Solar panels could increase productivity on pastures that are not irrigated and even water-stressed, a new study finds. The new study published in PLOS One by researchers at Oregon State College finds that grasses and plants flourish in the shade underneath solar panels because of a significant change in moisture. The results bolster the argument for agrovoltaics, the concept of using the same area of land for solar arrays and farming. The idea is to grow food and produce clean energy at the same time.
I… I spend a lot of time talking to my husband about climate change.
Politics being what it is, I feel like societal change is where I can find hope. And hey, if we all start making choices based on preparing for an oil-free world, we can actually make oil obsolete!
[On AO3]
hey if you’re in the U.S. and use food stamps or know somebody who does i found this online cookbook that has recipes for eating well on approximately $4/day :o)
what if we did large-scale mutual aid. like what if everyone in a community contributed, idk, like, a percentage of their annual income into some kind of a mutual aid fund. they could appoint community leaders to allocate funding for community needs like health and other social services, rental aid, transportation to get to work and other places, maybe even for building community spaces that would be free to use. has anyone thought of this
TIL the “fresh is best” culture led consumers to wrongly see frozen produce as lower quality. It turns out frozen fruit & veg are equally nutritious. The freezing process slows nutrient loss which occurs after harvesting. Researchers found no real nutritional differences overall.
via reddit.com
“A global climate strike is under way, with millions of people protesting for “an end to the age of fossil fuels and climate justice for everyone”.”
i learned that Binghamton University researchers have been working on a self-healing concrete that uses a specific type of fungi as a healing agent. When the fungus is mixed with concrete, it lies dormant until cracks appear, when spores germinate, grow and precipitate calcium carbonate to heal the cracks (x)
sustainability as a concept done on an individual basis shouldn’t be framed as planet saving because it’s. not. you can’t save the earth by planting your own tomatoes, because the destruction of the earth is due to corporations
what you CAN do is use individual sustainability to gain a level of independence from capitalism for yourself and for your community through things like sharing grown food
There’s not many essays and findings in academia that are given away to anyone without special access, so since I just got a 100 on my Environmental Ethics Reflection Essay, I’m posting it here for solarpunks it might benefit to think about these ethics considerations. (hit read more for essay)
Keep reading
Our two long-running missions, Cassini and the Hubble Space Telescope, are providing new details about “ocean worlds,” specifically the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
The details – discussed during our April 13 science briefing – included the announcement by the Cassini mission team that a key ingredient for life has been found in the ocean on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
Meanwhile, in 2016 Hubble spotted a likely plume erupting from Jupiter’s moon Europa at the same location as one in 2014, reenforcing the notion of liquid water erupting from the moon.
These observations are laying the groundwork for our Europa Clipper mission, planned for launch in the 2020s.
Shane Kimbrough and his Russian colleagues returned home safely after spending 173 days in space during his mission to the International Space Station.
Meanwhile, astronaut Peggy Whitson assumed command of the orbital platform and she and her crew await the next occupants of the station, which is slated to launch April 20.
We’ve announced the preliminary winner of the 2017 Student Launch Initiative that took place near our Marshall Space Fight Center, The final selection will be announced in May. The students showcased advanced aerospace and engineering skills by launching their respective model rockets to an altitude of one mile, deploying an automated parachute and safely landing them for re-use.
On April 11, a ground-breaking ceremony took place at our Langley Research Center for the new Systems Measurement Laboratory. The 175,000 square-foot facility will be a world class lab for the research and development of new measurement concepts, technologies and systems that will enable the to meet its missions in space explorations, science and aeronautics.
Space fans celebrated Yuri’s Night on April 12 at the Air and Space Museum and around the world. On April 12, 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagrin became the first person to orbit the Earth.
On April 12, 1981, John Young and Bob Crippin launched aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-1 a two-day mission, the first of the Shuttle Program’s 30-year history.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
um guys?
canada is currently considering banning imidacloprid, which is apparently “one of the most widely used bee-killing pesticides in the world”. this seems pretty huge, so if you’ve got two seconds, add your name to the list! as of posting this link, they need just over 8,000 more signatures by february 21!