Nils Olav is a penguin. But not just any penguin. Everything started in 1972 at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland during the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the annual military music festival, when the penguin became a mascot of the King’s Guard.

The name, he got it from lieutenant Nils Egelien who declared him an honorary member of the military and after Olav V., king at the date. Even though the penguin died, every time he was replaced and kept the name, the notoriety and the rank. The Nils Olav of today is the third penguin which in 2005 got promoted from regimental sergeant major to honorary colonel-in-chief of the elite Norwegian King’s Guard.

After lots of medals for good conduct and long service, Nils Olav became the most royal of all penguin on Friday after a knighthood ceremony at the Zoo. With a fanfare behind and escorted by the King’s Guard Color Detachment, he inspected the troops and stopped to crane his neck at every little detail before moving forward. He was thorough.

On behalf of Norway’s King Harald V, British Maj. Gen. Euan Loudon took care of taking off the colonel-in-chief badge and wrap the new one to its flipper. Nils Olav will be a SIR now.

Aye aye sir!

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The Goddard Space Flight Center under NASA has concluded that declines in rainfall on the eastern seaboard countries of Africa - Ethiopia, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, happened because of irregularities in the transport of moisture between the ocean and land.

Computer models and observations over a half century were analyzed and the result - eastern Africa rainfall has declined by 15% since the 1980s. Rainfall and temperature increases over the ocean were also linked to a rainfall decline.

“We can be quite certain that the decline in rainfall has been substantial and will continue to be,” said a co-researcher, ” This 15-percent decrease every 20-25 years is likely to continue.”

He’s not only a climatologists (fancy word for weather guesser) he is also a prophet. Tell me, how can a weatherman who cannot predict the temps next week know what the weather will be like in 20-25 years? He can’t do it.

Meanwhile, East African umbrella making companies are hoping for a second opinion.

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Electric Bike makers are having a field day. As gasoline prices go up, so do their sales. From the mountain tops of Colorado to Europe people are wanting to “get a little fresh air and exercise, and cut my carbon footprint, and spend less money on gas.”

Electric bikes work like a regular two-wheel one except they have a battery-powered assist. The Gluskin-Townley Group says sales last year were up 67% over 2006. A NYC dealer says sales are up 50%. Amazon.com says sales surged more than 6000% in July from a year earlier. Of course, that number could have been quite low last year, skewing these figures.

Last year some 89,000 electric bikes were sold in the Netherlands and 60,000 in Germany.

The principle behind electric bikes is akin to that behind hybrid cars: Combine the conventional technology — in this case, old-fashioned pedaling — with a battery-powered motor.

 

The net result is a vehicle that rides a bit like a scooter, with some legwork required. Most models have a motorcycle-like throttle that gives a boost while going up hills or accelerating from a stop. On some models, the motor kicks in automatically and adjusts its torque based on how hard the rider pedals.

Prices range from $1,400 - 2,525 and can go 20 miles before a recharge for about 10 cents. Let’s see, 20 miles on a gallon of gas at $5 or on a bike for 1o cents. Tough choice…..NOT!

Electric bike anyone?

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Vestas Wind Systems, the largest wind turbines manufacturer is going to test the world’s longest turbine blade of all times.

They’re going to do it soon, on the Island of Wight in the UK where they will build a research and development center that will play along with an existing Vestas plant which produced turbine blades since 2000.

Though they revealed plans (pdf link), the company failed to mention how long the blades are going to be. Things are clear though. It’s going to be longer than 44 meters which is what Vesta V-90 measures.

The new facility will start producing wind turbine blades starting with 2010.

via CleanTechnica

Image courtesy of kedziers

Not sure if Michael Phelps is vegan, loves animals or if he recycles, but I’ll have to be honest he really managed to amaze all of us after breaking seven world records and one Olympic record in just one week. He did it, in part, because of his amazing dolphin kick.

I’m no guru in making the world a better place but there’s obviously something we can learn from Michael ‘Dolphin’ Phelps and his hard work.

1. More sports for kids. What if they bring swimming activities to children, too? Call it an anti-obesity program or a way of spending quality time as a kid, I’m sure it would be a great idea.

2. Hard work and determination. Even though the guy was “built” like a fish with a long torso and relatively short legs, thereby decreasing resistance, he also had to train. And he trained hard not for the last weeks, months, but years. Five or six hours a day, almost everyday Michael Phelps was in a swimming pool trying to improve his times.

