Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Video: Wade Davis, Gerald Amos, Lynne Fernandez, Anne Lindsey Speak at the Public Forum on the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline held at the University of Winnipeg, Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex in Winnipeg ~ Plus Video: "Sacred Waters No to Enbridge" by Doug MacCormack

Video of Talk, Presentations and Films:  The National Energy Board is conducting hearings on Enbridge's proposal for a pipeline from Alberta's tar sands to the town of Kitimat in the heart of BC's Great Bear Rainforest.  If approved, over 200 oil tankers would be navigating the difficult waters off BC's Northwest Coast each year. This public forum will focus on the project's risks to the economy, the environment and to local communities. 



The 2012 Panel Speakers:

Dr. Wade Davis, Explorer in Residence, National Geographic Society, Visiting Professor and Senior Fellow of the Masters in Development Practice (MDP) Indigenous Development program, University of Winnipeg and author of The Sacred Headwaters: the fight to save the Stikine, Skeena and Nass.  

Gerald Amos, former elected Chief Councillor for the Haisla First Nation for 12 years. He has been a leading voice for conservation in Canada for thirty years. He is the author of an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Natural Resources Minister, Joe Oliver "No apology forthcoming."  

Lynne Fernandez, Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives. Lynne has an MA in economics from the University of Manitoba. As a research associate at the Manitoba office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Lynne has studied municipal and provincial social and economic policy. She is also interested in labour and environmental issues.  

Anne Lindsey, former executive director, Manitoba Eco-Network. Anne has worked and volunteered on Manitoba and national issues such as nuclear waste, forestry, food and pesticides, since 1984, including numerous experiences with environmental reviews.

Moderated by Richard Cloutier, host of Richard Cloutier Reports on CJOB 68.

This Panel and event was organized by the Manitoba Eco-Network, Green Action Centre, Climate Change Connection, the Council of Canadians, and the Green Action Committee of the First Unitarian-Universalist Church, with the support of the University of Manitoba's Global Political Economy Program and the University of Winnipeg. Contact: Manitoba Eco-Network
Video Production: Paul S. Graham - Editor, Camera and Ken Harasym - Camera





Video: Sacred Waters No to Enbridge  by Doug MacCormack
"This area of the British Columbia, Canada, coast line is one of the great wonders of the world and Enbridge wants to build a pipe line from Alberta to the B.C. coastline to ship oil to China..."

Video and Photography: "Remote Reconnaissance of Another Solar System" and "Remote Reconnaissance of Exosolar Systems and Comparative Planetary Science"






Website "Astronomers Conduct First Remote Reconnaissance of Another Solar System"

Watch "Remote Reconnaissance of Another Solar System"
(2:14 minutes) this visualization, produced using the Hayden Planetarium's Digital Universe, the most comprehensive and scientifically accurate, three-dimensional map of the known universe, shows where the star HR 8799 is in relation to our solar system.

Recently, a team of researchers led by the American Museum of Natural History used a suite of high-tech instrumentation and software called Project 1640 (technology link) to collect the first chemical fingerprints, or spectra, of the four red exoplanets orbiting this star. This visualization also shows other stars that are known to harbor planetary systems (stars with blue circles around them). HR 8799’s system, which is 128 light years away from Earth, is one of only a couple of these stars that have been imaged, and the only one for which spectroscopy of all the planets has been obtained. Over the next three years, the team will survey many of these other stars in the same manner in which they studied HR 8799.

Hayden Planetarium’s Channel




Watch "Long Exposure of Star HR 8799"An example of a long exposure of the HR 8799 system. The star is at the centre of the image, blocked by the coronagraph. Each frame of this movie shows a slightly longer wavelength of light, or colour progressing through 30 different wavelengths from 1.0 μm to 1.75 μm in the “near infrared,” colours too red for the human eye to see. The speckles move radially outward from the star because they are an optical effect. Because they move in the movie, and real celestial objects do not change position at different colours on the sky, the planets around this star can be found using software that looks for objects that do not move in this movie.

