Green Beings Journal - Anne of Carversville

Sunday

07Feb2010

Earth-Orbit Climate Model Results Contradict Current Global WarmingTheory

Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 6:33PM

In yet another example of researchers driving a dagger in current climate research ‘knowledge’, researchers have run new scientific climate models exploring how the Earth’s orbit affects long-term climate trends.

For the second time in a week, we have new research data that explores other possibilities, other models of climate change theory with very different results from the predominant theory.

Post Copenhagen, I watched a PBS-type show of people in Bangladesh arguing that Americans should stop driving cars because we are flooding their countries with our global-warming emissions. Not only are environmentalists proposing that we retool the entire international economy, but people in developing countries are convined that the developed countries are killing them and are now responsible for any and all climate-related problems in their countries.

As Copenhagen fell apart, one woman negotiator from a developing country was threatening to cut her wrists and drew blood as a last-ditch negotiating position, basically saying ‘you are killing my people.’

Today I read that if there was no global warming, sea levels may remain high for another two thousand years, without any greehouse warming. Scientists have embraced one model and ignored the other hypothesis — AGAIN.

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Anne |

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Climate Change

Saturday

06Feb2010

DisneyNature 'Oceans' Seduces Marine Lovers

Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 11:52AM

Photo from ‘Oceans’ trailer, movie opening April 22 in UShttp://bit.ly/a6ZQiT

We knew something was going on with ‘oceans’ when a small AC new post moved to the top read for several days this week.

Updating the story was an education in the challenges — not only for coral reefs — but all of biostructures of oceans and the creatures calling them home.

Reading this week’s TIME magazine, we have the answer. Disney’s movie ‘Oceans’ opened in France, drawing twice as many viewers as George Clooney’s ‘Up in the Air’.

‘Oceans’ Trailer

The discussions around ‘Oceans’ highlight a different approach to environmental action, one that resonates with us at Anne of Carversville. Admittedly, we didn’t set out to become dolphin activists who worry about biodiversity in Madagascar.

Besides being my own personal journal, the website originally asked people to just stop and smell the Carversville roses in their own lives.

Doom and gloom environmental lecturing is not our style, especially in a world of intelligent readers with critical-thinking abilities. We have no credentials — but also no agenda — in the environmental action debate on land, sky or sea.

Anne of Carversville does believe that if humans lived in greater harmony with nature, we would exercise better judgment in killing each other and honoring female principles.

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Anne |

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Living with Nature,

Oceans,

Sustainability

Wednesday

27Jan2010

Dames Take On Bioterrorism & Nuclear Waste

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 11:23AM

http://bit.ly/ctLmKx

Today’s announcement in Science Daily that the Smart Sensuality dame of a Venus Fly Trap has taught the boys club a thing or two about dealing with nuclear waste shines yet another light on biomimicry in action. This time the ruthless seductress of a Venus Fly Trap is lending inspiration in trying to clean up the god-awful proliferation of nuclear waste in the world.

We tend to focus on the man-eating tendencies of Venus, ignoring the fact that she is extraordinary efficient and environmentally conscious in trapping only her desired prey.

via Flickr’s superhoopesaVenus isn’t like some shark stalker, slicing off 10% of the desired fin for expensive soups in Hong Kong and throwing the maimed, bleeding-for-life shark overboard, to die in a heap of waste and suffering in already garbaged-up oceans.

No. She has too many brain cells to commit such stupid atrocities.

Venus uses an environmentally-conscious trap-door effect to devour only her tasty morsel, setting everything else around him free. If only Venus didn’t eat flies, she would be naked in next year’s PETA State of the Union video, speaking before Congress about how she inspired a global initiative to trap one of the world’s worst predators: the radioactive ion cesium.

Venus isn’t worried about water and other harmless ions like sodium. But she does understand that cesium is lethal to plant life and easily confused with with potassium and stable cesium, which isn’t lethal to Venus and her plant people, or humans for that matter.

Via gossipcraze.comIt’s the breakdown of cesium in uranium that produces two very messy, lethal forms of cesium Cs134 and Cs137. Trapping cesium in nuclear waste is a top priority in keeping the world safe and potentially leading to a breakthrough in nuclear waste remediation.

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Anne |

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Biomimicry

Thursday

21Jan2010

Llamas As Human Health Insurance

Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 10:23AM

http://bit.ly/7r3Pr0

Today’s science news features a brilliant example of why we must protect the diversity of species on our planet. Being a capitalist, I’m the first person to shake my head in arguments that an entire state’s water supply should shut down to protect a minnow. We do have arguments like that going on in America.

One person’s focus is protecting minnows. Mine is stabilizing a state’s water supply so that humans can live, too.

HOWEVER, it’s far too easy to dismiss arguments about protecting biodiversity by saying ‘Who needs all this biodiversity? What’s a minnow to me?’ Let me talk about an precious animal that red and blues can agree on: the llama.

