Fog Catchers "If we can help generate alternative sustainable economic activities, we will be increasing the community’s chances for a viable livelihood in the face of climate change." Juan José RodríguezThe Nature Conservancy’s Coasts and Deserts coordinator by Marcela Torres Vea también en español Have you ever seen a desert turn into a lush green valley bursting with life? The lomas’ ability to capture fog and turn it into water that plants, animals and people can use is key to the survival of the biodiversity and human populations living in this otherwise arid environment. But centuries of unmanaged livestock grazing and chopping of trees for firewood have left the lomas depleted, with less vegetation to capture fog the way they once could. How Does Fog Cover a Desert? Three unique features coincide to form these rare desert oases: Who Needs Fog? Ancient human populations in the area used to collect water that dripped from branches of native trees and cacti by placing containers underneath them.
100 Websites You Should Know and Use In the spring of 2007, Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH, gave a legendary TED University talk: an ultra-fast-moving ride through the “100 websites you should know and use.” Six years later, it remains one of the most viewed TED blog posts ever. Time for an update? We think so. Below, the 2013 edition of the 100 websites to put on your radar and in your browser. To see the original list, click here. And now, the original list from 2007, created by Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH.
Futur possible... · People will be fluent in every language. With DARPA and Google racing to perfect instant translation, it won't be long until your cellphone speaks Swahili on your behalf. · Software will predict traffic jams before they occur. Using archived data, roadside sensors, and GPS, IBM has come up with a modeling program that anticipates bumper-to-bumper congestion a full hour before it begins. Better yet, the idea proved successful in early tests—even on the Jersey Turnpike. · Climate-controlled jackets will protect soldiers from extreme heat and cold. · Nanoparticles will make chemotherapy far more effective. · Electric cars will roam (some) highways. · Athletes will employ robotic trainers. · Bridges will repair themselves with self-healing concrete. · Digital "ants" will protect the U.S. power grid from cyber attacks. · Scrolls will replace tablets. Your Car Will Be Truly Connected · Your genome will be sequenced before you are born. 10 Things That Will Remain the Same
ANCIENT MYSTERIES EXPLAINED Clarity on Spirit Science (A MUST SEE!) There have been a lot of questions recently about Spirit Science and it’s evolution. What are we up to, where are we going. Some people had made up some ideas as well about Spirit Science becoming Cult-Like and a new Religion, which Jordan and I thought was ridiculous. So we decided to put together this video to shine some Clarity on the matter. We both apologize for creating any confusion that we may have, and we thank you loving beings for staying loving and kind no matter what video is posted. Were new to this whole “travel the world, make fun videos, shift the planet” stuff as well, so we ask that you be patient with us. Keep asking questions, make decisions for yourself, and move forward into light! I love you! And if you’re interested in the New Years Video, here it is!
PaintGo | Kid's Coloring, Drawing, Stickers & Painting Activity ABCya is the leader in free educational computer games and mobile apps for kids. The innovation of a grade school teacher, ABCya is an award-winning destination for elementary students that offers hundreds of fun, engaging learning activities. Millions of kids, parents, and teachers visit ABCya.com each month, playing over 1 billion games last year. Apple, The New York Times, USA Today, Parents Magazine and Scholastic, to name just a few, have featured ABCya’s popular educational games. ABCya’s award-winning Preschool computer games and apps are conceived and realized under the direction of a certified technology education teacher, and have been trusted by parents and teachers for ten years. Our educational games are easy to use and classroom friendly, with a focus on the alphabet, numbers, shapes, storybooks, art, music, holidays and much more!
Smart materials get SMARTer Cambridge, Mass. – July 11, 2012 – Living organisms have developed sophisticated ways to maintain stability in a changing environment, withstanding fluctuations in temperature, pH, pressure, and the presence or absence of crucial molecules. The integration of similar features in artificial materials, however, has remained a challenge—until now. In the July 12 issue of Nature, a Harvard-led team of engineers presented a strategy for building self-thermoregulating nanomaterials that can, in principle, be tailored to maintain a set pH, pressure, or just about any other desired parameter by meeting the environmental changes with a compensatory chemical feedback response. Called SMARTS (Self-regulated Mechano-chemical Adaptively Reconfigurable Tunable System), this newly developed materials platform offers a customizable way to autonomously turn chemical reactions on and off and reproduce the type of dynamic self-powered feedback loops found in biological systems.
Citizen news: A democratic addition to political journalism Editor’s note: Herbert Gans is one of America’s preeminent sociologists, and some of his most notable work has come in examining the American news industry. His seminal 1979 book Deciding What’s News: A Study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek and Time was born out of years spent in newsrooms, watching how the never-ending flood of human activity was distilled into the news. Here he argues for a new area of emphasis in political reporting for a democratic society — what he calls citizen news. Journalism and the news media are supposed to be a bulwark for democracy. True, citizens — like the 127 million Americans who voted this month, and the approximately 100 million who didn’t — may not always seem particularly newsworthy. What’s needed are stories about what citizens are doing directly and indirectly in the political process. Journalism and the citizenry In addition, journalists are not very helpful to citizens. Kinds of citizen news Possibilities and problems Conclusion
The Future of Social Media in Journalism This series is supported by Gist. Gist provides a full view of the contacts in your professional network by creating a rich business profile for each one that includes the most news, status updates, and work details. See how it works here. The future of social media in journalism will see the death of “social media.” That is, all media as we know it today will become social, and feature a social component to one extent or another. But more importantly, these social tools are inspiring readers to become citizen journalists by enabling them to easily publish and share information on a greater scale. Collaborative Reporting Reporting has always in some ways been a collaborative process between journalists and their sources. This requires a shift in the mindset of journalists, who are used to deciding what news is and how it is covered, produced and distributed, said Alfred Hermida, professor of integrated journalism at the University of British Columbia. Journalists as Community Managers