Podcasts about national observatory

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Announcing the Launch of the National Observatory on Insect Farming in France - ONEI, published by Corentin D. Biteau on May 29, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum. We are excited to announce the launch of the ONEI, an organisation dedicated to informing decision-making about insect farming in France. The context France is a leader in insect farming, with two of the largest companies in the sector working there. The industry has grown immensely in recent years, gathering more than a billion dollars in investment worldwide, with the number of insects farmed rising yearly from 1 trillion to 10 to 30 trillion in 5 years. The sector is expected to grow even further in the future. While discussions on the topic often revolve around insects as food, farmed insects are primarily intended to be used as feed for other farmed animals like fish or chickens or as pet food. Insect farming has been presented as a potential solution to environmental challenges linked to conventional livestock farming. France is currently supporting the industry with funding and research. However, several recent studies call into question these promises of sustainability. For instance, rebound effects could lead to increased meat consumption and the associated impacts if insects provide a new source of animal feed. Moreover, while insects were promised to contribute to a circular economy by using food waste, persistent economic and regulatory challenges prevent this, with most farms feeding insects with high-quality feeds already in use elsewhere. Our role I am the first author of several new papers produced in collaboration with the Insect Institute on the environmental impacts of insect farming. This work, covering environmental sustainability, economic competitiveness, barriers to the use of food waste, limits to the research and consumer acceptability, is currently available in the form of academic preprints and highlights several challenges. ONEI intends to share evidence-based information on the impact of insect farming on the environment and society, a role no actor is currently filling in France. Our first task, currently underway, is translating our findings into French. We plan to work with policymakers, journalists, and investors. Much of our work will revolve around policy to ensure that future decisions are based on solid evidence. How you can contribute French speakers can subscribe to our newsletter and share our articles when they are published. If you have contacts who might be interested in data on the sustainability of the sector (in French or English), please share them with us. This includes policymakers, institutions, journalists, investors or researchers. If you're interested in this topic, we are looking for volunteers! We have some skilled tasks available for non-French speakers (graphic design, communication) and others that require speaking French (proofreading, identifying relevant contacts to share our reports with). I can also redirect you to relevant English-speaking charities that might have other roles in this sector. You can DM me, and I will also be at the EAG London and EAGx Utrecht - feel free to reach out! You can contact us here or via email (contact@onei-insectes.org) for any questions or remarks. Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org

