You are hereinnovation

innovation


Experts: Bethune's boarding not illegal under international law. Maritime law requires whaler to return him safely to NZ or AU

Top L: Pete Bethune, skipper of Earthrace, the world record holder for circumnavigation. Middle: Earthrace, renamed Ady Gil, on new mission to defend ocean life but sunk by Japanese whaler. Bottom: Japanese 750+ tons iron&steel whaling ship running over 17 tons carbon-fibre (fibreglass) Ady Gil (Earthrace), space-age, only-one-of-its-kind trimaran with 6 crew on board including Captain Pete Bethune

Legal expert said Bethune's boarding is not illegal under international law. Under marine law, the whaler, the one to accept or refuse citizen’s arrest, has obligation to see Pete Bethune safely back to land. Here are some questions: does the subject of a citizen's arrest have the right to imprison the citizen who delivers the arrest? The whaler did not allow journalist to speak to Pete Bethune. Does Bethune, victim of Jan. 6 collision and the one delivering citizen’s arrest, have the right to see or to speak to someone, such as an attorney for legal help, his chosen interpreter for language help, etc. etc.?

(quote)  read more »

Solar plane, 1st of its kind, Airbus-sized, around the world without fuel & with zero emissions: prototype runway debut

Solar Impulse solar plane, and its founders / pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg

(quote)

The prototype of a solar-powered plane, the size of an Airbus and the weight of a mid-sized car, destined for a record round-the-world journey has made its 1st trip across a runway. The plane covered at least 2km at speeds of up to 5 knots on the landing strip in Switzerland. This test run saw the Solar Impulse plane outside its hangar for the first time, with tests of its motors and computer. As wide as a jumbo jet but weighing just 1,500 kg, the plane's maiden flight is scheduled for February in 2010, and a final version will attempt to cross the Atlantic in 2012. HB-SIA’s mission is to demonstrate the feasibility of a night flight making sole use of solar energy. It is a “no frills” plane built solely for verifying our technological choices. It is a true “flying lab”. The results gained from it will be used for optimizing the construction of the HB-SIB, whose mission it will be to fly around the world without fuel and with zero emissions as from 2012.

Solar Impulse HB-SIA prototype: plane made of carbon fiber, on-board computing system helps minimize energy consumption, gondolas (x4) contain motor and batteries for storing power; wingspan: 61m, weight: 1500kg, max altitude: 8500m, speed: 70km/h  read more »

Ocean guardians - Earthrace joins Sea Shepherd to stop whale slaughter. Global community's tried but so far failed

Inset: [Left] Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd leader. [Right] Pete Bethune, skipper of Earthrace (Ady Gil). [Center] Endangered white whale, migaloo. Bottom: Japanese fisherman butchering captured whale

(quote)

Ady Gil, formerly Earthrace, joins Sea Shepherd fleet

Thanks to a $1 million donation from its namesake, US multi-millionaire Ady Gil, formerly known as Earthrace, the Ady Gil has become the latest addition to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's protest fleet. The Ady Gil will bear down on whalers at 40 knots, blaring Maori-inspired war cries through a 9000W speaker system. "They're going to think 'what the f..k have we got here?' " laughed Ady Gil's skipper Pete Bethune.

"It deflects radar signals, so it's very hard for radar systems to pick us up. It's effectively a stealth boat. Made of carbon, with carbon flecks in the paint you can have a big boat with a 20kW radar 400m away and they won't see you. In the past, the Steve Irwin has only been fast enough to keep up with the processing ship, the Nissan Maru, but not the harpooners. We can keep up with the harpoon vessels.” "The point of conflict will shift to include the harpoon vessels now, so it gives us a chance to stop the whales being harpooned." The boat holds the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe.  read more »

World Solar Challenge 2009 underway: 1,864-mile solar car race across Australia, part of Global Green Challenge

the Phoenix II, by Canada's McMaster Solar Car Project, is seen before the start of the race

The World Solar Challenge, part of the Global Green Challenge, is currently taking place in Australia. Some 35 solar-powered cars from 15 different countries are racing from Darwin to Adelaide - a distance of more than 3,000km (1,864 miles) through the Outback.

(quote)

The leading cars in this year’s Global Green Challenge solar car race have passed the halfway point in their epic 1,864-mile (3,000-kilometre) race across some of Australia's harshest terrain from Darwin to Adelaide.

solar powered cars line up at the start of the World Solar Challenge in Darwin

The Global Green Challenge - an evolution of the acclaimed World Solar Challenge - is the world's leading, cross-continental showcase of the latest advances in hybrid, electric, solar, low emission, and alternative energy vehicles. The race, which is now in its tenth year, was pioneered by the South Australian Tourism Commission and aims to highlight the latest advances in hybrid, electric, solar and alternative energy vehicles.  read more »

Millions of American R&D $$$ chase tail of zero-emissions race motorcycle engineered in India by no-money privateer

Winner: Team Agni's Rob Barber; Top right: Cedric Lynch ; Bottom right: Team Agni - Arvind Rabadia and Cedric Lynch

(quote)

"Tourist Trophy eXtreme Grand Prix". TTXGP is not a motorcycle race but the motorcycle race: the first, the most famous, and by far the deadliest. So it's all the more surprising that in the week before the race, a dark horse emerges, freaking out all the factory teams. The fastest bike in the TTXGP prelims - two qualifying runs around the island - turns out to be from Team Agni, a total unknown, a mere privateer. Millions of American research-and-development dollars find themselves chasing the tail of a no-money ratbike engineered in India. Cedric Lynch’s first electrical motor was made from flattened soup cans. His latest powered the Team AGNI machine to a historic TTXGP victory around the famous Isle of Man Mountain Course. Born in December 1955, Cedric Lynch developed a fascination with anything electrical or mechanical which turned into a life obsession.

