Falling gasoline prices are a reflection of the broader economic collapse, says a local oil industry analyst, and it probably won't be good news if they stay low.

Richard Heinberg is the author of Peak Everything and The Party's Over, among other books on oil and energy policy issues.

Heinberg says that pump prices and the per-barrel cost of crude were not the only things that peaked last summer.

 

 

Reining in oil speculators would be a constructive response to the events of the past year, Heinberg says, but that's only a first step.

 

 

 

 

 

 The oldest and perhaps only wireless telegraph station on the west coast is still beaming Morse code out to the world from its original outpost overlooking Tomales Bay.

 

By continuing to use the restored antique electronics at the Marconi station, Richard Dillman (the operator in the photo above) says they are practicing a form of living history.

 

The Maritime Radio Historical Society applied for and received a new commercial telegraph operators license for the Marshall station, which they now use to keep the signal actively operating on the weekends.

 

 

 

The Marconi Conference Center will host an open house displaying historical pieces of radio once used for both military and merchant ships coming into the bay. Located in Tomales Bay, the center will display the relics and provide stories of what it was like on the coast during the radio era.

 

The Radio Maritime Radio Historical Society is the driving force for the event, to visit their website click here .

 

 

Physicists know that anti-matter is the electrical opposite of the elements we know and use; but they don't know why there is more matter than anti-matter.

 

Dr. Helen Quinn is a researcher and professor of physics at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, where her studies have focused in particle interations and the behaviors of quarks.

 

Even though we may tend to think of the universe as being mostly vast expanses of empty space, Quinn says that's not really true, so there's no place any extra antimatter could be hiding.

 

Looping eruptions on the Sun, like this one (right)  on July 24, 1999, create antimatter. Earth is shown for size comparison.

 

Science fiction has long speculated about the possibility of using some kind of matter-antimatter reactor as a means of propulsion for spacecraft. Quinn says for that to become a reality, there is one huge problem that would have to be overcome first.

Researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center developed the sketch (below) of a hypothetical antimatter rocket of the future. 

 

 

California voters will decide the fate of two ballot measures that say they would promote alternative energy production in the state. But a long-time solar advocate says for both issues, appearances can be misleading.

Gary Gerber, President and CEO of Sun Light & Power, has been a life long advocate for solar power. But he is opposed to Proposition 7 on next week's California ballot.

 

Proposition 7 sets a statewide goal of making California 50% energy efficient by 2025. However, it is opposed by a wide range of  stakeholders , from PG&E to the Sierra Club. Proposition 7  is mainly supported by Peter Sperling who has donated over $7 million dollars, becoming the biggest contributor. To read the complete proposition, click here.

Proposition 10 is another measure about alternative energy. To view the website that supports Prop 10, click here.

Opposition to Prop 10 says the new law would cost Californians heavily, but not decrease the use of fuel.

 

 

 

Fungi are the oldest living things on land, and with an estimated two million varieties, they may hold many yet-to-be-discovered medicinal and other benefits.

Paul Stamets, founder and president of Fungi Perfecti , has written six books on mushroom cultivation including Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms and The Mushroom Cultivator. He will be speaking at the Bioneers Conference at the Marin Center in San Rafael, on October 17^th. To find out more about the event schedule and how to register, click here .

Stamets offers a short history of fungi:

Paul Stamets has been a dedicated mycologist for more than 30 years, during which he has discovered or identified four new species of mushroom. Here, he talks about how it feels to make such a discovery.

Among the many fungal processes that hold great promise for addressing human needs, Stamets points to one that could herald important changes in ethanol production.