The Lee Weather team goes across the pond to Europe for this episode for a discussion about an unusual type of storm. They look like a hurricane, have nearly the same characters of a hurricane, and now even have names like hurricanes. Called medicanes, they're the Mediterranean Sea's biggest weather beast.  The Lee Weather team speaks to Kostas Lagouvardos, Research Director at the National Observatory of Athens. Lagouvardos has studied medicanes since the 1990s, is the foremost authority on the storms, and became the first person to name them. Naming is now done by the Greek government, similar to how hurricanes are named in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  After a powerful storm, Ianos, caused death and devastation in September 2020, his research published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society sparked more interest in the topic.  We want to hear from you! Have a question for the meteorologists? Call 609-272-7099 and leave a message. You might hear your question and get an answer on a future episode! About the Across the Sky podcast The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team: Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia. Episode transcript Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically: Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of the Across the Sky podcast, Lee Enterprises National Weather Podcast. We are in 77 newsrooms all across the country, all corners of the country, but we are not talking about the United States today. We are going across the pond over to Europe and the Mediterranean Sea to talk about Medicaid. Sounds like a hurricane. All north is like a hurricane, but it's what they see in the Mediterranean Sea. We are going to chat with Dr. Kostas legal bartels research director from the National Observatory in Athens, Greece. All about it. You know, guys, I was I'll get through the Bolton the American Meteorological Society. Shout out to the American Meteorological Society. They they do wonders for the weather community. We love being a part of it. And I saw this this piece called Eno's A Hurricane in the Mediterranean. I said, Jesus said, you know, I feel like this would be a good podcast topic because a lot of us can relate to Hurricane. We've either been in one or we've seen plenty of it, you know, on our screens, but it's a little different. You don't expect hurricanes in the Mediterranean and there's some differences. But Kostas is going to talk to us about those differences. You know, I think I think he did a good job explaining it. But I'll turn it over to my weather friends here across the country, Sean Sublette, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Matt Hollander over in the Midwest West. I'll start with you, Matt, here. Did you know much about medications before this topic? No, not until you brought it up. I was like. Hurricanes in the Mediterranean, that that's new to me. But this isn't a new thing. And I would been doing like, Oh, no, these have occurred before. But the difference is it really caught everybody's attention in 2020 when they had an intense well, they actually reached Category two hurricane strength most of the time was going tropical storms. There have been a few they've been a Category one strength. But a lot of times they stay out in the water. And so they're not impacts land. They tend to be weak. But that seems to be changing and that's what we're back. And I'm on the podcast because they had one that made landfall with category due strength. Then suddenly there are big impacts and it looks like there might be a trend that way in the increasing intensity. So we might have to start paying attention to them a little bit closer in the future. And so you seem to know about everything weather at all time. You're you're the expert here of the three of us that did you know about it? I had heard of medications. One of the things that I'm not as well versed on is, is the formation of them. I think we all understand what a tropical cyclone is. It's deriving its energy from from warm water. Right. But there are other kind of physical restrictions going on. You know, the Mediterranean Sea is smaller than than the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The geography is different. You've got you've got islands poking in from all directions. You've got Italy jutting southward from the continent. And the other thing that that I wasn't well versed on either was how warm does the Mediterranean get? My own mind, I thought, well, it ought to get pretty warm. Does it get as warm as the Gulf of Mexico? So we talked a little bit about that. So there are some restrictions going on here physically. So those were the things that I was was most curious about, you really addressed those? Well, I thought I think he he did a good job with this. You know, there is a little bit of a accent here. You know, we are talking to the Coast Guard who lives in Greece. But I'll tell you what, he knows almost as much English as all of us. And he Dupuy knows a lot more English than I know Italian. So I'll give him credit to that. But fantastic interview. We're going to dive right into it here. Here is Coast us talking all about Medicaid in the Mediterranean. And now we welcome on Dr. Kostas Legal Bartos. He is the research director for the National Observatory of Athens and the Institute for Environmental Research in Athens, Greece. It is just about noon our time here in America. He is joining us this evening. He's got to go to dinner afterwards, but we appreciate you coming on the podcast here today, Kostas, and talking to us all about Medicaid. Thanks you for thanks for the invitation. It is an honor for me to be part of this discussion and explain what's happening right. And we're very happy to have you. And we're happy to go international, too, as well as as we talk about this. So we talked a little bit about this in the introduction, about the medications before we had you on here. But you know, the story that you focused on and your and your research study was called and I say in or. Right, you know, is that the right way? Yes, I've got this. So you title it this a hurricane in the Mediterranean. And yeah, this storm was strong. I mean, you know, for people who are here in the United States listening, I mean, this took place in September of 2020. Unfortunately, four people died, 1400 landslides in two days from this. And maximum sustained winds were 98 miles an hour. To give you an idea of how strong that is, that's like a Category two hurricane. So this was immensely strong. And I want to we will get into that storm. But from my understanding, you've been studying these medications since before since the 20th century. So for over 20 years now. So what got you interested in this is this little field of medications. What got you interested in? I the thing is that is part of the major weather events that we investigate well above to investigate all you made the case, but also severe storms. So severe thunderstorms or even heatwaves because unfortunately, the heat wave also is a it's a it's a natural disaster. Then assignment either. But then they we got to the main event when I was young and I started my work in the observatory at the time, the first satellite images of Sandy was in 1995 and they remember it was it's very it's almost 30 years ago and it was happening. Fascinating because it was like something was that something like as more hurricane at this moment in the middle of the Mediterranean? And it was one of the first made the game as we investigated the thing that I and then a lot of people were scientists. We do that in right and response Spain, Italy and Greece started investigating against and but now we have after this period of almost 50 years of a long track and investigating video games for many scientists in Europe and then with the running more of a grant do that that investigator that that we investigated in full and the last one because it was the big this happened was us it we were we put a lot of in the V.A. because first of what was affected Greece and then because we we realized from the beginning of information that something might be coming next days. Got a little bit later on this one. And finally, was it the event after midday? And according to the wreckage, have so far because of the most intense with attack go to sustained winds if we begin to suffer symptoms. Kate, were you in Greece when this was happening? What was it like actually being there? Yeah, I guess I got a question because we have three, three years ago in 2000, they have another one, similar one, which is repeated, smaller, less infamous. But it was a little bit peculiar because it affected more or less the same areas. Muscle north in Africa to Greece and then back to again south. But this one was fine and it was very, very powerful watching for casualties in central place. And as you said, landslides flattened in many areas. Bay and wind. So storm shelters in the west of this that it's all over Italy, Italy and Greece. And so it was a good opportunity to because now have many, many tools to investigate of more satellite. It will expand later on of the chance to cover groups up in like of a passing. This may be a very good models of many more surface observations you know that to follow the evolution of the middle game and see what what's happening and understand what's happening inside them middle the plane which is not it had a bishop note to them all. And Kostas, to put things in perspective for our audience, what is the frequency like for these meditations? Like how often do they occur? How rare of a situation is this novel? More or less. Well, I know the two per year, the Mediterranean, most of them are the Western, but there are only two with Spain by that island, Sicilian, Corsica. But also we have very little in Greece like are. It's very seldom the nonexistent to God awful but it being some decent other that I thought were outside groups and the Middle East and one or two per year with some of them are moving on over the water so there's not a threat for people or revolve how many islands that are so and affected and maybe things. And then I have this shrine of sur continent of Greece that those of the islands these and if and probably the problems in this area and the but the two on one or two. But again the intensity of this all of these yeah. Not was something was never seen so far and maybe that that causes Sean here in Virginia. So when we think about tropical cyclones here and the eastern part of North America, you know, we think about the classical hurricanes and how they can grow to such a large size, I imagine there they're going to be spatial constraints there in the Mediterranean. But are these exclusively will core tropical cyclones, are they hybrids? And the other question I have for you is a warm does the Mediterranean get during the warmest part of the summer? Yeah. These are this mitigates their warm core shaking but they are not be finished with the hybrid games they are not interested so much BBC surface temperature of surface temperature than and it could go up up to 28 degrees but 6 to 8 but this not the the main mechanism a miserable cover up at low cold air aloft warming here of course the bottom have a flow of moisture from the sea surface towards the cyclone of condensation. The release of Egypt will have a warm core, the yellow surface and so which they look like hurricanes, but the mechanism is not actually the same. The second one of the not the same size as diameter of the tentacle, where between one and 200 kilometers it's mean 1/10 of a big added problem besides a full develop. But for the size of the transmission, they that big enough. But as I said before, we're not we don't have so far mindset of the end and a concrete definition of a video game. And also all the mechanism related events have worked very well to not because we don't have or the tools we need to investigate them and figure down the public have added anyhow all their plans crossing eye damage to make their measurements, the least drop zones and have on this mission. Unfortunately, this does not exist but the Mediterranean. And so we rely on models, but also on satellite imagery which it. Yes. Oh yeah. Knows we're very lucky because you have the passage of from a US to Japan satellite the global precipitation mission Japan and have very very good snapshot 3D structure weather from the radar the ongoing satellite that will that are very very likely because you have a very good image from GPM satellite during the intense phase of of this maybe so you're really getting like you said, from satellites and you know, observational been on the ground here. And you know, you kind of point out how crucial our hurricane hunters are and our aircraft is within the United States to track these storms. They provide, you know, a wealth of data every time they go out there. It's not cheap, but it's worth it to help, really. You know, like, you know, guys, you were kind of looking to get a full picture of the storm. My question is, are there either government agencies or universities out there that are talking about getting some hurricane aircraft into these storms? Is that is that something is there a push for that over across the pond here in Europe, there is a great interest, but I don't think that we have an in mean we have some research airplanes in Europe. Okay. But it's a little bit difficult to because the phenomenon is a little bit yeah that's a problem they give us or on CO2 per year they want to get it can have a good chance of group had an enemy became atoll but this is a problem but I think we have we must do it because we can also use this type of measurement also for normal low pressure system, but also that are not very powerful from meteorological bombs, that are not very dense, but also they up very high, sustained winter. They can provoke problems in the but the the case we need data to better understand because any member of one of our work on the Pacific Oceans to provide for us the public and also to do the authorities get with the metservice. And I remember when we went to the last seven days and in the beginning was a cluster of thunderstorms on all the other on the coast of Africa and then we started the discussion according to the model, if these are going to be develop at big amid the or not, it's quite a limited similar with discussion of risk for job of a tropical depression coming from Africa. If this we began to gain out of the after to do best and the to be honest it was inside us but in working with the preventative the day and then when we show from the satellite image digital that made the cables from this spiral of the clouds spiraling around the center of the cloud area, the middle like is more chaotic. And then the second one, as I mentioned, which will be the path if this medication will affect Greece or not, which part? And it was then scheduled in the accused or this things because people were following forecast provided by Greek forecasters. See what we do copying the next one to this because started this municipalities were what we want in some case because something is there and it was present and like yeah of the world okay so like apocalypse issued with from Apocalypse Now the apocalypse were from for from there was up nothing is on my media but it was a based and the we have to put a plan that what will happen when they maybe ten and make landfall to the western part of Greece south of but it will stay over the sea so there's no problem. It was a difficult situation from the forecasting point of view. And yeah, we still see challenges here in the United States with forecasting and messaging impacts. And, you know, we see these all the time. So it's a shared concern all across the globe. It sounds like you're worried again, some more about Medicaid's here. We're going to take a quick break and we'll come back to you on the Across the Sky podcast. All right. And we are back here with the Across the Sky podcast. New