The Green Attorney

The (mis)adventures of a new environmental law attorney.

328 notes

freedomnipples:

jtotheizzoe:

Watch 2 square meters of sunshine melt steel

In this clip from BBC’s “Bang Goes the Theory”, a sunlight-reflecting mirror focuses light to a point so small that anything put in its path will instantly melt or catch fire.

What’s that? Steel not enough for you? How about melting rock?

The amount of sunlight that would hit a few people laying out on the beach is enough to destroy stone. It’s all about how you focus the energy. Just imagine if we could harvest this to provide energy for ourselves???

 (by BBC)

Oh god

Oh

God

SCIENCE BONERS

Is it bad that a part of me wants to use this for my evil plan to take over the world?

(via somepursuehappiness)

87 notes

meangirlsofpanem: “Stupid people are dangerous” - Katniss Everdeen p.159, Hunger Games I know I keep it pretty light here but I got a lovely message from texandcoda today regarding our mutual feelings about the ridiculous criticism of the actors & actresses in the movie either for their weight or race. I had a simple & more serious post [[here]] awhile back about the Jennifer Lawrence “fat” criticism & texandcoda reminded me about the ignorant creatures who said such hateful things about the beautiful Amandla Stenberg who played our beloved Rue & Thresh, played by Dayo Okeniyi. I won’t be repeating their comments since I’m positive you know exactly what I’m talking about. But it brought me back to this quote from the book that really speaks volumes in its simplicity. Stupid people are dangerous. Whether you apply this to the monsters in the Capitol of Panem, or your real life, it’s important to remember. So, please, don’t be a skeez or an asshole. Just be nice. It’s that simple.  & am I the only one who wondered if those people even read the book? Though, if they were unintelligent enough to say such things, I have doubts about their cognitive reading skills: “& most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin & eyes, but other than that, she’s very like Prim in size & demeanor.”  Okay, back to our regularly scheduled Mean Girls of Panem fun! TYFYT   In honor of this, let us all strive to NOT be stupid people. Think before you speak and make the effort to educate yourself.

meangirlsofpanem:

“Stupid people are dangerous” - Katniss Everdeen p.159, Hunger Games

I know I keep it pretty light here but I got a lovely message from texandcoda today regarding our mutual feelings about the ridiculous criticism of the actors & actresses in the movie either for their weight or race. I had a simple & more serious post [[here]] awhile back about the Jennifer Lawrence “fat” criticism & texandcoda reminded me about the ignorant creatures who said such hateful things about the beautiful Amandla Stenberg who played our beloved Rue & Thresh, played by Dayo Okeniyi. I won’t be repeating their comments since I’m positive you know exactly what I’m talking about. But it brought me back to this quote from the book that really speaks volumes in its simplicity. Stupid people are dangerous. Whether you apply this to the monsters in the Capitol of Panem, or your real life, it’s important to remember. So, please, don’t be a skeez or an asshole. Just be nice. It’s that simple. 

& am I the only one who wondered if those people even read the book? Though, if they were unintelligent enough to say such things, I have doubts about their cognitive reading skills:

“& most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin & eyes, but other than that, she’s very like Prim in size & demeanor.” 

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled Mean Girls of Panem fun!

TYFYT

 


In honor of this, let us all strive to NOT be stupid people. Think before you speak and make the effort to educate yourself.

2 notes

IP+Media Digest: Tupac's Posthumous Performance

ipandmediadigest:

The recent holographic performance at Coachella Festival by a virtual Tupac got us wondering what the intellectual property implications of such technology are.

If you haven’t seen the video, you should. The rendition is really, really amazing. I should mention that the Japanese have already…

Interesting article about the possible legal implications of the much discussed Tupac appearance at Coachella. I think with this only time will really tell how the law will be interpreted because this is relatively unprecedented territory, at least in the U.S.

Also, am I the only person who immediately thought of the flop-tastic film S1M0NE?

91 notes

Underpaid Genius: The BP Gulf Oil Spill, Two Years Later

underpaidgenius:

Two years have passed since BP’s Deepwater Horizon platform explosion killed 11 and released 5 million gallons of oil into the Gulf. And, what have our lawmakers done to minimize the likelihood of another catastrophe? Nothing.

