Please take the time to read the quick tip below courtesy of The Green Guide:

Whether you're doing the dishes or wiping down the counter, be sure that your sponge isn't leaving behind a toxic mess. Though soppy kitchen sponges and dishrags are notorious breeding grounds for bacteria, avoid the temptation to pick up an antibacterial or antimicrobial option. Antibacterial products are usually treated with the pesticide triclosan, which provides no additional protection beyond that of plain soap, according to researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and may even contribute to the rise of some drug-resistant bacteria. Not only that, but when triclosan is exposed to water treated with chlorine (and most municipal water is ), it can form the probable human carcinogen chloriform. Kitchens aside, triclosan is showing up in places it shouldn't be, such as breast milk and U.S. waterways, where sunlight can convert it to carcinogenic dioxins that wind up in fish and rise through the food chain.

There are "greener" ways to lighten the bacteria load in sponges.

Wring sponges out after each use, and, between uses, keep them as dry as possible.

Disinfect sponges at least once a week by boiling them in water for three minutes or more, or soaking them in water with a splash of bleach or hydrogen peroxide. You can also pop them in the microwave for a minute or two.

Never clean cutting boards used for meat with a kitchen sponge. Use a washable dishrag instead.

It's also a good idea to replace sponges often, but keep in mind that many sponges are made from non-renewable petroleum. Opt for plant-derived, biodegradable cellulose sponges instead (Natural Value cellulose sponge, available at Westerly Natural Market at www.westerlynaturalmarket.com, or at www.naturalvalue.com, $.99 for one). Check out your local hardware store if the supermarket doesn't carry any, or skip the sponge altogether and stick to washable, reusable dish towels.

For more information check out this month's edition of the Green Guide and the newly launched Preserve Our Planet for more green features

Greg Chapman

Last week Astronauts aboard the space shuttle discovery docked at the international space station to prepare to move a seventeen and a half ton piece of solar panel from the shuttle to another area of the space station. The solar panel has been malfunctioning the past year because of limited space for the solar wings to expand. Astronauts hopes are for the solar panel to be moved and installed by the time European space agencies begin docking at the space station, (probably a good idea since where the solar panel was located is where those agencies would have to dock their space shuttles).

Well, it looks like it is a more complicated job then expected with the new found problems in the solar panel that will need future attention. Either way it is incredible that the Space Station is at the point that it is today. Before we know it the station will be complete.

Can't wait for the next velcro or microwave oven!

Videos related to space exploration

Lorne Townend - Director

Solar force, in essence, is a film about how natural variations in the sun’s magnetic fields affects our climate. Although this film isn’t about Global warming per se – it does cross over with aspects of it, making scientists a little nervous about speaking on the subject. Global warming is such a political ‘hot potato’ no one wants to burn their fingers, so to speak, if they can possibly help it. This was particularly true of the Danish team that we interviewed, who believe that cosmic rays may be a possible driving force behind global climate change; they had direct, and painful, experience of putting their heads above the scientific parapet and being shot at by most of the science community for their controversial views.

One scientist on a previous film I made about the Loch Ness monster, said how, after he had appeared in a previous film about the elusive creature, he had been pelted with breads rolls at the next scientific conference he attended – and his area of expertise was nematode worms!

Making these films, also made me realise how ‘ad hoc’ science can be – small teams of experts strung out across the globe, operating out of universities and obscure institutes, quietly honing and polishing their research, hoping others will agree with their findings at the next big conference on paeloclimatology or whatever it may be. 2 scientists, from the University of New Mexico, certainly fitted that profile. They were pioneering a technique whereby they could tell how wet or the dry the climate has been over millions of years, just by analysing stalagmites in caves. Their work isn’t widely known, but is now of immense interest to climatologists the world over. And now, thanks to us, the general public will get to hear about their little corner of science as well.