episodes every Monday, wherever you get your podcasts or on your favorite newsroom's website, here we have Sean Sublette. I'm Joe Martucci, Matt Hollander. Here we are here with Costas Overdose from the National Observatory of Athens and Greece. We were talking about medications. Matt, I know you had a question to Leah, and also I'm going to kick it over to you, buddy. What do you got? Yeah, I want to know what you know kind of goes into the preparation for these storms. Obviously, they're not super frequent, but they do occur. So I kind of want to know what the attitude is for people who live along the Mediterranean and maybe how it's changed some now that we've had a significant one that hit in 2020. So kind of describe the the level of preparation and the attitude the folks along med during a had before and after that storm it comes to these medications. Yes well I, I think that the I.R.A. changed the mentality of people against the were speaking about natural disasters in general because it was something we was being it because for casualties some cases become more than for casualties for now for example see years ago from supercell thunderstorm said casualties but the as you understand and this is not only the number of casualties, but also the extent of the event was covered most recent, not so big in many, many places. So I think many people remember in loss and this big both again those and that as in as I would say as yeah a fed for the future that we discuss a little bit later on that but the risk and this kind of oh this weather is weather should be strong Nike air knows we be sampling of the future will be more frequent. This is not true but we will discuss a little later on them. But I talk because it was a long process. You have this formation of the last one of the class and the formation of the initial stage of the meditation, and there was a that many discussions to focus this to the public, what will happened. And there were some corporations I they think that we avoid the many problems, especially in the western part of the island, because it was a preparation for this, for this because it was a September mid September, which is for still a tourist excursion of many tourists about boards on sailing boards or vacation homes. And but they were avoided big problems and maybe a lot of casualties because we have a good preparation of this or this event. But for many people, this was admitted, Jane, and that is shameless with any pain. It gave it gave them the fear that something very bad and this fear made them more precautions and they took some precautions. Had we avoided many casualties, mainly due to this cell room, when you have a but something very bad will happen. And as we understand, because a lot of discussion that we it's something I would be game something like American pretends like we like in the Atlantic we try to expand that this is not something different. It's violent, but it's more and it's something that I've read that show that when we have some kind of event there and as you said with the wounded, Jeff admitted, what is it that goes into the focus? I want to ask about the name. So you had an ear nose here. How are the who is naming these storms? A We started in the observatory to give names to storms in 2017. And the mayor the name and that was given by okay, by myself and as the head of the group of well let me project that the lives of my daughter. So we fought to the same strategy, if we name it, many names alphabetically. So we gained to I. And so again, everything. Yeah, not with Latin down and I think it was a good name that after that this is a little they gossip but they will tell you that that we're here for that. Yes. When we started giving names, some colleagues from the National Metservice, they were not very they said that is not very common in Europe. But they are doing that. And. Yes, but but Europe. And we should know giving names for big storms is something that helps people to be more prepared to guess the problem. And but the one year ago they decided to follow this procedure and they started giving names by themselves. And that's one of its every is now giving names for storms in Greece. But we paved the way, I think, and we started we make this initiative give names stops. And I think it's it's proven that it's good not only for us because we remember the cases, because for the general public, we're giving names, providing them with an event people pay attention to this event. This sounds a lot like winter storm naming here in America. I don't know if you're familiar, Kostas, but the National Weather Service does not name winter storms. However, the Weather Channel does. So it's a little different. You that's where you. Yeah, it all talks about. So, you know, you're a university and it's the government. So it's a little different than a private in a public service here. But it's kind of amazing how quickly the the government took over the naming. I don't know if it happens that for ideas of naming in the beginning, because I have some colleagues that I think do the social media good Facebook. What why are doing it that it's not in America and the we tried to pressure them but this is something good and finally they understood that and they started naming this storm this as well. But we said, no, we're not have but what he meant because they make it go region but gave we stepped back and say okay go ahead you name the but the main idea that we have to use us flew with us on autumn storms I think the most correct got it Yeah I'm totally on board with that. So let me ask you this. As as the awareness of the systems has has risen a bit over the past few years, and we know that that the climate is warming. What do you kind of foresee or what does the science tell us about these storms taking shape in the Mediterranean in terms of their frequency or intensity potentially in the years or even decades to come? Before that, we have a look what's happened the last 30 years, and we see that we're coming frequency of not a month or two per year with no significant trend decreasing or increasing. This is because you have measurements. And then to compile the climate projections based on high resolution climate models. And we have some colleagues from other countries that make some publications and they show that over the next decade the frequency will not increase or decrease, but the the intensity will and we expect maybe the same number, not better, but a year of gains. But maybe we'd be deaths at high temperature if I say surface temperature and the we see. But that's why understand that these projections, it's something that they can work up because one will do. But more powerful and more powerful. This one and this one was category four both in were three. And this would be a problem because the major parts of this minute gaze out over the sea bass. But I spoke of many islands of the meter down in those of people living there, and especially people navigating more ships from one island to gather that these would be a problem. But the have bigger and smaller, stronger, more dense made the gains. But I believe that the using them modern technology, satellite and more sophisticated ones that would be able to provide much forecast for the path and the intensity of them into the future. And coast us. I think I think we'll leave off with this. I have one more question for you. Have you spoken with the National Hurricane Center here in America about this topic? Have you had or even just any conversation with them? Don't know that it may be too late. It's a mistake from my side, from our side to do that. In fact, you make last thing. I think that it's a fascinating topic and it's a great it's not good to say fascinating, but something that these people can make a lot of fun disaster. But from a broad scale point of view, something that you which is very affected and will ever things and they were happy as I said before we'll have new satellite will provide data that 20 years ago was unthinkable and so this is good for the future because I think that mainly with more towards small rural remote sensing data and and metrological models will be able to better understand the mechanism of the mitigation, therefore, but to mitigate what caused us. Thank you so much for joining us here on an evening for you. I know you're going to dinner you so enjoy dinner, but we appreciate the information about medications. And have you ever make it over to the United States? Give us a call. We'll do something in person. Okay. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks again for the kind every patient. Okay. We're very happy to oblige. And thank you very much. We're going to take one more break while some closing thoughts on the Across the Sky podcast. Thanks again to Kostas for coming on. It was fantastic to never want to walk around our schedule here a little bit. Now we have a seven hour time difference between the East Coast, the U.S. and Greece. But we thank him for his knowledge. And you know, I know it was a little funny at the end where he was like, I was the one who decided to name the storms. Yeah, he kind of that set off a trend where we're now the equivalent of the National Weather Service or the National Hurricane Center is issuing names for these storms. So a heavy hitter in the weather world, really, if you put it that way. What did you take away from this? Matt? Yeah, it would be cool if I could name a storm that that bad does so. And he said, that's like, Oh, actually I named. I was like, oh that's, that's pretty cool. I got, I got to give credit there. But you know, the other thing that stood out to me is that, you know, in the communication realm, like people do like the names of these hurricanes and then there's a debate on if we should be naming the winter storms or not either. But I think that might this is probably coming up in discussion because of the intensity. And that's what was interesting, because it kind of follows what we're seeing in the Atlantic, too. There's some uncertainty about the frequency. It doesn't seem like there's a steady trend and an increase in number of storms that we have had some active seasons and the elastic. But what the climate models are telling us is that what does seem to be like is an increase in the intensity. And that's why they had the first one ever make it to Category two strength before. And really that's what really matters, because if these things are weak, then it's not a big deal. But when they're tense, that's when the impacts go up. So if there's an increase in intensity, even if the frequency doesn't go up, that means there's the bigger potential for impact. So it's definitely going to be something that I think people are going to be keeping our closer eye on as we move ahead in the future. Yeah, I agree with that. Most of the most of it is is intensity more than frequency, right. If you think back to to the basic thermodynamics of it all, you know, you are going to have warmer water and so you are going to have more fuel for we're not just any tropical cyclone, but do you think Extratropical or these hybrid storms sometimes are called subtropical storms. They're still getting energy from warm water. So I do think there's something to be said for that. And they're going to put down heavier rain and you've got some pretty some pretty steep terrain there and the islands and right around it in the Mediterranean. So, you know, flooding, flash flooding, mudslides, those things are still going to have to be to be dealt with in the years and decades to come. Yeah, I think he said it was about, you know, every I think what do you say how in terms of frequency bout or a year is that what he said. Well, I think he said maybe a couple a year, but you know, two, three, four That's that's still not a lot. No. Like in the south, like here in the Atlantic basin we're typically looking at at least ten or 15 of something every year. Yeah, right. Exactly. And there's multiple countries is expanding to beyond Mediterranean. So it's not that often that one country is seeing, you know, just Medicaid come on through here. But, you know, thanks again to Kostas. We went international with this one and we'll try to bring some more people around the globe to you on the across the sky podcast. So coming up, the hits keep on coming here. So next week we have Adam Smith from NOAA's National Centers of Environmental Information to talk about weather disasters, billion dollar weather disasters to be exact. We have a big fish for the 29th episode. We have the director of the National Hurricane Center. We also have might that is from front page bats that's in collaboration with us at Lee Enterprises. Talk about sports betting and baseball as well. And then I am super, super, super excited for this one. Now, this one's not going to be able to third, but we have Jorge Jay from Major League eating the Nathan's hot dog eating contest, a personal hero of mine in some ways, the biggest hype man on planet Earth. We're going to have him come on to talk about the hot dog eating contest and the weather. So we really try to bring you everything weather related on the Across the Sky podcast. I think we might be the most diverse weather podcast out there in terms of guests, I don't know, Sean, and maybe you agree with me or not, if we're talking about Major League eating, yeah, we've reached a new level. That's what it's going to be an interesting one. We add some kind of level. There's some kind of level we've reached there, but I'm not exactly sure how I would describe that level. Right. We'll leave that. We'll leave that to you. The list we will leave that to the listeners to decide what level you have aspired to or sought to. When we talk about a hot dog eating contest, that that's right. And as we go into July where we believe here's the link. We'll be back with us to from paternity leave as we as we welcome her back. And she's doing very well with her two new baby as well. So I want to wrap up on that note and we will be back with you next Monday with Adam Smith. Take care, everybody.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following the furious writing campaign, Maria Mitchell is finally awarded the Gold Medal from the King of Denmark for discovering a comet. Now with the help of President Edward Everett of Harvard College and Alexander Dallas Bache of the US Coast Survey, the whole world is about to learn Maria's name. In this episode, Jascin and Jim discuss what doors the comet discovery opens for Maria and the people she would meet along the way. Credits:This has been a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. Written, edited and narrated by Janet Forest Special thanks to the Atheneum's Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri and Historian and Deputy Director of the Maria Mitchell Association Jascin Leonardo Finger for their research and insights.Resources and additional information:• Maria Mitchell traveled to Europe twice. First in 1857 and again in 1873. She remained in contact through letters with the people she met even if she never saw them in person again.• When the Nautical Almanac was proposed, Alexander Dallas Bache, Charles Henry Davis, and their colleagues wanted to use an American Prime Meridian in the calculations, but once again ran into resistance against a “National Observatory”.  The issue was escalated to Congress, and the House Committee on Naval Affairs, and the “compromise” was that Washington D.C. would be used as the Prime Meridian for astronomy and geography, while Greenwich (The Royal Observatory) was used as the Prime Meridian for navigation. • To learn more about the Marvelous Miss Harriet Martineau (the original influencer!), check out Season 2, Episode 6. • Find more about Harriet Hosmer and her work here:https://nmwa.org/art/artists/harriet-goodhue-hosmer/https://americanart.si.edu/artist/harriet-hosmer-2314 The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, MA.You can visit us online at www.nantucketatheneum.org

