14 Unbelievably Unique Parks & Botanical Gardens
October 28, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Geography & Travel & Home & Garden & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Intricately shaped topiaries, ponds full of lily pads and koi, greenhouses brimming with dazzling arrays of exotic flowers, strange and fascinating sculptures – these 14 botanical gardens, private gardens and parks around the world show off the beauty of cultivated nature. Representing a fusion of the wild, untamed natural world and the architectural genius of humans, these parks are the closest to paradise that we can craft with our own hands.
Claude Monet Foundation at Giverny, Normandy, France
(images via: ell brown)
Immerse yourself in the landscape that inspired some of French Impressionist painter Claude Monet’s most beautiful and celebrated works at the artist’s former estate. Walking through these gardens, it’s almost as if time has stood still, as you can view what seem to be the very same lily pads that the artist saw and painted. Giverny is located 50 miles outside Paris, on the banks of the River Seine.
Kirtenbosch National Botanical Garden, Western Cape, South Africa
(images via: wikimedia commons)
Founded in 1913, South Africa’s Kirtenbosch National Botanical Garden may just be the most beautiful botanical garden in the entire world. In this preserve you can view live samples of plants that grow in five out of South Africa’s six biomes and a stunning selection of ‘protea‘ flowering plants, all within view of Table Mountain.
Villa Lante, Bagnaia, Italy
(images via: wikimedia commons, ineedaholiday.com.au, awesome-places)
One of the most important gardens in Italy, Villa Lante was in the possession of the Lante family from the 17th century, when it was already 100 years old, until the 20th century, when it was opened to the public. Bordered by two nearly identical homes, the garden is characterized by beautiful stone fountains, lush grottoes and intricate patterns of hedges.
Jardin Botanique de Montreal, Quebec, Canada
(images via: chris dlugosz, abdallah, wikimedia commons)
The Montreal Botanical Garden has such extensive collections and facilities, it’s considered one of the most important botanical gardens in the world. An indoor greenhouse holds a wide variety of labeled plants, and four themed outdoor gardens including the Chinese Garden, the Japanese Garden, the First Nations Garden and the Alpine Garden showcase the indigenous flora of various cultures and locales. In fact, Montreal boasts the largest Chinese garden in the world, outside of China.
The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Mevagissey, UK
(images via: heligan.com)
A part of the Heligan estate in Cornall, England, these gardens fell into disuse in the 1970s and were forgotten for decades – hence the name. But when ownership of the estate transferred to a trust, a group of enthusiasts revitalized them, planting hundreds of varieties of plants, a vegetable garden, a walled garden and a ‘jungle’. A stroll through the gardens will reveal fanciful ‘creatures’ covered in grass and moss including ‘The Mud Maid’ and a ‘Giant’s Head’.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Australia
(images via: chromolux, louise docker, brian giesen, renata)
View both downtown Sydney and the infamous Sydney Opera House from the Royal Botanic Gardens, located on the site of Australia’s first ever farm, which was established in 1788. Centuries of improvements to the soil have enabled a gorgeous array of plants to flourish, including many that grow inside the Pyramid Glasshouse. Up until May 2011, a colony of over 22,000 flying foxes – a large species of fruitbat – called the gardens home, but the bats killed dozens of trees and were eventually driven out.
Byodo-in Temple, Oahu, Hawaii
(images via: timothy tolle, alan light, horschmology)
Surrounded by Oahu’s greenery-cloaked mountains, the Byodo-in Temple is a replica of a historic Kyoto, Japan, temple of the same name, but it has many merits of its own – especially its gardens, which include two acres of koi ponds. Stone paths cut through emerald-green lawns and Zen-style gardens.
Parco dei Mostri (Park of the Monsters), Bomarzo, Italy
(images via: wikimedia commons)
A large monster, referred to as the ‘Door of Hell’, opens its mouth to admit you into a dark, cramped space with a small table. A watchtower tilts at a rather disturbing angle. Mythological creatures and unidentified monsters leer at passersby. The Parco die Mostri (Park of the Monsters) in Bomarzo, Italy is so surreal it is said to have greatly inspired the artists Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau. The chaotic style of the gardens, which were created in the 16th century by Pier Francesco Orsini in honor of his beloved deceased wife Giulia Farnese, may be an intentional contrast to the orderly symmetry of the nearby Villa Lante.
Monte Palace Garden, Madeira, Portugal
(images via: montepalace.com, lukegordon1)
The Monte Palace Tropical Garden is a surprising glimpse of Asia found in Madeira, Portugal. Once a hotel, the gardens have been open to the public since 1989 and include a collection of ceramic tiles from the 15th – 20th centuries and various gardens that highlight both indigenous and exotic species. A group of educational panels explain the reason for the oriental gardens, telling of “The adventures of the Portuguese in Japan.”
