Is It Too Late ...

After learning that I flat-out reject climate change/global warming as 'settled science,' folks who support theories of the anthropogenic degradation of the environment have called me a "climate denier."

That's patently absurd since I've never denied that there's a climate; I just think science has yet to settle anything regarding the issue of climate change/global warming and that the debate is NOT over - it is alive and kicking.

I can’t think of anything more anti-scientific than this far-fetched notion that science is settled, static or impervious to challenge, because it denies every premise upon which science is built.

Making the claim that the debate about global warming is over, that the so-called 'consensus' among bribed scientists who say it is settled is proof enough, are nothing more than vulgar attempts to silence critics and delegitimize debate.

For me it's hard to say what is what, just leave things to the politicians to corrupt even the most noble efforts, like protecting the planet for all concerned by looking for the money angle.

Sophi...Initially this smacks of scaremongering.. I have faith that mama nature can handle it.. I'll come back to this.
(I'm shattered..been awake since election day morning..??45hrs??.)

sweet dreams of women flying through the air, Barry.

Carolyn, I admire you for joining the march. I have to admit, I haven't spent much time considering climate change, although it worries me a bit. I agree with Barry that mother nature can take care of it, but only if we stop doing any more harm.

The planet will save itself with or without us.

[Mr. McKibben] "If we don’t get it right soon, we’ll never get it right."

The foolish arrogance of that statement...! There's absolutely nothing wrong with the planet or it's climate. Carlin drives that point home better than anyone I've ever seen or listened to on the subject:




Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

Haha, I'm not taking advice from a comedian!! Is it arrogance or concern? It would be negligent to discount the harm humans have done to nature and the environment.

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/pauline-adair.html

First Carolyn,

I just found this and thought I would look you up. I like this work. Admire the artist.

Climate change? What is there to know?
Parts per billion 400....CO2....

We are taking all the CO2 we need from underground to run our power needs.

We are putting all that CO2 into the air.

It took millions of years for mother earth to sequester that CO2.

It is bad news. Huge understatement.

Now the good news.

Battery technologies are rolling forward at a great pace.
flow batteries
earth batteries
lithium batteries
etc

The theoretical limit for Photovoltaics was 55%.
In simple terms sun hitting a solar panel would
have an upper limit of a 55% efficiency rate.
This is no longer true. Materials are being found
that have more than one exiton. An exiton is when
an electron is released by the solar cell material
as a photon of sunlight hits the material. The upper efficiency limits
are going higher. And this generally happens with thinner and
thinner, cheaper and cheaper films of material. Great news.

Wind power is now at the international cost of Natural Gas.
Wind power is becoming the cheapest form of electricity
generation. If it is not already.

Now the kicker. We, the human race, are entering
a new age of energy deflation. The goal is to add
to our planet as we go. To no longer take anything at all
from our planet. That is the goal. If a road is built
to last 200 years, when that road fades into the ground
it should add back into the land underneath.

We have goals and we are going to meet them.

We still need to be more efficient in limiting our current
pollution outputs. The debate is silly. Criminals should not be
deciding policies based on their creature comforts.

Dave

I'm with Dan on this one..BUT..i agree with Pat also.. (we do harm the planet in other areas)

There is geological evidence that what's happening to the planet is perfectly natural.. I've also read some compelling "evidence" that the whole climate change issue has just been created as another way of bolstering industry(new tech) and scaring the shit out of people.. Al Gore has got alot to answer for.... we should take a close look at what he and his cronies have gained(financially) from the global warming "crisis"...

LOL....just watched George Carlin.... yep.. he make a very strong point!..

i do agree with you that the planet will save itself. my concern is for our children's children because i think the human race will be affected and will probably come to an end. rather like the dinosaurs, i expect. however there are things we can do to make the planet a better place immediately. plastic bags for instance. our seas are dying because of the foreign matter that go into it and because of the large scale fishing and trawling that kills everything that is swept up. i don't mind the human race dying out as much as i do the whales. so i guess that's just a personal thing with me.

there's no reason why we can't have wind and solar power, its been proved that it works really well. and if we stopped chopping down our trees and started planting more, it would go a long way to help. and, and, and if someone would bomb Monsanto that would make me smile.

