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Did you know? Alligators can regrow severed tails
Acclimating reptiles to a new environment
Five-gene ball python
Passion For Pigeon Racing
Norman Isaac January 12, 2018
FEATHERS0 Comments 03 min read
In modern times, pigeons are sometimes used to carry messages during times of war. They have even been used to smuggle drugs into prison as they can transport lightweight packages.
For Joseph Yap, pigeon racing is simply a hobby. "Ang mga alaga kong kalapati ang nagmo-motivate na umuwi ng maaga (The pigeons I care for are motivated to come home early)," he says. His fascination with pigeon racing started at the very young age of 10. This passion for the sport never waned up to this day. "I bought a pair of racing homers at Arranque Market, without the knowledge of (my) mother," he confesses.
"Pigeons interest me more, although I have a pet dog, a Labrador named Coffee," he continues. "It's not a walk in the park. Magastos rin. Walang pahinga (There are many expenses. You can't rest). I have to pay my caretaker, spend for feeds—mixed grains and supplemental grits; and you double the cost when it is breeding season. You have to be persevering, passionate, and patient. It helps to have a supportive wife too. In-a-apply ko yung paano mag-take care sa ibon, sa sarili ko (What I learn about how to take care of birds, I apply to myself). I'm health conscious," the 46-year-old father of 5 kids stresses.
Joseph is into the flying/sporting category, one of the three major recognized groups of breeds of domestic pigeons. The other two are "Fancy" and "Utility." Fancy pigeons are pigeons which are specially bred to perpetuate particular features. There are many breeds of fancy pigeons of all sizes, colors, and types. A famous fancier is Pablo Picasso, who kept fantails and named his daughter "Paloma," which means "pigeon" in Spanish.
Utility pigeons are bred for their meat and as replacement stock. Pigeon meat is referred to as "squab" and is considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. Joseph's interest is in racing homers, a type of homing pigeon trained to participate in the sport of pigeon racing. They are kept and bred for their aerial
performance and for reproduction.
"It's an exciting sport, seeing your pigeons return home the fastest for the race or shorter time travelled. Puro talo ako noon (I used to lose a lot). For several years, until I won third [place] overall in 2012," he says.
He rattles off his other achievements: "My prized pigeons won as overall champion in 2013; fifth place in 2014; and third overall in 2015. We have this North Season from October to November which reaches as far as Aparri, Cagayan; and South Season from February to March [which] reaches down to Tacloban, Leyte."
"I'm a member of RPAP (the Racing Pigeons Association of the Philippines)," he continues. "Pigeon racing does not only promote sportsmanship among the competitors and members of RPAP, but it also
gives us the thrill of watching our pigeons fly to far-flung provinces and welcoming them home safely.
But even with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), sometimes our pigeons fail to reach home due to hazards like bad weather, wires, birds of prey, or being gunned down," he explains.
"An expert on pigeon racing once said that it is one third bloodline, one third loft management, and one
third luck to be a winner. But win or lose, my passion for pigeon racing is perpetual," Joseph ends.
This story appeared in Animal Scene's July 2017 issue.
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Norman Isaac
Norman B. Isaac used to be the Editorial Cartoonist of Manila Bulletin for over three decades, now a contributing Editorial Cartoonist of Tempo. He illustrated for Pet Humor on Animal Scene and has been writing and illustrating for Animal Person column. He has one aspin and five stray cats.
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Animal Scene is a publication of Manila Bulletin Publishing, Inc.


ZURICH (AP) — FIFA disqualified the Equatorial Guinea women's soccer team from the 2020 Olympics on Monday for fielding a player with "forged or falsified documents," the latest sanction for a country with a history of selecting ineligible players from other nations.
The player in question this time, Brazil-born midfielder Camila Maria do Carmo Nobre de Oliveira, was ineligible to play for Equatorial Guinea because she was using two passports with different information during the qualifying competition for this year's Olympics, FIFA said. She also has two birth certificates that showed different information for her parents' nationality.
Equatorial Guinea failed to qualify for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
FIFA said the team was disqualified from the qualifying competition for the 2020 Games in Tokyo and the country's soccer federation was fined 40,000 Swiss francs ($42,000). FIFA also suspended Camila for 10 matches — from when she becomes eligible to play — and fined her 2,000 Swiss francs ($2,100).
"The (FIFA) disciplinary committee held the Equatorial Guinea Football Association liable for the use of forged or falsified documents," FIFA said.
FIFA was investigating the eligibility of several other players on Equatorial Guinea's team.
Equatorial Guinea's women's team was also disqualified from the 2012 London Olympics for fielding an ineligible player. In 2011, FIFA suspended striker Jade Boho Sayo for two months and threw her out of the women's World Cup and the team out of the Olympics the following year. The Equatorial Guinea women's team is a two-time African champion, last winning the title in 2012.
The men's team has also been caught fielding ineligible players. It was disqualified from last year's African Cup of Nations but was reinstated — and went on to reach the semifinals — after offering to host the tournament as a last-minute replacement for Morocco.
Equatorial Guinea is a small, oil-rich country on the west coast of Africa and has been accused of trying to buy soccer success by enticing foreign players.
The men's team was stripped of a victory in World Cup qualifying in 2013 when none of its starting lineup was born in Equatorial Guinea.
FIFA allows players to represent a country if they were born there, or they have lived in the country continuously for a period of time, or a parent or grandparent was born there.


A report entitled The Ministry and the Past written by historians and released by the German government in October 2010 shows that wartime-era diplomats played an important role in assisting the Nazis in carrying out the Holocaust, and disproved the claim often made after 1945 that German diplomats were "sand in the machine" who acted to moderate the actions of the Nazi regime. In a 2010 interview, the German historian Eckart Conze [de] who had been in charge of the committee to investigate the war-time actions of the Auswärtiges Amt stated that the Auswärtiges Amt was a "criminal organization" that was as every bit involved in the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" as the SS were. In another interview, Conze stated: "This document makes it clear that all officials in the Foreign Ministry — including low-level office clerks — knew about the mass persecution of Jews and were actively involved in the Holocaust. It was an open secret." In October 1941, when Franz Rademacher visited Belgrade to meet officials of the Government of National Salvation of General Milan Nedić of Serbia, he submitted an expense claim for his trip to his superiors at the Auswärtiges Amt after his return to Berlin; on his expenses claim, Rademacher described the purpose of his trip to Belgrade as the "liquidation of Jews." At the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, the Auswärtiges Amt was represented by Martin Luther, who agreed that the Auswärtiges Amt would do everything within its power to persuade the governments of neutral and allied states to hand over their Jewish populations to be exterminated. Later on in 1942, Ambassador Otto Abetz arranged for the deportation of 25, 000 French Jews to the death camps in Poland while Ambassador Hanns Ludin arranged for the deportation of 50, 000 Slovak Jews to the death camps. In the spring of 1944, Ambassador Edmund Veesenmayer played a key role in having 400,000 Hungarian Jews deported to Auschwitz.
Fiebig-von Hase, Ragnhild (17 November 2003). "6 The Uses of 'friendship': The 'personal regime' of Wilhelm II and Theodore Roosevelt 1901–1909". In Mombauer, Annika; Deist, Wilhelm (eds.). The Kaiser: New Research on Wilhelm II's Role in Imperial Germany. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-44060-8. OCLC 57567237. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
Jacobsen, Hans-Adolf (1999). "The Structure of Nazi Foreign Policy 1933-1945". In Leitz, Christian; James, Harold (eds.). The Third Reich: The Essential Readings. London: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-20700-9. OCLC 851117719.


