H ALIBUT HERALD

March 12, 2009

Bits and Bites

Robots!
Robotic systems
continue to evolve,
slowly penetrating
many areas of our
lives, from
manufacturing,
medicine and
remote exploration
to entertainment,
security and
personal assistance.
Developers in Japan
are currently building
robots to assist the
elderly, while NASA
develops the next
generation of space
explorers, and artists
are exploring new
avenues of
entertainment

TOP: Mental
commitment robotic
baby seals named
"Paro" are
recharged at robot
exhibition Robo
Japan 2008 in
Yokohama, Friday,
Oct. 10, 2008. The
350,000 yen
(US$3,480) Paro, a
cooing baby harp
seal robot fitted with
sensors beneath its
fur and whiskers, is
developed by
Japan's Intelligent
System Co, to
soothe patients in
hospitals and
nursing homes. (AP
Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
BOTTOM: A
biomimetic
underwater robot,
named
"RoboLobster",
designed by
Professor Joseph
Ayers, is seen, Aug.
17, 2007, in Nahant, Massachusetts. RoboLobster is intended to be used to recognize changes in seawater and to
locate and destroy underwater mines. (Robert Spencer)
MORE PHOTOS: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/robots.html
Cycling into the Future: Concept Bicycles

Top to bottom, left to right: Josef Cadek Locust Bicycle, Di-Cycle Goes Over Both Water and Land, Rotation
Folding Bike, Sideways Bike, ‘One’ Folding Bicycle by Thomas Owen, The Shift Bicycle, Eco-Friendly and Adaptable
Versabike, Square-Wheeled Bicycle
READ ON & SEE MORE BIKES: http://weburbanist.com/2009/03/03/futuristic-strange-concept-bicycles-
designs/

Cruising for a Cause

“…As Hugh Patterson, Ryan Robertson, and Bryson Robertson began to
learn these horrific facts while living in Vancouver, Canada, they got an idea.
What if they took a few years off to sail around the world? While they were at
it, why not sail for a cause? As the wheels began to turn, they wrote, “Before
settling down…why not go out with a noble cause, on a bold and ambitious
mission of education to make a difference in the world by addressing a
serious issue?” Well, why not?

So they began their journey. They created a website, oceangybe.com, and

pooled their money to outfit Khulula, their Tradewinds T40. They set off from
La Paz, Mexico, in July 2007 in search of gnarly waves, new people, and
dirty, dirty seas.

What they found was astonishing.Only two years into their three-year journey,
these surfer/sailors have already realized that ocean pollution is far worse
than they imagined. In Indonesia, Bryson said, “villagers walk down to the
beach at low tide, deposit their daily refuse and wait for the tide to take it
away.” Ryan explained this as “a prime example of cultural lag” because
while the local habits have not changed for generations, the nature of their
waste has. “Historically, the trash was coconut husks, bamboo, and banana
leaves, now it is plastic and polystyrene,” explained Ryan, “but unfortunately they still get rid of it the same way.” In
Cocos Keeling Island in the mid-Indian Ocean, hermit crabs made their homes in washed-up film canisters and the
garbage was ankle-deep. In a 10-meter area alone, the crew picked up over 300 sandals and 150 water bottles.”
READ FULL ARTICLE: http://sailmagazine.com/cruising/destinations/cruising_for_a_cause/index.aspx
FOLLOW KHULULA’S JOURNEY: http://www.oceangybe.com/

Aurora Poses During a Show for our own Chef de Partie, Dawn Sayers

Smallest Whale Shark Rescued in

Sorsogon (My Mama’s Home Province in
the Philippines ☺)
“All they saw was a stick, stuck in sand, with a small rope
leading away from it, into the water. Elson walked up to the
stick and was amazed to find the smallest whale shark he
had ever seen – a mere 15 inches long!”

