Science Links for 06/28/2008

Science Etcetera, Saturnday 20080628

June 28th, 2008

Suprise! Martian soil is much more alkaline than expected, meaning it’s much more like Earth’s soil, and holds a much greater potential for supporting life.

At its current pace of melting, the North Pole will be free of ice by September.

Arctic Sea Ice 1979 and 2003
Credit: Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Uh oh. We appear to have a chicken and egg issue here. Humans can laugh at humor because our brains have evolved to recognize pattern, and our brains have evolved to recognize patterns because we reward them with laughter.

Starvation blocks the effects of a growth hormone, which may be a key to increasing lifespan. Longevity is linked to malnorishment.

Haagen-Dazs is pleading for Congress to do something about vanishing honey bees, without which wil won’t have strawberry, vanilla, and almond.

Japan has turned an abandoned baseball stadium into beautiful rising gardens.

Rising Gardens in Osaka, Japan
Credit: A Posh Sentinel

How many hours are you working to support your vehicle?

90 percent of 150 people studied can carry a tune, and 100 percent of them can keep timing.

With 130 proposals for Solar Powered energy plants that could power 20 million US homes, the Bureau of Land Management has decided its a good time to put a moratorium on new solar projects on public land. As outrageous as this sounds, I agree it’s a good idea until the environmental impacts can be assessed.

McCain doesn’t know how to use a computer, vote on whether this is important to you.

The Navy says it has taken steps to make its sonar exercises safe for whales, and will continue training.

Hydroelectric generator in a bucket.

Hooray! Spain is giving human rights to apes.

Mike Huckabee and John McCain keep claiming “not one drop of oil was spilled” during Huricane Katrina, which ignores the 17,700 barrels of oil from 124 spills that occured.

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