We are completing the architectural designs on several new properties, and this talk had strong resonance on several dimensions:
Architect Thomas Heatherwick shows five recent projects featuring ingenious bio-inspired designs. Some are remakes of the ordinary: a bus, a bridge, a power station … And one is an extraordinary pavilion, the Seed Cathedral, a celebration of growth and light.
Click the image above to go to the TED Architectural Inspiration playlist.
Ghats Road, Idukki
Alex Koeberle. Plant science students Sarah Nechamen ’15 and Celine Jennison ’14 helped create a garden outside Kennedy Hall to demonstrate permaculture.
Diners at Trillium need not look farther than out the window to see where part of their meal originates.
The basil in their pasta or cilantro in their quesadilla may have been plucked from the new garden adjacent to Kennedy Hall, constructed by students last week.
The site will also enable staff and students to stroll around and learn about permaculture – a self-sustaining agricultural system in which herbs, fruits and vegetables are strategically planted so that they work together in mutual benefit. Some plants provide shade, for instance, while others offer pest resistance.
A permaculture garden is essentially a network, with each plant working together, explained plant sciences major Sarah Nechamen ’15, past president of the Cornell Permaculture Club. This increases garden productivity while minimizing waste and human interference. Continue reading
Tiger Cave
Monuments in Mamallapuram are comprised of three kinds of rock-cutting techniques: excavated cave temples, monolithic temple models, and structural erections. The Tiger Cave, a rock-cut Hindu temple, is located 4 km north of the main Shore temple in Mamallapuram. Continue reading
The Rajasthan Patrika headquarters in Kesargarh, Rajasthan.
Thanks to India Ink for this story about hyperlocal journalism:
JAIPUR, Rajasthan – On the June 25, I walked into Kesargarh Fort in Jaipur, the capital of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. Where cannon were once mounted, now lies a silver printing press. The monotype-casting machine is the only giveaway that the stone and terracotta façade is home to a newspaper group, Patrika. Continue reading
Buying Illegal Ivory is Killing Me’: One of the posters from the Shanghai campaign. Credit: UNEP
Shanghai is famous as China’s “City of the Future” and in collaboration with this United Nations-backed campaign metro travelers are finding large-screen displays and posters of endangered animal species during their daily commute.
Public awareness was a key factor behind the reduction in the demand for ivory in North America and Europe in the 20th century, and it can play its part in reducing the illegal wildlife trade today as demand moves to emerging markets. Continue reading
Tree in the Periyar Tiger Reserve
A couple of days ago, I had my first trekking experience in the Periyar Tiger Reserve and because of its name, I had a flawed perception of what was to come. I expected to see many animals, perhaps even a tiger. However, I did not. In fact, during the few hours I was there, I only saw a couple sambar (a species of Indian deer), an Indian Gaur (the largest living bovine), and a handful of birds. My experience in the Periyar Tiger Reserve was the antithesis of going to a zoo, and this actually made it much more enjoyable. Continue reading
In our neighborhood, the gang of kids we have been snapping photos of in recent years are among our favorite reasons to be in Thevara. Today was the first day of school (ever) for the two individual youngsters above; the three young ladies together were happy that school is back in session after a late summer, early monsoon break.
Outskirts of Bangalore, Karnataka
There’s something unsettling about taxidermy and the lifelike diaramas that I grew up seeing at museums. But the research that goes into each zoological and botanical detail serves a monumental educational purpose for visitors and scientists alike. And in a “Last Chance to See” context, there are cases where those diaramas are the only way both current and future generations are able to have a face to face experience with extinct species.