Llamas are bigger than minnows and friendlier, too. But if we’re not terribly concerned about saving our lions and elephants in the world, then llamas might not make it either.

An intriguing story in today’s Science Daily brings llamas into the war on terror. You see - I told you we can find common ground.

Indeed, scientists at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) have for the first time developed a highly sensitive means of detecting the seven types of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) simultaneously.

The BoNT-detecting substances are antibodies found in llamas. BoNT are the only toxins in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ‘category A’ list of potential bioterror threats alongside anthrax, Ebola virus and other infectious agents.

You must read the article to understand the science here, but the implications are fascinating.

Knowing that humans aren’t particularly concerned about biodiversity issues — including llamas — my next move is to Google “save the llamas”.

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Anne |

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Biodiversity,

Living with Nature,

Sustainability

Tuesday

05Jan2010

Burj Khalifa's Hymen Roots: Phallic Fiction or Great Marketing?

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 8:43AM

http://bit.ly/7VeyR7

While the world is counting floors of Dubai’s new Burj Khalifa, I’m reading about the hymenocallis flower, which is cultivated in the Persian Gulf but according to wiki is a genus of plants in the family amaryllidaceae, now cultivated in the Middle East.

Hymenocallis means “beautiful membrane” in Greek, which refers to the staminal corona that connects the stalks of the stamens for a portion of their length.

The plants have spectacular flowers and some species are known as spider lilies. The Pacific Bulb Society confirms the New World genus of hymenocallis. It’s believed that the hymenocallis flower traveled to the Middle East from Latin America, Mexico and other parts of the New World.

There’s no doubt that the hymenocallis flower is an inspiration in Islamic art and today’s gardens. But her origins appear to be from another side of the world. Appearances are often deceiving, and mere plant websites may be wrong.

For all we know, hymenocallis flower may be hidden in the walls of Jerusalem, and I have an Internet research team looking for it now.

The New World hymenocallis flower is said to be the chief muse for Dubai’s grand tower the Burj Khalifa.Architect Adrian Smith, a member of Gordon Gill Architecture, states that the Burg Khalifa is designed like a hymenocallis, with the tower’s wings extending from its central core. This idea is beautiful iconography, but now I am lost in the feminine metaphor, seeing a phallic penis in the sky and not a hymenocallis, when I look at the photos of Burj Khalifa.

I see a patriarchal phallic cactus extolling the feminine virtue of a hymenocallis as its soul. Last week a reader opposed to my support of Madonna’s Raising Malawi foundation, wrote that he does indeed respect women.

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Anne |

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Wednesday

30Dec2009

Sexy Fruitflies Have Fewer Babies

Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 1:26PM

http://bit.ly/6BgMPl

When the subject is fruitflies, some females are just too sexy for their own good.

A new study proclaims that ‘sexier’ female fruit flies suffer more than unattractives ones. Now ladies … no clapping. Tristan Long, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Toronto explains that

The reason is twofold: The repeated advances hindered the females’ ability to find food, and too much sex left the females overloaded with toxic semen, Long said. via National Geographic

Bottom line, the pretty girl fruitflies didn’t have as many babies. Whoever said that science is boring has it all wrong.

I’m curious what the implications are for sexy women, in this evolutionary study. We think they have the perfect life — thin, beautiful, rich, handsome husband.

Reading about the fruitflies not having time to eat, I now know why sexy women are thin, but I never considered the idea that they don’t live happily ever after.

Erase that thought.

Scientist Long didn’t conclude that the fruitflies didn’t live happily ever after. He said they were sexually exhausted and didn’t have as many babies, which does impact future generations of beautiful fruit flies.

A logical conclusion could be that future generations of ordinary-looking, size 10 average BMI fruitflies won’t have to deal with perfect-body, fashionista types. Alpha girl fruitflies will rule in a variety of body types. perhaps real women, too. Dream on. Anne

Read on: Some Females Too Sexy for Own Good, Fly Study Says National Geographic

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Anne |

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Tuesday

29Dec2009

Alice Newstead Submits to the Horrors of Shark Finning

Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 9:15PM

When Dave Head sent me this photo of Alice Newstead hanging by fish hooks in a Parisian shop window, I was amazed by her creativity. In some photos Alice looks amazingly mermaid-like. Being a fashion director and former fabric-development expert, I marvelled that her fish-skin fabric didn’t tear.

British performance artist Alice Newstead, suspended from then ceiling with hooks through the skin on her back hangs in the window of a cosmetic shop in Paris, Thursday, July 2, 2009 while talking with Paul Watson, right, head and founder of the conservation group Sea Shepherd. It never occurred to me that Alice Newstead was hanging in a Lush cosmetics shop window with shark-hooks piercing her own skin. I remain horrified by her performance art concept, in which Newstead creates her own religious rite, an ashura-like drama on behalf of sharks.