In the salty waters beneath the world's driest desert, lie vast reserves of a valuable mineral: lithium.  This metal is crucial for the planet's energy transition. It is used to power electric vehicles and store solar and wind energy, which bring some hope to a world faced with a rapidly changing climate.The lithium mines, which occupy more than 30 square miles of Chile's Atacama Desert, are operated by two private companies, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) and Albemarle. They both have rental contracts with the Chilean government.In these facilities, salty ground water rich in minerals gets pumped to the surface. The liquid, called brine, is then stored in huge evaporation ponds that are exposed to the desert heat.“During [a span of] 18 months, the water in the brine evaporates, and [the] lithium becomes more concentrated,” said Oswaldo Yáñez, SQM's manager of innovation and development. This region has some of the highest solar radiation levels on Earth, and it almost never rains. “The water evaporates incredibly fast here,” Yáñez added.The process ends at a closed plant, where lithium is turned into carbonate and shipped abroad, to places like China or the US.In the past 10 years, the global demand for lithium has skyrocketed. And the increase in production of electric vehicles is expected to raise this demand by at least 300% in the next 10 years.This is good news for Chile's economy. The South American country meets about a third of the globe's lithium demands, and plans to boost lithium production in the next few years.Close to 60% of the world's 86 million tons of identified lithium resources are in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, according to the US Geological Survey, in an area known as the “Lithium Triangle.” Indigenous people in Chile are concerned that the amount of water used in lithium operations is threatening desert irrigation and farming methods they have relied on for centuries. Credit: Tibisay Zea/The World While Chile has successfully transformed the majority of its available resources into reserves available for commercial production, Argentina and Bolivia have not yet done so. This is largely because of unfavorable investment climates and more challenging geographic conditions, according to Juan Carlos Zuleta, a Bolivian researcher who has been following the lithium business for decades.“This metal will soon be a game changer for this region's economy,” Zuleta said.But for him, the real opportunity is not in extracting and selling lithium. He is researching a possible association between six countries in South America to fabricate and sell lithium batteries and electric vehicles, which the country now imports from abroad.“My idea is basically to create a hub of electric vehicles in South America for the regional market,” Zuleta said. “If we are able to produce the next generation of EVs [electric vehicles] in South America, then we could become a superpower.”Lithium will be crucial in the transition to clean energy, but the extraction method used in the Lithium Triangle presents several environmental problems, according to James Blair, an anthropologist at Cal Poly Pomona, who has done research on lithium mining's impact on Atacama's Indigenous communities.“The main concern is its impact on water use and water availability,” Blair said.“When a large percentage of the water from the brine evaporates, yes, this is exacerbating what is already a major problem of depleted water in one of the driest areas of the world.” Indigenous peoples also worry that the amount of water used in lithium operations threatens desert irrigation and farming methods they have relied on for centuries.Rudencindo Espíndola, an Indigenous topographer in this area, and an activist with the National Observatory of Salt Flats in Chile, said there is a conflict over the way that the industry has presented impacts as benign versus what the Indigenous communities experience.“Brine should be treated as water. ... It's part of our hydrogeological ecosystem and it has a lot of ancestral value for us, so it's worth preserving.”Rudencindo Espíndola, Indigenous topographer“Brine should be treated as water,” Espíndola said. “It's part of our hydrogeological ecosystem and it has a lot of ancestral value for us, so it's worth preserving.”He acknowledged that green energies that demand lithium are good for humanity, “but the price to produce them will be paid by Chile's environment.”Lithium mining is not the only industry that uses groundwater from the Atacama salt flat. Two other companies also mine copper in the region.“Any mining has an impact,” Espíndola said. “The question is, how much impact is acceptable?”Blair said there needs to be more independent research on local biodiversity, water flows and local communities' concerns to find out how to reduce damage. Chile's Atacama desert is one of the driest areas in the world. Credit: Tibisay Zea/The World A recent study linked lithium operations with a decrease in the number of flamingos in the Atacama salt flat.Oswaldo Yáñez, a manager at the SQM mine, said the company is already working on improvements regarding water utilization. “The idea is to extract lithium directly from the brine, without having to evaporate groundwater,” Yáñez said. He added that it will take at least five years to research, develop and implement this method.In the meantime, he said, the tradeoff is worth it, in the name of a greener future.As global demand for lithium keeps rising, anthropologist Blair points out that governments and consumers should do their part, too, “by encouraging battery recycling, and really just reducing car dependency, which is especially a problem in the United States.”There are about 16 million electric cars on the roads around the world now, which is three times more than in 2018. And by 2030, that number is estimated to reach around 350 million.Related: Chileans have long struggled with a water crisis. Management practices are partly to blame, study says.

