Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside ,England, United Kingdom along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880. It is the fourth most populous British city, and third most populous in England.
Labelled the World Capital City of Pop by Guinness World Records, Liverpool has produced a wealth of musical talent since the mid-20th century. The popularity of The Beatles, Billy Fury, Gerry and the Pacemakers and the other groups from the Merseybeat era, and later bands such as Echo & the Bunnymen and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination; tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy.
In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship,Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715. Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including William Rathbone, William Roscoe and Edward Rushton, were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.
At the end of the 20th century Liverpool was concentrating on regeneration, a process which still continues today. Previously part of Lancashire, and a county borough from 1889, Liverpool became in 1974 a metropolitan borough within the newly created metropolitan county of Merseyside.
In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centred on Paradise Street, which involved the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool ONE', the centre opened in May 2008.
Spearheaded by the multi-billion Liverpool ONE development, regeneration has continued on an unprecedented scale through to the start of the early 2010s in Liverpool. Some of the most significant regeneration projects to have taken place in the city include the new Commercial District, King's Dock, Mann Island, the Lime Street Gateway, the Baltic Triangle, RopeWalks and the Edge Lane Gateway.
- Liverpool Cathedral is the Church of England cathedral of the Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount and is the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool but it is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin. The total external length of the building, including the Lady Chapel, is 189 metres (620 ft) making it the second longest cathedral in the world; its internal length is 146 metres (479 ft). In terms of overall volume, Liverpool Cathedral ranks as the fifth-largest cathedral in the world and contests the title of largest Anglican church building alongside the incomplete Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City. With a height of 100.8 metres (331 ft) it is also one of the world's tallest non-spired church buildings and the third-tallest structure in the city of Liverpool. The cathedral has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. The Anglican cathedral is one of two in the city. The other, the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Liverpool, is situated approximately half a mile to the north.
- The Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses. Designed by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick, it was opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain to be built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood. As a result, it was the first non-combustible warehouse system in the world. At the time of its construction the Albert Dock was considered a revolutionary docking system because ships were loaded and unloaded directly from/to the warehouses. Today the Albert Dock is a major tourist attraction in the city and the most visited multi-use attraction in the United Kingdom, outside of London. It is a vital component of Liverpool's UNESCO designated World Heritage Maritime Mercantile City and the docking complex and warehouses also comprise the largest single collection of Grade I listed buildings anywhere in the UK.
- The Cavern Club is a rock and roll club in Liverpool. Opened on Wednesday 16 January 1957, the club had its first performance by The Beatles on 9 February 1961; Brian Epstein first saw them performing there on 9 November 1961. In the decades that followed, a wide variety of popular acts appeared at the club, including The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Kinks, Elton John, Queen, The Who and John Lee Hooker. The club closed in March 1973, and was filled in during construction work on the Merseyrail underground rail loop. In 1984 the club was re-built with many of the same bricks that had been used in the original club. Despite being a world-famous tourist spot, the club continues to function primarily as a live music venue.
- Liverpool Town Hall stands in High Street at its junction with Dale Street, Castle Street, and Water Street. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, described in the National Heritage List for England as "one of the finest surviving 18th-century town halls". The Buildings of England series refers to its "magnificent scale", and considers it to be "probably the grandest ...suite of civic rooms in the country", and "an outstanding and complete example of late Georgian decoration". The town hall was built between 1749 and 1754 to a design by John Wood the Elder replacing an earlier town hall nearby. An extension to the north designed by James Wyatt was added in 1785. Following a fire in 1795 the hall was largely rebuilt and a dome designed by Wyatt was built. Minor alterations have subsequently been made.
- The Royal Liver Building is a Grade I listed building sited at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's Three Graces, which line the city's waterfront. It is also part of Liverpool's UNESCO designated World Heritage Maritime Mercantile City. Opened in 1911, the building is the purpose-built home of the Royal Liver Assurance group, which had been set up in the city in 1850 to provide locals with assistance related to losing a wage-earning relative. One of the first buildings in the world to be built using reinforced concrete, the Royal Liver Building stands at 90 m (300 ft) tall and was formerly the tallest storied building in Europe. Today the Royal Liver Building is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the city of Liverpool and is home to two fabled Liver Birds that watch over the city and the sea. Legend has it that were these two birds to fly away, then the city would cease to exist.


Oxygen absorber development.
Earlier in the 20th century, a number of chemicals were incorporated into food products to absorb residual oxygen, including ascorbic acid and glucose oxidase/catalase (Brody et al. 2001). During the 1960s dithionite, calcium hydroxide, activated carbon, and water were incorporated into a system and used in Japan for oxygen scavenging properties which was also patented (Bloch 1965). By the 1970s, the use of plastic packaging varying in oxygen permeability started to be widely used. Concerns regarding the oxidation by residual oxygen and also the oxygen which transmits through the packaging material lead to the development of chemical means of oxygen removal by using packets or sachets within the package, which saw the beginnings of new category of packaging called active packaging, including oxygen absorbers.
Why does the foods need to use oxygen absorber?
Oxygen absorbers absorb oxygen and effectively reduce the aerobic environment to 0% oxygen. Therefore aerobic bacteria and fungi are unable to grow in this environment. Then the oxygen adsorbent bags can protect packaged food and other products against spoilage, mold growth, color change, loss of nutritive values and loss of quality by removing residual oxygen inside the packaging (to below .01%). The components of an oxygen absorber vary greatly, depending on what it is being used for. Most adsorptions, an admixture of iron powder, sodium and activated carbon (charcoal) etc. have been proven quite effective. Meanwhile, the contents are safely contained in the packet and does not contaminate the food.
Oxygen and moisture are the two most important elements to lead foods damp, mildew and spoiled. Our factory - Hongda have a special type of adsorbent with dual functions which can not only take out the oxygen but also absorb the moisture from a sealed package products.
How to measure the oxygen in product's container?
Oxygen in container(mL)= ( Air volume of container( ml ) - weight of product(g)/ specific gravity) * 0.21
Models & oxygen adsorption
How to test the oxygen absorber's adsorption capacity?
There are two testing methods here for you.


Breathe deeper and the world becomes a better place around you. By Jill Lawson
“The average person completes one inhale and exhale cycle about 20,000 times in 24 hours. How many breaths do you notice and appreciate each day?”
Breathing is essential for life. Without oxygen, we perish. It’s no surprise how savouring our breath during a yoga or meditation practice makes us feel so alive, because our breath is the most vital part of our existence. Breathing is both a conscious and an unconscious activity. We can direct our breath to calm or energise the mind and body, or we can let our natural processes do the breathing for us. The average person completes one inhale and exhale cycle about 20,000 times in 24 hours. How many breaths do you notice and appreciate each day?
The following ‘bone breathing’ meditation is designed to spark an interest in the remarkable nature of our breath in the body, providing the practitioner with a renewed sense of vitality. Practice to shine light and awareness on the prana that radiates from deep within your bones.
Most of us know that during an inhale, the contraction of our diaphragm creates a vacuum effect, pulling outside air into our lungs. Once the air enters our lungs, oxygen is absorbed through tiny sacs called alveoli. Capillaries deliver the oxygen to larger blood vessels where it is pumped through the body by the heart. Once the oxygen has been delivered, carbon dioxide is absorbed and brought back to the lungs, then expelled into the outside air
through an exhale; the relaxation phase of the diaphragm. Muscle tissues and organs utilise the oxygen for life’s processes, but did you know your bones also need to breathe? It’s hard to imagine something as rigid as bone matter needing a breath of fresh air, but capillaries indeed serve our bones with breath.
Do it now
To begin this meditation, come to a comfortable position. Take several deep breaths to clear your mind and relax your body. Now, follow the path of your next breath. In your mind’s eye, imagine oxygen molecules absorbing into your alveoli, then making stops at each muscle and organ in your body. Next, visualise these molecules soaking into your bones, serving the deep caverns of bony tissue with prana. Feel energy and illumination coming from all of your 206 bones, as if seeing them with an x-ray machine; bright and alive.
Practice this meditation every morning. Notice how you radiate from the inside out with renewed vibrancy and wellbeing. Make no bones about it, when you glow, the world around you becomes a brighter place to be.
Jill Lawson is a writer and yoga teacher enjoying life on the island of Maui in Hawaii (jilllawson.net)


