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Despite the fact that the maximum activity period of the 11-year solar cycle was supposed to start winding down last February, solar activity remains at a very high level, making this one of the largest solar maximums recorded so far. Sunspots affect the weather, as well as cellphones and radio and television transmissions. To see an incredible photo of a recent sunspot,click here.

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The Directors Guild of America may take legal action against companies that sell edited versions of films with the sex and gore taken out. Most of these companies are in Utah and sell censoring software or already-altered videos and DVDs which have graphic language, sexual content and violence removed. The DGA says altering movies amounts to censorship, as well as unauthorized alteration of copyrighted content, because directors’ names remain on the films, but their work has been changed.

Steven Soderbergh, who directed ?Traffic,? says, “It is unconscionable, and unethical, to take someone else’s hard work, alter it and profit from it. Would anyone even attempt to defend ripping pages out of a book, leaving the author’s name on it and then selling it?”
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Caffeine protects mice from skin cancer when it’s rubbed onto their skin, and if you find yourself on a beach without sunscreen, it may do the same for you. The results were almost as good using green tea. Scientists have also found that mice were almost as protected when they drank the coffee instead. Researcher Allan Conney thinks it may be better for people to use a lotion with caffeine in it because “It may not be possible for humans to swallow enough without side-effects.”
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Suburban strip malls, office buildings and other paved areas make droughts worse by blocking billions of gallons of rainwater from seeping through the soil to replenish ground water. Atlanta, which is the most rapidly sprawling metropolitan area, loses enough water to supply the average household needs of up to 3.6 million people a year. Boston is next, with between 44 billion and 103 billion gallons of water lost. After that is Philadelphia, with 25 billion to 59 billion gallons of water unable to return to the soil.
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