Weekly Linkfest – Edition 11

News — by Patrick Blampied October 4, 2010

Welcome to round eleven of our (normally!) Weekly Linkfest, where we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain interesting from what we’ve seen this week.

I would greatly appreciate readers getting involved in this weekly linkfest. Please email editor (at) permaculture.org.au with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.

A big thank you to Øyvind for his contributions to this week’s linkfest!

Off we go:

Good News (coz we all need it):

• Good Monsanto news! Worries about birth defects have affected their stocks. Lets hope the real news on all their activities continues to erode their value on the market.
• Vietnamese fruit growers, are using a bug bait developed by Australian researchers and made from the waste of beer brewing. Trust the aussies to develop a another great use for beer!
• The UK is now producing more off shore wind power than the rest of the world put together with the launch of their new 100-turbine off-shore wind turbine.
• Paris and Milan have set up free town water fountains that offer chilled, room temp and sparking town water for free in an effort to curb plastic bottle waste.
• Very cool chain-less bike design that is more efficient than traditional bikes.
• More people waking up to the importance of the rain forests and their ability to create rain. This article has dubbed the amazon a "self-contained cloud-producing biogeochemcial reactor"

Bad News (coz we need to understand the challenges if we’re to design our way out of them):

• GM Salmon. I don’t think I need to explain why this isn’t a good idea (Craig already has), but the US is likely to approve the Franken-fish. The FDA is to hold a public hearing on these mutants.
• Yet another cause for GMO concern – GM maize ‘has polluted rivers across the United States’. BT corn’s cellular level pesticides are floating free in the nation’s river systems….
• Massive Coral Bleaching Damages 95% of Corals in Philippines due to elevated temperatures in the Indian Ocean. You probably know the environmental significance of this but even the economic impact is shocking. The reefs are valued at $172 Billion dollars to the world economy. Hopefully the economists start to see the value of our natural capital and start fighting with us.
• A major commercial highway has been approved by the government in Tanzania. Set to cut through the Serengeti national park it will have devastating effects on one of the most significant migration paths in the world.
• One fifth of the world’s plants risks extinction. A new study reveals: "Researchers have sampled almost 4,000 species, and conclude that 22% should be classified as "threatened" – the same alarming rate as for mammals." "A further 33% of species were too poorly understood to be assessed."
• How the Food Industry Fights to Keep Us Sick (Video).
• Why Conservation Won’t Save the World’s Forests (Video).
• The Atlantic Garbage Patch found to be almost as big as the Pacific Garbage Patch (see also).

Just plain interesting or odd (coz we’re curious creatures):

• A good lesson in how we can all get along – This fisherman has a relationship with a crocodile that can likened to most people’s relationship with their dog!
• Inhabitat reader build his own Sustainable Home in Ghana.
• Deodorant May Help Save Stinky Endangered Birds.
• This article is about the discovery that there are three species of Civets that were once thought to be the same. More interesting though is that I discovered they are used to process the world’s most expensive coffee through digestion – coming in at $100 a cup!

Don’t forget to send me your links for next week’s linkfest!! – editor (at) permaculture.org.au

12 Comments »

• Eddy GT Wind Turbine Is Sleek, Silent and Designed for the City (Very good news!): http://inhabitat.com/2010/09/14/eddy-gt-wind-turbine-is-sleek-silent-and-designed-for-the-city/

  Oregano Reduces Cows’ Methane Emissions by 40%: http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/3297

  New Biodiversity Theory Suggests Rain Forest Conservation May Fall Short: Saving ‘Edge’ Habitats May Be Key To Saving Rain Forest: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1997/06/970629233755.htm

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 4, 2010 @ 4:36 pm

• Here’s something “nice” – bon appetit:

  http://early-onset-of-night.tumblr.com/post/1206666159/say-hello-to-mechanically-separated-chicken-its

  Comment by Thomas Fischbacher — October 5, 2010 @ 4:55 am

• ‘Census of Marine Life’ celebrates survey success: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2010-10-04-marine-census-2010_N.htm

  Homepage of “The Census of Marine Life”: http://www.coml.org/

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 5, 2010 @ 6:04 am

• - Groundwater depletion rate accelerating worldwide: http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2010/2010-30.shtml

  - Global map of groundwater depletion, where 1000 on the legend is equal to one cubic kilometer of depletion per year: http://www.agu.org/news/press/images/pr_2010-30_lgr-image.jpg

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 5, 2010 @ 1:40 pm

• - Africa democratic rights advances reversed, says report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11466525

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 5, 2010 @ 1:52 pm

• - While Bill Gates Wants Africa to Embrace Industrial GM Food (I think there is no hope Bill Gates will ever support permaculture), Italy Fines Franken-Maize Growing Farmer: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/09/while-bill-gates-wants-africa-embrace-gm-food-italy-fines-farmer.php

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 5, 2010 @ 3:07 pm

• - Fears of a Decline in Bee Pollination Confirmed: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100905231237.htm

  - Key Component Identified That Helps Plants Go Green: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100629170926.htm

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 5, 2010 @ 3:31 pm

• - OBIS allows users to search marine species datasets from all of the world’s oceans: http://www.iobis.org/

  - How many species live in the sea?: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14206-how-many-species-live-in-the-sea.html

  - Census of Marine Life reveals extent of ocean mystery: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19535-census-of-marine-life-reveals-extent-of-ocean-mystery.html

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 8, 2010 @ 5:14 pm

• - A rare Japanese flower named Paris japonica sports an astonishing 149 billion base pairs, making it 50 times the size of a human genome—and the largest genome ever found: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/10/scienceshot-biggest-genome-ever.html

  - Chile’s Sala y Gómez Island Turned Into Huge Marine Preserve: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/chiles-sala-y-gomez-island-turned-into-huge-marine-preserve.php

  - Fascinating New Species Found in Papua New Guinea: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/fascinating-new-species-found-in-papua-new-guinea.php

  - Wool & Seaweed Makes Sustainable Brick Stronger: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/wool-seaweed-makes-sustainable-brick-stronger.php

  - Bird Declines Could Signal Coming Mass Extinctions: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/bird-declines-could-signal-coming-mass-extinctions.php

  - What Happens When The Oil Runs Out (Video): http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/what-happens-when-the-oil-runs-out.php

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 8, 2010 @ 6:04 pm

• - Incredible Array Of New Species Found in Remote Papua New Guinea: http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/New_Species_Papua_New_Guinea_Muller_Nakanai.aspx

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 10, 2010 @ 6:00 pm

• - Bee Colony Collapse Associated With Viral, Fungal Infection, Biologist Says: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101007183018.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 12, 2010 @ 2:01 am

• - TED Talk: Are Plants Intelligent Beings? (When we learn more about how plants communicate we can use this in organic farming): http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/ted-talk-are-plants-intelligent-beings.php

  Comment by Øyvind Holmstad — October 16, 2010 @ 5:55 am

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