Click here to watch a preview

"Sea Monsters is a parade of money shots with academic credentials" - New York Times

National Geographic's new giant-screen film "Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure," currently in IMAX® and other specialty theaters, brings to life the extraordinary marine reptiles of the dinosaur age on the world's biggest screens in both 3-D and 2-D. From the giraffe-necked Styxosaurus and 20-foot "bulldog" fish Xiphactinus to the T-Rex of the ocean — the 40-foot super-predator Tylosaurus — these wondrous beasts defy imagination.

Greg Chapman - Research

Let me first say that there aren't many shows that I have seen on this network as gritty and powerful as last nights premiere of Explorer: Heroin Crisis. If you didn't have a chance to see the show, it chronicles the current state of heroin around globe and particularly the effects it has had on a recovering addict, a couple that can't seem to get away from the drug's stranglehold, and an Afghan farmer that does not have any other means to support his family other then growing the poppi plant.

The message of the show that really struck me is how fast the drug seeps in to peoples lives and acts as a life need for users and growers of opium. Take the profiles of the couple who are currently addicted to the drug and the young women who was a former addict - each day they needed to get a fix to feel normal and in some cases to avoid experiencing terrible withdrawl seizures. On the other hand the Afghan farmer needed to grow the poppi plant as a means to support his family or else his family would have no other way to earn an income. Either side you are on there is no win. Each side of the scenario is at the mercy of heroin.

However, the profile of Jenny, the young women who was hooked on the drug as a teen, acts as a light of hope for addicts that feel that their isn't any. She is living proof, that although it is an extremely hard drug to stop using there are means of getting off it with a strong support system in place.

Heroin production and usage right now seems to be at an all time high and not many people can figure out how to tackle this rapidly growing problem. And realistically the problem and challenge that Heroin poses to the world is huge and is not going away any time soon. The only thing that we can do is continue to educate and be involved with people around us.

Opium production is at an all time high.

You can catch a replay of Explorer: Heroin Crisis tonight, October 24, at 9p et/pt or on October 30 at 6p et/pt.

Lockdown: Tent City Premieres Sun. October 28, 8p et/pt An Environment No One Envies Lockdown profiles a Chain-Gang in Phoenix, Arizona. Watch a Preview >>

Kathryn Wallace - Associate Producer

The scene is straight out of Cool Hand Luke; inmates dressed in black and white striped jumpsuits, chained together at the ankle, breaking rock on the side of the road in the unforgiving desert sun. But this is no movie – this is modern life in Phoenix, Arizona. The chain gangers – mostly in the clink for misdemeanor charges – are serving time in Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s one-of-a-kind Maricopa County jail.

They don’t call him the toughest Sheriff in the West for nothing. His Tent City (boasting a tall neon “VACANCY” sign) is part PR-stunt, part tough-nosed penal colony – and my worst nightmare. Inmates sleep in military group tents, about a dozen double bunks to a tent, fully exposed to everything the desert can throw at you. Temperatures topping 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, contrasted by freezing winter nights, dust storms, scorpions, and on top of that – hundreds of other inmates in a small fenced in space, without bars or safe harbor.

There is no personal space and there are no luxuries. No girlie magazines, no TV, no cigarettes, and a small humiliation included in your county-issued clothing: along with the aforementioned black and white jumpsuit comes pink underwear.

And then there’s the food. My first day at Tent City, I joined Sheriff Arpaio as he gave a guided tour of Tent City to a group of curious elderly folks bussed in from southern Arizona. As we weaved our way through tents and inmates, the Sheriff declared (to sustained applause, by the way) that he had been able to cut the cost of feeding one inmate down from 90 cents to 75 cents a day; it costs over a dollar a day to feed one of his K9s. Inmates exists on green-ish bologna, no coffee and no hot lunches.

Certainly there are plenty of people – many of them at the American Civil Liberties Union – that contend the conditions within Tent City are inhumane, but I got a different feeling from the community – and surprisingly from the inmates confined in the jail system.

The heart of Tent City – and what makes it notorious – is the Chain Gang. Sheriff Joe makes sure the community gets an eyeful of the Chain Gang, putting the inmates on display at every community function as a warning to would be rule-breakers. Despite legal challenges and the scrutiny of public interest groups, the voters of Maricopa County keep Tent City and the chain gang in business.

