No! That's my water!

Water Security
The article on science blog the last few days about water security highlights the fact that international work on global water security cannot really be done without some real and agreed upon definition of what water security is. The UN has proposed the following definition in hopes to begin work on water security and include water security to be a large focus on the Sustainable Development Goals which will succeed the Millennium Development Goals when they finish in 2015. “The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability.”
Water security, and insecurity, is something which I have long wondered about. My personal political conflict expert, my grad student boyfriend, has told me that water is not the basis for any conflict in the political sphere. However, I have always thought, meaning someone/thing told me a long time ago, that water was something political conflict was around. The article states, "Water insecurity, therefore, leads to cascading political, social, economic and environmental consequences, the brief says." The brief being what the UN-Water people put out. The article also cites the Pacific Institute's Water Project which has been studying water security and political conflict since the 80's. I am curious where my Latro is getting his research on water and conflict and will have to ask him. 

What do you think? Do water resources incite conflict? 

What do you take for Granted?

http://scienceblogs.com/sciencepunk/2013/02/20/implanted-bionic-eye-allows-the-blind-to-see-again/

This article is very cool. It is impressive that scientists have been able to make forward progress in helping some people to see again. The article does say that the picture is not very good and the analogy is a fuzzy black and white tv, but for someone who has lost all their sight, being able to see anything would be very exciting. Obviously, I have never been blind. I could end up being blind at some point in my life, but I am hopeful that it won't happen any time soon. I have though lived with broken bones and the implication of not being able to use my dominate hand for a good while. That was painful and interesting enough to make me think differently about what I take for granted. I do not take my abilities to move and write and braid my hair and tie my shoes for granted anymore. When I am good, I remember to be thankful for all the things which I can do easily that other people struggle with. It is also kind of like being on a special diet. Knowing one's limits really makes a difference. There are not many worse things than trying to go too far with a broken bone or a health problem and then being in pain because of your own challenge. I am so glad that we can use some of our scientific knowledge to be helpful to people who feel that they have lost something. There are always opportunities in things, but we have to mourn our loses first. Lots of people get stuck on one side or the other, without allowing themselves to either hope or mourn properly. I am glad the article mentions about the perspective of the people in the study for whom even the littlest bit of returned sight is a gift. We should all be thankful for the gifts we are given, even if other people do not think they are gifts. I am grateful for every chance to be with my Latro. I am grateful for everyone who has struggled with dietary problems before me and has allowed me to use their recipes to make wonderful things without what everyone else takes for granted. Because even food isn't for granted.

A Serious Distance Problem

http://scienceblogs.com/universe/2013/02/15/what-distance-is/

I really like this article. More of just a description of something we all know and feel, but do not talk about per se. I have been struggling with distance issues myself these past few months. First, because I am in a long distance relationship and that changes how and what forms of connection and communication are intimate. Second, on the opposite side of the spectrum, there is a classmate of mine who violates my sense of space whenever he comes near by. My thoughts on this second problem have bridged that knowledge and distance divide since I get annoyed that he has touched my arm even though he does not know me at all. The presumed closeness without true knowledge is disturbing at that point. Constrasted totally with the true knowledge that my boyfriend has without the ability to be in any close distance.
I always loved the Powers of Ten video. Mostly for me it showed how things are so relative. What we think of as close range from inches to feet, but the real close things are things so close we cannot see or feel them. I do not wear socks to bed and when comparing with other people I explain it as not being intimate with socks so they can't be in bed with me. Yet, they surround and enclose my feet at a distance of nanometers and I rely upon them to keep my feet warm.
Relativity poses a serious distance problem.