Prehuman sailors colonized Crete 130,000 years ago

Judging from 130,000 year old stone tools and the fact that Crete has been an island for 5 million years, it looks like pre-humans sailed to Crete 130,000 years ago.

They were doing more than just banging rocks together …

Krugman on “Inventory Bounce”

Here is a lucid explanation of the inventory bounce after an economic downturn, like we are seeing right now … First companies under-produce to cut inventories to adjust to lower demand, the move to steady-state production at the new reduced demand level.  The move from under-production to the new lower steady-state production looks like an upturn, but it is really just a ripple in the response to the drop in demand.  Only a sustained increase in demand leads to a real upturn.

Hungry Crustaceans Eat Climate Experiment

Hungry Crustaceans Eat Climate Change Experiment!  What more can you say … breaking news from slashdot.

MIT makes all faculty publications open access

In addition to MIT’s Open Courseware project, which makes most MIT classes lecture notes, exams, and videos freely available on the web, MIT is now making all published faculty articles freely available at MIT’s Digital Research Repository.

Great resources for independent study or quickly getting up to speed on random topics.

Battlestar Galactica at the UN

The Admiral hit the keynote “There is only one race: the human race. SO SAY WE ALL!”.  And so they did.  Kind of put the UN to shame

More info at Entertainment Weekly.

Positive Feedback

According to ABC News, two Purdue University students are on a mission to cheer up New Yorkers by randomly complimenting passers-by for two hours every Wednesday until they graduate.  They are 8 months in and still going strong.

Cosmic smoke ring

Astronomy Picture of the Day has a beautiful photo of a supernova remnant.  Fascinating structure in a faint cloud about 6 times the size of the full moon as seen from Earth.

Neurotransmitters drive locust swarms

Cambridge researchers have discovered that high levels of serotonin trigger behavior changes in locusts.  In humans, serotonin levels are associated with the difference between normal mental states and depression.  In locusts, serotonin levels seem to be associated with the difference between shy solitary grass-eating insects and, well, plagues of locusts darkening the noonday sky.

More info at the BBC.

Martian sunset

From the what-a-worlds department, on Earth the sky is blue and sunsets are red, but on Mars the sky is red and sunsets are blue …

Bill Moyers on Gaza and US

Bill Moyers has a sober look a Israel’s present attacks on Gaza and the way blood turns the wheels of retribution.