The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us

Home > Literature > The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us > Page 34
The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us Page 34

by Diane Ackerman


  habitat loss, 154

  Haiyan, Typhoon, 46

  Hamilton, Clive, 314

  Hansen, James, 314

  Hansmeyer, Michael, 236

  Harvard University, 235

  Hastings, Battle of, 190

  heart, 150, 239, 248, 249, 250–51, 281

  heat, 41

  heaters, 87

  heat recycling, 95–108

  Helm, Barbara, 114

  Henri, Pascal, 84

  herbs, 89

  Hernandez, Isaias, 264–65

  herons, 193–94

  Heuchera plants, 80–81

  High Line, 77

  Hitler, Adolf, 273

  hockey, 40

  Holocene, 9

  Homer, 262

  Honda, 236

  Hong Sun Hye, 102

  horse chestnut trees, 153

  Horse Island, 58

  horses, 137–38, 140, 145–46

  hostas, 125

  Hudson River, 54–55

  hulls, 91

  human genome, 13

  Human Genome Project, 270, 274, 282, 285, 289, 300

  Human Microbiome Project, 289

  human rights, global warming and, 48

  humans:

  as eusocial, 288

  geographic expansion of, 10

  geography changed by, 11

  history of, 71

  orangutan genes shared by, 3

  population growth of, 10

  technological changes to bodies of, 13

  tools used by, 7, 9

  humans, environmental effects of:

