David Harris, editor-in-chief at Symmetrymagazine.org (a joint publication of Fermilab and SLAC), sends us to his blog covering the American Physical Society meeting now going on in St. Louis. Among the breaking physics news relating to topics we’ve discussed in the past: results that explain about 1/3 of the Pioneer anomaly by differential heat flow in the spacecraft; an analysis of the Fermilab Tevatron’s chances of spotting the Higgs “God particle”; and a hint that an Italian team has replicated their results from the year 2000 pointing to a detection of dark matter.

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Earlier this week, NASA made a course adjustment for its Phoenix Mars Lander which puts it on a path to land in “Green Valley” on the Red Planet late next month. The site was chosen for being a broad, flat expanse that’s relatively free of rocks capable of damaging the lander when it sets down. The location will be confirmed pending further reconnaissance from an orbiting satellite. The probe’s mission, which we’ve previously discussed, is to investigate subsurface ice. “The landing area is an ellipse about 62 miles by about 12 miles (100 kilometers by 20 kilometers). Researchers have mapped more than five million rocks in and around that ellipse, each huge enough to end the mission if hit by the spacecraft during landing. Knowing where to avoid the rockier areas, the team has selected a scientifically exciting target that also offers the ideal chances for the spacecraft to set itself down safely onto the Martian surface.”

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Ant writes in to note a study indicating that, because of air pollution, the smell of flowers is not wafting as far as it once did. Pollutants from power plants and automobiles destroy flowers’ aromas, the study suggests: “The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment, such as in the 1800s, could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 meters; but in today’s polluted environment downwind of major cities, they might travel only 200 to 300 meters.” The finding could help explain why some pollinators, particularly bees, are declining in certain parts of the world.

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Filed under: Products and services, Morgan Stanley (MS), Housing, Technology

A joint effort to make solar systems more inexpensive for consumers was announced recently by SolarCity and banking giant Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS).

According to a report by Justin Moresco on RedHerring.com, the financing program is an attempt to jump begin the conversion of homes to solar usage by providing financing incentives that’ll lower solar installation costs to consumers. The financing incentive program is called SolarLease, and it will undergo a test run in California.

The Red Herring article indicates that the program may enable consumers to have solar systems installed with an initial payment as low as 10 percent of the total installation cost. It is then expected that the money consumers save on their utility bills by going solar will cover the monthly lease payments for the installed solar equipment.

The article does not indicate whether consumers will eventually own their solar systems or if the lease program is expected to be perpetual.

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Filed under: Bad news, Products and services, Consumer experience, Commodities, Oil, Recession

The cost of gasoline has once again risen to new record highs this weekend, as the cost for a gallon of gasoline jumped another 0.8 cents to a national average of $3.365 a gallon.

At current levels, consumers are spending 54 cents a gallon more for their gasoline they were this time last year, marking a 19% one year jump in gasoline prices. And for those of you that are hoping to get some relief from the current prices … don’t hold your breath. According to AAA, you should only be anticipating to see prices continue to move higher.

One of the main reasons why prices should continue to move to the upside is that we’re just now about to enter into the high demand summer driving months. Industry experts have already estimated that prices will continue to move higher, inching their way up to $3.60 a gallon, but there are plenty of analysts out there who are under the impression that we could see prices move even higher, possibly up toward $4 a gallon.

Another huge factor at play here is the weak U.S. dollar. As the dollar has been falling through most of 2008, this has led to rising oil and gasoline prices. If the dollar can begin to build some momentum, this will definitely help ease prices, but it is unlikely to see too much of a rebound over the next few months as recession fears continue to persist on Wall Street, fueled by a recent jump in unemployment, record high foreclosure rates, and most recently a couple of disappointing earnings announcements to kick off the current earnings season.

One thing that will help ease prices would be if Americans demand less gasoline this summer. Will that happen? It is tough to tell at this point if the high prices will impact summer travel plans. Regardless, we should definitely be bracing ourselves for at least another couple of months of rising gasoline prices.

How will the current gas prices effect your summer plans? Will you plan to cut back on your consumption or will you plan to go ahead with your plans as normal?

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor’s Observer.

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