Clean that keyboard!

You there who are reading this beware. Most probably, one of your hands is on the mouse and the other on the keyboard.

Think...

How often have you been to the toilet and not properly washed your hands?
How often have you eaten over your keyboard?
How often have you cleaned your keyboard?

Read below...

'A microbiologist carrying out research published today for Which? Computing magazine examined samples from 33 keyboards and found a variety of bugs including E coli and S aureus, which can cause skin infections and make people ill...

The scientist swabbed a loo seat and a toilet door handle in a typical London office for comparison. One of the keyboards in the experiment had to be removed from the office because it was five times dirtier than the lavatory seat and home to 150 times the acceptable limit of bacteria...

The research showed that the chief culprit for contamination was people eating at their desks and dropping crumbs which lodge between keys and encourage the growth of millions of bacteria.

Other causes included poor personal hygiene, particularly people failing to wash their hands after using the toilet. Dust, which traps moisture, also provides ideal conditions for the growth of bacteria....'

Interesting huh? Knowing this, would you use internet cafes?

Source: The Guardian

The issue of food miles and globalisation

Jacob Musyoki, who I visited on his farm in the Machakos district of Kenya, grows green beans that are air-freighted to Britain for sale in supermarkets. A lot of environmentalists want us to boycott them because of the CO2 emissions from the nightly flights from Nairobi. But that would be bad news for Musyoki, who makes a much better living growing beans for consumption in Britain than he did when his only markets were local. He has enough money for a TV. He is a citizen of the world and is proud his kids can now stay in school.

Do we really want to cut emissions by pulling the plug on Musyoki? He is not responsible for global warming. We are. Perhaps we should do something to cut our carbon emissions that inconveniences us, rather than wrecks his life. Why not keep buying the beans, but take the bus to the supermarket instead of driving?

Fred Pearce - The Guardian

Quote of the month - how to save water...

This quote I heard at work: I wont' be saying from whom it came but it is a good one that can help you to save on water at home (we do not do this at work):

If it's yellow, let it mellow,
If it's brown, flush it down.

You'll know what it is referring to...

This is really pure genius - a car that runs on air!

Can you imagine this? A car that runs on compressed air! I could not believe this until I saw this video. That car and future off shoots can do wonders for the environment by reducing air pollution and CO2 emissions.

I wish all the best of luck to the two engineers on succeeded in the their project.

Also, the following comment caught my eye on youtube.com:

beautiful this cars will stop the terrorism we are sponsoring by buying oil from arabs

Biofuel saga again..going the wrong way?

Once again, the biofuel issue is a hot potato. The Guardian has in the last few days mentioned concerns by the EU, as well as scientists, on the actual benefits of biofuel.

The EU has admitted that:

the environmental and social impact of producing the crops may be greater than originally thought

Also, in the US, the cultivation of maize for biofuel, has been accused of increasing food prices and damaging the environment.

A Report in Science has also indicated that biofuels made from corn, sugar cane and soy could have a greater environmental impact than burning fossil since they have higher costs in terms of biodiversity loss and destruction of farmland.

Another Report from the Royal Society suggested that biofuels risk failing to deliver significant reductions in transport emissions and could even be environmentally damaging unless the government implements the right policies.

Ultimately, the Royal Society was quoted as saying that given biofuels were already in the market, it was "vital that policies that promote biofuel development also address the environmental, economic and social impacts.

Sources: The Guardian
The Guardian

Musical climate change

I tell you, reading climate change science while listening to Sigur Ros in the background is quite problematic. It makes the thing more biased. Sigur Ros are not quite known for their jovial mood in their music. And alas, they are from the cold north ie Iceland.

So imagine listening to the soothing music, imagining yourself in some Icelandic village walking about like a huge mammoth with all the clothes on. And you decide to trek and walk to and on the beautiful pure whiteness. The ice and snow after which Iceland has its own name.

However, deep down you realise that the place may change completely, and that is in a few years time. I tell you, reading climate science on the Arctic (Ok, Iceland is not quiet in the Arctic but close enough) is quite depressing. It makes you loose hope.

I was reading an interesting article from the guys at Real Climate and my God are we in deep shite! Of course, much of the scary observations observed now can never really indicate if all hope is already lost. But, things do not look good.

Read below on what is going on in the Arctic:

Since 2005 there has been a 25% decline in Arctic sea ice at the time of minimum, equal to the combined area of Texas and California

The state of ice thickness observed in 2007 is quite similar to the modelled state in 2020

Will 2007 be remembered as the tipping point for sea ice? Only time will tell.