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France Might Emerge as a Giant in Blockchain and Crypto World
by in Blockchain News, Crypto News, News, no comment
The world of cryptocurrency and blockchain has not seen strong radiation from a single country in Europe. However, Switzerland has some progressive cryptocurrency industries like Zug. Amidst this, the Swiss government manages to remain passive and neutral.
On the other hand, Japan and South Korea push the boundaries of crypto and blockchain adoption in the east. They push for the use of digital coins to meet its growing popularity. While the east continually pushes the crypto domain, the US starts pushing individual states. The forward-thinking strategies and agendas like Wyoming have started coming.
Big Hitters to Break the Grounds of Blockchain Technology
Even Africa has few big hitters to break new grounds of technology. The countries on the continent like South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria have come forward in this arena. And, Australia is also not behind in this race. As per reports, Australia has firm, yet fair regulations for the crypto domain.
However, Europe has no particular face for the race in digital currencies. Significant nations like Germany, France, and the UK are grabbing the baton to run ahead in the race. And, from France, the only cryptocurrency and blockchain news is anti-establishment of tobacco shops. Reportedly, the protestors of 'yellow vest' and tobacco shops strive to remove such things from the country. Reports say that the tobacco shops were the place where people can get Bitcoin. Other than this news, there is no other push from the country.
Blockchain Week in Paris
Paris embarks on the event of Paris Blockchain Week Summit on 16th April. It is to test the perception of digital coin on the capital of France. Different summits and conference springs more frequently. But, this summit might be one of the biggest for the country and its capital. It will determine the real interest of the burgeoning ecosystem on a large scale in the country.
However, to determine the success of the conference, the need to determine real public interest grows. There is necessarily the need to determine whether the public has adequate enthusiasm and interest. The comparison between the interest of the public and that of developers is the key to this evaluation.
Co-Host of Paris Blockchain Week Explains the Approach of New Technology
On the other hand, the co-host of the Paris Blockchain Week, Karim Sabba explains the approach of technology. He explains the view of Parisian people and how their approach will be. He says that the general public in France is inquisitive and enthusiastic. They are particularly enthusiastic regarding cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Further, he adds that they have seen the first hand during the events of Crypto-Mondays.
As per matter of fact, "Crypto-Mondays' is an event started in Paris by its founder Lou Kerner. According to Sabba, they started after getting contact from the founder of the event. He adds that they ran regular events of Crypto-Mondays and brought some top talents into the blockchain. He claims that they build the largest Crypto-Mondays community successfully. Sabba also claims the community has more than 2500 active members.
Furthermore, Sabba goes on explaining that the move served as a stepping stone for Paris Blockchain Week. Also, he says that they knew the appetite for such events after experiencing the interest of the public.
Shreya holds an engineering degree from a reputed college.Skilled in Public Relations, Project Management, Business Management, Negotiation and besides these her interest in writing for various technology platforms. She is an avid follower of Blockchain Technology and passionate about the latest technologies. She has a keen interest in reading, blogging and reviews ICO's too.
BlockchainBlockchain and Crypto WorldCrypto WorldCryptocurrencyFranceFrance as a Giant in Blockchainworld of cryptocurrency
What is the 888 Cycle Challenge? Clever Protocol Explained!
Stratus: The First Social Media Unlocking Freedom and Interoperability
Introducing the DEFHOLD Token Presale: Join And Buy Tokens Now
Development of blockchain technologies for commercial use

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Our business is about nurturing personal growth in the context of the organisation's goals and values. We do this by designing exercises to act as a metaphor for the world of work, tailored to suit the chosen environment.
Exercises may be provided in the form of indoor business games and paper-based exercises, Forum Theatre or through outdoor exercises.
Our coaching work can also support the nurturing of personal growth whilst operating within an organisation. Coaching can be as a stand alone package or as an on-going follow up to draw key personal learning points from a previous group intervention.


Episode 53 - No Reviews, No Reviews!
Today's Jonathan Files is a short one. Jon decided to record about half way on our walk to school. He won't review software, but if he did, he would give it 3 out of 5.
October 29, 2013 by Dave Brodbeck.


To combat criminal and fraudulent acts of money laundering evident throughout the underbelly of criminal conspiracies, multiple federal statutes have been enacted to empower several federal agencies to uncover and prosecute the offenders.
Failure to file an income tax.
The Internal Revenue Code is supported by the guidelines of Title 31, USC Section 5331 relating to investigations of fraudulent activity. Passed in 2001, the USA Patriot Act or "The Act" extends to money laundering and the possible connection to funding of terrorist entities.
A broad spectrum of statutes and possible money laundering situations are more common and hit closer to home than one may believe, even in Wisconsin. In 2014, Wisconsin indicted 27 defendants of a poly-drug conspiracy case that included evidence of homicide, money laundering and firearm offenses.
The U.S. Department of Treasury also investigates probable money laundering activity. Efforts by this federal agency not only extend across the U.S. but abroad as well to secure any threat against the sovereignty of national and foreign financial systems.
An extension of the Department of Treasury, the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence or TFI, concentrates on enlisting the assistance the private sector, as well as sharing information across varying U.S. agencies and international communities to combat instances of money laundering and the funding of terrorist groups funded by illegal funds and criminal activity.
The fight against this white collar crime spans even more agencies both on the state and federal levels. It is estimated that criminal money laundering produces an illegal windfall of $500 billion to $1 trillion per year. These figures threaten social and economic security, both at home and abroad.
If you have been falsely accused or identified as an associate of a group or organization under investigation for alleged money laundering, turn to the experienced Milwaukee fraud defense attorneys of Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin, Brown, LLP. Our legal team is dedicated to protect the legal rights of those falsely accused or charged with fraud. Contact our offices today to schedule an initial consultation.


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Theodor Illion (* 1898; † 1984 in Salzburg) war Schriftsteller und Arzt und ein angeblicher Tibetforscher, wahrscheinlich im Umkreis der  Theosophischen Gesellschaft. Er veröffentlichte auch unter den Namen Theodor Burang und Th. Nolling.

Illion wurde angeblich in Kanada geboren und stammte aus vermögender Familie. Er starb in Salzburg und ruht am Friedhof in Kuchl. Den Grabstein schuf sein Freund Josef Zenzmaier.

Jürgen C. Aschoff (* 1938), Arzt und Bibliograph, hält Illions Bücher und seine Tibetreisen für «Science Fiction». Unter seinem Pseudonym Theodor Burang beschreibt Illion in Rätselhaftes Tibet und Finsternis über Tibet wie er von Einheimischen in eine unterirdische Stadt geführt wurde, in der eine Geheimbruderschaft geistige Energie bündelt, um Macht zu gewinnen. Das Oberhaupt sei ein gewisser Hexenmeister Prinz Mani Rimpotsche gewesen.

