PAGING BONNIE TYLER

The partial solar eclipse is Sunday. We lucky few in the Ozarks get clouds and a peak that happens after sunset, so ... meh.

Console yourself with some Bonnie Tyler and those weird kids with glowing eyes. Further proof that the 1980s spawned some fucked-up ideas. Turn around, bright eyes.

COME SEE THE SQUID

Wake the kids, pack the car and go west, young man. Squid on the beach.

The Oregonian has the story:

"I haven't confirmed it, but we are hearing reports that dozens are washing up," said Chris Havel, spokesman for the Oregon State Parks & Recreation Department. "They are probably Humboldt squid, which are much more common in warmer waters around Santa Cruz."

The squid are about two feet long, and have a life cycle of only a year or two, Havel said. They may be dying because they are at the end of their life cycle or it could be food related or a disease, he said.

"If you get a chance, go look at them," said Havel, who suggested Washburne State Park would be a good starting point. "Bring your camera, take some pictures. This may be your only chance to see a Humboldt squid lying on the beach."

Or you can check out this pic of said squid and freak out.

BABY SUPERNOVA

An explosion just discovered, and it's the most recent in the Milky Way -- about 140 years old.

According to news from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory:

Previously, the last known supernova in our galaxy occurred around 1680, an estimate based on the expansion of remnant Cassiopeia A. ...

The tracking of this object began in 1985, when astronomers ... used the [National Radio Astronomy Observatory's] Very Large Array to identify the remnant of a supernova explosion near the center of our galaxy. Based on its small size, it was thought to have resulted from a supernova that exploded about 400 to 1000 years ago.

Twenty-two years later, Chandra observations revealed the remnant had expanded by a surprisingly large amount, about 16 percent, since 1985. This indicates the supernova remnant is much younger than previously thought.

That young age was confirmed in recent weeks when the Very Large Array made new radio observations. This comparison of data pinpoints the age of the remnant at 140 years - possibly less if it has been slowing down - making it the youngest on record in the Milky Way.

The photo -- a blending of data from Chandra and the Very Large Array -- is money.

RITALIN, KID CRIME LINKED

Kids who take Ritalin for a long time may be more likely to turn into punks on dope. According to this Daily Telegraph report:

An American study -- published in the Medical Observer -- has found that while drugs such as Ritalin can initially help sufferers, the benefit of prolonged use is in doubt. Some children stay on medication until they reach 18, but researchers believe it may not protect them from all the symptoms.

The US Multimodal Treatment Study of Children revealed the more days of prescribed medication, the more serious delinquency became.

In a cohort of 500 children with ADHD -- followed for 36 months until they were 12 -- researchers found 27 per cent were at a greater risk of committing crime, compared with 7 per cent among "normative" children. Substance use also increased to 17 per cent in ADHD children -- almost double the normal rate.

More substance abuse among kids who've been told they must take drugs to feel better. Couldn't see that one coming.

SEEDS FOR THE APOCALYPSE

Longyearbyen, Norway. It's a village on the Svalbard archipelago, close to the Arctic Circle. Go there when the balloon goes up.

Seeds from more than 200,000 crops are on their way to an underground vault in Longyearbyen, where they will, in theory, be safe for post-doomsday stragglers to use as they rebuild.

According to last year's news release about the project:

Svalbard’s airport is the northernmost point in the world to be serviced by scheduled flights – usually one a day. For nearly four months a year the islands are wrapped in total darkness.

The site was chosen, in part, because the ground is perpetually frozen, providing natural back-up refrigeration that would preserve the seeds should electricity fail. Yet, even here, project architects had to consider how to offset the potential impacts of climate change.

The design will accommodate even worst-case scenarios of global warming in two main ways. For one, the vault will be located high above any possible rise in sea level caused by global warming. The vault will be located some 130 meters (426 feet) above current sea level, ensuring that it will not be flooded.

Four months of darkness, sure, but also four months of the midnight sun, and this part of the Arctic Circle is enchanting.

THINGS WORTH READING

Biden on the stump: Friday's New York Times piece on Joe Biden's campaign is a keeper, if only for the back story of Biden's life. Check this graf:

“Let me tell you a little story,” Mr. Biden told the crowd at the University of Iowa. “I got elected (in 1972) when I was 29, and I got elected November the 7th. And on Dec. 18 of that year, my wife and three kids were Christmas shopping for a Christmas tree. A tractor-trailer, a guy who allegedly — and I never pursued it — drank his lunch instead of eating his lunch, broadsided my family and killed my wife instantly, and killed my daughter instantly, and hospitalized my two sons, with what were thought to be at the time permanent, fundamental injuries.”

He won't win the Democratic nomination, but he knows his foreign policy. And he's one of the few candidates who actually seems human.

