dijous, 30 de maig del 2019
dimarts, 21 de maig del 2019
Pushy bonobo mothers help sons find sexual partners, scientists find by Ian Sample
Pushy bonobo mothers help sons find sexual partners, scientists find
High-ranking mothers lead sons to groups of
females and keep guard while they mate
Ian Sample Science editor Mon 20 May 2019 16.00 BST
Their mothers are so keen for them to father children
that they usher them in front of promising partners, shield them from violent competitors and dash the chances of other males by charging them while
they are at it.
For a bonobo mother, it is all part of the
parenting day, and analysis finds the hard work pays off. Males of the species that live
with their mothers are three times more likely to father offspring than those
whose mothers are absent.
Martin Surbeck, a primatologist at the Max
Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, said: “We wanted to
see if the mothers’ behaviour changes the odds of their sons’
success, and it does. The mothers have a strong influence on the number of
grandchildren they get.”
Bonobo mothers seize every opportunity to give
their sons a leg-up.
In bonobo society, the lower ranks tend to be gender balanced, but females
dominate the top ranks. Many mothers have social clout and
chaperone their sons to huddles with
fertile females, ensuring them better chances to mate. “The mothers tend to be
a social passport for their sons,” said Surbeck.
But in the free-for-all
that underpins bonobo sex, vigilance is the watchword. When their sons are
finally copulating, bonobo mothers keep a wary eye on nearby
males. Should any make a move to rush the
busy couple – a tactic that is well-known – she can bound in and block the attack.
Such dirty tricks abound. When mothers spot other males on the job, they have been known to detach the hapless apes with a
well-timed charge. On rare occasions, the mothers literally drag unrelated males off their sexual partners. “Once I saw
a mother pulling a male away by the leg,” said Surbeck. “It doesn’t necessarily
increase their son’s mating success, but it shows that they really get involved
in the whole business.”
To assess the impact of mothers’ interventions,
Surbeck and his colleagues observed several wild bonobo populations in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and wild chimpanzees in Tanzania, Uganda and
Ivory Coast. Mothers from both species, which share the title of our closest
living relative, helped their sons in fights, but only the bonobos boosted
their sons’ mating success. In chimpanzee society, males are dominant, so the
mothers have less influence.
(…)
Surbeck suspects bonobo mothers have hit on a
winning strategy. In going the extra
mile to get their sons mating, the mothers get to spread their genes
without having to have more children themselves.
Courtesy of Guardian
News & Media Ltd.
Bonobo image from www.publicdomainpictures.net CC0 Public domain
Vocabulary for Spanish readers:
|
Pushy
|
Dominante
|
|
Keen for
|
Estar interesado en
|
|
Usher
|
Conducir, dirigir
|
|
Shield
|
Proteger. Escudo, protección
|
|
Dash
|
Arruinar
|
|
Hard work pays off
|
El trabajo duro da sus frutos
|
|
Odds
|
Posibilidades
|
|
Leg-up
|
Dar una ventaja. Ayudar
|
|
Clout
|
Influencia
|
|
Chaperone
|
Acompañante, carabina.
|
|
Huddles
|
Acurrucarse, aproximarse, juntarse
|
|
Underpins
|
Apuntalar, sustentar
|
|
Watchword
|
Lema. En otros contextos santo y seña.
|
|
Wary eye
|
Mirada cautelosa, vigilante.
|
|
A move to rush
|
Un movimiento para molestar, para apresurar
|
|
Bound
|
Verbo bound: Moverse rápidamente mediante saltos o zancadas.
|
|
Spot
|
Ver, observar
|
|
Detach
|
Separar
|
|
Hapless
|
Desafortunados
|
|
Stack
|
Apilar. Posicionarse a favor de.
|
|
Hang around
|
Pulular, andar por la zona.
|
dissabte, 18 de maig del 2019
Lyon focused on fourth Women’s Champions League title in a row by Suzanne Wrack
Lyon focused on fourth
Women’s Champions League title in a row
As Barcelona contest their
first final Lieke Martens says nothing of a possible move to her French opponents
Suzanne Wrack in Budapest Fri 17 May 2019 19.00 BST
The Netherlands midfielder Lieke Martens said
she is “happy” in Barcelona as speculation about the possibility of swapping
the Catalan club for her Champions League final opponents, Lyon, mounts.
