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.
WritersResources.com - an online resource site for both aspiring and professional writers The Man of Numbers: How Fibonacci Changed the World by Maria Popova What Medieval mathematics have to do with remix culture, publishing entrepreneurship, and gamification. Imagine a day without numbers — how would you know when to wake up, how to call your mother, how the stock market is doing, or even how old you are? We live our lives by numbers. Keith Devlin tells his incredible and important story in The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmetic Revolution, tracing how Fibonacci revolutionized everything from education to economics by making arithmetic available to the masses. The change in society brought about by the teaching of modern arithmetic was so pervasive and all-powerful that within a few generations people simply took it for granted. The Latin phrase 'filius bonacci,' in the first line of the Liber Abbaci manuscript, gave rise to Leonardo da Pisa's modern nickname, Fibonacci Image courtesy of The Library of Florence via NPR A page from the Liber abbaci manuscript. Image courtesy of Siena Public Library via NPR Share on Tumblr
ANCIENT MYSTERIES EXPLAINED Internet Resources - Writers Resources - Writing Links & Writers Links for Writers For those who have asked and those who may, this collection of links for writers, researchers and the terminally curious is not, was never intended to be, and will never be the all-inclusive stash of every possible link fitting our slapdash criteria for what belongs here. We select sites with some consideration and thought for usefulness, depth, interest and je ne sais quoi and we try not to offer fifty different links to "manuscript submission." Sometimes we find a really cool site on a subject we already cover and mull over which link to keep and which to set free, sometimes we keep both and add a third. We don't link to just anybody and seldom link to commercial sites such as "Learn to Write in Five Days" or "We Will Publish Your Book" unless there is some -- no, make that a lot of -- free, useful content. Feel free to suggest links.
Ban Boredom If you feel like you have 'nothing to do', then why not go outside and pick up litter with your time? At least then you will have made a positive contribution to the world? If there is no litter, then join a charity, help people, trim a bush, smile at a granddad. Their gratitude might be enough to convince you that there are endless things to do and resolve in our world. If you think that litter picking and volunteer work is so far beneath you that it is not even an option (despite the fact that you have nothing to do?) Why not try to be the best at something? Being the best at something isn't for you? Being passionate about something, whether it is helping people, causing mischief, or improving upon yourself, eliminates boredom.
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!
An Essay by Einstein -- The World As I See It "How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. "I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. "My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. "My political ideal is democracy. "This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor... "The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. See also Einstein's Third Paradise, an essay by Gerald Holton
Reasons to Learn Juggling 1. Personal Satisfaction Not only do other people appreciate your 'mad skillz,' but the the sense of accomplishment that comes with pulling off a good trick fluently is a reason in and of itself to learn juggling. Satisfaction also comes from the many things you hear when juggling in public places like "maaan, how do you do that," "you should be on Britain's Got Talent!" and of course "get a job dude!" Juggling 5 balls is a personal pride of mine and the ability to wield such great control over 5 flying objects cannot be explained accurately enough in words - I'm afraid you're going to have to learn yourself so that you know. The video below, although cheesy and probably filmed using a vegetable, inspires me to keep juggling - if I know that someone can do that then I know that I can too, and the satisfaction at the end of that long juggling rainbow is going to be great. 2. As well personal satisfaction, juggling can burn up to around 372 calories per hour1. How-to-Recover-after-a-Workout 3.
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!
Lectures - DanielTammet.NET Past schedule Daniel Tammet is represented by the JLA Agency (UK/Europe) and the David Lavin Agency (North America). He has spoken at a number of events, including: Idea Festival, Louisville, Kentucky, October 2010 TED, 'Different Ways of Knowing', Long Beach, California, March 2011 International School of Geneva, October 2011 Ciudad de la Ideas Festival, Mexico, November 2011 IBM Smarter Analytics, Paris, June 2012 Edinburgh Book Festival, August 2012 TEDxParis, Paris, October 2012 The Royal Society of Arts, London, November 2012 Agnes Scott College, Decatur Georgia October 2007 Shippensburg University President’s Lecture Series, Pennsylvania, October 2007 Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, October 2007 Lorain County Community College, Meeting Great Minds, Elyria Ohio, October 2007 Adrian College, Michigan, October 2007 Ways With Words Literary Festival, Dartington, Cornwall, July 2006 Edinburgh Book Festival, August 2006
EPIC FAIL 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.