- The world is suffering from a water shortage in many countries, but is this really the answer? Solving the world’s water crisis may not be the reason for a mission by a team of British engineers to journey to a lake hidden beneath nearly 2 miles of Antarctic ice, but saying they’re doing it in the name of science just sounds boring and clichéd. Either way, these intrepid explorers will depart next week for Antarctica on the first stage of a mission to collect water and sediment samples from a lake buried beneath 1.8 miles of solid ice. Ultimately, researchers hope the effort will produce new knowledge about the evolution of life on Earth and other planets, along with vital clues about the Earth's past climate. The massive traveling party will haul nearly 80 tons of equipment on a journey of almost 10,000 miles from the United Kingdom to the subglacial Lake Ellsworth on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The scenery should be epic, but the destination is located in one of the most remote and hostile environments on Earth, with temperatures that routinely ding the thermometer at minus-13 degrees Fahrenheit. The group making this rugged trip next week will be preparing the way for the "deep-field" research mission that will take place next year. On that mission, a team of scientists and engineers will live in tents, spending around three months working above the lake. Then in October 2012, a team of 10 scientists and engineers will use state-of-the-art hot-water drilling technology to bore a hole through the ice to the lake below. From there, they will lower a titanium probe to measure and sample the water followed by a corer to sample sediment from the lake. Lake Ellsworth will be the first of Antarctica's subglacial lakes to be measured and sampled directly through what is known as space-industry standard "clean technology," according to the research team. There are some 387 known subglacial lakes in Antarctica. A Russian team has been trying to drill and collect samples from the best-known of the lakes, Lake Vostok in East Antarctica, but failed to do so before winter set in this year. There is hope that new and unique forms of microbial life could have evolved in the cold, pitch-black and isolated environment of these subglacial lakes and sediments are expected to provide important details about the history of life in the lake and the ancient history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. David Pearce, science coordinator at the British Antarctic Survey and part of the team leading the search for life in the lake water, came across as extremely enthusiastic in a statement about the mission regardless of its end result. "Finding life in a lake that could have been isolated from the rest of the biosphere for up to half a million years will tell us so much about the potential origin of and constraints for life on Earth, and may provide clues to the evolution of life on other extraterrestrial environments," Pearce said in a statement. Sounds like good times are ahead…………
- Duuuuuuuuuuude. This is like, totally rad. San Diego is a bitchin’ place to catch some waves, a veritable surfer’s paradise. It’s also situated in a rather Bohemian, artsy region and so it totally makes sense that a local artist there has come up with the sweet idea of combining two things inherent in the San Diegan culture: beer and surfing. Artist Rich Morrison was living the SoCal lifestyle, having drinks at a bar in Pacific Beach, when his muse spoke to him. He was looking for inspiration as any artist is wont to do from time to time and the perfect idea struck him: make a surfboard out of beer cans. It is a brilliant idea for several reasons, not the least of which is that it involves having to drink a lot of beer in order to have enough cans. "It was kind of a fun project. It just kind of happened," Morrison said. "Basically it's just industrial strength glue and clear duct tape. You gotta have clear duct tape as a surfer. And I just manhandled it into this shape, put it out on the floor, and just glued it all together. There's two wooden stringers. It's fiber-glassed in resin.” To create the surfboard, Morrison used 72 empty beer cans, which he said was mostly given by bar employees. He worked with an artist friend on the project and it took the two of them about a week to construct. But this isn't just a piece of art in the shape of a surfboard; it’s a functional board. "When I rode it, it was taking on water at Black’s beach so it started sinking," he said. He took the board back to his studio and resealed it before heading back out and the second time, it worked. That would be the board’s final ride, as Morrison has retired it and displayed it over the weekend along with boards by other designers and shapers at the Sacred Craft Expo at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. He hopes to find a fellow surfing/beer lover to buy the board so he can fund his next project. "It is for sale, or it's just going to stay at my bar at the house, and be a great keepsake," Morrison explained. Perhaps when it sells, Morrison can use the money to buy enough beer to create a beer can jet ski……………
