Rainforest

• Black Tulip Flowers shares how they are inspiring eco-friendly practices for sustainable growth of the floriculture industry.
• Black Tulip Flowers is one of the largest floral companies in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia, with 30+ years of experience in growing, export, import, retail and wholesale of fresh flowers in the region.
• Black Tulip Flowers has taken the initiative to lead the way in implementation of eco-friendly practices that not only safeguards the environment but also supports local economies.
• Black Tulip Flowers has also participated in the latest IFTEX (International Flower Trade Expo) event in Nairobi, Kenya, that hosts leading flower growers from around the world.

• We look forward to keeping the momentum into the next fiscal year and maintaining our presence as a premier hosting destination," said Ed Carey, Chief Sales Officer at Discover Puerto Rico.
• In addition, WWE also held its special event, Backlash, in the Coliseum of Puerto Rico for an audience of over 17,000 fans.
• TSNN , (October 27 – 29) – The Trade Show News Network will be hosting its 13th annual awards in Puerto Rico this fall.
• Puerto Rico is home to standout venues with exceptional capabilities, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and unique spaces that attract groups and events of varying interests.

• In some parts of the world, such as the Middle East, airlines are even expanding rapidly – well beyond pre-pandemic levels.
• But how will the industry continue to grow while doing its fair share on climate change?
• Unless global aviation changes tack, its greenhouse gas emissions are projected to cause about 0.1℃ of total global warming by 2050.

A tough ask

• Individual airlines have made similar commitments, including American Airlines, Qantas and Air New Zealand.
• But there are very few low-carbon alternatives to traditional fossil jet fuel.
• But at the moment, very little sustainable aviation fuel is being produced – and it’s much more expensive than fossil jet fuel.
• Read more:
  Green hydrogen funding is a step forward – but a step doesn't win the race

What we found

• We found the plans rely heavily on biofuels in the medium-term and synthetic e-kerosene in the longer term.
• Currently, all sustainable aviation fuels used commercially are produced from food waste such as cooking oil or animal fat.
• Our research found the roadmaps largely omitted a number of fundamental problems with sustainable aviation fuels.
• If sustainable aviation fuels were produced in this way, they’d be considerably worse for the climate than fossil fuels.
• Research to date is inconclusive about whether sustainable aviation fuels will improve this problem.

‘Unrealistic and irresponsible’

• But clearly, while the fuels will play a useful role to some extent, the industry’s growth plans are unrealistic and irresponsible.
• Private and government investment should instead be directed to lower-carbon forms of transport, such as rail.
• And for the travelling public, a shift in mindset is required, involving how often and how far we need to travel.

• Although long dead, fossil skeletons provide an incredible window into the lifestyle and environment of an extinct animal.
• What secrets would it reveal about the growth and development of an extinct animal?

Tree-dwelling wombat relatives

• Nimbadon is now known from its complete skeleton, including material representing developmental ages ranging from tiny pouch-young to mature adults.
• Its hands and feet had specially adapted opposable thumbs with huge curved claws for climbing, penetrating bark and grasping branches.
• These animals were highly specialised climbers and lived vastly different lifestyles compared to their closest living relatives – the land-dwelling, burrowing wombats.
• Read more:
  Meet the giant wombat relative that scratched out a living in Australia 25 million years ago

Sectioning the bones

• To look inside the fossil bones, we needed to select the right material.
• Long bones, such as the bones of the leg, are known to preserve a good record of growth, so we analysed ten long bones of several different-sized individuals.
• Remarkably, even after millions of years of fossilisation, the microscopic structure of the fossil bones had remained intact.

Seasonal growers

• However, our results indicate that, overall, the limbs of Nimbadon had a much slower, more extenuated growth than kangaroo limbs.
• Based on these alternating cycles of fast and slow growth, Nimbadon may have been affected by seasonal conditions such as food availability.
• However, exactly how long it took for eight growth cycles to develop remains a mystery.

Real-life drop bears

• We have come to think about these strange arboreal marsupials as real versions of the legendary “drop bears” of Australian folklore – mysterious tree-dwelling creatures that would drop down on unsuspecting animals below.
• Sometimes they would end up in forest floor caves, which is where we have been finding their still-articulated skeletons.
• Currently we are looking into wear in the enamel microstructure of Nimbadon’s teeth to determine this legendary drop bear’s diet.