The University of Massachusetts geoscientist Stephen Haggerty contends that some of the carbon in diamonds comes from outer space.

Haggerty argues against the long-held view that the carbon in diamond comes from the remains of plants and marine organisms as they decayed under the high temperatures and pressures of the Earth’s deep interior. The invited review is titled, "A Diamond Trilogy: Superplumes, Supercontinents, and Supernovae."

Many in the scientific community have long theorized that diamonds are primarily the result of organic materials that were dragged into the Earth’s interior as one continental plate was thrust beneath another in a process called subduction. This theory holds that the organic material, when exposed to the extreme heat and pressure within the Earth for millions of years, produced the carbon in diamonds. But the fossil record, and the dating of diamonds, indicate that this carbon is at least... Read more »

Delegations have come and gone, questions have been asked, requests made, and resolutions proposed. Feedbacks are been received - positive and negative.

My only fear is that the negatives are beginning to out weigh the positives. Meetings are now turning into formalities. One week after the last meeting, no information on our allowances. One wonders whether what was promised was just sweat talk or a reality. I must say that a lot was promised- ranging from accommodation to allowances.

Looking at the time of the year and location, I thank God that we have managed to survive to this day. Most, if not all, s... Read more »

The front page of the Independent last week
The comment by James Watson boldly displayed on the front page of the Independent newspaper last week that: Africans Are Less Intelligent Than Westerners should serve as a reminder that we need to challenge the legacies of the past.

It seems that nearly everyone - including people of African descent, are only too happy to bury their heads in the sand, to dismiss the notion that we are still affected by the legacies of chattel enslavement and colonization and to buy into the false notion that we live in an equitable world that is mostly free of racism and inequality, yet are the first to become outraged when views like the one expressed by James Watson make it into the public domain.

They jump up and down and complain that no other race would ever b... Read more »

Dad says, " Well son, let me try to explain it this way:

I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me Capitalism. Your Mom, she's the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government. We're here to take care of your needs so we'll call you the People. The nanny, we'll consider her he Working Class. Now your baby brother, we'll call him the Future. Now, think about that and see if that makes sense."

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him, and he finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to is parents' room and finds his mother fast asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, t... Read more »