SuperForest

Hello All,

I just got back from a trip to Los Angeles and what is the first thing I see during my morning dog walk?

A wee, little tomato plant growing out of the asphalt.

That the pavement cracked and a little pocket of dirt developed, and a tomato seed fell from the sky to land perfectly in this tiny little patch, and that it then rained just the right amount to cover the tomato seed in nice wet dirt, enough to grow into a proper tomato plant, perfectly capable of producing food, well, is pretty inspiring.

To life, Y’all.

Love,

Jackson

Just got an email from SuperForester Jack who sends us a link to his incredible photography series: TreeSpirit Project.

Tasteful nudes and trees with a sense of humor; what’s not to like?

Amy Pfaffman makes beautiful jewelry out of recycled materials, with delightful results.

Test tubes, coffee beans, old vinyl records, guitar picks, and sundry. All are reborn in Amy’s skillful hands.

Coffee Bean Necklace.

Test Tube Necklace.

Key Necklace.

LP Necklace.

Glass Eye Cuff Links.

Amy’s gear is gorgeous.
Here’s her site: AmyJewelry.com.

Thanks to SuperForester Jack for the intel.

The Secret Life Of Paper is a short video by Inform. A platform dedicated to the education of the effect of us, human beings, on the environment. It’s the second in a serial named The Secret Life Of… The goal is to show what happens to a certain ordinary product before and after we use it. In this case the ordinary product is obviously paper.

With speakers from all branches concerning paper Inform managed to show a detailed picture of the effect the paper industry has on the environment, how we could recycle better and how the government could act more responsibly. And all that within six minutes.

For some more background information on the short and the first part of the series (about cellphones) check out secret-life.org

-jdh

Good Morning!

Because 1/3 of all the foods we eat are pollinated by bees, including many of the natural flavors in Haagen Dazs’s ice creams.  Their site, www.helpthehoneybees.com is really well done. Simple and informative. They have done a great job at presenting a serious issue in a way that is full of humor and entertainment, making it palpable to millions of people. 

(Image link)

What would you say if I told you Mother Nature was a cheeky thing? I just read a rather amusing article titled “Mother of all hotties goes cold on lovers“. The writer tracks a number of occasions where advocates for climate change have been turned on their toes by the cosmic comedienne Mother Earth. Here are a few highlights:

“When then-PM of Britain Tony Blair tried to cozy up to Mother Nature in 2005, he was repaid with chilling scorn. “Why does it always snow when I’m going to talk about global warming?” asked the puzzled PM, following a series of cursed commentaries.

That’s just the way Mother Nature rolls, Tone.

In 2004, Al Gore delivered a speech on global warming in New York City. Instead of welcoming his help, Mother Nature turned on one of the coldest days in the city’s history.

Five months ago, for example, Australian Tim Flannery announced: “The water problem is so severe for Adelaide that it may run out of water by early 2009.”

Mother Nature’s response was 15 rainy days in a row beginning on July 30, the longest stretch since 1891. Even if no more rain falls, Adelaide’s dams (now 61 per cent full) won’t run dry until August 2010, going by current useage rates.”

For those of you just tuning in, earlier this week we launched Operation West Virginia.
The idea was to inform a West Virginian about SuperForest in the hopes of getting at least one hit from within the fine state of West Virginia.

Well, I’m delighted to report that our hard work has payed off!

Two Hits!
Huzzah!

To the two fine souls in Williamstown and Shepherdstown, thank you very much. I hope you enjoyed the site.

At last, we are one.

E Pluribus Unum.

Yay!!!!

Special thanks to SuperForester Laurie Anne, and to all the SuperForesters around the world.

Hey all! Jaell here.

I haven’t posted in awhile do to a hiatus to my hometown in Wisconsin. I’m back in action, though, and ready to share something I read over at LiveScience.com.

As I’m sure you all are aware, Hydrogen is a very abundant and clean energy source that we’d all love to use daily if there was a way for us to get it efficiently. Currently, however, the processes are too expensive and inefficient for our economy to handle. Fuel-cell vehicles are starting to be commercially available, but are still not as prominent as we’d like.

A new way of acquiring hydrogen gas for fuel is through the use of tiny organisms that expel it during their daily natural processes.

“The production of hydrogen by microorganisms is intimately linked to their cellular processes, which must be understood to optimize bioenergy yields,” said Amy VanFossen of North Carolina State University.

Of particular interest are microbes that thrive in hot temperatures, near the boiling point of water. VanFossen and her colleagues carried out a detailed DNA study of one of these thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria called Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus, which was first found in a hot spring in New Zealand. The results, presented last week at the American Chemical Society meeting in Philadelphia, indicate which genes allow C. saccharolyticus to eat plant material, referred to as biomass, and expel hydrogen in the process. “

Just imagine… something as small as this little guy could change our whole world and future.

Sure makes me think that maybe one person can make a difference. Heck. One bacteria growing on a person could make a difference.

This morning Environmental Graffiti, one of my favorite blogs, had an amazing post with photographs of insects taken in macro. Well, I hear you think, there’s an awful lot of photos like this on flickr and such. Though they’re kinda special. Have a look.

The German Martin Amm, the extremely creative being behind these pictures, must have gotten out of bed real early to catch a glimpse of the morning dew on the insects. Anyway, Amm delivered a good job showing us the beauty of insects, and nature in general.

-jdh