To start off it is interesting to note is that the word canal was originally used in the fifteenth century to describe a tubular passage for fluids, and is closely tied to the words channel and cane. In case you were wondering, a canal is man made while a channel is natural. Since ships cannot pass through waterfalls such as...
When you see a fungus, most of the time you only see it's genitals. Yes, that's right. The fruiting body, the part of the fungus that produce spores, sprouts up while the rest of the fungus is hidden in a log or underground. A fungi is different from a plant in that it does not photosynthesize. It differs from bacteria...
Bjorn Lomborg leads a team that uses economics to determine the best way to save the planet. He introduces the idea of rank ordering the UN's sustainable development goals using a cost benefit analysis; with every dollar you put in you can do this amount of good, so where do you get the most out of your dollar? Stretching...
Is the universe conscious? We have probably all seen plants grow towards light and know that a seed senses gravitational pull to know which way is up. You may have even have heard that plants like classical music. Botanists, farmers, and greenhouse growers have shown peanuts, rice, tobacco, tomatoes, soy and corn actually growing better when...
Have you ever seen a family of trees? The Secret Wisdom of Nature author Peter Wohlleben brought to my attention the surprising connection between many forest things, most surprisingly that trees appear to have 'families'.
The first person to bike around the world was Thomas Stevens. He cycled all of it on a type of bicycle called the bone shaker. It had a large front wheel, no brakes, and no gears, it cost him over US$2500 in today's dollars. Stevens even decided to undertake the journey before knowing how to ride a bike! His first...
The first concept of what we may call a bicycle was invented in 1817 by Karl von Drais, a German forest official and inventor. Karl von Drais also invented the earliest typewriter, stenograph, meat grinder, a device to record piano music on paper, and possibly more. The two wheeled muscle powered vehicle he invented did not have petals and...