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6 basic questions about the war in Syria The Syrian war has been a slowly unfolding catastrophe, one that has embroiled several of the world's major powers. Early Saturday, the United States and its British and French allies conducted airstrikes on three targets outside Damascus and Doms in response to an alleged chemical attack by the Syrian government. The goal was to destroy the government's chemical weapons facilities. Soon after the attack, President Trump declared “Mission accompished” in a tweet and warned the government of Bashar al-Assad not to use chemical weapons again. “If the Syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the United States is locked and loaded,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the National Security Council. Here is a look at how the war started, why it became so complicated and what might happen next. How did the war in Syria start? In March 2011, peaceful protests broke out in the country as part of the...

What is nuclear energy? Everything around you is made up of tiny objects called atoms. Most of the mass of each atom is concentrated in the center (which is called the nucleus), and the rest of the mass is in the cloud of electrons surrounding the nucleus. Protons and neutrons are subatomic particles that comprise the nucleus. Under certain circumstances, the nucleus of a very large atom can split in two. In this process, a certain amount of the large atom’s mass is converted to pure energy following Einstein’s famous formula E = MC 2 , where M is the small amount of mass and C is the speed of light (a  very  large number). In the 1930s and ’40s, humans discovered this energy and recognized its potential as a weapon. Technology developed in the Manhattan Project successfully used this energy in a chain reaction to create nuclear bombs. Soon after World War II ended, the newfound energy source found a home in the propulsion of the nuclear navy, providing submarines with ...

What is Pollution? Pollution, we hear it every other day at school, college and read about it in newspapers. So what is it? Pollution occurs when pollutants contaminate the natural surroundings; which brings about changes that affect our normal lifestyles adversely. Pollutants are the key elements or components of pollution which are generally waste materials of different forms. Pollution disturbs our ecosystem and the balance in the environment. With modernization and development in our lives pollution has reached its peak; giving rise to global warming and human illness. Pollution occurs in different forms; air, water, soil, radioactive, noise, heat/ thermal and light. Every form of pollution has two sources of occurrence; the point and the non-point sources. The point sources are easy to identify, monitor and control, whereas the non-point sources are hard to control.  Let us discuss the different types of pollutions, their causes and effects on mankind and the environ...

What is Overpopulation? Overpopulation is an undesirable condition where the number of existing human population exceeds the carrying capacity of Earth. Overpopulation is caused by number of factors. Reduced mortality rate, better medical facilities, depletion of precious resources are few of the causes which results in overpopulation. It is possible for a sparsely populated area to become densely populated if it is not able to sustain life. Growing advances in technology with each coming year has affected humanity in many ways. One of these has been the ability to save lives and create better medical treatment for all. A direct result of this has been increased lifespan and the growth of the population. In the past fifty or so years, the growth of population has boomed and has turned into overpopulation. In the history of our species, the birth and death rate have always been able to balance each and maintain a population growth rate that is sustainable. Since the time of t...

Energy crisis The energy crisis is the concern that the world’s demands on the limited natural resources that are used to power industrial society are diminishing as the demand rises. These natural resources are in limited supply. While they do occur naturally, it can take hundreds of thousands of years to replenish the stores. Governments and concerned individuals are working to make the use of renewable resources a priority, and to lessen the irresponsible use of natural supplies through increased conservation. The energy crisis is a broad and complex topic. Most people don’t feel connected to its reality unless the price of gas at the pump goes up or there are lines at the gas station. The energy crisis is something that is ongoing and getting worse, despite many efforts. The reason for this is that there is not a broad understanding of the complex causes and solutions for the energy crisis that will allow for an effort to happen that will resolve it. According to the Wikiped...

27 Health and Nutrition Tips That Are Actually Evidence-Based There is a lot of confusion when it comes to health and nutrition. People, even qualified experts, often seem to have the exact opposite opinions. However, despite all the disagreements, there are a few things that are well supported by research. Here are 27 health and nutrition tips that are actually based on good science. 1. Don't Drink Sugar Calories Sugary drinks are the most fattening things you can put into your body. This is because liquid sugar calories don't get registered by the brain in the same way as calories from solid foods. For this reason, when you drink soda, you end up eating more total calories. Sugary drinks are strongly associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and all sorts of health problems. Keep in mind that fruit juices are almost as bad as soda in this regard. They contain just as much sugar, and the small amounts of antioxidants do NOT negate ...

Syrian Civil War Fast Facts Here is some background information about the ongoing civil war in Syria. In the first five years of the war, which began in 2011, an estimated 400,000 Syrians were killed, according to the UN Envoy for Syria. Facts: Bashar al-Assad has ruled Syria as president since July 2000. His father, Hafez al-Assad, ruled Syria from 1970-2000. The ongoing violence against civilians has been condemned by the Arab League, the European Union, the United States and other countries. As of April 2018, more than 5.6 million Syrians have fled the country, according to the UN HIgh Commissioner for Refugees, and 6.1 million people are displaced internally. When the civil war began in 2011, there were four main factions of fighting groupsthroughout the country: Kurdish forces,ISIS, other opposition (such as Jaish al Fateh, an alliance between the Nusra Front and Ahrar-al-Sham) and the Assad regime. ...