Bibliographie

 Rätselhaftes Tibet. Uranus-Verlag, Hamburg 1936.
 Tibeter über das Abendland. Ignota-Verlag, Salzburg 1947.
 Darkness over Tibet. Rider & Co., London 1933.
 Theodor Burang: Der Arzt in der tibetischen Kultur. Robugen, Esslingen/Neckar 1975
 Die Kunst des Heilens im Fernen Osten. Heilverfahren und Heilmittel. Origo-Verlag, Zürich 1975

Weblinks

 Jürgen Aschoff's International Bibliography of Tibetan Medicine
Hartmut Walravens: Briefwechsel Johannes Schuberts mit Bruno Beger und Ernst Schäfer. In: Nachrichten der Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens (NOAG). Band 175–176, 2004/9, S. 165–225

Quellen

Autor
Reiseliteratur
Geboren 1898
Gestorben 1984
Mann
Deutscher

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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4/2017 vol. 57
Interactions between the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana and the Neotropical predator Eriopis connexa (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): Implications in biological control of pest
Ana Clara Scorsetti 1
Sebastian Pelizza 2
Marilina Noelia Fogel 3
Florencia Vianna 1
Marcela Ines Schneider 3
Botanical Institute Carlos Spegazzini (FCNyM-UNLP), Calle 53#477, 1900 La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Centre of Parasitological and Vector Studies (CEPAVE), CCT La Plata-CONICET-UNLP, Boulevard 120 s/n between 61 and 64, 1900 La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Laboratory of Ecotoxicology: Pesticides and Biological Control, Centre of Parasitological and Vector Studies (CEPAVE-CONICET-UNLP), Boulevard 120 s/n between 61 and 64, 1900 La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ana Clara Scorsetti
Submission date: 2017-08-23
Acceptance date: 2017-11-15
Journal of Plant Protection Research 2017;57(4):389–395
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jppr-2017-0053
Beauveria bassiana
Eriopis connexa
pathogen-predator
Aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) are serious pests of crops causing direct damage by feeding and indirect by the transmission of plant viruses. The use of conventional insecticides for controlling aphids has caused different problems and insecticide resistance. Accordingly, there is more interest in alternative control methods such as biological control by natural enemies for sustainable agricultural management. Among biological control agents, entomopathogenic fungi are one of the most significant microbial pathogens of insects. Also, Coccinellidae, as a major group, is a serious natural enemy. Both larval and adult stages of Coccinellidae feed on different soft-body pests, such as aphids. Eriopis connexa (Germar) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is a common species in agroecosystems of the Neotropical region where it is considered to be a potential control agent. Pathogens and arthropod natural enemies may contribute to the control of phytophagous pests; however, it is important to assess potential interactions within biological control agents that share hosts (intraguild interaction) to evaluate their combined use for pest control. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the compatibility and interaction (lethal and sublethal effects) between E. connexa and the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Bals.-Criv.) Vuill. (Ascomycota: Hypocreales). Both are important biological control agents of aphids. The pathogenicity of B. bassiana against larvae, pupae and adults of the predator E. connexa was evaluated, and results showed, that B. bassiana infected the coleopteran. On the other hand, interaction between B. bassiana and the predator was evaluated through infected-prey. The effects of fungus on larvae survival were significantly different when we analyzed the accumulated survival (from first larval instar to adulthood). The daily fecundity was significantly reduced at five days compared to control group. By contrast, no significant differences were observed between the five oviposition days in the rate of hatched eggs. This study shows that despite having received a single dose of the fungus in its life cycle, the population parameters of the predator E. connexa are affected. More studies would be necessary to help identify interactions between microbes and natural enemies to increase and enhance opportunities and further develop biological pest control programs.
The authors have declared that no conflict of interests exist.
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Scorsetti A.C., Humber R.A., García J.J., López Lastra C.C. 2007. Natural occurrence of entomopathogenic fungi (Zygomycetes: Entomophthorales) of aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) pests of horticultural crops in Argentina. BioControl 52: 641–655. DOI: 10.1007/s10526-006-9045-1.
Scorsetti A.C., Maciá A., Steinkraus D.C., López Lastra C.C. 2010. Prevalence of Pandora neoaphidis (Zygomycetes: Entomophthorales) infecting Nasonovia ribisnigri (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on lettuce crops in Argentina. Biological Control 52: 46–50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioc....
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Susceptibility of olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae) pupae to entomopathogenic nematodes
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Effects of silvicultural techniques on the diversity of microorganisms in forest soil and their possible participation in biological control of Armillaria and Heterobasidion
Purification and characterization of the cuticle-degrading proteases produced by an isolate of Beauveria bassiana using the cuticle of the predatory bug, Andrallus spinidens Fabricius (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)


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All American Alcohol Has to Be Radioactive
You read that right, all alcohol that is made legally in the United States must be radioactive.
It's no surprise alcohol comes under strict regulation since it is one of the most commonly used (and enjoyed, hopefully responsibly) intoxicants on the planet. Alcohol was first consumed as an evolutionary advantage for humans (human ancestors or other species) to absorb more nutrients in slightly spoiled food. Fruit, of course, has a shelf life- go over that shelf life and it becomes a little bit sharp to eat as the complex sugars break into the delicious sweet tasting fruit many people love. But after that, it begins to ferment into ethanol, more commonly known as alcohol.
A study conducted at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution determined about 10 million years ago, humans began to evolve to consume moderate amounts of alcohol without getting sick thanks to a set of proteins like the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme ADH4- a critical component involved in metabolizing alcohol. Although all primates have ADH4, not all can break down alcohol effectively or safely. As the earth cooled off, primate ancestors began to explore life on the ground. This new way of life introduced new food sources, including fallen fruits that may have had a bit too long of a shelf life. Soon after a fruit falls, bacteria begin to convert the sugars into alcohols, some of which will become ethanol.
"If you were the ancestor without this new mutation in ADH4, the ethanol would quickly build up in your blood and you'd get inebriated much faster,"
Carrigan says,
"You'd be a cheap date."
Without the mutation, fermented fruits would be completely off limits because of their inebriating, nauseating, and potentially fatal effects. However, those who were able to metabolize alcohol had a longer and larger access to fruit since aged fruit could be eaten which many animals dared not touch. Although, all that alcohol sitting on the ground became much more than just an inebriating intoxicant.
The Earth is being bombarded by cosmic rays, mostly from our sun, but also from other celestial bodies all emitting incredibly high-energy radiation from space. The Earth's geomagnetic field, as well as the atmosphere, mostly deflects or absorbs this radiation. Part of this protective shield includes nitrogen which absorbs some of the cosmic rays that cause some truly bizarre chemistry (and physics) to happen in the upper atmosphere. The result is a carbon-14 atom: a heavier and slightly radioactive form of carbon with a half-life of a few thousand years before it decays back into nitrogen. This process is constantly taking place, resulting in about one part per trillion becoming this radioactive isotope.
The radioactive cycle (and alcohol)
Of course, every living thing requires carbon from the environment. Plants absorb the carbon through their leaves and inherently absorb some radioactive carbon as well, which is then eaten by herbivores, and then of course, the carnivores eat the creatures that eat the plants. The point is, carbon is used by every living organism, and a little bit of it is radioactive carbon-14. Naturally, as discussed, alcohol is distilled from plants, plants that contain radioactive carbon. In the United States, all alcohol has to be distilled from plants. Of course, all those dinosaurs and plants that died millions of years ago and turned into petroleum can also be made into alcohol because its composition is identical (just really, really old). Although, there is a slight difference since the petroleum has been sitting for so long that most, if not all of the radioactive carbon-14 has decayed back into nitrogen- therefore becoming un-radioactive.
Since all alcohol in the United States must be distilled from plants that absorbed carbon which included radioactive carbon-14, it must be radioactive. Any non-radioactive alcohol means it was made from dinosaur remains that have been stowed away long enough to decay away all the radioactivity. Because of this phenomena, checking for radioactivity is the best way to tell when an alcohol was made by using carbon dating. If it is made from petroleum, it will not be radioactive and is, therefore, illegal (unless, of course, it was distilled millions of years ago, but that would require some truly clever dinos). SO, all legal alcohol in the United States must be radioactive. If yours is not, I do apologize, but you are drinking a dinosaur (and no, you will not gain their powers).
SEE ALSO: This is What Happens to Your Body After Drinking Soda
Written by Maverick Baker
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World Community Grid (WCG) is an effort to create the world's largest volunteer computing platform to tackle scientific research that benefits humanity. Launched on November 16, 2004, with proprietary Grid MP client from United Devices and adding support for Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) in 2005, World Community Grid eventually discontinued the Grid MP client and consolidated on the BOINC platform in 2008. In September 2021, it was announced that IBM transferred ownership to the Krembil Research Institute of University Health Network in Toronto, Ontario.

