Your ideas : See the ideas

• Sustainable Energy Submitted by S.Hedditch, 20 August
• Power of 10 Submitted by S.Hedditch, 20 August
• ISPO is a good idea Submitted by D Everingham, 14 August
• How the world will not end Submitted by R.Bartlett, 7 August
• Emailing matter Submitted by R.Bartlett, 7 August
• G.M. is a bad idea Submitted by J.Hepburn 2 August 2001
• Things that need inventing Submitted by E.I. Kirk, 1 August
• Pure as pre-history Submitted by J.Noort, 11 July
• Star Trek as education Submitted by R.Brimer, USA, 10 July
• Moving towards sustainable biodiversity. Submitted by W.B., NSW, 30 June
• Powerhouse Museum launches Top 100 Australian Innovations Online
  Submitted by Ideas Online 21 June
• Value in the monetary system Submitted by S.Saraswati, 18 June
• Human Civilisations Submitted by A.Kerns, 17 June
• Grollo Project Submitted by R.Stringer, 17 June
• Three Ideas For Making The Government Serve The People Better
  Submitted by L.Wenke, 17 June
• Community Chatrooms Submitted by W.Savill, 15 June
• Scientists protect ideas Submitted by Lucy, 2 June
• Catalogue of Plants and Marine Species Submitted by R.Stringer, 28 May
• Teacher Resource - Which way ahead for hydrogen cars?
  Submitted by Australian Academy of Science, 28 May
• The Funneled Web Submitted by Ideas Online, 28 May
• More on Lounge Room Concerts Submitted by: Shakti 9 May
• National Indigenous Nomenclature Project Submitted by: T.Mitchell, 7 May
• Biodiesel Submitted by: H.Andersen, 4 May
• Lounge room concerts Submitted by: Shakti, 3 May
• New Australian Flag Submitted by: C.W.Neumann, 1 May

New Australian Flag

Submitted by: Carl W.Neumann 1 May

New flag for Australia. View image

This flag contains;Green and Gold for all the "Imports"since Captain Cook, Red, Black and Gold for the Aborigines and of couse the Southern Cross.

Lounge room concerts

Submitted by: Shakti 3 May

"I want to promote live music at the grassroots level by putting on 'lounge room concerts'. Sort of like having a party but instead of getting blotto talking about rubbish and then feeling terrible in the morning, people can have the option of coming together with some sense of purpose, absorb some culture and then talk about interesting things and hopefully come away feeling good. The cost of the venue is not there as is minimal in advertising (i.e. phone chain or group email) My hope here is that people will re-explore their human potential rather than rely on technology."

Biodiesel

Submitted by: Hans Andersen 4 May

As the owner of a diesel vehicle I am aware of the perceptions of others regarding polutant levels etc. Recently I have been following the development of a replacement for fossil fuel diesel. This product is called Biodiesel and is made from vegetable oils. While most main stream production to date has been from soy it can also be produced from recycled vege oil such as from commercial kitchens. Following is some information I received from a contact in the US.

Biodiesel fuel Some facts:

• Made from waste oil collected from fast-food restaurants or from virgin vegetable oil, primarily soybean oil in the United States.
• Nontoxic and biodegradable and contains no petrochemicals.
• Burns cleaner than petroleum-based diesel but is more expensive.
• Can be used in any diesel engine, and causes less wear and tear. Rubber fuel lines in older engines must be replaced with plastic lines to avoid corrosion.

Sources: CytoCulture International Inc, National Biodiesel Board

National Indigenous Nomenclature Project

Submitted by: Timothy Mitchell 7 May

(An apology with substance)

Reconciling the differences between Australian indigenous peoples and 18th, 19th and 20th century migrants is one of the leading social issues in contemporary Australia. Throughout the last decade of the 20th century a sense of goodwill has been building as the majority of the population strive to find an outcome that will result in meaningful progress towards reconciliation's elusive goal.

The Mabo decision and the resultant Native Title (1993) Legislation, along with the 1967 referendum decision to include indigenous Australians as citizens with the power to exercise their vote and not exist as another part of the Australian fauna, are some of the headline moments in an otherwise bleak political landscape that until recently was dominated by attitudes reeking of colonial paternalism.

Recently, the issue of an official government apology addressing the injustices of the past (remembering the past includes the still suffering generations of stolen children and their disaffected offspring) has dominated the reconciliation debate. The need for white Australia to recognise the dark side of our contemporary history and apologise is well understood by the large portion of society who see the impact of this past as an open and festering wound. In their attempt to redress and heal, it was this same section of our community that have sought individual reconciliation through the use of sorry books and other public gestures over the past few years.

However, while individual efforts at reconciliation through recognition of injustice and apology are well meaning and in some cases result in meaningful long term outcomes to communities they fall short of what is required in a national context. There is only one individual who can apologise for the nation and that is the person chosen as the leader of the party winning federal office, at present this person is *John Winston Howard. As he has stated publicly his governments opposition to an official apology, perhaps it is best to let his time pass, as to draw an apology out of this government now would be an empty and hollow offering carrying far too much political baggage. It is the context and substance of an apology that will be some not too distant future Prime Minister's solemn responsibility and it is specifically the substance of this about which I next refer.

As has been well recognised in South Africa via their truth and reconciliation process, a nation facing up to it's past in an open and honest manner can serve a healing purpose way beyond that that can be bought through budget allocation or addressed through well intentioned white papers and reports.

So first Australia must officially negotiate this hurdle and the time appears to be closing fast on this moment in history. What happens then? If the Prime Minister of the day address' this issue of an apology properly it surely will be one of the great acts played out on the floor of our parliament. Like the decision in the Mabo case it will resound around the country for weeks and perhaps months before the reality of the indigenous population's situation sinks in again and once again old habits resurface in the community. At least for black and coloured South Africans, post apartheid, demography was in their favour whereas in Australia, post apology, black Australia still identifies, in the main, as a minority underclass.

