02007-05-03 | Environment, Food, Nature
Mysterious killer of America’s honeybees could make dinner a bland meal – International Herald Tribune
Unless someone or something stops it soon, the mysterious killer that is wiping out many of America’s honeybees could have a devastating effect on the country’s dinner plate, perhaps even reducing its people to a glorified bread-and-water diet. Honeybees do not just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops the country has.
Also see this:
Also on the Internet is a quote attributed to Albert Einstein on how humans would die off in four years if not for honeybees. It is wrong on two counts. First, Einstein probably never said it, according to Alice Calaprice, author of “The Quotable Einstein” and five other books on the physicist.
“I’ve never come across it in anything Einstein has written,” Calaprice said. “It could be that someone had made it up and put Einstein’s name on it.”
Second, it is incorrect scientifically, Pettis said. There would be food left for humans because some food is wind-pollinated.
02007-05-02 | Environment, Nature, News, Photos, World
David Byrne Journal: 4.24.07: Begone
According to Einstein we’ve got a little over 4 years. Here’s a quote from him:
“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”
And in today’s NY Times it says that more than a ¼ of the honeybees in the U.S. have vanished. The article continues with a lot of head scratching as to why but sort of says “gee, we dunno.”
In Spiegel, the German newsmagazine, they say,
“Beekeepers on the east coast of the United States complain that they have lost more than 70 percent of their stock since late last year, while the west coast has seen a decline of up to 60 percent.”
Lots of bees in these Austrian trees. The sound was amazing! A constant hum. Alas, I failed to go back to record it.
02007-03-03 | Nature
Zoocheck Canada Inc. – About Zoocheck Canada
For more than 20 years, Zoocheck has been a leading voice for the protection of wild animals. We are the only Canadian organization with a specific focus on captive wild animal issues and problems.
And:
Last week, Zoocheck Canada released The Sad State of Captive Elephants in Canada, a new report by African elephant biologist Winnie Kiiru. After visiting all seven facilities housing elephants, Ms. Kiiru concluded that elephants in Canadian zoos are suffering, primarily due to lack of space, inappropriate social groupings and an unsuitable climate. According to Kiiru, who has extensive experience studying wild elephants in Kenya, every zoo elephant display in Canada fails to satisfy the biological and behavioural needs of elephants. Kiiru went further and said that the practice of keeping elephants in Canada is unethical, unjustified and should be discontinued. You can check out the report here(PDF).
02007-02-28 | Food, Nature
Seed: I Can’t Believe It’s Science (for Feb. 19, 2007)
In 2005, the seed was finally germinated, and last week Carbon-14 dating confirmed that it probably originated between 66 and 73 C.E. The seed is the oldest to ever germinate. While those who see the sapling claim it looks like any old palm tree, germinator Elaine Soloway notes that the first leaves it sprouted are unusually long. She does not yet know whether the tree is male or female, but if the tree is a female, within a few years she will be able to taste fruit nobody has known in thousands of years.
02007-02-27 | Environment, Nature, World
Al Gore – Tell Congress to act on global warming
Sign the postcard to your representative demanding real action on global warming below and I’ll personally deliver it to Washington in March.
