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There is a researcher named John Todd whose work has been able to break down DDT in a matter of weeks. In this video, he gives a talk about some various projec
by hosh 3y ago
There is a researcher named John Todd whose work has been able to break down DDT in a matter of weeks.
In this video, he gives a talk about some various projects. In the first one, he uses these methods to clean up a site contaminated with the top 15 pollutants (at least at the time). Heavy metal were sequestered by algea; 14 of the 15 toxins were below detectable levels, and the 15th was reduced by 99.999%; solids were eaten by armored carp. The output is drinking standard water, and it takes 10 days for the contaminated water to flow through the system.
The key design principle is putting many species across all five kingdoms, from different biomes, and they start self-organizing around the pollutants. The resulting communities break down the pollutant, but are all new.
https://youtu.be/SeQotnmhO5I https://youtu.be/SeQotnmhO5I
In a different interview, he talks about microplastics — and while he has not worked on it, he believes a solution can be found in incorporating all five kingdoms. So not just sequestering them, but breaking them down so they can be useful in the ecosystem again.
- bertil 3y agoI should probably watch the video, but does he mention anything about dioxin? This has been the main source of pain for my father and his colleagues building sea food farms.
- hosh 3y agoHe didn’t talk about any specific toxin by name. It is only a 24 min talk. It can be tested though through this system though. The last project had not been deployed at the time of this video (2016), but it was a proposal for a design for marinas. Here, he and his colleagues are thinking of smaller, distributed system (miniaturized eco-machines deployed at each dock). He has also experimented with floating systems in rivers, and the Four Season resort system deployed in Hawaii works to cleanup saltwater. With farms — like any farm, on land or on sea — looking at it as an ecosystem which yields something useful as a byproduct (rather than a system that maximizes extraction) tends to result in a system that is more resilient. That is, the commercial product is a useful byproduct of restoring the ecosystem. Todd’s eco-machine adds additional ecosystems to assist the ecosystem you are trying to restore.
- orangepurple 3y agoThat video changed my life
- hosh 3y agoIf you ever feel comfortable sharing that story, I’m interested in hearing it. For me, I came across John Todd’s work from the podcast, Permaculture for the Future. It was part of a much larger toolkit and solutions we already have for healing our land and our home. Since deep diving into all of that, I don’t feel like I am drowning in what looks like the slow destruction of Earth, even as we are seeing more and more extreme weather events.
- esafak 3y agoLooks like an unsung hero: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Todd_(Canadian_biologist) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Todd_(Canadian_biologist) Are his books good? If so I'll order a copy of Healing Earth for the library.
- hosh 3y agoOne of the books I tried reading, reads like something non-scientific with a liberal sprinkling of mysticism. I personally don’t mind that, but it overshadows the science for people coming in from that way. It’s why I looked for talks that sounds more structured and coming from scientific principles. This is a different video. If you know what it is going on, it’s interesting. It makes for a poor introduction to his work, let alone the significance: https://youtu.be/8_bxxUub9HU https://youtu.be/8_bxxUub9HU Tldr: branding sucks, and it’s a shame more people don’t know what he and his colleagues have been up to.
- jdeibele 3y agoI've never heard of armored carp. Googling for it leads to info on Breath of the Wild or Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Finally, 35 or 45 entries down I found a reference to an armored catfish. https://a-z-animals.com/animals/armored-catfish/pictures/ https://a-z-animals.com/animals/armored-catfish/pictures/ I hadn't heard of that, either, but I wonder if that's what you mean.
- hosh 3y agoI have no idea. It was mentioned in the video I linked.
- oever 3y agoThe video referenced armored catfish. There are multiple species known as armored catfish. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armored_catfish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armored_catfish
- hosh 3y agoI think my brain inserted “carp” in place of “catfish”. I too have put in some hours with Breath of the Wild
- salawat 3y agoI had the reverse of that happen. Was looking for advice on farming Aeonian Butterflies in Elden Ring, but delightfully stumbled across the fact Aeonian butterflys are actually a species of South American butterfly apparently. https://gardeninginside.com/where-to-find-aeonian-butterflies-for-farming-a-comprehensive-guide/ https://gardeninginside.com/where-to-find-aeonian-butterflie... I couldn't stop laughing.