For an apology to work in the Australian context I believe white Australia must not only express this verbally but something far more substantial is required. In the fading afterglow of any official apology there must be some concrete reminder that the community both black and white can use as a reference point for unity and reconciliation. I believe the nomenclature project can be this reference point.

For white Australia the literal description of Australian topography reads like the landscape paintings offered up by our 18th century artists as depictions perpetuating the falsehood of a verdant and soft New England. As early explorers and settlers pursued dreams in every direction from the early footholds of settlement they set about (re)naming every hill, waterway and other significant piece of topography. In the main it seems no thought was given as to whether these places already had names, so now the result is, when we look across any Australian landscape, it is littered with names of long forgotten and quite often insignificant characters from a mainly British past. The very nature of the names attached to these rocky outcrops, waterways and gorges reinforces the notion of terra nullius, a land without people, or at least people of any significance whose heritage mattered little and had no place in the new land. Through this continual denial of the aboriginal heritage!

that existed prior to white settlement we daily reinforce the message that as an indigenous Australian you do not matter and are not part of the grand plan. The Nomenclature project is about reversing this particular form of injustice. It is about reclaiming an Australian landscape blandly re-described 200 years ago and giving back to indigenous Australians something that was taken without asking. Would any group of settlers attempting the same exercise in this day and age be so ignorant as to ride roughshod and trample on local sensibilities as the early white Australian, I think not?

This project would not aim to disenfranchise contemporary Australia by removing the names of essentially white constructs. Instead cities towns and roadways etcetera that are celebrations of our white culture would proudly hold their place among the retrospectively described landscape. It would seek to more clearly delineate our shared history.

It is significant that what is being proposed here is not a without precedent, with areas of the arid interior and north west undergoing nomenclature change with Ayers Rock reverting to Uluru and the Bungle Bungles to Purnululu. What is significant about the name changes to these two geographic icons is there location, remote and not in contact with white Australia, avoiding any upset to our fragile sensibilities. It is time the Koori of Redfern or the Noongyar of Albany were afforded the respect offered their distant desert relatives and offered a chance to reclaim some of their own precious heritage.

Following the formal Federal Government apology a set period of time would be established in which time for discussion and agreement over nomenclature within the aboriginal community would take place. The rules would be simple. White Australian place names for infrastructure such as towns, cities, bridges, roads etcetera would remain the same but the landscape in and around these places would be an open book for possible name change. There would be difficulties, maybe some insurmountable, but the project would be about the possible, a positive and nation building process and outcome that would alter the perception of all Australians towards the landscape in which we live and how the rest of the world views us.

This is about inclusion and giving worth to the ideas and opinions of people whose understanding of and feel for this land go back thousands of years. It may also be a surprising and beautiful journey for a myriad of reasons, in forging links with the past and building relationships for the future. With so many unexplored possibilities it may be that the contemporary name is the one best loved by a community, both black and white, in some situations and even in just the recognition of this fact the seeds of reconciliation lie. With the most likely outcome in most parts of the landscape being imminent name changes, it would be a hard bitten community indeed that was prepared to ignore thousands of years of history for the sake of some bosun's mate or wife of an early settler, the like of which, following their death or departure by some other means, many parts of our landscape have been named. Often these people were never to return only leaving hoofprints and the people that actually lived there.

Our nation has to finally recognise the past and prepare for the future, that moment of reflection, particularly for white Australia should not be sullied by the egotistical ranting of those unable to cope, instead let us celebrate the breaking of those shackles that have bound us and move on.

* John Howard has already given a most inspiring national address on this issue, expressing this nation's sorrow and our profound apology. Unfortunately for this nation it was the actor John Howard who delivered these words and it appeared on an episode of "The Games".

More on Lounge Room Concerts

Submitted by: Shakti 9 May

I would like to add some body to my last submittion. With the introduction of recorded music and technology-based music playing aids, there has been a tendency to take the human music playing skills for granted. The playing skills of a musician ultimately come from performing, either to a focused audience or in a casual and ambient situation. When this is removed then the quality of achievement decreases.

Technology is valid when there is a particular task that is deemed to be a necessity and there is an under supply of people willing to perform that task. An example of this is when there is a desire to listen to music and there is no one to play it. However I happen to know that there are a lot of competent musicians who need to make a living doing other things. This is a travesty of justice for those who cannot pursue their true passion and a lost opportunity for those who have not the time for research the advancement of their skills. This is a symptom of a system that is not working.

I do not consider that the status quo is set in stone and we do have the ability to create our preferred future with an intelligent deliberation on satisfying our needs without hindering others.

The corporate world has a tendency to look at the end product as being important and the delivery of that end product as less important. Thus the main focus here is to deliver the end product in the cheapest and most efficient manner. For example recorded music will appear cheaper than having live music. The live music industry is relying less on them to supply venues. It is then up to those who consider live music as an important asset to create the venues.

Listed are some goals recommended by the Australian Council Report: "Australians and the Arts":

• More people engaging in specific artistic activities, such as painting, writing, acting, dancing, playing a musical instrument, etc.
• A greater recognition that the arts are readily accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
• Fewer people feeling that the arts are elitist.
• Fewer people considering that the arts are irrelevant to their lives.
• More people being able to suggest a greater range of ways in which they perceive the arts to have value.

Here are some ideas toward achieving that outcome:

• As a suggestion we could do things on a smaller scale to reduce unnecessary expense.
• Locate and network competent artists and listening enthusiasts and use the advanced communication system to facilitate connections between them. There are people who are passionate about their craft and would greatly enrich society if the opportunity were created.
• Societies have always created excuses to have gatherings, and this is an opportunity for people who have been left behind by the mainstream.
• This community building sharing of an interactive experience between performer and audience will endeavour to combine various art forms including music, storytelling, and performances etc. This is the mutually beneficial experience of the celebration of life and inspired achievement.
• For example a concert can be done in a lounge room, or any suitable aesthetic space, like having a party, with as little as 12 people, 20-30 is comfortable, but no more than 50. The larger the amounts of performers the more people are needed to fund it.
• In order to create the type of world that we really want to live in we need to be locally supportive.
• Energy needs to be put into promoting the idea.

