Masterpieces of the Nature

SWIMMING WITH WASTE

2012-02-05T06:43:00.000-08:00

There are many leisure opportunities in the ocean nowadays. You can swim with dolphins. You can dive in to see the wonders of a coral reef. You can do scuba-diving into an underwater crack. However, all of them usually cost money, and quite a lot.
Still, thanks to the human inefficiency and carelessness there is now an opportunity to experience the ocean like never before. And it’s ABSOLUTELY FREE! Moreover, you can pick up some interesting and unexpected souvenirs while swimming. So, we proudly present you the marine attraction of the 21st century:
SWIMMING WITH WASTE!

For the best experience we highly recommend you do the following:
- Buy or rent a boat;
- Sail to the North Pacific Gyre in the Pacific Ocean, between 135 W to 155 W and 35 N to 42 N;
- Find the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch / Pacific Trash Vortex near the Hawaiian Archipelago (you cannot miss this enormous patch of waste);
- Dive in and enjoy the swimming among colourful plastic and glass bottles, caps, aluminum cans, paper, metals, chemical sludge, and other s**t coming from our advanced and highly developed human society.
And you do not need to hurry. You can do it again and again every year. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is likely to stay there and grow more for centuries ahead.
Here is a presentation of this magnificent opportunity by one of the “customers”:

Have fun swimming in your own s**t!
And do keep polluting the environment! Or else such amazing opportunities will disappear.

Y U POLLUTE???

2012-01-28T05:56:00.000-08:00

There is a very interesting question that whirls in my head very often. The question with a multitude of answers, but none of them satisfying my curiosity. The question so simple and logical to ask, but so difficult to find logic and rationale in its answers. The question:
WHY DO WE, HUMANS, POLLUTE OUR ENVIRONMENT?

For instance, you… yes, you… why do you pollute? Why do you produce hazardous waste, why do you contaminate soil, why do you deplete supplies of freshwater, why do you cut down forests, why do you destroy ecosystems by converting them into agricultural and urban land, why do you emit greenhouse gases that enhance climate change…? WHY?
- Because it is a natural and inevitable part of mankind’s survival, living, and development. We need food, water, shelter for survival… then technologies, transportation, infrastructure for development… then more food, water, shelter for supplying our constantly growing population… then more technologies, transportation, infrastructure for increasing our welfare and utility…, - you may reply.
But all this is possible without so much damage to the environment. Around 25% of food from your table and 30% of all your consumed goods end up in a trash bin. With each person throwing out similar share of products, it accumulates into a huge amount of polluting waste. Moreover, before ending up as a pile of garbage, these items were produced with conversion of many hectares of natural land for agricultural purpose, with large emissions of greenhouse gases, with leaching of contaminating fertilizers into groundwater, with extraction of many nonrenewable resources… should I continue?
- Well, yes, but this requires more efficient processes and technologies… And to develop them requires sufficient knowledge, innovation, time, need and demand for them…
True. However, we have knowledge – there is a gigantic amount of books and articles written about sustainable and environmentally-friendly technologies. We have innovation – come on, nowadays we are more than 7 bln units of brainpower! We have time… still… if we start doing something nowadays. Need and demand… yes, but why we do not have them?
- Because we do not experience the consequences of pollution... at least not much. We do not have enough economic and social incentives to make the environment our priority.
In other words, we need someone to reward us for good behaviour and punish us for misbehaviour, right? But can’t we stop polluting our home planet and start caring about it without this “carrot and stick” approach? Can we do it just because we want a clean home, because we care about others, because we want future generations to have a nice place to live?
- Here we talk about changing a worldview. And doing it of the whole mankind. Even if you are so eco-friendly, it is extremely difficult if not impossible to turn everyone in the eco-morale direction. Besides, why should we care about the future and our descendants, when there are many opportunities to live a happy carefree life nowadays? The descendants will find a way to deal with pollution, because they will be smarter and technologically more advanced.
But is it right? Just think about it… Though we pollute the environment in order to develop and ensure future prosperity, but we put no value on our future… Isn’t it kind of controversial? And besides, we can live a happy life without degrading the environment along the way. It does not reduce our utility to do simple actions, such as reuse goods and share them among each other, thus reducing depletion of natural resources, waste generation, and pollution…
- But who would share anything when he can own it and display it as confirmation of his welfare and power?... Ah, enough already! Stop worrying and start enjoying the life! Benefit from the so-called “Power of NOW”! And let someone else care and clean after you.

That was a shortened version of self-reflection and discussion with my other self. It was not very convincing and resultative, was it? So, I am still in search for the reasonable answer to my question.
And what about you, dear Reader?
WHY DO YOU POLLUTE?

Sources:
1. EEA, 2010. The European Environment: State and Outlook 2010. Consumption and the Environment.
2. Government Office for Science, 2011. The Future of Food and Farming: Challenges and Choices for Global Sustainability. Executive Summary. London.

DEER IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

2011-11-18T07:30:00.000-08:00

Date: May 2011
Place: Klampenborg, Denmark

These photos of free and happy as a sandboy deer were taken at the Jægersborg Dyrehave (“The Deer Park” in Danish) in Denmark. A former royal hunting ground, Dyrehaven now occupies around 11 square kilometers and has approximately 2000 deer with the largest populations being of red deer (Cervus elaphus), fallow deer (Dama dama), and sika deer (Cervus nippon). The park is very close to the Danish capital Copenhagen and other cities of the Eastern coast of Zealand.
The deer (Cervidae) can be easily distinguished by the significant antlers that males (stags) grow and shed every year. The growth rate of these antlers is 2.5 cm per day. Deer are ruminant mammals, meaning that they have a four-section stomach, and the plants they eat are initially softened in the first section, then regurgitated into the mouth, rechewed there, and only then digested in other sections of the stomach. Deer are present in all continents, except Australia and Antarctica. They are hunted and grown by humans for food, clothing, and transportation. In former times the word “deer” meant any wild animal of any species, but then narrowed down to these particular mammals.

The red deer (Cervus elaphus) shown on the photos is one of the largest representatives of the Cervidae family, with stags being around 220 cm in length and 200 kg in weight. During the autumn the red deer gets a “free fur coat”: it grows a thicker coat of hair to help its body keep the heat during cold winter days. These mammals can live up to 20 years, but their average lifespan is only about 10 – 15 years. This is the only species of deer inhabiting Africa.

Note: You can see more photos and read about the Jægersborg Dyrehave in “Copenhagen Pictures: Dyrehaven – The Royal Hunting Ground And Park”.

TRIPLER: JOIN THE WASTE MANAGEMENT EVOLUTION!

2011-09-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

The previous post entitled “LET’S CLEAN UP MOLDOVA… IN A SCIENTIFIC WAY!” revealed some details of the international research project that is currently in progress. It bears the official name “Non-state Cooperation in Environment Protection Area in Developed and Developing Countries: The Case of Waste Management in Moldova” and is aimed at researching the possibilities of cooperation between corporate and non-corporate sector in the area of waste management and coming up with recommendations for its establishment and progress in the developed (Denmark) and developing (Moldova) countries. The project is planned to end in May 2012 with several research articles and the comprehensive final report.

The most recent achievement within the project activity is the finalized research work “Business Opportunities in the Waste Management Market in the Baltic States and the Example of TripleR: Join the Waste Management Evolution!”. Its output tells about the current situation with waste management in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and some opportunities of establishing business in this attractive market. It will be made publicly available in the nearest future.
But the output document is not the only significant result of the above-mentioned research work. Its conclusions and recommendations, as well as the increasing number of persons interested in the research project and the issue of waste management in general became the inspiration for and push towards the creation of an on-line networking and sharing platform. In order to make it professional, the virtual social network LinkedIn was chosen to host this platform. So, nowadays one can find there the group called "TripleR: Join the Waste Management Evolution!".

