I found this interesting:

Nanoscale computer memory retrieves data 1,000 times faster

It will be interesting to see how long it takes before this technology appears at a Best Buy nearest to you.

Atlas of the Universe

I found this website quite interesting.

It shows the distribution of stars near earth and then moves further and further out. Cool!

Caves on Mars?

Several intriguing features which might be entrances to large caves on Mars have recently been pointed out by Mars researchers.

See this link for more info.

Who knows what might lie hidden there in the darkness?

Global temperture has bee fluctulating wildly for the last million years of earth history as shown in the curves above from Barry Saltzman, Dynamical Paleoclimatology: Generalized Theory of Global Climate Change, Academic Press, New York, 2002, fig. 3-4 via this website:

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/temperature/temperature.html#65Myr

Global Warming - AAPG's Climate Card

AAPG has published a "climate card" that disputes the prevailing notion that the current global warming is primarily a result of anthropogenic greenhouse gases.

In general I agree with their conclusion, but I am still concerned about the very high CO2 level of 380 ppm that is mostly a result of man's activities. This level of CO2 is probably unhealthy for reasons other than increasing temperature. On the plus side without this high level of CO2, it is not unlikely the next ice age could have already begun.

The strongest evidence presented on the AAPG climate card comes from the ice cores that show CO2 increases lagging temperature increases, clearly showing that historically temperature drives CO2 increases and not the reverse. At the same time, it is clear that increased CO2 can affect temperature, so we have a feedback effect which helps explain some of the wild temperature swings in the last ice age. Something must break these feedback loops, one way or he other in order for temperature and CO2 to swing back the other way.

Obviously playing with feedback loops of this kind is not a good idea, so we cannot really predict what might happen when we add something to the natural equation. This is why we need to be concerned about the high CO2 values we now have.

Now let us consider the other side of the coin. The most remarkable thing about the temperature in the current interglacial period is how flat it is compared to previous interglacial periods. Something very odd is going on, or the glacial ages may be coming to an end. I doubt the glacial ages are coming to an end. The odd thing that is going on is that men have been tearing up the natural environment over the last 8000 years and the effect may actually have been to stabilize an otherwise erratic temperature regime. Does this mean we should expect this effect to continue? Not necessarily, we cannot really predict how our impact will play out, particularly as it appears to be exponentially increasing.

What really needs to be done is to stop the exponential growth. Stop adding variables to the global environment whose effects we cannot adequately estimate. In my estimation, the only real solution is a stable or slightly declining human population. Unless we achieve this, there are no solutions that can work; they all amount to putting bandaids on bullet wounds.

Gravityplane:

This is a really cool idea and it appears that it might work. Imagine planes that do not need fuel. I would never have imagined it, but it might be possible.

Cosmic 'DNA'

Cosmic 'DNA': Double Helix Spotted in Space

Magnetic forces at the center of the galaxy have twisted a nebula into the shape of DNA, a new study reveals.

The double helix shape is commonly seen inside living organisms, but this is the first time it has been observed in the cosmos.

"Nobody has ever seen anything like that before in the cosmic realm," said the study's lead author Mark Morris of UCLA. "Most nebulae are either spiral galaxies full of stars or formless amorphous conglomerations of dust and gas—space weather. What we see indicates a high degree of order.

"These observations, made with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, are detailed in the March 16 issue of the journal Nature."

Maybe we finally have a picture of the "creator" here... At any rate we do have another example of how the universe continues to amaze us, the more we learn about it.

Here is Something Far Out!

I mean really far out- biological "cells" that appear to lack DNA, but are able to reproduce:

The Red Rain of Kerala

The red rain fell in India in 2001. The rain particles have the appearence of cells, but lacking DNA (apparently), are thought to possibly be extraterrestrial in origin, most likely from the debris of a comet.

This could lend support to the idea of "panspermia"- that life was seeded on Earth from elsewhere.

This is definitely an interesting story which I will be hoping to follow and hear more about.