In New Zealand we could discover and name a new species every day for a long time, with the right level of resources applied to the task. New Zealand ranks among Conservation International’s top-25 biodiversity hotspots – “the richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on Earth”. About 80% of the plants found here occur nowhere else, making it an enormous job to identify and record them, along with all the other life-forms. “In some groups we really are in a mess. For example, although there are a number of good mycologists in New Zealand study-ing fungi, it’s a group of perhaps 20,000 species and only three or four people are working on them." For those already working in the field, the irony is that at the very time their discipline is withering, the demand for biosystematic skills to serve the emphasis on biodiversity, climate change, conservation, sustainability and biosecurity – all of which the Government claims to give priority to – has never been greater.

Great idea – Transfercar makes it easy for rental car companies that need to relocate vehicles and travelers that want to save money to find each other. Travelers get a free ride driving "relocation cars" for the rental companies, which saves them costs as well.

The evolution of evolution: "A team of Princeton University scientists has discovered that chains of proteins found in most living organisms act like adaptive machines, possessing the ability to control their own evolution."

Open Everything is a global conversation about the art, science and spirit of 'open'. It gathers people using openness to create and improve software, education, media, philanthropy, neighbourhoods, workplaces and the society we live in: everything. It's about thinking, doing and being open.

Fantastic lineup of interesting events for World Science Festival May 28-June 1, 2008 New York City. Only wish I could go to more than one scheduled at the same time.

In unexpected ways, science and mysticism are joining hands and reinforcing each other. We’re in the middle of a scientific revolution. It’s going to have big cultural effects.

Video of interesting talks from recent international science and policy conference in Stockholm exploring complex dynamics of interconnected social-ecological systems available online. (Thanks, Worldchanging)