News
Weekly Linkfest – Edition 16
Welcome to round sixteen of our 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) permaculturenews.org with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.
Off we go:
Good News (coz we all need it):
- Meco’Press Machine Makes LEGO Building Bricks From Mud. Perrocheau and his small team have designed a hydraulic press that transforms ordinary mud into structural building blocks. Since 2008 the team has distributed the Meco’press in France and Belgium, and they have recently seen an overwhelming interest from organizations looking to build in developing nations. The ingenious press offers a green building material solution that can function within the constraints of devastated areas.
- Organising Regional Gatherings: an excellent new resource. Transition Support Scotland have just produced a really good booklet called ‘How to organise a Regional Gathering’. This new guide offers a detailed overview of how to make regional gatherings memorable and successful.
- Towards a 21st Century Banking and Monetary System. NEF and Positive Money show why systematic reform of the banking and monetary system is urgently needed. See also.
- A Community-Run Seed Library – Shouldn’t Every Library Loan Seeds? (Video)
- TED Talk: Zoe Weil on Shaping The World Through Our Classrooms. (Video)
- Bioactive Compounds in Berries Can Reduce High Blood Pressure. The effect was stronger for blueberry rather than strawberry consumption. Compared to people who ate no blueberries, those eating at least one serving of blueberries per week were 10 per cent less likely to become hypertensive. See also.
- Organic milk is better for you, say scientists. Personally I’ve heard that for a cow to give top milk it needs at least 60 different herbs in its fodder.
- How To Eat Bugs (to save the environment).
- Sewage Eating ‘Poo-Gloos’ Clean Wastewater.
- Feds Yank GE Crops From All Northeast Refuges.
- New Light Shed on River Blindness Parasite. See also.
- New Farming Method Reduces N2O Gases, Increases Farm Yields.
- Transport for London sees big increase in cycling with Cycle Superhighways.
- Hydrogen & Wind Powered Zeppelin Could Revolutionize Airship Transportation.
- Elusive Cat Once Thought Extinct is Alive and OK in Borneo.
- Two New Species of ‘Leaping’ Beetles Discovered in New Caledonia.
- Incredible Cathedral Built From Salvaged Materials by a Single Man. Wow! Surely the mega churches (shopping malls) of the USA have something to learn from this man!
- Australian University to Ban Bottled Water.
- Stefanos Polyzoides plans to make cities more liveable. Architect Stefanos Polyzoides is a godfather of the hugely influential movement in architecture and urban planning known as the New Urbanism
- Huge majority oppose England forest sell-off plans, poll finds.
- Bjork Protests Energy Deal Armed With 47,000 Signatures. Since the deal was made, the public has been fighting it, demanding a vote on the privatization of the country’s natural resources.
- Mindfulness Meditation Training Changes Brain Structure in Eight Weeks.
- Smaller corals take the heat. New Australian research has found coral reefs will survive warmer ocean temperatures brought on by climate change – but they will be very different.
- Avocado fat boosts good cholesterol (HDL).
- 6 of Haiti’s Lost Frogs Rediscovered.
Bad News (coz we need to understand the challenges if we’re to design our way out of them):
- NASA Research Finds 2010 Tied for Warmest Year on Record.
- New Melt Record for Greenland Ice Sheet; ‘Exceptional’ Season Stretched Up to 50 Days Longer Than Average.
- CO2 Levels Could Rise to Concentrations Unseen in 30 Million Years by 2100.
- Legendary Parrot Who Saved His Species Dead at 80.
- Genetically Modified Crops That Glow Green When Stressed.
- Genetically Modified Chickens That Don’t Transmit Bird Flu Developed.
- Bees Facing a Poisoned Spring as New Pesticides Used.
- Beekeepers fume at association’s endorsement of fatal insecticides.
- Tasmanian Devils Rapidly Head Toward Extinction.
- The Shocking Shark Fin Trade. Hong Kong is known as the "Grand Central Station" of the brutal trade, in which fishermen cut the fins off endangered sharks while they are still alive, leaving the fin-less fish in the ocean to slowly bleed to death. A 2006 study estimated that between 26 and 73 million sharks are killed in this way each year, in a semi-legal trade that is valued at as much as $1 billion.
- Toxins found in pregnant U.S. women in UCSF study. Multiple chemicals, including some banned since the 1970s and others used in items such as nonstick cookware, furniture, processed foods and beauty products, were found in the blood and urine of pregnant U.S. women, according to a UCSF study. See also.
- Antioxidants Might Cause Fertility Problems in Females, Scientists Discover.
- Mad cow disease airborne.
- Obesity in Horses Could Be as High as in Humans.
- Smoking causes gene damage in minutes.
- Antipsychotic drug prescriptions triple in the US.
- Tianjin Eco-City in China is what I call an eco-monster. Such kind of modernistic architecture and structure reduces people to nothing but parts in a machine. What’s worse is that it’s designed by experts only; obviously the people themselves have no influence in how they want to live their own lives. Just look at the skyscrapers, it’s so inhumane. There is abundant evidence to show that high buildings make people crazy. Please give me a village town!
- China’s Last Great River Dammed – Four More Planned For Tibet.
- "Unscientific" is secret code for anyone who opposes GMOs or pesticides. Watch out for the word "unscientific" in propaganda that’s pushing GMOs, pesticides or other dangerous chemicals onto our world.
- Genetically-modified, oil-eating bacteria creating dangerous mutant organisms in the Gulf.
- Girls Who Are Bullied Are at Risk for Substance Use Through Depression. As schools reopen following the holidays, the message to parents of adolescent girls is that bullying can have serious consequences:"If your daughter is a victim of bullying, take it seriously, do all possible to prevent recurrence, and attend to possible depression and substance use.