Denial as a developmentally youthful defense appears to be related to outward directed aggression (Porcerelli, et al., 2004, page 319). Denial is one of the three basic defense mechanisms revolving around the infant and his or her mouth. Denial is the refusing to take in what the other is trying to make you accept. The infant denies by clamping his or her lips tightly together so that nothing can enter his or her mouth. The infant cannot choose the food; cannot choose the portion, the temperature, the utensil, the site, and so forth unless the adult is willing to cooperate. His or her only power is to deny. "Mmmph! NO!" Shutting down, the silent treatment, no sex, passive dispassionate agreement which is actually passive-aggressive, and ignoring are forms of denial. Denying implies that the ingestion of the concept- that is, agreement or compliance with the other, means taking in some poison or otherwise harmful compound. It is often very obvious that the denial is illogical to everyone else, but still is clung to nevertheless. What then is the poisonous symbolism? The therapist needs to find out what does ingestion take in symbolically that is so psychically fatal.
Nate continually criticizes the decisions Holly makes about their children's education, house cleaning, spending, etc. When asked to explore and express what he feels and underlies his frustration, Nate told the therapist what he thinks. He evaluates and analyzes. A classic gender stereotype is of men who always respond with what they think when asked what they feel. This often is a consequence of male cultural training to disconnect from dangerous vulnerable feelings combined with family-of-origin experiences where vulnerability was derided. When confronted with this, Nate still focused on the illogical nature of his Holly's behavior and choices, while denying any emotional logic underlying them. He can own that he is angry; that is permissible for a "man". However, Nate denies the underlying hurt that preceded and ignited the anger. What he cannot own is that he is hurt because Holly shutting him out of the parenting attacks his basic sense of worth. Since the therapist has noticed the age-inappropriate defense mechanism, he or she should explore what may be Nate's deeper issues. The therapist can choose a strategy or approach depending on his or her theoretical orientation or style. In confronting and then processing this with the Nate, they discover that his deep fear of abandonment and exclusion from childhood rejection by his parents motivates his anger and criticism. In addition, he could not express about this, because his father always asserted, "Real men don't whine!" Nate had learned to deny this vulnerability because of his fear that owning it would drag him into the depths of despair he endured as a child—that is the poison.
The therapist can access this by invoking logic. The therapist can take a stance "for" one person or perspective and "against" the other. And, then asking assertive and provocative statements and questions, that push for depth and revealing introspection. "It doesn't make sense for you to deny that. It's obvious that it hurts to be shut out of parenting. And Nate, you're not stupid. And, I don't believe you aren't aware of what your criticism does to Holly, or that you don't care that she hurts. But there must be something very compelling that you are taking care of that makes it difficult if not impossible to agree or acknowledge Holly in this way. What is it that agreeing would mean that is so painful or dangerous? Or, what do you lose by acknowledging?" Some therapists may not be as direct and will use other approaches they find more appropriate. Working with denial requires both a theoretical soundness and an artistic sophistication of the therapist.


Public sector in development cooperation
Owned by the Global Bank Group1, The Bank for International Development and Reconstruction, known as the Global Bank borrows in the international capital markets (“BIDR,” “Global Bank,” or “Bank”) is the Global Bank Group’s long-term sovereign lending institution. As a development bank with an agenda driven by G-7/G-8 and G-20-priorities, its leading priority is to promote global economic and social development. Unlike the multilateral development banks (MDBs)2, Global Bank is not restricted to operating only in developing countries.
Global Bank’s purpose is to work with developed and developing countries so that they can achieve equitable and sustainable economic growth in their national economies and find effective solutions to pressing regional and global problems in economic development and environmental sustainability, all with a view to overcoming poverty and improving standards of living. It pursues this goal primarily by providing financing, risk management products, and other financial services, access to experts and a pool of knowledge in development-related disciplines, so that borrowing countries can pool, administer and prioritize resources they dedicate to development-related objectives.
Global Bank’s main goals are to end poverty and hunger, and to achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions through promoting inclusive economic growth, protecting the environment, and promoting social inclusion.
Global Bank in partnership with governments, independent specialists and other financial institutions is focused on delivering projects in developing and developed countries that create economic and development impact.
Global Bank offers a range of financial products that help developed and developing countries build economic growth and social development. These tools include loans, technical assistance, and grants. Global Bank does this in the context of the social and economic development needs of our clients, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions3 for climate action submitted by around 180 countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Global Bank’s strengths – collective action, policy analysis, coordination and cooperation; the development of practical tools and ideas; and being a platform for learning and dialogue on good approaches to global challenges – can benefit all States, particularly for developing countries. In a number of areas these countries benefit from the broader capabilities and resources of the Global Bank Group, and in some key areas, Global Bank work directly addresses the interests of support all States, particularly for developing countries.
An open and closer dialogue between the Global Bank and the States, particularly for developing countries provides an opportunity to establish a deeper partnership and continue sharing the benefits of stronger development cooperation.
The Global Bank committed to working to substantially increase investments from public and private sectors to support all States, particularly for developing countries’ efforts to mainstreaming climate change to help achieve the Sendai Framework targets by 2030 - a decade-long plan to help make the world safer from disasters caused by natural hazards — and to support the implementation of the Global Climate Agreement in Paris, and prevent disasters undermining progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. We will also ensure that our development programs consider climate risks and opportunities.
Global Bank already provides policy, advisory, financial, and technical support to countries as they transition toward a lower carbon, more climate resilient future.
Beyond the immediate demand of responding to the crisis, the Global Bank remain focused on crisis prevention, supporting sustainable growth and development and, in particular, the need to combat climate change.
We are determined to continue:
- Combining our knowledge and experience with our member countries’ perspectives, offering policy and technical advice tailored to local conditions;
- Building a global safety net by providing counter-cyclical support to economies affected by adverse shocks;
- Helping countries implement actions for climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk management;
- Working to strengthen domestic financial markets and deepen financial inclusion;
- Promoting the highest social, environmental and governance standards;
- Attracting more concessional funding to provide grants and concessional lending to low-income, fragile and conflict-affected countries.
To learn more about what we do and where we work, visit the Where we work Section of the Global Bank Website.
To learn more about the Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund, what we do and how we do it and Management and Organisation, visit the About DRRRF and the Frequently Asked Questions Section of the DRRRF Website Section.
For information about the Global Bank, please visit http://www.global-bank.org
|1||Global Bank Group, consisting of five institutions, represents, develops and supports the collective interests of its business interests around the world. One of these institutions is The Bank for International Development and Reconstruction known as the Global Bank,(“BIDR,” “Global Bank,” or “Bank”). Global Bank is a full-fledged private sector global development bank, in formation, with legal and regulatory rights including formal approval to utilize the term "Bank" pending – the world’s second global development bank – positioned next to the World Bank and the preeminent regional development banks (MDBs). The Bank for International Development and Reconstruction borrows in the international capital markets.|
|2||The Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) are institutions that provide financial support and professional advice for economic and social development activities in developing countries. The MDBs provide financial and technical support to developing countries to help them strengthen economic management and reduce poverty. Together, the MDBs provide support to the world's poorest in every corner of the globe, strengthening institutions, rebuilding states, addressing the effects of climate change, and fostering economic growth and entrepreneurship.|
|3||Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) is a term used under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that all countries that signed the UNFCCC were asked to publish in the lead up to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris, France in December 2015. These intended contributions were determined without prejudice to the legal nature of the contributions. The term was intended as a compromise between "quantified emissions limitation and reduction objective" (QUELROs) and "nationally appropriate mitigation actions" (NAMAs) that the Kyoto Protocol used to describe the different legal obligations of developed and developing countries. Under the Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015, the INDC will become the first Nationally Determined Contribution when a country ratifies the agreement, unless they decide to submit a new NDC at the same time. Once the Paris Agreement is ratified, the NDC will become the first greenhouse gas targets under the UNFCCC that applied equally to both developed and developing countries.|


|Scientific Name:||Abies hickelii var. oaxacana|
|Species Authority:||(Martínez) Farjon & Silba|
See Abies hickelii
Abies oaxacana Martínez
|Taxonomic Source(s):||Farjon, A. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.|
|Taxonomic Notes:||This is a variety with larger seed cones than var. hickelii, but otherwise very similar. The distribution of the two varieties partly overlaps.|
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Endangered B1ab(ii,iii,v)+2ab(ii,iii,v) ver 3.1|
|Reviewer(s):||Thomas, P., Perez de la Rosa, J. & Rushforth, K.|
This taxon is known from a limited number of locations (data are insufficient to give an estimate of the number) and it is thought to be in continuous decline due to logging and general deforestation in the region. Its area of occupancy is certainly less than 500 km² (calculated at 144 km² but based on incomplete records) and it would thus qualify under criterion B2 for Endangered.
|Previously published Red List assessments:||
Endemic to Mexico: Guerrero, Oaxaca.
Native:Mexico (Guerrero, Oaxaca)
|Estimated area of occupancy (AOO) - km2:||144|
|Continuing decline in area of occupancy (AOO):||Yes|
|Estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) - km2:||4000-5000|
|Number of Locations:||2-3|
|Lower elevation limit (metres):||2500|
|Upper elevation limit (metres):||3000|
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
|Population:||A variety which occurs in very low densities. The total population is decreasing and the subpopulations are severely fragmented.|
|Current Population Trend:||Decreasing|
|Habitat and Ecology:||Both varieties of this species occur in high mountains of sub-tropical southern Mexico, at elevations between 2,500 m and 3,000 m a.s.l. The soils are of volcanic origin. The climate is cool, moist oceanic, with rain mostly in the winter. There are some pure stands at the highest elevations, but this species is usually mixed with highland pines, e.g. Pinus montezumae, P. pseudostrobus, and P. ayacahuite, and also with Cupressus lusitanica and Quercus spp. Shrubs are e.g. Vaccinium spp., Andromeda spp., Ribes spp. and Fuchsia spp.|
|Continuing decline in area, extent and/or quality of habitat:||Yes|
|Generation Length (years):||40|
|Use and Trade:||Hickel's Fir is a rare species and its two varieties occur in more or less disjunct, limited stands. Exploitation for timber is minor and its use is local, mainly worked in sawmills for domestic purposes. In cultivation it is extremely rare and limited to some dendrological collections in countries with mild climate, e.g. southern France.|
|Major Threat(s):||Logging may have some impact on this taxon, but data to evaluate this quantitatively are lacking. For the 1998 Conifer Specialist Group assessment it was assumed that a 20% decline had occurred over the duration of three generations (about a century). Deforestation in the region is an ongoing process, which affects Abies as a late successional tree more than e.g. Pinus, so it is considered that the decline is continuing.|
|Conservation Actions:||More forest reserves with effective management and policing would be required to protect this variety from decline.|
Farjon, A. 2010. Conifer Database (June 2008). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2010 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., eds). Reading, UK Available at: http://www.catalogueoflife.org/.
Farjon, A. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
IUCN. 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2013.1). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 12 June 2013).
Strandby, U., Cristensen, K. and Sørensen, M. 2009. A morphometric study of the Abies religiosa–hickelii–guatemalensis complex (Pinaceae) in Guatemala and Mexico. Plant Systematics and Evolution 260: 59-76.
|Citation:||Farjon, A. 2013. Abies hickelii var. oaxacana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T34125A2847149. . Downloaded on 25 November 2015.|
|Feedback:||If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided|


