Economist.com: "The key to the researchers' claim is that most, if not all, regions of the cortex have two-way connections to the claustrum, as do the structures involved in emotion. It is plausible that the smell, the colour and the texture of the rose, all processed in different parts of the cortex, could be bound together into one cohesive, conscious experience by the claustrum. The authors liken it to a conductor who synchronises and co-ordinates various parts into a united whole. "

BBC - Ouch! - Columnists - Keep taking the tablets?: "With powerful pharmaceuticals, the 'can't live with them, can't live without them' adage seems particularly relevant. Every beneficial drug seems to come with its own unique - and sometimes comical - set of side effects. And each successful treatment innovation raises new questions about access, equity and rationing. The most disturbing statistic is that 90% of pharmaceutical research is conducted on diseases which affect 10% of the world's population. This means that treatments for baldness and obesity may be just around the corner, while the global killers - TB, HIV, the Ebola virus - may have to wait a bit longer. The worst side effect of the big Pharma is injustice."

Foreign Policy: Seeing Green in Africa: "Chinese companies are snapping up African oil and gas fields, investing in telecom companies, and funding programs to boost farm output. The value of China�s trade with Africa has jumped from $10 billion in 2000 to nearly $30 billion in 2004. India arrived late but is starting to see gains as well. It is a driving force behind the new African Institutes for Science and Technology, which aim to replicate India�s technology-led economic growth. In 2004, India extended $500 million in credit to eight West African countries to promote the purchase of Indian information technology. India�s state-owned oil firm has invested heavily in Sudan and is exploring options in West Africa. "

Foreign Policy: The State of Nature: "The rich world has simultaneously improved the environment. In the United States, the most important environmental indicator, particulate air pollution, has more than halved since 1955, rivers and coastal waters are dramatically cleaner, and forest land is increasing. These trends are generally shared by all developed countries. Why? Because the rich can afford to care for the environment. "

Foreign Policy: The State of Nature: "If you don�t believe a report from 1,300 scientists, consider that the CIA believes that more than 3 billion people will be living in water�stressed regions�from North Africa to China�by 2015. The water tables of major grain�producing areas in northern China are dropping at a rate of 5 feet per year, and per capita water availability in India is expected to drop by 50 to 75 percent over the next decade. The number of chronically malnourished people in sub�Saharan Africa will increase by 20 percent over the next 15 years. "

Foreign Policy: The State of Nature: "Let me show you what I mean. Thirteen�hundred scientists from 95 countries just issued a report called the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, which notes that 15 of the 24 ecosystems vital for life on Earth are in a degraded or overdrawn state."

People's Daily Online -- Will China pose a threat to world energy security?: "At present, the energy issue is no longer confined within any single nation or region amid the increasing globalization of the world economy. It has become a global issue which can be addressed only by joint efforts of the world community.
China becomes closer to the rest of the world and an important force in the world economy, as well as an integral part of the world's energy system, since its WTO membership. China has kept its commitment to being part of the world's efforts on safeguarding the world's energy security. "

People's Daily Online -- The co-existence and mixture of various civilizations: "Based on historical experience, I believe that the 'clash of civilizations' theory of Samuel P. Huntington is one-sided and serves US strategy. Although his theory touches sharply some conflicts caused by 'civilization', such as that between Palestine and Israel in the Middle East, that in Kosovo and even the Iraqi War, which all contain some cultural factors (religion and values), but a closer observation will show that they are fundamentally caused by 'political and economic' reasons rather than cultural ones.
We must note that presently there has been no conflict between many cultures despite their difference in civilization. For example, no serious clash happened between China and India, China and Russia and even China and Europe for rather a long period of time, especially during the recent decade. So, the 'clash of civilizations' theory cannot give a correct picture of today's world, much less of the prospect of the human society. It is the 'coexistence of civilizations' that points the way out for the human society, a goal that must be strived for. "

Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership?: "Diminished comparative advantage in high-tech will create a long period of adjustment for US workers, of which the off-shoring of IT jobs to India, growth of high-tech production in China, and multinational R&D facilities in developing countries, are harbingers. To ease the adjustment to a less dominant position in science and engineering, the US will have to develop new labor market and R&D policies that build on existing strengths and develop new ways of benefitting from scientific and technological advances in other countries. "

Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership?: "This paper develops four propositions that show that changes in the global job market for science and engineering (S&E) workers are eroding US dominance in S&E, which diminishes comparative advantage in high tech production and creates problems for American industry and workers: (1) The U.S. share of the world's science and engineering graduates is declining rapidly as European and Asian universities, particularly from China, have increased S&E degrees while US degree production has stagnated. "

Mirror.co.uk - News - Top Stories - FUTURES MARKET: "2031 - 2035
BIOSTASIS IN SPACE TRAVEL
TECHNOLOGY will be available to slow the body's metabolism enough to delay ageing on space journeys lasting decades. Travellers will sleep the whole time, connected to drips to provide basic nutrients and vitamins.
COMPUTER GENIUSES
THE power of computers already doubles virtually monthly. At the rate the technology advances, they could become more intelligent than their creators."

Mirror.co.uk - News - Top Stories - FUTURES MARKET: "2021 - 2025
E-TRANSLATION
WITH computers automatically translating every language there will be less need for humans to learn more than one.
HOLOGRAPHIC TV
INSTEAD of a flat screen, TV will become a three-dimensional affair, viewable from every side and projected into the middle of the room."

Mirror.co.uk - News - Top Stories - FUTURES MARKET: "2016 - 2020
VIEWERS PLAY FILM ROLES
USING computer-simulated versions of themselves, viewers will be in the thick of the action by introducing themselves into the movie.
EMOTION CONTROL DEVICES
THE most extreme use of emotion control devices would be to put a stop to criminal activity. It could suppress anger or stimulate feelings in emotionless psychopaths by sending electronic pulses to the brain."

Mirror.co.uk - News - Top Stories - FUTURES MARKET: "2013 - 2017
ROBOTS GUIDE BLIND PEOPLE
A PROTOTYPE robot which helps blind people shop or find their way around buildings already exists at Utah State university. Professor Vladimir Kulyukin designed the machine that locates items and avoids collisions. The robot could replace guide dogs."

Mirror.co.uk - News - Top Stories - FUTURES MARKET: "2011 - 2015
SELF-DRIVING CAR
CARS will steer themselves, using enhanced satellite navigation and sensors to stop them getting too close to the car in front. Mercedes has already carried out tests on a closed track.
TOOTH REGENERATION
FILLINGS will become a thing of the past. Using gene therapy, lost or diseased teeth will be regrown in the mouth from a few cells. Scientists have already successfully grown mouse teeth in a lab dish.
MICROCHIPS IN FOOD
INTELLIGENT microwave ovens will automatically read the information on a chip hidden in the packaging of food and cook it exactly according to the instructions."

