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At the end of each article and poem published,
we have given you the opportunity to send us your comments. Below
we have published the most interesting views received. (Click
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or poems, please e-mail
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Articles
Top
- Michael
Richards,
Ancient Falconry
To comment on the article by Keith Dobney on
this subject, we may surmise that the greater abundance of vulture
and buzzard bones (than of falcon bones) at the archaeological sites
would seem to indicate that the first animals domesticated by humans
would have not been hunting-birds, which cannot in any case furnish
their masters with enough food to be worth the effort of maintaining
them (but are purely an amusement to entertain nobility). Instead
it would indicate a domestication of carrion-eating birds to guide
humans to the sites of large already-dead animal-carcasses, which
humans could feed on along with their pet-vultures. Hunting used
to be a very daunting task at that epoch for humans, before they
had invented the bow-and-arrow. After the invention of the bow-and-arrow,
domestication of vultures would have generally ceased (though they
were still domesticated by tribes in California, and the ancient
Egyptians continued to regard them as sacred).
Top
- Wayne Amber, Space
Lasers take to the Winds
The most
commonly used air pollutant modelling techniques make use of extremely
complex fluid flow models produced by expensive computer programmes.
With the introduction of the new laser based monitoring system described
in the article, an easier and more accurate real time modelling
system could be developed. The more accurately we can monitor and
define the 'actual' flow patterns in the atmosphere, the less we
need to depend upon the underlying 'theory' and the problem is simplified.
The potential for such a system could allow for governments to control
cross-boundary air pollutants much more efficiently, and cut down
on the harmful pollutants which contaminate our air. Further to
this, the article explains how the Lidar sytem could be applied
to water flow patterns. A very similar modelling technique could
be used here.
Top
- Kathryn Padmore,
Memories
Are Made of This
This isn't as simple as you have painted
the picture to be. Being in history I have first hand experience
of what it is like to try and remember dates and names and not to
mention the actual fact themselves. I don't know about you but this
would tend to confuse me even more then before. Ok say this does
work for a while and you go on you merry way remembering everything
with a story or tale that you have created. Then in ten years when
you try to remember a simple fact such as the atomic number for....
(which ever one that may be at the time) you can't and you find
yourself hopelessly remembering all of the stories you can created.
The problem you encounter is that you can't seem to remember which
one goes with what. This may be a great way to remember for short
term things but I don't think that you would be able to remember
in the long run. Our brains are simply to full of useless nonsense
to be as successful as our predecessors. Just try to produce another
Einstein these days, it won't happen.
Top
- Jim
Dodds, Aquatic
Culture
Communication
with other species is a fascinating concept, but I think some efforts
founder because of looking too literally for common ground. A while
ago the idea occurred to me that perhaps porpoises don't communicate
with anything resembling words at all. Since they explore their
environment with sonar, maybe what they do when they "talk" to each
other is more like putting out a spectrum of sound vibrations that
recreate a picture of what they're "talking" about, rather like
an acoustical hologram. The other vocalisations might simply be
shared signals meaning something like "Look at this!"
Steve Fenster,
Aquatic
Culture
Years ago I was a student at San Francisco State University. Occasionally
I would run off to Golden Gate Park and visit the Aquarium. I had
observed that the dolphins there were usually interested in small
children with brightly coloured jackets. I had also heard somewhere
that there was a theory that dolphin language/thinking had a mathematical
basis.
I hit upon an
idea to informally test this idea. I drew a series of concentric
geometric shapes, starting with a triangle, then a square, a pentagon,
etc., finally ending in a circle. Then I coloured each figure, the
shapes with the fewer sides in lower frequency colours. The triangle
was red, surrounded by an orange square which in turn was surrounded
by a yellow pentagon, and so on.
On my next trip
to the aquarium I placed the drawing against the glass of the dolphin
enclosure. The dolphin that was present had quite a reaction. He
was fully fascinated, perhaps shocked (he evidenced a visceral reaction
that I will not describe but which was obvious), then became very
excited and followed me where ever I would move back and forth along
the glass.
