There is a significant anomaly in the relation between the speed with which galaxies spin and their observable mass. Since mass and rotational speed are directly proportional, the more mass a galaxy has, the faster it must spin to retain its shape and not implode on itself. In the early 20th century, two Dutch astronomers, Jacobus Kapteyn and Jan Oort , noticed that galaxies actually spin quite a bit faster than can be accounted for by their mass as gauged from the radiation they emit.

They hypothesized that, therefore, there must be some form of resistance, caused by a mysterious type of matter that does not emit light or any other form of electromagnetic radiation by which we could observe and measure it. They proposed to call it ‘dark matter’.

Science is based on measurement and so the idea of something beyond measurement was for a long time regarded with derision and horror by the scientific community. All the more so since it implies that by far the larger part of the universe is made up of the stuff.

However, some 80 years later technology became available to detect curvatures in the path of light coming from deep space. Like everything else, light is subjected to gravity and so it bends toward anything that has mass, be it ever so slightly. Astronomers Vera Rubin and Kent Ford of the Carnegie Institute in Washington D.C. made use of this to prove the existence of dark matter beyond doubt. They estimated that only 10% of the total mass of the universe can be detected. The other 90% is dark.

If not in a real sense, then at least in a metaphorical one, it offers an explanation for Murphy’s law that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong and that anything enjoyable is either illegal, immoral or fattening. Perhaps it also has something to do with the phenomenon that crud, waste and dust accumulate in places that are out of sight and often out of reach.

Life After Death

There may also be a tangent with another intangible force, the one that keeps the 7500 parts of our body together, known as the soul. An attempt to prove the existence of the soul directly by weighing people right before and after death, which gave rise to the popular notion that it weighs about 21 grams, did not account for any of numerous other possible causes for the difference and had no scientific merit whatsoever. The existence of the soul can only be inferred from its absence.

When the soul flies away, it leaves behind those 7500 parts, many of which could replace failing components in other people. It could also benefit the community as a whole if donated to science for research. But we have deep reservations to share our only true possession, even if we have no use for it anymore. Because of that and because of other apprehensions about organ donation, there is a chronic shortage of spare body parts; 22 people die each and every day waiting for a transplant.

Halloween is as good a time as any to consider that the ultimate in recycling is bequeathing your body to the community after you pass away. A reliable website to find out more about organ donation is organdonor.gov, administered by the US Dept of HHS.

Gravity

The soul may be the only exception to the rule of gravity. Gravity is by no means undetectable, as we all know too well, but it is quite intangible, which is frustrating to scientists trying to figure this fundamental force into to picture of life, the universe and everything. Albert Einstein theorized 100 years ago that gravity moves in waves, but in our earthly environment, these waves are so infinitesimal as to be undetectable. However, over a billion years ago two black holes collided in the backwaters of the universe with such a tremendous splash, that the eddies reached the earth in 2015 and were just large enough to record. Quite a feat considering that they were much smaller than an atom – so much so that the scientists that led the project were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for the achievement.

This then is the sound of two black holes colliding:

Levity

A collision occurs when an object attempts to move into a space that already occupied by another object. If the space were empty, the object would just keep on moving. It is like those sliding-tile puzzles, often given out as party favors, usually a 4×4 array with 15 tiles bearing numbers or letters or segments of an image, and one empty spot. The trick is to move the tiles around until they are in proper order. Interestingly, while you are moving the tiles one way, the empty spot moves the other way. It seems to reflect on a very small scale the duality of the universe as a whole. There can be no action without reaction.

There can be no life without death. So, where there is gravity, there must be levity.
Perhaps that is the force that governs the soul.

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The Weekly Green is a KXCI mini-program on environmental topics from Southern Arizona and the rest of the universe.
The program airs on Monday 5:55 PM, Tuesday 4:55 AM, Wednesday 9:55 AM & 5:55 PM, Thursday 7:55 PM and Saturday 9:55 AM.  Barring circumstances, first airing is Wednesday at 10 am.

Please email inquiries, suggestions and comments to TheWeeklyGreen@KXCI.org or post them on the Weekly Green Facebook page.

