News
Weekly Linkfest – Edition 17
Welcome to round seventeen 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):
- Soil Science: Healing Our Planet’s Ills from the Ground Up. Under our feet an ubiquitous, lowly soil can be easily overlooked when it comes to addressing climate change and population growth. But in the January-February issue of the Soil Science Society of America Journal, a team of scientists say soil is an essential piece of the biosphere and more attention should be paid to protecting it. Strategies for doing so include refocusing and boosting research, and communicating its importance to the public.
- Eat Your Subdivision. Agricultural spaces are increasingly being included in housing developments. Amid growing concern about food quality and supply, new residential communities incorporate sustainable farming.
- Insects That Deter Predators Produce Fewer Offspring. Caterpillars are a target of pest control, as they destroy food crops by eating the leaves of cabbages and other vegetables. This new study, however, suggests that natural predators, such as farmland birds, do not necessarily have to consume large numbers of insects, to have a significant effect on the size of the population. Researchers found that 40% of caterpillars that defended themselves from predators by regurgitating food, died before transforming into a butterfly, despite successfully surviving the initial attack. See also.
- A "Life-Sized Lego Set" for Creating Self Sustaining Towns. The Global Village Construction Set is a set of 40 tools upon which to build a sustainable small civilization. Move over Mad Max!
- Community–Supported Agriculture Farms Expand Sustainable Farming In The United States.
- Everyone, Farm Together Now! (Book Review)
- Helen Browning: A woman who won’t be cowed in the war against titan farms.
- Whole coastline of Namibia is designated a national park. Namibia has become what is thought to be the first country to designate its entire coastline a national park. Wow!
- A fossil-free world by 2050 not an ‘unattainable utopia’, says WWF.
- New Solar Cell Self-Repairs Like Natural Plant Systems.
- Exclusive: Tanzania Park ‘Highway’ to Remain Undeveloped.
- New findings in India’s Bt cotton controversy: Good for the field, bad for the farm? "I would love to see Bt seeds as a real solution to these farmers’ insect problems, as many have claimed, but this may be a bit naive," Stone says. "Conditions in the cotton fields change quickly. Populations of insects not affected by Bt have now begun to explode. We can’t forget that cotton farmers enthusiastically adopted pesticide sprays in the 1990s, only to watch them quickly lose their effectiveness."
- Mexico rejects Monsanto’s GMO corn.
- Young Children Choose to Share Prizes After Working Together.
- Rare gorilla twins born in wild.
- Seed swaps breed biodiversity.
- The Great Green Wall: African Farmers Beat Back Drought and Climate Change with Trees. See also this + this.
- Plants Can Adapt Genetically to Survive Harsh Environments. "What we’re looking at is evolution in action," Salt said. "It looks like natural selection is matching expression of this gene to the local soil conditions." Here we see it again, nature does the job, and there is no need to interfere with GMOs.
- An Army of Ant Genomes. Newly revealed DNA from four species may help control pests.
- Victory for Kalahari Bushmen as court grants right to water.
- First-Ever Global Map of Surface Permeability Informs Water Supply, Climate Modelling. University of British Columbia researchers have produced the first map of the world outlining the ease of fluid flow through the planet’s porous surface rocks and sediments.
- Scientists Find that Debris on Certain Himalayan Glaciers May Prevent Melting. See also.
- The Warriors of Qiugang has been nominated for a 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary.
- The Farmer and the Horse. A New Documentary Film that Gets Its Boots Dirty.
- Reducing Parking Spaces Helps Cities Cut Auto Emissions. A new study shows economic and policy changes that limit parking have significantly reduced miles driven in 10 European cities. See also.
- Dubai’s World of Islands is Sinking into the Sea. I don’t think why this is good news need any further explanation for readers of this blog.
- 5 Tips for a Green Home Remodel from Eco Architect Sarah Susanka. Her The Not so Big House book is one of my favourites.
- Having a Strong Community Protects Adolescents from Risky Health Behaviors. I think a well designed permaculture society can give the poor a social capital much more beneficial than the capital held by the dollar millionaires of suburbia.
- ‘Bug Mac’ and lovely ‘grub’: food of the future.