  climate change, see global warming

  and possibility of nuclear winter, 8–9

  hummingbirds, 126

  hunter-gatherers, 71

  Huntington’s disease, 271

  Hurricane Irene, 57

  Hurricane Katrina, 46

  hurricanes, 31, 41, 43, 55

  Hurricane Sandy, see Sandy, Hurricane

  hybrid cars, 100

  Hyde Park, 142

  hydroelectronic power, 100, 107

  hydroponic gardening, 83, 89, 90

  Icarus, 224

  icebergs, 195–96, 197

  Iceland, 77

  ice packs, 41–42

  iCub, 218–19

  iGlasses, 261

  igloos, 86

  iguanas, 131

  Ike Dike, 50

  Iliad (Homer), 262

  India, 88, 107, 132, 175

  Indian mongoose, 132

  Indonesia, 132, 313

  induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS), 150–51, 160–63

  industrial farming, 60

  Industrial Revolution, 34, 106, 185–86, 232, 235, 267

  Inheritors, The (Golding), 162

  insects, 166

  insulin pumps, 253

  intelligence of plants, 205–7

  International Union for Conservation of Nature, 313

  Internet, 199–200, 235

  Inuit, 86

  invasive species, 132, 154

  Iran, 147

  Iraq War, 258

  Ireland, 132

  Irene, Hurricane, 57

  irises, 125

  iron fertilization, 53

  Island of Dr. Moreau, The (Wells), 267–68

  Israel, 76

  Istanbul, Turkey, 78

  Italy, 88, 107

  Ithaa Restaurant, 76

  Ivanpah, 106

  Ivins, Molly, 206

  Jaguar Corridor, 123

  Jamaica Bay, 119

  Jamaican fruit bats, 131

  Japan, 88

  industrial tourism in, 23

  Japan beetles, 295

  Japanese honeysuckle, 132

  Jarrell, Randall, 45

  jellyfish, 65, 181

  Jernhusen, 96–97, 98

  Jerusalem, 77

  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 220

  Jim River, Alaska, 40

  Johansson, Klas, 96–97

  Johns Hopkins University, 244

  Jordan, Terry, 31–32

  Jungle Waterfalls, 83

  Kahn, Peter H., 196

  Kalmar, Sweden, 99–100

  kangaroo, 296

  Kanzi (bonobo), 202

  Katrina, Hurricane, 46

  katydids, 173–74

  Kawasaki, Japan, 23

  Keating, Tim, 147

  kelp, 56, 57, 58, 60, 63–64

  biofuels from, 64

  Kenya, 124

  Khoshnevis, Behrokh, 235

  Kidd, Captain, 58

  kidney, 239

  King, Ross, 221

  Kiribati, 49

  knapweed, 166

  knife fish, 147–48

  Knights of the Order of the Barrier, 51

  koalas, 164

  Kockums, 101

  Kojo Moe (Ohyama), 23

  Korup National Park, 126

  krill, 134

  Kublai Khan, 272

  Kubrick, Stanley, 269

  kudzu vine, 132

  Kungsbrohuset office building, 96

  Kurzweil, Ray, 181, 218

  Lactobacillus johnsonii, 301

  Lafferty, Kevin, 299

  Lake Cayuga, 30–31

  Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste, 276–77

  Lammens, Kathy, 302

  lampreys, 132

  Lancet, 277, 278

  landscapes, 22–23

  manufactured, 23–25

  language, 7, 10, 171, 191, 255, 303

  of animals, 201–3

  Language Research Center, 201–2

  Larry (boa), 130

  lead, 271

  Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), 88

  Leaves of Grass (Whitman), 184

  Lederberg, Joshua, 289

  LED lights, 90, 103–4

  Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van, 290

  Leno, Jay, 235

  leopards, 118

  leucine, 179

  Library of Congress, 59

  lifespan, 13

  lights, 17

  Lincoln Memorial, 59

  Lindholm, Bosse, 100

  Linnaeus, Carl, 217

  lions, 164, 273

  Lipson, Hod, 208–25, 226–27, 229, 235, 247, 250

  livers, 150, 248

  Living Machines Conference, 218–19

  local farms, 88

  Lockheed Martin, 236

  locusts, 41

  London, 50–51

  London Zoo, 159

  Long Island Sound, 60

  loosestrife, 132

  Losiny Ostrov National Park, 78

  lotusin, 91

  Louisiana, 46

  Louv, Richard, 196

  lungs, 239, 248

  Lyme disease, 121

  Lyme ticks, 39

  lynxes, 132

  macaws, 164

  Maeslantkering, 50

  magnolias, 111–12

  magpies, 217

  Mail Online, 271

  malaria, 302

  Malaysia, 79

  Maldives, 76–77

  mallards, 117

  Mall of America, 96

  Mandarin Chinese, 281

  mantis shrimp, 61

  manufactured landscapes, 23–25

  manufacturing, 12

  mariculture, 56–67

  pushback against, 64–65

  marigolds, 90

  marine transport pollution, 76

  Marshall Islands, 314

  marsh rabbits, 129

  Marsico, Ron, 119

  Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, 103–4

  Masters, Jeff, 47

  mastodons, 31

  Mayflower, 132

  McDonough, William, 87–88

  McGill University, 282, 284

  McKibben, Bill, 112

  McMurdo Station, 88–90

  Meaney, Michael, 282–84

  Mecanoo, 104

  medical ecology, 300

  medicine, 7, 12–13

  Medieval Warm Period, 43

  Mehler, Mark, 282

  memories
, 255

  Men Who Stare at Goats, The (Ronson), 146

  Mercedes, 236

  mercury, 271

  Mesopotamia, 235

  metal alloy teeth, 253

  methylation, 281

  Mexico, 88

  Mexico City, 77, 82–83

  mice, 302

  Michigan, 132

  microbes, 287–304

  effects of, on humans, 292, 295–303

  evolution affected by, 292–93

  microbiome, 289

  microscope, 290

  microtia, 244–45

  Milky Way, 176

  Milton, John, 51, 212–13

  mining, 11, 21, 24, 34

  mitochondria, 291

  Mitsuku, 317

  Mohali, India, 99

  moist shaded zones, 79

  Mojave Desert, 22, 106

  Mongolia, 132

  monkeys, 146, 267

  monk parakeets, 131

  monkshoods, 125

  monsoon season, 51, 53

  Montaigne, Michel de, 63

  Montana, 117

  Mooallem, Jon, 139–40

  moon, 306

  Moorea, 158

  moor frogs, 124

  moose, 132

  Moscow, 78

  MOSE Project, 50

  mosquitoes, 302

  Motherwell, Robert, 218

  Motley Fool, 235

  multiple sclerosis, 301

  Mumbai, 78

  musk oxen, 132

  mussels, 58, 60, 66, 78

  mussel tissue, 91

  Muybridge, Eadweard, 191

  Nakamura, Makoto, 238

  Naki’o, 256

  Namibia, 180–81

  nanobots, 181

  Nano Impacts Intellectual Community, 183

  nanoparticles, 182–83

  nanotechnology, 179–87

  nanotubes, 179

  NASA, 204, 235, 305, 314

  Nasheed, Mohamed, 76

  National Academy of Science, 266–67

  National Arbor Day Foundation, 38

  National Institutes of Health (NIH), 285

  national parks, 165

  National Resources Defense Council, 316

  National Zoo, 123

  NATO, 237

  Natural History of the Senses, A (Ackerman), 175

  nature:

