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UPDATE – We’ve warned about this before, now BBC News reports that London is definitely sinking. Or maybe the problem is that the Thames is rising. In fact, scientists don’t understand why MORE major cities aren’t sinking.

In BBC News, Jonathan Amos writes that in order to save London, “tidal defenses including embankments, walls, gates and barriers will, at some stage, have to be adapted or moved, or new types of defenses created?” Since most major cities were built in coastal areas, in order to take advantage of shipping, this is something that the major metropolitan areas in many different countries will have to face eventually?or maybe SOON. In fact, according to geologists, many of these areas should ALREADY be underwater. Here’s why they’re not.read more

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Researchers are searching the solar system for a planet?like ours?that could sustain life. One of the first things they look for is water.

In the July 12 issue of the Independent, Steve Connor writes about the discovery of a planet where one side is “bathed in perpetual daylight while the other is kept in infinite night. Here, an entire year passes in just over 48 hours and surface temperatures are hot enough to melt lead.” It’s obviously not habitable, so why are astronomers interested in it? According to Connor, it’s “also the place where scientists have for the first time found evidence of water on a planet beyond our own solar system?a discovery that marks a milestone in the search for the vital signs of extraterrestrial life.”
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Not everyone gets supersized on a fast food diet?what about the ancient Romans who lived in Pompeii? Since the city was buried beneath a volcano in 70 AD, we can only understand how they lived by studying the artifacts they left behind. Some of these show that the residents were fans of fast food as well?at least they liked to eat on the run.

In LiveScience.com, Heather Whipps quotes archaeologist Penelope Allison as saying, “I am looking at pots and pans and how houses actually functioned.” She didn?t find many sets of dishes, but did find lots of small barbecue grills, “indicating that people were eating-and-running on the go.”
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It’s wildfire season again in California and the West. Researchers have developed a new way to predict when vegetation dries to the point it is most vulnerable to large-scale fires in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles. This year’s forecast says the highest-risk fire period will begin July 13?weeks earlier than usual.

Despite that, the new study also shows that unlike other areas of the western United States, global warming has not caused any apparent long-term trend toward early fire seasons in the Santa Monicas.

The scientists eventually hope to expand their unique fire-risk forecasting method to all of Southern California and beyond.
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