Kew Gardens, London, UK
(images via: neiljs, paul friel, jim linwood, dan taylor, laura nolte)
More than 30,000 live species of plants can be viewed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in southwest London, England – and if you think that’s impressive, consider this: inside the glassed ‘herbarium’ are over seven million preserved specimens. The Kew Gardens are well-deserving of their worldwide fame, thriving despite locally unfavorable growing conditions. In addition to the outdoor gardens and greenhouses are a number of educational and research facilities and architectural features like a treetop walkway and a 49-foot-tall pagoda.
The Gardens of Las Pozas, Xilitla, Mexico
(images via: lucy nieto, i_amici)
More of a surrealist sculpture park than a garden, Las Pozas is the playground of British poet Edward James, a patron of the arts. James was a passionate supporter of the Surrealist art movement and his love for the stile is evident in Las Pozas (the pools), which includes more than 80 acres of natural waterfalls and pools as well as concrete sculptures. The spindly, strange sculptures were built between 1949 and 1984; the whole project cost James over $5 million, which he raised by selling his considerable collection of Surrealist art.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York
(images via: steve soblick, jose oquendo, elena gaillard)
Manhattan may have a botanical garden of its own, but it’s eclipsed by that of Brooklyn, a 52-acre garden located near the Prospect Heights and Park Slopes neighborhood. Putting on a jaw-dropping display of cherry blooms in the spring, the park also includes climate-themed plant pavilions, an aquatic plant house, a bonsai museum and an art gallery. Themed gardens include the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, constructed in 1915, and the Shakespeare Garden which exhibits over 80 plants mentioned in the bard’s plays and poems.
Francisco Alvarado Park, Zarcero, Costa Rica
(images via: puroticorico, wikimedia commons)
Abstract shapes, arches and the faces of strange creatures grow out of the courtyard at Parque Francisco Alvarado, found in the town center of Zarcero in Costa Rica. The park’s topiary garden has been shaped into these fascinating shapes by the same man since the 1960s.
Garden of Cosmic Speculation, Scotland
(images via: reckon)
A private garden created by Charles Jencks, the Garden of Cosmic Speculation at Portrack House, near Dumfries in Southwest Scotland is opened to the public for just one day each year. Science and mathematical concepts, like black holes and fractals, inspired the complex arrangements and sculptures contained within the garden.
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Crunch Time: The World’s 10 Most Unusual Nuts
October 4, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steve in 7 Wonders Series & Food & Health & History & Trivia. ]
It’s not unusual to be nuts about nuts, even though many of the crunchy, oily, nutritious botanical bits & bites are not “true nuts” in the scientific sense – and that includes Beer Nuts. This selection of 10 unusual nuts highlights the often sweet yet occasionally distasteful relationship humans have had with these swell shelled feed seeds.
Coco de Mer
(images via: Funmaza, Timeseye and Seychelles Travel)
If you’ve heard of an erotic boutique called Coco de Mer and wondered why they’d name themselves after a coconut, wonder no longer. The Sea Coconut is native to only a few of the Seychelles island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, and boasts the world’s largest seed. They also boast an astonishing resemblance to a human female lower torso – plant porn doesn’t get much more graphic than this, folks.
(image via: CITES)
Coco de Mer coconuts don’t drop from the trees fully female formed. Once the nuts fall into the ocean, they sink to the bottom where eventually the outer husk sloughs off and decomposition gases cause the inner nut to bob to the surface. Imagine being a shipwrecked sailor, alone and lonely, starved for companionship… and one of these babies washes up on the beach. Talk about rubbing salt into the wound!
Candlenuts
(images via: Hot Smoke BBQ, JUARA Beauty Biz, 123RF and Tatters:))
Candlenuts (or Kemiri nuts) are native to Indonesia but humans have helped expand their range over thousands of years of use. Not only are these nuts used in a wide variety of Southeast Asian and Polynesian recipes, their high oil content has allowed them to be used as candles. Ancient Hawaiians used to string individual candlenuts along a palm frond and burn them one at a time; in this way they functioned as an effective way of keeping time.
(image via: Serious Eats)
Sometimes called “the poor man’s Macadamia nut”, Candlenuts are beginning to make inroads into Western cuisine now that refrigerated transport prevents their copious oils from turning rancid. Candlenut oil is also produced on large plantations, a profitable endeavor as the nuts contain 15-20% oil by weight.
Kola Nuts
(images via: Chiamaka, USAID and Iamplify)
We may be nuts for cola here in the western world but back in West Africa they go right to the source: the bitter, naturally-caffeinated Kola Nut. Invited to a home in the Ibo tribe’s heartland? Expect to be greeted with warm wishes and a serving of Kola nut. It’s the real Real Thing.
(image via: Susan Kaman’s Kenyan Kitchen)
Those whose memories go back to the mid-1970s may recall a popular series of TV commercials for 7-Up, “The Un-Cola”, featuring 6’6″ Trinidad-born dancer, choreographer and actor Geoffrey Holder. The ads featured Holder extolling the great lemon & lime taste of 7-Up and summing things up with the punchline “Try making that out of a cola nut.”
