Synthetic Biology "Synthetic biology" is an umbrella term that refers to a new set of powerful techniques for manipulating the fundamental molecular structures of life, including genes, genomes, cells and proteins. Techniques being developed under the "synthetic biology" rubric include the modification of existing bacteria to produce useful substances or perform new functions, the creation of novel artificial organisms from "scratch," and — less noted to date — the modification of animal and human genes. Synthetic biologists foresee a host of human applications, including new methods to produce drugs, biofuels and vaccines; to diagnose, prevent and cure disease; and — far more controversially — to screen, select, and modify genes for specified traits in embryos, children, and adults. Nonetheless, the field remains in its early days, and separating hype from real potential remains difficult. Such prospects raise concerns for social justice, human rights, and equality.
Could This be the Answer to the World’s Energy Crisis? - Nature News It’s a breakthrough indeed for the science world when claims of being able to create diesel fuel and ethanol just by using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide were made recently by Biotechnology Company known as Joule Unlimited, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company’s researchers call it ‘Energy Independence’ where the ability to produce this new type of fuel for running jet engines whether in facilities both large or small with a much cheaper costs than fossil fuels. Is it the answer that we're looking for to save the world? Joule Unlimited Chief Executive Bill Sims has this to say about the findings, ‘We make some lofty claims which we believe, validated and also we have shown it to investors. The findings will definitely revolutionize the world’s largest industry, which is the oil and gas industry. And there is no reason why this technology cannot change the world.’
Green Maven Framtidens växthus byggs på höjden URBAN ODLING - En serie som gräver på djupet. I Plantagons kontorslokaler på 22:a våningen, med utsikt över hela Stockholm, är en sjätteklass på besök och äter medhavd lunch. De har vunnit en innovationstävling med sitt förslag om växthus på höjden i städerna, inspirerat av det växthöghus som Plantagon håller på att utveckla. – De hade en jättebra idé om att byta ut tegeltaken på husen i stan mot glas och odla på vindarna, säger Plantagons vd Hans Hassle entusiastiskt. Det företag han driver håller på att utveckla ett sätt att odla grödor inne i städerna, genom vertikal odling i växthus på höjden. 3quarksdaily aggregator & magazine Violence is an unavoidable part of being human Rowan Williams in the New Statesman: It would help if we had a single, clear story we could believe about violence – it’s getting worse because of this or that factor in our world, so we know whom to blame; it’s getting better as we all become more educated and secular, so we don’t have to worry in the long term. But the evidence is profoundly confusing. Richard Bessel begins his lucid and well-documented book with a round-up of contemporary views, from those who think first of the astronomical statistics of humanly devised injury and death in the 20th century to those (like Steven Pinker in a much-discussed recent book) for whom what matters is the gradual change in sensibility that has made us simply more sensitive to the suffering of others – as well as the relative absence of major international conflict in the past half-century or so. More here.
[squat!net] - »Gefangene Tiere mögen noch so gut gefüttert und gehegt sein, sie haben >nichts zu tun<. Wenn man der Ansicht ist, daß die Befriedigung aller physiologischen Bedürfnisse genügt, um bei einem Tier (oder einem Menschen) ein Gefühl des Wohlbehagens hervorzurufen, dann müßte ihr Leben im Zoo sie höchst zufrieden machen. Aber dieses Parasitenleben beraubt sie der Reize, die es ihnen ermöglichen würden, ihren körperlichen und geistigen fähigkeiten aktiv Ausdruck zu geben; so werden sie oft gelangweilt und teilnahmslos und apathisch
HuffPost Green Vertical Farming Algae, like all plants, require carbon dioxide, water with nutrients and sunlight for growth. The VAT bioreactor technology is ideal for location adjacent to heavy producers of carbon dioxide such as coal fired power plants, refineries or manufacturing facilities, as the absorption of CO2 by the algae significantly reduces greenhouse gases while also removing a large portion of the harmful pollutants.-Source 90% of the weight of dry algae supposedly contains recovered carbon from atmosphere - You cant have a better carbon absorber than this! zen habits Reclaim the Streets Das Ziel von Reclaim the Streets ist die Rückeroberung von Lebensräumen, Schwerpunkte ihres Engagements sind dabei die Vormachtstellung des Autos und die seit Mitte der 90er-Jahre um sich greifende Umwidmung von öffentlichem Raum in firmeneigene Konsumschutzreservate. Hunderte von 'Reclaim the Streets' Aktivisten bringen den Verkehr zum Erlahmen. Ihr Botschaft ist die Straßen wieder für Bürger nutzbar zu machen. (© AP)
Earth Times World’s 1st Plantagon Greenhouse for Urban Farming Under Construction (in Sweden) Agriculture Published on February 13th, 2012 | by Zachary Shahan Here’s a pretty cool urban farming solution—a Plantagon greenhouse for urban farming. Construction on the first one broke ground in Sweden last week. This unique vertical-farming greenhouse will also be “[part of] an international Centre of Excellence for Urban Agriculture, a demo-plant for Swedish clean-tech and a climate-smart way to use excess heating and CO2 from industries,” a news release on the groundbreaking states.
Reclaim the Streets Reclaim the Streets (RTS) is a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterize the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalization, and to the car as the dominant mode of transport. §Protests[edit] Reclaim the Streets is also used for this type of political action, regardless of its actual relation to the RTS movement. §History[edit] Temporary Autonomous Zone T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism is a book by anarchist writer Hakim Bey published in 1991 by Autonomedia. It is composed of three sections, "Chaos: The Broadsheets of Ontological Anarchism," "Communiques of the Association for Ontological Anarchy," and "The Temporary Autonomous Zone." Themes[edit]