World Community Grid utilizes unused processing power of consumer devices (PCs, Laptops, Android Smartphones, etc.) to analyse data created by the research groups that participate in the grid. WCG projects have analysed data related to the human genome, the human microbiome, HIV, dengue, muscular dystrophy, cancer, influenza, Ebola, Zika virus, virtual screening, rice crop yields, clean energy, water purification and COVID-19, among other research areas.

There are currently five active projects and 26 completed projects. Several of these projects have published peer-reviewed papers based on the analysis of the data generated by WCG. These include an OpenZika project paper on the discovery of a compound (FAM 3) that inhibits the NS3 Helicase protein of the Zika virus, thus reducing viral replication by up to 86%; a FightAIDS@home paper on the discovery of new vulnerabilities on the HIV-1 Capsid protein which may allow for a new drug target; a FightAIDS@home paper on new computational drug discovery techniques for more refined and accurate results.

History
In 2003, IBM and other research participants sponsored the Smallpox Research Grid Project to accelerate the discovery of a cure for smallpox. The smallpox study used a massive distributed computing grid to analyse compounds' effectiveness against smallpox. The project allowed scientists to screen 35 million potential drug molecules against several smallpox proteins to identify good candidates for developing into smallpox treatments. In the first 72 hours, 100,000 results were returned. By the end of the project, 44 strong treatment candidates had been identified. Based on the success of the Smallpox study, IBM announced the creation of World Community Grid on November 16, 2004, with the goal of creating a technical environment where other humanitarian research could be processed.

World Community Grid initially only supported Windows, using the proprietary Grid MP software from United Devices which powered the grid.org distributed computing projects. Demand for Linux support led to the addition in November 2005 of open source Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) software which powers projects such as SETI@home and Climateprediction. Mac OS and Linux support was added since the introduction of BOINC. In 2007, the World Community Grid migrated from Grid MP to BOINC for all of its supported platforms.

In September 2021, IBM announced that it had transferred ownership of the World Community Grid to the Krembil Research Institute. The entire transition process will take place over the next few months.

Scale of the project
As of September 21, 2021, World Community Grid had over 33,000 active user accounts, with over 154,000 active devices. Over the course of the project, more than 2,000,000 cumulative years of computing time have been donated, and over 6 billion work units have been completed.

Operation

The World Community Grid software uses the unused computing time of Internet-connected devices to perform research calculations. Users install WCG client software onto their devices. This software works in the background, using spare system resources to process work for WCG. When a piece of work or workunit is completed, the client software sends it back to WCG over the Internet and downloads a new workunit. To ensure accuracy, the WCG servers send out multiple copies of each workunit. Then, when the results are received, they are collected and validated against each other.

World Community Grid offers multiple humanitarian projects under a single umbrella.
Users are included in a subset of projects by default, but may opt out of projects as they choose.

Even though WCG makes use of open source client software, the actual applications that perform the scientific calculations may not be. However, several of the science applications are available under a free license, although the source is not available directly from WCG.

Potential problems

The World Community Grid software increases CPU usage by consuming unused processing time; in the late 1990s and early 2000s, such calculations were meant to reduce "wasted" CPU cycles. With modern CPUs, where dynamic frequency scaling is prevalent, increased usage makes the processor run at higher frequency, increasing power usage and heating counter to power management. Additionally, because of an increasing focus on power performance, or performance per watt, connecting old/inefficient computers to the grid will increase the total/average power required to complete the same calculations.

The BOINC client avoids slowing the computer by using a variety of limits that suspend computation when there are insufficient free resources. Unlike other BOINC projects, World Community Grid set the BOINC defaults conservatively, making the chances of computer damage extremely small. The default CPU throttle is 60%. The throttle is coarse-grained; for example, if usage is set to 60% it will work at 100% for 3 seconds, then at 0% for 2 seconds, resulting in an average decrease of processor use.

An add-on program for Windows computers – TThrottle – can solve the problem of overheating by directly limiting the BOINC project's use of the host computer. It does this by measuring the CPU and/or the GPU temperature and adjusts the run time accordingly. It also uses a shorter switching time of less than one second, resulting in less temperature change during switching.

Statistics and competition
The contributions of each user are recorded and user contribution statistics are publicly available. Due to the fact that the processing time of each workunit varies from computer to computer, depending on the difficulty of the workunit, the speed of the computer, and the amount of idle resources available, contributions are usually measured in terms of points. Points are awarded for each workunit depending on the effort required to process it.

Upon completing a workunit, the BOINC client will request the number of points it thinks it deserves based on software benchmarks (see BOINC Credit System#Cobblestones). Since multiple computers process the same workunit to ensure accuracy, the World Community Grid servers can look at the points claimed by each of those computers. The WCG servers disregard statistical outliers, average the remaining values and award the resulting number of points to each computer.

Within the grid, users may join teams that have been created by organizations, groups, or individuals. Teams allow for a heightened sense of community identity and can also inspire competition. As teams compete against each other, more work is done for the grid overall.

Outreach
World Community Grid recognizes companies and organizations as partners if they promote WCG within their company or organization. As of April 2021, WCG had 452 partners.

Also, as part of its commitment to improving human health and welfare, the results of all computations completed on World Community Grid are released into the public domain and made available to the scientific community.

