Random thoughts

[rbkwp]

The Great Insect Dying: How to save insects and ourselves
BY JEREMY HANCE ON 13 JUNE 2019

The Great Insect Dying: How to save insects and ourselves
- The entomologists interviewed for this Mongabay series agreed on three major causes for the ongoing and escalating collapse of global insect populations: habitat loss (especially due to agribusiness expansion), climate change and pesticide use. Some added a fourth cause: human overpopulation.
- Solutions to these problems exist, most agreed, but political commitment, major institutional funding and a large-scale vision are lacking. To combat habitat loss, researchers urge preservation of biodiversity hotspots such as primary rainforest, regeneration of damaged ecosystems, and nature-friendly agriculture.
- Combatting climate change, scientists agree, requires deep carbon emission cuts along with the establishment of secure, very large conserved areas and corridors encompassing a wide variety of temperate and tropical ecosystems, sometimes designed with preserving specific insect populations in mind.
- Pesticide use solutions include bans of some toxins and pesticide seed coatings, the education of farmers by scientists rather than by pesticide companies, and importantly, a rethinking of agribusiness practices. The Netherlands’ Delta Plan for Biodiversity Recovery includes some of these elements.

Read on »

 

[rbkwp]

drapes, make all yhe difference
no heating required

plus
1 chocolate biscuit required only yahoooo

 

[rbkwp]

family

animals themselves, imagine them..............
NEWS
Botswana mulls lifting big game hunting ban
Botswana is mulling lifting a ban on big game hunting following recommendations from a government committee. The committee said lifting the ban on hunting animals, such as elephants, would "promote conservationism."

Botswana's government is considering lifting a ban on big game hunting, saying it might be necessary to prevent conflict with humans.

Botswana is home to about 130,000 elephants — almost a third of Africa's elephant population — but some lawmakers say the number of elephants in the country is higher than that and causes problems for small-scale farmers.

Read more: The wilderness and the war

A committee set up by President Mokgweetsi Masisi to review the ban his predecessor set said it recommended "a legal framework that will enable the growth of a safari hunting industry and manage the country's elephant population within the historic range" and also called for "regular but limited" elephant culling.

Former President Ian Khama, a keen conservationist, imposed the ban after surveys showed declining wildlife populations in the north.



Watch video01:31
The forest elephants of Central Africa
Parliament to discuss ban

Masisi said he would pass the report on to the parliament before making any decisions.

"If needs be, we will give the opportunity to parliament to also interrogate it," Masisi said.

Read more: Elephant riding is a dark side of tourism

The ruling Botswana Democratic Party has been lobbying to overturn the ban, especially on elephant hunting, saying numbers have become unmanageably large in parts

Animal charity Elephants without Borders said some 90 elephants were slaughtered for their tusks in Botswana in 2018

 

[rbkwp]

NEWS
Researchers call for protection of chimpanzees living in 'forest ghettos'
The DNA of chimpanzees is a 98% match for that of humans, but the animals we share so much with are shrinking in numbers. A group of researchers are demanding that chimpanzees be protected before it is too late.

Urban expansion and hunting have pushed chimpanzees, humanity's closest relative in the animal kingdom, into shrinking pockets of wilderness, researchers said Tuesday following a three-day meeting in the German city of Leipzig.

 

[rbkwp]

6 NEED TO KNOW
Look Closer: A Painting, or Something With a Bit of Buzz?
The lengths, and heights, some will go for a bit of honey are amazing.

 

[rbkwp]

PLANET EARTH IS EVEN MORE BIZARRE THAN YOU THOUGHT

THE PLANET'S CORE CONTAINS A SHOCKING AMOUNT OF GOLD

Read More: Planet Earth is even more bizarre than you thought

 

[rbkwp]

THIS TREE LURES AND KILLS BIRDS FOR ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD REASON

Read More: This tree lures and kills birds for no good reason

THIS IS WHAT EVERYONE GETS WRONG ABOUT RABBITS

Read More: Things about rabbits everyone gets wrong

 

[rbkwp]

A veterinarian explains what dog and cat years really mean

Understanding your pet's real age can be vital to keeping them healthy.

Wait a second: What came before the big bang?

Not everyone thinks the universe had a beginning.

Stephen Hawking on what existed before the big bang

Here's what he told Neil deGrasse Tyson.

 

[rbkwp]

Minnesota Wants to Pay You to Care About Bees

they know

 

[rbkwp]

Primates lose ground to surging commodity production in their habitats

Primates lose ground to surging commodity production in their habitats

 

[rbkwp]

Zebra's Reaction to Two Men Diving to Save Her Confused Newborn Goes Viral
By Haley Turner, April 14, 2019
ADVERTISEMENT

As a whole, we all know that baby animals are born clumsy the minute they are born. Compared to people though, these babies are very adept at walking on their own during the first few hours of being born. This is exactly what happened to a baby zebra that was born at the Valencia Bioparc in Spain. The birth of the baby Zebra was a big event and the staff was filming the moment. What they did not expect was that the baby would stumble and fall into the water! Here are some images captured during the exciting moment.