The group includes updates about the research plans and progress of the project, recommendations for the literature used, released articles and other publications, good case practices from different countries, job positions, etc. You are able to join a discussion, start a new one, share your thoughts, promote opportunities, contact other interested people, contribute to the research project, and much more. Of course, all this is related to the issue of waste management.
Thus, if you are interested in and willing to contribute to cleaning up our planet in a scientific way, then this group is for YOU.
JOIN TRIPLER!
JOIN THE WASTE MANAGEMENT EVOLUTION!

Note: A recommendation is to also take part in the group “Waste Management & Recycling Professionals” that represents a good networking tool for people working in the waste management industry.

LET’S CLEAN UP MOLDOVA… IN A SCIENTIFIC WAY!

2011-06-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

The general impression people have of scientists is of the ones sitting days and nights in their laboratories, “playing” with complex formulas, and releasing mind-twisting research works that end up collecting dust on the libraries’ shelves. Such impression is even stronger regarding researchers in Environmental Economics, for instance. The reason is that theoretical research does not go hand-in-hand with the applied one, i.e. the research process and results are not implemented in the “real world”.
Yet, this can be changed and should be done for some fields of science. Theory can go along with its practical implementation if researchers work together with company managers, volunteers from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and policy makers. It is called synergetic cooperation, and it is precisely such cooperation the new research project targeting the Republic of Moldova is about.

The project entitled “Non-state Cooperation in Environment Protection Area in Developed and Developing Countries: The Case of Waste Management in Moldova” addresses the issue of how the experience of developed countries, such as Denmark and Germany, in non-state (companies and NGOs) cooperation in waste management can be applied to a developing state (in this case, Moldova) in order to construct and implement in practice an effective and efficient waste management development model there. In particular, the research project is focused on answering the following questions:
1) What are the reasons of inefficiency in waste management in Moldova and which are the most important ones to focus on?
2) What are the economic and social consequences of this inefficiency?
3) How can companies and NGOs work together to establish and develop the waste management market based on the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) of the waste hierarchy?
4) What are benefits and costs of such cooperation?
5) What existing best case practices in developed countries can be used in constructing the waste management development model for Moldova?
6) What waste management development model is suggested for Republic of Moldova and how can it be implemented there?
7) How can this model be used in other developing states?
The project has a one-year realization period (June 2011 – May 2012) and includes 2 intermediary and 1 final research articles to be released, as well as the final research report to be made public at the end of the period. Several seminars and workshops on non-state cooperation and waste management and an internship in a waste management company are also part of the project action plan.
As the research project is all about synergetic cooperation, it will bring together companies involved in waste management and/or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, environmental NGOs, and policy makers. The research work will be conducted simultaneously with consultations, negotiations with, and surveying of the above-mentioned economic agents, so the cooperation of theory and practice will also be achieved. And the project will contribute to resolving one of the most severe environmental problems a developing country, such as the Republic of Moldova, faces nowadays – the problem of inefficient waste management.
Thus, it is high time to clean up Moldova… in a scientific way!

Note: If you want to join the project team, contribute to its success in any other way, or just receive more information about it, please contact the project coordinator by e-mail: bsrcentre@gmail.com.

“HAI, MOLDOVA!”: INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

2011-04-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

On 16th of April, 2011 I participated in the national environmental initiative “Hai, Moldova!”, which consists mostly in activating citizens of my home country, the Republic of Moldova, for collecting waste in certain places. I had heard about this initiative a long time ago, and as an environmentalist became interested to see and analyze it from within. Anyway, I used to collect garbage during my walks in “The Roses Valley” park in Chisinau, as well as organizing such events as the “Green Picnic”.
However, there were certain doubts about the efficiency and impact of “Hai, Moldova!” also. In particular, I was concerned about recycling of the collected waste, organization of such large crowd of volunteers, cooperation with corporate actors, etc.
Thus, I joined in. I did not affiliate to any particular group of volunteers intentionally in order to be able to observe multiple groups and thus have a broader picture of the activities performed. It was an interesting and fun experience, I should say.
Still, the basic principles of scientific analysis make me depart from my personal opinion and present the assessment of “Hai, Moldova!” on the basis of the observed facts. Here I should stress the point that this is NOT a critique. This post is an independent internal assessment of an environmental initiative as seen through eyes of a young researcher and trainer in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. It is organized according to the well-known feedback principle of “STOP, CONTINUE, IMPROVE”.

STOP:
None observed.
CONTINUE:
+ Promotion and raising awareness about the issue of waste accumulation on the territory of Moldova among the society. The “Hai, Moldova!” message reached various economic agents: individual citizens, companies, non-governmental and governmental organizations.
+ Recycling of plastic. The volunteers were instructed to separate all garbage into plastic and non-plastic one. I was told that all plastic waste would be transported to a recycling station at Ungheni. However, I received no information on where it is located and, most importantly, how the waste would be recycled. Therefore, refer to the IMPROVE section for further discussion.
+ Equipment (protective clothing and bags) provided for all volunteers. The clothing allowed people to stay clean, while the bags were used to collect and store waste. Still, see the IMPROVE section for feedback about it.
+ Aesthetical results. The activity of “Hai, Moldova!” contributed to the removal of waste on a large area. Many people enjoyed the view of the cleaned territory after performing the activity.
+ Networking. The event on 16.04.2011 brought together many people from different sectors and places. There were even some foreigners.
+ External promotion for companies as environmentally responsible agents.
+ Team-building activity for representatives from corporate, non-corporate and governmental organizations.
+ Fun. Many people enjoyed the activity in the fresh air, even though it was quite muddy after the rain.
IMPROVE:
! Achievement of the environmental goal. “Hai, Moldova!” claims to be the environmental initiative, but the environmental impact is dubious here. The initiative results in removing the waste from certain territories and transporting to other ones, but not in the reduction of the total amount of garbage on the territory of the country (for a discussion about the dangers of such approach see here). Therefore, “Hai, Moldova!” contributes mostly to resolving aesthetical and perhaps health issues related to waste, but less to the environmental one. A suggestion here is to pay much attention to the recycling aspect of waste management.
! Control for further waste “way”. Talking about recycling, “Hai, Moldova!” seems to be not controlling the real elimination of waste from the ecosystem and, in general, have extremely little information about further “fate” of the collected garbage. The initiative encourages the behavior more of “yardmen” than of “environmentalists”. There is also danger of using the inappropriate ways of recycling. For example, simple burning of plastic bottles releases all their toxic components into the atmosphere and also contributes to carbon emission increase. Possible improvements can be represented in more active cooperation with the recycling stations, thorough tracking of the whole waste “way”, and more focus on waste destruction.
! Coverage of the whole waste hierarchy. The focus of “Hai, Moldova!” is only on the lowest levels of it: disposal and recycling. But the real positive environmental impact is achieved by combining all levels, especially the “3 Rs”: REDUCE slows down the production and consumption of waste-generating goods, REUSE supports multiple use of the same goods, and RECYCLE eliminates the waste that has been impossible or extremely costly to reduce and reuse from the ecosystem. So, an evident proposal here concerns either the enriching of the “Hai, Moldova!” activities to cover all “3 Rs” or its cooperation with economic agents that focus on the REDUCE and REUSE campaigns. See for yourself: wouldn’t it be better if there is no need for such cleaning activities and people spend their time in more productive ways because there is simply no waste to collect – it is either reduced, or reused, or in the worst case recycled?
! Dealing with “they will clean it anyway” attitude. The activity of “Hai, Moldova!” contributes to nurturing two opposite types of attitude and behavior in the society. The first one is represented by a more careful attention to the environment and less littering, while the second has the potential of producing even more waste. “I may litter as much as I can. Those guys from “Hai, Moldova!” will clean it anyway!” – such attitude deserves much attention and brainstorming for ideas on dealing with it.
! Room for creativity and innovation. “Hai, Moldova!” uses volunteers as simple workforce with the approach “go there and do that”. There are few opportunities and specific environment for these volunteers and the whole society to express their ideas and come up with initiatives for resolving the pollution issue. There are simply no incentives to “think outside the box”. Some possible recommendations here are the following: creation of the “innovations” page on the website for users to post their ideas and initiatives; establishment of the virtual forum for creative discussions; organization of conferences, round tables, scenario workshops, etc. for networking and sharing of ideas among different economic agents.
! Organization of volunteer groups. The beginning of the 16.04.2011 event was rather chaotic with many groups and individual volunteers seeking for some instructions and directions. It is possible to improve this by organizing separate “meeting areas” and “info-points” for individuals, companies, NGOs, etc.
! Equipment, such as protective clothing and bags, distributed by “Hai, Moldova!” is waste in itself. After use it was thrown away, thus adding to the aggregate amount of garbage already available on the country’s territory. Additionally, the label on the clothing read “100% polyolefin”, which is a polymer containing such ingredients as dibutyl phthalate (30 – 40%) – a hazardous compound banned in the European Union and other countries. In the process of decomposing of such piece of clothing the compound is released into the environment, causing harm to plants, animals, and people. The recommendation for preventing such negative impact is either to reuse (do you remember the “3 Rs”?) clothing by collecting and washing it or to acquire more environmentally friendly protective clothing, or preferably both.

