More Moon Landing anniversary + sea monsters attack!

I thought all of the Moon Landing anniversary remembrances yesterday were inspiring. I was barely a glimmer in my parents’ eyes when we went to the moon — it seems like such an extraordinary shared experience. To me, the Moon Landing is significant because it taught us that human ingenuity can overcome any challenge. We are limited only by our imaginations. The challenge of reaching the moon and returning safely to earth brought out the best in our species: our quest for knowledge, our drive to explore, our capability to work together to achieve incredible things. It is like the best science fiction, only it really happened. When I think about it, I feel optimistic that we can actually solve the enormous problems that face us now, such as climate change, just because we decided to go to the moon and then did it.

So what’s next? Futurismic theorizes on that very question here.

In other news, strange encounters of the deep keep occurring. First, there was the big blob-like algal bloom floating in the Arctic Ocean. Then giant flying squid were menancing scuba divers off the beaches of San Diego. Now giant jellyfish are invading the Sea of Japan (you have to click over to see the photo — it will freak you out!). What’s up with the oceans these days? Possible sign of the apocalypse?

Whatever the deal is, I think if we discover intelligent alien life, it is more likely to be in our own oceans than out in space. We know so little about whales, dolphins and giant squid, but we do know that they are pretty smart creatures. The New York Times Sunday Magazine recently ran a good article on whales and how they communicate with one another — and with us. It seems immoral to me to deliberately kill creatures that might be intelligent enough to work cooperatively, communicate with other species and feel emotions. We should be trying to talk to them instead — we might learn something. What are your thoughts?