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Friday, November 2, 2012 Capital News
CAPITAL NEWS
OPINION The Capital News is a division of Black Press, at 2495 Enterprise Way, Kelowna, B.C. V1X 7K2
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▼ MEDICINE
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A new cancer drug is the “most effective” treatment for relapsingremitting multiple sclerosis, say UK researchers at the University of Cambridge in a new study. bbc.co.uk
A race between a robot car and a human driving another car on a California racetrack has ended with a win for the human—but only just. bbc.co.uk
Women who give up smoking by 30 will almost completely avoid the risks of dying early from tobacco-related diseases, says a study of more than a million women in the UK. bbc.co.uk
Researchers say an Asian elephant has learnt to imitate human speech and can say five words in Korean—hello, no, sit down, lie down and good. bbc.co.uk
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Time to rezone Cedar Park
To the editor: Re: Cedar Park Last year, before the almost wholesale change of the (Kelowna) city council and mayor, there was a large controversy brewing. I am referring to the Cedar Park controversy. At issue was the very heart of what Kelowna is and stands for, not just now, but for future generations to come. The stakes could not of been higher. On one side was the staff of the city of Kelowna. In their minds, the seven publicly owned rental properties along the 2000- to 3000block of Abbott Street should be rezoned and turned into a mutli-story, view blocking, limited access commercial building combined with some public walking paths and limited greenspace. In the minds of the vast majority of Kelownians, however, their choice could not have been made more clear. They wanted a large park on the lake. They wanted a place with a view. They wanted a place to take their kids, and a place where their kids
Newsroom: Sean Connor, Warren Henderson, Kathy Michaels, Kevin Parnell, Wade Paterson, Jean Russell, Jennifer Smith, Judie Steeves, Alistair Waters Advertising: Cindy Draper, Colleen Groat, Ron Harding, Antony Hutton, Sheri Jackson, Curt Jensen, Rick Methot, Lauren Strang, Wayne Woollett Classified: Shayla Graf, Tanya Terrace, Michelle Trudeau, Emily Vergnano Production: LaToya Allan, Nancy Blow, Kiana Haner-Wilk, Teresa HuscroftBrown, Mary Matthews, Laura Millsip, Natasha Surerus, Kelly Ulmer, Becky Webb Accounting: Sam Corless, Rachel Dekker, Angela Fahy Real Estate Weekly: Terry Matthews Distribution: Mark Carviel, Richard Dahle, Sharon Holmes
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letter of the week
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The things we can learn from nature’s genius
I
’ve always been more interested in organisms that can move on their own than in stationary plants. But when I canoe or hike along the edge of lakes or oceans and see trees that seem to be growing out of rock faces, I am blown away. How do they do it? Think about a seed. Once it lands, it’s stuck. It can’t move to find better soil, moisture or sunlight. It’s able to create every part of itself to grow and reproduce with the help of air, water and sun. After it sprouts and sends out roots and leaves, other species want to eat it. It can’t run, hide or fight back. It’s a wonder trees are able to survive at all, yet they can flourish and live for hundreds of years. They’re evolution-
ary wonders that have developed a bag of chemical tricks to ward off predators, infections, storms and fires, and ways to communicate and even share scarce reDavid sources. In Ecuador’s Suzuki Yasuni National Park, I saw a tree that is reputed to “walk”! We have much to learn by studying nature and taking the time to tease out its secrets. Biomimicry, a word coined by biologist and writer Janine Benyus, means to copy nature. It’s a science that asks “What does nature do?” instead of “What’s it for?”—the question usually posed by human endeavour. Since life originated some 3.9-billion years ago, organisms have been confronted with strikingly similar chal-
SCIENCE MATTERS
lenges: where to find nourishment, how to keep from being eaten, what to do when infected by a parasite or disease, what to do with bodily wastes, and how to reproduce and ensure offspring survive. Over billions of years and in billions of species, the solutions to these problems have been myriad, often subtle—even surprising—but always highly informative. Almost all species that have existed are estimated to have gone extinct within an average of a few million years. Humans are an infant species, a mere 150,000 years old. But, armed with a massive brain, we’ve not only survived, we’ve used our wits to adapt to and flourish in habitats as varied as deserts, Arctic tundra, tropical rainforests, wetlands and high mountain ranges. We’ve accelerated the rate of cultural evolution far beyond the speed of biological or genetic change.
Technological creativity has been critical to our success. From the time we first picked up a stick or rock to get at something or defend ourselves, we’ve devised tools like bows and arrows, knives and axes, and needles and pottery. Those often took decades, centuries or millennia to hone and improve. Now, new technology comes along weekly. These powerful innovations affect our lives, and the way we live and think of ourselves. When I did my first television series in 1962, the medium was denigrated as the “boob tube”. We said it jokingly, but it reflected an anxiety about the negative aspects of this new instrument. Over and over, we have become enamoured with the immediate benefits of technological innovation without rec-
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