Kelp help? How Scotland’s seaweed growers are aiming to revolutionise what we buy | Environment | The Guardian

Kyla Orr and Martin Welch of KelpCrofters check the crop from their boatSource: Kelp help? How Scotland’s seaweed growers are aiming to revolutionise what we buy | Environment | The Guardian

H5N1 Bird Flu Isn’t a Human Pandemic—Yet | Scientific American

One possible scenario for spillover into the population: a raw-milk drinker or a farmworker gets infected with this strain of H5N1 that’s moving among cattle and also gets co-infected with a human-adapted strain of influenza. In such a situation viruses can swap genes in a process called reassortment. A major fear about H5N1 has always been that it might do this. H5N1 has shown it can easily move from one species to another, acquiring new genetic material in the process.

Or someone catches H5N1 from a cow or its raw milk, and—perhaps through an immune deficiency—they develop a long-lasting infection that allows the virus to mutate in their body. “There absolutely is a risk here,” says Richard Webby, an expert in animal and human viruses who works at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

Here’s what it takes for a virus to start a human pandemic: it must acquire the ability to infect people easily; it must then pass easily from person to person; and it must cause significant illness.

“The more it spreads within mammals, that gives it more chances to mutate. As it mutates, as it changes, there is a greater chance it can infect humans. If it gains the ability to spread efficiently from person to person, then it would be hard to stop,” says Nita Madhav, a former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researcher who is now senior director of epidemiology and modeling at Ginkgo Biosecurity.

This can happen fast. “We’ve all seen how a virus can spread around the globe before public health has even had a chance to get its shoes on,” Nirav Shah, principal deputy director at the CDC, said at a Council on Foreign Relations briefing in May. It only took three years for COVID to kill seven million people.

So far, the H5N1 virus has infected three dairy farm workers, according to the CDC. Those are the known cases. The CDC has not even begun to jump through the hoops needed to force inspections and testing—and any such moves would almost certainly result in prolonged legal battles with both the dairy industry and some states.

Source: H5N1 Bird Flu Isn’t a Human Pandemic—Yet | Scientific American

We Are A World of Poetry Memories | From Behind the Pen

Kym Gordon Moore, Poetry, World, People, Puzzle, Enigma

Image Credit: Kym Gordon Moore

We are a world made up of millions of individually diverse puzzle pieces that shape this incredible planet we live in. Together, our languages, cultures, genders, races, creeds, gifts, and talents create a magnificent tapestry of poetic beauty.

This post was originally published on SEPTEMBER 6, 2017.

Source: We Are A World of Poetry Memories | From Behind the Pen

Vantaa, Finland is building a gigantic underground thermal storage system – Darcy Hitchcock

The city of Vantaa will soon be able to heat their buildings with thermal energy made from excess renewable energy. The heat, enough to serve the city for a year, will be stored underground in a huge cavern.

Source: Vantaa, Finland is building a gigantic underground thermal storage system – Darcy Hitchcock

For A Good Reason|احتمالاخیربوده – A Voice from Iran

Once upon a time;

a king had a loyal minister. The minister had a special saying; “It was for a good reason.”

He used this saying on any matter or occasion.

One day the king and his minister were exploring the mountains.

And suddenly, the king’s hand got stuck in a stony place. They tried very hard to release the king’s hand, but unfortunately, the king lost one finger.

The minister said: “It was probably for a good reason.”

The king was in pain and got very angry about the minister’s stupid comment and ordered his soldiers to put the minister in a dungeon…

Source: For A Good Reason|احتمالاخیربوده – A Voice from Iran

Destructive thoughts – Silent Songs of Sonsnow

“Destructive thoughts and emotions undermine the very causes of peace and happiness. If you think clearly about it, it makes no sense to think you’re seeking happiness, if you do nothing to restrain angry, spiteful, and malicious thoughts and emotions.”

His Holiness the great 14th Dalai Lama

Source: Destructive thoughts – Silent Songs of Sonsnow

We love this! Great way to educate children about the Amazon Rainforest and the Yanomami culture! – « Amazon Rainforest Magic The adventures of Namowë, a Yanomami boy » and « Amazon Rainforest Magic The adventures of Meromi, a Yanomami girl » – For ages 8 to 12 to 100!  – written and illustrated by Barbara Crane Navarro | Barbara Crane Navarro

« Barbara’s books are well worth the time for you and your children. Amazonian life, for Indigenous communities and wildlife, is at a precipice. Perhaps learning more, and supporting their existence, may change the tide. »

review by Sonia, Marco and the Embajadores del Orinoco team (Independent civic movement that brings together Associations defending the Venezuelan Amazon area and its Indigenous populations) and Coral Modaffari

Source: We love this! Great way to educate children about the Amazon Rainforest and the Yanomami culture! – « Amazon Rainforest Magic The adventures of Namowë, a Yanomami boy » and « Amazon Rainforest Magic The adventures of Meromi, a Yanomami girl » – For ages 8 to 12 to 100!  – written and illustrated by Barbara Crane Navarro | Barbara Crane Navarro