The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
– Joseph Conrad
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The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
– Joseph Conrad
Another voice has been added to the debate on whether the Viking missions to Mars discovered life on Mars in 1976. The latest theory? That the probe may have stumbled upon alien microbes on the Red Planet and inadvertently killed them by drowning them and baking them – conditions that would have been hospitable for Earth life, but which would have been very inhospitable to martian life, based on what we now know of the conditions on the red planet.
In one of the largest study of its kind, a population-wide decline in Massachusetts’s men’s testosterone levels during the last 20 years has been documented. The finding is not related to normal aging or to health and lifestyle factors known to influence testosterone levels. They found that testosterone concentrations dropped about 1.2% per year, or about 17% overall, from 1987 to 2004. The downward trend was seen in both the population and in individuals over time, and environmental factors are believed to be a cause – exposure to trace levels of dioxins, to phthalates, and/or to other estrogen-mimicking compounds.
In the largest ever survey undertaken with the Hubble Space Telescope, an international team of scientists has assembled a three-dimensional map that offers a first look at the web-like large-scale distribution of dark matter in the Universe. This historic achievement, one of the most important results in cosmology, accurately confirms standard theories of structure formation at the largest scales of which we know.
The snow on the roof of the world is melting: Record Temperatures Across Himalayans Spark Climate Change Fears. China’s Tibet plateau, seen as a barometer of world climate conditions, is experiencing accelerating glacial melt and other ecological change. Researchers who conducted the survey said that even if global warming did not worsen, the area’s glaciers would be reduced by nearly a third by 2050 and up to half by 2090, at the current rate.
Does it ever seem like we solve one problem only to create another? I should have seen this one coming: Very limited information is available on the toxicity of biodiesel exhaust. Yet this fuel is poised to become a part of the US energy infrastructure, with production capacity in the US increasing 300% in 2005, to 75 million gallons. Current capacity is 300 million gallons a year and new plants could double that within a few years. Follow this link to .pdf of full article.
US scientists say they have discovered a new source of stem cells that could one-day repair damaged human organs. Researchers successfully extracted the cells from the fluid that fills the womb in pregnancy and then grew them in lab experiments. See Limelight’s diary on this report.
The recent poisoning Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian internal security agent living in London, with the highly toxic radioisotope polonium-210 has raised wider questions about the security of the production, distribution, and uses of this isotope and how it might fall into the hands of “evildoers.” Given the small amount of this material needed to produce a deadly effect, this is one terror threat that merits serious attention now, including efforts to develop alternative technologies for its industrial uses.
Hydrogen Peroxide based life? And I thought it was for killing germs.
You thought maybe Martians would be like humans?
Muahahahaha!
Ancient global warming was jarring, not subtle, study finds
Of bio-diesel exhaust, this morning there’s a foul gaseous smell permeating Manhattan N.Y. – closing subway stations schools and buildings
Foul smell baffles New York’s finest
Authorities were investigating the source of a harmless but extremely smelly odour that stretched across a large part of Manhattan today.
(Insert NY Jets/Giants and overpowering stench joke here)
I take it you’re on the New Scientist email list. I recognize a lot of these.
And if you’re not already on it, you might enjoy the Arlington Institute “Futurewatch” newsletter as well, which links to many such stories.
Anyone can signup free by sending mail here.
Here’s a teaser from the current issue:
Ahead of Jan.10: when Bush is expected to reveal his ‘new way forward’ in Iraq, we should contemplate how an unelected, never appointed group wields such power and influence on the Oval Office in the running of U.S. foreign policy and the Iraq war.
Meet the American Enterprise Institute – The real Iraq Study Group: “Choosing Victory in Iraq and finally, doing it right.” (h/t:Salon.com via LewRockwell.com for unhindered read). Not for the fainthearted.
Not just the military is stretched: – from the Financial Times, UK
“US twists civilian arms to fill Fortress Baghdad
A former Reagan Administration official asks: Will Bush be “Winding Up or Winding Down”– The Coming Attack On Iran?
.How’s that guarding the southern border with the national guard idea working out?
The next phase in performance enhancing drugs is on it’s way…and we’re not talking little blue pills:
At last, some long overdue accountability? This guy’s screwed up so badly that even BushCo™ can’t find a way to promote him:
and last, the new Vanity Fair has a very good, if long (10pgs), article on John McCain, AKA: Pander Bear