Red Walnuts
(images via: Almond Corner and Summer Tomato)
Next time some irritable snacker demands you “pass the bloody walnuts”, give ‘em these: a new variety of walnuts with a cherry-red outer skin. No genetic engineering was used in the production of Red Walnuts, just good old fashioned agricultural ingenuity: branches from the smaller, bitterer, Persian red-skinned walnut onto standard English walnut tree trunks. See, we CAN all get along!
(image via: The Kitchn)
You’ll typically pay twice as much for Red Walnuts but those who’ve tried them feel the investment is worthwhile, reporting that Red Walnuts are slightly oilier and impart less of a bitter tannin taste compared to their un-blushed cousins. Now if only they didn’t look like tiny BRAAAIIIINS!!
Mongongo Nuts
(images via: Elephants Without Borders, New Agriculturist and Fruitipedia)
Mongongo Nuts are a staple food of the ancient San people of southwestern Africa’s Kalahari Desert and provide a valuable source of nutritional fats and proteins in times of scarcity. It’s been rumored that the best way to harvest Mongongo Nuts is to follow a Kalahari elephant… sooner or later, Jumbo will deliver a load of nuts with pre-softened shells. Expect Bear Grylls to test that theory sometime soon.
(image via: Sunday’s Child)
You can also expect to hear more about Mongongo Nuts through TV ads for women’s cosmetics and personal care products. The San have traditionally used the oils extracted from Mongongo Nuts as a natural sunscreen and skin moisturizer. So long Ylang Ylang, hello Mongongo Nuts!
Betel Nuts
(images via: Globe Spots, Greeny Crops and Chalky Lives)
Betel Nuts are actually the seeds of the Areca Palm and can be found from Polynesia through southern Asia to East Africa. The nuts are typically wrapped in leaves and chewed – the bright red residue (and saliva) are then spit out into a cup (or wherever is convenient). Users report a variety of effects with the main sensation being that of a mild stimulant. On the other hand, Betel Nut chewers are more likely to suffer a range of deleterious health effects ranging from receding gums and stained teeth to oral and gastric cancers.
(image via: Taiwan 101)
Betel Nuts were the driving force of a unique entrepreneurial phenomenon which had its heyday in mid-1990′s Taiwan. Plexiglass booths began springing up along the country’s highways, “manned” by scantily-clad “Betel Nut Beauties” who sold bags of seasoned Betel Nuts to passing truck drivers. As semi-independent operators, the women exploited a very lucrative market niche that, as a side-effect, saw Betel Nut production soar to second place (after rice) in Taiwan’s annual agricultural production.
Corn Nuts
(images via: Restaurant-Dining Critiques, Bedicomsa and Product Reviews)
Corn Nuts aren’t nuts; in fact they’re barely corn… at least, not corn as we know it. The popular snack food was invented in 1936 but sales really took off in 1964, when the manufacturers switched from sweet corn to Cusco Corn. Originating in Peru, Cusco Corn boasts kernels an inch wide, the “Largest Corn in the World”, and once adapted for commercial growing in California it powered Corn Nuts into the crunchy, dare-I-say “nutty” snack we know and love today.
(image via: Snak Snak)
You can order traditionally prepared, Peruvian-style Corn Nuts at a gourmet restaurant if you like, though sufferers of late night snack attacks are better served by keeping a bag or two of the trademarked variety on hand… assuming that keeping the tempting munchables unopened in the bag for any period time is even possible.
Bat Nuts
(images via: FotoosVanRobin, Okonomiyaki and Joe’s Diary)
Nanananana… Bat Nuts! No, it’s not the latest release from Vivid Video, but a bizarrely shaped nut known by a range of monickers including Water Caltrops, Buffalo Nuts and Devil Pods. Once one gets past the barbed & bull-headed outer shell, the starchy seed within can be eaten raw, boiled or fried, or dried and ground into a powder used in Indian cooking.
(image via: Kathryn Hill)
Travelers who have the opportunity to try Bat Nuts should ensure they don’t enjoy them raw or undercooked, as they have been known to transmit a parasitic illness known as Fasciolopsiasis. The parasites in question are intestinal flukes or flatworms that can grow up to 7.5cm (3 inches) in length. We’ve got a gut feeling you’ll take our advice as staying parasite-free is no fluke.
Tigernuts
(images via: Richard Peters, Will & Dre and Betumi Blog)
Tigernuts are neither nuts nor are they sourced from tigers… which is great news, especially if you happen to be a tiger. Instead, they’re the tubers of a rush-like plant used as a food source by several historic cultures including Ancient Egypt in the dynastic era. Tigernuts are very nutritious and contain a wide range of essential minerals, not to mention their slightly sweet, nutty flavor. They’re popular in Spain where they’re called Chufa Nuts.
(image via: Lodge Fishing)
Tigernuts have found an unexpected modern use as fishing bait for carp, which are attracted to them and seem to enjoy their taste. Anglers should be aware, however, that Tigernuts must be prepared by soaking and boiling or they will poison the fish.
