The Best Things Ever of All Time, This Week!

The Best Things Ever of All Time, This Week!

Mice can sing and aquatic plants can purify water, plus our favourite things from this year’s Green Living Show.

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.

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!

BioSCAN researcher discovers 30 new species of fly in Los Angeles in only 3 months. Bonus: The most lurid fly sketch you’ve ever seen.
Source: BioSCAN Buzz \ Found by nik

MICE SING! Researchers discover that all of this time mice have been singing like birds, only we never hear it because it’s in the ultrasonic range.
Source: Washington Post \ Found by nik

Natural elements (plants, natural light) in work environments contribute to 15% higher levels of well-being, 6% more productivity and 15% more creativity! 47% of offices worldwide have no natural light.
Source: Human Spaces \ Found by Laura

 

Things from the Green Living Show!

We attended the Green Living Show last weekend and discovered some exciting vendors and events. Below are our top picks!

Laura: The Nanoleaf light bulb is the most efficient light bulb on the market, is dimmable without a dimmer switch and looks really cool. It’s a bit pricey still, but worth supporting.

Jordan: The ecobee smart thermostat helps to reduce home energy use by letting you schedule and control your heating through your smartphone, and with other tricks like detecting whether anyone is home.

Anne: My favourite thing at GLS was the fantastic selection of local food and drink vendors. I especially enjoyed sampling wine from Southbrook Vineyards, Canada’s first winery certified both organic and biodynamic.

Sam: GOODcoins is an app that encourages “good” behaviour, like reducing your environmental impact. WIth every challenge you complete, you earn GOODcoins that can then be redeemed for offers at David’s Tea or for a S’well water bottle!

Marcia: Hands down the Business Panel that kicked off the GLS. Stewart Elgie was an entertaining and engaging moderator, providing great questions and conversation. The A\J session was wonderfully lively with A\J founder Bob Paehlke and guest editor Catherine Potvin getting cheers of support from the full-capacity audience. A great way to launch the latest issue.

David: ReDeTech is a start-up with the ProtoCycler (to recycle plastics for 3D printing technology).

Fatima: G Adventure. They had a nice categories for their trips based on lifestyle (active, family, traditional, marine, etc).

 

Things from Other Events!

Solar panels generate electricity instantaneously – there’s no warming up. And in 88 minutes, the sun provides the amount of energy we consume globally over four years.
Source: A Divest Waterloo event \ found by Laura

 

Things from Books!

There are three types of killer whales that coexist in British Columbia: resident fish-eating, transient marine mammal-eating and offshore, possible shark specialist, killer whales. They do not associate with each other and they even differ from each other genetically, morphologically, in their vocalizations, social structures and diets.
Source: The Sea Among Us: The Amazing Strait of Georgia by Richard Beamish and Gordon McFarlane \ Found by Samantha

Aquatic plants act as natural filters, and can purify water. For example, cattails can remove lead and nitrates; duckweeds remove bacteria, nitrogen and phosphates; and transgenic strains of sunflowers were developed that could remove up to 95 per cent of toxic contaminants in 24 hours!
Source: Earth Repair – A Grassroots Guide to Healing Toxic and Damaged Landscapes by Leila Darwish \ Found by Laura