Showing posts with label cold as ice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cold as ice. Show all posts

Monday, March 8, 2010

Picture of the day w/ bonus animation

via Wired Science and the European Space Agency’s Envisat satellite comes this look at the icy demolition derby that happened in February between the 60 mile long B-9B iceberg (named after famed Icelandic explorer Horst B-9B Jr.) as it crashed into a protruding area of the Mertz glacier.

The result? A glacier that doesn't protrude quite so much any more and a new 50-mile-by-25-mile iceberg creatively named C-28. Because it floats in the "C" and is the 28th glacier to break off from the quadrant of Antarctica nearest to the criminal prison island of Australia.

In other news, science does have an explanation for this kind of repeated large scale event, but a energy lobby claims this glacier just did it for the money and an invite to Al Gore's Oscar party. So I guess there's no definitive answer as long as this debate rages.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Cheap Blogging Crutch 12.22

COP15: Climate 'scepticism' and questions about sex
Richard Black of the BBC takes a look at why those who are skeptical to downright hostile towards the notion of climate change are almost entirely men. He goes on to wonder why, if the opposition to climate change is such a rigorous and scientific deconstruction of flawed science, why Sarah Palin is the only woman who seems to have signed on. I'm sure it's because she's the only woman smart enough to realize what a hoax it all is. That must be it.

How to Slow Climate Change for Just $15 Billion
A look at how one of the most dangerous and destructive forms of carbon, black carbon, effects temperature and ice levels and how a simple investment in moving developing countries away from using open fires towards using clean stoves would dramatically slow climate change. On the other hand you do lose that "smokehouse" meat flavor that everyone loves, so I can see why no one is really eager to do this.

Uninsured and Dying Because of It
The Urban Institute decides to be dicks and interrupt all of our bitching about what was conceded and compromised in the health care debate to point out the terrible consequences (lower quality of life, increased morbidity and mortality, and higher financial burdens) of not having health insurance in this country. Way to ruin our pity party. Don't you know your dirty facts have no place in a health care debate?

Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones
Want to know how much it costs to hack the feed from a US Predator drone? $26 bucks. That's all it takes for Iranian backed Iraqi insurgents to attempt to subvert America's endless freedom mission. I know what you're saying: "We're still in Iraq?" Well, apparently we are and our military might can be derailed by one Jackson, one Lincoln, and one Dr. Wooden Teeth. Good to know that for all the billions we spend on these weapons systems, that insurgents might have to go to the trouble of borrowing five bucks from a buddy to beat them.

Titanic iceberg headed for Australia
I don't want to alarm any reader of this site who is a big fan of Aussie rules football, but you should be making peace with the fact that the sport you know and love will soon be deader than Dillinger. Also: everyone in Australia. Precious "scientists" might not agree with me, but that's the only end scenario I can envision when a rogue iceberg almost twice the size of Manhattan breaks off of Antarctica and careens towards a nation of criminals. I know what you're thinking: "Isn't this the only disaster idea that Roland Emmerich didn't put into 2012?" The answer is no, he also didn't have the moon crash into the earth. But maybe these two incidents can form the basis for a sequel.

Fed's approach to regulation left banks exposed to crisis
The Washington Post goes out of it's way to really take Ben Bernanke to the woodshed over his stewardship of the Fed both before, during, and after the global financial apocalypse. According to them, he's terrible at his job and couldn't foresee his nose in front of his face. But rest easy; sure he might have failed at the one part of his job he seems interested in and doesn't seem to give a shit about the "getting employment up" half of the Fed's job, but he'll still be reconfirmed to his position by an almost overwhelming margin. I know you were worried about that. Don't be.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Picture of the day

Via New Scientist and the book/exhibition The Heart of the Great Alone comes the photographs of Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley, who documented Robert Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova expedition and Ernest Shackleton's slightly more successful Nimrod expedition in the early 1900's.



Thursday, November 19, 2009

Truth in advertising

Via Grist, comes this look at a 1962 ad placed in Life Magazine by Humble Oil. Humble went on to merge with Standard Oil and become Exxon.


Ahh, what happened? They used to take such pride in their work. Now they just pretend that it isn't happening.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Picture of the Day

In honor of the UN Conference on Climate Change, Wired Science brings us something we won't see a lot of in the future: large non-refrigerator based collections of ice. Glaciers from space. Splaciers. Fun fact: all the glaciers they show are much, much smaller than they were decades ago. See how the cowardly ice clusters retreat in the face of industry? This is why they deserve to be wiped out.




Thursday, February 19, 2009

For drinks or for killing without a trace



Ever wish you had a method of not only killing your enemies without a trace while also at the same time providing a nice cool down on a hot summer day? We all have, and thanks to the fine people at Find me a gift.co.uk we now have that capability. Use them wisely.

h/t Like Cool