We focus on a disease-monitoring system that is literally out of this world. Dr Charalampos Kontoes - Research Director of Greece's National Observatory of Athens - coordinates an early warning system that tracks mosquitoes' movement using satellites. He tells us about the technology and how it's recently been given European money to expand and scale up the operation.

BLOOM RECORDS PODCAST 232 - DIZHARMONIA https://soundcloud.com/dizharmoniaofficial Dizharmonia is made up of Sotiris and Sokratis two Greeks from Athens sharing the same love for Deep Melodic Techno sound.Inspiration and influence is gathered by modern sounds of Techno and oldschool sounds of Progressive House to create tracks aromatised by atmospheric and wicked synths and strings, aggressive basslines and tight drums. They started their project in 2015 and almost from day 1 they made quite an impact to the Electronic scene.They have performed in several countries and festivals around the world though their highlights were a massive Live show for the National Observatory of Athens,Greece and their first ADE appearance for Sound- Fleet. Links https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/dizharmonia https://www.facebook.com/dizharmoniamusic https://soundcloud.com/dizharmoniaofficial Tracklist Elif feat. Felix Raphael - Desert (Original Mix) Innellea - Wood & Stones (Original Mix) Justrice - The Prestige (aacht Remix) Hushkin - Dystopia (Pysh Remix) Analog Context & Tal Fussman - Layla (Dizharmonia Remix) Dizharmonia - Amethyst (Original Mix) Innellea - Anamorfose (Original Mix) Hushkin - Connect (Dizharmonia Remix) Quake vs Aaron - Breathe (Dizharmonia Remix) Dizharmonia - ID (Instrumental Version)