“I saw it also today in the news,” Martens said
on Friday, speaking before Barcelona’s first Champions League final. “I don’t
know. I have one more year in Barcelona, I am really happy here, I’m just
focused on the game tomorrow and that’s it.”
The Barcelona head coach, Lluís Cortés, was
similarly vague on the future of his star – who according to L’Équipe has a £3m
buyout clause.
“Tomorrow Lieke is going to be with us,” he said. “I don’t know what will
happen next but tomorrow Lieke will be with us and that is good for us.”
Cortés was clear that, win or lose, reaching
the final shows Barcelona are treading
the right path. “Of course the fact that we are playing the final is an
achievement in itself but it’s not the final stage and, if we win tomorrow,
that won’t be either,” he said.
“The club has been investing in women’s football, we want to put more investment into
the female team and for us to reach the Champions League final is an
achievement. It shows we’re working well. It’s a step forward. We’re at a high
level in terms of European football but we
have to keep working.”
The midfielder Vicky Losada believes Lyon are
far from unbeatable. “Over the years they were one of the first teams to invest
in women’s football,” she said.
“They have lots of qualities but they are not
invincible. They
went through hardship playing against
Chelsea and last year when we played against them it was not a clear win for
them; it was just one goal in each match. That’s what we have to keep in mind. They are a good team but anything can
happen and we can win the match.
“We know how Lyon play, we know how their team
work and we believe in our capacities. We’ve worked really hard and we’ve
gained respect in Europe.”
Martens added: “The key is going to be which
team has more possession and the transition so I’m really excited to see what
happens. It’s going to be really interesting.”
For Lyon’s Dzsenifer Marozsán it will be an
emotional experience to play a final in Budapest, having been born in the
Hungarian capital.
“There is a lot of emotion in me. It’s a big
big game for me,” said the Germany captain. “I’m proud to be born in Budapest.
It’s perfect for me that the final is here. I can play the first time at home
in front of my family. It’s my dream, it was my dream, but now it’s true. I’m
really excited.”
(...)
Courtesy of Guardian
News & Media Ltd
VOCABULARY
|
Contest
|
Afronta
|
|
Mount
|
Aumenta
|
|
Buyout clause
|
Cláusula de compra
|
|
They went through hardship
|
Pasaron por dificultades
|
|
Echo
|
Hacerse eco
|
|
Will
|
Voluntad. Deseo, testamento,…
|
|
Conceded
|
Perdido
|
divendres, 17 de maig del 2019
414 million pieces of plastic found on remote island by Ben Smee
414 million pieces of
plastic found on remote island group in Indian Ocean
Debris on Cocos (Keeling) Islands was mostly
bottles, cutlery, bags and straws, but also included 977,000 shoes, study says
Ben Smee Thu
16 May 2019 14.23 BST
On the beaches of the tiny Cocos
(Keeling) Islands, population 600, marine scientists found 977,000 shoes and
373,000 toothbrushes.
A comprehensive survey of debris on
the islands – among the most remote places on Earth, in the Indian Ocean – has
found a staggering amount of rubbish
washed ashore.
This included 414m pieces of plastic, weighing 238 tonnes.
The study, published in the journal Nature,
concluded the volume of debris points to the exponential increase of global plastic polluting
the world’s oceans and “highlights a
worrying trend in the production and discharge of single-use products”.
The lead author, Jennifer Lavers from the
University of Tasmania’s Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, said remote
islands without large populations were the most effective indicator of the
amount of plastic debris floating in
the oceans.
“Islands such as these are like canaries in a
coal mine and it’s increasingly urgent that we act on the warnings they are
giving us. Plastic pollution is now ubiquitous
in our oceans, and remote islands are an ideal place to get an objective view
of the volume of plastic debris now circling the globe,” Lavers said.
