KNIGHT WATCH

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT'S RECESSION-PROOF?

Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, has collected $40 million in deposits from would-be space tourists like physicist Stephen Hawking and ex-racing driver Niki Lauda and plans to start the trips within 2 years. Virgin Galactic sees these commercial trips as opening up more possibilities. In 20 years Galactic’s aircraft could transport passengers outside the atmosphere on long-haul trips – Britain to Australia in 2 ½ hours. The company claims seeing Earth from space transforms peoples’ attitudes. Reducing the cost of a space flight from millions to $200,000 certainly shows a transformation in Virgin Galactic’s attitude.

The Saleen S7 is the first supercar made in America, specifically in Irvine, California. It has 750 horsepower, can go 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds and has a top speed of 200 mph. For sports car lovers that is the good news. The bad news is this street-legal car with exposed wheels and aerodynamic styling costs $550,000. Because it is hand-built, only 12 are made a year; and it takes at least 8 months to get to the top of the waiting list. Obviously, you have to be a very good sport to own a Saleen S7 sports car.

“Pet Airways” agrees with many travelers who think that their pets don’t receive enough respect when traveling. That is why Pet Airways is a pet-only airline being launched in July 2009 to 5 cities – Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Chicago and Denver. All the people comforts have been removed from the Beechcraft planes and replaced with pet cages. There are different areas for cats and dogs – but there is no first class. However, each “pawsenger” will have a pet attendant to see to its needs. With fares – including food and water – starting at $149 each way, Pet Airways doesn’t think this is a fly-by-night idea.

Lucha VaVoom is the hybrid name for a vaudeville-like, variety show that has traveled to San Francisco and Amsterdam and is home-based in Los Angeles. Lucha refers to “lucha libre”, the Mexican freestyle wrestling in which the masked contenders occasionally fall into the crowd. The wrestling matches are shorter than in Mexico to make time for the VaVoom parts of the 2-hour show - the burlesque dancing and striptease. Emceed in both English and Spanish and billed as “sexo y violencia”, the show is looking for a second home base – and Las Vegas would be a good bet.

DO WE FORGET WE'RE ANIMALS TOO?

A study done by Texas Christian University found that lizards and other cold blooded animals sun to keep themselves warm and to get vitamin D. Chameleons – like humans – get vitamin D two ways – from food or from producing it in their skin with UV radiation. One group of chameleons was fed crickets dusted with vitamin D. The other group was fed regular crickets. The two groups were then put in enclosures offering sun and shade. The chameleons fed the regular crickets compensated by increasing their UV exposure with mathematical accuracy – while humans get burned by UV math. 

A survey published in “Applied Animal Behavior Science” found that virtually all animals with conscious awareness – which eliminates such animals as jellyfish and sponges – are pleasure seekers when it comes to play, food, touch and sex. For example, herring gulls play drop-catch tossing clams and other small, heavy objects to each other. Green iguanas will look for fresh, leafy lettuce when more nutritious reptile food has been provided. When wallowing hippopotamuses relax in watering holes, they’ll occasionally fall asleep. Electric fish seem to enjoy giving each other stimulating charges. Sometimes we forget the “i” in animal.

A study done by Swiss researchers gave six related species – red pandas, ferrets, genets, meerkats, mongooses and lions – water and solutions sweetened with natural or artificial sugars. If the animal drank more of the sweetened solutions in 24 hours, it was determined to be the animal’s preference. The lion drank only water, other species drank some of the naturally sweetened solutions, but the red pandas drank large amounts of the artificially sweetened solutions. Before this study only primates were known to have a taste for artificial sugars. Now when sugar substitutes are being tested, red pandas are likely to become guinea pigs.

A report done by the National Pest Management Association found that bedbugs have increased 71% in 5 years. They move in on suitcases or on used furniture. Although bedbugs can’t fly and emerge only at night, they can hide anywhere. Unfortunately, females produce about 500 offspring; and all bedbugs can live a year without feeding on the blood of warm bodies. Thankfully, they don’t transmit disease; but they are an allergy-causing problem. If you see clusters of tiny black fecal dots or one-quarter inch reddish brown discs of shed skin on a bed, it is time to hire licensed pest control. You have been bugged.

