Warming Climate Plays Large Role in Western U.S. Wildfires

In the most systematic analysis to date of recent changes in forest fire activity, Anthony Westerling, Hugo Hidalgo and Dan Cayan of Scripps Oceanography, along with Tom Swetnam of the University of Arizona, compiled a database of recent large western wildfires since 1970 and compared it with climate and land-surface data from the region. The results show that large wildfire activity increased "suddenly and dramatically" in the 1980s with longer wildfire seasons and an increased number and more potent wildfires.

The new findings, published in the July 6 issue of Science Express (the advance online version of the printed journal Science), point to climate change, not fire suppression policies and forest accumulation, as the primary driver of recent increases in large forest fires.

I suffer the dreams of a world gone mad
I like it like that and I know it

--R.E.M., "Leave"

Kate Moss . . . pole-dancing? In black-and-white? How did I miss this?

Heads up: This is the first time I know of that astronomer/ufologist Jacques Vallee has specifically addressed the "Singularity." And he emphasizes the critical, all-too-often neglected, distinction between "saving the planet" and saving ourselves.

As George Carlin has observed, the planet is fine -- the people are fucked!

Mother ship over Phoenix . . . next to plane???

The give-away is the dots of light. When a camera takes a photo in the dark of night, the shutter stays open for a significant time. When an airplane passes through the camera field of view, the steady-on lights of the plane create a smeared "bar" of light. However, the flashing or strobing navigation and safety lights create a repeating dot pattern in the photo. The reason the smear in this photo is fairly short is because of the rather bright lights of the city below. The camera shutter stayed open too long to "stop" the plane's motion, but not long enough to produce a streak across the entire sky.

I like Kyle King because he doesn't "want to believe." His blog is consistently provoking and proves that skepticism by no means entails an atrophied sense of wonder.

Where Do Rusty Rockets Go When They Die?

And it's not just decommissioned satellites. According to Australian Government astronomer, Dr. James Biggs, other types of debris have appeared over the years due to, well, our rather cavalier approach to space activities. Biggs says that extra-vehicular activity (EVA), repairs to spacecraft, nuclear testing and crude anti-satellite technology tested during the 80s and 90s have all contributed to the rocket casings, fairings, nuts and bolts, flecks of paint, gloves, tools and other potentially lethal bits of shrapnel currently orbiting the Earth.

And when one of those objects succumbs to Earth's gravity well and crashes somewhere, leaving a trail of smoke across the sky -- bam! -- we've got another "Roswell incident."

NASA UFO Hacker May End Up in Guantanamo

UFO hacker Gary McKinnon is to be extradited to the US by Great Britain, according to a decision handed down by British Home Secretary John Reid. Mr. McKinnon is accused of hacking into NASA and US military computers in search of UFO evidence. According to what he told Dreamland listeners, he did not hack into anything, but simply entered computers on insecure networks that had no firewalls and were not password protected. Mr. McKinnon faces a virtual certainty of a long prison sentence in the US, and almost no chance of receiving a fair trial.

I'm inclined to accept McKinnon's claim that he didn't "hack," but accessed insecure networks. As I briefly relate in the introduction to "After the Martian Apocalypse," I phoned a scientist working at JPL in 1998 after finding his number in what was ostensibly an "internal" directory. I don't remember his name, but he was friendly enough and curious how I got his number.

Here's the Victorian mansion (now a tourist site) across the street:





At one point in the house's history it functioned as a mental asylum; lobotomies were performed on the top floor.





I like turning my car around in the driveway, from which you can see lots of Gothic trimmings defying the surrounding suburban conformity.

I just finished reading British ufologist Jenny Randles' "Alien Contacts and Abductions," an overview of close encounters published in the early 90s. Accessible and even challenging, Randles' book helps illustrate the divide between British ufology -- for which the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis is still a hypothesis -- and its American counterpart, which is brash and mostly obnoxious in comparison.

("Alien Contacts and Abductions" contains lots of case-files relevant to my own Indigenous Hypothesis, which maintains that the UFO/contact phenomenon is neither extraterrestrial nor paraphysical -- at least as usually envisioned.)

