Science & Technology

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Ady Gil, formerly Earthrace, joins Sea Shepherd fleet

Thanks to a $1 million donation from its namesake, US multi-millionaire Ady Gil, formerly known as Earthrace, the Ady Gil has become the latest addition to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's protest fleet. The Ady Gil will bear down on whalers at 40 knots, blaring Maori-inspired war cries through a 9000W speaker system. "They're going to think 'what the f..k have we got here?' " laughed Ady Gil's skipper Pete Bethune.

"It deflects radar signals, so it's very hard for radar systems to pick us up. It's effectively a stealth boat. Made of carbon, with carbon flecks in the paint you can have a big boat with a 20kW radar 400m away and they won't see you. In the past, the Steve Irwin has only been fast enough to keep up with the processing ship, the Nissan Maru, but not the harpooners. We can keep up with the harpoon vessels.” "The point of conflict will shift to include the harpoon vessels now, so it gives us a chance to stop the whales being harpooned." The boat holds the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe.  read more »

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Breath is essential to life. It is the first thing we do when we are born and the last thing we do when we leave. In between that time, we take about half a billion breaths.

Air Pollution  read more »

*update* 06 August 2014
Humans have tripled mercury levels in upper ocean

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There are several causes of ocean pollution including oil pollution, marine debris, toxic materials, and ocean dumping and mining. Oil pollution is not only caused by large devastating tanker spills, it is also caused through runoff from land and industrial wastes which find their way to the ocean through drains. Other causes include intensive farming, septic tank, pesticide, animal dung, household waste, water table, waste water, nuclear waste...

Ocean Pollution - Ocean Garbage - Marine Debris  read more »

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To see whether enough is being done at the moment to solve these global problems, there is no single indicator as complete and current as the monthly updates for atmospheric CO2 from the Mauna Loa Observatory. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the chief greenhouse gas that results from human activities & CO2 levels rising in the Earth’s atmosphere causes global warming and climate change. Both atmospheric CO2 and climate change are accelerating. Climate scientists say we have YEARs, not decades, to stabilize CO2 and other greenhouse gases. To help the world succeed, CO2Now.org makes it easy to see the most current CO2 level and what it means. So, use Earth's CO2 Home Page & keep an eye on CO2.

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Faster than predicted: Himalayan glacier decapitated, endangers water resources

Energy companies remove the tops of entire mountains. Now it turns out humanity’s use of that coal is removing the tops of entire glaciers. Climate models have repeatedly underestimated the speed and scale of major climate change impacts. That is why climate scientists - and indeed everyone but the blinkered deniers - are increasingly desperate that the we cut emissions sharply and quickly.

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Brooklyn Bridge painters at work high above the city on December 3, 1915

Construction began in 1869 and completed fourteen years later in 1883.

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The Brooklyn Bridge - the world's first steel suspension bridge - is a beloved landmark and a cultural icon of NYC. It's been celebrated in art, poetry, song, and on film. The mastermind behind the bridge called it "the greatest engineering work of the age… a great work of art."

Spanning the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge connects Manhattan and Brooklyn. It's 5,989 feet (1.825km) in length and soars 119 feet (36.27m) above the river. Its two granite Gothic towers rise 276.5 feet (84.27m) above the water. The roadway platform is hung on steel suspenders strung from four thick cables, each made of 5,296 galvanized steel wires bound together and anchored on both shorelines.

In 1867, one-third of the workers in Brooklyn (then the nation's fourth-largest city) worked in Manhattan. The only way to reach the island was by boat, and the river sometimes froze solid, stranding commuters and isolating both cities. And so, that year, a plan for a massive bridge was approved. It was designed by John A. Roebling, an engineer who'd made a fortune pioneering the manufacture of wire rope made of a new type of metal: steel.  read more »

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*update*
October 2, 2019 DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai continues to service its debt and is ready to take on more if needed, an economic official said on Wednesday, adding that current debt was $124 billion.
June 02, 2016 Dubai plans world's largest solar project

"This came as a big shock" – that Dubai is in debt by 59 billion and might not be able to pay its bills sent a wave of uncertainty rippling through markets just as investors thought the worst of the global financial instability was over. Once, Dubai was "like the new beacon for all the world's money" [HOME, the 2009 documentary]... "Dubai has endless sun, but no solar panels. It is the totem of total modernity that never fails to amaze the world. Nothing seems further removed from nature than Dubai, although nothing depends on nature more than Dubai. Dubai is a sort of culmination of the western model - we haven't understood that we're depleting what nature provides."

2009 Docu- mentary Film: HOME  read more »