Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Latvian cyclists show the space that bikes can save on the road

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To celebrate the World Day Without Cars last month, a group of Latvian organisation cyclists Let's Bike It disguised their car bikes and took to the streets of Riga. The aim was to show to the users of the rent the space their vehicles occupy on the public highway.

For such structures were built, with colored materials, which were attached to bicycles, transforming them in a vehicle about the size of a normal car, showing drivers how absurd is a single person use road space to move.

Bicycles reduce traffic congestion by reducing the space occupied on public roads but also are environmentally friendly because it does not emit greenhouse gases nor produce noise pollution. Besides, they are a form of physical exercise.

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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Old mills of Graciosa Island are used for rural tourism (with video)

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In Graciosa, Azores, there are dozens of mills, remnants of the period in which there was a strong agricultural production on the island. Over the years, agriculture was losing power and windmills were left abandoned.

In recent years, there have been some recovery projects of these ancient spaces for rural tourism. The stone mill â€" built in the 1940, like most of the mills on the island â€" is one of the ten buildings were reused.

The space was acquired in 2002 by João Luís Silva, a native of Graciosa. For John, this stone mill is the realization of a project conceived long ago. "I've always liked mills and rustic stuff. A few years ago to work for this mill, "said João Luís Silva to the green economy.

After the purchase, the area went through a period of restoration, where it managed to preserve many of the artifacts that were inside the building at the time of purchase. Were restored utensils and built some pieces of furniture according to the lines of space decoration.

Currently, there are just over 4,000 inhabitants on the island of Graciosa, and 80% of the mill occupation of João Luís Silva is foreign.

For now, the stone mill is a supplementary source of income for João Luís Silva, who is a civil servant. However, in the near future, this Azorean hopes to leave the job to dedicate himself full-time to the project of rural tourism.

Meet the space in episode 317 of the green economy.



Photo: Paulo Vítor Martins/Creative Commons

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Switzerland: reserve surplus animals serves local restaurant

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The animals in the Langenberg Wildlife Park, near Zurich, aren't just for views. An investigation revealed that the animals are to serve another purpose â€" are being served on plates in the restaurant of the Park to visitors.

The press Switzerland writes that employees of the recently admitted killing dozens of animals "more" â€" including deer and wild boars â€" to be served in the restaurant, as well as for sale for consumption. "Every year, hundreds of piglets and calves are born. For lack of space, are slaughtered and end up on the plate of the visitors, "says Park spokesman, Martin Kilchenmann, cites the Dodo.

According to the news website Der Landbote, park staff killed and cooked approximately 59 calves and piglets in 2012. Although the origin of the meat served at the restaurant of the Park is indicated in the menu, the information is written in small letters, by that most visitors never see.

The animal reserve spokesman defends the practice as a way to show visitors the "natural cycle". In turn, the animal rights organisations claim that the Park while allowing the deer and boars are reproducing in excess-and serve this "excess" visitors â€" is an attitude "reprehensible".

This case is not unique, since many zoos do not control playback of your animals, which ultimately create an amount of animals that can't handle spaces. The solution is to cull these animals, even if they're perfectly healthy.

Photo: Frank l./Creative Commons

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The Greenland ice sheet is less stable than thought

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Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a new model that shows that, despite his apparent stability, the massive ice sheet that covers most of Greenland is more sensitive to climate change than estimated earlier studies. If it is true, it could speed up sea level rise, which threatens coastal communities around the world.

In addition to assessing the increasing levels of water created by melting and dumped in the ocean with the heating, the model takes into account also the role that soft and spongy ground beneath the ice layer holds in changing their dynamics.

According to the study, which was published yesterday in Nature, the Greenland ice sheet is the second largest in the world and covers 1.7 million square miles, containing enough ice to raise sea levels by more than seven metres if all melt.

Currently, only with surface melting, the ice loss takes place at an annual rate of 200 gigatons, equivalent to a rise of 0.6 mm annually. Globally, the level rises to 3 mm per year, today's data.

"Be due to seasonal change or climate warming, the layer does not melt like an ice cube," said Marion Bougamont, Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, to Red Orbit. "Instead, there are two sources of loss of ice melt on the surface ice flow himself, and there is a link between these two mechanisms we don't understand fully and that is not taken into account in default templates."

See what the world's most vulnerable cities and its gallery.

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Foto: Christine Zenino / Creative Commons

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Monday, October 20, 2014

8 of the smallest villages of Portugal

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Are small, almost sensitive, but have an incredible beauty that saves on time and fills them with tourists from time to time. We're talking about some of the smallest villages of Portugal, who were identified in 2012 by Top blog now Rural recovered for you, dear readers.

Explains the blog that these seven locations give us a chance to shut down the city everyday. See if you know any of these villages and also read a brief summary of each.

