Tag: environment

Sound artist eavesdrops on what is thought to be world’s heaviest organism

Artist records underground sounds generated by Pando, a huge group of aspens in Utah considered to be a single organism

Pando is made up of 47,000 genetically identical quivering aspens, which are considered to be a single organism, with the ‘trees’ actually branches thought to be connected by a shared root system. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Pando is made up of 47,000 genetically identical quivering aspens, which are considered to be a single organism, with the ‘trees’ actually branches thought to be connected by a shared root system. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

LINK: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/10/sound-artist-eavesdrops-on-what-is-thought-to-be-worlds-heaviest-organism-pando-utah

When it comes to the world’s heaviest living organism, it is a “forest of one tree” that is thought to take the crown. Now a sound expert is listening into the quiet grove in an attempt to hear its secrets.

Known as Pando – Latin for “I spread” – the 47,000 genetically identical quivering aspens in south-central Utah are considered to be a single organism, with the “trees” actually branches thought to be connected by a shared root system.

The upshot is a vast living entity, thought to be thousands of years old, that covers 43 hectares (106 acres) with a dry weight of about 6m kg, making it, putatively, the Earth’s heaviest living organism. But it is also an organism in danger, with experts warning Pando is probably dying off due to human actions.

Now an acoustic artist has revealed how he has delved deep to uncover fresh insights into the tree.

The far north is burning—and turning up the heat on the planet

The Arctic and surroundings are being transformed from carbon sink to carbon emitter.

The Arctic and surroundings are being transformed from carbon sink to carbon emitter.
Fire-damaged trees in a boreal forest near the Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. As northern forests burn, they’re releasing massive amounts of carbon.

The far north is both a massive carbon sink and a potent environmental time bomb. The region stores a huge amount of CO2 in boreal forests and underlying soils. Organic peat soil, for instance, covers just 3 percent of the Earth’s land area (there’s some in tropical regions, too), yet it contains a third of its terrestrial carbon. And Arctic permafrost has locked away thousands of years’ worth of plant matter, preventing rot that would release clouds of planet-heating carbon dioxide and methane.

But in a pair of recent papers, scientists have found that wildfires and human meddling are reducing northern ecosystems’ ability to sequester carbon, threatening to turn them into carbon sources. That will in turn accelerate climate change, which is already warming the Arctic four and a half times faster than the rest of the world, triggering the release of still more carbon—a gnarly feedback loop.

LINK: https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/05/the-far-north-is-burning-and-turning-up-the-heat-on-the-planet/

‘Do An Unboxing Video’: “Unopened Vintage 1983 Ted Kaczynski “UNABOMBER” Package STILL SEALED!”

eBay is a wondrously weird place and someone on Twitter may have just found the wildest listing yet. User @kennedygaming4 posted screenshots of an eBay listing titled “Unopened Vintage 1983 Ted Kaczynski “UNABOMBER” Package STILL SEALED!” Take that, baby shoes!
eBay is a wondrously weird place and someone on Twitter may have just found the wildest listing yet. User @kennedygaming4 posted screenshots of an eBay listing titled “Unopened Vintage 1983 Ted Kaczynski “UNABOMBER” Package STILL SEALED!” Take that, baby shoes!

Original article: https://www.ebaumsworld.com/articles/elon-to-purge-andrew-tate-dead-dad-from-twitter/87394809/

“The masculine urge to buy an unopened Unabomber package” @kennedygaming4 tweeted along with screenshots. The eBay account listed is censored but you can clearly see that the package is selling for $19,550( $12 shipping) and at the time of their post had 32 bids.

The censored eBay seller explains in the description that he worked for IBM in Santa Monica in the 80s and that the package was sent to him after he had transferred to the New York IBM office. He received the package from storage in 2008 and wrote to Ted Kacynski in prison to confirm that — yes he was a target of the Unabomber.

“Seller is not morally or legally responsible after [the] package leaves my possession,” concludes the censored eBay seller’s listing.

If the listing sounds too good to be true (or funny), then it probably is, as is with anything you see online. The listing isn’t searchable on eBay. But that could mean eBay has (wisely) taken the listing off for the safety of their users. The seller’s account name is censored and this eager researcher could not reverse image search his profile picture.

Even if this is fake (which I’m leaning it most likely is) the thought that you can buy a historical bomb is utterly hilarious (if true).

“Buying the unopened Unabomber package and opening it on camera to see what I get like its a vintage magic the gathering booster pack” quote tweets @uncledoomer.

Do we have a brave enough soul to host the unboxing? We’re buying.

How To Blow Up A Pipeline – Official Trailer – In Theaters April 7

A crew of young environmental activists execute a daring mission to sabotage an oil pipeline in this taut and timely thriller that is part high-stakes heist, part radical exploration of the climate crisis.

On The Nameless Episode I

Julian Langer and I often haunt the same spaces. Julian is writing a story, the first chapter of which is here. It resonates with similar forest spirit themes I am working with these days. Looking forward to more in the future.

Click to access julian-langer-on-the-nameless-episode-i.pdf

Melting Antarctic ice may strangle vital ocean currents

Models show that currents could slow by more than 40 percent within 30 years, with potentially devastating effects

Antarctica (Getty Images/Yvonne Wacht)

s Antarctic ice melts, all of that fresh water pours into the ocean, essentially diluting it by reducing its salinity. That, in turn, is dramatically slowing the currents that, like a conveyor belt, carry oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nutrients through the sea and around the world.

A study published last week in the journal Nature modeled the impacts of this phenomenon, called overturning circulation, on the deepest ocean currents, particularly in the southern hemisphere. It found that the world is on the verge of a potentially catastrophic slowdown, which could have a devastating effect on climate change, marine ecosystems, and the stability of Antarctic ice.

“Our modeling shows that if global carbon emissions continue at the current rate, then the Antarctic overturning will slow by more than 40 per cent in the next 30 years, and on a trajectory that looks headed towards collapse,” lead researcher Matthew England, an oceanographer and climate scientist at the University of New South Wales, said at a new conference announcing the findings, according to BBC.

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Plastic rocks found on remote Brazilian island are ‘terrifying,’ scientists say

216,996 views Mar 16, 2023 #Brazil #Pollution #Plastics

Melted plastic has become intertwined with rocks on the Brazilian island of Trindade, researchers said, calling the discovery “new and terrifying.”

Colorado River Rights Snatched up by Investors Betting on Scarcity

The water in the Colorado River is becoming an increasingly desirable investment target for private investment companies as it is becoming an increasingly scarce natural resource in the American West. One of the most significant landowners in the Grand Valley is an investment company called Water Asset Management, which is based in New York and has made at least $20 million worth of investments in Western Colorado over the course of the past five years.

Colorado River Rights Snatched up by Investors Betting on Scarcity

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Climate Change, Collapse, and Modernity with Dougald Hine

Bruno Latour's 'Facing Gaia' with Tim Howles

This episode I’m joined by writer Dougald Hine to discuss his book At Work in the Ruins.

Book link: https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/at-work-in-the-ruins/

https://hermitix.net/Home

City of Scottsdale cuts suburb off from water supply

A community outside of Phoenix is furious after being cut off from its municipal water supply. NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard has more on how residents in the Rio Verde Foothills are doing everything to bring water back to their homes as others question why developers continue to build on dry land.