Mirror.co.uk - News - Top Stories - FUTURES MARKET: "2006-2010
EMOTIONALLY RESPONSIVE TOYS
RESPONDING to the sound of its owner's voice, these toys will react with a variety of emotions. Sony's Aibo dog robot can already simulate anger and fear, surprise, dislike, sadness and joy.
ELECTRONIC MEDICAL PRESCRIPTIONS
THE doctor will enter his diagnosis into a handheld computer, prescribe treatment and send instructions directly to a pharmacist via a text message."

FUTUREdition Volume 8, Number 10Marine Crisis Looms Over Acidifying Oceans -- (New Scientist -- June 30, 2005)
Levels of carbonic acid - the reaction product of water and carbon dioxide that is found in soda water - are increasing in the oceans at a rate one hundred times faster than the world has seen for millions of years. In addition to devastating marine ecosystems, the knock-on effects of increasing acidification include harm to major economic activities such as tourism and fishing.

FUTUREdition Volume 8, Number 10Sony Patent Takes First Step Towards Real-life Matrix -- (New Scientist -- April 7, 2005)
Imagine movies and computer games in which you get to smell, taste and perhaps even feel things. That's the tantalizing prospect raised by a patent on a device for transmitting sensory data directly into the human brain - granted to none other than the entertainment giant Sony. The technique describes a device that fires pulses of ultrasound at the head to modify firing patterns in targeted parts of the brain, creating "sensory experiences" ranging from moving images to tastes and sounds.

Gmail - FUTUREdition Volume 8, Number 10Spaceplane Shoots for Space Trips by 2007 -- (MSNBC -- June 24, 2005)

An Oklahoma space-travel company says it is aiming to win the race to put paying passengers on suborbital trips, with commercial flights scheduled to begin by early 2007. Rocketplane is working on the plans to convert a twin-engine LearJet into a hybrid space plane. The plans put Rocketplane in competition with several other spaceship developers who are also working toward beginning service in the 2007-2008 time frame.

Gmail - FUTUREdition Volume 8, Number 10Bionic Suit Offers Wearers Super-strength -- (New Scientist -- April 9, 2005)
A robot suit has been developed that could help older people or those with disabilities to walk or lift heavy objects. Two control systems interact to help the wearer stand, walk and climb stairs. A "bio-cybernic" system uses bioelectric sensors attached to the skin on the legs to monitor signals transmitted from the brain to the muscles. Dubbed HAL, or hybrid assistive limb, the latest versions of the suit was unveiled this June, and a commercial product is slated for release by the end of the year.

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "Under the direction of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the State Department has sought to move Washington's foreign policy away from the unilateralism favored by neo-conservatives to a traditional balance-of-power diplomacy that includes greater engagement with Beijing on issues of trade, North Korea's nuclear weapons program and security in East Asia. In contrast, under Donald Rumsfeld the Defense Department has remained wedded to the view the Beijing is Washington's 'strategic rival.'"

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "The report is clear that, until the end of the present decade, Beijing will not be able to defeat militarily even 'a moderate-size adversary' and will not be able to project its sea power beyond coastal defense. Greater threats to Washington's power in East Asia are more likely to emerge in the medium and long terms.

Look for Washington to try to slow Beijing's progress toward military modernization by putting pressure on potential arms suppliers and to use other East Asian powers especially Japan -- to balance Beijing.

Washington can do no more than try to buy time and hope for a change in China's political system that would eventuate in a regime more favorable to U.S. interests. The most probable outcome down the road is that Washington will be forced eventually to choose between confrontation and retreat. "

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "as China's economic and military power grows, Beijing will increasingly become both an indispensable partner of Washington and a serious rival to U.S. power in East Asia. The tension created by convergent and divergent interests in Washington's relations with Beijing would likely preclude a coherent U.S. policy toward China"

People's Daily Online -- China has more than 15 million electric bikes: "News from China Bicycle Association says both the production and sale of electric bikes are growing in China. There are more than 15 million electric bikes in the country.
Wheeler-transportation means powered by electricity, include electric bikes, light electric vehicles and electric automobiles. Output of electric bikes in China rose to nearly 6.76 million in 2004, valued at 14 billion yuan, from 54,000 in 1998. "

Foreign Policy In Focus | Progressive Response | v9n15 - Southcom, India, Iraq, NPT: "So you have this big difference in the neighborhood between the definitions of priorities for international stability. The G7 clique in the neighborhood says it�s terrorism, it�s weapons of mass destruction, and it�s nuclear proliferation. These are the greatest threats to the neighborhood. But the G6, when they get together, they say well, no, actually it�s poverty, it�s HIV-AIDS, and it�s little local conflicts within our own houses that we need some assistance in sorting out."

Foreign Policy In Focus | Progressive Response | v9n15 - Southcom, India, Iraq, NPT: "And this little clique of neighbors tends to control the institutions of global governance. They sort of run the PTA, that is the Security Council of the United Nations. They run the neighborhood Chamber of Commerce, which is the World Trade Organization. They really control the neighborhood banks, that�s the World Bank and the IMF. So this G7, the little clique in the rich neighborhood�ooh, this is going to be hard�sort of represents this ruling minority."

Foreign Policy In Focus | Progressive Response | v9n15 - Southcom, India, Iraq, NPT: "I�m talking about the G7 countries here, the wealthiest, most industrialized, rich countries. They represent a global minority; they represent one-seventh of the world�s population. But they consume 70% of the world�s resources. And they�re living large, and they�re living well, and they are powerful."

Foreign Policy In Focus | Progressive Response | v9n15 - Southcom, India, Iraq, NPT: "But I could never understand: What is the U.S. national interest? What is this Holy Grail? I used to work for the Council on Foreign Relations, and so when I joined them, they took me into the back room, they gave me the secret handshake, and they told me what U.S. national interests are. And since I don�t work there anymore I will share this with you. Essentially there is no such thing as the U.S. national interest, other than those who sit at the table get to define what the U.S. national interests are. And, of course, at the Council there are a lot of folks who are accustomed to sitting around the table and defining what U.S. national interests are. But also as you looked around that table, it didn�t really look like America. It didn�t look like the broad diversity of this country."

Foreign Policy In Focus | Progressive Response | v9n15 - Southcom, India, Iraq, NPT: "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh begins his visit to the United States next week amidst indications that India is preparing to shed the last vestiges of its earlier policy of non-alignment and enter into a stronger, indeed unprecedented, �strategic partnership� with Washington. This would see the two countries launch joint military operations in the future, especially in the Asian continent, and collaborate politically and diplomatically to contain China. More generally, the U.S. would strategically �embed� itself in Asia through an alliance with India.
In return, India will probably obtain limited �benefits�, some of them intangible or questionable�including access to U.S. arms and technology, and a possible role in Washington�s scheme for reshaping the Middle East. In effect, India will have entered into a skewed relationship of a junior partnership with the U.S. under the new bilateral compact. "

Foreign Policy In Focus | Progressive Response | v9n15 - Southcom, India, Iraq, NPT: "U.S. security strategy in the Western Hemisphere has had, except in rare occasions, little or nothing to do with protecting national security and the U.S. homeland. The interests of society and what economic and political elites define as the �national interests� don�t necessarily coincide with, and rarely complement, each other. More often what the elites define as the national interests run counter to and contradict the interests of the entire society."

