Category: world

A scale

~ Leave a comment

This is the Torino Impact Hazard Scale for “Assessing Asteroid And Comet Impact Hazard Predictions In The 21st Century”

I find it amusing to see how the person committee that wrote this saw events unfold.

In Yellow Astronomers might want to look up but in Orange we want them to look up and do sums and most of Yellow is saying “It’s probably going to be White, just got a decimal point wrong in here somewhere..”

In Yellow if it’s 10+ years away we don’t care. In Orange we go from the Govt doing some planning (haha, yeah, like that’ll happen) to International Contingency Planning (“Will it hit us? Who will it hit? Do we like them?”). And even in the last section of Orange they are furiously double-checking their sums.

And why are there 3 sections in Red? Not like anyone is drawing on experience here is it and computer models? Who would trust them?

I hope Bruce is around. He’ll make it all okay.

But someone somewhere is scanning the skies in the hope of being the first to say “It’ll be a 10!”

(maybe there is someone who has never seen Armageddon. If it’s you, fix this. Watch it).

Running out of oil.

~ Leave a comment

“Economists and politicians continually debate policies that will lead to a return to economic growth,” the authors note. “But because they have failed to recognize that the high price of energy is a central problem, they haven’t identified the necessary solution: weaning society off fossil fuel.”

This weaning will require a large deployment of efficiency measures, nuclear power, and renewable energy sources. All of this will take time, which is why efforts need to be started now..

http://arstechnica.com

“Economists and politicians continually debate policies that will lead to a return to economic growth,” the authors note. “But because they have failed to recognize that the high price of energy is a central problem, they haven’t identified the necessary solution: controlling the fossil fuel.”

This weaning will require a large deployment of troops and other weapons of war. All of this will take time, which is why efforts need to be started now..

FTFY.

I want to go here.

~ Leave a comment


Glass igloo provides an one of a kind opportunity to admire the northern lights and millions of stars of the crystal clear Lapp sky in a comfortable room temperature. Based on a groundbreaking idea and years of research and development, glass igloos are a marvel of modern technology. Built from a special thermal glass the temperature inside the igloo always stays at a normal level. It also prevents the glass from not getting white frosted, hence keeping the view clear even when the temperature outside drops to under -30°C.
http://www.kakslauttanen.fi

Bone breaking

~ Leave a comment

Once the skin was softened and the muscles were relaxed, the foot binder would curl the child’s toes down towards the sole of the foot as far as the bones would allow. The binder would then curl the toes farther than the bones would allow, snapping the toddler’s phalanges and forming a kind of twisted foot-fist. Damn Interesting