Interesting.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/latest-news/biofluorescence-coral-reefs-ngoa/

"Glow in the Dark" Reefs Revealed

November 29, 2012—In the remote Pacific, two National Geographic explorers are using advanced technology to track down a rare bioluminescent protein that would boost human brain science.How interesting is this? Let me know what you think?
 Denisa Ollomani

A follow up of the previous post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kLxAeyyom4
is a song that is very helpful and catchy to remind us that we should do and to motivate us to help out and make the earth look as "healthy as before".

Denisa Ollomani

Beetle Identification - Michael Stoody

Last month as I was leaving school I noticed a peculiar insect on the ground which I assumed to be a beetle but had no idea, so I took a picture of it.

 This is the blister beetle, specifically of the Genus Meloe. It was hard to identify and at times i believed it to be a large blue ant but I knew that couldn't be true.  Blister beetles, also called oil beetles, earned their name by the fact that they defend themselves by producing an oily, toxic substance called cantharidin. This substance remains stable even after the beetles are killed. It produces blisters on the skin if handled, and if ingested it causes inflammation of the stomach lining, small intestine and urinary tract.  I believe that the yellow substance behind the beetle is the previously mentioned defensive mechanism, although it was present when I found it originally so I didn't see it come to form.  One of the easiest to identify it is the fact that the wing tips do not cover the whole lower back and the abdominal sections are clearly visible.  Female members of the species will have a severely swollen abdomen when pregnant.

WOW! Look at the difference and impact we have made on the world from 1928 to 2012(present). The difference is so huge that we can notice it from outer space. The negative impacts that we as humans have made are such as;
-pollution - land, freshwater creeks and rivers, seas and oceans, and air

-deforestation and destruction of habitats

-endangerment and extinction of flora and fauna species

-introduction of invasive and parasitic fauna and flora species to new areas

-increased desertification of land - this often occurs because, when humans -try to increase fertile land in one area, they must divert needed resources from another area

-altering natural waterways which can increase the risk of flooding

-overuse of natural resources, resulting in depletion of some of these resources

-mining activities not only can destroy the vegetation of the area, but can contribute to instability in the earth's crust.

Now that we notice the impact, it's time to CHANGE our actions!

Denisa Ollomani

What is the environmental cost of a Google search?

We don't really think of the internet as polluting and being bad for the environment, but everything has a cost to it.

The other day I was wondering what the impact of simply doing a Google Search was, so I did a Google search to find out! Of course, it has a cost attached to it, but at first glance may not seem like anything worth counting.

Alex Wissner-Gross, a US physicist, who is also a Harvard academic, created this studied where he analyzed the impact of each search. He isn't directly from Google so these are data backed estimates at best, and Google has switched to renewable energy sources. Just the other week they announced a new $75M investment in a Iowa wind farm, bringing their total wind investment to about $990M.

With this investment, Google has brought its total committed investment into green energy projects to just over $990 million. The company’s other wind energy investments include a $157 million investment in a Southern California wind energy farm and a $100 million investment into a wind farm in Oregon that is anticipated to be the world’s largest at 845 MW. Google’s first wind energy investment was worth $38.8 million and involved two North Dakota wind farms. Besides the wind farms themselves, Google also owns a 37.5 percent stake in the Atlantic Wind Connection backbone, a project that aims to build transmission lines for green energy along the mid-Atlantic coast.

So the real numbers may vary, but they are a very close estimate.

What is the CO2 impact of each search? 0.02g of carbon dioxide per search. Nothing really, but when you consider that 200M+ searches are done daily, this numbers starts to be really big.

Nothing to make you stop doing Google searches, the servers will continue to run and consume power whether you as an individual search or not. Plus if anyone wants to save power and be green it is Google. Their entire business is built off running servers (YouTube, Blogger, Gmail), so as you can imagine they spend $100M+s every year in power costs. That is one reason why they're trying to cut costs and create their own renewable energy sources.

RED WATER!

On November 27th several beaches around Sydney, Australia had to be shut down because the water had turned blood red. This unusual sight occurred because of adverse weather conditions that occur during the fall and spring when the water is warmer and there are more movements in the ocean currents. This red stuff you see is an algae bloom, it is not toxic in any way to humans but you should not swim in the affected areas because algae can have a very high ammonia content and may cause skin irritation. It's a completely different story though if your shell fish in the affected areas, they are highly toxic to humans if consumed. Paralytic shellfish poisoning is a nerve toxin that very small amounts of can kill you, it's a good thing we don't live down under. These algae blooms are referred to as "red tides" or "sea sparkle".

Alison Wakefield

Starlings

Again whilst walking home, I came across a beautiful (but entirely dead) bird.

I was having trouble identifying it but luckily, I had Beth the Birder come to my rescue. She correctly identified it as (drumroll please): a starling.

The European starling  was first introduced to North America in the late 1800's by a group called the American Acclimatization Society, whose goal was to introduce to our shores every bird mentioned in Shakespeare's works (apparently about 600 species).There is even an article from The New York Times, 1877, recording their efforts here. This bird in particular was mentioned in Henry IV, Part 1 , mentioned for it's mimicry ability.




A diagram of starlings under different circumstances.


The starling can be identified by it's beak, which is long and black (except in mating season, when it turns a bright yellow). It is multiple colours, black and brown, with white flecks across it's head and chest. You may also notice faint hints of green and purple in the plumage just under it's beak.

