Danish eco-hotel

A hotel in Copenhagen is offering free meals to guests who sit on a cycle to generate electricity. Here's the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8621038.stm

The Crowne Plaza Hotel is giving people a food voucher worth 26 Euro for 15 minutes on a bike. Another example of the currency of favours that are emerging. It helps keep the travelling business contingent trim (assuming they eat sensibly with the voucher) and reduces the cost of electricity to the hotel. Good news all round. 882EJ3G2HC4V

Global cooling

With all the attention on global warming, are we about to be saved by the sun's inactivity? In a recent article published in Environmental Research Letters from Mike Lockwood at the University of Reading, it looks like we're entering into an historic low in solar activity which is resulting in cooler, drier winters. This is a trend seen every few hundred years. So as the world is heating up (maybe), as the atmosphere is becoming polluted with greenhouse gasses (maybe) and politicians and scientists can't agree on a way forward...are we about to be saved by mother nature?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8615789.stm

Le Chatelier's principle is: if a dynamic equilibrium is disturbed by changing the conditions, the position of equilibrium moves to counteract the change. This is similar to the Gaia principle in which the climatic and biogeochemical conditions on Earth maintain a preferential homeostasis. In other words, systems have a way of correcting themselves. Perhaps humanity is about to have a lucky break.