We are anchored, as an organization, around experiential learning and action, not only for our interns but also in/for the communities we are part of. But this bias itself is informed by the opportunities many of us have had, through education, living in cultures other than those we were born into, access to libraries, or work experience early in life, to read our way to better understanding. We have plenty of diverse posts on this topic. In a couple of minutes, the video above sheds light on why this post, and a few follow-ups by one of our first contributors, set the bar for what we see on a good day: with the aid of good literary perspective, we can describe our experiences in a way that benefits others.
Wild Periyar: November 10, 2012
Mr. Richard George from England stayed at Cardamom County and shared some of his wild life experiences from his visit to the Periyar Tiger Reserve.
Another Good Reason To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Coffee plantations surrounding Xandari, Costa Rica.
Photo: Emilia Ferreira
It is not a journal we regularly read, but the topics in this particular study–coffee and climate change–we follow closely. Click the banner above to read the (accessible to non-scientists) article:
Coffee (Coffea L.) is the world’s favourite beverage and the second-most traded commodity Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Spotted Dove
Uda Walawe, Sri Lanka
An Award, In A Word: SafetyNet
Safetynet won this year’s James Dyson Award and is explained on the website of that award program:
Function
The goal of the SafetyNet system is to make commercial fishing more sustainable by significantly decreasing the numbers of non-target and juvenile fish caught during the trawling process. Escape Ring devices form a part of this system, and are currently the focus of the development work. The rings tackle the problem of
From Behind the Wheel: Pretty in Pink
Photo Credit: Janna Crafts; Ernakulam
Another Renewable Energy Innovation
Click the image above to go to the full story from Green Blog:
KiOR, a renewable fuel start-up based in Pasadena, Tex., said Thursday that it had produced a crude oil made from wood chips at a plant in Mississippi and expected to refine it into gasoline and diesel and sell it commercially later this month. That would be a first for the cellulosic biofuel sector.
Urban Markets
Urban Markets play an important role in the Indian economy. A large number of people depend upon these ideal places to get fresh local vegetables and fruits. Continue reading
Humans Tell Stories For A Living
A great conversation with the author of this book is podcast here thanks to PBS and its contributors. In the current issue of American Scientist, a review:
Gottschall clearly considers it safe to say that storytelling has something to do with helping us navigate our social worlds, since we are such thoroughly social animals: “We are attracted to fiction not because of an evolutionary glitch, but because fiction is, on the whole, good for us. This is because human life, especially social life, is intensely complicated and the stakes are high.”
Bird of the Day: Brown Pelican (Srirangapatna, Mysore)
Photo Credit: Anukash
Alternative Bulbs, Designed For Aesthetes
From Clean Technica, a story about a new light:
SWITCH Lighting has now designed a light emitting diode (LED) bulb that is much more industrial looking, like the standard incandescent bulbs, and demonstrates many of the same qualities that consumers like without the wasted energy.
They’ve been widely praised for their sleek industrial design and have even been featured as a work of art in several art galleries. In addition, the SWITCH75 was a Consumer Electronics Show 2012 Innovations Honoree, was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of 2011 and also received a silver rating in the prestigious Edison 2012 Awards.
Alternative Energy, Scaling To Feasibility
Click the image to the right to go to the story in the Monitor:
Like many green technologies, wind power’s main drawback is a matter of size: Small turbines are inefficient and expensive, and utility scale turbines require too much land and capital for some communities. Continue reading
Bachelor Button (Gomphrena globosa)
Gomphrena globosa, also known as Globe Amaranth or commonly called Bachelor Button, is an annual plant widely growing in and around the gardens of Kerala’s high ranges. The compact and colourful flowers brighten the landscape and are used for fresh-cut and dried floral arrangements.
Le Clos Montmartre: One Of Many Well-Kept Parisian Secrets
Because most of the 180 or so members of our organization are based in Kerala, we try to share information every day about the nature, culture and general awesomeness of south India. But some of us have lived elsewhere, and have fond memories of those places. So why keep secrets? Thanks to the website L’Atelier Vert, which is Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Dark-eyed Junco
Ithaca, NY
From Behind the Wheel: Heaven On Wheels
Thevara Ferry Junction, Thevara
Coal-Averse Collective Action In India
Rarest Whale, Never Seen Live, Leaves Clues Worthy Of Arthur Conan Doyle
Click the image to the left for a high resolution version of the same illustration from this month’s issue of Current Biology. The full text version of the article (academic, but accessible for the motivated) can be found here, and its summary here:
The vast expanses of the South Pacific Ocean have, until recently, concealed the identity of the world’s rarest whale, the spade-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon traversii). Based on the scarcity of records and the total absence of previous sightings Continue reading
Mysore Palace
Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor
Located in the heart of Mysore City, Mysore Palace is one of the biggest and most spectacular palaces in the country. The original palace was built by the Wodeyar Kings during 14th century. The wooden structure was demolished and reconstructed many times over the centuries. The current palace, commissioned in 1897, is built in the Indo-Saracenic style, blended with Hindu, Muslim, Rajput and Gothic styles of architecture with stained glass, chandeliers and elaborate grill work imported from all around Europe.
Fungi In Your Life–University Outreach In 10 Minutes
Organikos 