So maybe you've got a garden, and you've always thought of building a fish pond, or starting your own organic vegtable patch, or both.

Or maybe you have some experience with growing hydraponic vegetables. Then you'll know how wasteful that can be, and you would have had to worry about disposal of toxic waste water.

Or you have a aquaculture setup and realise the huge water waste that is - with regular water changes needed to keep fish healthy and all that.

In any case you have been thinking how you can be more water wize and you've been saddened by the wild fish reserves being overharvested and soon to be depleted.

aquaponics to the rescue

Aquaponics is the marriage of hydraponics and aquaculture. It tends to be more productive but it has the huge benefit of not having the mayor negative issues that hydraponics and aquaculture need to deal with.

oversimplified basic principles:
You have a water filled container (fish pond) with some fish in. Fish produce ammonia. So pretty quick you have a container filled with water, fish and ammonia.
Ammonia inhibits fish growth and is toxic. In aquaculture regular water changes are needed to keep ammonia levels low.
In our aquaponics system however we pump our water out of the fishtank and into a gravel filled grow bed. Bacteria grow on the survice of the gravel. There are 2 types of bacteria. One consumes ammonia and produces nitrites and the other consumes nitrites and produces nitrates. In the grow bed we also plant our vegetables (no need to stick to vegetables though, you can grow fruit trees, herbs or just about any plant).
The plants take up the nitrates through their roots and use it to grow quickly. The water drains from the grow bed back into the fish pond.
So in short; the fish dirties their water, which we then give to the plants, which uses the nutrients in the water to grow and in the process cleans the water for the fish to live in.

In aquaponics the only water you loose is that which is lost by evaporation. Fish and plants grow exeptionally well, and soon you can harvest all the vegetables you consume from your own little garden. Every so often you can also harvest a fish or two knowing that these fish are organically grown and fed, and does not deplete the ocean reserves.
You control what the fish eat, so you can have very healthy organic fed fish. If you have herbevorous fish, like talapia, you can feed them the kitchen waste from the vegetables harvested from the grow bed.

For more information on getting started I highly recommend: http://www.backyardaquaponics.com

1) Do you wish on shooting stars?
i live seeing them. wishing on them doesn't make much sense. i'm pretty hopeful by default.

2) Would you like to travel to outer space?
I would indeed! should be a profoundly spiritual experience.

3) Do you like astrology?
No. infact, i'm not sure i understand what astrology has to do with stars at all. astrology makes incredible claims that is built on non sensical propositions. There's way more spiritual authenticity and awe to be found with actually studying the universe as well as we can, by means of astronomy and cosmology, than the faux intrigue created by a bronze-aged interpretation of heavenly bodies. also, there's much better methods for understanding humans, by means of the various sciences of psychology.


4) If you could name a new planet, what would you call it?
Bob

5) Do you enjoy star-gazing?
absolutely. it's exciting and truely awesome. looking at entire and multiple galaxies through a telescope is an amazing experience!

strange how many such days fly by.

i'm sure he knows better

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/keith_barry_does_brain_magic.html

this manifesto is from here: http://www.brepettis.com/blog/2009/3/3/the-cult-of-done-manifesto.html

1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.

this might be somewhat related to this book by Mark Lesser:
http://groups.gaia.com/gaia_books/331765/less/by_marc_lesser

Modern humans, homo sapiens, have been around for a few hundred thousand years. We have good remains and artifacts dating back 200 000 years.

Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.

Yoda
-
http://www.gaia.com/quotes/43736/try_not_do_or_do_not_there_i/by_yoda

Evolution.

but it is important to note that a scientific theory - like evolution - is not merely an opinion. Like gravity, evolution is fact and theory, and a scientific theory is:

"a well supported body of interconnected statements that explains observations and can be used to make testable predictions."

"Scientific theories describe the coherent framework into which observable data fit. The scientific definition of the word "theory" is different from the colloquial sense of the word. Colloquially, "theory" can mean a conjecture, an opinion, or a speculation that does not have to be based on facts or make testable predictions. In science, the meaning of theory is more rigorous: a theory must be based on observed facts and make testable predictions."

"In science, a current theory is a theory that has no equally acceptable alternative theory, and has survived attempts at falsification. That is, there have been no observations made which contradict it to this point and, indeed, every observation ever made either supports the current theory or at least does not falsify it. A revision of the current theory, or the generation of a new theory is necessary if new observations contradict the current theory, as the current findings are in need of a new explanation (see scientific revolution or paradigm shift). However, the falsification of a theory does not falsify the facts on which the theory is based."

all quoted from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_as_theory_and_fact

Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela congratulated US president elect Barack Obama on his victory on Wednesday, saying he was an inspiration to people all over the world.

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," Mandela said in a letter to Obama.

"We note and applaud your commitment to supporting the cause of peace and security around the world. We trust that you will also make it the mission of your presidency to combat the scourge of poverty and disease everywhere.

"We wish you strength and fortitude in the challenging days and years that lie ahead. We are sure you will ultimately achieve your dream making the United States of America a full partner in a community of nations committed to peace and prosperity for all," said Mandela.

from here

today was certainly one of the great days in my life. it has much of the same feelings of hope, relief and validation that i felt when Madiba walked from his prison to lead a nation to change.

today americans redeemed their great country in the eyes of the world. today a great man compells great hope and trust in americans and humanity.

today reason and hope triumphed over ignorance and fear.

today you can be proud.

may tomorrow be everything we hope for.