- The world can be powered by alternative energy, using today’s technology, in 20-40 years, says Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson.
- Efficiency could cut world energy use over 70 per cent. Nb! These kind of thick walls are hazardous if not using moisture buffering insulation. Also remember that three layers of glass will keep out bird song and children’s laughter, you’ll feel like in a vacuum. You MUST have openings to let the bird song in!
- Solar Road: Dutch Town to Cover Cycling Path with Solar Panels.
- Are Cargo Bikes Going Mainstream?
- 20-Year-Old Permaculture Forest Garden in the Mountains (Videos).
- Beepods Bring Back an Old Design for Better Beekeeping.
- Tiny orang-utan populations are surprisingly diverse.
Bad News (coz we need to understand the challenges if we’re to design our way out of them):
- Palm oil expansion threatens Palawan tribe. I remember flying above the enormous palm oil plantations of Malaysia last time I went to the Philippines; these rows of trees as far I could see chocked me. Palawan is the only one of the larger islands of the Philippines that still has a largely intact nature, and I really want to go there. But surely, I don’t want to visit this paradise island seeing palm oil plantations! See also.
- Biofuels: jatropha still linked to ‘land grabbing and displacement of farmers’.
- Global Population Could Hit 14 Billion By 2100 Without Greater Effort to Slow It: UN. See also.
- Obesity affects one in 10 adults around the world. See also this + this.
- Formula-fed babies 600 percent more likely to be obese. Introducing babies to solid food too soon significantly raises their chances of becoming obese, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. Researchers from various hospitals in and around Boston, Mass., concluded that formula-fed babies who begin eating solid foods before four months are 600 percent more likely to become obese by age three than children who begin eating solid foods later.
- Larger cities drive growing wage gap between the rich and the poor, study shows.
- Study: Popular kids — but not the most popular — more likely to torment peers.
- Chemistry behind Vegetarianism. Vegetarians in high risk of thrombosis.
- Processed food diet in early childhood may lower subsequent IQ. See also.
- Junk food diet lowers children’s IQ.
- Vaccine related nerve damage.
- Cancer on the Rise in Developing Countries: Report. See also.
- 6.7 million wisdom teeth removed unnecessarily each year. I wish I had read this article two years ago, and then I would have kept my wisdom teeth.
- Arctic Fisheries’ Catches 75 Times Higher Than Previous Reports.
- ‘Outdoor Mosquito’ May Have Unexpected Role in Malaria. Researchers have found a large subpopulation of the insect that prefers to live outside. These bugs may play an important, but so far hidden, role in malaria transmission.
- US trade chief urges Europe to open market to GM foods.
- USDA to partially deregulate GM sugar beets.
- “GM alfalfa will be everywhere”.
- Asian factory farming boom spreading animal diseases like avian influenza.
- Earth economist: The food bubble is about to burst.
- Amazon drought ‘severe’ in 2010, raising warming fears.
- Ten Most Threatened Forests Named.
- After the birds vanish, plants are next to go. All people of the Northern hemisphere, it’s still time to put up a lot of bird boxes before the breading season starts!
- Oysters disappearing worldwide: study. I’ve also heard that oysters are very vulnerable for the acidification of the oceans.
- Pollutants in aquifers may threaten future of Mexico’s fast-growing ‘Riviera Maya’.
- LED products billed as eco-friendly contain toxic metals, study finds.
- Winning Design Turns Abandoned Italian Bridge into Eco Village. This is the most insane and inhumane definition of an ecovillage I’ve seen ever, and hope it will be so. My last fragment of respect for contemporary architects and architecture is surely gone with this stupidity. I’ve said it before and I now need to say it again: Please give me a Village Town!
- Predicted Impact of Barriers to Migration on the Serengeti Wildebeest Population. The new highway Tanzanian governments plan to build trough the renowned national park of Serengeti will have a huge impact on its ecosystems. This according to a new study conducted by the University of Guelph, Canada. Their simulation results suggest that a barrier to migration—even without causing habitat loss—could cause the wildebeest population to decline by about a third.
- 770,000 Gallons of Dispersant from BP Spill Didn’t Degrade.
