In the first half, ecological biologist and 30 year-expert in alternative fuels and sustainable agriculture, David Blume, detailed the benefits of alcohol-based fuels and local production of fuel crops. Petroleum sources of energy are peaking, and oil and tar spills and leaks continue to be problematic, he stated. So, now, more than ever, the focus should be on alternative options, he cited. Alcohol fuel can be considered a kind of solar energy, he explained, as it's made from plants in the sun. If we "give the farmers some of our energy supplies," Blume continued, "we could easily produce enough alcohol in and around the United States to replace all the other forms of energy," including coal, nuclear, and oil.
Cattails are a particularly useful plant to make alcohol, he reported, as you get 7,500 gallons per acre (which far exceeds corn), and they provide a plentiful and nutritious protein extract that could be used to feed both peole and livestock. He also touched on water supply issues, and using treated sewage water in artificial marshes. Interestingly, a NASA contingent recently visited Blume's distillation facility to learn about producing alcohol fuel for explorations on Mars.
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Founding investigator of the Mars research group, The Cydonia Institute, George Haas, and geoscientist Bill Saunders talked about their study of a three-sided pyramid on Mars (view related slides). They've concluded that the object shows definite evidence of artificial construction, and published their findings in a science paper (co-written by James Miller and Michael Dale) in a recent issue of the Journal of Space Exploration. The pyramid was initially discovered in a 2001 image from the Mars Global Surveyor, and sits alone in a canyon area, leading Saunders to speculate it may have once been part of an island surrounded by water.
The three faces of the pyramid are very symmetrical, Haas noted, and later NASA images provided even more clarity of the "exquisite geometry" of the structure which is about 470 ft. high and 950 ft. across. How do you end up with three sides that are the same mathematically in an area that has nothing like that? Saunders pondered. "I don't know how anything like this would form in nature," he added. Slide D, which features an enlargement of the pyramid wall, appears to show a kind of building block material, they pointed out.
News segment guests: Charles R. Smith, Lauren Weinstein
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