- For all the stars and big-name players they signed or traded for in the offseason, perhaps the Philadelphia Eagles should have just busted a phone call to some out-of-work defensive coordinator, line coach or retired high school football coach. Their big signings and acquisitions haven't paid off and they’re off to a miserable 1-4 start that has them mired in last place in the NFC East, leaving head Andy Reid at a loss for answers to fix his floundering football team. With a matchup against the NFC East-leading Washington Redskins looming, Reid has reportedly floated the idea of bringing in a defensive consultant if the team continues its struggles this week. The coach has apparently had discussions with the team's front-office hierarchy about getting help for first-year defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, a longtime offensive line coach who isn't exactly maximizing his talent on the defensive side of the ball. The Eagles are ranked 15th in overall defense, 30th against the run and tied for 27th in points allowed despite bringing in free-agent studs like Nnamdi Asomugha, Cullen Jenkins and Jason Babin. Reid insisted Tuesday through a team spokesman that he was not hiring a defensive consultant, but sources close to the situation have intimated otherwise. Rather than pile on his hapless defense, Reid suggested that fixing 12 turnovers generated by the offense in four straight losses was a high priority. Of course, his defense has forced just five turnovers (three interceptions, two fumbles) and isn't giving underachieving quarterback Michael Vick much help. Even Castillo admitted on Sunday that he has "to do a better job in the first half," although he didn’t specify what he meant. "Right now, we have no room for error," Castillo went on to say. "Guys are playing hard. They're practicing hard. We're getting better. We have to win games. There were some things I saw on the field where we have improved. We battled in the fourth quarter." History would indicate that hiring a consultant won't do much good, as this is the third time the Eagles have started the season 1-3 under Reid and neither of the first two rebounded to make the postseason…………
- Not cool, leftwing German whack-job terrorist groups, not cool. As someone who has traveled through Berlin’s Hauptbanhof train station and found it to be a really modern, impressive and comfortable place to be, hearing that some extremist kooks were looking to set the station on fire is infuriating. Thankfully, railway workers thwarted the arson attack on Berlin's central station Monday after discovering incendiary devices left at the mouth of an entrance tunnel. A German leftwing group claimed responsibility for the attacks, with the foiled attempt coming hours after another suspected arson attack had damaged signals and cables on the major Hamburg to Berlin line. In a statement, the group said it wanted to protest the presence of German troops in Afghanistan and exports by the German defense industry. How burning down a train station that helps thousands of German citizens and tourists make their way across a truly beautiful country is unclear, but in the minds of these whack jobs it must make sense. According to police, the incendiary devices appeared to be the same at both sites. After the discovery of the devices, Deutsche Bahn train traffic was disrupted for one and half hours, while police and staff made the railway track safe. Arson has been a major tactic of various extremist groups in Germany over the past year, with arsonists attacking Berlin's subway train network last November, causing huge disruption, an several hundred cars have also been set afire by arsonists in the capital this year. It is not clear whether all of the attacks are in protest of the fact that Germany has around 5,200 soldiers deployed as part of NATO's mission in Afghanistan, but now would be a great time to pick a protest tactic that is better-suited to the goal in mind……….
- Life is hard these days for movie zombies. Just one day after news broke that a Hungarian SWAT team had raided a warehouse in Budapest being used to store weapons for Brad Pitt’s forthcoming zombie flick World War Z, the news got worse for the undead when 16 actors dressed as zombies were injured Tuesday morning during an accident on the Toronto set of the horror flick Resident Evil 5. Unfortunately for the zombies, their costumes were so bloody and gory, producers had a difficult time determining which of the undead were actually injured. Local law enforcement was called to the scene to investigate and determined that the injuries occurred when the zombies were on a set built on wheels and the set suddenly moved. Caught off-guard, the zombies plummeted roughly 20 feet down to the ground. The good news - if these is such a thing in this sort of situation - is that none of the injuries appear to be life threatening. All 16 actors were transported to a local hospital and some were treated for arm, leg and back injuries and possible broken bones. The Toronto Police Dept. and the Ministry of Labor are investigating the situation but have not released any official statement assessing blame or indicting possible criminal charges against those responsible. The incident also highlights the fact that there are a disturbing number of zombie movies currently in production, although Hollywood is the ultimate copycat industry…………
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