Watershed Management Group is a non-profit citizens’ organization dedicated to conservation and improvement of desert ecosystems while maintaining economic prosperity. WMG, based in Tucson, develops community-based solutions to that end, providing people with the knowledge, skills, and resources for sustainable livelihoods. A primary goal of the organization is the restoration of perennial flow in the Santa Cruz river and its tributaries, for which it has created the River Run Network. WMG provides classes on sustainable practices and conservation services to private residents, neighborhoods and businesses

The Tour

WMG’s Homescape Harvest Tour is an annual event, now in its seventh year, to give people the opportunity to see what is is being done at residential and non-residential sites to regreen our neck of the woods. This year’s tour includes 22 such sites. It will be held on Saturday, October 28th from 10 am until 3 pm. The fee – $15 p.p when you come by car, $10 otherwise – will go to WMG’s Green Living Co-op program. (There is no fee for children under 14.) The self-guided tour starts from WMG’s Living Lab and Learning Center at 1137 N Dodge Blvd.

Interview

The Weekly Green spoke with Dan Stormont, Green Living Co-op Manager, about the tour, WMG’s mission and programs, and little things people can do to keep us all in water.

The Weekly Green is a KXCI mini-program on environmental topics from Southern Arizona and the rest of the universe.
The program airs on Monday 5:55 PM, Tuesday 4:55 AM, Wednesday 9:55 AM & 5:55 PM, Thursday 7:55 PM and Saturday 9:55 AM.  Barring circumstances, first airing is Wednesday at 10 am.

Please email inquiries, suggestions and comments to TheWeeklyGreen@KXCI.org or post them on the Weekly Green Facebook page.

Locusts, grasshoppers and crickets are only a few of the insects ye may eat. Most insects are not only edible, but high in vitamins and protein and cholesterol-free.
80% of the world’s population parttakes of this ubiquitous and inexhaustible food resource with relish. The other 20% is filled with repugnance at the idea. Cockroach cupcakes? Scorpion saute? Pill bug pie? Yikes!

Actually, the pill bug, Armadillidium vulgare, a.k.a. the roly-poly, is a crustacean closely related to our favorite seafood, the shrimp, and tasting much like it. It makes a good transition for the sqeamish to other arthropodic delights and the quickly widening world of entomophagy.

Insects are now served by many world-class restaurants. A trailblazer in arthropod haute cuisine is Rene Redzepi, owner of the Noma restaurant in Kopenhagen, Denmark. Noma was ranked best in the world for 4 years in a row by Restaurant magazine and has 2 Michelin stars, attesting to the lack of ickiness in its fare.  An offshoot of the restaurant is the Nordic Food Lab, established by Chef Redzepi to research new ways of preparing insect-based dishes.

Closer to Tucson is the Oaxaca Restaurant in Phoenix, which serves chapulines, a traditional dish in Mexico. Chapulines are a kind of grashopper fried to a crisp deep-red with chili and a bit of lemon. Myammy!

Another traditonal Mexican dish is jumiles, also – and somewhat derisevely – known as stink bugs. They taste like cinnamon. Moreover, they are said to have a tranquilizing and analgesic effect.

On the bottom of a bottle another pain-reliever, tequila, should be an agave worm as proof that the liquor is strong enough to preserve it, as well as proof of the machismo of the one who empties the bottle. In addtion to that, these chilocuiles, which can grow to over 2.5 inches, have been a prized delicacy, either fried or raw, from the time of the Aztec emperors.

Medicinal properties have been attributed to insects in many cultures throughout the ages and modern medicine is now taking them seriously too. The Chinese Mountain Black Ant,  traditionally believed to have anti-aging properties, now figures prominently in the search for a cure for cancer.  Products derived from the honey bee have been show to boost the immune system and fight a host of diseases associated with it, from allergies to pancreatic cancer.

Honey bees are also quite good to eat, as they feed only on honey, pollen and royal jelly. But perhaps it is better, in view of the dwindling  supply, to let them be. Plenty of others to choose from, and many abundant in our neck of the woods: ants, june bugs, tomatohorn worms, scorpions, even coackroaches can be made into fantastic dishes.

Not only are insects good to eat, but eating them is also good for the environment. For the same amount of nutritional value, insects use as much as 80% less water than cattle. Unlike cattle, their carbon footprint is negligible and they do not emit methane, a known greenhouse gas.

And if you still think you’ll never eat bugs except when riding your motorbike without a helmet: check out the FDA’s Food Defect Action levels, describing, quote, the levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazards for humans. They’re full of bugs.

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The University of Arizona’s Department of Entomology hosts the annual Insect Festival on Sunday, October first, from 10 am – 3 pm at the UofA ENR2 building, 1064 E Lowell St .

Dr. Goggy Davidowitz, associate professor of Entomology, will give a presentation on bug grub from 10:45-11:00.

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The Weekly Green is a KXCI mini-program on environmental topics from Southern Arizona and the rest of the universe. The program airs  Mondays at 5:55 PM, Tuesdays at 4:55 AM, Wednesdays at 9:55 AM and 5:55 PM, Thursdays at 7:55 PM and Saturdays 9:55 AM. Barring circumstances, first airing is usually Wednesday at 9:55 a.m.

