Genetically modified foods

Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods derived from organisms whose genetic material (DNA) has been modified in a way that does not occur naturally, e.g. through the introduction of a gene from a different organism. Currently available GM foods stem mostly from plants, but in the future foods derived from GM microorganisms or GM animals are likely to be introduced on the market. Most existing genetically modified crops have been developed to improve yield, through the introduction of resistance toplant diseases or of increased tolerance of herbicides.

In the future, genetic modification could be aimed at altering the nutrient content of food, reducing its allergenic potential, or improving the efficiency of food production systems. All GM foods should be assessed before being allowed on the market. FAO/WHO Codex guidelines exist for risk analysis of GM food.

We’ve modified our behavior so we can text and walk

Texting – or checking social media or reading/responding to mail or reading the news or checking the weather or watching a video – while walking is a pretty common phenomenon. It’s so common that most people who own a mobile device have become texting walkers. Research suggests that these texters adopt protective measures to minimize the risk of accidents when walking. They’re less likely to trip because they shorten their step length, reduce step frequency, lengthen the time during which both feet are in contact with the ground, and increase obstacle clearance height. Taken together this creates an exaggerated image of walking, but it apparently slows the walker enough so that he registers some of what is happening around him and can compensate for it.

Select the alternative that best completes the extract below.

Workplace Accident Statistics

TEXTO II

Archbishop of Toronto speaks out against assisted dying

"Dying is simply not the same as being killed," Cardinal Thomas Collins, the Archbishop of Toronto, said in a video, which the Archdiocese posted earlier this week to YouTube. "We are grateful for physicians and nurses and others who offer medical assistance to patients who are dying. But it is never justified for them to kill."

Collins says he's shocked by a parliamentary committee's recommendations that would force doctors to at least refer people to a physician willing to help someone end their life, including, in some cases, minors and the mentally ill. The committee also recommended allowing people suffering from conditions like dementia to pre-schedule the date of their death.

While most butterflies flit along at 5 to 10 mph, the skipper, found mostly in Central and South America, can top out at speeds up to 30 mph. Because the skipper has a stocky body and its small wings are typically colored with browns and grays, it's easy to mistake this subspecies of a butterfly for a moth.

São características da subespécie de borboleta descrita:

I. Tem asas multicoloridas e vibrantes.

II. Locomove-se com velocidade.

III. Parece com uma traça comum.

IV. Tem corpo alongado e asas grandes.

Texto - MED

Islamic State’s destruction of Palmyra temple confirmed by satellite photo

Satellite images have confirmed the destruction of a Roman-era temple in the Syrian city of Palmyra, a United Nations agency said, after the hardline Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blowing up the structure a week ago.

Islamic State detonated explosives in the ancient Baal Shamin temple on August 25, an act that cultural agency UNESCO has called a war crime aimed at wiping out a symbol of Syria’s diverse cultural heritage.

The temple of Bel stood just outside the main area of the ancient city, whose column-lined principal street leads to its gate.

Its richly decorated central shrine area, or cella, was extremely well preserved.

An analysis of an image taken in June and others taken several days ago show the obliteration of the temple in the central desert city, the Geneva-based United Nations Institute for Training and Research said in a statement.

“We confirm the destruction of the main building, while surrounding columns seem to be less affected.”

Islamic State captured Palmyra, an oasis town and former trading centre in Syria’s central desert, from government forces in May.

Photographs published by IS last week showed a pile of rubble on the site of that temple.

Its destruction was condemned by UNESCO, which lists Palmyra as a World Heritage Site, as a war crime.

The head of the UN cultural agency, Irina Bokova said Palmyra’s art and architecture was “a symbol of the complexity and wealth of the Syrian identity and history.”

Two weeks ago Islamic State beheaded Khaled al-Asaad, who was the city’s chief archaeologist for decades, and hung his body from a lamp post.

Islamic State, which controls most of eastern Syria and the central desert, has previously destroyed ancient monuments as well as Christian and Muslim holy sites in neighbouring Iraq.

DPA, Reuters

Erosion in America

Erosion of America\'s farmland by wind and water has been a problem since settlers first put the prairies and grasslands under the plow in the nineteenth century. By the 1930s, more than 282 million acres of farmland were damaged by erosion. After 40 years of conservation efforts, soil erosion has accelerated due to new demands placed on the land by heavy crop production. In the years ahead, soil erosion and the pollution problems causes are likely to replace petroleum scarcity as the nation\'s most critical natural resource problem.

TEXTO:

Indigenous people and global warming

Forests on indigenous lands hold 37.7 billion tons

of CO2 worldwide. If they were destroyed, the carbon

released into the air would surpass global emissions of

vehicles for 29 years. Luckily, the Indians have been more

[5] effective than any other human group in combating

deforestation. These numbers are from a report released

by NGOs WRI (World Resources Institute) and RRI

(Rights and Resources Initiative).

Researchers of the two entities crossed forest

[10] preservation numbers from indigenous and traditional

people with data from the FAO (United Nations Food

and Agriculture) on forest biomass. Research was done

in 2013. According to the report, about one-eighth of the

tropical forests area today is within these areas.

[15] Compared to forests that are outside the Indigenous

jurisdiction, the land not in that area has displayed a

weak protection rate.

In the Brazilian Amazon, forests not in the

indigenous land have a deforestation rate 11 times higher.

[20] In the Guatemalan forests, home to Mayans

descendants, the protection rate is 20 times higher, and

in the rest of the Yucatan is 350 times higher —

Indigenous people are virtually the only type of protection

there. Part of the reason for this is that developing

[25] countries, home to most of the preserved forests, often

lack the resources to implement surveillance against

illegal deforestation, whether within or outside protected

areas.

It is often better to recognize the right of indigenous

[30] communities to land and give them autonomy to manage

an area than turn it into an ecological reserve and hire

guards. However, the report does not comment on the

proposed constitutional amendment 215, being debated

in the Brazilian Congress, providing the legislative power

[35] the right to demarcate indigenous lands, complicating

the process.