Scientific results
Since its launch, more than thirty projects have run in the World Community Grid. Some of the results include:

 In February 2014, the Help Fight Childhood Cancer project scientists announced the discovery of 7 compounds that destroy neuroblastoma cancer cells without any apparent side effects. This discovery, made with the support of the WCG volunteers, is a positive step towards a new treatment. The project has announced that it is seeking a collaboration with a pharmaceutical company in order to develop the compounds into treatments. Given the success of the project, the scientists have stated that they are already planning a follow-up project which will focus on other pediatric cancers, possibly in collaboration with a newly formed Pan-Asian oncology group, of which they are a founding member.
As of July 2012, the Human Proteome Folding Project has published several papers using data from WCG. These include a paper on a validation methods and a new database of protein structure and function predictions; a paper on the identification of proteins that regulate human processes; a paper on the analysis of the genomes from five plant families and their proteomes, for which WCG was used in the creation of over 29,000 protein structures; a paper on the proteome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
The GO Fight Against Malaria project reported the discovery of several molecules that are effective against Malaria and Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (including TDR-TB, for which there is no treatment available). The project also tested for new molecules against MRSA, Filariasis and Bubonic Plague. Laboratory testing continues in order to turn those molecules into possible treatments. GFAM was also the first project ever to perform a billion different docking calculations. A paper was published in January 2015, with two more pending submission. In June 2015, the project reported that of the two "hits" discovered against a drug-resistant tuberculosis strain, several "analogs" have been synthesized, the best one of which inhibits the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is relatively non-toxic to mammalian cells. Lack of funding prevented further research into the data.
The Discovering Dengue Drugs - Together project scientists reported the discovery of several new Dengue protease inhibitors, most of which also inhibit the West Nile virus protease. A handful of these have already entered "crucial pre-clinical pharmacokinetic and efficacy studies". In November 2014, an update reported that the scientists have a drug lead that disables a key enzyme that allows the Dengue virus to replicate. It has also shown the same behaviour in other flaviviruses, such as the West Nile virus. No negative side effects such as toxicity, carcinogenicity or mutagenicity have been observed, making this drug lead a very strong antiviral drug candidate for these viruses. The scientists are now working to synthesize variants of the molecule to improve its activity and enter planned pre-clinical and clinical trials. However, in an October 2018 update, the research team reported that none of their current designs had produced a highly potent dengue protease inhibitor that could be tested in vivo.
In June 2013, the Clean Energy Project published a database of over 2.3 million organic molecules which have had their properties characterized. Of these, 35,000 molecules have shown the potential to double the efficiency over organic solar cells currently being produced. Before this initiative, scientists knew of just a handful of carbon-based materials that were able to convert sunlight into electricity efficiently.
In February 2010, the FightAIDS@Home project scientists announced that they have found two compounds which make a potentially new class of AIDS-fighting drugs possible. The compounds attach to the virus at newly discovered binding sites, and thus can be used to "enhance existing therapies, treat drug-resistant strains of the disease, and slow the evolution of drug resistance in the virus."
In July 2015, the Drug Search for Leishmaniasis project announced it had tested the top 10 compounds with highest predicted efficiency out of over 100 identified via WCG workunits. Of those 10, 4 showed "positive results" in in vitro testing, with one showing "an exceptionally promising result". In August 2017, in vivo testing of the 4 compounds on hamsters showed favourable results, with one compound inducing "an almost complete curing of the lesions in two out of five hamsters." However, in a March 2018 update, the research team announced none of the 10 tested compounds had sufficient anti-leishmaniasis activity.
In July 2015, the Computing for Clean Water project announced that a paper had been published in the Nature Nanotechnology journal describing a new type of water filter efficiently utilising nanotubes. "[The] nanotubes are made of single-atom-thick sheets of carbon atoms, called graphene, rolled up into tiny tubes, with diameters of just a few nanometers - one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. The size of the tubes allows water molecules to pass through, but blocks larger pathogens and contaminants, purifying the water." By running simulations on WCG, the scientists discovered that certain kinds of natural vibrations called phonons, under specific conditions, can lead to more than 300% increased flow of water through the nanotubes, compared to previous theoretical predictions.
In April 2015, the Say No To Schistosoma project scientists reported that subsequent analysis had been performed, and the three most promising candidate substances had been identified for in vitro testing.
In March 2019, FightAIDS@Home researchers published a paper describing a "Novel Intersubunit Interaction Critical for HIV-1 Core Assembly" that "defines a Potentially Targetable Inhibitor Binding Pocket". Using World Community Grid, more than 1.6 million compounds were used to target 20 conformations of this pocket. Preliminary results suggest it to be a plausible binding site for antiviral compounds. Further analysis of these compounds are the subject of an independent study.

Active subprojects

OpenPandemics - COVID-19
On April 1, 2020, IBM announced OpenPandemics - COVID-19. The project aims to identify possible treatments for the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. WCG will partner with Scripps Research, with whom it has partnered in the past, notably in FightAIDS@Home projects. The project runs on CPUs and GPUs and will also serve to create a "fast-response, open source tool that will help all scientists quickly search for treatments for future pandemics."

The project launched on May 14, 2020.

Mapping Cancer Markers
Mapping Cancer Markers (launched November 8, 2013). The project aims to identify the markers associated with various types of cancer, and is analyzing millions of data points collected from thousands of healthy and cancerous patient tissue samples. These include tissues with lung, ovarian, prostate, pancreatic and breast cancers. By comparing these different data points, researchers aim to identify patterns of markers for different cancers and correlate them with different outcomes, including responsiveness to various treatment options. The project is focusing on 4 types of cancer, with the first focus being on lung cancer, and will move on to ovarian cancer, prostate cancer and sarcoma.

FightAIDS@Home Phase 2
FightAIDS@Home Phase 2 (launched September 30, 2015) is looking more closely at the results of Phase 1. The project has two goals in the early experiments; the simulation architecture is functioning correctly and giving reliable results, and using BEDAM and AutoDock together provides better results than using just BEDAM or AutoDock.

Help Stop TB
Help Stop TB was launched in March 2016 to help combat tuberculosis, a disease caused by a bacterium that is evolving resistance to currently available treatments. The computations of this project target mycolic acids in the bacterium's protective coat, simulating the behaviour of these molecules to better understand how they offer protection to the bacteria.

Smash Childhood Cancer

Launched in January 2017, the Smash Childhood Cancer project builds on the work from the Help Fight Childhood Cancer project by looking for drug candidates targeting additional childhood cancers. Upon Dr. Akira Nakagawara's retirement in March 2020, the principal investigator changed to Dr. Godfrey Chan, who was one of the original members of the Smash Childhood Cancer team. Additionally, PRDM14 and Fox01 have been added as new targets for investigation. An inhibitor of the osteopontin protein was modeled.

Africa Rainfall Project
The Africa Rainfall Project (launched October 2019) will use the computing power of World Community Grid, data from The Weather Company, and other data to improve rainfall modelling, which can help farmers in sub-Saharan Africa successfully raise their crops.
The amount of RAM that can be involved in calculations is from 1 to 16 gigabytes.

Completed subprojects

Human Proteome Folding – Phase 1

The first project launched on World Community Grid was the Human Proteome Folding Project, or HPF1, which aims to predict the structure of human proteins. The project was launched on November 16, 2004, and completed on July 18, 2006. This project was unique in that computation was done in tandem with the grid.org distributed computing project. Devised by Richard Bonneau at the Institute for Systems Biology, the project used grid computing to produce the likely structures for each of the proteins using a Rosetta Score. From these predictions, researchers hope to predict the function of the myriad proteins. This increased understanding of the human proteins could prove vital in the search for cures to human diseases. Computing for this project was officially completed on July 18, 2006.  Research results for the yeast portion of HPF1 have been published.

