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Earth

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Fall Worldwide In 2009 221

Posted by kdawson
from the is-it-warm-out-here dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "The Christian Science Monitor reports that the good news is that emissions from burning coal, oil, and natural gas fell 1.3 percent compared with emissions in 2008 primarily because of the global economic downturn and an increase in carbon-dioxide uptake by the oceans and by plants on land. One big factor was La Niña, a natural seesaw shift in climate that takes place across the tropical Pacific every three to seven years, where the climate is cooler and wetter over large regions of land in the tropics, encouraging plant growth in tropical forests. However the bad news is that even with the decrease in emissions the overall concentration of CO2 rose from 385 ppm in 2008 to 387 ppm in 2009, as concentrations continue to rise even as emissions slip because even at the reduced pace, humans are pumping CO2 into the atmosphere faster than natural processes can scrub the gas. Many countries have agreed in principle to try to stabilize emissions at 350 ppm by century's end, which would result in a 50 percent chance of holding the increase in global average temperatures to about 2 degrees C over pre-industrial levels."

Comment: Call the bomb squad (Boomf!) (Score 1) 851

by FreakerSFX (#33838304) Attached to: College Student Finds GPS On Car, FBI Retrieves It

Just drop it somewhere out of your car on the freeway at 55mph...must've come loose on its own. Maybe drag one of the pieces a bit first so it looks like one, then the other dropped off.

OR call the bomb squad and report a suspicious device on your car. BOOM. Tell the FBI to arrest the bomb squad. They love blowing up shit.

NASA

The Sun Unleashes Coronal Mass Ejection At Earth 220

Posted by Soulskill
from the return-fire dept.
astroengine writes "Yesterday morning, at 08:55 UT, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory detected a C3-class flare erupt inside a sunspot cluster. 100,000 kilometers away, deep within the solar atmosphere (the corona), an extended magnetic field filled with cool plasma forming a dark ribbon across the face of the sun (a feature known as a 'filament') erupted at the exact same time. It seems very likely that both eruptions were connected after a powerful shock wave produced by the flare destabilized the filament, causing the eruption. A second solar observatory, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, then spotted a huge coronal mass ejection blast into space, straight in the direction of Earth. Solar physicists have calculated that this magnetic bubble filled with energetic particles should hit Earth on August 3, so look out for some intense aurorae — a solar storm is coming."

Comment: Re:I'll probably be dead by then, right? (Score 1) 326

Corn is not an efficient source of ethanol. It's cheap because it's subsidized massively by the US gov't. There are many more efficient ways to generate ethanol.

Also hydrogen would be a decent fuel source as well. We are stuck in an oil age because the largest companies in the world want it that way. It's frightening how big "oil" companies are.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_corporations_by_market_capitalization

At least BP dropped off the top 10.

Classic Games (Games)

Fan-Developed Ultima VI Remake Released 161

Posted by Soulskill
from the serious-dedication dept.
An anonymous reader writes "20 years after the original game launched, a fan-developed Ultima 6 remake has finally been released! The Ultima 6 Project was formed in 2001 by Sliding Dragon to develop a remake of Origin's Ultima VI: The False Prophet with newer graphics and a more immersive engine. Soon assembled under the banner Archon, the team members, who hail from all over the globe, have set about recreating the world of Britannia, adding an enhanced storyline to bolster intraseries continuity and building on the Ultima legacy in a way that will please fans new and old."

Comment: Article Summary (Score 1) 450

by FreakerSFX (#32812140) Attached to: Prince Says Internet Is Over

This has nothing to do with technology. Prince is a 52 year-old vegan (supposedly) devout Jehovah's Witness with narcissistic personality disorder. I am surprised that anyone following any sort of religion would allow such a flagrant waste of money as his home seems to be but then I never professed to understand this (or really any other) religion and perhaps he donates generously to someone, somewhere.

His view on the Internet and gadgets are only related to his inability to extract cash from this venue for his music. Sadly, it appears like has far too much money and spends it poorly. His wishful thinking that this Internet thing and these computer gadgets should all just go away to simplify his cash delivery model is not going to amount to nothing more than 5 minutes of ridicule on the very medium he claims is dead.

Image

Prince Says Internet Is Over 450

Posted by samzenpus
from the it-was-fun-while-it-lasted dept.
the_arrow writes "According to the artist currently known as Prince, 'The internet's completely over.' At least that what he says in an interview with the British newspaper Mirror. Quoting Prince: 'The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you.'"

Beware of friends who are false and deceitful.