Velikovsky

Like Tesla, a controversial figure, and one who few scientists give much credence. However, he came out with some quite remarkable stuff and there's still little explanation as to how. For instance, and if memory serves me well, he not only correctly predicted that Venus would have a much higher surface temperature than previously thought, but he also said it would be found to contra-rotate. It does. Tonight I found this...

"We are philosophically miles apart because basically we do not accept each other's form of reasoning — logic. I am of course quite convinced of your sincerity and I also admire the vast fund of information which you have painstakingly acquired over the years.
"I am not about to be converted to your form of reasoning though it certainly has had successes. You have after all predicted that Jupiter would be a source of radio noise, that Venus would have a high surface temperature, that the sun and bodies of the solar system would have large electrical charges and several other such predictions. Some of these predictions were said to be impossible when you made them. All of them were predicted long before proof that they were correct came to hand. Conversely I do not know of any specific prediction you made that has since been proven to be false. I suspect the merit lies in that you have a good basic background in the natural sciences and you are quite uninhibited by the prejudices and probability taboos which confine the thinking of most of us.
"Whether you are right or wrong I believe you deserve a fair hearing."

Professor H. H. Hess, then Chairman of the Space Board of the National Academy of Science, in a 1963 letter to Velikovsky

http://www.velikovsky.info/

Almost Midnight

On 10th January the Doomsday Clock ticked on to 5 to midnight. A concept of atomic scientists at the onset of the cold war in 1947 and set to 11:53, the highest point was in 1991 when it was set to 11:43 after the fall of Soviet Russia. Since then there has been a steady trend towards global disaster measured mostly by the danger of nuclear war. In 2007 climate change was factored in.

More on the Doomsday Clock at Wikipedia

Islands Inundated

Several of the outer Torres Strait Islands will be among the first to be made uninhabitable by rising sea levels, reports the ABC. Although sea walls have been considered, there has been no action by Australian Federal or Local Government, unsurprising given the enormity of the problem.

Thylacine Skull in Tasmania

A fairly fresh looking thylacine skull has been found in Tasmanian forest in early January 2012.