Barking Deer’s Mango Nuts
(images via: Phnomenon: Food In Cambodia and Duda Online)
Besides making a great band name, Barking Deer’s Mango Nuts also make a delicious snack! Visitors to Southeast Asia may find themselves offered bags of prepared “bok” on the beach or may buy them from roadside kiosks. “The white flesh underneath the thin brown skin is so delicate yet delightfully rich,” according to one report, “mildly butter-like, and with a touch of smokiness.” Sounds delectable!
(image via: The Travelling Hungry Boy)
Delectable and execrable, it seems… yes indeed, the noble Barking Deer’s Mango Nut has been tarred with the same queasy origin as that of Mongongo Nuts and Civet Coffee: removing its hard seedcoat has been facilitated via a fantastic voyage through a cow’s digestive tract. Next time you’re offered Barking Deer’s Mango Nut Pie, take a closer look at exactly what type of “pie” it is.
(image via: Fuzzy Blue One)
As dangerous as some kinds of nuts can be, they’ve endured for hundreds of thousands of years as one of humanity’s favorite foods, thus proving the old adage that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… or at least, makes you thirstier.
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Farm Festivals - Getting to Know the Land
August 18, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
In the heart of summer, festivals of all types abound. But this eco-conscious festival has something to teach the participants that they won’t soon forget: a deeper appreciation for the land.
Set amidst a swath of green fields just north of London, Real Farm Festival is taking place this weekend, 17–19 June, in an effort to promote more peaceful, self-sufficient and natural ways of living. The event at Church Farm, Hertfordshire, near Stevenage will provide an opportunity for people of any age to discover what it is really like to live a healthy, ‘green’ life and to see a modern farm in action.
“This summer there are many festivals on farms across the country but Real Farm Festival puts the farm at the heart of the event, reconnecting people, land and food,” said Neil Nayar, musical director of Real Farm Festival. “We’re having a party to bring normal folks out to the farm for a weekend to experience what modern farm life is like.”
“We want to bring together a new generation of people from a wide variety of backgrounds to hang out together for a weekend, share good times and also engage in a very important discussion for the future of farming.”
Scientists, philosophers and anthropologists including top organic scientist Prof. Martin Wolfe and biologist Rupert Sheldrake will share their views in a series of conversations entitled Question Time: The New Agrarianism. Real Farm Festival will also be building the first ever edible living room, as well as hosting 40 environmentally-conscious musicians.
Beth
Cold Comfort: 7 Amazing Antarctic Lakes
July 19, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steve in 7 Wonders Series & Nature & Ecosystems & Science & Research. ]
Lakes? In my frozen Antarctica? It’s more likely than you think, and their existence has nothing to do with global warming. This in-depth (brrr!) look at 7 amazing Antarctic lakes shows us the 7th continent still has a few tricks up its frosty sleeve.
Don Juan Pond
(image via: 77 Degrees South)
Don Juan Pond may sound romantic but visitors will find intimacy is the last thing on their minds – unless getting up close & personal with Mother Nature is your thing, you salty dog! Speaking of which, Don Juan Pond‘s hypersalinity is what keeps it from freezing over no matter how cold it gets, and (cue Larry David voice) Antarctica can get pretty, pretty cold. Scale is difficult to determine without trees, but note the red-coated researcher on the right in the above image.
(images via: Polar Night Images, Hassan Basagic and Los Alamos Mountaineers)
You think the Dead Sea is salty at 8 times the ocean’s salinity? Don Juan Pond laughs at your assumptions, being 18 times saltier than the sea. Forget about floating IN it, anyone brave enough to strip down and dip their tootsies might find they float ABOVE it!
(images via: The Resource Center and Walt Hamler)
Sadly, doing the Don Juan Pond flotation exercise is not an option. Scientists aren’t sure why, but over the past few decades Don Juan Pond has been steadily drying up to the point where it’s only a few inches deep. One might assume that its location in Antarctica’s Dry Valleys region doesn’t help the situation.
Organic Lake
(images via: Punnett’s Square, AAD and Liquida)
Located in eastern Antarctica’s Vestfold Hills, Organic Lake formed about 6,000 years ago and gets its name from the profusion of algae it hosts. These algae produce malodorous Dimethyl Sulfide as a gaseous waste product and they do so in abundance, as the 24.5 ft (7.5m) deep lake boasts the highest level of dissolved DMS of any lake on Earth. Blazing Saddles in a drop of water, that’s what they’ve got there.
(images via: AAD and Smaller Questions)
Organic Lake made the news recently when scientists testing its waters discovered the Organic Lake Virophage (above, lower left), a so-called “virus-eater” that preys on larger viruses that in turn infect the lake’s algae. Further research is being conducted to find out not only how OLV functions, but if the knowledge gained can assist medical professionals in devising new antiviral drugs and treatments for viral illnesses in humans.