The Funneled Web

Submitted by Ideas Online, 28 May

The Funneled Web seeks to gain public and parliamentary interest in the fundamental importance of science and education to the Nation. New material is added to The Funneled Web in the News & Views, Editorial and Op-Ed sections once or twice a week. Archived material is accessible through the 'Past' links found in the top left-hand box.
http://www.the-funneled-web.com

Teacher Resource - Which way ahead for hydrogen cars?

Submitted by Australian Academy of Science, 28 May

Competitors in the men's and women's marathons at the 2000 Sydney Olympics had an exciting glimpse of the future. The pace vehicle that led them round the 42-kilometre circuit looked like a typical family wagon, but looks were deceptive. Under the bonnet was a stack of fuel cells, not an internal combustion engine. And as the car glided silently forward it emitted no smelly fumes or greenhouse gases - just a little water vapour.

The car was powered by hydrogen, the simplest and most abundant of all chemical elements. The fuel cells under the bonnet converted the hydrogen directly into electricity. Many experts think hydrogen will replace petrol, diesel and natural gas as the main fuel for cars, buses and trucks over the next few decades. Already car manufacturers around the world have invested billions of dollars in research and development.

The advantages of hydrogen are enormous: no more smog-forming exhaust gases, no more carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming, no more worries about diminishing oil supplies and rising prices. But some tricky questions need to be answered before mass-produced hydrogen cars start appearing on the streets:

• Where will the hydrogen come from?
• How will motorists fill up?
• How will cars store the fuel?

And there's also the question of how best to tap the energy in the fuel for good on-road performance. More about hydrogen cars is on the Australian Academy of Science's Nova: Science in the news website
http://www.science.org.au/nova/063/063key.htm.

Catalogue of Plants and Marine Species

Submitted by Robert Stringer 28 May

A Catalogue of Plants and Marine Species is a great idea but it should be paid for by federal tax not the pharaceutical companies AND the rights to anything useful found kept in the hands of the Australian government. Too many Australian possesions and ideas now reside overseas. I would be happy to see part of my tax used to do the survey and examine the material for possible benifit so that the rights for use could be kept in Australian hands and overseas companies NOT be given exclusive rights.

Scientists protect ideas

Submitted by Lucy 2 June

This isn't really my idea but it's someone's idea and something that I received via listserv recently. The Guardian reports that science writers are in revolt. In some ways this relates to corporate ideas about how knowledge and discovery have become commodities in the new world order. Here's an extract from The Guardian, May 26: "Scientists around the world are in revolt against moves by a powerful group of private corporations to lock decades of publicly funded western scientific research into expensive, subscription-only electronic databases. At stake in the dispute is nothing less than control over the fruits of scientific discovery - millions of pages of scientific information which may hold the secrets of a cure for AIDS, cheap space travel or the workings of the human mind."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4193292,00.html

Community Chatrooms

Submitted by W.Savill, June 15

I think it would be a great idea to establish a Brisbane-based chatroom facility in the new eBrisbane website to make it easier for people to meet each other in Brisbane, build friendships and help reinforce a greater sense of community. This type of facility would also encourage greater internet use and lead to a higher level of interest and citizen participation in the planning of Brisbane City.

The types of groups that could form, facilitated by a Brisbane based chat site are endless! Rotary groups, support groups, hobby groups, sporting groups ... the possibilities can be restrained only by peoples' imaginations! Physical meetings will also be easily possible as the site will be locally based and comprise of residents ... perhaps even visitors to Brisbane City.

Visitors to Brisbane City could be included in the scheme, with benefits to the tourism industry. A chat room allowing Brisbane residents to help newcomers find their feet in the city spaces, to suggest activities and provide welcoming advice could encourage visitation to Brisbane City and help tourists to have a more enjoyable, personalised stay.

Computer Mediated Communication has been used in ways such as these to connect towns and cities in America. Some success stories include Blacksburg Electronic Village and the Public Electronic Network in Santa Monica. I'd love to see a computer mediated communication facility for Brisbane City.

If you would like to comment on this idea, then please do so in the discussion groups. This idea can be found in the Connections discussion under the topic, Community.

Three Ideas For Making The Government Serve The People Better

Submitted by L.Wenke, June 17

1. Outlaw Private Funding For Politicians & Political Parties

This means that politicians and political parties (that are in power) are not allowed to receive any money or other benefits from private parties - either from voluntary donations or through fund-raising activities. This might cost tax-payers more money (if it is *really* necessary to pay millions for parties to advertise on TV) but they would have paid that money indirectly anyway because they are the ones who give corporations their profits. But when corporations give the money, it is usually done with the expectation of getting political favours in return. Democracy is about equal representation - not more representation for the rich donators. This should make sure that corporations don't have a major influence on government. (Unless the people really want them to.)

2. Create An Independent Organisation To Closely Monitor Public Servants

At present, we have to wait until something goes wrong in the government, and then we have commissions (if we're lucky). But there could be an organisation (or several) that can invade the privacy of *all* public servants - especially the high-ranking ones. If they don't want to be closely scrutinized then they can resign (with no pay-out). This would clean out the people who aren't truly committed to serving the public's interests. The monitoring organisation/s would see if the public servants are doing as they are told. They could check the conditions of the jails, or they could keep a constant watch on the police to check for corruption. And in extreme cases, they could even find plots to overthrow/disobey the government in the police and army. Apparently this has happened many times around the world when the government tried to compromise the interests of the police and military leaders and their rich friends. If any public servant doesn't have total loyalty to the government then they would be dismissed. The public deserves public servants who will do as they are told.

