RealitySandwich - Eco

Nuclear Shift

Bridget Algiere — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:49:44 -0800

With the Department of Energy offering the first of almost $20 billion in loan guarantees to an aging nuclear industry with lax oversight, Art Levine, News Analyst for Truthout reminds us of the startling reality of all aspects of nuclear energy. In his Meltdown, USA piece he artfully brings us along the life cycle of a nuclear plant, focusing on the perils of uranium mining and the apathy of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the midst of near meltdowns.

Plastics Be Gone

Matthew Toussaint — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:46:59 -0800

Typically plastic materials take over 1,000 years to decompose--but they do eventually decompose. Daniel Burd, a student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, wanted to see if he could speed this process up. He created a yeast solution that fostered plastic-eating microbial growth, isolated and interbred the most effective organisms, and repeated the process. The results were astounding: a 43% degradation of platic in only 6 weeks.

Monster Corn

Kyle Davis — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:01:41 -0800

Monsanto is an agricultural company that claims to apply innovation and technology to help farmers produce healthier foods, better animal feeds, and more fiber while also reducing agriculture's impact on our environment, but earlier this month The Huffington Post featured an article about a study conducted by the International Journal of Biological Studies (IJBS) which concluded that Monsanto's genetically modified corn is linked to organ damage in rats.

Non-Violent Call to Action

Jennifer Palmer — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:27:48 -0800

A nonviolent call for action in New York City declares that, "The Future of the Earth is Not for Sale!" The following includes the complete schedule and description of the planned resistance:

Riddles on the Rainforest Floor

Amy Baczkowski — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:21:51 -0800

Large sculpted geometric patterns work their way across the grounds of the Amazon rainforest. These patterns known as geoglyphs lay hidden from present day consciousness for over 700 years. Due to advancements in satellite imagery and continuing deforestation their discovery is causing archeologists to rethink ancient Amazon civilization.

Clash at Copenhagen

Kyle Davis — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:00:59 -0800

"I regret to report we have been unable to reach agreement," said John Ashe of Antigua to the full 193-nation conference in Copenhagen Wednesday morning. The Global Climate Meeting, which concludes Friday, has been called a failure by one of the organizers Anne Petermann, saying there are “thousands of other solutions to climate change that aren’t being considered.” Meanwhile, outside the Bella Luna Center is another story.

Suspicious Sunspots

Chris Kaplan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:11:42 -0800

With the occurrence of the 'climategate' scandal and a monstrous snowstorm that hit the midwest United States last week, skeptics on global warming were celebrating what seemed to be proof of a "left-winged" agenda designed to strip us of our toys. The opposition's main theory was surrounding the role of the sun and its effects on our climate, especially with the activity of sunspots, blaming the sun as the sole contributor to the phenomenon of global warming.

Veggie Planet

Stephen Hershey — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:05:08 -0800

Trailing the popularity of Fast Food Nation, James E. McWilliam's Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly explains why mass vegetarianism could raise happiness and spirits, and significantly reduce our carbon footprint.

Ride Planet Earth

Jennifer Palmer — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:26:27 -0800

Kim Nguyen has been cycling from Australia to Denmark since August of 2008 in anticipation of next week's UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. His project is titled Ride Planet Earth, and after 15 months and 25,000 kilometers of biking he plans to arrive at the site of the conference this Sunday, December 6, the day before the talks are scheduled to begin.

Green Guide

Amy Baczkowski — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:40:01 -0800

Barcodes are no longer just for tracking inventory thanks to the new GoodGuide iPhone app. They now assist in bringing health, environmental, and social responsibility ratings of over 50,000 products directly to your iphone. Users of the app take a picture of a product's barcode with the camera of an iPod or iPhone and receive instant green ratings.

Six Degrees to Disaster

Chris Kaplan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:03:58 -0800

In December 2009, the United Nations will meet for the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen for what could be the "last chance" to stabilize climate temperature. The world's leaders hope to thwart what could be a catastrophic rise in temperature.

Rocks That Roll

Kyle Davis — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:48:43 -0800

At the lowest level in the western hemisphere is Death Valley, a national park in California that has seen 153 consecutive days of daytime temperatures over 100 degrees and an annual rainfall of 1.5 inches. Amidst the mammals, reptiles, and birds, the rocks in Death Valley have begun relocating themselves across the desert.

DIY Windmills

Tollevin S Williams — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:46:50 -0800

At age 14, William Kamkwamba was like most children in his native Malawi. The dire conditions of severe drought had left his family to survive on one meal a day. Being unable to afford school, he spent his days in the library, where he one day happened upon a book about windmills.

"I thought, this thing exists in this book, it means someone else managed to build this machine."

Our Evolving Solar System: Plasma, Polar Reversals, and 2012

Mark Heley — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:25:05 -0800

The following article is excerpted from The Everything Guide to 2012, released in 2009 by F+W Media, Inc.

