The veterinary medicinal product that is killing the vultures

The excessive use of the veterinary medicinal product diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory substance used to treat livestock, is killing thousands of vultures worldwide, denounced the ecological community in the international day of the Vulture, which nowadays commemorates.

Initially, this day dedicated to the vultures was only concluded by Birds of Prey Programme, a South African organization and the Hawk Conservancy Trust, of England, who joined and managed to internationalize this day, with the goal of making to get the message across to more people

This year seeks to draw attention to the use of diclofenac, which causes the death of vultures by kidney failure. The use of veterinary diclofenac has caused the disappearance of 99% of vultures in South Asia.

"This phenomenon is spreading across Europe, where there are four species of vultures. In Portugal there are three species, the britango, in danger of extinction, the Black Vulture, critically endangered, and the Griffin, almost threatened. Are species that can be found in remote regions of the interior, along the border, and have an important function in the ecosystems health. These birds scavenge the carcasses of wild animals and domestic, a fast and efficient way, and at zero cost, "explains the SPEA said in a statement.

Recent studies show that the great eagles also suffer from poisoning by diclofenac. Bald eagles were found dead steppe in India with residues of this medicine. These Eagles are of the same genus of the Golden Eagle and the imperial Eagle, two species in danger of extinction in Portugal. Scientists fear that the birds of this genus may be susceptible to this toxic substance, fearing the decline of these species on the continent.

In Spain and in Italy, regarded as important areas for the European population of vultures and eagles, the diclofenac vet is already legally marketed, although there are other alternative products.

Faced with these constraints, BirdLife International and the Vulture Conservation Foundation, in conjunction with national organizations, joined efforts to organize a campaign to ban the use of diclofenac vet in Europe and its replacement by the alternatives that exist.

In Portugal, a coalition of Longer (SPEA, LPN, Quercus, FAPAS, VILLAGE, ATN and CEAI) is working with the authorities of the nature conservation and of the veterinary medicinal product, to prevent the legalization of diclofenac in our country.

The vultures in the world there are 21 species of vultures in the world, five of them can be found on the American continent. Other 16 are distributed across Africa, Europe and Asia. Of the so-called old world vultures, 75% are globally threatened or near threatened. This is expected to increase in the next assessment of the conservation status. The four species of vultures in Europe the britango, which is "in danger", the Black Vulture that is "Almost in danger" and important populations of Griffin and bearded vulture. Three of the four species of vultures have been gradually increasing (except britango), mainly due to intensive conservation efforts financed by European Union projects. Since 1996, the EU and national Governments have invested significant resources in conservation of vultures, having been at least 67 projects related to the conservation of these birds. Between 2008 and 2012, nine projects of conservation of vultures received 10.7 million euros. All conservation efforts will be useless if the use of diclofenac veterinarian become widespread.

What is diclofenac? 

Diclofenac is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine (NSAID) present in many medicines used to take moderate pains. It is extremely toxic to vultures in small doses. Its use in cattle caused the deaths of 99% of the populations of vultures in South Asia in the 90. The vultures that eat cattle treated with a dose of veterinary diclofenac die in less than 2 days.

There are secure alternatives to diclofenac? Yes â€" the alternative medicine insurance, meloxicam, was tested on vultures and other bird species. The patent of meloxicam has more than 10 years, that is, any pharmaceutical company can produce it at relatively low costs.

Fotos: SPEA e Noel Reynolds / Creative Commons

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Unemployed architect renews itself as producer of organic mushrooms (with video)

At the age of 30 years, the unemployed architect Miguel Marquez sought a new direction for his professional life. The answer wasn't far and led him to launch an agricultural business linked to shiitake mushrooms, along with her sister Louise.

The unlikely location to host the project was the old tennis court of his parents ' House in Famalicão. "We did several workshops and have investigated as was the process and what their profitability. [Finally], we thought it was a good idea to create shiitake mushrooms on logs of wood, "said the entrepreneur, now with 32 years, the green economy.

The wood logs are coming from the cleaning of forests. "We have a great deal of concern in the acquisition of wood," explains Miguel mosque which confirms that all production is organic.

The wood must have between 10 to 20 centimetres in diameter, without damage to the bark. If the eucalyptus or oak are in good condition, the process is simple, as you can see in the video below.

Of the 60 tons of wood that Michael and Louise already have, only 20 are producing mushrooms. By the end of the year, the family Mosque want to increase production and achieve the 100 tonnes â€" up to now, the yield is small.

"What we sell is used to pay the expenses of kiln runs, to social security," admitted the entrepreneur. The PRODER support the project in 50% of € 57,000, investment having assigned a prize of € 20,000 to Miguel, for being a young farmer.

The harvest can take between six to eight months, but the work of greater effort will be when the logs need to stand in water. Ten days later, the mushrooms are ready for sale â€" especially on Facebook and small trade of Famalicão. The mushrooms are for sale under the brand Story of a Mushroom.

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Scientists confirm life under Antarctic ice for the first time

Without sunlight and oxygen is practically impossible to most terrestrial organisms survive. However, there are extremely inhospitable places where life can survive, as for example the oceanic trenches where live bacteria.

Scientists have long suspected that life may proliferate in places little conducive, in addition to the oceanic trenches. The latest suspicion is that life may exist under the ice of Antarctica. However, it is no longer a suspect, because a group of Montana State University researchers, the United States, was able to prove the existence of life in this region of the globe.

Just over half A kilometre deep Antarctic ice, scientists have found living microorganisms. Researchers, pierced the West Antarctic ice sheet and found organisms called Archaea. These organisms survive by converting methane into energy, allowing them to live in places where there is no wind or sunlight, such as in the icy depths.

