A0013237932294
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Aaron Ohlmann (M, 39)
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    What happened to nature?
    How to stay in touch with our biological origins in a world devoid of nature? The majestic nature that once inspired poets, painters and...

    The great enhancement debate
    What will happen when for the first time in ages different human species will inhabit the earth at the same time? The day may be upon us when people...
    Now playing SpaceCollective
    Where forward thinking terrestrials share ideas and information about the state of the species, their planet and the universe, living the lives of science fiction. Introduction
    Featuring Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames, based on an idea by Kees Boeke.
    From A0013237932294's personal cargo

    The world without us: Chernobyl
    Project: What happened to nature?
    Nature has made a determined comeback In the 20 years since Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 turned a bustling Soviet city into a ghost town. The people are gone, and in their place are now thriving populations of deer, elk, wild boar, wolves, and even lynx. Trees are pushing up through Lenin Avenue and moss is clinging to the broken sidewalks and abandoned buildings throughout the 19-miles that make up the Exclusion Zone.

    Tim Mousseau of the University of South Carolina has been studying the effects of radiation on Chernobyl's wildlife, and told National Geographic that despite the higher levels of genetic abnormalities, "one of the great ironies of this particular tragedy is that many animals are doing considerably better than when the humans were there."

    Radiation levels are still too high for long term exposure, but the Ukraine has opened up the nearby city of Pripyat to daytrippers looking to catch a glimpse of what an urban center would look like after 20 years without a human footprint.


    Shots from Flickr users Mattbr, Marc Morte, Dazzababes, MaisonBisson, and MarkNelson.

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    Xarene     Mon, Dec 17, 2007  Permanent link
    I vänt to vérr dôz shüz...
    meika     Mon, Dec 17, 2007  Permanent link
    me? I want to wear the moss.
    Xarene     Mon, Dec 17, 2007  Permanent link
    I think after a long while that leather will just disintegrate (minus the rubber soles) and it'll be all a moss form anyway... reminds me of some stuff I saw on TV years ago—maybe I saw it on MTV sometime in the mid 80s—where she grew moss on burlap and made bags and clothes...
    joushlol     Mon, Dec 17, 2007  Permanent link
    Yay for post-apocalyptic landscapes.
    meika     Mon, Dec 17, 2007  Permanent link
    With global warming moss might be too sensitive, fungi should do it though.

    Three species of fungi containing the black pigment melanin—a substance also present in human skin—grew larger and faster when exposed to high levels of radiation, even when deprived of nutrients.

    A similar response was not seen in fungi lacking the pigment, as well as in fungi that did not receive the radiation exposure.

    Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at New York's Yeshiva University were inspired by previous observations of enhanced fungus growth inside the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear reactor, after the Ukrainian facility exploded in 1986.

    The team performed a series of experiments to test whether the fungi could be harvesting radiation to fuel their own growth, much like plants do when they capture solar energy through photosynthesis.

    In addition to the faster fungal growth, the researchers noted changes in the electrical structure of the melanin exposed to radiation.

    Lead researcher Ekaterina Dadachova said these observations suggest that the pigment may play a role similar to that of chlorophyll in plants, which traps energy from sunlight and converts it to “food energy“ needed to sustain life.


    see the original paper.
    ika     Tue, Dec 18, 2007  Permanent link
    this is sick. Do you think the radiations causes abnormal vegetations ? Let say, could we eat an apple growing on eradicated soils ?
    Xarene     Tue, Dec 18, 2007  Permanent link
    Ika, start here: Bikini Atoll
    ika     Tue, Dec 18, 2007  Permanent link
    Thanks Xarene !! reallly interesting article
    They later resettled unwilling participants on an island highly contaminated with radiation to learn how humans ingested and absorbed radiation in their environments


    johanbakken     Wed, Jan 2, 2008  Permanent link
    That shot of the shoes covered in moss sure stands out. An amazing photo.
    Monkey     Mon, Jan 7, 2008  Permanent link
    What is so appealing about Post-apocalyptic landscapes?
    I think they are amazing, but if I were ever in one...
    bpwnes     Wed, Jan 9, 2008  Permanent link
    Found an interesting journey through Chernobyl. (with pics)
    Part I and Part II

    As well as this more depressing one from Elena: Part I, Part II, Part III. Additional photos here.
    Uppy     Wed, Jan 9, 2008  Permanent link
    Very interesting photos. Although the subject matter is not nearly as grim, this book by Alan Weisman came to mind after seeing this.
    bpwnes     Fri, Jan 11, 2008  Permanent link
    The History Channel has a special on life after people on 21 January 2008.
    Renazzle     Tue, Jan 15, 2008  Permanent link
    I remember when this happened. It was all over the news when I was 8.
    Yu Jie     Sat, Jan 19, 2008  Permanent link
    Eerily beautiful.

    Once the radiation levels are safe, the rebuilding of Chernobyl could be quite interesting.
    dragon     Thu, Jan 24, 2008  Permanent link
    probably pointing out the obvious, but you can actually "explore" some of these Chernobyl sites in COD4 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (the fact that it's filled with people trying to kill you in both games may ruin the tranquility however...)
    Robert Hodgin     Wed, Feb 6, 2008  Permanent link
    Dragon, I was just thinking how surreal it is to see photos of a place you originally explored in a first person shooter. I totally hid out by the ticket booth on the bumper car ride while trying to stay alive. Just last week, I saw a location in real life (Pershing Square) that I had only experienced as a level in one of the Tony Hawk games. Very odd sensation to feel a familiarity with a totally new place.
    Masisoar     Sun, Mar 30, 2008  Permanent link
    Nature will always find a way :)

    Totally hating the Nuclear Reactor scene... if a disaster from space or from within ever occurred, where's the fail safe to prevent these things from ruining everything around it for generations to come.
    Dashbojenkins     Wed, Apr 8, 2009  Permanent link
    The world without us. It's funny wen I think of it, all of us just wrapped up and gone. But maybe the world after us would be the exact opposite of the one we live in.

    The remainders of our existence will give rise to life forms like we haven't imagined. A multitude of new insects, reptiles and arachnids from our contamination and the waste. Once our cities have been reclaimed by nature, the mammals and birds will have new ways of dwelling, hunting and living.

    Maybe we'll give nature a better chance, but not before sending it down a different path of evolution. We already are.
    illuminatiscott     Sun, Sep 6, 2009  Permanent link
    I'm actually pretty surprised at how slowly nature is reclaiming that land. I would imagine most things to be completely covered in greenery after 23 years...
    O+S     Sun, Feb 6, 2011  Permanent link
    To me it is interesting to see what happens to the built environment when it is no longer being maintained.

    The most revolting footage I have ever seen was taken inside reactor 4 many years after the event. At the time I was too young to really understand what I was looking at, but it made me feel itchy from the inside.

    Thanks for the article and images.

    Lu     Tue, Feb 8, 2011  Permanent link
    Nice photos... they are originally photographed by Elena Filatova as I know...
     
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