The current high oil prices do not seem to be a result of supply constraints, but instead are driven by investments in the oil sector. In other words, there’s a big demand for oil futures not because there’s not enough supply of oil to supply future demands, but because investors think supply constraints and demand growth will make the price of oil higher in the future. It’s a beautiful self-fulfilling prophecy.

Gannon Technologies is developing a technology that can determine whether multiple handwriting samples were penned by the same hand with very high accuracy.

The debate about the amount of water currently on Mars still rages on. But new mineralogical evidence from the Mars Express probe is suggesting it was certainly wet in the past, and went through three successive ‘epochs’, with water presence declining as time passes.

I love listening to great writers expound on the techniques of their art. Charles Stross has posted a short article on his blog discussing the narrative modes used in storytelling, with reference to his attempt to break with convention in his current project. Informative and amusing, much like the man in person.

Forbes has an article up about a professor in Oregon who has created a microreactor that turns vegetable oil into biodiesel.