Babies know best: Check out this Christian Science Monitor story about a Yale study on infant development. Fascinating grafs:

The study released last month presented babies with a diorama-like display of an anthropomorphic circle struggling to make it up a hill. Just when it appeared that all hope was lost, a heroic triangle appeared, and pushed the circle to the top. The round climber bounces, clearly elated to have reached the summit. The same scenario is played out again, only this time a square appears at the top of the hill and pushes the circle to the bottom.

The babies were then asked to pick a toy – the helper or the hinderer, as scientists called them. One hundred percent of 6-month-olds and 87.5 percent of 10-month-olds chose the helper. The results were consistent even when the triangle and the square swapped places as good guy and bad guy. In several other iterations of the experiment, the helper, regardless of shape or color, won out.

Our take #1: It's all downhill after six months. Take #2: It's true that good guys always win. To identify good guys, wait until someone wins.

Failure is not an option: Students at Central Park East High School in East Harlem, N.Y. are not doing well. Many are failing. The solution? Dumb it down. As WCBS reports:

Last month, Principal Bennett Lieberman sent off a stern memo to teachers.

"If you are not passing more than 65 percent of your students in a class, then you are not designing your expectations to meet their abilities, and you are setting your students up for failure, which, in turn, limits your success as a professional."

Numbing dumbing never solved anything.

GLOW-IN-THE-DARK CATS

See them for yourself. AFP reports:

South Korean scientists have cloned cats by manipulating a fluorescent protein gene, a procedure which could help develop treatments for human genetic diseases, officials said Wednesday.

In a side-effect, the cloned cats glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet beams.

A team of scientists led by Kong Il-keun, a cloning expert at Gyeongsang National University, produced three cats possessing altered fluorescence protein (RFP) genes, the Ministry of Science and Technology said.

"It marked the first time in the world that cats with RFP genes have been cloned," the ministry said in a statement.

"The ability to produce cloned cats with the manipulated genes is significant as it could be used for developing treatments for genetic diseases and for reproducing model (cloned) animals suffering from the same diseases as humans," it added.

And it looks really cool.

THE CLAW IS OUR MASTER

Scorpions up to eight feet long once lurked in the oceans. Reuters reports:

The discovery of the 390-million-year-old specimen in a German quarry suggests prehistoric spiders, insects and crabs were much larger than previously thought, researchers at Bristol University said on Wednesday.

"This is an amazing discovery," said university researcher Simon Braddy.

"We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies but we never realised, until now, just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were."

The find was described by Braddy and colleagues in the journal Biology Letters.

The claw they discovered was 18 inches long. Even dipped in butter, it probably wasn't a delicacy.

GOD BLESS SCIENCE

We know, science is supposed to clash with the Big G, but how else to explain this miracle, reported by Reuters:

Scientists have developed a non-stick chewing gum that can be easily removed from pavements, shoes and clothes.

Made of synthetic latex, which sounds kinda kinky, Clean Gum could be on store shelves by next year. Being a kid will lose some of its painful charm.

CALVERA, AGE UNKNOWN

The blogger known as Granny Geek gets the point for this obit:

Astronomers have spotted a space oddity in Earth's neighbourhood - a dead star with some unusual characteristics.

The object, known as a neutron star, was studied using space telescopes and ground-based observatories.

But this one, located in the constellation Ursa Minor, seems to lack some key characteristics found in other neutron stars.

Details of the study, by a team of American and Canadian researchers, will appear in the Astrophysical Journal.

If confirmed, it would be only the eighth known "isolated neutron star" - meaning a neutron star that does not have an associated supernova remnant, binary companion, or radio pulsations.

The object has been nicknamed Calvera, after the villain in the 1960s western film The Magnificent Seven.

Neutron stars happen when stars with great masses go the supernova route. The inner gooey goodness collapses, protons and electrons merge, neutrons are formed. Voila -- a neutron star.

Calvera is 250 to 1,000 light-years away.

SCIENTISTS UNLOCK LEVITATION SECRETS

Arise and read what AFP reports:

Physicists said they can create "incredible levitation effects" by manipulating so-called Casimir force, which normally causes objects to stick together by quantum force.

The phenomenon could be used to improve the performances of everyday devices ranging from car airbags to computer chips, say Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin from Saint Andrews University.

Casimir force -- discovered in 1948 and first measured in 1997 -- can be seen in a gecko's ability to stick to a surface with just one toe.

Now the British scientists say they can reverse the Casimir force to cause an object to repel rather than attract another in a vacuum.

"The Casimir force is the ultimate cause of friction in the nano world, in particular in some micro-electromechanical systems," said Leonhardt, writing in the August issue of New Journal of Physics.

No-fun scientists say we're still a long way from human levitation. Dammit.

FORGET. FORGET.

Some drown in drink. Others wield the needle, mindless of the damage done. The reason is usually the same: to blot out the pain. To forget.