The G8, Globalisation, and the Last Wave - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "Whether CEOs and shareholders like it or not, how they act in the coming years will largely determine the fate of humankind. In turn, they are set to receive the attention that this role implies from government and the rest of civil society. And, whether NGOs and governments like it or not, corporations must be seen as decisive when it comes to generating the finance, technologies and entrepreneurship necessary to put us on the road to sustainability. "

Divide and Conquer - Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "The first principle of any successful military, or diplomatic, operation is to divide and conquer. That means narrowing the definition of the enemy, neutralizing or befriending potential enemies, and resolving, or alleviating wherever possible, extraneous conflicts that are lending support or justification to the principal enemy. "

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "The rise of India as a major power, coupled with the better-known -- and frequently analyzed -- Chinese rise, is changing the structure of the world system. Not only is U.S. 'unipolar' hegemony in the Indian Ocean facing a challenge, but the strategic triad U.S.-Western Europe-Japan, which has ruled the international political economy for the past few decades, is now also under question. Nonetheless, when confronting the new reality, Washington seems eager to help India rise in order to counter Beijing's growing influence. Moreover, India's increasing power is also a part in the process of a major shift occurring in international relations, from U.S.-based unipolarity to a 'multifaceted multipolarity,' which could be the prelude of a new multipolar order. "

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "Interestingly, as the Wall Street Journal reports, U.S. President George W. Bush clearly said that the United States is involved in helping India 'become a world power' -- which could be a sign of Washington's gradual acceptance of an embryonic multipolarity in Asia. However, U.S. fundamental interests in developing better relations with India are the necessary containment of China, and New Delhi's help in the war against militant Islamic groups -- a need that is growing stronger due to the unstable political landscape in Pakistan."

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "Prospects for a more cooperative relationship between the two Asian giants are to be read in light of regional powers' ambition to reshape world order along the guidelines of a balanced multipolarity -- a goal already expressed by China, France and Russia, among other states."

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "The wave of economic nationalism set in motion by Chevron's lobbying carries with it the long term possibility that U.S. resistance to asset acquisition might place foreign investments of U.S. corporations in jeopardy, stalling or even reversing economic globalization. Analysts agree that C.N.O.O.C.'s bid, which follows Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's personal computer business and Haier's bid for Maytag, will be repeated by many more efforts by Chinese firms to acquire U.S. assets. As time goes on Washington will be increasingly forced to choose between globalization and nationalism."

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "Sino-U.S. relations are among the most complex bilateral ties in the world and are marked by subtle patterns of dependency, interdependence, competition, cooperation and conflict. "

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "Essentially, the United States and its politicians are learning that globalization is not pain free.'"

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "Look for a series of difficult decisions on asset acquisition to emerge in the years ahead that will significantly determine the future of globalization and the shape of Sino-U.S. relations. "

Foreign Policy: Current Articles: "Movies don�t just sell tickets, they transmit ideas and spread cultural influence, which explains why some countries are trying so hard to keep the cameras rolling. Hollywood still has pride of place, but other national cinema industries are starting to draw some crowds. "

Foreign Policy: A Guant�namo Exit Strategy: "The very word Guant�namo carries a negative connotation throughout much of the world, one that is antithetical to American values and America�s strategy of spreading freedom and democracy. It�s time for the United States to cut its losses there, while salvaging what it can."

SIGNAL Magazine: "And it is these types of military-related capabilities�with all their implications�that concern Peterson. �The main message that I would have for the focus of the military is that we absolutely have got to win this race. This is like nuclear weapons. This is not one we can afford to lose. This is one we absolutely have got to win, and we�ve got to get organized about it,� she says."

SIGNAL Magazine: "Conventional weapons also will benefit from nanotechnology in the long term. Peterson predicts that future generations will be able to produce conventional weapons, including nuclear weapons, much more rapidly, and this ability poses some issues that must be addressed. �Unless you�re controlling the technology in an arms control sense, you have a situation where countries that look fairly harmless in terms of their capability can very rapidly become a major threat. This is a new world for the military,� she states. "

Asia Times Online :: Central Asian News and current affairs, Russia, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan: "Professor Abdullahi An-Naim of Emory University Law School, told Inter Press Service, 'Good intentions are not good enough, and we should always be humble and accept the possibility of being wrong. The lesson of the law of 'unintended consequences' of our previous policies is to realize in our current policies that ends never justify the means.

'Pragmatic reasons for any policy must always be consistent with moral rationale. If bad means appear to achieve good ends in the short term, then it is simply that we have failed to appreciate the real costs which in fact outweigh the presumed benefits.' "

New Scientist Breaking News - Simulated society may generate virtual culture: "However, the ability to communicate could enable these agents to develop complex cultural activities resembling those found in small human societies. 'A long-term aim is to see if we can get culture to emerge,' Paechter adds. 'This way, we might learn something about the way human societies evolve.'"

Asia Times Online :: Asian News, Business and Economy.: "Terror is terror, regardless of the means chosen to deliver it. As we have found out to our detriment, sometimes it is meted out with bombs on a train. And other times it adopts the guise of destructive weapons. We must have the honesty and integrity to call a spade a spade. "

Asia Times Online :: Asian News, Business and Economy.: "More telling, perhaps, are the irrational and persistent attempts to persuade the public that there was no link between the attacks and British foreign policy in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. "

The dehumanizing factorLet's examine some more reactions, again bearing in mind that these were before the revelations in the past few days. President George W Bush stated that the attacks justified the "war on terror". Dominique de Villepain, French defense minister, considered them an attack on all democracies. All of this is very interesting given that at the same time British Home Secretary Charles Clarke was making the point that there was no indication of the identity of those behind the attacks.

The dehumanizing factor For the West, preserving and strengthening the current status quo, vis-a-vis the hegemony over resources, super-power status and military and economic dominance requires neutralizing any perceived threats. Hence the Red
Menace has been replaced with the Green Menace.

'Bush Fell Into' bin Laden's Trap: "In reaction, we have become autistic to the point of not understanding the new international stakes that arose immediately following the end of the iron curtain. Playing the game of extremists by placing terrorism on a solely religious level leads us to an impasse. In addition to the reinforcement of security measures, if we really want to eradicate this scourge, it is necessary to carry out a geopolitical analysis of the phenomenon."

'Bush Fell Into' bin Laden's Trap: "In the great Middle East, so dear to George W. Bush, people feel like they are not in charge of their own destiny. That is why they wish to regain their place in History. They thus manifest their right to choose their social model and their values."