Patricia, we're being threatened with thunderstorms tomorrow so i am intending to go, but that could change if its really bad. however i am going to do my best to go. with an umbrella. ;)

Dave wrote: "Criminals should not be deciding policies based on their creature comforts."

Naturally, he was referring to that bloated blunderbuss of environmentalist misfits, Algore.

Here's something you may find interesting, if not enlightening: https://www.cfact.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Climate-Hype-Exposed.pdf

Among a slue of other things, "Climate Hype Exposed" reveals the IPCC as “a political body masquerading as a science body.”

Well Patrick, as someone who has poured my heart out for the anti global anthropogenics in other threads I think you will find no matter how enlightening and intelligent your resources are, they will only hurt you. Steve McIntyre will not save us any more than the Heritage Foundation. In fact citing from him around here is like trying to use a silver bullet on a werewolf. It only creates more myth than reality. If we really want to get through to those that believe we are killing our planet we have to use common sense knowledge. Let them have their wind turbines, solar panels, electric cars and whatever they want. But when the day comes when everything shuts down...they will realize we need power. Not wind power, not solar power but earth defying, earth shattering, window shaking.....oil, gas, electricity and nuclear energy power. We will need that to keep us up and running in the event of a natural disaster. I'm not saying that eventually we should not evolve into a cleaner, safer energy environment... of course we should, but it takes time to make that kind of change

Irresponsible government subsidies that favor environmental businesses are a drain on our economy. But then who cares about the economy when whales are at stake? Sorry, but I think people are more important than whales. And I think building homes from lumber is important too. Are we to live in caves? It might be a little hard to get internet through those thick walls. I hate to say the H word but let's face it.... we all like our comforts, and good old gas, coal, and nuclear energy gives us most of those necessities.

Patrick,

You have your opinions. Just because someone wants to pander to those opinions does not make your opinions facts at all.

400 parts per billion is almost double what it should be.

We are paying a price.

Dave

Carolyn,

In the long run we will only have wind, solar, and fuel cells technologies.

They will be far cheaper than fossil fuels or nuclear energy.

Dave

Debra,

Between the whales and the humans there need not be an either/or choice.

The rules of economics will see that fossil fuels and nuclear energy wont be in use at all in the next two to three decades.

Alternative energy is now getting cheaper and cheaper. People will only go with what saves them money.

Whale oil for lamps fell to kerosene......in other words change has happened before.....

Dave

i can't wait for that day, Dave.

Patricia, they just announced on the news that now they are expecting 400,000 people and showed images of previous marches with those kinds of turnouts. i might chicken out because i'm really scared of crowds. (i have a metal spine and no balance and i'm not very big! walking the sidewalks here on a regular day can present challenges!)

i'm not sure yet. my friend decided not to go but if my neighbour will go with me ... !

i may go up to 42nd street and cheer them on as they march past instead. from a safe place.

i think humans and whales have equal value in God's eyes, Debra and i think the whales have more credibility when it comes to not damaging the planet.

Dave.
If only that were true, we wouldn't be having an exchange of this nature; 400 parts per BILLION would be a death knell for all plant life on Earth. LOL!

We have evidence that CO2 levels during the Devonian period - home to one of the five mass extinctions - were hovering around 4000 PPM, which may have meant that it was plant life itself that caused the die-outs. Then, gradually, it corrected itself by dropping to a very comfortable 400 PPM.

Solar and wind power, huh...okeydokey, let's see how fast a solar-powered 747 can get itself airborne, shall we? Maybe we could outfit your car with a windmill and see how far down the road it gets you.

The rules of economics dictate that right now, our so-called fossil fuels - a huge misnomer if ever there were one, since there's no such thing as a fossilized fuel - are the only means we have of preventing a major collapse of the system.