Bala,
Aquatic
Culture
I wonder if Lilley was ever able to implant dolphin genetic material
in a human embryo... He wanted to find out if their telepathic abilities
could be adaptable to human communications. I think it could work,
as that they are cousins of a HIGHER order. I love this inter-species
communications. I had a friend who worked at Yerksies? Chimp-human
interaction centre where they helped map the frequencies of brain
activities, especially audio and visual. Anyone there active with
experiments?
Top
- Arnold
Skeels, Do
Women Prefer 'Manly' Faces?
While reading this article, I could not help but feel like the author
missed the most important feature. Male faces indicating higher
male hormones have a simpler survival motive that immune responses.
Consider that the result of male hormones is often a direct correlation
with muscle mass, and therefore physical prowess. Better physical
prowess in a primitive environment would definitely be an advantage.
Male hormones also regulate aggressive behaviour which may also
assist survival.
Top
- Wayne
Lindsay, Spaceships
of the Future
Just finished reading your article on various propulsion systems
-sails, plasma, ions and so on. Several years ago I wrote the Canadian
Space Agency and a couple of aero manufacturing firms asking if
there was any interest in ideas that were thought of by private
citizens. The CSA did NOT even bother to answer and the manufacturers
said that they would like to see them, but they would NOT pay anything
for them, even if they turned out to contain the answers they were
seeking. Something for nothing philosophy.Next
I contacted several different people at NASA. They too had the same
philosophy as their Canadian counterparts.
Now my question
is, "Why do we tolerate such treatment by our Governments and their
Agencies?" People like them see absolutely nothing wrong in paying
a baseball player several million dollars for 6 or 7 months of sometimes
questionable entertainment, but they want to have our ideas DONATED
to their Industrial Giants free of charge so that they may go exploring
deep space and on out to the Stars.
Sherman Carter,
Spaceships
of the Future.
While artificially intelligent robots may be
used during the early years for exploration into the far reaches
of space, there is little point to travel to the stars unless it
is intended that humans will go eventually. That is not likely to
happen with currently envisioned spaceships. It may seem impractical
now, but the only reasonable way to accomplish this is with huge
flying cities. Those humans who reach the stars will be the descendants
of those who leave the earth. For some, space travel will become
a way of life. While the concept may seem impractical today, it
is no less so than the prospects for faster than light travel. Neither
is it as unreasonable as expecting people to take forty or more
years out of their life for space travel. As our technological capabilities
increase over the next century or two, this approach will make a
lot more sense.
Gabrial,
Spaceships
of the Future.
It is apparent that the amounts of antimatter needed for interstellar
travel are not achievable. Yet we are already making enough to travel
great distances within our own solar system. Why isn't NASA making
a more concerted effort to explore this area? It is enough to make
a person angry. We waste billions of tax dollars every year to support
NASA projects and research. And to date, the only significant advance
they have given us is an experimental ion drive that barely works.
Private researchers have proven that they can create small amounts
of antimatter. Small amounts are all that are necessary to do a
great deal in near space exploration. It just doesn't add up. We
have the technology and desire to begin exploring our own neighborhood,
i.e. the solar system, and yet we do not do it. I believe that the
problem is not in ourselves. Rather it is in the over paid and over
bureaucratized space administration that we lovingly call NASA.
If anyone can answer the question as to why we are not utilizing
the tools and abilities that we have please inform me. I would greatly
appreciate it.
Top
- Dave
Koe,
Alien Contact
It may be possible that extraterrestrials are sending
signals by shooting strings of suitably spaced rocks into black
holes. This would produce highly energetic wide band and wide angle
radiation as a large fraction of the mass of each rock is converted
into radiation as the rock disappears into the black hole. Perhaps
we should look closely at radiation from black holes to see if there
are any non-natural patterns.
Jason Gatlin,
Alien
Contact
Just had to comment on Dave Koe's interesting theory
about picking up radiation like Morse code from black holes. My
understanding is that by modern definition, a black hole is a body
that theoretically alters space time and produces such gravitational
force that anything that passes the event horizon can not escape.
