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Glow-in-the-dark-plants, solar panel farms, and fire-fighting beavers.
Dear Reader,
Afraid of the dark? Let a glow-in-the-dark succulent light your nights. “Researchers have injected succulents with light-emitting compounds to produce multicolour luminescent plants for the first time,” reports Cosmos Magazine. “The work brings us a step closer to developing sustainable, plant-based lighting.”
In Australia, rural farmers who’ve installed solar arrays are fielding some pretty funny questions from city folks who just can’t reconcile that a farm can be harvesting energy from sunlight, alongside growing crops and raising animals. Indeed, one farmer reported (also in Cosmos Magazine) that electricians perplexed at how sheep and solar panels could be in the same paddocks at a farm came to her with a question: Who, they demanded, would put the sheep to bed at night? The question made the farmers laugh, saying, “they’re not farmers. They’ve got no idea.” Dot wonders if, perhaps, they were taking the advice to count sheep before bed a bit too literally?
Moving on to another cuddly-looking critter, CBC tells us that beavers are powerful firefighters, citing “a new study from the U.S. [that] suggests this symbolic animal can make arid Western landscapes more resilient by blunting drought, slowing floods and shielding areas from wildfire with the dams they build.” The findings by researchers at Stanford and the University of Minnesota “add weight to a growing body of evidence that beavers may be acting as ecosystem engineers, reshaping waterways in ways that benefit not just their own survival, but also that of entire landscapes. By slowing streams and spreading water onto flood plains, their dams create lush pockets of habitat that can endure long after fire or drought has swept through.”
And finally, here’s a Feel-Good invitation to travel with Bluedot: Founder Vicki Riskin has long wanted to find a way to bring Bluedot readers together. Now, you can visit some amazing destinations starting next year, thanks to Bluedot Living Travel. These trips will take you to a Montana ranch, to California’s Santa Barbara coast, or to Little St. Simon’s Island in Georgia (Dot visited with the Young Dots, who marvelled at the wildlife). You’ll stay in sustainably designed lodging, meet environmental leaders, and eat fabulous farm-to-table meals. Check it out.
Damably,
Dot
Bluedot loves Friendsheep drying balls.
For more Bluedot Climate Quick Tips, click here.