CONCLUSION:
No doubt, such national environmental initiative as “Hai, Moldova!” is a valuable move towards the society’s friendlier attitude towards the environment. “Hai, Moldova!” managed to bring together many economic agents from all over the country and really “point their noses into” the problem of pollution by waste.
Still, it stands in the infancy of environmental initiatives, where a lot of important connections and interactions between various areas and issues are not considered. And, most importantly, there is no science behind vision, mission, objectives, and all activities within the initiative, as shown by the assessment above.
Anyway, I see (and I hope I see it correctly) that “Hai, Moldova!” is one of the first, but nevertheless important steps in addressing environmental problems. A baby needs to learn to crawl before one teaches him / her to walk. Therefore, if “Hai, Moldova!” learns to use science, to “see the Big Picture”, and to explore its own rich potential (and I see it rich indeed!), then it will have the strength to grow into a powerful organization producing REAL POSITIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.
So, “HAI, MOLDOVA!” RISE UP AND START WALKING!

THE “PLASTIC BAGS WAR”: PRICES AND TAXES

2011-03-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

Nowadays in my home country, the Republic of Moldova, there is a blogging campaign for reducing the use of plastic bags, more specifically the plastic shopping bags given for free at shops and supermarkets. The issue here is that these bags have a very large period of decomposing (up to 100 years), and during this process polyethylene (the plastic the bags are made of) splits into toxic chemicals that pollute the environment.

The most common solution to reduce consumption of plastic bags in Moldova suggested by various bloggers is a tax levied on such bags. So, a consumer would have to pay a specific tax when receiving a plastic bag in a shop. This idea was inspired by the experience of such developed countries as the USA and Ireland.
However, though such plastic bag tax is appropriate for the developed world, it might cause the totally opposite effect in such developing states as Moldova. The reason is related to the states’ different position on the so-called Kuznets curve.

The developed countries are usually positioned after the tipping point, which indicates that they have enough resources and understanding to abate their pollution. This causes the reduction of environmental degradation. But the developing countries have “more important” problems to think of, for instance, GDP fall, external debt, technological drawback, poverty, hunger, etc. – there are many reasons not go care for the environment. So, such states allocate almost all of their resources to industry in order to catch up with other more developed countries at the expense of the clean environment. The pollution level here goes up.
Turning back to the tax on plastic bags. While in the developed world it is treated as an externality-correcting instrument and thereby is set at the level to discourage plastic bag usage, the governments of the developing countries will likely see it as an additional source of revenue for their weak budget. So, in order to maximize the amount of money it gets, the government will be interested in setting the tax level in such way that it does not reduce the plastic bags consumption (or does only a little), but assures this supplementary money inflow. By introducing this tax you just take some money from the society and give it to the government. Such “perverse incentive” gets even more troublesome in the presence of high corruption level, a commonplace thing in these states.
So, what can be done here?
Let us look at the problem from the beginner environmental economist’s point of view.
Firstly, a suggestion is to use the so-called “market-based incentives” instead of the tax. In other words, we need to create a market for the plastic bags, so that they become a separate good with their market price. In this way consumers will think twice before buying them, because it becomes more economically effective to carry your own bag or backpack when going shopping. Also economists argue that such market-based mechanisms are more flexible than the “once set and go” taxes, are more or less self-adjusting, and allow the obtaining of the desired effect in a relatively short time.
However, the implementation of this suggestion alone will not lead to significant reduction of plastic bags consumption, because so far we have addressed only the demand side of the problem. We need to target the supply also.
So, secondly, we can use the “so-many-talks-about” plastic bag tax, but levy it directly on the companies producing these bags. This suggestion is in line with the “polluter-pays” principle – in a way, these firms can be considered as polluters, can’t they? Of course, the companies will move the tax value into the product price, which seems to be the same as the tax levied on each plastic bag. So, what is the trick? The thing is that consumers already pay for the bag as proposed previously. Additional tax will hit hard on their pockets. And they will direct their complaints not to the government, but to the “original polluters” themselves. So, in order not to lose clients and to stay in the packaging business, firms will have 2 choices: either suffer from the significantly reduced demand for the plastic bags or innovate in direction of more ecologically friendly packaging, like the biodegradable bags. Taxes are said to be very difficult to set properly and require a long period of time to produce the desired effect. However, they are a very good motivation for the profit-maximizing firms to innovate.
In conclusion, the campaign on reducing the plastic bags consumption is definitely an environmentally beneficial thing to push forward. However, it should be done wisely, with analysis of different options and their combinations and with “putting ourselves into other’s shoes”. Science is a very good and helpful ally in this respect. It allows us to prevent many mistakes and unpleasant effects even before the implementation of the campaign’s suggestions.
So, it is high time to say “NO!” to plastic bags… in a scientific way.

Note: For those interested in environmental taxes and market-based instruments a recommendation is to read Baumol, W.J., Oates, W.E. (1988): “Uncertainty and the Choice of Policy Instruments: Price or Quantity Controls?” in Baumol, W.J., Oates, W.E. The Theory of Environmental Policy, 2nd Edition.

DID YOU KNOW THAT...

2011-03-19T16:22:00.001-07:00

… collecting garbage can be harmful to the environment?

The reason is that you do not remove it entirely from the ecosystem, but just move (shift) and pile it in another place. Waste that is stored on a single territory produces more pollution pressure on this territory than garbage scattered on a far larger area. While in the second case the ecosystem is still able to cope with it, the battle with the constantly increasing concentrated waste is beyond its powers. Therefore, the first case leads to quick and irreversible damage of the ecosystem.
So, if we really want to clean up our planet, we need to change our focus from moving the increasing amount of waste here and there to reducing its “production” and reusing / recycling what is impossible to reduce.

Note: “Did You Know?” is an informational initiative of the BioSciences Research Centre (BSRC).

THE SAINTS FROM THE FAIRYTALES

2011-01-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

Date: August 2010
Place: Copenhagen, Denmark

The photo was taken at the distance of several meters from these beautiful birds. They were quite relaxed, only the snow-white mother was a bit nervous for its children.
The swans (Cygnus) are common species of the birds class (Aves) in Denmark. One can see them on almost all lakes and in most parks of its capital city, Copenhagen. Often people feed swans – this is why they are so tolerant to human presence there. These gracious birds are quite popular in this country mostly due to the Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales, namely “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Wild Swans”.

