Are Humans the Hoarders of the Universe?

Image from source, AOL News

Well look at that picture. Disgusting. We really are pigs, aren't we?  I thought a garbage patch in the Pacific twice the size of Texas was bad enough.  But it looks like we're junking up the whole neighborhood.  We're the Pig Pen of planets.  Something tells me if there is intelligent life somewhere out in space, it doesn't think we are.

[Excerpt]


Junkyard Circling the Earth Is Growing, Scientists Say


Imagine half a million marbles circling Earth -- a sort of celestial obstacle course for the International Space Station, shuttles and satellites.


That's the increasingly problematic issue of orbital debris. The objects can be as big as a defunct satellite, but -- traveling at speeds of 17,500 miles an hour or more -- even a paint flake can put a chink in a space shuttle window, as happened on one mission. . .

Read more at: AOL News

Why You Should Watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

I've been after you all to watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, practically since it hit the airwaves. Well, here is a clip from last week's show so that you can see why. You'd probably think a TV version of The Terminator would be lackluster, and somewhat lacking.

You'd be wrong. Take a gander and the new villain, played by Shirley Manson (from the band Garbage). And if you're a guy, you might cast a worried look at the urinal next time nature strikes. . .

Ecological Horror: Plastic Soup in the Pacific

Image from source, The Independent (click to enlarge)

I just found an update about this story (which I originally wrote about here) on AmericaBlog this morning. If this nasty, disgusting garbage dump is this huge now, what in the world can be done about it? And how long before it fills all of the oceans on Earth? This is very, VERY disturbing. So, hey, conservatives! Do you still think it's impossible for man to have an effect on the environment?

[Excerpt]

The world's rubbish dump: a garbage tip that stretches from Hawaii to Japan

A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said.

The vast expanse of debris – in effect the world's largest rubbish dump – is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting "soup" stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan. . .

Once you get out of the fetal position, read more at: The Independent

Halloween Horrors: Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Image captured from source, San Francisco Chronicle

And, now for something really scary! I remember reading about the phenomenon of "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch" in the days before I had a blog. It was really quite alarming. There is an enormous patch of plastic and other garbage collecting in the waters between California and Hawaii. How enormous? How does twice the size of Texas grab you? And, much like The Blob, it's getting BIGGER.

It reminds me of the days when I was in debt. You just want to ignore the problem, thinking, "it's so huge, what could I even do to fix it?" And as you know, that sort of thinking (if you were or are in that situation) only makes the problem worse. Much worse. So what are we going to do about it?

[Excerpt]

Feds want to survey, possibly clean up vast garbage pit in Pacific

The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a stewy body of plastic and marine debris that floats an estimated 1,000 miles west of San Francisco, is a shape-shifting mass far too large, delicate and remote to ever be cleaned up, according to a researcher who recently returned from the area.

But that might not stop the federal government from trying.
Charles Moore, the marine researcher at the Algalita Marina Research Foundation in Long Beach who has been studying and publicizing the patch for the past 10 years, said the debris - which he estimates weighs 3 million tons and covers an area twice the size of Texas - is made up mostly of fine plastic chips and is impossible to skim out of the ocean. . .

Read on at: San Francisco Chronicle