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It’s not the sounds of the city or early morning trash removal that forces some Greenpoint, Brooklyn residents out of bed in the morning. Instead, a neighborhood rooster has become a local town favorite by bringing a bit of the countryside to the Kingsborough. Though it may be rather odd for a rooster to be lurking about, most residents don’t seem to be bothered by its crows. We’re curious to know, would you want to trade in your alarm clock for a daily cockle-doodle-doo?
California-based company SeedTabs has announced plans to team up with local cafes to offer customers plant seeds along with their morning java. Customers will be able to sprinkle some seeds on their way to work and contribute to making the environment greener while sipping their first cup of coffee.
A new United Nations report makes the startling assertion that disasters have resulted in $2.5 trillion in damage within the last 13 years alone. Those losses fall principally on the private sector, warned UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said at a New York City launch event for the report: “Governments bear the responsibility for disaster risk reduction. But the level of risk is also related to the where and the how of investment by the private sector, which is responsible for 70 to 85 percent of worldwide investment in new buildings, industry and critical infrastructure.”
New research suggests that people with right wing views are less likely to buy light bulbs that are labeled as “pro-environment” due to the politicized nature of the carbon debate in the United States. In a study published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dena Gromet of Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania found that consumers’ purchasing decisions are divided along party lines.
Every year since 2005, the North Pole has shifted several centimeters, and researchers have now attributed those rapid changes to climate change. While the location of each pole is always in seasonal flux, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin used data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to establish that the melting Greenland Ice sheet and other ice losses are responsible for the accelerated yearly polar drift.
The giant rubber duck that recently sailed into Hong Kong has deflated into an oversize floating blob overnight, CNN reports. At first Harbor City officials didn’t respond to queries about the demise of Florentjin Hofman’s quirky art bird, but a tweet later in the day alluded to its need for a little tune up. Hong Kong was expecting the 54-foot-tall rubber duck to bob on the waters of Victoria harbor until June 9th, 2013.
Recent advances in 3D printing technology have resulted in plenty of breakthroughs in the fields of medical science and prosthesis, but 3D printing is also contributing to the art world in new and unexpected ways. Sculptor Marco Mahler recently collaborated with mathematician Henry Segerman to produce a collection of the world’s first fully 3D-printed mobiles, and they’re pretty impressive. As Mahler explains on his website, the mobiles come out of the 3D printer completely assembled, and their balance points were calculated to 1/1000th of a millimeter. All of the mobiles are now available for sale through Mahler’s and Segerman’s shop at Shapeways.
+ Mobiles by Marco Mahler and Henry Segerman
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Why do so many couples care where their diamonds come from? Maybe the best answer to that question is that many diamonds are tainted by bloodshed and violence. But the ethical problems facing the diamond industry run deep, and are more varied than some people realize. In too many ways, diamond mining contributes to the exploitation of people and the environment. Hit the jump to learn more.
A team from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have broken their own record after flying their hydrogen fuel cell powered-Ion Tiger UAV for an astonishing 48 hours and 1 minute last month. The UAV, which used liquid hydrogen fuel in its new, NRL-developed, cryogenic fuel storage tank and delivery system, broke its previous record of 26 hours and 2 minutes which it set in 2009.
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According to a recent op-ed on the Wall Street Journal, rising CO2 levels are the best thing to happen to the planet since the Big Bang. The column was written by Harrison Schmidt, a former astronaut and adjunct professor of engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and William Happer, a professor of physics at Princeton University. In it, they claim that increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere will result in increased agricultural productivity. But mainstream science of course says this is a bunch of hooey.
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