A Man. A Plan. A Canal. Gujarat.

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Canal solar power: Gujarat has attracted investments of Rs 9,000 crore so far on solar energy projects.

To some it might seem odd to compare Gujarat’s innovative solar canal project to Panama’s nearly 100 year old global game changer. Although there are obvious and vast differences, there is also something powerfully familiar about the ultimate impact of the two projects.

While the 48 mile (77 km) Panama Canal saved ships traveling between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from taking the 8000 miles (12,875 km) journey around the southern tip of South America, the Solar Canal Project provides a duel purpose alternative energy system that both creates clean energy and conserves water. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Douglas Adams

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One year ago today I posted this to make sure that anyone who loves this author would be aware that there are still opportunities to celebrate his life in tangible, meaningful ways that he would have appreciated.  I encourage anyone and everyone to continue to do so because the conservation needs have grown rather than diminished.  You might also enjoy his final public appearance above, which will give you 90 minutes of intense amusement and learning.   Continue reading →

Beauty Of Kerala – Vagamon

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Photo credits: Johny George

Photo credits: Johny George

The Vagamon Mountains are located 1100 metres above sea level, 50 km from Thekkady on the western fringes of Idukki  District. Once a wild area, it was cleared by the early planters for the cultivation of tea and coffee, but its fabulous rolling grasslands and scenic mountain views continue to draw visitors. Continue reading →

Clouded Leopard, Malaysian Forest Reserve

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In the same regard as sharing important, if small news about conservation efforts, we think it is important for as many people as possible to view animals in the wild in order to sense the importance of conserving their habitat. In this five minute recording, we see the first and only recorded clouded leopard, which is interesting enough.  But we also see its hunting ground, which is a scrappy opening within the forest (making the filming possible) rather than a dense forest cover (more difficult for filming, to state the obvious) where we would more likely find a leopard hunting in Kerala. Continue reading →

Yosemite’s Finest

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Sunrise over the Merced River after a winter snowstorm, Yosemite National Park, California. Photo by Flickr/Getty Images

Sunrise over the Merced River after a winter snowstorm, Yosemite National Park, California. Photo by Flickr/Getty Images

Listen to the description of Yosemite in the words of someone who knows:

I sit in an alpine lake basin and eat my lunch: cheese and crackers, lemonade, and an apple. I lay my head on my knapsack, which is almost an extension of myself. I have had it for a long time, and thanks to all of the food I have carried in it, it is an odoriferous repository of memory of peaks climbed and meadows traversed, of the sounds of meadow thrush in canyons, of canyons idled in to feel sunlight and wind on skin, to see the waning light of day and the starry light of night, and be bathed in the ambience of alpenglow. The sounds of gurgling streams — like Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony — banish all worry from the human soul. Continue reading →

Traditional Kerala Attire

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Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Kasavu Mundu and Kasavu Neryathu are traditional handloom cotton fabrics with Kasavu (golden brocade) used for saris and as dress material by the Malayalee people. Woman elegantly wear the mundu (sarong type skirt) and neryathu (draped shoulder cloth) over a traditional sari blouse. Kerala men wear the mundu around the waist and the neryathu around the shoulders. Continue reading →

Conservation Could

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The Ryukyu Black-breasted Leaf Turtle is the subject of Japan's first ever listing proposal to CITES © Taku Sakod

The Ryukyu Black-breasted Leaf Turtle is the subject of Japan’s first ever listing proposal to CITES © Taku Sakod

We are always hoping for good news related to wildlife, whether through habitat conservation, rebounding endangered species, or any of a number of other worthy initiatives to reverse human impact on our fellow species on this planet. We often find more bad news than good. Several stories we have linked to recently report on the progress, and lack thereof, at the CITES gathering in Thailand. This conservation story evokes a certain engine that could:

Bangkok, Thailand, 8th March 2013—Japan is asking the world’s governments to help protect the Ryukyu Black-breasted Leaf Turtle, a rare turtle found on only three small islands in the Okinawa group. Continue reading →

Vegetarian Roulette

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joe-yonan

Yonan says he became a vegetarian in part for health reason, but also for environmental ones.

Click the image above to go to the podcast of this interview with Washington Post food editor Joe Yonan. It is funny to think that committing to a vegetarian diet could pose a career risk to anyone, but if you are a food-focsed writer or editor, of course:

You could see how high cholesterol might be a job hazard for these folks. “The meals that we food people get into can sometimes be way over-the-top of the kinds of things that normal people eat,” Yonan says.

But it’s not just foodies who are cutting back on meat. In a poll conducted last year with Truven Health Analytics, NPR found that 39 percent of adults surveyed said they eat less meat than they did three years ago. The main reason they cited for the change? Health concerns. Continue reading →

The Poetry of Science

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This conversation between two luminaries of modern science: Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and host of NOVA and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is as poetic as it is informative, and well worth the time it takes to listen.

Professor Dawkins says that science is the poetry of reality. We take pleasure in his and Professor Tyson’s expanded bandwidth… Continue reading →

Hindhu Festival – Maha Shivaratri

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Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Maha Shivaratri means “the great night of Shiva”. Shiva- the name meaning auspicious- is one of the Hindu Trinity, comprised of Lord Brahma The Creator; Lord Vishnu The Preserver and Lord Shiva The Destroyer. This festival is said to commemorate the day on which Shiva protected the world by drinking a pot of poison that had the power to destroy the entire universe. Continue reading →

CJ, Kashmir And Awesome Powder At The Top Of The World

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Russ Juskalian for The New York Times. A skier in a backcountry section of the Gulmarg area.

Our friends at the New York Times appear to agree with our friend CJ that the place to be this ski season is Kashmir. Click the image to go to the story in the Travel section of Sunday’s edition:

The risks of a ski trip to Kashmir? Security, avalanches and the altitude. The rewards? Perfect powder, an absence of crowds and staggering Himalayan beauty.

Continue reading →

Flavours Of Kerala – Idli

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Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

 Idli is a South Indian savoury cake made by steaming a batter made with fermented rice powder, black gram dal and salt in a special pan with rounded indentations. Idlis are popular throughout India especially the southern part of the country. The dish is usually served with sambar and various chutneys, including tomato, coconut or coriander. Continue reading →

If You Happen To Be in New York City

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From today until May 19 the New-York Historical Society will begin hosting a multi-phased exhibition of Audubon‘s early, exuberant period as an illustrator-naturalist:

Audubon’s Aviary: Part I of the Complete Flock

To celebrate the sesquicentennial of the New-York Historical Society’s purchase of the Audubon avian watercolors and the the release of the lavishly illustrated book Audubon’s Aviary: The Original Watercolors for “The Birds of America”―published by the New-York Historical Society and Skira/Rizzoli and winner of a 2013 New York Book Show Award Continue reading →

For Foodie Friends

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This is the third of the “From Scratch” entrepreneurship-focused podcasts we have sampled, and each one so far has been excellent. The first two had a very strong connection to conservation, which explains why we sampled them first.  This one has no connection to conservation, but there is a great spirit of community embedded in everything Keller says. He is notably clear-headed in acknowledging the role his family played in his development, and how his eventual success was due to people who might not have been expected to support him.  Click the image above to go to the podcast.

Continue reading →