We’re at that time of year when oil companies begin reporting their profits or losses— and in the coming days, we’re no doubt going to be a lot of talk about those companies making record profits.

One thing we’re probably NOT going to be hearing a lot about is whether we’re running out of oil.

No, gasoline hasn’t YET reached 9.99 a gallon—but this could be a sign of things to come if SOME experts are correct.

We’re not talking about artificial shortages created by withholding production—nor are we talking about the oil wells running dry tomorrow…

We’re talking about the the possibility that the supply will now begin to dwindle over the coming decade or two….

It’s called peak oil theory…It was first proposed in 1956 by M. King Hubbert.

He accurately predicted that U.S. oil production would peak between 1965 and 1970…

Since that time—others have built on his work to come up with the bell curve that shows peak oil production—based on the reserves experts believe are still available globaly.

Depending on who you listen to—we’ve already past peak production—or we’re just a few years away from hitting it.

There’s a lot of complicated math used to come up with this simple concept: the glasss is half empty—and we’re still drinking from it.

But what about ethanol as an alternative?

It takes a lot of energy to convert organics to Ethanol…

And, you can read here how Ethanol production is already raising food prices because things that were once used to feed us are now being used to make fuel.

So it seems that whether we’re using alternative fuels—or depending on what is sure to be declining petroleum supplies—the cost of oil—and it’s by-products is going to do nothing but go up in the days ahead…

—Steve

This old planet of ours is being bombarded every day by all kinds of stuff….

Scientists estimate 1,000 tons of dust from space settle on this planet annually…

From atomic sized particles called Quarks, to Gamma Rays—to highly charged particles thrown out from the sun during mass corona ejections, stuff whacks this planet …

And there are also meteorites like this one caught on home video is Australia in 2005:

Or like this one photographed over Guadalajara, Mexico in 2006 which skim our atmosphere regularly—and burn up…

But, we humans are also responsible for showering our planet with stuff in the form of space junk that burns up on re-entry…

And now—we’re facing a situation where an out-of-control U-S spy satellite is about to come crashing down to earth…

Usually, when these things have outlived their usefulness, they are guided out of the sky so they burn up over the ocean…

But this one has lost power—and operators apparently can do nothing with its trajectory except watch it fall..

Said to be as big as a bus—there are some who worry the thing could come down over a populated area—or that all of it won’t burn up—and it will spread hazardous materials about…

After days of denial, you can read in detail here why government officials now concede the object could impact land—and QUITE possibly parts of the United States.

Back in 1979 there were similar worries about Skylab—and quite a few chunks made it to earth—landing in the sparsely populated Australian outback.

We were lucky then… are we going to be that lucky now?

YOU TALK WE LISTEN

A couple of posts back—we linked to an interesting video shot by our some soldiers in Iraq..

These odd lights in the sky had folks buzzing all about the Internet.

Now, one of OUR readers may have figured it out!

Meowlikeacat writes:

I believe the alien phenomenon you are referring to is the Aurora Borealis - Northern Lights. I have seen them much stronger in my childhood than in that video.

 

I think Meowlikeacat did some great detective work…

Here’s a still frame from the video…

and here’s a photo of one kind of Northern lights…

Add in the distortion caused by a night vision lens—-and those “vertical streaks” of light in the home video may just be Aurora’s!

Meowlikeacat—you should be crowing like a rooster!

—Steve

Link to video and story Steve covered today on NBC-17

There’s an awful lot of concern these days about obesity…

Everyone from the government to insurance companies are worried about folks who don’t get enough exercise…

But the mind is a muscle too—and it needs exercise…

So, to help keep your mind from getting flabby— here’s a few exercises for it….

EYE CAN’T SEE THAT…

This one is all about what happens in school.. What word do you see?

Most folks see TEACH… But did you see what’s reflected? Live an LEARN, I say…

THE GIRAFFE TEST….

They use this test to see if you can learn from your mistakes…

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down.

The answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door.

This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Did you say, open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator?

Wrong.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.

This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.

3. The Lion, the King of the Jungle, is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?

Answer: The Elephant. That’s because he’s in the refrigerator. You just put him in there.This tests your memory.

Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to recover.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?

Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Remember, all the crocodiles are attending the animal meeting.

How’d you do?

IT’S ALL ABOUT MOI….

Finally— one last exercise…. What’s the word you see here?

Just about everyone sees “ME” … Most don’t even notice, “YOU”

Is your brain hurting from all this exercise?

Nope… Well—just wait till you wake up tomorrow…Your brain will be soooo sore !!!!

—Steve