Radok Lake
(images via: Swisseduc, ANARE Club and Schepps Media)
Alien-sounding Radok Lake can be found near (the unfortunately beaver-less) Beaver Lake at the foot of the Prince Charles Mountains. Although not especially large as lakes go – it’s about 4 miles (6.43 km) long – Radok Lake is 1,188 ft (362 meters) deep making it the continent’s deepest surface-exposed lake. One wonders what waits in the extreme depths of Radok Lake, dreaming with his hordes hidden in green slimy vaults… the awful answer being, of course, “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”
(image via: Swisseduc)
Radok Lake’s most exception feature – visually, at least – is the spectacular “ice tongue” of the Battye Glacier which stabs into the lake and floats upon its frigid, cerulean blue waters. If Lovecraft’s Great Old Ones ever loaded up the Prius with PBR and headed out for a weekend at the beach, this is where they’d likely end up chilling out.
Lake Vida
(images via: DRI and National Geographic)
Livin’ la Lake Vida loca? Try nada. Lake Vida is capped with ice over 60 ft (21 m) thick, precluding its use for recreational watersports even at the height of the Antarctic summer. It’s been so for thousands of years. Beneath that protective ice cap, however, lies a mysterious lacustrine ecosystem that’s basically humming along in sweet isolation… at a frigid (but still liquid) -13°C, no less.
(images via: BBC and Space Daily)
Lake Vida’s no Don Juan Pond but its kosher dill-level brine is still 7 times as saline as seawater. If it was stocked with herring, all you’d need were jars! In 2002, a research team from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Peter Doran discovered halophile (salt-loving) cyanobacteria in ice cores drilled into Lake Vida 6 years earlier.
(images via: NASA/APOD, We Heart New York and Bloody Good Horror)
Upon being thawed, the microbes awoke from their 2,800-year-long slumber and carried on much as before. NASA has since set up a Meteorological Station on the shores of Lake Vida to, well, keep tabs on things. The station is unmanned… I guess they saw that movie too.
Lake Bonney
Lake Bonney, a freshwater lake located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (which seem to have a lot of lakes), is 4.35 miles (7 km) long by about 1/2 mile (900 meters) wide. It was named for Thomas George Bonney, professor of geology at University College in London from 1877 to 1901, but naming it for William H Bonney (alias “Billy the Kid”) makes much more sense. Why? Because it’s fed by Blood Falls, a red-tinted plume of rusty water that pours out of the Taylor Glacier onto the lake’s surface!
(images via: Taylor Valley, Space.com and Astrobioblog)
Lake Bonney may soon be visited by autonomous submersible robot NASA calls “Endurance” (though I would’ve called it the “Pat Garrett”) that will explore the depths of Lake Bonney as practice for a future mission to Jupiter’s watery moon Europa. Hopefully the exploratory mission to Europa’s subsurface ocean will go ahead without any, er, holdup.
Lake Thomas
(images via: QSL)
Lake Thomas, found in the Dry (yes, I know) Valleys of Victoria Land, is a freshwater lake fed by glacial melt on Antarctica’s warmer summer days. Though Lake Thomas itself isn’t especially remarkable, it’s surrounded with some of the planet’s most eerie, inhospitable, otherworldly (yet beautiful) scenery. It’s going to be a popular place once global warming really kicks in.
(image via: Portland State University)
As is the case with many of the glacial meltwater lakes in the Dry Valleys region, the purity of the water in the frozen surface cap allows for a remarkable clarity shown off to full advantage by scientists and photographers alike.
Lake Untersee
(images via: Stampboards and WordlessTech, Dale Anderson)
Lake Untersee was discovered by the German Antarctic Expedition of 1938–39, which did little other than name upwards of 50 topographical features with German names and drop a dozen Nazi flag markers by air… or so they would like us to think! The lake itself is about 4 miles (6.5 km) long, 1.6 miles (2.5 km) wide, and up to 554 ft (69 m) in depth. Though permanently capped with ice up to 9.8 ft (3 m) even in the summer, it’s what lies beneath Lake Untersee’s surface that has aroused both shock and surprise.
(images via: TMP, Bibliotecapleyades and Fufor)
You thought there was going to be mention of a Nazi u-boat base and UFO hangar (or both), didn’t you? Sorry, fellow conspiracy theorists, no such luck. Instead, divers who braved the exceptionally alkaline water (the pH ranges from 9.8 and 12.1, like strong Chorox) discovered… life!
(images via: WordlessTech)
Yes, life, albeit in a very primitive form. Those odd, purplish humped objects seen in the image above are not the spawn of Shoggoths, but stromatolites: layered structures built up layer by layer over centuries by mats of cyanobacteria. Stromatolites are among the Earth’s oldest fossils, dating back 3.5 billion years… and here they are at the bottom of an Antarctic lake. Maybe ol’ HP was on to something after all.
(image via: Cthulhu’s Holiday Photos)
Anglers anxious to reel in the first fish hooked in an Antarctic lake should cool their heels, as there are no viable fish populations in any of Antarctica’s many saline or freshwater lakes. Then again, many of these lakes have been isolated from the outer environment for thousands to millions of years and new discoveries concerning their ecologies continue to be made. So go ahead and bait a hook… but if something tugs on your line, let it go, man. Just let it go.