READ ON:
http://www.wwf.org.ph/newsfacts.php?pg=det&id=144#

Mosha Outfitted with Prosthetic Leg

“This Asian elephant, Mosha, was outfitted with a

prosthetic leg after losing hers to a landmine on the
Thai-Burmese border at the tender age of seven
months old. She was taken in by the Friends of the
Asian Elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand and in
2007, became the first elephant ever to receive a
prosthetic leg.”
READ ON & WATCH VIDEO:
http://scienceblogs.com/zooillogix/2009/03/mosha_
outfitted_with_prostheti.php
NEAQ’s Octopus Video is Tops!
“As part of the New England Aquarium's "Killer Instincts" program, aquarist
Bill Murphy interacts with a "friendly" giant Pacific Octopus.”
SEE PHOTOS OF NEAQ’S OCTOPUS FIT IN A 15” BOX:
http://scienceblogs.com/zooillogix/2009/03/8_foot_octopus_15_inch_box.php
WATCH VIDEO:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6DWQZkgiaU

New England Aquarium 1970’s Commercial

*Gotta Love Old Marketing Tactics* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddBt5p-Uqew

Make Your TV Twitter

“The folks over at Make Magazine have constructed a way to make the Kill-A-Watt
(energy consumption monitor) twitter. Twitter, if you’re not familiar, is like blogging in
haiku.”
READ ON: http://magblog.audubon.org/node/338

Carcinogens Found in Baby Bath Products

“Of the 48 kids' products tested for 1,4-dioxane, 67 percent showed up
positive. The lab also uncovered the presence of formaldehyde in 82 percent
of the 28 products it tested.”
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/carcinogens-in-baby-
products.php

Ceramic Water Filters Win IWA Award for Cambodia

“Developed in a joint effort between UNICEF and the WSP, these ceramic
water filters rely upon porous ceramic (fired clay) to filter microbes or other
contaminants from drinking water.”
READ ON: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/03/09/ceramic-water-filters-
win-iwa-award-for-cambodia/

Intro to Plastic Smithing

How to make really good hard plastic while reusing and recycling plastic bags at home! Via this method, you can
make ANYTHING you want to, out of hard, lightweight, real plastic that's astoundingly durable. It comes out very
similar in texture to recycled plastic lumber.
READ ON: http://www.instructables.com/id/HomemadePlastic/

Holi: The Festival of Colors

What do you get if you mix millions of South Asians around the
world, tons of powdered colors and many liters of water? Right –
Holi, the Festival of Colors! This spring festival is celebrated on
the first full moon in March, so this year, Holi falls today on March
11. Though it’s not the same as being in India and celebrating
with everyone, see the Holi madness in pictures.
READ ON & MORE PICS:
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/holi-festival-
colors/8708
Archival Photo

In honour of his recent birthday, a shot of Dr. Murray Newman & Jane van
Roggen shot by Wendy Bradley, 1986.

Library News

New! Book! Review!

* If you have read a book or watched a movie in the library collection lately,
we’d love to have your review. Please contact Dawn Bassett for more
information.

The Sensuous Seas : tales of a marine biologist by Eugene H.

Kaplan
The feeding and mating habits of some of the ocean's strangest creatures is the
subject of these 31 entertaining essays by ecologist Kaplan. He introduces each
chapter with a story dramatizing the factual information—such as the tale of his
painful encounter with the tentacles of a Portuguese man o' war—but the
inducement is unnecessary, as the biology is fascinating in its own right. This
book spells out, the mysteries, the drama and the variations in the day-to-day
lives of organisms in the sea

For example, he tells of the Pearlfish, which lives inside the five toothed sea
cucumber. Dracula-like, it emerges only at night to feed. At dawn’s first ray, it finds an anus – any anus will do – and
waits for the cucumber to exhale. It then darts in, pointed tail first.

All combined, Kaplan's writing appeals to the story lover, the scientist and anyone who just wants to know how crabs
get it on.

Vicki Booth is a wife, mom and librarian. She has been volunteering at the Aquarium since 2006 in the Spineless
Wonders program

New Movies:
Charles Darwin: Genuis - Biography
Darwin’s Nightmare – Documentary about the Nile perch in Lake Victoria
Earth Cinema Circle Volume – Includes the following documentaries and short films:
People’s Grocery, Trashed, Saba and the Rhino’s Secret, and Renewal
Rivers and Tides – Andy Goldsworthy
th
The 11 Hour: Turn Mankind’s Darkest Hour into its Finest
Window to the Sea – Stories from four of North America’s greatest aquariums:
Monterey Bay, New England Aquarium, Shedd Aquarium and Waikiki Aquarium