  balance of, 132–33

  romance with, 126–27

  as term, 25, 111–27, 171–72, 309–10

  Nature, 134

  nature deficit disorder, 196–97

  Nature Neuroscience, 282

  Navigenics, 271

  Navy, U.S., 145, 147

  Nazis, 273–74

  Neanderthals, 162, 178, 189, 263

  nearsightedness, 192

  Nelson Island, 48

  Nemo, Blizzard, 58

  Nestlé, 212

  Netherlands, 101, 124, 132

  Netherlands Antilles, 88

  neural implants, 253

  Nevada, 106

  New Forest, 174–75

  Newfoundland, 42

  New Jersey, 46

  New Mexico, 40

  Newton, Isaac, 220

  New York, 38, 46, 77

  New York, N.Y., 55, 73

  New York University, 197–98

  night fiddlers, 172–73

  Nile perch, 131

  Nin, Anaïs, 186

  nitrogen, 36

  NOAA, 210

  Norrbotten, Sweden, 275–76, 277–78, 280

  North Africa, 106

  North Carolina, 46

  northern goshawks, 132

  Northwest Passage, 135

  Norway, 101, 124, 132

  Norway maples, 132

  nuclear bomb, 191

  nuclear power, 22, 100

  nuclear winter, 8, 9

  Obama, Barack, 177

  Obama administration, 233

  obesity, 196

  ocean, acidification of, 65, 66, 154

  octopuses, 202, 216

  Ohio, 77

  Ohyama, Ken, 23

  oil, 99, 106

  oil refineries, 22

  oil spills, 300

  Oman, 132

  1D farming, see mariculture

  Operation Acoustic Kitty, 146

  Operation Migration, 139–40

  opossums, 129

  Orangutan Awareness program, 28

  Orangutan Outreach, 5, 6, 313

  orangutans, 3–7, 25–28, 132, 216, 217, 231, 296

  human genes shared by, 3

  impending extinction of, 27–28, 313

  solitary lives of, 4

  tool use by, 5

  orca whales, 135, 144

  orchids, 206

  Orff, Kate, 55

  organic fertilizer, 64

  Organovo, 238–39

  Ornstein, Len, 54

  Orthopets, 256

  Oshkosh Airshow, 187

  osteoarthritis, 248

  otters, 124

  Outer Island, 58

  ovarian cancer, 281–82

  Överkalix, Sweden, 279–80

  oxen, 140

  oxeye daisies, 132

  oxygen, 41, 53

  oysters, 54–55, 56, 57, 60, 61–63

  Ozawa, Masakatsu, 23

  P-52 (python), 128

  pacemakers, 253

  Panbanisha (bonobo), 201–2, 203

  pancreas, 281

  pansies, 90

  Papua New Guinea, 72

  Paradise Lost (Milton), 212–13

  Paris, 95–96

  Paris Habitat, 96

  Parkinson’s disease, 253, 295

  parks, 73–74, 78

  parrots, 202

  parsley, 89

  Partula, 156–59

  passenger pigeons, 151–52

  Pasteur, Louis, 290

  Patagonia National Park, 99

  pathogens, 290

  peacock feathers, 91

  Pearce, Mick, 93–94

  Pembrey, Marcus, 279, 281

  penguins, 134–35

  peonies, 125

  People’s Daily, 146

  peppers, 89

  peregrine falcons, 132

  periwinkles, 61–62

  permafrost, 48

  personality, 200, 214, 216–17, 222–23, 229, 253, 292, 297, 299, 303–4, 307

  Peru, 77

  pesticides, 153, 166

  pets, 149–50

  Pettit, Don, 16

  Phelps, Michael, 258

  phenotypic elasticity, 249–50

  Philippines, 46

  photonic clusters, 35

  phytoplankton, 61

  piezoelectricity, 317

  pigeons, 140, 142, 144, 145–46

  pigs, 71

  in war, 146

  Pistorius, Oscar, 258, 260

  Plan Bee, 166

  planes, 171, 191

  planets, 220–21

  Planets, The: A Cosmic Pastoral (Ackerman), 220

  plankton, 134–35

  PlantLab, 90

  plants:

