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Environment
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DA Lashes Out Against ‘Draconian’ New Weather Bill
12 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
There’s a storm rapidly brewing over a very contentious amendment to the South African Weather Service Bill. The Democratic Alliance has slammed the “undesirable” and “draconian” sections on the grounds that they are a threat to the safety of all South Africans and would create an unfair monopoly over weather forecasting.
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Should We Farm Rhino?
11 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 12 Comments
On the back of the dreadful news that eight rhino carcasses were found in the Kruger National Park within the space of 24 hours the day before yesterday, a South African columnist and well respected journalist has asked whether we should be farming rhino.
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Fire Services To The Rescue
10 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
The Cape Town City Bowl has, luckily, had a fairly quiet fire season. Just before midday today, a fire started on Signal Hill, and drew the attention of two helicopters, which brought it under control rapidly. Pictured is the yellow Working on Fire, chopper dropping water from its Bambi Bucket.
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Uproar Over Chapman’s Peak Office Development
10 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Hout Bay residents are furious about a R54 million office development along Chapman’s Peak that will be used by Entilini, the company that operates the Chapman’s Peak toll road. It goes without saying that the development would be one of the most exclusive offices to work at in the country, but is it legal?
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Tourist Miraculously Survives After Bungee Cord Snaps [VIDEO]
09 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 4 Comments
Ever wondered how many times a bungee cord can be used before it snaps? The answer, as an Australian tourist recently found out, turns out to be about 50 000 times. Miraculously she survived her 111-meter nosedive into the Zambezi River – video after the jump.
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Alien World Discovered Beneath Antarctica [VIDEO]
05 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Scientists researching previously unexplored deep-sea vents in Antarctica stumbled upon a host of new species, including hairy-chested crabs, ghostly octopus and predatory starfish, in what has since been dubbed a “lost world”.
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What Can Be Done For Rhino Poaching Orphans?
05 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Yesterday we brought you an update on the news of the hunter who has paid nearly a million rand to shoot an endangered trophy white rhino. But where rhinos are poached, there are even more far reaching implications, not least finding the resources to care for their orphaned young.
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Rhino Hunting Permits Are Common Practice In South Africa
04 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 3 Comments
A public and media outcry followed the release of information that a KZN businessman, who has not been identified, made a winning bid of R969 150 for the right to hunt a male white rhino in Mkuze Game Reserve. Rhino hunting permits are actually issued far more often than you might think.
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Samoa Cancels Friday
29 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
At the moment, Samoa is the last country to see the sun go down every day, but a change in the international dateline will now make it the first to see the sun rise. Samoa is getting ready to skip a day and shift its time zone forward by 24 hours.
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BBC Picks Giant Panda As “Woman Of The Year”
29 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
When it comes to representing females in the media, one has to tread very carefully in order to avoid offending people. This is a lesson the BBC has recently learned after they included a giant panda called Sweetie alongside Pippa Middleton and Adele in its list of the 12 women of the year.
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Hugh Hefner And Crystal Harris Involved In Custody Battle Over Puppy
27 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Life is difficult for those who live on a permanent diet of Viagra and velvet robes. Not only does Hugh Hefner have to juggle himself between a whole group of playmates, but now they want to take his puppies away from him as well.
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Shell Announces Huge Oil Spill Off Nigerian Coast, Worst In A Decade
23 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Shell has just alerted Nigerian coastal communities that up to 40 000 barrels of crude oil was spilled on Wednesday off the coast of the Niger delta while it was being transferred to a tanker about 120 kilometres off the coast. The spill is likely to be the biggest in a decade.
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Scientists Invent Solar Paint
23 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
A team of scientists has finished developing a cheaply manufactured paint-like product prototype that they hope you will eventually be able to put on the outside of your home. The paint will generate electricity from light – electricity that can then be captured and used to power the appliances and equipment on the inside of your home.
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Taxidermist Behind Bars For Importing Exotic Animal Parts [PICS]
22 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Miami taxidermist, Enrique Gomez De Molina, is facing five years of jail time and a quarter million US$ in fines for importing body parts of rare and exotic animals to build a series of bizarre hybrid taxidermy sculptures.
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What Is Santa’s Carbon Footprint?
22 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
While the polar ice cap melts away under Santa’s jolly black boots, let’s take a look at this cool infographic that illustrates the deep deep carbon footprint those hefty heels leave.
