Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Link roundup

1. The race to claim Antarctica:
On a glacier-filled island with fjords and elephant seals, Russia has built Antarctica’s first Orthodox church on a hill overlooking its research base, transporting the logs all the way from Siberia.

Less than an hour away by snowmobile, Chinese laborers have updated the Great Wall Station, a linchpin in China’s plan to operate five bases on Antarctica, complete with an indoor badminton court, domes to protect satellite stations and sleeping quarters for 150 people.

Not to be outdone, India’s futuristic new Bharathi base, built on stilts using 134 interlocking shipping containers, resembles a spaceship. Turkey and Iran have announced plans to build bases, too.
2. "A University of Colorado professor who launched a global campaign to fight obesity accepted $550,000 from the Coca-Cola Co., traveled the world at company expense on speaking engagements and solicited a job at the soft-drink giant for his son."
The university returned the $1 million gift from Coca-Cola. It says senior leaders made that decision because the company "was redirecting the dialogue" from a scientific discussion about the causes of obesity.
3. "A former official in charge of regulating a massive waste dump that collapsed in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen has killed himself"