Clipmarks | wildcat's environment, planet, earth collection

Small and Fabulous: Modular Living as It Should Be

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:48:51 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

The world is getting hotter and more crowded every day, and modular, prefab housing is just what the doctor ordered. When you go small, it's not just about energy efficiency and carbon footprints -- it's also about being strange, cool and beautiful. We've chosen our favorite houses that meld style with globally conscious living. Enjoy. (Please include your own picks in the comments section.)

Are There Really Continents of Floating Garbage?

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 12:06:20 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Even so, this polluted, chemical filled junk is finding it’s way onto our dinner tables.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Since stories have started surfacing more recently, many have wondered if the rumors are true. Are there really ‘continents’, or massive floating garbage patches residing in the pacific ocean? Apparently, the rumors are true, and these unsightly patches are reportedly killing marine life and releasing poisons that enter the human food chain, as well. Indeed, the human race has really made its mark. One plastic patch is estimated to weigh over 3 million tons and covers an area twice the size of Texas.

But if there are massive islands of junk out there, why doesn’t everyone already know about it, and why are we doing something about it?

Well, there are several reasons. First, no one is keen to claim responsibility for these monstrosities, which exists in one of the most remote spots on the planet

It’s easy to ignore than deal with, at least in the short term. Clean up is nearly impossible at this point

Madrid's 'Air Tree' Will “Climatically Transform” Urban Architecture

Sat, 17 May 2008 11:19:32 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

The city of Madrid soon plans to add a striking new structure -Air Tree pavilion- that will “climatically transform” its urban architecture. It also produces oxygen like a tree, hence the name. The Air Tree pavilion is to be built from recycled materials and will be 100% energy self-sufficient. Using photovoltaic cells, the Air Tree produces a substantial amount of energy, which is then sold back to the local electric companies, and, of course oxygen - hence the name Air Tree. It's a completely unique idea and one that, unlike most out-of-the-box ideas, is actually being made a reality.

The surrounding environment near the air tree will be naturally conditioned, reducing the heat island effect found in most city centers. The air trees will be implemented city wide in the coming years.

Tags: air tree, climate, design, nature, urban, architecture

What's Destroying Fragile Coral Reefs: Tourists' Sunscreen

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 11:27:28 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Scientists Discover What's Destroying Fragile Coral Reefs: Tourists' Sunscreen

A new study has identified an elusive culprit behind the lethal bleaching of coral reefs worldwide. The popular sunscreens that tourists slather on before a dip in the ocean contains chemicals that quickly kill off fragile reefs.

Specifically, what researchers found was that four commonly found sunscreen ingredients have the ability to awaken dormant viruses in the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside reef-building coral species. The chemicals then cause the viruses to replicate until their algae hosts explode, spilling viruses into the surrounding seawater, where they can spread out to infect neighboring coral communities.

How could sunscreen make any difference in such a vast ocean? The amount of sunscreen involved is probably larger than most of us would guess. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen wash off swimmers bodies annually

Tags: coral reefs, sunscreen

How Advertising Manipulates Our “Caveman” Brains (& How to Resist)

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:48:30 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Fortunately, there are ways to go about PROOFING YOUR BRAIN.

1. Change your mindset to “postmore” by challenging culture’s ingrained assumption that “more” of everything is automatically better.

2. Grow your gratitude. Our poor, starved, frozen ancestors would cry tears of joy if they suddenly landed in our culture of abundance. Fostering our appreciation of this bounty can also block the consumerist “cool” pressure to deride so many of our fine, workable possessions as “so last year”.

3. Be enough. We’re constantly told that we aren’t rich enough, glam enough, cool enough, networked enough, etc. This has a powerful insidious effect on our primitive, socially competitive brain circuits. It’s like a toxic substance that turns rational brains into needy toddlers wanting “more, more, more!

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

It is becoming increasingly clear that widespread consumption is wrecking havoc on the planet. But, if it’s making us happier then perhaps it’s worth the compromise, some argue. Strangely, that doesn’t appear to be the case, either. The spreading westernized belief that “more” possessions equates to more happiness hasn’t panned out. In fact, statistically, the First World now has more depression, alcoholism, crime, anxiety, obesity and overall dissatisfaction with life than was reported 50 years ago. What if “more” isn’t “more” in terms of consumption? Recent research is now shedding light on the phenomenon.

