It’s weird science day, with a few ‘normal’ TDG stories thrown in for good measure. And I use ‘normal’ in the loosest possible sense…
- Instead of searching for signals from ET, should we start beaming noise out ourselves. As the article says, is it wise to shout in the jungle?
- Russia says that it is ready to repel asteroids if the Earth needs saving. Just think Armageddon, but replace all the jingoistic Americanisms with hammers, sickles and lots of red.
- Queen guitarist Brian May launches new astronomy book, co-written with Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott (Amazon UK).
- Tombs found in Syria hold treasures, signs of ritual sacrifice, and a never-before-seen type of writing.
- NASA’s Messenger does a fly-by of Venus.
- Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s rotweiller for repatriating archaeological treasures. With Playboy-like shot of Hawass, for all the ladies out there.
- Geologists turn to ancient tales in order to discover new hotspots.
- Is there room for a soul?
- Science finally tackles hypnosis.
- Scientists present method for entangling macroscopic objects. I think the game is called Twister guys.
- UK considers beaming broadband Internet into homes from airships.
- 360-million-year-old fossil found, which is almost the same as its modern-day counterpart. Does that mean it is the ideal evolutionary specimen, or God’s perfect creature? One for both sides of the debate to ponder.
- Researchers make important advancement in unravelling the mysteries of fusion energy.
- Australia plans world’s biggest space-age solar power station. If there’s one thing we’ve got, it’s sun. And flies. And beer. Mmm, beer.
- Speaking of Australia – new program to train prisoners as crocodile handlers. Yeah sure, ‘train’. Just like all those Christians who ‘trained’ as lion handlers at the Coliseum.
- Chinese river mysteriously turns red. The best part is, it’s called the Yellow River. That’s gotta confuse people…
- Swiss orchestra conductor goes on trial again for Solar Temple ritual deaths.
- Self-portraits chronicle an artist’s descent into Alzheimer’s.
- Pelican caught on video eating a pigeon. Not for the squeamish – consider yourself warned.
- Subliminal nude pictures focus the attention. Trust me, they don’t need to be subliminal.
- Mars rover “beginning to hate Mars“. An exclusive to The Onion.
Thanks Kat.
Quote of the Day:
The time taken to evolve a fish eye from flat skin was minuscule: fewer than 400,000 generations. For the kinds of small animals we are talking about, we can assume one generation per year, so it seems that it would take less than half a million years to evolve a good camera eye.
Richard Dawkins
