More than #Honey – Markus Imhoof (Official Trailer) [#geekgirl]

More than Honey – Markus Imhoof (Official Trailer) from CIBER Science on Vimeo.

“Searching for answers for the global bee declines director Markus Imhoof takes us on a trip around the world to meet people living with and off honeybees: almond growers in California, a Swiss mountain beekeeper, a German neuroscientist investigating bee brains, a pollen dealer in China, and bee researchers in Australia. We enter the fascinating world of a bee hive, encounter fighting queens and dancing workers face to face and experience their highly sophisticated swarm intelligence, where the individual constantly serves the requirements of the community. The film will have its world premiere on the 11th of August 2012, concluding the biggest film festival in Switzerland. It will be officially released in Europe end of October 2012 and will be distributed internationally in early 2013. More info: http://www.ciber.science.uwa.edu.au/blog/.”

Cultured Meat, You Say? On A Burger, You Say? [#geekgirl]

The Future of Meat? [ie Yay if it Means the Eventual End of Factory Farming]

“As a gastronomic delicacy, the five-ounce hamburger that Mark Post has painstakingly created here surely will not turn any heads. But Dr. Post is hoping that it will change some minds.

The hamburger, assembled from tiny bits of beef muscle tissue grown in a laboratory and to be cooked and eaten at an event in London, perhaps in a few weeks, is meant to show the world — including potential sources of research funds — that so-called in-Vitro meat, or cultured meat, is a reality.

“Let’s make a proof of concept, and change the discussion from ‘this is never going to work’ to, ‘well, we actually showed that it works, but now we need to get funding and work on it,’ “ Dr. Post said in an interview last fall in his office at Maastricht University.”

“Ag-Gag” Gagged: the First Ever Prosecution Attempt = Dismissed [#geekgirl]

Gag The Ag-Gag (Click and Sign!)

Back in March I wrote here about the travesty that is “Ag-Gag” – unbelievable USA legislation that allows agriculturalists to legally prosecute citizens who video instances of animal abuse:

“Only in ‘Murica would potential advocates of animal torture certain sectors of the agricultural and farming community seek to stop the *documentation* of animal abuse, not the abuse itself…”

Luckily, the first case that has been enacted under the Bill has been dismissed without prejudice, as is reported here by “Green Is The New Red”:

Just 24 hours after I broke the story about Amy Meyer’s arrest under Utah’s ag-gag bill, the Draper City prosecutor’s office has dropped all charges!

The charges were dismissed without prejudice, which means there’s a possibility of them being filed again, but her attorney says this is highly, highly unlikely — especially after the massive outpouring of outraged after yesterday’s article. To give you an idea: the article made it on the front page of reddit.com today, and in a few hours hundreds of thousands of people visited this website (crashing it for about an hour as we scrambled to adjust the servers).

Yay say the Ag-Gag Gaggers!

“At least I know I wont be alone after death…” [#geekgirl]

Via Imgur

Hello, #Easter [The #FaceHugger Edition] [#geekgirl]

Via Imgur

#Animal Smarts, They Haz Them [#geekgirl]

You know when you read an article that reports on information you’ve known for years, and you find yourself sitting smugly going “Well, DUH!?”. Then read on, vainglorious [but infinitely wise] comparative psychologists:

New research shows that we have grossly underestimated both the scope and the scale of animal intelligence. Primatologist Frans de Waal on memory-champ chimps, tool-using elephants and rats capable of empathy.

After That Last Post We All Could Do With a Bit of Random #Joy, Huh? [#geekgirl]

“He found a place to sit down and eat his cookies…”

“Bills Seek End to Farm Animal Abuse Videos” [#geekgirl]

…yep, unfortunately you did read that title correctly. Only in ‘Murica would potential advocates of animal torture certain sectors of the agricultural and farming community seek to stop the *documentation* of animal abuse, not the abuse itself:

“…state legislators across the country are introducing laws making it harder for animal welfare advocates to investigate cruelty and food safety cases. Some bills make it illegal to take photographs at a farming operation. Others make it a crime for someone such as an animal welfare advocate to lie on an application to get a job at a plant.

Bills pending in California, Nebraska and Tennessee require that anyone collecting evidence of abuse turn it over to law enforcement within 24 to 48 hours — which advocates say does not allow enough time to document illegal activity under federal humane handling and food safety laws….Patterson’s bill, sponsored by the California Cattlemen’s Association, would make failing to turn over video of abuse to law enforcement within 48 hours an infraction punishable by a fine.

Critics say the bills are an effort to deny consumers the ability to know how their food is produced.

“The meat industry’s mantra is always that these are isolated cases, but the purpose of these bills is to prevent any pattern of abuse from being documented,” said Paul Shapiro, vice president of farm animal protection for the Humane Society of the United States, which conducted the California and Vermont investigations.

In Indiana, Arkansas and Pennsylvania it would be a crime to make videos at agricultural operations….Formal opposition to the California bill comes from the ASPCA, the Teamsters, the HSUS and dozens of others. They say these attempts by the agriculture industry to stop investigations are a part of a nationwide agenda set by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative think tank backed by business interests.”

Just how an institution like the American Legislative Exchange Council can justifiably label people who document extreme and unnecessary animal abuse as “terrorists” is anyone’s guess: “ALEC has labeled those who interfere with animal operations “terrorists,” though a spokesman said he wishes now that the organization had called its legislation the “Freedom to Farm Act” rather than the “Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act.”

In this age of accessible whiz-bang-internet-info, I occasionally stumble across a news item [like the above] that makes it past my rigorous internal “do-not-simply-react-affectively-and-let-these-idiots-get-to-you” filter. This particular news item has me broiling in my own anger juices shaking my head in flabbergasted frustration. I’m also left confounded at just how the advocates of such Bills can see themselves as providing any type of reasonable moral compass when it comes to ethical issues: perhaps instead all they see are dollar signs.

#Today Is This Kinda #Day [#geekgirl]

Happy Cat is Cake-Happy

[Via Imgur]

CONE OF #HAPPINESS [Yes the Caps are Entirely Necessary] [#geekgirl]

[Credit: Imgur]