The Montgomery County animal shelter in Conroe, Texas, closed gates on Monday, September 19, due to lack of funding. The sad news has made the rounds on the biggest social media websites, including Facebook and Twitter, causing a widespread confusion that all animals without a home were supposed to be euthanized.

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Greenpacks is not the only folk that love animals.  The Chinese do, too. And since I (Bill) have an interest in China, I thought I’d introduce them here and answer one question.

Canadian polar bears stranded on ice

Here are the 12 New Year/Zodiac animals -

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Bionic (Aqua) penguins by Festo

I remember the 6 million dollar man and the Bionic woman, but there might be a new TV series in the making – the Bionic Penguin. Penguins are know for how snazzy they dress. Now they can be seen flying through the water. But look carefully because these are actually robots— the Aqua Penguins created by the German company, Festo.

“Nature demonstrates how maximum performance can be achieved with minimum energy consumption, a Festo spokesman said.

Aqua Penguins can fly through the water. They have a steel skeleton, flexible fiber rods to control their heads and are covered with silicon. Propelled by elegant wings formed from a spring steel skeleton, these smart penguins can also swim backwards. And did we mention the built-in 3D sonar that helps them communicate with each other to keep from crashing?

Bionic (Aqua) penguins by Festo

The critters can move individually and as part of a group (when they go to school, of course). Festo also created Air Penguins, not to be confused with Air Jordans. These guys go shoeless. The blimp-like Air Penguins are filled with helium and ’swim’ through the air. I am blimp-like and can hardly get off the ground, but….

Air penguins filled with helium

The question, of course, is “Now what?” TV contracts? A movie? Peter Penguin meets Godzilla!

Basque photographer Mikel Uribetxeberria is trying to say something. His work dubbed Animalia, is all about the effort animals have to make in switching places with the humans. Somehow trapped in a hotel room or the subway, the amazing creatures are all bored, peaceful and not happy to see the what the human wild is all about.

It’s the abnormal situation that makes these beautifully-honed images subtly state that animals should be let in their natural environment. It could be a manifesto against those who use animals in their “getting rich” projects. Both art and a scream for help is what makes the message almost perfect. Thank you Mikel Uribetxeberria. [via StyleCrave]

There is a point beyond which you cannot trample with the mightily patient Mother earth. She has taken everything that has been thrown at her and has tried to balance the planet and keep it up and running by making tiny adjustments and giving us gentle jolts once in a while. But when the planet that you call home is heading towards a chaotic order, then she has to step in at some point to wipe out the infestation and set the record straight.

Image courtesy of Roberto Rizzato

With the way man has been destroying delicate balance of natural ecosystems and causing a steep rise in the global temperatures, global warming seems to be the cause that will one day bring about a catastrophic end to much of human race, much like nature put dinosaurs in their place millions of years ago. And when you have Nobel Laureates and the best minds in the world talking about how bad the situation is, then it is hard to dismiss it away.

This is why GP has compiled a list with what we believe to be the 15 most deadly effects of global warming. (more…)

There is absolutely no doubt that carbon emissions caused by excessive use of fossil fuel and our callous cutting of trees have caused global warming to creep up to such dangerous levels that it is causing a serious threat to the polar ice caps and all the animals that reside in the cold paradise.

Polar Bears have been stranded on melting ice caps and have often eventually drowned to their death because of this new climate pattern. But, ADDI has come up with a very unique concept for these stranded animals, in the form of a Lifejacket.

The Polarbears are drowning because of the ice that are melting. They have to swim up to 100 km to find food. Global warming needs to be stopped.

However, his effort is more an attempt to promote awareness in an artistic way than to actually make a realistic lifejacket and strap it onto these animals, because it would seriously hinder their ability to swim and fish and even compromise their natural camouflage.

The whole message is simple and far more significant. Stop the pollution (and be better stewards to our Planet – like Bill would say) or the day we’ll need to wear lifejackets, is not really that far away! – via Dvice

Usually seeing a sensitive movie is not really getting me, but this commercial by Quercus – a non-profit trying to raise awareness of Portuguese environmental problems and campaigns against nuclear power, is more than enough for a day.

Created by McCann Erickson Portugal and produced by the Seagulls Fly Sao Paulo, the commercial was posted last month on QuercusTV to make people conscious of global warming and the effects it has on the living creatures that inhabit our planet.

It’s kind of depressing seeing a monkey, a polar bear and a kangaroo giving up, but if it can get people aware of the danger of global warming, than I call it a success. – via Greendaily

Question: What did the one alligator say to the other alligator after he ate the human?

Answer: I love these things. They are soft and chewy on the outside and crunchy on the inside.

it might be funny if it weren’t true.

It seems that there’s an 18-feet crocodile down under who ate a camper, a 62-year old bloke on vacation with his wife. Now his wife is on permanent vacation from her husband.

Charlie is the name of the croc and is considered the likely depository of the man who has been missing for a couple of days. Charlie is normally “pretty docile and pretty shy.” Yeah, animals can be that way when they have a full belly.

Let’s take care of the animals before they take care of us, eh?

Image courtesy of Alberto F.

Not sure about you but when I find 15 hot women celebrities (probably even one) who will take their clothes off to turn me into a vegetarian, I’ll really think twice about it. More exactly, we’re talking about famous celebrities here. Beautiful ladies that decided to go nude for our planet and are really making a difference in fighting global warming or protecting our furry friends on this planet.

So here are our 15 picks for celebrities in nothing but their birthday suits.

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Japan was going great guns on adding wind power generating facilities…until last year. The number of new facilities added in ‘07 was half of what was added in ‘06. New wind turbines that started operation in Japan last year had a capacity of 185Kw. It was double that in ‘06.

There are reasons for the drop off:

1. Utilities in northern Japan which is best suited for wind turbines have restricted the construction of new sites

2. New earthquake-resistance standards are tougher even for planned facilities

3. The strong euro and high prices for steel materials make wind turbines much more expensive

4. activists fighting for protection of scenery in the area are preventing progress in use of wind turbines

5. activists fighting on behalf of animals in the areas are preventing progress as well

Japan has a goal of 3 million KW generated by 2010. As of 2007, the capacity was 1.67 million. The goal now seems unattainable. Some 40% of the country’s overall wind power capacity is generated in Hokkaido, Aomori, and Akita, all in northern Japan.

Question: Why can’t we all get along?