Without a Vulcan mind meld, it never really works. Sobriety eventually intrudes. Bad memories never die.

That could change. Scientists are working on a drug that deletes bad memories. Live Science has the story:

In a new study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, the drug propranolol is used along with therapy to "dampen" memories of trauma victims. They treated 19 accident or rape victims for ten days, during which the patients were asked to describe their memories of the traumatic event that had happened 10 years earlier. Some patients were given the drug, which is also used to treat amnesia, while others were given a placebo.

A week later, they found that patients given the drug showed fewer signs of stress when recalling their trauma.

Similar research led by Professor Joseph LeDoux has been carried out at New York University on rats; scientists were able to remove a specific memory from the brains of rats while leaving the rest of the animals' memories intact. An amnesia drug called U0126 was administered.

Or, as Alexander Pope once wrote:

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd ...

IT'S ALIVE!

And we made it. Humankind is on the brink of creating a new form of artificial life. The Telegraph reports:

In a development that has triggered unease and excitement in equal measure, scientists took the whole genetic makeup - or genome - of a bacterial cell and transplanted it into a closely related species.

This then began to grow and multiply in the lab, turning into the first species in the process.

The team that carried out the first “species transplant” says it plans within months to do the same thing with a synthetic genome made from scratch in the laboratory. ...

Since the 1970s, scientists have moved genes - instructions to make proteins - between different organisms.

But this marks the first time that the entire instruction set, consisting of more than a million “letters” of DNA, has been transplanted, transforming one species of bacterium into another.

Tinkering with what we don't know. We'll never learn.

MR. WIZARD, 89

Don Herbert was his name, and he was a month shy of his 90th birthday. He died Tuesday of cancer. According to his web site:

We all feel lucky to have known and worked with Don and we have been honored to carry on his legacy as an original and truly legendary figure in the worlds of both Television and Science Education. He has been inspirational and influential in so many ways and on so many lives and we are comforted in the fact that his ground breaking work and legacy will continue to inspire many more people for years to come.

The first Mr. Wizard episode aired on WMAQ in 1951.

STILL NO MARTIANS

They were supposed to work for a few months following their landing on Mars in 2004. But two NASA rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, continue to grind their way across the Martian landscape, more than three years after they were supposed to go kaput.

Every now and then we like to peek at the raw images gallery and see what the rovers are seeing. No proof of life, past or present -- not yet, at least. But the images are great.

OUR FUTURE LEADERS

Congratulations to the winners of this year's science fair at Pawleys Island Christian Academy in South Carolina. The school expects excellence from its students, and they have apparently met that expectation.

According to this account in the Georgetown Times:

Brian Benson, an eighth-grade student who won first place in the Life Science/Biology category for his project “Creation Wins!!!,” says he disproved part of the theory of evolution. Using a rolled-up paper towel suspended between two glasses of water with Epsom Salts, the paper towel formed stalactites. He states that the theory that they take millions of years to develop is incorrect.

“Scientists say it takes millions of years to form stalactites,” Benson said. “However, in only a couple of hours, I have formed stalactites just by using paper towel and Epsom Salts.”

Finally, proof that we did not evolve from stalactites.

ROMNEY DUCKS, WEAVES (AGAIN)

Mitt Romney is, oddly, a lot like Bill Clinton -- handsome, charming, undeniably charismatic. And too glib for his own good.

Like Clinton, Romney has a knack for flip-flopping, especially if it can get him votes. As governor of Massachusetts, Romney was all about choice and inclusion. Now that he's running for president, his positions on abortion and gay rights have "modified," to use a polite word.

Last week, the 10 GOP candidates for president were asked about evolution. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado and Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas all signaled that they don't believe in evolution.

Romney gave no such sign.

Religious conservatives pounced. David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network seems intent on making Romney squirm. He asked Romney's camp about the candidate and evolution and got this response:

"Governor Romney believes both science and faith can help inform us about the origins of life in this world."

Not good enough for religious conservatives. Brody delivers the warning shot:

With all due respect, what does that mean exactly? It leaves me with more questions. I have asked for further clarification which I assume will be forthcoming here at the Brody File. I have now asked the Romney campaign specifically if he believes in Darwin's theory of Evolution or does he take the Creationist view? The answer above suggests that he may believe in both. I'm not saying he does. I'm just saying I'm a tad bit confused by the answer.

Here's the key point. The majority of Born Again Evangelicals take the Creationist viewpoint. Some Evangelicals already have concerns about Romney's Mormon faith. He needs support from Evangelicals to win. That's why this issue is an important one that needs to be cleared up. I don't think this is an issue that Romney can avoid. I believe his views need to be clear.

Question: Is it true that most evangelicals are creationists?