The study found the quantity of debris buried up to 10cm beneath the beach was 26 times greater than the amount
visible; that previous surveys that only assessed surface garbage might have
“drastically underestimated the scale of debris accumulation”.
Lavers led a previous study, published in 2017,
that found the remote Henderson Island in the eastern South Pacific was among
the places most affected by plastic pollution.
While most of the debris found on Henderson
Island was fishing-related, on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the plastic was
mostly single-use items such as bottles, plastic
cutlery, bags and straws.
“Our excessive and unrelenting demand
for plastics, coupled with ineffective policy and waste management, has
resulted in myriad negative
effects on marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments, including entanglement
and ingestion of debris, and subsequent exposure to plastic-associated
chemicals,” the report said.
“The Cocos (Keeling) Islands [are] touted as ‘Australia’s last unspoilt paradise’, with tourism a primary
source of income for the local community. However, the impact of debris on
tourism and [their] beaches is increasingly difficult to avoid.
“Sadly, the situation on the Cocos (Keeling)
Islands is not unique, with significant quantities of debris documented on
islands and coastal areas from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Together, these
islands and coastal areas reflect the acute symptoms of an otherwise rapidly increasing environmental hazard.”
(...)
Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd.
VOCABULARY
Tiny: Small, little
Debris: Rubbish, garbage
Wash ashore: To bring (something) onto the shore
by waves. A lot of debris was washed
ashore during the storm.
Point to: To mention or refer to (something)
as a way of supporting an argument or claim
Bury up to: Not a phrasal verb. To bury something means to put it into a hole in the
ground and cover it up with earth.
Beneath: Something that is beneath another
thing is under the other thing. She could
see the muscles of his shoulders beneath his T-shirt.
Cutlery: Knives and forks
Straw: A straw is a thin tube of paper or
plastic, which you use to suck a drink into your mouth.
Unrelenting: Inexorable
In myriad: A great number of persons or things
Entanglement: The condition of being wrapped and
twisted together in a mass:
Touted: Publicised
Unspoilt: Pure. An unspoiled place is
beautiful because it has not been changed or damaged by people.
Landfill: A place where garbage is buried
Wash up: In this case: If something is
washed up on a piece of land, it is carried by a river or sea and left there.
Generally this phrasal verb refers to the act of clean something.
dijous, 16 de maig del 2019
John Bolton wants to lie us into war in Iran like he did in Iraq, like they did in Vietnam said Bernie Sanders.
Bernie Sanders: John
Bolton wants to lie us into war in Iran like he did in Iraq, like they did in
Vietnam
Sen. Bernie Sanders joined MSNBC's Ali Velshi
Tuesday to denounce national security adviser John Bolton in response to
reports from the New York Times that he has ordered a plan to be drawn up to attack
Iran.
He has ordered a plan to be drawn up: Ha ordenado que se elabore un plan
"It is almost impossible to imagine that
after the horror of the war in Iraq when we
were lied to by the Bush administration and one of the leading architects
was this very same, John
Bolton," Sanders said.
"You will remember how we got into the
Vietnam war, the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, and it turns out the so-called attack in the Gulf of Tonkin did not
actually take place. It was based on a series of lies," Sanders also said.
"What worries me is that the architect of the effort right now to get us
into a war in Iran is the guy who was the architect to getting us into the war
in Iraq. That is John Bolton. I worry
about provocations on the part
of the United States against Iran."
ALI VELSHI, MSNBC: Joining me is
2020 presidential candidate, Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders. You are quite worried,
more worried than the Pentagon says you
should be, about troops, American troops going into Iran, what's your concern?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: I believe that
if we go into Iran we will destabilize the entire region. And we will be in war
for a decade after decade, which will cost us thousands of lives for our troops
as well as God knows what happens in terms of how many people die in the
region. It is almost impossible to imagine that after the horror of the war in
Iraq, when we were lied to by the Bush administration, and one of the leading
architects was this very same, John
Bolton, who remains one of the few people in the world that thinks to date
that the war in Iraq was a good idea. That we would once again go to war in
that region.