- Global food security at risk as crop biodiversity is lost. Global food security may be in peril unless immediate measures are taken to stem the dramatic loss of genetic diversity among food crops and their wild relatives, according to a report by the United Nations. Se also second report here.
- Brazil Approves Clearing Forest for Belo Monte Dam.
- UN forest protection plans linked to ‘land grabbing’.
- GMO lies: Deliberate misuse of the term "genetically modified" designed to mislead people. It’s one of the most common false arguments of GMO pushers: There’s nothing to be worried about with genetically modified foods, they argue, because almost everything is genetically modified, they claim.
- USDA Decision On GE Alfalfa Leaves Door Open For Contamination, Rise Of Superweeds. Fight back against Obama’s deregulation of GM alfalfa.
- Farmers forced to buy expensive chemical arsenals to control pesticide-resistant ‘superweeds’.
- Monsanto launches deceptive ad campaign in desperate attempt to improve image.
- Catholic church silently supports GMOs.
- Invasive Plants Evolve Rapidly to Thrive in Their New Homes.
- New Doubts Raised About Potential Bee-Killing Pesticide. A federal entomologist has become the latest researcher to voice doubts about neonicotinoids, a controversial new type of pesticide that may be linked to the collapse of honeybee populations in the United States.
- Wheat resistance genes failing, new approach needed to stop flie.
- Report: Urgent action needed to avert global hunger. Unfortunately this report proposes GMO crops. I would rather recommend the report A Viable Food Future from The Development Fund, which can be downloaded here.
- Hunger affects one in seven households in the United States.
- Eating Poorly Can Make You Blue: Trans-Fats Increase Risk of Depression, While Olive Oil Helps Avoid Risk.
- Increased risk of narcolepsy observed among children and adolescents vaccinated with PandemrixR.
- Some baby foods worse than junk food: survey.
- Chemicals in soap can harm children.
- Plastics chemical BPA reduces sperm health.
- NIH panel links Vitamin A in sunscreen to skin tumours.
- Creeping sickness: Our epidemic of diagnosis.
- EU Herbal Directive will Close Health Food Stores, Say Owners.
- Climate Benefits of Natural Gas May Be Overstated.
- First Study of Dispersants in Gulf Spill Suggests a Prolonged Deepwater Fate.
- Warming North Atlantic Water Tied to Heating Arctic.
- Monk Seal and Hump-Backed Dolphin Are Threatened by Fishing Activities off Coast of Mauritania.
- Air Above Dead Sea Contains Very High Levels of Oxidized Mercury.
- Global Weirding: Caribbean Coral Crisis (Again!)
- Liberia has Lost 95 Percent of its Elephants to Poachers.
- Twitter and Facebook don’t connect people – they isolate them from reality, say a rising number of academics.
Just plain interesting or odd (coz we’re curious creatures):
- Make or break time for Mali’s fertile wetland. As well is supporting a million local people the inner Niger delta is home to a wealth of wildlife – including many of Europe’s migratory birds.
- Vietnam’s Biodiversity Has Deep Roots in Earth’s Past.
- First evidence of gene transfer from human host to bacterial pathogen offers new view of evolution, disease.
- Testosterone: empathy killer. An administration of testosterone under the tongues of volunteers negatively affected their ability to "read" the minds of others, an indication of empathy.
- How Omega-3 Fatty Acids Help Prevent Several Forms of Blindness. Omega-3 fatty acids, highly concentrated in the retina, are often lacking in Western diets, which tend to be higher in omega-6 fatty acids.
- Spice drug fights stroke damage.
- Eating berries may lower risk of Parkinson’s.
- Acupuncture works to treat lazy eye.
- Breastfeeding linked to fewer seizures in kids. Babies that are breast fed may have fewer seizures after they’re a year old, according to a recent study in Denmark.
- Baby brains rewire themselves.
- Fear of Sunshine Contributing to Surge in Rickets in Children.
- The more you lie, the easier it gets.
- ‘Niceness’ partly genetic, say scientists. Selflessness and civic-mindedness can be inherited, especially if you are a woman, according to a new study.
- Feel the pain, shed the guilt.
- ‘He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not…’: Women Are More Attracted to Men Whose Feelings Are Unclear.
