The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that new rules will allow corporations who donate to national parks and forests a more visible presence there. The CSM poses this as a trade-off between advertising and funding. It ignores the deliberate actions of a conservative government that reduces governmental funding to programs like the national park service in order to set up a trade-off that ought not exist.

The pace that medical technology advances is truly astounding — witness this story of repairing the heart valve without opening the chest.

Off the coast of west Africa are a fleet of fishing boats that are more rust than metal yet still crewed. “These ships seldom, or ever, visit a port. They’re re-supplied, refuelled, re-crewed and transhipped (unloaded) at sea.” The Greenpeace style is a bit breathless for my taste, but nonetheless an interesting read.

Another prop for Moore’s Law has appeared. An international science team has built a diode from a single molecule, making the component nearly 1000 times smaller than its current equivalents found in computer processors – which means hardware and gadgets can carry on shrinking as well.