macroalgae

Instead of the usual plastic cups or bottles of water offered to parched runners, for this past London Marathon participants were handed out some thirty thousand gulps of a sports drink encapsulated (previously) in a seaweed-based edible container. Among the newest wonder material, designers and the industry are just beginning to appreciate the potential of seaweed as a sustainable bio-plastic which, incorporated dietarily, can also combat the bio-genesis of methane.

les foulards rouges

As a counter-balance—though a mostly politically agnostic one—to the unrest that the gilets jaunes have visited on France, a group of about ten-thousand members and growing, accessorized with red scarfs (EN/FR), to separate them from the yellow, high-visibility vests of the group opposed to the policies of Emmanuel Macron and his En Marche party, has mobilised. Professing no specific agenda, the group’s aim is to restore public order so that the dialogue that affects lasting and meaningful change can prevail.

6x6

grapheme: the evolution of the alphabet

beamish: the British Antarctic survey have bored over two kilometres into the ice sheet

gingivitis: research suggests that Alzheimer’s and gum disease may share a common cause

magical mystery tour: mapping all the places mentioned in the lyrics of Beatles’ songs

ink trap: an assortment of puzzle and maths inspired typefaces, via Coudal Partners’ Fresh Signals

кино-аппаратом: a look at the pantheon of early Soviet filmmakers (previously) through the seminal work of director Dziga Vertov

decimated

The Ten Year Challenge would be an otherwise harmless trend if the internet had not become such an awful, prying panopticon where all the fun and frivolity is siphoned out of things and we pressure each other to participate in a training module that teaches algorithms to account for and better predict age progression, criminal tendencies and uncorrected personality traits, so we enjoyed seeing it re-appropriated by environmental activists. Stark and depressing—though with at least a few signs of positive rehabilitation—side-by-side images that compare and contrast (previously) the myriad ways humans are destroying ecosystems are becoming a powerful call to action. Learn more and help stop the clock at the links above.

i don’t like the idea of getting up and finding out you’ve got a cabbage pill to eat for breakfast or something

This 1966 segment from BBC’s Tomorrow’s World featuring school children offering their outlook on the present through their prognostications on the state of affairs for the year 2000 is quite a bleak one, haunted by nuclear apocalypse, over-population and environmental collapse.
A fairly prescient if not depressing vision of what, having survived the millennium just by a score only to realise that we’re still contending with most of these problems—minus at least some of the benefits that the future promised—has come to pass, not that this was inevitable nor is necessarily inexorable. As British household start stockpiling staples ahead of its messy divorce with the European Union as one might pack provisions into a fall-out shelter, it’s worth noting that Ms May could have been one of those children interviewed, being the exact right age.  We are confident that Ms May was a gloomy and haunted ten year-old.

6x6

mixed media: Basa Funahara’s brilliant masking tape paintings

travelling matte: beautiful vintage postcards displayed on antique luggage

brightest london is best reached by underground: a look at some of the women artists who designed vintage Tube advertisements

a wave of whales: a campaign to inundate Japanese embassies worldwide with art and essays in opposition to their resumption of whaling

the rotten eggs: punk nursey rhymes that are your usual children’s musical fare

chime-in any time: Canadian radio observatory detects more mysterious repeating bursts 

field notes

Though the verdict is still out on whether plants can vocalise, it seems that a research team has demonstrated that flowers act as ears and can distinguish the buzz of an approaching pollinator over the general din and sweeten its nectar. The less conclusive part of the study looked into whether plants communicated distress or well-being at ranges above what humans can hear and how this might be interpreted by arboreal creatures and insects.
Humans are being humbled all the time and we have far more empathy for the natural world and our place in than we did in the past—even a decade ago, most regarded animals as having no interior lives or feelings, but as the latter smacks a bit of the pseudoscientific methods that probably set back our collective willingness to examine and consider plant communications, it’s probably a bit of a treacherous claim that we are not quite ready for. For better or worse, regardless of the veracity and rigour, sometimes we are just not receptive to ideas that can change our world view, like the parable of Clever Hans, a stunt that set back the cause of animal rights significantly but no we not only know that bees can do simple arithmetic but that plants do communicate to and socialise with their neighbours through chemical signals and via a complex and poorly understood network that connects whole forests through their roots.

7x7

doxxing: personal details of hundreds of German politicians published online

just dance: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes dances to all the songs

s.s. warrimoo: the ship voyage that bridged seasons and centuries

look at that snowman go: NASA releases first images of Ultima Thule—previously

best intentions: twenty years ago, oil companies proposed massive geo-engineering projects to combat climate change—that all had serious drawbacks, via Digg

anti-deficiency act: prolonged US government shutdown causes the Federal Communications Commission to run out of funds

sw10 0bh: a proposed database would match those facing homelessness with proxy mailing addresses from UK’s over half a million vacant properties to make applying for jobs and services easier

was this trip really necessary?

