Ash dieback is a phenomena of very fast lethal degradation of the ash trees population.
Currently it concerns Europe including UK but is also reaching US.
In Denmark it killed 90% of ash trees.
The process is caused by the activity of a fungus that ash trees cannot withstand.
After initial attack a sick tree dies within few months or years despite its size or age.
It comparison to the trees growing rate the fungus acts as with tornado speed.
Where does this fungus originate from? It came from Asia.
At its Asia home ash trees are immune and happily coexists with nasty fungus.
Ash trees there had hundreds of years to accommodate and develop defensive mechanisms.
Fungus reached Europe and oversees because of wood used for global transportation.
Most of goods that are shipped across the globe is packed in wooden boxes.
No one considered that the wood those boxes are made of carry the fungus everywhere alongside.
Without that human transport speed boost the fungus would not have a chance to travel that long distances.
Ash trees can disappear from our landscape. There are other tree species in danger because of similar threats.
Why the price for the globalisation is so high?
What is your opinion on globalisation?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01hrkpn
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20680252
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-23854862
Online English Conversation Course for PhD Students
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Monday, 25 November 2013
Week 6: Can a bad mood do any good?
Everyone pursue happiness. It is well known that good mood can promote many behaviours that lead to a possitive effects. Thinking in an optimistic way also encourages outright and brave actions that can result in more positive outcome of our activity.
But is it possible that bad mood could also have some benefits?
Please, read the following article:
What are the pros and cons of good mood?
What are the pros and cons of bad mood?
What type of long term effect would you expect from frequent mood swings?
How moods can influence our behavior?
Saturday, 23 November 2013
Week 5: A good man with a gun
I would like you to read/watch
and comment on/discuss the presentation – A good man with a gun
You will find it at
Comment on it here.
Monday, 18 November 2013
Week 5: The future of learning
Recently we notice the increase in teaching techniques where we use the computer and Internet. Of course I am talking about the learning and not conducting lessons (for example: this blog is just a form of conducting and maybe only partially form of teaching, the same is our university platform Edux where we are only dealing with a form of teaching) .
Probably now everyone want the future like in the Matrix movie where you connect to your computer and send directly to the brain the knowledge that you are interested. But this method is very distant from our time;)
We also see continued growth platforms like www.lynda.com which becomes a replacement for e-books but whether it is sufficient solution? Also Dr. Google is a sufficient source of acquiring knowledge?
When I followed this topic I saw mobile application like RSS4English (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.vocab.android.rss&hl=en) where author of this application uses "revolutionary Brainglass method" which is one of many new methods.
This subject is quite interesting for me and has a great future. How do you see the future of education with a computer and internet ? How to motivate people to learn? Or maybe you know at this moment some interesting techniques which you can share with us?
You do not have to watch this movie because it is a little off-topic, but it's a very interesting.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
Week 4: 11-17.11 GPS signal security.
Recently I’ve spotted some podcast
about GPS signal security.
I’ve never been thinking more
deeply about the topic so it got my attention.
It turns out that the GPS
signal is very prone to jamming or spoofing.
The signal is very week so
even a small sized transmitter is capable of jamming or spoofing it over the
distance of few square kilometres.
Within that area all devices relying
on the GPS signal would get confused (jamming) or might start reacting to the
forged (spoofed) signal.
That is a serious threat especially
to marine vessels. They quite heavily rely upon the GPS infrastructure.
It seems that GPS jammers are
quite popular in UK.
I believe that I did not meet
the GPS jamming device operating in Warsaw so far.
Do you think you might have
met one?
Some additional materials:
Week 4: 11-17.11 National Day Celebration
Saturday, 9 November 2013
Week 4: 11-17.11 To care, or not to care - that is the question. The art of trolling.
The internet has been in our lives
for some time now, and we do not see ourselves living without it. It's a place where we can find information,
relax, gather knowledge and socialize. Most of the time we can access all
of these great things without providing any (or much) information about
ourselves, and even if it is required it is seldom checked or validated.
For some, the illusion of
concealment has become such a stimulator that they have started to trash talk
in the virtual world, making the lives of some people unbearable. This activity
has become so frequent that it even got its own name - trolling.
Please look at the following video:
Sometimes people are so devastated from
such a situation that it leads to a tragedy. Below you can find a video that
shows how the biggest social media corporations try to fight this phenomenon:
1. Why do you think this is
happening? Do you think people have a natural tendency for trolling?
2. What stimulates such behaviours
(maybe this is not only about a person's character, but also comes from papers,
TV news, etc.)?
3. Have you ever been a victim of
trolling (or have you trolled someone)?
4. Do you see any positive sides of
trolling?
5. Do you think that removing anonymity
from the internet would counteract trolling? If so, do you see any downsides of
revealing your identity?
Monday, 4 November 2013
Week 3: Introverts and the Internet
I would like you to read/watch
and comment on/discuss the presentation – Introverts and the Internet. You
will find it at
Comment on it here please.
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Week 3: What Makes a Data Visualization Memorable?
For this week, I found an interesting
article about the visual representation of data. It turns out, the way
data is presented has a big impact on how memorable it is, and the
effect is often counter-intuitive:
Questions:
1. Do you prefer attending lectures
with presentations, which include lots of pictures and charts, or
lectures where the lecturer tells a story without referring to
distracting slides? Which do you find more memorable?
2. Should charts be first and foremost
accurate representations of data, or easily readable at the cost of
accuracy?
3. Is it a good idea to give up design
consistency in the types of charts used for example in scientific
magazines or publications, in favor of custom and unusual types of
charts, which seem to be more memorable, as the articles suggests?
4. Have you got any tips on how to
present data in an appealing form?
Friday, 1 November 2013
Week 2: Women in IT
I would like you to read/watch
and comment on/discuss the presentation – Women in IT.
You
will find it at
Discuss it here.
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