In the past, the scientific community had already identified bacteria in Antarctic ice samples, but there was suspicion that these bacteria there have gone through contamination from the perforations, referred to Inhabitat. But the existence of microorganisms Archea are living proof that life exists beneath the Antarctic ice.

The ice in this region of the planet has common features with other places in the solar system, as the moon Europa, of Jupiter, or the moons Titan and Enceladus, Saturn. The moon Titan is cold but has lakes of liquid methane, which hypothetically might host life. However, space exploration should not reach these sites before 2020 and, as such, will need to wait to confirm the suspicion.

Foto:  Alan R. Light / Creative Commons

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Scientists discover dinosaur of 25 meters and 58 tons in Argentina

Media 25 feet long and eight feet tall, weighed 58 pounds and, despite everything, was still growing. Is this the diagnosis of dinosaur unearthed in the region of Patagonia, Argentina, and it already is considered one of the largest animals that ever lived on Earth. So great that researchers call it Dreadnoughtus â€" named after the invincible battleship of World War I.

According to The New York Times, which advanced the news a few minutes ago, the skeleton now collected in Patagonia is one of the most complete ever found of a large dinosaur. Led by paleontologist Kenneth j. Lacovara, Drexel University, Philadelphia, the United States, the Working Group explained the Scientific Reports that bones are huge.

"I have 16 tons of bone in my lab," said Lacovara, who discovered the fossil in 2005. The excavation of the fossil took four years, having the bones traveled to Philadelphia, by sea, in 2009. It took another four years to assemble the skeleton and study its more than 200 bones, representing 45% of the dinosaur.

The Dreadnoughtus lived there are 84 million and 66 million years ago, forming part of a group of sauropod dinosaurs known as titanosaurs.

Researchers have made testing of all bones and published the 3D models of each, which can help other paleontologists studying the fossil from a distance and even print three-dimensional replicas of the bones.

The full name of the dinosaur is Dreadnoughtus schrani, in honor of the dreadnought, the invincible battleship of World War I, and Adam Schran, an entrepreneur from the technological branch that helped finance the project.

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A tower of Babel in sand built with 3D technology

The Sand Babel â€" or Babel of sand â€" is a skyscraper built with 3D technology from the desert sand and is powered with solar energy. Inspired by the tornadoes and the pedestals found in the desert, the Rocky tower was designed with an underground metro network and combines residential spaces, research laboratories and viewpoints.

This futuristic structure, which would be installed in the desert, is a project of Chinese designers won an honorable mention in 2014 eVolo Skyscraper Competition, refers to the Inhabitat. The idea developed by Chinese designers consists in building a smart grid of skyscrapers by the desert landscape. The towers would be built through a 3D printer powered solar energy, which would use sand to print the various parts of structures.

Each tower would have two main sections. The upper spiral skeleton would be built through the continued transmission of clamping forces, whereas the lower structure would keep the building stable and would strengthen the foundations. The Foundation will act as organic roots and facilitate communication between the various skyscrapers.

The towers were still equipped with a water generation system. The process would happen in mushroom-shaped roof, which would use temperature differences to generate water through condensation.

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Port: start-up of urban ecology wants to take the country's schools gardens

"A garden at my school" is the project that the Noocity urban ecology, a start-up of Porto, wants to implement in the largest possible number of schools in the country. The aim is to lead to efficient gardens schools and easy to install and tighten the relationship of children with nature, "establishing an emotional connection with the natural world that is the urban farmers of tomorrow".

According to Noocity, there are already many schools sensitive to pedagogical gardens, but by limitations of time, space, resources or lack of knowledge not yet deployed its draft horta. This start-up wants to minimise these obstacles and offer more efficient garden solutions and simple to install.

Through the project "a garden at my school", this company portuense 20% discount offers to schools which are interested in acquiring an efficient garden or other products in the amount of € 600. However, the Noocity also has a collective financing platform, where schools who are interested in acquiring a vegetable garden but do not have financial resources may apply for a fundraising campaign towards the community.

Create spaces for healthy cities

The Noocity appeared in 2013 by three friends â€" Joseph redhead, Pedro Monteiro and Samuel Roberts-, who met in Brazil, where they performed experiments on Agriculture and Permaculture.

Already in Portugal, with the objective of developing a garden on the terrace, the three friends created the first prototypes of systems of vertical and horizontal gardens gardens (special bags that allow systems to be cultivated and can be hung anywhere). When they realized that there was nothing similar in the market decided to create his own company.

In addition to the systems of vertical and horizontal gardens, this start-up is still in a prototype phase vermicompostor and a greenhouse. All products sold by Noocity are produced in Portugal.

The Noocity, in addition to the gardens for schools project, is also implementing the "We Grow Our Food Locally," a project that intends to include urban agriculture in the daily processes of hotels and restaurants. The first example is in Caffeine restaurant in Porto, where the Noocity installed a kitchen garden for herbs in the courtyard.

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Green shoe: the new ecological footwear store and vegan in Cascais

The Green Shoe is the latest footwear shop of Cascais, but also the first in the country devoted solely to trade in ecological footwear and vegan, according to the charge, Alexandra Pardal.

This new commercial space arose from the need to respond to the demand for footwear and vegan alternative to animal skin. Thus, sustainability-oriented, the Green Shoe bet on 100% Portuguese shoe marketing and friends of the environment and of animals.

In addition to ecological and vegan footwear, the store still sells accessories that relate to environmental ethics.

However, the Green Shoe went further and, in addition to market sustainable shoes, receives customers in a space decorated with pallets and wooden bobbins that were reused to serve as shelves, counters and exhibitors.

The Green Shoe is located at Travessa dos Navegantes, paragraph 15, in Cascais.

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