There has been a decline in prime polar bear habitat in many places, but also some increase in polar bear habitat in the central Arctic. The latter will disappear eventually, as summer sea ice continues to retreat.

The Northwest Passage has opened. The Arctic will be increasingly opened to economic activity like oil drilling, with all the attendant environmental hazards and chances for political dispute

the estimated (see level rise rate) ... is now 2.2mm/yr, of which 30% is due to Greenland and 20% due to Antarctica (ice melt).

Moving on to another blog post, the issue is glacier ice retreat. Another threat that will further decrease albedo, reduce the ice-water reservoir and make history the much frequented skiing pistes..

98% of the named Alaska glaciers are retreating,
95% of 612 studied Tibet glaciers are retreating, and
98% of monitored Alpine glaciers are retreating.

I think I should listen less to Sigur Ros

Examplary green incentive

Here below is a good incentive proposed by French government to reduce energy consumption and produce less CO2 emissions.

...the French government (started) to offer cash bonuses of up to €1,300 (£940) to buy new low-emission cars and penalties of up to €2,600 for buying the most polluting models.

The French car scheme took effect last week and offers a €1,000 bonus for cars emitting less than 100 grammes of CO2 a kilometre, €700 for those emitting less than 120g and €200 for those emitting less than 130g. A new model emitting more than 250g, such as a Porsche Cayenne Turbo or a BMW X5, carries a penalty of €2,600.

Now isnt' that a bold decision that will make the air we (they) breathe cleaner?

Maltese politicians, get inspired!

Society and the young

Interesting post from Nestor Laiviera, a 23 year old University student in 4th year of reading for a Bachelor of Communications Degree. I think there is much truth about this. And how many times have we heard it? (U iz-zaghzagh ta' illum.....)

Defining the younger (and theoretically more enlightened) generation as ‘frivolous’ and ‘immature’ only ultimately belittles the society that creates them, and only serves to hinder the generations that follow.

This comes from a students' blog found online on The Times.

Some wise words

I think I shall call this the quote of the month:

Gli amici veri sono quelli che ti danno contro e ti fanno capire che stai sbagliando, non quelli che ti danno sempre ragione e ti dicono che la colpa e' sempre degli altri.

Translating to English, it should sound something like:

True friends are those who stand up and tell you that you are wrong, not those who always say that you are right and tell you that others are always to blame.

You might be asking who said this. The answer is Roberto Mancini.

He was speaking about Adriano and all his latest problems that have influencef his on-the-pitch performances.

Eco-driving...interesting tips

Driving at 70mph rather than 85mph - a 40% fuel saving

5% fuel saving can accrue from consistently changing gear at the right time (2,500 revs in a petrol car)

Environmental advantages of taking the aggression (rapid acceleration, jerky gear changes) out of your driving and travelling smoothly and steadily

Every 45kg taken off the car can save 1% on fuel

The average eco driver, doing 12,000 miles a year, could be saving up to £273 a year on petrol

Don't bother slipping into neutral. A modern fuel-injected car coasting in neutral is basically idling in disguise and will consume more petrol than when it is in gear.

Good maintenance is at the heart of economical performance

Now how would you go about all this? Are you an eco-driver?

Source: The Guardian

2005 Dwelling Statistics

Finally it is out. The long awaited report from the National Statistics Office (NSO) concerning the dwelling situation has been published. It is part of the Census 2005 survey held in November 2005. Two years later, this much awaited report comes out. I shall be highlighting some findings which I think should be pondered upon in light of the construction craze that seems to be never-ending.

This report is available online at www.nso.gov.mt.

If your are an economist (I am not) with knowledge of the supply versus demand thingy, I think we in Malta are a peculiar case, unlike the UK where dwellings are in such a short supply. But then again, I am not economist (I have no idea to be frank) so I may be totally wrong.

I shall quote directly from the document here below:

Dwelling stock increase:
In a span of just 38 years the number of dwellings has grown by 2.2 times, from 87,049 dwellings in 1967 to the 2005 Census level.

1995 vs 2005:
In 1995, the number of dwellings stood at 155,202 units. This was divided into 119,479 occupied dwellings and 35,723 vacant dwellings. It has since increased by 37,112 dwellings, of which 19,699 were occupied and the remaining 17,413 vacant. Effectively, in this period the number of occupied dwellings increased by 16.5 per cent while vacant dwellings increased by 48.7 per cent. (This makes the number of vacant dwellings at 53,136)

Type of dwellings:
Of the total dwelling stock, 166,201 units, or 86.4 per cent, consisted of terraced houses, flats and penthouses and maisonettes. Terraced houses accounted for 68,586 units, or 35.7 per cent of the total stock. On the other hand, a total of 56,864 flats and penthouses and 40,751 maisonettes were recorded.