Swans are the largest members of the Anatidae family that contains about 146 species and includes such other well-known birds as ducks and geese. As you can notice, the family represents species of birds that are well-adapted to swimming and living near water. Generally they are herbivorous and monogamous breeders (have only one mate at any one time).
Most of the swan species have either pure white (like the mute swan (Cygnus olor) presented on the photo) or black-and-white plumage. The Australian black swan (Cygnus atratus) is, as its name suggests, totally black (with the exception of white flight feathers on its wings). Their chicks (you can see two of them on the picture) are grey.
An interesting anatomic feature of swans is that they have “teeth” – small jagged parts of beaks that serve for catching and eating fish.
As it has been previously mentioned, these birds are monogamous – they form couples that stay together for many years, sometimes for a lifetime. This is why swans are often seen as a symbol of true love and fidelity. In Hinduism they are considered as saintly living beings in general.

THEY SING ABOUT IT!

2010-10-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

The issue of environment protection is not only one of the major topics in the scientific, economic, and political agendas these days. There are also singers and bands stressing the importance of taking care about the Nature in their musical creations. Here are some of the examples I like the most.
Let us start with “oldies but goldies”. Please welcome on the stage the German disco group “Boney M” with their single “We Kill the World (Don’t Kill the World)”.

Next, Michael Jackson tries to show us what we have done to the World in the “Earth Song”.

And finally, Jack Johnson tells us why we should use “The 3 R’s” in our daily life.

Of course, there are more songs on this topic appearing nowadays, which is a good trend – it contributes to raising awareness about the environmental issues in the global society. But, of course, it is not enough to just sing and listen about it; we should DO something about it! Like Boney M points out: “And don’t just talk. Go on and do! The one, who wins, is you”.

WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR WED 2010?

2010-06-03T04:18:00.000-07:00

In the article “WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY… MAKE IT EVERY DAY!” I have written about the World Environment Day (WED) celebrated globally on the 5th of June. The upcoming WED 2010 is organized in Rwanda, Africa, under the theme: “Many Species. One Planet. One Future”.
You can watch a promotional video about WED 2010 HERE.

As I enjoy being part of this international campaign for environment protection, I was thinking of what can I do on this very day. And here are my ideas:
- Raise awareness about WED 2010 and in general about the environmental issue through this blog and other social media channels;
- Have another activity within the “Green Picnic” initiative at city parks;
- Finish my novel about current and future interrelations between Human and the Nature;
- Proceed further with my scientific work named “Companies and NGOs: The Synergy for Environmental Responsibility”;
- Continue acting in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, like no littering, turning off water and light when not needed, walking instead of using transport, etc. (check the Daily Do Something Tips for more examples).
Through these small and easy steps I have the opportunity to add my voice and hand to the global move for environment protection. Definitely, this is not enough, but it is just the beginning…

And what about YOU?
What will YOU do for WED 2010?

THE “GREEN PICNIC” INITIATIVE

2010-05-03T06:15:00.000-07:00

Every 9th of May, my birthday date, I travel around city parks, admiring the beauty of the Nature, enjoying the warm sunrays and fresh air, as well as picking litter on my way and throwing it in the garbage boxes afterwards. In this way I educate myself to be environmentally friendly and respect the Nature of my Motherland and abroad. This also brings other benefits, such as spending time in a healthy way and personal satisfaction of doing something small, but extremely needed for the surrounding World.
The year 2010. The 9th of May is approaching fast. But this time I have decided to share my approach of having this small positive impact on the environment with the others. Thus, the “Green Picnic” initiative has been born.

“Green Picnic” is an environmental initiative aimed at self-education on being an environmentally-friendly citizen.
It can be practiced by any person and is represented in having a picnic at a local park, respecting the following rules:
1) No littering! – All garbage must be taken with you and thrown in the garbage boxes;
2) When leaving the place where you had had picnic, you must pick all the litter on your way and also throw it in the garbage boxes;
3) For food the natural products (fruits and vegetables) are preferred.
Benefits of the “Green Picnic” initiative:
1) Easy to implement;
2) Self-education on being environmentally friendly;
3) Keeps the parks and other public places clean;
4) Spending good time on fresh air together.

The first event of the initiative called “Green Picnic: The Roses Valley” will take place this 9th of May in the Chisinau park called “The Roses Valley”. It includes the picnic with litter-picking itself, as well as visiting the beautiful Memorial Complex to celebrate the Victory Day.
If you wish to join this event, please check the respective Facebook page “Green Picnic: The Roses Valley” and confirm your attendance.
Looking forward to seeing you together with us!

THE END OR THE BEGINNING?

2009-12-23T05:02:00.000-08:00

Nopenhagen… Flopenhagen… Brokenhagen… These are just several names representing the failure of the UN Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP-15) in Copenhagen. There is no final binding legal and political agreement signed. No Real Deal to present to the World. Only the Copenhagen Accord can be considered as an official outcome of the event, but it is neither binding nor fair.
Still, does it really mean the end of the battle of climate change theories? Looks like it is just the beginning…
The NGOs present at COP-15 (Avaaz, Greenpeace, WWF and many more) have started thinking about new initiatives to raise awareness about climate change consequences (for example, the Climate Change Media Partnership, the “Climate Shame / Not Done Yet”). They use contacts obtained during the event to establish cooperation within the initiatives. These organizations have raised their voices and now capitalize on this achievement to maintain their high volume.
Due to the NGO activists, reporters and bloggers, who had worked actively during COP-15, a lot of people from all over the World understood the importance of the issue and joined the global movement to minimize our negative impact on the environment. More than thirteen million signatures were collected and over three thousand vigils were organized in about 150 countries in support for an “ambitious, fair and binding treaty”. This pool of supporters will be an enormous support in promoting further the environment protection activities.
In addition, scientists supporting the human origin of the climate change begin to use the swiftly grown attention to this issue in order to promote their research results and new projects here. This should boost scientific progress in the field of the global climate change.
And there is hope that the Copenhagen Accord is not the last, but the first step in regulating the World’s emissions of “greenhouse” gases. “This accord cannot be everything that everyone hoped for, but it is an essential beginning,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as mentioned in the UNFCCC Press Release.
Is it really so? Were all the expenditures on organization, transportation, accommodation, etc. within COP-15 (that could be directed to environment protection campaigns) in vain, or not? And most importantly, will the Climate Change Conference lead to a global movement for preventing climate catastrophe, or remain to be just a colourful page in the History manuals?
And this depends not only upon the World leaders, but on EACH OF US…

Note: the copy of this article can be found on the international blog “G-1 Billion”.

HOMO SAPIENS… IT WILL PASS…

2009-12-15T03:52:00.000-08:00

Here is a joke I have read recently – it is a very actual one due to the continuous debates concerning our role on this planet and negative impact on the environment:

A planet passes by the Earth and asks it:
- How are you? Have not seen you for millions of years!
- Not so good… You know… Homo sapiens came out all over me…
- Do not worry, it will pass! I also had them!

WE ARE INNOCENT… ARE WE?

2009-12-09T06:56:00.000-08:00

“I am innocent!...” – cried Svetlana Svetlichnaya in the old Soviet comedy called “Brilliantovaya ruka (The Diamond Arm)”. Nowadays similar cries are heard coming from the scientists, who disagree with the human cause of the global climate change. They provide arguments that the destructible climate cataclysms had already happened in the past, when there was not even a single footstep of Homo sapiens. Cataclysms of those times caused many species of plants and animals to become just fossils in our museums, and the reasons of their appearance were related to the activity of the Sun, changes in the Earth’s orbit (Milankovitch cycles), unexpected guests from Outer Space (comets, meteorites), volcanic activity, etc. Thus, the whole point of these scientists is that Human is too weak to become the cause of such significant processes, as the global climate change, and that the Nature is the one dictating climate situation on our planet.
Truth to say, the supporters of such point of view have certain credibility. The geological period called the “Ice (Glacial) Age” is a perfect supporting example here.
Still, we, human beings, are not so innocent after all. For we have joined forces with such powerful ally as the Time. It is true that in spite of all innovations in the area of global climate control the Mankind cannot and will never be able to fully succeed here. But due to our greedy consumption and careless usage of natural resources we increase the chances of global climate cataclysm and hasten its incoming. All natural processes that normally take thousands and millions of years to produce sensible impact on the global level and therefore can be prevented, nowadays happen within just several hundred years, not allowing living organisms to adapt to such abrupt changes. This is why we are to be considered guilty for the current climate change trends.
Nevertheless, our negative impact can be transformed into positive one… and also with the help of the powerful Time. Especially when the Time is NOW – the “NOW” of the UN Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP-15)!

