Click image to zoom into Africa (warning this image is big).
It is scary that has less and less green spots. The Sahara is growing every year and the water is a scarce resource even in ‘green’ areas.
Africa is like South America one of our last remaining green lungs. We have to be careful or it turns into another barren land like most of Australia.
Bacteria are everywhere. They can live in the hottest and coldest of places (even on asteroids in outer space). No other life form on this planet has multiplied as much and conquered so many different places.
Bacteria also have made all other species their hosts - and we all depends on them.
Although we all know that Flash & Thunder are ‘just’ natural events we are still deeply impressed by them. Thunderstorms are amazing. Don’t fuck with this form of Shock & Awe.
Contrary to popular belief only one species of bees dies when they sting you (actually the quite common Honey Bee). But not to worry which ones they are - because if the bee dying continues they will be gone in a few years. And so will we if there is nobody to pollinate our crops.
The whole Colony Collapse Disorder really scares the honey out of me. Bees occupy such a specific niche in our ecosystem, that they can’t be substituted by any other insect.
Computer Aided Gardening! No shit Sherlock. This thing comes complete with seeds, a program to monitor the growth, a watering reminder (very handy!) and bookmarks for further information to grow a digital green thumb.
I am wondering how many nerds use this to grow their own drugs with this? But it’s a great idea.
I am afraid the plant won’t be enough to offset the greenhouse gases your computer creates. But it’s a start to start your own CO2 emission program.
Mankind has long feared lunar and solar eclipses. Often these events lead to fear and religious madness.
But it has to be said that a few wise man figured it all out and recognized that these were natural and predictable events (from Wikipedia):
Ancient Greek astronomers noticed that during lunar eclipses the edge of the shadow was always circular; they thus concluded that the Earth was spherical. In 499, Indian mathematician Aryabhata gave accurate calculations for both the solar eclipse and lunar eclipse. In 1504, while stranded on Jamaica, Christopher Columbus “predicted” a lunar eclipse (actually, he knew from celestial tables that he had brought with him that a lunar eclipse was to occur on February 29 of that year), thereby intimidating the island’s natives into continuing to provision him and his men and thus saving them from death by starvation.
Today we simply enjoy the spectacle! This weeks solar eclipse images: BBC and of course the corresponding Flickr Group
Uhhh … scary! Nothing Hollywood invents will ever beat natures billions of years of experimentations …
Click image for more Australia.
Click image for Australia without clouds.
A great many good people and fascinating animals live down there. I should visit this awesome place someday!
Get a HUGE satelite image via Wikipedia.
Dedicated to my great StumbleFriend Lisabal and thanks for our many interesting discussions.
Click image for a larger river.
is there anyone out there who doesn’t adore these photos? Maestro Adams is the King of Nature photographers. His keen eye for nature’s beauty and tranquility is unsurpassed - and his hard work hauling all that equipment to god forsaken places is greatly appreciated. All hail King Ansel!
Click Moon for more detail.
I must admit I am addicted to space pictures. Gimme any old rock in space and I am happy to look at it for hours.
Click image for a larger valley.
Normally we humans are not patient enough to watch the gentle play between the sun, mountains and clouds in their full glory.
Photographer: unknown - can anyone help?
BBC News: Diet choices ‘written in genes’
Not you choose what to eat, but your cravings and your DNA have something to say about that as well. But it’s still no excuse to eat only crap. We might not have a completely free will - but we are not just mindless eating machines at all.
Every few weeks you can read about some new form of bacteria or virus getting immune against medical defenses. Penicillin ain’t the big cure it used to be. More and more little buggers get resistant - and we actually help them. Hospitals turn out be excellent breeding and training grounds. All kind of diseases, people and dugs meet for a big get together and exchange of ‘code’. Since evolution does happen - sometimes at an alarming rate - these buggers already kills thousands of people every year.
The big fear and real possibility is that one of these days one of them leaves the ‘lab’ and visits us all. If it’s just an influenza virus that would be bad enough - but it could also be something more lethal.
Click image for a larger perspective.
