Mr. Trash Wheel cleans up Baltimore harbor
A googly-eyed trash collecting machine is cleaning up Baltimore’s Inner Harbor while inspiring other cities to adopt similar machines.Mr. Trash Wheel was invented by Baltimore’s John Kellet to combat the harbor’s out-of-control garbage problem.It works based on hydro and solar power and collects up to 38,000 pounds of trash every day. Similar anthropomorphized trash machines are in the works in Oakland, California; Panama and Maryland’s Gwynns Falls River, among other places.
‘Extinct’ orchid found growing on London rooftop
A variety of orchids thought to be extinct was found growing on a London rooftop.The orchid,serapias parviflora, hasn’t been seen in the UK in over a decade. It is normally found in the Mediterranean. Fifteen of the flowers were found on the Japanese Investment Bank Nomura’s 11th floor. Roof garden manager Mark Patterson believes the flowers may have colonized spontaneously and without assistance. Wild orchids have faced threats including overgrazing, trampling, uprooting, poor land management and theft.
Farmers’ floating gardens help combat floods
Bangladesh farmers’ method of using floating gardens to survive floods is expanding across the world.Bangladesh gardens use water-floating plants including water hyacinths that operate like rafts with changing water levels. These hundreds-of-years-old floating gardens are layered like raised-bed gardens with vegetables planted inside of the raft-plants that keep the vegetables aloft while providing nutrients. Other rural farmers have adopted this method to combat unpredictable weather conditions including flooding and droughts.