  in cities, 79–85

  texting by, 205–7

  plastic stents, 253

  Pleistocene Park, 151

  Pliocene, 29

  PLOS ONE, 271

  pneumonia, 183

  Poland, 78, 132, 273

  polar bears, 134

  polar molecules, 35

  polar T3, 90

  pollution, 154

  marine transport, 76

  Polo, Marco, 272

  polymer teeth, 253

  Polynesia, 156, 157

  Ponce, Brent, 260–61

  ponies, 137–38

  Pons, Lily, 264

  poppies, 125

  population growth, 10

  Porter, Eliot, 25

  poverty, 285, 286

  Power Felt, 185

  prairie dogs, 131

  presence, 199

  Price of Freedom: Americans at War exhibit, 145

  probiotics, 300

  Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, 129

  produce, 89

  Project Orcon, 145

  Project Pigeon, 145

  Project X-Ray, 145

  proprioception, 175–76

  prosthetics, 256–58

  protein, 190

  protozoans, 172, 289–90, 300

  Przewalski’s horses, 132

  Puerto Rico, 175

  Puppe (orangutan), 26–27

  purple finch, 137

  pyrolysis technology, 76

  pythons, 128–31, 133, 140, 315

  Quai Branly Museum, 80–82, 84–85

  quarries, 24

  quasi-crystal, 34

  rabbits, 126, 129, 133

  rabies, 298

  racoons, 129

  rail trails, 77

  rainforests, 79

  rains, 41

  Raison, Charles, 300–301

  Rambuteau subway station, 95–96

  Rand, Ayn, 59

  rats, 282–83, 296

  reading, 191–92

  Reconciliation Ecology, 74

  recycling, 52, 74, 78, 87, 88, 90

  heat, 95–108

  red clover, 166

  Red Delicious, 137

  red foxes, 153

  red kites, 132

  Red Sea Star Restaurant, 76

  reef death, 36–37

  refrigerators, 87

  regenerative medicine, 244

  Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, 254–55

  reindeer, 132

  Reiss, Diana, 202, 204

  religion, 176

  Relman, David, 300

  Renaissance, 190

  Renault, 83

  renewable energy, 307

  restaurant rooftop farms, 88

  retinas, 253

  Revolutionizing Prosthetics program, 258–59

  Rezwan, Mohammed, 52–53

  rhododendrons, 125

  rice, 71

  Rice Plant Conservation Science Center, 82

  Rig Veda, 257

  RinkWatch.org, 40, 314

  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 78

  Ripasso Energy, 100–101, 106

  roadkill, 115–16

  robomoths, 146–47

  RobotCub Consortium, 218–19

  robot fleas, 148

  robotic evolution, 210, 213, 224–25

  robots, 210–25

  rocketships, 171

  rock strata, 31, 35

  roe deer, 124

  Romania, 78, 124

  Romans, 185

  Rome, 267

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 145

  rosemary, 90

  Rosenzweig, Michael, 74

  roses, 125

  Rotterdam, Netherlands, 77

  Royal Botanic Gardens, 118

  Rwanda, 46

  Ryu Chan Hyeon, 102

  saber-tooth tigers, 162, 163

  Sagan, Carl, 220

  sage, 125

  Sahara Desert, 54

  Sahel, 46

  St. John’s wort, 132

  St. Luke’s Hospital, 78

  Salem witch trials, 207

  salmon, 60, 65

  salt deposits, 31

  sandhill cranes, 161

  San Diego Zoo, 151

  sand mandala, 174–75

  Sandy, Hurricane, 31, 43, 44–47

  oyster beds smothered by, 57

  Sanjay Gandhi National Park, 78

  Santiago, 77

  Sapolsky, Robert, 298

  Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary, 193–94

  scallops, 57, 60

  schizophrenia, 176, 282, 285

  science, 11

  scientific reasoning, 219–20

  Scotland, 132

  Scots pine, 132

  Scripps Research Institute, 151

 

‹ Prev