The honey bee’s waggle dance is a wildly intelligent attribute; it enables a bee to very efficiently convey detailed information to a large group.  No other animal besides humans uses such a technique. Even other primates don’t use symbols. These behaviors are far above and beyond what most people would assume an insect is capable of. Without exaggerating, the honey bee is capable of advanced symbolic communication, language, facial recognition, number use, observation and mimicry, understanding of rules, and high-level problem-solving. They are, in some senses, significantly smarter than many mammals. Amazing. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/i-asked-leading-entomologists-whats-the-smartest-bug-in-the-world

3rd Climate & Peace Webinar - Feb 16 - addressing the new (Green Deal) Climate policies from US matching EU, Japan, Korea & China. Asking the question: when will Australia catch up?Speakers include Prof Michael E Mann from Penn State University (shared Nobel Prize with IPCC Authors), Prof Maxine Burkett, a world expert on Environmental Law & Climate Justice and Marian Wilkinson, award-winning Australian Journalist & author of the Carbon Club.Broadcast live at breakfast-time AEDT from 7.30am Register via www.climateandpeace.com.au

Big new idea - encourage walking and bike riding - recent Boston study finds investments in infrastructure to promote bicycling and walking could save as many as 770 lives and $7.6 billion each year across 12 northeastern states and the District of Columbia under the proposed Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) - extrapolated to many world cities means many thousands of healthier lives, many $billions saved & a cleaner planet: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/news/transportation-infrastructure-investments-could-save-hundreds-of-lives-billions-of-dollars/

An Australian technology & lifestyle company launched in October 2020, has now developed a range of hydrogen-powered domestic products, including the world-first domestic hydrogen battery. The LAVO is the first commercial-ready hydrogen energy storage system, being developed in partnership with the University of NSW and Professor Francois Aguey-Zinsou (pictured), Chief Scientist at the UNSW Hydrogen Energy Research Centre. LAVO’s innovative technology provides a more complete, versatile and sustainable solution than other energy storage solutions on the market. LAVO™ Hydrogen Energy Storage System | Design + Industry (design-industry.com.au) LAVO Storage - Store over 40kWh of power for your home

We've all seen weather maps showing moving storm cells. But have we ever heard them?Using an OpenSource program call SuperCollider, researchers at Penn State started to sonify hurricane data. They discovered changes in hurricanes, not easily shown visually, can be quickly identified once the data is turned into sound. Turns out our ears are quicker and better at following multiple patterns simultaneously.The researchers hope this might help save lives during big storms, but also think sonification of complex data sets, can & should, play a more important role in science, technology, engineering and maths. https://theconversation.com/turning-hurricanes-into-music-can

"Skillfully explains the complicated dynamics of global warming and vividly portrays the sophisticated and coordinated campaign by polluters to block the policies and solutions needed to solve the climate crisis" - Al Gore"Provides hope and a roadmap for all of us to address the systematic issues fueling climate change, and shows us how we can wage a new war, in the fight for our future" - Leonardo DiCaprioTrailer featured on twitter: https://twitter.com/i/status/1339589967467540481Publication available in Australia in February.