This includes all matter and radiation is matter. Even light can
not escape from the event horizon. Due to that fact black holes
can not be seen or detected by any means currently available to
modern science (x rays, radiation, optical, infrared). All we know
of them has come from an effect on matter and assuming that it is
a black hole causing the effect. Usually a star or large amounts
of gas that can span thousands of light years across is what is
observed orbiting what is assumed to be a black hole. Once past
the event horizon, as far as we know, matter becomes infinitely
dense as explained by Einstein's general relativity. So if my understanding
is correct, we will have to look for another means of receiving
messages.
Top
-Steve Fretwell,
Are we Alone?
It is a natural history fact that almost
all the animal species that have been observed by man co-exist in
an ecosystem with other species that have more senses, more powers,
and greater intelligence than they do. By definition, they "are
not alone" but have to deal with species that they cannot normally
sense. Earthworms deal with birds, and have adaptations to do so
(avoidance of light, automatically extending into the earth when
they are pinched and pulled by a bird etc). But few earthworms ever
sense (taste, touch) a bird, and live to tell about it.
They have no way to get evidence for
a "third" (much less fourth, fifth, or sixth) sense. So
why do we think we are so different? Why do we think we are alone?
Ghosts? UFO abductions? We know that there is dark matter out there,
stuff that cannot be seen, that has gravity. Might it not be inhabited?
The response of the scientific community
to Witztum's Bible Codes research is most interesting. It is exactly
what one would expect if we were not alone, if the world was indeed
haunted. No research could be more important. If correct, it proves
the existence of the "god," Yahweh, whose suggested presence
has influenced so much of history. And there is no reasonable critique
of it. There are dozens of published confirmations, and even the
one peer-reviewed effort to find fault actually replicated its results.
That review then tried to rationalize away the results, ignoring
the scientific standard that work that is replicated stands. And
why?
Why aren't the scientists taking a
very close, long look at these bible codes? Why are they almost
all either ignoring it, or turning away from all the rules of decent
scientific debate and authoritatively, with no supporting evidence,
denouncing it. It is just what you would expect demon-possessed
minds to do. What other explanation is there for such well trained,
and generally will-intentioned scholars to suddenly become intellectual
bullies and irrational skeptics? Who, besides the hypothesized demons
stand to gain from such behavior? There is no reason to suppose
that humans are less alone than other biological species. Like worms
surrounded by predatory birds and gardening humans, we are almost
certainly surrounded by predatory and guardian (symbiotic) angels,
and gods. They have made their presence known, but the predatory
ones now find it to their advantage to warp unprotected minds and
create the delusion that we of all the species in the world are
alone. Those who pray to the symbiotically inclined spirits, to
be protected from the evil spirits, are delivered from this madness.
They put two and two together, and see the signs of the spiritual
world all about them. But those who do not pray, or who pray amiss,
and this includes most scientists, become intellectual hypocrites,
shrinking back from dealing with honor and integrity with their
fellow scientists who have discovered concrete evidence of "contact."
Editors note...Some
interesting views here. Any comments from those of the 'demon possessed
mind' persuasion welcome.
Top
- Ed
Hill,
A Supernova Sheds Light on Dark Energy
Could those who believe in dark energy be among those for whom the
lights of reason have gone out? So many complicated explanations
based on the concept that the red shift means that the universe
is expanding. I believe that the universe has always been filled
endlessly with a variety of matter and energy much like we see in
all directions with our latest and greatest equipment. In my universe
we don't expand or contract on the grand scale because the pull
of gravity is essentially equal from all directions. Everything
is in a kind of spongy tapestry that has some limited give and take,
a little play in the local density allowing for areas of the universe
to wander about a bit, but never permitting them to drift beyond
a limit where the off-setting gravitational pulls again equal out.