Solar Shade to Reverse Global Warming

Instead of trying to reduce the greenhouse gasses, what if you could block out the light from the Sun? Dr. Roger Angel from the University of Arizona has calculated that a solar shade 2000 km (1,250 miles) across would block enough radiation from reaching the Earth to reduce the warming effects of carbon dioxide emissions back to industrial levels.

It's surreal watching obscure theoretical concepts like this quietly plant roots in the mainstream.

You Are Batman

Billionaire playboy by day. Saving the world by night. And you're not even a true superhero. Just someone with a lot of expensive toys!

What Superhero Are You?

But I don't wanna be Batman!

Is Australia in the midst of a UFO wave? Stay informed!

Peter Gersten's been taking photos of reality-altering vortices amid the red-rock scenery of Sedona, Arizona. (I've been there, and it's almost this weird.)

I'm confused. Is it kitsch? Erotica? Surrealism? All of the above?

Photos of things other than UFOs:

China harvesting Falun Gong organs, report alleges

China is harvesting organs from live Falun Gong prisoners without consent and destroying their remains, says a report from a former Liberal MP and a Canadian human rights lawyer.

(Via The Anomalist.)

Shades of Michael Marshall Smith's excellent novel, "Spares."

For some time I've tried to persuade readers of this blog of the reality of my erotically charged encounters with women from distant planets. Some, perhaps reasonably, assume I'm kidding. Now the "debate" is over.

I have succeeded in photographing the outside of one of the spacewomen's vehicles in unprecedented -- indeed startling -- detail. Preliminary photographic analysis by an independent laboratory offers powerful, if circumstantial, evidence of the reality of my experiences.

See for yourself:





Experts assure me that to hoax such a photo would require enormous funds and access to optical technology known only to a handful of researchers. Moreover, the distinct "portholes" visible in the photo are congruent with my prior descriptions of the spacewomen's vehicles, forcing the reasonable-minded to conclude that my extraterrestrial contacts have been reported with the utmost veracity.

Meme Therapy has posted an interview with science fiction/horror author John Shirley that I helped with:

Science Fiction Author John Shirley

In a general thematic sense and in some specifics, my novels Eclipse, Eclipse Penumbra and Eclipse Corona (currently from Babbage Press) were pretty accurate and I'm afraid are becoming more so every year. I predicted a move toward theocracy in the United States, and a kind of disguised neofascism--that seems to me to be coming about. I predicted this would be predicated on global military turmoil--the equivalent was 9/11. I failed to predict the loggerheads quality of our relationship with the Muslim nations but I did predict that there would be something along the lines of a "New Soviet" in Russia, becoming increasingly nationalistic and belligerent and that seems to be in the offing. I predicted that news media would not be reliable in the age of computer animation and the globalization of news information and this is proving out too.

Adorable!

(Thanks to Boing Boing.)

U.S. vulnerable to 'cyber Katrina'

The United States is poorly prepared for a "cyber Katrina," with no coordinated plan for restoring and recovering the Internet after a major disruption, according to a new Business Roundtable report, released yesterday.

Despite efforts to address the problem, the federal government and private sector have not developed a coordinated plan for restoring the Internet and maintaining confidence in financial markets following a major breach in functioning.

(Via Beyond the Beyond.)

I'm back! My apartment is a mass of computer cable, but at least I'm online. More to follow.

Desert Varnish Might Be a Clue for Life on Mars

The research, published in the July edition of the journal Geology, reveals that the dark coating known as desert varnish creates a record of life around it, by binding traces of DNA, amino acids and other organic compounds to desert rocks. Samples of Martian desert varnish could therefore show whether there has been life on Mars at any stage over the last 4.5 billion years.

I have an intuitive certainty that there's life on Mars now. If only giant Transformers would quit stomping our rovers!

"If only gay sex caused global warming."

:-D

'Bionic' limb breakthrough made

The breakthrough, developed by researchers at University College London, allows the prosthesis to breach the skin without risk of infection.

