Halibut Herald May 28

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ALIBUT HERALD May 28, 2009

Nature-Inspired Innovation: 9 Examples of Biomimicry in Action

Above are a few examples of science imitating nature in order to find the best solution to everyday design problems. The idea is not just to mimic the aesthetic in nature, but to understand the science of how nature works and applying this science to everyday objects. Biomimicry, according to the Biomimicry Institute, “is the science and art of emulating Nature's best biological ideas to solve human problems.” To learn more about what each of the above images means, please follow the link: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/nature-inspired-innovations-nineexamples-of-biomiicry-at-work.php

Color-Shifting "Master of Disguise" Cuttlefish Inspires Hyper-Energy Efficient TV

Velcro: The Most Famous Example of Biomimicry http://brainz.org/15-coolest-casesbiomimicry/ http://www.biomimicry.net/

Treehugger is All Over it: Lessons in Biomimicry Do a search for ‘biomimicry’ on their site and find at least 20 articles including these:

READ ON: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/cuttlef ish-color-changing-camouflage-tv-screentelevision-electronic-inkvideos.php?daylife=1&dcitc=daylife-article

Part 1 – Natural Forms http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/biomimicry-design-part-one.php Part 2 – Natural Systems http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/biomimicry-design-systems.php Part 3 – Natural Processes http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/biomimcry-design-processes.php

In California, If you Bike to Work, Pocket 20 Bucks a Month

New York's High Line Sky Park to Open in June Gallery

Sounds like something to consider in Canada, hmm??? The Bicycle Commuter Act The unnoticed tax credit was called the Bicycle Commuter Act. It was penned by Oregonian Congressman Earl Blumenauer. The aim of the bill was to give bicycle commuters a tax break similar to the ones that other commuters are eligible for. READ ON: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/bicyclecommuter-credits.php

The Grid, Our Cars and the Net: One Idea to Link Them All

Robin Chase (founder of ZipCar) considers the future of electricity, the future of cars and the internet three terms in a single equation, even if most of us don’t yet realize they’re on the same chalkboard. Solve the equation correctly, she says, and we create a greener future where innovation thrives. Get it wrong, and our grandchildren will curse our names. READ ON: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/05/the-gridour-cars-and-the-internet-one-idea-to-link-themall/

New York City will soon be receiving a brand new stretch of green space as the once-abandoned High Line railway is renovated to become a lush public park. Designed to capture the majesty of both nature and NYC’s industrial ruins, the first section of the elevated garden promenade is set open this June. READ ON, SEE MORE PICS & VIDS!: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/05/25/the-high-line-the-park-in-thesky-due-to-open-in-june/

Astronauts Drink Recycled Urine

Scientists Discover How to Grow Plastic on Trees

Recently scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have announced a groundbreaking development that provides a simple solution to the problem, transforming plant cellulose into plastic in one single step. READ ON: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/05/27/scientists-discoverhow-to-grow-plastic-on-trees/

Yesterday astronauts aboard the space station put the system to use for the first time, and with a toast and a smile they downed their first glasses of recycled urine produced by the system. READ ON: http://greenupgrader.com/7850/astronauts-drinkrecycled-urine/

Fight for Our Fish! Now is the critical time to rise to the defence of salmon habitat. The Halibut Herald is the perfect medium for sharing positive news about the world and our created environments, however, this story cannot go unknown, especially to a group of people like us here at the Aquarium! To sum it up, “Chief Robert Joseph, hereditary chief of the Kwicksutaineuk Ah-kwa-mish First Nation said recently: 

"The demise of wild salmon is tantamount to genocide because it reflects the demise of our culture, way of life and spirituality. Since the advent of salmon farming in our territories we have seen an apocalyptic decline in the state of our wild salmon stocks in the Broughton Archipelago. And because Norway is the world leader in salmon farming and the Norwegian Government is the leading shareholder in Cermaq we are asking for their moral leadership to bring about best practices and to mitigate environmental degradation."
 In short, there is scarcely unanimity within the First Nations concerning "run-of-river" power generation projects or fish farming.” READ ON: http://thetyee.ca/Views/2009/05/25/FightForOurFish/?utm_so urce=mondayheadlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign =250509

LEARN MORE: http://www.adopt-a-fry.org/ Message from Alexandra Morton in Norway: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dcx4zzdp_13d463 76dc&hl=en

Twitter for Trees!

Enviro Comic Relief, Guaranteed Giggles

YET Another reason to sign up for an account “The United Nations Environment Programme will be planting 100,000 trees for 100,000 Twitter followers in honor of World Environment Day, June 5th 2009.”

Somewhere between 1991-93, Jim Carrey starred as Environmental Guy on one of the funniest variety shows, In Living Color, and even touches upon a few subjects that are still in great debate today!