WHO KNEW IT COULD BE DONE?

Scientists have made spider silk, which is lighter and tougher than steel, 3 times tougher by adding small amounts of aluminum, titanium or zinc  The new material could be used to make super-strong textiles and high-tech medical materials like artificial bones and tendons, as well as stronger thread for surgical operations. Now researchers are looking for alternative ways to make the silk without spiders, such as duplicating their spinning technique using silk from silkworms. It seems that producing spider silk commercially can be difficult. When kept in captivity, spiders tend to eat each other.

Scientists have created a Formula 3 racing car that is powered by a biofuel of vegetable oils combined with waste from chocolate factories. The car itself is also eco-friendly. Its body is made of plant fibers, the steering wheel is made of plant-based fibers from carrots and other root vegetables and the seat is made of flax fiber and soybean oil foam. The car was built according to Formula 3 specifications for size, weight and performance; and hopefully it will reach speeds over 145 mph when it is tested on a race track. For now, however, the race car sounds good enough to eat.

Researchers working in Vietnam found a way to fight water pollution that could save millions of lives in the coastal cities of the developing world. They cleaned factory wastewater tainted with toxic metals like cadmium, iron, lead and zinc using crushed seashells. Shells are made of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate that swaps its calcium atoms for heavy metals, locking them into solid form. Local companies in developing countries pollute drinking water because they can’t afford expensive wastewater filtration systems, but mussel and clam shells are abundant and cheap. Companies in third world countries can afford to shell out for them.

Officials had to evacuate Australia’s Adelaide Zoo after Karta, a 27-year-old female orangutan, attempted to escape. She short-circuited an electric fence by jamming a stick into the wires connected to it. Then she piled up debris she found within her enclosure in order to climb up a concrete and glass wall. Veterinarians armed with tranquilizer guns stood by; but after sitting on top of the wall for about 30 minutes, Karta climbed back down. Now zoo officials have removed all vegetation from her enclosure that could be used for future escapes because Karta is one orangutan that doesn’t monkey around.

WHO'S MAKING THE BEST OF A BAD ECONOMY?

President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan is to improve the economy mainly by creating jobs. Forty billion is for creating “green jobs” and most of those will be traditional jobs gone greener. Geothermal, solar and wind energy production will be increased. There will be an increase in the production of biofuels – fuels made from non-food crops like cornstalks that emit 60% less greenhouse gases. The majority of U.S. buildings need retrofitting to save energy and U.S. products need redesigning to reduce or eliminate hazardous substances. Maybe even Kermit the frog will find it easier being green.

It’s not easier for Americans seeking cheap vacations at state parks and campgrounds. They’re likely to find higher fees and reduced hours because of economy-necessitated, budget cuts. Eleven state-run, historic sites in Illinois were closed for 5 months. Utah’s 43 state parks and museums hired fewer workers and eliminated jobs. Georgia’s state park budget was cut by about 40%. New York’s campgrounds opened later and are closing earlier than last year. Nevertheless, the number of state park visits is expected to stay about the same as 2008 – 748 million. State parks are still cheaper than hotels and motels to park vacationing families.

For families taking “staycations” the need for inexpensive, local entertainment during the recession has increased visits to unusual, local sites. In San Francisco the tour of the wastewater- treatment plant is overbooked. The Texas Prison Museum is having more visitors wanting to see things like the state’s first electric chair and toilet-paper roses made by inmates. The Rig Museum, an oil rig in Louisiana’s bayou, is having more visitors in spite of its highway billboard blowing down in 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. Of course, for those of us who can’t afford local attractions, there are always guilt trips.

People in Eppelheim, Germany – home of Mercedes Benz – might not go anywhere. The town has been especially hard hit economically. Unemployment is up 70% since 2008 and many employees are working fewer hours. However, the German government provides generous unemployment checks, universal health care and inexpensive university education for all citizens. For employees working fewer hours, their employers pay for actual hours worked and the government pays the difference between those hours and usual hours. Then there’s parental leave. Couples can divide 14 months of paid parental leave and a mother’s job is secure for 3 years per child. In Germany hard times seem softer.