This is a heartening step in the right direction, not merely for amputees but for anyone with "augmentation" aspirations. Perhaps some of our first off-world colonists will sport high-powered, vacuum-resistent limbs . . .

I'm moved in and waiting for a modem to be delivered, hence the relatively infrequent posts. PB should resume in its regular capacity by the end of the week. Thanks again.

Katrina shocks New Orleans visitors 10 months on

Some are puzzled, angry or indignant at the lack of progress. Insurance money has begun flowing but direct aid to homeowners is not expected before the fall, and views of government's leadership vary sharply among residents.

Thailand-based relief worker Tom Kerr recalled tsunami devastation in Aceh, Indonesia, when he saw the Ninth Ward. "It looked a lot like Aceh when we visited six months after the storm," he said, asking why the United States had not done more.

"Most of the area could be improved very quickly, but it is deserted," said Somsook Boonyabancha, a colleague who is director of the Thai relief group. "If I was the government, I couldn't sleep at night."

Nevertheless, it somehow manages.

I've had to continually revise my criteria regarding climate disasters and governmental responsibility. Initially, I stupidly assumed that climate change would only become a political issue when large numbers of people started dying . . . and then I realized that had already happened. So my new prediction is that climate change will only become relevant to the political mainstream when large numbers of white people start dying.

But I'm still probably way off-base. Another revision is likely in order -- and I probably don't have too long to wait.

First of all, I'm aghast that "Transformers" is actually a movie. But if you're going to base a high-budget flick on a line of retro action figures, at least get a few technical details right. In the movie's trailer (doubtlessly more substantial than the actual film) we're shown a NASA Mars Exploration Rover and told it's the Beagle 2 -- the European Space Agency's failed attempt to detect life on the Red Planet. From there it only gets worse.

Whatever. It's out of my hands. All I can do is wait for Richard Hoagland to make sense of it all.

Uber-Cheap Decorating, Part One





Turn your pad into the set from an Ed Wood movie! Nothing says "kitschy astro-punk" like an up-lamp with five (count 'em!) flexible multicolored extensions! Like, groovy!

Price: $20

I found out today that, due to general incompetency, the modem being delivered to my new apartment (which I move into tomorrow) won't arrive until Wednesday of next week. This throws a wrench into my online schedule, so I'm declaring Posthuman Blues "on hiatus" (a vacation it isn't) until I'm able to resume as normal.

Thanks for your patience.

Jellyfish-Like Creatures May Play Major Role in Fate of Carbon Dioxide in the Ocean

One swarm covered 100,000 square kilometers (38,600 square miles) of the sea surface. The scientists estimated that the swarm consumed up to 74 percent of microscopic carbon-containing plants from the surface water per day, and their sinking fecal pellets transported up to 4,000 tons of carbon a day to deep water.

(Via Science Blog.)

Monster waves have been on the rise

Call anything rogue or monster and it immediately assumes a thrilling unreality found in science-fiction and horror tales. And yet, as we roll into summer and another hurricane season, the talk of rogue and monster ocean waves has been gaining, with scientific researchers in England and Germany recently publishing evidence that these waves might be much larger and more frequent than previously thought.

(Via The Anomalist.)

Blog of the day: Communist Robot

Now here's a decorating idea I should consider . . .

(Thanks to Boing Boing.)

By the way, if posting falls off in the next several days it's because I'm relocating. Or because the cryptoterrestrials are onto me.

Paul Kimball managed to capture this genuinely disturbing photograph in a Subway somewhere in the vicinity of Los Angeles. The strange thing is that I remember really liking that sandwich . . .

Senate committee cuts Bush's foreign aid request

Key paragraph:

The Commerce, Justice and State bill passed by a 393-23 vote. It contains $700 million for Mars exploration, the bulk of which would go to several unmanned missions. Bush, in January 2004, pledged that the United States would return humans to the moon by 2020 and ultimately launch manned flights to Mars and beyond.

These dizzying photographic microcosms remind me of the "brane worlds" theoretical physicists have been talking about in increasingly enamored terms.