WATCH VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8tfuBIutLI

READ ON: http://earthfirst.com/twitter-fortrees-unep-to-plant-100000-trees-for100000-followers/

And check out this article about Social Media while you are at it: The Power of Twitter (And Facebook and Unconferences, too. Social media's amazing tools for positive action.) READ ON: http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2009/05/21/Po werOfTwitter/?utm_source=mondayheadlin es&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=25 0509

The Natural Way To Clean EVERYTHING In Your House Excellent link for all your cleaning needs ☺ READ ON: http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/11/ 05/the-natural-way-to-clean-everythingin-your-house/

SIGN UP IS EASY! https://logging.teletrips.com/public/register_challenge_user.php?register=7ee 0278e25ade7c653264124b7b3b816

White paint: a surprising cure for global warming The technical term for painting your roof white is known as "negative radiative forcing." The light reflective surface bounces 10-20 percent of the summer heat back into the sky, reducing urban heat island effect and significantly reducing summer cooling costs. Thus it's most commonly referred to as a "cool roof."

READ ON: http://www.mnn.com/technology/researchinnovations/blogs/white-paint-a-surprising-cure-for-globalwarming

The Most Powerful Wall of Water On Earth

Geoengineering, adaptation and mitigation, Part 2: White roofs are the trillion-dollar solution

A global “cool roofs” strategy can achieve far bigger benefits — the equivalent of several trillion dollars worth of CO2 reductions — since it can increase the albedo (reflectivity) of the planet, thereby directly reducing the absorption of incoming solar radiation and hence planetary warming. The strategy proposed below “is equivalent to taking the world’s approximately 600 million cars off the road for 18 years.” : http://climateprogress.org/2009/01/06/geo-engineeringadaptation-mitigation-green-stimulus-white-roofsalbedo/

Spindle Ermine Moth Larvae Silk Web Blanket READ ON: http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/teahupoos-wallof-water/10823

Tap Water vs. Single-Use Plastic Water Bottles

READ ON: http://www.metrovancouver.org/region/tapwater/Pages/TapWaterPl edge.aspx

These voracious moths-to-be spin a silk web over their feeding areas to protect themselves from ants and wasps. Normally, a silk blanket like this would be on a tree or other plant-life where the caterpillars are feeding before they pupate, but this unlucky motorist from Rotterdam (UK) has learned the hard way that they don't just stick to trees, and will protect themselves no matter where they end up in the search for more food READ ON: http://observationsofanerd.blogspot.com/2009/05/okthis-is-pretty-gross.html

Five-million-year old Sloth Fossil Found in Peru “The sloth was found beneath the cement floor of a house in the Andean region of Espinar in southern Peru when workers were installing a water system.” “"This skeleton of the sloth is especially important as it is the first complete skeleton of its kind that is 5 million years old in the Americas,"” READ ON: http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/20 09/05/26/five_million_year_old_sloth_fossil_foun d_in_peru/

18,516 New Species (Including a Fascinating Top Ten) Identified in 2007 - But What Is Their Significance? READ ON: http://ecoworldly.com/2009/05/25/18516new-species-including-a-fascinatingtop-ten-identified-in-2007-but-what-istheir-significance/

Warning! High Lead Content in Urban Soil What you should know before planting a garden in your backyard! “Uncontaminated soil levels of lead are typically around 10 ppm. My sister and brother-in-law's lead count for top soil was 454 ppm (parts per million) and for 2" deep soil was 1003 ppm.” READ ON: http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/personal-health/warning-high-lead-content-inurban-soil-what-you-should-know-before-planting-a-garden-in-your-backyard-085614

How to Create Massive Change When It Comes to Climate Change

$1,000 Eco-friendly Dog Toilet? A dog toilet sounds rather ridiculous, but Green Dog is at least highlighting an important concern—improper disposal of pet waste

READ ON: http://magblog.audubon.org/ node/418

Roz Savage Update! She started her second of three solo trips across the Pacific Ocean

http://planetgreen.discover y.com/feature/earthday/bill-mckibben-earthday.html READ ON: http://magblog.audubon.org/nod e/417

INSPIRE CHANGE: http://www.youtube.com/w atch?v=s5kg1oOq9tY

LEARN MORE HERE: http://www.350.org/

US Bike Sales Higher than Car Sales in 2009

Beautiful Lightdrop

Naturally Unclog A Drain With Vinegar, Baking Soda And Water. Step Put the DRY baking soda down the drain. I use about 3/4 of a cup.

According to the Huffington Post, during the first quarter of 2009, more bicycles were sold in the US than cars and trucks.

Step 2 Pour 1/2 cup of vinegar down the drain after the baking soda. Be sure to cover the drain immediately afterwards with a rag or plug, filling the hole completely so nothing can escape. This is because the interaction of the two will cause a “mini volcano” that will want to come up and out of the drain..you want to keep it down there. Step 3 Leave this concoction in the drain for about 30 minutes. While you are waiting, boil a tea kettle full of water.

