I found this on the BBC site today.

“Deepest Ever Living Fish Filmed”

This is pretty cool science but I feel it means soon they’ll film all the scary things we never get to see and don’t even know exsist! At least then my fear of the ocean won’t be seen as irational. And finding new species is pretty exciting, even if they’re monsters.

I tell ya, this Obama guy keeps doing the most amazing things! It seems every other day he makes an announcement about going greener. Love this guy! I’m just waiting for the bubble to burst. He can’t be this great!

Anyway, enough blubbering about him. On to the issue!

President Obama Announces National Fuel Efficiency Policy

The new standards will set nation-wide levels for emissions, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2016. This is the first time a nation-wide standard has been attempted.

An article in The Canadian Press talks about what this means for Canada. After all, we’re going to need to be making/driving the same cars they’re making/driving in the US, the two auto sectors are not separate. Yay! Emissions standards basically forced on Stephen Harper. I wasn’t holding my breath on his announcement about setting emission standards.

On a nice note about Canadians (what isn’t nice about Canadians?), given the same options for car models as the US, 60% of cars bought by Canadians are small, fuel-efficient models while that figure is only 30% in America. Way to make a statement about your values Canadians!

So, having taken a class that covered the Spanish Flu of 1918 (Dr. Perrins’ History of Medicine, Acadia…great course…take it!), the Swine Flu is terrifying. This is what I’ve been waiting for ever since that course. A new flu that is going to be more deadly than anything we’ve seen for decades, maybe worse. Now, I’m not saying that is what is going to happen, just that this virus seems to have high potential to become very serious, based on what the WHO is saying.

Now, fingers point to Mexico as the starting point of this outbreak, although it hasn’t been confirmed where/how the virus was created. Possibly due to conditions and practices at huge factory farms (not confirmed by research yet!). Hmm….why do we have those huge factory farms again? Oh right! Huge demand for meat products!

Now, in an effort to not be preachy (I am in no position to preach, as I have been know to ingest meat products every blue moon), I in no way expect you to become a vegetarian. That is a personal decision that requires a lot of research and thought. But what are small ways we can all change to maybe take the pressure off intensive livestock practices that are not in the best interest of the future of our society?

1) You can eat one less meal with meat a week. That’s not too bad! Have a veggie lasagna. It’s so filling you won’t even notice. Burritos can be made with just re fried beans, skip the beef. Don’t say it’s too hard…my parents (former meat and potato people) are doing a great job of it, and I didn’t even have to harass them! Here’s a recipe for black-bean burgers even my super meaty boyfriend likes.

2) When you do buy meat, buy organic (when you can, I know it can cost more). That way, you can increase the demand for organic, causing more farmers to become organic, causing less use of antibiotics that can create super-bugs.

3) If you live in the country, try the farmers markets or even go direct to your neighbours. It night not be certified organic, but many small scale farmers don’t need to use heavy loads of antibiotics.

4) Know a hunter? Ask for some wild game! Rabbit stew is yummy. If you happen to be in Australia, try the roo (sometimes farmed, but much less intensive than cows). Grab a fishing rod and catch supper. It’s more fun than standing in line at the supermarket too.

Now, again, I’m not saying swine flu started on a factory farm. However, the conditions on factory farms are primed for outbreaks of nasty diseases than could jump to humans. So just to try do whatever you can to help a little bit. If we all help a little bit, it will help a lot (wow that’s cheesy, nice ending Carolyn).

I recently listened to the March 28 2009 episode of Quirks and Quarks from the CBC. It was Nine-and-a-half Technologies to Save the World. Very interesting, very sci-fi.

The second one really hit home for me, being a vegetarian. In vitro meat. If you hate biology (that’s silly, how could you!), in vitro means within the glass in Latin, aka in a petri dish in a lab. Yup, that’s right, they can grow meat in a dish from stem cells. Tastes like meat, looks like (ground) meat (we’re not talking T-bones here). Some links about it here and here.

You’re thinking, EW, right? So did I. Then I though about how we get meat now. A barn, stacked ceiling high with cages that go row upon row to maximize the amount of chickens in one barn. Chickens that may or may not have enough room to turn around in the cage. They’re being pumped full of antibiotics to stop them from getting sick in conditions that should cause a massive outbreak of something every 5 minutes. EW. How is that natural?

So, ok, why does that make in vitro better? Well, the main issue brought up by Jason Matheny from John Hopkins University (the one interviewed on Quirks and Quarks) was health. You can make this meat low in bad fats and high in good fats, like omega-3s, helping to reduce things like heart disease. It would also benefit the environment, producing less greenhouse gases, using less farm land, and you wouldn’t be ingesting all the antibiotics and drugs you do now. Plus it removes any question of ethical treatment of animals.

Now this isn’t about to appear on your supermarket shelf or anything tomorrow. Right now it’s pretty costly and can’t be made in large batches effectively. But they’re working on it!

Just think about it. Would you eat in vitro meat?

Meerkat Manor! Kinda

Brad and I went to the Melbourne Zoo not too long ago. We were able to see a slew of native animals; Kangaroos, Wombats, and even a platypus! There was also lots of non-native species. I saw lions, gorillas, elephants, and meerkats (which were the cutest, see pictures).

I’m a bit on the fence about zoos. I’m not for keeping animals in unnatural, tiny settings, not letting them hunt and socialize like they do in nature. I remember going to the Oaklawn Farm Zoo in Nova Scotia for a biology class. They boast the world’s largest lion. As in weight. This lion was seriously overweight. It was sad to see. And this was on the main sign going into the zoo!

However, many zoos have animals that were rescued and can’t be released. This is often the case with birds. Other zoos really focus on pushing the message of conservation. “Hey Kids, love the river otters? Help protect our rivers!”, etc. I was really impressed with the aquarium in Shanghai, which I felt had a great focus on conservation.
As for the Melbourne Zoo, there was some conservation issues addressed, but nearly as much as I would have like to have seen.
So next time you make a Sunday trip to the zoo, think about what the zoo means for the animals and maybe decide not to visit those zoos without a rescue/conservation emphasis. Support things that are good for animals and good for the environment!

Roos and an Emu!