'Bush Fell Into' bin Laden's Trap: "Except for the most excited Allah fanatics, the objective for the very large majority of al-Qaeda�s top leaders is not to unfurl the green flag of Islam over the Palais Bourbon or the Capitol, but to put an end to Western influence over Arab-Muslim territory, "

'Bush Fell Into' bin Laden's Trap: "One thing is sure, we are far from religion. All one has to do is read bin Laden�s writings to understand that his claims center, above all, on sovereignty. Under the guise of religion the true dispute is political. The terrorists in training have often become jihadists without becoming religious. Their knowledge in this domain is often very limited. They are manipulated, not by claims that Allah�s word is superior to that of God and Yahweh but by bombardments of images of mistreated Muslims in Bosnia, Chechnya, Palestine or Iraq."

'Bush Fell Into' bin Laden's Trap: "The big game has globalized and socialized. It is no longer a question of conquering territories and subjugating populations, but of winning people over mentally by imposing cultural norms using modes of consumption. And what better tool is there to meet this goal but the economy? Controlling values is to possess the power to model societies. But people are resisting. From New York to Jakarta, from Helsinki to Pretoria, the cultures, ways of life, systems of organization and development are different and wish to stay that way."

'Bush Fell Into' bin Laden's Trap: "The context determines everything. Have conflicts thus disappeared? No. Quite the contrary, they remain the primary dynamic of History, but they have changed. It is no longer an issue of ideological struggle, but of a �societal� war. "

'Bush Fell Into' bin Laden's Trap: "[Dr. Francis] Fukuyama was wrong: the crumbling of the Eastern Bloc did not mark the end of History, but instead its new rise. If anything ended, it was only the ideological struggles. In 1989, and much more spectacularly in 1991, with the disappearance of the Soviet Union, the world ceased fighting over ideological issues. It acknowledged the victory of the West and accepted the politico-economic framework of the market economy that it proposed. Today, even China, which is theoretically communist, is successfully adopting the rules of liberalism. Only North Korea and Cuba remain. But for how much longer?"

'Bush Fell Into' bin Laden's Trap: "The horror, the novelty and the emotion evoked by this series of attacks prevents us from deciphering our world accurately. But terrorism, as horrible and spectacular as it may be, is not the new driving force behind History. It has not replaced the ideological confrontation between East and West that was our structure from 1945 to 1989. But there are other forces that are deeply changing our world. To perceive them, it is necessary to start with November 9, 1989. That is where everything starts. Or rather, where everything restarts."

media alerts: "Media Lens has detected a recent shift in media reporting. It is hard to quantify, but there is a palpable uneasiness amongst media professionals at the increasing rise of the 'blogosphere' and internet-based 'alternative' media sites. Joe and Jo Public are increasingly aware that the news and commentary distributed by the BBC, ITN, Channel 4 news and the liberal broadsheets, are protecting major war criminals in London and Washington. "

media alerts: "'A good case can be made that propaganda is a more important means of social control in open societies like the United States than in closed societies like the late Soviet Union... This system of thought control is not centrally managed... It operates mainly by individual and market choices, with the frequent collective service to the national interest arising from common interests and internalised beliefs."

The Ghost at Gleneagles - Security Council - Global Policy Forum: "The tribunal is a serious international public inquiry into the invasion and occupation, the kind governments dare not hold. 'We are here,' said the author Arundhati Roy in Istanbul, 'to examine a vast spectrum of evidence [about the war] that has been deliberately marginalised and suppressed - its legality, the role of international institutions and major corporations in the occupation; the role of the media, the impact of weapons such as depleted-uranium munitions, napalm and cluster bombs, the use and legitimation of torture . . . This tribunal is an attempt to correct the record: to document the history of the war not from the point of view of the victors but of the temporarily vanquished.' "

The Ghost at Gleneagles - Security Council - Global Policy Forum: "Reading the papers and watching television in Britain, you would know nothing about the Istanbul meetings, which produced the most searing evidence to date of the greatest political scandal of modern times: the attack on a defenceless Iraq by America and Britain. "

RedNova News - Science - Hubbert's Model: Uses, Meanings, and Limits-2: "Transportation constraints are already limiting deliveries from Russian producers. Russian oil shipments through the Bosporus16 are being delayed due to nighttime navigation restrictions on large tankers. This shipping route, which passes through Istanbul with a population of 10 million people, would be closed by a major accident. The pipeline network through which most of Russia's oil is exported is also reaching its maximum capacity. Russian oil exports are now a major factor in world petroleum markets; production increased by about 800,000 b/d in 2003 and 740,000 b/d in 2004. Because of the transport bottlenecks, a similar gain is unlikely this year.
In 2003, demand, driven by the rapid industrialization of China and India, increased by 2.55 million b/d, or 3.9%; 64% of this increase was supplied by OPEC with the remainder by Russia. In the first quarter of 2004, oil demand in China17 increased at an annual rate of 1 million b/d (19%). Such extraordinary increases in demand can only be supplied by the Middle East. Yet Saudi Arabia, with a current maximum production capacity of about 10 million b/d, is planning to increase its capacity to 12 million b/d only after 2010.18
Thus, the world may be facing an imminent peak in production determined not by fundamental resource constraints but by transportation limitations and producer-determined limits on production."

Video blogs, a.k.a. vlogs -- blogsthat primarily feature video shorts instead of text -- have boomed this year. Clint Sharp, a vlogger who publishes a weekly tech show, said "the potential for everyone to
self-publish has the ability to revolutionize the world" by sharing video across cultures and countries.
It will also help those interested...

How Earth-Scale Engineering Can Save the Planet - Popular Science: "For the past 400,000 years, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has fluctuated between about 180 and 280 ppm (parts per million, the number of CO2 molecules per million molecules of air). But in the late 1800s, when humans set about burning fossil fuels in earnest, atmospheric CO2 began to increase with alarming speed�from about 280 ppm to the current level of almost 380 ppm, in a scant 100 years. Experts predict that CO2 could climb as high as 500 ppm by 2050 and possibly twice that by the end of the century. As CO2 levels continue to rise, the planet will get hotter. "

How Earth-Scale Engineering Can Save the Planet - Popular Science: "But today, a growing number of physicists, oceanographers and climatologists around the world are seriously considering technologies for the deliberate manipulation of Earth�s climate. Some advocate planetary air-conditioning devices such as orbiting space mirrors that deflect sunlight away from Earth, or ships that intensify cloud cover to block the sun�s rays. "

How Earth-Scale Engineering Can Save the Planet - Popular Science: " �We already are inadvertently changing the climate, so why not advertently try to counterbalance it?� asks retired Lawrence Livermore physicist Michael MacCracken, a former senior scientist at the U.S. Global Change Research Program who helped organize the meeting."