Last year Bonn researchers used brain scanning to show that humans don’t want lots of stuff, so much as they want MORE stuff than others

Our primitive brains…got us down from the trees and around the world, through ice ages, famines, plagues and disasters, into our unprecedented era of abundance. But they never had to evolve an instinct that said, ‘enough’.”

Tags: consumerism, planet, brain, consumption

No more power bills -ever

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:10:55 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

HYDROGEN HOUSE: This unassuming modular home in suburban New Jersey runs on solar power and stored hydrogen.
©DAVID BIELLO

EAST AMWELL, N.J.—Mike Strizki has not paid an electric, oil or gas bill—nor has he spent a nickel to fill up his Mercury Sable—in nearly two years. Instead, the 51-year-old civil engineer makes all the fuel he needs using a system he built in the capacious garage of his home, which employs photovoltaic (PV) panels to turn sunlight into electricity that is harnessed in turn to extract hydrogen from tap water.

Although the device cost $500,000 to construct, and it is unlikely it will ever pay off financially (even with today's skyrocketing oil and gas prices), the civil engineer says it is priceless in terms of what it does buy: freedom from ever paying another heating or electric bill, not to mention keeping a lid on pollution, because water is its only by-product.

Tags: hydrogen, power bills, solar power

Life from Scratch

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:37:34 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.sciencenews.org

Learning to make synthetic cells

Maggots don't arise spontaneously out of dead, rotting meat. Aphids never materialize within drops of morning dew. Aristotle and others who believed in the spontaneous generation of life were dead wrong.

The only time life arose from nonlife, biologists believe, was almost 4 billion years ago, when simple living cells first appeared on Earth. But now, with the help of a microscopic parasite that infects people's genitals, researchers may rehabilitate the core of Aristotle's idea.

Scientists are on the verge of creating living cells by piecing together small molecules that are themselves not alive. The result would be the world's first human-made life forms, synthetic cells made more or less from scratch.

The goal is to make cells that are as simple as possible, yet still able to grow, reproduce, and evolve—some of the defining traits of life.

"Simplicity has always been where we try to gain understanding,"

Tags: life

The Fury of the Poor

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:54:24 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: go read all of it

Clip Source: www.spiegel.de

Around the world, rising food prices have made basic staples like rice and corn unaffordable for many people, pushing the poor to the barricades because they can no longer get enough to eat. But the worst is yet to come.

PHOTO GALLERY: FOOD RIOTS AROUND THE WORLD

Click on a picture to launch the image gallery (10 Photos)

On the roof of the former prison, enterprising women prepare something that looks like biscuits and is even called by that name. The key ingredient, yellow clay, is trucked in from the nearby mountains. The clay is combined with salt and vegetable fat to make dough, which is then dried in the sun.

For many Haitians, the mud biscuits are their only food. They taste of fat, suck the moisture out of the mouth and leave behind an aftertaste of dirt. They often cause diarrhea, but they help to numb the pangs of hunger

The clay to make 100 of the biscuits costs $5 (€3.15) and has risen by $1.50 (€0.95), or about 40 percent, within one year. The same is true of staple foods.

Tags: food, riots, poor, problem, big problem

Human skin cells hide circadian clock

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:11:18 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

An internal clock hidden in human skin cells could reveal whether your body clock is out of sync with your lifestyle, say researchers.

Steven Brown of the University of Zurich in Switzerland and his colleagues knew that the brain’s circadian clock causes a gene called Bmal1 to be more active in the body’s other cells during the daytime.

To find out how closely matched this activity was, they used a virus to equip skin cells taken from 11 early-rising people dubbed "larks" and 17 late-rising "owls" with a firefly gene that would produce a visible glow whenever Bmal1 was active. “The result is light coming out of the cell in a 24-hour rhythm,” says Brown.

By monitoring the times when the cells glowed, they demonstrated that skin cells showed the same sleep-wake patterns as those reported in questionnaires by at least half the donors.

“Knowing that skin clocks ‘tick’ in the same way as brain clocks provides a nice tool to address whether a person is likely to be an early or late riser,”

Tags: internal clock, skin cells

Is this the beginning of water wars?

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:02:49 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: environment.newscientist.com

As Barcelona runs out of water, Spain has been forced to consider importing water from France by boat. It is the latest example of the growing struggle for water around the world – the "water wars".

Barcelona and the surrounding region are suffering the worst drought in decades. There are several possible solutions, including diverting a river, and desalinating water. But the city looks like it will ship water from the French port of Marseilles.

