My title sounds a bit bleak, but when ya think about it, that's really what is at risk. In this "Circle of Life" that we were taught in 8th grade or lower grade biology, everything is tied together. Some people may like bats, some may not. Don't matter. The question is how do you like the proliferation of West Nile carrying Mosquitoes? How about bugs that damage our food sources? How would you like to walk out side and have to make your way through swarms of insects and creepy crawlies that are everywhere because their natural predators died off? Don't worry, because if that happens, most likely they will be our next food source... and we will be theirs. -- How you like those little flying rodents now? lol
All dark joking aside, it's pretty bad. Bugs are nasty. They kill flowers, trees, plants, they are ugly and they don't respect the chain of command where I as a human rule. They compete with the destructive powers of humans, and anything that can compete with humans for being destructive has got to be kept in check. I could use pesticides but that kills off bees which allow me to have flowers and grandmas apple pie... and I really like grandmas apple pie!Amplify’d from news.nationalgeographic.com
Bats May Be Wiped Out by Fungus in U.S. Northeast
"Distressing" disease spreading throughout U.S. and Canada, expert says.
Though the situation looks bleak for bats, humans also have cause for concern, Frick said. That's because the flying mammals eat a lot of insects—such as mosquitoes—that damage crops, spread disease, and generally pester people.
"All the bats affected are insect predators," Frick explained, "and an individual bat can eat its own body weight in insects each night."
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Thursday, March 17, 2011
Famine and Disease to Spread as Bats Die
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Now that's Got to Sting - CCD
Colony Collapse Disorder was making a buzz a few years ago. The threat of the Honeybee becoming extinct. And as we all know about the birds and the bees, this is a big deal. The declining Honeybee threatens to take with it fruits, vegetables, and nuts. One Third of our food types would be lost if we were to lose the bees. Recent funding for honeybee research has declined. As this was a 2006 video I wonder why we have not been able to figure out the problem and come up with some solution in 5 years. Needless to say, we need to stick a boot up some politician's and scientist's posteriors so I can have my slice of Apple Pie in the next decade. If we don't have Apple Pie, does that mean we are no longer American?
Amplify’d from video.pbs.org
Nature Silence of the Bees
See more at video.pbs.org
Monday, March 14, 2011
Another 7 Quake Due in Japan within days
Amplify’d from www.businessinsider.com
Another Magnitude-7 Quake Is Probably Coming To Japan Within Days
Image: ap
Japan's Metereological Agency says there is a 70% chance of at least a magnitude-7 quake in the next three days, with a 50% chance in the three days after that, according to Japan Times.
Dozens of smaller quakes followed the Friday's magnitude-8.9 quake. A magnitude-7 quake would be the biggest, equal to the one that leveled Haiti last year.
The quake, if it comes, could do irreparable damage to Fukushima Nuclear Plant. Read the latest on the nuclear crisis here >
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The Future of Education
Politicians give a lot of lip service on educating the children. They speak of not allowing any child to be left behind. Then they cut the funding for education and still we get a lot of Johnny's who can't read. The educational system was decent for it's time. lmao. Finally, decades later, after we have had the technology for years, a nice gentleman comes along and implements a system that utilizes multimedia technology to not only educate the children for free, but also provides a method by which children can't fall between the cracks of the system. This is a must see for my educator friends, adults with children, and those who love to learn. I would love to see this system grow to include free education for adults around the world. For now, it would be nice to see it implemented in our school systems.
Thanks Raederle Phoenix W. for posting and qutequte for bringing this to my attention on Amplify.comAmplify’d from www.ted.com
See more at www.ted.com
Vanessa Mae - Destiny
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Switchgrass - Tomorrow's Ethanol Plant
Switchgrass is supposed to be 20x better than corn for Ethanol production. It's hardiness allows it to be farmed in areas that can't be used for food production. It can be cut and baled with standard farming equipment.
Amplify’d from bioenergy.ornl.gov
Test plots of switchgrass at Auburn University have produced up to 15 tons of dry biomass per acre, and five- year yields average 11.5 tons—enough to make 1,150 gallons of ethanol per acre each year.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) believes that biofuels—made from crops of native grasses, such as fast- growing switchgrass—could reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil, curb emissions of the "greenhouse gas" carbon dioxide, and strengthen America's farm economy. The Biofuels Feedstock Development Program (BFDP) at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has assembled a team of scientists ranging from economists and energy analysts to plant physiologists and geneticists to lay the groundwork for this new source of renewable energy. Included are researchers at universities, other national laboratories, and agricultural research stations around the nation. Their goal, according to ORNL physiologist Sandy McLaughlin, who leads the switchgrass research effort, is nothing short of building the foundation for a biofuels industry that will make and market ethanol and other biofuels from switchgrass and at prices competitive with fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel.
