Images via YouTube and Amazon
I started in on a book about a month ago titled
Heart of Dryness, which discusses how the bushmen of the Kalahari can teach us what we need to know about how to live in dry climates, something we're all increasingly finding ourselves in as we drill ourselves further into a global water crisis. However, due to political turmoil, the bushmen - the very people with all the knowledge and tools that can help billions of people cope with a growing lack of water - are a culture of people vanishing from the face of the planet. While frightening, it's a fascinating read, so I was excited to see a video interview with the book's author, James G. Workman, who discusses more about the book, the water crisis, and the quiet knowledge of the bushmen. Check out the short interview after the jump...
Images via Gabriel Dishaw
Are these the dream sneaks for green geeks? Maybe. They're at the very least a cool creation by
Gabriel Dishaw, junk-metal artist extraordinaire, who fashioned these shoes out of pieces of computers and typewriters, with only glue and metal bending techniques to keep the pieces held together. ...
Image Source: Alex Muse
Dear Pablo: We drink a great deal of water all day long and wondered which uses more energy: opening the refrigerator door to get a bottle of cold water or using the water dispenser on the exterior of the unit. Also, does it take more energy to get ice from the mechanical dispenser (which also uses energy to make ice) or more by opening and closing the freezer door to get some cubes?
The big picture answer is that it probably doesn't matter. Simply the fact that you are filling your own water bottles rather than
buying bottled water is a much more important environmentally-friendly act. Both your refillable bottle and water that is dispensed by your refrigerator are taken from the same starting temperature to the same final temperature, so there is no difference there. Where there is a difference, however, is in the act of opening the refrigerator door and allowing all of that cold air to spill out (hot air rises, cold air falls). By using the door-mounted dispenser this loss of cold air is avoided....
Image from Vancouver Aquarium
Veteran (as in since 2007) readers of TreeHugger may remember the earth-shattering and controversial competition to
name Greenpeace's humpback whale. Mr. Splashy Pants was voted the most popular choice. The suggestion that this was a dubious moniker prompted 206 irate comments from readers who disagreed.
Now whale watchers have another chance. This adorable little baby beluga was born at the
Vancouver Aquarium in British Columbia on June 7th. The aquarium is looking for a name that "reflects the Arctic origin of belugas and Inuit culture." Since the aquarium is so politically correct, Mr. Splashy Pants probably won't win too many votes this time round....
Image: Japan USEF, SSPS project
Space Solar Power System Closer to Reality
Japan's space agency,
USEF, is
in the news again with their plans to build a space solar power station, equivalent to a medium sized nuclear plant, by 2030. Inspired by hope that such a sci-fi vision becomes reality, we have some advice for the Japanese space agency, some wisdom learned in the trenches of the fight against global warming. The nugget of knowledge that could make the difference between success and failure for the ambitious space-based solar station is this: ...
Why did you stop? Well, I was recompiling my kernel and got a segfault...
Mavizen has decided to offer a new electric bike based on the previous winner of the TTXGP so that other teams can have a solid foundation to build on for next year. The TTX02 is based on the KTM RC8 with a Agni powerplant. The twist is that they call it a "laptop on wheels" because of all the electronics it packs on top of what is strictly required to control the electric motor (dash-mounted computer that runs Linux, has wifi connectivity and a web-server, etc)....
Credit: Dave Askins, homelessdave.com.
You don't need electricity to do the laundry. It's as easy as riding a bike.
My wife's 90-year-old aunt still washes her laundry by hand, and dries it with a wringer.
God bless her. But if you're a little busier, you can keep your clothes clean with pedal power.
GreenovationTV has a segment on the low-tech solution....
Scientists reconstructed the ancient climate at Maxwell Bay in the South Shetland Islands. Photo: Barry Thomas via flickr.
In case you wanted another piece of evidence that
current melting in Antarctica is really a product of global warming, researchers of the UK's
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton say that the widespread loss of glacial ice in the Antarctic Peninsula is unprecedented in the past 14,000 years:...
Despite 30% Population Growth
We always hear about how we're using more of this and more of that, so it is welcome new to learn that apparently the people of the U.S. were using less water in 2005 than in 1975 despite a significant increase in population. Daily water consumption in the U.S. is 410 BILLION gallons of water, and 49% of those are being used for for producing electricity at thermoelectric power plants. Irrigation is 31%, and public use is 11%. "The remaining 9 percent of the water was for self-supplied industrial, livestock, aquaculture, mining and rural domestic uses."...
