Songbird ReMix Cuckoos
My next Songbird ReMix set has been released, Cuckoos, which are birds in the Cuculidae family. The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The family Cuculidae contains 150 species, which are divided into 33 genera.
Cuckoos have played a role in human culture for thousands of years, appearing in Greek mythology as sacred to the goddess Hera. In Europe, the cuckoo is associated with spring, and with cuckoldry, for example in Shakespeare's Love's Labor's Lost. In India, cuckoos are sacred to Kamadeva, the god of desire and longing, whereas in Japan, the cuckoo symbolizes unrequited love.
The Songbird ReMix Cuckoo uses the Zygodactyl (Woodpecker) Base (which is included in this set). As with all Songbird ReMix birds, this fully articulated model allows the folding of wings and tail, the "fluffing" of feathers and an arsenal of over 100 posing and species creation morphs that allow considerable customization. The set also comes with specific poses and a manul/field guide to help you emulate cuckoo species behavior accurately.
There are two versions of this set for native support in Poser and DAZ Studio. Materials have been tuned to support Iray, 3Delight, Superfly and Firefly renderers.
Also recently released was my Songbird ReMix Chickens including five of the most popular chicken breeds ( Rhode Island Red, Orpington,Leghorn, Australorp and Cochin), plus a Chicken Coop to house them. In October, I released Nature's Wonders Spiders v2: Tarantulas of the World.
Real Birds: 12 Ways the Inflation Reduction Act Will Benefit Birds and People
by National Audubon
The name doesn’t make it obvious, but the Inflation Reduction Act is the most significant climate legislation ever to become law. It also does a lot of other important things. Here are 12 ways this bill benefits birds, people, and the places we need.
1) Reducing Carbon Pollution Through Clean Energy
Birds tell us that we need to take action on climate change. A 2019 report from the National Audubon Society found that two-thirds of North American bird species will be vulnerable to extinction if global temperatures are allowed to rise at the current rate. The best way to do that is by deploying clean energy across the United States.
By directing about $370 billion toward speeding the transition to clean energy (two-thirds in the form of tax credits for producing renewable electricity, investing in renewable technologies, and clean energy manufacturing), the Inflation Reduction Act will cut annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by about 1 billion metric tons by 2030, which will help drive down carbon emissions by about 42 percent according to a preliminary study by Princeton University.
Estimates are that the clean energy tax credit extension and clean energy grants in the legislation will result in more rapid deployment of renewable energy with annual solar deployment projected to increase to 49 Gigawatts per year (10GW in 2020) and Wind to 39 Gigawatts per year (15 GW in 2020). (One Gigawatt equals = approximately 3.1 million solar panels.)
It is also notable that the clean energy investments in this bill are also expected to reduce home energy costs while cutting harmful emissions. These savings are driven by a mix of more efficient energy use and lower electricity rates and are estimated to save between $16 and $125 per household by 2030.