3. The Transparent Near-Consensus People's Democracy

Basically this is a system where random members of the public form juries which sit for one week (or less?) at a time. The schedule for the week:

1. The chairperson brings up issues raised by the previous jury
2. The politicians suggest solutions
3. The skeptics object to problems in the politician's solutions/attacks
4. The juries vote for their favourite politicians
5. Agreeing politicians can merge their votes
6. If a solution receives near consensus (75% or 80%?) it is carried out, whether it involves sacking or electing people in the courthouse, modifying laws or even the modifying the constitution.
7. While there are more issues on the agenda, go to step 1.
8. Members of the jury can ask the ministers (heads of departments) questions.
9. The jury raises issues to be discussed next time. (They need perhaps a 30% or 50% vote to be put on the agenda) They could get these issues from the public, or from their problems with the minister's responses. (Maybe the department needs some changes including a change of minister)

The courthouse would consist of:

The Chairperson

- directs the court's proceedings

The Jury

- 20-30 random members of the public, may be as young as 15, who are paid to attend, and can nominate someone to represent them instead of them personally attending.

Politicians

- highly paid people who suggest solutions to problems

Skeptics

- highly paid experts who object to misleading statements made by politicians

Ministers

- representatives or heads of departments

There would be a channel on television, an internet site and a radio station that broadcasts the entire proceedings live. This is what makes it transparent. At present, many of the decisions made by politicians are made within parties, behind closed doors. This new system allows the public to vote on individual issues while being presented with detailed arguments, instead of for entire packages of issues that are only offered every three years with simplistic arguments.

All members of the public would be able to submit messages that the jury would be able to review. No messages would be censored although racist/crude/etc messages would have a warning in their subject heading, and would move to the bottom of the list.

If you would like to comment on this idea, then please do so in the discussion groups. This idea can be found in the Connections discussion under the topic, Democracy.

Grollo Project

Submitted by R.Stringer, 17 June

When the Grollo tower was proposed, a physicist in CSIRO suggested installing a pressure gauge calibration device. This proposal was written up in The Melbourne Age newspaper in an article with the title "Giant barometer proposed for Grollo tower". It turned out that the device was not a barometer which is used for measuring atmospheric pressure but it was for calibrating pressure gauges. This would have involved measuring the height of a column of mercury and was not a very practical idea. I have an idea that a very accurate device could be built which would fit in a moderate size room certainly less then 6m square. It would also allow measurement of pressure greater than from the proposed Grollo Project.

Human Civilisations

Submitted by A.Kerns, 17 June

These three issues lie at the core of what is most wrong with human civilization. They should be exposed to public knowledge and debate:

1. Why is money - which has no intrinsic value - allowed to have greater value than genuine wealth?

2. Why is a corporation accorded the status of a living singular person - which it is not?

3. Why are the owners [shareholders] of corporations allowed the luxury of not being totally responsible [in proportion to their shareholding] for the consequences of all actions of the corporations they own?

If you would like to comment on this idea, then please do so in the discussion groups. This idea can be found in the Connections discussion under the topic, Civilisation?

Value in the monetary system

Submitted by S.Saraswati, 18 June

I would like to propose as a matter of debate a monetary system that could possibly challenge the bias toward the more wealthy in our current system. Our current system puts value on "things" rather than people (in fact money itself has become the object of value). Value can be attached to the effort put into the human element of production i.e. as a person does work that is deemed to be of value to society then they accrue "points" and when they purchase objects they just loose the points. This means there is no exploitation as the person "selling" has already gained value in production. I know that this is simplistic but the concept is to reverse the current system to put value on people rather than "things".

If you would like to comment on this idea, then please do so in the discussion groups. This idea can be found in the Connections discussion under the topic, Civilisation?

Powerhouse Museum launches Top 100 Australian Innovations Online

Submitted by Ideas Online 21 June

This new website looks like a great idea for celebrating Australian Innovators and Innovations. Called Australia Innovates, the website features the top 100 Australian innovations of the twentieth century was launched on June 21. Developed by The Powerhouse Museum and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the website features stories, pictures and resource information on innovations that have made an important impact on Australia and the world.

Only 90 of the top 100 innovations are currently listed on the website with the remaining 10 still to be decided. The Australian public are invited to nominate innovations for inclusion in the Top 100 by submitting an online nomination form by 31 August 2001. "This is a great opportunity for all Australians to be involved in deciding what our best inventions have been," says Dr Kevin Fewster, Director of The Powerhouse Museum.

The website celebrates two significant events: the 100th anniversary of Federation of the Australian States and the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. The nomination forms are available on the Australia Innovates website. The final 10 innovations will be announced in November 2001.

Australia Innovates is a joint project between the Powerhouse Museum and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. The Academy is an independent body of eminent engineers and technologists whose mission is to promote innovation and advancement in engineering and science for the benefit of Australia.

Visit Australia Innovates at http://www.phm.gov.au/australia_innovates/

Moving towards sustainable biodiversity. Where are we going and what is the best way to get there?

Submitted by W.B., NSW, 30 June 2001

A Catchment Management Board recently set a target to increase native vegetation by 10% and enhance existing vegetation, so at least 30% of all ‘broad vegetation types’ are returned close to natural. The target aims to sustain the catchment’s biodiversity while improving other environmental aspects of the catchment. Other Catchment Management Boards are understood to be considering similar efforts to enhance native vegetation and conserve biodiversity.

If recovery of 30% of native vegetation is typical of efforts required across Australia, it will need the help of virtually every landholder, not just 30% of them. So, what is the best approach?

It has been reported that 8 out of 10 studies find native vegetation is economic. This suggests recovery of native vegetation should be close to cost-neutral over the long term. Recovery of native vegetation should therefore boil down to simply finding the best way to pay suppliers and recoup costs from users and beneficiaries.

At present, commercial pressures force landholders to invest in agriculture before any investment in the environment. Even worse, native vegetation and biodiversity is often typecast as a charity, overshadowing any economic value. This means the environment will always be a poor second until the playing field is level.

