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POPSScientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol “Our plan is to have a demonstration-scale plant operational by 2010 and, in parallel, we’ll be working on the design and construction of a commercial-scale facility to open in 2011,” says Mr Pal, adding that if LS9 used Brazilian sugar cane as its feedstock, its fuel would probably cost about $50 a barrel.
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POPSNoah's Ark flood spurred European farming "When the Black Sea flooded at end of last ice age some people have suggested it was the origins of the Noah's Ark myth If you lived in that basin it would have seemed like the whole world had flooded."
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POPS Hunger Due to Injustice, Not Lack of Food Worth noting:: "In addition, the offspring of some GM plants are sterile, which means they cannot be stored to grow future crops. Poor farmers thus become dependent on transnational companies, and are forced to buy new seeds every year."
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POPSThe Corn Palace ("corn-septual art" and "ear-chitecture") The original Palace was established in 1892. The third and present building was completed for its first festival at the present location in 1921. 604 North Main, Mitchell, South Dakota 57301 http://www.cornpalace.org/index.html more photos: http://flickriver.com/search/+Corn+Palace%2C+Mitchell%2C+South+Dakota+/interesting/ more corn-related clips: queerty's clip: http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/84D625B9-958C-4720-B2EF-EA740734AF3E/ aribeth's clip: http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/E6BAFF50-FE60-435E-AB21-199687768D80/ amgumen's clip: http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/898F8A3E-F14D-4BF7-A6D1-F2DE378A3DF1/ boozich's clip: http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/6A28772F-993A-4260-9C69-38C917C6C1C4/
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POPS5 Urban Design Proposals for 3D City Farms Sustainable, Ecological and Agricultural Skyscrapers - One man’s vision has sparked a series of designs leading closer and closer to what will be the first real-life vertical urban farm in Las Vegas, Nevada of all places. Here are five of these remarkable architectural designs for sustainable (and stylish) urban farm towers that may revolutionize agriculture as we know it. In the long run such structures may not only provide food for hundreds of thousands of people per building but they will also relieve much of the burden on other flat landscapes where fewer and fewer usable growing spaces exist.
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POPS How crises Point to a Better Future "Transitions announce themselves in the language of crisis. We are in a time of turbulence as old patterns give way and new ones form. The multiple crises today signal a system transformation operating at the scale of the planet. Transformation is distinct from adaptation, which is the normal process of incremental adjustment to new conditions. Transformations are rare moments in history when dominant societal structures cannot cope with emerging developments and change in fundamental ways. With the converging lines of crises we face today, we may be entering a perfect storm of destabilizing stress."
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POPSThe Water Shortage Myth "No, there is plenty of water. The problem is that the vast majority of Earth's water is contained in the oceans as saltwater, and must be desalinated before it can be used for drinking or farming. Large-scale desalination can be done, but it is expensive. "
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POPSThe Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race An oldie but a goodie, not on clipmarks elsewhere (so far as my searches have shown). Written by Jared Diamond two decades back. Before being critical, read the entire article please. If you think the anthropology is somehow flawed, I suggest Anthropik's Thirty Theses ( http://anthropik.com/thirty ), which cover a lot of ground.
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POPSOver 35.5 million in US found hungry in 2006 12% Have gone hungry over the past year. The Undersecretary for the Department of Agriculture's Kate Houston said "This is encouraging" I have no idea why she is encouraged. Maybe that she isn't one of them? Perhaps she expected more. Also "No-one in America should go hungry" Of course prisoners get three meals a day. '
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POPSWater Policy in Israel and Palestine - There's Enough Water for Both The increasing difficulties with water availability, concludes the hydrogeologist, result from Israel using the majority of water resources for agricultural purposes, although this sector today represents a very small portion of the Israeli economy. Despite this, the Israeli state remains unswervingly committed to the Zionist foundation myth, which regards the promotion of agriculture as a central tenet in the Jewish settlement of Palestine. Messerschmid, in turn, sees the priorities of Israeli water policies as fundamentally flawed, leading to a wasteful use of the precious resource. Large areas of land, for instance, are still intensively watered even during conditions of very high temperatures, although most of the water immediately evaporates. The Palestinians, by contrast, do not even have the amount of water at their disposal that was promised in the Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty. Deutsche Fassung
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POPSMonsanto sues small farmers again (and again) Monsanto is suing a canola farmer because bees pollinated his crops with "trademarked" pollen from a GM farm. Nice way to do business. Soon all canola crops will be owned by Monsanto, if it doesn't kill the bees first. Monsanto also sued a dairy farmer to prevent him from labelling his milk rBGH-free. Monsanto is the number one producer of rBGH.
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POPSFather of India's Green Revolution Prepares for Evergreen Revolution
“In every crisis is an opportunity” Swaminathan is once again agitating for revolution -- this time a perpetual one. In the early ‘60s, India grew 12 million tons of wheat every year. Starvation was rampant and the country imported much of its food. Swaminathan, an agricultural geneticist, developed new strains of high-yield wheat for his country and the programs that led to an India that exports food. Today, India grows some 70 million tons of wheat and has become the world's second-largest wheat producer. He says that today India has reached a plateau in production and productivity because a problem of under investment in rural infrastructure. His M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Development follows a pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation to a job-led economic growth strategy in rural areas through harnessing science and technology for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable development.
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POPSChernobyl: worldwide effect
One major result of the Chernobyl accident that would cause as much agony to the incident was the spread of radiation. A definite effect of the spread of the radiation was the damage it had on the Eastern European agriculture. The EC (European Community) immediately put a 90 day ban on agricultural goods from Eastern Europe. This was initially thought of as political strategy from the US as well as other Western countries. This caused the Soviet Union to take the responsibility to pay for all the damage done to the Eastern European agriculture. All the costs would eventually be analyzed in the short and long term by WHO (World Health Organization). The main factor that caused a lot of contamination and caused most of the European Countries to be concerned was the plume or cloud of smoke and debris that would travel through Europe. The countries that were affected the most are Eastern parts of Poland as well as parts of the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany). Most of the contamin