $250 billion. Even though U. S. remains the main trade partner for most of the Latin American countries, four of them (Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Venezuela) are already trading more with China. Furthermore, the loans that China has granted the Central and South American countries (going up to $22 billion last year) are larger, according to Inter-American Dialogue expert Margaret Myers, than the sum which both the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank put together have lent to these countries in the same interval.

Meanwhile, North-American interest in the countries of Latin America is slowly decreasing – direct investments from U. S. firms in the region have diminished by around 20% in the past three years (as Commerce Department data reveals).

Signs of the Chinese-Latin American friendship are beginning to show not only when it comes to economy, but when it comes to politics as well – the last important meeting of CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, an alliance formed in 2010 which excludes Canada and the U.S.) was held not in Washington, but in Beijing, where the connections between China and the South American region was discussed.

While it is true that both economies (Chinese and Latin America) are beginning to slow down, the potential of a long-term partnership is still a good prospect for both, and a warning sign for the United States’ play for power in the Pacific region.

image source: CNN Money

Oil Prices rise after Saudi Confidence in Demand

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For the second day in succession, Oil price rose extending the biggest rally since October 2012. Saudi Arabia said that it is not cutting down production and is confident that crude prices will rebound as the world economy grows.

Brent futures rose by 2.6 percent in London. Saudi oil minister blamed countries outside OPEC and their uncooperative attitude for the present problems. According to Qatar’s energy minister Mohammed Al Sada, the market is oversupplied by 2 million barrels a day.

Oil prices has slumped by about 20% ever since OPEC refused to cut production regardless of the fact that US is pumping crude at a record pace.

The energy minister of the United Arab Emirates, Suhail Al Mazrouei, has described the excess supply of crude by Non-OPEC countries as irresponsible actions which has led to the fall in oil prices.

Oil Prices rise after Saudi Confidence in Demand

Jonathan Barratt, the chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance Securities in Sydney, said by phone today, “We can expect more persuasive talk to try and get prices back to a happy median. A good balance for the market is $70. We’re coming into the Christmas period of low liquidity, so expect volatility and fluctuations to continue.”

Shale Boom

The oil production in US, which also is the world’s biggest oil consumer expanded to 9.14 million barrels a day through Dec. 12, according to the Energy Information Administration. This is record level in weekly data since January 1983.

The US Shale boom is driven by new innovative technologies like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. This has led to the unlocking of supplies from shale formation from regions such as Eagle Ford and Permian in Texas and the Bakken in North Dakota. According to the figures released by the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute, these three shale locations has supplied record amounts of crude in November.

China, a major oil consumer has increased crude imports from Russia and stood at 3.31 million metric tons in November. This is a 65% growth from a year ago. On the other hand Saudi shipments shrank by 5.9% as compared to last year. Similarly Iran shipments also fell by 2.6%.

Climate talks – More Divisions than Unanimity

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Talks have once again started in Peru and it is the final day of an important UN Climate summit which hopes to ratify a new global treaty. Negotiators are coming together to thrash out a text which would then serve as the basis for a new treaty which will be signed in Paris 2015.

However the long running feud between the rich and poor continue to hamper progress. The situation is aptly described by US Secretary of State John Kerry who said the world was “still on a course leading to tragedy”, and the deal was “not an option, an urgent necessity”.

The climate talks in Lima have been focused on two major issues- The first major issue is the developing countries resisting calls to cut their emissions and the second issue, the developing nation want the rich nations to pay money to help the developing countries for adapting to a changing planet.

Global_warming

This brings to the fore the question – Should the rich nations barter poor countries reduce emissions in return for more climate aid?

Developing countries have a high moral ground when they ask for compensation for cutting down emissions and adopt greener technology. The US and the other highly industrialized nations have produced the largest share of CO2 and other green house gasses into the atmosphere with the developing countries far behind. There is little which small island nations such as Kiribati can do as the floodwater rise and droughts increase as a result of Global warming.

On the other hand Western countries are asking for greater emissions reductions from large developing countries — not just China, but also India, Brazil and Indonesia. Without their cooperation, it is not possible for taking steps to reduce global warming and its consequences.

However development is a big issue with emerging economies like Brazil and India.

India’s power minister, Piyush Goyal, was quoted as saying by the New York Times, “India’s development imperatives cannot be sacrificed at the altar of potential climate changes many years in the future. The West will have to recognize, we have the needs of the poor.”

So incentives have to be in place before asking the developing economies to cut emissions. European nations want India to clean up its coal based power plants, they will have to shoulder some costs for this to happen.

Misreading Climate change will prove costly for politicians

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Two of the biggest polluters in the world, China and the US have struck a landmark deal on Wednesday November 12th 2014 to fast track the cutting down of emission of green house gases. The green house gasses like CO2 and methane have been blamed for the rising global temperatures. Rising global temperatures have started affecting the world climate patterns. Rising ocean levels are threatening many low lying areas as well as small islands which risk getting submerged.

Climate change is increasingly being discussed in the same breath as gender gaps and gun laws and by the time the presidential race hots up in 2016, it will become the most talked about topic.

Politicians have been repeatedly warned about taking global warming seriously or else face the consequences at the ballot booth times. .

Most voters across a wide spectrum of age group think that global warming is as serious issue as terrorism and have a profound effect on the lives of people in present times.

Misreading Climate change will prove costly for politicians

Voters are also sharply polarized on party lines on the question of Global Warming. For persons who see global warming as a serious issue support Democrats, 70 to 29 percent while those who do not think it as a serious issue support Republicans, 84 to 14 percent.

The burning question is why the democrats are not pushing the issue of global warming, taking advantage of their electoral victory. In the same way, why are more republicans not trying to return to a pro green agenda? This ambiguity comes due to three factors-

Democrats breathed easily when environmental issues were settled with relaxed bipartisan support, under the Clean Air Act in 1990 under President George H. W. Bush. Democrats and Republicans were able to work with relative ease like Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford nationally and Governors like Nelson Rockefeller and George Pataki in New York.

When the Republicans started veering away from bipartisanship on environmental issues like under Vice President Dick Cheney who granted extraordinary exemptions to the Clean Water and Drinking Act benefiting oil and gas companies, Democrats went on a back foot instead of fighting the environmental agenda and measures to combat the repercussions of climate change.

Lastly both Democrats and the Republicans misread the polling data when they scoffed at climate change. It could have become a key base retention issue for Democrats if they read the data correctly. Events left voters with little choice but to connect superstorms with global warming and climate change. Political parties will have to pay a steep price for their inaction.

 

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