Your Natural Choice

09/13/2025

09/12/2025

09/01/2025

Engineers at Kyoto University have developed a remarkable new way to harness renewable energy—a hydro generator no bigger than a matchbox that draws electricity straight from the air’s moisture. Unlike solar or wind, this device works continuously, day and night, without needing sunlight, rivers, or moving parts.

The secret lies in a layered nanofilm that converts humidity into a steady flow of current. Tested across rice paddies in Southeast Asia, the generator powered sensors and transmitters with zero maintenance, showing it can withstand demanding environments while staying reliable.

This breakthrough opens the door to a new vision of energy. Imagine walls, tents, or even clothing that quietly generate electricity from the air around them—reshaping how we power our world in the years to come.

08/27/2025

We all need a good cleanse!

08/27/2025

Study may help explain why giant blades kill millions of the animals every year

08/27/2025

08/25/2025

🌿 People’s bond to nature has dropped 60%. Reversing the decline means changing how we raise children.

And how to design our cities.

A new study published in Earth has found that people’s connection to nature has fallen by more than 60% since 1800, a decline closely mirrored by the disappearance of nature-related words like “river,” “moss,” and “blossom” from literature.

Led by Professor Miles Richardson of the University of Derby, the research combined historical data on urbanisation, biodiversity loss, and changing family habits to track how nature has faded from daily life.

The model predicts this “extinction of experience” will continue unless major changes—particularly introducing children to nature from an early age and radically greening cities—are implemented within the next 25 years.

While short-term engagement initiatives can improve mental health, the study found they do little to reverse the long-term, intergenerational decline in nature connectedness.

The findings suggest that reversing the trend will require changes on a scale far greater than most current environmental policies envision. Increasing city green space by 30% might feel ambitious, but Richardson’s modelling indicates a tenfold increase would be needed to restore strong human-nature bonds.

The most effective strategies involve ensuring children maintain their innate fascination with nature throughout their upbringing, supported by biodiverse urban environments. Encouragingly, nature words in books have begun to rise again, suggesting a cultural shift may be underway—but whether this reflects a genuine reconnection or a passing trend remains to be seen.

read the paper
Richardson, M. (2025). Modelling Nature Connectedness Within Environmental Systems: Human-Nature Relationships from 1800 to 2020 and Beyond. Earth, 6(3), 82.

08/25/2025

08/25/2025

🧠🎶 Studies show playing a musical instrument in old age can reverse signs of brain aging.

And it keeps dementia at bay.

Older adults who play musical instruments may be tuning their brains for better health, according to two recent studies.

One study, published in PLOS Biology, found that lifelong musicians in their 60s had brain responses similar to people in their 20s when processing speech in noisy environments—thanks to stronger neural connections in the right hemisphere. Non-musicians of the same age showed more signs of cognitive decline, relying on less efficient brain patterns.

These findings suggest that years of musical experience may help build "cognitive reserve," allowing the brain to function more effectively despite aging.

Even more encouraging, a second study published in Imaging Neuroscience revealed that picking up a new instrument later in life could also offer protective effects. Researchers in Japan followed older adults who had learned to play an instrument for four months and found, four years later, that those who kept playing showed no signs of brain shrinkage or memory decline—unlike those who stopped. The act of playing music appears to preserve brain structure and function, reinforcing the idea that it’s never too late to start. Music not only keeps minds sharp but may also foster social interaction and joy, both vital to healthy aging.

Source: PLOS Biology (2025); Imaging Neuroscience (2025)

08/25/2025

What do you manifest? via Crystal Novas

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