A ‘level playing field’ would give landholders an even choice between short-term income from agriculture and long-term environmental protection. This implies landholders should be paid for native vegetation in the same way they are paid for agricultural products. Agriculture pays by how much is produced each year, so native vegetation should also pay by how much is produced (or maintained) each year.

The gross cost for native vegetation could be relatively small compared to the cost of agriculture. Cereal crops involve elaborate production cycles – annually requiring seed, sowing, weed control, pest control, fertilizer, irrigation, harvesting, transport, as well as farm assets like land, machinery, fences, tracks, storage and so on. Permanent, agricultural plantings have similar on-going costs plus larger startup costs. Whereas, native vegetation only needs planting and fencing once, if at all, followed by weed and pest control for the first few years. Once established, on-going maintenance is minimal but remains essential. Over the long term, the land’s opportunity cost, at about 5% to 10% of the land value per annum, will probably be the only significance cost.

If the cost of native vegetation roughly equals the land’s opportunity cost and about 30% native vegetation is the target, then the gross cost must be less than 1.5% to 3% of land value per annum. Lower than average value land would be targeted, wherever possible, bringing costs down much further. In some cases, low value land may actually be incurring losses by remaining in agricultural use, meaning some land could be valued below zero. Even in heavily cleared areas, where land may be more valuable, fair amounts of low value land should be available by enhancing existing remnants; revegetating land with degraded soils; revegetating land contributing to salinity; and revegetating land along waterways not recommended for cultivation.

Better information is obviously needed to estimate the annual budget accurately. However, in the end, only future markets can truly determine how far the budget will stretch. The above simply indicates the budget could be affordable if society is forced to carry some of the costs until benefits mature.

If the budget is not affordable, the target needs to be reconsidered and further loss of biodiversity must be acceptable. Either way, any reasonable budget could start to take advantage of the 8 out of 10 studies that have found native vegetation to be economic.

Conservation covenants currently fail to create a ‘level playing field’. Covenants may give incentives to the current landholder but there is no on-going income. Protection cannot be guaranteed in future years while there are opposing commercial pressures and agriculture land encroaches so closely to native vegetation. Protection requires policing and all the negativity that policing creates. Covenants will however remain important to earmark strategic conservation areas.

Tenders have been suggested as a way to buy environmental services, through regular payments over a number of years. While on-going payments are commendable, 30% targets must eventually involve virtually every landholder, so competitive bidding will be lost over time. Growing native vegetation on a commercial basis is also new, so tenderers will be cautious. Tender prices could start conservatively high, not competitively low. Once the benchmark is set, tender prices could stay high for a very long time. Besides, tenders rely on more losers than winners to work. Whereas every landholder should be encouraged to provide environmental services, not just a select group.

One of the best ways to achieve a ‘level playing field’ is to look at native vegetation’s competition, i.e. agriculture. The wheat market, for example, gives insights of what a market in native vegetation and biodiversity could look like. The wheat market is purely performance based. Wheat farmers are not paid with fencing materials, seed, land, subsidised rates, equipment and so on. Wheat farmers are paid only on the quantity and quality of wheat produced. For quantity, everyone receives equal pay for equal produce. For quality, higher quality products receive premium prices.

‘Equal pay for equal produce’ could work for biodiversity by splitting an annual budget according to land values. This allows biodiversity to compete equally with agricultural returns, as land values reflect agricultural returns. Budgets allocated to land, covering each ‘broad vegetation type’, would then be divided across key species according to each species’ pre-European abundance. Plants and animals would then entitle their landholder to a portion of that species’ budget. Flora and fauna could share the budget equally. Finally, it becomes a case of supply and demand. Plants and animals in short supply will provide their property owners with high returns, attracting other landholders to grow more of those species.

Premium prices could be set in Catchment Management Plans by weighting areas important to biodiversity. Riparian zones, wildlife corridors, rare habitats and hotspots would be typical areas weighted for premium prices.

• 'Equal pay for equal produce' (Epfep) and Premium Pricing have the advantages of:
• the concept is simple (it has been around as long as trading has existed)
• fairness to all ‘broad vegetation types’
• fairness to the average Australian landholder, as it is proportional to their current property value
• provides a transparent pricing structure for biodiversity trading and offsets
• provides a stable source of income for landholders, compared to erratic agricultural incomes typical of Australia’s climatic extremes,
• the number of key species can start small and scale up as measurement techniques improve
• creates healthy market tensions
• it is politically attractive, as it addresses environmental concerns in a positive and open way.

Biodiversity payments may seem unnecessary where native vegetation is apparently conserved and further clearing is protected by legislation. However, most vegetation is already degraded and history shows attrition will continue from exotic plants and animals, grazing pressure and encroaching agricultural activities.

The most intriguing aspect is trying to imagine how the biodiversity market will develop over time. Biodiversity will probably have numerous similarities to agriculture. Landholders aim for maximum productivity from their crops. Likewise, it makes sense that landholders will aim for maximum density and diversity from their biodiversity. Landholders will however need to find the balance between pushing for maximum returns against nature’s controls, like fire and disease.

Linking pockets of vegetation may have mixed blessings. Links will allow easier spread of species to maximise diversity and density for higher payments. However, exotics can also migrate and possibly degrade natural habitats. This means isolated pockets and linked pockets may become equally valid.

Different rainfall, soils, slope and aspect naturally create diversity. Landholders could also influence diversity with different management styles. Some may control fire hazards by grazing, while others prefer cool burns to generate a wider range of species. Some may chase market prices by targeting rarer species, while others may be satisfied with letting nature take its course.

Some farmers may adjust grazing cycles to conserve succulent shrubs, while others may cut vegetation to feed stock elsewhere. While, others again may graze native animals to protect vegetation and soils from hoofed stock.

Biodiversity’s main difference from agriculture will be biodiversity’s golden goose trait. With agriculture, if a particular crop is no longer economic, a farmer can change without much changeover cost. Native vegetation has such a long establishment time, changeover may not be as easy. In compensation, native vegetation will provide a steady income in contrast to agriculture’s erratic incomes from fluctuating markets or Australia’s climatic extremes. There is even the possibility that biodiversity’s steady income will make it more attractive than agriculture with similar (but erratic) returns. If so, the annual budget could shrink further and save costs.

