I'M A LITTLE GREEN

In the last two or three years, I’ve incorporated some green practices into my habits. The first step, was buying a bycicle with some savings I had in those times. I started visiting my friends and some places quite close to my home, but unfortunately, I couldn’t use my bike to go to the university… it was not because the university is far from home, it was because the road is dangerous; motorists, taxi and bus drivers usually don’t respect bike riders, and Santiago doesn’t have enough cycling paths either. Besides, there’s too many people who uses the cycling paths for jogging or walking… So I use public transportation daily, and in some special occasions I use my car, though I try not to do it.
Another green practice I’ve incorporated into my life and into my family practices, is making “eco-bricks”; it consists in taking empty (and dry) plastic bottles and fill them with inorganic waste. Eco-bricks are a construction materials, and also they can be thermal and acoustic insulators… and they’re very easy to make! There are some “green points” in Santiago where you can take your eco-bricks: my favorite is the one at Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center (GAM), right in the heart of downtown.

To finish, I’d ike to add that I’ve been a Greenpeace member for one year; basically, it consists in making a monthly money contribution, at the same time that Greenpeace informs me –and all their members- all the things they’re working at. I would like to take a more active participation, but I really don’t have enought time, at least for now.

Here I attach some pictures related to this post :)

A tree in the middle of the cycling path

A small construction made with eco-bricks.

I LOVE MUSIC

Music is very important in my life, I think I just couldn’t live without it. It makes me feel alive and I think it’s amazing the way that music can take you to different moments of your life.
I like many kinds of music: classical, dance, electronic, folk, pop, indian, gypsy, etc., but I think my favorite one is psychedelic rock. Some of my favorite bands are from the 60’s or 70’s: The Beatles, The Doors and The 13th Floor Elevators. But in the last months I’ve discovered some modern bands which sound very similar as Tame Impala, Chicos de Nazca and Protistas (the last two are Chileans!). I like this music because it makes me feel happy, and when I put it on my headphones it transports me, no matter where I am. In spite of I like many kinds of music, there are just two music genres that I don’t like: reggaeton and heavy metal… I just can’t put up with it.
Despite of I love music, I’ve never learned to play any instrument… I tried a few times, but I’m very impatient so I gave up quickly… but I can sing pretty well, and when I was in school I participated in the scholar chorus for three consecutive years… up until today I like singing, though I prefer doing it when I’m alone because it embarrasses me a little.

To finish I’d like to say that, just like me, I think people couldn’t live without music, or maybe they could but they would never be happy. Music can make you feel many different emotions, change your mood, bring you back memories… it’s a piece of our history.

Here's one of my favourite songs, I hope you like it :)

Protistas - Nortinas War from Sello Cazador on Vimeo.

BIRD BRAIN

At this time, I'm going to write a small review about an article from The Guardian, an online newspaper from the UK. I've chosen an article about a recent research which has found that crows use complex reasoning and tools to obtain food.

It really surprised me because, as the new's writer says, having a bird brain usually means to be an idiot, so this research demonstrates the opposite. So, from this perspective, that belief hasn't any foundation and probably it comes from:

1) the behavior of domestic birds that have lived in small cages for hundreds of generations, and

2) the physical structure of bird's brains.

As we know, bird's brain look different than primate and more evolved animals brains. But now, researchers are actually observing wild, never domesticated birds, and they've found this small animals use their brains in a different way to achieve the same goals than humans do. These discoveries are consistent with structural differences.

The following video shows a crow using tools to acomplish a specific goal, something that great apes can´t do:

So, now I’m going to feel flattered everytime someone tells me I have a bird brain haha... It won't be an insult for me anymore.

Complete article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2012/jan/04/1?INTCMP=SRCH