Politico-celebrity Al Gore was here in Buenos Aires last week, cashing in on a speaking engagement at the First Interamerican Biofuels Congress in the swanky Hotel Presidente Alvear. Apparently 'biofuels' are becoming the latest trend in 'sustainable development' since the major economies of the US and Japan are starting to take a considerable interest in supplementing petroleum-based liquid fuels with alternate liquid fuels like biodiesel and ethanol. Interestingly, as the subject of biofuels comes to the forefront of public consciousness so do all of the corresponding criticisms that have been developed over the years. Indeed, it seems the critics are actually getting more coverage than the proponents. (continued...)

I just found this excellent article regarding (at least) two issues that I find extremely interesting, and which are rarely mentioned together -- food sovereignty and the false dichotomy of 'red states vs. blue states'. And of all the ways those issues are tangential, the author approaches it from a somewhat unexpected angle...cutting through the conventional symbolism and stereotypes by relating refreshingly real anecdotes. (continued...)

To science we owe dramatic changes in our smug self-image. Astronomy taught us that our earth isn’t the center of the universe but merely one of billions of heavenly bodies. From biology we learned that we weren’t specially created by God but evolved along with millions of other species. Now archaeology is demolishing another sacred belief: that human history over the past million years has been a long tale of progress. In particular, recent discoveries suggest that the adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe from which we have never recovered. (continued...)

The government of Norway has decided to do a service to humanity, by building a huge 'doomsday seed vault' for our post-apocalyptic future. They hope to have represented ALL of the world's varieties of domesticated crops. A monumental task... like backing up the hard drive of human civilization. (continued...)