Most beautiful places in China Almost all of us are familiar with China's great man-made attractions. The Forbidden City in Beijing. The Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an. Shanghai's skyscraper forest in Pudong. For a country of its massive size and varied geography, however, it's surprising how relatively few people outside China appreciate the extent of the country's other attractions, many of them natural wonders to rival any in the world. Is it possible to limit a list of China's superlative attractions to a mere 40? Not really. But a photo memory card goes only so far. And, as this gallery illustrates, it's impossible to stop clicking once you get a camera in front of some of China's most beautiful places to visit. The list is in alphabetical order. Have you come across a spot even more stunning on your China travels? 1. Reliable muse for generations of artists. The 900-year-old village of Hongcun has long drawn in-the-know Chinese visitors, who love its tranquil vibe and distinctive architecture. Admission: RMB 104 (US$16)
Bill Mollison Permaculture Pamphlets Pamphlet 1 – Introduction to Permaculture Pamphlet 2 – Permaculture in Humid Landscapes Pamphlet 3 – Permaculture in Arid Landscapes Pamphlet 4 – Permaculture on Low and High Islands and PC on Granitic Landscapes Pamphlet 5 – Permaculture for Fire Control and Permaculture for Millionaires Pamphlet 6 – Designing for Permaculture Pamphlet 7 – Permaculture Techniques Pamphlet 8 – Forests in Permaculture Pamphlet 9 – Water in Permaculture Pamphlet 10 – Permaculture in Urban Areas and Urban-Rural Links Pamphlet 11 – The Permaculture Community Pamphlet 12 – The Permaculture Alternative Some quotes from Bill Mollison during a design course in 1982. On finding work: “Conduct weekend workshops, from which jobs will come. Also: “Don’t worry about being able to identify each of these plants (in your designs for clients).
52 Places to Go in 2014 When Nelson Mandela was incarcerated at Robben Island prison, he found inspiration in Cape Town. “We often looked across Table Bay at the magnificent silhouette of Table Mountain,” he said in a speech. “To us on Robben Island, Table Mountain was a beacon of hope. It represented the mainland to which we knew we would one day return.” Cape Town’s importance to Mandela, who made his first address there as a free man, will doubtless draw many visitors in the wake of his death. The city formally takes up that issue this year during its turn as World Design Capital. Cape Town is again reinventing itself, and the world is invited to its renaissance. — SARAH KHAN
Hostels, Hotels & Youth Hostels at HostelBookers Self-Healing Solar Cells Mimic Plant Leaves to Repair Themselves Photo via Shutterstock Plant leaves are the ideal model for a lot of solar technology, so it only makes sense that developers of manmade solar panels would look to Mother Nature to improve the efficiency of their designs. Over time, solar cells wear down — just like leaves — due to degradation caused by ultraviolet light. A team of researchers from North Carolina State University revealed this week that they have created a new type of solar cell that can repair and reinvigorate itself by mimicking the functioning of organic vascular systems found in nature. Biomimicry is a hot topic in the design world these days, especially in the field of solar technology, where researchers are striving to produce solar cells that function as efficiently as plant leaves. For its regenerative solar cell, the NC State team used natural materials that are cheaper and more eco-friendly than the standard silicon-based solar cells. via CleanTechnica
The World's Oldest And Deepest Lake Is Really Pretty When It's Frozen (PHOTOS) There's a lake in Russia you may have heard of that happens to be the world's oldest (25 million years, thank you) and deepest (1,700 meters to be exact). Located in south-east Siberia, Lake Baikal is an ice lover and ecological savant's dream come true. Oh, did we mention that it contains 1/5 of the world's unfrozen freshwater reserve (more than the Great Lakes combined)? Here it is all frozen and stuff. Referred to as the 'Galapagos of Russia', it's also an UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to its plentiful and unique fauna, with some 1,340 species of animals and 570 species of plant. Adventuresome tourists have long visited the lake to drive across it (or walk across it) frozen and take on some more regular expeditions like kayaking, skating and biking. For anyone keeping track, the weather forecast for the area the next few days hovers in the high teens, low 20s. Also on HuffPost:
Chemical Color Added to Farmed Salmon Photo by: 7Barrym0re - Creative Commons At the grocery a few weeks ago, I was looking over the selection of smoked salmon when another shopper walked up, examined a package and exclaimed in horror, “color added??!!” A lawsuit filed several years ago forced the marketers of farmed salmon to inform consumers that color is added to make the flesh of the salmon pink rather than gray. The reality is that the chemical used to color the salmon, astaxanthin, is a manufactured copy of the pigment that wild salmon eat in nature, which gives wild salmon their pinkish-red color. Many of us might choose not to consume fish with an added chemical of any type, but this colorant is probably not a big worry to most consumers. As the shopper above put the fish back and walked away, I wondered if she knew the whole biography of that package of farmed salmon. Because the salmon are raised in very unnatural, crowded pens, diseases are a big problem, resulting in antibiotics being added to the fish feed.
