The mechanics of plate tectonics are fascinating. This little tectonic tidbit may also one day find itself in the blogs and journals of the usual suspects as an apologetic for climate change:
Antarctica is home to a geological rift system where new crust is being formed, meaning the eastern and western halves of the continent are slowly separating. The team writes in Nature journal that the canyon is bringing more warm sea water to the ice sheet, hastening melt.
The Ferrigno rift lies close to the Pine Island Glacier where Nasa scientists found a giant crack last year; but the newly discovered feature is not thought to be influencing the "Pig", as it is known.
- Pastor Rick Warren tweeted something last Friday, in the immediate aftermath of Aurora, that sounded a lot like DeLay's infamous "evolution-teachin-made-them-do-it" quip after Columbine. But that wasn't the worst part; the explanation of what he really meant and who the tweet was directed at sounded even more mendacious.
- The normally frozen continent of Greenland undergoes a burst of widespread sudden melting that no one could have possibly predicted. The LCV puts out a list of the five worst flat-earthers in Congress on climate change.
- Next Sunday evening, a week from tomorrow, in what may turn out to be the highest traffic internet event in history, Mars rover Curiosity begins its epic, dangerous descent to the plains of the Red Planet. It's a bit of a gamble. Bookmark URLs for official times, streaming links and press conferences starting here.
- The atom smashers at CERN had a celebrity visitor this week and it had nothing to do with Mr. Higgs' boson. Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her sciencey-astronaut husband visited the facility in her first trip abroad since being badly injured two years ago.
