Great Victory for the Blue Whale, Chile, and Human Kind

Great news article regarding a protected marine area in Chile that has just been approved.

Blue whale conservation gets a boost

You Are What You Eat

Interesting study about food quality in different countries.
This is a leap towards awareness with regards to famine and obesity - two sides of the same coin.

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what-we-do/good-enough-to-eat

David and Goliath

This is a really inspiring project from the WWF.
I believe this project has real promise. We need to get the companies with us instead of fighting against them, especially the big multinationals. I'm not saying it's easy, but neither is fighting against such a powerful corporation.
David against Goliath is an inspiring story, but what would the result be if they work together?

Places to See Before You Die: Mineral Deposits in Pamukkale, Turkey

When you arrive in the little town, you don't understand what the fuss is all about. There are plenty of touristic services in a small village that is seemingly unimportant. Until you venture out to the viewpoint and you feel like you have landed on the moon.

The city contains hot springs and travertine terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water.
The etherial landscape cannot be described in words. The name "Pamukkale" means cotton castle in Turkish, which clearly comes from the cotton-ball-like shape of the deposits created by the local hot springs in interaction with its surrounding nature, climate and geology. It is a UNESCO world heritage site truly unique in its genre. The lunar landscape seems neverending and provides breathtaking views from all sides of the site.

Places to See Before You Die: Ephesus, Turkey

Ephesus in Turkey is one of the most impressive remains of the ancient Greek empire.
You can walk around in what is basically a small village of ancient Greek ruins, but the library is clearly the highlight of this site.
The library wall is almost complete and many details are still clearly visible.
It is an impressive site, standing tall and proud.

As you walk around, you can learn about the various aspects of ancient Greek life and society. However, be prepared for the heat. As impressive as the experience was, I could not stay there very long. Many tourists chose to buy hats to protect against the heat as you are in a very exposed place, without trees around to provide shade. With the sandstone colors, the light is reflected and the heat is multiplied.

I believe this is one of the best preserved ancient Greek ruins that remain in the world and it is a must-see.

Places to See Before You Die: Maori Culture in Rotorua, New Zealand

It was raining cats and dogs when we visited, but it was still such a wonderful experience. I would advise doing the tour on a dry day if you can as we spent quite a lot of time meandering the village, which was clearly less enjoyable as it was really pouring down.

In Rotorua you can visit a Maori village built on hot springs. They will guide you through the village and
explain the many amazing ways the Maori cohabited and respected nature. It is a unique cultural experience.

The tour shows you the small Maori village with its distinctive architecture that actually seems to have eyes. They decorate their outside walls with shells that glimmer in the dark, looking like millions of eyes looking at you. I was told this works as a type of defence mechanism to intimidate intruders and unwanted visitors. They also show your their typical dance, serving a similar purpose.

In the tour they show you the area, which is impressive in and of itself, but the most fascinating part is how they use the natural thermic activity in their daily lives. The use their local hot springs not only for bath and leisure, but even daily chores such as cooking. It is inspiring to see how they interact with their surroundings, it is a natural and a cultural experience all at once, and I think we could learn a lot from them.

Sustainable Living: Computer Customs

Believe it or not, but sometimes it is better for the environment to get the newest gadget.
Particularly for computers there is a big difference between the good old desktops with the big screens and today's laptops.

Energy consumption by half by changing your old screen for a flat screen. If you switch to a laptop, you can decrease electricity consumption with 90%!
You might cause more waste, but 90% decrease in electricity consumption on a daily basis could be worth it.

Another matter to pay attention to is the power usage. You might want to look over your computer's power management settings, as a computer in sleep mode uses 10% less energy. It's all made very easy with the power management settings which can be set to a certain delay time, e.g. 10 minutes of inaction, after which it goes to sleep.

On your laptop you can set your computer to hybernate as you close the lid. This is my personal favorite as it is fast and efficient without risking that your computer goes to sleep when you don't want it to.

And finally don't forget to turn your computer off when you are not using it!
For laptops it can even be worth pulling out the charger if you don't need it. Obviously an empty battery is a nasty surprise, but modern laptops can charge rather quickly and thereafter be unplugged to save further electricity.