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Life Thrives in Strange Places: 14 Urban Ecosystems
June 3, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Animals & Habitats & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Boars wreaking havoc in urban Berlin, dogs riding the subway in Moscow, a species of mosquitoes that only lives in man-made underground spaces and snakes that make their way up into our toilets – all of these creatures and more have adapted to human encroachment in surprising (and sometimes terrifying!) ways. These 14 unique urban and man-made ecosystems – including two of the most insane human communities of modern times – shed light on how we affect the natural world for better or worse.
Metro Dogs in Moscow
(images via: english russia)
Not only do dogs ride the subways in Moscow, stretching out across a row of seats while amused passengers smile down at them, they have adapted to their unusual urban habitat by developing new survival tactics. An astounding 35,000 stray dogs have actually figured out how to get from point A to point B, getting on and off at their favorite stops. Surviving off scraps, the dogs have realized which techniques are best at securing food, including sending off the youngest, cutest member of the pack to beg or barking loudly at a human holding food, hoping (often successfully) that they’ll drop it on the ground.
Microbes in the Gowanus Canal
(images via: jgny, brainware3000)
The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn is a sickening sight, full of chemical sludge and such odd and disturbing ‘wildlife’ as discarded medical supplies, raw sewage, debris from scrap metal yards and various specimens of unidentifiable refuse. Now a Superfund site, the canal is home to fish that are too contaminated to eat (though it’s amazing that anything can live in that water at all). But there’s a silver lining to the stench and mess: the canal has become something like a huge petri dish for microbes that could hold the key to combating heart disease, AIDS and other health ailments. Two New York biologists found ‘white gunk’, a combination of bacteria, microbes and chemicals, under the canal bed that could form the basis of new antibiotics.
Chernobyl Reclaimed by Animals
(images via: ssis.edu.vn, wired)
First a bustling urban home to humans, then an abandoned wasteland in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the town of Pripyat, Ukraine is now rapidly becoming a sanctuary for plants and animals. A documentary entitled ‘Chernobyl Reclaimed: An Animal Takeover‘ captured some the creatures that have come to call the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone home in the absence of people. Animals spotted there include wolves, wild boar, deer, moose and beavers. It’s not all paradise, however; although most mutations may not be obvious to our eyes, scientists say that radiation continues to affect the species that remain within the zone.
Berlin’s Wild Boars
(images via: freelens.com)
Thousands of wild boars have come to call the streets of the busy German city of Berlin home. Thanks to increasingly mild winters, plenty of wooded parks and gardens full of grubs, the boars have found the city to be more than hospitable, a preference which has unfortunately led to hundreds of car accidents, not to mention property damage. In addition to the dangers they face from the boars, which can weigh 250 pounds and sport sharp curved tusks, forestry officials charged with killing nuisance animals have to contend with angry animal rights activists who don’t want the boars to be harmed. Up to 7,000 boars now live in the city.
“There is no way that hunting can get rid of them all,” biologist Derk Ehlert told The Wall Street Journal. “Ultimately we must learn to share the city with the swine.”
Hemingway’s Cats, Key West, Florida
(images via: hemingwayhome.com, wikimedia commons)
Visitors to Ernst Hemingway’s estate in Key West, Florida, now a museum, will notice something peculiar: dozens and dozens of cats roaming the fenced property. And these aren’t just any cats – they’re descendents of the famous writer’s own six-toed ship cat that have interbred extensively, carrying on the unusual trait of polydactylism. This genetic defect, which is characterized by extra toes, is also commonly found in America’s Northeast and in Southwest England.
Cape Town Penguins
(images via: wikimedia commons)
Cape Town’s famous penguins frolic on Boulder Beach, bathing and playing to the delight of human swimmers and sunbathers. This colony started with just a single pair, first spotted in 1983, which began to lay two years later. By 1997, thanks to both reproduction and immigration, there were 2,350 adult birds. However cute these critters may be, nearby residents weren’t too happy when the penguins began invading their gardens, making loud noises and pooping all over the streets and sidewalks. The beach has since been taken over by Cape Peninsula National Park to keep the penguins fenced in and away from urban settings.
People Packed in Kowloon Walled City
(images via: doobybrain)
One of the most extraordinary human habitats ever produced was Kowloon Walled City, originally built as a watchpost to protect the area against pirates during British rule, occupied by the Japanese during WWII and taken over by squatters after Japan’s surrender. Located outside Hong Kong, Kowloon became an insanely compacted, lawless, unclaimed city full of labyrinthine passages and towers that extended so high into the air that sunlight couldn’t reach the lower levels. Within 6.5 acres, the city’s population grew to at least 33,000 by 1987. Residents were evicted and the city was demolished by the Hong Kong Housing Authority in 1993. The area where it once stood is now the Kowloon Walled City Park, where artifacts are displayed, including inscribed stones and old wells.
Urban Monkeys in Malaysia
(images via: plassen, atlai)
It’s not the fault of the monkeys in Malaysia that they’re now city dwellers, dangling from power lines, begging tourists for food and potentially spreading disease to humans. They’ve been forced out of their natural forest habitat by urban development. About 250,000 of Malaysia’s 700,000 monkeys, mostly macaques and leaf monkeys, live in towns and cities amongst humans. Veterinary experts warn that they carry blood parasites, herpes, malaria and dengue and could transmit these diseases to people.
