Biofuels were all the rage in the 1990s.   Sustainable, activists said, because they refused to do math.   It was only when Republicans mandated and subsidized biofuels in 2005 that environmentalists realized there must be something very wrong with them and $10 billion per year of wasted tax dollars on fuels actually worse for the environment than oil are what we have.

If biofuels can make oil companies look good, imagine what they can do for something like tobacco.

Researchers from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University say they have identified a way to increase the oil in tobacco plant leaves, which may be the next step in using the plants for biofuel, according to a paper in Plant Biotechnology Journal. 

Caffeine is the world's most popular stimulant drug and enjoys the cultural shield of being both legal and acceptable.    A caffeine addiction is considered perfectly normal.

But with soft drink and coffee companies like Starbuck's aggressively marketing to teens and younger there has to be consideration of the effects of acute and chronic caffeine consumption on blood pressure, heart rate and hand tremors.   Just as worrisome, does consuming caffeinated drinks during adolescence contribute to later use of legal or illicit drugs? 

How often have you taken a picture with a digital camera, only for it to come out looking like this? The sky’s too bright, the shaded parts are too dark, and however much one juggles with it with software, it won’t come out right.
 


The eye managed to adapt to it all right, effortlessly moving over the scene. With film, if one were a darkroom wizard, one could play tricks with the processing. But digital – what do we get for our multi-megapixels and our 16777216 colours?

The autotrophic cell is the one who is able to produce, by it self, its own energy and structural components. It corresponds, in the natural world to the vegetable cell. We call to this process photosynthesis and the wonderful -and truly amazing feature- of this natural phenomena, is that while the income needed for it is inorganic, the final product corresponds to the organic biochemistry world.

To wrap up the year, I'm listing my 4 worst columns.  Or, at least, the four columns that got outstandingly terrible readership.  I searched for a pattern or justification for why people stayed away in droves, but darned if I can spot one.  If you've got any ideas on why some columns sink while others swim, feel free to speak up.

The turnaround of the three physics questions I offered a few days ago, to stimulate your neurons and extract you from the chocolate and alcohol flood caused by the usual string of Christmas parties and dinners, was rather scarce. Despite that, I wish to repeat the offer today, making some adjustments to reach a wider public. The questions I offer here are easier but still not accessible to everybody. However, my plans are that at least the answers I will give in a couple of days will be understandable. Further, anyone can try the bonus question I ask at the bottom of this piece...