Just in time for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which I think involves a bunch of penguins who attempt to pilot an airplane, hundreds of penguins have been airlifted back to the South Atlantic by the Brazilian Air Force.

Over a 1000 penguins have washed up on Brazil’s beaches in the past couple of months , probably due to strong currents. By the time most of the penguins landed on the beach they were close to death, so before being sent back to safety they were given shots of glucose, vitamins and antibiotics.

Check out the pictures of the penguins on the move

It’s called Reverse Graffiti. It’s called - “HOW do people come up with ideas like this, when I stare at my computer all day and come up with NIL?”

People take cleaning agents, and go to battle with the elements - creating art by sketching out designs in dust and dirt. Cool.

For the article featuring 35 top examples of Reverse Graffiti click here

http://www.environmentalgraffitti.com

Big thanks to Jessica D. for letting me know about it!

The father-son company, Human Car, have invented a car even more eco-friendly than the hybrid or whatever that hydrogen fuel-cell is.

According to this article from Wired the Imagine car is something straight out of The Flintstones (click to watch the intro). Only instead of Fred and Barney pedaling, it uses arm power (along with a little battery support). So, take one part modern Stone-Age family, one part early rail car, mix in some batteries and some recumbent features and you get the Imagine!

Hopefully cruising into a college campus near you, the Imagine is so green that it doesn’t even use ethanol – it uses calories! So, it’s clean and it fights obesity (which based on the season premiere of The Office is apparently an epidemic of huge proportions).

Photo from Phil Regan’s Cool Design Blo g -

For more old car photos - MichielVerburgh’s Flickr Collection

Although too late for me and my bro, due to rising gas prices it is now really cool to own an old car . ( My brother and I clung to our mother’s 1990 Aqua Honda Accord for dear life, even through those little transmission problems….did you know you can still drive a car with transmission problems? Just go down a hill if you wan to accelerate, and always gas through the turns.)

A recent LA Times article from Ken Bensinger tells the tale of Danius Tarman. Danius is a muscle car man, and owns 3 muscle cars but instead turns to his 16 year-old Honda Civic Hatchback to get himself to and from work everyday (100 mile trip). The car gets 61 miles a gallon!

That’s not the only car to get amazing gas-mileage. Many of the cars from the 70s, 80s and 90s were created as high-efficiency because the auto industry researches believed the big car days were over. In fact, many of those early 90s cars get better mileage than the ones they’re spitting out now.

So….dust off that gem cousin Gerry never could bring himself to throw out and that’s still sitting in your aunt’s driveway. It just very well could be a mileage mastermind. If you can find one, try a 1994 Pontiac Firefly (48 mpg) or the 1991 35 mpg Ford Escort.

Darius says that it’s very difficult to find old-model cars these days because auto officianados realize what gas-friendly cars they are. So if you don’t have one of these old cars sitting on your lawn, hurry quick to your nearest rental car spot or just have fun finishing reading the LA Times article and reminiscing about how you and your bro really WERE cool cruising around town at 30 mph in your old hunky- Honda. (and eco-friendly)

LA TIMES ARTICLE - MOre Stuff about Cars and Gas And Stuff

Cool Blog about used cars //bestusedcars.wordpress.com

High Gas Prices - Bad News, People using more bikes - Good News!

First some math (we know you love actually using that part of your brain!).

• The energy used to produce 1 car could produce 100 bicycles
• Bicycling is 110% more efficient than walking
• Big Bike Commuters: Tokyo, Japan and Odense Denmark - 25%, Dhaka, Bangladesh - 40%, Groningen, Netherlands - 50%, Tiangiin, China - 77%!

At only 1% overall, US bike-to-work commuters lag sorely behind the rest of the world. But in 2008 bike sales rose from 5.8 to 6 billion over the previous year. Bike shops and second-hand stores are seeing increases, and if mom and pops didn’t have time to teach you that life skill, there are now a plethora of local bike schools that will help you get on your bike and ride through the toughest of terrains (like city streets).

If you weren’t aware, the US Government actually did a really good thing: in 2003 they alloted $3 billion for bicycle and pedestrian improvements under the Transportation Equity Act. This is one reason why you might be looking around now and finally noticing all those bike lanes popping up. (yes, those are bike lanes, NOT places to stop and check your voice-mail)

Of all the US cities, however, Portland, Oregon gets the gold medal; inspired by European cities, they created 300 miles of bike paths and special “green boxes” which allow bikers to stop ahead of cars at intersections for better visibility. This resulted in a 150% increase in bike usage over the past 5 years.

Find your city’s bike and commuter statistics at www.bikesatwork.com

*wouldn’t it be really good news if, in addition to a hybrid car tax-break, the US Government gave tax breaks for buying a bike?!

Who has an “IN” with the IRS? Anyone? Anyone? Contact me directly …I have many questions for you…Wait, that’s another story…

I don’t know the how, or the when – but a village in eastern India banded together and rescued two elephants from drowning – using some sticks and some rope.

That is amazingly good news!

Watch the video:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7496694.stm