ita

Erratum: McCosh et al., "Norepinephrine Neurons in the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract Suppress Luteinizing Hormone Secretion in Female Mice"




ita

Pre- and Postsynaptic MEF2C Promotes Experience-Dependent, Input-Specific Development of Cortical Layer 4 to Layer 2/3 Excitatory Synapses and Regulates Activity-Dependent Expression of Synaptic Cell Adhesion Molecules

Experience- and activity-dependent transcription is a candidate mechanism to mediate development and refinement of specific cortical circuits. Here, we demonstrate that the activity-dependent transcription factor myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C) is required in both presynaptic layer (L) 4 and postsynaptic L2/3 mouse (male and female) somatosensory (S1) cortical neurons for development of this specific synaptic connection. While postsynaptic deletion of Mef2c weakens L4 synaptic inputs, it has no effect on inputs from local L2/3, contralateral S1, or the ipsilateral frontal/motor cortex. Similarly, homozygous or heterozygous deletion of Mef2c in presynaptic L4 neurons weakens L4 to L2/3 excitatory synaptic inputs by decreasing presynaptic release probability. Postsynaptic MEF2C is specifically required during an early postnatal, experience-dependent, period for L4 to L2/3 synapse function, and expression of transcriptionally active MEF2C (MEF2C-VP16) rescues weak L4 to L2/3 synaptic strength in sensory-deprived mice. Together, these results suggest that experience- and/or activity-dependent transcriptional activation of MEF2C promotes development of L4 to L2/3 synapses. Additionally, MEF2C regulates the expression of many pre- and postsynaptic genes in postnatal cortical neurons. Interestingly, MEF2C was necessary for activity-dependent expression of many presynaptic genes, including those that function in transsynaptic adhesion and neurotransmitter release. This work provides mechanistic insight into the experience-dependent development of specific cortical circuits.




ita

Countries recognize vital role of small-scale fishers

Countries today endorsed a set of wide-reaching guidelines that will boost the already vital [...]




ita

International Conference on South-South Cooperation praises FAO's leadership and facilitation role

Marrakesh, 15 December 2014 – African Ministers of Agriculture recognized the facilitating role of FAO “under the new strategic framework established with the leadership of the [...]




ita

Webinar: Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and Ecosystem Restoration

Rome - The experience of farmers who manage agricultural heritage can help achieve the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration's main goals: support and scale-up efforts [...]




ita

Explore FAO's 2020 digital flagship reports in six languages

In 2020, FAO’s flagship ‘The State of the World’ collection was released in a new easy-to-read digital format, providing audiences with a responsive reading experience to discover FAO’s work and [...]




ita

Invitation for the launch event: The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security, 2021

Understanding and managing disaster risks in global agriculture: Better data for ambitious action



ita

FAO - Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems Programme call for experts

Rome - The FAO - Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems Programme opens the process of establishing a new Scientific Advisory Groupfor the 2021-2022 term.  The Programme is seeking for [...]




ita

Join us: virtual symposium on Agricultural Heritage and Family Farming

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, through the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme, will organise the International Symposium on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and Family Farming from [...]




ita

Join us: International Conference on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems 2021

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme, is organizing the International Conference on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems 2021 [...]




ita

Three sites in China designated FAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems

Three sites in China - an ancient tea-producing area, a nomadic livestock-rearing region and a rain-fed stone terrace farming system - were formally recognised  as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage [...]




ita

20 years of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems

2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the FAO GIAHS Programme. FAO launched the GIAHS initiative at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002. Since its inception, [...]




ita

Two new sites in Japan designated FAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems

Rome - Two new sites in Japan - an inland fisheries and associated paddy farming system centred on the country’s largest lake and a traditional fruit-growing area  believed to have been the [...]




ita

FAO in review: The first fully digital United Nations agency

Read the series on how FAO increased efficiency, effectiveness and transparency to better support its Members in the transformation of agrifood systems.




ita

FAO in Review: Emergency and humanitarian response

Read the series on how FAO increased efficiency, effectiveness and transparency to better support its Members in the transformation of agrifood systems




ita

Glückwunsch! Hay Milk in Austria celebrates its recognition as FAO global agricultural heritage

Salzburg – Austria, marked a significant milestone as it celebrated the formal recognition of Traditional Hay Milk Farming in the Austrian Alpine Arc as a FAO Globally Important Agricultural [...]




ita

Traditional knowledge and innovation in Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems

In this workshop, we will explore the role of innovation in supporting traditional practices that conserve agricultural heritage systems.  

