NGOS ensures micro-casa for homeless in just six hours

The tiny houses are no longer appreciated â€" just â€" in Japan, and are now chosen by those who want to live sustainably and with fewer possessions. The United States, as expected, are already at the forefront of this trend, and it is precisely in this country that an NGO (nongovernmental organization) claims credit for building a micro-casa in just six hours.

The goal of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, of Austin, Texas, was able to provide housing for the homeless sites but, says Mashable, the end result exceeded their own expectations.

To reach this concept, Mobile Loaves Fishes 10 years passed & collect funds and plan the development of structures. Today, the first homeless began arriving to the community.

"We will draw 240 people from the streets of Austin and make them living in our community. A tent in the Woods is not going to solve the greatest desire of these people, who live in the community, "explained the Development Director KeyeTV ONG, Donna Emery.

According to Emery, the organization is not just to put a roof over the head of the people, but to build a real community residence. The site has a Community Center, Garden, open-air theatre and a medical centre. Each resident will pay an income, although this is significantly below market value.

Some residents may pay up to €68 ($ 205) per month to live in one of these houses, and the project will be accompanied by an employment initiative for the homeless (ex-sem-abrigo, actually) can afford your home.

According to Mashable, initiatives that get the homeless off the street can save millions to taxpayers â€" according to NGOS, this community will save €7,5 million (US $ 22.7 million) to the taxpayers of Austin, just on healthcare. More important than that: it will lead to many of these evacuees back smiling and feeling me valid members of the community. Now today I have the pleasure of entering for the first time in a long time, in his home.

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Government will take the Palm trees official residence of the Prime Minister

The Government decided to send down the Palm trees of the São Bento Palace, official residence of the Prime Minister, by considering that the beetle pest treatment-of-Palm trees isn't working and is costly, according to the observer.

According to the website, the palms of the official residence of the Prime Minister were attacked by the beetle-das palmeiras, who came to Portugal in 2007 and has already destroyed a large part of the Canary Island Palm trees â€" about 500, including 13 of the garden of the Palace of São Bento.

When the leaves start to wither and fall may already be too late â€" when you begin to notice the first signs of death leaves the infestation may already be at an advanced stage. On the other hand, can co-exist in the same Palm tree over a thousand individuals. In these cases the only solution is the slaughter and destruction of plant debris.

To prevent infestation or to treat cases where the plants are little affected can be performed pruning and phytosanitary treatments tended (with chemical or biological agents). "In April 2013, was made a survey of the species attacked and carried out a preventive treatment/dressing in 12 Palm trees during three months (installation of pipes along the trunk to injection of plant health care products and nutrients)," said the Press Office of St. Benedict to the observer.

However, the treatment did not provide the expected results. "The result of this action would be elaborated a work plan, as this type of treatment is very expensive. The result was not satisfactory and it was therefore decided to proceed with the slaughter and incineration of cutting, initially of seven Palm trees and later six more Palm trees, "he added.

Foto: Thomas Leth-Olsen / Creative Commons

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Portugal has 10 thousand urban fires per year

There are, on average, 10 000 urban fires per year in Portugal, and seven thousand of these occur in residential buildings, according to the Portuguese Association of security (APSEI).

According to the Association, due to these fires close to 60 people lose their lives each year. "Despite the widespread increase of security conditions, still faced with major challenges in protecting against fire. The implementation of the measures provided for in the legal system of fire safety in buildings in force in the existing buildings in historic centres have been very difficult and, in many cases, impossible to achieve, "he explained in a statement Mary John Conde, Secretary-General of the APSEI.

According to the Association, the Chiado fire-August 25, 1988 â€" had a significant impact in the field of fire safety in buildings in Portugal, leading to, in 1989 and 1990, was published decree-laws governing fire safety in residential buildings.

The APSEI says that the culture of prevention and fire safety in buildings has grown in Portugal and that all those who act in this area are gradually better prepared to meet the challenges of urban fires.

"The responsibility to prevent the occurrence of fires and prevent their destructive effect depends on more security professionals â€" is on all of us. We know that a society more aware of fire hazards in buildings and better prepared to act in case of emergency will cause cases as the Chiado fire become continuously, an event of the past, "concludes Maria João Count.

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New species of snail lives only in a quarry owned by Lafarge cement

A new species of snail was discovered in a limestone quarry operated by cement giant Lafarge, in Malaysia, it is estimated that this is the only place where it exists. The species is tiny, rare and its survival depends solely on the Lafarge â€" probably for this reason, the name that was given to him takes account of the French giant-charopa lafargei.

This was the first time that a species "collects" the name of a company â€" and there's no reason for less. Without the help of Lafarge, the species has the days counted.

The new snail-new to us, it is clear â€" was discovered in Gunung Kanthan in northwestern Peninsular Malaysia. He suffers from a problem common to all species whose geographical area is reduced: a very high risk of extinction. To make matters worse there is this coincidence: the quarry where the charopa lafargei lives is owned by Lafarge â€" is a habitat where sometimes corporate profit weighs more than biodiversity.

