Famous Violinist does his part for Polio
September 25, 2009 by admin · View Comments
Some facts about polio:
- Polio is a viral disease that can damage the nervous system and cause paralysis.
- The polio virus enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with the stool of an infected person.
- Polio is preventable by immunization.
- Since polio immunization has become widespread in the United States, cases of polio are rare. However, polio remains a problem in many parts of the world.
Rotary International is joining violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman and the world-renowned New York Philharmonic, led by Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Daniel Boico, to present the Concert to End Polio, a benefit performance supporting the global effort to eradicate this disabling childhood disease.
The Concert to End Polio will take place on Wednesday, December 2, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York City. Program information will be announced at a later date.
Polio eradication resonates strongly with Mr. Perlman, who contracted the disease at age four and overcame serious physical challenges to become one of the world’s most celebrated musicians. In this historic, one-night-only performance — his first with the New York Philharmonic in four years — Mr. Perlman will help Rotary in its effort to raise $200 million to match a $355 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All of the resulting $555 million will fund critical eradication activities in developing countries where polio still threatens children.
“We are honored that an artist of Mr. Perlman’s stature and a cultural institution as revered as the New York Philharmonic are supporting Rotary in our effort to achieve a polio-free world,” says Rotary International President John Kenny. “Their participation demonstrates the importance of this unprecedented global health initiative. It will be our lasting gift to the world’s children.”
“The fact that polio is still around is ridiculous,” says Mr. Perlman, winner of 15 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. “There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to get polio. This is an issue that has to be dealt with immediately.”
Source: Happy News
Beth
Stateless Boy Flies High
September 24, 2009 by admin · View Comments
Who says you have to dream big? Dreams can be as small and simple as a paper airplane. Just ask Mong Thongdee:
A boy with no official nationality who lives in Thailand captured third place in a Japanese paper airplane contest Sunday after his tearful pleas to be allowed to attend prompted authorities to grant him a rare temporary passport for the event.
Mong Thongdee, 12, won a national paper airplane championship in Thailand in August 2008 after he threw a plane that flew for 12 seconds, and was later chosen to attend the Japanese contest in Chiba, near Tokyo. But Mong, who lives in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, is the son of Myanmar migrants who are stateless and so have no legal right to travel abroad.
His first application to leave Thailand was denied, but after national media coverage of him quietly sobbing after the refusal captured the hearts of many Thais he was granted a temporary passport.
Source: MSNBC
Beth
Going up? Go Green! 15 Eco-Towers & Sustainable Skyscrapers
September 22, 2009 by admin · View Comments
With a burgeoning global population that has ever-growing needs for both food and housing, many architects are looking up for sustainable solutions that will prevent further sprawl and provide fresh food to urban residents. Vertical farms and skyscrapers that incorporate various functions like housing, recreation, work and tourism are like miniature self-sufficient cities, complete with transit and on-site energy production, minimizing the building’s carbon footprint and that of its residents.
La Tour Vivante: International Sustainable City
(images via: Atelier SOA)
La Tour Vivante is a vertical farm skyscraper with a light-shading skin that wraps around the structure and admits sunlight to targeted locations for both functional and aesthetic purposes. Designed by French architecture firm Atelier SOA, the skyscraper’s sustainable features include wind power, reclaimed rainwater, biogas production and on-site food production.
The architects explain, “The separation between city and countryside, urban planning and natural areas, places of living, consumption and production is increasingly problematic for sustainable land management. The concept of Tour Vivante aims to combine agricultural production, housing and activities in a single system.”
Toronto Sky Farm Concept by Gordon Graff
(images via: The Rathaus)
Designed by Gordon Graff when he was a Masters of Architecture student at Waterloo University, the Toronto Sky Farm concept seeks to provide enough food for 35,000 citizens per year. Though that may not be nearly enough to feed all the residents of downtown Toronto, it’s a start. Sky Farm would stand 59 stories tall with half its power produced by methane from plant waste. The hydroponic farming system would be fed with fresh water from Lake Ontario.
