Disaster
Assistance, California Fires
“California’s Wine
Country is in a state of emergency as more than a dozen wildfires burn through
large swaths of land in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, and Yuba counties. The
fires have destroyed at least 1,500 structures, caused at least 10 fatalities,
and forced an estimated 20,000 North Bay residents to evacuate, with that
number expected to rise.
If you’re local, the
Sonoma Valley Visitor’s Bureau has a list of
hotels offering special rates for evacuees and the Sacramento
Bee has a list of ways for local people to help.
If you’re far away from
the fires and want to help, here are a few options:”
Child
Marriage, Girls, India
"India's Supreme Court has struck
down a legal clause that allowed men to engage in non-consensual marital sex
with girls as young as 15.
Wednesday's landmark decision, which
coincided with International Day of the Girl Child, also raised the age of
consent for all women to 18.
"In our opinion sexual intercourse
with a girl below 18 years of age is rape regardless of whether she is married
or not," read the ruling.
"The exception carved out in
the Indian Penal Code (IPC) creates an unnecessary and artificial distinction
between a married girl child and an unmarried girl child and has no rational
nexus with any unclear objective sought to be achieved."
Jayna Kothari, who argued for Child
Rights Group, an NGO that works to prevent child marriage, told CNN the ruling
will create a "uniformity of laws"."
Innovators,
Artists, Researchers, Inspiration
“It's not often you'll find these 24 names in the same place.
They are historians and musicians, computer scientists and social activists,
writers and architects. But whatever it may read on their business cards (if
they've even got business cards), they now all have a single title in common:
2017 MacArthur Fellow.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced
the winners of this year's fellowship — often better known as the "genius" grant —
and the list includes a characteristically wide array of disciplines: There's
painter Njideka Akunyili Crosby, for instance, and mathematician Emmanuel
Candès and immunologist Gabriel Victora, among many others.
(Note: The foundation is among NPR's financial supporters.)
Each of the recipients has been selected for having "shown
extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a
marked capacity for self-direction" — and each will receive a $625,000
award from the foundation "as an investment in their potential," paid
out over five years with no strings attached.
You can find the full list of winners below (by clicking on the title above) — paired
with the foundation's description of their work and, where possible, links to
NPR's previous coverage to get to know them better.”
Climate
Change, Photography
“The UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015 was hailed as a
historic landmark in the battle against climate change, but, says British
environmental photographer Ashley Cooper, is it enough?
“I obviously applaud this momentous agreement,” he said, “but, having
witnessed the scale of the destruction currently being wreaked around the
world, this is too little too late.”
In his book, Images from a Warming Planet, Cooper hopes his
photography will ‘wake people up’ to the reality of climate change as well as
showcasing efforts to tackle the huge challenge. Photographs range from shots
showing increasing rates of desertification, to images capturing the huge range
of renewable energy projects across the globe.
The project began in 2004 with a trip to Alaska, which Cooper took after
reading scientific journals and becoming increasingly aware of the potentially
devastating consequences of climate change.
“I spent a week on Shishmaref, a tiny island in the Chukchi
Sea,” he said. “It is home to a community of around 600 Inuit people, whose
homes were being washed into the sea. It was here I first witnessed something I
have seen many times since: that is, those least responsible for climate change
are most impacted by it.”
Exercise, Heart Health
From the America Heart Association:
“After a heart attack, more than 60 percent of patients
decline participation in cardiac rehabilitation. Although the reasons include
financial concerns and distance to a rehab center, many patients stay away
because they perceive physical exercise as unpleasant, painful or impossible
given their current physical condition.
This is the first study suggesting that Tai
Chi may improve exercise behaviors in this high-risk population.
"We thought that Tai Chi might be a good
option for these people because you can start very slowly and simply and, as
their confidence increases, the pace and movements can be modified to increase
intensity," said Elena Salmoirago-Blotcher, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of
the study and assistant professor of medicine at the Warren Alpert School of
Medicine at Brown University. "Tai Chi exercise can reach low-to-moderate
intensity levels. The emphasis on breathing and relaxation can also help with
stress reduction and psychological distress."”
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