The water services authority in Marseille say that no contracts have been signed, and would not say how much the water would cost, although it is unlikely to cost any more than it costs the inhabitants of Marseilles. And the amounts of water than have been discussed are small – 25,000 cubic metres, less than what's needed to grow an acre of wheat, and not enough to keep 30 Spaniards going for a year, based on their average consumption.

But the proposal is interesting because it turns a local drought into an international situation.

Tags: water, future, tension

The Earth Will Be Just Fine, Thank You

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:41:45 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Despite its many flaws, I’m a big fan of human civilization. I marvel at our capacity to organize matter and information, at our ability to learn from mistakes and pass that learning down to subsequent generations. Civilization—writing, cities, trade, the whole lot of it—makes us unique on this planet and, as far as we can tell so far, in our part of the universe.

Clip Source: ieet.org

The grand myth of environmentalism is that it’s all about saving the Earth. It’s not. The Earth will be just fine. Environmentalism is all about saving ourselves.

That may seem a bit counter-intuitive; after all, the Earth is certainly central to the rhetoric, the memetics of environmentalism. Most environmental discussions focus on ecological dynamics, with references to human beings typically limited to enumerations of the various insults we’ve visited upon the planet. Given the degree of culpability we bear for the current state of the planet, this is entirely appropriate.

But the rhetorical focus of environmentalism on the planet obscures the fact that what human beings have done to the Earth pales in comparison to past disasters hitting our world, from massive asteroid strikes to super-volcano eruptions killing off 90+% of the Earth’s species

And in every case, the Earth has recovered, and life has once again flourished.

Tags: myth, environmentalism, conceptual mistakes

Cities of the Future

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:13:09 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.technewsworld.com

"Future cities should be compact habitat alternatives to urban sprawl and the single family housing concept. Local resources would be maximized and logistical systems for people, goods and services would be especially efficient," explains Erin Jeffries, spokesperson for the Arcosanti Project of the Cosanti Foundation.

For decades, sci-fi writers have painted a picture of utopia as a crystal-domed city appointed with shiny-steel accents, ultra-modern furniture and gadgets ranging from food replicators to floor-hugging maintenance drones. Tranquility and efficiency extend from work to sex, and the human aging process is "curable," as is every other form of disease.

The results to date have been pitted and pitched by the decidedly inefficient and totally anti-tranquil aspects of the messy side of human existence.

Building huge cities and hyperstructures that can house hundreds of thousands of people is once again seen as a good shot

perhaps our best shot

Tags: cities, habitat

Scientists unveil 'supercarrot'

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:15:35 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Scientists in the US say they have created a genetically-engineered carrot that provides extra calcium.

They hope that adding the vegetable to a normal diet could help ward off conditions such as brittle bone disease and osteoporosis.

Someone eating the new carrot absorbs 41% more calcium than if they ate the old, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study suggests.

The calcium-charged vegetable still needs to go through many safety trials.

"These carrots were grown in carefully monitored and controlled environments," said Professor Kendal Hirschi, part of the team at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.

"Much more research needs to be conducted before this would be available to consumers."

But the scientists nonetheless hope their carrot could ultimately offer a healthier way of consuming sufficient quantities of the mineral.

A gene has been altered in the carrot which allows the calcium within it to cross more easily over the plant membranes.

Changing colour

Tags: supercarrots

Plants Can Control Weather

Tue, 13 May 2008 10:25:17 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Gone are the days of believing plants are just passive organisms. Earlier this year, researchers found that plants can communicate through little understood chemical mechanisms. Now scientists are even saying that plants can do something perhaps even more incredible: Control the weather. According to researchers at the Scottish Association for Marine Science and the University of Manchester, brown seaweed, kelp, has the ability to create cloudy days at the seaside. But why would plants want to alter weather patterns? Apparently, because cloudy days make the plants more comfortable.

When the sky is overcast kelp are comfortable when the tide goes out, since they are able to stay moist until it comes back. On a bright day however, they dry out. When they start getting dry the plants become stressed and begin releasing iodide. The iodide rises, causing clouds to form overhead, which in turns protects the kelp from unwelcome sunshine.

Tags: plants, weather, kelp

'Major discovery' from MIT primed to unleash solar revolution

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:34:51 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Sunlight has the greatest potential of any power source to solve the world's energy problems, said Nocera. In one hour, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year.

"This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future prosperity of humankind,"

Clip Source: web.mit.edu

Scientists mimic essence of plants' energy storage system

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.

Daniel Nocera describes new process for storing solar energy
View video post on MIT TechTV

Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years,"

Tags: energy, solar power, storing