1. Village of Shame â€" 6 km

Located 325 kilometres from Lisbon and 20 kilometers of São Pedro do Sul, the village of pen is the typical village of shale. Is considered a compulsory passage point for those who love nature due to its location â€" bottom of a valley in the hills of St. Macarius â€" and has only 10 houses and six inhabitants.

Pitchers - 4 people 2.Aldeia

This village, located in Vila Pouca de Aguiar, Trás-os-Montes, counted in 2012 with only four people â€" two elderly couples. It is the second least populated village of all seven we give to know and, among other things, has a magnificent 12-kilometre pedestrian pathway, which stretches over endless landscapes.

3. new village-33 km

With a conventional name and located in the municipality of Almeida in Freixo da Serra, the new village has 33 km â€" almost 75% than in 1900. So, the main production of this village was rye, but the inhabitants were "fleeing" to France as times get harder.

4.Goujoim - 58 people

With only 58 inhabitants, Goujoim is now considered a "Village Museum", for being one of the oldest in Portugal. Located in the municipality of Armamar, district of Viseu. His name should derive from the name Aben or Uvim, and changed throughout history: from Gomjoym to Gojoim and Gojim, until you reach the current designation. In Goujoim lived in the production of olive oil, wine and wheat, rye, and many of these traditions can still be observed.

5.Asnela - 10 inhabitants

For 50 years, the village of Asnela had 250 people, but there is currently no more than ten. One of the attractions of this village transmontada are the granite houses. Known for the self-sufficiency of its inhabitants, who sow potatoes, beans, onions and create animals, Asnela remains separated from the 21st century â€" no bakeries or cafes nearby.

6.Monte high - 70 inhabitants

The village of Monte Alto is the exception that proves the rule of abandonment of these locales, all over Portugal. In 1993, the village possessed 11 inhabitants. Today, she's 70, due to the construction of the social centre of Monte Alto, which reversed the trend of desertification. Located in Mértola, near the border with Spain, the village has cottages for rent, which also contributes to the local economy.

7.Cortecega - 11 inhabitants

The village of Cortecega, near de GOIs, has so much online presence and even videos on YouTube that would be far to guess who has just â€" or had, in 2012-11 inhabitants. This traditional village, like many across the country, is near extinction.

8.Adagoi - 0 inhabitants

Until recently, Adagoi had an inhabitant, which eventually moved to the nearby village to combat loneliness. With plenty of rural accommodation in the vicinity, this village in the municipality of Valpaços, Trás-os-Montes, is a good opportunity for anyone who wants to meet a secular location which is abandoned. Or for those who want to buy and retrieve.

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Street performer joins PETA to remember the suffering animals

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The New York street artist Dan Witz, a specialist in urban architecture, is putting pieces of bodies of chickens and chickens throughout Greater London. The project is being developed in partnership with the Organization PETA pró-animal and is related to a program against the slaughter of animals, which has the catchy name "Empty the Cages" ["Empty cages" in Portuguese].

"The reputed street performer Dan Witz has created these pieces to connect us to the millions of animals who suffer and die every year to transform into food," explained to PETA.

The project "Empty the Cages" intends to relocate these animals in the eyes of the public and remind Londoners what happens every day in farms and slaughterhouses. "We also want to remind you that your fate is in our hands and we have the power to save them, to choose not to consume their flesh," continued the PETA.

See some of the pieces of Witz and map of their locations. Also record the recent appeal of Morrissey, in its passage through the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon.

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Sunday, October 19, 2014

Dog saves cat through rare blood transfusion between species

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Buttercup, an Orange Cat, arrived last month at Marathon Veterinary Hospital in Florida, between life and death. Blood tests determined that the red blood cell count was too low and the feline would be unlikely to survive without an immediate blood transfusion.

The only problem is that the cat had blood type B, while most cats in the United States have type A blood. "it's pretty hard to get blood type B," said vet of Buttercup, Sean Perry, the Dodo. "Sometimes it is cats with type B blood but the problem is that if we have blood type B to a cat with blood type A, the result is an anaphylactic reaction and death in a few minutes," he explains.

So, with the hope of saving the cat, the vet performed a transfusion with blood from another species â€" with the blood of a donor dog. The blood belonged to a greyhound that was donated to a local blood bank to animals.

"In these cases it is safer to give dog blood of the same type than give different type cat blood. The dog's blood allows the cat to survive some time until you can get suitable blood or the body of the animal start to function normally, "says the vet.

Perry indicates that it is not certain what caused the decrease of red blood cells in Buttercup, but since receiving the transfusion, erythrocytes cat levels returned to normal and the animal is recovering well. The veterinarian indicates that the cat had luck in the transfusion have resulted because the blood exchange between species is effective only once. To receive dog's blood, the Buttercup body created antibodies and if ever receive canine blood your immune system will attack the blood.

Although work only once, the blood transfusion between species does any side effects to the animal receives the blood. Cases like that of Buttercup are the example that like humans, animals must also donate blood whenever possible.

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