HOT AND COLD: WHAT AWAITS US?

2009-12-07T00:29:00.000-08:00

In general, there are two main points of view on the issue of climate change, caused by human activity.
The first one is the most well-known one; it suggests that due to the so-called “Greenhouse effect”, when such gases as carbon dioxide accumulate in the Earth’s atmosphere and trap the heat within its lower layer – the troposphere, the overall temperature on our planet will significantly rise. This will cause irreversible climate changes that in turn will result in global ecological catastrophe: ice caps of mountains and glaciers will melt, the World Ocean’s level will rise, and terrible floods and tsunami will wipe many coastal cities and regions off the face of the Earth.

The theory of Global warming is actively promoted nowadays and is the basis for negotiations within COP-15.
Still, there is another opinion about the future related to climate change, and this one is not so warm. It definitely gets a bit chilly from the inside, when the other group of scientist predicts the upcoming of a new Ice Age. The “Icehouse” theory tells us that the same greenhouse gases in large quantities will block the life-giving sunrays and place our planet into the cold darkness. As the scientists point out, such situation had already happened in the long past, when the giant meteorite crushed into the surface of the Earth, raising an enormous cloud of dust and dirt that blocked the Sun for several years. They warn that consequences of pollution with industrial gases might be far longer and more severe.
While the followers of these theories argue with each other to prove who is right, it might occur that all of them are. The global warming might be the first stage of the possible climate cataclysm, when the amount of industrial gases still allows sunrays to reach the ground. Gradually their layer might increase and thicken, allowing less sunlight to warm the surface of the planet. Thus the “Icehouse” theory will also demonstrate its terrible truthfulness.
Still, in spite of the conceptual differences, the major point in both theories is one – the cause of the possible global climate cataclysm is the Mankind’s careless and destructive activity. How to stop it and prevent the frightening theories to become realities – this must be the focus of the COP-15 negotiations happening nowadays!

Note: the copy of this article can be found on the international blog “G-1 Billion”.

A STAG IN THE INSECTS WORLD

2009-10-08T23:43:00.000-07:00

Date: June 2009
Place: Bahmut, Moldova

This dangerous-looking fellow is a common stag beetle (Lucanus cervus) from the Lucanidae family that takes part in the most diverse order of known species on the planet – the beetles, or “sheathed winged” (Coleoptera). It inhabits old trees and dead trunks in forests and feeds on nectar and tree sap.
The large threaten-looking mandibles are the privilege of the stag beetle male; female has far smaller ones. However, this male’s “dignity” is too weak to do any harm to large creatures. Still, the mandibles turn to be an excellent weapon in the ritual fight for female’s attention: the beetle uses them to grasp the body of its opponent and turn him on his back. And while the loser lies with his belly towards the blue sky and helplessly jerks his feet in the air, the winner claims his deserved prize – a date with the female stag beetle… if it is still around after the battle.

Another interesting feature of stag beetle is related to its larva – a “C”-shaped cream-coloured creature with six orange legs and a large orange blind head. It also lives in old trees and trunks and prefers rotten wood as meal. The larva can communicate with its siblings by rubbing together the combs in its legs and producing specific sound. This phenomenon is called “stridulation”.
Due to intense deforestation, the stag beetle became quite rare and is considered to be one of the globally threatened species. Lucanus cervus is included in the Bern Convention of the Conservation of the European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (1982), the Habitats Directive (1992) of the European Union and the Red Book of the Russian Federation.

VOTE FOR THE CURE!

2009-09-21T05:12:00.000-07:00

Do you have a message about climate change and wish to display it?
Then join the climate message competition HERE!
Also, please see my own proposal of a slogan / logo and evaluate it. Thank you in advance!

Altogether we can be heard!

DO NOT BE STUPID!

2009-09-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

Imagine yourself meeting a person from the year 2055. He attentively looks in your eyes, sighs and says:
“Why are you so stupid?”
It is needless to ask about your reaction to such words. Insult and anger blind your logic that would probably inquire why he said that. Perhaps there is a piece of truth in his words… perhaps you have done something wrong… and perhaps it is going to have terrible consequences for the future…

This is the primary purpose of the new movie “Age of Stupid”: to inform the modern society about its negative influence on the planet Earth, the global climate change as one of its consequences and the disastrous outcome it might bring to our future generations.

The Global Premiere of the movie will be launched on 21/22.09.2009 (the eve of the UN General Assembly’s climate session) in more than 50 countries.
You can watch the “Age of Stupid” trailer HERE.

I recommend you to watch the movie and think about this:
Would you like the period of our generation to be called the Age of Stupid? If not, what could and should we do about this issue?

SEE ONCE, THINK TWICE, DO THREE TIMES MORE!

2009-08-25T03:59:00.000-07:00

Recently I have found this very interesting article – “50 Creative WWF Campaigns That Make You Think Twice”. It represents the gallery of the most creative, powerful, and eye-catching advertising posters created and released by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), previously known as the World Wildlife Fund.

WWF is an international NGO working on issues of conservation, research and restoration of the environment. It is considered to be the world’s largest independent conservation organization that operates in more than 90 countries.

The advertisements presented in the article are aimed to raise awareness of the global environmental issues and promote sustainable approach to living on the planet Earth and using its resources. The variety of issues displayed on the posters is quite large: global warming, energy efficiency, conservation and protection of wildlife, recycling, deforestation, toxic waste, and others.
Here is an example of such posters advertising the event “Earth Hour” and energy efficiency:

More advertisements can be found in the article “50 Creative WWF Campaigns That Make You Think Twice”.

NO MORE AMBITION... TIME FOR ACTION!

2009-08-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Recently July 29th has become one of the significant dates in my calendar. It is on this date this year the first off-line presentation of my major idea related to the environment protection – the BioSciences Research Centre (BSRC) – took place.

The event happened in the city of Craiova (Romania), where I had been in my internship as a trainer within the ecological project “Learn to Change the Future 2009” (more information about the internship experience can be found on the blog “The X Worlds 3D”). The audience consisted of about 20 project participants – last year pupils from the schools and lyceums in Craiova, some organizing committee members, and a representative of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in Romania.
However, during my stay in the neighbouring Romania I had not limited to a single presentation. On August 1st another one took place in Timisoara, the city I had visited in order to deliver sessions on “Earth Degradation” and “Urbanization” for the AIESEC Timisoara members and other interested persons.

In spite of the fact that few people expressed their interest in BSRC, I still consider both presentations to be successful. It is because their purpose was for me to practice presenting the idea of the Centre and gain self-assurance and persuasion skills – the support I will require for the presentation of BSRC to potential investors in the nearby future. Nevertheless, several contacts have been obtained, indicating the start of the networking element of the BSRC establishment process.

From now on there is no way back!
No more hesitation, no more fear, no more ambition…
It is time for ACTION!

If you are interested in the idea and establishment progress of BSRC, you can view the above-mentioned presentation HERE.

Also I welcome you to visit the Facebook page, subscribe to the Twitter posts, and write me to the following e-mail address: bsrcentre@gmail.com.
I am open to cooperate with YOU!

ARE WE THE VIRUS?

2009-07-13T03:18:00.000-07:00

Virus (in Latin means “poison”) – a microscopic infectious agent that is able to reproduce only in a cell of other organism. When it infiltrates into the host cell, the virus uses its resources and mechanisms to construct new virus particles (virions) that spread onto other cells. Viruses are not capricious in choosing their victims: they infect all types of living beings, including bacteria, plants, animals, and, of course, humans. And they feel themselves quite good everywhere – you can find these unseen assassins in almost every ecosystem on the Earth.