Many farmers already grow switchgrass, either as forage for livestock or as a ground cover, to control erosion. Cultivating switchgrass as an energy crop instead would require only minor changes in how it's managed and when it's harvested. Switchgrass can be cut and baled with conventional mowers and balers. And it's a hardy, adaptable perennial, so once it's established in a field, it can be harvested as a cash crop, either annually or semiannually, for 10 years or more before replanting is needed. And because it has multiple uses—as an ethanol feedstock, as forage, as ground cover—a farmer who plants switchgrass can be confident knowing that a switchgrass crop will be put to good use.
Besides helping slow runoff and anchor soil, switchgrass can also filter runoff from fields planted with traditional row crops. Buffer strips of switchgrass, planted along streambanks and around wetlands, could remove soil particles, pesticides, and fertilizer residues from surface water before it reaches groundwater or streams—and could also provide energy.
And because switchgrass removes carbon dioxide (CO2 ) from the air as it grows, it has the potential to slow the buildup of this greenhouse gas in Earth's atmosphere. Unlike fossil fuels, which simply release more and more of the CO2 that's been in geologic storage for millions of years, energy crops of switchgrass "recycle" CO2 over and over again, with each year's cycle of growth and use.
Looking down the road, McLaughlin believes switchgrass offers important advantages as an energy crop. "Producing ethanol from corn requires almost as much energy to produce as it yields," he explains, "while ethanol from switchgrass can produce about five times more energy than you put in. When you factor in the energy required to make tractors, transport farm equipment, plant and harvest, and so on, the net energy output of switchgrass is about 20 times better than corn's." Switchgrass also does a far better job of protecting soil, virtually eliminating erosion. And it removes considerably more CO2 from the air, packing it away in soils and roots.
Switchgrass offers excellent habitat for a wide variety of birds and small mammals.
Biodegradable Plastic Substitute
Amplify’d from www.fastcompany.com
Biodegradable. Virtually unbreakable. Acoustic. Translucent. And cheap. It's Zelfo, a material produced from plants high in cellulose: hemp, straw, agricultural waste, even paper. Fibers are extracted, blended with water, compressed, then spray-molded--without glue or resin. Martin Ernegg, a materials scientist from Austria, patented Zelfo in 2000. After some false starts, he's opening his first factory in Australia by spring. Manufacturing is virtually waste-free. The machines are powered by sun, wind, or vegetable oil.
Turning Trash into Energy
Plasma Gasification or Plasma Arc Waste Disposal should help us to stop selling our garbage overseas and polluting third world countries while generating electricity here at home. Here is some info for a site in UK. There is also a list of other sites planned in the U.S.
Amplify’d from en.wikipedia.org
The heart of this technology, the Gasplasma process, forms the basis of APP’s Swindon Plant, the first Gasplasma facility in the world. Gasplasma is the sequential use of gasification, plasma gas treatment, syngas polishing and gas engine power generation.
A full scale plant will treat 100,000 short tons (91,000 t) per annum of municipal waste and produce:
- Enough power for 10,000 homes
- Enough heat for around 700 homes
- over 99% landfill diversion of feedstock with minimal residues and emissions
- Increase recycling rates by over 20%
- High performance, high-value aggregate glass (trademark Plasmarok)
- Novel combination of three existing and proven technologies (termed Gasplasma)
- Negative carbon footprint and lowest environmental impact plant and building
A full scale plant will be 150 metres (490 ft) long, 50 metres (160 ft) wide, and along most of its length only 11 metres (36 ft) high. Above the thermal plant, the roof height is about 14 metres (46 ft), and the single exhaust for the engines 10 metres (33 ft) higher, at only 34 metres (112 ft). The building is approximately the size of a supermarket store and operates under a light vacuum, meaning it contains all odors. The entire process occurs within the building.
Wind Energy Helps Texans in Power Outage
AWEA Blog responds to Forbes magazine's blog article which refutes benefits of wind energy. Links to various supportive articles and documents including a recent power outage in Texas that Wind Energy helped to provide power when fossil fuel power supplies failed. Speaks about 3x more job creation than fossil fuel plants. Explicit and intrinsic savings on the cost of wind power. Reliability of wind power. Informative read if nothing else.
