Peak oil prophet Kenneth Deffeyes says that we passed peak oil on December 16, 2005.

There’s a fascinating article at Discover about the Mimivirus, and what it suggests about the origin of life. The Mimivirus is a virus with a gene sequence orders of magnitude longer than other viruses. Evidence suggests that the Mimivirus, or similar as yet undiscovered viruses, are actually the precursors to all other forms of life.

Astronomer Margaret Turnbull of the Carnegie Institution has released a ‘top 10’ list of potential inhabitable star systems. These are the systems deemed most likely to harbour Earth-like planets.

Ted Schadler of Forrester Research opines on the rosy future that is sync everything were technology companies only to get off their collective asses and make it happen. This is a topic that strikes close to home, as I try to figure out the bewilderment that is synching a household calendar, personal calendars, work calendars, tasks and contacts on two Treos, two iMacs, a PowerBook and two PCs. Schadler mentions Sharpcast as a company that may be on the path to sync nirvana — I’m know the founders by reputation and can vouch that they’re very smart people.

If it’s not science until it’s reproduceable, then tabletop “pyroelectric” crystal-based nuclear fusion just became science. This is not the ubiquitious cheap power you might at first think of when you hear fusion, but a device whose commercial appeal lies in it’s ability to create neutrons.