The Big Spill, Two Years Later - NYTimes.com

Congress’s response to the spill has been truly pathetic. It has not passed a single bill to prevent another catastrophe, according to a report issued Tuesday by former members of a presidential commission that investigated the spill. Congress has failed even to codify the Interior Department’s sound regulatory reforms, which could be undone by a future administration.

I wish I were surprised, but I’m not.

Related articles

This is especially disappointing considering the new studies that are coming out on the mutations and other problems that oceanic wildlife are experiencing since the “clean up.”

(via thegreenurbanist)

35 notes

Green Economy: 'US tops global clean energy investment rankings'

plantedcity:

BBC:

The US has regained top spot from China as the biggest investor in clean energy in 2011, according to global rankings.

…

Globally, overall financial backing in clean energy technologies hit a record $263bn, up 6.5% from 2010 levels.

The report, Who is Winning the Clean Energy Race, showed that G20 nations accounted for 95% of the investment in the sector (which does not include nuclear power).

…

Over the course of the year, an additional 83.5 gigawatts (GW) was added to the world’s clean energy generation capacity, including almost 30GW of solar and 43GW of wind.

“The sector continues to expand and is outpacing growth in the overall (global) economy. The sector reached its trillionth dollar of investment last year,” observed Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew’s Clean Energy Program.

“We now have 565GW of installed (generation) capacity around the world. That outstrips nuclear installed capacity by 47%.

Check out the rest of the article here. And an interactive map of the report here.

(Photo credit: Pew Charitable Trusts)

Yay! I’m sure this has to do, at least in part, in the ridiculous amount of money T. Boone Pickens invests in wind in Texas. Now all I need to do is convince one of these people to give me a job as their attorney.

162 notes

kenyatta: How a doctor’s white coat makes you “smarter” (clothes and self perception) If you wear a white coat that you believe belongs to a doctor, your ability to pay attention increases sharply. But if you wear the same white coat believing it belongs to a painter, you will show no such improvement. So scientists report after studying a phenomenon they call enclothed cognition: the effects of clothing on cognitive processes. The findings, on the Web site of The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, are a twist on a growing scientific field called embodied cognition. We think not just with our brains but with our bodies, Dr. Galinsky said, and our thought processes are based on physical experiences that set off associated abstract concepts. Now it appears that those experiences include the clothes we wear. “I love the idea of trying to figure out why, when we put on certain clothes, we might more readily take on a role and how that might affect our basic abilities,” said Joshua I. Davis, an assistant professor of psychology at Barnard College and expert on embodied cognition who was not involved with the study. This study does not fully explain how this comes about, he said, but it does suggest that it will be worth exploring various ideas. As I said before, there was always a reason behind KYM’s white lab coats that went beyond mere costume. via Slavin See also: Effects of potential partners’ costume and physical attractiveness on sexuality and partner selection. I need to find a doctor’s lab coat - stat!

kenyatta:

How a doctor’s white coat makes you “smarter” (clothes and self perception)

If you wear a white coat that you believe belongs to a doctor, your ability to pay attention increases sharply. But if you wear the same white coat believing it belongs to a painter, you will show no such improvement. So scientists report after studying a phenomenon they call enclothed cognition: the effects of clothing on cognitive processes.

The findings, on the Web site of The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, are a twist on a growing scientific field called embodied cognition. We think not just with our brains but with our bodies, Dr. Galinsky said, and our thought processes are based on physical experiences that set off associated abstract concepts. Now it appears that those experiences include the clothes we wear.

“I love the idea of trying to figure out why, when we put on certain clothes, we might more readily take on a role and how that might affect our basic abilities,” said Joshua I. Davis, an assistant professor of psychology at Barnard College and expert on embodied cognition who was not involved with the study. This study does not fully explain how this comes about, he said, but it does suggest that it will be worth exploring various ideas.

As I said before, there was always a reason behind KYM’s white lab coats that went beyond mere costume.

via Slavin

See also: Effects of potential partners’ costume and physical attractiveness on sexuality and partner selection.

I need to find a doctor’s lab coat - stat!

(via somepursuehappiness)