A Group of Studies Suggest Human Activites Can Cause Earthquakes, even...
On February 27, 2010, just after 3:30 in the morning local time, a 430-mile fault snapped off the coast of Chile, displacing up to 30 feet of the seabed and coast. GPS units in the city of Conception...
View ArticleSo, About that Warp Drive...and space in general...
It's in the news again as the experiments have finally begun.I'm obviously not a physicist. I'm just a science fiction fan. But honestly? I don't see this coming to anything even though I hope, really...
View ArticleWhither the Orange. And the Lemon. And the Grapefruit. And the Pomelo.
It is a single celled bacterium, carried by a diminutive insect that lives on one family of plants.This combination may eliminate a breakfast favorite. Orange juice. And more.
View ArticleGilberton PA has not been taken over by a militia
Two diaries are alleging this, one implicitly and the other quite explicitly.Chief Kessler, the police chief of a one-person police department, has been suspended. This happened almost five whole days...
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In the Central Philippines, complete and total devastation after Typhoon...
Typhoon 31W (Haiyan) Warning #26 Issued at 09/1500Z Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda struck the Philippines Friday morning at peak strength. Right now it's headed toward Vietnam, where it will strike in two days...
View ArticleAstrology is Science? Oh, America, You Make Me Sad as Usual
A recent poll has me perplexed. Pretty perplexed. An increasing number of Americans believe that astrology (the belief that the apparent motion of the planets and stars through the heavens actually has...
View Article"Sincerely Held Religious Belief"
Kansas is about to try it..On Tuesday, the Kansas House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a measure designed to bring anti-gay segregation—under the guise of “religious liberty”—to the already...
View ArticleIf Governor Brewer signs it, the following will be legal in Arizona:
"Free exercise of religion is a fundamental right that applies in this state even if laws, rules or other government actions are facially neutral.""State Action shall not substantially burden a...
View ArticleMalaysian Airlines Flight 370: Known and Unknown
I thought I'd try to separate what's known and what's not since the pattern of news for the last few days has been the following:1) Europe/US evenings - latest rumours/breaking news 2) Asian evenings -...
View ArticleYellowstone is Not About to Erupt, and Other Ranteriffic Musings Of a...
There seems to be some kind of cycle. Ever since it became widely known that Yellowstone was actually a giant big-ass freaking volcano, there’s been this cycle that goes as follows:1. Minor uplift and...
View ArticleChristina Sankey should Not be Dead
Christina Sankey was 37. She liked old-style westerns like Gunsmoke. She lived with her mother in Philadelphia’s Point Breeze neighborhood. Christina Sankey’s family is poor. Black and poor.She was...
View ArticleMay I Have Your Attention, Please?
May I have your attention, please?If I told you that 200 girls were kidnapped from their school by a bunch of terrorists and the terrorists were now threatening to kill all of them how would you...
View ArticleHorrible update from Nigeria
It has been three weeks since the terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped 234 young women from a school in Northeast Nigeria. The government of Nigeria has failed at rescuing them, and there are protests...
View ArticleIn Nigeria, a Story that Gets No Better
I keep hoping for better news. I keep hoping for a resolution. I keep hoping for the missing girls to be returned.I keep getting disappointed, horrified, and angered. This is one of the rare times...
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Oklahoma, Where It's Complicated Deep Beneath The Plains
The rate of earthquakes has increased in central Oklahoma since 2009, culminating in the damaging quake of November 5, 2011 near Prague, OK. The US Geological Survey and the Oklahoma Geological Survey...
View ArticleNational Hurricane Centre to add Storm Surge to Forecasts This Year
The first of two hurricane seasons that fall under the US’s forecast responsibility begins on May 15th. I could have written the usual: 1. Be prepared. 2. This year will feature...
View ArticleNow That Nigeria Has Your Attention
Have you used the hashtag over on Twitter? Good.Have you told someone about this? Good!Have you written your Congresscritter, let your opinion known, said a prayer? Kept the missing girls in your...
View ArticleSciFi and Fantasy Book Club: Cyteen-The Original Orphan Black
If you’re not watching the Canadian science fiction TV series Orphan Black (airs on BBCA on Saturday nights at 9) you’re missing out on some killer writing and telelvision. The plot involves clones—all...
View ArticleCentral California: That Place Where Farming Might Make Nearby Mountain...
In my last diary (“Oklahoma, Where It’s Complicated Deep Beneath The Plains”) I noted the wide variety of anthropogenic triggers to some seismicity. That diary was specifically about what is going on...
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A Novel, Neat, Original but Ultimately Flawed Study
Hurricane Issac struck New Orleans on the 2012 anniversary of a far more catastrophic hurricane--Katrina. A new study, published in PNAS caused some news this week.Do people judge hurricane risks in...
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