"Mommy! Aren't they cute? I want one! Can't I have one? Please?"

(Thanks to Aberrant News.)

Blogs you might like:

Tales from the Bookcase Forest

Adventures in the SF Trade (by science fiction writer Gareth Powell)

I said a lot about "cryptoterrestrials" in May. Out loud. Paul Kimball has me on film saying this:

In contrast, the cryptoterrestrial idea posits that we're dealing with an indigenous species that's been with us for a long time. It's not necessarily paranormal, it's simply that they are here - possibly nomadic, extremely stealthy and crafty in how they portray themselves. Their image is everything. They seem to adapt to our expectations of what a superior intelligence will be.

For more of the transcript, click here.

OK. I need to get this nude/cheesecake photography business under control. Henceforth, this blog will feature a "Posthuman Pin-up of the Week." (Maybe an extra one on the 23rd of each month -- just because.)

Here's this week's:





Nothing especially "posthuman," but she'll have to do.

This compelling size comparison of the Solar System's planets has been making the rounds lately. I initially avoided linking to it because I didn't exactly relish the prospect of sending Jeff Rense any traffic, but I'm caving because, unlike so many other items on Rense's site, it's actually worth contemplating.

I've been remiss in reading tree-based books since my jaunt to LA, but I'm finally back in the groove. I'm currently reading Rudy Rucker's "The Hollow Earth," to be reissued in October. (The library near my new place has a surprising wealth of rarities.)





Look here for a forthcoming review of John Shirley's excellent cyber-horror novel, "Crawlers."

AMERICAN CULTURE HITS NEW LOWS (John Shirley)

There's a trend to edit documentaries--even the more serious ones involving history and science--with editing tricks that "jolt" the viewer with suddenly-sped-up motions, deliberately wrenching cuts, abrupt switches in camera viewpoint, spastic camera motion, etc etc etc, to try and give the film a "sexy" high energy feeling. This is an expression of the film maker's assumption that you're stupid and lazy and you suffer from Attention Deficit. You don't have the attention span to watch a documentary that flows, that is rationally cut together. You need to be babied along, like someone snapping their fingers or jingling keys to get an infant's attention.

Anyone who's suffered through a typical UFO documentary (say, the ones on the Discovery Channel) will immediately know what Shirley's talking about. The rules seem to be:

1.) Assault the viewer with lots of randomly inserted stock footage from little-known 1950s sci-fi movies.

2.) Go for lots of "moody" lighting that makes speakers seem like they're tuning in from another dimension. This gives them a suitably "spaced out" appearance and helps ensure that they won't be taken seriously.

3.) Employ dumb sound effects. Whirring, beeping, humming. You know, "space" sounds!

4.) Show the archetypical "Gray" alien visage as often as possible, regardless if the documentary is actually addressing aliens. Space exploration, extraterrestrial intelligence, UFOs -- it's all the same, so who cares?

Tau Zero Foundation Announced

Last February, Centauri Dreams described the formation of a new foundation, a private nonprofit (501c3) corporation dedicated to supporting the advances in science, technology and education that may one day enable us to reach the stars. Conceived by Marc Millis, former head of NASA's Breakthrough Propulsion Physics program, the foundation aims to support a carefully chosen group of researchers whose work is directed at this goal. On that occasion, I described the fledgling foundation's need for a name and asked for comments from readers. Now that the choice has been made and the necessary legal work accomplished, it's time to announce the advent of the Tau Zero Foundation.

Well, it's a start.

High Court mulls greenhouse gas regulation

President Bush has rejected calls by environmentalists and some lawmakers in Congress to regulate carbon dioxide, the leading heat-trapping "greenhouse" gas going into the atmosphere. Bush favors voluntary actions and development of new technologies to curtail such emissions.

But a dozen states argued that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping chemicals from automobile tailpipes should be treated as unhealthy pollutants. They filed a lawsuit in an effort to force the EPA to curtail such emissions just as it does cancer-causing lead and chemicals that produce smog and acid rain.