Amplify’d from www.awea.org
The AWEA Blog: Into the Wind
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Ronald Reagon's Views on Unions
It is interesting to see how important Reagan felt about Unions and Collective bargaining and how he perceived it as being essential for Democracy. I felt he had a very good perception of this. It is sad that recent Republicans seem to have forgotten it's importance.
Amplify’d from www.good.is
Does Scott Walker Know That Ronald Reagan Supported Unions and Collective Bargaining?
In a campaign speech he gave in Liberty State Park in Liberty, New Jersey on Labor Day 1980, Reagan, who, as an actor was president of his union, the Screen Actors Guild, unequivocally stated his support for unions, and promised that if elected, "that the voice of the American worker will once again be heeded in Washington."
In the same speech, Reagan expressed his support of Polish workers who were, under eventual Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa's leadership, rising up against the Communist regime's domination and demanding the right to form unions, organize and bargain.
"They remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost. They remind us that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. You and I must protect and preserve freedom here or it will not be passed on to our children and it would disappear everywhere in the world. Today the workers in Poland are showing a new generation how high is the price of freedom but also how much it is worth that price."`
Collective bargaining in the years since has played a major role in America’s economic miracle. Unions represent some of the freest institutions in this land. There are few finer examples of participatory democracy to be found anywhere. Too often, discussion about the labor movement concentrates on disputes, corruption, and strikes. But while these things are headlines, there are thousands of good agreements reached and put into practice every year without a hitch.
Reagan also promised that despite tough economic times, he would "not fight inflation by attacking the sacred right of American workers to negotiate their wages. We propose to control government, not people."
In contrast, Walker seems to be focused on controlling people and the government. He's so adamant about eliminating collective bargaining, that he's threatening to slash $900 million from schools and layoff 1500 state workers if the "Wisconsin 14"—the Democratic state senators who've fled to Illinois to avoid providing a quorum for the bill's vote—don't return. Somebody do the people of Wisconsin a favor and tell Scott Walker that his idol, Ronald Reagan, wouldn't approve.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
A Mosaic of the Lunar Nearside taken in December 2010
This provides a detailed image of the nearside of the moon which can be zoomed in for an even closer look. Recommended viewing for anyone who wants a closer look at the moon. Click on the image to zoom in or use the navigation buttons at the bottom.
Amplify’d from wms.lroc.asu.edu
LROC WAC mosaic of the lunar nearside. The images that comprise this mosaic were collected over a two-week period in mid-December 2010.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
And You Thought Mad Cow Disease Was Bad
One of 5 stories about International Incidents caused by an animal, explains how an untended cow may have started the war with the Sioux Nation.
Amplify’d from www.cracked.com
5 International Incidents Caused by an Animal
Back in 1851, a group of Mormon emigrants made their way across the Oregon Trail with the eventual goal of finding a home where they could bake rice crispies squares, and eschew alcohol and coffee in peace.
One of the Mormons had a crippled cow, which at some point got spooked and decided to wander off into the wilderness. Its owner started to follow but changed his mind when he noticed a ton of goddamn Sioux warriors in the surrounding area. Roughly four-thousand members of the tribe had gathered around the nearby Ft. Laramie to trade. The cow spent several hours doing cow-things before a few of the younger Sioux noticed that dinner had just stumbled into camp and killed the shit out of it.
That very next day, the Mormons arrived at Ft. Laramie and complained to the soldiers about the poached cow. Twenty-nine men and two cannons, lead by West Point graduate Lieutenant Grattan, marched out to talk with the Brule Sioux and seek justice for the cow--because nothing says "measured discussion" like a regiment with fucking cannons. None of the men spoke Sioux, but they had the foresight to bring along a French trader named Lucien Auguste, who spoke a completely different Indian dialect. Poorly.
They met with the Sioux Chief, Conquering Bear, and ordered him to turn over the cow's murderer, the spectacularly-named High-Forehead. Grattan was young, brash and eager for a fight, while Lucien Auguste was hammered and purposefully mistranslated much of what both men said (presumably because it seemed hilarious at the time).
Conquering Bear made a fair offer: any one of his finest horses to the Mormons in exchange for the slain cow. Rather than consulting with the Mormons or accepting the deal outright, the soldiers tried the bold bargaining tactic of shooting Conquering Bear in the back and starting a fight with 1,200 pissed off Sioux veterans. It didn't go well. The Grattan Massacre lead directly to the battle of Ash Hollow and is viewed as the first spark that ignited the Sioux Wars, which culminated in the Wounded Knee massacre, all of which might have been avoided had some lazy settler kept better track of his cow.
We are Running out of Helium - So!
Who cares that we are running out of Helium. I don't use it to make my voice high pitched any more anyways.
