Archive - Mar 2009

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(Above) Two boys from a community commonly known as sea gypsies paddle their boat close to their home.

The Samah are an indigenous ethnic group from Malaysia and the Philippines who live a sea-based lifestyle in the Sulawesi Sea off Malaysia's state of Sabah.

The Sabah are one of a number of groups collectively known as Bajau, or sea gypsies.

Although sea gypsies are Muslims, they also revere the gods of the sea and make offerings when a large catch is brought in.

Originally the sea gypsies lived a nomadic lifestyle in boats. Nowadays most live in small communities, building houses on stilts in the coastal shallows without fresh water or electricity.

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Australian wildlife rescuers were using jetskis and small boats today to try to save nearly 200 pilot whales and a small pod of dolphins beached on an island between the mainland and Tasmania.

Rescuers said only 54 of the 194 whales stranded on King Island had survived, and seven dolphins were still alive. It is the fourth beaching incident near Tasmania in recent months.

Rescuers dug trenches in the sand to channel water close to the whales as volunteers doused them with water and draped wet fabric over their bodies to keep them cool. More than 100 volunteers used stretchers to carry dolphins into the shallows, and other officials used small boats and a jetski to pull whales out to sea.

Whale strandings happen periodically in Tasmania during their migration to and from Antarctic waters, but scientists do not know why it happens. It is unusual, however, for whales and dolphins to get stranded together.  read more »

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Sometimes the most interesting movie for children isn’t necessarily a children’s movie. That seeming contradiction lies at the heart of the New York International Children’s Film Festival, which this Friday begins three weekends of screenings, filmmaker visits and voting, culminating in a juvenile version of the Oscars: a prize ceremony and reception on March 15. While the festival’s 100 films from 30 countries offer plenty of animation and fantasy, they also delve into real-world conflicts that affect children’s lives. “With a great many of these films, the filmmaker would say, ‘That’s not a kids’ movie,’ ” Eric Beckman, who founded the festival in 1997 with his wife, Emily Shapiro, said in an interview.

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The Taipei Tower 101, Taiwan, completed in 2003 (1,670 ft - 509.2 m)

The Taipei Tower 101, completed in 2003 took just 4 years to build. It is called the 101 because it has 101 floors (stories) above ground, and 5 below. From ground to tip of spire the Sears Tower is still taller than the Taipei 101, however from ground to top of roof the Taipei does win. The Taipei 101 is the first and currently only habitable building in the world to break the half-kilometer mark in height. However, a tower currently under construction known as "Burj Dubai" is going to do away with any controversy so completely that there will be no doubt as to which is the world's tallest building.

Burj Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to be completed in 2009 (2,684 ft - 818 m)  read more »