Traditional agricultural practices, often rooted in the local communities and the knowledge [...]




ita

Three new sites recognized as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)

Indonesia and Sao Tome and Principe receive their first designations from FAO along with Austria’s second system




ita

This Pendant Is Britain’s Oldest Piece of Iron Age Art

A small pebble with ornate markings is Britain’s earliest piece of Mesolithic art—but what do the markings denote, and was it worn for cosmetic purposes or spiritual ones?




ita

Why Engineering Will Be Vital in a Changing Climate

Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough offers personal insights on the realities of climate change and the best ways for society to adapt




ita

Discovering Titanoboa, the World's Largest Snake

Fossils found in Colombia indicate that a giant snake may have roamed the earth 60 million years ago




ita

How the Titanic Sinking Became Fake News

Hours after the Titanic sank, news organizations latched onto a telegraph message that seemed to say that the ship and all its passengers had been rescued. It would turn out to be a tragic case of fake news.




ita

Arthur Molella on the Habits and Habitats of Inventors

The director of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation explores how personality and environment help creativity flourish




ita

Meet the Team of Scientists Who Discovered Gravitational Waves

Kip Thorne, Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Ronald Drever | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winners for Physical Sciences In February, physicists announced the first-ever detection of gravitational waves—a phenomenon Albert Einstein predicted back in 1915. The faint reverberation, from two merging black holes 1.3 billion light-years ago, registered in the two giant detectors that make up the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO. It took decades for LIGO’s founders—Weiss, of MIT, and Thorne and Drever, of Cal Tech—to amass the necessary funding and brainpower. Barish, a particle physicist at CalTech, became LIGO’s director and expanded its work to include more than 1,000 researchers worldwide. Their revolutionary achievement opens the way for a new understanding of the universe, perhaps even a glimpse of the Big Bang. Read more about their work: http://smithmag.co/FZBFeP | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy




ita

A Former Afghan Interpreter for the U.S. Military Recalls the Dangers of the Job

(Footage: Erin Trieb. Video Editing: Nicole Boliaux)




ita

Three Years After "We Will Bury You," Nikita Khrushchev Tours America

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Nikita-in-Hollywood.html As part of a diplomatic mission, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled across the United States, meeting Americans from New York to Iowa to California.




ita

Beyond the Titanic: The Real Science of Deep Sea Exploration

After five people perished on a controversial submersible dive to the wreckage of the Titanic in June, we got to thinking about what genuine undersea exploration looks like. In this episode, we speak with Tony Perrottet, who profiled the late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush for Smithsonian magazine in 2019, about our ancient fascination with exploring hostile environments. Then we’re joined by Susan Casey, who has written four best-selling books about the ocean and its creatures, the newest of which is The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean. Susan tells us why understanding the ocean is key to humanity’s survival, and how, while serious research and shipwreck tourism may have some overlap, they remain two very different things. Read Tony Perrottet’s June 2019 (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/worlds-first-deep-diving-submarine-plans-tourists-see-titanic-180972179/) Smithsonian (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/worlds-first-deep-diving-submarine-plans-tourists-see-titanic-180972179/) profile (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/worlds-first-deep-diving-submarine-plans-tourists-see-titanic-180972179/) of Stockton Rush. Learn more about Tony and his work at his site (http://tonyperrottet.com/) . Read an excerpt from Susan Casey’s new book, The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/inside-the-nerve-racking-dive-to-an-active-submarine-volcano-180982687/) . Learn more about Susan and her work at her site (https://susancasey.com/) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz (contains elements by Madelgarius (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Titan_(mod%C3%A9lisation_sketchup_-_twilight_render_-_Gimp).jpg) , via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0) Music by APM Music.




ita

Titanoboa at the Zoo?

In the wild, titanoboa probably ate large crocodiles, fish and other snakes—but if there were a titanoboa at the National Zoo today, what would the zoo keepers feed it?




ita

A 3D Digital Interactive of Santa Elena's Fort San Marcos

At the Coastal Discovery Museum’s exhibition, visitors will be able to view a 3D digital interactive that reconstructs the original Fort San Marcos on Santa Elena. (Credit: Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn)




ita

Cornwall, the Most Beautiful Place in Britain

One of the most evocative and breathtakingly beautiful coastal landscapes in Britain is the historic county of Cornwall. It’s also a place steeped in legend, including that of Britain’s legendary King Arthur.




ita

Director David Lynch Wants Schools to Teach Transcendental Meditation to Reduce Stress

David Lynch | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winner for Education As a filmmaker, Lynch has a reputation for creating dark, surreal movies such as Eraserhead, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart as well as the TV show “Twin Peaks.” In the education world, he's becoming known for something very different: promoting inner peace. Over the past decade, the David Lynch Foundation has sponsored Transcendental Meditation classes for half a million children in places as far-flung as the Bronx, Detroit, Los Angeles, Congo and the West Bank. The program, called Quiet Time, is now at the center of one of the largest-ever studies of meditation for children—a 6,800-pupil research project conducted by the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago and designed to learn if meditation can help kids in highly stressful environments fare better at home and in school. Read more about Lynch’s work: http://smithmag.co/9sHhtm | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy




ita

These Ancient Egyptian Barracks Paint a Vivid Picture of Military Life During the Reign of Ramses II

