Pilot Steve Fossett, who on Friday was more than halfway through his quest to set a record for the longest distance, nonstop flight, had his parachute on and was ready to bail out in case his plane broke apart due to extreme turbulence over India.

Source: Discovery

I predict they will overshoot the Baja peninsula to see how far they can go.

Bird flu has been detected in northern Cyprus, according to the European Commission. Tests on dead birds showed they were carrying the lethal H5N1 strain, the Brussels body said yesterday.

Source: Financial Times

According to a report by the scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission, one of the world’s leading bodies of whale biologists, the evidence linking sonar to a series of whale strandings in recent years is “very convincing and appears overwhelming.” Despite the broad scientific consensus that military active sonar kills whales, the use of this deadly sonar in the world’s oceans is spreading.

From the NRDC.org Website

–Not a direct prediction, but this is environment related. I wanted to hopefully bring some attention to NRDC, especially with the recent Whale lost in the Thames river.

whales, dolphins, nrdc, endangered

pingpong_fiasco is making this prediction:
“I call that Google will surpass Websters and the OED as the de facto standard for correct spelling.”

Click Here to Comment

-I agree with this. I already use Google for all my spelling and thesaurus needs. Good solid call.

Just received this spam in the morn.

Good day, commander,
Manuel
Bye

Manuel
Manuel
Manuel
Manuel
Manuel
Manuel
Manuel
Manuel
Manuel
Manuel

Is this a trend?

What’s ailing the movie industry? Did rising ticket prices and overpriced tubs of popcorn keep people away? Are moviegoers simply more interested in staying home and watching DVDs that they rented from Netflix on their home theater systems? Or maybe, consumers are just bored with the derivative fare that Hollywood has to offer? It’s probably a combination of all these factors.

Check it out here

You’re not going to see this on realtor.com, realestate.yahoo.com, realestate.msn.com or any other sites that deal with real estate. Thats probably because of advertising spending.

The number of previously owned homes on the market rose last month to the highest level in more than 19 years, while sales fell for the second-consecutive month, raising concerns that a housing bubble might be about to burst.

But many economists said the increase in homes for sale was actually a sign that the housing market was gradually cooling rather than threatening to implode.

Source

From the “Matrix is real and we are all screwed department.”

A new robot can recognize the difference between a mirror image of itself and another robot that looks just like it.

This so-called mirror image cognition is based on artificial nerve cell groups built into the robot’s computer brain that give it the ability to recognize itself and acknowledge others.

The ground-breaking technology could eventually lead to robots able to express emotions.

Under development by Junichi Takeno and a team of researchers at Meiji University in Japan, the robot represents a big step toward developing self-aware robots and in understanding and modeling human self-consciousness.

–Truly ground breaking.

Source

robotics, robot

Nevada is once again the fastest growing state. You go girl.

For the 19th straight year, Nevada was the fastest growing state. Its population rose 3.5 percent for the year ended at mid-year in 2005.

It even moved up a notch – from No. 18 to No. 17 – in the list of top 20 most populous states, bumping Missouri down a notch.

The population in Arizona, the No. 2 fastest growing state, grew at just under 3.5 percent.

The other fastest growing states were Idaho (up 2.4%), Florida (up 2.3%) and Utah (up 2%), in the top five.

Then came Georgia (up 1.7%), Texas (up 1.7%), North Carolina (up 1.7%), Delaware (up 1.6%) and Oregon (up 1.4%).

With the exception of Georgia, Idaho and Texas, much of the increase in the populations of the fastest growing states was due to migration of residents from elsewhere.

The Census findings are in keeping with a trend among home buyers and home owners to move away from high-priced markets to more moderately priced ones.

–Now how will this effect consumerism and retail development, housing, etc.?

Source

Once thought of the reason for low colorectal incidence, fiber is now considered a poser based on new research.

Researchers seeking to resolve one of the most controversial issues in cancer prevention found that colorectal cancers were 16% less common among people consuming the most fiber than among those receiving the least.

But the advantage probably comes from other healthy lifestyle choices made by the fiber eaters, who tend to smoke less, exercise more, avoid red meats and consume more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, calcium and folic acid, the researchers said.

When researchers controlled for these factors, evidence of fiber as a cancer fighter disappeared.

Source

–In a nutshell this research is suggesting that fiber is just for hardening up your dumps. Really, its too gross not to be good for you,