It looks like forest, but it's a palm oil plantation... photo: sampsadaily via flickr.
Three stories coming in focusing on
deforestation,
climate change and biodiversity: Scientists point out that when it comes to carbon emissions from peatland loss SE Asia leads the way; development of
palm oil plantations on Borneo is threatening several of the world's rarest cats; and (a small bright spot in this) palm oil producers in the rest of the world pledge to not create new plantations on peatlands:...
Photo via ynse
Talk about a high tech zoo! A new project called the
Genome 10K Project wants to collect and sequence the DNA of 10,000 vertebrate species in an effort to shine a light on recent, rapid adaptive changes among the species. By understanding the adaptive and evolutionary changes, scientists believe they'll have a better insight on how species are responding to climate change, higher levels of pollution, and new diseases. The sequencing will not only reveal current changes, but also how the animals have adapted in the past. ...
Photo via Pink Sherbet Photography
Electricity gets all the attention when it comes to the smart grid, but not to be ignored is also what a smart grid can do for water consumption.
Americans consume twice the world average in water, massive amounts are wasted in households, manufacturing, agriculture, and landscaping - massive amounts that could be conserved through proper monitoring and accounting. Luckily, water footprints are getting increased attention, and a water grid is being zeroed in on by businesses such as
IBM who is working on boosting technology behind everything from high tech water pollution sensing to water footprint accounting. . In fact, the water grid could be the next big business concept, set to be a $16.3 billion dollar industry in the next 10 years. ...
Photos via Amphibious Architecture
The East and the Bronx Rivers in New York are home to a new installation project that offers a "looking glass" into the marine ecosystems of the rivers. The
Amphibious Architecture project is a way of connecting humans with the watery world upon which we depend, through an amazing lighting display that reflects the incoming information of attached sensors. As the sensors pick up data on water quality, the presence of fish, and human interest in the water system, the lights tell the story of the interactions and feedback loops are created. An interesting, techy way for fish and people to interact, right? But it doesn't stop there - also thrown into the mix is the ability of humans to text message fish. Yes, text message...and get a response.
...
Photo: U.S. Air Force, Public domain
I Can See My House From Up Here!
The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is quite an impressive piece of hardware. It can stay in the air for more than a day, has a range of 3,400 miles, and at very high altitude (its record is 19,928 meters (65,380.6 ft)). Usually it's the military that would have control over these UAVs, but two Global Hawks have been turned over to NASA for environmental research flights ....
Photo via Esquire
We worried about the
rise in dumped TVs when the switch to digital in the US occurred back in June. The UK is also switching to digital and figures show a frightening rise in dumped TVs, rising by 70% in the past year, with over half of them being upgradable. But they were dumped instead. As more areas switch to digital over the next two years, including London, just how much more of an impact can we expect, and can citizens be convinced that they don't need to dump their TVs at all?...
Photo via Paul and Jill
With the future of corals looking grim - grim enough for a proposal to
start freezing them for future reintroduction - it's more important than ever to understand what corals need for healthy reproduction. The synchronization behind coral spawning has always been a bit of a mystery. Lunar and solar timing play a factor, but so does another weather pattern. A new study published in London in
Proceedings of the Royal Society B explains why corals spawn at varying times depending on their geographical location. They wait for perfect times when regional wind fields are light, allowing some corals to spawn for several months at a time in some locations, or just a handful of nights in other areas. This discovery places increased emphasis on the importance of localized marine conservation efforts for corals. ...
Image by hawkins.matt via flickr.
I spend a lot of my time as an advocate. To be able to champion a
cause and educate others about the importance and necessity of action at this critical time, I must first educate myself about the
reality of the challenges we all face. I need to keep it real.
The wake-up call
Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the
National Wildlife Federation, reminds all of us what our challenge is regarding climate crisis and the survival of all species in his newly released book,
Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth. Climate crisis is not a destination in our future. It is happening now. I don't like the too-well-proven conclusion that I come to: We must act dramatically or lose civilization as we know it. A bold, overused, uncomfortable statement, I know. But in all my reading and research, this is the book that wakes me up in the middle of the night--not in fear, but with profound clarity: It is time to focus.
...
Image via Hammacher Schlemer
If I were nine years old again, I'd soooo ask for this for Christmas. It's a learning toy centered on renewable energy. The mad scientist-looking device teaches kids about different types of renewable energy sources, how effective each type of energy source is, energy storage, and even teaches them how to reduce energy consumption at home. And yet, there's a very ironic twist to how part of the device itself is powered.
...
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