Topic 1 of 99: All things planet Earth
Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (14:33) |
Marcia (MarciaH)
All things terrestrial - Volcanoes, mineralogy, precious stones, plate techtonics, fossils, collecting, how does it happen, where does it happen and where can I go to see it.
1406 responses total.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1 of 1406: Wolf (wolf) * Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (16:53) * 1 lines
woohoo!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 2 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (17:31) * 1 lines
Sheesh! I have been hunting through my advice material (given to me by a man braver than I) to set up topics for this conference. I know what they will be - just working on their names. You have done this - any advice from you would be most welcome! And, don't we have the most amazing assortment of buttons!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 3 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (18:54) * 1 lines
yippeee!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 4 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (18:57) * 1 lines
I've been busy!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 5 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (20:04) * 1 lines
I see...bravo!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 6 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (20:19) * 1 lines
Thank you! (Bowing deeply in acknowledgment to the man who is fixing my errors as I go...)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 7 of 1406: Wolf (wolf) * Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (20:48) * 1 lines
looks great so far!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 8 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (20:56) * 1 lines
Thanks for saying so. It has been such fun and I am learning incredible things. Now, to get time to post goodies in these topics. Feel free to wander around!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 9 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 13, 1999 (02:03) * 1 lines
Is anyone from anywhere other than the US able to give us information on what is happening to the rest of the world...I would appreciate any input from Europe and Asia and Africa. We have a few from Australia and would appreciate anything anyone else would like to share. From anywhere, really!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 10 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Tue, Jul 13, 1999 (02:20) * 1 lines
(earth-based, preferably...)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 11 of 1406: Wolf (wolf) * Tue, Jul 13, 1999 (09:23) * 3 lines
no, we want to know what's going on on Mars but they should direct their findings to paraspring!
alex, ree-head? any inputs???
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 12 of 1406: Stephanie Bergstrom (StefanieB) * Tue, Jul 13, 1999 (10:07) * 1 lines
Great job, honey. It's nice to see you've been keeping busy.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 13 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 13, 1999 (10:21) * 1 lines
Thank you, Dear! - I was delighted to see you here this morning (just past 5am). Visit often - or lurk. It is nice to have you around!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 14 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 13, 1999 (16:02) * 1 lines
Wolf, what do we have to do to get the others here - or is it just a wait till they find it deal? You cannot know how much I appreciate another Gemini here a lot of the time. I really appreciate you postings!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 15 of 1406: Wolf (wolf) * Tue, Jul 13, 1999 (19:09) * 3 lines
aw shucks, marcia *blush*
i've been wondering how to get people over to poetry, paraspring, and collecting. shoot, i even tried a sales pitch for collecting but they were a no show. *frown*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 16 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Tue, Jul 13, 1999 (19:14) * 2 lines
and I sure haven't figured any of this out, either...
just how to make the conferences look pretty!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 17 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 13, 1999 (19:24) * 1 lines
wer, Dear, when you excel at something as you do at making conferences pretty, you do not need to figure anything else out. That is our job. Get out the ropes and chains...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 18 of 1406: lidya maccarthy (livamago) * Tue, Jul 13, 1999 (22:02) * 1 lines
It looks wonderful, my dear. You have outdone yourself! Very interesting topics, too, but then, coming from you, that is to be expected... ;~D
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 19 of 1406: Riette Walton (riette) * Wed, Jul 14, 1999 (13:20) * 1 lines
Too cool, Marcia!!! Way to go!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 20 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 14, 1999 (13:36) * 1 lines
Thanks Dear! They are keeping me out of trouble by making my brain think of things other than the ones which usually intrude (lust comes to mind first)...!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 21 of 1406: Heide (heide) * Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (20:36) * 3 lines
What's happening in my part of the world? How about heat, heat and more heat and no rain! What's going on? Pennsylvania is starting to look like the desert. Brown grass and blazing white sun. I'm quite distressed. So, Marcia, oh great cosmic guru, what's going on?
