Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Dec 16

Just a quick update about the National Geographic/Vattenfall competition.

It was a competition for children across Europe to come up with a great project to help combat climate change locally to them, but with international possibilities.

The winners were a group of young people from Copenhagen, Denmark who headed up the project:  Biogas: The Best Solution.

Their idea revolved around the concept of creating energy from an existing method, but by using the fuel from their local zoo.  Basically, the animal waste was burnt to create the energy needed to run the zoo itself.  A perfect circle.

The judges felt that this was ‘the most holistic’ project submitted from hundreds of entries from 21 countries.  Not only does it reduce the need for the zoo to import energy from other sources, it also plays a role in preserving the habitats needed for wildlife so that fewer species become endangered in the first place. 

The zoo already has a great reputation for helping existing endangered wildlife - and now it is helping other species before there is a problem - and it may be the model that leads other zoos and wildlife sanctuaries to do the same.

To find out how the project develops in the future follow the progress at www.nationalgeographic.com/combatclimatechange

posted by admin on Jul 27

I found a new club that is VERY exclusive…….

It’s not altogether eco-friendly either - but WOW - what a club to be a member of in my book!! 

I absolutely love traveling - however, I am very, very, very short of the membership criteria - about 75 countries short to be honest!

How Do You Join?
Well - as it’s title suggests - you need to have visited 100 countries or more!  In addition there is a Silver Membership for 150+ and Gold Membership for and amazing 250+ countries visited!

The special award for visiting over 300+ countries went to a Mrs C Kloner from NY this year!!!!  Well done to her…..

In perspective - there are 6 ‘countries’ in North America (Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Prince Edward Islands, St Pierre + Miquelon and the US itself) only 7 in Central America, 13 in South America and 29 in the Caribbean - so even if you went to them all, you would still be 45 countries short!!!  Europe has 67 in total - so a train ride around that continent will top up your numbers……

Why??
Well, the club first started in Los Angeles in 1954 by a travel group and has grown in leaps and bounds ever since - there are now 317 currently listed on the site and thousands of members.

The club holds meeting across the globe as discusses all sorts of travel-related topics and locations, and has much information on their site to help with information and maps for all the countries they list as being ‘valid’.

If you have only been to 75 countries - don’t worry!  They will let you attend any of their meetings that haven’t been ’sold out’ to full members!!

Are You Over 100+ Countries???
After filling out their membership form, and proving your claim, you only need to pay $100 to join and $50 yearly dues thereafter ($60 if non-US). Or just use their site to read up about countries: Travelers Century Club

So, all I need to do is travel to another 50 countries and I might got to sit in on the next meeting!!!

How about you??

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posted by admin on Jun 8

Want To Go To The Moon?

The European Space Agency is looking for young, fit people with a science degree to train as astronauts!!

They are actually looking for people to join their training programme to staff an international space station!

This multi-million pound venture will see actual real people from Europe audition and compete for a place on the team - it won’t be easy though as it is a continent-wide search - so over 400m people from 17 nations are allowed to apply - but you need to be between 27-37 years old and speak fluent English to get your foot in the door.

Sound like you?
The tiny problem is that you can’t hand in your notice at the supermarket, or serve your last spaghetti carbonara in the pasta restaurant and expect to get a reply. Preferred applicant should hold a PhD or Masters Degree in the Sciences - and a pilots licence would be nice - oh, and do you speak fluent Russian???

Apparently they are quite flexible, so if you are an excellent pilot, you can get in on a suitable Bachelors degree in Engineering or Medicine……. if you are extremely fit and aren’t likely to get ill in the next couple of years either.

Apparently, the odds are that out of all the people that apply, only about 50 will be suitable, and people have already started applying.

They are looking for candidates that show great leadership skills but can also follow instructions without question. Training is not easy, and you will need to be able to work in confined spaces with lots of background noise and perform sophisticated experiments - all this with people you may never have met before.

Sounds Great? 
Benefits include the £43,600 starting salary (rising to £70,750 over your 20 year career) and of course the ability to see the Earth as a blue sphere from the depths of space.

In addition, it it very likely that one or two of these astronauts will still be fit enough to be considered for a multi-national flight to the moon in the next decade!

Want to know more? Just click on I want to become an Astronaut and read on……

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posted by admin on Mar 27

National Geographic are advertising a competition to encourage students (age 14-19) currently in school and living in Europe to come up with sustainable ideas that will have a lasting impact on the environment and their surroundings, or even as bold as to encompass the whole world!

Basically it is aimed at teachers to help them encourage their students to think about climate change and to see if they have any ideas that could be investigated further for nationwide or even worldwide climate change policies or applications.

Last year 2 students from Finland came up with the winning idea, and it created such global interest, as well as locally within Finland, that National Geographic in association with the energy company Vattenfall are running it again in 2008.

Tips for your entry:
What are the climate issues that are right now affecting your local area, your village, town, local industries or relating to a more global issue.

What are the causes of the problem?
Are there any known or possible new alternatives?
What are the short term and long term solutions for these?
What can be done to make these changes happen?
What can YOU do to help this happen?

As a teacher you need to be able to pose these questions to your students, you need to help them select a suitable area for focus and to guide them towards suitable resources from which to base their facts on.

Want more details:
If you are interested and think you can help one or more of your students to take part, then follow the following link, choose your language and read more:

www.nationalgeographic.com/combatclimatechange