And I shudder every time I hear that balloon analogy. Excuse the
pun, but your balloon is full of holes. It must mean that on the
grand scale gravity has no affect and everything has been expanding
since the big bang (or at least from some point in time.) And is
there only one of these expanding balloons, alone in what is otherwise
infinitely empty space? Excuse me, but no one has any way of knowing
that to be the case. I would say that if a big bang could occur
once out of nothing, it would be likely to be able to occur more
than once. In fact, if I let my mind go shamelessly into speculation,
if something like a big bang could happen once, I could see it happening
in many places and times elsewhere in the emptiness. Pretty soon,
relatively, it wouldn't be so empty out there any more. There would
be some point when these stupid expanding balloons would run into
one another in some corner of the emptiness. Darn inconvenient since
gravity would all of a sudden figure into the movement.
Top
- Trey
Elsey, Ocean
Forces Threaten Our Climate
I just read the article at http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/gribbin.asp,
and I can't help butroll my eyes. The article conveys global warming
as fact, and not astheory. Unfortunately, climatology is one of
those "inexact sciences." Like economics and meteorology,
interpreting past events is usually difficult, and predicting future
events nearly impossible. I can't imagine that the models used by
climatologists are even as good as those used by meteorologists.
There are probably thousands of factors influencing global climate,
and any one of them could possibly throw the "theory"
out the window. What's more, we have less than 100 years of accurate
historicaldata to draw experience from.
I just think that it undermines scientific
integrity to present theory as fact.
Top
- Norm, A
Beginner's Guide to Antimatter
I agree if people want to make antimatter
that it will be very expensive. However, why not obtain antimatter
from comets?
You will find www.matter-antimatter.com
to be very interesting, since comets are natural sources of antimatter.
There are two black holes in the centre of galaxies. One is composed
of matter and the other is composed of antimatter. The spiral arms
in the Milky Way Galaxy contain a similar number of matter and antimatter
stars, which is in agreement with the Big Bang Theory. Since light
(photons) coming from matter and antimatter stars is the same, astronomers
have incorrectly assumed that all stars are made from matter.
Everything in our solar system is composed of matter except comets
that are composed of antimatter: 109 antimatter elements have been
identified and included in a Periodic Table of Matter-AntiMatter
Elements. Each of the antimatter element's nuclear, chemical and
physical characteristics have been identified. Today, scientists
and astrophysics know almost as much about antimatter as they know
about matter.
The energy produced from matter and antimatter provides a tremendous
opportunity for humanity. With this enormous source of energy, all
the third world countries could be brought into the 21st century
without destroying our environment; and turning the Star Trek Dream
into Reality. What do you think?
Top
- William
Sokeland,
Extinction!
Why cannot all the mechanisms of extinction be connected
for mass extinctions? So that the sequence of events could be;
1/ Large impacts cause large flood basalt on the opposite side of
the
Earth. -->
2/ Large flood basalt causes large changes in global climate (much
warmer). -->
3/ Impact in Oceans cause ocean basins and tsunami that could overflow
continents. -->
4/ These types of waves could destroy the mammoth and other large
land species. -->
5/ If the strike was tangential from west to east water could be
launched into outer space - freeze there and re-enter as icy comets.
-->
6/ The additional water in the upper atmosphere could create the
greenhouse effect that triggered the Holocene epoch.
This type of climate would last as long as it took for the outer
space water to re-enter into our oceans. I understand there is still
a great deal of water in Earth's stratosphere. A tangential water
strike in the Pacific Ocean to initiate the Holocene may not leave
a crater. If all the extinction mechanisms were linked to a form
of impact, the impact could be stopped (Star Wars Missile Shield).
If it is related to volcanics that just appear from the centre of
Earth without external trigger, we have no chance.
Bill Tibbe,
Extinction!
In the June 8th 2001 journal 'Science'
it was postulated that all species weighing over 220 pounds in Australia
became extinct shortly after (1,000 years) the arrival of humans
(ancient hunters with fire, spears and an appetite for meat) on
the continent 50,000 years ago. And that all large mammals in North
America became extinct after the arrival of humans 13,600 years
ago. Does anyone
have a position or comment about
the present potential extinction of elephants, rhinos, gorillas,
tigers, grizzly bears etc due to subsistence, market or sport hunting?