Gogoi, MM; Babu, SS; Moorthy, KK; Manoj, MR; Chaubey, JP (2013). Absorption characteristics of aerosols over the northwestern region of India: Distinct seasonal signatures of biomass burning aerosols and mineral dust. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, 73, 92-102.
Continuous measurements of aerosol black carbon (BC) mass concentrations made over a period of 3 years from a semi-arid, near-coastal, remote and sparsely inhabited location along with satellite-based data of aerosol absorption index, optical depth and extinction profiles in western India are used to characterize the distinct nature of aerosols near the surface and in the free troposphere and their seasonality. Despite being far remote and sparsely inhabited, significant levels of BC are observed in the ambient during winter (1.45 +/- 0.71 mu g m(-3)) attributed to biomass burning aerosols, advected to the site from the north and west; while during summer the concentrations are far reduced (0.23 +/- 0.11 mu g m(-3)) and represent the apparent background concentrations. The spectral absorption coefficients suggest the BC during summer be mostly of fossil fuel combustions. The strong convective boundary layer dynamics produces significant diurnal variation during winter and modulates to a lesser extent the seasonal variation. Examination of aerosol (absorption) index from OMI data for the study period showed a seasonal pattern that is almost opposite to that seen at the surface; with high aerosol index in summer, showing a significant difference between the surface and columnar aerosol types in summer. MISR and MODIS-derived columnar AOD follow the OMI pattern. Analysis of the vertical profiles of aerosol extinction and volume depolarization ratio (VDR), derived from CALIPSO data indicates the presence of strong dust layers with VDR similar to 0.3 in the altitude region 4-6 km, contributing to the high aerosol index in the OMI data, while the surface measurements show absorptive properties representing fossil fuel BC aerosols. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


There’s no denying it: Technology has changed the way we live, work, and even think. Electronic devices allow us to stay constantly connected to our jobs, the news, and our numerous social networks—no matter where we are or what we’re doing. This easy access may be convenient and sometimes fun, but it’s also addictive and distracting, with the average American adult spending an astonishing 11 hours or more each day using electronic media.
When we spend all our free time focused on (or distracted by) technology, we don’t spend enough time interacting with the people and places right in front of us. Of course, the vast majority of us can’t realistically ditch our devices for good. That’s why, for this Cup of Calm, we went straight to the source and asked the experts how to take a break and disconnect in our technology-obsessed world—and why it’s so important for our mental health. Here’s what they had to say:
- Start with Your Smartphone
The number one source of technology overload? Smartphones. The average person checks their phone every 12 minutes and receives around 80 alerts a day. According to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, this constant phone-checking boosts stress, decreases focus, and makes it harder to remember what we’ve seen.
Here’s how: As the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.” The simplest way to start a digital detox is to put your phone away whenever possible. If you have to keep it in your line of vision, minimize its pull by closing all of your apps, turning off your notifications, and putting your phone on silent.
- Reclaim Your Brain
“The more time you spend toggling rapidly among multiple digital tasks, the more you will tend to think in a distracted way,” says William Powers, author of Hamlet’s BlackBerry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age. “If you spend a lot of time texting, answering emails, and watching online videos, rewiring occurs to enable that kind of thinking, which tends to be of the short-attention-span variety.”
Here’s how: Stop what you’re doing now and look around your space. How many gadgets do you have around you right now? How many are you actively engaged with? Try turning off as many as you can for 30 minutes. Spend that time on an activity that strengthens your attention span, such as reading a book, meditating, or working on a puzzle.
- Take Your Time
You don’t have to give up screen time cold turkey to make an impact. Powers and his family unplugged on weekends for years when his son was a teenager. “By going off-line on a regular basis, we were able to connect in the best sense of the word,” he says. It also helped them carve out time for rewarding hobbies and activities such as playing musical instruments, drawing, and taking walks.
Here’s how: First, try banning all smartphones (and other devices) at meals. Then, consider giving up screen time—or even just social media—one or two days per week, or try reserving an hour every weeknight before bed for “quiet time” to work on a project or a hobby that does not rely on a device.
- Create “Walden Zones”
Clear boundaries around where and when electronic devices can be used will help you (and those around you) cultivate a reflective environment that encourages more patient states of awareness and thinking.
Here’s how: Powers recommends designating certain rooms in the home—particularly the bedroom—as device-free sanctuaries. “I call these ‘Walden Zones’,” says Powers, referring to Henry David Thoreau’s famous experiment and subsequent book documenting his time living simply and surrounded by nature at Walden Pond.
- Bonus Tip for Parents: Practice What You Preach
Today’s youth are rarely seen without a smartphone in hand—and it’s affecting their mental health. Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D., a Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, studied the ways technology affects child development and found that teens who spend more time than average on online activities are more likely to be unhappy and report symptoms of depression.
Here’s how: To get your kids on board with some tech-free time, be up-front with them about why it’s important. “Bring them on board philosophically so they understand in a personal way what they’ll gain by doing this radical thing,” says Powers. Then, it’s crucial that you commit to modeling the behavior you want to see from your children, says Yalda T. Uhls, Ph.D., senior researcher at UCLA’s Children’s Digital Media Center. For instance, when you pick up your kids from school, leave your smartphone at home, and ask your kids to put their phones away, too.
Hannah Wallace is a Portland-based journalist and editor who writes about integrative medicine, sustainable agriculture, and wine for Food & Wine, Vogue, Fast Company, and other publications. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @Hannahmw23.


Earlier this year, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) revealed that it had secretly shipped one-half metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium from South Carolina to a nuclear security site in Nevada. Despite the state’s protests and an injunction, the government trucked the radioactive material to a location seventy miles north of Las Vegas. Future shipments would most likely pass directly through Las Vegas on the way to the Nevada National Security Site. An accident could permanently harm an area that is home to 2.2 million residents and hosts more than 40 million tourists a year. A city famous for its vibrant neon signs and casinos might radiate a new kind of glow.
Nevada is presently seeking a court order to block more shipments of plutonium as it pursues “any and all legal remedies,” including contempt of court orders against the federal government. Much of the animosity toward the federal government is linked to the handling of Yucca Mountain, a potential storage site for nuclear waste that many Nevadans oppose. The presiding U.S. president and his administration have vowed to re-open the site as a final destination for nuclear wastes. I attended a meeting in eastern Nevada where an assemblyman from southern Nevada was asked about the possibility of the Yucca Mountain site opening for storage. As a native Nevadan, the political representative believed that the government needs to clean up the mess that it left behind in the past, before creating a new one.
Huge amounts of nuclear materials have been secretly moved, buried, stored, and hidden in the high mountain desert over the years. Of course, the largest amounts of contaminants are a result of nuclear testing that took place in the 50s up to the 90s. During above-ground tests, westerly winds routinely carried fallout across St. George and southern Utah. Dramatic increases in cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, bone cancer, brain tumors, and gastrointestinal tract cancers, were reported from the mid-1950s through 1980.
In later years, the federal government detonated 921 nuclear warheads underground at the Nevada Test Site. Each explosion deposited a toxic load of radioactivity into the ground, and in some cases, directly into aquifers. When testing ended in 1992, the DOE estimated that more than 300 million curies of radiation had been left behind, making the site one of the most radioactively contaminated places in the nation. In a study for Nye County, it’s estimated that the underground nuclear tests polluted 1.6 trillion gallons of water. That’s enough water to fill a lake 300 miles long, one mile wide, and twenty five feet deep.
A couple of years ago, I took a tour of the Nevada National Security Site with my son. We weren’t allowed to take any photos, but we saw where both above, and below-ground testing took place. The final stop was at a radioactive waste management site where low-level wastes are buried such as rags, papers, filters, equipment, discarded protective clothing and construction debris. In 2015, an explosion and fire took place at a similar low-level radioactive waste facility near Beatty, Nevada (click here to watch video of the explosion.) A year later, my daughter and I visited the site of “Project Faultless” where below ground testing took place outside the parameters of the Nevada Test site (click here to read a previous blog entry about Project Faultless). Signs across the landscape stated that the soil was “petroleum impacted.” I read later that oil was often used to insulate radioactive contaminated soil.
The idea that something is easily forgotten or dismissed as unimportant if it is not in our direct view, seems to be rapidly growing the past couple of years. This is true with both contaminated waste and inaccurate and misleading rhetoric. The reality is that no matter how deep you bury something—whether its radioactive bi-products, or the truth—it’s still out there.
For more information about the Nevada National Security Site, visit nnss.gov.