House of Peace Hotel in Tanzania Inspired by Nature
(images via: Inhabitat)
When WOW Architects set out to design the ‘House of Peace’ hotel in Tanzania, they found inspiration for its sculpted shape in the geological processes that shape rock formations in nature. With gentle slopes and greenery peeking out between floors, the concrete hotel is an interpretation of the way plate tectonics create hills, which are then molded by weather and stratified by sediments. Even the texture of the walls is drawn from that of fossils often found in such hills.
Almeisan Tower Brings Sky-High Sustainability to Dubai
(images via: Gizmag)
Though it’s unlikely to ever be built, the Almeisan Tower concept is nevertheless a fascinating peek at the ways in which we may be able to provide food for ourselves in the future. Created by architect Robert Ferry for a competition to design a tall emblem structure for Za’abeel Park in Dubai, Almeisan Tower would use solar cells and large mirrors to generate its own power as well as the power required to run the rest of the park.
Axis Mundi’s Wacky Pop-Art Idea for MoMA Tower
(images via: Design Boom)
Though it was Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, Jean Nouvel, who was actually selected to design the expansion of New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, another architect almost stole his thunder. Axis Mundi submitted an alternative design idea for the tower, with a stacked design that features vegetated walls and gigantic reproductions of iconic pop art. Firm founder John Beckmann said of the concept, “Instead of disguising the rich potential of towers that have a mix of uses, we looked for a way to express that diversity.” The resulting mixed-use mishmash certainly stands at a stark contrast to Nouvel’s sleek, contemporary winning design.
Entangled Bank: Green-Walled Eco-City
(images via: ArchDaily)
Charlotte, North Carolina firm LITTLE designed the Entangled Bank concept, a holistic design that “combines heavy duty technological prowess with artistic integration of systems”, as a juror of the Re:Vision Dallas competition described it. The concept connects various elements of community like housing, recreation, work and tourism in a sustainable shell that includes a living wall, wind turbines and an onsite biogas plant.
XERO Project Envisions Sustainable Dallas
(images via: David Barker + Partners)
While the Entangled Bank concept turned heads and made it to the top 3 in the Re:Vision Dallas competition, it was the XERO Project that took first place. The David Barker + Partners/Fletcher Studio design is based around the question, “What if one block in Texas became the sustainable model for the world?” The design envisions a high-density, zero-energy, agriculturally oriented pair of buildings that include public orchards, community gardens, food stalls, restaurants, retail space and housing. The design also imagines connecting the building to greater Dallas with intersecting greenways.
The Zuidkas Sustainable Tower in Amsterdam
(images via: Plus Mood)
How green can a skyscraper get? Architectenbureau Paul de Ruiter decided to find out with a design commissioned by the Government Buildings Agency of the Netherlands for a mixed-use building in Amsterdam. De Ruiter aimed to achieve the highest score possible on a range of environmental objectives to help the government determine a future standard for sustainability in architecture. The design consists of a glass envelope that accommodates a variety of ‘green houses’ – atria, CO2 greenhouses and hybrid greenhouses – in addition to offices, homes, a school and retail facilities.
Plantagon Geodesic Vertical Farm
(images via: Inhabitat)
Swedish-American company Plantagon has come up with an unusual twist on the vertical farm concept: a geodesic greenhouse containing a spiral ramp upon which fresh crops can be grown in urban environments. Plantagon says the farm “will dramatically change the way we produce organic and functional food. It allows us to produce ecological [resources] with clean air and water inside urban environments, even major cities, cutting costs and environmental damage by eliminating transportation and deliver directly to consumers. This is due to the efficiency and productivity of the Plantagon® greenhouse which makes it economically possible to finance each greenhouse from its own sales.”
