Social Media Is Spreading Good News

As you know the media tends to focus in on bad news stories because bad news sells.

Researchers are discovering new trends for social media. By scanning people’s brains and tracking their emails and online post, the researchers have found that good news can spread faster and farther than disasters and sob stories.

It seems when you share a story with your friends and peers, you care about how they will react so you’ll share articles that are exciting, funny or emotions like anger or anxiety.

The more positive the article, the more likely it was to be shared. So…positive communication definitely has a place in our lives.
(Reported The New York Times, 3/19/13)

Finding Locally Grown Food Has Gotten Easier

So, you’re interested in buying locally and supporting local farmers.

Well, it’s just gotten easier to find sustainable food that is grown near you.

A new website at FarmPlate.com has more than 40,000 listings of farmer’s markets, community-supported agriculture, restaurants, artesian food, drink producers and shops selling organic fare.

Find those in your area today!

We’re Not The Only Ones With Social Networks -Think Plants

Botanists have tried to figure out why some trees don’t grow well near members of their own species while others do.

It turns out that newly sprouted seeds respond to soil-dwelling microbes near the tree’s roots. These microbes can harm a tree’s seedlings so the seeds need to get away from the mother tree.

This has caused trees to evolve methods of dispersal of their seeds by using fruits that get eaten and seeds that get blown on the wind.

There are also plants that fare better when they are surrounded by their own kind. Sagebrush, for example, sends out airborne chemical cues from its foliage and branches that play a vital role in protecting the plants against insect attack.

One study showed that two genetically identical sagebrush plants grown next to each other were more effective fending off caterpillars and grasshoppers than two unrelated plants.

So…the notion of “friending” started a long time ago.