WE DEMAND THAT, DURING TIMES OF ARMED CONFLICT, FACILITIES WHERE WILD ANIMALS ARE CONTAINED BE “NON-MILITARY TARGETS.”
When wildlife is caged or contained in specific areas for the purpose of conservation, research, training, and public education and awareness, full responsibility must be taken for their safety and humane treatment. The abandonment and neglect of wild animals in captivity in times of armed conflict is one of the most flagrant violations of this principle. We are petitioning that the following be adopted as International Law, and extreme violations of them be deemed as war crimes.
- During times of armed conflict, there is an obligation on the part of all parties to respect and protect caged or contained wildlife. This includes places that preserve, research, breed, treat,...
- During times of armed conflict, there is an obligation on the part of all parties to respect and protect caged or contained wildlife. This includes places that preserve, research, breed, treat, and study wild animals such as zoos, veterinary clinics,wildlife and marine reserves, and other similar facilities.These facilities must be given the same status as schools, hospitals, and churches; in other words, non-military targets and not for use in military operations.
- Those persons who continue to protect and maintain wild animals in captivity and wildlife and marine reserves during periods of armed conflict must be granted the same status as medical and religious personnel under the Geneva Conventions.
Read full petition here:


What is “mindfulness?”
“Mindfulness is: paying attention, on purpose, in a particular way, in the present moment, with non-judging awareness.”
“Mindfulness is being aware of what we’re doing while we’re doing it.”
“The root [of mindfulness] is experiencing the itch as well as the urge to scratch, and then not acting it out.”
“In mindfulness we learn to awaken from unconscious absorption in thoughts and feelings.”
The heart of mindfulness is the cultivation of attention to “things as they are,” with an attitude of non-judging awareness.
“Non-judging awareness” means not being caught up in judging, not believing everything we think. Mindfulness training leads to an ability to witness and get curious about difficulties, rather than withdrawing from, ignoring, or struggling with them.
Mindfulness involves training the mind to know what it’s paying attention to – starting with observing our breathing and body sensations. Body sensations are called the “neutral ground of our attention.” Thinking about what we’re thinking, or thinking about what we’re feeling (emotionally) can quickly lead to being lost in more thinking and feeling. But if we say to ourselves “How is the back of my right calf feeling right now?” there is an anchoring effect on thinking and feeling – slowing it down, allowing the mind to rest. Our mind can rest on a free-wheel for a while, allowing a re-routing of negative thinking patterns. After a break, thinking often becomes more positive, and can be surprisingly original. New possibilities for responding arise, increasing mental and emotional flexibility and resilience.
What is “Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction?”
Thirty years of research on the physical and mental health effects of a program called “Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction,” or MBSR, demonstrates that mindfulness practices, when done consistently, reduce suffering, improve resilience and stress tolerance, physical and mental health, kindness and compassion, happiness and peace of mind.
The practices taught in MBSR programs derive from teachings that are over 2500 years old. They were secularized, modernized and brought into the health care mainstream by the pioneering scientist Jon Kabat-Zinn, and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts, beginning in the late 1970s. Mindfulness practices include: awareness of breathing, body scanning, yoga, qigong, and sitting and walking meditation; attitudinal practices, including non-judging awareness and don’t-know mind; and affective practices, including gratitude, lovingkindness, and compassion practices.
MBSR programs are generally taught in eight 2.5-hour sessions and an all-day retreat. They are now offered in many hundreds of clinics and hospitals in the US and around the world. Increasingly, MBSR is taught in elementary, middle, and high schools, graduate and professional training schools, including medical schools and law schools, corporations – like Google, Apple, law firms, insurance companies, and nonprofit organizations. When combined with psychotherapy, MBSR training proves to be very grounding for people with psychological difficulties of all kinds. It is a wonderful adjunct to therapy for people wanting to participate actively in freeing themselves from suffering. *
Mindfulness for Psychological Health
MBSR has provided the foundation for an ever-growing field of therapies that apply mindfulness practices and concepts to established methods of psychotherapy. These new therapeutic applications of mindfulness are making emotional regulation and self-management possible for the first time for people with the most challenging psychological conditions.
Some of the most prominent of these applications are: Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (MBCT), Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention for Substance Use (MBRP), Mindfulness-based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Extensive ongoing research demonstrates their remarkable benefits.
How Might I Start to Practice Mindfulness?
The world-renowned Vietnamese mindfulness teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, says that the practice of stopping is the first practice of mindfulness. It can help us to interrupt and break unconscious habits that keep us stuck in reactivity, and cause suffering to others and ourselves. Learning how to pay attention to what we are doing while we are doing it – noticing what we are experiencing in our bodies, thoughts, and emotions – requires the practice of inner as well as outer stopping.
Imagine you’re getting ready to ride a horse. Your foot is in one stirrup, one hand is on the horn of the saddle – but before you can take your seat or pick up the reins, the horse takes off at a wild gallop! You’re holding on for dear life, and then hear someone shouting to you from the side of the road: “Where are you going?!” You yell: “I don’t know – ask the horse!”
This galloping horse represents what we call habit energy – the reactive thinking/feeling patterns that are part of our genetic inheritance, and have been established and taken root throughout our lives. Unconscious tightening and other body sensations fuel habit energy. When present, whenever we’re reacting, it can drive us like that galloping horse, and we aren’t in control of ourselves.
By stopping, we can regain our seat and pick up our (inner) reins. Breathing with conscious awareness, briefly focusing attention on non-thinking – by scanning body sensations and stretching mindfully – it is possible to interrupt the habit energy, calm and soothe distress, and observe thoughts and emotions with greater objectivity. Mindfulness teaches us to respond instead of react to stress in our lives.
One simple mindful stoppingpractice that can be done anywhere, anytime, is called conscious breathing.
Try this: notice where you feel physical sensations as you breathe in and out. It is often easiest to feel this on the inside of the nostrils – but it’s important to find out where you feel it, if you can. Now, say to yourself: “breathing in, I know I’m breathing in” as you breathe in, feeling the in-breath; and “breathing out, I know I’m breathing out” as you breathe out, feeling the out-breath. Do this three to five times. Now, check: Are you focused here, in the present moment, or in the past, or the future? What are you feeling in your body? What thoughts can you identify? What emotions or moods can you name?
* Note: MBSR instructors are required to have a deeply-established and daily practice of mindfulness meditation, to have attended at least two long silent retreats, and to incorporate mindfulness in their lives. Therapists wanting to learn about mindfulness to enhance their work must understand that mindfulness is not something that can be learned in a weekend and then applied in therapy.
For more information about training in Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction:
A few good books:
Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, Christopher K. Germer, Ronald D. Siegel, and Paul R. Fulton, Editors.
Wherever You Go, There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn
When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chödrön
Transformation and Healingand Peace Is Every Step,Thich Nhat Hanh
Mindfulness of Thinking and Attitudinal Practices – by Renee Burgard
The preceding article was solely written by the author named above. Any views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the preceding article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment below.


a1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK & Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
a2 Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
a3 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK
Ornithischia is a familiar and diverse clade of dinosaurs whose global phylogeny has remained largely unaltered since early cladistic analyses in the mid 1980s. Current understanding of ornithischian evolution is hampered by a paucity of explicitly numerical phylogenetic analyses that consider the entire clade. As a result, it is difficult to assess the robustness of current phylogenetic hypotheses for Ornithischia and the effect that the addition of new taxa or characters is likely to have on the overall topology of the clade.
The new phylogenetic analysis presented here incorporates a range of new basal taxa and characters in an attempt to rigorously test global ornithischian phylogeny. Parsimony analysis is carried out with 46 taxa and 221 characters. Although the strict component consensus tree shows poor resolution in a number of areas, application of reduced consensus methods provides a well-resolved picture of ornithischian interrelationships. Surprisingly, Heterodontosauridae is placed as the most basal group of all well-known ornithischians, phylogenetically distant from a stem-defined Ornithopoda, creating a topology that is more congruent with the known ornithischian stratigraphical record. There is no evidence for a monophyletic ‘Fabrosauridae’, and Lesothosaurus (the best-known ‘fabrosaur’) occupies an unusual position as the most basal member of Thyreophora. Other relationships within Thyreophora remain largely stable. The primitive thyreophoran Scelidosaurus is the sister taxon of Eurypoda (stegosaurs and ankylosaurs), rather than a basal ankylosaur as implied by some previous studies.
The taxonomic content of Ornithopoda differs significantly from previous analyses and basal relationships within the clade are weakly supported, requiring further investigation. ‘Hypsilophodontidae’ is paraphyletic, with some taxa (Agilisaurus, Hexinlusaurus, Othnielia) placed outside of Ornithopoda as non-cerapodans. Ceratopsia and Pachycephalosauria are monophyletic and are united as Marginocephalia; however, the stability of these clades is reduced by a number of poorly preserved basal taxa.
This analysis reaffirms much of the currently accepted ornithischian topology. Nevertheless, instability in the position and content of several clades (notably Heterodontosauridae and Ornithopoda) indicates that considerable future work on ornithischian phylogeny is required and causes problems for several current phylogenetic definitions.