A balance between biodiversity and agriculture may be found by monitoring take-up rates of higher value land as low value land is exhausted. If too much high value land is converted to biodiversity, it means biodiversity is overpriced and the budget can be reduced to discourage more landholders from entering the market.

A similar balance may be found by linking the biodiversity budget to the Gross Agricultural Product. If too much agriculture is displaced by biodiversity, the Gross Agricultural Product will fall – causing the biodiversity budget to fall and encourage marginal biodiversity producers back into agriculture. The link between the biodiversity budget and Gross Agricultural Product has the added advantage of keeping the biodiversity budget synchronised with agricultural returns. Synchronisation will be essential to maintain a ‘level playing field’.

A major challenge will be setting standards. For example, vegetation varies widely in density, age and diversity, even in identical locations. Pre-European estimates are needed for each species. Species envelopes are needed to define broad vegetation types. Threshold densities for each species must also be specified at various locations to permit harvesting. Ethical questions will arise over which plants and animals should be harvested. Conditions have also changed since pre-European times. Land has been cultivated, reformed, eroded, fertilised, acidified and leached; and substantial global warming is just around the corner. So, does pre-European conditions serve as the best standard for the future?

Another major challenge will be to find ways to measure biodiversity to pay biodiversity producers. However, all other approaches to conserve biodiversity must face this same challenge. In time, technological advances should provide a wide selection of measurements techniques. In the meantime, Epfep has the advantage of assistance from landholders, as landholders usually have a good knowledge of native plants and will quickly learn those associated with payments. Satellite imagery and occasional ground truthing may be the only available measure of native vegetation in the beginning. Fauna would also rely on ground truthing to find indicators like flora, hollows, fallen timber or other surrogates.

Payments will be recouped from users and beneficiaries. Benefits could include timber products, public shares/donations, levies, accreditation for environmentally friendly industries, carbon credits, tourism, biomass fuel, new pharmaceutical chemicals, arresting salinity and increased agricultural returns.

The benefits fall into three categories. Or, from the landholders’ viewpoint, they would receive – three types of performance-based income and an optional startup payment as outlined in the following table.

* 'Buyback' is the cost payable by landholders that harvest, clear, or reduce species densities. ‘Buyback’ is calculated in a similar way to trees in commercial plantations. A plantation tree is valued by the accumulative costs of planting, irrigating, land rental, etc., with compounding interest rates, over the tree’s life. Buyback below threshold densities is the value of past Type 1 and 2 payments. Buyback above threshold densities is limited to Type 2 payments.

The reason for capping Type 1 payments is to encourage commercial use of native products to recoup the budget and give landholders additional incentives. Sensible harvesting is in the landholder’s best interest, as the buyback system automatically protects old growth. Likewise, if the understorey is damaged during harvesting, there will be less vegetation attracting future payments. (To be certain, harvesting regulations should still require old growth to be retained and damage to be kept to a minimum).

Startup conditions will be important for the market to develop properly. Startup costs will (or will not) attract landholders into growing biodiversity. Performance-based payments provide income for remnants, immediately. Whereas regrowth may take so long that landholders cannot afford to wait for reimbursement while regrowth gains value. Of course, most agriculture carries startup costs for several years, but the timeframe for native vegetation may be much longer. Complete regrowth may take over 100 years to catch up with old growth.

Different financial packages will be needed for properties with different startup costs. A very simple system could give landholders a choice between performance payments that start immediately and performance payments that are deferred in lieu of capital works payments. Protection of remnants should take priority over regrowth, so landholders choosing immediate, performance payments would have priority.

Whatever payment system is finally adopted, if we want to save our biodiversity, someone has to foot the recovery bill and someone has to foot the maintenance bill. The bill is probably much less than most people image. Covering it up will not lessen the effort required.

‘Equal pay for equal produce’ and ‘Premium Pricing’ can open up biodiversity, so society doesn’t lose touch with it again. ‘Equal pay for equal produce’ and ‘Premium Pricing’ is a market-based system with a proven track record. It is flexible and it will allow landholders, conservationists, scientists and economists to work together without many of the barriers that exit today.

Star Trek as education

Submitted by R.Brimer, USA, 10 July 2001

A new seminar targeted toward middle/high school students, using the 'Star Trek' to teach the evils of violence, accepting differences in others, AIDS, Teen Pregnancy, Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Goal Setting, etc.

Pure as pre-history

Submitted by J.Noort, 11 July 2001

My ideas is primarily this is a marketing gimmick. I suggest towing a breakaway iceberg to Tasmania, melting it and bottling it. In a typical iceberg you can get about 1,000,000,000 bottles of water. But the angle here is the marketing. Water locked in icebergs is up to 5,000,000 years old. So you could market the water as "pure as pre-history" or something catchy.

Things that need inventing

Submitted by E.I. Kirk, 1 August

These things should be invented:

1. A master switch in home dwellings that allow you to put on all strategic lights inside and outside the home when you e.g. hear an intruder, arrive home, etc. These switches could be located at the front door and in the master bedroom.

2. A digital readout for the bathroom that tells you:
a) how much hot water is left
b) how long the hot water will last at current usage
c) how hot the water is that comes out of the tap (good for child safety).

3. A sticker that goes onto all dairy products that indicates, via a change in colour, a temperature change outside recommended storage range and so may make the product unfit for consumption.

G.M. is a bad idea

Submitted by J.Hepburn 2 August 2001

Genetic Engineering of food is totally irrelevant to solving the problems of starvation. Although this idea counters the dominant view promoted by agribusiness and governments, there is actually a lot of evidence in it's support - and very little that contradicts. Although it seems like a relatively simple idea, it evokes a huge emotional response and it is not widely regarded. The main argument in support of this simple idea is that; countries which have experienced mass starvation have generally been nett exporters of food (even during famines) - pointing towards inequitable distribution as the key contributing factor.