One of the most interesting, if not distinctive, qualities of the starling is it's call. It makes a range of harsh clicks, hissing and whistling which can hardly be called song. But, it also has an amazing mimicry ability, whether it be other bird calls, songs, or even words (which is it's function in Henry IV).

Brought to you by Marley Beach

Updated Home Innovations

A New Market

When home owners are looking to renovate, more and more are turning to ways to make their home more environmentally friendly (Often with the reasoning: "If I'm already spending a ridiculous amount of money, I might as well make it count!") These improvements can range from solar panels to low-flush toilets, and there are a lot of new companies which cater to these home owners.


One company, which we use in our home, is called Baxi. They have a line of renewable energy products, from a solar heated water system to biomass boilers to heat your entire home. Baxi is a European company, and the U.K. governmnet offers grant for installing such ecofriendly systems.

LOOK UP!

The Canada goose is a wild goose that has a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body. It is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, it is also occasionally found in northern Europe as well, and has been found in other temperate regions. They breed once a year in Canada and the united states in a variety of habitats. Their nest is usually located in an elevated area near water such as streams, lakes, ponds and sometimes even on a beaver damn. They lay their eggs in a shallow depression lined with plant material and down. Canadian geese are also monogamous like other bird species, they mate for life but if their mate does die they do move on to another.

Now listen to this, the species was believed to be extinct because of over hunting and loss of habitat in the 1950s until, in 1962, when a small flock was discovered wintering in Rochester, Minnesota. After this they improved game laws and habitat recreation and preservation programs, their populations have recovered in most of their range.Many consider them as pests for their droppings, bacteria in their droppings, noise, and confrontational behavior. Their autumn migration can be seen from September to the beginning of November. The early migrants have a tendency to spend less time at rest stops and go through the migration a lot faster. The later birds usually spend more time at rest stops. These geese are also renowned for their V- shaped flight formation. The front position is rotated since flying in front consumes the most energy. Canada Geese leave the winter grounds more quickly than the summer grounds. It has now been brought to attention though that some of the geese aren’t migrating, instead they stay here for the winter. This has only started occurring because people feed them here and due to warmer winters there are still natural food sources.

- Alison Wakefield

Reusable Bags are a Waste, Why You Should Use Plastic Bags

By: Nicholas Montgomery

Oh no... plastic bags are bad for the environment and we should just ban them. What is the alternative? Reusable bags. Let's be inquisitive and look at the real cost of them.

According to a report by the UK's Environment Agency, a canvas or cotton reusable bag would have to be reused a total of 171 times to offset the higher carbon emissions.

Ok, so 1 reusable bag = 171 plastic bags.

So, the next logical question to ask is how many times is the average reusable bag used?

The same study found that the average reusable bag is only used 51 times.

Which means by a massive majority these "green" bags are destroying the environment and having a negative impact.

Personal Case Study

I decided to use my mother as a case study. She goes grocery shopping twice a week with reusable bags. That would be 52x2=104 times a year, or a year and a half of usage. My mom needs to use the same bag for a year and a half to just break even, after then she is actually have a positive impact.

I personally have 9 reusable bags I have from free conferences and events. That's about 1539 plastic bags and I don't think I'll ever use that many in my lifetime.

Here's the link an article summarizing the report: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/plastic-fantastic-carrier-bags-not-ecovillains-after-all-2220129.html

HDPE bags are, for each use, almost 200 times less damaging to the climate than cotton hold-alls favoured by environmentalists, and have less than one third of the Co2 emissions than paper bags which are given out by retailers such as Primark.

The findings suggest that, in order to balance out the tiny impact of each lightweight plastic bag, consumers would have to use the same cotton bag every working day for a year, or use paper bags at least thrice rather than sticking them in the bin or recycling.

Think twice and look at the science!

19 Amazing Bonsai Trees (Nicholas Montgomery)

By: Nicholas Montgomery

 I just recently discovered Bonsai trees and have fell in love with them. This art form not only requires incredible skill, but they take years to grow, requiring a huge amount of patience. Some of the Bonsais I've showed here are almost 400 years old. The term "Bonsai" refers to a miniature tree designed to look like a larger tree.

Here are some of my favourite Bonsai trees I've found around the web. Links to the original image location placed below.

 
[ Image Link]

Let's Use GMOs To Save Lives (Nicholas Montgomery)

It is an absolute crime against humanity of Greenpeace' actions on golden rice and they need to be dealt with in an international court. Their actions have and continue to result in millions of deaths of youth.

Golden Rice is a genetically modified corn which simply adds nutrients to make it healthier. In Bangladesh, 250 000 young kids go blind from lack of Beta-caterone, a vitamin needed for vision. After they go blind then then die.

The Swiss scientist who created Golden Rice has given it out for free to anyway to use a a humanitarian effort because it can save millions of lives.

Rice by itself has no nutritional value, so the modified version of the crop combines corn genetics to rice to make it "golden" giving it nutritional value.

Here is a video of the issue from Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace (who has now left.)

 

Greenpeace claims that there are "unforeseen environmental consequences," yet they have been completely unable to define any of them at all. They must think that thousands (sorry millions) of kids dying is not as important as some impact they haven't been able to define at all. In fact, GMOs are studied much more heavily than traditional crops and we know much more about them.

Greenpeace's zero tolerance of GMOs is having severe consequences and needs to be reevaluated.