Pretty nasty guys, aren’t they?

Well, there is a theory that the way of life, behavior and impact on the environment of viruses is similar to the ones of another living being on this planet. Although the latter is a multicellular highly-developed creature that is usually drawn at the top of the evolution ladder, it also cannot develop without the “host cell” (in this case, the planet) and its resources, causing constant degradation of its “home”.
You should have guessed that it is we, humans, that are compared with the deadly viruses.

This rather strange and unexpected theory has even been reflected in some world-famous movies, including the science fiction trilogy “The Matrix”.
Here is a short video from this film with a character stating the above-mentioned point:

So, here is some spicy food for thought:
Are we really the virus? If yes, what is the cure?

And most importantly:
Do YOU want to be considered the DISEASE or the CURE?

SHADOW-TAILED

2009-07-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

Date: April 2007
Place: Vadul-lui-Voda, Moldova

Certainly you recognize the cute mammal displayed on these photos taken at one of the annual conferences of the non-government organization “AIESEC Moldova” in spring 2007. At that time I was a member of the organization and went to this event called “Local Training Seminar” to learn more about AIESEC. The conference took place at the summer camp, where we had managed to take photos of this well-known rodent.
The common or Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is a widespread small or medium-sized mammal representing the Sciuridae family from the Rodentia order. Its English name “squirrel” and Latin “sciurus” have Greek origins and mean “shadow-tailed”, underlining their most eye-catching body part – the big fluffy tail shading the whole body.

Squirrels have quite rich diet: their standard meal includes seeds, nuts, fruits, fungi, and certain plants, but the menu may be enriched with insects, eggs, small birds, reptiles and other rodents. This means the cute little beasts are able to prey on other animals and consume their meat.
Certain members of Sciuridae stay close to humans, for example, in city parks and summer camps. They have learned that these tailless two-legged creatures are usually a rich source of food. Squirrels can be also kept as pets and taught to do tricks – some people state they are similar to dogs in their ability to learn behavioral models. In some countries, like certain regions of the USA and the United Kingdom, squirrels are hunted for food – their meat is considered a favoured one there.
As you see, these widely-spread furry rodents have some interesting facts to reveal. And there are still much more of them hidden in the shadow of their tails.

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY… MAKE IT EVERY DAY!

2009-06-05T01:37:00.000-07:00

Each year June 5th is celebrated as the World Environment Day (WED). It was established in 1972 by the United Nations General Assembly and is hosted every year by a different city and country. In the same year the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was created and since then it has used WED to inform the global society about its threat towards the Nature and significant (even vital) importance of the environment protection.

WED 2009 has the topic: “Your Planet Needs YOU! – UNite to Combat Climate Change”. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen some 180 days later in the year, and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests. This year the host city is chosen to be Mexico City in Mexico, which symbolizes the growing role of the Latin American country in striving against climate change, including its growing participation in the carbon markets.
Watch a short video about WED 2009 HERE.

The initiative of WED is an awesome and extremely important one. But the question is: “Is it enough?” And the answer: “Of course, not”.
As the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said: “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do”. So, in order to produce notable impact we must not only acknowledge the necessity of the environment protection – we must act. And not in just one day in a year, but EVERY DAY and EACH YEAR! And not only by a small group of Nature-loving activists, but by EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING on the planet! Because if one day the consequences of the Mankind’s negative impact reveal themselves, they will hit all of us and will do it very hard and painfully.
“Impossible…” – you may think about this. Well, everything is possible, the “impossible” just takes a little longer and, that is quite a paradox, does not require difficult actions. It is simple – anyone can do it. And the ways are multiple – you can choose the ones that suit your lifestyle and everyday activity the best.

Here is an example of my own. Each weekend I visit one of the city parks to have a walk or a small picnic. In such cases people usually take with them and leave there plenty of trash – one can see cigarettes, paper scraps, plastic bags and other stuff almost everywhere he / she puts an eye on. On the contrary, during my walks in the parks I not only leave zero litter, but also take some with me and throw it in the nearest trash / recycle cans. The same with picnics: after them I take with me not only my own litter, but also collect the one nearby and leave it all in the trash cans. Involving family and friends in such small campaign is even better – it produces three benefits at once:
1) You spend some wonderful hours in a good company;
2) You improve your health by breathing fresh air cleaned for you by the surrounding trees;
3) You contribute to making a piece of our beautiful World a cleaner and better place.

Definitely, one person cannot make significant positive impact at once. But he / she is able to do it constantly and involve others in these simple environment-caring activities. And there is always room for innovations: an idea in this area cannot be bad, bad is to hide it from the others.

Therefore, think about this message, your lifestyle, and how can you adapt it to make you contribute to the environmental protection in your park, city, country, continent, planet.
Make the “impossible”!
And let’s celebrate the World Environment Day… EVERY DAY!

“HOME” – MEET THE PLANET!

2009-06-03T00:33:00.000-07:00

As the mankind’s negative impact on the planet Earth escalates, so does the number of people wishing to reduce and even stop it. Mr. Yann Arthus-Bertrand seems to be a good example of such planet supporters. The movie “HOME” is his contribution to make the human population of the Earth aware of the beauty of their home world, the threat they represent to it, and the ways of changing it into the “opportunity to prosper in harmony”.

The movie will be released on 05.06.2009 (World Environment Day) in more than 50 countries at once. It is said to be available on every format: at cinemas, on TV, DVDs, and Internet.
You can watch the “HOME” trailer HERE.

Press conference with the author of the movie “HOME” is available HERE:

So…

On June 5th I have a date with the Planet.
What about YOU?

THE BEAUTIFUL GIANT

2009-06-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

Date: June 2008
Place: Chisinau, Moldova

The beautiful giant displayed on the photos is named the Giant Scolia (Scolia maculata). This is a 40 – 60 mm wasp with membership in the Scoliidae family from the order Hymenoptera. There are approximately 450 species in this family that live mostly in the tropical and subtropical climatic zones.
Scoliidae are usually large black insects with hairy body, several yellow or orange marks on abdomen, and distinctively corrugated wing tips. Male wasps are a bit more slender, elongate and have longer antennas than their girl-friends. Scolia maculata is the largest representative of the family.

Despite the relatively big size, Scolia is not harmful to large animals and humans. Its sting is thin and smooth – the master uses it not for killing or causing pain, but as an accurate surgical instrument for paralyzing its prey – the larva of the rhino beetle (Oryctes nasicornis). After detecting the presence of the larva the female wasp immediately clasps it and stings in the belly nervous centre that controls all movements of the organism. Thus the larva remains living, but becomes fully paralyzed – a perfect method for keeping it fresh during the whole period of the Scolia larva development. The female wasp lays one egg on the belly of the paralyzed victim, and the hatched larva devours it gradually, starting from the less important organs and finishing with the vital nervous and blood circulatory systems.
This way the Scoliid wasp larvae serve as the important biocontrol agents that maintain the population and distribution of pest beetles at moderate level.
Scolia maculata is considered to be endangered specie and is included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and the Red Data List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

THE UNDERWATER FRIEND

2009-05-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

Date: June 2005
Place: Sevastopol, Ukraine

These are several photos of the common bottlenose dolphins taken in the Sevastopol Dolphinarium in Crimea, Ukraine. I was there during my summer holidays in 2005.
Common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is a well-known sea mammal from the Delphinidae family that takes part in the Cetacea order (comprises dolphins, porpoises, and whales). All dolphins are carnivorous beasts that can be met in oceans, seas and even rivers (river dolphins from the Platanistoidea superfamily). They live about 30 – 50 years. Dolphins travel in herds (“pods”) and communicate with each other by producing low frequency clicks and high frequency ultrasound whistles. The latter is used for echolocation (biosonar) to orient in the environment, find food, and other purposes. It works in the following way: a dolphin emits the directed ultrasound wave and listens for the return echo to analyze the location, remoteness, shape, structure and other characteristics of nearby objects.