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BREAKING: Massive Animal Horn Bust In Tableview [UPDATED]
20 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 13 Comments
Aquila Game Reserve posted the following at 13h43 on their Facebook page: Saving Private Rhino – An Aquila Private Game Reserve Initiative have just received information about a “burning hair” smell and the sound of grinding coming from a garage at an apartment block in Tableview. Suspecting it could involve rhino horn, owner of Aquila […]
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Top Ten Animal Jerks Of 2011
19 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Most end of the year top ten lists are pretty boring, but this one is a little different. A New Zealand website has now released the top ten list of animals that were dicks in 2011 There’s even a South African on the list.
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Rhino Horn Smuggler Sentenced As Death Toll Rises To 443
15 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
National Geographic announced yesterday that we have lost a staggering 443 rhinos to poaching this year – a number that seems to climb exorbitantly on a daily basis. It’s with open arms that the country welcomes the sentencing of Hsu Hsien Lung to six years imprisonment for his part in rhino horn smuggling.
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Google’s Updated Streetview of Fukushima
13 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
True to the pledge it made back in July to digitally archive images of the parts of Japan affected by the March earthquake and tsunami, Google has uploaded imagery of post-earthquake Fukushima to Street View. They’ve also set up a ‘Build the Memory’ website which compares before-and-after shots of the affected towns.
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Monkey’s Paintings Fetch Up To R3500 Each [PICS]
13 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Pockets Warhol is white-capped capuchin monkey. He has been given that name because he uses his tail, hands, feet, and of course, a brush, to daub canvases with his own unique artistic paintings. Pockets has become a money-spinning machine for bosses at at Story Book Farm, a primate sanctuary in Canada, with his paintings selling for as much as R3 500 each. See examples of his work after the jump.
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Toronto’s Gay Penguins Not Gay – One Mates With Female
13 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Two male African penguins recently made worldwide headlines after it appeared the two might be gay. As it turns out, Toronto Zoo’s gay penguins were not really gay after all. A female has come between them, and they have officially been split up.
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Girl Waves At Bear. Bear Waves Back At Girl [VIDEO]
13 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
This clip, taken last year, is believed to have been filmed at the Olympic Game Farm in Washington. It features a huge Kodiak bear waving back at sightseers and has quickly become a hit on the internet. Viewers are particularly delighted by his cheery demeanour. I love how he gives that, “OH IT’S YOU!” look before waving back.
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Life Is Possible In “Large Regions” Of Mars
12 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
It’s official – Earth and Mars are similar enough for terrestrial life to be sustained on the red planet. Australian scientists have confirmed that organisms from our planet can survive on a substantial percentage of Mars. This study is said to be the best estimate yet of how habitable Mars is for Earth-dwelling microbes.
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Earliest Known Human Beds Found Near Durban
09 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Not only are the beds about 77 000 years old, but it appears they were also designed to ward off insects like mosquitoes. The fossilized material has been found at an ancient cliff shelter known as Sibudu, which is near to Durban on our east coast, and continues to fuel the debate that modern man evolved out of Africa.
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Chinese Lose Their Minds Over Zoo Animals
08 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Love is in the air at Yunnan Wild Animal Park in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, as millions of Chinese internet users have flooded staff at the park with requests to keep a very odd couple together.
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Kruger Park Halts Rhino Info On Maps And Notice Boards
07 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
On the back of the dreadful statistics that poachers have killed a new record of 405 rhino’s in South Africa since the beginning of the year, comes the news that the Kruger National Park will immediately halt the posting of rhino sightings on its notice boards.
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Pregnant Giraffe Saved From Swimming Pool [VIDEO]
07 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Wild at Heart is a British TV show being shot in South Africa. One of its stars is Lucy, a nine year old pregnant giraffe. This week she fell into a swimming pool on set – forcing rescue workers to demolish it in order to free her. Video after the jump.
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The Electric MINI Is At COP 17
06 Dec 2011 by Seth Rotherham / 1 Comment
The MINI E may well be the car that saves the world. It is currently at COP17 – the world’s climate change conference currently underway in Durban. This is quite a special little toy. Let me tell you a bit about it. According to plugincars.com, the 2010 Mini E – an all-electric version of the […]
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Scientists Are Going To Clone The Woolly Mammoth
05 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Scientists have thus far cloned sheep, mice, cats, horses and even a water buffalo, but now they want to clone a woolly mammoth. They also think they’ll be able to clone said mammoth within five years, all owing to a recovered thigh bone that has well-preserved bone marrow from permafrost soil in Siberia.
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Taiwan Bans Open Water Shark Finning
02 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Taiwan has the fourth largest shark-finning industry in the world, but it will soon become the first Asian country to ban the practice of removing shark fins in open water. But the majority of Taiwan’s glamorous hotels have refused to take shark-fin soup off the menu in order to do their bit for the cause.
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