- Home fires: The world’s most lethal pollution. Smoke from family stoves kill two million people a year.
- Antibiotics for babies increase risk for asthma with 50%.
- Awake Despite Anesthesia. Out of every 1000 patients, two at most wake up during their operation.
- Pesticides give rise to mutant bed bugs.
- PHOTOS: Stunning Exhibit Documents Exxon Valdez Oil Spill’s Effects Decades Later.
- Toxic waste from Burma’s largest coal project could displace 12,000.
- Apple rated worst multinational polluter in China.
- The Corporate Elite Have a New Platform for Intervening in the Economy.
- Obesity Linked to Economic Insecurity. An Oxford University study suggests that people living in countries with ‘free market’ regimes are more likely to become obese due to the stress of being exposed to economic insecurity.
- Last refuge of rare fish threatened by Yangtze dam plans.
- Russia’s ambitions for oil off Sakhalin Island could wipe out whale species.
Just plain interesting or odd (coz we’re curious creatures):
- Cuckoos evolve to fool angry birds.
- Australian Birds Attract Mates with "Scary Movie Effect".
- Songbird’s Sex Hormone Surges at Sight of Flowers.
- Environmental Changes May Affect Vital Cooperate Bird Behaviors.
- Female crickets fall for serenades of younger males.
- Male-producing worm sperm are ‘paralyzed’. Experiments on tiny nematode worms have revealed why some creatures produce far more female than male offspring.
- Largest Land-Dwelling "Bug" of All Time.
- Sharks are probably colour-blind.
- Whopping crayfish species stayed hidden for decades.
- Mystery Disease Found in Pacific Salmon.
- Plagues of lemmings driven by winter breeding.
- Single peat moss plant ‘conquered America’. It is the most extreme example yet known of a single plant’s ability to colonise sites spanning a huge region.
- Gene Helps Plants Use Less Water Without Biomass Loss.
- Slime Molds Are Earth’s Smallest, Oldest Farmers.
- 34,000-Year-Old Life Found Still Alive In Death Valley.
- New find from dawn of the dinos. Scientists have unveiled a new type of dinosaur dating from the late Triassic period, around 230 million years ago.
- Oldest Domestic Dog in Americas.
- 2,550-Year-Old Celtic Beer Recipe Resurrected.
- Chemical analysis confirms discovery of oldest wine-making equipment ever found.
- Why coffee protects against diabetes. See also.
- Having large breakfasts doesn’t make you a small eater the rest of the day, new study shows.
- Tinnitus Is the Result of the Brain Trying, but Failing, to Repair Itself.
- Indoor Air Pollution: Minerals Reduce Impact of Formaldehyde in Particle Board on Indoor Air Quality. See also.
- Funky Fonts May Help Students Learn. What about Comic Sans for your blog Craig?
- The Importance of Making a Good First Impression in the Classroom. Something to think about for PDC teachers.
- The genetic basis of friendship networks. It’s not just our partners that we choose partly because of their genes, we might pick our friends on that basis too. The finding could have implications for studying links between social behavior and genetics.
- The 12 Worst Relationship Mindsets: Which Are YOU Guilty Of?
- Room Light Before Bedtime May Impact Sleep Quality, Blood Pressure and Diabetes Risk.
- 8 Conspiracy Theories About Health That The Mainstream Media Has Been Forced To Admit Are Actually True. See also.
- Parents Give Boys Preferential Treatment When There Is a Chronic Food Shortage.
- Should we wean babies off breast milk before 6 months? New advice suggests babies fed only on breast milk for six months may be at higher risk of a variety of ills, such as anemia and obesity. See also.
- Do video games fuel mental health problems? There might be trouble brewing behind the glassy eyes of kids who spend too much time and energy on video games, according to a controversial new study.
- New Lithium-Ion Ultracapacitor Can Charge Tools In Under 60 Seconds.
- Hottest planet is hotter than some stars.
- Dark-Matter Galaxy Detected? An entire galaxy—made mainly of dark matter—may be lurking just outside our own, scientists say.
- Climate Changes Linked to Fall of Roman Empire.
- Total forest coverage by country.
- A Second Language Gives Toddlers an Edge.
- Couples sometimes communicate no better than strangers, study finds.
- Why First Impressions Are So Persistent.
- Apologies Aren’t as Good as People Imagine They’ll Be.
- The New (Brainy) Aristocracy. In the information age, brainy people are rewarded with wealth and influence, says Robert Guest. What does this mean for everyone else?
- How to Talk to Climate Skeptics? Stick to the Basics. The first question is actually whether you should deal with them at all. But if you do decide to go head-to-head, I would offer some advice.
- Could Oysters Be Used to Clean Up Chesapeake Bay?
- Remarkable Preservation of African Fossils Explained.
- Dino-era sex riddle solved by new fossil find.
- Newly Discovered Group of Algae Live in Both Fresh Water and Ocean.
- Transcriptomics of the Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius).
- Appearance Not Always Enough to Identify Species.
- Long-Distance Migration May Help Reduce Infectious Disease Risks for Many Animal Species.
- Biological Clock Ticks Slower for Female Birds Who Choose Good Mates.
- Polygamy produces more virile offspring.
- Hidden Messages Found in Bird Nest Decorations.
- Bird Sound Database Contains 67,000 Songs and Calls.
- Two forms of world’s ‘newest’ cat, the Sunda leopard.
- Iran’s rare cheetahs are unique.
- Scion Exchange Collecting Scions. Video.
- Fruit and vegetable concentrate decreases number of days with severe cold symptoms.
- World’s Largest Cave Explored in Vietnam.
- Creating Life in the Desert.
Don’t forget to send your links for next week’s linkfest!! – editor (at) permaculturenews.org