The football field-size CCGS Amundsen, breaking through the icy waters of the Northwest Passage, came to a halt. Traversing one of the most unexplored regions of Earth’s oceans, the Canadian coast guard vessel found itself amid ice 10 feet thick. It reversed course, turned 30 degrees, and proceeded forward again, trembling along the way.
This icebreaker’s objective was to carry scientists into little-charted seas high in the Canadian Arctic. There they planned to map regions of the seafloor at high resolution and pull up a sample that could reveal what happened here at the close of the last ice age, 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.
But the dilemma the scientists on this vessel faced had less to do with ancient history than the near future. By helping to map a region that’s only now becoming navigable, thanks to climate change, they’re part of a broader opening of one of Earth’s most untouched environments to a growing volume of ship traffic.
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Mark Furze, a geoscientist and professor at MacEwan University, discusses the importance of understanding how climate change is impacting the Arctic.(Alice Li/TWP)
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a new set of draconian US-drafted sanctions on North Korea that will further strangle its energy supplies and tighten restrictions on smuggling and the use of North Korean workers overseas.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, claimed that the new sanctions, levied in response to Pyongyang’s November 29 ballistic missile test, went even further than sanctions passed in September that, at the time, were called the toughest yet.
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“Today, we cut deeper,” Haley said. She said the UN had repeatedly offered Pyongyang a choice and repeatedly, in its continued missile tests, the regime had “chosen the path of isolation.”
One of 2017’s defining geopolitical slugfests was between heavyweight personalities President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
It was an international standoff that descended into personal name-calling, with Trump labeling Kim “little rocket man” and the U.S. president being described as an “old lunatic” and a “dotard” in return.
If the past year were one round in a boxing match, most analysts say there’s only one winner.
“No question, Kim Jong Un won 2017,” according to Jeffrey Lewis at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
In January, Trump used his Twitter pulpit to vow he would never let North Korea develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States.
Bioluminescence, the ability to produce light, is a common feature among many marine animals, and is well represented in jellyfish.Jellies are free- swimming organisms that belong to the phylum Cnidaria, consisting of many different species, and the term also loosely encompasses the phylum Ctenophora, the comb jellies. Many jellyfish have the ability to bioluminescence, especially comb jellies, where more than 90% of planktonic species are known to produce light (Haddock and Case 1995). Arguably, the most famous of all bioluminescent invertebrates is the Aequorea victoria, which is the first species from which GFP was isolated, a discovery which went on to win the Nobel prize. Bioluminescence is used predominantly as a form of communication between animals, and can be used for defense, offense, and intraspecific communication. Many animals use bioluminescence in multiple ways, though jellyfish use it primarily for defense. It is important to note, however, that the different ways in which jellyfish use bioluminescence are still being discovered. This chart illustrates the many different ways in which marine mammals, including jellyfish, use bioluminescence.
When it comes to your health, there is no better time to prepare for the future than now. We know that when you are dealing with a busy day-to-day it can be hard to think ahead an hour, let alone a decade, but adopting a few healthy practices can help prevent health issues later down the line. The new year is great opportunity to refresh your routine, so we’ve partnered with KeVitato put together a list of healthy habits your future self will thank you for.
The Thomas fire burning in Southern California is on the verge of becoming the largest blaze on state record, accomplishing a shocking feat for this time of year.
The relentless wildfire burning in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties has burned a total of 272,000 acres and remains 60 percent contained as of Wednesday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire, said in a release.
While the fire’s growth has slowed since igniting on Dec. 4, it’s on track to claim the title of the state’s largest fire on record from the 2003 Cedar Fire, which burned more than 280,000 acres in San Diego County. The data is based on records dating back to 1932.
While good weather conditions in recent days have allowed firefighters to make progress in fighting the blaze, wind gusts of up to 70 mph are expected to pick up tonight or tomorrow and could challenge firefighters working on the Thomas fire, Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said in a Wednesday update.
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Gene Blevins / Reuters
Firefighters attack the Thomas fire’s north flank with backfires near Ojai, Dec. 9, 2017.
A sport utility vehicle driven by an Australian man of Afghan descent with a history of mental illness plowed into pedestrians in Melbourne on Thursday, injuring at least 19 people, four of them critically, officials said.
While the incident bore similarities to recent terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States, and police described the ramming as a “deliberate act,” authorities said there was no evidence of terrorist links.
