H ALIBUT HERALD

January 15, 2009

Bits and Bites

Jumping Spider Eyes - Kinda cute, no?
Like tiny monsters or hairy lil’ grampapas!

Jumping spiders comprise the famliy Salticidae, the largest and most diverse of spider families (ah, a melting pot), with
between 4,000 and 5,000 species described. Salticids are small (most are less than one inch long), and they can jump 10 - 40
times their body length to pounce on prey or to avoid becoming prey. They accomplish this using good ol' fashioned hydraulics:
they pump fluid into their legs quick enough to allow them to spring at lighting speed.

READ ON: http://uglyoverload.blogspot.com/2009/01/jumping-spider-eyes.html

Something Beautiful – Milan’s Stunning Green Super City
Milano Santa Monica is a lush
green super city that is
scheduled to sprout up just
outside of Milan. Envisioned
as a stacked series of high-
rises overflowing with
flowering terraces, the self-
contained development will
employ principles of bio-
architecture in addition to
photovoltaic panels and solar-
thermal water heaters to cut
down on energy use.

Designed by Polis
Engineering, Studio Nicoletti,
and the Marzorati Architecture
Studio, Milano Santa Monica
will comprise more than 2000
apartments centered around a
2 million square meter park.
The complex will be
completely self-contained,
offering schools,
sporting facilities,
and a shopping
center, reducing
the distance that
its inhabitants will
need to travel in
the course of their
daily activities.

The lush green high rises are efficiently designed and enshrouded in vegetation that helps to insulate the
interiors while providing fresh air. Photovoltaic panels help to shade sun-facing windows while generating
energy, and solar water heaters help to further increase efficiency. The development is currently slated for
construction in 2013.
READ ON: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/01/05/milano-santa-monica-by/

Sustainable and Recyclable Housing Made From Loofahs

In Paraguay, forested areas have been
reduced to less than 10% of the country,
which means that wood is scarcely
available as a building material.
Additionally, 300,000 families do not have
adequate housing. These two serious
factors couple to form a sizable problem,
which community activist Elsa Zaldívar is
addressing with an innovative approach
to sustainable building. Recognizing the
waste being sent to the landfill and a
need for housing, Elsa worked with an
industrial engineer to develop a material
made from recycled plastic and
agricultural fibers, like loofah, corn husks
and caranday palm trees. These panels
now provide an inexpensive, lightweight,
flexible building material that can help communities reduce their agricultural waste while generating income and
providing sustainable housing to families.
Creature Comforts
ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT IN A SUBURB of Albany,
a group of children dressed as vampires and
witches ran past a middle-aged woman in plain
clothes. She gripped a leather harness — like the
kind used for Seeing Eye dogs — which was
attached to a small, fuzzy black-and-white horse
barely tall enough to reach the woman’s hip.
“Cool costume,” one of the kids said, nodding
The
toward her. But she wasn’t dressed up.
woman, Ann Edie, was simply
blind and out for an evening
walk with Panda, her guide
miniature horse.
There are no sidewalks in Edie’s neighborhood, so
Panda led her along the street’s edge,
maneuvering around drainage ditches, mailboxes
and bags of raked leaves. At one point, Panda
paused,
waited Sadie talks Jim
for a car Eggers down when
to pass, he’s on the verge of
Ann Edie and her guide miniature horse,
then a psychotic episode.
Panda, checking out at Staples.
veered
into the
road to avoid a group of children running toward them swinging glow
sticks. She led Edie onto a lawn so she wouldn’t hit her head on the
side mirror of a parked van, then to a traffic pole at a busy
intersection, where she stopped and tapped her hoof. “Find the
button,” Edie said. Panda raised her head inches from the pole so
Edie could run her hand along Panda’s nose to find and press the
“walk” signal button.
VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE READ ON: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/magazine/04Creatures-
t.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1

Golden Lion Tamarind born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Here are some shots of Vlad the sloth being tormented by a curious baby golden lion tamarind. The
confrontation went down a little over a month ago at the Smithsonian National Zoo in D.C.
READ ON: http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2009/01/golden-lion-tamarind-hands-on-with-twotoed-
sloth.html

Divers cut away at net that has been killing marine life
Scuba divers working with the Ocean Defenders Alliance have
been trying to release a net that has been catching and killing
ocean dwellers since the trawler Infidel sank off Catalina Island.

The Infidel came to rest on its keel, about 150 feet under the sea.
But in the turbid currents, the fine-mesh hemp and polypropylene
net -- 40 feet high, several hundred feet long and made to last
thousands of years -- wrapped itself around the wreck and
became a deadly snare for marine life.

It has been entangling and killing sea lions, dolphins, sharks and
fish ever since, littering the sandy bottom with skulls and bones
picked clean by crabs.

READ ON: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-net12-

2009jan12,0,3092633.story

VIDEO NEWS COVERAGE:

http://www.latimes.com/video/?slug=la-me-net12-2009jan12-
vid

DIY: Bottle herb garden – a recycling project.

FULL NSTRUCTIONS:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Bottle_herb_garden_8211_a_recycli
ng_project/
More News Links
Navy Allowed to Kill Whales in Hawaii During Sonar
Traininghttp://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-12-092.asp
New York Zoos Need Your Help (READ ON!)
http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2009/01/new-york-zoos-need-your-
support.html

Alaska plans to sue over beluga whale protection

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8258277

Oldest Shark Braincase Shakes Up Vertebrate

Evolution http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/01/090114-
oldest-shark-braincase.html

Archival Photo

Inuit standing beside canoe. Arctic Trip, 1968.

Events

Mt. Seymour Guys Night Out - Girls Ride FREE*

January 12 — March 16, 2009
Guys Night Out - Girls Ride FREE is back by popular demand for the 2008/09 season with lots of great prizing
and specials for event participants!

Girls Ride Free every Monday night from the 12th January 2009 to the 16th March 2009. This great night is to
support breast cancer research at the BC Cancer Foundation and is an awesome social night to share with
friends. Not only do girls get to ride for free, but we have plenty of giveaways, and food and drink specials in
Elevations Restaurant each Monday night.

http://www.mountseymour.com/events
READ ON:
http://www.pacificpermaculture.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81:inroduction-to-
permaculture-january-2009
Wanna meet some people as Green Conscious as
you? Try going for a Green Drink!
READ MORE: http://www.greendrinks.org/index.php

Green Drinks International

Every month people who work in the environmental field meet up at informal sessions known as Green Drinks.

We have a lively mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business. Come along and you'll be
made welcome. Just say, "are you green?" and we will look after you and introduce you to whoever is there. It's
a great way of catching up with people you know and also for making new contacts. Everyone invites someone
else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organising network.

These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends,
developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity. It's a force for the good and we'd like to help
it spread to other cities. Contact your local node to get the latest info about coming along.

Next one in Vancouver is January 21, 2009:

http://www.greendrinks.org/index.php?city=Vancouver&country=Canada

Win a copy
of "A Good
Catch:
Sustainable
Seafood
Recipes"
CONTEST DETAILS
HERE:
http://www.granville
online.ca/gr/contests
For Sale

Small Red Futon Sofa

Folds down to sleep one or two people.

Barely used and in good condition

* approx 6ft in length
* Wooden frame
* selling for 70 dollars

Please contact Kim at 604-317-8930 or email

kjeanw@hotmail.com.