Only Natural

Robert Ettinger, who died on July 23 aged 92, was the intellectual father of the cryonics movement, whose members have themselves frozen at death pending scientific resurrection. ... Robert Ettinger will be shipped back to Michigan to join his two wives and his mother in cold storage. He is survived by a son and a daughter from his first marriage, both of whom are active immortalists.

CERN Director General Rolf-Dieter Heuer told Welt Online that the scientists should refrain from drawing conclusions from the latest experiment [which] examines the role that energetic particles from deep space play in cloud formation. ... Why? Because, Heuer says, "That would go immediately into the highly political arena of the climate change debate. One has to make clear that cosmic radiation is only one of many parameters." Oh … "only one of many parameters", eh? So nice to see him admit that. Does he mean like that big yellow thing that hangs in the sky each day?

It's been one of the mysteries of Japan's ongoing nuclear disaster: How much of the damage did the March 11 earthquake inflict on Fukushima Daiichi's reactors in the 40 minutes before the devastating tsunami arrived? The stakes are high: If the quake alone structurally compromised the plant and the safety of its nuclear fuel, then every other similar reactor in Japan is at risk. "I personally saw pipes that came apart and I assume that there were many more that had been broken throughout the plant. There's no doubt that the earthquake did a lot of damage inside the plant. There were definitely leaking pipes, but we don't know which pipes — that has to be investigated. I also saw that part of the wall of the turbine building for Unit 1 had come away. That crack might have affected the reactor."

If theory and evidence disagree, real scientists scrap the theory. But official climate science ignored the crucial weather balloon evidence, and other subsequent evidence that backs it up, and instead clung to their carbon dioxide theory — that just happens to keep them in well-paying jobs with lavish research grants, and gives great political power to their government masters.

An underwater "river" has been discovered snaking along the ocean bed off southwestern Australia. The undersea phenomenon — layers of dense water that creep along the ocean floor at a rate of about a half-mile (1 km) a day — was found to be some 65 feet (20 meters) thick and stretches for more than 60 miles (100 kilometers). Researchers say it's the first time these rivers have been glimpsed in such warm waters.

Chinese scientists have genetically modified dairy cows to produce human breast milk, and hope to be selling it in supermarkets within three years.

Scientists hope robotic suits to be tested at a Bochum University clinic will enable paraplegics to regain the ability to walk, according to a Friday news report. Daily Die Welt reported that the technology could also prove controversial because of the unnatural strength it affords anyone wearing such a suit.... Yoshiyuki Sankai, the CEO of Cyberdyne, said multiple requests to use the suit for non-medical purposes have been turned down. Several military agencies, for example, have inquired about the suits, apparently attracted by the unnatural strength they afford the person wearing it. All military requests have been rejected though, according to Sankai, because the technology is ultimately intended to benefit people, not hurt them.... [Yeah, like we can put the toothpaste back in the tube.]

SEDALIA, Mo. -- A tornado injured at least 15 people, destroyed homes, overturned trucks, and heavily damaged a school bus barn on Wednesday.

A 54-year-old Missouri woman has died after suffering a heart attack when told of her father's death in the Joplin tornado.

At least 122 people died, a number that seems likely to rise. An additional 1,500 people remained on the official list of those who remained unaccounted for, which ballooned in a flood of worried phone calls but is gradually shrinking as the names of the living and the dead are scratched off. The police said two people were found alive Tuesday, in addition to seven found on Monday. Because cellphone service was knocked out by the storm on Sunday and remained spotty two days later, many residents were unable to contact friends and relatives who may still be alive. Residents' frustration and fears grew as officials declined to share the names of the dead and the missing, and they have turned to local radio and Facebook.

The twister brought death and destruction with a fast fury that was hard to escape.

Sharon Watson, spokesman for the Kansas National Guard, said state emergency officials determined that 200 houses sustained damage, minor to major, in Reading and the area around the town. She said 20 homes were destroyed, all in the city, which is about 20 miles northeast of Emporia. Some injuries were reported, but Watson said no one was believed to be seriously hurt but added that officials were still in the early stages of assessing.

The ocean floor shifted sideways by 79 feet in the Japanese earthquake in March - much further than scientists originally predicted. And researchers are warning that immense amounts of seismic stress remain stored in the area, putting it at risk of further devastating earthquakes.