The Conservation Report

This interactive graphic from Portfolio.com illustrates what other countries and territories pay per-gallon for gas (as of May - August 2008, depending on the country). According to the numbers, America is still a spoiled country.

Africa 
1. Libya: $0.50
2. Madagascar: $5.97
3. Zambia: $9.88

Asia

4. China: $3.40
5. Hong Kong: $8.05

Europe

6. Italy: $9.09
7. Norway: $9.95

North and Central America

8. Cuba: $3.75
9. Panama: $4.13
10. United States of America: $3.73

Middle East

11. Saudi Arabia: $0.45
12. Turkey: $11.18

South America

13. Bolivia: $1.95
14. Brazil: $6.38

Go here to see what other countries and territories are paying per-gallon for gas.

Some recommended websites:

1. Fuelly.com lets you track and compare your fuel consumption. According to Buzzfeed, “Fuelly lets you see how little changes — like fully inflating your tires — can affect your MPG.”
2. Waterless Car Wash on Buzzfeed: Some waterless options for cleaning your automobile via Buzzfeed.
3. Map | Irreplaceable: Wildlife in a Warming World: Learn how wildlife is affected in your region by global warming.

Get your daily dose of ugly overload at Ugly Overload. It’s a blog that gives “ugly animals their day in the sun”, but the blog avoids the “tragic, diseased, or maimed.” However, you may still chunk your lunch! The animals highlighted over at Ugly Overload aren’t just ugly, but they are fascinating creatures that do not often make the front cover of media news, so if you want to balance your animal news then consider this blog.

One of my favorite recent postings was called “Look into My Eyes.” The post highlighted a parasite from the genus Leucochloridium. The parasite takes over a snail’s eyes but the parasitized mollusks are still mobile. Some parasitic animals have extraordinary life cycles that seem unworldly.

IMAGE of L. macrostomum parasitizing a snail by Ondřej Zicha via BioLib:

IMAGE illustrates the snail Succinea putris being parasitized by L. paradoxum:

Image Found Here
Image Found Here

A great interactive diagram that illustrates how nuclear power plants work can be found here. Copious amounts of water are needed to run nuclear power plants. When heated through nuclear fission, water provides steam to produce electricity. However, water also acts as a coolant within the system. Water is a nuclear power plant’s Achilles’ heel. Droughts in states such as North Carolina are of a great concern, because droughts threaten the shut-down or scaling back of nuclear power plants.

In case you haven’t heard, PostSecret is a blog that posts homemade anonymous postcards containing confessions and secrets. It’s an extraordinary yet simple social experiment and window into private lives.

On the Net: What is the story behind PostSecret?

Ever wonder what would happen if you crossed organisms from the kingdom Animalia with those from the kingdom Plantae? Here is a site I came across while cruising The Daily Dish that illustrates the trick sans the moral side effects associated with genetic engineering. These folks used Photoshop to produce some very fine mashups of animals and fruits. Here are some of my favorites below:

Image Found Here
Image Found Here

On the Net: The Daily Dish

The Computer Science Department at California State University, Bakersfield has an owl cam that records the nesting site of a pair of California Great Horned Owls all year long. Below is a time lapse video from 2007 that is very cool. Go here to see what is currently happening or click either image to watch the owlets as they grow

Simply wonderful and my sentiments exactly! From FUH2 | Fcuk You And Your H2:

Welcome to FUH2.com, home of the official Hummer H2 salute. So…why all the fuss? Well, it breaks down like this:

The H2 is the ultimate poseur vehicle. It has the chassis of a Chevy Tahoe and a body that looks like the original Hummer; i.e. it’s a Chevy Tahoe in disguise.

The H2 is a gas guzzler. Because it has a gross vehicle weight rating over 8500 lbs, the US government does not require it to meet federal fuel efficiency regulations. Hummer isn’t even required to publish its fuel economy (owners indicate that they get around 10 mpg for normal use). So while our brothers and sisters are off in the Middle East risking their lives to secure America’s fossil fuel future, H2 drivers are pissing away our “spoils of victory” during each trip to the grocery store.

The Canary Project is crucial because it brings an anthropogenically influenced Nature to its creators. The images transform climate change data from numbers, statistics and predictions into images that provoke thought. When it comes to developing a plan to fight climate change, I abhor idleness and cynicism but these images scream “do something!”

Visit The Canary Project here or click the image. From Good Magazine via The Huffington Post:

The images resonate on a visceral level, but they’re also ground-ed in the data of climate science–the captions are sprinkled with references to Nature articles and papers from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This is partly a result of their approach: Before traveling to each new location, Morris and Sayler consult with experts at NASA and Harvard who then put them in touch with local scientists. Most of these scientists have years of data on how their particular region is responding to global warming.

Image Found Here

Some activities just seem wrong and do not require an explanation of why it is wrong. Some examples that I can think of include animal abuse, chopping down a gigantic old tree, deforestation of old growth or primary forests, keeping large or very intelligent animals in captivity (some folks might include all animals), puppy mills, whaling and of course mountaintop removal.

What’s your connection to mountaintop removal?

View the memorial in the Google Earth environment

Hat tip to Kevin.

I found this website while surfing the Daily Dish. Indeed, some of the monkey artwork is amazing but primates and young children are limited in their painting skills. There are certain techniques that adult painters can demonstrate, which primates and children normally cannot. Know it and you can score 100% too. Click the image or go here.

A very interesting blog from Gorilla Protection:

From Virunga National Park, ICCN Rangers report on their daily fight to protect the Mountain Gorillas of DR Congo.

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Go here or click the image for the latest information on the North Carolina drought including drought and water restrictions, drought maps, water conservation tips, a detailed look at Triangle-area water restrictions and more!

Find out who and what you are by having your DNA decoded for just under $1000 or you can turn your personal code into stunning artwork. From Wired Magazine:

Reading your genomic profile — learning your predispositions for various diseases, odd traits, and a talent or two — is something like going to a phantasmagorical family reunion. First you’re introduced to the grandfather who died 23 years before you were born, then you move along for a chat with your parents, who are uncharacteristically willing to talk about their health — Dad’s prostate, Mom’s digestive tract. Next, you have the odd experience of getting acquainted with future versions of yourself, 10, 20, and 30 years down the road. Finally, you face the prospect of telling your children — in my case, my 8-month-old son — that he, like me, may face an increased genetic risk for glaucoma.

Image Found Here