Please email inquiries, suggestions and comments to TheWeeklyGreen@KXCI.org or post them on the Weekly Green Facebook page.

At the time, water levels in Lake Mead, the primary reservoir for Arizona, California, Nevada and northern Mexico were at a record low. While there has been some improvement over the intervening time, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has sharply lowered its estimate of end-of-year levels.

The lake’s low levels also cause increased levels of limestone and other sediments in our tap water. Apart from the effect on taste, this also means more maintenance on the pumps and ducts that bring the water to the tap.

The currently prevailing plan to counter this is to build a desalinization plant on the Baja coast and bring water in from there – a distance of some 300 miles which would involve significant monetary and environmental cost.

On the other hand, the amount of rain water our area receives annually is in principle enough to cover the needs of the entire population. The problem is how to hold on to it. Brad is one of our area’s foremost experts on methods to do just that. His insights and arguments are as compelling now as they were a year ago, prompting the Weekly Green to recycle the interview.

Brad is also the cofounder of Desert Harvesters, which promotes cultivation of native food crops. Desert Harvesters will be releasing a new book “Eat Mesquite and More: A Cookbook for Sonoran Desert Foods and Living” in December of this year. You can find out more about the book and how you can help to realize this project at DesertHarvesters.org.

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The Weekly Green is a KXCI mini-program on environmental topics from Southern Arizona and the rest of the universe.  The program airs on Monday 5:55 PM, Tuesday 4:55 AM, Wednesday 9:55 AM & 5:55 PM, Thursday 7:55 PM and Saturday 9:55 AM. Barring circumstances, first airing is usually Wednesday at 9:55 a.m.

Please email inquiries, suggestions and comments to TheWeeklyGreen@KXCI.org or post them on the Weekly Green Facebook page.

September is National Preparedness Month and is certainly a good month for that, with 8 million people without power in Florida alone in the wake of hurricane Irma and more storms brewing in the Atlantic.

In addition to natural disasters, black-outs may arise from simple equipment failure. The massive 2003 blackout was caused by a programming error which allowed a local overload to spread throughout the Northeastern U.S. and parts of Canada. The computer programs that control the grid are also susceptible to attacks by hackers in case of a cyberwar.

No power means no refrigerator. No airco when it’s a 105 degrees in the shade. No internet. Nothing to watch on the tube. No light to read by, Or to cook by. Nothing to cook anyway, because of the fridge. Anybody who has ever been through a power outage knows that the fridge is the first concern.

What would it take to keep the fridge going?

Fridges built before 1990 consume about 600 watts per hour. Modern fridges use about 50 watts per hour. A regular gas-powered generator could easily provide that and more. But they can’t run 24/7 and if you’d store enough fuel to get through more than just a couple of days, you’d be living on a bomb. And there is of course the fossil fuel issue, which is allegedly a contributing factor in the formation of grid-downing storms and other environmental unpleasantnesses.

The obvious alternative is solar energy.

Like everything else in life, solar energy has its issues too. One of the bigger ones is that the yield of regular silicon-based solar panels decreases above 25º centigrade – that’s eh 77º Fahrenheit. That is wintry in the Sonora. At a 100 degrees, their efficiency drops to zero and the number of 100º-plus days is definitely on the increase around here. However, a relatively recent innovation, the thin film solar panel, can operate up to 180º.  They are less efficient and a bit more expensive than regular silicon panels, but at least they put out something in the Sonoran high summer. And scientists around the world are working on technologies promising up to 50% efficiency.

Meanwhile, the federal and state government provide great incentives to go solar. You can find out everything about going solar at www.tep.com.

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FATBERG

In addition to the power grid, there’s the water grid and the sewer grid. The London district of Whitechapel has a nasty problem with the latter: Its sewer system is clogged with a 800 foot plug, composed of liquids like cooking oil, lubricants and solids like sanitary napkins, diapers and quick wipes. The liquid and solid waste has consolidated into an as yet unnamed substance much like concrete, except much ickier. It will take 8 men with heavy high-pressure equipment a month to break it apart. This plug, nicknamed the Fatberg, is particularly big, but they occur all the time. The annual cost to the Thames water company of cleaning up such obstructions is a million English pounds, about 1.3 million US dollars.

The lesson to all of us is that greasy stuff and any tissue except toilet paper should go into the trash instead of down the drain. As for cooking oil, it can be recycled to make biofuel. You can find out where to take it and much more about recyclable materials at tucsoncleanandbeautiful.org.