The MotoCzysz E1pc surprised everyone at the TT. It was the most integrated electric motorcycle in the paddock, with more torque and power than any other bike and the chassis was up to the challenge. It was the only motorcycle with hot swap batteries and should have been challenging for the win.  read more »

Tommy Douglas, Canada's father of Medicare, would import foreign doctors to make his plan work

Tommy Douglas as a social policy innovator - Social welfare, universal Medicare, old age pensions and mothers' allowances

(quote)

"My friends, watch out for the little fellow with an idea." - Tommy Douglas 1961

Tommy Douglas - for introducing free healthcare to Canada - was voted "The Greatest Canadian" of all time. He was hospitalized at the age of 10. Due to a bone infection suffered four years earlier, Douglas's knee required several operations. Without the money to pay for a specialist, Tommy Douglas’ parents were told that the only option was to amputate their son's leg before the infection spread to the rest of his body. But before that could happen, a visiting surgeon offered to operate on Douglas for free, as long as his students were allowed to attend. The surgery saved Douglas's leg - quite possibly his life - and would serve as his inspiration for his dream of universally accessible medical care.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, convalescing in Calgary from his gratuitous liver transplant, pays homage to Tommy Douglas  read more »

Bravo! Most creative, productive int'l competition to save planet: Pakistan, 300 people planted 541176 trees a day

India managed to set a Guinness World Record just last month for the most trees planted in one day, with a tally of 447,874 individual saplings planted, but Pakistan has managed to up that even more Wednesday

(quote)

WWF has awarded Pakistan’s Environment Minister Leaders of the Planet title, an award to recognize individuals making a significant personal contribution to the global fight against climate change. Without mechanical equipment, covered in mud, and sweating in temperatures up to 37° Celsius, Pakistan set the Guinness World Record for tree planting, beating India in a most healthy & productive international competition contributing to endangered forests. 541,176 young mangroves trees were planted by 300 volunteers in just one day, breaking the previous 447,874 record held by India.

Pakistan set the Guinness World Record for tree planting, beating India in a healthy and productive international competition contributing to preserving fragile and endangered forests. With 541,176 young mangroves trees planted by 300 volunteers from the local fishermen communities just in one day, the country broke the previous 447,874 record held by historical rival India.

little Pakistani girl helps plant a tree  read more »

RSS feed

Subscribe to WcP Blog RSS feed

Twitter

WcP Blog on Twitter

Facebook

WcP Blog on Facebook

Custom Search



Subscribe / Connect

Subscribe to WcP Blog RSS feed via FeedBurner
Subscribe via Wikio http://www.wikio.co.uk
WcP Blog on Twitter
WcP Blog on Facebook

Subscribe by Email

Email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Search the Web

Custom Search

Archive Calendar

March 2010
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031

Featured Videos

Latest Quote

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last.

— Winston Churchill

Featured Ads & Links

Recent comments

Reader Reviews

  • "A great site highlighting many important issues." - Bob (New Zealand)
  • "Excellent blog." - Bill (Vancouver Island, Canada)
  • "Fantastic blog and educational articles, much enjoy visiting...Thank you!" - Lotus1150 (Alberta, Canada)
  • "Love your blog!!" - Henricus (Chesham, UK)
  • "Easy to read and well-designed." - Colin (Arizona, USA)
  • "This is simply a gorgeous site. Not only are the photos excellent but the messages are powerful and the stories intriguing. Thank you for such a gem." - Robin (New Mexico, USA)
  • "Great site and awesome photos." - David (Washington DC, USA)
  • "I loved your website. Even finding some news about Turkey made me surprised." - Anonymous (Turkey)
  • "Gorgeous site ... the kind of place you could lose yourself for hours (suppose that was intentional?). Also, cartoons, commentary on the events of the times, etc. Great stuff." - Daniel (Nevada, USA)
  • "...may your blog, ideas and efforts help many more people." - Anonymous (New Mexico, USA)
  • "Very cool site..." - Anonymous
  • "Amazing site, worth the visit every time... enjoy." - Sam (Saudi Arabia)
  • "Unique mix of news, photos and poetry." - Frasier (Virginia, USA)
  • "Worldculturepictorial.com/blog is an extremely interesting collection of news articles. It calls itself "A Window On the World". The site contains a wide variety of topics, all very informative and pertinent to life in today's world." - Cynthia (Massachusetts, USA)
  • "An interesting way to check out the wonders of our world." - Anthony (Ohio, USA)
  • "Good blog - Everything from news to photography. Very informative." - "explicitmemory" (Texas, USA)
  • "Very informative site by prose and picture..." - Jeff (Michigan, USA)