The humpback whale was nearly hunted into extinction. The high risk of extinction no longer exists  says an environmental group - The International Union for Conservation of Nature.

“Humpbacks and southern right whales are making a comeback in much of their range mainly because they have been protected from commercial hunting. This is a great conservation success and clearly shows what needs to be done to ensure these ocean giants survive.”

The giant population dropped to the 1,000s before it was finally banned from commercial hunting. There are now more than 60,000. But, don’t tell Japan, they’ll be sharpening their harpoons.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Lists some 41,000 species and subspecies around the world.  The group is made up of more than 1000 government and non-government agencies. They also boast 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. They also seem to be making a difference. Good job, fellas and gals!

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I suppose that if all stray dogs had a home, I’d be more happy about the news I read where an American woman had her dog cloned in South Korea at the world’s first commercial canine cloning service. The American woman’s pit bull, named Booger, has five puppies cloned. Seoul’s National University cooperated in the reproduction.

“It’s a miracle!” shouted the woman.

“It’s a miracle that people would waste money on such matters,” shouted Bill.

The name of the cloning service is RNL Bio. The company brought frozen cells from dead Booger, nurtured them and launched the formal cloning work. The American woman said she was attached to Booger because he had saved her life when she was attacked by another dog. But, Booger didn’t save her from stupidity.  Booger, to his credit beat out a dog that was three times his size. His master suffered a loss of one hand and injured leg nerves…and a loss of connection to the brain from her wallet, IMHO.

Nobody had better tell the woman that her dog actually had 6 clones. The sixth is being raised up for dinner.

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At GP we love animals.  Especially when those PETA girls undo their things for better or for worse to help them out. Seriously, we do love the critters we share the planet with. Today…we love these cats who are fighting back.

In Japan, this one is called the Neko Punch. Neko is Japanese for cat. This little fellow made his rounds via Japanese cell phones. I don’t know what he is angry about or fighting for but I do know I am not messing with him. Perhaps he is standing up for a friend who was dressed in head gear and a dress to take part in a fashion show to raise money for an animal shelter.

The cat, Hale Bopp celebrated a birthday and is a resident of one of NYC’s most famous hotels - the Algonquin.

Okay, so the cat is having this thing done to her in the name of helping other animals. Does that sit alright with you? How much can humans do to animals and say “we are doing it for them?” Hale gets about 30 emails a month. None of them from me.

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Beijing set an Olympic Record for power consumption.  The Beijing power grid peaked at a consumption of 12.48 million KW at 11:24am…enough power to run a city of 17 million while they host an international sporting event attended by 200+ countries and 10’s of thousands of people. The previous record was 12.28 million KW. I think they were trying to finish all the building projects for the Green Village in one day for that peak.

It is estimated that the maximum demand will hit 14.6 million KW. The biggest demand is made by air conditioners, very much needed as the city is experiencing sweltering conditions - 35C (94F).

Despite the demand, Beijing Electric Power Co. is keeping up and the grid is stable. In the case of emergency, 50 power vehicles are standing by with a capacity of 26,890 KW and 201 repair teams are hanging out with their fans in hand. And…Africa is still being called the Dark Continent.

 Qi Zhen When She Was Born

Anything born between 8/8/8 and the end of the Olympics in China will be dubbed “Olympic-whatever.” In fact, not a few parents scheduled to have their children on 8/8/8 come hell or high water.  Apparently Qi Zhen (Magic Treasure) couldn’t be fitted in on China’s most auspicious of days and had to wait till Sunday - 8/10. Still, her twin cubs are considered Olympic Pandas.  Huan Huan weighed in 98 grams and Bei Bei is still being protected by her mother.

Qi Zhen’s twin sister, Qi Yuan (Magic Luck) had twins earlier in the year. Giant Pandas are notoriously sexually inactive. That coupled with a shrinking habitat and the animals are among the world’s most endangered. There are only about 1,500 pandas living in the wild. There are 75 at the center in Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center including these two newcomers.

I wonder…what if we just left them alone. What do you think would happen?