- Menopause hot flashes dramatically lower breast cancer risk.
- 64-Year-Old Kayaker Completes Trans-Atlantic Voyage.
- Global Recommendations on Physical activity for Health. Youngsters with minimum one hour of hard physical activity every day get a significant lover risk of many kind of sicknesses, among them cancer, as adults.
- Key to Better Health Care May Be a Walk in the Park.
- New Zealand’s Lost-and-Found Pink Terraces.
- Genetic study uncovers new path to Polynesia.
- Spring-Loaded Heels Gave Extra Step to Early Humans. I recently learned that walking on two legs is the most energy efficient way to move one self. See also.
- Mummy Remains Show False Toes Helped Ancient Egyptians Walk.
- Ancient Teeth Raise New Questions About Origins of Modern Humans.
- America and its Cities. Anyone actually interested in the subject will swiftly see that (a) American public policy is strongly biased against high density living and (b) that this outcome is predictable from the structure of American political institutions. That people don’t realize this is largely a matter of willful ignorance. See also.
- Density in the pre-Columbian United States: A look at Cahokia.
- Corporate Control? Not in These Communities.
- EcoTipping Points: Strategies for Shifting from Decline to Restoration.
- Rocky Times Ahead: Are You Ready? This isn’t a future you can, or should, face alone. How to make sure you don’t have to.
- Food and economics: rethinking the relationship.
- Can’t We All Just Get Along? The Myth of GMO and Organic Coexistence.
- Kunstler Explains Peak Oil.
- World’s largest ecological experiment to examine impact of palm oil plantations.
- Jatropha: Green Biodiesel from African Tree.
- View From Above: Fertilizer Use Around the World.
- Top Ten Most Nutritious Vegetables and How to Grow Them in Your Garden.
- Zoologger: The sharpest mind in the farmyard.
- Bizarre mammals call using quills. Unique hedgehog-like mammals have been filmed using their quills to communicate.
- Why the touch of an egg sparks squid fight club. Watch long-finned squid get aggressive as they brush up against wrath-inducing egg clusters.
- ScienceShot: Coral Time Sex to the Moon.
- Invasive Comb Jellyfish Pose No Direct Threat to Baltic Cod Eggs and Larvae, Danish Study Finds.
- Chernobyl birds are small brained.
- Woodpecker’s head inspires shock absorbers.
- ScienceShot: Bats Are Social Networking Rockstars.
- A change of heart keeps bears healthy while hibernating.
- Biggest fish could be even bigger.
- X-rays reveal hidden leg of an ancient snake.
- A Frog Evolved to Regain the Teeth Its Ancestors Jettisoned.
- Recognizing gibbons from their regional accents.
- Rare Insect Fossil Reveals 100 Million Years of Evolutionary Stasis.
- 44-year-old mystery of how fleas jump resolved.
- Secret Life of Bees Now a Little Less Secret.
- Polluted perfume could put pollinators off the scent.
- How animals sniff the perfect mate.
- Western Australia’s Incredible Underground Orchid.
- Thousands of New Stars Emerge in Glowing Nebula.
- How to Borrow Seeds from Richmond Grows Seed Lending Library (Video).
- Top 6 most cost-effective vegetables to grow.
- 5 Trendy (and Seriously Healthy) Alternatives to Traditional Grains..
- Dragonfly wings inspire micro wind turbine design.
- ScienceShot: Homing Pigeons Follow Their Noses. Birds sniff through right nostril to navigate.
- How the seahorse gained its shapely body.
- A Friend to Aliens: Are Invasive Species Really a Big Threat?
- Genetic Origin of Cultivated Citrus Determined: Researchers Find Evidence of Origins of Orange, Lime, Lemon, Grapefruit, Other Citrus Species.
- Video: A Self-Planting Seed. Seeds of Geranium relative drill themselves into the ground.
- Thank bees for orchids’ diversity.
- Incredible ‘Garbage City’ Rises Outside of Cairo.
Don’t forget to send your links for next week’s linkfest!! – editor (at) permaculturenews.org
Thanks guys! I have shared several of these on Facebook. Love the Beepod & will be making several on our property in Tasmania next year.