This site, incidentally, is fertile for the development of new species. In a few months were discovered three new plants, a spider, a snail and a gecko. All are at risk of extinction and all depend on the quarry for his future.

In recent times, and as parts of the Virgin until now globe are overrun, new species are discovered at a very high speed. All of them are at risk of extinction, since their habitat is reduced.

The future of charopa lafargei is still uncertain, but the journalist Tony Juniper, the Guardian, has some suggestions: "First, [Lafarge] hires a team of biologists from top to make a thorough investigation of biodiversity on the ground. Later, this team will conduct a series of recommendations to the Administration, against the backdrop of the protection of species restricted to the area of the mine. All this must be public and shared by colleagues. And until everything is completed the mine cannot be expanded, "said Juniper.

The big question is: what will he do now Lafarge? Biodiversity ignores or delays the development of one of its crown jewels? Follow all about this story on the Green Savers.

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Decapitated snake 20 minutes bites and kills Chinese cook

When the Cook Chinese Peng Fan decapitated a serpent to prepare one of their specialties, snake soup cut, never thought the spell would turn against the magician and the snake still had a Word to say.

The "story" unbelievable snapped in the Chinese province of Guongdong and was told today by The New Zealand Herald: twenty minutes after the chef Peng Fan beheading the serpent â€" a naja siamensis â€", the head and bit the Cook jumped, hitting him fatally.

The phenomenon is strange but cannot be considered rare. "There's nothing special about this case," explained Treehugger herpetologist Wolfgang Wuster at the, University of life sciences in Bangor. "This may seem strange to us humans because, like other mammals, have a high metabolic rate and we need a constant supply of blood and oxygen to the brain. If it is stopped for mere seconds, we die, "he explained.

In the case of snakes and other reptiles, the scenario is different. "Snakes and reptiles have a much slower metabolic rate, including in the brain, and can stay alive and functional long after the blood supply being cut".

According to Wuster, the snakes can remain active for up to an hour after their head or other part of the body being cut. This period of time is related to the temperatures and the part of the body from which the head was hacked off.

"If the poisonous glands, nerves and muscles used pair bite and raise the poison has not been damaged, then the head of the snake can bite, as a reflex, and probably many other senses of the serpent also [remain assets]," concluded Lee Fitzgerald, A&M University herpetologist, in Texas.

Foto: Rob Bixby / Creative Commons

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Temporary tattoo transforms sweat into energy

If there are already little doubt that physical exercise is excellent for health, now he can contribute directly to sustainability. This is because a group of researchers at the University of California, San Diego, United States, created a technology that enables smartphone users to carry these devices through sweat.

To achieve this feat unlikely, the researchers created a temporary tattoo able to transform the sweat into energy. According to a presentation made in American Society of Chemistry (ACS), the device detects the lactate, natural component of sweat and the more intense the exercise, the greater the amount of lactate produced by the body. Thus, during an intense physical activity the body needs to generate more energy through glycolysis, a process that produces lactate.

To take advantage of this situation, the team at the University of California created a biobateria, a type of adhesive capable of measuring the amount of lactate in the sweat. In addition to detecting the organic compound, an enzyme that removes electrons from lactate and generates an electrical current.

In the tests, the researchers measured the amount of lactate in the sweat and the electric current produced while the volunteers exercised on exercise bikes with various intensities during 30 minutes.

According to the sustainable planet, the results were astounding. The volunteers who exercised less than once a week have produced more power than that made of one to three times a week. Who worked out more than three times a week, on the other hand, has produced the least amount of energy.

This happens because the more sedentary get tired faster, which causes glucose happen earlier in the body. Each volunteer has generated about 70 microwatts per square centimeter of skin, but the electrodes of biobateria generated about four microwatts â€" the value is not high, but if the technology is improved-and will be-, the shipment of smartphones, clocks and other devices will be a reality.

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Humans recycle at least 13,000 years

Recycling can seem like an invention of recent decades, but a recent discovery indicates that this process has existed for at least 13,000 years. A discovery in Molí del Salt, in Tarragona, in Spain, indicates that prehistoric humans reciclavam their possessions since the Upper Paleolithic.

The discovery, published in the Journal of Archaelogical Science, scientists have identified tools that were altered after they have been designed for a specific purpose, which indicates that these tools were recycled for another purpose after having served to perform initial function.

"To identify recycling is necessary to differentiate two sequential levels of handling a subject: the moment before it is changed and the time thereafter. The two are separated by an interval in which the object is subject to change, "explains Manuel Vaquero, researcher of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, cites the Inhabitat. "This is the first time a systematic study of this type has been made", adds the researcher.

Research indicates that although the specialized tools, such as the implements of hunting, have never been made from recycled materials, other objects of daily life were created for one purpose only and when this purpose was fulfilled were converted to suppress other needs.

This recycling capacity of humans in Paleolithic have been developed due to the need to preserve the existing resources and allow savings of time and energy, using tools that were already made. Researchers will further indicate that prehistoric humans "may have even moved large objects from the source location".

Scientists reveal that the identification of recycled objects was made possible through the examination of artifacts burned which show when an item was modified after its original function.

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