So what I am working hard on is to
continue the work that I and some conservative Republicans did -- that is to
remind Congress and the president that it is the U.S. Congress under our
Constitution, not the president who decides when we go to war. We're looking
now to get 51 senators and a majority in the House, to say to this president,
you are not going to war in Iran or any place else with Congressional authority
and we're not going to give you that authority.
ALI VELSHI: But it was Congress who
agreed to the Iran deal, and the goal was to try to get Iran back into the
international community and economically engaged. So it would think it was
valuable to stay economically with the world, than to saber rattle and misbehave in the region. What do you say to
people that say, this is preventative, a worst-case scenario, in the case Iran attacks
American soldiers, American troops or uses its proxies to
do so?
Saber rattle: ‘ruido de sables’
Worst-case scenario: ‘el peor de los casos’
Proxy: ‘aliados’
BERNIE SANDERS: First of all, Ali,
you will remember how we got into the Vietnam war, the Gulf of Tonkin resolution,
and it turns out the so-called attack in the Gulf of Tonkin did not actually
take place. It was based on a series of lies. What worries me is that the
architect of the effort right now to get us into a war in Iran is the guy who
was the architect to getting us into the war in Iraq. That is John Bolton. I
worry about provocations on the part of
the United States against Iran. And I worry very much that this thing could flare up.
I think again that a war in Iran would be an absolute disaster. Never ending
war, huge amounts of money, loss of lives. What the Congress has to do is have
a serious discussion about how we deal with that region. I for the life of me have never understood why it was that the United
States determined that Saudi Arabia, which is a despotic murderous undemocratic
regime, is our great friend. And Iran is all that's horrible.
Flare up: ‘estallar’
Obviously, we have many many
concerns about Iran. But let me tell you, Iraq is not one of the great
humanitarian regimes on the planet. The function of the United States, the most
powerful nation on Earth and our president, should be to bring Saudi Arabia
into Iran into a room together and to begin serious negotiations about how we
can calm the tensions in that region. Not inflame them. Not threaten to go to
war.
Choco Leibniz biscuit heiress apologises over Nazi labour remarks by The Guardian
Choco Leibniz biscuit heiress
apologises over Nazi labour remarks
Verena
Bahlsen says comments were ‘thoughtless’ amid calls for a boycott of
brand
“Courtesy
of Guardian News & Media Ltd”.
Reuters in
Berlin Thu 16 May 2019 00.05 BST
The heiress of a German biscuit empire has
apologised for stirring
outrage with remarks that appeared to
play down the hardship suffered
by dozens of people forced to work at the family business under Nazi rule.
Verena Bahlsen, whose father owns the Bahlsen
company that makes some of Germany’s most famous biscuits including Choco
Leibniz, said her remarks that the
firm did nothing wrong when it employed 200 forced labourers during the second
world war were thoughtless.
Most of the forced labourers at Hanover-based
Bahlsen were women, many from Nazi-occupied Ukraine.
“This was before my time and we paid the forced
labourers exactly as much as German workers and we treated them well,”
25-year-old Bahlsen, one of four children of company owner Werner Bahlsen, told
the mass-selling Bild newspaper.
German politicians criticised her remarks and
some social media users called for a boycott of Bahlsen biscuits.
“It was a mistake to amplify this debate with
thoughtless responses,” Bahlsen said in a statement on
Wednesday. “I apologise for that. Nothing could be further from my mind than to
downplay national socialism or its consequences.”
She added that she recognised the need to learn
more about the company’s history. “As the next generation, we have
responsibility for our history. I expressly apologise to all whose feelings I
have hurt.”
Verena Bahlsen has also been criticised for boasting about her wealth and love of conspicuous consumption.
“I own a fourth of Bahlsen and I am very happy
about that,” she said at a business event in Hamburg earlier this month. “I
want to earn money and buy a sailing yacht.”
The Bahlsen company, which also makes Leibniz
butter cookies, voluntarily paid 1.5 million deutschmarks (about 750,000 euros)
in 2000-2001 to a foundation set up by German firms to compensate 20 million
forced labourers used by the Nazis.
