Why Should Bags Have All the Fun?

/ Amie Inman / 2 Comments

For over a year now we’ve been writing about newspaper bags along with the people and organizations who work with them.  We’ve also written about how newspapers are used in other forms of recycling.   I have recently come upon an additional “closed loop” use for this ubiquitous material.

Dutch designer Mieke Meijer in collaboration with design label Vij5 has created a product called NewspaperWood.  The material has the potential to put a portion of newspaper discarded daily into an up-cycle system bringing paper closer to the wood from which it’s made.

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Infrared Elephants

/ Organikos / 2 Comments

Click the image above for the story called “Forest Elephant Chronicles” in this month’s American Scientist, about new technology for understanding elephant behavior in the wild:

…What inspired your team to try thermal imaging?

Acoustic monitoring has allowed us to study elephant behavior, without bias, over 24-hour cycles. Their activity cycle is nearly equally distributed day and night, but they prefer to enter forest clearings at night. This is where we can observe the elephants directly. We suspect that different types of interactions occur at night because the types of calls differ then. But we have only the beginnings of an understanding of what the acoustic signals mean. We need to investigate this with visual observation. Also, important behaviors may not have identifying sounds associated with them, and we need to know what these are….

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Periyakanal Water Falls – Munnar

/ Salim.E.I / 1 Comment

Munnar and its surrounding environs abound in cascades. They are at their glorious best immediately after the monsoons. Periyakanal Waterfall is located near to Munnar en route to Thekkady. The enchanting surroundings amid lush tea plantations make it an excellent picnic spot and overlook. Continue reading →

Georgian Dragon

/ Milo Inman / 1 Comment

I shall resist the underwhelming urge to throw in a bit of canonical wordplay concerning St. George, and merely say that this is my first insect photograph with my new 50mm F1.8 lens. The dappled sunlight behind the dragonfly is a testament to the glory of shooting with this enormously apertured lens – the bokeh is a pleasure to both create and to view. I was only in Georgia for ten days in between Kerala and New York, but it was a pleasure to step out of my grandmother’s (an avid odonatophile) back door to find this dragonfly patiently waiting for me. Continue reading →

Support Plan Bee

/ Organikos / 3 Comments

Click the image above to see more about Plan Bee and their tools for connecting bee-keepers in urban and rural areas around the world (strongest in their home base, the UK but awaiting your participation elsewhere):

Our Plan Bee campaign aims to address the decline in pollinators such as bees, butterflies and moths.

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Welcome Back, Gorky Park

/ Organikos / 1 Comment

So glad to have the green space, named for one of Russia’s greatest writers, back to its beautiful self.  Click the image for the story:

“Many people make money in Moscow, and many people spend money here, but there are very few people who smile at one another,” said Sergey Kapkov, who was promoted to head the city’s culture department after overseeing the renovation of Gorky Park.

Overseeing the renovation of parks across the city has been his most visible achievement, an initiative launched by Sergei Sobyanin, who was appointed mayor in 2010.

Hydrangea

/ Salim.E.I / Leave a comment

Hydrangea is a popular ornamental plant native to southeast Asia. These large flowers are common in and around Kerala especially in the high ranges. The color of Hydrangea flowers vary from white, blue, red, pink and light purple. Continue reading →

Purposive Fun

/ Organikos / 5 Comments

He is probably already famous in geek world, but Matthew Inman (if you click through to his profile, scroll half way down the page to the Quizzes, Widgets, & Gadgets links on thoughtful subjects) just came to our attention because of our interest in underdogs, in creative communication, and in humor.  Matthew is, in this regard, a trifecta.  After reading the Tesla “comic” (all the way to the end, you should) click back out to the main site where he says he puts most of his time and energy these days. Brighten your day with a good laugh.

Questions About Conservation At 100

/ Organikos / 1 Comment

First, congratulations are in order for the birthday of such conservation efforts in Britain.  And thanks to The Guardian for the provocative question and discussion that follows:

This pristine four-mile spit of shingle and sand in Norfolk is, of course, far older, but its purchase by the National Trust 100 years ago marked the beginning of a radical movement in Britain: instead of protecting specific species, the new environmentalists recognised that entire “reserves” must be created to save our wildlife. As the country’s first coastal nature reserve, Blakeney was also the British birthplace of the science of ecology, the urge to understand how species relate to each other.

Sour Cherry

/ Salim.E.I / 1 Comment

The Sour Cherry is a tree in the Rosacease family found in the high ranges of Kerala, a state famous for its fruits. The fruit is small and fleshy, ranging from rose to a deeper red colour. They are popular for making jams, desserts and other culinary purposes. The fruits are also used for medicinal purposes as they are low in cholesterol and rich in fiber and vitamin C. Continue reading →

Burmese Python Invasion

/ Organikos / Leave a comment

Click to the left to go to the 38 seconds of video on a topic we first posted about here.  It has a bit of ick factor, but the topic is of enormous consequence for the original ecosystems where these wild animals come from, not to mention the innocent creatures they encroach on in their new habitats.