A little over a year ago the icon of Galapagos conservation “Lonesome George” died of natural causes. Although property of the people of Ecuador, he is considered an example of World Heritage Patrimony. Researchers froze his body and shipped it to the American Museum of Natural History for preservation and a temporary exhibition in New York. Continue reading
Collaboration has been central to music since the beginning of time. Most of our posts about collaboration intend to point out more unusual, but much needed, forms of collaboration related to communities and their surrounding ecosystems. Something about this album captures our intent with this word better than most news items usually do. Credit for our finding our way to this musical collaboration goes to the interview the duet gave some time back:
Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell were featured on today’s episode of NPR’s Fresh Air. The two spoke with host Terry Gross about their long friendship and their new album, Old Yellow Moon, a new 12-track duets album featuring song by Crowell and others that marks the first official collaboration from the duo since Crowell joined Harris’ Hot Band as guitarist and harmony singer in 1975. The two also discuss a few of their musical Continue reading
Misty Mountain Waterfalls
Kuttikkanam is a village nestled in the lap of the Sahyadri Ranges and is en route between Kochi and Thekkady. Kuttikkanam is very famous for its scenic beauty, especially its waterfalls, and it once was a summer retreat of the Travancore Kings. Continue reading
Reykjavík, Fish drying and shark oil station. Collodion print by Frederick Howell ca 1900. Bequest of Daniel Willard Fiske; compilation by Halldór Hermannsson; Cornell University Library Rare & Manuscript Collections.
Every account of travel in Iceland will cover the national meals in some fashion, but normally they are portrayed as quaint and disgusting. Many of the travelers of the period address the ‘unhealthy penchant for putrefied foods’ that revolved around stockfish. This included salmon and some other species but mostly meant cod, which was quite abundant in the oceans around the island. The fish would be cleaned and dried, and sometimes smoked, to provide food throughout the year, and the same applied for mutton. Dairy products from cattle, namely butter and cream, was often allowed to go rancid, much to the dismay of continental Europeans. Here is a paragraph I’ve translated from Jules-Joseph LeClercq, the Belgian who I referred to in my last post about Icelandic equitation, in his book Terre de Glace (1883):
I do not know how I can still respect those who are able to digest the horrible dishes to which my host introduced me, in particular dried shark-meat and whale fat. Overcoming my repugnance, I wanted to taste these incredibly novel delicacies, and was rewarded with an upset stomach for eight days. Continue reading
The Komodo dragon: surprisingly clean.
Myth-busting science writers, especially when they free a phenomenal animal from the clutch of wrongly bad reputation, are heroic folk to us:
In 1969, an American biologist named Walter Auffenberg moved to the Indonesia island of Komodo to study its most famous resident—the Komodo dragon. This huge lizard—the largest in the world—grows to lengths of 3 metres, and can take down large prey like deer and water buffalo. Auffenberg watched the dragons for a year and eventually published a book on their behaviour in 1981. It won him an award. It also enshrined a myth that took almost three decades to refute, and is still prevalent today. Continue reading
Tompkins County, NY
Greenpeace is leading the charge against corporations that practice what has come to be called greenwashing. Image: iStockPhoto
Worth a moment of your time:
Dear EarthTalk: I hear the term “greenwashing” a lot these days but am still not sure exactly what it means. Can you enlighten?—Ruth Markell, Indianapolis
In essence, greenwashing involves falsely conveying to consumers that a given product, service, company or institution factors environmental responsibility into its offerings and/or operations. CorpWatch, a non-profit dedicated to keeping tabs on the social Continue reading
Tea Estates
Pampanar is located near Thekkady en route to Kottayam. It is a picturesque place with an unending expanse of lush green tea plantations. Tea estates, lush hillsides, forests and coffee estates views lend charm to this hill station. Continue reading
Pip Jamieson, Jeff Lyons, Danny Miller
The Guardian continues its quest to creatively avoid the irrelevance and economic demise challenging all print-based journalism enterprises:
Overview
In a uncertain economic climate, many of us dream of setting up our own business – using our creative skills, while becoming our own boss. It could be a design studio, a series of events, a retail empire or a web venture – there are common challenges to meet and problems to solve. Continue reading
Organikos 