Merlin Adams,
Extinction!
Bill Tibbe: We are all a part of nature.
And as a "Great Ape" we do what all species would do unless
starved or predated or injured - take all the food and territory
and breed out of control. Sub-species of us have gone extinct; surviving
numbers have subsequently built up. We are the cause of the sixth
and current major extinction. If our numbers don't mean that we
will be the seventh, I expect the next large flood-basalt volcanism
will sort out the problem.
Jerry Asher,
Extinction!
Dr. MacLeod's article, Extinction, analyzes
several extrinsic mechanisms for the disappearance of species except
for a very crucial one. A new theory proposes that animals become
extinct because the population pyramid inverts, a mechanism that
is intrinsic and independent of species, habitat and epoch. As a
result of the enrichment of the gene pool, animals progressively
conquer common diseases and attain the natural life span for the
species. This enables the population to grow progressively older
and more numerous. However, as the population grows older, an increasingly
greater percentage of them cross the upper reproductive age boundary.
This inevitably leads to zero population growth (ZPG) followed by
decline. The theory predicts the extinction of man within 500 years
and is consistent with demographic facts. We are getting older because
we have conquered many diseases, and will approach ZPG in one or
two hundred years. What then?
Top
- David
Hemp,
Earth's
Fidgeting Climate
Earth's Fidgeting Climate...Very Interesting. But what about methane
gas? We have all that Methane Gas being released by the ocean bottoms
with every little disturbance,landslide, volcanic activity, etc.
And with only the slight rise of only 1 - 2 degrees of the ocean
water at that depth world wide, trillions of tons of methane would
be released all at once! It is being kept in the very unstable condition
it is just barely by the enormous pressures at the bottom. So, any
Global warming that was capable of heating that mass of ocean water
just that little bit could cause massive Global Warming in just
a decade or so after that point! Whole coastal cities would be a
hundred feet under water with the melting of the polar ice caps.
Geeze ... think how crowded the Lake Tahoe area will be then!
Top
- Michael
Hayes, The
Audacious Space Elevator
I enjoyed your
article on the NASA workshop concerning Space Elevators (SE). I
have looked at this concept for about 20 years and would like to
bring a few points to the table. 1) The end purpose of a SE can
be achieved in the near term without the need for exotic materials
or sky high buildings. 2) The potential for large scale energy harvesting
from the Global Electrical Circuit (GEC) is possible using a scaled
back SE system.The first point centres around the "end purpose".
If that purpose is to provide truly cheap space transport, the energy
factor is the key and not the length of the structure. Any structure
that breaches the upper atmosphere from the earths surface will
cause a closing of what is called the Global Electrical Circuit
(GEC). The GEC is energised (think lightening bolts) by the sun/earth
interaction and can not be completely discharged (or even close).
By building a transatmospheric structure (TS) with this in mind,
energy becomes abundant. The technology to provide this type of
structure can be found in a number of industries. The design of
a TS can utilise many launch modes but one of the most energy efficient
would be the use of an atmospherically shielded linear accelerator
(ASLA). Large bore flexible tubing that could be used in this design
aspect is available through the commercial fishing industry. It
is not as large as a final design would require but is large enough
to send small payloads aloft. Building such a system can use segmented
construction techniques which would allow the system to be deployed
(and retrieved) segment by segment. A good deal of energy would
be needed to elevate the tether until the energy from the GEC can
be collected. At that point, the system is energy free (and then
some).The upper stage ion collectors can be incorporated into reasonable
sized lifting bodies attached to the large bore tubing. This first
step in a practical near term "Space Elevator" is needed
for a number of reasons. The energy collection factor is first and
foremost. Space, like any other industry, needs cash flow. This
new approach could provide large cash flows while the full concept
is developed. Henry Ford did not set out to build Lincoln Continentals.
