rps.psu.edu / CC

Vegan? There's an app for that. Electronic pie-throwing? There's a tweet for that. Animatronic shadow-detecting? Thanks to some talented students at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, there may be a system for that sometime in the very near future.

Chris Nadovich—director of laboratories in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Lafayette—was so intrigued by our request to the Groundhog Club's Inner Circle to replace Punxsutawney Phil with an animatronic groundhog that he created a project for his students, asking them to develop a shadow-detection system that would help an animatronic Phil "see" his shadow. Right now, five teams of two students each are slated to begin working on this project, which will be completed by the end of April.

We can't wait to see what Nadovich's class comes up with. In the meantime, we're already working on a name for the new technology. Our suggestion: "iShadow." What would you call the groundbreaking (and groundhog-liberating) innovation?

Written by Logan Scherer

After reading PETA's news release announcing that footwear giant Nike has banned exotic skins, I had to pinch myself to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. I'm not, and neither are you. According to a newly revised policy, Nike and its upscale affiliate Cole Haan will stop selling skins from alligators, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, ostriches, fish, and marine mammals.

This fabulous decision was made after the footwear giants were sent PETA Asia's undercover video footage, which details the gruesome, intense suffering that the exotic-skins industry inflicts on animals. We asked Nike to "just do it." And it did!

Nike is the world's leading shoe manufacturer. Its 2009 sales topped $19 billion, and it operates in more than 160 countries, with approximately 675 Nike-owned retail stores operating worldwide. Cole Haan stores operate in Canada, Japan, and 25 U.S. states. Nike and Cole Haan are world leaders in trendy footwear, and now they've joined H&M and Overstock.com as trendsetters for animals.

After you kick up your cruelty-free heels, please take a moment to thank the companies for their compassionate decision.

Written by Karin Bennett

oygirl.files.wordpress / CC

With Groundhog Day just a week away, I've got a Bill Murray movie on my mind—but the classic Groundhog Day isn't it. No, I'm thinking of Caddyshack—and the scene-stealing Mr. Gopher—and hoping that the folks in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, take a cue from the humane concept behind that cinematic critter by retiring Phil to a sanctuary and replacing him with an electronic groundhog.

Phil is forced to be on display year round at the local library and is denied the ability to prepare for and enter yearly hibernation (and I have a hard time with "spring forward"). Add to that the displeasure of large, screaming crowds, flashing lights of cameras, and human handling. If Punxsutawney frees Phil, then the bitter winter that's made him into an unwilling media attraction will end, making way for a sunny spring that everyone can enjoy.

Written by Logan Scherer