Google Inc., in its quarters at Mountain View, California, announced its partnership with El Solutions - an energy innovations company - to install 1.6 megawatts of solar photovoltaic panels to create solar energy. According to Google, the electricity generated from the solar energy can power about 1,000 average California homes.

Solar cells provides long-lasting source of electricity that is very environment-friendly. Unlike fuels, the photovoltaic cells don't emit pollution and is very low in terms of maintenance. Also, photovoltaic cells can be an advantage in the long run since energy from the sun is virtually free and unlimited. And California is surely one of the best places to install solar energy technologies with its sunny climate.

Photovoltaic, also known as solar cells, is just one of the means to acquire solar energy. They are commonly seen in low-power devices such as calculators. Aside from benefits like producing clean and renewable renewable energy, it also allow its users to save electricity and money. Google also added, "We believe this project demonstrates that a large investment in renewable energy can be profitable."

Towering at over 8,848 meters (29,028 ft), Mt. Everest is considered the highest point on Earth. And being able to reach its summit has been one of man's greatest source of pride and glory. Mt. Everest, or Sagarmatha (Sanskrit for "Goddess of the Sky"), is one of the favorite destinations for people who desire to conquer the roof of the world.

For so many years now, large number of trekkers and climbers flock to the Himalayan Regions to conquer the goddess. It boosted Nepal's tourism economy especially for the locals who found a source of livelihood by providing a wide array of services (like being guides) to these climbers. But tourism for Nepal did not flourished without a toll. Mt. Everest has been suffering from environmental problems, mainly due to the trash and pollution that were left behind by people who troop to the region.

Garbage is one of the serious problems that Mt. Everest is currently facing. The pile of trash in Mt. Everest includes an interesting mix of plastics, aluminum cans, empty oxygen tanks, glass, clothes, climbing equipments like tents, paper, food, and dead bodies. Some climbers are even reporting to have found bloody syringes and other medical wastes. The non-biodegradable wastes are the main concern since they do not decompose. To add to the problem, the extreme condition of the surroundings has the ability to preserve biodegradable materials like dead human bodies.

One of the suggestions is to limit the climbing permits, thus reducing the number of people who will be able to visit the site. But the ethnic group in the area who benefit most from the tourism oppose this idea. The Sherpas claimed that this would take away their livelihood and if this happens, their families would starve.

Prakash Sharma, director of Friends of the Earth Nepal, further assessed the situation, "Twenty to forty thousand of these people attempt, at some altitude, to ascend the mountains of the Himalayas, including thousands who will at least trek to the foot of Everest. There is no infrastructure in this region to cope with the pollution this many people generate, and as a result the Nepali Himalayas have become the highest junkyard in the world."

Everything is interconnected in the cycle of life, no matter how big or small. And its never too late to do something about the continuous degeneration of our environment. Every action can cause a series of effects, some good but sometimes it also causes awful things. Take for example the issue on global warming. This is one of the most widely discussed issues, but the funny thing is, a large number of people are not aware of it.

If you've felt a piercing cold during a clear winter night and wondered why you feel warmer on a cloudy winter night, well, you have experienced the atmospheric greenhouse effect first hand. Remember what they taught you at school that the Earth is surrounded by a shield of atmospheric gas? Well, these are called greenhouse gases and they are a vital element in the survival of life forms in the Earth. Without these gases, the Earth's surface would be up to 30 degrees cooler.

The greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation from the Sun to warm the planet, but a chain of human activities such as the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas from burning of fossil fuels, the use of materials that emit chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methane and nitrous oxide (N2O), alters the process, hence harming the natural balance of the Earth.

A greenhouse effect gone bad is what scientists call "anthropogenic climate change", and it is human induced. Yes dear citizens of Earth, WE caused it and most of us are still unaware of it! Two of the major effects of "anthropogenic climate change" are El Nino and global warming. The effects of these two phenomena are very destructive since they lead to extreme weather conditions.

A paper by James Hansen NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, and his colleagues discuss the effects of El Nino and global warming. They said that the Earth is within 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C) of its highest temperature levels in the past million years. They noted a recent steep rise in average temperatures, with global surface temperatures increasing about 0.4 degrees F (0.2 degrees C) for each of the last three decades.

WSI Corp. predicted that the U.S. will experience warmer-than-normal weather over the Northeast and Midwest for the rest of this year. So next time you do something, think that what you do now will not only affect you, but atmospheric conditions as well.

After Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off on September 9, its crew of six will finally be Earth-bound at 6:21 a.m. EDT. STS-115 is the first Space Shuttle assembly mission to the International Space Station (ISS) after the Columbia disaster. The crew members delivered the second left-side truss segment (ITS P3/P4), a pair of solar arrays (2A and 4A), and batteries. They conducted three spacewalks to connect truss segments, remove restraints on solar arrays, and prepare the station for the next assembly mission by STS-116.

After more than 1 week of orbiting (122 nautical miles) in space, Atlantis will be carrying the crew members back home at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The crew consists of  Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, Christopher J. Ferguson, Joseph R. Tanner, Daniel C. Burbank, Brent W. Jett, Jr. and Steven MacLean.

A scientist, whose research on telephone telepathy is funded by the respected Trinity College in Cambridge, announced recently that he has now proofs based on his conducted experiments that the phenomenon of receiving a telephone call from someone shortly after thinking about them is true. Rupert Sheldrake, who believes in the interconnectedness of all minds within a social grouping, said that such precognition existed for telephone calls and even e-mails.

The experiment for the telephone telepathy was conducted by having each respondent name four relatives or friends and their numbers. The relatives or friends were called at random and asked to ring the subject who had to identify the caller before answering the phone. "The hit rate was 45 percent, well above the 25 percent you would have expected. The odds against this being a chance effect are 1,000 billion to one," said Sheldrake during the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

The same result was also found with with people being asked to name one of four people sending them an e-mail before it had landed. But the Sheldrake's sample - 63 people for the controlled telephone experiment and 50 for the email - was too small, prompting skepticism about the accuracy of the findings. Still, Sheldrake is planning to test if the phenomenon also works for mobile phone text messages.

New findings are now surfacing that points changes in diet are one of the main culprit that results in the rise of mental illness today. In UK, Mental Health Foundation's published report linked illnesses like attention deficit disorder, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia to junk food and the absence of essential fats, vitamins, and minerals in industrialised diets.

Another report, "Changing Diets, Changing Minds", sustain that the NHS bill for mental illness, at almost £100 billion a year, will continue to rise unless the government focuses on diet and the brain in its food, farming, education, and environment policies.

Both reports indicated that food should not be taken for granted. A food that is delicious and tasty doesn't always mean that its healthy. "Food can have an immediate and lasting effect on mental health and behaviour because of the way it affects the structure and function of the brain. Mental health has been completely neglected by those working on food policy. If we don’t address it and change the way we farm and fish, we may lose the means to prevent much diet-related ill health," said Sustain (an organization that roots for better food) chairman Tim Lang.

There are many causes of mental illness such as the biological, psychological, and social factors, but growing scientific evidence links poor diet to problems of behaviour and mood. For example, countries with lower fish intakes have shown higher rates of depression. Fish is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Doctors and scientists advises everybody to cut out junk food and include foods that are rich in folic acid, omega-3 fatty acid, and vitamins in everyday diet. It is said that lack of folic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, and the amino acid tryptophan are play an important role in mental illnesses. Deficiencies of essential fats and antioxidant vitamins are also thought to be a contributory factor in schizophrenia.

The feeding habits of people today have definitely changed, especially in the younger generation. More choices of food, which most are not healthy, are readily available in the market. We have to be extra careful on food that we take and parents are also advised to monitor what their children eats.

Here's one freaky way to acquire a pet other than going to your favorite pet shop and purchasing one! Bio.Genica has created living, breathing genetic animals called GenPets, in which they used the process called Zygote Micro Injection to combine DNA, or to insert certain proteins from different species. Most notably, it was used in 1997 to splice mice with bioluminescent jellyfish and has since been used to create glowing rabbits, pigs, fish, and monkeys. Since then, human DNA has been injected into rabbits and chimpanzees, while spider DNA were injected into sheep.

These real genetic animals have a fully functional heart, and like babies, they must be looked after and cared for. They are packaged in a fully self-contained unit in hibernation state. Each pet has an embedded microchip that monitors and controls the state of the Genpet while it is in hibernation stage. The microchip also monitors the status of the GenPet, along with the Fresh Strip and heart monitor.

