Will wonders never cease:
“It is getting hotter, and the icecaps are melting and there is a buildup of carbon dioxide in the air…”
“…We really need to address the burning of fossil fuels…”
“…If we are contributing to the destruction of this planet, we need to do something about it.”
— Pat Robertson (Yes. You read that right. No, this is NOT an April Fools Joke)
An MIT professor says there’s enough retrievable energy below the earth’s crust to power all human needs a hundred times over. Article here; commentary at Grist here and at Big Orange here:
The family of exoplanets has an extraordinary new member – a twin pair, not orbiting any star. Astronomers have discovered an approximately seven-Jupiter-mass companion to an object only twice as hefty. Such objects, not orbiting a star, are called planemos to distinguish them from ordinary planets. The newborn planemos, barely 1-million years old, are separated by about six times the distance between the Sun and Pluto and are located in the Ophiuchus star-forming region approximately 400 light-years away. During the past five years, astronomers have identified a few dozen of even smaller free-floating planemos in nearby star forming regions, but there is no agreement on how common such objects are or how they are formed.
A Michigan State University partnership with DaimlerChrysler is looking at turning industrial brownfields green by growing crops for biofuels on such properties.
An Ohio State University astronomer and his colleagues have determined that the Triangulum Galaxy, otherwise known as M33, is actually about 15 percent farther away from our galaxy than previously measured. This finding implies that the Hubble constant, a number that astronomers rely on to calculate a host of factors — including the size and age of the universe — could be significantly off the mark as well. The universe could be 15 percent bigger and 15 percent older than previous calculations suggested.
Add another spice to your list of healthy antioxidants: Turmeric, the yellow ingredient in curry, seems to boost brain power in the elderly. On the other hand, when diethanolamine (DEA), an ingredient in shampoos and personal care products, was applied to the skin of pregnant mice, the fetuses showed inhibited cell growth and increased cell death in an area of the brain responsible for memory – the hippocampus. Expect to hear more about this one…
A mixture of zinc oxide and cobalt first formulated in 1780 as a pigment called cobalt green allows electrons to be manipulated both electrically and magnetically at room temperature, and may have a bright future in the field of spintronics – potential benefits include computers that could be turned on like a light and would be instantly ready to go, so they wouldn’t need to be burning energy as they do now while waiting for you to sit down at the keyboard.
You’d think we could at least get a handle on a simple pollutant like lead – but no… As much as 2,000 tons of lead used as tire weights may have been lost into the environment, and high levels of lead in drinking water that poisoned a child in Durham, N.C., probably resulted from a change in the coagulant used to remove organic matter during water treatment. Similar undetected problems may occur elsewhere in the US.
Australian researchers said Thursday that analyzing the skin flakes of some whales could help determine their age, a development that could invalidate one argument for killing them. Japan has long argued that killing baleen whales, such as humpbacks and minkes, is the only way to determine how old they are, and vital to better understanding the animals’ behavior. Tokyo plans to kill over 1,000 minke whales in 2006, over 400 more than last year and more than double the number it hunted a decade ago, as part of its scientific research program. But a team at the Southern Cross University Whale Research Center in New South Wales state said DNA in the whale’s skin flakes could tell scientists how long they have lived. “The Japanese have used a whole series of excuses to kill minke whales and their latest excuse is a claim that they need to determine their age,” Peter Harrison, the center’s director, told The Associated Press.
The trick is to get it out of the ground economically and efficiently and to do it in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Hawaiians and Nevadans have stories – bad stories – to tell about the rush to install geothermal “wells”. Long road indeed from theory to safe practice. The argument for investing in geothermal is right out of the “general theory of energy” manual: 1) get scientist to make outlandish claims; 2) pass bill w/taxpayer-funded “pilot project”; 3) patent all resulting technology for your company; 4) bemoan the lack of federal funding until Congress gives you billions; 5) write off the losses when the idea fails.
Exclaim, explain, explore, excoriate, exit – cash intact.
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TODAY’s HEADLINES ::
«« click to enlarge● Afghanistan – Unfinished
● Pakistan (Waziristan) – Unfinished
● Pakistan/India (Kashmir) – Unfinished
● Iraq – Unfinished
● Somalia – Unfinished
● Israeli-Palestinian conflict – Unfinished
● Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution – Ashes
● Ukraine Orange Revolt – DOA
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Link
FORT JACKSON, S.C. — The Army has begun training the oldest recruits in its history, the result of a concerted effort to fill ranks depleted during the Iraq war.
In June, five months after it raised the enlistment age limit from 35 to just shy of 40, the Army raised it to just under 42.
To accommodate the older soldiers, the Army has lowered the minimum physical requirements needed to pass basic training.
The first group of older recruits is going through basic training here. So far, only five people 40 and older — and 324 age 35 and older — have enlisted, Army records show.
Nag, soon, I fear they will be asking for us granny’s with our walkers to join up….knowing this group of nincompoops, would not surprise me one bit as how they do things. What we have not is—the inmates are running the nuthouse.