New Books:
A Good Catch: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from Canada’s Top Chefs by Jill Lambert
Essentials of Supervising and Managing Volunteers by Stevenson Inc
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
Historical Atlas of the Arctic by Derek Hayes
Marine Fish and Invertebrates of Northern Europe by Frank E. Moen and Erling Svensen
Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill by Riki Ott
Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis by Alanna Mitchell
Snakebit: Confessions of a Herpetologist by Leslie Anthony
State of the World’s Oceans by Michelle Allsop
Strategic Communications for Nonprofit Organizations: Seven Steps to Creating a Succesful Plan by Sally J.
Patterson and Janel M. Radke
Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity edited by Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein
The Last Imaginary Place: A Human History of the Arctic World by Robert McGhee
Who Moved my Cheese by Spencer Johnson

Green News
Cut your (meat) carbon
Looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint? Did you know that ~ 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions come from food production?

Here are the facts:

• Roughly 50% of GHG emissions due to human diets comes from meat (though Beef is in a class by itself)
• GHG emissions from meat production broken down:
o 78% comes from beef (30% of industrial world’s meat consumption)
o 14% = pork (38% of consumption)
o 8% = chicken (32% of consumption)
• Comparing CO2 emissions generated from food production:
o One kg of beef served = 19 kg of CO2 generated!
o One kg of pork served = 4.25 kg of CO2 generated
o One kg of potatoes = just 280 grams CO2 generated

How do you reduce your impact?

 Eat a healthy balanced diet, with a minimum amount of processed food,
 Eat a moderate amount of dairy and meat (or better, go vegetarian, for most of your meals),
 Eat more whole grains and veggies, and
 Eat local! (check out www.eatlocal.org)
Want more information? Check out these articles:
AAAs: Climate-Friendly Dining... Meats: The Carbon Footprints of Raising Livestock for Food
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/40934/title/AAAS_Climate-friendly_dining_%E2%80%A6_meats
It’s the Meat Not the Miles: Diet Substance Has a Greater Impact than Diet Origin on Greenhouse Gas
Emissions http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/31673/title/It%E2%80%99s_the_meat_not_the_miles

Maze of livestock pens & walkways at the Union Stock Yards, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1947
SOURCE: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Livestock_chicago_1947.jpg

40% of World's Electricity Will Come From Wind and Solar Power by 2050,
With Proper Support
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/40-percent-worlds-electricity-will-come-from-wind-power-solar-
power-by-2050.php

Amount of Space Required to

Transport People by Car, Bus, or
Bicycle
And That's Just Space...
They say an image is worth a thousand words. In
this case, it really is. You can write about urban
planning and air pollution and traffic congestion, but
the three photos above show you at a glance the
difference between these three means of
transportation. And space isn't everything: Cars also
cost more money, pollute more, increase risks of
obesity and all kinds of diseases, etc.
READ ON:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/space-
required-cars-bus-bicycles-image-poster-
photos.php
Events
Design the Next Vancouver
'FormShift Vancouver' contest invites new ideas for a vibrant, greener,
denser city.
A new competition invites the world to help Vancouver imagine itself as not
only a denser city, but one more green, livable and exciting to the eye.

And though the contest welcomes entries from the best architects in B.C. and
beyond, you don't have to be in the business of designing buildings or
neighbourhoods to enter and win.
READ ON: http://thetyee.ca/News/2009/02/23/FormShift/?utm_source=mo
ndayheadlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=230209

CONTEST DETAILS: http://formshiftvancouver.com/

 More exciting
events here:
http://www.vanev
o.ca/events01.ht
ml

Check out
videos of past
lectures here:
http://www.sfu.c
a/cstudies/scien
ce/darwin.htm

LAST WEEK TO ENJOY!!! Mt. Seymour Girls Ride FREE*

For anyone who cares about the
environment, appreciates art,
enjoys a good party and loves
looking good..

Energy Awareness Through Art

(eatART) is throwing a family-
friendly fundraiser at their
space.

The Hangar at 577 Great

Northern Way.

Entrance by donation
(suggested $5-10) Members get
in free.

Date: Mar 14 - Mar 14

Location: Vancouver
Classified