New 'e-dermis' Brings Sense Of Touch, Pain To Prosthetic Hands

unhappy reminder that amphibians are going through a pandemic right now and anything you can do to support conservation efforts would be greatly appreciated by literally everyone in the world

How to make your own low-tech vertical farm

The Belgian professor Willem Van Cotthem seems to have designed a do-it-yourself vertical kitchen garden system that truly deserves the low-tech label. On his blog, “Container gardening”, he explains how to transform normal plastic bottles into efficient containers (and a container rack) for growing all kinds of plants, even young trees (to be transplanted when reaching sufficient height). The beauty is that the water supply can be automated without the use of electricity

Read more…

Does anyone know how to become a farmer?

I’m open to anything please help

Would you be able to recommend any how-to books on going zero waste? I'm really upset at all the plastic I have to throw out in everyday life (mostly from food packaging, whether restaurant or grocery store) but I'm not sure where to begin in changing it. If there's a book that describes steps to take, that would be very helpful for me. Thank you!

Going zero waste

Realistic goals:

First of all, good on you for wanting to lessen your waste output!

Second of all, while going zero waste is a really noble goal, it's not always feasible, especially in our current economy. That's nothing you should feel guilty over. That's just a fact.

Those pictures of people who can fit a year's worth of trash in one mason jar look great, but it's okay if you can't do that. For example, while I personally try to avoid having to throw out plastic, I'm also very grateful for the fact that plastic allows me to have an emergency asthma inhaler on hand at all times. Another example could be how bulk shopping can help cut back on waste, but might not be feasible due to financial or physical constraints.

That being said, replacing some single-use items is still better than doing nothing at all. Don't let perfectionism stop you!

It's important to set realistic goals. For example: you mentioned you'd like to try and avoid waste from food packaging. If you often eat on the go, you could keeping a set of reusable cutlery in your bag so you don't have to use single-use utensils every time you buy food. You could check if apps like Too Good To Go or imperfect produce boxes are available in your area. Maybe you've got a local farmer's market or a bulk shop or a community garden around. Maybe your supermarket allows you to bring your own produce bags while shopping. You could try looking for brands that use less or recycled packaging if your financial situation allows for that. If you enjoy cooking, you could look into bringing your own food on the go more often, or learn how to freeze or preserve food.

You don't have to do all of these: pick out ideas that seem like a good match for your personal situation. Start with small changes and turn them into habits, rather than going all-out from the start.

Resources:

The one book I often see referred to when it comes to zero waste is "Zero waste home: the ultimate guide to simplifying your life by reducing your waste" by Bea Johnson. I haven't read the entire thing yet, but I've read parts and it's a handy place to start. If your local library doesn't have a copy available, you can borrow a digital version for free on Archive.org.

While not necessarily focused on zero waste, I quite like Marie Kondo's philosophy too. The manga version of her book is an easy read if you want something quick to get started with.

Not books, but Shelbizleee and Sustainably Vegan on YouTube also run interesting zero waste channels.

Take what you personally find useful from resources like these, but don't feel obligated to follow them to the letter. Eco-anxiety can sometimes push us to try things we're not comfortable with or which aren't safe for us, so it's important to remain mindful of your personal boundaries.

I'm sure others can add more book recommendations to this post. :)

The five R's:

One way to get started is to take a look at the five basic zero waste principles.

There are different versions of the zero waste "R" list, but the one cited the most is the five R's of zero waste: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot.

(Image source) [ID: an inverted pyramid with five steps, reading from the top to the bottom: "Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, rot".]

Refuse: a lot of waste comes from things we don't really need. Will you actually wear that t-shirt that's on sale right now? Do you need another free pen even though you still have ten unused ones lying around at home? What about your junk mail, do you actually enjoy receiving all those flyers? The idea is to re-evaluate the objects that come into your possession, and to refuse the ones you won't use.

Note: the "refuse" and "reduce" principles can be stressful when you've grown up in an environment that was lacking certain material needs, or when you still find yourself in this situation. Take small steps, stick to your personal boundaries, and be mindful of your (mental) health.

