California is now the first state to approve a plan to combat global warming. The plan will cap their greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 to the level of emissions in 1990. In accordance with this, Paris Hilton has announced that she will cap her media exposure to 1990 levels as well. Thank you, music gods.

Soon there will be even more ads in video games. Electronic Arts had teamed up with two online advertising firms to place ads in video games which will be constantly updated from the internet. Soon, when you’re beating someone up in GTA you’ll have your choice of which brand baseball bat to use, Nike or Rawlings, and you can listen to Top 50 hits in you stolen ‘08 Ford Mustang.

The SMART-1 probe, a European Space Agency (ESA) probe which orbited the moon collecting images and data for three years, will crash land there at 7,200 km per hour tonight around 2:00 AM EDT. Amatuer astronomers can watch this from earth - it’s like watching World’s Most Outrageous Car Crashes for geeks.

Public health experts want you to eat more fish. They are that worried repeated reports of toxics in seafood are preventing people from enjoying the health benefits. Omega-3 fats, found in fish and fish oil, are good for your heart, brain and joints. However, toxics such as mercury and PCBs are also found in seafood. Mercury can cause learning and hearing defects in infants and children, but experts have questioned the risks of the types and levels of mercury contained in seafood. The researchers also say that PCBs, while potentially carcinogenic, are probably not present in the body at levels that consumers should be concerned about. When comparing these health benefits to the risks, the experts recommend eating seafood a few times a week as part of a healthy diet. (As a skeptic, I’d still take this with a grain of salt. Or a drop of saltwater?)

When thinking about seafood, my main concern is usually not whether it contains toxic chemicals, but A) whether it was harvested in a sustainable manner, and B) whether it will make me hurl. As far as A is concerned, you can check sustainable seafood solutions here. On the B note, I have only once been able to eat raw oysters. And I didn’t hurl. Maybe if you drink enough alcohol with your seafood, you’ll kill off whatever bacteria are living on your seafood. As a scientist, that sounds highly unlikely. But as an Irishwoman … meh, pass the Jameson.

Undersea robots work together to collect ocean data without human control. Rather than the usual rant, I have composed this haiku:

Robots teach robots
in the deep sea no man’s land.
Sea-bot takeover?  

Happy weekend!

I recently saw a talk by Andrew E. Dessler, author of The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change. Dessler discusses the arguments for and against taking actions to reduce green house gas emissions. He provides evidence showing that most people who value their credibility will not argue against the proven facts that the earth is warming and that some of the change is human-induced. Instead they will argue that, given the uncertainty of the situation, the nation cannot reasonably take actions to prevent emissions.

One of the best arguments cites The One Percent Doctrine, a book by Ron Suskind named for Dick Cheney’s declaration that “We have to deal with this new type of threat in a way we haven’t yet defined. . . . With a low-probability, high-impact event like this . . . If there’s a one percent chance that Pakistani scientists are helping al Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response.” Therefore, if there is a one-percent chance of a nuclear attack, we should take action.

So, what are the chances that the global climate is warming? The chances (discussed by Dessler) are far greater, perhaps 20 to 50 percent. The dangers of global warming have been shown: wildfires, droughts, extreme weather events. Why, then, is the US government not taking action to prevent these disasters?

One problem is that the public doesn’t feel a sense of urgency to prevent global warming. People are more concerned with the immediate dangers of other threats, such as avian flu or terrorism. Someone suggested that the dead polar bear should be the mascot to get the public thinking about the dangers of global warming. It seems that Greenpeace has. Perhaps it would be more effective if it went something like this:

This polar bear died from:
a) terrorism 
b) avian flu 
c) gay marriage 
d) flag burning 
e) global warming 

It might be more accurate to say that the polar bear died from poor leadership by our short-sighted politicians.