January 13 – March 6, 2014Kathleen O. Ellis GalleryGallery Talk: Thursday, January 30, 6pmReception: Thursday, January 30, 5-7pmAspen Mays approaches her art-making practice with some of the same methods she learned acquiring a degree in anthropology. By embracing the art and science of photography her projects often begin by tracking down information, ideas, and experts in a variety of fields, including astronomy. She collects, unearths, and creates images and objects that celebrate the complex and sublime beauty of the physical universe. Her images question our capacity to comprehend, while expressing our deep desire to find meaning in the unknown.Her fieldwork has included a year in Chile in the Atacama desert and in Santiago at the University of Chile’s National Observatory, known locally as Cerro Calán. Because of its high altitude, dry air, and almost non-existent clouds, the Atacama desert of Chile is one of the best places in the world to conduct astronomical observations. In the desert, with only the naked eye, Mays could view the night sky in stunning clarity and detail. “The Milky Way is so bright in the desert that it casts a shadow on the ground,” she says. As she stood in the light she realized, “I knew something that is impossible to know, an awareness of how tiny I am and how connected.”Mays’s search for sublime ambiguity took her on a recent cross-country trip through the Petrified Forest in Arizona to view Newspaper Rock, a giant prehistoric petroglyph covered with hundreds of messages, symbols, or stories. Confounded by the meaning of these drawings incised in rock and occurring all over the world with amazing similarity, scientists argue they could be of religious significance or perhaps astronomical guides. Mays was drawn to the mystery and presence of a hand-drawn message from prehistory and began to think about them in relation to her collection of darkroom tools. Cobbled together with tape and cardboard, her collection of hand-made dodging, burning, and masking tools had its origins in the Cerro Calán darkroom. Placing them on photographic paper and working directly with light itself, Mays creates her own abstract patterns, forms and pictograms, enigmatic taxonomies of a disappearing photographic process. In a conversation about this exhibition Mays asked, “Which is more profound, using cameras to image the cosmos or the anonymous woman in a hydrangea garden?” Throughout this exhibition Mays explores this dilemma with great curiosity and delight as she invites us to consider small and big questions we can only dimly comprehend.lg.ht/AspenMays—Aspen Mays grew up in Charleston, SC. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2009 and a BA in Anthropology and Spanish from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2004. Her solo exhibitions include "Every leaf on a tree" at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; "From the Offices of Scientists" at the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL; "Sun Ruins" at Golden Gallery, New York; and "Ships that Pass in the Night" at the Center for Ongoing Projects and Research (COR&P) in Columbus, OH. Mays was a 2009-2010 Fulbright Fellow in Santiago, Chile, where she spent time with astrophysicists using the world’s most advanced telescopes to look at the sky. Mays lives and works in Los Angeles, CA and Columbus, OH where she is an Assistant Professor of Art at Ohio State University.aspenmays.com—Special thanks to Azhar Chougleyouforgotmyname.comSpecial thanks to Daylight Blue Mediadaylightblue.comLight Worklightwork.orgMusic: Journeyman (With Forss), Opening Credits, and Waking Up by johnny_ripperfreemusicarchive.org/music/johnny_ripper/soundtrack_for_a_film_that_doesnt_exist/Licensed Under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0Music: "Vela Vela" by Blue Dot Sessionssessions.blue See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On Tuesday, November 27, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) monthly DIALOGUES series celebrated its one-year anniversary. A discussion on astronomy at the Eugenides Foundation's New Digital Planetarium took the audience on a magical journey around the universe and across the stars, with the help of scientists and amateur astronomers. This 12th installment of the DIALOGUES series marked the beginning of a new era in which DIALOGUES will travel near and far, within Greece and abroad, embracing new cities and new venues. During the event, we connected live with the Visitors Center of the National Observatory of Athens in Thissio and the Municipal Library of Prespa, where amateur astronomers and lovers of the stars watched a livestream of the event and actively participated in the discussion. In their first “journey,” the DIALOGUES reached other neighborhoods around Athens, as well as Thessaloniki, with live broadcasts that took place in schools participating in the “Open Schools” program of the Municipality of Athens and the “Open Schools in the Neighborhood” program of the Municipality of Thessaloniki.

