Science
Why Are Cities Unhealthy? Poor Biodiversity
EVEN ON A BLUSTERY winter’s afternoon, Mount Lofty flaunts its splendour as a bushland oasis, one of the last vestiges of the original forests and woodlands that once dotted the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. As you meander down the narrow tracks from the summit, you feel invigorated by the scenery, the silence, and the smell of wet earth after a light shower. To a city dweller like me, the air itself seems therapeutic.
By Wilson da Silva3 years ago in Earth
All About Environmental Engineering And Consultation
There are several environmental engineering consultation services that are being offered today to meet the growing demand for such service. The primary objective is to sustain or improve the standard of living of the local plant and the surrounding community. The scope of such services in Environmental Engineering comprises:
By Priya Sachdeva3 years ago in Earth
The Hidden World
Many marvelous things in nature can teach us about our world. Our world is well interconnected and well-informed. It is not only animals that gain their strength and energy from carbohydrates, plants also gain their strength from it. Sugar increases the growth process of plants by around 50%. When sugar is in the water that feeds them, it makes them advance even when the water is on an absorbing paper towel with the seed on it. Plants like animals enjoyed conversations, the carbon dioxide of animals helps them grow faster. And animals like a conversation because communication tells them about their community and builds up their food source intelligence. Light does not only advance plants, it is the timepiece of creation. All creatures need the light to help them grow and mature to the stages necessary for multiplication. Without light, all creatures feel depressed and disconnected from the members of their species. Light helps us separate and use our senses. It warms our bodies and gives color to our skin. Our skin is like a canopy, the largest organ, that connects animals to their environment and plants have the cells that help them to live off of light. There have been notions that plants understand the power of light, they bloom when light warms the ground and bend towards that light. Every branch of a tree is a new generation, the tree is neither male nor female, it has both parts. And insects are the matchmakers, they practically irrigate trees and help design their offsprings. A tree is only as strong and tall as its roots. The roots are the brain of the tree and they are the foundation. Trees can move, the wind blows through them and they sing. Trees are the home of animals and insects. Insects instinct is what makes them smart, they learned to be resilient even despite fear and war. They adapt because they want to and have to. As the world changed, so must they, their food supply determined their size and growth. Insect declares war just like warlike animals when they feel threatened they cannot back down. They are taught and trained to fight even when it means extinction. Insects used their bodies as a weapon for they are built for battle. And they use their numbers, the reason they multiply quickly. Insects have a system in place like animal kingdoms and they obey without question. They build communities to govern in distant places. Insects also have affection, they have certain rituals to maturing and friendship. They have certain call and response that keeps them connected. Insects search and discover their world. They adapt to human rulership, homes are a new frontier and they are willing to negotiate terms. Insects like birds teach their offspring instincts and they do not rely on innate instincts alone. Insects know how to sing and dance, for example, bees dance over tree sap. Insects can get excited about food sources and fellowship. Reptiles display fear and they have emotions for example snakes fear bigger animals and their instinct tells them to flee when they are alone. Reptiles have caring instincts and they teach their offspring how to hunt. They are willing to die for their offspring. They are vicious because they must set an example and they are threatened the most because food can be scarce in the water and their flexibility is limited. The sun is not the only light giver, the stars and the moon help animals and creatures to live at night especially if they are sensitive to the day and this applies in the desert. Some creatures see the moon as guidance and the stars help them figure out where they are in the world. Some creation is meant to live in the night and rest in the day. And this can be true for fish and water creatures. Some creatures have a rest strategy which humans can learn if adapt, where they rest and hunt non-stop and continually. Their homeostasis and metabolism keep them in this incredible state of urgency.
By Matthew Primous3 years ago in Earth
Take a Seat
A prevailing conviction exists that reducing the carbon-footprint of an individual can substantially mitigate the effects of climate forcing emissions. And while it may hold merit if worldwide adoption of these behaviors were achieved, it fundamentally disregards the reticent mind of individuals and the commanding forces that inform decisions. I would like to challenge this belief and present what I think is a more effective way to save our oceans.
By Joan Manuel Madera Baez3 years ago in Earth
The best way to travel through space- Wormholes!
If you saw a wormhole, in reality, it would appear round, spherical, a bit like a black hole. Light from the other side passes through and gives you a window to a faraway place. Once crossed, the other side comes fully into view with your old home now receding into that shimmering spherical window. But are wormholes real, or are they just magic disguised as physics and maths? If they are real, how do they work and where can we find them?
By Maitrey Vishvas3 years ago in Earth
The distance from Earth to the Moon
The distance between the Earth and the Moon is not constant, but varies over the course of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth, which is not a perfect circle but an ellipse. The point at which the Moon is furthest from Earth is called the apogee, and the nearest point is called the perigee. These points do not coincide with the phases of the Moon (i.e. when there is a full moon, or crescent moon, etc), and they vary from year to year.
By John Welford3 years ago in Earth
Let There Be Light
I've already talked a lot about sunlight, and it’s turned out to be an extremely important factor in the forest. This should come as no surprise. After all, trees are plants and need to photosynthesize to survive. But because enough sun usually shines on our garden beds and lawns, in the home garden, water and fertile soil tend to be more decisive factors for plant growth. In our everyday lives, we don’t notice that light is more important, and because we like to apply our own situations to others, we overlook the fact that an intact forest has completely different priorities. In the forest, there’s a battle for every last ray of sunlight, and each species is specialized to grow in a particular niche so that it can soak up some energy, however paltry the amount might be. In the upper story—the executive offices— the mighty beeches, firs, and spruce stretch out and soak up 97 percent of the sunlight. This behavior is cruel and inconsiderate, but doesn’t every species take what it can? Trees have won this competition for the sun because they grow such tall trunks. But a plant can grow a long sturdy trunk only if it lives for a very long time, because an enormous amount of energy is stored in its wood. To grow its trunk, a mature beech needs as much sugar and cellulose as there is in a 2.5-acre field of wheat. Of course, it takes not 1 but 150 years to grow such a mighty structure, but once it’s up there, hardly any other plants—except for other trees—can reach it, and the rest of its life is worry free. Its own offspring are designed to survive in what light remains, and of course, their mothers feed them as well. That is not the case for the rest of the rank and file, and they must come up with other strategies for survival.
By Rainbow Tree3 years ago in Earth
A Labor of Hercules
A Labor for Hercules When speaking of cleaning our oceans, the old advice of “an ounce of prevention” applies. Had government and the press effectively interceded at a critical moment, not only would Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” have resulted in the banning of DDT, but it would have stopped the dumping of over 25,000 barrels of DDT tainted toxic waste off the coast between Los Angeles and Catalina Island by a major manufacturer of DDT back in the 1970’s. And that is just the ones they know about.
By Cleve Taylor 3 years ago in Earth
Solar Panel Systems Installation Maintenance Tips
All over the world, people are slowly moving towards solar panels for their electricity needs. Whether it is your home or office, it makes a lot of sense to go for solar panels as they not only help in cutting down your electricity bills, it is also environmentally friendly. People use solar panels for the generation of electricity for a wide array of reasons.
By Mark Stover3 years ago in Earth
How I Enslaved Hundreds to Do My Dirty Work In Saving the Planet
Compost is organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. Food scraps and yard waste together currently make up more than 30 percent of what we throw away and could be composted instead. Making compost keeps these materials out of landfills where they take up space and release methane, a potent greenhouse gas.--Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website
By Denise Shelton3 years ago in Earth