3-D Printed Bionic Skin. It’s Not Science Fiction.

Direct air carbon capture is the most egregious bullshit green capitalism has tried to come up with and the fact that anyone who's taken a middle school science class falls for it is astonishing to me

Like, let's just imagine we can build magic carbon capture machines that are made of children's wishes and run on pixie dust and are 100% efficient. It pulls off the scheme carbon capture companies are going after - taking carbon out of the air and turning it into fuel, which is then burned, releasing the carbon back into the air. Even this impossible version of the technology is, at best, carbon neutral

But in the real world, carbon capture needs to use materials, energy, and infrastructure that actually exists, which means that it will always, unavoidably be carbon positive. Unless it breaks the laws of thermodynamics, it can literally never be a solution to the problem

And no matter what kinds of excuses you come up with, no matter how eloquently you argue for different forms of carbon capture and how good you make them sound, none of it fucking matters because we don't need to invent carbon capture. The best way to sequester carbon is to utilize the systems that are doing that already, by restoring ecosystems, restoring soil, and composting. We simply cannot ever be more efficient than nature

But nobody profits off of dirt or prairies, so they've gotta sell you machines that do it instead

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

Ray of Rice hat/lamp by Jittasak Narknisorn

“I respect and admire agriculture, especially the rice farmers who provide us with the food in our everyday lives. They work very long hours under the hot sun during harvesting season. From this observation, I saw how to merge the traditional lifestyle of a rice farmer and today’s technology. Ray of Rice : hat & lamp is comprised of solar cells on the exterior with LED lights on the interior. As the rice farmers work during the day the solar cells collect the sun’s energy. By night, the hat can be hung anywhere and utilized as a wireless lamp.”

(via)

Jeanette Winterson

Why Walkable Streets are More Economically Productive

3 dollars and cents arguments that definitively prove the need for people-oriented, walk-friendly places.

What is the value of a street where people can walk safely? Why build streets that are constructed with the needs of people in mind, not just the needs of cars?

   “Again and again, when we look at streets oriented toward people we find that they are more economically productive than any other style of development.”  

Many people concerned with pedestrian safety and “walkability” care about these issues because they feel that walking is good exercise or that walkable places are more attractive or that walking is better for the environment than driving.

These are all valid arguments and may convince some of those reading this article that walkability is important. But what I want to talk about today isn’t an argument based on values or aesthetics. It’s an argument based on pure dollars and cents — one that should convince people with a myriad of values and political leanings that people-oriented places must be a priority if we want our communities to be economically prosperous.

Again and again, when we look at streets oriented toward people — that is, streets where walking is safe and enjoyable, that people are drawn to visit on foot, and where fast and extensive car traffic is not the #1 priority — we find that they are more economically productive than any other style of development. This is particularly true when we compare people-oriented places to car-oriented places—think of that stretch of your town that effectively does everything possible to discourage walking and biking, including a street with multiple wide lanes to ensure fast car movement, acres of parking, and minimal (if any) sidewalks, bike lanes and crosswalks.

Walkable streets, on the other hand, encourage business activity, generate greater tax revenue per acre and offer a higher return on investment than auto-oriented streets.

Winnipeggers rally to call for just transition from reliance on fossil fuels

Change must be made to protect 'our planet and our civilization from disaster,' one attendee says

A group of about 100 people rallied outside the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg on Saturday to call on the federal government to make a major pivot away from fossil fuels.

The Liberal government has pledged to move the country toward a post-carbon economy, and organizers of Saturday’s rally want to see a plan to make that happen.

Instead, governments are putting the responsibility for solving the climate crisis on the backs of individuals, said one attendee.

“The evidence that climate change is caused by humans and is causing extreme weather events and other catastrophic results is not deniable, so we need to take action because this is a crisis,” said Melanie Dennis Unrau, a volunteer with the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition.

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Tagging: @politicsofcanada

In the next 3 weeks, Canada will make a decision that could save the bees for good

We won't see another opportunity like this again. Let's seize it.

um guys?

canada is currently considering banning imidacloprid, which is apparently “one of the most widely used bee-killing pesticides in the world”. this seems pretty huge, so if you’ve got two seconds, add your name to the list! as of posting this link, they need just over 8,000 more signatures by february 21!