Evolution River

Chris Kaplan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:34:21 -0800

Underwater waterfalls falling 40 feet per second, 40 foot wide whirlpools, and currents running at 30 miles per hour along a channel that is 640 feet deep are just business as usually for the Lower Congo River, which has the deepest point of any river in the world and a controlled system of evolution that would make Darwin blush harder than he did on his visit to the Galapagos Islands.

Glowing Shrooms

Kyle Davis — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:03:51 -0800

Seven new “glow in the dark” species of mushrooms were discovered around the globe this October. Four of the species are completely new to the shroom family while the other three have adapted this new trend towards luminescence, making a total of 71 known species to emit light.

Future Ivy Outbreak

Stephen Hershey — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:39:17 -0800

From 1998 to 2004, scientists Lewis Ziska and Jackie Mohan experimented in a wild forest by emitting carbon dioxide onto plant life, matching the degree of expected CO2 levels in the year 2050.

While trees gained a relatively normal 20% increase in growth, they found poison ivy growing 150% more than other plant life.

Mobility-on-Demand

Zachary Koval — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:40:48 -0700

This summer, the second annual Buckminster Fuller Challenge prize was awarded to a group of seven students from the MIT Media Lab for their project ''Sustainable Personal Mobility and Mobility on Demand'. Their initiative involves a network of fold-able scooters, bicycles and cars made available throughout the city as rentals for urban citizens. These lightweight electric vehicles would help relieve traffic congestion and city pollution while saving energy and space.

International Day of Climate Action

Zachary Koval — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:25:57 -0700

Staging the world's largest grassroots "open-source" campaign, 350.org calls on the world to organize actions incorporating the number 350 in order to emphasize its importance to our survival.

Meet the Veggie Spider

Kyle Davis — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:56:20 -0700

Buzzing over the web this week is the discovery of the Bagheera kiplingi, a new member to the arachnid family being documented as the first vegetarian of his kind.

Evolver Spores: Thought for Food

Jonathan Talat Phillips — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:05:00 -0700

Wed, Oct. 21

Anti-Pollutant Houseplants

Zachary Koval — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:19:22 -0700

Often touted as stress relievers, houseplants may be useful for more than just general atmospheric aesthetics by clearing harmful dust and chemical particles found in your work and living quarters. The New Ecologist names 10 houseplants to help clean up your air in a natural way.

Slow Money Alliance

Jennifer Palmer — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:07:33 -0700

The Friends of Slow Money Alliance want you to join thousands this week in seeding a new economy by contributing $5 or more to the Slow Money Alliance.

Return of the Living Bumblebee

Marisa Smith — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:32:22 -0700

The short-haired bumblebee has been extinct in the UK since 2000, making it one of two bumblebee species to have died out in the last 70 years. Many bee species have faced challenges surviving due to changes in natural habitat and the ravages of parasites and disease.

Grown in Detroit

Zachary Koval — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:05:14 -0700

The new award winning documentary Grown in Detroit, focuses on a program teaching teen parents the agricultural skills necessary to create urban gardens and farms. In a city where nature has reclaimed parts of the urban landscape, The Catherine Ferguson Academy helps teen mothers reclaim the land, allowing them to reap the economic and spiritual benefits of empowerment.

The film will debut on Detroit Public TV on September 22nd at 9PM.

Scientists Clone Earth's Oldest Living Organism

Kovvy — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:34:23 -0700

Though the Lomatia Tasmanica was discovered by man less than a hundred years ago, carbon dating shows that the trees are more than 43,000 years old.

Inflatable Solar Power

Kovvy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:15:03 -0700

Don't want to do costly and time-consuming renovations to your house in order to reap the benefits of solar power? Soon, you might not have to! These inflatable solar panels will zip together to provide easy solar power to pretty much any building.

The Magic Eco Kingdom

Kovvy — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:05:36 -0700

Global Inheritance has created the first theme park aimed at educating the public about sustainability, global warming, and other environmental issues. Located in "the heart of Hollywood, California," Environmentaland features permanent exhibits, such as painted recycling bins from the TRASHed: The Art of Recycling exhibit, power-generating bicycles and a seasaw, and solar and wind-powered golf carts.

Pine Ridge Permaculture

Alan Scheurman — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:56:32 -0700

According to the Republic of Lakotah, The Pine Ridge Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota is experiencing "inhumanely deplorable conditions." On the reservation, Lakota men have a life expectancy of less than 44 years, the lowest of any country in the world. The Lakota infant mortality rate is five times higher than the U.S. national average and the median income level is approximately $2,600 - $3,500 per year. According to the ROL, 97% of Lakota people live below the poverty line.

Green Dream

Nathan Clark — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:20:25 -0700