Human Proteome Folding – Phase 2

Human Proteome Folding - Phase 2 (HPF2) (launched June 23, 2006) was the third project to run on World Community Grid, and completed in 2013. This project, following on from HPF1, focused on human-secreted proteins, with special focus on biomarkers and the proteins on the surface of cells as well as Plasmodium, the organism that causes malaria. HPF2 generates higher-resolution protein models than HPF1. Though these higher-resolution models are more useful, they also require more processing power to generate.

In a July 2012 status report, the project scientists reported that the results generated by the WCG calculations are being used by Dr. Markus Landthaler of the Max Delbruch Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin. The HPF2 results helped Dr. Markus Landthaler and his collaborators in writing up a new paper on "The mRNA-Bound Proteome and Its Global Occupancy Profile on Protein-Coding Transcripts"

Help Defeat Cancer

The Help Defeat Cancer project seeks to improve the ability of medical professionals to determine the best treatment options for patients with breast, head, or neck cancer. The project was launched on July 20, 2006, and completed in April 2007. The project worked by identifying visual patterns in large numbers of tissue microarrays taken from archived tissue samples. By correlating the pattern data with information about treatment and patient outcome, the results of this project could help provide better targeted treatment options.

Genome Comparison

The Genome Comparison project is sponsored by the Brazilian research institution Fiocruz. The project was launched on November 21, 2006, and completed on July 21, 2007. The project seeks to compare gene sequences of different organisms against each other in order to find similarities between them.  Scientists hope to discover what purpose a particular gene sequence serves in a particular function of one organism, via comparing it to a similar gene sequence of known function in another organism.

Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy – Phase 1

Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy is run by Décrypthon, a collaboration between French Muscular Dystrophy Association, French National Center for Scientific Research and IBM. Phase 1 was launched on December 19, 2006, and completed on June 11, 2007. The project investigated protein–protein interactions for 40,000 proteins whose structures are known, with particular focus on those proteins that play a role in neuromuscular diseases. The database of information produced will help researchers design molecules to inhibit or enhance binding of particular macromolecules, hopefully leading to better treatments for muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular diseases. This project was available only to agents running the Grid MP client, making it unavailable to users running BOINC.

Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together

Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together was sponsored by scientists at the University of Texas and the University of Chicago and will run in two phases. Phase 1, launched August 21, 2007, used AutoDock 2007 (the same software used for FightAIDS@Home) to test potential antiviral drugs (through NS3 protease inhibition) against viruses from the family flaviviridae and completed on August 11, 2009. Phase 2 "[uses] a more computationally intensive program to screen the candidates that make it through Phase 1." The drug candidates that make it through Phase 2 will then be lab-tested.

AfricanClimate@Home
The mission of AfricanClimate@Home was to develop more accurate climate models of specific regions in Africa. It was intended to serve as a basis for understanding how the climate will change in the future so that measures designed to alleviate the adverse effects of climate change could be implemented. World Community Grid's tremendous computing power was used to understand and reduce the uncertainty with which climate processes were simulated over Africa. Phase 1 of African Climate@Home launched on September 3, 2007, and ended in July 2008.

Help Conquer Cancer

Help Conquer Cancer project (launched November 1, 2007) is sponsored by the Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI), Princess Margaret Hospital and University Health Network of Toronto, Canada. The project involves X-ray crystallography. The mission of Help Conquer Cancer is to improve the results of protein X-ray crystallography, which helps researchers not only annotate unknown parts of the human proteome, but importantly improves their understanding of cancer initiation, progression and treatment.

The HCC project was the first WCG project benefiting from graphics processing units (GPU)s which helped finish it a lot earlier than initially projected due to the massive power of GPUs. In the April 2013 status report the scientists report there is still a lot of data to analyze but that they are preparing a new project that will search for prognostic and predictive signatures (sets of genes, proteins, microRNAs, etc.) that help predict patient survival and response to treatment.
The project finished in May 2013.

Nutritious Rice for the World

The Nutritious Rice for the World project is carried out by Ram Samudrala's Computational Biology Research Group at the University of Washington. The project was launched on May 12, 2008, and completed on April 6, 2010. The purpose of this project is to predict the structure of proteins of major strains of rice, in order to help farmers breed better rice strains with higher crop yields, promote greater disease and pest resistance, and utilize a full range of bioavailable nutrients that can benefit people around the world, especially in regions where malnutrition is a critical concern. The project has been covered by more than 200 media outlets since its inception.  On April 13, 2010, World Community Grid officially announced that the Nutritious Rice for the World project finished on April 6, 2010.

In April 2014, an update was posted stating that the research team was able to publish structural information about thousands of proteins, and advance the field of computational protein modeling. These results – which were only possible because of the massive amount of donated computing power they had available – are expected to guide future research and plant science efforts.

The Clean Energy Project

The Clean Energy project is sponsored by the scientists of Harvard University's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The mission of the Clean Energy Project is to find new materials for the next generation of solar cells and later, energy storage devices. Researchers are employing molecular mechanics and electronic structure calculations to predict the optical and transport properties of molecules that could become the next generation of solar cell materials.

Phase 1 was launched on December 5, 2008, and completed on October 13, 2009.  By harnessing the computing power of the World Community Grid, researchers were able to calculate the electronic properties of tens of thousands of organic materials – many more than could ever be tested in a lab – and determine which candidates are most promising for developing affordable solar energy technology.

Phase 2 was launched June 28, 2010, sponsored by the scientists of Harvard University's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Further calculations about optical, electronic and other physical properties of the candidate materials are being conducted with the Q-Chem quantum chemistry software. Their findings have been submitted to the Energy & Environmental Science journal.

Help Fight Childhood Cancer

Help Fight Childhood Cancer project (launched March 13, 2009) is sponsored by the scientists at Chiba Cancer Center Research Institute and Chiba University. The mission of the Help Fight Childhood Cancer project is to find drugs that can disable three particular proteins associated with neuroblastoma, one of the most frequently occurring solid tumors in children. Identifying these drugs could potentially make the disease much more curable when combined with chemotherapy treatment.

Influenza Antiviral Drug Search

Influenza Antiviral Drug Search project is sponsored by Dr. Stan Watowich and his research team at The University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston, Texas, USA). The project was launched on May 5, 2009, and completed on October 22, 2009. The mission of the Influenza Antiviral Drug Search project is to find new drugs that can stop the spread of an influenza infection in the body. The research will specifically address the influenza strains that have become drug resistant as well as new strains that are appearing. Identifying the chemical compounds that are the best candidates will accelerate the efforts to develop treatments that would be useful in managing seasonal influenza outbreaks, and future influenza epidemics and even pandemics. Phase 1 of The Influenza Antiviral Drug Search project has already finished on October 22, 2009. Now the researchers are performing post-processing on the results from Phase 1 and are preparing for Phase 2.

In November 2012, the project's scientists stated that, given the fact that there is no immediate danger of an influenza outbreak, all of the project's results would be posted online and their resources would be refocused on the Dengue Project.

Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy – Phase 2

World Community Grid and researchers supported by Decrypthon, a partnership between AFM (French Muscular Dystrophy Association), CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research), Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, and IBM were investigating protein–protein interactions for more than 2,200 proteins whose structures are known, with particular focus on those proteins that play a role in neuromuscular diseases. Phase 2 was launched on May 12, 2009, and completed on September 26, 2012. The database of information produced will help researchers design molecules to inhibit or enhance binding of particular macromolecules, hopefully leading to better treatments for muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular diseases.

Phase 2 of the Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy project began once the results from the first phase had been analyzed. Phase 2 ran on the BOINC platform.

Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together – Phase 2

Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together – Phase 2 (launched February 17, 2010) is sponsored by The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas, United States and the University of Chicago in Illinois, USA. The mission is to identify promising drug candidates to combat the Dengue, Hepatitis C, West Nile, Yellow Fever, and other related viruses. The extensive computing power of World Community Grid will be used to complete the structure-based drug discovery calculations required to identify these drug candidates.

Computing for Clean Water
Computing for Clean Water (launched September 20, 2010) is sponsored by the Center for Nano and Micro Mechanics of Tsinghua University in Beijing. The project's mission is to provide deeper insight on the molecular scale into the origins of the efficient flow of water through a novel class of filter materials. This insight will in turn guide future development of low-cost and more efficient water filters. It is estimated that 1.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion have little or no sanitation. As a result, millions of people die annually – an estimated 3,900 children a day due to a lack of clean water. On April 25, 2014, the project scientists released an update stating that they had exciting results to report when the paper is submitted and that the project on WCG was finished.

Drug Search for Leishmaniasis
Drug Search for Leishmaniasis (launched September 7, 2011) is spearheaded by the University of Antioquia in Medellín, Colombia, with assistance from researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. The mission is to identify potential molecule candidates that could possibly be developed into treatments for Leishmaniasis. The extensive computing power of World Community Grid will be used to perform computer simulations of the interactions between millions of chemical compounds and certain target proteins. This will help find the most promising compounds that may lead to effective treatments for the disease.

GO Fight Against Malaria Project
The mission of the GO Fight Against Malaria project (launched November 16, 2011) is to discover promising drug candidates that could be developed into new drugs that cure drug resistant forms of malaria. The computing power of World Community Grid will be used to perform computer simulations of the interactions between millions of chemical compounds and certain target proteins, to predict their ability to eliminate malaria. The best compounds will be tested by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute of La Jolla, California, U.S.A. and further developed into possible treatments for the disease.

Say No to Schistosoma
Say No to Schistosoma (launched February 22, 2012) was the 20th research project to be launched on World Community Grid. The researchers at Infórium University in Belo Horizonte and FIOCRUZ-Minas, Brazil, ran this project on World Community Grid to perform computer simulations of the interactions between millions of chemical compounds and certain target proteins in the hope of finding effective treatments for schistosomiasis. As of April 2015, subsequent analysis had been performed, and the three most promising candidate substances had been identified for in-vitro testing.

Computing for Sustainable Water
Computing for Sustainable Water was the 21st research project to be launched on World Community Grid. The researchers at the University of Virginia were running this project on World Community Grid to study the effects of human activity on a large watershed and gain deeper insights into what actions can support the restoration, health and sustainability of this important water resource. The project was launched on April 17, 2012, and completed on October 17, 2012.

Uncovering Genome Mysteries
Uncovering Genome Mysteries project launched on October 16, 2014, and is a joint collaboration between Australian and Brazilian scientists. The project aims to examine close to 200 million genes from many life forms and compare them with known genes in order to find out what their function is. The results could have an effect in fields such as medicine and environmental research.

Outsmart Ebola Together
Outsmart Ebola Together was a collaboration with the Scripps Research Institute to help find chemical compounds to fight Ebola virus disease. It was launched on 3 December 2014. The aim is to block crucial steps in the life cycle of the virus, by finding drugs with high binding affinity with certain of its proteins. There are two targets: a surface protein used by the virus to infect human cells, and "transformer" proteins which change shape to carry out different functions. The project officially completed December 6, 2018.

OpenZika
OpenZika was launched on May 18, 2016, to help combat the Zika virus. The project targets proteins that are believed to be used by the Zika virus to survive and spread in the body, based on known results from similar diseases like dengue fever and yellow fever. These results will help researchers develop an anti-Zika drug. The project officially completed December 13, 2019.

FightAIDS@Home

FightAIDS@Home (launched November 19, 2005) was World Community Grid's second project and its first to target a single disease.  Each individual computer processes one potential drug molecule and tests how well it would dock with HIV protease, acting as a protease inhibitor. Scripps Research Institute published its first peer-reviewed scientific paper about the results of FightAIDS@Home on April 21, 2007. This paper explains that the results up to that point will primarily be used to improve the efficiency of future FightAIDS@Home calculations.

Microbiome Immunity Project
Microbiome Immunity Project (launched August 2017) is a study of proteins in bacteria located in and on the human body; the human microbiome, which comprises around 3 million separate bacterial genes. By learning bacteria genes, their individual shapes can be known, and each physical shape determines the function of bacteria. Collaborative institutions includes the University of California San Diego, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and the Simons Foundation's Flatiron Institute.

See also
 BOINC
 Folding@home
 List of volunteer computing projects
 World community

References

External links

Science in society
Free science software
Volunteer computing projects
Philanthropic organizations based in Canada