What I didn’t know is that the Chain Gang is elite. Not just any old inmate gets to be chained together in public, supervised by an officer wielding a high-powered rifle. No. You have to be special. You have to wait your turn, be selected, and pass muster that includes an entire small-print list of rules. There is a bed inspection every morning, and if your cell, uniform and boots aren’t perfect, you don’t go out to work.

I pulled myself out of bed one morning at 4am to go out with the women’s chain gang – the only female chain gang in the world, I was told. When I arrived at the jail, the women were fully dressed, standing at attention and awaiting inspection before the sun even rose. Chain Gang veterans called roll call, and left boots were chained to left boots. They marched to the van calling out in cadence: “We are the Chain Gang!” (Stomp. Rattle) “The world’s only lady chain gain.” (Stomp. Rattle) They said it with enough pride I had to ask about it.

The veterans spoke first. They’d earned their stripes as an ordinary Chain Gang member and were now given the responsibility of teaching the newbies. This was the most responsibility they’d known in their lives, they said, and it made them feel capable. I got some head nods on that. The inmates had pride in their work. And this was the stunner – these women said they were ok with their treatment, the tents, the desert heat, the sour milk and bad bologna. “If it were easy here, I might not work so hard when I get out to never, ever come back here,” one inmate told me.

Maybe some people need a nightmare to wake up.

Related Posts:

A Cougar waits, and scopes the landscape for potential prey.

Vancouver Island, or Cougar Island as it is becoming known as, has more cougar attacks on humans then anywhere else in the world. Nat Geo along with two teams of experts investigate why this is happening on this island.

It begins this Saturday at 9p et/pt.

Super Strength premieres Monday October 22, 10p et/pt Can you match the strength of the Pumphrey Brothers? Preview a clip and let us know if you can match their might.

Craig Pumphrey

As we walked into this huge hanger it was amazing how they were able to fit all of the equipment into one area. There was scientific equipment everywhere, cameras, high-speed cameras, infrared cameras, load cells and a jungle of wires to huge plasma screens. I had a feeling of "this is the real deal" mixed with the feeling of being a human lab rat. This was also what I've been looking for, to get actual data on the impacts we can generate. For years my brother Paul Pumphrey and I have traveled the world performing these displays of power, but we never had scientific fact to back up what we did. It's hard to answer a question like "How hard can you hit?" or "How much force does it take to break that stack of concrete?" These questions and many like them we never had the answers to ... until now.

Although this was a setting for an in-depth study of strength, everywhere Paul and I go we are sure to have a good time. We had all the camera guys laughing and having a good time to the point it was hard to start filming without having to stop because of the laughing. Paul is a regular comedian, and we have this thing when we’re together — it is tag team comedy show. I can say for sure no matter how stressful the atmosphere is we can make it more laid back, and that's our style.

The caliber of talent was very impressive as well, with each person having an impressive portfolio of achievements and titles. It was very interesting to see the differences in strengths between a power lifter and a strongman. It was obvious everyone possessed an impressive amount of strength and power, but at the same time not everyone was created equal. Even though we all had impressive backgrounds, talents and abilities, there were things that each of us could do that others could not. Most people look at strongmen and automatically assume that they can do anything that would be associated with strength. On this show Super Strength we discovered the complete opposite.

The thing that makes Paul and me unique is not only the feats of strength we are able to do but also the repeatability with which we are able to do them, without injury. We not only perform feats of strength no one in the world has ever done, but the way we perform them is a show unto itself. Of course, this did not happen overnight. In fact, we have been doing this for nearly 20 years. In those years we have had our share of broken bones, lacerations, bumps and bruises. This is where most people give up and quit. We never did. As time passed by we learned a lot and in turn developed our own art of breaking. You see, there are a lot of martial arts schools around the world teaching every martial art known to mankind. The question I would ask is this ... How many schools are there that teach the art of breaking? Even when you achieve your black belt in most schools the instructor will have the student break something, a board or a brick ... something. The problem is, no one teaches the student how to do this. If there is one thing about breaking I can tell you it's this: There is a big difference between breaking boards or bricks and most martial arts strikes and techniques. The application and execution between the two are different.

