Turns out its not aliens. And I thought the Abyss was a documentary. But James Cameron knew it was made up, so in March 2012 James Cameron went down to the bottom of the Marianas Trench in a deep see submersible to shoot a movie and collect scientific samples. The BBC has a really nice infographic to give you an idea of just how incomprehensibly deep the deepest place on earth is.

So aside from curiosity why do we care what is down there? 

1. Earthquakes & Tsunamis - The Marianas trench (and other ocean trenches) is at the intersection of two tectonic plates. These intersections are thought to be the origin of really big earthquakes that cause tsunamis.
2. Biology - Discovery of the surprisingly plentiful and varied lifeforms that live down there.
3. Climate Change - The ocean trenches are thought to be important parts of the carbon cycle in the atmosphere as large amounts of carbon (organic matter) collects at the bottom of the trench.

We are still waiting to hear about what scientific discoveries Cameron's dive specifically helped to shed light on, but in the meantime here are some images of creatures living deep, deep within the ocean to wet your appetite. 

This week's assignment for my Cousera class on Sci Fi and Fantasy Literature was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. I think I need to find an elementary school aged kid to read them one. 

Both are packed full of puns and other wordplay that made me smile and chuckle from time to time. But the books are children's literature. Thinking about kids laughing manically at the same knock knock jokes over and over again (Orange you going to move on to a new joke?) , the worldplay might get more hysterics and less smirking from the intended audience.

I am starting to feel like a broken record for the books I've read lately, but both books are lacking in plot. Each is a series of adventures that Alice experiences, but her time in wonderland doesn't have an overarching story, no connection from one interaction to the next. I want plot! I want a moral quandary to solve! Alice didn't give me one.

Long Story Short: Read it with your kids - its both funny and education, and tolerably entertaining for adults.

Photos taken with electron microscopy for the 2012 FEI Image Contest. The images below show the head of an embryonic zebrafish, ground coffee, geranium pollen, mouse kidney, mosquito egg, corn starch, spider skin, bacteria in human intestine, and an aphid on a leaf. Can you guess which is which? 

Courtesy of an Amazon Daily Deal, I came across this piece of brain candy Witches on Parole by Deborah Geary. When I say brain candy, I mean this book has the nutritional value of a gummy bear, but hey some days they hit the spot.

The story is about a group of witches living in Berkeley, California. Two young witches are serving "parole" under the supervision of a senior witch. While they think they are supposed to spend the time serving the community, really the witch community is conspiring to help them love and understand themselves.

Its a sweet story, and I could see a bit of myself in each of the main characters - the uptight one needing to learn to embrace sensory experience, the punky awkward one needing to define what she wants not just what she doesn't want, and the experienced one struggling when being a mentor reminds her of how to felt to lose her way.

Long Story Short - Chick Lit Cubed - witches and yoga and knitting and baking and female self improvement. One dose of treacle, just follow it with a swig of listerine.

I remember going to the beach as a kid and searching for "sea glass". And I'm sure I bought (or begged for) jewelry from artisans in beach towns made out of the sea glass. I don't remember when exactly, but sea glass started to get more and more scarce. It was only when it became harder to find that I made the connection that sea glass is trash. It is pieces of glass thrown into the ocean that have been worn smooth and washed up on shore. The fact that it doesn't appear as frequently anymore is evidence of how successful anti dumping campaigns have been at reducing the amount of trash that reaches the ocean. 

However, if you are feeling nostalgic for the pretty glass stones, worry not, there is still somewhere to go find some! Fort Bragg, CA  is located on the pacific coast of California about halfway between San Francisco and the Oregon border. The beaches were used as trash dumps until the 1960s. Due to the ocean currents in the area, the glass gets washed up on shore and has created delightful, cheerful, rainbow beaches.

If you are contemplating the riches you are about to make on Etsy making sea glass jewelry, bear in mind that the beaches have now been preserved as state parks, and it is illegal to collect the glass from the beach. But if you just want to make sure you see all the colors from different types of historical trash (red from car taillights, blue from apothocery bottles, etc), don't leave without a visit to the Museum!