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Sorry, not really panda porn.

Given pandas' population difficulties, "getting it on" probably isn't something they engage in very often, but don't tell the world's eager panda-philes that.

China has set up voyeur-friendly web cams that stream panda content live from the mountains of Sichuan in four 20-minute segments every day (except for weekends) so that, as Reuters says, "people around the world can spy on pandas doing what comes naturally to them."  

If you're thinking "hot panda sex!," don't.

Even when conditions in the "fog-shrouded mountains" permit, panda voyeurs can witness largely sedate bears munching on bamboo shoots, sleeping, (and slowly going extinct).

Wolong Giant Panda Reservation and Research Centre, home to 154 wild and about 80 artificially bred giant pandas, launched the service on its Web site (www.pandaclub.net).

"PandaCam" will go live for four 20-minute periods a day, giving the animals a bit of privacy at weekends, Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

Uncomfortable spying on pandas in China? Try the U.S. version!

Yep, we have our very own PandaCam, already in action, trained on the bears at the National Zoo. Cute in the way that only captive, pacing pandas can be. (Is it on a loop or is that the third lap in the last ten minutes?) Fun!

Merely an excuse to mention the World Cup.

I'd been trying to find an excuse to mention the World Cup here, other than the Green Goal thingie.

And here is an amusing, feeble (though legit) excuse.

Frog Chorus Keeps Ukraine Soccer Players Awake

Ukraine's World Cup players complained on Tuesday that frogs were disturbing the sleep of the squad at their lakeside hotel in Potsdam.

Central defender Vladislav Vashchyuk told the Sovetsky sports newspaper that frogs in the Templiner See lake were keeping the players awake at night ahead of their Group H opener against Spain on Wednesday.

"We have agreed we will take fishing rods to hunt these frogs," said Vashchyuk.

Hartmut Pirl, manager of the hotel where the squad are staying, told Reuters he had not had any complaints.

"There are frogs that croak. This is a nature reserve," said Pirl.

A ready excuse for getting spanked by Spain, or a genuine gripe with nature? The world may never know.

Wool and silk pass the test

Vindication is a strange animal (like unto a marmot, or maybe an echidna) creeping up where one least expects it. Such as the BBC yesterday.

A fan, nay, a necessary devotee of natural-fiber clothing (see: Multiple Chemical Sensitivities), I often get flak from fellow outdoorspeople for outdoorsifying in non-synthetics. Especially so on high-altitude peaks in Colorado. But, newsflash, people: natural fibers like wool and silk, when worn correctly in layers, can hold up to just about everything synthetics can, even on Everest.  Or on 14,000-foot peaks in the U.S. Or in the high Sierras.

Of course, no material is perfect -- super-wet conditions in bulky woolies, for example, often result in a seeming sheep's worth of extra weight -- but in mostly dryish mountain conditions, they're the mountain goat's pajamas.

Wearing replica gear made from gabardine, wool, cotton and silk, [mountaineer Graham Hoyland] wanted to disprove the common myth that the 1920s climbers were ill-equipped to reach the summit [of Mount Everest] ...

The three-year project, led by Professor Mary Rose and Mike Parsons, revealed that Mallory's clothing was highly effective at providing protection at high altitude.

The layered natural materials used to construct the garments were found to be excellent at trapping air next to the skin.

The outer layer of gabardine was hardwearing and water-resistant yet breathable. But the clothing was also lighter than modern gear -- the lightest ever to be used on Everest.

Umbra on personal fans

Dear Umbra, So the weather is turning hot again. I got my electric fans out of the closet. On the back of these, there are no indications of what amount of electricity they use. Could you illuminate which ones are most efficient? Howard Nelson Portland, Ore. Dearest Howard, Not really. Efficiency is very important for […]

Possible Whaling Majority at the IWC

The International Whaling Commission will gather this Friday in St. Kitts for its annual meeting. For 20 years now, Japan and other pro-whaling nations have done everything in their power to convince the IWC to reverse the whaling moratorium it set back in the '80s.

What remains a mystery is why Japan is so obsessed with the resumption of whaling. Recent polls suggest that fewer than half of Japanese people have ever tried whale meat, and just 1% eat it regularly. Over 2,000 supermarkets have stopped selling it in the last few years, due to lack of demand.

Help Grist and Gristmill improve

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Grist editorial team will be at a retreat in our top-secret mountaintop redoubt, plotting world domination. As a result, there will be no Daily Grist and blogging will be light.

We're discussing the next steps for this little web magazine of ours, which is growing so fast and has so much potential.

So, what would you like to see for Grist? Or more particularly, for my own selfish purposes, what would you like to see for Gristmill?

Where do you want Gristmill to go? What do you want from it? More posts? Fewer? More guest authors? Fewer? Different subject matter? (Less energy, more wilderness? Less global warming, more population?) More avenues for reader participation? More avenues for activism and organizing? An email subscription option? A print-this-post option? Anonymous commenting? A pony?

Think big. Think small. Just think, and let me know what Gristmill would become if you were emperor.

What should I ask Anthony Flint?

On Thursday, I'm going to be chatting with Anthony Flint, author of This Land: The Battle Over Sprawl and the Future of America.

Despite a modest revival in city living, Americans are spreading out more than ever -- into exurbs and boomburbs miles from anywhere, in big houses in big subdivisions. We cling to the notion of safer neighborhoods and better schools, but what we get, argues Anthony Flint, is long commutes, crushing gas prices and higher taxes -- and a landscape of strip malls and office parks badly in need of a makeover.

This Land tells the untold story of development in America -- how the landscape is shaped by a furious clash of political, economic and cultural forces. It is the story of burgeoning anti-sprawl movement, a 1960s-style revolution of New Urbanism, smart growth, and green building. And it is the story of landowners fighting back on the basis of property rights, with free-market libertarians, homebuilders, road pavers, financial institutions, and even the lawn-care industry right alongside them.

Flint is a longtime journalist and author on the subjects of urban planning, density, sprawl, land use, and related matters about which I am highly interested but woefully ignorant. Hopefully I'll learn something.

What should I ask him?

XONSUX

Bruce Wright of the Conservation Science Institute sent us an amusing story. For six years, his wife has had a vanity plate on her car: XONSUX. She was surprised that the DMW let it past, but after six years she thought she was safe. Not so! Not in Alaska. Apparently someone complained, and the DMV […]

Finally …

... a hybrid minivan!

In, uh, Japan.

Water power

Anybody know what's up with this? Seems too good to be true, and you know what they say about stuff like that.

(hat tip: reader Laurence)