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From the facebook cause "Save the sharks" comes this message:

Sharkwater, the Rob Stewart documentary on sharks, is being released in the UK this Friday, the 22nd.

The film strives to dispel the myths about sharks and expose the current threat they face from over fishing and finning.

You can find details of the film on the following web site:

http://www.sharkwater.com

screenings are listed here:

http://www.sharkwater.com/screenings.htm

The more shark awareness is promoted the more chance we have of slowing down the current rate of decline of the shark populations – sadly the message all too often only reaches as far as the ears of the people that are already listening. Sharkwater provides us with a chance to change this, Rob Stewart has done all the hard work in putting it together, all we need to do is spread the word and encourage people to go along to watch.

As a foot note, IUCN have just announced that they will be adding a further nine species of sharks to their official list of animals at threat of global extinction, including the Scallop Hammerhead, which will be listed as endangered.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/02/18/eashark118.xml

Only yesterday I posted an interesting story about a robotic deep-sea glider that can run forever. It still needs batteries to establish radio contact with its mother ship, but its propulsion system runs on the heat energy of the ocean (where there’s lots of it).

And I made a jovial comment about the 18th century fascination with perpetual motion machines. The understandable obsession with limitless energy waned only when science academies and patent bureaus around the world stopped accepting inventions of such devices.

Guess what? Some has just done it again. Thane Heins of Ottawa has presented the very machine we were taught was impossible.

We don’t know yet if his design holds up to scientific scrutiny. To avoid being branded a lunatic, the inventor steers clear of claiming his engine actually IS a perpetual motion machine. But then again he dubbed his design "Perepiteia", and with a name like that people are going to make the connection.

If it works he can can call it anything he likes, because he might just have invented a very efficient electric motor.

Read the story at

TheStar.com | sciencetech | Turning physics on its ear

 … and don’t miss some of the hilarious comments on the story on the nerdiest website of them all ( hint: it sounds like /. )

PS.: Hold your horses before you start selling all your shares in Shell, BP, Statoil, E.ON and those more ‘traditional’ energy corporations. I have a feeling that if his thingy works, we’ll hear more of this guy!

Shrimp fisheries have long been blamed for destructive fishing techniques that have lead to the demise of fisheries around the world.

The percentage of by-catch is amongst the highest of any fisheries. Bottom trawlers frequently raze the seafloor and turn an important segment of the ecosystem into a benthic wasteland.

In the end it leaves less fish and shrimp to catch for everybody, so shrimping boats from six European Nations have now clean up their act are about get accreditation from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) which has the strictest rules in the world for its sustainability assessment.

Because the rate of catches has been too high, the fishermen have been blamed for the demise of the area’s shrimp stocks by retailers.

This has prompted the fishermen to look at becoming accredited under the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) eco-labelling scheme.

….

Read the full story:

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Fishermen ‘greening’ their catch

I would say, that is an excellent move and sure hope that more fisheries get certified. Supermarkets and retailers should also choose their suppliers on condition of an MSC certificate. In the end customers will actively ask for the label and they will start to care how their seafood is caught.

» Virgin Galactic unveils SpaceShipTwo; Plans open architecture spaceship | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Sir Richard Branson, the tycoon and adventurer behind Virgin Galactic and Burt Rutan, the tinkerer with a space dream, have presented a down-scaled model of their space ship. Now we know what the space ship will look like that will take tourists to space.

I should start playing the lottery, because tickets to zero-gravity don’t come cheap at  $200,000 a pop. You get a couple of minutes weightlessness for that, and I reckon that’s is pretty good value.

If you want that on Earth you could to take the lift to the 88th floor of the Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur, then cut the cables and enjoy zero-G in all its 4 seconds glory.

Of course you’ll be dead and not have enjoyed Virgin’s VIP treatment with all the free peanuts money can buy. 

Let’s hope the price drops and or I get rich enough quickly. Or both. I REALLY REALLY want to go. Won’t it be said that there are sooo many rich people on Earth who won’t book one of the hot seats? They’ll miss out on the ultimate Earth-from-above show.

Speaking of "Earth from above" – I wonder if Yann Arthus Bertrand, the author of the eponymous aerial photography books has signed a contract yet. He’s probably applied to be their staff photographer.

Sir Richard , can I at least have a model of the space ship, please? PRETTY PLEASE???

Elizabeth Burrows the manager of the Humane Society Grand Bahama and others have put together a compelling petition urging the Bahamian Government to ban the catching, possession and slaughter of Bahamian Sea Turtles.

Please look this over and sign if you agree:

Petition to Urge the Bahamas Government to Ban the Catching and Killing of Endangered Sea Turtles!

Basically existing legislation only prohibits the taking of Hawksbill turtles and allows the taking of Loggerhead and Green turtles. Leatherback or Kemp’s Ridley turtles are not addressed by the existing fisheries laws at all!

While most of the sea turtles are actually born in other countries where they enjoy a protected status, the Bahamas still allows them to be killed.

Read the whole text over at the petition website and sign it if you agree that ALL sea turtles should be protected in Bahamian waters.

Thank you,
an avid diver.

Source: The Plankton forum