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SOUND PRESSURE

Contrary to popular wisdom, air is not what carries sound waves. Not unlike fire, sound waves are carried by just about any substance. While in air the speed of sound in air is about 900 feet per second, it travels at several miles per second in solids like concrete and steel. The lower the frequency, the longer the wave and the harder it is to stop. To absorb a wave with a frequency of 50 Hz, about the lowest note on a bass guitar, you’d need a wall with a width of half the wave length, which comes out to some 9 feet.

The sound barriers along the highways are only 3 feet or less wide; they stop sound waves in the higher frequencies, but not the lower frequencies. A curious psycho-acoustical effect of that is that we hear the low-frequency noise more prominently. Numerous studies have shown that exposure to constant noise causes tension and stress, even if we don’t consciously register it after a while. Better alternatives are under study, but all of those have feasibility issues. So far, the best way to get some relief of the I-10 buzz is to put on your noise-cancelling headphones and tune to 91.3 FM.

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The KXCI Fall membership drive is in full swing! Keep your community radio station and the Weekly Green going! Call 520-623-1000 or pledge online at KXCI.org.

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The Weekly Green is a KXCI mini-program on environmental topics from Southern Arizona and the rest of the universe.
The program airs on Monday 5:55 PM, Tuesday 4:55 AM, Wednesday 9:55 AM & 5:55 PM, Thursday 7:55 PM and Saturday 9:55 AM.
Barring circumstances, first airing is Wednesday at 10 am.

Please email inquiries, suggestions and comments to TheWeeklyGreen@KXCI.org or post them on the Weekly Green Facebook page.

Landmines are extremely durable and they are quite indifferent as to what will set them off, as long as it weighs more than 15 pounds. And so forty to fifty people are killed every day by these devices and countless more mutilated in the course of conflicts long settled; the total number of lives destroyed runs in the millions. About half of the victims are children, who think they found a toy.

Deactivating landmines is obviously a rather tricky business, but before they can be defused, they have to be found. This is quite difficult, because rarely if ever do the warring parties leave maps marking the spot. Moreover, the housing of many modern APMs is made of plastic to conceal them from metal detectors. Bomb-sniffing dogs do better, but are very expensive to train, often not resistant to local diseases and tend to weigh more than 15 pounds.

Rats, however, do not, not even the Giant African Pouched Rat, which grow to the size of a small cat. They are also easy to train, very adaptable to harsh conditions and have a sense of smell rivaling that of any dog. In the mid-Nineties, a young entrepreneur from Belgium with a lifelong love of rodents and appalled by the carnage in Africa, where he was doing research, connected the dots and started a company to train mine-detecting rats and their handlers.

In the two decades since its foundation, APOPO, an acronym from Dutch which stands for Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development, has cleared about 18 million square meters, that is 4,500 acres. Under ideal circumstances, it would take 50 human deminers to equal that and some of those would not make it through, while not a single Pouched Rat has perished in the line of duty.

The 8,000 mines removed by APOPO are just a drop in the bucket compared to the millions still biding their time out there, and the financial and bureaucratic hurdles to expand the program are formidable indeed, but as it is, it is a big step in the right direction. And somewhere in Africa there is a bunch of kids with their lives and limbs still intact because of Cricetomys Gambianus.

The Weekly Green spoke with Brad Lancaster, co-founder of Desert Harvesters, a Tucson-based non-profit organization promoting the cultivation of indigenous crops.

Join a guided harvest tour on June 18, bring your own pods for milling at the Annual Mesquite Milling  & Wild Foods Fiesta  at the Santa Cruz River Farmers’ Market  and have a beer with wih native wild ingredients at the Desert Harvesters’ Happy Hour at Tap & Bottle on June 26th!

The 21^st Earth Day Festival will be held on Saturday, April 18^th, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Reid Park on South Country Club Road. There will be an environmentally-themed parade at 10 a.m. Eco-minded scouts, schools, non-profits, families, businesses, agencies, clubs and organizations are all invited to join for free. There are prizes to be won!

There will also be exhibits, activities and demonstrations of alternative-fuel vehicles. Bring your own! Exhibitors should register by April 10^th.

Several local animal rescue organizations will be on site with adoptable pets that are looking for love and attention.

For more information, visit http://www.tucsonearthday.org

NATIONAL PARK WEEK

“Find Your Park” is the theme for this year’s National Park Week, April 18 – 26. Entrance fees will be waived on April 18 and 19. Saguaro National Park will be participating in Earth Day Celebrations at Reid Park on April 18 – National Junior Ranger Day, and will be distributing Free America the Beautiful Passes to all active members of the US Military and their dependents (CAC card or Military ID required) from 9am-2pm.