How Safe is Your Drinking Water? NRDC Report Documents Widespread Lead Violations
WASHINGTON —More than 18 million Americans got their drinking water from systems with lead violations in 2015, according to a groundbreaking Natural Resources Defense Council report. The problem could be significantly more pervasive because many more water systems known to have such violations — including that in Flint, Michigan — do not even show up as having lead violations in the government database designed to track such problems, according to NRDC scientists and health experts.
“Americans take it for granted that the water flowing from their home taps is clean and safe, but all too often that assumption is wrong. Shoddy data collection, lax enforcement of the law, and cities gaming the system have created a potent brew of lead violations and unsafe drinking water from the water supplies used by millions of people across the nation,” said Erik Olson, Health Program Director at NRDC. “And Flint doesn’t even show up as having violations for lead in the EPA’s drinking water tracking data, suggesting that millions more Americans could be at risk of drinking unsafe water but they aren’t even being tracked,” said Olson.
“What’s In Your Water: Flint and Beyond” documents the prevalence of lead in drinking water issues across America. The report offers a deep dive into the issues that contributed to widespread lead contamination in Flint, mapping Environmental Protection Agency violations for the federal Lead and Copper Rule, and documenting the lack of enforcement against those violations. NRDC’s analysis and its accompanying digital maps expose the scope of lead-related issues in drinking water systems across the United States. The report found more than 18 million people were served by 5,363 community water systems that violated the Lead and Copper rule. These violations included failure to treat to reduce lead levels, failure to monitor for lead, and failure to report test results to citizens or the government.
Not every person served by these systems is known to have excessive lead in their water, because only a small percentage of homes were tested, and lead levels can vary from home to home. However, industry estimates say that from 15 million to 22 million Americans are served drinking water through lead service lines (the pipes connecting a residence to the water main) that can release lead into tap water.
“A whopping nine out of ten of these water rule violations never faced any formal enforcement. In fact, states and EPA sought penalties against only 3 percent of lead rule violators. That’s inexcusable. The message sent to water suppliers that knowingly violate the law is clear: There is no cop on the beat,” said Olson.
Shockingly, Flint, the national poster city for devastating lead contamination of tap water, does not appear on the map of Lead and Copper Rule violations. Flint’s absence is a tipoff that the problem of lead-contaminated water is likely much, much broader than previously understood. EPA audits have long found that many drinking water violations do not show up in its database.
Another issue highlighted by NRDC’s peer-reviewed report is that water systems can use testing methods to avoid detecting lead problems. In cities like Flint, Chicago, and Philadelphia, where localized lead spikes may put the public at risk, officials allegedly have “gamed” water testing in ways that may obscure lead contamination. For example, systems can monitor in locations less likely to have lead problems rather than in the highest risk homes, or can use water sampling methods that minimize the chance of finding high lead levels. After years of complaints about these questionable techniques, EPA finally issued a “guidance” document at the end of February 2016 discouraging these methods, but untold numbers of cities have long used them.
“Nationally, water systems’ monitoring violations and tricky testing techniques could be masking the exposure of millions more Americans to lead,” said Kristi Pullen Fedinick, PhD, staff scientist with NRDC. “No amount of exposure to lead is safe, especially for children who are more susceptible to lead poisoning and suffer more severe impacts,” Dr. Pullen Fedinick added.
“The bottom line is that lead is found in drinking water in cities well beyond Flint, often affecting vulnerable lower-income communities of color. Unsafe drinking water is a national problem that needs a national solution,” said Rhea Suh, NRDC’s president.
A top priority for NRDC is addressing the ongoing water crisis in Flint, where residents still do not have access to safe tap water more than two years after lead began leaching from water pipes. Alongside local partners, NRDC filed a lawsuit in federal court, seeking to bring Flint into compliance with federal law governing safe drinking water and replace Flint’s lead service lines. Beyond addressing that situation, the report highlights a number of major changes needed at the national level to protect the health of millions of Americans from lead-contaminated water, including:
- Fix Flint, with both immediate emergency relief, and long-term infrastructure and systemic improvements.
- Get the lead out. Invest in the rest of the country’s water infrastructure, removing lead service lines and fixing other water problems with a prioritization of underserved communities.
- Fix our drinking water laws and rules. Implement and enforce a bolstered Lead and Copper Rule, while letting citizens more easily sue for relief from contaminated water.
- Address environmental injustice, giving local communities who bear a disproportionate burden of polluted water opportunities to participate in developing solutions to drinking water infrastructure challenges.
“What’s In Your Water: Flint and Beyond” and its companion searchable interactive map are available online with a number of supplemental documents explaining the issues at play, as well as steps communities and homeowners can take to protect themselves from lead tainted drinking water at https://www.nrdc.org/stories/whats-your-drinking-water.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Livingston, Montana, and Beijing. Visit us at http://www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.


From Washington Post:
Startling new finding: 600 million years ago, a biological mishap changed everything
Zounds. Most mishaps don’t change everything by introducing vast new realms of complexity. As in: Bill Gates stumbled in his garage one day, and behold, Windows!
In a paper published in the open-access journal eLife this week, researchers say they have pinpointed what may well be one of evolution’s greatest copy mess-ups yet: the mutation that allowed our ancient protozoa predecessors to evolve into complex, multi-cellular organisms. Thanks to this mutation — which was not solely responsible for the leap out of single-cellular life, but without which you, your dog and every creature large enough to be seen without a microscope might not be around — cells were able to communicate with one another and work together.
So it is not “solely responsible” but essential.
Incredibly, in the world of evolutionary biology, all it took was one tiny tweak, one gene, and complex life as we know it was born.
Wait! The guy just said it “wasn’t solely responsible.” One wonders how many other essential characteristics were working together at the same time, many as yet unidentified.
A single mutation that repurposed a certain type of protein. Instead of working as enzymes (proteins that facilitate reactions inside the cell) the proteins were now what’s known as an interaction domain. … Every example of cells collaborating that has arisen since — from the trilobites of 500 million years ago to the dinosaurs, woolly mammoths and you — probably relied on it or some other similar mutation. More.
So it is one of the essentials for known instances of multicellular life forms, but not the “one tiny tweak.”
File with: These days, hype rises in science journals, like yeast in dough
and The Enigma of Information
See also: Is there a good reason to believe that life’s origin must be a fully natural event?
Maybe if we throw enough models at the origin of life… some of them will stick?
Follow UD News at Twitter!


The Western Australian Museum’s long and fascinating history reflects and documents the State’s rich and diverse natural and cultural heritage.
Established in 1891 in the old Perth gaol, it was known as the Geological Museum and its collections were geological, ethnological and biological. In 1897 it officially became the Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery.
During 1959 the botanical collection was transferred to the new Herbarium and the Museum and the Art Gallery became separate institutions. The Museum focussed its collecting and research interests in the areas of natural sciences, anthropology, archaeology and the State’s history. Over the 1960s and 1970s it also began to work in the emerging areas of historic shipwrecks and Aboriginal site management.
Today the Western Australian Museum comprises six public sites and a collection and research centre and houses more than 4.5 million objects from rare fossils to the iconic racing yacht Australia II.
The Museum also manages 200 shipwreck sites of the 1500 known to be located off the WA coast and manages eight Aboriginal land reserves.


If a hard object impacts a car window, the glass typically shatters into small pieces. However, if your windshield receives a hard impact, it leaves the surface cracked. Why is this the case?
Finding the right type of material for the windshield initially took a little trial and error. When vehicles were first manufactured, they were created with plate glass. This proved to be extremely dangerous because once an accident occurred, sharp glass shards flew everywhere. During an accident, the glass was nearly just as dangerous as the impact of the crash.
In the late 1920s, automakers began searching for an alternative and eventually stumbled upon an innovative option. Édouard Bénédictus, a French chemist and artist, patented a laminated glass that is reported he discovered by mistake. While he was in a lab, he dropped a flask holding plastic. The plastic inside the flask created a film that allowed the glass to break, but not shatter. By 1927, car manufacturers started incorporating the laminated glass into windshields.
Side windows aren’t installed with laminated glass; they are installed with tempered glass. Tempered glass is created by being rapidly heated and cooled, making the glass over 5x’s more durable. This explains why when it’s broken, the glass shatters into pebble-like pieces. Tempered glass for the side windows is easier to break for emergencies.