Dolphins are considered to be one of the most intelligent animals on the planet. Among their most interesting abilities and skills investigated by scientists the following can be mentioned: good memory, comprehension of gestures, symbols and numerical values, object categorization, acoustic and behavioral mimicry, mirror self-recognition and many more. Some scientists studying Delphinidae even state that they have some sort of linguistic communication system – the Dolphin language.
The above-mentioned characteristics made humans show much interest in members of the Delphinidae family, especially in the bottlenose dolphins, and use them in various scopes. These playful creatures can be found performing in dolphin shows in specially designed Dolphinariums, like the one in the coastal city of Sevastopol, Ukraine. The existence of such facilities generates certain controversy: some people consider them to be closed as “actors” there have poor conditions and care, while others point out that Dolphinariums can serve as research, conservation and rehabilitation facilities for endangered species and injured individuals captured in nets or thrown on the shores. My personal opinion here is that Dolphinariums should be allowed to function only while respecting three obligatory conditions:
a) The primary mission and job of such facilities are to rescue and protect the threatened and endangered species of Cetacea;
b) There must be adequate conditions and suitable environment provided for the animals kept here on the basis of the latest research results;
c) After a certain period of rehabilitation and preparation of the animal for wild life it must be given freedom in order to support its population in the external environment.

Bottlenose dolphins are also widely used in military. They receive special training and are given tasks to locate and disable sea mines, deliver certain cargo, and detect enemy divers and stealth ships. In some cases dolphin’s natural abilities can be enhanced by special equipment for it to serve as real-time transmitter of reconnaissance information and a true soldier with damage-inflicting weaponry.
And finally, these sea mammals are quite famous for helping drowning people and saving their lives, participating in the animal-assisted therapy, assisting fishermen in driving fish right into their nets, and just being the stars of many books, movies, cartoons, television shows, video games, etc.

Truly, dolphin is a cute, intelligent, friendly, and helpful being that needs to be protected and cared about. So, why being the Master, when it is possible to become a Friend?...

If you enjoy reading about these adorable creatures, you can take a look at the poem “At the Dolphinarium” available on the blog “Alexander Iscenco – The Thoughts”.

PIMP MY LIZARD

2009-05-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

A true story. At one of my birthdays, on the 9th of May, my parents and I were invited by our friends to spend the day at the bank of the Dniester River that flows along the north-eastern border of the Republic of Moldova.
We sat on a grassy hill above one of the bends of the river and had picnic. There were a lot of blooming trees and bushes around us, and while the rest of the company was busy with the meal, I used the chance to explore life hidden within them. I found a lot of interesting insects, like shining leaves-eating beetles from the Coleoptera order and graceful mantis-like Rhaphidia – members of the small Rhaphidioptera order.
I was in the process of exploring a large bush of jasmine fully covered by aromatic flowers, when suddenly I noticed a small muzzle with two black eyes staring at me right near the tip of my nose. I stood back and saw a quite large lizard sitting on a branch among the flowers and absorbing the energy of the sunrays.
It was simply charming! Blue-and-gray muzzle, light-green body and legs, yellow belly, and green-and-gray long tail. This was one of the most beautiful representatives of the Squamata order I have ever seen in reality.

I quietly called my family and friends to share this beauty with them. Then for several minutes we stood near the bush admiring the interesting colour of the lizard. At the same time it examined us with a calm look. It seemed that the lizard had been pretty assured in the effectiveness of its camouflage among the jasmine flowers; I imagined it thinking: “Go on, stare at these flowers! You are not able to see me, because my colourful dress perfectly merges with the surroundings I am in right now.”
Suddenly one of our friends, a not so slim elderly lady, grabbed the tail of the lizard and started pulling it like a rope of a doorbell, screaming loudly at the same time. The owner of the tail was disconcerted; not scared, but mostly annoyed by such rude bothering. It was almost possible to read on its raised and displeased muzzle: “Hey! What’s going on?! I am just enjoying the warmth of the sunrays here, not bothering anyone. Then what the heck is this human female pulling my tail like an udder?!”
The insulted lizard decided to withdraw from the insolent two-legged creatures. It pulled out its tail out of our friend’s hand, turned around and dissolved in the flower wall full of indignation.
A second later we asked our friend why she had done such an action.
- I just wanted to see how it leaves its tail and escapes, - she replied.
- But what’s with all that screaming about?
The lady’s face blushed.
- I imagined its tail moving in my hand and got scared, - was the reply.
The bank of the Dniester River resounded with our irrepressible laugh.

PLEASE SOME GEESE

2009-05-06T00:25:00.000-07:00

Date: July 2001
Place: Hoorn, the Netherlands

The photo is taken in a small northern city called Hoorn in the Netherlands. In summer 2001 we were invited by our friends from this country to spend there several weeks of our holiday.
The ducks and geese there walk freely on the street and gladly accept some food from the pedestrians, especially such tourists as we were. Most probably they are domesticated birds, but maybe several of them belong to true geese having a stop there during migration and benefiting from the presence of humans.
Ducks, geese and swans form the biological family called Anatidae with about 146 species in 40 genera. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on the water surface, and sometimes diving in shallow water. Most of them are herbivorous, although some species, like the mergansers, also feed on fish and various aquatic invertebrates. Ducks, geese and swans are generally seasonal and monogamous (have one sexual partner for a lifetime) breeders.

There are five species of Anatidae that had become extinct since 1600 due to human activity; many more members of this family are threatened with extinction.

ATTACK OF THE CLONES

2009-04-24T04:12:00.000-07:00

Clone troopers are marching along the dusty valley. The reconnaissance squadron informed of a source of valuable resources controlled by the enemy to the north-west from the base. Immediately a large army of experienced troopers has been dispatched to take control of the resources.
They are clones – purely identical copies of an individual with the same structure and content of DNA. They have been created and bred to serve for special purposes, realize specific tasks, and dedicate their lives to achieving certain goals. In order to make this happen, the DNA of the selected organisms has been modified according to each one’s specialization.
The clone troopers are getting closer to the target. They are ready to attack and die for their masters…

Looks like a snapshot from the “Star Wars” Universe, isn’t it?

However, these clone troopers do not have two legs and two arms. They are not of human origin. They are not a result of someone’s imagination, but REAL creatures. And they are EVERYWHERE AROUND YOU!
They are ANTS!

Ants are the members of the order Hymenoptera and represent the Formicidae family. These are socially organized insects that form huge colonies of thousands organisms working together as small civilizations. And the interesting thing is that 98 % of all members of a colony are identical copies, i.e. clones.

In the “headquarters” of an ants’ colony lies a comparatively big female called the “queen”. This is a constantly working cloning machine: each day it produces hundreds of unfertilized eggs that are immediately transported to the specific chambers of the colony. The ants hatching from these eggs and developing by complete metamorphosis (through the stage of pupae) are genetically identical and sterile females that become specialized workers. Only in certain period of a year the “queen” gives birth to male (“drones”) and female ants with wings and the reproduction ability. After pairing the winged females establish a new colony or return to the old one and become the new “queens”.

Although all workers are clones, there are some changes in their genomes – in such way the “queen” can “program” each organism for serving certain purpose. Thus the colony has the castes system with several types of workers: builders, nurses, farmers, shepherds, scouts and others. In some species the role and specialty of clones may change with their age – some sort of climbing the career ladder.

The workers from the military caste called the “soldiers” represent the defense system of the colony and its grand army. In spite of not having blaster rifles and thermal detonators, like the Clone troopers in “Star Wars”, these little warriors still possess a powerful and frightening arsenal: they are equipped with large and strong mandibles, sharp sting to inject formic acid, quite sensitive sensor system, and strong armour of chitinous exoskeleton. Sometimes the soldier’s mandibles are so big that their owner simply cannot take food by himself – the soldier is fed by worker ants.

