A new documentary has been causing quite a stir in the Film, Technology and Environmental Activism worlds. Created by Jeremy Mendes and Leanne Allison, the film, Bear 71 is an “interactive documentary” about the life and death of a heavily surveyed Grizzly Bear, (dubbed “Bear 71”, natch) that lived in the Canadian Rockies from 2001 till it’s death in 2009. Bear 71’s highly stressed life was valuable more in terms of collected data than as a living, breathing being. The filmmakers bring the morality of that perspective into light for examination. This interactive documentary allows viewers the chance to track Bear 71, questioning our increasingly awkward relationship with nature.

To promote the upcoming motion picture Chronicle, 20th Century Fox enacted a brilliant guerilla campaign that flew over the skies of Manhattan…..literally. If you were in the NYC area in the 24-hours, you may have been a witness to something akin to the miracle of human flight. We say akin, because while it sure did look like flying people, what we were actually seeing was three remote-controlled humanoid aircrafts controlled by three pro RC “pilots” on the ground. The effort to promote the film (which contains a group of friends who possess the ability to fly. natch.) has had wildly popular success, with the ‘blogosphere’ exploding with chatter and a (very dramatic) promo video reaching almost 1,000,000 hits on YouTube in a day of its release.

This one is a ‘less-said-the-better’ situation, so we’ll get out of the way and let you enjoy:

It's unanimous: Twitter has changed the speed and manner in which we communicate. The flow of information is so fast in fact, that you can absorb all the info you need within 4-6 seconds and be on your way. It's the reason why it became so popular. But being popular doesn't mean people get a chance to "know you". And that's been a problem for brands looking to connect with their base thru the social networking tool. On Twitter, you move quick, but you don't stick around.

Well, February 1st, that all changes.

According to Business Insider, Twitter is planning to roll-out “enhanced profile pages [that will] give brands the ability to build platforms on their pages that could include iFrame environments, allowing users to play games or shop on a brand's site without actually leaving the Twitter environment.” That spells more screen time for a user, depending of course if said brand knows how to engage with its followers.

Within the agriculture world, synthetic pesticide use is an unfortunate, all too regular practice. But it’s getting a run for its money from the most unlikely of contenders: Ducks. Japanese farmers are revisiting an ancient method of rice and grain growing that does away with harmful chemicals and uses living, breathing ducks to increase production.

The birds are farm raised and free-roaming where they literally ‘police’ the fields, avoiding crops and instead feasting on harmful insects and weeds, which would otherwise destroy thousands of acres of paddy-fields. Not only do their feeding habits protect the crops, but their movements help as well….. bowel movements, that is. Their droppings act as natural fertilizer for the crops.

And what a penny saver this method is. The Guardian spotlights the good fortune of duck-farming practitioner Takao Furuno:

“Furuno has cut production costs and boosted output by about a third compared with his neighbors, who use chemical fertilizers. He sells the ducks too.”

We’re hoping this ideas spreads, worldwide, to farmers looking for better, smarter and cheaper ways to bring healthier, cleaner food to market.