Vertical Park: Stackable Architecture for Mexico City
(images via: Archicentral)
Not only do we need vertical buildings that bring many functions into one building, preventing the destruction of what little green space we have left, but we also need structures that can meet our needs as they evolve. The stackable ‘Vertical Park’ concept by Jorge Hernandez de la Garza is a modular skyscraper designed for Mexico City, where space is definitely at a premium. Each module provides spaces for living, working, urban farming, water reclamation and solar energy collection.
Pyramid Farm
(images via: The Vertical Farm Project)
Architecture professors Eric Ellingsen and Dickson Despommier have dreamed up yet another way in which agriculture can be incorporated into urban environments in the future. The Pyramid Farm offers a self-sustaining ecosystem that are capable of producing a wide variety of food – including fish and poultry – while also minimizing waste as much as possible. It would even have processes in place to transform waste into energy sources that could run the farm.
Dragonfly Urban Farm Concept
(images via: Vincent Callebaut)
Few urban farm concepts are quite as visually stunning as Vincent Callebaut’s Dragonfly, a tall wing-like structure designed around the Southern bank of Roosevelt Island in New York City. This entirely self-sufficient concept features two oblong towers and 128 floors filled with housing, offices, laboratories and farms that would be tended by the building’s occupants. The greenhouse, which defines the space of the design, supports the load and is buttressed by two inhabited rings covered in solar panels.
Harvest Green Tower
(images via: Design Boom)
Romses Architects envisioned the ‘Harvest Green Tower’ for Vancouver, winning a competition held by the city of vancouver ‘the 2030 challenge’ to find new methods of green building that can help address climate change issues. The Harvest Green Tower produces food – including boutique goat and sheep dairy – and generates its own energy through wind and solar power. Incorporated within the tower are also residences, transit, offices, retail space and research facilities.
Aberrant Agriculture by Scott Johnson
(images via: Rat Haus)
The Aberrant Agriculture concept by Masters of Architecture student Scott Johnson not only combines vertical farming, residential, hotel and retail functions in one sustainable skyscraper, it also processes and sells the food that is produced within. The agricultural core of the building grows 12 ‘power foods’ including berries, garlic and beans and whatever the building’s residents couldn’t eat would be sold to the public.
Modular Skyscraper Additions Add Garden and Power Producing Space
(images via: Ecoble)
All of these ideas for the sustainable skyscrapers of the future are great, but what about all the waste that would be generated by tearing old buildings down, and wasting new resources to rebuild? That’s where this concept by Daekwon Park comes in. It’s a modular system designed to act as add-ons for existing buildings, adding space for outdoor recreation, vertical gardening and wind power generation as well as other functions as needed.
Steph
Sunlight through the Clouds
September 20, 2009 by admin · View Comments
Even in the wake of the most tragic events, positivity can survive, sometimes even thrive. We’ve all had experiences that floored us, only to look back and see how positive change resulted or see how people come together during a horrendous event, like September 11.
This story showcases that positivity can walk with tragedy. One does not negate the other:
Last Thursday, six cars collided on the Niagara Thruway outside of Buffalo, New York, and within moments, bystanders rushed in to save the trapped passengers from the vehicles. When one of the car’s engines caught fire, one Good Samaritan grabbed a fire extinguisher to put out the flames; another used a saw to cut the cars’ frames apart and pull out the unconscious people trapped inside.
“There wasn’t one hero,” Michael Byham, one of the volunteer rescuers, told the Buffalo News. “There was a bunch of people who jumped in.”
Thanks to their quick and cool-headed work, several people were injured, but only one passenger, 7-year-old Asa Hill, who’d been traveling with his grandfather, seemed to be in critical condition—he was immediately rushed to a hospital and placed on life support.
Sadly, doctors soon declared the young boy brain-dead. His parents, Amilcar Hill and Rahwa Ghirmatzion, said their goodbyes to their only child the next day, and gave their blessing for the staff to harvest Asa’s organs, so that he could save the lives of others.
