All posts tagged: plants

From LED bulbs to living plants: German theatre tackles climate crisis on and off stage | Germany

From LED bulbs to living plants: German theatre tackles climate crisis on and off stage | Germany

Published by skeptic

A handful of Spanish conquistadors fight through thick undergrowth to emerge in the ivy-clad ruins of a fallen civilisation during a rehearsal of Austrian playwright Thomas Köck’s Your Palaces Are Empty. Premiered last month at the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam, south-west of Berlin, the bleak and unforgiving drama probes the wounds of a shattered capitalist world that has exploited its people and the planet’s resources. But it is not just the dystopian play that is embracing the subject of the climate crisis. The production itself has been declared climate neutral under a €3m pilot project launched by Germany’s federal ministry of culture. The project, called Zero, is sponsoring the Potsdam theatre and 25 other cultural institutions across Germany, from dance companies to libraries and museums, to completely restructure their creative modus operandi. “It leads to restrictions,” says the director, Moritz Peters, crouching on a wooden stool on stage as he takes a break from rehearsals. “But it also forces greater creativity.” The theatre’s climate impact report found wood made up half of the 41 …

Azeem Rafiq talks racism, cricket, and leaving Britain; Philippa Perry offers advice on a painful crush; why Rory Stewart quit politics; and the big British bamboo crisis – podcast | Life and style

Azeem Rafiq talks racism, cricket, and leaving Britain; Philippa Perry offers advice on a painful crush; why Rory Stewart quit politics; and the big British bamboo crisis – podcast | Life and style

Published by skeptic

The former cricketer discusses the ramifications of his decision to speak out about racism at Yorkshire; a reader has developed an intense crush on an unavailable work colleague; Boris Johnson and Brexit weren’t the only reasons Rory Stewart left politics; and Simon Usborne on the destructive impact of bamboo How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know Source link

If We Doubt That Plants Have Minds, Are We “Soul-Blind”?

If We Doubt That Plants Have Minds, Are We “Soul-Blind”?

Published by skeptic

If you haven’t been following the slow growth of acceptance of panpsychism (everything is conscious) in the sciences, you might be surprised to learn that the idea that plants have minds is a serious — though currently contested — claim in biology: In a 2021 article in the journal Protoplasma, critics called it ‘regrettable’ that ‘claims [by scientists] that plants have conscious experiences’ are ‘finding their way into respectable scientific journals – even top-tier journals’, which might ‘generate mistaken ideas about the plant sciences in young, aspiring plant biologists’. These claims are ‘misleading and have the potential to misdirect funding and governmental policy decisions.’ One wonders what harm they think granting plants minds might cause – and if it is somehow more severe than the reverse. Rachael Petersen, “Do plants have minds?,” Aeon, June 11, 2024 The author of the essay at Aeon, Rachael Petersen, leads the Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard. As it happens, some scientists seem to push the boundaries on fungi intelligence too. What …

The big British bamboo crisis: ‘It invaded my beautiful home’ | Plants

The big British bamboo crisis: ‘It invaded my beautiful home’ | Plants

Published by skeptic

Isobel Chetwood moved to her dream home on her birthday just over a decade ago. As she wound up a 40-year career in the NHS as a GP practice manager in Stockport, Greater Manchester, she was keen to return to her roots in Cheshire. She settled in a comfortable house in the quiet village of Plumley. Chetwood, 68, lives alone. When she moved in, she found a gardener (“I don’t do dirt down me fingernails,” she says, laughing). He made her a raised bed for growing strawberries, alongside a fence that divided her garden from her neighbour’s. “It was beautiful out there,” she says. All was well until – a little over two years ago – alien shoots began rising like spears from the soil around her strawberry plants, having somehow found a way through the heavy railway sleepers and bricks used to build the bed. The new plants grew incredibly quickly – and multiplied. Chetwood identified them as bamboo. She suspected they had spread from a plant that the previous tenants in the rented …

Botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer: ‘The clock is ticking but the world will teach us what we need to do’ – podcast | Science

Botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer: ‘The clock is ticking but the world will teach us what we need to do’ – podcast | Science