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Back to Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Leasing
The Stelvio is based on the Alfa Romeo Giulia and has many of the same features, including a fun-to-drive feel, as well as a sporty and luxurious interior. Almost as gorgeous as the Giulia to look at, the Stelvio is every inch the sporting SUV it aspires to be. It's also a practical family car, with space for 5 people and their luggage.
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Alfa Romeo Stelvio Estate2.0 Turbo 200 Sprint 5 Doors Auto
TransmissionTransmissionAutomatic
FuelTypeFuel TypePetrol
EmissionsEmissions160g/km
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Estate2.2 D 190 Sprint 5 Doors Auto
FuelTypeFuel TypeDiesel
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Estate2.0 Turbo 280 Veloce Ti 5 Doors Auto
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Estate2.0 Turbo 280 Veloce 5 Doors Auto
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Estate2.2 D 210 Veloce 5 Doors Auto
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Estate2.9 V6 BiTurbo 510 Quadrifoglio 5 Doors Auto [ACC]
A fantastic-looking SUV.
A choice of diesel and petrol engines.
Sporty handling gives real driving enjoyment.
Why Lease An Alfa Romeo Stelvio?
The Stelvio is an SUV for those drivers who favour driving enjoyment alongside practicality. Sporting pedigree is what Alfa Romeo is all about and the Stelvio certainly fits the bill. As well as sharp handling, super-powerful Quadrifoglio models are powered by a Ferrari-developed V6 engine, which cranks out in excess of 500hp. The Stelvio won't be for those who want to be super-frugal, because while there are diesel engines that return decent economy, there are no plug-in or hybrid models available in the range.
What's The Cabin Like?
Similar to the Alfa Romeo Giulia saloon, the Stelvio's interior feels sporty and luxurious. You sit low behind twin-cowled dials and there is loads of room for front-seat passengers to get comfortable. The beautifully shaped – and optional – steering wheel-mounted paddles that control the 8-speed automatic gearbox are really lovely to use, and overall quality is good, if not as premium as some rivals. The 8.8-inch touchscreen can be accessed by a centre console-mounted rotary controller and physical buttons also control the air-conditioning system.
How Does It Drive?
Any Stelvio is great to drive, with punchy engines and handling that offers up almost as much enjoyment as a sporting saloon car. Direct steering means you can place the Stelvio on the road easily, and with little body roll and 4-wheel drive on every model, all Stelvios are agile yet incredibly stable, even at higher speeds. The engines perform strongly and even the slowest-accelerating diesel Stelvios reach 62mph from rest in 7.6 seconds. Alfa Romeo's 'DNA' driving modes allows for fine-tuning of the on-road experience, with settings offering heightened dynamic and efficiency controls. Power outputs range from 190- to 280hp on core models, but the sports-car-quick Quadrifoglio has a massive 510hp and will scamper from 0-62mph in just 3.8 seconds. Just make sure everything is strapped down…The Stelvio's sporting focus does mean a firmer ride than some rivals, but it's far from uncomfortable. Adaptive suspension is available to strike an even finer ride and handling balance, but cars like the Audi Q5 are a better choice if you favour outright comfort and refinement. The Stelvio can also venture off-road thanks to its standard 4-wheel-drive system, but if you want to go proper mud-plugging you'll want a Land Rover Discovery Sport.
Practicality & Storage
For a family SUV, the Stelvio is as practical a proposition as its rivals. Space up front is generous and it's easy to get comfortable. It's not quite so good in the back, with headroom at a premium for tall people due to the sloping roofline, but kids will be more than happy. Square-shaped cars such as the Volvo XC60 are more accommodating here.
Boot space is good at 525 litres, which is more than the Audi Q5 Sportback but less than the Audi Q5 itself, and exactly the same capacity as the BMW X4's. The longer Jaguar F-Pace has 650 litres, but the Stelvio can carry 1600 litres of luggage with the rear seats folded. The seats split in a 40/20/40 configuration to cater for a range of luggage and passenger permutations.
Odds and ends are kept in place around the cabin with 2 cupholders in front of the gearlever and a covered compartment in the armrest between the front seats. There are door bins all round and the rear-seat passengers get cupholders built into the fold-down armrest.
Running Costs & Economy
A premium SUV, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio isn't likely to be the cheapest car to either run or lease. Unlike the Giulia, though, there is a choice of diesel engines that return economy figures of around 42mpg under official tests. The petrol engines do around 33mpg, but choose the Quadrifoglio and this drops to 26mpg.
Bear in mind, though, that if you drive the Stelvio enthusiastically, which you most likely will, in the real world you'll go through fuel quicker than any of these figures suggest.
Models Available
The Alfa Romeo Stevio is available in just a single body style, a 5-door SUV. Unlike some rivals there is no 'coupe' version as the Stelvio is already an SUV with sporting pretensions.
High Performance Models
The high-performance Stelvio Quadrifoglio references Alfa Romeo's sports car legacy. Powered by a 2.9-litre, bi-turbocharged engine with 510hp, the super-quick Stelvio does 0-62mph in an amazing 3.8 seconds.
Stelvio SprintStelvio VeloceStelvio Veloce TiStelvio QuadrifoglioAll Stelvios are well-equipped and even base-spec models have 19-inch alloy wheels, active cruise control, bi-xenon headlights, and heated leather seats. An auto-dimming rear view mirror, electric front seat adjustment and rear privacy glass are also standard.
The Alfa Romeo Stelvio Vs Competitors
Aimed at the more sporty end of the SUV class, when it comes to leasing deals, the Stelvio is up against rivals which also focus driving enjoyment and practicality. Direct rivals for the core Stelvio models include the Audi Q5 and BMW X4, as well as the Mercedes-Benz GLC. If you want the highest levels of driving fun, though, you might want to lease the Porsche Macan.If you want a high-performance SUV, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio squares up to the Porsche Macan Turbo and the larger Volkswagen Touareg R, which offers a much bigger boot. The Audi SQ5 and BMW X4M Competition are other options.If you want to keep leasing costs down, the Jaguar F-Pace, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Lexus NX and Volvo XC60 all feature hybrid or plug-in hybrid power options.
Is the Alfa Romeo Giulia a good car?
If you want to lease a SUV that's focused on providing a sporting drive, the Stelvio is a great leasing choice. It looks great, too, but the Stelvio's interior isn't quite as plush as its German rivals.
Is the Alfa Romeo Stelvio a reliable car?
Not a brand traditionally known for its reliability, Alfa Romeo's reputation has improved. The Stelvio comes with a 3-year warranty – 2 years factory supported and 1 year backed by the retailer – with extended cover available at extra cost.
Does the Alfa Romeo Stelvio have a big boot?
The Stelvio's boot has a 525-litre capacity which is more than both the Audi Q5 Sportback and exactly the same as that of the BMW X4.
Does the Alfa Romeo Stelvio have 7 seats?
No, despite being a large SUV, the Stelvio is only available with 5 seats.
Does the Alfa Romeo Stelvio have parking sensors?
Yes, which helps when manoeuvring the Stelvio in the tightest of spots. All Stelvio models have both front and rear parking sensors, as well as a rear-view camera.
What engine is in an Alfa Romeo Stelvio?
The core models in the Stelvio range use turbocharged 4-cylinder engines. The 2.0-litre petrol engines have 210- and 280hp, while the 2.2-litre diesels make 190- and 210hp. As already mentioned, the mighty Quadrifoglio packs a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 with 510hp, so it stands quite a long way apart from the rest of the line-up.
Why Lease With Vanarama?
Leasing a Alfa Romeo Stelvio with Vanarama is the smartest way to upgrade what you drive. Not only will you get the best price, guaranteed with our Price Promise*, there's also no hidden fees, extra protection should the worst happen and access to expert advice when you need it! What are you waiting for? Find your New Lease Of Life today!
If something changes unexpectedly with your personal circumstances, the last thing you want to be worrying...
What Happens At The End Of A Lease?
At the end of a lease contract, you simply hand back the car to the finance company...
What Happens At The End?
Excess Mileage Explained
Confusion over excess mileage charges? Everything you need to know is in our easy to understand guide...
Photos and videos are for illustration purposes only. Terms and conditions apply.


Shut up and let them buy!
Resist Your Fear of Asking!
I was forwarded the following article that I think every Personal Trainer should read. It may be a bit controversial but definitely addresses some important points and is a great reminder! Maybe read it together at your next team meeting…Be sure to leave a comment on my blog. I'd love to hear what you think!
As trainers, if we aren't skilled at helping people overcome their mental barriers to taking action, then they'll just keep THINKING about starting an exercise program forever and never actually DO anything about it! It's our job to help people overcome the obstacles that are preventing them from reaching their goals and living their best life!
Fortunately, the obstacles that most of our clients will present us with are very common and predictable. We just need to know what they are and be prepared with a system and questions to help them overcome those obstacles to success.
•	I don't know if I'll stick to it.
•	I've tried before and never experienced any results.
•	I can't afford it.
When handling someone's concerns, try the following system guaranteed to get clients to stop thinking and start doing!