Former forced labourers have failed to obtain
compensation from Bahlsen in individual lawsuits, with German courts citing statute of
limitations laws.
“If you inherit
such a large
estate you also inherit responsibility and should not come across as aloof,” Lars Klingbeil,
secretary general of the centre-left Social Democrats, told Bild.
|
Heiress
Remarks
Thoughtless
Amid
Stirring
outrage
Play down
/ downplay
Hardship
Statement
Downplay
/ play down
Boast
Lawsuit
Large
state
Should
not come across as aloof
|
Heredera
Declaraciones
Irreflexivas
En medio, entre
Creciente
escándalo
Minimizar,
frivolizar
Sufrimiento
Declaración
Minimizar,
frivolizar.
Alardear
Pleito, litigio
Gran propiedad;
alto rango; imperio; latifundio,…
No debe quedar
al margen
|
dimecres, 15 de maig del 2019
San Francisco is first US city to ban police use of facial recognition tech by Kari Paul
San Francisco is first US city to ban police
use of facial recognition tech
Supervisors vote eight to one to restrict
surveillance: ‘We can have security without being a security state’
Kari Paul
and agencies Wed 15 May 2019 01.10
BST
Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd.
San Francisco supervisors voted to make the
city the first in the United States to ban police and other government agencies
from using facial recognition technology.
Supervisors voted eight to one in favor of the
“Stop Secret Surveillance Ordinance”, which will also strengthen existing
oversight measures and will require city agencies to disclose current inventories of surveillance technology.
“This is really about saying: ‘We can have security without being a security state.
We can have good policing without being a police state.’ And part of that is
building trust with the community based on good community information, not on
Big Brother technology,” the supervisor Aaron Peskin, who championed the
legislation, said on Tuesday.
Two supervisors were absent for Tuesday’s vote.
The board of
supervisors is expected to vote on
the new rules a second time next week, when they are expected to pass again.
Critics argued on Tuesday that police needed
all the help they could get, especially in a city with high-profile events and
high rates of property crime. That people expect privacy in public space is
unreasonable given the proliferation of cellphones and surveillance cameras,
said Meredith Serra, a member of a resident public safety group Stop Crime SF.
But those who support the ban say facial
recognition technology is flawed and a serious threat to civil liberties.
Matt Cagle, a technology and civil liberties
attorney at the ACLU of Northern California, argued the legislation was a positive step towards slowing the rise of technologies that may infringe on the rights of communities of color and immigrants. “Face surveillance won’t make us safer, but
it will make us less free,” Cagle told the Guardian after the proposal passed a
committee vote last week.
The ordinance applies to a wider range of
technology, including automated license plate reading
and gunshot-detection tools. It also expands a 2018 law requiring the San
Francisco public transportation system Bart to outline how
it surveils passengers.
Speaking to the Guardian last week, Peskin said
the new regulations were meant to
address concerns about the accuracy of technology and put a stop to creeping surveillance culture.
“We are
all for good community policing but we don’t want to live in a police
state,” Peskin said. “At the end of the day it’s not just about a flawed technology, it’s about the invasive surveillance of
the public
commons.”
VOCABULARY
Strengthen: If something strengthens a person or group or
if they strengthen their position, they become more powerful and secure, or
more likely to succeed. Reinforce, brace.
Oversight: Supervision.
‘…which will also strengthen existing oversight
measures’: ‘lo cual también refuerza la vigilancia sobre las
medidas existentes’
Disclose: If you disclose new or secret information,
you tell people about it. Reveal.
Inventories of surveillance: A formal and detailed list of
goods in this case connected with vigilance.
Board of supervisors: A group of people who control a
company
Flawed: Not perfect, or containing mistakes. This
technology has errors.
License plate (or licence plate –USA-): Registration number
in a vehicle.
BART: Bay Area Rapid Transit, is a rapid transit
public transportation system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
Surveil: To observe closely the activities of (a
person or group)
Creeping: To move very quietly and carefully and, in
slang, a disgusting person.