Emailing matter

Submitted by R.Bartlett, 7 August

http://www.halenet.com.au/~rodneyb/index.html

Emailing any form of matter over the Internet has literally unlimited potential. To mention a few possibilities - we could send food and medicines to needy people, cure infections by transmitting a patient to one location while disease-producing organisms are transmitted to a separate location, travel to Mars by first sending an unmanned craft equipped with email capabilities and then emailing astronauts there (and back home when they're ready). The world's imagination will conceive so many uses for this technology - but these few examples are a good start ...

The technology has not presently been developed to implement this system. But I have based my idea on the science of the previous century as well as the progress of electronics. It seems impossible to me that "emailing matter" won't be significantly developed in mere decades. Maybe this length of time is too great for today's obsession with commercializing ideas and putting products on the market in only a few years. Are people willing to sacrifice the enormous human potential of the next few decades (and paradise on earth) because they can't make dollars out of those things today?

Below is a very short article I wrote about "emailing matter" - it has been placed on the Net for me by my brother Darryl (who's a computer whiz). This article also mentions other possibilities e.g. for genetic engineering, the elimination of money (but with an increased standard of living for everyone on the planet) and even what has been called "resurrection of the dead".

Gates > sGate > SGATE > STARGATE (article)

This article starts with Bill Gates, the chairman and co-founder of the software corporation Microsoft. This is because part of the inspiration for writing this was a comment I read in a magazine about Bill Gates being the world`s richest man. It ends with the human race`s own technology causing it to transcend money and develop a society akin to paradise on Earth - i.e. we enter a doorway to a new world . . . a Stargate.

E=mc2 (Albert Einstein`s formula unifying energy [E] with mass [m] and relating both to the velocity of light squared [c2] ) makes a person suspect the apparently solid world of matter is really an illusion, and you & I are actually made of insubstantial energy. Superstring theory, which rose to the forefront of physics during the 1980s, proposed that the fundamental constituents of nature are not particles but one-dimensional structures called strings. This heightens previous suspicions, and we wonder if these one-dimensional structures are in fact pulses of energy. Then along comes "TIME Australia" magazine`s Feb. 26, 1996 article "What`s Hiding in the Quarks?" (which says subatomic particles seem to be made of even tinier things). Finally, we might feel justified in assuming our suspicions were correct and that these "even tinier things" MUST be pulses of electromagnetic energy (meaning all substances are indeed insubstantial).

All forms of electromagnetic energy (radio, microwave, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma) travel as waves. How do we create an analog structure like a wave from a digital structure like a pulse? By adding the necessary number of pulses to the medium in which a wave travels to form the wave`s amplitude (height) and wavelength (distance from crest to crest). How could we create matter from waves? By superimposing waves of visible, gravitational, magnetic, electrical, etc. frequencies into holograms (near the end of the `80s, the magazine "Scientific American" reported that holograms have been made not only with visible light and X-rays, but also with microwaves and sound waves).

If this article is correct, pulses are the basis of both waves and matter. Therefore, matter and energy would be digital in nature. Can this be extended, via superstrings, to space itself as well as to time (what Einstein called the 4th dimension - what I`ll term "subspace", since I`m a fan of science fiction)? In 1917, Einstein calculated that 3 universes could exist in the cosmos: can superstrings extend the digital cosmos into a 5th dimension (let`s call it hyperspace)? Assuming we live in a digital cosmos, we are reminded of that other digital entity called the computer - and must wonder if all those pulses of energy result in a cosmic artificial-intelligence that is all-powerful and present not just everywhere in space and time, but also "outside the universe" i.e. in hyperspace. The existence of such a "cosmic computer" would imply that both living and nonliving matter may be altered by programming, when people learn how to do this. Invasive procedures such as surgery would become obsolete.

The waves of energy which holographically compose matter could be digitised and transmitted over the Internet - and the receiver`s computer could be equipped with sensors to decode the mix of frequencies, as well as an assembler that reproduces this mix and radiates it to create products indistinguishable in any way from the original product (the frequency mix could also be electronically recorded). The difference between life and nonlife appears to be merely one of complexity. So after inanimate objects and parcels have been successfully e-mailed, more advanced software will be developed and allow things like fruit and vegetables, or living animal/human tissues, to be transmitted (or transported) between places (i.e. in space) and between times (the famous scientist Stephen Hawking states that time can be thought of as another spatial dimension and that time travel is a theoretical possibility - I believe it will be navigated in the future just as ordinary space is today).

This advanced software could also be used to genetically engineer people whose genes have been disassembled into subatomic, electromagnetic pulses and manipulated by computers. An opportunity to possess an eternally youthful body and a brain free of criminal tendencies may therefore exist. When we develop this electronic hardware and software, and also acquire the science-fiction-like technology of time travel, everyone who has long since died could have their minds downloaded into reproductions of their bodies (establishing colonies throughout space and time would prevent overpopulation).

Living in a digital cosmos has another consequence, too. The technology to e-mail physical objects must eventually lead to gold becoming overly abundant in this world. The standard of value for money is, at present, gold. The value of anything depends on how rare it is - so when gold becomes exceedingly common, its value must plummet and all forms of money must become practically worthless. Every alternative standard of value would suffer a similar fate. No doubt lawmakers and others will seek to preserve monetary value and prevent the end of the world as we know it (perhaps by outlawing the e-mailing of objects containing gold). But I`m convinced they`ll be fighting a losing battle against the tide of history! Then the only way to maintain, and improve, our standard of living will be through a level of sharing and cooperation that will transform society into paradise on earth!

If you would like to comment on this idea then visit the movement discussion group. This idea is posted under the topic, Digital Movement.

