Miners receive twice as much in tax credits as Australia spends on environment

5 reasons to read aloud to your child, today and always

Today is World Read Aloud Day, the best time to start a new family tradition, if you haven't already.

from Latest Items from TreeHugger http://ift.tt/2BKschm
via IFTTT

Suspicions Adani altered lab report while appealing fine for Abbot Point coal spill

Energy guarantee protects coal sector from renewable competition – analysis

Venezuela: can a failing state protect its environment and its people?

Looting in Caracas, Venezuela. Photo by Prensa Presidencial – Government of Venezuela This story is the fourth in a series of Mongabay articles about Venezuela’s Arco Minero, produced in partnership with InfoAmazonia which has launched an in-depth multimedia platform called Digging into the Mining Arc, exclusively highlighting Venezuela’s mining boom. The first three Mongabay stories by Bram Ebus can be found here, here and here. Venezuela, its people and environment, are in terrible trouble. In 2017, its “economic, humanitarian, and political crises continued to deepen. The country is now on the brink of becoming a failed state,” wrote Christopher Sabatini last summer. Sabatini, a lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, offered up a litany of disquieting statistics in Foreign Affairs: “Some 11.4 percent of Venezuela’s children are malnourished and 10.5 percent of its workforce is unemployed. The economy is on track to shrink for the third straight year, with GDP set to drop 20.7 percent below its 2014 level, and inflation expected to reach 1,700 percent.” More recent estimates put the inflation rate for 2017 at 2,300 percent, or even 2,700 percent. In 2018, things have only gotten worse. Drastic food, fuel and medicine shortages are bringing widespread looting. In January, The Guardian reported rioting crowds picking clean an urban grocery store, with the owner lamenting: “It makes you want to cry. I think we are headed for chaos.” More than 100 such episodes were reported over just 11 days in January, with hungry mobs raiding a fishing vessel to steal fish, stoning a cow to…

from Conservation news http://ift.tt/2DScrXo
via IFTTT

Stair of the week stores a ton of art, leads to gorgeous new garret

Artist Ben Pulsford has had a nice place to work for the last twenty years, but needed storage for his art and some additional space. He is not quite the solitary genius starving in a cold garret; Syte Architects slipped a lovely mezzanine in and built a very nice storage stair underneath. The architects describe it:

The new staircase was conceived to be an integral part of the large storage unit and read as one entity. The spacing of staircase treads established a module which formed the rhythm of the whole storage unit. These developed into a series of vertical fins that could be inhabited in various ways for the storage of paintings and materials. Double depth storage is available under the first flight, slimming to a single depth under the upper flight. The entire storage unit is constructed from birch-faced plywood.

© James Morris for Syte Architects via Designboom

The mezzanine has a clever feature that deals with a problem designers often have in attic spaces: how to deal with the space where the roof meets the floor. Often they just put up knee walls; here, the architects have floated the mezzanine away from the walls, either open or with glass to below. It really does, as the architect suggests, "maintain the sense of openness."

© James Morris for Syte Architects via Designboom

It's quite the studio; even with the mezzanine, it is two full flights, 25 risers, from floor to floor. But the new space upstairs looks like it is worth the climb. Lots more photos on Designboom.

© Syte Architects

from Latest Items from TreeHugger http://ift.tt/2nyYoiz
via IFTTT

Hang with Meerkats in the Kalahari Desert | 360 Video

The NATURE miniseries “Animals with Cameras” features camera-wearing meerkats who live in the Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa. Meerkats, members of the mongoose family, live in colonies of 20 or more individuals. Experience what it’s like to be part of the gang in this 360-degree video.

The post Hang with Meerkats in the Kalahari Desert | 360 Video appeared first on Nature.

from Nature http://ift.tt/2EvsWJX
via IFTTT

Social Networks Can Help Fight Social Anxiety

Ever since online social networks were created, people have wondered why they’re popular and how they affect users. Researchers, practitioners, and social commentators have expressed concern that they reduce more meaningful face-to-face interaction, leaving users depressed and lonely. However, new research that I have conducted together with marketing professor Jonah Berger suggests that social networks’ dissimilarities to more traditional communication methods can actually help some people connect better.

Proponents have long touted social networks’ ability to connect distant friends and relatives. When a user posts a tweet or a Facebook status update, it is visible to a group of people, whether that is all of a user’s contacts or some subset, such as fellow alumni of a school or residents of a particular neighborhood.

Our research shows that the quasi-personal nature of these kinds of posts — which are written for people who know the writer and can respond but which at the same time are shared more widely — can make connecting with others less threatening for people who experience social anxiety.

How microblogs can aid communication

People feel a need for social interaction, especially when they feel sad, stressed, or troubled. Connecting with friends or family can help soothe negative feelings. But for some people, reaching out in person can feel daunting. People who are anxious about social interactions might wonder, “What if they don’t want to talk to me?” or “What if I’m bothering them?”

In our research, we found that sharing via tweets or Facebook posts — more broadly called “microblogging” — can alleviate these concerns. This method of communication, unique to social media, allows people to reach out to a large audience without having to direct their message to any one person who might be annoyed or busy. As a result, the person posting may have reduced anxiety about initiating social interaction.

