Cities Tango: Sydney, Melbourne

Cities Tango: Sydney, Melbourne links the Powerhouse Museum with Federation Square and allows communities  to interact with one another. In each city images will be collected from screen locations and the work will react to them. The analysed information will also influence the work’s behaviour in the other city. Changing colour stripes will be interleaved with segments of images of the remote location at different times of the day and mixed with real time snapshots of people at the remote site.

runs til 15 May 2009
beta_space, Cyberworlds Gallery, L1 – Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

See www.betaspace.net.au for more information.

No-alcohol “beer” a hit in Japan

Good news for pregnant mums, designated drivers (Japan has zero blood alcohol tolerance for drivers), and old guys who can’t hold their liquor! A beer that tastes like the real thing but has absolutely no alcohol in it has hit the stores. Kirin’s “Free” beer seems to have broken the taste barrier that has dogged other non-alcoholic (dog’s) brews and has been such a huge hit that it has sold out all over the country.

(Source: TT commentary from reuters.com, Apr 23, 2009)

Saving Gorillas with your old mobile phone

Gorillas and mobile phones are not often associated with each other but unbeknownst to many people the humble mobile phone is having a dramatic impact on the survival of Gorillas and many other primates in West Africa.

It’s what inside the mobile phone that’s the problem: coltan. Coltan is a metallic ore and its illegal mining in West Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is leading to an alarming decrease in Gorilla and other primate habitat.

As the land is cleared for mining of coltan, roads are paved which expose the once protected Gorilla populations to poaching, and many fall victim to the bush meat trade.

While this is a serious environmental issue, it is also one that most people can do something about. It only requires a small action; recycling your old or unwanted mobile phones. This will help lessen the demand for coltan and, if enough people recycle their phones, can help ease the pressure on Gorillas and other primates in West Africa.

Melbourne Zoo has partnered with Aussie Recycling to create the mobile phone recycling campaign.

They’re Calling On You! You can download a postage paid label from the website www.zoo.org.au/ or drop off your phone to Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary or Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Source URL: http://www.zoo.org.au/Calling_on_You

Article cited at Pure Green website

Cow Genome Decoded

The humble cow has now had its entire genome sequenced, a new study says. Six years in the making, the feat could lead to healthier, cheaper beef and milk, according to scientists.

A genome is the full set of genes that gives rise to a particular species. Genes are combinations of chemical “letters” that determine animals’ and plants’ physical traits, from hair color to body shape.

Using the newly decoded cow genome, “you are going to be able to predict an animal’s performance on the basis of its [genetic makeup],” biologist Harris Lewin said.

Cow breeders should be able to identify genes responsible for desirable traits and match cows to produce calves with those traits.

This “genomic selection” should enable breeders to raise cows that require less feed and produce lean meat, for example.

Less feed means lower costs for farmers—savings that presumably would be passed on to the consumer.

More from National Geographic

LEGO recreation of the torture technique known as waterboarding

Who’d have thunk lego was so political! LEGO’s recreation of the torture technique known as waterboarding, which has been used by the USA in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and Bagram airbase, as well as in other “black sites” in the name of the War On Terror.

As we now know, the CIA destroyed thousands of images and videos of interrogations using torture, including those showing waterboarding.

LEGO’s Flickr page

U.S. Soldier Who Killed Herself–After Refusing to Take Part in Torture

With each new revelation on U.S. torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gitmo,  Greg Mitchell is reminded of the chilling story of Alyssa Peterson.

“Appalled when ordered to take part in interrogations that, no doubt, involved what we would call torture, she refused, then killed herself a few days later, in September 2003. Of course, we now know from the torture memos and the U.S. Senate committee probe and various new press reports, that the “Gitmo-izing” of Iraq was happening just at the time Alyssa got swept up in it. Alyssa Peterson was one of the first female soldiers killed in Iraq. A cover-up, naturally, followed”.

More from Editor and Publisher

New York Street Advertising Takeover

Jordan Seiler’s incredibly ambitious “New York Street Advertising Takeover” has become a reality, with more than 120 illegal billboards throughout the city white washed by dozens of volunteers. NYSAT was organized as a reaction to the hundreds of billboards that are not registered with the city, and therefore are illegal. While illegal, these violations are not being prosecuted by the City of New York, allowing the billboard companies to garner huge profits by cluttering our outdoor space with intrusive and ugly ads.

After the illegal spots were white washed, late in the day yesterday over eighty artists transformed these spaces into personal pieces of art.

More via the Wooster Collective website.

Bikes Move Us

(BMU) is a growing community of like minded individuals who share a passion for bikes whether it’s fixies, mountain bikes, single speeds, BMX, road bikes, recreational riding, excercise, modifying or racing.

Website:
http://www.bikesmoveus.com

Experimenta Playground at Bendigo Art Gallery

Philip Worthington
Shadow Monsters 2005
Still image from interactive installation
Courtesy of Experimenta
Photo by Andrew Lloyd

Ever wanted to play with puffer fish and electric eels without getting wet? How about watching your shadow take on monstrous features as it grows scales, teeth, eyes and horns?

Escape into Experimenta Playground, an exhibition of artworks that beg to be touched and invite your interaction.

Experience this exhibition of innovative and playful artworks and videos by over 30 Australian and international artists. With interactive artworks, video installations and extreme art on screen, this is art that steps out from the shadows of computer games and leaves mouse, keyboard and joystick behind.

Exhibition dates: 25 April – 7 June

Artist and Curator talk
11am Saturday 25 April

Join Tamera King, Curator, and Narinda Reeders, contemporary media artist, for an insightful discussion about the exhibition Experimenta Playground. This is a free event, all welcome.

Bendigo Art Gallery (03) 5434 6088

Open Daily 10am – 5pm (excluding 25 December)
Entry is by donation
Wheelchair access

Bendigo Art Gallery
42 View St
Bendigo VIC 3550

Put an end to ‘impromptu’ shopping trips for tampons

After a girl’s weekend away, where the subject of being caught out came up, Melbourne businesswoman Paula Rodgers set up service company impromptu.

impromptu offers women a reliable and convenient online service, from which they can buy condoms, tampons, pads and incontinence products from Australian-owned companies.

“After talking with my friends about how often we were caught out when our periods started, I started thinking about how I could help women plan better for such a regular, expected event,” Ms Rodgers said.

“I set up impromptu to give women the convenience of having a service they could rely on to deliver tampons, pads, condoms and incontinence products when they needed them.

“There is no other service like this in Australia or New Zealand and it gives customers peace of mind to get on with their lives, confident they’ll never have to make an impromptu dash to the shops to stock up again,” she said.

For more information or to place an order log on to www.impromptu.com.au or www.impromptu.co.nz