Imagining aliens helps us think about evolution

If we ever do make contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence, what will it look like?  Hollywood has had no shortage of examples for films and television shows that feature aliens, but they are almost  always bipedal primates who speak English with a funny accent.  This  depiction is more the result of wardrobe budget constraints and the  flexibility of actors than it is the imagination of writers.  

If you're a reader of geography or a student of eastern philosophy, you may have seen the name K'un Lun.  It is the name of a mountain range in western China and borders the northern edge of Tibet (1) and is also a name for 'paradise' in Taoism.    Whoever can climb to the top of K'un Lun gains access to the heavens, the ancients said.  

There's  a city there now and if you visit  K'un Lun City and drink the yellow water in the lakes of its parks known as cinnabar (tan), they also say you will become immortal.(2)

That last part is scientifically undocumented.   Drinking yellow water is generally a bad idea.

In part 2 we closed with the idea that Bohr seemed to be using general relativity against Einstein to save quantum mechanics! A wonderful story. But is it true?

Einstein seems to have thought that they were arguing about something else. We know this from a letter that Paul Ehrenfest wrote to Bohr in July 1931, after a visit with Einstein in Berlin.  Ehrenfest and Einstein seem to have had a long and thorough chat about the debate with Bohr at the previous fall’s Solvay meeting. Ehrenfest reports to Bohr a most surprising comment from Einstein:

HUERTH, Germany, January 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The piece of news regarding the sale of Basic Thinking - the most well-known blog in the German-speaking countries, which has been run by Robert Basic - had caused quite a stir in the media recently. Speculations were running wild afterwards about who would acquire the blog in the online auction and what its future form would be. Now, the mystery is solved: serverloft, a supplier of professional Root Servers with headquarters near Cologne, Germany, is the winner of the auction.

TOKYO, January 16 /PRNewswire/ --

DM Holdings Inc. today announced the appointments of Eric C. Evans as Chairman of the Board and Victor J. Pacor as Chief Executive Officer of the company. Both appointments are effective immediately.

The Board has made an excellent move in electing Vic Pacor to be the new CEO, said Evans who continues with the Company as an executive Chairman. Vic is a talented executive who knows DM's competitive strengths intimately. His deep understanding of the industry gives him an unmatched perspective on the road ahead. The Company has benefited and will continue to benefit from his judgment and experience.

BOSTON, January 16 /PRNewswire/ --

SiEnergy Systems, LLC has developed a breakthrough solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) by placing a micro fuel cell directly on a silicon chip, an advance that will revolutionize the way people use power. These Silicon Energy fuel cells address the problems that limit standard SOFCs: Leveraging the power of silicon, they operate at lower temperatures and use normal industrial materials. This key breakthrough brings real-world applications within reach. SiEnergy's radical new approach promises to deliver SOFCs with small carbon footprints and unprecedented efficiency.

NEW YORK, January 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- 2008 Total U.S. equities trading volume up 28 percent

- Average execution size up 8 percent

Liquidnet, the global institutional marketplace, today announced monthly and yearly trading statistics for U.S. and international equities.

LEEDS, England, January 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Nobody Buys Anything at Full Price any More, Says Ed Hall, Director of Voucher Code Website, http://www.voucherseeker.co.uk

Bargain hunters looking to take advantage of the January sales can now find all of the best discounts online at new voucher code website, VoucherSeeker - http://tinyurl.com/7syzku

What's more, the discounts don't stop at the end of January. Shoppers can use VoucherSeeker all year round in order to find great money saving voucher codes that will help them beat the credit crunch.

LONDON, January 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Following today's formal announcement by the Department of Health of the Health Bill and specifically the extension of personal budgets to healthcare for people with long term conditions, please find below a statement from the MS Society.

Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive of the MS Society, said extending direct payments into health was a welcome step.

He added: MS is a fluctuating and complex condition and people's needs can change from week to week, which is why it's so important to give people with MS as much choice and control as possible in how they access the healthcare they need.

Climate prediction is difficult stuff.   As you know, it's impossible to predict the weather 10 days from now much less six months and aside from "it will get a lot worse" no one can say with any degree of certainty what Earth's climate could look like in the future given changing kinds of pollution conditions and nature itself.