In a country where cows are revered as holy, it may seem strange to learn that tens of thousands of people have taken to Twitter to decry a ban on beef. Indeed, citizens of India responding to Maharashtra’s beef ban, which went into effect on Monday, have created one of the world’s top trending hashtags: #beefban.
The United States has been around for 238 years. A year on Pluto is 248 years. (Thanks to Corey Powell for pointing out this map, recently published by the New Horizons team.)
NASA's New Horizons probe is now closing in on Pluto, due to reach it on Tuesday after a nine-year journey. And though that might seem like a long time, the truth is that Pluto has been traveling towards this rendezvous for much, much longer.
The last time Pluto was in its current position — in 1768 — humans were totally unaware of its existence (it was discovered in 1930). At the time, humans still hadn't figured out how species evolve, how germs transmit diseases, or how the Earth's tectonic plates slide around. Aviation was still decades away — and spaceflight wouldn't happen for nearly 200 years.
All of which is to say: it's pretty amazing that, this time around, Pluto will be visited by a tiny robot sent by a curious species of apes three billion miles away. A lot can change in a single orbit.
Several theories have been floated, from the possible -- the plane was switched to autopilot and plunged into the ocean, the plane was hijacked and taken to a remote island for unknown reasons -- to the ridiculous, like the concept of aliens "kidnapping" the aircraft.
Now, almost one year after the tragedy, a senior Boeing 777 captain, Simon Hardy, has come forward with a new theory about what happened to the missing plane; it is a theory based on emotion, something not really considered before. Australian officials say the theory is "credible." It has also been published in Flight International Magazine and on the Flightglobal website.
Hardy claims that the plane was taken on an "emotional farewell" over pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah's home island of Penang before it landed on the ocean below. It sank from there. Hardy does not use the term "crashed." He believes the aircraft was depressurized, and that passengers and crew lost consciousness.
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After studying the missing plane’s flight data for six months, Hardy believes that after flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur, the aircraft lost contact with air traffic control over the China Sea, where four flight information regions intersect. Once the transponder was turned off, the aircraft did something "quite remarkable" -- it flew in and out of Malaysia and Thailand eight times.
"Someone did a nice long turn and looked down on Penang. It’s perhaps the only clue to the perpetrator."
Hardy also believes the search in the Indian Ocean is approximately 100 nautical miles away from the jet’s final resting place on the bottom of the ocean. His calculations lead him to believe the plane was ditched in the Andaman Sea, two nautical miles from navigation waypoint Anoko, close to the Andaman Islands.
Only two days after it rolled out province-wide 911 service, Newfoundland and Labrador officials are pleading with citizens to stop calling 911 just to see if it works.
“The more people hear about it, the more likely they are to try and test it,” said Bradley Power, spokesman with Newfoundland and Labrador’s Fire and Emergency services. “There have been a couple, and we just want to make sure that it doesn’t escalate.”
Last week, an official government release warned 911 newbies to “refrain from testing the service (i.e. calling and hanging up).”
On Monday, Newfoundland and Labradorians also heard from Vince Mackenzie, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Fire Services. In a CBC broadcast he said “it’s up, it’s running. You don’t need to check.”
“My message today is to remind everyone not to phone 911 unless there is an emergency,” he told the National Post.
On Sunday, Newfoundland and Labrador launched province-wide 911 service for the first time. Previously, only 40% of its 527,000 people could call 911 in an emergency.
‘My message today is to remind everyone not to phone 911 unless there is an emergency’
Everyone else, meanwhile, was expected to dial the seven-digit number of their local police detachment, fire station or ambulance dispatch.
The Atlantic province is right to be wary.
In the other 911-serviced regions of Canada, test calls are a common headache for emergency dispatchers — particularly when rural regions are freshly introduced to the system.
“It certainly happens,” said Jody Robertson, spokeswoman with E-Comm, the agency that answers most of B.C.’s 911 calls.
“We’ve had people testing out their new phone, which is not something that we want people to do because it takes time away from real 911 calls.”
The exact number of test callers is not known, but the problem warranted official mention in a 911 fact sheet put out by Emergency Management B.C. “Please don’t call 911 just to see if it works,” it reads.
A similar warning was issued by Calgary to stem a growing rash of unnecessary emergency calls.
“Children who learn about 9-1-1 is school are sometimes tempted to ‘test’ 9-1-1,” reads a City of Calgary brochure. “Please teach your children to call 9-1-1 in an emergency and never place a test call to 9-1-1.”
Users of Internet-based phones are also regular sources of 911 test calls.
There have also been several high-profile incidents in which 911 dispatchers received improper information from an online phone. In one case, a Calgary toddler died after his family’s web phone forwarded the emergency call to Ontario, causing a critical 20-minute delay in the arrival of paramedics.
In British Columbia, at least, E-Comm will occasionally authorize test calls with large companies or service providers, but never with individual phone owners, said Ms. Robertson.
