Solutions Talk

There's No Place Like Home...

Today's Notable Quote: "Gravity is 1.6 times as strong as Earth's so a 150-pound person would feel like 240 pounds. But oh, the view. The planet is 14 times closer to the star it orbits. Dr. Udry figures the red dwarf star would hang in the sky at a size 20 times larger than our moon. And it's likely, but still not known, that the planet doesn't rotate, so one side would always be sunlit and the other dark."  -retired NASA astronomer Steve Maran in today's WSJ Online.

Scientists have found a planet that may support life. It is outside our Solar System...revolving around a "Red Dwarf" Star, some 20.5 light years from the planet Earth. The description given in today's linked article kind of reminds me of "Superman's" home planet. Hmmm...Astronomers Find Earthlike Planet

If this newly-discovered planet has water, will it also have beaches?

DepthX: Under the Sea...

Today's Notable Quote: "Underwater swimming was no problem. We usedto stay under for at least 2 minutes." - Desi Arnaz (1917 - 1986)

Brief, but interesting story on a "deep diving" robot sponsored by NASA.

DepthX Goes Where No Bot Has Gone Before

Undersea...a "final frontier"...

Gray's Meteorology

Today's Notable Quote: "He's one of these guys that preaches the end of the world type of things. I think he's doing a great disservice and he doesn't know what he's talking about," Dr. William Gray said in an interview with The Associated Press at the National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans, where he delivered the closing speech.

Today's linked articles feature differing perspectives on the subject from the AP and the NYT.

             Announcing "GLOBAL WARMING" SMACKDOWN!!

                                                Meteorologist Gray versus Movie Maker Gore.

Forecaster Blasts Gore on Global Warming

Scientists Detail Climate Changes, Poles to Tropics

Another "Al-goreing" et tu...NYT?

Notable Quote: “I don’t want to pick on Al Gore,” Don J. Easterbrook, an emeritus professor of geology at Western Washington University, told hundreds of experts at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. “But there are a lot of inaccuracies in the statements we are seeing, and we have to temper that with real data.”

Al Gore did not invent the Internet...nor did he invent Global warming...Some backers concede minor inaccuracies but see them as reasonable for a politician.

 

Pat Robertson...another prodigious prognosticator of peril...

Moon Race: Part II

Today's Notable Quote: "What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary." - George Bailey (portrayed by actor Jimmy Stewart), from Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.

George Bailey's sentiment is one that many in the scientific community share. If it were possible to "lasso the moon"...we would likely have it here on earth for study (probably hidden somewhere in the Arizona desert.

The linked article offers an interesting perspective on a couple of key reasons for the renewed interest in a widening "moon race". Seems that the moon is considered a great staging area for a trip to Mars--and may also be a plentiful source for minerals and even fuels which are difficult to obtain on the Earth's surface.

Race to the Moon for Nuclear Fuel

Time to take another trip to our nearest space neighbor?

Cancerous Cells are not found in CellPhones

Today's Notable Quote: "Can you hear me now...cellphones don't cause cancer..." - Imagined quote from the Verizon Wireless "cell-phone nerd".

Good news for the ubiquitous users of digital communication devices! According to a new Danish study of cancer rates for mobile phone users--some having fed their urge to be "constantly connected" for more than 20 years--versus "non-phone heads" showed no significant difference in rates of the dread illness. Read on for more details, or to receive a text message...(just kidding!)

Study disputes cellphone-cancer link

Can you believe it...now we can stay constantly connected without fear!