Archaeologists unearthed a series of mudbrick rooms filled with religious tributes, soldiers' personal effects, engraved weaponry and animal bones




ita

The World's Best Pizza Is in New York City, According to Italy-Based Rankings

Una Pizza Napoletana on the Lower East Side has claimed the top spot in an annual ranking of pizzerias around the globe




ita

Two and a Half Years After the Russian Invasion, Ukraine's Cultural Heritage Remains at Risk

A $1 million grant from the U.S. is the latest effort to support Ukraine's fight to preserve its rich past




ita

In a First, Scientists Find Animals Thriving Beneath the Ocean Floor in Hidden Habitats Near Deep-Sea Vents

The discovery of worms and snails confirms that these still-mysterious, dark hotspots of life extend beyond what’s visible above the crust




ita

An Astonishing Trove of Coins Dating to the Norman Conquest Just Became the Most Valuable Treasure Ever Found in Britain

The so-called Chew Valley Hoard, which just sold for a record $5.6 million, includes 2,584 coins featuring the likenesses of Harold II, William the Conqueror and Edward the Confessor




ita

See the Breathtaking 14th-Century Sienese Artworks That Helped Set the Italian Renaissance in Motion

This brief chapter of art history is often overlooked. Now, an exhibition in New York City makes a strong argument for the integral role played by four artists in the city of Siena




ita

Coal Recovered From the Titanic and Thousands of Other Historic Shipwreck Artifacts Are Going to Auction

The Shipwreck Treasure Museum in Cornwall, England, is selling its collection, which includes items connected to nearly 150 shipwrecks




ita

A Prominent Italian Dealer Has Been Charged With Trafficking Thousands of Looted Artifacts

The Manhattan district attorney's office has obtained an arrest warrant for Edoardo Almagià, who has been accused of working with looters and dealing stolen artifacts for years




ita

Travelers Can Now Buy a Can of '100 Percent Authentic Air' From Italy's Lake Como

It's not the first time savvy entrepreneurs have marketed canned air to tourists. Similar products have been sold at vacation destinations for decades




ita

Thousands of Lego Daffodils Are Blooming in Britain

The brick-built botanicals celebrate the UK’s 2017 City of Culture




ita

See 15 Remarkable Photos That Will Make You Fall in Love With Italy

These shots from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest show why it’s one of the most-visited nations on earth




ita

Sea Cucumber Poop Could Revitalize Coral Reefs

In one reef, three million sea cucumbers released 64,000 metric tons of nutrient-packed poo back into the ecosystem




ita

Meet the Italian 'Fruit Detective' Who Investigates Centuries-Old Paintings for Clues About Produce That Has Disappeared From the Kitchen Table

Renaissance paintings, medieval archives, cloistered orchards—how one Italian scientist is uncovering secrets that could help combat a growing agricultural crisis




ita

How this veteran from N.S. started a humanitarian group in Ukraine

Kate MacEachern is a Canadian veteran from Ballantynes Cove, N.S., but her service years are far from over. She has spent about two years living in Ukraine, delivering humanitarian aid to communities across the country.



  • News/Canada/Nova Scotia

ita

Discover the Mysteries of Italy's Park of Monsters, a 16th-Century Garden Filled With Strange, Colossal Stone Creatures

The Sacro Bosco's meaning is the subject of debate, with scholars alternatively describing the sprawling complex as a memorial, an allegorical site or a tribute to ancient civilizations




ita

N.B. military history stitched in red on 110-year-old quilt

The New Brunswick Military History Museum is in possession of a unique piece of history that was once used to raise money for frontline soldiers.



  • News/Canada/New Brunswick

ita

Sitansisk First Nation, Quebec company partner in wind farm proposal

Carleton County is getting another wind farm proposal, this time with involvement of First Nations.



  • News/Canada/New Brunswick

ita

Visita a una iglesia subterránea

Este año en el mes en que se llevó a cabo el mantenimiento anual de Logos Hope en Uruguay, la tripulante Cecilia* de Argentina se unió a un pequeño equipo que sirve en Asia Central. Mientras estuvo allí, pudo asistir a dos iglesias subterráneas que desbordaban de esperanza y fe.




ita

This veteran decolonized Remembrance Day events to honour Indigenous military service

Jeff Monague has worked to incorporate Indigenous elements into Base Borden's Remembrance Day ceremonies — an acknowledgement he never had as a soldier.