EastEnders: Syed Masood, played by Marc Elliott.
The BBC1 soap’s production team researched the plot, which is bound to prove controversial with some viewers, contacting academics, gay Muslim support groups and members of the Muslim Council of Great Britain. In the storyline, the 24-year-old Masood, played by Marc Elliott, finds his “religion and sexual feelings in conflict”.
One of the fun things about going out of town and slacking off on the trash research for a bit is that when you finally get around to rooting around for what you missed, there’s quite a bit out there. Treat yourself to this excellent WebUrbanist post highlighting 7 trash artists. You’ll see some old favorites, like the miraculous silhouettes made from trash shadows to the world renowned trash people to street art made from trash. But there are some new (to me at least) discoveries in there as well: turkeys made from scrap metal and this lovely bear head made of woven plastic bags. If you ask me, there’s nothing sweeter than a plastic bag bear.
Photo of an Eden Project sculpture via Flikr via WebUrbanist
Included in a post about 20 trash artists over on WebUrbanist, I discovered and was subsequently blown away by the work of Tom Deninger. Make sure you do pay a visit to his site and cruise around a bit. What this guy does with garbage is nothing short of astounding. link
Interested in turning trash into art and winning $2,000? If you're in to sculpture, functional art, film, photography or music, you might want to consider entering into an upcoming competition.
The competition has been formed to show off how solutions to our global problems are all around us - we just have to think SMART, take what we think is junk and transform it.
Anyone from any location can participate, but if you're chosen as a finalist, you'll have to cart your art to San Francisco where the Plastiki Art Exhibit will be held. Details and submission guidelines can be found at SMART Art's website.
Submit your work by May 1!
Need a little inspiration? Check out some awesome artists who turn trash into treasure:
Secrets of the San Francisco Dump (Slideshow)
7 Examples of Amazing Art Created from Trash (Slideshow)
1000 Statues from Trash in Rome
Tim Gaudreau's Self Portrait as Revealed by Trash
Recyclart - Inspired By The "Art of Recycling"
photo: Programa de Conservacíon Ex-situ del Lince Ibérico
When dealing with the world's most endangered feline species, the Iberian Lynx (estimated population, 200) every death matters. So when a pregnant Iberian Lynx was found dead in Doñana National Park it's worth passing on the news:
The cat in question was pregnant with two cubs and had been run over by a vehicle and then shot with a shotgun. According to an official speaking on condition of anonymity, it was getting hit by the vehicle that was the cause of death.
According to Arkive:
The Iberian Lynx is the world's most threatened species of cat and may become the first wild cat species to go extinct for over 2,000 years. Although smaller in size, it resembles the Eurasian Lynx, possessing the same characteristically bobbed tail, tufts on the ears and jaw, a spotted coat, muscular body and long legs.
Historically the Iberian Lynx's territory was throughout the Iberian peninsula and south of France. Today it is found only in small areas of central and southwest Spain, and in the Algarve mountains of Portugal.
via: AP
Endangered Species
10 Endangered Animas Which Aren't in the Spotlight, But Should Be
One in Six European Mammals Face Extinction
Ubercool "Mexican Walking Fish" Nearing Extinction
Image: Plastic Bottles (2007) by photographic artist Chris Jordan
Not only is plastic the ubiquitous bane of modern consumerist lifestyles, it’s also increasingly seen as a potential health hazard. Fact: we now know that hard plastic polycarbonate water bottles, canned food and soda pop linings contain the “genderbender” chemical bisphenol A, which hormonally mimics estrogen. Now German researchers have found another unknown estrogenic chemical leaching from a widely-used plastic packaging material.
The study, published online in Environmental Science and Pollution Research, is the first to discover that certain types of packaging are consistently leaching a hormonally active chemical into bottled water. Read on to find out which packaging to steer clear of.
Scientists at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt detected “estrogenic activity” in 78 percent of the water samples bottled by polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic – identifiable by the number “1” encased by the triangular arrows of the recycling symbol.
Potential health risks?
The exact health risks of PET are unknown, but we know that increased exposure to synthetic estrogens (like the case of BPA) are being linked to reduced sperm counts, increased rates of obesity, cancere and diabetes. In live animal sampling, the study also found that mud snails raised in the plastic mineral water bottles had increased embryo production.
Though the scientists have yet to identify the substance(s) causing the estrogenic activity, they’ve ruled out bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates for the moment, but they do know that PET does contain small amounts of antimony, another estrogenic compound.
Not all PET equal
However, not all the samples tested positive for estrogenic activity, suggesting that the chemical composition of PET differs from manufacturer to manufacturer.
A bigger problem
For consumers however, the findings may have serious implications of “a bigger problem… [because] if you go to the supermarket, everything is packed in plastic," says Martin Wagner, a PhD student in aquatic toxicology at the university.
So now not only are polycarbonates implicated in a chemical genderbending phenomenon on a scale of which we can only guess at - apparently, we might have to ditch PET plastic packaging too (which is probably a good thing).
More on Synthetic Genderbenders
BisPhenol-A...Again: It Stays Longer In Your Body Than Experts Once Thought
Don't Buy A Nalgene Water Bottle Until You Read This
Are Boys Disappearing Because of Gender Bender Chemicals?
Hot Water + Polycarbonate Bottles = More Gender-Benders
Time to Pack In the Polycarbonates
