http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24051247/

This is very interesting stuff and well thought through, by a one-time associate of James Lovelock (Gaia Hypothesis). I never fail to be impressed by such towering figures in the intellect stakes. The beauty of it is that such folk are so far ahead of the rest of us that we cannot argue the issue. Nonetheless, he appears to have a way of making his thinking very accessible to lesser minds. His predictions appear to be entirely logical.

He predicts the end of life as a sustainable entity, on a planet heated to intolerable levels by a brightening sun. "Within at most 1 billion years, this will raise Earth's average temperature to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius), rendering the planet uninhabitable."

If only. Does anyone see us allowing ourselves, as a species, to survive to see such a thing?

I just wanted to draw attention to a very interesting and fascinating scientific prediction (albeit of very little practical value to us).

Now let's jump to a not-unrelated topic. We Earthlings are very pre-occupied with space exploration, space exploitation etc. as a potential answer to our self-made ills.

http://www.tandra.com/Pages/edispace.html

Shouldn't we be putting a bit more energy and ingenuity into seeking ways of protecting and sustaining what we have? Surely, 'counting our chickens' by relying upon expansion into space, is folly. If it doesn't come in time, we're finished, by our own hands, if we don't reset our sights and aspirations here on Planet Earth. Let's look after what we have now, before expanding elsewhere.

What plans are people hatching for 'civilisation'? Are we soon to be looking at 'space-fill' sites, cluttered with our rubbish heaps (when we have nowhere here to dump the stuff) propelled into space by rockets, punching and tearing holes in the ozone layer as they go? Are we going to have space minerals, mined in far-off galaxies and shipped to earth to fuel our cravings for material things? Or are we thinking of cutting and running to find a new habitable planet to wreck?

I don't think we have much to fear from Professor Watson's intelligent predictions, we'll be seeing ourselves off long before that. Extinction beckons - a terrible indictment on a so-called intelligent species that has the power to influence its own behaviour and the consequences.

Is there intelligent life out in space? That's an excellent question. I certainly hope there is, as it's a pretty rare item down here.

Meanwhile, have fun with the wonderful bbc.co.uk website, that always appears to have something for everyone:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/life/looking/