READ ON: http://www.re-nest.com/renest/travel/news-us-bike-sales-higherthan-car-sales-in-2009-085744

READ ON: http://www.re-nest.com/renest/lighting/lightdrop-from-studio-mangofinally-suitable-for-use-in-the-bathroom085675

Step 4 After 30 minutes, remove the plug and slowly pour the HOT water down the drain. SOURCE: http://www.thegoodhuman.com/200 7/03/21/naturally-unclog-drain-withvinegar/

Black Jaguar Baby/ New Desktop Photo? A newborn black jaguar cub, born on April 14, is the fourth born in captivity at the Park of the Legends zoo in Lima, in Peru and still hasn't got a name.

MORE PICS: http://www.zooborns.com/ zooborns/2009/05/blackjaguar-baby.html MORE PICS & GOOD READ: http://observationsofanerd.b logspot.com/ 2009/05/weekly-dose-ofcute_18.html

A Bite-Sized Croc

Glowing Monkeys Make More Glowing Monkeys the Old-Fashioned Way

St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park has over twenty species of crocodilians. These baby dwarf crocodiles are among the smallest, reaching just under five feet when fully grown. READ ON: http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2009/05/staugustine-alligator-farm-zoological-park.html

READ ON: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/glowingmonkeys-make-more-glowing-monkeys-the-old-fashioned-way/

10 Strange Species Discovered Last Year From Satomi’s Pygmy Seahorse to a ‘decaf’ coffee plant, the article and photos are enough reason to click the link. READ ON: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/strangespecies/

Archival Photo

Baby Tuaq (first Beluga born in captivity) with mum, Kavna. Photographer unknown, 1977.

Library News Get your up-to-the minutes news via RSS feed from the library’s What’s new pages. Currently, there are two What’s new pages running a variety of interesting news feeds What’s New – Animals and Nature – for news about birds, reptiles, marine mammals, and places such as the Arctic http://aquanet.vanaqua.org/IS/CRS/Lib/Pages/WhatsNewAnimalsandNature.aspx What’s New – Business and General – for news about business, finance, tourism, visitor experience and marketing http://aquanet.vanaqua.org/IS/CRS/Lib/Pages/What%27sNewBGN.aspx News on Environmental conservation and education will soon be available via the Conservation Current http://aquanet.vanaqua.org/IS/CRS/Lib/ConservationCurrent/Pages/Default.aspx Did you know that the Library has access to over 100 journals and magazines?? At least 80 of these are available full text online. For a complete hyperlinked list, visit the library journals page on Aquanet: http://aquanet.vanaqua.org/IS/CRS/Lib/Pages/Journals.aspx As well, you can find new books and movies listed on this page of Aquanet: http://aquanet.vanaqua.org/IS/CRS/Lib/Pages/LibraryCatalogue.aspx

Sperm Whale Stealing Cod Scientists believe that comparing the size of the whales to the sounds of foraging will allow them to know the size of a whale just by its call. WATCH VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTjGp7FKGgI

Classified

Events

http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=431 1 http://www.focuschallenge.org/focus.html

2009 Audubon Magazine Photography Awards: Birds in Focus, created to celebrate the beauty and diversity of birdlife through the art of photography, and to honor the exceptional work of talented professional, amateur and youth photographers from all over the U.S. Audubon will be accepting submissions online between May 15-July 15 in three categories: Professional, Amateur, and Youth. Photographers are encouraged to reveal a new angle or perspective in their work. “Think creatively,” advises Audubon’s design director Kevin Fisher, one of the judges. “Originality and drama rank high at Audubon. Include tight shots, such as close-ups of eyes, feathers. We welcome uncommon perspectives.” LEARN MORE: www.AudubonMagazinePhotoAwards.com

WORKING LINK FOR JEAN FONG’S DONATION PAGE: http://www.canadahelps.org/Charit yProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s338 25

ARE YOU UP FOR BOOTCAMP? Are you looking to challenge yourself physically? Increase your strength and endurance? Tone up for summer? If so….join us for bootcamp! Program Description : This boot camp is a fun, functional, innovative and interactive workout session. The exercises will challenge one’s strength and endurance, improves general well-being while burning lots of calories. The workout moves quickly going from one exercise to the next with little or no rest. Open to anyone who is interested in achieving their desired health and fitness level. Participants will be taught on how to progress the exercises to meet their fitness level. Program Details : Fee : $40 per month (for group size 6 - 9); $36 per month (for group size 10 - 12) Number of sessions : 8 sessions for 4 weeks ( 2 sessions per week) starting June 2nd. Fitness evaluation booked prior to start. Time : 5.00 – 6.00 pm Day : Tuesday & Thursday Venue : Stanley Park If you would like to join, contact [email protected], ext. 3558 or [email protected], ext. 3587. Equipment Required : Bring your own mat, dumb bells and resistance tube.

More exciting events here: http://www.vanevo.ca /events01.html Check out videos of past lectures here: http://www.sfu.ca/cst udies/science/darwin. htm