A 23 min stress-down

Whenever I feel too stressed out or ill to think or do anything reasonable, I like to take my car and just drive, to places I never been or places with soothing scenery. I found this lovely drive today, for those who can not just do that!
This was a beautiful and gorgeous drive and the music! ...enjoy!
Drive the Canyons

Personal poison

"Each spit of toothpaste down the plughole can be a shot of poison for streams, new research hints¹. Chemicals from soaps, deodorants and contraceptives are reaching river water and cutting the number of different algae for fish and other animals to feed on.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) has found traces of pharmaceutical and personal-care products downstream of water-treatment plants in 139 rivers in some 30 states². Streams and rivers near farms and hospitals are more likely to be contaminated than others.
Waste water is cleaned before being re-introduced into the environment, but many facilities fail to remove all household chemicals and antibiotics. "We're evaluating the different types of treatments on these chemicals," says Herb Buxton, coordinator of the USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program.
But finding these antimicrobial compounds in the river system is just the beginning, Buxton explains. "The next step is to look at sensitive ecosystems and determine the ecological significance [of the pollution]."
Val Smith of the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and his colleagues have done just that. "We asked 'how does a real-world community of algae respond to these compounds?'" he explains. Smith's team took algae samples from Cedar Creek, near Olathe, Kansas, 25 meters downstream of a plant that treats three million gallons of sludge each day.
In the lab, the antibiotic ciprofloxacin - often used to treat urinary-tract infections - and the antimicrobial triclosan - commonly found in acne soaps and antiseptic chopping-boards - eliminated one or two species of algae from the stream community, says Smith. “No organism is ever exposed to a single chemical in isolation”

Tergitol, a component of hair dyes and spermicides, had the most significant effects. It halved the number of algal types and reduced the overall volume of algae by more than three-quarters. This finding will feed into future USGS surveys, says Buxton: tergitol was not measured in the last one. Smith had to make a best guess at an environmentally reasonable concentration.
But individual compounds are just part of the story. "No organism is ever exposed to a single chemical in isolation," says Christian Daughton of the Environmental Protection Agency in Las Vegas. "The biggest unknown right now is interactions."

Yes who knows how this cocktail mix works, and how long will it take before we know the effect? It is long ago time to change our habits and to go for the green products!
More Here

  Who keeps track on your wastewaters..?

                                                                  

Collect moments, not things

As several recent researches brings out it may be better for you to invest your money into memorable moments in your life than into real estate, at least when it comes to happiness.
Forsaking travels, family, dinners or other activities to earn/save money for the sake of owning your own house may not give a better life in the long run. Loans, repairs, taxes etc. may cause worries. The pleasure of owning a property soon becomes a habit, and the responsibilities takes up your time and decide your priorities.
So why not try to think differently, after all people who rent a place is not more unhappy that those that own their own. Money saved for repairs could be spent making a nice travel to a place you never visited before, family activities, or you could sell your property and go volunteer working for a year or two! That would bring even more meaning into life, and boost the healthy ways of happiness!
Read more in the New York Times.





        Interesting places to go (Recommendations from National Geographic):

Madagaskar

                                                                               Cuba

                                                                       
                                                                         Australia

..or why not explore one of these European adventures, like joining a photo workshop in Paris ?
Make your own wish-list and make it real!
These arrangements are of course not necessary to follow but give ideas to work on.
More travel tips from Travel National Georaphic

You may find it even more interesting if you book accommodation through this page, private lodgings @ www.airbnb.com, a different way to see the culture and a great way to know the area you visit by getting to know local people.

Fish on drugs and stuff

I read once that the sea that surrounds Tromsø had very high levels of antidepressants, especially during winter -well the season- depression are quite high in the winter- no surprise!
It seem like the fish can be affected too, like this article from nature.com informs about. This is from the US but I guess the fish in the North of Europe may be equally affected! Or where ever it may be a problem such as this describes. This one is about Prozac, a common antidepressant:

"To investigate the effects of fluoxetine, researchers have turned to a common US freshwater fish.. Normally, fathead minnows show a complex mating behavior, with males building the nests that females visit to lay their eggs. Once the eggs are laid and fertilized, the males tend to them by cleaning away any fungus or dead eggs.
But when fluoxetine is added to the water, all of this changes, said Rebecca Klaper, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Great Lakes Water Institute....
-Female fathead minnows seem to be unaffected by the chemical, but at concentrations of fluoxetine that are roughly comparable to the highest levels documented in fresh water, male minnows start to spend more time building their nests. When the dose is increased tenfold, the males "become obsessive, to the point they're ignoring the females", Klaper said.
When fluoxetine concentrations are increased yet again, fathead reproduction completely halts. "The males start killing the females," she said. Klaper also noted that if females are introduced a month after males are exposed to the chemical, the males no longer show this aggressive behavior, but the females still don't lay any eggs. "Something happens in that time," she said."

Read more: Fish-floundering

           

Although the citizens in

    Tromsø have a beautiful night-sky,

      they feel rather depressed during winter

Outdoor adventures

Today I was reading an article from National Geografic about going solo in the nature.
I think that it is a great idea,(I maybe need to be a little bit braver to do myself) here is a clip :

"So much of our lives is filled with stimulation and distraction. We rush from one thing to the next, be it work, errands, paying bills, taking care of kids, exercising or spending time with friends. How often do you actually put on the brakes and take time to reflect—on who you are you, what you want, and the meaning of your one precious life? Chances are, not often enough.
The good news is that there’s a cure for this affliction. And yup, you guessed it, it involves going outside. Outdoor adventures feed the soul like nothing else. Exposed to the elements and raw beauty of nature, you escape from everyday life. The only catch is, you can’t escape from yourself—particularly if you’re alone."

..." Emily seeks time alone in the wilds to ground herself. So a couple of weeks ago, in need of a bit of reflection, she headed out for a transformative night.."..As night fell, things changed. Emily started getting a little afraid. Her head switched, and all of a sudden, every noise, every tree branch breaking, even her dogs barking freaked her out. Emily was terrified. She described it as beyond common sense—her basic human instincts set in, and she was a slave to fearful thoughts. I’m sure we can all relate to this."

...and then she see the moon comes out and brighten the dark corners of her mind,
.."So she faced her fear and realized that it was just in her head. Fear is a manifestation of your thoughts. You can either allow yourself to give into fearful thoughts, or you can redirect your attention to something more positive. As Emily says, you are the only barrier to all of your possibilities."
you can read the whole story here : Going solo..