The G8, Globalisation, and the Last Wave - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "Admitting that the current market framework will not provide the motive, mechanisms and technologies to redress the �externalities� of unlimited growth. The argument that �more growth helps everyone� has been proven bogus by the USA, where economic growth has driven historically high � and unsustainable - per capita rates of raw material consumption and pollution. Policies are urgently needed that make markets work to support sustainability, not continually undermine it. "

The G8, Globalisation, and the Last Wave - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "First, there was a major evolution in the structure of society. While the nation state and the corporation continued their formal dominance, civil society emerged as a powerful third force. Whether in the form of consumers, political parties, unions or non-government organizations, these stakeholder constituencies assumed a new level of importance, and have raised wide-ranging questions about the impacts, legitimacy and purpose of economic development.
Second, modern telecommunications, including television and the internet, have changed politics forever. These technologies created a new level of awareness about our actions, and forced a review of notions of transparency and accountability. "

The G8, Globalisation, and the Last Wave - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "The European Union was perhaps the most far-reaching example of this determination among nation states to work together, rather than conduct war. This �brave new world� represented a noble attempt to harness the best of human nature, while discouraging the worst. With the help of the trade union movement, the importance of defining and respecting the rights of labour were established. Slavery and child labour, while still practiced, were condemned. Nature, for its part, fared less well, still being regarded as a boundless and self-replenishing source and sink for all humankind�s needs and wastes.
By the end of this era, corporations had become increasingly independent of government, and had grown in reach and power. Indeed, some had grown so large that action was taken to break them up. Overall, however, as long as corporations provided an ever increasing number of jobs, provided a good return to shareholders, paid their taxes and delivered goods and services, how they did this was not questioned by the wider society. Symbolically, the moon landing in 1969 marked the end of the Second Wave, and the beginning of Third Wave of Globalisation. The further we reached into space, the more we realised our problems, and their solutions, were back on Earth. "

The G8, Globalisation, and the Last Wave - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "A series of developments in the early 20th century, however, set the stage for major changes to the dominant state/corporation paradigm and pave the way for the Third Wave. Traumatised by an economic depression, two world wars and advent of atomic weapons, governments were forced to consider the need for a new world order. The United Nations and Bretton Woods institutions were created, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights crafted, and the process of de-colonisation commenced. "

The G8, Globalisation, and the Last Wave - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "In general, corporations such as the Dutch and British East India Companies, and their investors, adopted the same objectives and moral behaviour of the First Wave: namely, to secure the greatest returns at the least cost to the home state. If this meant slavery, and disruptive changes in the agricultural practices and cultures of the colonies, these were unfortunate commercial necessities. Externalities. In this respect, the expectations of the emerging �shareholder king� matched those of monarchs and governments. "

The G8, Globalisation, and the Last Wave - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "The Second Wave of Globalisation started during the great colonial period that followed in the wakes of Diaz, Columbus, da Gama, and the other great maritime explorers. At this point of history, decisions in the capitals of emergent nation states began to change local societies fundamentally right around the globe. While �the national interest� still provided the prime political motive for colonial expansion, and foreign conquests increasingly supplied the labour, markets and raw materials needed by growing populations, the state created a new tool � the chartered corporation � as a means of raising the necessary investment and managing trade . In doing so, it also created a new actor in society, the investor. "

The G8, Globalisation, and the Last Wave - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "Taking the long view, the First Wave of Globalisation - defined here as the moment when �the international� began to have profound impacts on �the local� � probably began shortly after sedentary agriculture enabled the rise of empires, such as the Roman, with standing armies and rulers with appetites for foreign conquest and goods. Numerous parallels with modern times can be found during this period. On the trade front, anthropological evidence suggests that humans have communicated and traded over vast distances for thousands of years. Marco Polo may have been the first Westerner to open a supply chain with China, but he didn�t invent the concept.
This �pre-corporate globalisation� was not pretty. It revealed a number of disturbing human traits. One was a predisposition to over-use local resources, and then either move on, or import them from somewhere else. Another was to pay as little as possible for labour and natural resources. Many of the architectural legacies of this period which we now visit as tourists, for example, were built by the sweat of slave or cheap labour, with not a corporation in sight. For millennia, monarchs and religious leaders, using a mix of fear, faith and greed as motivators, applied this approach. "

The G8, Globalisation, and the Last Wave - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "Corporations and globalisation sometimes seem to get blamed for all the ills in the world. It is easy to forget that there have been at least three great waves of Globalisation in human history, and corporations have only played a relatively recent � if decisive - role. "

Bush Is Serving Up the Cold War Warmed Over - Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "In the process, Bush has justified an enormous military buildup, spent tens of billions of dollars in Iraq, reorganized the federal government, driven the nation's budget far into the red and assaulted the civil liberties of Americans and people around the world, all without bothering to seriously examine the origins of the 9/11 attacks or compose a coherent strategy to prevent similar ones in the future. Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden remains at large, as do his financial and political backers in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. "

Blenheim and Bangalore: A Tale of Subsidies in Two Communities - Opinion Forum - Global Policy Forum: "We are all agents implicated in structures (modernity, capitalism, an anarchic states-system) that no identifiable agents are causally responsible for. This rather depressing realisation often induces us to sleepwalk through life, zombie-like, pretending that structures determine the behaviour of agents in a sort of relentless, Orwellian fashion. This obscures the fact that structures are produced by agents, that some agents are more powerful than others, and that more powerful agents bear more responsibility for the structures that they help to produce. Behind all structures are a number of agents � agents that have names and faces and addresses and bank balances. If structures are ever to change, it is necessary to identify the agents that produce and reinforce them (bearing in mind the structural constraints within which their agency operates). "

People's Daily Online -- Widening income gap, the most serious social problem in China: survey: "The widening income gap was the most serious social problem in China in 2004, according to a recent survey conducted by the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. "

China One of the new developments in global FDI flows was the emergence of China as an investor in natural resources in a number of developing countries.6

WTO | 2005 Press Releases - Standards, �offshoring� and air transport focus of 2005 WTR - Press 411: "The report also reviews recent trends in global trade, highlighting that real merchandise trade grew by 9 per cent in 2004, the strongest performance since 2001. Trade in services expanded by 16 per cent, measured in nominal terms. This rapid growth in trade was driven largely by the surprisingly strong global economic performance last year, say the report�s authors. Higher oil and commodity prices and a recovery in trade in office and telecom equipment helped developing countries see their share in world merchandise trade rise to 31 per cent, the highest since 1950."

WTO | 2005 Press Releases - Standards, �offshoring� and air transport focus of 2005 WTR - Press 411: "In looking at trade in air transport services, the report traces the growing importance of air transport for international trade. Technological changes, combined with an evolving policy environment, have changed the face of the industry. It has become more competitive and more efficient. Different models have been adopted to meet new competition and growing demand for air transport services. Air carriers have chosen between a hub-and-spoke model and a point-to-point approach to service provision."

WTO | 2005 Press Releases - 2005 WTR : "Offshoring services are not new, the report states, and are in fact no different from other forms of trade driven by comparative advantage. "

Vital Signs Facts: Casualties from Violent Conflicts Exceed Combat Deaths: "The British medical journal The Lancet published a study that estimated conservatively that the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq caused at least 98,000 deaths in the 17-19 months after the start of the war, many from air strikes. The study concluded that the risk of death from violence after the invasion was 58 times higher than in the 14-16 months before the war. "

China should be praised for achieving the most rapid poverty reduction in history. But most of this reduction was achieved in two waves – the first with the household responsibility system in the 1978 to 1985 period and the second, related to labor-intensive manufactures and exports and rural-urban migration, in the 1990 to 1996 period.

pollutionAir pollution has become a serious problem in China. Of the 30 most air-polluted cities in the world, 20 are in China. The air pollution results from the combination of (1) coal use for power, industry, and home heating and (2) growing motorization.

