NYC Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree goes green
This year New York’s finest Christmas landmark is going green in the spirit of the Christmas season. For the first time in its history, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, will be getting a new set of energy efficient LED Christmas lights which will be fully powered by solar panels.
(Via Inhabitat)
TED | Talks | David Keith: A surprising idea for “solving” climate change (video)
Environmental scientist David Keith talks about a cheap, effective, solutions to climate change
Brilliant talk.
This is related:
Paul Crutzen – Heroes of the Environment – TIME
We would be wise to heed Crutzen on global warming, too, because he can fairly be described as the chief scientific caretaker of life on the planet. He suggested the potential climatic danger of nuclear war, a threat later popularized as “nuclear winter” by Carl Sagan. He has made major contributions to our understanding of acid rain and the effect of aircraft on the atmosphere. He has not flinched from speaking out even when it annoys industry or governments, and he does not hide his concern for the lack of U.S. leadership in addressing global warming. In contrast to the prompt attention paid to the ozone threat, foot-dragging on climate change has convinced Crutzen that major geo-engineering may be needed to cool the planet. He suggests a massive injection of sulfur into the stratosphere to form particles that reflect sunlight away. It’s a radical proposal that just might jolt some politicians into realizing what researchers learned long ago: that this scientists’ scientist always seems to be one step ahead of everybody else.
More about Paul Crutzen here.
Oh, and don’t forget this talk by Larry Brilliant.
Predictions & Prescriptions
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita uses a mathematical model that is based entirely on game theory to predict the outcomes of political conflicts. He takes a very literal interpretation of the phrase “political science” and focuses his analysis strictly on issues of strategic interest, ignoring any cultural or historical aspects of the parties involved. He believes that the theory of rational choice can accurately predict the actions of any political actors as long as the data underpinning the determination of interests are correct. An analysis of his model’s predictive abilities done by the CIA found it to be accurate 90 percent of the time.
(Via Long Views)
Want
That would be enough for my needs at least 90% of the time. I could borrow or rent the remaining 10%…
(Via Vedana)
Play With Your Food
The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra must be the only band in the world that buys its instruments fresh and organic before each performance. They must also be the only ones to use DIY instruments such as cucuphones in the wind section. For the uninitiated it’s made out of a carrot, cucumber and pepper. Also in the winds is the recorder made out of a carrot with drilled holes, the most difficult instrument to create. If you slice an eggplant horizontally, but not all the way, so that the slices are still attached then you have a castanet. Naturally, a pumpkin is used as a bongo drum and celeriac is a bass and violins are leeks. The 11 orchestra members prefer to use organic vegetables…
(Via TreeHugger)