How the world will not end

Submitted by R.Bartlett, 7 August

http://www.halenet.com.au/~rodneyb/index.html

I was delighted by the article "How the universe will end" ("Time" magazine - June 25, 2001)! But the way it presented the ultimate fate of the cosmos left me feeling a bit like a deflated balloon. So I went through my website and selected paragraphs which became a new view - "How the universe will not end". Time's article agrees that this is possible when it says, "And that will be that - unless, of course, whatever inconceivable event that launched the original Big Bang should recur Ê"

Positive matter would consist of both ordinary matter and antimatter, and could be related to the mathematical statement 2 x 2 = 4. Negative matter would be in a class of its own and could be understood by relating it to the fact that -2 multiplied by -2 also equals 4. Negative matter (though not yet discovered, science sees no logical reason it couldn‚t exist) would be a manifestation of a universe that functions according to inbuilt mathematical laws (a state comparable to a cosmic computer carrying out the instructions of its software). Therefore, space-time has two aspects (positive and negative). Einstein‚s formula E=mc2 says that if negative matter exists, negative energy must exist too.

Einstein never liked the cosmological constant he introduced in 1916, and in the context of steadying the universe‚s size he was correct to dislike it, because in 1929 the astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is expanding. But in another framework (that of understanding the positive and negative parts in space-time), the constant may be essential.

American physicist Alan Guth has speculated that the artificial creation of a black hole through application of an advanced technology could create another universe and has said, "For all we know, our own universe may have started in someone‚s basement." Because of the continued manipulation of such mini black holes (the existence of mini black holes was first proposed by Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking in 1974), what is outside the universe must be the same as what is inside it. This is because the manipulators live in space-time, and the black holes give rise to space-time. So outside our expanding universe may be the expanding universe of people who initiated our big bang. If we someday develop this technology, others in the universe we create surely will, and so on in succeeding universes - ensuring the cosmos never ends. Alternatively, we might also develop the technology for time travel in the future and be able to renew our own universe (Professor Hawking states that time can be thought of as another spatial dimension and that time travel is a theoretical possibility - I believe it will be navigated in the future just as ordinary space is today). The computers we use employ a Refresh Rate. This is the speed at which your monitor redraws the screen. The faster the refresh rate, the less flicker on your screen. If the universe itself can be regarded as a Cosmic Computer, its refresh rate would be determined by the frequency with which big bangs recur (otherwise, the Second Law of Thermodynamics - with its consequences of entropy and disorder - will ultimately lead to the "death" of the universe).

I‚d like to suggest another interpretation of the MAXIMA and BOOMERANG telescopes‚ observations. According to the article "Let There Be Microwaves" - August 2000 issue of "Discover" magazine, p. 16 - the MAXIMA/BOOMERANG observations support a continuously expanding universe - but do these necessarily tell us that space is flat? Couldn‚t it be saying that light never returns to a point already visited, which is possible in a flat universe but also possible in a positively curved, or "closed", universe whose rate of expansion is increasing rapidly - because light‚s finite speed (approximately 300,000 km/186,000 miles per second) would not be able to circumnavigate the present universe as long as its circumference is increasing at more than 300,000 km per second (this growth would be limited by the speed of light if it depended on matter moving through space, but the expansion of space itself is under no such constraint). Naturally, light rays would travel on paths that never meet only as far as the entirety of the universe is concerned. Einstein‚s Relativity has been repeatedly confirmed and this states that light follows the curves in the local regions of space.

Positive curvature need not be as simple as a sphere - visualise the universe as a giant Mobius strip (an everyday example would be a strip of paper with a half twist - one of 180 degrees - and the ends joined to form a loop) that is 15 billion light years long but only 50,000 miles thick. If you walk around a paper Mobius strip, you must traverse its entire length once to reach a spot on the other side of the paper from your starting point (maybe less than a millimetre distant). In a spaceship flying around the cosmic Mobius strip, you would need to travel at the speed of light for 15 billion years to reach that spot 50,000 miles away if you travelled along the 'surface' of ordinary space-time curvature. But if you could travel at 80% light-speed directly from start to finish (via a cosmic wormhole through space-time's curves), you'd reach your destination in about 1/3 of a second. (This analogy of the universe to a Mobius strip may be particularly apt since its constituent particles of matter have the subatomic property science calls spin described as l/2, which means they must be turned through two complete revolutions to look the same - just as one must travel twice around the surface of a Mobius strip to reach the start again.)

Now put a picture of a paper Mobius strip next to Time magazine‚s picture of flat, positively curved and negatively curved universes. It‚s obvious that the Mobius shape can be considered a combination of positive, spherical curvature and negative, saddle shaped, curvature (until recently, most astronomical evidence favoured a negatively curved universe). If the saddle is made of flexible rubber, you can pack spheres around it so there are no gaps, and it becomes possible to draw triangles anywhere that have angles adding up to 180 degrees (i.e. a flat surface forms). Since positive + negative curves can produce a Mobius strip and can simultaneously produce flatness, this article has no problem with cosmology‚s inflation theory predicting a flat universe (though technically, my article advocates a positive + negative universe, in which the direction of curvature defies the imagination.)

If you would like to comment on this idea then visit the span discussion group. This idea is posted under the topic Cosmology.

ISPO is a good idea

Submitted by Doug Everingham, 14 August 2001

Governments dare not regulate global enterprises (control global pollution, unfair trade competition, monopolisic bullying) in case global investors move out funds and jobs. ISPO http://www.simpol.org registers growing numbers of objectors willing to vote first for candidates committed to implement simultaneously with virtually all rival governments to put social and environmental impacts beside economic objectives in national policies and international treaty bodies like UN Security Council, World Bank, etc.

Sustainable Energy

Submitted by S. Hedditch, 20 August 2001

We need sustainable energy and the only way I can see that happening is to build large magnifying glasses to use the heat from the sun to boil water and drive turbines.

Power of 10

Submitted by S.Hedditch, 20 August 2001

There is a lot of poverty and disease in the world that can be cured with money. I believe the United Nations should start a program called the 'Power of 10' whereby every person every year could donate $10 knowing the power in their $10 combined with everyone else's could save the world.