Despite their devastating loss, Hill and Ghirmatzion are choosing to focus on the happiness that their son brought them in his short life. “He enjoyed being loved,” Amilcar Hill told the Buffalo News. “He enjoyed being our baby. He enjoyed being our son, I know that for a fact. He told us, I know it’s for real. He enjoyed his moments with everyone. That’s who he was.”
Hill and Ghirmatzion had been a couple since they were teenagers, and though they’d never gotten married, they were deeply committed to their relationship. But Asa always wanted them to celebrate their love with a real wedding, and asked them several times if they would get married. Though they told him they would, they never got around to following through.
But after Asa died, the couple decided to pay tribute to their son by honoring his request in an unusual way. Rather than using his funeral as an occasion for grief, Hill and Ghirmatzion decided to turn it into a celebration.
More than 1,100 people attended the funeral service on Monday, which was filled with tributes to Asa from family and friends, African drum performances, and dancing. And, to cap it all off, the service ended with Hill and Ghirmatzion walking down the church aisle, pledging their lifelong commitment to one another in a beautiful wedding. Asa’s parents knew their son would have loved it.
“We wanted it to be a surprise,” Hill told CNN. “We knew it would be a joyous moment. You could see how it lifted them, and we figured, why not make it a surprise at the end.”
Source: Gimundo
Beth
7 Geological Wonders from the World’s 7 Continents
September 18, 2009 by admin · View Comments
Will wonders never cease? Probably not, Mother Earth has had 5 billion years to sculpt herself into spectacular splendor and it’s certain she’s not done yet. For now though, let’s take a little trip across the 7 continents to find our planet’s coolest natural wonders.
Landscape Arch, Utah, North America
(images via: E. J. Peiker, Arches National Park and Igougo)
The highlight of Devil’s Garden, a protected area of Arches Natural Park boasting an abundance – over 2,000! – spectacular natural sandstone arches, Landscape Arch soars 290 feet (88 meters) through Utah’s dry desert air. A fun fact about this arch: some say the signs for Landscape Arch and nearby Delicate Arch were accidentally switched. It may be so – the former is visibly more “delicate” than the latter.
(image via: ADDI)
Carved incrementally over untold thousands of years by windblown sand and rare desert rainstorms, Landscape Arch is an ever-evolving testament to the inexorable pace of geologic change – which has its darker side. Visitors to Arches Natural Park should tread easy when observing Landscape Arch as recent rock falls from its underside raise questions as to how much longer this amazing natural wonder will exist to be appreciated.
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, South America
(images via: Marco Teodonio, Somethin’ Beautiful, POPFi and Viajejet)
The Salar de Uyuni is a dried salt lake lying 10,000 feet high in Bolivia’s Andes Mountains that is 25 times the size of the Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA. An estimated 10 billion tons of salt attest to the size of ancient Lake Minchin, now mostly evaporated into the dry mountain air. Salt isn’t the Salar de Uyuni’s main claim to fame, however. When the rains do come, the salt flat becomes the world’s largest natural mirror!
(image via: XRV)
The shallowness of the standing water combined with the stillness of the thin mountain air can disconcert visitors suddenly forced to wonder which way is up. Despite its remoteness, Salar de Uyuni plays host to a significant number of tourists who can stay at a Salt Hotel. This is one place you don’t want to forget to bring your camera – or remove the lens cap when you start snapping away!
Eye of the Sahara, Mauritania, Africa
(images via: Free Wallpapers, TurkceBilgi and The Sleeping Pharaoh)
Also known as the Richat Structure, this eerie, eye-like outcrop in the western reaches of the Sahara was virtually unknown until the Space Age when orbiting astronauts spied what appeared to be a huge eye staring back at them! At first thought to be a meteor crater, the 30-mile (50 km) wide feature may actually be nothing more exciting than an eroded rock outcrop.
(images via: Earth Snapshot and Viva NOLA)
Whatever it is, the Richat Structure has caught the imagination of artists, environmentalists and naturalists who see the gigantic “eye” as a symbol of our living planet and its ongoing ability to shock, surprise and amaze its very recent tenants, humanity.