He set out to create cash flow and as many practical cars as he
could. Let me know what you think about this. Editors
note...Well, you heard Michael. Let us know what you think!
David Jefferis,
The
Audacious Space Elevator.
Nice to see the elevator's still around. I wrote about the idea
way back in 1979 with my co-author, the late Kenneth Gatland, in
the illustrated Usborne title 'Book of the Future'. We also featured
the first Lunar Olympics and had fun working out some appropriate
handicaps for lunar environment!
David has kindly sent a couple of images to accompany his comment
- A 1978 rendering
of an elevator and a
Russo-Kenyan athlete running the flame in the first Lunar Olympics...!
Top
- Richard
Jones, Hitching
a Ride on a Magnetic Bubble
I read with great
interest Dr. Tony Phillip's article on magnetic bubbles and solar
wind. I was just wondering if you could tell me at what sort of
distance the bubble would "burst", if it would burst at all.
Tony,
Hitching
a Ride on a Magnetic Bubble
Electromagnetism
must be the way forward for this planet. It is available for harvest
all around us. Research should be more extensive in such fields.
Neil Burge,
Hitching
a Ride on a Magnetic Bubble
Hello,
I was reading your article with interest when it occurred to me
that this form of travel would be of no use to interstellar voyages
as the solar winds from the star you were approaching would surely
cancel out those from our own star at some distance away, leaving
the craft in deep space. How would this be overcome, or is the propulsion
system just being developed for deep space probes?
Bob Pickering,
Hitching
a Ride on a Magnetic Bubble.
It sounds fascinating and the article more or less suggests that
this method of propulsion is bound to work, it's just a matter of
time, effort and investment. Is it anticipated that such craft will
be able to travel back towards the sun and be steerable ? Rather
like a boat sailing into the wind by tacking it would presumably
be necessary for the bubble to have an adjustable profile.
Top
- Andrew
Kissel,
The Space
Hopping Hyperplane
Talking about
hyperspace and the idea of extra, curled up dimensions....
So what of inter-dimensional
travel? Well in essence I see this as a possibility. For, it would
be suspected that if one were to use this detected gravity between
dimensions, and, with the help of enough energy, to make a "tear"
in space, that it would leave a temporary hole that could be traversed.
This tear would be very temporary, as what we are essentially doing
is "borrowing" energy to penetrate through space and time. Each
particle attempting to penetrate would have to borrow energy to
make its way through the unseen barrier, and repay it once it has
reached the other side. At the quantum level this is definitely
possible. But to imagine a human being, with quadrillions of atoms
and smaller plank-length sidex particles, the idea that every one
of these making it through the tear gets more complex and less probable.
Top
- Rick
Hanrahan,
The Theory
of Everything
I have just finished reading the article "The
Theory of Everything" by Michio Kaku, and have to say that
it was very interesting. But I do have a few thoughts. If the smallest
unit of time is infinitely small and you were to go back in time,
then you would need a precise time to enter the past world. But
how can you enter a past world at a precise time if time is infinite?
Also, if time travel is possible then why hasn't anybody come back
from the future to our time to prove it? How about if we make a
statement to the world like "To the people of the future: if
yee discover time travel, come back in time and walk in to this
room now.....". Just a thought...
Archil Kapanadze,
The Theory of
Everything
I have just finished reading the article "The
Theory of Everything" by Michio Kaku, and have to say that
it was interesting to watch the logic of a Physicist who trys to
create Physics on the basis of mathematical physics. It is immpossible.
If we remember our history, Albert Einstein based his theory on
the Mikelson-Morly experiment. The zero result of this experiment
was not interpreted correctly. Can we see the effect of ether at
30 km/sec if it appears after 200 000 km/sec (it comes from E=mc2)?