NEWPORT NEWS — A hymn rang out over the grounds of the Mariners' Museum Saturday afternoon. Civil War-era guns were fired in salute and a blue-clad bugler played taps. The grieving wife of a Union soldier killed 152 years ago laid a rose on the water in remembrance.
The Battle of Hampton Roads is best known as the first clash between two armored ships. The Mariners' Museum hosted lectures, re-enactments and a tasting of Civil War-era cuisine to commemorate the battle, which took place between March 8 and 9, 1862.
One group of re-enactors, however, spent Saturday afternoon remembering those men who fell victim to the CSS Virginia before the ship squared off with the USS Monitor.
"While much attention has always been focused on the battle that took place on March 9 between the Virginia and the Monitor, today we commemorate the men of Company D of the 99th New York Volunteer Infantry," said re-enactor Larry McCauley.
Soldiers from the 99th New York were stationed as naval infantry on the USS Congress, McCauley said, which fell prey to the Virginia on March 8, the day before the Monitor arrived to engage the Virginia.
The CSS Virginia, known as the USS Merrimack before Confederate forces claimed and repaired the frigate in Norfolk, was a steam ship covered in heavy armor impervious to the firepower of the era. Confederate leaders hoped to use the ship to break the Union's blockade of Southern ports.
In its first combat outing on March 8, 1862, the Virginia demolished two Union warships in the waters of Hampton Roads — the USS Congress and the USS Cumberland.
The lopsided battle left 261 Union sailors and soldiers dead, including infantrymen from the 99th New York stationed on the Congress. The Virginia ultimately lost just two men.
This was a blow to the northerners — the Union fleet, a large collection of mighty wooden ships, now seemed acutely vulnerable.
When the Virginia returned to Hampton Roads the following morning to assault a grounded Union frigate, the Union's own ironclad was lying in wait. The USS Monitor exchanged fire with the Virginia for hours, marking the first time two ironclad ships had met in combat. The March 9clash ended in a draw and signaled a dramatic shift in the future of Naval warfare.
McCauley said he hoped that the 99th New York's memorial would go beyond honoring the memory of those who died and that it reminded people of the human cost of war.
"It was a significant battle and men died fighting for a cause they believed in. We have to commemorate the battle for what it meant. It changed naval warfare forever," McCauley said. "In remembering the acts and the men, we may be able to avoid making the same mistakes again."


Kids, Make a Podcast, Build a Radio
HAM Radio and Homeschooling: A Good Fit
What about socialization? Ham radio may seem like a hermit’s hobby, sitting alone in a room with a bunch of electronic equipment, but it’s actually very social. It’s all about talking to other people on the radio. By Chris Mahar.
Most people think “Broadcasting” began with Guglielmo Marconi in 1895. However, there were several antecedents to Marconi, and, yes, even “broadcasts” before Marconi’s experiments.
History of the Radio Receiver
Learn more about the of the radio or wireless radio receiver from the earliest sets using coherers and magnetic detectors to modern high-performance semiconductor based radios.
Learn the history of how podcasting was developed and how it has evolved over the years.
by Jim ErskineOld Time Radio programs are wonderful, family-friendly entertainment. But did you know they are also a great way to enhance your homeschooling as well? Even better: These classic programs can teach your kids some things that TV, movies, and video games cannot: How to be a better listener, and how to use their own imagination.This concise, practical manual explains why listening to these classic programs can dramatically improve your children’s listening skills, and how they develop a child’s own creativity and imagination. It then gives you practical, proven ideas on how to easily incorporate old time radio programs into your kids’ homeschooling – making history and literature “come to life” in an exciting new way.FREE BONUS AUDIO DOWNLOADS INCLUDED!Also included with this kindle book are FIVE full-length Old Time Radio programs (in MP3 format) specially chosen for homeschool listeners PLUS exclusive “Listening & Discussion Guides” for each program, designed to make these classic programs an even more valuable educational addition to your homeschool curriculum.
But Why is a show led by kids! You sent in the questions and they find the answers! All topics large and small, about nature, words, even the end of the world.
Dunkle Unkin’s For Kids
The site features original Real Audio stories and songs, including a number of safety songs from The Love & Safety Club for Children.
History and Politics Outloud
Significant recorded or broadcast speeches by famous personages, from Winston Churchill through Bill Clinton, about 1930 – 1999.
A daily radio program produced by WXPN-FM, a service of the University of Pennsylvania. Its primary mission is to provide entertaining and educational programming for kids.
Nathan Hale High School Radio Station
C89.5 plays pop-hits music live from Seattle. You can also listen to their CD collection.
Find vintage radio shows such as Gunsmoke, DragNet, Superman, and more.
Pulse of the Planet
Each weekday, Pulse of the Planet provides its listeners with a two-minute sound portrait of Earth, tracking the rhythms of nature and culture worldwide and blending interviews and extraordinary natural sound.
The radio station just for kids 12 and under. Begins broadcast immediately, so make sure your sound volume is how you want it. Needs a fast connection. Have only your browser application open.
Top radio streaming website. Works with Winamp and iTunes. Listen to music from all over the world! Or learn how to use their software to create your own online radio station.
The Stories Podcast was created to provide family-friendly content to families on the go, Always free, the podcast is a great way to entertain kids on the go and limit screen time while encouraging imaginations.
Tell Us A Tale
My name is Peter Jones, and I am your host. For those of you already familiar with the radio program and storytelling that spawned this website, consider this your personal invitation to find out more about the people and characters behind the voices you hear each Sunday from noon to 2 pm on Charlottesville, Virginia station WTJU 91.1 FM.
A science podcast for kids, to be enjoyed by the entire family. Find stories about scientific discoveries, with the help of scientists!
What if World
What If World is a storytelling podcast for kids. What if a tiny dragon lived in my closet? What if there were a never-ending bowl of ice cream? What if cats ruled the world? Join Abacus P Grumbler, Randall Radbot, and Whendiana Joan as they help Mr. Eric tell wacky stories inspired by your questions! Call to leave a voicemail at 205-605-WHAT and be featured on the show.
Wow in the World
This podcast is a way for families to connect, look up and discover the wonders in the world around them. In every episode, hosts Mindy and Guy guide curious kids and their grown-ups away from their screens and on a journey.
Zucchini Brothers Radio Show
Modeled on the oldtime radio, back before there was TV, “Live! at the Clubhouse” is a great place for young listeners. It’s educational. It’s got facts about science and nature. And, it’s always 100% healthy and 100% fun!
Make Your Own
Build Your Own Crystal Shortwave Receiver
The fidelity of tone and clarity of crystal rectification are hard to beat. What’s more, crystal sets are absolutely free! A crystal receiver is powered solely by the radio waves that it pulls from the air.
Creating Podcasts with Your Students
Podcasting can be educational! This article walks you through the steps of preproduction, recording, postproduction, and publishing.
How to Make a Foxhole Radio
GI’s, during World War Two, built these sets which took advantage of (comparatively) readily available materials. The instructions are purposely lacking in detail; these were a project designed with improvisation in mind.
Best Selling Homeschool Books Q1 2018
How To Make A Streaming Audio File
How to create your own radio show for your website: the technical details.
Best Selling Homeschool Books Q1 2018
Through hands-on practice, working relationships with industry professionals, and production of award-winning programming, Youth Radio students learn the basics of broadcasting. In the process, they’re exposed to a broad spectrum of media-related careers.