Accordingly, we found that people who felt apprehensive or anxious about social interaction were actually more likely to post or tweet on social media sites. In one experiment, half the participants were asked to write about a time they were at a party and felt anxious about interacting with others. The other half were asked to write about a neutral topic.

We then gave participants the opportunity to use their favorite social network for a few minutes, and afterward, we asked what they did while online. People who had written about their social anxiety were more likely to microblog (tweet or post a status update) than those who had written about a neutral topic.

Diving deeper into the results

Our follow-up studies show that while experiencing social apprehension or anxiety increases microblogging, it decreases face-to-face sharing. Indeed, when we asked people about how they preferred to communicate with others, the ones prone to experience social anxiety were more likely to choose microblogging over reaching out face-to-face.

But microblogging is not the only way social networks let users connect with friends and relatives. Users can also send direct messages, which again do not require in-person interaction. However, unlike microblogs, they are usually directed at an individual rather than a wider friend group. When we explored people’s interest in reaching out via direct message, we learned that experiencing social apprehension does not increase direct messaging and that the effect of social apprehension on sharing was unique to posting status updates or tweeting.

This finding tells us that the undirected nature of microblogs is key for socially anxious people, allowing them a new way to reach out to friends when they might not feel comfortable doing so otherwise.

Sharing via microblogging can increase well-being

Then we wondered: If some people feel more comfortable posting on social networks than they do when directly interacting with friends and family members, might their way of using microblogging be a way to help them feel better? Preliminary evidence from our research suggests that writing to others who might respond — such as posting on online social networks — can help people who are upset feel better.

In a laboratory study, we induced negative emotions by having participants take a brief multiple-choice test and telling them they had not performed very well, regardless of how well they actually performed. Then we split the participants into four groups and asked each to write something. One group was asked to write about office products to serve as a neutral baseline comparison group. Members of the other three groups were asked to write about their emotions: One group’s members were told their writing would be private. One group was told what they wrote would be shared with someone who would not be able to respond. The last group was told their writing would be shared with someone who could respond.

After this writing exercise, we measured each participant’s well-being by asking them about how good, happy, and relaxed they felt. The results showed that writing to someone who might respond helped people heal their negative feelings; members of that group reported greater well-being. This healing did not result from writing in general, writing privately about emotions, or even telling someone else about their feelings.

The potential for someone to respond made people feel better — even if nobody actually did reply. Our research did not identify exactly why the benefit occurred without receiving an actual response, but it could be related to others’ findings that anticipating the potential of something occurring can be particularly appealing.

This highlights the different ways that social networks can offer people unique and valuable communications options that don’t exist offline or in other online environments.

from GOOD http://ift.tt/2nsw2aD
via IFTTT

Grow food in your kitchen with these fun indoor gardening kits

Made by a company called Back to the Roots, you can grow tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, microgreens and more with minimal hassle.

The weather is cold outside, but that shouldn't stop you from gardening. An interesting company called Back to the Roots sells a number of indoor gardening kits that make it very easy to add fresh-grown produce to your diet and a splash of green color to your window or countertop.

There are several options available. The Garden-in-a-Can herb set includes organic seeds for basil, cilantro, mint, and sage, as well as organic soil and a special biochar mix, which "lets you grow from the can without draining. No chemicals, no transplanting, and no messy drainage holes." You can get the herb set in glass Mason jars, if you prefer.

© Back to the Roots

There are a number of self-watering plants, as well. These use a large glass jar, organic soil, biochar, and a miniature clay olla pot, which you only have to fill with water once a week. From the website:

"This porous pot is an adaptation of an ancient technique used by desert farmers for thousands of years which sits inside the planter slowly releases water as the soil dries up for even and consistent watering."

© Back to the Roots -- Closeup of the miniature clay olla pot that self-waters plants

Perhaps most curious is the Water Garden, which offers a closeup view of aquaponics -- particularly great for kids. It features a 3-gallon fish tank, with room for a small fish to live below and a leafy crop of microgreens and wheatgrass to grow on top. It relies on a symbiotic relationship to function, where the fish's waste fertilizes the plants and the plants' roots clean the water.

© Back to the Roots -- The Water Garden, with a betta fish below and wheatgrass and radish microgreens above

All products are designed and manufactured in the United States. There is a 100% satisfaction guarantee and free shipping on orders over $35. More info on website.

Whether you do this at home or in a classroom, it's a great way to keep fresh flavor and nutrition in your diet with minimal effort, and to teach young ones about where food comes from.

from Latest Items from TreeHugger http://ift.tt/2BIM9Fh
via IFTTT

Punxsutawney Phil is correct only 52 percent of the time

Perhaps we should be seeking predictions from an octopus rather than a groundhog.

from Latest Items from TreeHugger http://ift.tt/2DTwvgj
via IFTTT

Are we approaching Peak Oil Demand? Not if the plastics industry can help it

Peak oil used to be about running out of supply; now some think that we will run out of demand. But not if the oil companies can help it.

from Latest Items from TreeHugger http://ift.tt/2nyhk0V
via IFTTT