The data we received from our strikes were staggering to say the least, and the scientists are true experts in their fields. The talent was some of the best in the world, and their displays of power and strength were amazing. Paul and I had a blast, and we can't wait to hang out again with everyone who was a part of this history-making event. Everyone was very professional and fun to film with, the set was amazing in every detail and the experience will stay with me a lifetime.

Check out a preview before the premiere on Sunday October 21, 9p et/pt Nat Geo revisits this classic film and so can you! Stream the classic film here.

Nat Geo took you through the aging process during Inside the Living Body, now it takes you on a ride through the human body to figure out what exactly all of our moving parts are doing. A showcase of the amazing "machines" that make up our bodies. Producer Chad Cohen took some time to detail what it was like to actually film inside the body.

Nat Geo: What makes this show different than other shows about the human body?

Chad Cohen: This program shows how the entire body works together as one very well-oiled machine. But we also highlight how the body sometimes doesn’t work, with stories of everyday people undergoing extraordinary new medical procedures. We feature the first study injecting stem cells into patients suffering from heart failure; the first test measuring a performer's vocal activity during a live performance; and the first retinal implant trial. We also show off a lot of new medical imagery. You’d be amazed at the places you can stick a camera these days.

Nat Geo: How were you able to get access to film Steven Tyler of Aerosmith from the inside out?

Chad Cohen: Steven had recently come to Dr. Steven Zeitels of Massachusetts General Hospital with a vocal bleed that had caused the band to cancel part of its tour. Dr. Zeitels pioneered a noninvasive method of laser surgery that zaps the blood vessels, sealing them off and stopping the bleeding. Steven was very impressed with the surgery and happy that his voice was working again. Both he and Dr. Zeitels were interested in getting the story of the technology out there, and I think they trusted National Geographic Channel to tell it in the way it should be told.

Nat Geo: What was it like filming the live sequence with Steven during the concert?

Chad Cohen: It was crazy backstage, not the sort of place a National Geographic producer usually finds himself. Steven was a pleasure to work with and was really interested in learning how his voice actually worked. The doctors hooked him up with devices to measure the speed of his vocal cords and to monitor his heart rate and respiration rate during the live performance. It was hilarious when he went out on stage and said, “Thank you to Massachusetts General Hospital and National Geographic for getting me ‘more wired’ than I have ever been before.” During the concert, we recorded how many times his vocal cords flapped together — it was more than 500,000 times, and his vocal cords traveled more than six miles over the course of the show. No one has ever recorded real-time data like that during a rock concert.

Nat Geo: Was it difficult to remain unobtrusive during the complex surgeries you filmed?

Chad Cohen: In an operating room, you hear these warning signs from the doctors and the nurses before you come in that everything on the blue table is sterile. If you bump this table with so much as a hip they will have to take everything off it, sterilize it and bring out a whole new table of equipment. That kind of gets you on your good behavior.

Nat Geo: What was your biggest challenge in making this program?

Chad Cohen: It was more of a personal challenge. We were looking for a new way to show chewing and digesting food … I somehow volunteered to be the patient! We found a very friendly gastroenterologist to send a six-foot-long endoscope through my nose and mouth and put a camera on the back of my tongue while I chewed salad. And taking it further, she sedated me and went all the way down through my esophagus to my stomach to show the acids, and then she poked through into my small intestine.

Nat Geo: What inspired you to take on this project?

Chad Cohen: We wanted to update National Geographic’s Incredible Human Machine program from 30 years ago. At the time, it was groundbreaking. Endoscopes were just coming out, so we were getting images of the body that we’d never seen before. In a lot of ways you just can’t find a more inspiring topic than the human body. We take it for granted all the time, but once in a while we need a little reminder that says, look at this, look at what we do and look at everything that’s going on inside us.