Saber-toothed kangaroos, three meter tall ducks, tree-climbing crocodiles and marsupial lions, oh my! The fossils of at least 20 new and bizarre species have been unearthed in Austrailia. Is it just me, or does anyone else want to see these species battle it out in IMAX? I mean, it wouldn’t be cruelty to animals since they’re already extinct, right? Maybe that’s why all the fossils were found together: 20 million years ago the Austrailian land predators fought to the death until there was one predator overlord. Who won? I’m betting on the the “demon duck of doom“. No word on what happened to this one:  

 (Slightly more credible theories for the loss of Austrailia’s megafauna can be found here)

Last week I had the opportunity to see a lecture by Jean-Michel Cousteau (son of Jacques). Like his father, Cousteau has spent a lifetime exploring the oceans and communicating his discoveries to the public. On recent expeditions, his team traveled to all of the marine sanctuaries in the US. Last week there were 13. This week, thanks to Cousteau and the Bush administration, there are 14. Cousteau made a documentary called Voyage to Kure, which documents his voyage to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. These uninhabited islands are so remote that most visitors don’t even know that they’re there. What they found on this island was absolutely shocking. There were heaps of trash covering the beach. This trash has floated in from all over the world: toys from the US, fishing equipment from Asia, trash from Europe. It was so pervasive that the seabirds were choking on it.

You see, most beaches are cleaned when trash starts accumulating so that we never have to think about all of the trash that is floating around in the oceans. But this untouched beach contained mountains of refuse that had accumulated over the years.

They also found a beautiful wild ocean ecosystem that needed protection.

Fortunately, the Couseau's have influential friends, and the film caught the attention of President and First Lady Bush. The Bush’s were so touched that they even held a private screening of the film for their friends. The result was that President Bush established the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a National Monument yesterday.

With so much crap going on in our nation, it’s nice to hear a success story like this. Let’s hope that this administration and future administrations maintain a legacy of stewardship in our national sanctuaries, parks and monuments.

Wal-Mart is starting a campaign to be more eco-friendly. This could be considered green-washing, but it comes from a greater understanding of a new reality: Global warming is bad for business. And companies can save money by being green. So hate them or not (just don’t love them), but they are market leaders and this could represent a turning tide in sustainable business.

Check out this excellent column on the greening of Wal-Mart from the San Francisco Gate. Just remember, Wal-Mart will always be the devil: “[Wal-Marts] are the George Bushes of the retail world - drunk with power, cheaply made and full of crap.”

People who have suffered life’s hard knocks while growing up tend to be more gullible than those who have been more sheltered. No wonder I’m so gullible, I was raised by wolverines in the Gobi Desert who ate the baby that I conceived with Elvis when I was 13…

Vegans are five times less likely to concieve twins than non-vegans. Of course due to the consumption of hormones in dairy. I am torn between my desire to have twins and my despise of the goddamn chemicals that are being pumped into my system due to my love of cheese.

Snow pack on mountain tops will be drastically diminished by the end of the century, causing major water resource issues for the affected populations. Time to start mining ice on Mars!

Schizophrenia limits understanding of body language. But no one can misinterpret the language of rock! \m/

Nationwide, an estimated 20,000 families have fallen below the poverty line as a result of Wal-Mart’s expansion. Bastards.

Young America’s political views are negatively affected by the Daily Show. Wow, you mean we're not depressed by the fact that this country is run by two political parties that are both so ridiculous that comedians barely even have to try to make them funny?

Robots can be used to interact with, communicate with and control roaches. Now the only things left on this planet after the shit hits the fan are roaches, AND the tiny robots that we use to control them!

This Washington Post article highlights gross incompetency at the US Army Corps of Engineers which has not changed over the past 60 years. US ACE is allowed to endorse any project where the economic benefits to private parties exceed the cost of the project. The cost-benefit analysis often overlooks the value of human life and environmental benefits. Most of the funding for these projects comes from earmarks, money set aside in legislation for specific projects, which are often regional and pushed by specific members of Congress trying to bring economic benefits to their districts to get themselves re-elected, i.e. “pork-barrel politics”. Many of the projects are embarrassingly bad ideas. The article has an infuriating analysis of how US ACE screwed New Orleans by not preparing the city for Katrina.