13-Year-Old Makes Solar Power Breakthrough by Harnessing the Fibonacci Sequence After studying how trees branch in a very specific way, Aidan Dwyer created a solar cell tree that produces 20-50% more power than a uniform array of photovoltaic panels. [more inside]
posted by jillithd on Aug 19, 2011 - 105 comments

Discover the charming children's literature of Thornton W. Burgess, author and naturalist, whose books embodied the Naturalist / Conservationist movement of the first half of the 20th century. His works are available through Project Gutenberg, The Literature Network (excellent biography on main page, navigate to books on the left sidebar (and within books also on the left sidebar)), and even several free audio book downloads through LibriVox. [more inside]
posted by hippybear on Jun 11, 2011 - 6 comments

John D. Olmsted, a naturalist who for over 40 years led efforts to preserve Northern California nature areas, open spaces and hiking trails, recently passed away at the age of 73. A distant relative of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, John D. Olmsted was inspired by John Muir to preserve wilderness, and his son recently completed a film about his life.
posted by The Emperor of Ice Cream on Mar 20, 2011 - 9 comments

Some observations of a wanderer "was started primarily to organize and share the pictures [Matt Goff] had taken of Sitka over the years." When not blogging, Dr. Goff teaches mathematics at Sheldon Jackson College.
posted by owhydididoit on Oct 12, 2006 - 2 comments

Country Life: Wildlife Reports From Around The World. Here's a generous helping of trip reports from a group of dedicated naturalists who manage to be thorough and entertaining at the same time. It's part of a travel agency's web site, but not so as you'd notice it. Reading through them, one feels quietly (perhaps dangerously?) optimistic at the astonishing variety of all things bright and beautiful in this grossly over-exploited world of ours. (Well, there may be too many birds in the fauna/flora mix, if you're not a certified ornithologist. Oh - and not enough detail on the local gastronomical delights!)
posted by MiguelCardoso on Mar 18, 2004 - 5 comments