August 2008 Archives

	Is Michael Vick's sentence of 23 months in prison for running a dog fighting operation just?
	Do you think the dogs found on his property are capable of being rehabilitated?
	Or do you think dogs that have been through such a violent past are permanent threats to society?

DogTown takes in some of the most challenging dogs found on Michael Vick's property. Follow their journey in a special two-hour episode of DogTown "Saving the Michael Vick Dogs" this Friday at 9P et/pt

Greetings everyone, its me, Greg Chapman. I realize that the folks on the Explorer Blog keep some pretty great stories on their space. But they passed on this story below about their work on the new doc Moment of Death. They also will have some pretty compelling stories all weekend long from doctors and hospital patients that have had near death experiences. Pretty interesting and worth the read.

	Kendra Gahagan
	National Geograhic Television

We arrived at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles in a hurry to begin what we knew was going to be a long day of filming. We rushed around checking our gear and going over the schedule for the day, but no amount of planning could have prepared us for what we saw when we first entered the 7 West Intensive Care Unit. An entire row of beds lined the wall containing patients in varying degrees of coma. It was eerily quiet, except for the beeps of machines and the low chatter of nurses taking important phone calls. We struggled to keep our camera gear and ourselves out of the way amid the life-saving work going on around us.

We watched as Dr. Paul Vespa, Director of Neurocritical Care at the UCLA Medical Center, checked on an elderly patient who wasn't doing well. This patient was at the low end of what is known as the Glasgow scale - a ranking system of the brain function of coma patients, from 3 at the lowest to 15 at the highest. It was difficult to watch as Dr. Vespa spoke loudly near the patient's ear and squeezed the patient's fingernail bed to check for a reaction- all with no response. None of the patients in the neurosurgical ICU had been there long - it is a place where people are rushed immediately after a fall, like the elderly patient, or a horrible car accident or other tragedy that has left them brain injured. They are, as we were told, the worst of the worst cases. I quickly discovered it is also not a place to visit without an ample supply of tissues on hand.

	Greg Chapman
	Research

Congratulations Cesar and everyone at Dog Whisperer for being named Best Variety or Reality Show at the 2008 Imagen Awards honoring positive portrayals of Latinos and Latino cultures in television and film.

Cesar and his team have worked tirelessly over the last couple of years to make all dog owners out there the true pack leaders that they can be. He has provided guidance to troubled dogs, given confidence to dog owners and shown the world that even the most difficult situations can be worked thru with a little bit of empathy.

Cheers Cesar.

Greg Chapman is heading to L.A. to celebrate the Dog Whisperer's 100th episode. Submit your questions here to Greg so he knows what you want to see and hear during the live-blogging event that will be held during a special screening of the show.

Has climate change caused an increase in natural disasters? What role do you think humans have played? Share Your Thoughts.

Tune in every evening at 7P et/pt for more on natural disasters Monday August 25 - Friday August 29.

Erroneous news reports have claimed that Mr. Padilla is currently working with NGC, and that our network is in some way involved in Mr. Padilla’s efforts involving Caylee Anthony. These reports were wrong, and have since been corrected.

We want to assure you that NGC is not producing any new programs with Mr. Padilla and he is not currently working with National Geographic Channel or the National Geographic Society in any way.

	Greg Chapman
	Research

About two months ago I created Monty in anticipation of the release of Electronic Arts' Spore. Now that we are almost two weeks away from the release on September 7, I decided to make Monty a new friend. His name is Chaz and likes to party. He's a friendly beast, but don't get on his bad side, otherwise the monster will come out.

Have a look and have some fun by downloading the free trial of Spore by clicking here.

To find out how to create your own creature go to Spore.com for more information.

	Greg Chapman
	Research

About six months ago I had the honor of sitting down with a number of Vietnam Veterans to ask about what life during and after the war. As a person that was not alive for the conflict, and having only heard stories from my uncle that served, I wanted to hear more straight from the people that were on the ground. I have seen many documentaries, and movies and read many articles and books on the subject, but still thought there was no comparison to hearing straight from the veterans. I wanted to know how a human being can cope with being in the middle of a war zone. I wanted to know how these soilders felt coming back home.

What I got was everything I expected and a whole lot more. From stories about heroic actions to these soilders giving advice to current veterans on how to deal with life when they return, it was an experience I won't soon forget.

Check out these amazing stories by clicking here.

A special airing of Inside The Vietnam War airs Tuesday, August 19th at 8:00pm et/pt.

Neck stretching or self-infliction?

Would you rather lock yourself in neck rings or pierce your flesh with fish hooks?

Or would you rather eat a spider or eat a dog?

Share your thoughts.

Taboo takes you on a journey beyond your comfort zones. Understand seemingly bizarre and shocking practices from around the world. Watch a preview of this week's episode, "Supreme Devotion" airing on Wednesday August 13 at 10P et/pt.

A tiger named Tatiana escaped on Christmas Day in 2007, and killed a person.

What should the repercussions be for the zoo...

What should the repercussions be for the friends that survived the attack that may have been taunting the tiger...

And for the tiger that was shot and killed...was that the correct reaction?

Share your thoughts.

Find out what might have happened... Don't miss "Zoo Tiger Escape" on Sunday August 10 at 10P et/pt.

Check out a behind the scenes story of Zoo Tiger Escape over on the Explorer Blog.