Public commons: The common people; commonalty.
dimarts, 14 de maig del 2019
Doris Day. Comments from readers
Doris Day, celebrated
actor and singer, dies aged 97
Courtesy of Guardian
News & Media Ltd.
Mon 13 May 2019 15.08 BST
Some comments from readers
Fromibizatothebroads: It's a shame today that such is the
digital, mobile internet life people will only dip in and out of the news to
learn about Doris Day and why she was much revered. They may at best sample a snippet of one of her movie roles or of her singing. It's as
if we have forgotten how to just relax and be entertained for an hour and a
half when at a loose end one wet Saturday or Sunday afternoon. If you have only
ever seen snippets of Paul Newman on screen, you can't really talk about him. And
the same would be for the terrific Doris Day.
M_T_Wallet: Yeah. Neither were actually great
actors. Very good but not great.
When they were in a movie you watched such is
their screen presence.
Ffynnongarw: It is ironic that its the FA cup
final next weekend. Will always associate DD with going to Wembley.
Terencepatrick: As is usual I too thought Doris day
was everyones favourite aunty and as a kid was warmed by her seeming wholesomeness as an individual.
However I am also bound to say she
had no effect on my life other than a nice feeling as a kid; so, ta for that Doris.
Addled: Dick van Dyke was on Radio4 today, bemoaning the fact that he'd never made a film with her.
I've only
seen two of his films and he was nowhere near her league.
Chinaplatemate: As some other poster has said: My first crush.
Karl Bucket: Pre internet and pre mass porn we had pinups and imagination. I truly do not envy the youngsters
these days or their need for instant gratification.
SaltbushJack: Rest in peace Doris, You were one of a kind. As a boy I remember a lot of your movies debuting.
Movies like "Pillow Talk" and "Move Over Darling"
were racey for their time, but my parents didn't mind us watching
them.
Struttingpig: The thing that stands out for me is her
loyalty. She stood by Rock
Hudson her friend and co-star in the teeth of the aids crisis and the hysteria
it generated.
A great
singer, a great actress and a good friend!
MarkAlexander: How sad! Her passing marks
the end of an era. I have very fond memories of
her in my childhood. Her rendition of 'Que
séra séra' was truly wonderful. I
love listening to it even to this day. R.I.P. and thank you!
VOCABULARY
Snippet: A snippet of something is a small piece of it.
Terrific: If you describe something or someone as
terrific, you are very pleased with them or very impressed by them.
Wholesomeness: If you describe something as wholesome, you
approve of it because you think it is likely to have a positive influence on
people's behaviour or mental state, especially because it does not involve
anything sexually immoral.
As an individual: If you describe someone or something as
individual, you mean that you admire them because they are very unusual and do
not try to imitate other people or things.
Bound: (bind | bound | bound) If you are bound by
something such as a rule, agreement, or restriction, you are forced or required
to act in a certain way.
The authorities will be legally bound to arrest
any suspects. [be VERB-ed to-infinitive]
There is a bottom deck though, so you're not
bound to sit on top. [be VERB-ed to-infinitive]
Ta for that: Ta means 'thank you'.
Bemoan: If you bemoan something, you express sorrow
or dissatisfaction about it.
Crush: If you have a crush on someone, you are in
love with them but do not have a relationship with them
Pinup: Designating a person whose sexual
attractiveness makes her or him a suitable subject for the kind of pictures
often pinned up on walls
To be one of a kind: With no equal; completely unique.
More over: If someone moves over, they leave their job or
position in order to let someone else have it.
Racey: Slang. Anything else that can get your heart
going faster than normal. Something daring, risky, sexual etc.
Stand (stand | stood | stood) by: If you are standing by, you are
ready and waiting to provide help or to take action.
Passing: You can refer to someone's death as their
passing, if you want to avoid using the word 'death' because you think it might
upset or offend people.
Fond memories: If you are fond of something, you like it or
you like doing it very much.
Rendition: A rendition of a play, poem, or piece of
music is a performance of it.
Subscriure's a:
Missatges (Atom)