"... there's a very real chance we will run out of the gas in fewer than 25 years. If you're one of those people who buys into this whole "technology" fad, that's something to be concerned about."Amplify’d from www.cracked.com
6 Important Things You Didn't Know We're Running Out Of
The world is running low on helium? Big freaking deal, right? Worst-case scenario, future kids won't ever experience the joy of shelling out $7 for an amusement park balloon, then immediately tripping and seeing it fly away.
If only it were ever actually this much fun.
Actually, if you have benefited from a piece of technology more complex than a sharp rock tied to a stick, it was probably made with the help of helium. Helium has the lowest boiling point of all materials on Earth, which means it's cooler than a ninja Fonzie in sunglasses. Basically every high-tech industry imaginable has uses for helium, from chilling MRI magnets to producing fiber optics and LCD screens.
Think of it as the Batman of gases -- known for its playful public persona as the stuff that makes you talk like Jennifer Tilly, but secretly a badass vigilante keeping the modern world in one piece. And just like Batman, the government completely doesn't understand it.
All metaphors work best with Batman.
After all, if the stuff is running out, the price should be going up, right? And we sure as hell shouldn't be putting it in party balloons.
But according to Nobel Prize winner Robert Richardson, the problem is that the U.S. government is giving away helium like a discount VCR warehouse: as much as it can, as cheap as it can. In 1996, Congress passed a law requiring the U.S. government to sell off our helium stockpile by 2015. This has forced the price of the gas way, way lower than it should be, considering how little of the stuff is actually left in the world (Richardson says a balloon's worth would cost $100 if the market were allowed to set the price).
Above: The world's greatest helium baron plans her next acquisition.
The U.S. controls more than 80 percent of the world's helium supply, so Richardson says all this sell-off and waste means there's a very real chance we will run out of the gas in fewer than 25 years. If you're one of those people who buys into this whole "technology" fad, that's something to be concerned about.
"Bah."
Fortunately, there's a backup plan: If we run out of mined helium we can always recover it from the atmosphere. That will run us only 10,000 times the current costs.
"Next up for sale, an early 2011 red helium balloon. Starting price is $10 million."
Chocolate Shortage Imminent.
Ok... maybe not, as long as we can maintain the child slavery in Africa.
Amplify’d from www.cracked.com
6 Important Things You Didn't Know We're Running Out Of
When we talk about a shortage of "resources," most people immediately think "oil." But the only reason oil is the most famous of the dwindling resources is because we feel the spike in prices, since we have to go buy the stuff ourselves on a weekly basis.
But other resources that are key to keeping our society operating are running out just as fast, but much more quietly. Pretty soon, you may turn on CNN to hear about wars being fought over something ridiculous, like ...
Without even checking the actual stats, we're 100 percent sure that about half of all the commodities available on the free market include chocolate. With such an amazing demand for the product, surely there must be a sophisticated system in place to ensure that the world never runs out of the stuff. Because if, say, the whole chocolate industry was based entirely on Third World back-breaking manual labor, slave wages and actual child slavery that would be reason enough for a worldwide panic.
Actually, the majority of the world's cocoa supply comes from West Africa, where the plantations are often tended to by slave children, but there is such thing as fair trade cocoa beans, with guaranteed "No slave labor!" certificates and stuff. Problem solved, right? Nope. (And it's a little depressing when taking slavery out of the equation doesn't immediately fix something.) The fact of the matter is that, currently, cultivating cocoa beans just isn't worth it to the average West African farmer.
Not only is tending to cocoa trees insanely time-consuming (it takes up to five years to grow a new crop), but everything has to be done by hand in often unbearable heat. And at the end of the day, the average cocoa farmer can expect to earn about 80 cents a day for his trouble. That satisfying feeling that his product is contributing to America's obesity epidemic is just not enough anymore, so in fewer than 20 years, chocolate might become an expensive rarity, like caviar. When was the last time you had caviar?
Cocoa beans can be produced outside West Africa, but only within 10 degrees of the equator, an area that you might quickly recognize as including some of the most politically unstable regions on the planet. It would explain why chocolate prices have doubled in the last six years and will only continue to go up.
The only way to keep chocolate dirt-cheap is to remove cocoa butter from it (which, to us, is completely defeating the purpose), just like Hershey did a few years back. Now the FDA is telling Hershey that it can't even call those products "chocolate."
"How about we drop the pretense and go with 'Fat & Sugar'?"
User Interfaces of the Near Future
Shows the value of glass in the near future, along with how our advancements may effect our every day life.
Amplify’d from www.youtube.com
See more at www.youtube.com