development
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Will we find new cures for the 21st Century? Half a century ago, in the drug industry's golden era, we were bestowed with countless pills to lower blood pressure, control blood sugar and get rid of infections. But today it costs about $1bn to bring a new medicine to market, a process that can take 15 years. And as the population ages, many of us will battle with neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, where new drugs are also lacking. This so-called blockbuster method - which commits large sums of money to finding a drug that promises to treat a huge proportion of the population, and generate swathes of cash to cover other experimental losses - can no longer sustain the industry.
The end of drug discovery?
World of 7 billion: What's your number? | Human World | EarthSky
The coolest thing I’ve seen today are the online “What’s your number?” calculators, presumably showing your approximate birth order among those alive today. Where do you fit into this story of human life? Check out these links to find out.
On October 31, 2011, the United Nations is expected to announce a projected world population figure of 7 billion. This global milestone presents both an opportunity and a challenge for the planet. While more people are living longer and healthier lives, says the U.N., gaps between rich and poor are widening and more people than ever are vulnerable to food insecurity and water shortages. Because censuses are infrequent and incomplete, no one knows the precise date that we will hit the 7 billion mark - the Census Bureau puts it somewhere next March.
World Population: 7 Billion - The Big Picture - Boston.com
With the population hitting 7bn this month the Spanish design house Bestiaro has produced this visualisation of the UN population data for us
The UN predicts the world's population explosion: visualised | Environment | guardian.co.uk
When analogies go bad « It Takes 30
Lots has been written about the scientific method (and even I have written about it in a minor way in the past). The cycle of “make hypothesis, make predictions, test predictions, revise hypothesis, repeat” is the main thing people focus on when talking about how scientific progress happens. What’s less talked about is where the hypothesis comes from in the first place, which starts with someone (maybe you, dear reader) noticing something that needs to be explained. This is harder than it may sound, because in order to see something that needs to be explained, you need to be able to see past the existing explanations. You need to notice that what the textbook says should happen isn’t quite correct, instead of falling prey to the temptation to edit what you’re seeing to match what you expected to see.human development
What is the difference between a buffalo and a bison?* « It Takes 30
The question of how a genotype (the arrangement of letters in DNA) maps to a phenotype (the shape and behavior of an organism) can be examined at many levels. On the one hand, we’d like to know how small differences in DNA sequence determine differences between individual humans, such as susceptibility to disease, height, IQ, maybe musical talent… the list is long. On the other hand, we’d like to know which DNA differences determine the crucial differences between species. What makes the beak short or long or pointy , what makes the neck short or long, what determines the size of the average member of the species?
A stream of scientists tell us that the Arctic could disappear in a decade, one in every two animals could go extinct, the ocean will rise, extreme weather will hit the planet and, ultimately, climate change will lead to the “potential decline and collapse of civilization”: Carbon Nation starts with the same climate change sermon everyone has heard before. Then the film takes its critical turn: “I've heard enough. I don't need to hear any more about 'we're all doomed'. We know it's a big task, but it's also a fantastic, and huge, opportunity,” says a lone voice at the end of the documentary's introduction. Carbon Nation is a film about solutions, not problems, proclaims its US director and producer, Peter Byck. More than that, it's a film about solutions that will make every-day Americans cold hard cash.
Carbonnation - The Movie
We launched Google PowerMeter as a free energy monitoring tool to raise awareness about the importance of giving people access to their energy information. PowerMeter included key features like visualizations of your energy usage, the ability share information with others, and personalized recommendations to save energy.
Energy Information
Développement durable et territoires - Économie, géographie, politique, droit, sociologie
Ce numéro de Développement Durable et Territoires est, et cela devrait devenir récurrent, majoritairement composé d’articles issus de la rubrique « Varia ».
Sources d'énergie des réseaux de chaleur
Colibris - Mouvement pour la Terre et l'Humanisme
Un jour, dit la légende, il y eut un immense incendie de forêt.
Global Footprint Network :: HOME - Ecological Footprint - Ecological Sustainability
Global Footprint Network is an international think tank working to advance sustainability through use of the Ecological Footprint , a resource accounting tool that measures how much nature we have, how much we use and who uses what. By making ecological limits central to decision-making, we are working to end overshoot and create a society where all people can live well, within the means of one planet.Humanity has exhausted its budget for the year in 9 months Just as a bank statement tracks income against expenditures, Global Footprint Network tracks human demand on the planet–from filtering CO2 to producing the raw materials for food–against its capacity to regenerate those resources and absorb the waste. And the data is sobering.
Earth Overshoot Day
Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool - Subscription
Welcome IBAT for business is an innovative tool designed to facilitate access to accurate and up-to-date biodiversity information to support critical business decisions. The tool is the result of a ground-breaking conservation partnership among BirdLife International, Conservation International, IUCN and UNEP WCMC.Développement durable