Cláudio predicted that he would be killed by the forces trying to take his land. Green Beings

Murdering Activists in the Amazon

Zé Cláudio and his wife Maria were murdered in their home in Nova Ipixuna, Pará on May 24, 2011. Cláudio spoke at TEDxAmazonia in November 2010 about the forest where he lived, harvesting nuts from the ancient trees and protecting his land from illegal loggers. Zé Cláudio predicted that he would be killed for his activist passion to protect nature. In a great loss to humankind, he was correct.

Ze Claudio with a giant chestnut tree (illegal to cut) on his land that he used to call ˜Her Majesty.” Photo: Felipe Milanez.TED Blog turned to Amazonian activist and TED Fellow Juliana Machado Ferreira to ask what we can do to help the people of the Amazon. Her response includes:

1. Make sure the wood/wood products you buy are legal.

2. Give voice to ‘the other Ze Claudios’

3. Help us get the settlers connected.

4. Help Ze’s and Maria’s family.

Brazilian Biologist Juliana Machado

Biologist Juliana Machado Ferreira, a TED Senior Fellow, talks about her work helping to save birds and other animals stolen from the wild in Brazil. Once these animals are seized from smugglers, she asks, then what?

Green Beings

Who We Are

Protein from Bones of 600,000 Year Old Mammoth Extracted Successfully Science Daily

Eating Dirt Can Be Good for the Belly, Researchers Find Science Daily

Hominid Females Roamed while Males Waited News Daily

For Stressed Bees, the Glass Is Half Empty Science Daily

“What we have shown is that when a honeybee is subjected to a manipulation of its state that in humans would induce a feeling of anxiety, the bees show a similar suite of changes in physiology, cognition, and behavior to those we would measure in an anxious human,” (Geraldine) Wright (of Newcastle University) said. “In terms of what we are able to measure, a shaken honeybees is no less ‘anxious’ than a lonely dog or a rat in a barren cage.”

Sensual & Superyoung

Weight Loss Success in a 3-D Virtual World Science Daily

What’s Age Got To Do With It?

A Golden Age for Older Players in Women’s Tennis NYTimes

Francesca Schiavone, 30, left, and Li Na, 29, are the oldest French Open final pairing since 1986, when Chris Evert beat Martina Navratilova. “I’m not old,” Li said. “Why do you think I’m old?”The Li-Schiavone final in today’s French Open sends yet another signal that women’s tennis has grown up. Child stars like Tracy Austin, Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati no longer dominate the game. In the last 12 Grand Slam tournaments, the average age of the winner is close to 28. Update: Li won.

The explanations, say the women, aren’t only physical power and agility. The young players often fancy themselves as something special, surrounding themselves with entourages and doting friends and families.

“They don’t have to mature because they don’t have to fend for themselves,” Navratilova said. “I was flying around the world by myself when I was 17 years old, booking everything myself. Getting myself to and from airports and cities and practices and all that. I didn’t have a coach until I was 25, and that teaches you have to be self-reliant.”

Sexual Politics

Abortions Return to Back Alleys Amid Restrictive New State Laws The Daily Beast

This week Jennie L. McCormack, a 32-year-old mother of three from eastern Idaho, was arrested for self-inducing an abortion. According to the Associated Press, McCormack couldn’t afford a legal procedure, and so took pills that her sister had ordered online. For some reason, she kept the fetus, which police found after they were called by a disapproving acquaintance. She now faces up to five years in prison, as well as a $5,000 fine.