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The International Gorilla Conservation Program says that almost half of the world’s monkeys and apes are feeling the worsening threat of extinction. The causes are deforestation and hunting for meat. I don’t get this report. Now, I love the animals as much as the next person. My wife even thinks I am an ape at times, but that’s not relevant. How can half of a species face extinction? Shouldn’t be the whole species is or isn’t? Does the report mean to say that monkeys and apes are losing their homes? That the overall world population of the bunch is decreasing because of problems in certain areas?

Let’s protect our friends, not relatives mind you, our friends, but let’s also be accurate in our reports and not alarmists or exaggerating.

In any event, it’s humans who are at fault here…taking these critters trees and worse, serving them up for dinner. What do you think should be done?

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Thought to be the last of his kind, George, a giant tortoise from the Galapagos Islands may soon become a father. “It takes two to dance” and Lonesome George - in his 70s - worked really hard on his “girlfriend” for the last 36 years. Just a few days ago the Galapagos National Park announced that the female has laid three intact eggs that are being cared for in an artificial incubator.

“Even if these three eggs are fertile and the born tortoises survive it will take several (genetic) generations to think of having a Pinta purebred … even centuries,” the park said in a statement.

In four months we’ll see if George is going to be paps or not.

Considered by many scientists, the rarest creature on Earth and a symbol of conservation, the Pinta island tortoise, showed little interest in reproducing during 36 years in captivity. He did it afterall. Great job George! You can do it (again?)!

Bill, any tips to George?

In a previous post I wrote Beijing was planing to artificially change the weather for the Olympics if they needed to. Good news, I suppose, they won’t have to. How do you say “whew!” in Chinese, I wonder? The forecast will be overcast (smog?) but no rain is expected according to the China Meterological Administration. A shower in the afternoon and temps from 25-30C (78-86F).

Some 100,000 people, athletes and fans, are expected to be in the National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) on Friday for the opening ceremony. Moderate rain is expected over the weekend. Won’t matter, I suppose, early events in the Olympics are indoors - swimming, basketball and such.

Weather forecasts will be broadcast every hour, 24 hours in advance. Four satellites will check out the clouds every 15 minutes, and 186 weather stations will gather data every 5 minutes. There are also seven fixed Doppler radar stations and two mobile stations. All this to tell us it’s going to rain, or not, be hot or not. And, then what?

Can you say overkill?

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In some circles I suppose Paris Hilton is doing her part to heat things up, cause more global warming, maybe, and in others she is just making a fool out of herself…and me, too for caring what she thinks. In any event, people read about her, look at her…and I hope, never listen to her.

Hilton’s energy plan - “We can do limited offshore drilling with strict environmental oversight while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars.”

I’m betting she either read that off a script, it was tucked into her travel magazine, or someone was whispering it in her ear.

Offshore drilling is not outsourcing dental care, Paris.

Can you spell ‘environmental’ Paris?

And, what do you know about oversight, Paris? Who’s watching over you.

Incentive is not putting a penny into the arcade machine to get a souvenir, Pairs.

And, how much does it cost to fill up your limousine and jet to go gallivanting around the world?

One last question - Do you know where Detroit is?

In any event, the world is getting hotter each time Paris and the likes blow hot air and strip down just to heat things up, no?

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Sanyo Electric is, no doubt, a leader in the solar cell industry. The company just opened a new production base in Shiga, Japan. Annual capacity is expected to reach 40MW by March of 2009. Adding in its Tokyo plant, Nishikinohama plant, Hungary plant and Mexico plant, total production will reach 340MW.

It’s not enough. Sanyo wants production to reach 600MW by March 2011 (Japan’s fiscal year ends in March). By 2020, Sanyo wants to roll out 4GW per year.  Japan’s Shiga plant is a module plant, meaning it can grow as demand grows…and we do hope that there is a demand for more solar power in the future, don’t we?

And, if you don’t want to pay out the gazoo for Japan’s expertise, efficiency and quality, there are always Beer Bottles to use fo Solar Water Heating.