Happy 2012.

A collection of starlings is called a “murmuration.” A couple of kayakers in Ireland came across a murmuration. Nature never ceases to amaze and remind us of the importance of curiosity and discovery.

Here’s an excerpt from a study of the phenomenon:

“Bird flocking is a striking example of collective animal behaviour. A vivid illustration of this phenomenon is provided by the aerial display of vast flocks of starlings gathering at dusk over the roost and swirling with extraordinary spatial coherence. Both the evolutionary justification and the mechanistic laws of flocking are poorly understood, arguably because of a lack of data on large flocks… We investigated the main features of the flock as a whole (shape, movement, density and structure) and we discuss these as emergent attributes of the grouping phenomenon. Flocks were relatively thin, of various sizes, but constant proportions. They tended to slide parallel to the ground and, during turns, their orientation changed with respect to the direction of motion. Individual birds kept a minimum distance from each other that was comparable to their wing span. The density within the aggregations was nonhomogeneous, as birds were packed more tightly at the border than the centre of the flock.”

[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347208001176]

Learning spaces, virtual or physical, must be designed so that students can be astonished vs simply “educated” according to Stephen Heppell. Excellent idea. I also love the physical learning space that these students designed and talked about at Heppell’s BVA (Be Very Afraid) conference: http://www.heppell.net/bva/bva3/greycourt.htm

Hi everyone ! My name is David I’m from Colombia. I’m studing Bioengineering and I am deeply excited to use such an awesome tool for my learning !

Hi All!
I am Srini from India. I am a finance professional, consultant and an entrepreneur for a little over a decade.

I am excited to be here in this great place to exchange knowledge, experiences, ideas and opinions with all you guys here.

Hello, my name is Izabella and I am from Bulgaria. This whole project is amazing, and I am so glad, that I take a part in it.
I have calculated my Carbon Footprint and I am happy, that my results are very low, but actually I wasn’t surprised about the results, because I’ve always tried to save water and electricity, recycle and reuse things. .
My highest carbon is on transport, cuz I live far from school, and unfortunately it takes to much time to walk to school or to go by bike, so I have to travel by bus. And plane flights really surprised me, they really increase my Carbon Footprint, I didn’t expect it.

Hi , my name is Gaia and I’m from Italy. I live in Pisa , it is a beautiful city and I love her. I calculated my carbon footprint with my class to find that it was smaller than average compared to most Italian, but gigantic compared to the rest of the world! My family tries not to waste anything, but this is not enough! we can improve! I think if we all work hard we can improve the world! :)

Hi, my name is Lana and I am from Croatia. I calculated my carbon footprint a few weeks ago and the result was a little surprising – my CF was definitely higher than I had expected, especially in the home section. I’m really glad I have joined this project and I’m surprised how much the quiz influenced my behaviour. I have already started to change my habits and it hasn’t been too difficult since I have realized that I can save energy and money and help our planet at the same time. Now I can’t imagine going to sleep and leaving my TV or computer turned on. I have also decided to cut down on water consumption and to take shorter showers.

Water is very important, as everyone knows; it makes up about 70% of our bodies! However, clean water is not available to everyone. Since Christmas is less than a month away now, I thought I should post a link to the advent conspiracy, where people decide to spend less on gifts, and more on buying clean water for those who need it.

Hi! My name is Yasmin and I’m from Sweden.
I have calculated my carboon footprint and my results is lower than the avarage of my country.
My home energy carboon footprint was surpisingly low and I think it might be because in our house we use florecent bulbs…
The highest carboon footprint i got, was on transport. It was still lower than the avarage. Anyways, I think it is because of I use the buss everyday. I don’t walk or take the bicycle but when it’s nice wather i could actually walk.
Do you have any other ideas how to increace my carboon footprint?

hi! My name is Dina Amin, I am from Sweden. I have just calculated my carbon footprint, and the result is very low, do you have some advice how to increase it, so it becomes normal? :)