Rapid climate change 56 million years ago explained

A large proportion of the Earth's methane is stored beneath the oceans in the form of an ice-like material called hydrate. This hydrate can melt if the ocean above warms, and melting of hydrate provides a widely accepted mechanism for the methane outburst. However, the research from the University of Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre casts doubt on this mechanism. Using computer models of the warming process, the researchers simulated the effects of PETM ocean warming on sediments that may have contained methane hydrate and tracked how methane transport mechanisms would have affected its release into seawater. “Our results show that hydrate melting can indeed be triggered by ocean temperature change, but the result is not necessarily a rapid outburst of methane,” said lead author of the study, Tim Minshull, Professor at Southampton. “This is because the methane gas formed by hydrate melting below the sea floor takes time to travel up to the seabed, and on the way it can refreeze or dissolve and then be consumed by microbes that live below the seabed,” Minshull said. “Only a fraction of the methane may escape into the ocean and the part that does escape may take thousands of years to do so,” he said. “To explain the geological observations by melting of hydrate, much more hydrate must have been present globally than is perhaps reasonable for such a warm late Palaeocene Ocean,” said Professor Paul Wilson from Southampton.

Beyond the predictive text

A critique of rote learning is an educational cliché. Much has been written about it and almost every educator will passionately argue against it. However, the textbook still continues to be the holy grail of learning. You can participate in activities, test yourself, memorise information and learn. But don't forget, the textbook has the answers. This obsession with textbook answers seem to cut across both government as well as private schools in India. To learn something is to seek out answers. But a textbook supplies readymade answers to questions that are not necessarily asked. And most times, students don't know what to do with these answers except to write them down during tests. In What is Worth Teaching, Krishna Kumar, former Director of NCERT, says, “The textbook symbolises the authority the teacher must accept in order to work. It also symbolises the teacher's subservient status in the educational culture.” In other words, even teachers don't have the autonomy to decide what needs to be taught, forget the autonomy of students to question what they learn.

A debt-free college for students who struggle most

” I was wondering, 'When is it going to be my last day?'” Sonia told CNN. “I wasn't living. I was surviving.” The ruthless gangs in her native Guatemala had her in the crosshairs during her early teenage years, she said, following her and threatening her in the street. Sonia, who asked CNN to change her name because she fears for her safety, said they threatened her mother, as well. “They told her, 'We are going to rape your daughters,' ” Sonia said. As menacing messages followed, her parents fled north to the United States. Sonia and her two younger sisters were put up for adoption at an orphanage. At 16, she made her own desperate decision to journey from Guatemala to the United States. At 16, she made her own desperate decision to journey from Guatemala to the United States. “My father, he almost died in the desert and my mother got kidnapped in Mexico, and I still decided to take the risk,” Sonia said. Surviving the six-month voyage, some of it by foot, from Guatemala City to Chicago only strengthened her determination to achieve her American dream. She wanted to become the first in her family to earn a college degree, she said. But as she prepared to graduate from high school with a 4.1 GPA, Sonia's heart sank at the realization that as an undocumented immigrant she would qualify for little to no college financial aid.

Health in India: Where the money comes from and where it goes?

National Health Accounts (NHA) monitors the flow of resources in a country's health system and provides detailed data on health finances. The NHA estimates for India for the financial year 2013-14 were published earlier this week, after a long void of almost a decade. The previous estimates were for the year 2004-05. In 2013-14, the Total Healthcare Expenditure (THE) of India was Rs. 4.5 lakh crores, which amounts to 4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Draft National Health Policy 2015 recognises this to be a problem. It says: “Global evidence on health spending shows that unless a country spends at least 5-6 per cent of its GDP on health and the major part of it is from government expenditure, basic health care needs are seldom met.” Of the total amount of Rs. 4.5 lakh crores, Current Health Expenditure (CHE) constituted Rs. 4.2 lakh crores (93 per cent). Rs. 31.9 thousand crore (7 per cent) went to Capital Expenditure. These estimates help us answer key questions pertaining to healthcare finances. Here are they key findings.

Let the late Russian's family keep London silver medal: Yogeshwar

Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt is not keen to collect the upgraded silver medal from 2012 London Olympics on humanitarian grounds given that the original second place finisher's positive dope test came after his death. “Besik Kudukhov shandaar pehelwaan the (Besik Kudukhov was a magnificent wrestler). Unke mirtyu ke baad dope test mein fail ho jana bahut dukht hai (His dope test returning positive after his death is very sad). Main khiladi ke roop mein main unka samaan karta hoon (As a wrestler, I respect him),” Yogeshwar tweeted.

WhatsApp users to receive adverts

WhatsApp says it will begin sharing more data with Facebook and will start letting some companies send messages to users.It is the first time the company has changed its privacy policy since the firm was bought by Facebook in 2014.WhatsApp will now share users' phone numbers with the social network, which it will use to provide “more relevant” friend suggestions and advertisements.

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The New Android Nougat Upgrade Looks Awesome But You'll Have To Wait Months Before You Try It

Android has finally started rolling out the seventh version of their smartphone operation system - Nougat. While only select Google Nexus devices get the update first, other Android users will have to wait for a few months before they try it out (more as you read the article). Apart from the fact that this was the first time Google invited developers from all around to take a sneak peek at the Android N back in March so that they can bring their apps on the new platform, this was also the first time Android sought the help of its users to give it a fitting name. Google might have claimed that there are over 250 major features in the Nougat, but here are some that have got us pretty psyched. The quick setting drop-down is one of the handiest options in a modern-day Android OS. It helps us with easy access to the most commonly used features like connecting to WiFi or putting on the flashlight. Android makes using the quick settings drop-down even easier. Now you can actually control and customise the tiles to your needs. Some smartphones and launchers already have this feature (like my OnePlus 3) but rolling it out on all devices across platforms is definitely a positive.