Nat Geo: How did you find the new technologies out there being tested and implemented?

Chad Cohen: We talked to dozens of doctors. It was ironic because every one would tell us that their focus of the body was the most important part. The eye doctor said it to me first, that without the eye you could never navigate through your day. The next one said the same thing about bones, that you wouldn’t have any structure for your body. From a larger context, you realize that they are all right, that each part is so fundamental, so it’s fascinating.

Nat Geo: Is there any one particular medical procedure that most impressed you?

Chad Cohen: With all the doctors we feature, each of whom has a very different specialty, the concentration is on harnessing the power of the body to heal itself, whether it is through stem cells or biologically engineered material. The heart bypass we featured used stem cells. The shoulder surgery used a very advanced biomaterial. In the future these same technologies could restore hearing or vision, even grow new nerves or repair spinal cord damage. The standard practice for years has been that if you have a tumor, doctors operate and take it out. If you have heart problems, they give you drugs. The new medicine is about getting the body to use its own repair and maintenance system to fix us. You can take stem cells from one area of the body, put them in another and they will potentially grow and heal an area that’s not working. Scientists will still say that they don’t know why it’s working … it just is. And it’s incredibly promising.

Nat Geo: What would you like viewers to take away from the program?

Chad Cohen: Genetically and on the inside, we are 99 percent the same. This show is able to give this amazing view of the body, so hopefully people realize how incredible every single one of us is.

Dr. Brady Barr returns to Nat Geo to tell the tale of his most Dangerous Encounter yet. While filming in Indonesia he tracked down a cave-dwelling python. Below he describes what happened when he crawled in to the cave.

It was day three for our team in a snake cave on an island in Indonesia. On the previous two days we had seen many pythons, but all small, so we weren't expecting to see anything unexpected on day three. We were only going in to get some pick-up shots and move to the next filming location.

The cave was literally a chamber of horrors, probably the worst place I have worked in the 10 years I have been at Geographic. The cave was filled with the usual customers (scorpions, roaches, maggots, spiders, millions of bats, lizards and snakes), but it was the unbelievable amount of bat guano that made it unbearable. There were places where you had to wade through chest-deep liquefied bat guano. The stuff was like quicksand, almost sucking you down and making progress very slow and cautious. This bat guano soup along with low oxygen levels eventually prevented our expedition from going deeper into the cave.

On day three, about 200 feet (60 meters) into the cave, walking along the right-side wall where the fecal soup was the shallowest, I spied a large python partially exposed in a crack in the left wall,.....

Read the rest his story by clicking here

Dangerous Encounters: Snake Bite premieres
Sunday, October 14 at 10p et/pt
Preview a clip from the show before it airs here

Read about Brady's other experience here.

Hooked Again: Monster Fish! Premieres Sunday October 14, at 9p et/pt Watch as Nat Geo tells the stories about the ones that didn't get away. Watch a Preview >>

Marlon Singleton - Producer, Heath Orchard - Field Producer, and Amanda Gronich - Senior Writer

Forget the ‘ones that got away’…we got to uncover real-life monster catches that shattered records! Shooting stories for Hooked Again: Monster Fish was a wild, unforgettable, ride. Traveling from the U.S.’s biggest fishery in frigid Alaska…to prime fishing country in Florida’s Gulf Coast…to the banks of a sweltering Texas swamp. Meeting some of the world’s most amazing pro and amateur anglers. Sharing stories that kept our jaws dropped to the bottom of the boat.

Along the way, we also got to discover some of the scaliest, biggest and baddest creatures under water. Back on terra firma, I can’t get these amazing fish out of my head. Here are just a few of our favorite ‘Whopper Fish Facts’ you can use to amaze your friends. Check out the super star species behind the most heart-pumping, pulse- racing, white-knuckle tales of Man vs. Fish.