Toilet Snakes Around the World
(images via: nydailynews.com, observer, herald sun)
Rationally, you can say that snakes can’t possibly live in sewer systems, ready to pop up out of the toilet when you’re at your most vulnerable. But tell that to the many people around the world to whom this has actually happened. While ‘sewer gators’ may be entirely the stuff of urban legend, snake-in-the-toilet stories are all too real, and usually result from pets or wild snakes making their way into plumbing systems. In 2007, a Brooklyn woman was shocked to find a 7-foot python in her toilet, while a Bronx man found a 3-foot corn snake coiled atop his own toilet last fall. In India, snakes in the toilet seem to be a common occurrence. While people usually aren’t harmed by these encounters, a Jacksonville, Florida woman wasn’t so lucky. One night in 2005, she lifted up the lid to her toilet and was immediately bitten by a deadly water moccasin with a head “three fingers wide”. As the woman was rushed off to the hospital, the snake got away, and the family still fears running into it in the dark.
Lonely Bacteria in a South Africa Gold Mine
(images via: new scientist)
Two miles beneath the surface of the earth in fluid-filled cracks of the Mponeng goldmine in South Africa, a species of bacteria exists far beyond the reach of oxygen and sunlight. Scientists believe that the discovery of Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator, a new species, could hold clues about alien life. Amazingly, this species – which lives all by itself in a place where nothing else can survive – extracts everything it needs from an otherwise dead environment, getting its energy from the radioactive decay of uranium in the rocks.
“One question that has arisen when considering the capacity of other planets to support life is whether organisms can exist independently, without access even to the Sun,” says astrobiologist Dylan Chivian. “The answer is yes and here’s the proof. It’s philosophically exciting to know that everything necessary for life can be packed into a single genome.”
South Africa’s Baboons
(images via: amuse.ment, snigl3t)
Baboons are finding themselves bulldozed out of house and home by the rampant expansion of Cape Town, South Africa’s suburbs, so is it any surprise that they’ve chosen to make their home in these newly urbanized environments? 400 urban baboons have been cut off from other troops by human activity, and as a result, male baboons in charge of finding food and breeding partners are growing more aggressive. Local wildlife managers have turned to a ‘three strikes, you’re out’ tactic for misbehaving baboons, euthanizing repeat troublemakers. The baboons have begun breaking into homes and restaurants, but animal activists say that peaceful coexistence is possible, portraying the so-called pests as ‘tremendous recyclers of what we humans casually discard.’
Mosquitoes of the London Underground
(images via: phsource.us)
You’re not just imagining it – the mosquitoes that bite you while you’re waiting for the subway really are more vicious than those above ground. In fact, they’re likely to be a different species altogether – a species that evolved to live in man-made underground environments. The London Underground mosquito, which is found around the world, is thought to have evolved recently from the overground species Culex pipiens, and as opposed to that species, C.p. molestus is cold-intolerant and bites rats, mice and humans. It is believed that old tires carrying larvae may have introduced the population that spawned the new species.
Brazil’s Marmosets
(images via: wagner machado carlos lemes)
The adorable urban marmosets of Brazil, which have adapted to life in the nation’s developed areas, has learned a nifty trick to escape the cats that try to catch them. Unlike their jungle counterparts, these marmosets choose a favorite tree and return to it each and every night – because their favored trees either have limbs to high off the ground or smooth bark, so that cats can’t climb up. This behavior was noted by researchers in marmosets at the Belo Horizonte City Park in Minas Gerais, which is also home to about 115 domestic cats. Like the cats, many of these marmosets may be the descendents of former pets that were dumped in the park.
Medina Zabbaleen, Egypt’s Trash City
(images via: marketplace)
Can you imagine living in a city where trash is stacked on absolutely every available surface, from streets and rooftops to the floors and tables of homes? Medina Zabbaleen isn’t so full of trash because the people don’t know what to do with it; rather, they’re a highly efficient community of trash collectors and recyclers, taking unwanted refuse off the hands of wealthier people in Cairo and bringing it back to their own city where they sort it and recycle as much as 80 percent of it (including feeding all of the food scraps to their pigs, which then provide meat – smart!).The city was featured in the award-winning 2009 documentary, ‘Garbage Dreams‘.
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Careers in Social Entrepreneurship - Unite for Sight 2011 [Part 1]
May 12, 2011 by · View Comments
Careers in Social Entrepreneurship Panel, Unite for Sight Global Health & Innovation Conference, 2011. April 16-17, 2011. This panel discusses broadly about social entrepreneurship in global health, as well as some good career advice for those interested in social entrepreneurship. From left to right: Gene Falk: Co-founder and President, mothers2mothers Lakshmi Karan: Director, Global Strategy, Riders for Health Tricia Morente: Head of Strategy and Marketing, LifeSpring Hospitals Ted London: PhD, Senior Research Fellow, William Davidson Institute and Faculty, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. — PART 2:
Stylish, but Sustainable? Synthetic Super-Sized Wood Trees
May 1, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Delana in Art & Design & Geography & Travel & News & Politics. ]
An ambitious architectural project seven years in the making has finally opened in the heart of Seville, Spain. As the largest bonded-wood construction project ever attempted, the Metropol Parasol serves to tie together the ultra-modern parts of Seville with the historic medieval areas.