The Gateway To Hell, Námaskarð, Iceland
(image via: Hottnez)
It may be called The Gateway To Hell, but Námaskarð is simply heavenly to those who seek the unearthly while still staying on Earth.
(image via: Hottnez)
Iceland is one of the world’s most volcanically active countries, which seems ironic considering its chilly name. One of the most powerful and wide-ranging volcanic events in modern history, the 1783 eruption of the Laki volcanic system, caused the deaths by famine of up to 25 percent of Iceland’s population and the loss of most of the island’s livestock. Things are calmer nowadays… enjoy Iceland’s wonders but keep your options (and travel arrangements) open!
Reed Flute Cave, Guilin, China
(images via: China Connection Tours and Vrodkaraf)
The magnificent underground cave system traditionally called Reed Flute Cave and known today as the Palace of Natural Art lies beneath the city of Guilin, China, and is over 750 feet (240 meters) long. The first recorded visits to the cave took place over 1,000 years ago during China’s Tang Dynasty. Artificial lighting is used to enhance the stunning rock formations in the cave, which has been officially open for visitors since 1962.
(image via: UNI Study Abroad)
One of the largest parts of the cave system is the Crystal Palace of the Dragon King, which can hold up to 1,000 people and was used as an air raid shelter during World War II. The grotto features a solitary stalagmite that resembles a human being – it’s said that a visiting poet attempted to write about the beauty that greeted his eyes but took so long to find the right words he turned to stone.
The Devil’s Marbles, Northern Territory, Australia
(images via: JPG, Travel Webshots and DomBea)
Known as Karlu Karlu to Australia’s aboriginal people and one of their most sacred sites, The Devil’s Marbles are huge blocks of 1.7 billion year old granite rounded by countless centuries of weathering. Wind, water, temperature and sunlight conspire to erode and, on occasion, split the massive ovoids which sit, individually or in groups, in a desolate Outback valley.
(image via: University of Michigan)
As can be seen above, some of the Devil’s Marbles are of a staggering size… which gives one a hint as to the proportions of ‘ol Satan himself!
Ice Towers of Mount Erebus, Antarctica
(images via: Neatorama and T.E.A.)
Hundreds of ice towers stud the flanks of 12,500ft. high Mount Erebus like day-old stubble on the face of a giant. The constantly active volcano is perhaps the only place in Antarctica where fire and ice meet, mingle and create something unique encompassing both their natures. The towers can be as much as 60 feet (20 meters) high and look almost alive as they huff and puff streamers of steam into the south polar sky. Some of the volcanic steam freezes onto the inner part of the towers, expanding and extending them.
(image via: Life In The Fast Lane)
If Antarctica’s ice towers look otherworldly, it’s no accident – similar structures may exist on Mars and the moons of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. Of course, those interplanetary ice towers don’t have penguins (or something like them) idly surveying the scene… of course they don’t.
Steve
Naturally Social: Cool Ways Animals Communicate
September 17, 2009 by admin · View Comments
Images via: (Bitter N Sweet, Liting Yu, Ian Salang, Journey Forth)
If you’ve ever owned a pet that was sick, you likely know the feeling of wishing you could communicate with the animal to know just what was bothering him or her. Unfortunately for humans, we are not always able to communicate with animals in ways that they are capable of doing with members of their own species. From the impressive language and dialect of prairie dogs to the “beyond-human-hearing” rumbles of elephants to the numerous distinctive cries of chickens, animal communication truly is a testament to the intelligence of these creatures. While animal communication may be used to evoke many emotions — love, anger, worry, etc. — here’s hoping this list will leave you feeling amazed and even a little bit appreciative of the unique and intricate ways animals share information.
