The Best Things Ever of All Time, This Week!

Each week, A\J staffers will be sharing our favourite facts & findings from whatever books, articles, documentaries, podcasts and other media we've been consuming. Here’s what we’ve learned this week.

Things from the Internet!

A proposed bike super-highway in London would connect 221 km of elevated bike paths and accommodate 12,000 cyclists every hour.
Source: CNN.com \ Found by David

Biologists had never seen a grey whale outside of the Pacific – until they did. And it may hint at the new normal: grey whales could very possibly move into the Atlantic through a path we opened up for them through the Arctic.
Source: National Geographic \ Found by Jordan

There is a vertical forest in Turin, Italy that protects residents from air and noise pollution.
Source: Colossal \ Found by Laura

For the first time in a century, one of the Galapagos Islands hosts its first baby tortoises.
Source: Nature magazine \ Found by Samantha

Previously, it was thought that overgrazing from livestock was the main culprit of desertification. Ecologist Allan Savory found that livestock in fact help to biologically decay grass before the next growing season, and before it can start oxidation – a very slow process that kills the grasses. This ultimately leads to bare soil and a release of carbon into the atmosphere. The solution? Use livestock “as a proxy for former herds and predators” to mimic nature.
Source: "How to Fight Desertification and Reverse Climate Change" Ted Talk \ Found by nik

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has live webcams on some of their tanks, including jellyfish and sea otters!
Source: Monterey Bay Aquarium \ Found by Samantha
 

Things from Emails!

Sunday, March 22nd is World Water Day! You could visit Sevenly, an online store that donates $7 for every item purchased to the charity of the week – Water.org is this week’s charity.
Source: WaterDay.org \ Found by Samantha

China’s Fourth National Giant Panda Survey found that there has been a 18.6 per cent rise in panda populations since ten years ago.
Source: WWF.ca \ Found by Samantha
 

Things from Outside!

Owls nest over winter and can see voles tunneling under the snow.
Source: A guided hike at rare Charitable Research Reserve \ Found by Laura
 

Map of the Week!

Newly released NOAA map of temperature deviations from average show it was the warmest winter on record... pretty much everywhere except Canada. 
Source: NOAA \ Found by nik
 

Most Best Thing of the Week

In June 2009, Alternatives Inc. received an award from the Government of Canada thanking us for "creating hope and faith in the hearts of people" and being "a true hero." 

My, how times have changed.
Found in our archives