While piloting a programme for commercial flights without single-use plastics on board might seem gimmicky and greenwashing, it is nonetheless a step in the right direction and unless we want to face the ethical problems that travel and tourism present without some ammunition in our moral quiver—begging questions like the one above—we’ve got to demand better more sustainable options when it comes to holiday-making, otherwise decisions will be made for us. Every locale with a tour operations running, boating excursions, snorkelling, photographic safaris, etc. or even restaurants and hoteliers that cater to outside visitors, ought to be mandated to use the most energy-efficient, zero-polluting means of transportation and logistics available with help from local governments.
What do you think? Would you pay a bit extra to site-see knowing that your presence didn’t deprive another of the same quality experience later on? After all, every little bit helps and we got here due to laziness and cutting corners multiplied billions of times. While progress towards cleaner and more efficient modes of transportation and daily living should not fall further behind in the private sector, governments should first place a premium on tourists to subsidise adopting new technologies and cycling out old, dirty motors for less intrusive electric ones.

dinosaurier des jahres

Since 1993, Germany’s Naturschutzbund (NABU, Nature Conservancy Corps) in Berlin has been awarding its annual dirisive distinction, its Dinosaur Award, to the group or individual who’s actions are most emblematic of regressive tendencies in environmental stewardship.
This year’s prize went to the chairman of an energy company who pledged to continue the expansion of its strip-mining operations and destroy the remaining sliver of the old growth Hambacher Forst despite massive protests and the gradual phasing out of coal. Earlier in the month, a ceremony was held in the nearby Ruhrgebiet to mark the closing of the country’s last black hard coal mine, also operated by the same energy giant fossil.  There are regrettably too many of such barons (sometimes ourselves included for our lifestyle choices) to contend with but who might you nominate for failure to adapt?

sequoia

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that posits that while the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, the number two best time is today, and via the always excellent Kottke’s Quick Links, we learn about an ambitious consortium of conservators and arborists who have successfully cloned one hundred saplings of giant redwoods from the stumps of five of most majestic trees (previously thought dead) felled in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  The Archangel Ancient Tree Archive—inspired by a near-death experience, aims to re-establish the forests of the North American Pacific Northwest Coast as a bulwark against climate change—though these colossal trees are susceptible to environmental degradation, being extraordinarily long-lived, they could teach humans a thing or two about living on Earth in terms of weathering change and wildfires. The trees sequester as many tonnes of carbon in their trunks as two hundred and fifty regular trees and the cloned specimens are not only seeding the coastline but are also being exported to places around the world. More to explore and learn how to get involved at the links above.

rebel for life

Prior to the formation and demonstrations of the environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion at the end of October this year, I thought I recognised the symbol suggestive of an hourglass somewhere before—finally recalling this bleak and powerful installation that pealed out a dirge for each taxon of life as they blinked out of existence at the hand of man.
The group had recently made headlines over its blockading the headquarters of one influential media outlet for its policies that accommodate climate change denial and advocate for the status quo under the auspices of equal-time. Working towards a culture and economy that is regenerative and sustainable, the group’s manifesto must acknowledge the hard truths of ecological collapse and empower those they govern the means to reframe their consumer and lifestyle choices in the significant and enduring ways that will affect real and radical change for the better.

latimeria chalumnae

On this day in 1938, the a trawler on a fishing expedition in South Africa caught the first specimen of what would later be identified as an extant species of a type of primitive, limbed fish though to have died out in the Cretaceous Era, some sixty-five million years ago. Having more than a passing interest in the sciences, the captain of the vessel often shared unusual finds with the curator of a local natural history museum, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, who eventually recognised the sample as a coelacanth, coining the phrase a “living fossil.”

