September 22, 2011 - Car-Free Day

nAND Elephant Appreciation Day

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Todaynis special for two excellent reasons: it is a day when many peoplenall over the world will give up driving their cars and take to thenstreets on bikes and foot, reclaiming city streets and enjoying anslower pace; and it is also a day to learn about and honornelephants.

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nSomenpeople, somewhere in the world, might combine the two, parking theirncar and catching a ride on their elephants! n

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nImagine…

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nInnhis famous song “Imagine,” John Lennon didn’t say,n“Imagine all the people walking and cycling car-free…” But cannyou imagine it, anyway? Can you imagine a cleaner future with nonfreeways and traffic jams and car accidents? How would people getnaround without cars?

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nWell,nof course people already take trains and subways, walk and bicycle. New York City is famous for being a city with a lotnof people on foot and in subways; London boasts its “Underground,”nParis its “Metro,” and many other cities offer rapid transit asnwell. Some cities have wonderful bike lanes and bike trails,nincluding Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon, in the U.S.,nand (worldwide) Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

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nButnfuturists and science fiction writers sometimes picture differentnsorts of transport. Isaac Asimov pictured cities with moving stripsnlike those at airports – but a series of strips of increasingnspeeds. Pedestrians would hop onto a slow-moving strip, then move tonfaster and faster strips; as they neared their destination,npedestrians would move back down the slower strips until they reachednthe unmoving sidewalk. Many sci-fi writers have aircabs and flycyclesnand other air-borne vehicles in their future worlds, and of coursenthere is the longed-for jet pack!

nTake a peek at these picturednpossibilities.

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nForninformation about the people who organize Car-Free Day, go here.

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nNow,nfor our pachyderm friends…

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nElephantsnare unique for their incredibly useful trunks. Elephants use theirntrunks to tear plants and raise food to their mouths, of course—butndid you know that an elephant’s trunk is delicate enough to be ablento pluck a single blade of grass, yet also strong enough to rip upnsmall trees? Other uses for the trunk are to suck up water and thennblow it into their mouths for drinking, or spray it onto their bodiesnfor bathing. Elephants also spray dirt and mud onto their bodies forna sort of sunscreen. Trunks are also used as snorkels when swimming.

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nElephantsnuse their trunks to make “hand”shake greetings, caresses,nwrestling moves, or threat displays. Elephants even defend themselvesnwith their trunks! They sometimes flail their trunks at attackers,nand sometimes they are able to grasp and fling away intruders.

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nTrunksnare also useful in smelling. An elephant’s trunk is like a periscopenfor odors – the elephant can raise its trunk into the air andnswivel it from side to side to determine the location of othernelephants, possible attackers, or food,

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nAndnlet us never forget the most important use for elephant trunks – tonhold a paintbrush. Just kidding! But you’ve got to see this and this other video of elephants painting, if you’ve never seen them before!n By the way, these videos are not “tricks” – the elephantsnreally do apply the paint to the canvas, as you see, although humansnload the brushes for them. In the case of the elephant painting annelephant, she was trained to do the particular brush strokes thatnmake up the picture, but it is interesting to see how carefully shengoes over previous brushstrokes to make them darker, and I also findnit interesting to see that, although she has good control, it looksnlike hard work for her to maintain that control. The abstractnpaintings that elephants make are supposed to be unique, original,nthe elephants’ own creations.

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nTonlearn more about elephants, even the ones who don’t paint, check outnthe National Geographic Kids site or the page “About Elephants.” n

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