OK, so let's review: The world is on the brink catastrophe. The Russians are acting all frisky again. Then I read this CNN report:
Everything about Jupiter is super-sized, including its colorful, turbulent atmosphere. But there's fresh evidence that one of the planet's most recognizable features, the Great Red Spot, is shrinking.
The spot, which is actually an ancient monster storm that measures about three Earths across, lost 15 percent of its diameter between 1996 and 2006, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have found.
It shrank by about 1 kilometer (about 0.6 miles) a day during that time period, said Xylar Asay-Davis, a postdoctoral researcher who was part of the study....
The researchers do not know why the storm is shrinking. In fact, little is known about the Great Red Spot at all. Even the exact cause of its distinctive color is a mystery.
For those readers who would excel at the Jeopardy category of Minute Details of Mediocre Science Fiction Sequels of the 1980s know where this is going. For the rest of you, click here.
Read More
(3)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE