Too Hot? Learn how communities dealth with heat for 2500 years: The legacy of the wind towers of an ancient Iranian city

Too Hot? Learn how communities dealth with heat for 2500 years: The legacy of the wind towers of an ancient Iranian city

    Saturday, July 22, 2023   No comments

The temperature in some areas in Iran often exceeds 40 degrees Celsius, but what helps to withstand these high levels of heat are the wind towers (Barajil), which are the predecessors of current air conditioners, and do not pose any harm to the environment, which made architects pay attention to them again.

The city of Yazd, which is close to the Silk Road, is among the hottest cities in the world. It is characterized by hot summers and very rare rains, as it is surrounded by deserts.

How the wind catchers work

Iran is an extreme hot/cold and arid climate. 

It can get very hot in the daytime sun and then cool down completely at night. 

Before we had electric sockets and Iran was called Persia,  people engineered windcatchers. read the article or view it below.

Ukrainian Counteroffensive is on and using dams as weapons of war

Ukrainian Counteroffensive is on and using dams as weapons of war

    Tuesday, June 06, 2023   No comments

According to Russian officials, the Ukrainian army started its counteroffensive two days ago. The Russian ministry of defense released its tally of the two days of action.

Meanwhile, both sides blame each other for the partial destruction of a major dam that could have significant impact on civilian populations and the environment. The next few days will bring more details.
Here is a summary of what has been put in the public domain thus far.

From the Russian Ministry of Defense:

Within three days , the Ukrainian regime launched a long-promised offensive on different sectors of the front , concentrating a large amount of equipment and manpower for this purpose.

On June 4, the forces of the 23rd and 31st mechanized brigades of the AFU attempted an offensive in five areas.

The enemy did not achieve success on any of them, suffered significant losses : 300 military personnel, 16 tanks, 26 armored combat vehicles, 14 vehicles.

On June 5 , the Kiev regime attempted an offensive in seven directions with the forces of five brigades. It was stopped , suffered even more significant losses: more than 1,600 military personnel, 28 tanks, including 8 Leopards and 3 AMX-10 wheeled tanks, 136 units of other military equipment, including 79 foreign ones.

Attempts to attack were thwarted, the enemy was stopped, Russian soldiers and officers showed courage and heroism in battles .

I repeat, the enemy did not achieve his goals, suffered significant and incomparable losses.

The units of the 433rd motorized rifle regiment of the 127th motorized rifle division, the 37th and 60th motorized rifle brigades have distinguished themselves in battle, showing perseverance and stamina.

Special heroism was shown by the 3rd company of the 37th motorized rifle brigade under the command of junior lieutenant Yuri Yurievich Zhelanov and the commander of the 1st battalion of the same brigade, Major Vladimir Vladimirovich Polozhentsev.

These units, being in the direction of the main attack, staunchly defended their positions and inflicted significant losses on the superior forces of the enemy's 37th Marine Brigade . Under the threat of encirclement, Junior lieutenant Zhelanov, being wounded, took his company to pre-equipped defensive positions, where he successfully stopped the advancing enemy units.

It is especially necessary to note the skillful actions of our operational-tactical, attack and army aviation . They used 50 anti-tank guided missiles . As a result , 5 tanks and 29 other armored fighting vehicles were destroyed.

 In just 3 days of hostilities in all directions, the losses of the armed forces of Ukraine amounted to 3,715 military personnel, 52 tanks, 207 armored combat vehicles, 134 vehicles, 5 aircraft, 2 helicopters, 48  field artillery guns and 53 unmanned aerial vehicles.

 Unfortunately, it was not without our losses. In total, 71 servicemen were killed and 210 were injured during the repulse of the enemy offensive in the Joint Group of Forces. We also lost: 15 tanks, 9 infantry fighting vehicles, 2 vehicles and 9 guns.

 Tonight, the Kiev regime committed another terrorist crime : the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station was blown up , which led to the flooding of large areas. The purpose of these actions , according to available data, is as follows .

 Having not achieved success in offensive operations , in order to strengthen its potential, the enemy intends to transfer units and equipment from the Kherson direction to the area of its offensive operations , thus significantly weakening its positions in the Kherson direction .  The enemy began to build defensive positions on the right bank of the Dnepr , which indicates his intention to go on the defensive here.

 In order to prevent offensive actions of the Russian army on this sector of the front , the Kiev regime carried out a sabotage , in fact, a terrorist act , which led to the flooding of large areas and will have severe and long-term environmental consequences.

 In addition, according to available data, the discharge of water from the Dnepropetrovsk hydroelectric power station has been significantly increased , which leads to even more flooding of the territories.

 This fact indicates a large-scale sabotage planned in advance by the Kiev regime.

 Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu.

Environmental degradation is a crime whose effects are disproportionately shouldered by the poor and the future of humanity--the childen

Environmental degradation is a crime whose effects are disproportionately shouldered by the poor and the future of humanity--the childen

    Monday, August 29, 2022   No comments

Pardon this editorial rant; but it has to be said; for the lives lost, and the lives to be lost, the lives that did not have to be lost if it were not for our greed and gluttony.

-- The Editors

A Shocking 99% of Us Are Now Breathing Unhealthy Air, WHO Warns

A Shocking 99% of Us Are Now Breathing Unhealthy Air, WHO Warns

    Thursday, April 07, 2022   No comments

We often take the air we breathe for granted, but new data reveals that the pollutants behind millions of preventable deaths now taint the air most of us breathe at unhealthy levels.

"Air pollution has an impact at a much lower level than previously thought," says World Health Organization technical officer Sophie Gumy, in reference to WHO's recently updated air quality guidelines.

Based on an analysis of air pollution data covering more than 6,000 cities in 117 countries, WHO says 99 percent of the world's population now breathes air that does not meet the updated safety guidelines. This covers 80 percent of the world's urban areas.

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