Halibut: ‘Ultimate Transformers’: Pacific Halibut are the undisputed kings of Alaskan waters. They’re born with one eye on either side of their bodies, swimming upright. Their left eye then migrates to their right side, and the fish ‘lays over’ to swim forever on its side. And they stay the flatfish kings, the largest on earth, tipping the scales at 450+ pounds!

Bluefin Tuna: ‘Ultimate Athletes': Bluefin can drag fishing boats for miles! Sleek and super muscular, they can also travel an incredible 100 miles in a single day. Bluefin will range across entire oceans in mere weeks. And unlike most large fish, Tuna travel in schools as many as forty strong…corralling prey in a huge, shimmering surge, feeding and hunting as a pack.

Wahoo: ‘Ultimate Speed Demons': Built like streamlined torpedoes, Wahoos are one of the fastest, most elusive fish in the sea. They can hit top speeds up to fifty miles per hour…have razor sharp teeth…fast beating tails…and are very hard to catch. Wahoo dominate tropical waters’ food chains. Along with Marlin, they are considered among the most elite sport fish in the world!

Marlin: ‘Ultimate Fighters’: The ocean’s heavyweight fighting champs. They club and spear their opponents, and come leaping out bills-first. Marlin also have special “brain heaters” that enable these big predators to stay calm and agile – even capturing prey in cold, deep water. Hooked on fishing lines, Marlin will literally fight till they die. Fortunately, today’s anglers just want the thrill – they release these amazing hunters safely alive.

Alligator Gar: ‘Ultimate Prehistoric Predator’: Meet the scariest looking prehistoric whoppers to rule the American South! Alligator Gar have gills and a rudimentary lung that enables them to breathe air. This ‘bizarre’ biology helps the fish survive out of water for more than thirty minutes. And gar can survive in stagnant swamps when nearly every other species dies.

Remember if you have your own stories about your fishing adventures and what to share them with America, click here to figure out how.

Watch clips from your favorite episodes

Do you have a question for Cesar Milan that you really want answered? Now is your chance. Your favorite Dog Rehabilitation Specialist will be online with the Washington Post ready to take your questions today, Friday October 3, at 3pm et/pt. Click here to go directly to the chat at 3pm today.

Also if you want to submit a question before or during the chat click here to submit your query.

Remember to pass along this chance to friends, family or maybe that one person who has a dog that you know may need help from the pack leader.

A saltwater crocodile peeks its eyes above the water and waits patiently .

Watch the most dangerous, exotic and fascinating animals that inhabit Australia during Australia's Deadly Dozen, which begins this Saturday at 9p et/pt.

Andy Baker - Creative Director

A few months back, we decided it was time to update the look of the National Geographic Channel – we wanted to freshen it up while maintaining its “smartness” and make the channel feel less promotional. We changed our logo, the graphic colors and how we talk to our viewers. We choose to use the logo and colors that are used by the international National Geographic Channels. So, no matter where you watch the channel around the world it has the same logo and look. We felt that the more understated palette of gray, white, and our signature yellow, really showcases the spectacular imagery from our programming. We know that people who watch the channel enjoy informative non-fiction programs, and don’t like to be “sold” on shows so we changed the way we talk to our viewers, using less hype to tell people about our shows, and to emphasize the incredible stories and information within the program.

To make these sorts of changes, it’s a very time consuming process. The creative team has to review every place where the old logo and color palette exists on air or in print and then re-create it with the new logo and colors. New graphics, new copy and new guidelines for how an ad or commercial should look and feel can take as little as a few hours, or as much as several weeks!

Most of the readers of this blog are from the U.S., but the National Geographic Channel has a longer history in other countries. Nat Geo Channel International launched in 1997, the U.S. Channel in 2001. We have decided to take a more global mindset so whether you're in Chicago or Calcutta you will see the same logo and shortened name ‘Nat Geo’.

You'll see this logo all around the world.

We’re very excited about the new look and feel of the channel, and we hope that viewers enjoy watching it as much as we did creating it. Don’t Worry! There may be a new name and new colors, but you’ll still be getting the same heart pounding and ground breaking documentary television.