8x8

bouquet: floral masterpieces recreated with living flowers

plenary session: climate activist Greta Thunberg delivers a powerful message to those gathered at Katowice

coming attractions: a mashup of all the biggest movie trailers of 2018

the notorious rbg: supreme court justice is amazingly resilient

rebel scum: gorgeous, retro Star Wars style propaganda posters

hot neptune: researchers locate an exoplanet that’s slowly being evaporated by its host star—via Slashdot

patchwork pojagi: the beautiful kimonos and accessories of South Korean textile artist and educator Chunghie Lee

please enjoy responsibly: funny suggestion for a Christmas time drinking game

no₂

With the season of annual superlatives upon us, we quite enjoyed this curated gallery culled from the submissions to the National Geographic Photography Competition. The grand prize went to Jassen Todorov, violinist, photographer and flight instructor, who snapped this stunningly tragic image of thousands of automotive exiles, mothballed in the Mojave Desert.
An aircraft boneyard is just out of the frame and the assembled field of cars represent just a fraction of the millions that had to be idled. These Volkswagens and Audis from the model years 2009 to 2015 were not only not compliant with US Environmental Protection Agency and EU emissions for nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide standards but the engines were moreover designed to cheat—with so called defeat devices—during trials to pass testing. This is certainly a powerful and iconic reminder on how we all pay dearly for something so cheaply underestimated. See more stirring winners and worthies at the link up top.

cop24

Whilst the international community is struggling to make meaningful progress that might avert the destruction and consummation of civilisation as we know it by committing to being less garbage tenets of this planet, the United States has not just backed out of global compacts that nudge in the right direction but has now assumed the mantle of profligate troll by counter-messaging the United Nations sponsored conference in Katowice (coat of arms pictured, the region known historically for its industry and coal reserves) with a pavilion extolling fossil fuels.
The US, despite the fact that antiquated oil barons can curry favour with the Trump administration and embarrassingly promote dirty fuel as a means to curb climate change, is certainly not alone in not upholding their end of the bargain and affecting real and saving change will require dramatic transitions away from not only traditional means of powering society but the ways in which society consumes resources itself. Activists chanting “keep in the ground” disrupted the start of the event with the remaining audience looking noticeably thinner after the protest.

morlocks and eloi

Via Slashdot, the Guardian reports on a massive and thriving subterranean ecosystem that rivals life above ground and in the oceans. Though unclear whether life first welled up to the surface or burrowed down, the cycles which the buried biomes follow are not the ephemeral or seasonal shifts that we observe on land but truly on geological scales with some microorganisms with life spans reaching into centuries, if not beyond. Findings and samples from nearly a decade’s long study from the Deep Carbon Observatory—a consortium of over twelve hundred biologists, chemists and geologists—are to be presented to the American Geophysical Union’s annual conference in the upcoming weeks.

upcycling

NPR’s latest thematic TED Talks digest covers a variety of topics on the circular economy, as modelled by the natural world where nothing goes to waste and systems are regenerative, as opposed to growth-oriented linear industries.
One key principle is of course resource recovery—which is exemplified by one entrepreneurial venture known as Plastic Bank. Based in underserved communities, the programme that incentives clean up operations in an earnest and transformative way that pays people for bringing in and sorting and separating packaging with a bankable virtual currency that can be redeemed for food, tuition and other essentials. This salvaged raw material is resold at a premium to manufacturers and plastic is not only kept out of the oceans and food-chain, the planet also benefits by needing less new material, tightening the loop, and the people who take part in it are given more financial independence. There’s a whole medley of good ideas discussed in the podcast.

inflorescence

Via Fast Company, we learn that in response to the shocking, precipitous drop in flying insect populations and the consequence that has moving up the food-chain, designer Matilde Boelhouwer—with the consultation of entomologists—has created and installed oases for urban dwelling pollinators who might otherwise find themselves in a food desert.
Rather than copying Nature with her artificial flowers, Boelhouwer has instead studied the ways that butterflies, moths, honey bees and bumblebees feed and created a composite morphology that maximises attractiveness and access. The stations are even self-sustaining, replenishing the food supply with a catchment for rain water and operating through capillary action. It’s hard to say what the long term outcomes of such interventions might be but surely this act of kindness for the small and similar efforts are a step in the right direction to rehabilitate our stewardship of the planet.

7x7

auto-stitch: winners and honourable-mentions in the Epson panoramic photography competition

members elect: a set of emojis illustrates the stark contrast in diversity between the newly elected Democrat and Republican representatives matriculating in the 116th US Congress in January

peak curtains: IKEA updates its 2002 lamp advertisement with the same principal prop

introducing the hemimastix: researchers in Nova Scotia uncover a microbe radically out of place in defined biological kingdoms, via Marginal Revolution

drei haselnüsse für aschenbrödel: legendary German actor Rolf Hoppe, who played iconic and memorable roles as fairy tale kings, cowboys and frightful villains, has passed away

coal in your stocking: classy company (previously—not really I think but just as tasteless) is producing a knock LEGO set of Trump’s border wall

fully-interlocking: jigsaw puzzle manufacturers tend to use the same patterns for multiple puzzles—resulting in surreal compositions, via Nag on the Lake