Weird Links

Gigantic satellites orbiting the Earth, equipped with solar cells, could collect enough energy from the sun every year to power the world seven times over. Beaming the energy down to Earth in the form of microwaves or a laser, the satellites would provide energy which would be gathered in antennas on the ground and then converted to electricity.

In 1956, [a consortium of Russian and Ukrainian scientists] announced: "Crude oil and natural petroleum gas have no intrinsic connection with biological matter originating near the surface of the Earth. They are primordial materials which have been erupted from great depths."

The radically different Russian and Ukrainian scientific approach to the discovery of oil allowed the USSR to develop huge gas and oil discoveries in regions previously judged unsuitable, according to Western geological exploration theories, for the presence of oil. The new petroleum theory was used in the early 1990s, well after the dissolution of the USSR, to drill for oil and gas in a region believed for more than 45 years to be geologically barren - the Dnieper-Donets Basin in the region between Russia and Ukraine.

Not to ruin the ending, but "...the speed of gravity is equal to the speed of light to within 1%."

FYI

The decline in the world’s oil supply offers no sudden dramatic event that would appeal to the writer of "apocalyptic" science fiction: no mushroom clouds, no flying saucers, no giant meteorites. The future will be just like today, only tougher. Oil depletion is basically just a matter of overpopulation — too many people and not enough resources. The most serious consequence will be a lack of food. The problem of oil therefore leads, in an apparently mundane fashion, to the problem of farming.

All human bodies have numerous flaws which can be eliminated by geneticly modifying the zygote. Those flaws exist because their elimination was and is not necessary for the survival of the human species. However, their elimination would greatly increase the efficiency of our actions, and thus both our physical prosperity and our quality of life.

In this paper we propose a mathematical model of the Martian CO2 system, and use it to produce analysis which clarifies the potential of positive feedback to accelerate planetary engineering efforts...We examine the potential of various schemes for producing the initial warming to drive the process, including the stationing of orbiting mirrors, the importation of natural volatiles with high greenhouse capacity from the outer solar system, and the production of artificial halocarbon greenhouse gases on the Martian surface through in-situ industry.

I was wondering about this just the other day. It seems that to escape once the situation has got out of control; and the dog has got its jaws clamped around you, your best bet is not to try and pull away - which would only tear flesh - but to try and push your hand/arm as far down the dog's throat as you can and choke it.

Also very important: don't let the dog ground you, or it'll have access to your neck and face.

What's Cooking Grandma? is a project to create a cookbook of the grandmothers of the world sharing their special recipes. Awesomeness.

Interesting article summerising recent events that could be percieved as a build-up to the invasion of Iran (that isn't going to happen, y0 ).

The administration’s key charges against Iran are without basis. There is little evidence to support U.S. claims that predominantly Shiite Iran has been sparking the Sunni-led Iraq 'insurgency' and that Iran poses a reasonably imminent 'nuclear danger.'

Earlier this week, Michael Alan Crooker filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in the Massachusetts Supreme Court claiming that Microsoft falsely advertised that its product, Internet Explorer would keep his information and browsing habits secure ...until the FBI raided his house and found a load of hardcore pornography cached in his browser