This week in eco-Psychology, Tam Hunt envisioned a future in which environmental concerns are addressed, not as separate from or in conflict with human self-interest, but through an expanded sense of ourselves that includes nature.
In our continuing series of video presentations from Ace and Ace, we were inspired by one town’s devotion to protecting an ancient, endangered (and adorable) turtle species, and three brothers’ dedication to sustainable, organic farming in beautiful Tuscany.
In Business, we met Mark Armen, whose desire to create a business that helped rather than hindered the environment led him to a creative solution to the problem of toxic cigarette litter on the health and wellbeing of fish.
In Species, we watched the mysterious and artful phenomenon of a starling murmuration, in which thousands of birds perform a gracefully synchronized aerial ballet. Penny Stallings wrote of plans to monitor ground-level radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant by attaching radiation counters to a thousand wild monkeys, and in Ecology Kids, Jane Engelsiepen reminded us that squirrels deserve a little love, too.
On Ecology Campus, we learned that no matter how much we text, our phones need never die if powered by the nPeg, an innovative, handheld device that turns human-generated kinetic energy into useable electricity for our gadgets. We were introduced to the artistic and resourceful practice of indoor window gardening, watched a time-lapse video featuring the colors and intricate details of nature, and learned how university researchers are mimicking nature to solve a diverse collection of real-world problems.
And at Shop Ecology, the classic, 1970s sci-fi film, Soylent Green, provided yet another reason to think about the best use of our existing resources in the face of a growing population.
Here at Ecology Today, we ducked when a crippled space probe fell from orbit, braced as a powerful solar flare hurled a plasma wave in our direction, and took a moment to reconsider the “leap second.”
We watched as rescuers attempted to save an unusually large number of beached dolphins on the shores of Cape Cod, and watched again as the number of strandings continued to rise days later. We were reminded that rhinoceros poaching is dangerous business — to both poachers and rhinos. And we learned — not surprisingly — that last year’s global average surface temperature made 2011 the ninth warmest on record.