Menas C. Kafatos, Ph.D., is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics, and Director of the Center of Excellence of Earth Systems Modeling and Observations at Chapman University. He is also associated with Korea University, the National Observatory of Athens, Hellas, and the Nalanda Institute for Consciousness Studies and Research. A quantum physicist, cosmologist, natural hazards and climate change researcher, he works on quantum physics and the nature of the mind, cosmic Awareness and topics bridging science to metaphysics and philosophy. He holds lectures and seminars on the natural laws that apply everywhere, for well-being and success. He is the author or editor of 17 books, including The Conscious Universe; Looking In, Seeing Out; and the New York Times bestseller You Are the Universe (coauthored with Deepak Chopra). We spoke about various issues around the intersection of science and spirituality. Learn more about Menas Kafatos here: http://www.menaskafatos.com/about-menas

Dr Athanassios Ganas is the Research Director for Active Tectonics, GPS, Geological Remote Sensing at the Institute of Geodynamics of the National Observatory of Athens. His research is focused on earthquakes and in understanding patterns and behaviour of earth’s cluster based on recording signals from satellites.They have also developed an open-data web platform called GSAC where someone can access geological data from Greece and other countries in the nearby region. He also shares some surprising outcomes and discoveries of their research not only in Greece (Lefkada) but also from the US (California), Chile and Italy. Based on GNSS technology and real-time data, Dr Ganas and his research team are able to estimate accurately an earthquake’s magnitude (in just 2 minutes) and run predictive models for location and time of tsunami attacks. Interviewed by Sakis Triantafyllakis for Tech Talks Central.

Alceste Bonanos, a passionate astronomer and Assoc. Researcher at the National Observatory of Athens talks about two very interesting research projects realised by her team: the goal of the first one is to identify over a period of three years all variable stars ever observed by Hubble telescope and make a catalog of them; while the second (which is called Neliota and it is actually an ESA activity taking place at NOA) has to do with the observation and detection of the impacts of really small (with a mass less than 10 grams) objects (eg. debris, meteorites, comets etc.) hitting the surface of the Moon. For the implementation of this project, a rather outdated 1,2 m. telescope near Kiato, Greece, was recently upgraded and special instruments had to be developed. This project -only the 3rd of its kind in the world- will last until Nov ‘18. Interviewed by Yannis Rizopoulos for Tech Talks Central.