EnergyEnergy is another important factor in China’s development equation. While China is rich in coal, it appears so far to be scarce in oil and natural gas, which are important fuels for some aspects of industrialization and development. Over the past 15 years China oil imports have been growing rapidly, and it has emerged as the second largest importer behind the U.S. It is projected to emerge as the largest importer. Given the supply situation in the world and the fact that much oil and gas come from politically unstable countries, this is clearly a risk factor for the country’s future.

China’s recent growth has also involved use of natural resources – water, energy, and clean air – at a rate that is not sustainable. Again, improving efficiency of natural resources use is good for China and good for the global environment. Finally, China’s rapid growth in the past decade has produced less employment, poverty reduction, and social improvement than it could have.

China has been the most successful developing country over the past two decades, growing rapidly and achieving the fastest poverty reduction in history. While there are good reasons to think that China could continue to grow rapidly for two more decades, the country also faces some serious challenges.

How Did Cooperative Behavior Evolve? -- Pennisi 309 (5731): 93 -- Science: "Modern researchers have discovered that a good memory is a prerequisite: It seems reciprocity is practiced only by organisms that can keep track of those who are helpful and those who are not. Humans have a great memory for faces and thus can maintain lifelong good--or hard--feelings toward people they don't see for years. Most other species exhibit reciprocity only over very short time scales, if at all."

How Did Cooperative Behavior Evolve? -- Pennisi 309 (5731): 93 -- Science: "Generosity is pervasive among humans. Indeed, some anthropologists argue that the evolution of the tendency to trust one's relatives and neighbors helped humans become Earth's dominant vertebrate: The ability to work together provided our early ancestors more food, better protection, and better childcare, which in turn improved reproductive success."

How Are Memories Stored and Retrieved? -- Miller 309 (5731): 92 -- Science: " A key insight from this work has been that short-term memory (lasting minutes) involves chemical modifications that strengthen existing connections, called synapses, between neurons, whereas long-term memory (lasting days or weeks) requires protein synthesis and probably the construction of new synapses."

What Genetic Changes Made Us Uniquely Human? -- Culotta 309 (5731): 91 -- Science: "With the human genome in hand and primate genome data beginning to pour in, we are entering an era in which it may become possible to pinpoint the genetic changes that help separate us from our closest relatives. A rough draft of the chimp sequence has already been released, and a more detailed version is expected soon. The genome of the macaque is nearly complete, the orangutan is under way, and the marmoset was recently approved. All these will help reveal the ancestral genotype at key places on the primate tree."

What Determines Species Diversity? -- Pennisi 309 (5731): 90 -- Science: "The challenge is daunting. Baseline data are poor, for example: We don't yet know how many plant and animal species there are on Earth, and researchers can't even begin to predict the numbers and kinds of organisms that make up the microbial world. Researchers probing the evolution of, and limits to, diversity also lack a standardized time scale because evolution takes place over periods lasting from days to millions of years. Moreover, there can be almost as much variation within a species as between two closely related ones. Nor is it clear what genetic changes will result in a new species and what their true influence on speciation is."

What Determines Species Diversity? -- Pennisi 309 (5731): 90 -- Science: "In some places and some groups, hundreds of species exist, whereas in others, very few have evolved; the tropics, for example, are a complex paradise compared to higher latitudes. Biologists are striving to understand why. The interplay between environment and living organisms and between the organisms themselves play key roles in encouraging or discouraging diversity, as do human disturbances, predator-prey relationships, and other food web connections. But exactly how these and other forces work together to shape diversity is largely a mystery."

How and Where Did Life on Earth Arise? -- Zimmer 309 (5731): 89 -- Science: "Working backward, paleontologists have found fossils of microbes dating back at least 3.4 billion years. Chemical analysis of even older rocks suggests that photosynthetic organisms were already well established on Earth by 3.7 billion years ago. Researchers suspect that the organisms that left these traces shared the same basic traits found in all life today. All free-living organisms encode genetic information in DNA and catalyze chemical reactions using proteins. Because DNA and proteins depend so intimately on each other for their survival, it's hard to imagine one of them having evolved first. But it's just as implausible for them to have emerged simultaneously out of a prebiotic soup."

How Can a Skin Cell Become a Nerve Cell? -- Vogel 309 (5731): 85 -- Science: "Scientists are just beginning to understand how cues interact to guide a cell toward its final destiny. Decades of work in developmental biology have provided a start: Biologists have used mutant frogs, flies, mice, chicks, and fish to identify some of the main genes that control a developing cell's decision to become a bone cell or a muscle cell. But observing what goes wrong when a gene is missing is easier than learning to orchestrate differentiation in a culture dish. Understanding how the roughly 25,000 human genes work together to form tissues--and tweaking the right ones to guide an immature cell's development--will keep researchers occupied for decades. If they succeed, however, the result will be worth far more than its weight in gold."

How Can a Skin Cell Become a Nerve Cell? -- Vogel 309 (5731): 85 -- Science: "What actually happens inside the oocyte to reprogram the nucleus is still a mystery, and scientists have a lot to learn before they can direct a cell's differentiation as smoothly as nature's program of development does every time fertilized egg gives rise to the multiple cell types that make up a live baby."

How Much Can Human Life Span Be Extended? -- Couzin 309 (5731): 83 -- Science: "Then there's the issue of fairness: If antiaging therapies become available, who will receive them? How much will they cost? Individuals may find they can stretch their life spans. But that may be tougher to achieve for whole populations, although many demographers believe that the average life span will continue to climb as it has consistently for decades. If that happens, much of the increase may come from less dramatic strategies, such as heart disease and cancer prevention, that could also make the end of a long life more bearable."

What Is the Biological Basis of Consciousness? -- Miller 309 (5731): 79 -- Science: "Ultimately, scientists would like to understand not just the biological basis of consciousness but also why it exists. What selection pressure led to its development, and how many of our fellow creatures share it? Some researchers suspect that consciousness is not unique to humans, but of course much depends on how the term is defined. Biological markers for consciousness might help settle the matter and shed light on how consciousness develops early in life. Such markers could also inform medical decisions about loved ones who are in an unresponsive state."

What Is the Biological Basis of Consciousness? -- Miller 309 (5731): 79 -- Science: "The discourse on consciousness has been hugely influenced by Ren� Descartes, the French philosopher who in the mid-17th century declared that body and mind are made of different stuff entirely. It must be so, Descartes concluded, because the body exists in both time and space, whereas the mind has no spatial dimension.
Recent scientifically oriented accounts of consciousness generally reject Descartes's solution; most prefer to treat body and mind as different aspects of the same thing. In this view, consciousness emerges from the properties and organization of neurons in the brain. But how? And how can scientists, with their devotion to objective observation and measurement, gain access to the inherently private and subjective realm of consciousness?"