Published by skeptic

For a long time, western science and Indigenous knowledge have been seen as distinct ways of learning about the world. But as we plunge the planet deeper into environmental crises, it is becoming clear that it is time to pay attention to both. Bridging that gap has been the driving force behind the career of the botanist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer. She tells Madeleine Finlay what we can learn from the most ancient plants on Earth, why we need to cultivate gratitude for the natural world and what western science can learn from Indigenous knowledge How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know Source link

Citizen activists take on ‘destructive’ solar power plants in France’s Provence region

Citizen activists take on ‘destructive’ solar power plants in France’s Provence region

Published by Sam

Citizen activists in southeastern France’s Alpes-de-Hautes-Provence region have been campaigning for two years against the growing number of solar power parks in a protected natural area around the Lure mountain. The local authorities, and the parks’ investors, claim the plants are “essential” projects in the fight against climate change, and in line with the ambitions of the European Green Deal. But the activists claim these projects are “destructive” for biodiversity and the landscape.  A few hundred metres above the commune of Cruis, in the Alpes-de-Hautes-Provence region, Sylvie Bitterlin, a 62-year-old actress, stands in front of the security fence of a brand-new solar farm. “Look, they’ve destroyed everything,” she says. On the 17-hectare site, the garrigue or scrubland of Provence has been replaced by several thousand solar panels. In Cruis, the photovoltaic power plant, operated by Boralex, was scheduled to begin operating this summer. © Cyrielle Cabot, FRANCE 24 The project has been under construction for several months and is nearly finished. According to the operator, Boralex, a Canadian renewable energy company, the site will generate …

Ukraine warns of outages as ‘massive’ Russian strikes target power plants

Ukraine warns of outages as ‘massive’ Russian strikes target power plants

Published by Sam

Ukraine on Wednesday warned of possible power shutdowns across the country after a “massive” wave of Russian missiles and drones targeted the country’s battered energy system. Issued on: 08/05/2024 – 15:18 3 min Moscow also said its forces had taken control of two more frontline villages, as it ups its attacks both on land and from the skies with Ukrainian troops struggling to hold the front line more than two years into the war. “On the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II, Nazi (President Vladimir) Putin launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The intensified strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure triggered fresh warnings of blackouts and electricity rationing. “There may be power cuts for household and industrial consumers across Ukraine… due to new damage to the equipment of Ukrainian power plants caused by Russian strikes,” power operator Ukrenergo said.  Russia’s defence ministry said its strikes were in retaliation. “In response to the Kyiv regime’s attempt to damage Russian energy facilities, this morning the armed forces …

Russia Hits Ukrainian Power Plants, Further Straining Energy System

Russia Hits Ukrainian Power Plants, Further Straining Energy System

Published by Sam

A large Russian missile and drone assault caused serious damage to several power plants across Ukraine early Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said. It was Russia’s fifth attack on energy facilities in the past month and a half, part of a broader campaign aimed at cutting off electricity to swaths of the country and making life miserable for civilians. Ukraine’s largest private electricity company, DTEK, said in a statement that three thermal power plants had been hit, further straining Ukraine’s electricity generation capacity, which was already reeling from previous assaults. The company said that 80 percent of its available generating capacity had been damaged or destroyed by the recent attacks. Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s national electricity company, said that it might have to cut power to some domestic and industrial customers on Wednesday evening as a result. “You have to be prepared for this,” Volodymyr Kudritskyi, the head of Ukrenergo, told the Ukrainian news media. The attacks have hit Ukraine at a particularly difficult moment. The country is facing a shortage of air defense weapons and ammunition amid pauses …

Sneak peek at new plants being launched at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Sneak peek at new plants being launched at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Published by Sam

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more There’s always a buzz of excitement around new plants at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show – and this year is no exception, with a host of new offerings being unveiled. So take a look at some of the new blooms and see if they could suit your garden style. 1. Rosa ‘With Courage’ (Peter Beales; pre-order at classicroses.co.uk) Launching exclusively to support the 200th anniversary of lifesaving charity the RNLI, this modern classic floribunda which has taken six years of field trials to come to market produces an abundance of coppery-orange double flowers set against mid-green glossy foliage. Free-flowering, compact and growing to 90cm (3ft) tall, peachy pink tones add charm to outer petals which display yellow accents at their base, while a sweet apple scent fills the summertime breeze with delightful fragrance. Suitable for growing in pots and for cut …