UNINTELLIGENT, BY DESIGN

Opponents of evolution keep kicking, even after the licking they took in Dover, Penn. Despite the fact that a federal judge ruled "intelligent design" is nothing more than reheated creationism, IDers still insist they be taken seriously by the scientific community.

This week, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia became the latest whiner to his cause. John Marshall complained about ID being kicked "off the playing field of science." The Columbia Tribune quotes Marshall:

"[Intelligent Design is] as much science as Darwinian evolution is science. And as a theory, I believe that intelligent design fits the evidence of biology better than Darwinian evolution."

About 100 people attended the forum. Unfortunately for Marshall, many were scientists trained in chemistry and biology. Frank Schmidt, a biochem professor, decided to dispense with pussyfooting. He asked Marshall why "intelligent design" should be considered science when it doesn't even offer a single testable prediction.

The Tribune reported that "Marshall would not directly answer the question."

He couldn't, of course. There is no science in "intelligent design." Instead of knowledge it relies on ignorance. If something in the natural world is too difficult to immediately understand, the ID answer is supernatural: "God did it."

No wonder Schmidt said Marshall's presentation "really hacks me off." It should hack off anyone who uses a brain to think.

PARENTS: OUR KID'S TOO BLACK

Thomas and Nancy Andrews live in Long Island. They say they love their daughter. You decide.

Jessica was born in 2004, after Mom went through in-vitro fertilization at New York Medical Services for Reproductive Medicine. Dad's sperm was supposed to be used. Something went wrong -- a "colossal blunder," according to the couple's lawsuit. The New York Daily News reports:

Thomas Andrews is white and his wife is Dominican. But Jessica, who was born Oct. 19, 2004, has darker skin than either of them as well as "characteristics more typical of African or African-American descent," the lawsuit states.

The couple tested their daughter's DNA using a home kit and later with two more sophisticated methods. All three of the tests confirmed their suspicions - the tot has a different father.

"We underwent a difficult and complex medical procedure for the sole purpose of bearing a child of our own," the couple said in court papers. "We were never informed that this type of mishap could occur, and frankly, this type of mishap is almost unimaginable."

In legal documents, the couple said they were "emotionally devastated" when they found out Thomas Andrews, who had donated his sperm to be inseminated in his wife, was not the girl's biological father.

"We fear that our daughter will be the object of scorn and ridicule by other children, both in school and as she grows up," they said.

Or at least by her parents. It's not the worst thing the Andrewses said in their lawsuit. That would be this quote: "While we love Baby Jessica as our own, we are reminded of this terrible mistake each and every time we look at her. It is simply impossible to ignore."

MAY 10, 2807 B.C.

An environmental archaeologist thinks that's when something big fell from the sky and created a flood that became legend.

Bruce Masse works at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. What he thinks is becoming more important right now, because some scientists believe they've uncovered evidence pointing to a massive cosmic impact in the Indian Ocean. Massive, and recent -- about 4,800 years ago.

This report in The New York Times has a killer lede:

At the southern end of Madagascar lie four enormous wedge-shaped sediment deposits, called chevrons, that are composed of material from the ocean floor. Each covers twice the area of Manhattan with sediment as deep as the Chrysler Building is high.

On close inspection, the chevron deposits contain deep ocean microfossils that are fused with a medley of metals typically formed by cosmic impacts. And all of them point in the same direction — toward the middle of the Indian Ocean where a newly discovered crater, 18 miles in diameter, lies 12,500 feet below the surface.

The explanation is obvious to some scientists. A large asteroid or comet, the kind that could kill a quarter of the world's population, smashed into the Indian Ocean 4,800 years ago, producing a tsunami at least 600 feet high, about 13 times as big as the one that inundated Indonesia nearly two years ago. The wave carried the huge deposits of sediment to land.

Most astronomers doubt that any large comets or asteroids have crashed into the Earth in the last 10,000 years. But the self-described "band of misfits" that make up the two-year-old Holocene Impact Working Group say that astronomers simply have not known how or where to look for evidence of such impacts along the world's shorelines and in the deep ocean.

Scientists in the working group say the evidence for such impacts during the last 10,000 years, known as the Holocene epoch, is strong enough to overturn current estimates of how often the Earth suffers a violent impact on the order of a 10-megaton explosion. Instead of once in 500,000 to one million years, as astronomers now calculate, catastrophic impacts could happen every 1,000 years. ...

Dr. Masse analyzed 175 flood myths from around the world, and tried to relate them to known and accurately dated natural events like solar eclipses and volcanic eruptions. Among other evidence, he said, 14 flood myths specifically mention a full solar eclipse, which could have been the one that occurred in May 2807 B.C.

More recent are two possible craters north of Australia, "the likely source of megastsunami waves responsible for the Holocene aged chevron dunes" found four miles inland, near Carpentaria. Those are estimated to be about 1,200 years old.