Although 911 is taken for granted in Canada’s urban area, large swaths of its sparsely populated rural areas remain outside the reach of 911 operators.
“It’s a real simple answer — we don’t have 911,” said Kevin Brezinski, director of public safety for the Northwest Territories.
If Yellowknife residents need the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, they have to call (867) 669-1111. If their house is on fire, however, the emergency number is (867) 873-2222. The emergency numbers change, depending on the community.
As Newfoundland and Labrador laid the groundwork for its new system, an official study promised it would allow tourists, children and the occupants of burning homes to call for help without getting confused.
One creature’s trash may be another creature’s lunch, according to new research out of James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, which suggests that some Great Barrier Reef corals eat plastic pollution. While researchers continue to study the affect these microplastics could have on coral and marine health, the reefs will likely keep on eating, and thereby cleaning up, our mess.
You know your bike culture is strong when people are having a hard time finding a place to park their rides – and that’s just what’s happening in Amsterdam right now. The Dutch city is running out of room for the 880,000 bikes that travel – and park – along its canals. In an effort to deal with the problem, Amsterdam is planning to create 40,000 new bike parking spaces by 2030.
cool! but we were at a cabin outside of vancouver 2 weeks ago and the logging road by our place was not on google maps.
Google's Trekker device on a zipline above the Amazon jungle in South America. Associated Press
Skift Take: The Trekker program is just fascinating.
— Jason Clampet
For its next technological trick, Google will show you what it’s like to zip through trees in the Amazon jungle.
The images released Monday are the latest addition to the diverse collection of photos supplementing Google’s widely used digital maps. The maps’ “Street View” option mostly provides panoramic views of cities and neighborhoods photographed by car-mounted cameras, but Google also has found creative ways to depict exotic locations where there are no roads.
In its latest foray into the wilderness, Google teamed up with environmental protection group Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, or FAS, to explore a remote part of an Amazon rainforest. Google Inc. lent FAS its Trekker device, a camera mounted on an apparatus originally designed to be carried like a backpack by hikers walking on trails.
FAS, though, sent the Trekker down a zip line. Google is renowned for going out on a technological limb, but even this project made the company nervous at first, said Karin Tuxen-Bettman, who oversees Google’s Street View partnerships.
The setup required FAS workers to tread through the rainforest to find a place where they could string the zip line so the Trekker wouldn’t bump into tree trunks and branches as it zoomed through the thick canopy. With the help of some monkeys who joined their scouting expedition, FAS workers found just enough room to erect a zip line for the Trekker’s trip.
“One of the things that I love about working at Google is that if a partner comes to us with a crazy idea, we will probably try it,” Tuxen-Bettman said.
Since Google developed the Trekker camera in 2012, the device has been dispatched on other unusual journeys. The Trekker went scuba diving in the Galápagos Islands to take underwater photographs of the preserve, and traveled on a dog sled in the Canadian Artic to photograph the tundra.
Google’s Street View feature has raised privacy concerns through the years because its photographs have occasionally captured images of unsuspecting bystanders engaged in embarrassing activities or near places where they didn’t want to be seen. Cars carrying Street View cameras also secretly vacuumed up emails and other personal information transmitted over unsecure Wi-Fi networks from 2007 to 2010, sparking outrage and legal action around the world.
Privacy issues shouldn’t be an issue in any of the photography taken by the zip-lining Trekker. Birds and insects are the only visible forms of life in the pictures it took.
Copyright (2015) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
This article was written by Michael Liedtke from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
The Federal Communications Commission has approved its strongest network neutrality rules yet. The new rules reclassify internet access so it will be regulated like a public utility. What is net neutrality, and how did we get here? Ezra Klein explains in 3 minutes.
If you haven't already seen it (or have already seen it but still need a good cry today) this is a 14-minute video of all of Severus Snape's most important scenes from the Harry Potter movies played in chronological order. Of all the characters in the Harry Potter universe, Snape was, and remained, my favorite from the very beginning. I see a lot of myself in him. Mostly for him not being able to get the girl, but also because he seems like an all-around jerk. But like, a jerk with a good cause. I feel like I'm a jerk with a good cause. Now give me all your lunch money. "Awww, are you collecting money for charity?" DRUGS. Jk jk, I need to hire a hitman and I only have enough right now to get my target's legs broken.
Keep going for the video.
ABCDEFG revealed the reasons behind her decision in a recent interview with Columbian website Las2orillas, saying she constantly feels the need to redefine herself.
"I started looking for a name that nobody had in Colombia, or the world, so I thought ABCDEFG HIJKLMN OPQRST UVWXYZ," she explained.
"I've changed my name so people wouldn't know it's me.
"It's not because I was disturbed by it, but because I wanted to always bring an element of surprise."
