When the Levee Broke

India’s Nano

candlehand — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:11:58 +0000

A company in India, Tata, has officially launched the world’s cheapest car, called the Nano. The ten foot long nano sells for just under $2,000, and hopefully will give Indians an affordable alternative to the motorbikes that have become popular there. As a car, it’s pretty bare bones, with a max speed of about 65 mph, manual steering, and no air conditioner or air bags. With such a small engine, it also has fairly few emmissions- not that it particularly tries to be environmentally friendly, but it’s kind of the antithesis of something like a Hummer.

Something like this could probably never be sold successfully in the United States, but it’s good to see “economy” products used in a way that makes sense. In other words, if you couldn’t afford a car at all before, it’s nice to see someone has finally catered to that need.

The BBC news website also opened an interesting discussion article about the topic.

-Info via news.bbc.co.uk (Original Article)

Also thanks to Corbie for bringing this to my attention.

candlehand — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:33:04 +0000

It never gets old. Thanks to Abo for the pic.

Shaking things Up

candlehand — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:47:07 +0000

Scientists on a deep sea dive recently made a major discovery. What looked to be small balls of sediment actually turned out to be moving creatures. They first noticed this when they realized the tracks left by these “rocks” did not follow the flow of the ocean currents. What is even more astounding is that these “Sea Grapes” are actually single celled organisms over an inch long! This completely goes against everything science has told us about the space to volume ratio.

In short, the space to volume ratio means that as surface area is squared, volume is cubed. This means that it becomes increasingly harder to move nutrients from outside the body to inside the body to feed organs, which is why we don’t have giant amoebas the size of houses.

It only takes one cell to KILL

The other astounding thing about these sea grapes is that the trails match up with trails found from fossils. Previously, scientists had thought these trails marked the first large multicellular organisms. If it’s possible for creatures with one cell to make these tracks, multicellular organisms could’ve arrived much later than previously thought.

Unfortunately, I’m sure they’d make pretty boring pets.

-Via Science Daily

Polydactylism

candlehand — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:02:40 +0000

A boy was recently born in California with 24 fully functional digits- one extra on each limb. It’s supposedly an incredibly rare thing to have exactly one extra on each limb and have them all work perfectly. The full story is listed here. (story on BBC.co.uk)

For me it brings Gattaca to mind, a movie about purposeful and controlled genetic manipulations in humans. In the film people have all their genes determined before birth so they can be as perfect as possible. In the movie, there is also mention of a twelve fingered pianist who plays compositions that are impossible for someone with ten fingers. Anyone who hasn’t seen gattaca should definitely give it a try.

Think twice before making your child a football star before he’s born…

Miniature World

candlehand — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:50:12 +0000

Here’s the first video from a free online series, narrated by Sir David Attenborough called Life in the Underground. It’s all about the smaller aspects of nature- one thing many conservationists tend to forget about.

Click for the first Episode!

Nothing being lectured about insects by a knight!

DIY to the max!

candlehand — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:50:04 +0000

We’ve all heard of the explosion in “do it yourself” thought that has been gaining popularity recently, but the public seems to be taking scientific work into their hands. According to Yahoo News, there have been people digging into the field of genetic engineering- right in their basements! It will be incredibly interesting to see if any important discoveries arise from these genetic “homebrewers.”

Though there is a frightening aspect to the fact that anyone with a few thousand dollars can manipulate the building blocks of life, this marks an interesting social turning point. Before this, all scientific discoveries were either funded by the government or by multi-billion dollar corporations. With the government spending money everywhere BUT the sciences, and those companies interested in nothing more than profit, this could be a huge leap for the scientific community. If people catch on to home based “science projects”, it could mark the end of a controlled scientific world. More and more knowledge could be free to everyone. True, as stated earlier, bad may, and probably will, come of this eventually, but the possibilities for good seem limitless. It’s time for the people to take the future in their own hands!

Hive Minds in a Different Light

candlehand — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 04:57:36 +0000

My house got robbed a couple weeks ago, so the regular posting will resume when I get a new computer. Sorry everyone! Anyway, on to the post.

