Fountains are peculiar objects: We associate them with nature even though they are typically entirely artificial and man-made (unless you are living in Iceland of course).
Recently however, a fountain that wasn’t planned for emerged in California’s San Fernando Valley. An urban water pipe carrying purified recycled water, used for irrigation and industrial purpose, began leaking. The rupture sent water gushing in an immense column that towered over the roof of a nearby business.
Thousands of gallons went down the sewer before the next natural fountain was closed down more than three hours later.
Via BBC NEWS. Related: Datafountain – Money translated to water, Water shows when the heat is on. Thanks Tara.
‘Advertising is the cave art of the 20th century’, Marshall McLuhan said. Advertisings are mythical depictions of hunting and gathering rituals, that don’t take place on some stretched savanna, but in supermarkets and shopping malls. Through advanced profiles and content management systems ads can nowadays be targeted to select audiences.
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Nanotechnology has been hailed for its benefits because of the potential ability to create drugs that could cure cancer and radiation poisoning, make miniature pollutant filters resulting in healthier air and even produce better tasting food. Excitement over these benefits has led to corporations heavily investing in the technology for their products.
However, the same properties that allow nanotechnology to be valuable give it the potential to cause unforeseen consequences for ecological and human health. To date, it’s unclear whether the benefits of nanotech outweigh the risks associated with environmental release and exposure to nanoparticles.
Environmental Heath News reports that nanoparticles in sunscreens, cosmetics and hundreds of other consumer products may pose risks to the environment by damaging beneficial microbes.
Researchers Cyndee Gruden and Olga Mileyeva-Biebesheimer from the University of Toledo added varying amounts of nanoparticles to water containing bacteria. The bacteria were grown in a lab and stained with a green fluorescent. It turned out the nano-titanium dioxide – also used in personal care products – reduced biological roles of bacteria after less than an hour of exposure. The findings suggest that these particles, which end up at municipal sewage treatment plants after being washed off in showers, could eliminate microbes that play vital roles in ecosystems and help treat wastewater. Oops!
Nanotechnology is yet another example of mankind playing with fire: It requires enormous care and restraint, yet on the other hand, playing with fire is perhaps one of the very special abilities that defines us as humans.
Via: Environmental Health News.
Have you heard the buzz on virtual money in online games? Some years ago the first virtual millionaire was announced, yet there have also been reports on people being practically enslaved to farm virtual gold. The Chinese government recently announced to limit the use of ‘virtual’ currencies. An essay on the virtuality of money.
By KOERT VAN MENSVOORT
First of all we should realize the term virtual money is a pleonasm, a superfluous expression. Money is, by definition, virtual. And it always has been. Well, perhaps not in the time when people used cows and goats as barter. A cow is a living creature, and useful as well. You can drink its milk and when the creature no longer gives any milk you can always kill it and eat it. We may not think about, but it is actually a miracle that I can now at the butcher on the corner exchange a piece of paper for a rump steak.
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No this is not some stellar system far away. What is it then? Lets make another picture, this time with the flashlight on…
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Every medium was new oneday. This point is beautifully illustrated in the movie Quest for fire (La Guerre de feu by Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1981), a must-see for Next Nature explorers.
This fascinating movie is set in paleolithic Europe, 80,000 years ago, its plot surrounding the struggle for control of fire by early humans. Interestingly, the story is situated at the moment in time man was able to control fire, however, he was not able to make it. Fire was more or less ‘born’. How far away this seems from our times when the majority of things we make, are out of control.
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The Google Opt Out Feature Lets User protect their privacy by moving to a desolate village where the are guaranteed an environment free from Google products. Participants will expected to know how to grow their own food, heal their wounds and bury corpses by hand.
While this video is a parody, created by the Onion News Network, Google has been facing a lot of privacy concerns both from the US Government and its users. As Google continues to grow, and invade our lives, situations similar to the ones parody might not seem so far fetched and funny?
Related: Google 2084, Google DNA, Google manhole, Googling in physical space, Google pigeons, Behind the Search Engine, Google Kills Bambi.
In the depths of northeastern India, one of the wettest places on earth, bridges aren’t built – they’re grown. What could 21th century architects learn from these dynamic construction principles? I would like to see this applied on highways.
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Have you ever been in the situation where you spend days trying answer all of your email only to accomplish your goal and have no one to share in your victory? All you want is a high five, a pat on the back, and job well done soldier, and yet most likely all you are left with is an empty room and a cold cup of coffee. Inbox Victory is an initiative that you deserve that high five!” And here is how you get it:
1) Get your email inbox down to zero. People have various methods for dealing with their email inbox is going to mean different things to different people. A basic rule of thumb, however, is getting it to a point where no further action can be taken.
2) Open up your webcam software and take a screenshot of yourself profiling in front of your defeated foe
3) Shoot an email with your screenshot (fi5e at ni9e dot com)
TED talk by Steward Brand – the man who helped usher in the environmental movement in the 1960s and ’70s – has been rethinking his positions on cities, nuclear power, genetic modification and geo-engineering. Buckle up for some environmental heresies.
