Articles by Biodiversivist
My real name is Russ Finley. I also have my own blog called Biodiversivist, which contains articles in addition to those submitted to Grist. I live in Seattle, married with children. Suffice it to say that although I am trained and educated as an engineer, my passion is nature. I very much want my grandchildren to live on a planet where lions, tigers, and bears have not joined the long and growing list of creatures that used to be.
All Articles
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Faux green
I'm not sure I would want to live in a house made out of power-plant fly ash, but hey, any idea in a storm. I attended a catered open house the other night (wine, beer, you name it) sponsored by a manufacturer of construction materials. The original 100 year-old, two-story home had been demolished and sent to a landfill, which meant that the land by itself was worth half a million dollars. The new 4,000 square home is unfinished, having just been framed up, and sits on less than an eighth of an acre. The young owners eventually arrived to partake in the festivities.
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Snake oil
I found this press release from Green Power on the net the other day. Some guy from Germany is trying to sell his system for converting garbage into diesel to small municipalities around the country. I saw a demo on a local news channel a few weeks ago for a community near Seattle. I had to chuckle when I heard that he is hoping to lease land for the facility from a guy whose last name is Turnipseed (seriously). Here's another one released in May of this year:
Spitzauer says that all landfill material and other waste, including liquids can be consumed. Contaminated dirt, rocks, tires, animal carcasses, plant material, batteries, even appliances, will be consumed by the full scale version, thereby eliminating waste and a need for landfills altogether.
Oh brother.
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Good news/bad news
First, the good news:The United States is supporting joint efforts by the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei Darussalam to establish the "Heart of Borneo" conservation plan, an initiative intended to protect biodiversity by preserving 220,000 square kilometers of equatorial rainforest on the island of Borneo...
Now for the punch line:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced July 28 that the U.S. government would donate $100,000 to help advance the project.
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Bad mothers
I ran into this article in Live Science a few weeks ago. Evolution is a high-wire tightrope act. Research has shown that male mantids actively try to avoid being eaten by the female. What were the odds that hypothesis would pan out? However, those that are too successful at avoiding being eaten, are also less successful at mating and are weeded from the gene pool. To make matters worse, the mother-to-be who can successfully eat her mate has a better chance of successfully reproducing because of that one big meal at just the right time. We homo sapiens also walk tightropes, just different ones.