State of repair:
In 2005, the majority of dwellings were perceived to be in a good state of repair. In fact, a total of 107,433 units, or 55.9 per cent of the total were recorded to be in a good state of repair.

Dwelling type vs age bracket:
Whereas 63.1 per cent of occupied dwellings with a reference person who was less than 40 years old lived in a maisonette or flat/penthouse, this proportion stood at 36.7 per cent for occupied dwellings with a reference person aged 70 years or more.

On the other hand, 50.5 per cent of occupied dwellings with a reference person aged between 40 to 59 years lived in a house (including terraced, semi-detached and fully-detached).

Vacant dwellings:
On a national level, 72.4 per cent of all dwellings were occupied, (this makes 27.6 percent vacant).

Most vacant dwellings consisted of flats and penthouses.

About one-fifth of all vacant dwellings in Malta were holiday dwellings. In fact, holiday dwellings located in Malta amounted to 10,028 dwellings, or 18.9 per cent of all vacant dwellings.

Overall, I focused mainly on vacant dwellings, and I think you can understand why. As a future purchaser, my concern on the crazy high prices of dwellings is quite justifiable considering these facts.

Can we save the planet?

I have just read this interesting opinion from George Marshall on the The Guardian.

Here are some quotes I thought I should pass on:

people have already acquired a severely distorted sense of priorities. Forty per cent of people now believe that recycling domestic waste, which is a relatively small contributor to emissions, is the most important thing they can do to prevent climate change. Only 10% mention the far more important goals of using public transport or reducing foreign holidays

With recycling, Mori concluded that it was becoming an act of "totem behaviour" and that "individuals use recycling as a means of discharging their responsibility to undertake wider changes in lifestyle"

People can make informed decisions in the knowledge that, say, a return flight to Australia will have the same climate-change impact as 730,000 plastic bags or 176,000 overfilled kettles

And let's be clear that voluntary action will never be enough - we will need radical political, economic and social change

Interesting I may say. However, the aim of individual action also includes putting pressure on governments / businesses to adopt a stronger approach towards mitigation and adaptation. I dare to say that hard political decisions will be few and probably too late. Unfortunately, we have become too used to a life of excess, waste and carelessness which we believe makes us feel good, look rich and be happy. Changing this way of life is akin to moving mountains.

I want to live in Russia

Just have a look at the following articles and you will know why. In an age where the Maltese government is reducing off-days (because of the public holidays on weekends issue), you have a Russian region that actually promotes a day off. But this is not to celebrate a feast or national holidays. On the other hand, it is aimed at couples to go home, together, and make babies. Just lovely. And if you succeed by giving birth to a child on Lenin's birthday (12th June) you will also get a prize ranging from a car, fridge or cash:

Russians given day off work to make babies

It is an incentive to increase the dwindling population. I like it and it works:

More than 500 women signed up for the second contest, in 2006, resulting in 78 babies being born nine months later, which was more than triple the region's daily average.

Now that the election is very close, how about some political party bringing this up as part of its manifesto?

Further adding to biofuel hatred

Just wanted to add the following image which compares the amount of tonnes of CO2 per hectare that is avoided in terms of crop usage and cover. This further puts emphasis that going down the biofuel route will get us nowhere in terms of emissions reductions.

In brief:

"...reforestation would sequester between two and nine times as much carbon over 30 years than would be saved by burning biofuels instead of gasoline."

"You get far more carbon sequestered by planting forests than you avoid emissions by producing biofuels on the same land"


Source: New Scientist

Biofuel sucks!

For all those green guys and gals out there who support biofuels (petrol and diesel extracted from plants):

Biofuels switch a mistake, say researchers

In a few words, it transpires that growing biofuels is likely to have a worse effect on the environment than using fossil fuels. Here's and extract from the article posted on The Guardian:

Increasing production of biofuels to combat climate change will release between two and nine times more carbon gases over the next 30 years than fossil fuels...

Biofuel policy is rushing ahead without understanding the implications...

Reforesting the land would be a better way to reduce emissions...

As always we are looking to quick fix methods without realising the implications of such actions. Policymakers and world leaders should take note of such studies since they have set targets on switching to biofuels. So what should we do?

...the emphasis should be placed on increasing the efficiency of fossil fuel use and moving to carbon-free alternatives such as renewable energy...

Monitoring our extinction

A thought provoking quote I have just read on The Guardian:

[Unless we stop talking and begin to act about climate change], "we risk being the only species monitoring its own extinction rather than acting against it"

Caroline Lucas, Green member of the European parliament.

Businesses accused of green hypocrisy.