"Remote Reconnaissance of Exosolar Systems and Comparative Planetary Science"

Project 1640 conducts remote reconnaissance of planetary systems around stars other than the Sun. Specifically it is designed to image planets orbiting nearby stars and to acquire low-resolution spectra of them simultaneously. It is currently the most advanced and highest contrast imaging system in the world and was successfully installed at the Palomar 200-inch telescope July 2008, with a major upgrade and additional control systems added by June 2012.  The project involves optical instrumentation, built at the AMNH, Cambridge University's Institute of Astronomy, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech.




Observations at Palomar are on-going for a 3-year survey of some 200 nearby stars to find any type of object orbiting them. The primary goal is comparative spectroscopy of young, warm giant planets around these stars, to understand the range of planets extant, and how they form and evolve.

 The combination of an extreme adaptive optics system, an advanced coronagraph and hyperspectral imager, and a unique wavefront sensor calibration unit, allows for the detection of objects up to ten-million times fainter than a star within a field of view of 4 arc seconds. This project involves efforts in science-grounded instrument conception and design; optical, mechanical and electrical engineering; development of novel techniques for the manipulation and control of light from distant stars at the level of λ/1000; systems engineering and integration; control and data reduction software; software for the identification and spectrum extraction of possible stellar companions—an effort that includes expertise from the field of computer vision; advanced detector control; and all of the tools of modern astronomy brought to bear on the fundamentally difficult problem of high-contrast imaging: astrometry, coronagraphy, spectroscopy, photometry and various aspects of point-source analysis and signal processing.




Friday, March 22, 2013

Video short films "The View From Mars, Part 1 & 2" by Jonathan de Villiers (An Expressive Look at ALMA Atacama Large Millimeter Array) + ALMA Photo Diary + "Malin Space Science Systems' Exploration Through Imaging, Cameras for Space Missions"







Watch "The View From Mars: Part One" (4:26 minutes) by Jonathan de Villiers
Astronomers will soon be able to look billions of years into the past, gazing at the formation of distant stars and galaxies. “In doing so, de Villiers reveals, "they’ll build a clearer picture of how our sun and our galaxy formed.”  Celebrating the launch of a Galactic Telescope in Chile, the film takes an expressive look at ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter Array), a vast international telescope project that was inaugurated in Chile this March 2013, after decades in the making. YouTube link

Watch "The View From Mars: Part 2" (4 minutes) by Jonathan de Villiers
Documenting the astronomical breakthroughs of the Atacama Desert, he takes us 500 kilometers southeast of the ALMA project to the Very Large Telescopes (VLTs) of Paranal. Operated by the European Southern Observatory and using visible light as well as infra-red technology, this site has been in operation for over a decade but remains the most productive research factory on Earth, with an average of one scientific paper being published based on information acquired there every day. Among the countless recent and landmark advances to have been made on the premises is the remarkable documentation of an ‘exoplanet’—the first incredible images we have of a planet outside our own solar system. 



View/Read about: "Meet ALMA: Amazing Photos From Giant Radio Telescope"

View/Read about : "ALMA Photo Diary"

View/Read about: "Malin Space Science Systems - Exploration Through Imaging, Cameras for Space Missions"



"Whirling Southern Star Trails over ALMA"
The antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) sit under the stars of the southern sky as they appear to whirl overhead. Babak Tafreshi took the long-exposure photograph on the Chajnantor Plateau in the Chilean Andes. When ALMA construction is completed in 2013, the telescope will possess 54 of these 12-meter diameter antennas, and twelve 7-meter antennas.
Image released Dec. 31, 2012. by Space.com


Video short: William Shatner "O Canada, Our Home on Native Land" and Leonard Nimoy Reading from "Whales Alive" plus movie clips from Star Trek 4 ~ Saving The World, Terra Incognito (Humpback Whale Song)

Watch Funny performance piece by William Shatner, about his birth place "Canada, our home on Native land". When William Shatner gets a Lifetime Achievement Award from Canada's Governor General, he shows appreciation in this short film. The original Star Trek Captain Kirk takes helm of Canadian heritage and creates a memorable rendition of Canada's national anthem. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada with the National Arts Centre of Canada, and the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation. Directed by Jacob Medjuck.