Like all advocates of 'sustainability' - I really dislike that word - you're putting the cart before the horse, Dave.

i spent 8 days in the dark and cold and with no running water eating baked beans out of a can, stranded in my tenth floor studio in midtown NYC after Sandy. we've been warned that we should expect more storms like this. One of my friends is directly involved in the oyster beds which we hope might help but guess what, i don't really want to go through that again.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lewis-milford/court-finds-nyc-disabled-_b_4255402.html

http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

I think the shift to greener technology is a step in the right direction, but it's a tiny step if what AGW proponents are predicting is true. The only real response to this apocalyptic prediction is a drastic one. That means real sacrifices, big investments, and a massive research effort to make it all economically feasible. That means urbanizing mass populations with new transit lines, high speed trains, subways and trolleys where there are none now. And not just in the United States, but China, India and all the industrialized countries. Just as the Kyoto protocol is failing and cap and trade stays off the table, it's a pipe-dream. In the meantime we can do our part however small. Have your rallies and protests, but until corporate America embraces the same ideologies as environmentalists they are barking up the wrong tree. So with all due respect David, Carolyn's Mr. McKibbens hit the nail on the head when he said “If we don't get it right soon, we'll never get it right.”

Patricia, i plucked up my courage and went to the march. joined them at 44th and 6th and tucked in with some japanese monks beating on skins because i felt safe there. walked to 42 and 11th and started to get tired so i opted out of the march but walked back along the route to see all the groups that were behind me. i was able to do the minute of silence while i was in the march itself.

Debra, i don't think we should ever give up trying to save our planet. there is no planet b for us to evacuate to. if we are negative, negative things happen. corporate America will not embrace the same ideologies UNLESS we keep protesting and we keep refusing to subsidize their products. the trees appreciate our barking.

Mandates to curb global warming with all their good intentions can dwarf economic development. Resources that would otherwise go towards progress may be ill spent and cause more harm than good. For example, biofuels requiring government subsidies are a drain on our economy and yet they still remain for no explicable reason. They provide no environmental benefit and worse, have made farmers dependent upon them as their addiction to subsidies grows.

The IPCC issued this report a few months ago;

"Biofuels have direct, fuel cycle GHG emissions that are typically 30¨C90% lower than those for gasoline or diesel fuels. However, since for some biofuels indirect emissions including from land use change can lead to greater total emissions than when using petroleum products, policy support needs to be considered on a case by case basis. Increasing bioenergy crop cultivation poses risks to ecosystems and biodiversity".

Between 2004 and 2010 biofuel mandates intended for fossil fuel reduction were responsible for increasing the poverty rate of developing countries by 35 billion which ultimately resulted in 200,000 deaths. I honestly don't know if some of those mandates are still in place...I'll have to research it.

So the EPA, the IPCC, the WHO (not the musical group) with their fast track assessements have their shortcomings. Economic development and human adaptability is taking a back seat to environmental experiments.

Edit: In December, Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Coburn (R-OK) introduced a bill that would eliminate the corn ethanol mandate within the Federal Renewable Fuel Standard (Oil&Gas Journal) that requires blending ethanol into gasoline at increasing levels over the next decade. It was met with stiff opposition from heavily agricultural states, but had strong support from the petroleum industry. However, now that the tax credit and import tariffs have expired and ethanol is holding its own economically, it remains to be seen if the industry can stand up to this pressure. Source: Excerpts from Forbes

Some 12,000 years ago the spot where my house stands now was under almost a mile of ice.

The climate sure has changed since then!


The "sky is falling" fears all start from one very WRONG assumption....

that there is a "normal" when it comes to the environment.

Our environment has been changing since the day the Earth cooled and will continue to do so long after the humans (and whales) are gone.

This entire movement and debate is based on this incorrect notion that there is a normal climate. You start with false information, how far are you going to get? You can't normalize a fluid and dynamic phenomenon like the climate.

"You can't normalize a fluid and dynamic phenomenon like the climate."