Some tropical species of ants are so dangerous that even such a mighty predator as Homo sapiens prefer to flee and leave the battlefield to the little but brave warriors. Any creature crazy enough to get in the middle of the ants’ grand army would be covered by the soldiers furiously biting their prey and reaping it to pieces to easily transport back to the colony. If the first line of attackers is destroyed, immediately the second one rushes into the battle, followed by the third one and so on. Even a separated head or decapitated body tries to help other soldiers by biting the legs of the enemy or acting as an obstacle for its counterattack.

There is no escape from these clones!

However, not only ants benefit from the cloning technology. Other social insects from the Hymenoptera order, like bees, bumblebees and wasps, also have their cloning factories that produce worker insects to collect nectar, construct and maintain the nest, protect it from the external threats, etc. And many other animals and plants reproduce themselves by using clonal derivation, in science called as parthenogenesis.

The clones are approaching the target.

Scouts have reported that the allied army has been closing in from the east. The courier from the base has brought the information that the reinforcements could be available in a short period of time.

The enemy is in sight. It is a huge two-legged monster holding the source of food and resources – a sweet substance in a hard shell that has the form of the upside-down cone. On the enemy’s language it is called “ice-cream”. The enemy itself does not have hard armour – it would be easy to bite its flesh; and there are many holes on its body for the soldiers to penetrate into and destroy the monster from the inside.

The source must be obtained. Defeat is not acceptable. Only victory or death.

The pheromones commanding to engage the enemy are spread in the air.

The attack of the clones has begun.

THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

2009-04-09T01:08:00.000-07:00

Spring… Trees are blooming, spreading the sweet, exciting aroma in the air. Their fresh, tender leaves are covered with the crystal drops of the morning dew. Birds are preparing to meet the new sunny day with their sonorous, melodious songs. Small black ants and red-and-black bugs are marching in the young grass in search for breakfast. Fluffy bumblebees have already found a place to have a snack – the white flowers of an apple-tree. And now they are buzzing slowly around them seeking for a flower full of the sweetest nectar.

All this shines in the golden and warm rays of the morning sun…

The BEAUTY!

- Revolution!!!... – the angry shout spreads all over the plaza, and hundreds of stones are hurled into the air. They hit the metal shields of policemen and fall on the asphalt filled with pieces of paper, glass and plastic bottles. The strikers once again raise the flags of their country and make another attempt to smash the resisting policemen. The latter retreat from the damaged building of the Presidency waiting for the fire brigades to arrive for support. The young people demanding the overthrow of the current government meet this action with a victorious cry. They put together the damaged furniture taken from the Presidency and set it ablaze. One of the members of the crowd, a bit drunk and dirty, raises the flag and waves it from one side to another.

The roar rises higher and higher…

The BEAST!

Humans… How pitiful are your revolutions, how comical is your politics, and how poisonous is your thirst for Power. Look around you! The Life continues to exist no matter which party has won the elections. Trees continue to bloom and birds continue to sing despite the number of buildings ruined. And the large forests, beautiful hills and twisting rivers of your country continue to shine under the golden rays of the life-giving sun indifferent of what you, Homo sapiens, consider to be right and wrong.

However, in case the Nature feels your constantly rising ignorance or negative attitude towards Her, She will easily hit, and smash, and eliminate you, and no party or president will be able to defend your weak bodies and vulnerable minds.

...

In the cartoon with the same name the Beauty and the Beast fell in love with each other, with the Beast turning into a handsome, kind and loving prince.

Homo sapiens, can YOU do the same?

THE FAKE “BEE”

2009-03-18T05:34:00.000-07:00

At the blog of my friend, Nicu, called “My Thoughts” I saw a picture of a quite interesting fly. Here it is:

“Fly?! – you may ask in disbelief, - This is not a fly. It is a bee!”
If you think so, my friend, then you have been tricked by a Hoverfly (in the United Kingdom), or Flower fly (in the United States) from the Syrphidae family of the Diptera World. There are over 4000 representatives of this family of insects.
Hoverflies are harmless, and in order to protect themselves from predators they use the technique called “mimicry” to imitate dangerous insects like bees, wasps, or bumblebees. This is represented by certain colours, hairs on the body, movements and sounds.
The name “Hoverflies” these small (about 12 – 15 mm) insects have obtained due to another interesting technique – they are able to hover in the air without changing the position for a long time. This is used by male flies to demonstrate their ability to coordinate and control their flight, thus attracting females. They are like telling everyone: “If I have such ability, then my genes are excellent to give to the future generations!”.
One of the most well-known Hoverflies in Europe and Western Asia is Eristalis tenax L., described by the biologist Linnaeus in 1758. Its larva called the “rat” has long tail-like breathing tubes and is living in small ponds. Chrysalis is formed inside larva’s cover in the soil near the pond.

Thus, if you see a black-and-yellow winged insect, do not be quick in calling it a bee. Look closer! In case the insect has only two wings (instead of four), big eyes and tiny antennae, then this is an amazing representative of the Syrphidae family – the Hoverfly.

BACK TO THE EARTH

2009-03-12T04:23:00.000-07:00

Besides space objects and spacecrafts I also drew and wrote about the planet Earth with its geographical spheres, human organs and systems, designs of various mechanisms and machines, etc. I continued borrowing books not only from the school library, but also from friends and relatives.
And one day I got my hands on the collection of seven books called “Jizini Jivotnyh (The Life of Animals)”, which became the very first push to my interest in Biological sciences.

I really enjoyed studying these books. Although they were written in a pure scientific language, I understood most of the content. And I began drawing the pictures of Protozoa (microorganisms), Arachnida (spiders), Insecta (insects), Aves (birds) and other living beings based on the images in the books.
Here are some of the drawings from my albums:

Observing and reading about all the wonderful creations of the Nature, I became excited and passionate about the natural sciences, like Zoology, Genetics, Bionics, Ecology, and so on. I started to have entomological excursions, do research work by myself, and, of course, write poems about the natural wonders of the Earth. The latter can be found at my blog “Alexander Ischenco – The Thoughts”.
Most of the drawings, research works and early stories were collected and arranged into an anthology consisting of 7 albums.
Thus, the encyclopedia called “Mir Vokrug Nas (The World Around Us)” was created.

EYE TO THE SKY

2009-02-05T02:49:00.000-08:00

One of the most memorable experiences in my exploration of the mysteries of space was the visit to the Astrophysics Observatory in Crimea, Ukraine. My uncle living there organized our participation in the excursion to the Observatory.
During the soviet time, the Astrophysics Observatory in Crimea was the largest one in the whole Soviet Union. There I saw huge white domes of the observatories and the telescopes within. There was one reflector – a telescope working on the principle of reflecting the light with large mirrors inside it, and several smaller refractors with lenses.
The following pictures show one of the reflectors:

And here is one of the refractors:

Although I did not manage to look through the telescopes, seeing these instruments for exploring the Universe in reality was really wonderful and inspiring for me.

THE DISTANT BEGINNING

2009-02-02T23:56:00.000-08:00

My interest in the natural sciences appeared in the early childhood, with Astronomy being the first one to grab my attention. I was fascinated by the boundless space full of massive scorching stars, wandering icy comets and illusory but deadly black holes, which we are able to detect only by their influence on the nearby objects. Being a seven year old boy I already knew the names, main characteristics and moons of all planets in the Solar System, as well as constellations and galaxies. And in order to organize my desire for learning more and more, I started drawing space objects in special albums, copying images from various books and presenting my own observations through my spyglass. I borrowed almost all books on Astronomy in my school library to draw structures of planets, types of stars, and mechanisms of spaceships.
Below you can see some of my earliest drawings.

This is how my series of drawing albums called “The World around Us” were created.