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Thursday, July 24, 2003
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 Arthur Noll writes: People are interdependent, social beings. We do not, and cannot, live as the independent tiger, or orangutan, coming together only to mate briefly, all child care and education provided by the mother. This has seemed obvious to me, and probably it is obvious to most, but it is such an important principle to base further observations on, and logically it is often ignored in the present scheme of things, so I think we should look at the reasons. Lets start with your naked body. Can you manage to clothe and feed and shelter this body, with no hands touching any article except your own hands? If you can make your own tools and live independently for just a few weeks or months, this is interesting, but of course real independence would be a lifetime of this, a reproducing lifetime, so it does fall considerably short of the mark. Additionally, it is an interesting thing that we are communicating, I have written and you are reading this paper. Independent organisms don’t behave like this, if you were independent, your only concern for me should be to tell me to get out of your way, or that you want to mate, and you need no language beyond what the tigers and orangutans use for this. I have heard people say, that they could live independently if they chose. To those few who feel that way, well, you haven’t chosen that path if you are reading this, so if you want to choose it now, then I think you ought to take off your society made things and go. We will send a biologist to study how you live - if you live. (07/24/03)
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 Timothy Wilken, MD writes: The Ortegrity is a system for organizing two or more humans. It produces win-win relationships between all individuals within the organization. This results in a conflict free environment which optimizes the two processes of human behavior — decision and action. The resultant is that efficiency, productivity, and quality of work-life are optimized. ... A level 12 Ortegrity would be adequate for organizing the entire humans species within a single organization. Recalling that the larger a tensegrity the more powerful it will is. Synergic science predicts this will also be true for human organizations structured as Ortegrities. Therefore, I would expect a trend towards very large organizations. Imagine, what could be possible if the entire human species were a single organization. No conflict, no wars, no crimes. Is there anything we could not accomplish? (07/24/03)
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 Environmental News Network -- Africa's population could soar by more than 1 billion over the next half-century, further straining food and water supplies and social services in areas already struggling, according to a report Tuesday. Political unrest and war have limited the ability of many developing nations to promote family planning and literacy programs, said Carl Haub, author of the study released Tuesday from the Population Reference Bureau, a private research group. In many of these countries, big families are the cultural norm. African governments, especially those of sub-Saharan nations, will need to create millions of jobs and improve health care facilities and schools, the report said. "Africa is going to have a hard time taking on another 1 billion people," Haub said. "How do you raise living standards, how do you educate, improve health care, and how do you battle AIDS at the same time?" The latest edition of the "World Population Data Sheet" estimates the global population will rise 46 percent between now and 2050 to about 9 billion, a level also predicted by the United Nations and other groups. ... Most of the world's growth will be in developing nations. India's population is estimated to grow 52 percent to 1.6 billion by 2050, when it will surpass China as the world's largest country. The population in neighboring Pakistan will grow to 349 million, up 134 percent in 2050. Triple-digit growth rates also are forecast for Iraq, Afghanistan and Nepal. Africa is supposed to more than double in population to 1.9 billion by midcentury. (07/24/03)
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 Environmental News Network -- The spiky-leaved, weirdly shaped Joshua trees of Southern California's deserts are being nibbled to death by hordes of thirsty rodents. Over the past two years, Joshua Tree National Park has only had a fraction of its average 4.5 inches of rain. Now parched antelope squirrels, pack rats, rabbits, and other small animals are gnawing Joshua tree bark to get moisture. The bites have been devastating to the trees. Park rangers say that tree mortality is ten times higher than normal, and many of the most visited areas are now filled with dead tree skeletons. Nearly 60 percent of trees damaged two years ago have since died. And tree deaths are expected only to increase over the next few years. But park managers say they won't interfere, because the drought and tree dieoff are natural phenomena. Biologists don't expect the trees to return to their former numbers for another 100 to 200 years. (07/24/03)
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 Environmental News Network -- If you thought you could escape urban air pollution by heading to the lakeside cottage for the weekend, think again. Smog is not a problem just for city dwellers. And unless we curb our energy appetite, it will only get worse. A recent study has found that air pollution spreads well beyond city limits and actually stunts tree growth in rural areas. The report, published in the journal Nature, found that trees in urban New York City actually grow larger, faster, than their rural counterparts. In fact, the urban trees often grew twice as large. Minor differences in temperature levels, soil nutrients and carbon dioxide could not account for the size difference, researchers say. Instead, they point the finger at ozone, a key component of smog. Ozone is commonly thought of in terms of the ozone layer high in the stratosphere. There, ozone is beneficial to life because it helps protect us from the sun's radiation. But at lower levels, ozone is a powerful pollutant, harmful to both plants and animals. Ozone forms at these levels when other pollutants combine with heat and sunlight. So why is there more ozone in rural areas? Well, ozone is highly reactive. In cities, there are lots of other pollutants for it to react with that help "scrub" ozone out of the air. Also, ozone takes time to form — enough time for polluted air masses to drift out of the city into rural areas where, ironically, the cleaner air makes ozone a bigger problem. The study results should come as no surprise to some European researchers who have been monitoring the effects of ozone on crops for years. According to a report by British scientists last summer, damage from ozone is costing European farmers more than six billion Euros every year. Summer is when most of the damage occurs because that's when ozone levels are at their highest and plant growth is at its peak. Researchers say that wheat, potato and legume crops are most affected. (07/24/03)
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 BBC Environment -- Summers spent building sandcastles on the beach could be a distant memory by the end of the century. Climate change is changing the face of the British coastline, eroding beaches and marshes. Conservationists warn that if nothing is done, holiday beaches may be lost within 100 years along with habitat that shelters wildlife. International experts are meeting in London on Wednesday to discuss ways to protect the UK's coastal assets. It depends on working with nature rather than against it, say experts from "Living with the Sea", a four-year European partnership headed by English Nature. "For many centuries we've over-engineered our coast and now in the face of unstoppable sea level rise we have to think of all coastal management options," says Stephen Worrall of Living with the Sea. We have to work with nature and not fight nature on the coast. It means allowing the sea back into some of the undeveloped frontages such as farmland." (07/24/03)
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 BBC Science -- With mountains of discarded household appliances blighting Japan's landscape, one Japanese company has decided to take recycling into the space age. Matsushita Electric, best known for its Panasonic brand, has led the way through its advanced recycling plant in the Western Japanese town of Yashiro. The Matsushita Eco-Technology Center, (Metec), came into being after the Japanese Government passed tough recycling measures that came into effect in 2001. Estimates put the number of Japanese white goods dumped in rivers or at the side of roads at around 20 million a year. In a nation where most homes simply do not have room for redundant equipment, the need for legislation was clear. ... "Recycling is only one part of a product's lifecycle," explained Mr Tsutsumi. It is important that we study the whole cycle from design and product planning through procurement of materials, production, distribution, sales and customer usage to recovery and recycling." Cynics may denounce Metec and similar corporate schemes as simply dealing with waste caused by demand their parent companies create. In Japan something has to do done to cope with the tide of electronic waste. This plant is but a drop in the ocean. (07/24/03)
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7:23:27 AM 
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2003
Timothy Wilken.
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