Hear Hear!..well said John!

I've said it before. But it is worth looking into the true motives held by the people perpetrating the scaremongering. Who really benefits from all the trading of carbon tokens going on between third world countries and first world nations? It is BIG business..seriously..look into it!
(this post would sit well in both the propaganda thread and the conspiracy thread..lol)

I entirely disagree with Patrick. It isn't dihydrogen monoxide that will kill us, it's dust. Yes dust. Dust is dustgusting. Furthermore I don't think the EPA is doing enough about the situation. Why just the other day a golf cart went by our backyard and kicked up some dust. Then the golfer got out and whiffed his ball creating a huge puff of dust. How rude. I called the EPA after going on their site and they said they would send someone over. It's been two days now. There are incidents like this happening all over the country and nothing is being done about it. I guess all they care about is Anaconda dust.

http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/FinalAnacondaDust.pdf

Yes Patrick is quite the clever chap. Glad you figured that out Sydne.

LOL Debra!! We need a site, Dust Busters, we would keep people informed 24/7 on Wednesdays about the alarming facts on dust! Its our civic duty!

Hey Sydne, this is no joke. If you go to the site I posted you will see in the bottom right hand corner that there is already a group established.... the OPCA. Did you know that dust is on the EPA list of harmful pollutants?

I have to vacuum my African Grey at least once a week otherwise, the house is filled with his "dust"...
It's a hard job but someone has to do it to protect the environment.

I did go to your link Debra... and had a great laugh.

Edit to Sydne - Go back and read the New Member thread please. :)

Actually the show "Bullshit" with Penn & Teller had someone with a clipboard gathering signatures to ban dihydrogen monoxide long before April 2013.


They also did a "taste test" with organic versus non-organic food because so many people claimed organic taste better. A large portion of people picked the non-organic as the organic in the bind taste test. Then they did a real "mean" trick.

They cut a banana in half. Put one half on a red plate and the other on a blue plate. Then they told the testers the banana on the blue plate was organic and asked them to taste both and tell them which one tasted better. As you might guess people described the one they thought was organic in nice and positive adjectives, the one that thought was non-organic tasted much worse they said. Of course, it was the SAME banana they were eating.

I think both of these examples show people are more concerned with FEELING they are doing the "right" thing even if they have no idea on what the facts are.

They drive their electric cars to the environment protest to make themselves feel like they are helping poor mother Earth. Never thinking about what would happen to all the batteries in these cars when they are past their useful lives. Then they drive home and take to the internet to show how they helped the Earth at the protest. Not thinking of the power plants an mining needed to make that computer and provide that electricity.

Like Debra said above we are not giving up our comforts. I know I don't want to. If it doesn't work as well as the electricity, gasoline and propane I have and use now I am not going to switch to something else just to make myself feel better. If we ant people to change the technology has to be as good, or better, than what we have now for the same cost, or lower. We may come up with a replacement for gasoline one day but we aren't that close yet.

I missed the group, dang! I am looking at the dust on my shelves as I post, I am pretty sure I live in a danger zone! I see they have a product, Envirotac ll that is used to deal with dust. Maybe I should buy some for my living room.
http://www.erosioncontrol.com/EC/Articles/Chemical_Soil_Stabilization_4339.aspx

I stay away from GMO food as much as possible.

Good post John.

I think you make a great points about people feeling and/or believing. My husband tends to think like you about electric cars/batteries, etc... he thinks about these things to a point I would never think of - his is an inventive mind rooted in common sense.

Re's the banana - I don't eat organic foods on purpose, so I wouldn't know the difference in their taste. I wonder if people really can distinguish a difference? I know lots of people buy organic foods...I think they cost more than non-organic foods?

I sit on a fence with the entire issue of global warming - sometimes it's a razor's edge and other times just wood.

I know on the heat group I mentioned the last thing we did to make ourselves feel good about helping out the environment was to become a 1 car family. We still are - we've adapted nicely. But it only works for us because we're both retired and laid back.

