Mt Hood Wild Flowers

Last weekend, I went ziplining for the first time in my life. I went tree to tree, climbed over obstacles, and balanced passed elements. If you’ve never done this, you have to try it out if you are at all interested in adventurous activities.

Elevated Bicycle Skyway

So this talk by Neri Oxman  is amazing. The future of design honestly needs to rely on ideas that are innovative, effective, waste diverting and still look interesting. It truly isn’t enough to just create a product for the  appearance . Sustainability must be considered. And maybe being carbon neutral or minimal impact isn’t enough. What can your product do to then HELP the earth in return?

Highlights:

Using chitin to create structures. Diverting potential waste (e.g. crab and shrimp shells) - and using them to create structures that also have bacteria that breaks down carbon dioxide and turn them into sugar. Only issue that she alludes to but doesn’t elaborate on is the water usage.

3D printing is clearly the future

The silk worm experiment. If thousands (probably more) of silk worms don’t need to be boiled in their cocoons & killed each year - wouldn’t that be so much more money effective but also more humane??

Biomimicry and looking back on nature and traditional practices needs to happen more regularly 

Tag-A-Giant

Here, a team of scientists and fishermen work together to tag an 800+ pound Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), one of the most powerful apex predators in the sea. 

These folks are members of Tag-A-Giant (TAG), an organization that evolved from the Tag-A-Giant research program at Stanford University. Their mission is to help sustainably manage populations of bluefin tuna with scientific research and data-gathering.

Data-gathering is done through electronic tags surgically implanted into the tuna. The tags continuously record data on depth,location,surrounding water temperature, and the tuna’s internal body temperature, allowing researchers to study the movement and habits of this amazing fish.

The data stored in the tags is collected depending on the type of tag used. Pop-up satellite tags automatically detach themselves from the tuna after a certain amount of time, then float to the surface and transmit the data to a satellite.  

Archival tags, on the other hand, are only obtained if the fish is caught—usually by commercial fishermen. As incentive, TAG gives out a $1,000 reward for the return of their archival tags. 

…for science! (and sustainable fishing!)

*note: Pop-up tags also fetch a nice $500 reward if found, and can wind up washed up on beaches. Vacationers, keep an eye out!

Photos:TAG Blog

References:TAG

                     Blocket al. 2005.      

                     Blocket al.1998