Top 10 Happiest Countries In The World The world is just full of happy people, from one stretch of the earth to the other. Yet, some countries do seem to have a higher concentration of local joy and satisfaction than others, featuring traits like high life expectancies, booming economies, and great education. But what’s the secret to these happy countries – is it the location, environment, politics, culture, or just something in the water? While we may never know the precise reasons, after compiling data from various resources like the Happy Planet Index, the World Happiness report, and Forbes’ list of happiest countries, we can at least let you know what the 10 happiest countries in the world are. Then, all that’s left for you to do is pack your bags, pick a country, and make your move. 1. Not only does Costa Rica abound with natural beauty, from the sandy beaches and ocean waters to the volcanoes and lush rainforests, but the people of this army-free country also report having one of the highest life satisfactions in the world.
8. Working With Not Against Natural Forces - an original permaculture principle Permaculture, a contraction of permanent agriculture but also increasingly permanent culture, means working with natural forces like the wind, sun, water, the forces of succession, animals and other 'natural' energies. These permaculture designs provide food, shelter, water and meet other needs required to build sustainable communities with minimum labor and without depleting the land and bioregional, regional, national even global ecosystems. That is the ideal: stability, biodiversity, and the 7th generation principle. It is a vision of a whole culture including agricultural systems that provide for the needs of human beings without damaging the ecosystems in which we live. The seed thoughts are: abundance, thriving ecologies, biodiversity, stable and peaceful cultures and an understanding of our deep interdependence as a species. Beyond physics? We live in a world full of natural forces or laws but are they purely ones we learn about in our Physics classes at school? Yes and no. Animals
7 U.S. National Parks You Didn't Know You Needed To See You know Yellowstone and Yosemite... but how much do you know about the America's 56 other National Parks? These lesser-known National Parks are less popular than their famed counterparts, but they're just as beautiful. Whether you want to explore ocean, mountains, caverns or forest, these parks offer an adventure for everyone. Lake Clark National Park and Preservation, Alaska Lake Clark National Park sits 100 miles southwest of Anchorage and is a nature-enthusiast's heaven. Biscayne National Park, Florida Undersea explorers should flock to Biscayne National Park, where 95 percent of the park's 172,000 acres are covered by water. Isle Royale National Park, Michigan Isle Royale National Park is tricky to get to -- you can only access it by boat or seaplane -- but it's totally worth it. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah Capitol Reef National Park is located in the Waterpocket Fold, a geologic monocline (aka a wrinkle on the earth) in south-central Utah. North Cascades National Park, Washington
Pacific Ocean takes perilous turn | Sea Change: Ocean acidification | The Seattle Times Ocean acidification, the lesser-known twin of climate change, threatens to scramble marine life on a scale almost too big to fathom. NORMANBY ISLAND, Papua New Guinea — Katharina Fabricius plunged from a dive boat into the Pacific Ocean of tomorrow. She kicked through blue water until she spotted a ceramic tile attached to the bottom of a reef. A year earlier, the ecologist from the Australian Institute of Marine Science had placed this small square near a fissure in the sea floor where gas bubbles up from the earth. She hoped the next generation of baby corals would settle on it and take root. Fabricius yanked a knife from her ankle holster, unscrewed the plate and pulled it close. Instead of a brilliant new coral reef, what sprouted here resembled a slimy lake bottom. Isolating the cause was easy. Carbon dioxide. In this volcanic region, pure CO2 escapes naturally through cracks in the ocean floor. That makes this isolated splash of coral reef a chilling vision of our future oceans.