I do 30 December 16, 2009

This is a real quick post about a simple but valuable campaign/message that I came across called ‘I do 30′. The ‘I do 30’ campaign was started in Denmark by the bio-innovation company Novozymes, who creates the enzymes that makes it possible to wash your clothes at low temperatures. ‘I do 30’ is about those small climate friendly choices you can make in your everyday life to make a bigger change. Almost all of us wash clothes in hot water of temperature around 60 degrees C.

An environmental social media campaign called ‘I do 30’encourages people across the world to turn down the temperature on their laundry to 30 degrees C in order to save CO2. If you are at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) you will see them move around the streets of Copenhagen with speech bubbles, hoping the ‘I do 30’ statements will reach the leaders of the world. These bubbles have statements from the campaign supporters from around the world saying why “they do 30″.

This weekend, the Danish Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, was presented with more than 15,000 supporters of the campaign. And the Danish Crown Prince was also handed over a ‘I do 30’ washing machine. Check out the video and photos. If you want to know more about this campaign and participate, check out their website, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Once of the few environmentally conscious groups that are making good use of the immense power of social media to reach out to people.

Almost gone … hope not! November 28, 2009

Guest post series ‘Almost gone …’ by Scott Bright (@Speciesguy)

Hi kids, parents and all. Today I wanted share of some positive things that people are doing to make a difference for endangered species. When you watch these videos, you’ll want to thank these people. Hey, I’m doing my best here, I wish I could write like Richard Bach, but I try to make it interesting.

Lions Get To Live

In Africa, the lions were eating the farmers’ cattle, so the farmers did the only thing they thought would solve the problem, which was to take out as many of them as possible. So, fewer and fewer lions were to being seen. Hey, if they were my cows, I would do the same thing. Lions are professionals at running to catch something to eat.

Well, a group of people who called Conservation org. learned that this was happening, and sent some people to talk with the farmers. Check out the solution. Now the farmers let the lions live! Yahoo! See video. It’s a great video of people helping in a tough situation. Just Google some good things for endangered species, and you’ll find some good things happening.

Raising Shark Awareness

Here’s another person I read about. Here name is Lesley Rochat from South Africa. Boy, does she care about sharks and other marine life. She has a cool video about Maxine the shark. This is a great video! She was a friend with a ragged toothed shark for ten years, and this shark became a star! And with all of our support, will put an end to shark finning. Parents, she has other videos, but you’ll have to use your discretion. They are the best videos made to stop shark finning.

Breeding Species In Captivity

When a species home gets smaller and smaller, animals get in a lot of trouble as far as survival is concerned. Now some caring people take animals from where they live and breed them. It’s called, “breeding in captivity.” It just means that they make other species away from where they live. If people did not do this, the animal would go extinct.

I can’t wait to share this with you! On an island called, “Madagascar, they have some of the strangest animals on our planet. The thing is, species like the fossa, the leaf tailed gecko, and aye-aye only exist on this island. And a lot of their forests are being cut down. People are trying to change that too. So for now, some people learned that a lot of the animals were in trouble there and sprung into action.

Way To Go Duke

Yes indeed, Duke University came to the rescue! Take a look at this video. One of the animals they breed is the aye-aye. Just say eye, eye, and you will had said their name right. My hats are off to the people at the Duke Lemur Center because they are breeding a bunch of species that would have gone extinct.

Look how cute the aye-aye’s are. And it’s the only place on earth where they live. Ok, I found one other video about Dr. Kathy Williams and what she does. Thank you Duke!

To Wrap Up For Today

What I’m suggesting is we learn about what’s happening with different animals, and get enthused about the value of a species! When we learn why a species is important, that is valuable information to share with your teachers, and with your parents help, you can write a leader. Way to go! Thanks kid, parents and all, I hope you enjoyed me sharing what some wonderful people are doing to make a difference. What species will we look at next week? Stay tuned.

Please check out the books on my site, if we educate our kids with books, DVDs, and write a leader, we can be part of the solution to lower the endangered species rate. And I have cool bamboo items for the home. Check my site, I have other fun videos, plus blogs and books for your learning. Remember, education is what can turn this around.

I also post some funny looking species on Twitpic.

Kids Books For Endangered Species

SpeciesHelp.com

And I’m Speciesguy on Twitter. Come say hi.

Universe in your head November 26, 2009

[Image source: MSNBC]

“Everyone creates their own reality.”

“Thoughts become things.”

“Observer collapses the wave-function merely by observing.”

These lines were made famous by the “new age-y” documentaries like What the bleep do we know?! and The secret. May be not all of you have heard of them. But these and many other works by leading scientists and spiritual leaders have lead to a paradigm shift amongst those who are open to such shifts. Research into understanding of mind-body interaction has gone way beyond neuroscience, which is the popular face of this kind of research. I’m sure most of you would have heard / seen the term “New age” in regards to classification of books, music, ideas etc. The term points more towards the rise of a “new age” of sorts in human thinking and doesn’t really mean that human beings are discovering something new. It is a mere rediscovery if one considers the ancient texts of numerous cultures as not mere mythology.

Many (re)discoveries in the cutting edge research in quantum physics, neuroscience, cognitive sciences and biomedicine are now hinting towards the existence of ‘consciousness’ and its significant importance in how we perceive the world, the “reality”. Cosmic Log on MSNBC.com describes itself as “Quantum fluctuations in space, science, exploration and other cosmic fields… served up regularly by MSNBC.com science editor Alan Boyle since 2002.” It showcases the book ‘Biocentrism’ by biomedical researcher Robert Lanza which is generating controversy by arguing that our consciousness plays a central role in creating the cosmos. As one of the reviewers of the book says, this may not be an entirely new idea but it is worth repeating. The physicists who should be declaring this out loud to the general populous aren’t doing so because it would mean a HUGE paradigm shift; may be the one that we’re not yet ready to handle. But if YOU think you are ready, give the book a read. We successfully made the shift from ‘geocentric’ model to ‘heliocentric’ model. May be now it is time to try a bigger leap, to the ‘biocentric’ model.

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• Biocentrism or eccentrism? (openparachute.wordpress.com)
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Silicon valley no more? November 19, 2009

New exotic material could revolutionize electronics

Move over, silicon — it may be time to give the Valley a new name. Physicists at the Department of Energy‘s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have confirmed the existence of a type of material that could one day provide dramatically faster, more efficient computer chips.

Recently-predicted and much-sought, the material allows electrons on its surface to travel with no loss of energy at room temperatures and can be fabricated using existing semiconductor technologies. Such material could provide a leap in microchip speeds, and even become the bedrock of an entirely new kind of computing industry based on spintronics, the next evolution of electronics. Physicists Yulin Chen, Zhi-Xun Shen and their colleagues tested the behaviour of electrons in the compound bismuth telluride. The results, published online June 11 in Science Express, show a clear signature of what is called a topological insulator, a material that enables the free flow of electrons across its surface with no loss of energy.

So now my generation might be the last one to know the computers as we know them today. Of course this is just one among many other things, like the black and white photographs, black and white television, cars with stick-shift gear, hardcopy (not electronic) scrapbooking etc., that the next generation may never know of! Wow, now THAT makes me feel old!

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• SLAC to receive additional $21.8M in recovery act funding for new research instruments (scienceblog.com)

TED Tuesday: Habits of happiness November 17, 2009

What is happiness, and how can we all get some? Biochemist turned Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard says we can train our minds in habits of well-being, to generate a true sense of serenity and fulfillment.