Garlic more than just delicious?

Garlic could very well be gaining popularity, and not just because Italian food is delicious. A new study shows that a compound in garlic could be up to 100 times more effective than common antibiotics against bacteria that cause most intestinal illness. This research could very well revolutionize the sanitation industry for the better, as nature shows us yet again that biodiversity allows us to solve even our cultures problems with less embodied energy, thus cheaper more effective societal implementation.

Pesticides cause birth defects.. shocking? I think not

Pesticides being harmful to life is hardly a shocking realization, after all that's what they were designed to do. Yet more research has concluded that children whose mothers are exposed to common pesticides while pregnant develop brain abnormalities directly correlating to the amount of prenatal exposure. It seems quite strange to me that after all the information that has come to light of the dangers to ecosystem health, biodiversity, and human health that using organophosphate pesticides is still as wide spread. If people refuse to demand a change to "business as usual" because of ecological ignorance , then hopefully the fact that unborn children are being mutated by corporate pest control will cause a outcry.
http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120501/9728/pesticide-insecticide-cpf-chlorpyrifos-agriculture-epa.htm

A new study finds that females sexual selection is driving male evolution rapidly in characteristics like social skills, and attractiveness. I find it quite interesting when science delves into the central areas of day to day life in human society, this study was truly fascinating. European researchers found that because men have a longer period of sexual productivity, they sight attractiveness as a likely factor in determining which males go on to produce offspring with multiple females. Males with one female partner produced on average 5 children, while men with four female partners produced on average 7.5. So while being an 'unattractive man' (not sure what you ladies find attractive) doesn't mean you wont contribute towards our species evolution and gene pool in the future; it does mean your offspring will be more likely to reproduce with the offspring of 'attractive man' (whatever that may be).
On the flip side, females invest more energy into reproduction than men, adding also that their reproductive time is shorter, the fact that a male already has offspring is less of a consideration for sexual attractiveness. Looking at all these things combined paints a clear picture of how females are driving males rapidly (on an evolutionary scale) to become more attractive.

If you find all of this hard to believe, check this out.. HIS name is Andrej Pejic. Quite a clever push-up bra add in my opinion since Mr. Pejic is a skinny man, clearly it works.

Thinking about all of this in terms of Ishmael haha.. kind of a stretch.. but it does make me more aware of the loss of bio-diversity among our own species. If characteristics such as attractiveness are playing huge role in the physical evolution, how did events like the Great Death influence our species as a whole.

This study is interesting mainly because it shows the connection between things that we attribute to our 'humanity' or society, and biological theories. I think this type of thinking is extremely important to understand where we are as a society, and where we need to be. It shows we have a lot to learn about even things that we spend nearly our whole lives thinking about.

How birds navigate

Scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding how birds can travel around the world and always find their way back to a incredibly small mating ground. It turns out that specialized cells on the birds beak, nose, and ears, these cells feed into the neural net and help the bird create its natural gps. The birds are so specialized that their individual receptor cells are able to measure and report back magnetic field direction, intensity and polarity.

Breast Milk

Found a new study discussing the benefits of breast feeding, it seemed relevant since we were discussing this topic the other day. Science is the greatest tool of our culture, and like any tool; sometimes it breaks. For a small period of time, Science didn't investigate breast milk versus formula until recently. While there is certainly a market for formula (sometimes mothers aren't around, or just inconvenient), but recent scientific evidence that breast feeding is reversing the trend that had been progressing for a few decades where formula is main choice  of mothers.
This article shows that the microbial community that help mammals digest food in their intestines, is largely passed down through breast milk to the infant. There are more microbes in each human gut than there are humans on earth, and recent studies are showing that gene expression changes when not exposed to the genetic variation of microbes that infants are exposed to through breast milk.

I ran across this ted talk and the speaker Michael Pawlyn embodied what I think environmental/sustainability progress should be. The tone of Pawlyn's talk was much more uplifting than the average eco-friendly speaker. He certainly didn't skirt the negative aspects of our culture, Pawlyn focuses on the fact that processes that cause environmental degradation are the result of not having a closed system. By adding steps that help the environmental deal with our footprint, we can gain value from our endeavors and actually add value to the environment.
“You could look at nature as being like a catalog of products, and all of those have benefited from a 3.8-billion-year research and development period.”
While all of this sounds quite lovely, does it work? Pawlyn backs up his optimistic tone quite nicely. One of his projects is a huge greenhouse that is built over a functioning mine, to turn an otherwise toxic environment into a lush garden, helping the natural system recover while our society still gets the use of metals. For the project they  modeled the layout on soap bubbles, because of their ability to maintain structural integrity over moving landscapes. Instead of glass they used 3 sheets of plastic that were sealed and inflated so they pressurize. The weight of the dome weighed less than the air inside it. The design of the panels was inspired by polin grains and carbon molecules, using hexagons. The Eden Project is the only World Heritage Cite designed by a living architect. In the first 3 years of operation it created .5 billion pounds for the local Cornwall (UK) economy.

Our modern culture is so prevalent that I am almost shocked everytime a story appears that reminds me that a fraction of a percent of the world is still living a different existence. From the time before Cain and Abel our culture has had a particular stance towards others, Darth Vader sums it up rather eloquently, “He will join us or die, my master.”. The overall expansion into native populations has become less violent over time; the Alaska Natives have had a slightly easier go of it compared with the plains tribes of the lower 48.
However Alaska’s policies still encompass the original mentality, forming corporations entails a certain level of integration into our culture.
I read an article about a single surviving member of a tribe in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil. He’s been living in isolation for over a decade and has heavily resisted any contact (Putting an arrow through a mans chest).

Recent legislations have made development of native lands illegal in Brazil, so the loggers have resulted to running people out or killing them. The tribe of this individual is thought to have been killed in this way.

It saddens me to think that the expansion of our culture referenced by Ishmael is still very much working today. Even when a government is able to see coexistence, our culture still demands absolute domination.