August 2022
9 posts
Bakfiets
Wish this was an option in Singapore -- sadly, driving a bike here is needlessly dangerous. But likely a viable mode of transportation when we move back to Europe.
Shifting Baseline Syndrome
“Due to short life-spans and faulty memories, humans have a poor conception of how much of the natural world has been degraded by our actions, because our ‘baseline’ shifts with every generation, and sometimes even in an individual. In essence, what we see as pristine nature would be seen by our ancestors as hopelessly degraded, and what we see as degraded, our children will view as ‘natural’.”
Source: Dense Discovery
In the US, since the first European settlers arrived, 90% of virgin or ‘old growth’ forest has been destroyed. Today’s forests could be better described as ‘tree farms’ as they do not resemble the richly biodiverse forests that once were.
Gecko
Using Van Der Waals force, geckoes are able to stick to pretty much any surface, including slippery windows. Their feet have millions of tiny hairs.
Pretty damn cool -- never thought about it (*) until Nerdland talked about it.
(*) Singapore has a lot of geckoes. They are considered to be pests here... But I love them... :)
Our global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss
- A new Chatham House report highlights that the global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss.
- Biodiversity loss will continue to accelerate, unless we change the way we produce food. Further destruction of ecosystems and habitats will threaten our ability to sustain human populations.
- The new report calls for an urgent reform of food systems, suggesting three interdependent actions: changing global dietary patterns, protecting and setting aside land for nature, and farming in a more nature-friendly and biodiversity-supporting way.