Edit @ Sydne! LOL - we have not vacuumed our bird in 2 weeks... oy, we are choking!

Thank you for your nice comment, Donna (a few posts back). You bring up good points, John. If I only had answers. I don't see the harm in being mindful about protecting the environment. The "start at home" movement is big here in WA. Recycling, composting, etc. There is actually so much composting in my neighborhood that it is attracting the rats that come off the ships, lol. A few steps forward, a step behind, eh? But it's important to keep going forward. Teaching wastefulness to our children is not going to do the world any good in the long run.

The dust link seems like a hoot, but I noticed this quote from the site: "... the dust may contain metals (such as arsenic, cadmium, or zinc) associated with the contamination related to historic smelting activities." Having grown up in a smelter town, I can tell you that breathing that stuff in every day is unpleasant if not dangerous. I can remember walking to school and practically choking on the sulfur in the air. Today, my home town is cleaned up and the air is as fresh as a daisy. That can't be a bad thing.

Yes Patricia it is a serious matter when you think about it, especially for those who do have breathing issues and allergies. I imagine we do inhale the metals from contaminated soil, which is something I had not thought of before.

In Arizona there is an illness that comes from the soil. Animals and humans are susceptible to the fungus from the soil.

What is Valley Fever?

Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis, or cocci) is caused by the soil-dwelling fungus, Coccidioides immitis. The tiny seeds, or spores, become wind-borne and are inhaled into the lungs, where the infection starts.

When soils containing the fungus are disturbed and dust is raised, spores may be inhaled with the dust. Dust disturbing activities include, the wind, construction, farming, among others.

Once inside the lung, the spore transforms itself into a larger, multicellular structure called a spherule. The spherule continues to grow and will eventually burst, releasing endospores which develop into new spherules, and then repeats the cycle (Figure 1).
http://www.casa.arizona.edu/~peter/valleyfever/web/page4.html

@Donna, you are endangering your bird! 0;

The electric cars are largely being sold so people can feel better about themselves. They are a small handful of the people that buy cars. But if we expand it to include EVERY car on the road we have serious issues to deal with.

That's 250 million cars. Which means 250 million batteries to dispose of. It also means generating enough electricity to power 250 million cars.

They are "feel good Band-Aids" (like a lot of things in this country). They are not a viable solution to our fossil fuel problem.

Now I am all for replacing fossil fuels if we can. First, it will turn the Middle East into a worthless sandbox. Without the oil money many of our enemies there will become insolvent. It will clean the air as well. Hopefully it will be cheaper and easier than filling up at the gas station.

But the "save the Earth" attack on things like fossil fuels is unrealistic. Like we sais before, people are not going to give up what they have for something that cost more or doesn't work as well. I don't even think a true electric car will ever work in the part of the country I am from. I don't think they will perform well in sub-zero temperatures.

Let the free market change the world. If something is TRULY good you won't have to pass legislation to MAKE people switch. They will flock to it, like the better mousetrap.

The light bulb ban comes to mind. The government should not have banned light bulbs. I started switching the bulbs in my ceiling lights to LED. Not because the government says I HAVE to, but because I actually like them. The light is a pleasant white instead of the ugly yellow. They are brighter and they are supposed to last 20 years. They were expensive, but everything cost more when it is new (our first VCR when I was a kid cost $1500.00). The last batch we bought a few weeks ago cost more than half of the first bulbs we bought a year ago.

You sell an item based on its benefits, not by a government mandated ban.

Your absolutely right John. Very good points. I was just getting ready to post this when I saw your article.

For years I have been talking about the Yucca Mountain Repository in Nevada in these Global Warming threads. Billions have been invested in the project by 33 nuclear plants across the country who have waste stored at their own facilities. The Nuclear Waste Policy act required the DOE to store the waste from the plants by 1998. That time is long overdue. Billions of taxpayer dollars will continue to be paid in damages to the plants.