Credit to PinkTentacle.com for supplying this video of an amazing bioluminescent deep sea siphonophore.

What we’re seeing here is not one creature, but a collection of countless creatures functioning as one. More information on this particular organism(s) here.

Many people naturally place humans at the top of the biological intelligence ladder, but instances like the one above make me second guess that assertion. Humans have a kind of intelligence other animals do not, but we lack the will to work together. We pride ourselves on logic, but somehow we can’t conclude that working together increases everyone’s well being. Humans flourish with creativity and manipulation of our world, but remember, there are in fact ants that have mastered agriculture.

The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement

candlehand — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:02:07 +0000

The title says it all. One of my professors brought this to my attention in class today. The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement is a peaceful movement based on the idea that the Earth would be a better place without people. For the full info, visit their website.

It is definitely a fact that the human race is growing, and it’s a fact that resources are finite. Logically, it is only a matter of time before we burn ourselves out. Government control over reproduction isn’t a good thing, and neither is genocide, and VHEMT wants to solve the problem peacefully and morally. It seems as if not having children is in fact the right thing to do.

It should also be noted that we don’t have to go as far as a human extinction. We could slow down reproduction until we have a much smaller population. With a smaller population, problems like energy, pollution, and food shortages would become things of the past. With the “green” movement in full swing, people should realize that the “greenest” thing you could ever do is to cut down on children. Of course, this is a huge sacrifice, which is why it must be presented as a choice. The only way the human race ever truly changes is when it is done willingly.

Ambiguity?

candlehand — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:54:06 +0000

Ambiguity can be a very scary word. We as humans like to have the world organized, we like to know black from white, good from bad, and kind from cruel. We often need to know this so badly that we over simplify things. It’s simply easier to ignore this and run off gut feelings than it is to face the truth- that we are uncertain.

I just got back from watching The Dark Knight again, and beyond the phenomenal acting, action sequences, and directing (yes, I really did like it that much!) there are some more subtle things that attracted me to it.

Though the Joker is the villain, I find myself strangely drawn to him. In many ways, he is completely insane. In many others, he is the most sane character in the film. He acknowledges a lot of the human faults we tend to ignore. Namely, that fear of ambiguity. He points out that humans only panic when they really think control is lost, which seems very true. He also understands the psychology of everyone he meets to an amazing extent. This is in addition to the fact that:

1. He holds values, thought, and ideals above that of material things.

2. He is willing to fight towards those ends no matter what the cost.

3. He’s literally a genius. (those plans wou;dn’t be so perfect otherwise)

Those are all very admiral qualities in my books. But he is undoubtably an evil character. This brings me back to my point (which also happens to be The Joker’s point: Analyze things. Very few things are black and white issues. And most of all, learn to be happy with some uncertainty.

Questions?

Comments?

China stepping up to the Ecological plate?

candlehand — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:28:58 +0000

I’ve heard a lot of people speak out against that above comment, and even though I don’t have ALL the information to make an assessment, things point that way day after day. It should be noted that we STILL have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol (an agreement signed by countries in the United Nations to cut down on Greenhouse gases and other air pollution) and have no intention of doing so. It should also be noted that 179 countries have signed AND ratified the protocol, meaning they have signed it, acknowledged it, and have begun to act accordingly.

I’m not sure why the US signed the protocol with no intention of actually doing anything about it, but in my book, that puts us in the same place as the 15 countries who aren’t signed- though, admittedly, some of them weren’t asked. Even though this is the case, doesn’t America consider itself a great world leader? How can we be if these are the kinds of examples we’re giving? It looks like even China is stepping up to the plate in a few ways.

The Australian company Solar Sailor recently signed an agreement with COSCO, China’s largest shipping line, to outfit all their ships with solar powered sails. A picture speaks a thousand words-

No matter what country is participating, this is an inspiring vision of the future. These sails harness wind energy, just like our buddy Columbus did, but also draw in solar electricity to power parts of the ship. Supposedly, this will cut fuel consumption by 20%-30%. Maybe COSCO will pave the way for massive corporations and give alternative energy and new technologies a chance.

via www.ecogeek.org