Sakis Triantafyllakis interviews Dr. Elena Dascalaki, senior researcher at the Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development of the National Observatory of Athens on the energy performance and environmental footprint of buildings. Dr. Dascalaki talks about her work at the Energy Conservation Group of the Institute where they study the behavior and energy performance of buildings, the challenges and the importance not only of developing new zero energy structures but also upgrading existing older buildings to have close to zero energy performance, a feat that is substantial especially considering the large amount of old structures all around Europe. Dr. Dascalaki tells us they were instrumental in helping develop the regulations for energy performance of buildings and says they are working on new strategies to upgrade and refurbish old buildings in Greece and Europe to meet the EU mandate that all residential buildings will have to be built or upgraded to be zero or near zero energy, relying solely on renewable sources by 2020. This project she says will be first implemented for all public buildings which will have to make the switch by 2019. Interviewed by Sakis Triantafyllakis for Tech Talks Central.

Professor Stephane Beaulac (University of Montreal) and Dr Frédéric Bérard (University of Montreal). Professor Beaulac is an alumnus of Darwin College (PhD) and is an expert on public international law and constitutional law. He has recently produced a monograph on the Scottish independence referendum. Dr Bérard is co-director of the National Observatory on Language Rights and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the Université de Montréal. The title is: “Remedial Secession and the 1998 Quebec Secession Reference Case: Did the Supreme Court of Canada Get it Wrong?”

Professor Stephane Beaulac (University of Montreal) and Dr Frédéric Bérard (University of Montreal). Professor Beaulac is an alumnus of Darwin College (PhD) and is an expert on public international law and constitutional law. He has recently produced a monograph on the Scottish independence referendum. Dr Bérard is co-director of the National Observatory on Language Rights and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the Université de Montréal. The title is: “Remedial Secession and the 1998 Quebec Secession Reference Case: Did the Supreme Court of Canada Get it Wrong?”

Professor Stephane Beaulac (University of Montreal) and Dr Frédéric Bérard (University of Montreal). Professor Beaulac is an alumnus of Darwin College (PhD) and is an expert on public international law and constitutional law. He has recently produced a monograph on the Scottish independence referendum. Dr Bérard is co-director of the National Observatory on Language Rights and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the Université de Montréal. The title is: “Remedial Secession and the 1998 Quebec Secession Reference Case: Did the Supreme Court of Canada Get it Wrong?”

Professor Stephane Beaulac (University of Montreal) and Dr Frédéric Bérard (University of Montreal). Professor Beaulac is an alumnus of Darwin College (PhD) and is an expert on public international law and constitutional law. He has recently produced a monograph on the Scottish independence referendum. Dr Bérard is co-director of the National Observatory on Language Rights and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the Université de Montréal. The title is: “Remedial Secession and the 1998 Quebec Secession Reference Case: Did the Supreme Court of Canada Get it Wrong?”

The Institute of Geodynamics at the National Observatory of Athens operates and maintains the national Accelerometric Network, a computerized Seismic Detection network of sensors capturing seismic activity by pulling data from more than 350 stations spread across the entire area of Greece. Dr. Nikolaos Melis discusses how this information is being used in or can be extended to practical applications from precaution and warning systems to construction and restoration projects. Having recently completed the unification of all national seismic data networks, the Institute now works in collaboration with European institutions in order to create a real-time unified pan-European infrastructure network to strengthen the estimation, correlation and prediction capabilities of both earthquakes and tsunamis. We talk about the legacy and history of the Institute of Geodynamics which was founded in 1893, combined with the unique location and strong seismic activity in Greece, making it one of the oldest establishments in the field and a leader in seismological research. Interviewed by George Voulgaris for Tech Talks Central.

A senior researcher at the National Observatory of Athens, Dr. Demetra Founda focuses on the “hot” topics of climate change and global warming in the whole area of SE Europe and, most obviously, in Athens. She tells us about the importance of the more than 150 years old temperature records kept by NOA and alerts us about the significant change observed during the last decades. She warns us of the significant increase in air-temperature; approximately one degree Celsius per decade which amounts to at least three degrees, since the mid 70s! She characterizes this problem as very serious, asks for urgent measures from the State and warns that -based on models and assumptions- our region will certainly be much warmer and drier by the end of the century. Interviewed by Yannis Rizopoulos for Tech Talks Central.

Dr. Amiridis a Senior Researcher at National Observatory of Athens talks about BEYOND: a Centre of Excellence for Earth Observation based monitoring. BEYOND is a monitoring, aggregation, storage and analysis point for data related to natural phenomena. Data is collected from a variety of probes (satellites, seismic activity probes etc.) in collaboration with leading institutions. The vision of BEYOND is to become the central hub for natural phenomena in the region and provide services to businesses and the public sector spanning a wide range of applications, from real-time notification to task-force deployment strategy, recovery planning and forecasting. Interviewed by George Voulgaris for Tech Talks Central

In this interview, Maria Sachpazi, Research Director & Acting Director of the Institute of Geodynamics of the National Observatory of Athens, chats with Tina about the European Researcher's Night, what inspired her to pursue science and research, and whether seismologists today have the ability to predict the next "big" earthquake. Interviewed by Tina Miteko for Tech Talks Central.