“We don’t have any intelligence or evidence to indicate there is a connection to terrorism,” said Shane Patton, the acting police commissioner of Victoria state, of which Melbourne is the capital. “Having said that, we continue to support this investigation with the Counter Terrorism Command to ensure there isn’t that connection and there is no ongoing threat.”
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A car plowed into pedestrians at a crowded intersection on Dec. 21 in Melbourne, Australia, injuring at least 19 people.(The Washington Post)
Congress’ failure to renew a program that provides health care to low-income children by year’s end could cause almost 2 million kids to lose their coverage as soon as next month.
That’s according to a report published Wednesday by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. Federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which is jointly run and financed by the federal government and the states, expired nearly two months ago. The program covers about 9 million children in the U.S.
But the GOP-controlled Congress, which made time to pass a sweeping tax bill that largely benefits corporations and the rich, didn’t get around to reauthorizing CHIP ― and now millions of children are in jeopardy.
States are rapidly running out of money to pay these children’s medical bills, and several have started notifying parents that their kids’ health care is poised to disappear. At least 14 states plan to terminate CHIP by the end of January, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
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Andrew Montoya
Audrey, Katrina and Scarlett Montoya of Longmont, Colorado, could lose their health care next month because Congress failed to pass legislation renewing the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Countless human-made troubles in the Indonesian capital pose an imminent threat to the city’s survival. And it has to deal with mounting threats from climate change.
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a measure rejecting the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which was repeatedly criticized as undermining the prospects for peace.
Despite blunt warnings of U.S. funding cuts, 128 countries voted in favor of the nonbinding resolution and only nine voted against it. Another 35 countries abstained.
“The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out in this assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation,” said Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. “We will remember it when, once again, we are called up to make the world’s largest contribution to the U.N., and we will remember it when many countries come calling on us to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”
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On Dec. 21, the United Nations voted 128-9 in favor of rejecting President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.(Reuters)
In the world, human beings are facing various problems. People who are full of greed, anger, and ignorance are seen to be fighting with each other in words and deeds. As the fighting continues, various problems such as civil wars, wars of aggression, and wars of aggression are occurring. As world peace is being destroyed, humans are facing unbearable problems. Innocent children and women are not getting the rights they deserve and deserve. I can't think of one thing every time. What is it? The United Nations. If we look at the responsibilities and duties of the United Nations, I think it is not suitable for solving the problems that are happening in the world today. In fact, the United Nations and the World Security Council, such an organization must rule the world, must be able to give orders, and must have various ways to obey orders. There must be no organization that can influence more than that organization. There should be experts from each country. They can even dominate the superpowers like the US, China, and Britain. Only then will global peace be achieved quickly. Now, if a country with power develops more militarily, economically, or socially than its own country, then powerful countries will jealously seek out enemies and wage war. Or they will attack with fighter jets. In this, innocent people are losing their lives. No one understands the value of a life. You should think about how to achieve global peace by controlling these. If the US continues to be the permanent president of the UN, world peace will never be achieved. If you think carefully, no one sees that they are working for the common good, but for their own benefit, for the benefit of their own country. The permanent president of the UN and the Security Council has rejected this, As a young Rohingya, I have come to realize that only by electing the president and secretary from among the countries in the world through a secret ballot system and governing the world fairly can we achieve global peace. The United Nations and the Security Council are organizations in which any country must govern, give orders, and make them obey their orders. For example, only when a defendant is tried in court can we hold the leaders of the countries in check and control them, can we achieve global peace smoothly. Otherwise, it will not be easy for powerful countries to use various excuses to end this war every year, every year, for the benefit of themselves and their countries. No country's leaders pay any attention to the words of the United Nations and the Security Council. If we look at it in practice, look at the Rohingya issue. Myanmar is a small country. Even that country has been under siege for 8 years. What action can be taken? Why is the UN and the Security Council Powerless? Without such Power, how can the organization bring about global peace? Everyone should think about it. Whether there is a veto or a strong one, all countries in the world can only achieve global peace if they are subject to the UN and the Security Council. Seek peace in the quiet embrace of nature. Peace is an indispensable need of the human race. It is not as if one person can kill another person, and it is as if one country can attack another country, but instead of trying to build peace, we must try to destroy the peace now, and the world is getting hotter and is on the verge of collapse. I especially appeal to all the world experts to urgently try to bring about peace in all parts of the world. Mr, Noor Muhamed Arkhan Rohingya Youth Myanmar
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
Mark Furze, a geoscientist and professor at MacEwan University, discusses the importance of understanding how climate change is impacting the Arctic. 
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Jellyfish
