Clarke on Two-Dimensional Life

"The planet was absolutely flat. Its enormous gravity had long ago crushed into one uniform level the mountains of its fiery youth-mountains whose mightiest peaks had never exceeded a few metres in height. Yet there was life here, for the surface was covered with a myriad geometrical patterns that crawled and moved and changed their colour. It was a world of two dimensions, inhabited by beings who could be no more than a fraction of a centimetre in thickness."

From Aurthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End, the author offers what reminds me of what Flatland must look like to a visitor, though I cannot imagine how a three-dimensional creature could survive under these pressures. 

Volcano Spews 4km Ash Plume

Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano erupted Monday afternoon, sending a plume of ash almost four kilometers into the air and starting a number of wildfires. The 5,452-meter volcano is one of the most active in Mexico and has experienced several major eruptions since 1994.

More: http://feedly.com/k/129jyPN 

EPA Reverses Itself on Fluoride

In a surprising reversal, last month EPA’s announced that it intends to lower the maximum amount of fluoride in drinking water because of growing evidence supporting the chemical’s possible deleterious effects to children’s health. 

In 2006, the National Academy of Sciences report that found dental fluorosis – caused by too much fluoride – capable of putting children at risk of developing other dental problems including the breakdown of tooth enamel, discoloration and pitting.

More: EPA Reverses Itself on Fluoride

Lightspeed

Arthur C. Clarke on near-lightspeed travel, from Childhood's End:

    "The important fact was that I knew how far they had to travel, and therefore how long the journey took. NGS 549672 is forty light-years from Earth. The Overlords ships reach more than ninety-nine per cent of the speed of light, so the trip must last forty years of our dine. Our time; that's the crux of the matter.
    "Now as you may have beard, strange things happen as one approaches the speed of light. Time itself begins to flow at a different rate-to pass more slowly, so that what would be months on Earth would be no more than days on the ships of the Overlords. The effect is quite fundamental; it was discovered by the great Einstein more than a hundred years ago.
    "I have made calculations based on what we know about the Stardrive, and using the firmly-established results of Relativity theory. From the viewpoint of the passengers on one of the Overlord ships, the journey to NGS 549672 will last not more than two months-even though by Earth's reckoning forty years will have passed. I know this seems a paradox, and if it's any consolation it's puzzled the world's best brains ever since Einstein announced it.

Sealife from Science Fiction

Arthur C. Clarke on sealife, amazingly real, from Childhood's End:

    A fish with incredibly exaggerated jaws was visible in the viewing screen. It appeared to be quite large, but as Jan did now know the scale of the picture it was bard to judge. Hanging from a point just below its gills was a long tendril, ending In an unidentifiable, bell-shaped organ.
    "We're seeing it on infrared," said the pilot. "Let's look at the normal picture."
    The fish vanished completely. Only the pendant remained, slowing with its own phosphorescence. Then, just for an instant, the shape of the creature flickered into visibility as a line of lights flashed out along its body.
    "It's an angler; that's the bait it uses to lure other fish. Fantastic, isn't it? What I don't understand is-why doesn't his bait attract fish big enough to eat him? But we can't wait here all day. Watch him run when I switch on the jets."
    The cabin vibrated once again as the vessel eased itself forward. The great luminous fish suddenly flashed on all its lights in a frantic signal of alarm, and departed like a meteor into the darkness of the abyss.

Continuum, an Agorist Review

Statism comes in all flavors. While Continum appears, on the surface, good science fiction, it comes off more as what happens when the government produces art. Remember Sandman, from Post-WWII Germany? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ojzpuMdSxc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Continuum, while having a 90s feel in its writing, also has a slightly "off" presentation. Such anti-capitalist sentiments are only felt on the statist side, with anything but an aesthetic delivery. Corporatism is hardly acceptable, my Che Guevara was hardly more than a criminal thug with moral aspirations. Oh, the irony. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW1bFY11tFQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Travis: anyone that smart is actually smart. 

Texas Wildlife

Texas is a beautiful place. The foliage, while rather dry at times, is a unique blend, along with what comes here through human intervention. So, our kids uave a handful of rubber snakes, one of which is realistic, and to scale. What's worse? It usually ends up with the patio toys. Yeah, you probably already guessed it. The youngest says he sees a snake on the patio. It looks like the toy snake, so I go to pick it up. Then it turns, looks at me, flicking its tongue.