Margin Calls

Click the image to the right for an explanation of what that image has to do with the remarkable world of marginalia, which begins:

“In getting my books,” Edgar Allan Poe wrote in 1844, “I have always been solicitous of an ample margin; this is not so much through any love of the thing in itself, however agreeable, as for the facility it affords me of penciling in suggested thoughts, agreements, and differences of opinion, or brief critical comments in general.”

A certain Mr. Wallace, of literary fame, apparently had reason to write in the spaces of whatever was at hand.  But that is a matter of quite trivial pursuit compared to Kerouac’s marginalia while reading Thoreau.

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Orchidian Slaves

Cooperation is so remarkable as to seem beautiful, in that warm and fuzzy way that purring makes us feel.  But what about beauty?  Is it a common good, a selfless gift to others?  Beauty, as the cliche has it, is in the eye of the beholder.  Sometimes in the nose, and other times in the ears, too.  According to an article in Smithsonian a particular species of orchid might employ more than one strategy for attracting those it needs assistance from:

They trick animals into pollinating them and usually give nothing in exchange. Some orchid species mimic nectar-producing flowers to lure bees; others emit the fetid smell of rotting meat to attract carrion flies.

Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, published a book in 1976 called The Selfish Gene that would help explain the orchid’s beauty as a tool of entrapment.

Ever Clever

Click the image to the left to go to Dan Ariely’s always interesting and insightful blog site, where a recent post highlights a grocery whose shoppers are committed to lifestyles of health and sustainability.  The opener contains the key point:

Jared Wolfe, one of the students working with me, took the following pictures at Whole Foods a few days ago.  They illustrate amazing creativity in defining what the term “a deal” means.

1) Regular price is $1.99 and the Sale price is?   Two of the same item for $5 — which according to Whole Foods’ quick calculation is a savings of $1.02.  Amazing.

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Chellarkovil – The Green Planet

One of the most green overlook sites of the Western Ghats is situated 15km from the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Located 15 km from Kumily, Chellarkovil is well known for its views of a cascading waterfall and the flourishing patchwork of fields in Tamil Nadu. One of our Cardamom County guests shared some of their snapshots taken at Chellarkovil during their visit. 

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Flora and Fauna of Thekkady

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I happened to speak with Mr.Ravi from Bangalore who is staying with us. They went for the boat cruise yesterday evening and they sighted a herd of sambar deer, a bunch of elephants, wild gaur etc.

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It Might Have Seemed Funny

If you thought you had heard all the most clever jokes in the English language about environmental activists (citizens, scientists and other types) you might want to stay up to date with The Onion.  Activists can say and do things that, on reflection, lead to laughter, wincing or worse.  Perhaps the tendency Raxa Collective is most sensitive to is preachiness: we avoid it at all costs, preferring humor to vinegary sourpuss judgement of others.

If you were to click from humor at The Onion directly onto the page where Merchants Of Despair (click the image to the left) is reviewed and promoted, you might think it is Oniony humor.  But no, it seems to be earnest, determined anti-environmentalism:

Combining riveting tales from history with powerful policy arguments, Merchants of Despair provides scientific refutations to antihumanism’s major pseudo-scientific claims, including its modern tirades against nuclear power, pesticides, population growth, biotech foods, resource depletion, industrial development, and, most recently, fear-mongering about global warming. Merchants of Despair exposes this dangerous agenda and makes the definitive scientific and moral case against it. Continue reading

Bright Ideas

Ingenuity can go a long way in meeting people’s essential needs with the simplest of materials.

The recipe: Start with students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), add basic materials destined for dumps and landfills around the world, mix with filtered water and bleach, install, expose to sunlight. And voilà!–a light that will last for 10 years!

The Solar Bottle Bulb is based on the principles of Appropriate Technologies – a concept that provides simple and easily replicable technologies that address basic needs in developing communities.

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Evolved Cooperation

Any given morning in the neighborhood called Thevara, where we have some wonderful friends, the fishermen do their thing a few meters from the riverfront walkway.  To call that cooperation is like calling the kettle black.  But just as we found this explanation of man-animal cooperation fascinating, this morning’s mobile phone snapshots got interesting.

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The Evolution Of Cooperation

Several earlier posts have touched on the topic–how cooperation (or altruism, defined here) comes about, overcoming the problems associated with the potential for free riders and other collective action barriers.  The current issue of Nature contains findings from the research of a team at Harvard Medical School.  If you are a subscriber to the journal click the image above to go to the research.  If you want a four minute synopsis with excellent visuals, jump the jump.

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Tamed Giant – Elephant Park

Mr & Mrs. Mouleart from Belgium joined us at Cardamom County for 2 days from January 24th through the 26th, 2012. One of their excursion choices was for a ride on a tamed gentle giant – The Elephant at Thekkady. Continue reading

Pied Paddy Skimmer, Revisited

A few days ago while walking around Kumily, I saw one of Kerala’s more common species of dragonfly, Neurothemis tullia. Having written about the species before, I didn’t photograph it as usual, until I realized I had a new accessory on my person. The reverse lens adapter is a brilliant money saver, and while not quite as powerful or versatile as a macro lens, costs close to 50 times less than a new lens. Using the final technique described here, the adapter basically replaces the duct tape and allows for much steadier hands. Focusing is still very difficult, and the focal plane is usually limited to under a centimeter, but this often allows for very unusual and abstract images. Such as this young female Pied Paddy Skimmer:

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Jackfruit Tree – One of the Largest Edible Fruits

In Kerala, there are a wide variety of trees and plants. The Jackfruit tree is one of the most commonly seen. It is a large spreading evergreen tree that produces one of the largest edible fruit in the world. One jackfruit can weigh up to 10 – 35 kg. Continue reading

It’s A Bird’s Life

 

A post from early November saved a similar video of starlings for the end.  Twitchers (a nickname for seriously devoted birdwatchers) were expected to read to the end and see that video as a crescendo of beauty. Continue reading

You’ve Seen This

Too many times.  1,239,927 views of this particular clip, but that is not the point.  This could be either another example of invasive product placement, in which Nokia thinks we will love this clever response to their insidious noise; or another example of how easily we laugh at “foibles.” Continue reading