Author: Daniela

  • The Climate For Chaos

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    Originally posted on The Dish: Francesco Femia and Caitlin Werrell see evidence that climate change and drought helped cause the Syria conflict. Here’s Femia: We found it very interesting that right up to the day before the revolt began in Daraa, many international security analysts were essentially predicting that Syria was immune to the Arab Spring. They…

  • Shut Up and Listen – Cont’d.

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    Daniela
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    Peasant communities all over the world are beginning to realize that, although intensive agriculture might boost crop yields in the short term with seemingly little effort, in the long term it pollutes water sources and depletes the soil.  Many have decided to abandon intensive agriculture and revert to the traditional farming practices used by their ancestors for…

  • Fela Kuti

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    Daniela
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    The musical style of Felá is called Afrobeat, a style he largely created, which is a complex fusion of Jazz, Funk, Ghanaian/Nigerian High-life, psychedelic rock, and traditional West African chants and rhythms. Afrobeat also borrows heavily from the native “tinker pan” African-style percussion that Kuti acquired while studying in Ghana with Hugh Masekela, under the uncanny Hedzoleh Soundz.[15] The importance of the…

  • What Would It Take To End World Hunger?

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    Originally posted on The Dish: Sarah Sloat doubts that new technologies will be enough: In his “silicon gospel” (as it’s described by the Los Angeles Review of Books), Byron Reese considers agricultural technologies like genetic engineering and automated farms as the way to feed every starving mouth. The idea that increased food production—made possible by new inventions…

  • Beautiful Translucent Snail Discovered in Croatian Cave

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    Daniela
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    Found these beautiful images and information about a new species of snail discovered in Croatia on the EarthSky website: Scientists discovered a new species of a peculiar cave-dwelling snail in one of the 20 deepest cave systems in the world, Lukina Jama–Trojama in Croatia. The newly discovered species belongs to a genus of minute air-breathing…

  • British Scientists Set to Release Genetically Modified Insects into Environment

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    When I read this headline my first thought was “are you kidding?” On the Collective Evolution blog, Arjun Walia makes the case against releasing thousands of genetically modified insects into the environment. Thousands of Genetically Modified (GM) insects developed by British scientists are set to be released into fields across Europe as an alternative to…

  • Indian Farmers Learn From Past Mistakes

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    Tan Cheng Li writes about a growing number of farmers in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu who are returning to the old way of chemical-free cultivation of crops: YONG Weng Thing was amazed when he saw the field of spinach. Being a farmer himself, he knows good quality stuff when he sees it and…

  • Tremor – Huella feat. Micaela Chauque

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    Daniela
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    Buenos Aires based “digital folklore” trio Tremor returns to the forefront of modern South American music with a brand new album on Nickodemus’ Brooklyn based Wonderwheel Recordings. After playing some of the most important festivals and venues worldwide including Roskilde Festival in Denmark and an official WOMEX showcase, the new album entitled Proa continues Tremor’s use of South American folklore traditions and regional instruments…

  • Yet Another Reason to Buy Local

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    Daniela
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    This is another reason to be picky about where your meat comes from.  Better yet, stop eating meat altogether: From the Daily Kos: Put down your ham sandwich before you read this one, folks. The US Department of Agriculture is hoping to expand a pilot program replacing half the USDA inspectors in meat plants with…

  • Photo of the Day

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    Daniela
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    Shiota takes objects-wooden chairs, hospital beds, musical instruments, a woman’s dress-and shrouds them in a thick, dark web of thread. Her art, which she’s been producing for more than a decade, and which is currently on display at the Museum of Art, Kochi, in Japan, emphasizes how the accretion of cobwebs marks time. It makes you…