What is it with Japan and giant monstrosities? Fisherman off the coast of Japan caugt a squid over 3.5m in length (here's the vid). They say it's a juvenile and that there are adult squid that check in at 20m.

I firmly believe that there are also giant sharks and other critters that we haven't seen yet that would just blow our tiny minds. Remind me again why we're building space stations on the moon and not getting to know our own planet just a tiny bit better. Not that I'm opposed to space exploration mind you, but the ocean just absolutely fascinates me.

Studies performed by beverage industries are biased towards their own beverages, according to an article in PLoS Medicine. They looked at 111 studies on milk, juice, and soft drinks that were performed between 1999 and 2003. The results? “[S]tudies funded by industry were four to eight times more likely to show bias in favor of sponsors' products than studies that did not receive industry funding.”

It might be nothing but cool, but take a look at this picture of a mouse neuron and a computer model of the universe.

Janet poses the question:

What are your thoughts on life outside of Earth? Do you believe in aliens? If so, what do you think when you think about them? I am purposely being vague here in the hopes you'll expand upon your own.

Some may (or may not) find my answer surprising. I certainly find the idea of alien life plausible. This is a huge universe after all. As a Christian, admittedly that may seem odd. The Bible doesn't speak of aliens. Of course it also doesn't speak of cars, quantum mechanics, or polar bears. God could easily have created a dozen, a hundred, a thousand other races as easily as he did us. They could have certainly developed FTL travel and could be visiting us at this very minute. I don't think they are though.

I witnessed a UFO when I was ten or so. I think it was probably a military vehicle. The vast majority of sightings are easily explainable. Those that aren't could have plausible terrestrial explanations. I think it would be dead cool if greys were real, but I see zero evidence to point me in that direction.

If there are aliens out there they're probably just as screwed up and "earth" bound as we are. It's not romantic, but there you go. If I'm wrong I'm almost positive that they are receiving broadcasts from our planet and have decided to either route all traffic around us or eventually blow us up so they can install an interstellar off ramp. We've shown no love for them in our movies, why should they reciprocate?

Again from a Christian perspective, if there are aliens and they are part of this universe I have to believe that they are under the curse. If that's so then I wonder if there is a Jesus for Galifreyans. Did Jesus pull the kind of stunt that the Mormons attribute to him and visit other places in his resurrected state? Would that be necessary? I guess so. All I know for certain is that this is all great fodder for speculative fiction. I should write some. (In fact I have some on the back burner waiting for me to finish The Cage.)

Pat sent me this vid. Watch it and let's talk.

I touched on the idea of alien life and whether or not it exists very briefly thanks to Janet and Sid also had a few thoughts. This video, though it of course proves nothing, does set things into perspective.