Leonard Nimoy reading from "Whales Alive".

Star Trek movies that focused on Humpback Whales. 
Here is the script Star Trek (feature film) - The Voyage Home

In this video movie clip from Star Trek 4 ~ Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. Taylor (Catherine Hicks) are surprised to find Spock (Leonard Nimoy) swimming in the whale tank.

Also movie clips "Admiral, I am receiving Whale Song" and  "Saving the World, Terra Incognita"


Getty Images/Frank Edwards/Contributor 

Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios Inc

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Video animated short : "The Guardian" and "The Explorer" by NeroGeist

Watch Video of animated short film "The Guardian" ~ This short film is a metaphor for each person's own individual internal choices to connect within, to connect and Self-reflect with their own truth and treasure of personal power.

A boy wanders through the forest and finds reflected in the light of Nature, his own true potential.

From the darker side of nature, an offering comes appearing to be even more power with a faster track to more wealth, but the boy can feel the illusion of this type of power and chooses to stay true to his own nature.


Sequel: The Explorer A temple presumed to be lost, a young man seeks out to discover it. The sequel to The Guardian (to be continued ...)


Animation by NeroGeist. NeroGiest's concept art
NeroGeist's Facebook link and YouTube

Carrier Sekani Tribal Council: eBook, Photography and Video: "Extract - The Pipeline Wars" by The Vancouver Observer, and Lee Brain's Testimony at Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Joint Review Panel



Video: Lee Brain, son of an oil man receives standing ovation and brings participants to tears, after delivering powerful and inspirational testimony based on his personal experience working in oil refinery and pipelines, at the Enbridge/Northern Gateway Pipeline Joint Review Panel in Prince Rupert (British Columbia, Canada)

Photos and Video presented by Carrier Sekani Tribal Council

Canadian Centre for Community Renewal website with Full Transcript

"Blessed Unrest" - Mike Lewis' response article to Lee Brain's Pipeline Review Testimony

Huffington Post response article to Lee Brain's testimony

Sierra Club's response article to Lee Brain testimony

Sustainable Planet's response article for damaging oil spill clean-up and Lee Brain's testimony

Vancouver Observer's article to Lee Brain's Testimony
Oil giants backed by government. Citizens in revolt.

eBook by The Vancouver Observer ~ "Extract - The Pipeline Wars, Volume 1 Enbridge"

Praise for Extract: The Pipeline Wars Vol. 1 Enbridge

 "This is one of the greatest stories underway on the planet—the effort to wrest vast quantities of the dirtiest energy on earth from beneath Canada's boreal forests, and the even greater and far more beautiful effort to stop them. The stakes—the health of the planet's climate—simply couldn't be higher.

"Read this book. Extract does a great job of giving voice to some of the people on the front lines and giving you the information you need to engage in the debate."
- Bill McKibben, climate activist and 350.org founder

Extract: "The Pipeline Wars is a terrifying tour-de-force that opens a grim window on the future: this is not just about British Columbia, but about the world. As the fossil fuel industry taps dirtier and dirtier sources of energy to maintain their supremacy, as more regions of the world are despoiled in the process, the downhill run to ultimate destruction lies plainly before us...unless it can be stopped. Extract: The Pipeline Wars tells us why, and how, this must happen. Excellent, important work."
- William Pitt, Truthout editor and New York Times bestselling author.

