Fashion & Beauty

John Patrick Organic spring 2011 collection at New York Fashion Week. Credit: Emma Grady

New York Fashion Week has officially begun in New York City. I started off a hectic week slowly at John Patrick Organic, winner of the Ecco Domani 2010 Sustainable Design Award, where the designer showed his spring 2011 collection -- 18 classic looks: made with sustainable fabrics, in neutral tones, accented with floral prints and woven details -- at the Ace Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

For the seasoned designer (he has been in the business for thirty years), fashion is all about modernity; it's about designing with good form, functionality, and detail, and by his own proclamation, it is a "political statement" on environmental issues. The show's production in itself was a low impact affair, compared to a runway show. More on this, and photos from the entire John Patrick Organic spring 2011 collection (view his fall 2010 collection, too) in our slideshow, below.

Food & Health

Image from Daily Mail

There must be something in the air, or the soil, but monster vegetables keep popping up in Great (!) Britain. First we have potatoes, the world's biggest potato to be precise. It weighs a whopping 8lbs 4oz, that's 9oz more than the previous record holder.

The amateur gardener who grew it thinks that it bears a strong resemblance to Star Trek's Enterprise spaceship. How did he do it? He said: "The secret to success is starting with the right seed. It's learning how to grow them and putting a lot of effort in and picking up tips from other growers and reading what you can about it."

Travel & Nature

Last month, my partner gave me a Fjällräven Kanken rucksack for my 30th birthday, and I have to tell you about it, as this is a classic amongst the eco-designs nowadays. I first spotted these slightly odd-looking bags in London many years ago, and learnt that they are a Swedish product, designed to last forever. When I received one in the mail recently, I got to know it a little better.

Business & Politics

Photo: sheppey cottage

Each year in the EU nearly 12 million animals are experimented upon in the name of scientific research - but all that is set to change as stricter legislation on testing was passed today by the European Parliament. Among the sweeping reforms was an outright ban on the testing of our closest genetic cousins, great apes, as well as stronger restrictions on experiments involving all primates.

Business & Politics

Watch the full size video on Planet Green

Today, Planet 100 presents its 200th episode. To celebrate this milestone we're counting down the Top 10 Most Outrageous Stories from the last 200 days of Planet 100.

Science & Technology

Photo via Wired

You may have heard of Simon Singh long before his name rose to the top of the list of those championing sound science: He'd written two bestselling books, Fermat's Enigma and the Big Bang. Despite the wide range of subject matter contained in those books, the topic that ended up casting him into controversy was much different -- a seemingly benign newspaper article about some of the pitfalls of alternative medicine. He ended up defending his career from a powerful group, the British Chiropractic Association, who sued him for libel for having the chutzpah to assert that there was no proof that chiropractic treatment could treat ailments like asthma in children. As he decided to defend his science-backed claim rather than apologize, he became a much needed spokesperson for sound science (he won the suit). There are plenty of lessons to be learned from his story -- and many that hit close to home to anyone familiar with other topics where the science continually faces a PR crisis from outside interests. Here's what he has to say about defending science in the public sphere:

Food & Health

Photo via News One

Less dramatic than the fiery explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the multiple month-spanning underwater oil geyser that followed it are many of the BP Gulf spill's side effects. And oil-related sicknesses are undoubtedly among the thorniest -- many fishermen-turned cleanup workers have already been afflicted by close contact with oil and the chemical dispersents used to combat it. But there will probably be many more. As such, "Health Effects of the Gulf Oil Spill", a paper recently published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association (JAMA), is advising physicians around the Gulf and beyond to learn to treat oil and dispersent-related sicknesses.

Science & Technology

photo: Johnny Bahru via flickr.

Large marine reserves aren't working to protect fish or coral--and therefore fishermen's livelihoods in the long term--and we should collectively shift towards more small reserves with fishing allowed in between. That's the word from the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health's Peter Sale.