*Artist Spotlight*

adi.JPGOur artist spotlight this month is Toronto’s Adi Zeharia. Adi is attaining her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Ontario College of Art and Design this year. Through her acceptional talent she has been awarded several scholarships and her work has been seen in over 7 exhibitions over the past three years. Adi has created her own unique style by breaking up forms into shapes, to be both of aesthetic interest to and to create a playful atmosphere. Her work is colorful and ethereal and is laced with intriguing whimsical qualities.

In some of her most recent work she is exploring the concept of how our society views death. Adi looks at a connection with animals and nature to explore how we might find a more peaceful relationship to our own finite nature.

“In the West (or in an urban envirionment) it feels like there’s a societal denial of that relationship, and maybe people would make better choices in life, if they formed stronger understandings of their deaths…. maybe thats why having a relationship with nature makes people feel more alive, because nowhere is death more evident…”

You can view Adi’s collection of work here.

Share and Save

trafficWe’ve covered car sharing programs before on ThingsAreGood and I don’t think this will be the last time we mention them.

The BBC is running a good article on car sharing in the UK. Richard Ghail writes about how carpooling is a great way to meet people, save money and the environment all in one go.

He credits the congestion charge in London reinforces of environmental protection. What’s more, he points out that the economy benefits from less congestion on the road.

Researches Battle Tropical Diseases

A group of scientists have agreed to work together to fight tropical disease by making drugs that the larger pharmaceuticals aren’t researching. The researchers met in Nairobi to solidify their relationship to improve health in Africa.

“By working together in regional, needs-driven research platforms we are not only on the way to addressing the lack of capacity but also helping in the trials for new drugs,” said Davy Koech, director of the Kenya Medical Research Institute.”

Doctors Perform Weightless Surgery

doctors French scientists rigged a plane for a special operation that would defy gravity. The plane performed swooping maneuvers that simulate low-gravity so the doctors can gain a better understanding how surgery can be done in outer space. Their tools used magnets to stay in place while the patient was under a special tent.

This is the first time that this has been done. The reason for this test is more than just a feasibility study since there could be spin-off benefits for health care. It looks like the next test will use a remote controlled robot to perform surgery.

Any volunteers?

Baby Ape/Human Uncovered

selem3721.jpegThe remains of a baby who existed 3.3 million years ago have been uncovered in Ethiopia and reassembled after 5 years of painstaking diggs to uncover it. The Baby girl named Selam (meaning peace) is equal parts human and ape with an ape like upper body and a human like lower half. This discovery is suggesting to scientists that the species ‘Australopithecus afarensis’ was both a land dweller and tree climber.

It’s amazing to think that humans were around in some form or another a whole 3 million years ago. The first human like remains date back as far as 6.5 million years ago.

Plans are in the works to eventually create a model of the child once her complete skeleton has been unveiled. Then we will even be able to see a likeness of what her features would have looked like!

I found this incredibly interesting and thought I’d attach the actual human evloutionary timeline for your perusal.

The ascent of man

6.5m years ago
Earliest human lineages split from chimpanzees and gorillas, but share many traits with the apes.

5.8m years ago
The oldest human ancestor, Orrorin tugenesis, emerges and is thought to walk on two legs.

4m years ago
Australopithecus arrives with a brain no larger than a chimp’s. Makes home on the savannah and develops teeth for chewing tough food.

2.5m years ago
Homo habilis, right, the first modern human genus emerges. It has a brain half the size of humans today and begins to use primitive stone tools.

2m years ago
Homo ergaster arrives with a smaller face and teeth, but slightly larger brain. Develops hand axes and may have begun to harness fire.

1.8m years ago
Homo erectus or Java man, the first true hunter-gatherer settles in Asia.

600,000 years ago
Homo heidelbergensis lives in Africa and Europe. Its brain is similar in size to a modern human’s.

230,000 years ago
Neanderthals arrive in Britain and Europe.

195,000 years ago
Homo sapiens appears, but it is a further 45,000 years before the first signs of speech emerge.

95,000 years ago
The diminutive “Hobbit” people, Homo floresiensis, is believed to emerge in Indonesia.

Â