Plastic-Bottle Boat to Sail Video -- National Geographic

Plastic-Bottle Boat to Sail Video October 7, 2009—Plastiki, a 60-foot-long (18.3-meter-long) catamaran made of more than 12,000 plastic bottles, will soon ply the Pacific Ocean to increase awareness of environmental problems.Welcome to the National Geographic video player.Video Sections

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- "Cove" Town Halts Dolphin Hunt - September 11, 2009—The Japanese town made infamous by the movie The Cove has temporarily suspended its hunt. The annual Taiji hunt claims around 2,000 dolphins, killed by hand after being herded into a shallow cove.
- "Spider-Man" Robot Shoots "Webs" - October 5, 2009—Inspired by the comic superhero, a spiderbot that can shoot cables with magnetic ends and walk on metal surfaces is under development at Israel's Ben Gurion University. The robot could someday move cargo or conduct rescue operations.
- 100+ Elephants Die in Drought - September 15, 2009—More than a hundred elephants in Kenya have died in the past year, say conservationists, who blame the worst drought in 12 years as well as continued poaching.
- Bizarre Fish Found - September 22, 2009—UPDATE: A gelatinous fish found off Brazil's Bahia coast was touted as a previously unknown species. But the 6-foot-long, toothed oddity may be a known member of a group of mysterious bottom-dwellers known as jellynose fish, another expert says.
- Cheetahs to Inspire Better Prostheses? - September 29, 2009—Don't look for seeing-eye cheetahs anytime soon, but the big cats may help disabled people in another way—by inspiring better artificial legs.
- Colored Solar Panels Touted - September 14, 2009—A "green" technology company has developed jewel-toned solar panels that capture different parts of the sun's light spectrum and don't need direct sunlight to work, the company says.
- Dust Turns Sydney Red - September 23, 2009—Australia's worst dust storm in 70 years blanketed east coast cities in outback grit and cast an orange glow over Sydney at dawn Wednesday morning.
- Flash Flood Traps Drivers on Roofs - September 9, 2009—Dramatic video shows people trapped on bus and van rooftops as a raging flash flood inundates a busy Istanbul, Turkey, roadway. More than 28 are reported dead in related flooding.
- Giant Diamond Found - October 2, 2009—Miners in South Africa recently found what may be one of the 20 largest diamonds ever uncovered—a 507.55-carat gem from the storied Cullinan Mine, which also produced the world's biggest diamond.
- Glacial Loss Spurs Warning - September 10, 2009—As officials meet in Denmark to prepare for the successor to the Kyoto Protocol, scientists in the Danish territory of Greenland warn of accelerated glacial loss, which could boost sea levels.
- Hamster-like Pika in Peril - September 4, 2009—Global warming is putting the pika, a hamster-like mammal, in peril. High in the Colorado mountains, a National Geographic researcher is trying to find out why its numbers are falling.
- Human Bones Burned in Swordmaking - September 8, 2009—When forged over burning human bones, swords become filled with "spirit," says the Taiwanese swordmaker behind the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sword and other masterpieces.
- Mafia Dumped Radioactive Waste? - September 16, 2009—Authorities are using a robotic submarine to investigate whether the Mafia dumped "hundreds" of radioactive-waste barrels into the sea off Italy.
- New Species: Fanged Frog, More - September 28, 2009—New species discovered along Asia's Mekong River in 2008—including the leopard gecko and a fanged frog that eats birds—are already under serious threat because of climate change, WWF says.
- Orphaned Gorillas Sent to Island - August 17, 2009—Six gorilla orphans of a critically endangered species have been released on an isolated African island. Conservationists hope to move the gorillas into the wider wilderness within three years.
- Past Nobel Superstars - October 6, 2009—Since 1901, the world's most prestigious award has recognized a range of pioneers and luminaries, from Albert Einstein to Al Gore.
- Plastic-Bottle Boat to Sail - October 7, 2009—Plastiki, a 60-foot-long (18.3-meter-long) catamaran made of more than 12,000 plastic bottles, will soon ply the Pacific Ocean to increase awareness of environmental problems.
- Quakes Rock Pacific Islands - October 1, 2009—A second earthquake shook western Indonesia as the death toll rose above 500 from Wednesday's powerful quake. Plus, see a computer simulation of Tuesday's Samoan quake and the resulting tsunami waves.
- Robo-Unicycle to Help Elderly? - September 24, 2009—The battery-powered "personal mobility device," designed by Japan's Honda Motor Company, is steered as a rider shifts his or her weight in the desired direction.
- Samoa Tsunami Flattens Villages - September 30, 2009—Tsunami waves, sparked by a powerful underwater earthquake, swept away people and cars and flattened villages in Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga in the South Pacific on Tuesday.
- Surrogate Moms Boost Wallaby Births - September 24, 2009—To help save South Australia's rare black-footed wallaby, researchers are taking joeys from the wild and placing them in surrogate pouches, encouraging wild moms to trigger "backup" pregnancies.
- Turtles Get Military Protection - September 18, 2009—Mexican Navy patrols are helping to protect endangered Golfina, or olive ridley, turtles as they begin laying eggs at "the most important beach for marine turtle nesting in the world."
- World's Tallest Man Named - September 17, 2009—The world's tallest man is an eight-foot-one-inch (246-centimeter) 27-year-old from Turkey, Guinness World Records announced today. A pituitary tumor caused his gigantism.
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