NATIONAL NEWS Helicopters Drop Sandbags As If They Were Hot: Was This My Dad's Idea?
Here's a story from Yahoo about the military dropping what Yahoo called "sand bombs" on New Orleans to lift it out of the sea. It sounds like Chinook helicopters are dropping crushed limestone and sand onto strategic locations to stop the waters. It's strategery, as the Man would say. (Speaking of, Bush just said he's going to have an "investigation" into what went wrong with the federal response to New Orleans. I could finish that investigation now. WE DIDN'T HAVE A PLAN. Ta da!) What's so interesting about this story? Well, my dad and I were talking yesterday and he mentioned that Boston's old harbor--the Boston tea party harbor--has since been filled by a near-by hill, and is now buildings. Ever want to see where the Boston tea party happened? You'll have to go into buildings now... weird, huh? Regardless, my dad said "Maybe we should just find a mountain we don't need and drop it in front of New Orleans." We then had a good time figuring out how a mountain from Utah's Monument Park could be cut from the Earth, airlifted via helicopters over Texas (preferably over residential areas... just in case), and dropped onto NO. It seems as though that's not far off from what's actually happening. My dad's the smartest man alive.
SCIENCE Saturn's Rings Different Than 25 Years Ago; Can Rings Age?
Here is a story about those famous rings of Saturn. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has made some interesting observations about Saturn's rings. Saturn's D ring--the innermost ring of Saturn--has grown dimmer since 1981, when the Voyager spacecraft flew past it. Additionally, a section of the D ring has moved 125 miles closer to Saturn itself. What does this mean? Well, scientists think that our Sun and it's planets once resembled Saturn and its rings... and they hope to learn more about the creation of our own solar system by studying Saturn. I'll give you more info when I know it and, until then, I'll keep looking up.
SCIENCE Parasitic Worms Cause Grasshoppers To Commit Suicide
Here's a story about some pretty scary worms. These worms, call hairworms, are parasites that live in grasshoppers. What scientists are saying is that the worms pump chemicals into the grasshoppers that somehow cause the grasshoppers to kill themselves by jumping into the water... and, while the grasshopper drowns in the water, the hairworm swims away while singing that circle of life song. Maybe they don't sing... but the repercussions of this natural phenomenon are intense. Check the link just to see the picture. It is sick. And, according to the article, these worms were an inspiration for the Alien alien. But I think this has a closer-to-home feel. Just think of the possibilities if it were possible that these worms could somehow brainwash their hosts... think of the military capabilities. The military would no doubt pump tons of funds into trying to figure out how these worms do what they do. And what if their was a way to chemically or electronically mimic the worms? Quite literally we could have a "Pod People" situation... with government controlled citizens walking around. Assassins? CEOs? Cops? Who knows the repercussions (hint: science fiction writers)? Interesting story... I say. But what do I know? I'm just a writer.