Open Minds (formerly known as March Madness for the Mind) is the acclaimed annual exhibition of cutting-edge innovation from NCIIA's (National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance) best student teams. The exhibition takes place each year during NCIIA's annual conference, and is an opportunity for student teams to demonstrate their products and companies, and receive local and national media coverage. 10-15 teams are selected to participate in this high profile event, which involves an evening exhibition for NCIIA conference attendees as well as an exhibition open to the general public and an exciting video competition.
“..providing the most accurate and up-to-date information on seafood available in the U.S. FishWatch is brought to you by NOAA Fisheries Service, the U.S. authority on marine fisheries science, conservation, and management.” ;
Also see:
+ Seafood harvest calendar + FishPhone: Text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question. We'll text you back with our assessment and better alternatives to fish with significant environmental concerns. Also: text the word BLUE to 30644 to opt-in to receive ocean-alerts, info on new seafood rankings and cooking tips.
view video clip and summary (video contains sick pig with human genes, pig w/cow skin, etc)
Film/documentary: Monster Salmon and Butterflies
We already eat GM crops and now GM Salmon, which grow faster and larger than ordinary Salmon, are soon to come onto the market. But does anyone know what effect they will have on us and our environment? This fascinating documentary follows the few independent researchers of genetic engineering as they investigate the dangers of “Monster Salmon”.
“At eighteen months old you see the enormous difference here … the Salmon as it exists now is not profitable enough”, says Andrew Kimbrell as he examines an enormous transgenic Salmon. It dwarfs its natural brother lying alongside it. His is one of the few voices questioning the fast-tracking of GM Salmon onto the marketplace.
While giant Salmon are about to land in our pots and frying pans, independent scientists are only now starting to examine the science behind it. It's a game of catch up and the early indications are worrying. “Certainly if DNA was not cleared from the organisms, if that happens, then it may be the start of a highly unwanted process with regard to health”. While researchers questions are ignored, humans are about to become guinea pigs for genetically engineered fish. There are worries that eating transgenic Salmon could weaken the immune system causing chronic illness, infertility, and even disrupt our own DNA. Yet these seem risks the pro-GM scientific community seems willing to take. However, it is not just the impact these Salmon could have on humans which is worrying scientists. There are suggestions transgenic Salmon could lead to the extinction of Salmon in the wild. While Aqua Bounty, the company looking to market transgenic Salmon, claims the Salmon will be sterile and unable to mate, scientists are contesting that their fertility will be impossible to regulate. If fertile transgenic Salmon escape to the wild the consequences will be dire. “One thing we have found is that the young don't survive as well … it is quite likely the population could go extinct”. “What could be more important than deciding on the permanent genetic future of life on Earth, but we don't vote on that”. While the questions over these Salmon remain, they will shortly be arriving on our plates and we won't be able to do anything about it. We won't even be able to tell when we're eating it.
For a look into the vaccine conflict, see Frontline's “The Vaccine War“. For counter-vaccine viewpoints, Vaccineinitiative.org hosts white papers, articles, opinion pieces, scholarly reports from scientists, physicians, activists, who are offering constructive challenges to the belief of the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
Gary Null Speaking Out at the NYS Assembly Hearing | 10-13-2009 | (part 1 of 3)
MassChallenge has awarded OsmoPure, an NCIIA E-Team, one of its four $100,000 prizes. See announcement.
OsmoPure, from Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, is developing a low-cost water purification device for developing countries based on simple membrane filtration technology. The team showcased the invention at NCIIA's student innovation showcase in San Francisco earlier this year.
Pacific Institute's Community Strategies for Sustainability and Justice (CSSJ) Program has produced Gearing Up for Action: A Curriculum Guide for Freight Transport Justice (pdf), an important advocacy tool to build the power and capacity of communities to participate in decision making around freight transport issues. The guide contains popular-education-style activities that CSSJ developed and piloted in partnership with community groups and coalitions including the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project and the “Ditching Dirty Diesel” Collaborative.This user-friendly curriculum guide is designed to help communities grappling with freight transport issues share their experiences, explore the root causes of freight transport impacts, identify those responsible for dealing with these causes, and develop a plan for advocacy to advance their solutions.