The GenPets are available in 2 base configurations: the 1-year model, meaning it only has one year lifespan, and the 3-year configuration, with three years for lifespan. These genetic pets may look the same but they differ in personality as they come color-coded. For example, if you want an energetic GenPet, the Red GenPet is suitable for you. Upon waking from its dormant state, Bio.Genica claims that these GenPets will immediately bond to its owner.

The debate on whether it is ethical for humans to dabble into Mother Nature's genetic art is still a hot topic. California is one of the states that have recently banned the sale of genetically engineered pets, via the California Game Commission. “I just don’t think it’s right to produce a new organism just to be a pet. To me, this seems like an abuse of the power we have over life, and I’m not prepared to go there today,” said Sam Schuchat of the California Game Commission.

We want to know what you think regarding these bioengineered animals being sold as pets and the processes that's involved in creating them. So feel free to post your comments on this site.

The skeletal remains that were found in Liang Bua cave on the Central Indonesian island of Flores have created so much buzz among scientists after it has been theorized that the said remains may be that of a new and previously-unknown species of humans which were dubbed as Homo floresiensis. However, recent analysis which was done by a team of Indonesian, American, Australian and Chinese researchers has rejected this 2004 theory of "hobbits".

In the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group of scientists proposed that these skeletal remains belonged to the Homo erectus species of human ancestors who first inhabited Flores about 840,000 years ago, a date which was established by analyzing stone tools that were also found on the island. The most complete skeleton, dubbed as "LB1", actually suffered from microcephaly, a neurological disorder which is characterized by the circumference of the head which is smaller than average for the person's age and gender. Scientists believe that this may also be due to the "island effect" in the place which shrinks large-bodied species over time, thus turning Homo erectus into the dwarf-sized Homo florensiensis.

As for LB1's unusual cranium, face, teeth and stature, Robert B. Eckhardt, a professor of developmental genetics and evolutionary morphology at the Pennsylvania State University, and his team found that some of these keys features are still present in Flores' indigenous Rampasasa pygmies (sometimes spelled Rampapasa), one community of which is located less than a mile from the Liang Bua cave.

Eckhardt said that " to establish a new species, paleoanthropologists are required to document a unique complex of normal traits not found in any other species, but this was not done. The normal traits of LB1 were not unique, and its unusually small braincase was not normal."

Mermaids are one of the creatures that have been immortalized in people's minds and have fascinated the young and adults alike. The word mermaid came from the Middle English mere in the obsolete sense 'sea' + maid(en). It is a legendary aquatic creature with the head and torso of human female and the tail of a fish. Tales about their existence appeared as early as 1000 BCE in Assyria. One of the popular legend is that Alexander the Great's sister, Thessalonike turned into a mermaid after her death and lived in the Aegean, asking sailors one question " Is Alexander the king alive". The correct answer would be "He lives and still rules", any other answer would spur her into a rage where she transforms into a Gorgon and harbor doom upon the ship and every sailor onboard.

Even in popular culture, mermaids are depicted regularly in literature and film, likely due to the influence of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, The Little Mermaid. But are these creatures just a figment of humans' imagination or are they real?

Read the full article after the jump!

An Alabama man tries again to throw out his conviction instigated by a hacker who broke into his computer and found child pornography. The convicted man identified as Bradley Joseph Steiger, who had worked as an emergency room physician in Alabama. In early 2000, a computer hacker who used the now-defunct e-mail address unknownuser1069@hotmail.com seeded a Usenet newsgroup called alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.pre-teen with the use of Trojan Horse program called SubSeven or Sub7. Sub7 installs a backdoor in the victim's computer and can allow files to be extracted and a keystroke logger to be installed.

On July 16, 2000, "1069" sent e-mail to the Montgomery, Ala., Police Department saying, "I found a child molester on the Net." The e-mail included an attached photograph of what looked like a girl no older than 6 being sexually abused. The information led back to a computer owned by Steiger. He was convicted of sexual exploitation of children, possession of a computer containing child pornography, and receipt of child pornography, and was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison. Since his conviction, Steiger tried to overturn it, his latest is by filing legal briefs he wrote himself, one of them was filed last month alleging that FBI agents who testified may have withheld evidence relating to the identity of "1069" and that a new trial is necessary.

U.S. District Judge W. Harold Albritton ruled out his request on Aug 2, saying: "There is simply no basis from which to conclude that Unknown User 1069 was acting as an informant of the FBI so as to allow for discovery as to whether the FBI concealed information".