3. Focus and never give up. I was amazed to hear that he had his goggles filled with water in one race. Not a pro-swimmer here, but I do know you’re somehow blind when something like this happens. What he did? Focused even more. It was another obstacle he had to go over. He counted the number of strokes per length to know where he was and reached his goal.

4. Can he power our cars? GreenDaily has a couple of great ideas for Phelps to “serve his country”. I’d sure put him the head of all clean energy companies. With his determination we’d most likely get a world record on sustainable energy.

Again, I’m not sure of the reasons why this should go well on GreenPacks but such a guy should inspire many.

Image courtesy of M@rcopako

Pretty odd I must say, but a recent study revealed that if Australia is going to farm kangaroos instead of cattle and sheep (to remove 36 million sheep and 7 million cattle by 2020), that could lower the overall greenhouse gases by 3 percent each year. Do you think it’s that simple?

First of all, Australians won’t understand that killing kangaroos for food is good for the environment. It’s more like a matter of taste than a matter of global warming, and my bet is people are not yet prepared to switch to an all-kangaroo diet. Would you eat kangaroo meat just because they produce negligible amounts of methane?

The other problem, which is just as big is the kangaroo-image, over Austsalian peopl. Changing the way people think is not going to be done overnight and certainly not just with ad campaigns because the kangaroo is actually, the national icon.

The study which revealed all these said that “using kangaroos to produce low-emission meat is an option for the Australian rangelands … and could even have global application,” said the study. Do you agree?

Image courtesy of t3rmin4t0r

I don’t particularly like the word ‘nature.’ I prefer the word creation. It’s all about my convictions. But, that’s not the point of this post. The point is when things get out of whack on our home planet, they can really get out of kilter. And, there is not a whole lot we can do about it.

A flood in southern China triggered cave-ins, landslides, and mudslides. The result was some 147 geological disasters and 1,980 people having their safety threatened. People died, transport, power and communications were disrupted.

Torrential rains hit 11 prefectures in cities throughout the area over the past few days causing landslides, more flooding and mud-rock flow. $108 million in damages.

There is not a whole lot we can do about it … except, we can take care of what we have. We don’t know when the Earth, nature, creation (choose your word) will fight back. In the meantime, let’s be good stewards of what we have been entrusted in.

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An Ohio State University researcher claimed that Mt Kilimanjaro will lose its snow cap between 2015-2020. He made is guesstimate based on photos taken in 1912 and 2001. At that time, Mt. Kilimanjaro had lost 82% of its snow cap/ice cover.

“The sky is falling in Africa, the sky is falling in Africa!” was the alarmists’ cry.

Turns out that according to an English University study that the claim may not be accurate after all. A Portsmouth University group climbed the mountain and analyzed the ice, the rate at which the snow cap is/was melting and came to a different conclusion.

First - the temperature on top of the mountain was considerably below zero degree centigrade.

Second - the snow on top of Africa’s highest mountain peak is bound to change due to climatic changes

Third - the snow cap is still big enough to sustain the current erosion at the present rate.

So now, what are global warming alarmists going to point at?

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Tokyo is sending two zoo employees to Norway to learn how to breed ptarmigans before it’s too late for the endangered birds and the do NOT hatch. The idea - “Being prepared for a species’ future is an important role for a zoo.” Norway knows what to do and Japan has good imitators.

Ptarmigans are a rare subspecies that live in the high mountains of the Japan Alps. They are also on the ‘Red List’ meaning they are at an increasingly high risk of extinction. The birds live on alpine plants 2,400 meters above sea level and face problems with temperature management and food supplies when they are moved to lowlands and with increasing temps throughout the globe.

Japan will study how Norway controls daylight and air conditioning which will play a part in the ptarmigan’s reproductive cycle. If the team succeeds in Norway, they will try the same technique in Japan.

“How about eggs for b’fast, Taro?”

“Noooo!!!”

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One of the fun parts about writing GP is that I learn, too. I had never heard of the LEED award. It stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is presented by the U.S. Green Building Council. This year the award went to BOCOG - Beijing Organizing Committee of the 29th Olympic Games for the Beijing Olympic Village.

China’s initial concept of  “Green Olympics, High-Tech Olympics and People’s Olympics” has been realized and with minimum compromise it appears.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson presented the award calling the village  n example of U.S.-China cooperation in energy conservation and environmental protection, and that the Beijing Games have the best environmental protection in Olympic history.

The significance of the LEED award is that it has a strong influence in the world’s architecture sector, meaning that more places worldwide will hopefully learn from Beijing. Imagine that, China teaching the world how to be more environmentally friendly.

Go here to learn 20 Facts about Life in the Best Olympic Village in History.

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