Special Zoo
The Valencia Bioparc is home to many animals cheerfully living together. The park is found near a river called Túria, which currently houses a lovely botanical garden filled with a diverse collection of animal species.

Zebra's Reaction to Two Men Diving to Save Her Confused Newborn Goes Viral

The zebras share their space amongst other animals such as rhinos and flamingoes.

Here we see one of the zebras preparing to give birth.


Zebra's Reaction to Two Men Diving to Save Her Confused Newborn Goes Viral

 

[rbkwp]

Genetic and digital immortality

Technology may soon grant us immortality, in a sense. Here's how.

Through the Connectome Project we may soon be able to map the pathways of the entire human brain, including memories, and create computer programs that evoke the person the digitization is stemmed from.

We age because errors build up in our cells — mitochondria to be exact. With CRISPR technology we may soon be able to edit out errors that build up as we age, and extend the human lifespan.

 

[rbkwp]

speaking of
plastics,energy,consumner products

how on earth can NZs major supplier for such items offer this at the price of 14 dollars,middle of winter NZ
think of the world b eing saturated with these likely every winter
interesting to hear if similar item/price happens globally

note mods 2SHOP
NOT ADVERTISING,HARDY THINK ANYONES GOING TO BUY ONE
JUST POINTING OUT OUR HUMAN CRAZINESS

 

[rbkwp]

TRAVEL

THE MOST LGBTQ-FRIENDLY CITY IN EVERY RED STATE IN AMERICA

Lively rainbow dots in a sea of red.

 

[rbkwp]

Celebrate National Pollinators Week By Protecting These Endangered Species

Another Reason to Protect Elephants: Frogs Love Their Feet
The Revelator
Jun. 23, 2019 07:00AM ESTANIMALS

Asian elephants in Bandipur National Park, India. Mike Prince / CC BY 2.0

By John R. Platt

Some of the tiniest creatures in Myanmar benefit from living near the largest species in the area.

Newly published research reveals that frogs are laying their eggs in the rain-filled footprints of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), which then provide a safe home for growing tadpoles. The footprints eventually fade away, but they last for a year or more on the forest floor and can serve as important habitats during dry seasons and even as "stepping stones" between frog populations.

Talk about having an environmental footprint.

 

[rbkwp]

These flesh-eating bacteria are finding new beaches to call home

Global warming is expanding the territory of some terrifying microbes.

 

[rbkwp]

How to lucid dream, and why you'd want to



A researcher explains how to control your subconscious.

We finally have footage of a giant squid in U.S. waters

Watch the eerie, beautiful video.

 

[rbkwp]

 

[rbkwp]

definitly a worry,always be a problem
feeding us with unnecessary items grrrrr

DEAS
An appetite for dried seahorse in China could spell the marine animal's demise
The international seahorse trade out of West Africa is booming. The animals are used in dried form in soups, teas and rice wine. But growing demand is putting these little fish at risk of extinction.

Piles of writhing sea life cover a narrow wedge of golden sand at the southern tip of Djiffer, a compact but bustling fishing town on the coast of Senegal.

In the late afternoons, colorfully painted pirogue boats arrive on its shores to add fresh hauls caught in the tropical waters off the surrounding Sine-Saloum region.

Read more: Dead or alive: A Peruvian market where the illegal animal trade thrives

Boisterous crowds of merchants tussle to secure the prime choice of the day: barracuda, stingray, oysters, sea cucumbers, and the revered capitaine fish. The smallest and perhaps most valuable part of the catch, however, is the seahorse.

"Prices for these have gone up very quickly," said Youssef, a local mareyeur whose role traditionally involves acting as a broker between fishermen and buyers.

A buoyant trade

Although, there are no specific estimates for Senegal, the number of seahorses traded in West Africa has risen dramatically over the past few years, reaching about 600,000 animals exported last year, according to the marine conservation charity Project Seahorse.

"There are essentially two avenues for trafficking, both linked to seafood trade with Asia, particularly China," said Andres Cisneros, a researcher who carried out fieldwork in Senegal for the NGO in 2015.

When fisherfolk bring in their catch to shore in the fishing town of Djiffer, there's a jostle for the prime catch

The first, he says, are via industrial bottom trawlers that fish along the seabed and land their catch in the Senegalese capital Dakar. Asian crews started to hold onto their seahorses, with a view to selling them in dried form once at home, said Cisneros.

"Local Senegalese or other West African crew soon started doing this as well, either selling to their crewmates or to buyers [for further transport to China] at the Dakar port," Cisneros told DW.

"Meanwhile, artisanal fishers are fishing [for seahorses] in small boats all throughout West Africa," he added.

 

[rbkwp]

AOA Hybrid - Sunset Boulevard

Tiger Lily - Sweet Surrender

AOA Hybrid - November Rain

Aurelian Trumpet - African Queen

Patio Asiatic - Rio de Janeiro

Oriental Trumpet - Eastern Moon

Oriental - Stargazer

Oriental Trumpet - Mister Pistache

Oriental - Mount Aspiring

Asiatic - Morpho Pink

We LOVE gardening!