No.The Bohr postulats was the basis of quantum theory and then this
theory explains the physical essence of the postulates with mathematical
methods. I do not think it is correct from a Physics point of view.In
the middle of last century Physics was replaced by Mathematical
Physics and the superstring theory is the result of it.The real
physical essence of nature can be explaned by the "Ipotron
theory of matter" by Rezo Khomeriki, which is unknown to scientific
society because of the bad financial condition of its author.On
the basis of this theory gravitation can not be gathered with the
other three forces because it has a different genesis.
Top
- Clifford
Black,
Sonnet to Science
Your best feature is poetry! "Sonnet to Science,"
by Edgar Allan Poe, has the usual wonderful imagery for which this
Gothic muse is known. The sonnet seems, at first, to be only a lament
castigating "science" for its cold, hard objectivity,
which spoils the idylls of the aesthete and the dreamer. Science
dispassionately ruins myths and technically quantifies the stars
and the storied constellations they form. However, Poe is also talking
about the reality of death:"Vulture, whose wings are dull realities
. . ." and "Who wouldst not leave [one] in his wandering
. . . " That vulture has "torn . . .from me/The summer
dream beneath the tamarind tree." This is vintage Poe, whose
stock in trade was the macabre, but there is also a sweetness and
beauty about this examination of a sad fact of life.
Top
- Mr
Sugandi, The
Age of El Nino
Many Indonesian climatological experts
believe that El Nino and La Nina have significant impacts in Indonesia.
Common people like me just think that El Nino causes a prolonged
dry season (and to some extent causes forest fires) while La Nina
causes severe flooding problem in Indonesia. Whether that is true
or not, there is no logical explanation so far; and I would be interested
to hear the views of others as to the effects and impacts of El
Nino and La Nina in their regions.
Sue at Deane Construction,
The
Age of El Nino
I read the article about the effects
of El Nino and La Nina on how plankton are effected by the constant
changes in temperature. As someone living in California, I remember
the effects of El Nino a few years ago. From the standpoint of someone
who works as a contractor in the State of California, weather can
have a significant effect upon working conditions. My question is
whether we will be experiencing the effects of El Nino again or
will a dryer California be scheduled for 2002? I know its not an
exact science but anyones opinion on possible changes would be interesting.
Top
- Thorsten
Krug,
Terraforming
Mars
This was an interesting article, but I think they
forget something. As far as I remember the facts about martian gravity,
it is not sufficient to hold the gas very long within the athmosphere.
That is the reason why the winds on Mars are quite weak, because
the athmosphere is far less dense than here on Earth. A little breeze
on Mars would be a full grown blizzard here on Earth. I do not know
how long this terraforming could last, but I suppose not too long.
Top
- Phil
McCarty, Plastics
You Could Eat
What about the high fossil fuel consumption
in the production of these biodegradeable polymers Dr. Sykes?...not
even mentioning the pollution involved with the consuming machinery
necessary for the production of these biopolymers.....Is it cost
effective and/or evironmentally friendly to produce these polymers
as a general container replacement yet?...
Top
- Babu
Rao, Recipe
For The Universe
As one thinks of the possibility of many universes.
And that the whole Universe is governed by just six numbers. One
can also think there is a possibility of some entity manipulating
these quantities (numbers) and experimenting with different combinations
- assuming that such entity has INTENTION to manipulate these quantities.
Just as a higher order living being (like man) on the earth is having
some INTENTION and doing or attempting to do certain things, can't
we assume that there can be some entity with some INTENTION and
experimenting with universes. Just as man can change his INTENTION
depending on the feedback of his earlier actions. This entity also
can change its intention depending on the feedback of its earlier
actions. The time scales of such an entity may be on gigantic scale.
And why might there not be many such entities?
Top
- Ronald
Kowalski, Super-Thunderstorms
on Jupiter
I find it a little odd that you do not
mention the direction of flow in the storms i.e. highs and lows
above and below the equator. Especially, if core convection produces
different effects than those experienced on Earth (surface heat
transfer). There
are some who believe tetrahedral dynamics and Chaos Theory (Lorenz
Attractor) explains much more about dynamic flow than traditional
meteorology techniques - the forming and unfolding of planets, as
well as related weather effects.
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