OSMEB: World

Showing posts with label World. Show all posts

1.1.16 Hawaii Will Become First State To Raise Minimum Smoking Age To 21

Hawaii’s new tobacco laws go into effect Friday and limit sales of both cigarettes and electronic cigarettes to people 21 or older.

On Friday, Hawaii will become the first state in the U.S. to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21. A secondary measure specifically prohibits the sale of electronic cigarettes to anyone under 21.

On Jan. 1, Hawaii’s State Department of Health will start a three month campaign to let the public know about the new law, which was signed in June by Governor David Ige. After that, people under 21 caught smoking will be fined $10 the first offense and $50 every time after that.

Businesses that are caught selling tobacco products to people under the age of 21 will be fined $500 for their first violation and up to $2,000 for subsequent offenses.

The bill to raise the minimum smoking age was in part inspired by the rising use of electronic cigarettes by young people. Officials cited a University of Hawaii study by the Cancer Center that found e-cigarettes were used by teens three times the national average.

A few cities in the U.S., such as New York, have already made it illegal to sell cigarettes to customers under 21, while other states, including California, are considering similar bans.

13.9.15 New species of ancient humans found

Explorers stumbled upon a huge haul of bones found in a small, dark chamber at the back of a cave in South Africa

A huge haul of bones found in a small, dark chamber at the back of a cave in South Africa may be the remnants of a new species of ancient human relative.

A replica of the skull of a newly discovered ancient species, "Homo naledi" - named in honour of the "Rising Star" cave where it was found. Naledi means "star" in South Africa's Sesotho language.

Explorers happened upon the bones after squeezing through a fissure high up in the rear wall of the Rising Star cave, 50 km from Johannesburg, before descending down a long, narrow chute to the chamber floor 40 metres beneath the surface.

They recovered more than 1,500 pieces of bone belonging to at least 15 individuals. The remains appear to be infants, juveniles and one very old adult.

Thousands more pieces of bone are still in the chamber, smothered in the soft dirt that covers the ground.

The leaders of the National Geographic-funded project believe the bones — as yet undated — represent a new species of ancient human relative.

They have named the creature Homo naledi, where naledi means “star” in Sesotho, a local South African language.

But other experts on human origins say the claim is unjustified. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2015

1.6.14 The largest Solar Furnace | Odeillo in Pyrénées-Orientales, France

The largest Solar Furnace is at Odeillo in the Pyrénées-Orientales in France, opened in 1970. It employs an array of plane mirrors to gather sunlight, reflecting it onto a larger curved mirror. Solar furnace consists of 10000 concave mirrors that reflect and focus the sun's rays on the square diagonal of 40 inches. Diameter mirror construction is 54 meters. An array of mirrors acts as a parabolic reflector, concentrating light into focus. Temperature is in focus, as if in this place at the same time sent 22,000 suns. It can reach 3500 ° C (all depends on the position of the mirrors). Solar furnace used for industrial purposes. With its help generate electricity, melt steel, creating hydrogen fuel and nano-materials.

Solar Furnace, 7 Rue du Four Solaire, 66120 Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, France

Image credit Florian

The ancient Greek / Latin term heliocaminus literally means "solar furnace" and refers to a glass-enclosed sunroom intentionally designed to become hotter than the outside air temperature. During the Second Punic War (218 - 202 BC), the Greek scientist Archimedes is said to have repelled the attacking Roman ships by setting them on fire with a "burning glass" that may have been an array of mirrors. An experiment to test this theory was carried out by a group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005. It concluded that although the theory was sound for stationary objects, the mirrors would not likely have been able to concentrate sufficient solar energy to set a ship on fire under battle conditions. The first modern solar furnace is believed to have been built in France in 1949 by Professor Félix Trombe. It is now still in place at Mont Louis, near Odeillo. The Pyrenees were chosen as the site because the area experiences clear skies up to 300 days a year. Another solar furnace was built in Uzbekistan as a part of a Soviet Union "Sun" Complex Research Facility impulsed by Academician S.A. Asimov.

The largest Solar Furnace | Odeillo in Pyrénées-Orientales, France

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The longest tree-lined avenue in the world | Cedar Avenue of Nikkō, Japan

The Cedar Avenue of Nikko is a street in Japan lined with approximately 13,000 cryptomeria trees, known as Sugi, the national tree of Japan. Consisting of three parts converging on the city of Imaichi, the Cedar Avenue of Nikko is 35.41 kilometers long and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest tree-lined avenue in the world. The Cedar Avenue of Nikko is the only cultural property designated by the Japanese Government as both a Special Historic Site and a Special Natural Monument. The cedar trees were planted approximately 400 years ago by Matsudaira Masatsuna, a feudal lord serving Tokugawa Ieyasu, who donated them to the Nikko Tosho-gu. This monumental project was begun around 1625 and required about 20 years to be completed. It is estimated that some 200,000 cedars were planted at this time.

The longest tree-lined avenue in the world | Cedar Avenue of Nikko, Japan

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Hong Kong Building Construction Sites | The Colorful Cocoons

Photographer Peter Steinhauer‘s drew attention to staying in Hong Kong, the appearance of bright multi-colored pillars in the midst of the gray mass of skyscrapers. Having studied the question carefully, the author has created a series of images. In his two Cocoons series, Steinhauer, who lived in Asia for near twenty years, beautifully captured the style of construction that is unique to Hong Kong in which the building is wrapped in silk fabric to prevent debris from falling onto the street and pedestrians below. It is noteworthy that it is not just the pillars of different colors. And even more interesting that these "pods" are used, both in the construction and dismantling at skyscrapers. Filmed an impressive selection of successful photos, Steinhauer decided to make a photo series, which so called "Cocoon". According to the author, he had seen similar technology in Japan, but not for houses such heights that it is really impressive.