(image via: Inhabitat)
The impressive structure features undulating wooden surfaces that reach heights of up to 30 meters (90 feet). Beneath the wave-like surface of the parasol are a museum, bars and restaurants, a farmer’s market and a raised plaza for concerts. The very top of the structure features a long, winding walkway and terrace with incredible views of the surrounding area.
(image via: Inhabitat)
Plaza de la Encarnacion, the area of Seville where the Metropol Parasol is now located, was once destined to be a parking lot. But when excavations revealed the ruins of a Roman district beneath the surface of the location, city officials decided that a cultural statement would be a more appropriate use of the land.
(image via: Dezeen)
A competition to determine the most interesting design for the land netted plenty of enticing ideas, but Jürgen Mayer H’s design captured the imaginations of the judges. The architectural firm was given the go-ahead to begin the project, but the complexity of the design meant that it took several years to become a reality.
(image via: The Guardian)
The Metropol Parasol is a modern structure through and through, but the fact that it is made mostly of wood hearkens back to a different architectural period entirely. The polyurethane coating on the wood and the high-performing glue holding everything together link the present to the future. Seville’s iconic new structure is poised to change the entire dynamic of this vibrant city.
(image via: The Guardian)
Although the structure is not entirely wooden – there are concrete and steel elements – the neutral feel of the wooden elements lends a natural feel to the overall project. Combined with the organic shapes of the undulating parasols, the Metropol Parasol project evokes the feeling of being in a natural space in the middle of the city. Thanks to the honeycomb-like patterns of the overhead elements, the Parasol even provides some welcome relief from the bright Spanish sun.
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Social Entrepreneurship and China
March 30, 2011 by · View Comments
An interview with Yuan Gu of the Peter F. Drucker Academy sharing his thoughts with i-genius on social entrepreneurship and China. Interview took place at Candid Cafe in Islington, London, UK.
China-UK Social Entrepreneurs Online Dialogue
November 24, 2010 by · View Comments
China-UK Social Entrepreneurs Online Dialogue is hosted by Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulate-General, and supported by i-genius, Southwest University of Finance and Economics and Chengdu Qingyang District Social Workers Commission. Entrepreneurs from China and UK will meet and communicate online by using the cutting-edge Tele-Presence facilities provided by Cisco China. The theme of this project is ‘working in the community ‘. In the online dialogue, participants in China and UK will share their cases and experiences of providing services in the communities for different groups. Additionally, when sharing the ideas and experience, participants from each part could also discuss the effective ways to solve social problems through business operation models. China-UK Social Entrepreneurs Online Dialogue is part of the Skills for Social Entrepreneurs project of British Council (which is known as the Cultural and Education Section of British Consulate in China). The purpose is to formulate the platform for face to face communication between social entrepreneurs in China and UK, promote the understanding and support the development amongst social enterprises and entrepreneurs, in the meantime, searching for mutual benefit through regular dialogues. This teleconference took place in Cisco’s London and Chengdu offices. October 19th, 2010
Sects in the City: Organic Wildlife Cities Pop up in London
October 20, 2010 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Delana in Animals & Habitats, Art & Design, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
It seems that a large block of new housing has opened up in the in-demand London boroughs of Chelsea and Islington, though even experienced city dwellers would have a hard time packing their belongings into these housing developments. They are tiny apartment complexes built for birds and bugs: spontaneous cities meant to promote and increase biodiversity in the urban environment.
The tiny houses were installed by London Fieldworks, an artist collective that focuses on projects that emphasize the intersection of art, science and technology. As part of UP Projects’ Secret Garden initiative, the “Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven” installation seeks to add some biodiversity to the areas in which the new “housing developments” are placed. The houses, which resemble cells multiplying to take over the surfaces of trees, are meant to act as shelter and nesting spots for London wildlife while emphasizing the importance of urban green spaces.
The architecture of the more than 250 bird and bug boxes echoes the Georgian townhouses, red brick towers, and 1960s social housing developments that surround them: they feature the same modular, blocky shapes and close quarters. But these wildlife developments have been designed to be temporary and to grow with their support structure, unlike many human housing developments in London.
An interesting aspect of the project is the trees on which London Fieldworks chose to build the wildlife cities. The “tree of heaven” is actually Ailanthus altissima, an ornamental tree native to China that tends to choke out surrounding vegetation. To mount a biodiversity-creating project on a biodiversity-destroying substrate may seem strange, but the artists behind London Fieldworks believe that it adds another layer to the discussion.
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When we think of abandoned cities, most of us picture the old west ghost towns of the United States: desolate, dusty places where once life bustled and filled the streets with motion. But there’…
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