Why Do Humans Have So Few Genes? -- Pennisi 309 (5731): 80 -- Science: "That finding goes a long way toward explaining how so few genes can produce hundreds of thousands of different proteins. But how the transcription machinery decides which parts of a gene to read at any particular time is still largely a mystery."...The same could be said for the mechanisms that determine which genes or suites of genes are turned on or off at particular times and places. Researchers are discovering that each gene needs a supporting cast of hundreds to get its job done. They include proteins that shut down or activate a gene, for example by adding acetyl or methyl groups to the DNA.

Why Do Humans Have So Few Genes? -- Pennisi 309 (5731): 80 -- Science: "When leading biologists were unraveling the sequence of the human genome in the late 1990s, they ran a pool on the number of genes contained in the 3 billion base pairs that make up our DNA. Few bets came close. The conventional wisdom a decade or so ago was that we need about 100,000 genes to carry out the myriad cellular processes that keep us functioning. But it turns out that we have only about 25,000 genes--about the same number as a tiny flowering plant called Arabidopsis and barely more than the worm Caenorhabditis elegans."

CNN.com - Science's greatest questions revealed - Jul 5, 2005: "Genetic issues also command attention. Following the discovery that we have just 25,000 genes -- four times fewer than was originally imagined -- scientists are urged to investigate how so few genes can account for the intricacies of human biology, and to consider the nature of the genetic changes made us human."

Vital Signs Facts: "Firing up the Barbie": As Meat Consumption Rises, More Consumers Demanding Organic, Grass-fed and Humanely-Raised Products: "By 2020, people in industrialized countries will consume 90 kilograms of meat a year�the equivalent of a side of beef, 50 chickens, and one pig. Worldwide meat production continues to grow, with an estimated 258 million tons produced in 2004, a two-percent increase from 2003. Since the 1970s, meat production has more than doubled because of higher demand and the introduction of large-scale production processes. "

Foreign Policy: Your portal to global politics, economics, and ideas: "Two billion people around the world live in vulnerable and insecure states, according to the first annual Failed States Index, produced by FOREIGN POLICY, in collaboration with the Fund for Peace. "

Institutional set-up of global governance.The global economy is going through a major process of restructuring. The power shift towards Asia, most notably China and India, and other emerging economies such as Brazil and South Africa, is not yet reflected\ in the institutional set-up of global governance. The G7/G8 summit arrangements of the leading Western nations do not any longer include all relevant global players, as was the case when this forum was established 30 years ago. Even with the addition of Russia, the G7/G8 is far from representative and suffers from an increasingly apparent legitimacy and efficiency gap.

Good governance is also an issue on the “supply side”However, Feachem (2004) in his capacity as Director of the Global Fund, has noted that it is now becoming increasingly obvious that good governance is also an issue on the “supply side”: competing interests and agencies within the United Nations and multilateral aid system; between different donor governments; and between a plethora of non-governmental organisations, is producing inefficiencies and a lack of coordinatedactivity.

People's Daily Online -- China, Russia call for multilateralism in world affairs: "The international community should completely renounce the mentality of confrontation and alliance; there should be no pursuit of monopoly or domination of world affairs; and countries of the world should not be divided into a leading camp and a subordinate camp, said the joint statement. "

BBC - Ouch! - Features: "Birth 2053
Here in 2053, making babies is different. Really different. Rather than leaving it all to chance, the DNA of embryos is tested at conception, or in the first weeks of pregnancy. Prospective parents are given print-outs of many of the physical and personality characteristics of their potential children. Of course, the scientists warn that these are not definitive guides, only rough estimates. But people still want to know. A whole profession of 'genome interpretation' - a bit like the old astrology - has developed to predict how the genetic make up might affect the future person. It's still a bit controversial: of course, no one disputes the fact that parents should avoid illnesses and impairments in their offspring. After all, children have the right to sue their parents if they fail to take obvious precautions. But the media is full of discussion about the rights and wrongs of choosing personality traits, physiques, or even talents like musical or intellectual ability. "

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - A Personal Perspective: "Throughout human history, people have influenced what genes their children inherit through their choice of partner. With our new DNA knowledge, we have the potential to screen pregnancies and IVF embryos to avoid the birth of disabled children. These powers of prediction and selection raise difficult dilemmas. It may be appropriate to avoid the birth of a child with a terminal disease, but is it right to use the same technology to avoid the birth of girls? Can we draw a line between this 'designer baby' approach, and allowing those who can afford it to exercise 'consumer choice' over the characteristics of their future children?

If parents can effectively choose the genes of their child, then perhaps they will be increasingly blamed for making the wrong choices. IVF pioneer Bob Edwards has suggested that in future it will be a 'sin' to have a disabled baby. Bio-ethicists suggest that the choices of parents have to be balanced against the rights of a potential child. In our brave new world, your responsibility for your children begins before they do. "

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - A Personal Perspective: "When it comes to disability, genetics is actually a small part of the picture. Only about 1% of births are affected by congenital abnormality, while about 12% of the UK population are disabled. The idea of reducing the number of people with disability through �genetic cleansing� is flawed. First, we are all genetically damaged and second, there will always be people disabled as a result of accident, disease or the ageing process. "

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - A Personal Perspective: "Yet the variations - about 1 in every 1300 DNA letters - are what make us individual. Except for identical twins, no one has the very same combination. Our unique genetic endowment, together with our unique life experiences, interact to produce our distinctive and unrepeatable combination of physical and behavioural characteristics. "

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - A Personal Perspective: "The Human Genome has been described as the 'autobiography of the species', because our combination of 3 billion DNA �letters� is what makes us human. But humans share a lot, in DNA terms, with other species. 51% of our sequence is shared with the humble yeast. 57% is shared with cabbage. And a whopping 98% with the chimpanzee, our nearest relative. Given those similarities, it's clear that the differences between human beings are very minor indeed. "

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - Life is a Lottery: "It's a lottery that's drawn when the chromosome pairs line up before division. The new egg cells could receive either member of each chromosome pair and the selection is random. That leads to a staggering 8, 388, 608 possible combinations of the different chromosomes. You just don't know which of mum's genes are coming your way.

The shuffling of chromosomes before they are halved in the egg production factory is only half of the story in terms of the shuffling of genes that goes on as they are handed down through families. "

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - Handing Down Genes: "The night your parents �decided to turn off the television� was the most important of your life. When sperm and egg met, a brand new cell was created with the proper number of chromosomes restored. Each chromosome found a new partner but from a different body. Half of your chromosomes came from your mother and the other half came from your father. "

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - Handing Down Genes: "A human being cannot be created out of 23 chromosomes. It needs 46. Sperm and egg must get together - and they frequently do."