Imagine how different your perspective on life and the universe would be if were a bug. Grass would be a jungle to you. Any mammal or even humans would be godly moving objects to you. A simple rainfall would be a total menace to you.
But wouldn’t be bothered by windows updates, taxes and consumerism. A bug’s life might be quite nice actually …
The thing about genetics that scares me most is that we could create creatures only serve our weird social and emotional needs. It’s already bad enough that we slaughter, abuse and eat most of them anyway. Cats and dogs should be enough for emotionally deprived humans.
source: humandescent.com
Click image for a larger version.
Such images give me the shivers - a mixtures of oneness with the universe and pride that some of my tax money is well spent*.
*actually in this case that of my American friends. The image is from NASA.
The national icon of New Zealand - the Kiwi. What a rare and strange animal! And once again almost extinct by other animals introduced by European settlers. Grrrr!
Kiwi on Wikipedia and the Kiwi Recovery Program
Although we have used wind for a long time, I don’t think it will play a huge role in our future. Windfarms are hard to build and work only in certain areas. Solar collectors are much easier to install and work even in less sunny areas.
Ok, the magnetic poles will change or even flip in the next few decades. But I am wondering if this will have other and nastier consequences then just making your compass useless.
Today we save all data on magnetic media. Can you imagine a global wipe out? What about the magnetic field that protects us? It would be pretty nasty if it would weaken or even fail during any changes.
Galactic Roast Beef anyone?
I find this old idea that animals have no emotions or a soul is very disturbing. I can’t guarantee that a dog’s soul will go to heaven, but anyone who ever handled an animal know that they have feelings too.
They certainly feel pain - and many animals like Elephants, Wolfs, Chimps and Dolphins have shown that they have a very rich social life as well. And there is no social life without relationships and feelings - no matter how primitive they are compared to ours.
Anyone how owns a pet like a dog or cat has seen them dreaming and do strange stuff while sleeping …
Not every country is a green and pleasant land. Ever tried to eat sand? Most people in a mild climate, fertile lands with rich streams and lakes should always be happy to have so much ‘life support’ around them. There are some nasty places for us humans out there …
Lanzarote has some of the most obscure and moon like landscapes on this planet. So if you never made through NASA’s boot camp here is your chance to have a similar experience.
I think the Nile and the Ganges are true nation builders. They have created countries and great civilizations. I think they should be worshipped as gods and symbols of nature - nurturing us humans and allowing us to create our civilizations.
Too bad we don’t seem to care much about our life givers. The Ganges is incredibly polluted in some areas and therefore kills people and animals alike. What a shame.
From Wikipedia:
The Ganges River (Ganga in Indian languages; Ganges is the Latin form) is the major river in northern India and Bangladesh. The river has a long history of reverence in India and is often called the ‘holy Ganga’. It originates as the Bhagirathi from the Gangotri Glacier in the Uttaranchal Himalayas and joins the Alaknanda near Deoprayag to form the Ganga. Then on, the Ganga flows across the large plains of North India (called the Gangetic Plains) and empties into the Bay of Bengal after dividing up into many distributaries. One of them is the Hoogli River near Kolkata, another major distributary being the Padma River that enters Bangladesh and merges with Jamuna River, a branch of the Brahmaputra River.
The total length of the river is about 2,510 km (1,557 mi). One of the densest human population belts on earth is built around the Ganga. The region encompassing the delta near the Bay of Bengal coast is known as The Sundarbans (Beautiful Forests) — a region of thick mangrove forests, and one of the major habitats of the Royal Bengal tiger.
The Ganges Basin is incredibly fertile and, at present, about one in every 12 people in the world (8.5%) live in its catchment area. However, due to this incredible concentration of population, pollution and destruction of habitats is increasing at an alarming rate in the region. The Yamuna River — a major river in its own right, and nearly as sacred — is a tributary of the Ganga, and their confluence is near what is the site of the traditional holy Hindu city of Prayag, now known as Allahabad.
Two species of dolphin can be found in the Ganges, the Ganges River Dolphin and the Irrawaddy Dolphin. The Ganges is also notable in that it contains a rare species of freshwater shark, Glyphis gangeticus about which little is known.
