“Perfume Grass” Could Solve Problem of Antibiotics in Water Supply

from cleantechnica.com:

Researchers at Michigan Technological University are on to a simple, low cost solution to the complicated problem of keeping antibiotics out of water supplies.  In a study of vetiver grass grown in antibiotic-laden water, they found that 95.5% of the drugs were removed from the water and taken into the plant tissue.

Vetiver grass is sturdy, spiky grass native to India that is well known for its use in erosion control.  Vetiver grass is also used in perfumes and in handicrafts for local economic development projects.  In a somewhat ironic twist given its aromatic properties, vetiver grass is also an up-and-comer in the growing field of phytoremediation, in which plants and wetlands are used to remove contaminants from wastewater and stormwater.

there is more info on vetiver grass on wikipedia.

Wipe out invasive aquatic plants (like hydrilla!) using Grass Carp

from wikipedia:

The grass carp grows very rapidly, and young fish stocked in the spring at 20 centimetres (7.9 in) will reach over 45 centimetres (18 in) by fall, and adults often attain nearly 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in length and over 18 kilograms (40 lb) in weight. According to one study, they live an average of 5-9 years with the oldest gaining 11 years.  They eat up to 3 times their own body weight daily. They thrive in small lakes and backwaters that provide an abundant supply of fresh water vegetation.

This approach is less novel than you might think and is being employed in many American cities affected by hydrilla.  What is hydrilla?

from wikipedia:

Hydrilla is naturalised and invasive in the United States following release in the 1960s from aquariums into waterways in Florida. It is now established in the southeast from Connecticut to Texas, and also in California.^[8] By the 1990s control and management were costing millions of dollars each year.

Who throws a few fish into a lake to solve a prolific invasive plant?  Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Florida to name a few.  An added point of interest regarding the Grass Carp, their intelligence... and their ability to foil anglers.

from ufl.edu:

However, lake managers and biologists were also in for a few surprises: when attempts were made to remove the fish from the lake, they were amazed at the the carp's uncanny ability to outsmart virtually every type of fishing technique. Nets, hook-and-line, electro-shocking, even poison baits were minimally successful, especially after the first application. It soon became apparent that once released, grass carp were nearly impossible to remove. As of 2005, there are still no easy ways to remove grass carp from a stocked lake.

IP over Avian Carriers

from: wikipedia

In computer networking, IP over Avian Carriers (IPoAC) is a humorously-intended proposal to carry Internet Protocol (IP) traffic by birds such as homing pigeons. IP over Avian Carriers was initially described in RFC 1149, a "Request for Comments" (RFC) issued by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) written by D. Waitzman and released on 1 April 1990 (April Fools' Day). It is one of several April Fools' Day RFCs.
Waitzman described an improvement of his protocol in RFC 2549, IP over Avian Carriers with Quality of Service (1 April 1999).
IPoAC has been successfully implemented, but for only nine packets of data, with a packet loss ratio of 55% (due to user error^[1]), and a response time ranging from 3000 seconds(~54 minutes) to over 6000 seconds(~1.77 hours). Thus, this technology suffers from poor latency. Nevertheless, for large transfers avian carriers are capable of high average throughput when carrying flash memory devices.

It occurs to me that with a few 32GB micro sd sticks which are 15 mm × 11 mm × 1 mm (about the size of a fingernail and weighs 2 grams) used as the medium for data storage, one could feasibly exceed broadband transfer rates.

The language of prairie dogs

from wikipedia:

The Gunnison’s prairie dog communicates through forms of physical contact, such as cuddling and kissing, and through vocalization, such as a warning bark. Their vocal communication is the foundation to their survival and structure of their community. Their system of vocal communication is complex and may be one of the most advanced forms of communication of all natural animal languages.^[3] Con Slobodchikoff, a Northern Arizona University biology professor, has been a researching the behavior of prairie dogs for twenty years, and states that prairie dogs “have one of the most advanced forms of natural language known to science.”
The bark is a combination of one or two high-pitched audible syllables, with the second syllable lower and deeper.^[11] Prairie dogs have a unique sound to identify various predators.^[12] They also have different barks for a warning signal and an “all-clear” signal. Researchers and experts have been able to classify up to eleven of the distinct warning calls that the prairie dog uses to communicate.^[13] Also, females with offspring are more likely to give off a warning bark than males.
The warning signal is their primary source of survival because it alerts the other prairie dogs to nearby danger. The warning signal can last for up to thirty minutes and can be heard for nearly a mile away. As danger approaches closer, the intensity of the signal increases and ends after the prairie dog has entered into its safe haven.
Studies have also shown that prairie dogs can distinguish between the different colors of clothing that people wear, and between people expressing threatening and non-threatening behavior.

(more)

What is a Synanthrope?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synanthrope