Launched on March 030 by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, Find Your Park is a public awareness and education campaign celebrating the milestone centennial anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016 and setting the stage for its second century of service.

Saguaro National Park joins parks, programs and partners across the country to encourage everyone to find their park and share their stories online at FindYourPark.com.

BIKE FEST

This year’s Bike Fest has kicked off on April 1^st and will last the entire month. Bike Fest includes over 60 community events, like the ever-popular Cyclovia Tucson, El Grupo Bicycle Scavenger Hunt, a Bike-In Movie Series, as well as brand new events like a Circus Parade Bike Ride, a Family-Friendly Bike Campout, and an ApROLL Bike & Walk to School Challenge for K-8 students anywhere in Pima County.

Numerous local businesses will also provide rewards and incentives for patrons that arrive by bicycle.

Go to bikefesttucson.com/events/2015-04/ for more information.

PIMA COUNTY CERTIFIES FIRST NET-ZERO ENERGY BUILDINGS

PIMA COUNTY – Pima County Development Services has certified the community building at the Las Abuelitas housing complex, 440 E. 26th St., as a Net-Zero Energy Building. A net-zero energy building makes all the energy it needs through solar power, thereby lowering utility bills.

Las Abuelitas is a project of the Primavera Foundation and consists of 12 homes and a community building. The project provides housing for families with children and is specifically designed to meet the needs of grandparents caring for grandchildren.

Pima County Supervisor Ramón Valadez will present the certification to Primavera at the board’s April 7 meeting. Pima County and the city of Tucson are the first governmental jurisdictions in the nation to develop a building standard to achieve net-zero energy.

Successful desert gardening

November 5

A representative from the Pima County Cooperative Extension service will offer gardening demonstrations on Successful desert gardening.

When: Wednesday November 5^th

1-2 p.m.

Where: Murphy-Wilmot Public Library

For more info: http://www.library.pima.gov/calendar/?ID=1928

Viva La Local Food Fest

November 16th

Celebrating the joyous local flavors of Baja Arizona, Viva La Local showcases more than 30 of Tucson’s top restaurants, 80+ farmers market vendors, local breweries and wineries, and live music on the East Field at Rillito Park.

When: The event takes place on Sunday, November 16 from 9am to 5pm.

Admission is $4, kids under age 12 enter free.

Where: Rillito Park

For more info: www.vivalalocalfoodfest.com

Tours at Tohono Chul Park

“Walk in the Park” covers basic Sonoran Desert ecology, at 9 a.m., Monday through Saturday. “Birds of Tohono Chul” helps identify both native and migratory species at 8:30 a.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tours are included with park admission; $8, $6 senior, $4 student with valid ID, $2 age 5 through 12, free member or child younger than 5, includes admission to the park.

When: Various dates Mondays thru Fridays

Where: Tohono Chul Park

7366 N. Paseo del Norte., Tucson

More info @ 742-6455

tohonochulpark.org/

Ned’s Nature Walk

Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m.

Volunteer naturalist Ned Harris leads a 3-hour walk through Sabino Canyon over moderately difficult trails, and discusses local birds, insects, plants, and offers photography tips.

When: Every Wednesday @ 8:30 a.m.

Where: Meet in front of the Visitor Center at Sabino Canyon. 

More info: 749-8700 or sabinonaturalists.org.

Saguaro National Park Hikes and Talks

 VARIOUS DATES throughout the month:

Saguaro Park East and West have a variety of programs every month. The Park is offering a variety of hikes and talks this fall that explore the park’s wonderful natural and cultural histories. Programs are free, but park entrance fees apply.
When: Various dates

Where: Saguaro Park East and West

More info: http://www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/upload/RMD-November-Programs.pdf

Air dates for this program November 1, 2 & 3 of 2014

Tune in for practical tips on protecting our environment, with a local spin, plus brief profiles of local environmental groups and events.

KXCI listeners were surveyed about what type of programs they would like to hear.   Go Green was the request!

On the show, the content will vary from week to week.  We will be interviewing locals who are doing something “green” at their home or office and they will explain how they do it, so you can too if you want.  Also, we will feature events and incentives (rainwater harvesting/solar etc).  Also, we will be interviewing a representative from a group in Southern Arizona doing work in Sustainability.  And, we will be giving tips.

The Weekly Green is a 3 minute segment.

This is the podcast to the first show which aired Oct 5, 6 & 7th.