Legislation in a handful of states would bar the use of the death penalty for people who experienced a serious mental illness at the time that they committed their crime.
© The Associated Press
Upset that people with schizophrenia and other mental disorders have been put to death after murder convictions, lawmakers in a handful of states want to bar the use of the death penalty for people with a serious mental illness.
People accused of murder who are found not guilty by reason of insanity can serve time in a mental hospital and avoid the death penalty. But many states have a narrow legal definition of insanity — not knowing what one did was wrong. And critics say that leaves many people with mental disorders to be found guilty of capital crimes and sentenced to death.
Some of them have already been put to death. Ohio executed a man with schizophrenia in 2001. Arkansas did the same in 2004. A schizophrenic Texas man spent two decades on death row after his insanity plea was rejected, leading to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that inmates must have a rational understanding of their punishment before they can be executed. (The state continued to seek his execution until a lower court halted it in 2014.)
Legislators in at least seven states — Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia — have proposed bills this year to prohibit the death penalty for people who suffered from a serious mental illness at the time of their crime. Most of the proposals name specific disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, delusional disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Research by academics and the American Civil Liberties Union suggests many people on death row have a mental illness. A study from a professor at the University of North Carolina found that 43 percent of people executed between 2000 and 2015 had been diagnosed with a mental illness at some point in their lives, although not all were serious enough to be covered by the proposed legislation.
Backers of the proposals say that because of the way these diseases affect people’s thinking and impulses, they are less culpable and ought to be spared from the most severe punishment allowed under law, just as children and the intellectually disabled are. The concept is backed by the American Bar Association.
“If these people aren’t seeing the world for what it truly is, if they can’t concentrate and think things through, if they’re so delusional or depressed their thinking isn’t reality-based anymore, they should not be held to the same standard,” said Megan Testa, a psychiatrist who helped draft the list of disorders included in the Ohio bill.
But opponents, including many prosecutors, say the legislation is unnecessary, because people with a serious mental illness are already protected by pretrial competency reviews and can plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
They also disagree with the requirement in many of the proposals that prosecutors prove a defendant had not been suffering from a severe mental illness at the time of the crime, saying the burden should fall instead to the defense to prove a defendant was mentally ill. Because some of the bills don’t specify how severe a disorder must be, opponents also worry the defense would be used too widely.
In many states, the bills are being discussed as part of a broader debate about the death penalty. Ohio has paused executions amid a lawsuit stemming from a botched execution in 2014. Arkansas is set to carry out eight executions by the end of this month, when its supply of fatal drugs expires, after struggling to find enough witnesses to sit in on the process.
Public support for the death penalty has been falling since the 1990s, and a 2002 poll found 75 percent of Americans opposed the death penalty for the mentally ill.
“We do have a legal death penalty in Ohio for a certain class of crimes, and I support that,” said Republican state Sen. John Eklund, who sponsored the bill there. “But defending that punishment will become increasingly difficult if the punishment is not administered and adjudicated in a humane and responsible way.”
‘Many Defendants’ Display Illness
Evelyn Lundberg Stratton saw many defendants with severe mental disorders come through her courtroom when she was a trial judge and as a justice on the Ohio Supreme Court.
“It was their history. They’d been hospitalized 10 times, arrested numerous times for acting out of control. They’d be saying crazy things, saying aliens controlled the world. The whole gamut — you name it, I saw it,” said Lundberg Stratton, who left the bench in 2012 and has been advocating to end the death penalty for the mentally ill for more than a decade.
Of the 141 people on death row in Ohio, 21 have a severe mental illness that would exempt them from the death penalty under the bill, according to data compiled by the anti-death-penalty group Ohioans to Stop Executions.
Ohio has a strict definition of insanity — the defendant must not have known what they were doing was wrong. But most Ohio jurisdictions have a more limited interpretation, Testa said. They require that a defendant didn’t know the act was illegal.
“It’s very narrow,” she said. Testa gave the example of a schizophrenic who commits murder in a state of paranoia but may not qualify for the insanity defense if they knew their actions were against the law.
Lundberg Stratton said Ohio’s narrow definition of insanity required her to affirm use of the death penalty even in cases where mental illness had been an important factor. In one such case in 2006, a man who murdered a friend who would not lend him money had a history of hearing voices, had been hospitalized 13 times, had attempted suicide multiple times, and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
In deciding that case, Lundberg Stratton quoted a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring the use of the death penalty for the intellectually disabled, saying the practice offended “evolving standards of decency.” She called on the state to set limits for when the mentally ill should be exempt from the death penalty, just as it has for the intellectually disabled.
The proposed legislation largely functions the same from state to state. Testa said the listed disorders affect people’s ability to plan, think through consequences and perceive reality. The defendant can be diagnosed before or after arrest, but the disease must be shown to have been active when the crime was committed.
Once deemed competent to stand trial, defendants suffering from one of the disorders listed by the legislature could raise the issue at a pretrial hearing, where a judge would decide whether they qualify for protection from the death penalty if convicted. If the judge says no, the defense could raise the issue again at trial, and a jury would likely decide the matter. Those found to have a serious mental illness could still face life in prison if guilty, but would avoid the death penalty.
Opposition From Prosecutors
Many of the prosecutors who have spoken out against the bills said there are enough legal options and Supreme Court precedents to protect people who have a severe mental illness.
For example, people who do not fit the legal definition of insanity and are found guilty of a capital crime can try to avoid the death penalty at sentencing by presenting their mental disorder as a mitigating factor.
“The jury and the judge, when they impose a sentence, will take that into account. It’s not something we ignore under current law,” said John Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.
But mental health professionals and defense attorneys say bias against the mentally ill means evidence intended to convince a jury to reduce a sentence may have just the opposite effect.
“The law says mental illness is a mitigating factor but unfortunately some jurors who are weighing the case don’t see it that way,” said Testa, the psychiatrist. “They think, ‘This person’s brain is this way and they’re never going to get better.’ ”
Critics of the bills also complain that they don’t address the severity of the illness, which they say could allow a wide range of people to seek the protections they provide.
“We will not be surprised if every single inmate now on death row files a post conviction petition to be evaluated for mental illness so they can take advantage of this process to get off death row. Why wouldn’t they?” Murphy said in written testimony to the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee in March. “All they need do is get a diagnosis of one of these conditions, even at the most minimal level.”
In her 2006 plea from the bench for a state standard for sentencing people with mental illness to the death penalty, Lundberg Stratton acknowledged it would be a challenge. Mental illness differs from intellectual disability in that there’s no equivalent to an IQ score to easily determine the severity of a mental illness, she said.
But psychiatrists say anyone with a disorder covered by the bills has a severe mental illness. As some conditions, like bipolar disorder and depression, become more widely accepted by society, people may underestimate how serious they are.
“People are called bipolar because they have a mood swing,” Testa said. But getting diagnosed with any of the covered diseases requires experiencing life-altering symptoms for a long time.
Prosecutors also don’t want the burden to be on them to prove that a person wasn’t suffering from a severe mental illness at the time of the crime.
“I don’t know how we’re supposed to show what was in his own mind and how it affected his judgment,” Murphy said. “It seems virtually impossible.”
Kari Bloom with the Office of the Ohio Public Defender said the burden the bill places on prosecutors is just.
“If we want to execute a person in the state’s name, it doesn’t seem like a lot to say, ‘This person wasn’t suffering from a serious mental illness,’ ” she said. “The state should have the decency of showing every person we take to death is the right kind of person to be there.”
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John Gray Mr Bunting WW Rom The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The book MORMONISM Doctrines of devils is book 2 in the volume Exposing the cults of our day It covers the basic beliefs and practices of Mormonism will compare the Mormon religion to the beliefs of Christianity The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the Mormons where organized on April 6 1830 in New York with 6 members Mormons recognizes 4 books 1 The Book of Mormon 2 Doctrine and Covenants 3 Pearl of Great Price and 4 the Bible as long as it is correctly translated they consider the King James Version as there official bible Book of Mormons is a collection of 15 books supposedly covering the history of an ancient people in America from 2200 BC to 421 AD Joseph Smith Founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints claims its location was revealed to him on September 22 1827 and was on tablets of gold According to the Book of Mormon two great immigrations took place to America after the Tower of Babel one around 2000 BC and another around 600 BC The first group that migrated were descendants of Jared They landed on the west coast of Central America They built large cities had elephants and many domesticated animals But the people were corrupt and wicked they all died in massive wars In battle 2 million people died Finally everyone was killed except the prophet Ether who recorded it onto 24 gold plates Then came About 600 BC Lehi and his family left Jerusalem and sailed to the west coast of South America Later he and his family migrated to Central and North America There they found the domesticated animals horses cows ox goat etc left by the Jaredites The two most dominant members of Lehis family were Nephi and Laman Lamans family was rebellious against the Lord According
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Savanna burning in Africa occurs over a wide range of environmental, vegetation, and land use conditions. The emission factors for trace emissions from these fires can vary by a factor of 6 to 8, depending on whether the fires burn in miombo woodlands or in ecosystems where grass vegetation dominates. Ground-based measurements of smoke emissions and aboveground biomass were made for fires in grassland and woodland savanna ecosystems in South Africa and Zambia. A high combustion efficiency ( ) was measured for the pure grassland; i.e., a high proportion of carbon was released as CO2. The was lower for woodland savanna ecosystems with variable amounts of grass and with a more compact layer of leaf material and litter lying near the ground. The was found to be dependent on the ratio of grass to the sum of grass and litter. Models developed for estimating emissions were integrated in a nomogram for estimating total emissions of CO2, CO, CH4, nonmethane hydrocarbons, and particles of less than 2.5 μm diameter per unit area.


Where Do Baldness Genes Come From?
In a world that is increasingly preoccupied with physical beauty, baldness can feel like one of the biggest cosmetic problems. When one starts balding, he or she looks for treatment methods such as a hair transplant in Turkey as well as excuses for baldness, such as genetic factors. Most people understand that baldness can be a hereditary problem which can be passed down from the mother or the father’s side. Studies show that up to 80% of cases of hair loss arise as a result of hereditary factors. Here you can find out more about where baldness genes come from.
One of the main genes for baldness comes from the maternal grandfather. However, this gene does not account for all cases of baldness. Two of the latest studies have pinpointed baldness to 20p11, a small area on chromosome 20. This could explain why some people suffer from baldness even when their parents enjoy a full head of hair. Although researchers at SHIFT Hair Transplant clinic are still in the dark about DNA involvement or the part which is involved, they are sure that bald people usually have a specific form of 20p11.
According to a study, the presence of this DNA could raise the risks of baldness in men by up to four times. This can be up to seven times in men with some other forms of another gene. In another study, a different type of 20p11 was found to be associated. This study concluded that the risk of baldness was up to three times in such cases.
The X Chromosome
The female chromosome or the X chromosome is the main gene responsible for baldness. Many men inherit baldness from their mothers. According to research by the University of Bonn in 2005, the genetic factor has more dominance on the maternal side. Imagine that your father has a full head of hair but your maternal uncle has a bald pate by his thirties. It is quite possible for you to follow in the footsteps of your uncle as far as baldness is concerned.
However, the specific gene that is responsible for male pattern baldness seems to come from both the father and the mother’s sides. The genes for baldness can also skip generations and even spare members of the same generation. This means that it is common to find the younger brother of the family having a bald head in his late twenties while his older brother has a full head of hair.