It's not surprising that Obama closed the repository especially since Harry Reid his chief cohort at hand wanted it closed. Some of the reasons were how dangerous transporting the stuff from the commercial plants would be and how the population of Nevada has grown and so on, but now why after all that investment would they be looking for a new spot to store the waste? A new repository is scheduled for 2045. Where are they going to go Mars?

Anyway, there's a chance it may reopen according to this article.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/11/opinion_nuclear_storage_at_yucca_mountain_might_now_get_the_green_light.html

There's no real solution to clean air. There will always be risks involved so we can keep warm in the winter, cool in the summer, eat, and so on. Nuclear energy is clean but it has it's drawbacks. Ethanol mandates for gasoline have proved counter productive and can even increase pollution. Coal is the most pollutant of all, yet all we can do is mandate cleaner methods for getting energy from it (which we are).

Fracking for natural gas is “the bridge” to cleaner energy as Obama puts it, but that too is controversial and has risks that have residents and environmentalists up in arms. There will always be something in the air. We can evolve to cleaner energy but it will have to take a long time. Global warming alarmists don't think we have time and want to jeopardize our economy and much needed jobs. BTW the acronym for GW is now Climate Change since things seem to be cooling off.

Very interesting article Debra. To be fair to the discussion I am posting a pro and con article. As in all discussion or debates there is the other side of the coin.

http://debate.yukozimo.com/pros-and-cons-of-yucca-mountain/

Also this one, http://nucleaette.blogspot.com/2009/10/pros-and-cons-of-yucca-mountain.html

I have also noticed it is now "climate change". I guess global warming was hard to justify given the last couple winters. Yes, some places may have been warmer but same have been damn cold (I know I am living it). But the thing is, if one part is above normal and one is below normal, what do you get? NORMAL!

I said very early in this thread that the Earth's climate is fluid and dynamic. It has been changing since day one. The place my house now sits was under a mile of ice about 12,000 ears ago.

So climate change is like saying "wet water". It is a given. There is no such thing as a "normal" climate. It is constantly changing, with or without humans.

@Donna
I also have a Grey. Once or twice a week I have to vacuum up the dander, feathers, and food. Must be over 3,000 times in the past 30 years. Her name is Clyde because the first 8 years we had her we thought she was a he. Our Umbrella was a female. Clyde is still laying eggs after over 20 years.

Talk about dust! We even invested in a air../heat unit that cost us over 14 grand. It's supposed to be the best out there to get rid of dust. Don't know if it's working (cough, cough). Seems to.

Dear Patrick,

I'm so glad you set me straight on pollution! I found a great vacation spot for you, low cost, and very uncrowded.



(All in good fun!) :-)

I just knew you'd like that one, Kelley, and I had fun writing it, too! ("Oh, boy! I can't wait to pack my bags and fly to...Ahwaz?")

The most surprising thing about the responses to my post is that I thought y'all would see right through my deception as soon as the words 'innocuous' and 'salubrious' popped up; read the definitions and you'll learn they're just a fancy way of saying something is inert...you know, like water. ;-)

Speaking of water and climate change -

Climate Change Threatens to Strip the Identity of Glacier National Park

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont. — What will they call this place once the glaciers are gone?

A century ago, this sweep of mountains on the Canadian border boasted some 150 ice sheets, many of them scores of feet thick, plastered across summits and tucked into rocky fissures high above parabolic valleys. Today, perhaps 25 survive.

In 30 years, there may be none…

Excerpts:

"And while glaciers came and went millenniums ago, the changes this time are unfolding over a Rocky Mountain landscape of big cities, sprawling farms and growing industry. All depend on steady supplies of water, and in the American West, at least 80 percent of it comes from the mountains.

Lately, the snows are not going well.

Mountain snowpacks are shrinking. In recent decades, rising winter temperatures have increasingly changed snows to rain. Rising spring temperatures are melting the remaining snow faster.

