World Media on Greece - Science and the Environment in 2008
Greek minister urges cooperation against climate change (Xinhua, 05.12.08)
Mr Souflias added that all countries must make commitments for action against climate change and reduce carbon emissions through a green economy. "Based on figures of the European Environment Agency and the European Commission, Greece is one of the four EU countries that have already met the targets set under the Kyoto Protocol for the period 2008-2012 through the measures it has implemented" the minister said. Read more… |
In his message for the Global Day of Action on Climate Change (December 6) Greek Environment Minister George Souflias stressed the need for global cooperation to combat climate change.
Stavros Dimas and the Climate of Fear (Economist, 23.10.2008)
Now Mr Dimas faces his hardest task yet: defending Europe’s hard-won commitments on the environment against politicians and companies fearful of looming recession. Read more... |
He has won praise from the likes of Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and T&E (a sustainable-transport think tank) for fighting to preserve Europe’s credentials as an environmental standard bearer.
Technology at the service of Acropolis
Scientists are installing a network of fiber optic sensors and accelerographs — instruments that measure how much movement is generated during a quake.They hope their findings will help identify areas that could be vulnerable, allowing them to target restoration and maintenance. During the last years, the Marbles have suffered from car exhaust fumes, industrial pollution, acid rain and fires. A team of Greek engineers and restorers are using an innovative laser technology system to clean the surface of the ancient monuments, uncovering colours and ornamentation hidden for decades.
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Two of Acropolis' most treacherous enemies, earthquakes and pollution are being fought of with the use of cutting-edge technology:
Don't Believe What You Read, Redux (Newsweek 06.10.2008)
In a new paper entitled “Why Current Publication Practices May Distort Science”, he and his co-authors argue that “the current system of publication in biomedical research provides a distorted view of the reality of scientific data that are generated in the laboratory and clinic.” Negative results are not reported, statistical flukes are not caught, and the result is a distortion of biomedical reality'. Read more... |
Senior Newsweek editor Sharon Begley writes: 'In 2005,
In Ancient Greece, Soil Was Sacred (Discovery News, 07.10.08)
Temple sites were chosen to honor the personality and aspirations of gods and goddesses, but writers like Homer and Plato wrote of "divine soil". Retallack, took soil samples from 84 Greek temple sites dating to the Classical Age from 480 to 338 B.C. and created a profile for the soils, based on their characteristics. Read more… |
A new discovery by Professor of geological sciences at the University of Oregon, Gregory Retallack, could help explain how the ancient Greeks chose the location of their temples.
Archimedes drives river generator (BBC News, 28.08.2008)
The River Dart Country Park is generating electricity using a device which employs an Archimedes screw. According to the Park's officials, this screw has proved that it is very environmentally-friendly with regards to fish and migrating salmon and will produce an estimated £35,000-worth of electricity a year. Read More… |
The inventions of
Antikythera Mechanism may have timetabled ancient Olympic Games (Nature, 30.07.2008)
Their latest findings reveal that it links the technical calendars used by astronomers to the everyday calendars that regulated ancient Greek society — most strikingly, the calendar that set the timing of the Olympic Games. Researchers reporting in the journal Nature said they had now discovered that the device, made at the end of the 2nd century BC, used an intricate set of bronze gearwheels, dials and inscriptions to set the games' date. “The mechanism is full of surprises,” says Alexander Jones of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World in New York, who is one of the decoding team, which also includes Greek physist Yanis Bitsakis. Read more... See also: |
The Antikythera Mechanism, a clockwork device made in Greece around 150–100 BC, astounded the world two years ago when scientists deduced how this machine was used to make complex astronomical time-reckonings. Now they say that the instrument, discovered in 1901 in a Mediterranean shipwreck, did much more than that.
Ancient tomb found on Greek island (AP, 05.03.2008)
Archaeologists said the beehive-shaped tomb, which contained several human skeletons and grave offerings, is the first major Mycenaean-era monument to be found on the island. The discovery could fuel debate on a major prehistoric puzzle -- where the homeland of Homer's legendary hero Odysseus was located. Read more... |
An important tomb with artifacts dating back more than 3,000 years, was discovered on the western Greek island of Lefkada.
Greece to Replant Olympics Birthplace (AP, 23.01.2008)
 Nicholas Paphitis reports that according to officials, thousands of trees will be planted at the fire-ravaged birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games to restore the area ahead of the Beijing 2008 flame-lighting ceremony in March. Work is expected to start next week at the 2,800-year-old site of Ancient Olympia, where lush forests were wiped out by August's wildfires that killed 66 people in southern Greece. Read more...
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A DNA breakthrough unravels ancient mysteries (The Daily Telegraph, 08.01.2008)