Reduce: a lot of us own more than we actually need. If you find you've got objects you barely use, e.g. shirts you haven't worn in years or unused craft materials bought on a whim, ask yourself if you really need them. Would you miss them if you got rid of them, or would you barely notice? Do they make you happy, or do they just take up space? Maybe it's time to find a new home for these items.

Note: there are certain things in life we just really need, even if some of those things might seem frivolous to others. Don't get rid of things you might regret later, or that you actually need even though all the zero waste sources say you could probably do without. Everyone's situation's different. When you do get rid of things, don't just throw them out even if you plan on replacing them with sustainable alternatives: this will just create more waste. Use what you have first, and consider selling, donating or gifting items you don't need any more.

Reuse: one way to avoid waste is to reuse an item until it falls apart, or to find new uses for something. Mend your clothes, repair your stuff, reuse packaging when shipping parcels, cook with food scraps, shop second-hand,... Once you've finished something, check if you can replace it with a reusable alternative instead of buying it again (e.g. water bottles, reusable cutlery, fabric tote bags,...).

Note: be mindful of your health. Sometimes, things just have to be replaced!

Recycle: recycling isn't perfect, but it's important. Look up your local recycling policies, and sort your trash accordingly.

Rot: when organic trash goes to landfill, it will likely decompose in a way that will make it release a lot of methane. When we compost it, it will turn into plant food. If you've got access to an outdoor space, start a compost heap. If you've got a balcony, you could try vermicomposting or bokashi. If you don't have access to outdoor spaces at all, you could try indoor composting (if you're comfortable with that) or find a neighbour who composts and who'll take your scraps.

Conclusion:

Reducing our waste output is a great way to add our proverbial drop to the bucket. You don't have to be a minimalist or stop your waste output entirely to help out: going a 100% waste-free is awesome if you're able to, but 10% is better than 0%, and 10% is nothing to sneeze at!

Don't let perfectionism stop you. Do what you can, and don't beat yourself up over what you can't.

Those “clean energy is ready to go whenever” memes annoy the hell out of me because they’re typically ignoring two-thirds of the issue.

In a nutshell, there are three legs of energy infrastructure:

Power generation: Getting the power in a useful form

Power transport: Getting the power in a useful form where you need it

Power storage: Getting the power in a useful form when you need it

In  some respects, clean power generation is, indeed, a solved problem; clean transport and storage, however, are not. For many applications, no good non-polluting alternatives exist, and when they do, the environmental costs of setting up and maintaining those alternatives are not, themselves, insignificant. (Look up what goes into your average rechargeable battery some time!)

No, that doesn’t mean it’s an impossible problem, nor does it in any way excuse the continued intransigence of the the petrochemical industry. It does mean that there’s still a great deal of important work to be done, and it’s galling that so many self-labelled environmentalists are just casually contemptuous of it all - often to the extent of accusing researchers in power transport and storage of being oil industry shills for having the temerity to discuss the remaining challenges - because “clean energy is ready to go whenever”.

BBC: Millions attend global climate strike

“A global climate strike is under way, with millions of people protesting for “an end to the age of fossil fuels and climate justice for everyone”.”

california anti-drought measures are always like “take shorter showers! consider brushing your teeth with the sink turned off” and never mention the fact that nestle is bottling all of our fucking water and selling it to people who live in areas with plenty of water

Just imagine a world full of beautiful stained glass windows which also generate electricity…

[Oxford Photovoltaics]

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

Missed it by………..ONE POINT FOUR PERCENT (1.4%)

ive said this before but as climate change ramps up faster and faster and we feel the effects more and more in our everyday lives our infrastructure and architecture is going to need radical changes, and i love building science, but its not just going to be stuff like cranking up the r-values on our houses and other passivhaus things, we have to look at resilient infrastructure like earth berming and building underground like in coober pedy to avoid heat, have to look at flood mitigation tunnels like the tokyo flood control system, have to look at stuff like staten islands seawall

no one solution is going to protect us from climate change, and no small ones either

shits gonna have to change, and not every solution is going to pan out perfectly, but we need to be able to try some pretty over the top seeming stuff

even just where i live, the seasons have dramatically changed over the last decade, old ellicott city has been wiped out by floods twice, summers are hot and humid as hell, this cant last