“Imagine turning on your faucet in your sink and all your water runs out in an hour’s time,” Thomas Painter, a research scientist and snow hydrologic expert at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in an interview. “Loss of snowpack earlier in the year compresses runoff into a shorter period of time.” "

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/us/climate-change-threatens-to-strip-the-identity-of-glacier-national-park.html?_r=0#

@ Erica - I hear you! Oliver (breeder had him tested for us after we adopted him but before he could be released to our care) just turned 15 on April 24th! I think the older they get, the more dander they produce LOL!!! Yeah, it is a pain to vac up around him a couple times a week. Feathers, food... pieces of toys, and dust in his immediate surroundings, which happens to be in the family room. ;)

In thirty years, New York City will be underwater...I have foreseen it!

Where can I get one of those Finfaerion ray rider- helmets Patrick (you know...just in case they're right)?

I can just see myself at 90 years old swimming around with Mantas. I think I'll stay in Arizona.

LOL Patrick - I'm afraid I might need one of those helmets since we are underwater in Florida ;)

Coming right up, Ladies!

The helmets are (fictionally speaking) a breathing apparatus worn by all mermaliens in Finfaeria, but there's a lot more than meets the eye regarding the construction and design than just a diving helmet: They are actually living creatures.

The mermaliens' ancestors bioengineered the helmet/mask...what they refer to as the Fin Cephalarvum: Cepha, which is a contraction of the word cephalus, a Greek word for 'head,' and larvum, which is a Latin word for mask...head + mask = headmask or head gear.

The Cephalarvum is a rebreather. That means it is filled with a special, highly oxygenated fluid that the human half of the symbiotic pair takes into his/her lungs, and which then carries CO2 away with it. The Cephalarvum pulls O2 from the sea by filtering seawater over the surface of its gills and then suspends and stores the gas in the rebreather fluid, which it holds in reserve in an air bladder - the balloon-like thing at the back of the Cephalarvum.

Those long tendrils attached to the carapace on top of the Cephalarvum are called orbicles - tentacles with glassy, teardrop-shaped orbs at the tips. The orbicles are filled with a different type of fluid - electric jelly - that can be charged with an electrical current, making them bioluminescent when the charge is amplified, and can also help the wearer/symbiont of the mask to empathically sense other creatures in its immediate surroundings, especially those in distress and in need of the mermaliens' help.

The faceplate of the Fin Cephalarvum can shift from opaque to transparent, depending on the mood of the wearer/symbiont. I have yet to install the latest design modification...an umbilical cord that will link the Cephalarvum directly to the mermalien through his navel...where else, right?!

There's much more backstory to this, but I didn't want bore you with it. I am also working my own illustrated novel based on Planet Zootopia and its interface with life on Earth, and I will be firing up a Kickstarter Project to launch it.

I can't wait. There's something enticing about electric jelly.

I recently took my wife, Dianna, to see 'The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies,' in 3D HFR HD, but before it started, we watched a trailer of the upcoming Jurassic World film, which reminded of the brilliant Michael Crichton, who once said this:

“I want to pause here and talk about this notion of consensus, and the rise of what has been called consensus science. I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had.

Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.

There is no such thing as consensus science. If it's consensus, it isn't science. If it's science, it isn't consensus. Period.”

Spot-on, Michael!

Scientific consensus has gotten a bad reputation—and it doesn’t deserve it:
http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/09/scientific-consensus-has-gotten-a-bad-reputation-and-it-doesnt-deserve-it/


Giving all the power to ONE MAD scientist is dangerous Patrick!

So, Squidward...now you want us to believe that you're smarter than Michael Crichton was, eh?

Son, you're delusional.

I suggest you actually read his fictional/non-fictional book, State of Fear...you might actually learn something for a change.

I also recommend you read John Medina's, 'Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School.'

You will discover how:

Every brain is wired differently
Exercise improves cognition
We are designed to never stop learning and exploring
Memories are volatile
Sleep is powerfully linked with the ability to learn
Vision trumps all of the other senses
Stress changes the way we learn
In the end, you’ll understand how your brain really works - and how to get the most out of it...your god knows, you need all the help you can get.