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The Blue Jean Distressed Look: Sandblasting Versus Eco-Aging
By The Editors Sandblasting is used to make new blue jeans look distressed. Unfortunately, sandblasting kills people. In 2011, a rigorous study published in the journal Chest showed that formerly healthy young people exposed to silica sand, used in the sandblasting of jeans, developed silicosis — a disabling and potentially fatal lung disease for which there is no cure. The young people either became disabled or died. According to the American Lung Association, “Silicosis is a lung disease caused by inhaling tiny bits of silica. Silica is a common mineral that is part of sand, rock and mineral ores like quartz. People who work in jobs where they could breathe in…
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Global Urbanization Defined by The City of 7 Billion
By The Editors Viewing our entire planet as one urban environment is the idea at the basis of the project designed by Bimal Mendis and Joyce Hsiang of the Yale School of Architecture and Plan B Architecture & Urbanism, LLC. To carry out this project, the two architects have been awarded the 2013 Latrobe Prize of $100,000 by the The American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows. The title of the proposal is “Urban Sphere: The City of 7 Billion”. The research described in the proposal will study the impact of population growth and resource consumption on the city of 7 billion. One of the goals of the proposed research is to provide techniques and…
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Global Decline of Insect Pollinators Threatens the Human Food Supply
By The Editors An international team of 40 scientists (from 27 institutions involved in the UK’s Insect Pollinators Initiative) reports that pollinating insects, essential to the food supply, are threatened at a global level by a “cocktail” of multiple pressures that puts their survival at risk. The findings were published April 22 in the journal “Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment” (Adam J Vanbergen, and the Insect Pollinators Initiative. 2013. Threats to an ecosystem service: pressures on pollinators). The multiple pressures within the “cocktail” combine and exacerbate the negative impacts on insect pollinators of crops and wild plants. What are these multiple pressures? Intensification of land-use, climate change, the spread of species that…
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Globalization Collection and Chanel Globe
By The Editors The latest Chanel collection is called “Globalization” and, during the Paris Fashion Week in March, it came with benefits: a giant, rotating, wooden replica of our planet, visibly positioned in the middle of the Grand Palais. Does the Chanel globe provide a real global vision of our planet? The are zillions of pin lights and 300 little flags on the globe. The pin lights represent all our cities and the flags the 300 Chanel boutiques around the world. It’s a Chanel globe. The globe is now gone, but virtually visiting the Grand Palais is a very pleasant Paris adventure. Try it.
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In Honor of Earth Day: Planet Ocean
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Global Education: How Simple Can It Be?
By The Editors I like to think of global education as the education perspective expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Educating shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.” (Article 26, United Nations, General Conference, San Francisco, December 10, 1948)
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Global Connectedness Index 2012: Confirming Globaloney
By The Editors The conclusion of the DHL Global Connectedness Index 2012 — the world today is less globally connected than it was in 2007 — does not come as a surprise. Pankaj Ghemawat (author of World 3.0: Global Prosperity and How to Achieve It, winner of the Thinkers 50 Book Award for the best business book published in 2010-2011) has repeatedly shown, with brilliance and with hard data, that the world is far less connected than it appears to be. According to Pankaj Ghemawat, the real world is roughly only 10 to 25 percent globalized. Most activities that could take place either across or within national borders are still domestic. In addition, the trend is…
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The Giant African Land Snail (Achatina fulica) Goes Global
By The Editors Using all types of human transportation, the giant African land snail has been spreading all around the globe for the past few centuries. It originated in coastal East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania), where the first sightings occurred before the 1800’s. It then spread throughout East Africa into Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique, and Madagascar and was first spotted in the US in the late 1940’s around San Pedro, California. As pets or pests, giant African land snails are now present on all continents except Antarctica. In Florida, the giant African land snail population is growing rapidly. These snails consume breadfruit, cassava, cocoa, papaya, peanut and most varieties of beans, peas, cucumber, melon and more (even stucco and…
