Photo via the New Republic It's a widely held notion that politicians have long been in the pocket of Big Oil. And there's good reason for that perception: oil companies' huge campaign donations, vast lobbying power, and close ties to politicians have ensured that their taxes remain low , that hidden subsidies are around to provide extra funding, and that they receive preferential treatment in US energy policy. But there could be a new, ... View original post here: The Next Big Oil: Big Smart Grid?
So there really isn't anything that deep to this image. It's just a (more or less) life-sized blue whale eye. And on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society site you can educate yourself/be mesmerized/ waste some time for a while staring at it while the entire life-sized animal scrolls across your browser window. Believe me, it's way cooler than you might think:... Read more from the original source: Ever See a Blue Whale Life-Sized on Your Computer? Now You Can
published July 27, 2010 and has No Comments
Traveling from the heart of the Amazon rainforest to the Tropical savannah climate of the Brazilian capital of Brasilia offers a lesson in contrasts -- patches of forest and deforestation are replaced with monolithic white government buildings, poor villagers of the Amazon with well-dressed politicians and businesspeople. But as little as these two places have in common, policies and ...
Read more...published July 25, 2010 and has No Comments
Thousands of years ago, a tribe of indians settled near modern day Santarem, nestled on the banks of where the Tapajós River joins Amazon in the state Pará, Brazil, living harmoniously in the region's lush rainforest . Time, however, have not been kind to this corner of the world as its landscape has been transformed by cattle ranches , ...
Read more...published July 22, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via Betacontrol The tiny town of Urucu, deep in the middle of the Amazon rainforest , could easily be seen as some sort of eco-paradise. Although it's surrounded by lush rainforest and is accessible only by boat or plane, Urucu features all the green amenities one could hope for: View post: A Remote Amazon Oil Facility Tries to Go ...
Read more...published June 24, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo credit: Ryan Hill Wade Davis might have the most amazing job on the planet. Trained as an anthropologist and ethnobotonist, he's lived among some of the most remarkable cultures of the world and been witness to (and participant in) many moments that no outsider has ever seen. Davis has written scores of books, but is probably best known ...
Read more...published June 22, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via EyeBrazil Brazil's proposed construction of what would be the third largest hydroelectric dam on the planet has drawn ire from environmental groups the world over. The planned dam at Belo Monte , protestors say, will flood and destroy much of the region's plant and animal life, as well as displace the indigenous peoples there. So contentious ha... ...
Read more...published June 4, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: Chany Crystal via flickr Though support, both political and financial, for the UN REDD forest protection scheme has been growing, there's also a growing opposition voice expressing the concern that, though keeping forests standing is a good thing, the REDD program could well run roughshod over the rights of indigenous people as international financiers, corporations and timber companies ...
Read more...published June 4, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: Alexander Torrenegra via flickr Here's an interesting wrinkle on the ongoing effort to slow Amazon deforestation: Reuters reports that even though tree-felling is indeed slowing , the area of land being burned by farmers is actua... Read the full story on TreeHugger Excerpt from: Hidden From Satellites, Amazon Burning Continues Even As Deforestation Slows
Read more...published May 26, 2010 and has No Comments
image: GDS Digital via EU Infrastructure , scroll down for full infographic. Brazil's planned 11 gigawatt Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River (a tributary of the Amazon) has raised a lot of protest in the past few months--and some comparisons of See more here: Indigenous Amazonians Prepare For War to Stop Massive Hydroelectric Dam on Xingu River
Read more...published May 19, 2010 and has No Comments
In a dramatic scene of protest today in the Brazilian Capitol Building, several dozen indigenous tribesmen clashed with security outside the chamber of the House of Representatives--some armed with batons and s... Read the full story on TreeHugger Read the rest here: Indigenous Tribesmen Storm Brazilian Congress
Read more...published May 9, 2010 and has No Comments
The Yanomami are one of the largest indigenous groups in Brazil. Photo via Survival International They may not be crooning cats, singing sailors, or inner-city gang members with a flair for dance, but that's not stopping indigenous Amazonian tribesmen from landing a musical of their very own. The production, called Amazonas, premiered in Germany over the weekend. It centers ...
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This hand operated gramophone is as simple as it gets. Original post: Minimalist Gramophone Makes Playing Music Super Simple
Contrary to previously held notions of how whale songs are shared between neighboring populations, a surprising study finds that whales living the same ocean basin are singing different songs. Read the original post: Study: Humpback Whales Living in Same Ocean ...
