By Alena M. James The Third Commercial Resupply (CRS-3) mission was scheduled for launch on Monday, April 14, 2014. Taking off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the CRS-3 mission was to head to the International Space Station (ISS) at 4:58pm. However due to a helium leak on the launch vehicle, the … Continue reading Microbes: The 21st Century Astronauts
by Alena M. James Since the start of the Syrian crisis three years ago, refugees have fled to camps in Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon. Last week the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported the number of refugees from Syria to Lebanon has passed one million. According to the report, this influx … Continue reading Increasing Refugees, Increased Risk of Communicable Diseases
by Alena M. James Yersinia pestisis a gram negative, bacillus shaped bacteria that prefers to reside in an environment lacking oxygen (anaerobic). It is typically an organism that uses the process of fermentation to break down complex organic molecules to metabolize. However, the organism is commonly referred to as being a facultative anaerobe, because it … Continue reading Bubonic Plague: An Airborne Toxic Event
By Alena M. James With tensions escalating between the western powers and Russia, the crisis in Ukraine has absorbed much of the international community’s attention these past few weeks. In doing so, the civil war in Syria and its efforts in cleaning up its chemical weapon’s arsenal have been placed on the backburner. In a … Continue reading Destroying Chemical Weapons: A Highly Political and Technological Process
By Alena M. James On March 12, 2014, the “Future of Global Nuclear Security Policy Summit” was held at the Knight Broadcast Studio at the Newseum in Washington DC. The summit was hosted by National Journal in preparation for the 2014 Nuclear Security being held in The Hague, Netherlands. Participating in the event was White … Continue reading Experts Pre-Game before the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit
by Alena M. James Last week the Nepalese Government, working with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, made efforts to develop strategies for the national implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention during the Workshop on National Implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). With assistance from the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament … Continue reading Nepal Moves To Ratify BWC
The Pandora Report 