"We need information and hard facts to make thoughtful, forward-thinking decisions that reverberate long into the future. Here’s a book that cuts through the self-interested rhetoric of climate deniers and the fossil fuel industry."
- David Suzuki, environmentalist and David Suzuki Foundation founder

Various Image Graphic Credits  and Photos  plus Video
Presented by Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (includes Speeches and Radio Interviews



















Sunday, March 17, 2013

"Rare Earth Elements ~ The Secret Ingredients of Everything" By Tim Folger (Photos by Nick Mann for National Geographic Magazine) - and - "4 Rare Earth Elements That Will Only Get More Important" by Maggie Koerth-Baker (Popular Mechanics) - and - Indigenous People's "Idle No More" Protesting Environmental Greed At Everyone's Expense

National Geographic Article: Rare earth elements are essential in many hi-tech innovations like hybrid cars and wind turbines. The battery in a single Toyota Prius contains more than 20 pounds of the rare earth element lanthanum; the magnet in a large wind turbine may contain 500 pounds or more of neodymium. U.S. military uses rare earths for night-vision goggles, cruise missiles and more.

 "They're all around you," says Karl Gschneidner, a senior metallurgist with the Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, who has studied rare earth elements for more than 50 years. "The phosphors in your TV—the red color comes from an element called europium. The catalytic converter on your exhaust system contains cerium and lanthanum. They're hidden unless you know about them, so most people never worried about them as long as they could keep buying them." 

4 Rare Earth Elements That Will Only Get More Important by Maggie Koerth-Baker for Populate Mechanics

Lithium is lionized. Silicon has a whole valley named after it. But what about the silent heroes of modern technology? Rare earth elements—a set of 17 related metals, mostly shunted off to a tacked-on lower line of the periodic table—are crucial to the way we live now; responsible for miniaturizing computers and headphones, powering hybrid cars and more. The time has come to get better acquainted with the molecules that make our modern world run.

Mining Feeds: Canada aboriginal movement poses new threat to miners ~ Idle No More : An aboriginal protest movement that's often compared with Occupy Wall Street has the potential to disrupt mining projects across Canada, threatening to undermine the country's coveted reputation for low-risk resource development.  

What is the "Idle No More" Indigenous movement in Canada all about.

- Space mining video (April 2013)





Mother Jones article about health issues of human mining extraction of REE


Thursday, March 14, 2013

Video: "Mind Afire: A graphic Novel about sustainable energy visionary Nikola Tesla by Abigail Samoun & Elizabeth Haidle





Watch Video of Tesla graphic illustrative novel proposal.
A now successful, Kickstarter fund raising campaign to create a 64 page graphic novel for teens and adults on the wondrous life of Nikola Tesla: Inventor, visionary, and unsung sustainable scientific genius of free energy. Born in 1856 dying poor and alone in 1943, to this day he inspires people all over the world to channel their creative imagination into innovating free, clean, sustainable energy for all.




Video animated short: "Blowhard" (1978) by Brad Caslor, Christopher Hinton, National Film Board of Canada / Office national du film du Canada

Click here to watch animated short "Blowhard" which tells the story of J.B. Edwards, an Easterner who went west to create a fuel company called Consolidated Dragons. When supply of dragons starts drying up, company's profits are sorely affected and a solution has to be found.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Video: short documentary "Making The Invisible Visible" by Christoph Malin (Photography in Space: Earth From Above)

Watch the short film by  Christoph Malin "Earth From Above" - "Making the Invisible Visible"  ~ Dr. Pettits' innovative photographic work and his passion has changed the way we see Earth from space. Accompanied with great info on the challenges of astrophotography aboard the ISS by Dr. Pettit, the shortfilm features a great compilation of 4 timelapses ("intro", "startrails", "fisheye" and "aurorae"). Now welcome aboard the International Space Station - enjoy stunning photography and timelapses from the Space Station.

About: Earth From Above – background info on Christoph Malin's new ISS shortfilm documentary

Video animated short: "Jo Jo In The Stars" by Marc Craste


Watch "Jo Jo In The Stars" (12 minute) award winning animated short story about love, self-sacrifice, and jealousy played out against a black and white world that is both nightmarish and hauntingly beautiful.


Directed by Marc Craste

Winner of 2004 BAFTA Award for Best Animated Short Film


Video short film "Choros" by Michael Langan

A chorus of women are borne from the movements of a single dancer in this dreamlike "pas de trente-deux."

"Choros" premiered at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2012 and has gone on to play dozens of festivals worldwide. website-About