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Since 1979, Arctic Sea Ice has seen dramatic losses but never so much all at once. As of August 1rst, the old record low of 4.1 million square kilometers of ice coverage was broken. Sea ice continued to melt rapidly throughout August shattering the past record when it reached 2.99 million square kilometers late in the month. (more…)
Futurists have often predicted an age where machines would become as capable as humans at everything from dancing, to thinking, to interacting with the world.
Is anyone not astounded by the amazing rate at which robotic technology has progressed in the past decade? We now have cars, aircraft, and underwater vehicles that can drive themselves. Prosthetic limbs with intelligence and the internet is being used by some as a vast oracle in an attempt to get a glimpse at the future.
But as strange as an oracular internet may sound, I don’t think it’s as haunting as seeing machines do what humans can. Moving with an almost uncanny perfection, these robots, gracefully dance:
Does anyone else find this to be a bit haunting?
Chalk up another victory for the machines.
According to recent scientific studies, polar ice and continental glaciers are at risk of melting at a much more rapid rate than expected. One prominent scientist — Peter Wadhams — recently issued a scientific report claiming arctic sea ice could completely dissappear one summer about 13 years from now.
Furthermore, James Hansen, another reputed scientist, this one from NASA, reported in his “Climate Change and Trace Gasses,” the slow climate change models produced at the IPCC don’t match with geological data.
According to Hansen, the geological record shows that ice at the poles does not melt in a gradual fashion. Instead, it suddenly flips from one state to the next. Often resulting in sudden and drastic geological changes. (more…)
What would happen if only women could live forever? If, by some unique trait, they were able to extend their lives indefinitely and men could not?
Well scientists may have discovered just such a possibility.
According to a recent AP article, scientists say they can now create embryonic stem cells by stimulating unfertilized eggs. With research emphasizing ways to create stem cells without destroying embryos, this approach is currently one of the most ethical. The cells from these eggs could then be used to rejuvenate any tissue in the body.
As many scientists feel this would produce significant increase in lifespan, individuals would, potentially, be able to extend life indefinitely.
But ONLY for the woman that particular egg came from. For, according to the article “such an approach could not provide matched cells for men, of course.”
Imagine, for a moment, a society in which women were immortal and men were not. Now what sort of world would that be? Would the physical advantage men have over women evaporate in an instant? Well this recent breakthrough might just have that result.
Could this have happened?
It was a time of rapid global warming. In a decade, average world temperatures rose 9 degrees. Vast glaciers covered the northern hemisphere continents. More than two miles deep in some places, these ranges of ice together took up more space than all of North America.
The heat brought catastrophic change. On the icepack, lakes formed. At first they were small, shallow. But they rapidly widened and deepened until many drilled all the way through the ice meeting ground and rock. Water is denser than ice so it pressed beneath the field flowing out from the great glacier’s base.
Melt rate increased. First doubling, then tripling. Cracks grew and filled with water.
Then, one day, a threshold was reached. With a massive roar, the glacier surged forward. (more…)