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - Handing Down Genes: "Genes are carried on special structures called chromosomes. In humans there are 23 different chromosomes, each of them carrying thousands of genes lined up in a row.
Take your partner
In virtually every cell in the body the 23 chromosomes have a partner - they come in pairs. Two copies of each chromosome making 46 in all. The only cells without the full set of 46 chromosomes are red blood cells which don�t have room for them - and sperm and eggs which only have 23"

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - Inheriting Genes: "How do genes make us look similar?
Genes do something very simple. They are the recipe for building another molecule called a protein. Almost everything in your body is either made of a protein or has been put together with the help of one. They are the crucial building blocks which underly the formation of just about everything from the colour of your skin to the precise layout of neurons in your brain.
Your genes are a gift from your parents.
A hand me down list of recipes for making endless proteins which together shape your body.
If you can spot similarities in the faces of your family then you are seeing the end products of your shared genes."

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - Future of Reproduction: Intro: "Humanity has begun to seize control of its evolutionary future. Where this will ultimately carry us is unclear, but within a decade, screening to avoid most genetic diseases may be commonplace, and genetic selection of embryos for various non-disease traits - not just gender - may have begun. In two decades, selection for non-disease traits may be common, and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) could become a more routine form of conception, even for those not suffering from infertility. In three or four decades, direct genetic manipulation of human embryos for select qualities may begin greatly to extend the power of genetic screening. Thus, within a matter of a few generations, we may come to view a child�s conception as simply too important to leave to random, unmonitored meetings of sperm and egg. "

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - Future of Reproduction: Intro: "News articles about cloning and designer children lead us to wonder how couples of the future will make babies. Will they rely on sex as our parents and grandparents did, or will some suite of science-fiction technologies supplant what we think of as �natural� human reproduction, largely moving it out of the bedroom and into the laboratory?"

BBC - Science & Nature - Genes - Tools of the Trade: "This is the oldest and most widely-used way of genetically modifying animals. It usually involves injecting a fertilised egg with a foreign gene (although an unfertilised egg or sperm may also be used). The fertilised egg is then placed in a foster mother to develop. When the baby animal created by this technique is born, it carries the foreign gene in every one of its cells. Later, when the young animal grows up to reproduce, it will pass the new gene onto its offspring. "

BBC News | SCI/TECH | Comets could have seeded life on Earth: "'This impact scenario provides the three ingredients believed necessary for life: liquid water, organic material and energy,' she added.
Though it has been estimated that in Earth's early history only a few percent of comets or asteroids arrived at low enough angles, the bombardment would have been heavy enough to deliver a significant amount of intact organic material and water, Blank said. "

BBC News | SCI/TECH | 'Cells' hint at life's origin: "This new work suggests that the early chemical steps believed to be important for the origin of life do not require an already-formed planet.
Instead, they seem to take place in deep space long before planet formation occurs.
This implies that the vastness of space is filled with chemical compounds which, if they land in a hospitable environment like our Earth, can readily jump-start life.
Dr Monica Grady, from the Natural History Museum in London, who has analysed Martian meteorites for signs of life, said: 'We've known for a long time that the building blocks for life exist in outer space.'
The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "

BBC News | SCI/TECH | 'Cells' hint at life's origin: "'Scientists believe the molecules needed to make a cell's membrane, and therefore needed for the origin of life, are all over space. This discovery implies that life could be everywhere in the Universe,' said lead researcher Dr Louis Allamandola, "

ESA Portal - Focus On - Is life the rule or the exception? The answer may be in the interstellar clouds: "Max P. Bernstein from the United States team points out that the gas and dust in the interstellar clouds serve as 'raw material' to build stars and planetary systems such as our own. These clouds 'are thousands of light years across; they are vast, ubiquitous, chemical reactors. As the materials from which all stellar systems are made pass through such clouds, amino acids should have been incorporated into all other planetary systems, and thus been available for the origin of life.' "

ESA Portal - Focus On - Is life the rule or the exception? The answer may be in the interstellar clouds: "Amino acids are the 'bricks' of the proteins, and proteins are a type of compound present in all living organisms. Amino acids have been found in meteorites that have landed on Earth, but never in space. In meteorites amino acids are generally thought to have been produced soon after the formation of the Solar System, by the action of aqueous fluids on comets and asteroids - objects whose fragments became today's meteorites. However, new results published recently in Nature by two independent groups show evidence that amino acids can also form in space. "

ESA Portal - Focus On - Is life the rule or the exception? The answer may be in the interstellar clouds: "Is life a highly improbable event, or is it rather the inevitable consequence of a rich chemical soup available everywhere in the cosmos? Scientists have recently found new evidence that amino acids, the 'building-blocks' of life, can form not only in comets and asteroids, but also in the interstellar space.

This result is consistent with (although of course does not prove) the theory that the main ingredients for life came from outer space, and therefore that chemical processes leading to life are likely to have occurred elsewhere. This reinforces the interest in an already 'hot' research field, astrochemistry. ESA's forthcoming missions Rosetta and Herschel will provide a wealth of new information for this topic."

BBC - Science & Nature - Space - Life from a Comet?: "One theory of how life on Earth began is that it didn't start here at all. Life may have arrived from outer space on a comet. This is called the 'panspermia theory'.
During the early period of the Earth's history, collisions with comets were commonplace. Comets have been found which contain amino acids, the building blocks of life. So they could have brought life to Earth."

New Statesman - Stop making the planet history: "As increasing numbers of people are realising, climate change is not just another environmental issue: it is one that calls into serious question the very survival of most of humanity and other living species on a habitable planet. Politics-as-usual will not get us through this one. The hopeful sign is that we already hold the political key to survival in our hands. But if we do not make the contraction and convergence deal, we will not survive."

New Statesman - Stop making the planet history: "Last year, the world economy surged at a rate of 5 per cent, pushing consumption of grain, meat, steel and oil to all-time highs - again, thanks largely to China's boom. China's fuel consumption shot up by 15 per cent, and India's by 7 per cent. Not unrelatedly, last year also brought the largest-ever increase in climate-changing carbon emissions. As the Worldwatch Institute has pointed out: 'In terms of scale, it is as if all of Europe, Russia and North and South America were simultaneously to undertake a century's worth of economic development in a few decades.'"

New Statesman - Stop making the planet history: "Most of sub-Saharan Africa has per capita emissions between a tenth and a hundredth of the average British citizen's. "

New Statesman - Stop making the planet history: "G8: Climate change - The unpalatable truth is that raising people out of poverty worsens their impact on the earth. There is a potential solution, argues Mark Lynas, but will the west buy it?"

World Population Ageing: "This report was prepared by the Population Division as a contribution to the 2002 World Assembly on Ageing and its follow-up. The report provides a description of global trends in population ageing and includes a series of indicators of the ageing process by development regions, major areas, regions and countries. The report shows that:
Population ageing is unprecedented, without parallel in human history�and the twenty-first century will witness even more rapid ageing than did the century just past.
Population ageing is pervasive, a global phenomenon affecting every man, woman and child�but countries are at very different stages of the process, and the pace of change differs greatly. Countries that started the process later will have less time to adjust."