Thursday, February 21, 2008

GREEN TEMPLE - FEB 21, 2008

http://tnp.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,156867,00.html? --- FOR some, going green may mean recycling the occasional drink can or glass bottle. But for 69-year-old Lee Boon Siong, going green has become nothing less than a mission. The honorary president and director of the Poh Ern Shih temple along Chwee Chian Road (off Pasir Panjang Road) has turned the 54-year-old institution into an environmental beacon. Solar panels on the temple's roof generate electricity and heat water for temple use, and wind turbines power the temple's lamps. And soon, there'll even be a water-recycling system in place.

Bottled water bad for the earth - FEB 21, 2008

Kevin:That's something I never thought would happen. Bottled water conjures the image of natural springs high in alps the very image of nature. I guess recent expose on the bottle water industry using tap or public works water changed the image of bottled water..
it also is tied to health issues though. plain water is better than fizzy sodas..
http://tnp.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,156880,00.html? --- Launching his London on Tap blitz yesterday, Mr Livingstone urged Londoners not to be embarrassed in asking for tap. He said using fewer bottles would help climate change, adding that bottled water left a higher carbon footprint, with some imported brands travelling from as far as New Zealand. 'There is no need to buy the expensive bottled water that has become a bit of a fad in recent years,' he said.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Plankton Politics Are Unpredictable -- Pennisi 2008 (213): 1 -- ScienceNOW

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/213/1 --- Chaos really is a fact of life, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Researchers analyzing the rise and fall of various plankton species have shown that even under constant conditions, the community never stabilizes, and no single species takes over for long. The results suggest that biodiversity might best be preserved not by keeping the number of particular species high but by preserving complex ecosystem dynamics.

Kevin: reminds me of a line from the movie 28 days later. It was roughly like this.
in the relative age of the planet, humans have only been here in a blink of an eyelid. So what makes you think that humans being gone isn't a return to normality.

there are valid criticisms of this experiment but it does point out that one needs to take note if the change in population are part of a dynamics of the eco system.