Image: wvs

In the early 1900s, near the Berezovka river in Ukraine, frozen Woolly Mammoths were found with half chewed food still in their mouths, and more food undigested in their stomachs. Since then, scientists have been debating and speculating about what terrible environmental scenario could have flash frozen Woolly Mammoths so quickly.

Image: Paul L McCord Jnr

One scenario, put forward in the 1999 book The Coming Global Superstorm, posits that freezing arctic air could be trapped over the north pole by a barrier of much warmer air. If the North Atlantic Current, the water current which supplies warm weather to Northern Europe, were to fail, the barrier of warm air could drop and all the freezing arctic air would flood down in to the Northern Hemisphere, causing a catastrophic temperature drop similar to the one that must have frozen the Berezovka Woolly Mammoths.

If the scenario sounds familiar, it’s because it probably is. The 2004 movie The Day After Tomorrowwas based on the same theoretical scenario, and while the movie may be unrealistic, the science behind the theory isn’t.

Image: Wis Doc

There are many climate scientists who believe that it’s quite possible that the North Atlantic Current could shut down, which would cause a mini ice age for Northern Europe and affect the entire global weather system. A shut down of the North Atlantic Current could also be the trigger for something much stranger, the kind of perfect storm that froze Woolly Mammoths all those years ago.

Source 1, 2, 3

What a refreshing change from the old order of US government, I hope that the UK will be maintaining their “special relationship” with US now that the shrub has been ousted. Who knows, Gordon Brown might even learn something from the new guy.

Watch this, you’ll like it. It gave me goosebumps.

[via: ecorazzi]

Image: heatherkh (taken underwater so is not the sharpest of images.)

Your first response may well be ‘Is that thing REAL?!’ and no one would blame you in the slightest. However, while this luridly multicolored insectoid monstrosity may at first appear to be an elaborately designed model, rest assured that the little fellow is very real - right down to the stylish purple beret.

Image: Bedwetting in Australia

What we have here is a larvae of one of the many varieties of Caddisfly, nearing maturity and readying himself for the plunge from technicolor cocoon into the wide world. Caddisflies are small relatives of moths and butterflies (of the order Trichoptera to be precise) that are generally found near rivers, streams, lakes, springs and other aqueous environments.

Image: Charles Lam

What makes them unique is the fact that the underwater-dwelling larvae of certain species have elevated the common practice of building a protective cocoon into an artform, incorporating pebbles, gravel, sand and other pieces of detritus into their intricate constructions. In the north-western US, where Caddisflies are common, the often brightly coloured cases have earned Caddisfly larvae the nickname ‘periwinkles’.

Which is appropriate as these little fellows are certainly jewels of the insect world. Especially this guy:

Image: Science Punk

Next time you’re out for a country stroll and find yourself digging in a pond, be sure to keep a look out for these colorful critters.

*Painted image on front page by Christine Elder

Sources 1, 2, 3

Image: Everything Is Permuted

Nature is teaming with busy environmentalists, and nowhere more resourcefully so than in the diminutive world of invertebrates. As if their tootsies weren’t small enough, many of these little folks make it their life’s work to reduce their carbon footprints, recycling and reusing whatever is in their field. Without further ado, then, here are the three of the best. But who’ll take top spot?

3. Environmental Designer Extraordinaire: The Orb Web Spider

Image: Michael Hartl

Weaving webs tres magnifique, the female orb web spider is one of natural world’s top designers, but she’s one of its thriftiest recyclers too. She’s known to eat her web at night, before spinning a new one, to recoup some of the energy expended producing silk that’s rich in protein and stronger than steel. What’s more, this economical creative maestro uses her own body as a yardstick to measure her webs, for ergonomic design. An icon in many cultures, the web crawler is also one of the Earth’s premier pest controllers, with flies and mosquitoes as their favourite bites. But don’t be fooled by her feminine charms. The smaller male risks being taken for a snack when he approaches, or similarly recycled once his work done. This spin-ster gains points for both style and execution.

2. Working Class Hero: The Roller Dung Beetle

Image: Rafael Brix

Able to roll whopping great balls of dung past practically any obstacle, the roller dung beetle has a work ethic to make any bug proud. It’s good old hard labour. The dung beetle does the rolling and guards against the theft of his property from rivals while his spouse hitches a ride or follows behind. Like a mini-JCB, the industrious beetle gets rid of huge amounts of animal dung, and plays a vital role in agriculture. By eating and burying dung, he helps with soil structure and nutrient cycling; and people and livestock benefit from reduced numbers of germ-bearing pests like flies. This trooper’s poop-scooping even earned him major status in Ancient Egypt. There, the ‘scarab’ was revered as a sacred symbol tied to the sun god, and his hieroglyph conveyed essential ideas of being and transformation.

1. Underground Mixing Legend: The Earthworm

Image: Yama Hokkaido

Though a shy and retiring hermaphrodite, the earthworm has made a definite noise on the underground eco scene sometimes heard as a gurgling sound as it moves through its mucus-lined tunnels. Organic gardeners and farmers are big fans, and Charles Darwin himself sent shout-outs, “doubt[ing] whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world”. Blind to such praise, this down-to-earth decomposing dude does crucial soil-fertilising work, breaking down organic matter like fallen leaves into rich humus and mixing it up with earth. With burrowing skills you’ve got to dig, the earthworm actively helps to drain and pump air into the soil. And the coiled faecal casts you see marking its turf make minerals and nutrients available to be picked up by neighbourhood plant life.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Click for full view Courtesy: Throbgoblins

You have to hand it to the folks at R&R Partners. They’re the clever advertising agency that made its name luring legions of suckers to Las Vegas with an ad campaign built on the slogan “What happens here, stays here.” But R&R has now topped itself with its current ad campaign pairing two of the least compatible words in the English language: “Clean Coal.”

