James Cameron is a fish at heart.

My hero James Cameron is an ocean lover to say the least. He's brought us such movies as The Abyss, Titanic and Avatar, as well as the documentaries Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep. Oh, and let's not forget Piranha 2! In 2011 Cameron was named an Explorer-in-Residence by National Geographic for his commitment to discovery, and now he hopes to take us all to the lowest point on Earth, the Mariana Trench, 7 miles below the surface. Not since 1960 has anyone gone down to those depths, and that trip only lasted 20 minutes. Cameron will spend 6 hours at the bottom, and hopes to usher in a new era of deep-sea exploration by showing us what's down there... in 3D! I think it's cool. I mean, it's not like any of us are ever going to swim down there. I just hope James doesn't get eaten by a large whale or something because I'm very much looking forward to seeing Avatar 2 & 3, which Cameron has said will focus on the oceans of Pandora... Maybe going to the bottom of our ocean will spark some creativity, because there's probably shit down there that we've never even seen! Good luck, and bring me back something cool.

Solar Storm hits today.

The strongest solar storm in five years hit Earth today, after a large solar flare escaped the Sun on Tuesday. Although we aren't facing mass extinction quite yet, the storm could potentially disrupt satellite activity or power grids, and there is some risk of radiation for those flying in high altitude airplanes. On the plus side, you may get to see the northern lights much farther south than normal, all the way down to the Canada/USA border. To do so you may have to escape all the light pollution that most major cities produce nowadays, and the full moon tonight could also make the lights harder to see. The storm should pass by tomorrow, and the wait continues for the next Extinction Level Event.

Mars is here.

Mars will be making a close approach to Earth tonight, so keep your eyes open for that reddish yellow light in the Eastern sky. It will get even closer over the next couple days, giving us a good look at the planet's features and poles. Every couple years Mars and Earth align, and this pass brings Mars and Earth within 62.6 million miles of one another. This isn't the closest our two planets have been. Back in 2003 Mars came within 34.8 million miles of Earth, but that won't happen again for another 275 years. I plan on living to see it, but I don't know about the rest of you mortals. If you're interested in seeing Mars, but you're too lazy to leave your computer, you can find some live streams online. I do recommend the real thing though.

Kairuku, the penguin of 26 million years ago.

35 years ago, the first bones were discovered for a giant sea bird, long extinct. It's taken scientists some time to reconstruct the skeleton, using three different sets of fossils, but we now have our first glimpse of what the penguin-like animal looked like. Standing over 4 feet tall, the Kairuku, meaning "diver who returns with food", had a slender build, long wings, and a spear-like bill that would have been perfect for making sashimi. Being a larger animal than modern penguins, this thing would have likely been able to swim farther and deeper, making easy prey of all sorts of fish. No one knows exactly what would have cause the Kairuku to become extinct, but competition for food, new predators, and climate change are likely candidates.