Month: March 2014 (Page 1 of 4)

On March 17th, due to adverse weather conditions which caused major smog and air pollution to overhang Paris, the local government banned half of all non-electric or hybrid cars and motorcycles from the city for two days. Based on the last number on a license plate, vehicles with a even number were banned on March 17th and vehicles with a odd number  were banned on March 18th.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26599010

This article talks about a computer algorithm  that decodes DNA to determine the mutations of cancer cells and what medication would be best for the patient. Oncologists are working to determine harmless mutations versus true cancer cells and the way they act against the body. The program has some bugs that are being worked out but it is a huge step in the technological and medical field.

Reverb is a non-profit environmental organization that educates and engages musicians and their fans to promote environmental sustainability. It was founded by  Guster guitarist/vocalist Adam Gardner and his wife Lauren Sullivan.

http://www.reverb.org/rvb.html

Climate Change Shrinks Salamanders

Researchers at Loyola University say that climate change has been decreasing the average size of salamanders by as much as 8%, as well as decreasing their population.

They think that this is due to having to burn more energy in a warmer environment. Smaller salamanders could be the ones more likely to survive or the size changes could have have resulted from “plasticity” (which is explained in the article).

Colors of the Wind (Pocahontas) – Connie Talbot

Our Town (Cars) – James Taylor

As discussions on dams being removed in the Klamath River is happening, creating and expanding reservoirs and dams in California are being discussed

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/congress-focuses-on-dams-amid-californias-drought/2014/03/23/ca3b31e2-b2ad-11e3-bab2-b9602293021d_story.html

As some of you know, I am taking EGRS 352 (Energy Tech and the Modern World) with Prof. Nicodemus. These are the “cur-non” opportunities that she gave us, and although the cur non points (graded out of five points, but can earn up to ten; one point for each one-page single spaced summary we write for each opportunity) are just for EGRS 352 students, I want to get this to the attention of VAST 203 people as it may be an interest. This is the copy-paste of the cur-non opportunities on Moodle:

Wednesday, March 26 a 4:10pm in Hugel 103, hear Roger Burrows, Professor of Sociology and Pro-Warden for Interdisciplinary Development at Goldsmiths, University of London present Super Rich Neighbourhoods In London, a lecture that will extend recent work on the ‘spatialization of class’ to an analysis of the territories of the ‘super rich.’

Thursday, March 27, 6:30 to 7:30 pm at the Nurture Nature Center (downtown), go to Environment and Health Lecture Series: The Pollen around Us. Many of us suffering from spring allergies check for pollen counts in our local weather forecasts. But what is pollen? Why can it be so irritating? Dr. Edlund will introduce us to the beauty of pollen and their interactions with our respiratory and immune systems.

Monday, March 31, 7:30pm to 9:00pm in Kirby 104: Dr. Finbarr Curtis will present his lecture, “It is a Literal Fact: The Scopes Trial as Secular Myth” on the 1925 Scopes Trial, which drew national attention to a Tennessee law that prohibited teaching evolution in public schools, and how institutional frameworks produce science and structure public debate.

Tuesday, April 1st from 7:30-9pm in Oechsle 224: Screening of the film Chasing Ice (part of Earth Month), the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers. Popcorn and refreshments.

One way to get some cur non points is to watch the following documentaries and turn in a 1 page, single spaced, response to that documentary. You may earn up to 3 cur non points this way (I may revise that number upwards, but for now, 3).  Here’s the list of acceptable documentaries: Cape Spin, Hot Planet, Switch, Power Surge, No Impact Man, An Inconvenient Truth, The 11th Hour, Gasland (the original one or the new one). If there’s something you think should be on this list, but isn’t talk to me. I will leave it to you capable people to get access to the films. Some are at the library, some are online. I can arrange a viewing of Switch or Power Surge if there is interest. The last day to turn in cur non’s for watching a documentary from this list is Thursday, April 3. 

Monday, April 7, 7pm in Oechsle 224: Screening of the documentary RENEWAL: Stories from the Interfaith Environmental Movement, a documentary that captures the vitality and diversity of today’s religious-environmental activists. From within their Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Muslim traditions, Americans are becoming caretakers of the Earth.

Tuesday, April 8: 12:15-1 in Hugel 100: Brown Bag discussion on Lafayette Recycling. Pizza provided.

Sunday, April 13, 12-2pm at LaFarm, an Earth Month Celebration at LaFarm featuring wood oven pizza, salads, etc made, in part, with LaFarm produce. Tickets required (~$5, I think). If you go to this you need to make an effort to learn about the efforts and progress at LaFarm and write your 1 page (single spaced) response about what you learned about LaFarm.

Tuesday April 15, 7:30pm in Oechsle 224: Gary Nabhan will give the featured Earth Month lecture, “Sustaining Food Security Amidst Climate Uncertainty and Pollinator Decline”. Go to this!

Wednesday, March 23, 12pm in Hugel 100: John Drummond will give a talk on “The Monarch Butterfly Crisis.”Pizza provided.

This is a message for us to spread. If you want to litter, THINK TWICE. Prof. Nicodemus showed me this video yesterday:

Especially with plastics, when you litter, you are selfish but your actions will eventually come back to you. If you ever notice the sign on each storm drains that reads something like “don’t litter, drains to waterway”, this is an educational sign that tells us that whatever we throw on the ground, regardless of location, would eventually end up in the oceans. Every ocean has currents and garbage has piled up on Pacific Ocean, creating this “trash island”. Unfortunately, some animals (such as birds) mistake pieces of plastics as food, as evidenced by their stomach contents.

An animated video I found on YouTube:

According to this article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25/air-pollution-deaths_n_5027320.html?ref=topbar

Air pollution kills about 7 million people a year, according to World Health Organization. In another words, this is one in eight people. We all have to breathe, and unavoidable polluted air forces us to breathe in something poisonous, causing health risk.

On a personal experience, I am a bicyclist and it is a major pet peeve of mine when I smell and breathe in vehicle emissions.

I knew that I had to research this because I am getting extremely annoyed that almost all my friends in my home town are smokers and I am an innocent healthy person who has to breathe in unpleasant air every time I am with friends at my home town, which often makes me feel uncomfortable.

Cigarettes have huge environmental consequences. Smoking contributes to air pollution and threatens forests, homes and parks. Cigarette butts that were thrown out has been linked to large wildfires, which results in larger problems such as the destruction of wildlife, vegetation and property. Each year, cigarettes make up 1.69 billion pounds of waste.

Each year, the state of California spends $41 million on waste cleanup and out of all the waste, 34% of them are cigarette butts. They are the top item found on beaches and roadside, as well as parks. Not only that they are not biodegradable, lead, arsenic and nicotine are toxic chemicals that damages the environment.

Source: http://www.tobaccofreeca.com/smoking-problem/impact/environment/

Lately, Paris has a bit of a smog problem:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/16/paris-smog_n_4973835.html