“Clean” is not a word that normally leaps to mind for a commodity some spoilsports associate with unsafe mines, mountaintop removal, acid rain, black lung, lung …

Googled anything lately? I’m always amazed by how simple and user friendly the Google search engine is. The Google web site is famous for its basic, almost bland interface. After all, you don’t want to be overwhelmed by a lot of fancy buttons that you don’t need. At the very least you want a query box and a search button. O.K. the Google site has a lot more than that, but not so you’d notice if you weren’t looking. So, it’s not surprising that many of us forget that behind that minimalist search …

A new survey by EcoAlign examines consumers and climate change, demonstrating that while consumers understand what climate change is and that it needs to be addressed, consensus breaks down over what to do, how to pay for it and the role of government. With 1000 online interviews, the survey finds that gender, income level, age, education and political affiliation all impact opinions on how to solve the climate crisis.

• 72% of Americans see reducing climate change as important, very important or extremely important, with 50% falling into the latter two categories.
• 41% of Americans are “worried” about climate change, with …

Editor’s Note: From our friends at Greenpeace

After three years of good news, with the annual deforestation rate in decline, the recent increase in prices of agro-commodities - soya and beef - is putting pressure on the Amazon rainforest once again. To make bad news worse, the Brazilian Congress, influenced by the agribusiness and agroenergy sectors, seeks to change the legislation -defined in the Forest Code - to increase from 20% to 50% the area authorized to be clearcut by farmers in the Brazilian Amazon, and allow Legal Reserves (area of forest a farmer needs to keep by law) to be recovered …

Image: jgraham

Mixing a sense of humour with a sense of environmental responsibility, Creative Paper Wales (CPW) has shepherded in the latest in its line of Sheep Poo Paper products, flower-fragranced Poo Pouri Air Freshener. The company claims to make all its handcrafted papers and paper gift items using eco-friendly materials and methods, but Sheep Poo Paper takes the ingenuity biscuit for exploiting the droppings of Wales’ most ubiquitous animal. New Zealand must be kicking itself it didn’t get there first.

Rear-guard action against climate change: Welsh sheep

Image: Vertigogen

Based out of a restored quarry building turned paper mill in the spectacular Snowdonia National Park, CPW got going in 2006 with a little help from a £20,000 Millennium Award for ‘Social Entrepreneurship’. Ever since, it’s been perfecting the craft of making paper from its magic ingredient, collected ’super fresh’ from the surrounding mountainsides.

Something smells good: Poo Pouri Air Freshener

Image: Redcrow at Corvus Chainmaille

With its cool cutesy design, and greetings cards saying everything from I Love Ewe to Birthday Bleatings, CPW clearly benefits from some witty marketing. But the playful image doesn’t detract from the shear goodness of a not-so woolly sustainable solution that goes against the destruction of forests, and masses of non-renewable energy and chemicals required to turn timber into paper pulp. With such careless use of resources not an alternative for a venture keen to stay clean and green, perhaps the future of the papermaking industry rests on the back end of a sheep.

New faeces on the sustainable market: sheep poo

Image: ickyfisher44

CPW’s papermaking process involves first boiling and repeatedly washing the sheep poo, to extract its undigested plant fibres, plus a by-product of liquid fertiliser that’s distributed to local growers. Next it’s paper recycling more as we know it: the fibres are beaten and blended with other recycled materials, like rags and old paper, into a porridgy paper pulp. Traditional sieving techniques are used to form the pulp into sheets, which are then stacked and pressure-pressed to remove water and get the fibre particles to bond. The sheets are hung out to dry, and hey presto, Sheep Poo paper. Baa-dass!

Sources: 1, 2

We all love to smell nice and keep the sweat away and Male Organics sent me some Green People Organic Homme Stay Cool Deodorant to test, part of the same range as the shaving gel I gave to Jez to test.

It’s free from aluminium, parabens, ethyl alcohol and artificial fragrances and full of essential oils to kill the bacteria that cause body odour, floral waters to restrict bacterial growth and herbal extracts to soothe delicate skin. All very nice and as it’s all natural it’s suitable for people who may be prone to eczema and psoriasis.

I don’t usually use roll on deodorants, I’ve mostly been using the pump spray Bionsen deodorant, but I thought I’d give it a go and it’s not as bad as I thought. The deodorant itself smells exactly the same as the shampoo I mentioned which isn’t a good thing for me as I’m not the biggest fan of that smell.

It works okay, but there’s nothing amazing here to be honest, you’ll still sweat. I got better results with Bionsen and the smell was much better although if you apply the Green People roll on more often it works much better.

Green People Organic Homme Stay Cool Deodorant costs £6.99 for 25ml (2.5 fl oz) from Male Organics.

All information is © Life Goggles 2008

Green People Organic Homme Stay Cool Deodorant Eco Product Review