Could you imagine having to sing the Happy Birthday song to a woman named the whole alphabet? Would you actually say all the letters, or would you sing, "Happy Birthday, dear The Alphabet?" The correct answer is you'll never have to worry about it because you'd never be friends with anybody who renamed themselves the alphabet.
Thanks to MC, who stole my idea of trying to change his name to the devil face emoji.
Earlier today, two brave llamas escaped from their homes in Arizona and had a grand time romping through Sun City while throngs of people tried to catch them.
The white llama and the black llama ran through the city, across roads, and almost onto a highway before they were caught by a man in the back of a pickup truck with a lasso. During their brief moment of freedom, the llamas were chased by many, many people. The llamas seemed very stressed, as if they were not enjoying their vacation at all.
A former zookeeper weighed in on Twitter about how poorly he thought the llama chase was conducted:
Rather than trying to physically grab the llamas, authorities should be trying to contain them. Herd them into a yard.
Drake's album If You're Reading This it's Too Late dropped by surprise two weeks ago, and it continues to dominate the Billboard charts. The hip-hop artist currently has 21 of the 50 songs on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart.
Even on the Hot 100 chart, which counts all of the top music in America, Drake has 14 songs included, with 10 coming off this new release.
That's absurd, but then again, so is Drake.
What's interesting about this charting is that Drake is one of the first beneficiaries of the new Billboard chart calculations that include digital streams. According to Billboard, he logged 1.8 million streams in the United States, which helped bump "Energy" into the top 10.
Tesla has done it. Nissan and GM are all over it. Is Apple doing it too? The future is here and, suddenly, it’s full of all sorts of talk about electric cars. That’s right, folks. Rumor has it, according to the Wall Street Journal, that Apple is developing an electric “minivan-like vehicle” of their own.
on pair of shoes, 3 pairs of pants, 5 tshirts and a tuxedo in every colour including this stylish white one.
If you are looking for a little inspiration this weekend, how about this quote from proud papa Will Smith? According to Smith, his son refuses to be a slave to money and it is part of a larger trend in values that he sees developing. “It’s such a strange thing. Jaden, my 16-year-old, he has one pair of shoes. He has three pair of pants and he has five shirts, total,” said the actor. “He has refused to be a slave to money. I so respect that. The younger generation is less of an ownership generation,” Smith added.
it's been so gorgeous this week! i love morning fog and sunshine!
A light fog hung over Stanley Park early yesterday morning. It started lifting at around 9am, which is right about when we got around Prospect Point and started walking toward Third Beach. The sun cut through the trees and the last breaths of fog, creating thick beams of light that made everything look surreal. The beautiful effect lasted all of 10 minutes, at which point the sun won out and fog completely disappeared.
@phil - we are all still hoping to get new snow but right now there are lakes around the chair lifts
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When Whistler gives you slush, wear a wetsuit.
Poking fun at (and having fun with) the poor snow conditions in Whistler, a group of skiers and snowboarders donned some unusual gear and hit the slushy slopes. In a video posted to Vimeo, the group slip-slide around the water to the beachy tune of "Surfin' Safari."
It hasn't been the whitest of winters on B.C.'s mountains. Cypress Mountain closed earlier this week due to lack of snow, and Grouse Mountain recently issued an open letter to Mother Nature asking for a snowfall.
Until things get back to normal it looks like it's surf's up, snow dudes.
Working only with layers of painted galvanized wire atop steel armature, UK artist Kendra Haste creates faithful reproductions of creatures large and small for both public installations and private collections around the world. A graduate of the from the Royal College of Art, Haste says she is fascinated by how such a seemingly ordinary medium, chicken wire, is capable of suggesting “the sense of movement and life, of contour and volume, the contrasts of weight and lightness, of solidity and transparency—values that I find in my natural subjects.” She continues about her work with animals:
What interests me most about studying animals is identifying the spirit and character of the individual creatures. I try to create a sense of the living, breathing subject in a static 3D form, attempting to convey the emotional essence without indulging in the sentimental or anthropomorphic.
If you haven't already seen it (or have already seen it but still need a good cry today) this is a 14-minute video of all of Severus Snape's most important scenes from the Harry Potter movies played in chronological order. Of all the characters in the Harry Potter universe, Snape was, and remained, my favorite from the very beginning. I see a lot of myself in him. Mostly for him not being able to get the girl, but also because he seems like an all-around jerk. But like, a jerk with a good cause. I feel like I'm a jerk with a good cause. Now give me all your lunch money. "Awww, are you collecting money for charity?" DRUGS. Jk jk, I need to hire a hitman and I only have enough right now to get my target's legs broken.
Keep going for the video.
A Colombian artist who previously changed her name to Ladyzunga Cyborg has successfully rechanged her name to ABCDEFG HIJKLMN OPQRST UVWXYZ, with A - N serving as her first name, and O - Z as her last. Of course she still prefers to go by Ladyzunga, because why change your name if you don't want to be called by it?
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