Loud and Profound Barking: Prairie Dog Language
(Images via: Squidoo, TCS, Jeff Blaylock)
What may sound like loud barking to humans actually has much more meaning to prairie dogs, who maintain a complex communication system that resembles nouns and verbs. Acoustic analysis of prairie dog barking has revealed that this intricate communication is marked by different tones that maintain different meanings. Specifically, most prairie dog barking communicates information about imminent threats like hawks, dogs and even humans, and gets as detailed as the size and shape of the potential predators. Even more interesting, prairie dogs from different areas have their own dialects. So the next time you hear a prairie dog barking — perhaps in the wild or at the zoo — know that something much deeper is being communicated.
Soft but Meaningful Elephant Rumbles
(Images via: SMH, Wild Tracks, Trip Advisor)
With their loud screams and trumpets, elephants wouldn’t seem to have a silent “ivory bone” in them. Well, apparently, they do. Through rumbles that are below human hearing, elephants are able to communicate with distant elephants for various purposes, including coordinating group behaviors, luring mates, reproducing and establishing dominance. Amazingly, the lower the elephant infrasound, the farther it travels. Say what? I almost couldn’t hear you for a moment.
Chick Power: Clucking in the Womb and for Food
(Images via: Red Jar)
It’s safe to say that it’s very hard to get chickens to shut up. Twenty-four hours before birth, baby chicks make peeping noises in the egg, with the mother chicken responding in soothing tones to provide assurance that everything is alright. In life, chickens learn and communicate more than 20 distinctive calls, including alarm calls when danger is near. Just a few years ago, researchers confirmed that the “tck, tck, tck” sound chickens make while pecking actually signifies the presence of food to other chicken and spurs them on to search for more food. Makes sense, I guess, that an animal that tastes so good maintains its owns exquisite “chicken language” for food.
The Universal Language of Animal Love
(Images via: Sci Online, Desert USA, Weird Sceince)
Many animals display affection to each other through unique forms of physical communication. The aforementioned elephants entwine their trunks, while swans do the same, only with their necks. Like a lovestruck couple in the stages of puppy love, horses rub their noses together while giraffes put their necks next to each other as displays of affection. A precursor to the handshake, chimps greet each other by touching hands. In similar lights, male fiddler wave their hands — make that, their giant claws — to attract females. While certainly not the cleanliest form of affection, amoeba leave a chemical discharge to attract potential mates. Oh, what some will do for love.
Avoiding Harm through Communication that Alarms
(Images via: The Sports Globe, Flickr, My Funny Pics)
Of course, an essential role of animal communication is to alarm other members of the species of any dangers, as seen above in the examples with prairie dogs and chickens. By thumping their hind legs, kangaroos inform their mates of danger. Like a nervous twitch, white tail deers flick their tails to warn others of imminent danger. As a means to express anger, gorillas stick out their tongues, a sign that play time is over.
Other Interesting Forms of Animal Communication
(Images via: Photo Bucket, Flickr)
Why are dogs considered man’s best friend? Because they care considerably about their masters. Specifically, dogs will study the expressions of their owners to differentiate when humans mean business or are ready to engage in some fun. And then there’s those prairie dogs, which continue to amaze. To determine friends from enemies, prairie dogs will show their teeth and press the mouths together. I’ve heard of secret handshakes and things of that nature, but the prairie dogs certainly know how to take things to a whole new level, as already seen by their extensive vocabulary.
Chris
A Different Kind of Family Photo
September 3, 2009 by admin · View Comments
Life is full of strange and random happenings. It’s solace to remember that when you’re sure everything will fail or play out just as your fears suspected. Amidst all of our negativity and worry, life randomly happens, throwing you for a loop.
Melissa Brandts and her husband were exploring in the Banff National Park in Canada when they stopped to take a shot using the timer on their camera.
They had their camera set up on some rocks when a curious ground squirrel appeared, intrigued by the noise from the focusing mechanism centered himself right in the picture frame.
Melissa called it a once in a lifetime moment, “We were laughing about this little guy for days!!”
So the next time you are sure something will play out in the same old predictable path, remember:
Squirrels happen.
(From National Geographic)
Beth