In southwestern Namibia lies a vast area - now a national park - that has been off-limits to visitors for more than a century. It stretches along the Namibian coast for a distance of 200 miles starting from the South African border at Oranjemund to around 72 km north of Lüderitz. Known as Sperrgebiet, German for "Prohibited Area", the first diamonds were discovered on the beach here in 1908 when the German Empire occupied South-West Africa, and almost immediately thereafter it closed off this 10,000 square-mile tract of coastline and desert, designating it a diamond concession for the Deutsche Diamantengesellschaft (German Diamond Company), which had unrestricted access to the vast diamond deposits in the area. The Germans lost control of the territory to South Africa during World War 1, but by 1920, the diamond deposits around Lüderitz were considered depleted and the claims were sold to Ernst Oppenheimer. He founded the “Consolidated Diamond Mines of South West Africa (CDM)”, which was later taken over by the De Beers Group. De Beers controlled the area until the 1990s when the Namibian government purchased a fifty percent stake. The Namibian government is now a 50-50 partner with De Beers, sharing the revenues from this most lucrative of all commodity operations. Peter Fuhrman tells the story in Fortune Magazine of his stay there back in 1989.
Recovered along this stretch of pristine beach and up to 10 miles out at sea, Namibia's valuable diamonds travel a peaceful pathway to market. They take a 90 million year waterborne journey, starting from a riverbank in inland South Africa and eventually wash ashore on the coastline of Namibia. "There is no more tranquil, low-tech nor more valuable mining going on anywhere in the world. Today, the Forbidden Area is probably the most unspoiled large plot of land left on the planet. The diamonds that come ashore here are particularly prized because on average, they are larger and higher-quality than those dug out of the ground. Sea currents over tens of millions of years gradually polish these rough stones to a state of unusual clarity and brilliance," writes Fuhrman. "As far as geologists can determine, beginning sometime during the Jurassic Age, the diamonds that wash up in Namibia were pushed to the surface by Kimberlite Pipes about 800 kilometers to the east, along what’s now the Orange River. The biggest, heaviest diamonds were gradually pulled down the river by currents and then eventually far out into the sea in Namibian coastal waters. The tides are now slowly but surely pushing them back on land."
Fuhrman writes: "When I visited, De Beers relied almost exclusively on men from the Ovambo tribe to do the diamond harvesting along the beach. The De Beers facility inside the Forbidden Area was identical in appearance, if not in purpose, to a high-security prison. The Ovambo workers stayed in barracks near the beach for six months at a time. When theirstay was up, they were subjected to a full manual body search as well as an x-ray search. I too had to undergo both. The security is tight for a good reason. Today, almost 10% of Namibia’s economy, estimated at $2.5 billion, comes from the Namibian government’s share of the money collected from selling sea diamonds to cutters and polishers in Tel Aviv, London and Antwerp." He tells the story of an ingenious and audacious worker that found a way around the security system: stashing away diamonds he had recovered, he would smuggle in a homing pigeon when he returned for his next six-month stay. Once back in his barrack, he took the biggest diamonds he had hidden away, put it them a small pouch around the pigeon’s neck and let the bird loose. It flew over the tall barbed wire fences and found its way back home. When he returned home to find the pigeon and the diamonds waiting for him. Apparently greed got the better of him though, and he weighed down the bird with too many diamonds so that it could barely make it over the fence. The guards tracked it down, followed it home and discovered who owned the roost. They drove back to the Forbidden Area. The worker confessed and returned to De Beers the diamonds he had kept hidden in his home.


Once the weather gets warm, people start calling in to report serious problems with their plants. Careful questioning reveals that over 75% of these problems are the result of improper watering techniques.
Whether you plant annuals, perennials, herbs, or nursery stock, you MUST be sure to pay attention to proper watering techniques during the first year of their life in your garden or the plants will fail to thrive and possibly even perish! Watering plants sounds simple enough, but it can be one of the trickiest and most deceptive activities that you can do in your garden! You must water DEEPLY twice a week for the first three weeks and at least once a week thereafter for the first growing season to ensure success with your new plants. We often have extended periods of severe drought in Connecticut, in spring or fall as well as summer. Be sure to monitor this and be aware of just how much rain has fallen in your yard each week.
The best tool a gardener can have is a rain gauge. Although countless fancy models are sold in every gardening catalog, the basic premise is to put out a container to catch rain and measure the number of inches received. Most perennial gardens thrive on an inch of rainfall per week. Since that only happens in a perfect world, we as gardeners have to take up the slack. The first step is to honestly assess how much rain has fallen. Even if we have three cloudy, cool, drizzly and uncomfortable days in a row, we may actually only receive less than an 1/8 inch of rain during that period. Never assume that a day of showers has soaked in enough to water your garden.
The worst thing that you can do is to lightly “sprinkle” the plants and the surface of the soil each day when you get home from work. Although this may feel good psychologically, it isn’t doing the plants any favors! Light watering causes all roots to grow up to the surface. Once there, they are apt to dry out much more often as the heat of the sun will simply desiccate them each day . . . and you are caught in a vicious cycle of constant watering and wilting! Instead, water deeply so that the water penetrates down into the root zone, at least 6″ or more. For shrubs or large perennials, the ideal way to do this is to put the hose at the base of the plant and turn it on to a low trickle. WALK AWAY from the plant and leave the water on for at least one half hour. Be sure a well of soil has been created around each shrub so that the water isn’t all running away from the plant and truly does soak down into the ground. When you are done, if you aren’t sure how deeply the water has gone, take a trowel and dig down. It should penetrate 6″ or more down to the root zone.
Overhead sprinklers often look and feel like they are watering the garden, but you would be surprised how long you have to leave them on in order to really saturate the root systems. Put out a cup and catch the water from an overhead sprinkler. How many hours does it take to accumulate one inch in that cup? They are very wasteful of water as well, as they often reach outside of the garden to the driveway or sidewalk. Watering from above poses other problems, too. If you put sprinklers on your garden at night, you dramatically increase the opportunities for fungus on your plants, especially roses and phlox. Always water in the morning. Finally, sprinklers miss plants. In our shade garden, the water hits the leaves of the giant `Big Mama’ hosta and rolls away. Big Mama doesn’t get a drop. It also hits the two tree trunks, and all of the plants behind the trunks are missed as well.
Lawn irrigation systems cannot be expected to water a perennial garden. They are on a different time schedule – they usually come on every night for 15 minutes or a half hour, which isn’t nearly enough for the deep watering needed. Overhead pop up sprinklers also beat the plants in the gardens, and night watering increases the incidence of plant disease. I can always tell by the look of a garden if the customer is using a lawn irrigation system. The plants show it.
A better system is to use soaker hoses. These are laid on the soil surface and covered with mulch. Some people even bury them beneath the soil, especially on steep hillsides. Water oozes out of the pores in the hose very slowly, deeply soaking the soil. You leave these hoses on for many hours, but they actually conserve water because so little water comes out at a time. Because the water doesn’t migrate very far from the hoses, the secret to installing them is to weave them very tightly among the crowns of the perennials or shrubs. We pin them down with landscape fabric staples to keep them in place. After installing them, run the water for a few hours, then dig around to see how deeply and how far the water has penetrated. You may need to add more hoses or run the system longer. Once you have figured it out, THEN bury the hoses. Leave them in place all year round. If you accidentally break them or dig into them while gardening, simply use a hose repair coupling to fix them. You don’t even have to bring them in for the winter! Most systems only have enough water pressure for 100-150’ of soaker hose. Large gardens may need more than one “run” of hoses, irrigating a section at a time. Soaker hose systems can be put on a timer, making them virtually worry-free.
If you are on a well and can’t run a hose for more that 15-20 minutes, let the well recover and then turn it back on the same garden or individual plant again. Do this until that one garden is deeply watered. The next day, water a different garden.
Your best friend in a drought is healthy soil. Be sure your soil contains plenty of rich organic matter, usually in the form of compost. This can be top dressed and scratched in around existing plants and added as you prepare the soil every time you install a new plant. If you don’t have a working compost pile (shame on you, it’s so easy to do) you can buy compost in bags or in bulk for this year. Compost is a plant’s best friend. It holds nutrients and water in the soil and makes the plants much more tolerant of stressful, low water conditions. Another important friend for your plants is to mulch. Use shredded leaves, shredded bark, shredded straw, any organic material that will cover the soil, reduce surface evaporation, hold in the precious moisture, and break down to add further organic matter to the soil structure. In addition to using compost and mulch to enrich the soil and hold moisture, you can also use seaweed as a foliar spray or worked into the soil in a granular form to help increase the plants resistance to dry conditions.
If you think about how plants work, these techniques will make sense. If you implement them, your gardens will be much healthier
In an effort to provide horticultural information, these educational documents are written by Nancy DuBrule-Clemente and are the property of Natureworks Horticultural Services, LLC. You are granted permission to print/photocopy this educational information free of charge as long as you clearly show that these are Natureworks documents.