Site looks terrific!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 22 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (20:49) * 1 lines
Thanks Heide. I will post notice of severe drought in the NE on Topic 14, Weather updates. (I had been putting them under Atmospheric Disturbances but caught some flack for it.) Thanks for posting. I really appreciate it - especially from you!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 23 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (23:32) * 2 lines
Hiya, Heide!
(pretending you live in Texas are you?)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 24 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 24, 1999 (21:46) * 1 lines
Let's see, if we shift Texas to Pennsylvania, then Hawaii will be in Texas. Is that correct?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 25 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Sun, Jul 25, 1999 (23:48) * 1 lines
close, I think...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 26 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 26, 1999 (00:08) * 1 lines
What a concept... I like it!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 27 of 1406: Karen (KarenR) * Mon, Jul 26, 1999 (00:21) * 1 lines
I'm not too crazy about where that lands me :-(
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 28 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 26, 1999 (22:10) * 1 lines
You do not like the Rockies? Most beautiful! The way we are rearranging the Earth, you can pick where you want to put Chicago!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 29 of 1406: Gi (patas) * Tue, Jul 27, 1999 (07:59) * 4 lines
Hey, I just got here (at last) and was immediately struck by the most daring concept possible: to rearrange the earth!
Can I move Lisbon somewhere else too? May I choose where or is that predefined because of your previous movements? Better still, can I make it a wanderer?
Oh well, this one is not so new, a portuguese writer by the name of Saramago (last year's Nobel Prize ;-))wrote a book where Portugal split away from Spain and started drifting southwest...
I haven't read the book yet, but love the idea!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 30 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 27, 1999 (12:06) * 1 lines
Since this has become a freeform globe, please do move around. A wanderer would be good - it would tie in with the Hot Spot theory of how Hawaii was formed. Your Earthquake in 1755 proved you are in a zone of subduction, so go to it. Let us know where in the world is Gi whilst you are wandering. (Btw, what joy it is to have you posting here!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 31 of 1406: Karen (KarenR) * Wed, Jul 28, 1999 (00:04) * 1 lines
ah, so you're movement of Hawaii has no relationship to where I would go (N&E). Was picturing Chicago somewhere up around Iceland by my calculations. :-0
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 32 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 28, 1999 (10:40) * 1 lines
Oh no, this is a plastic Earth in the truest sense of the word. Look what happened with the breakup of Pangea (see plate tectonics) into Laurasia and Gondwanaland then to the eventual place we find today. It just might take a while, but sure as part of California is moving northward in relation to the rest of the state, you will be moving, too. Do not change your wardrobe yet, however. It's gonna take a while.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 33 of 1406: Alexander Schuth (aschuth) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (11:41) * 38 lines
Guess who's stupid beyond belief? No, not that person! M E !
I didn't get eye protection to look at it, nor did I get filters for my cameras... Guess who won't take pictures of the eclipse... AND I WANTED TO FILM IT! With my Bauer Super 8-camera, where you can set the interval for it to shoot a single frame after the other (trick filming!).
Boooohoooo! I am soo dumb!
****************************************************************
Discovery Network plans live eclipse coverage
August 6, 1999
Web posted at: 12:13 p.m. EDT (1613 GMT)
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Discovery Network plans three hours of live television coverage next Wednesday of something mom warned you never to look at directly -- a solar eclipse.
The cable channel's cameras will follow the 60-mile wide path where the sun is totally obscured by the moon, from its start in southern England, through France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania to the Middle East and its conclusion in India.
It's the most extensive live coverage of any event in Discovery's 15-year history and, the network believes, the first time TV has followed an eclipse in such detail.
Eclipse coverage runs from 6 to 9 a.m. EDT, with an hour-long wrapup that night at 10 p.m.
"Human beings have always been totally enthralled by eclipses," said Discovery general manager Mike Quattrone, "but if you wanted to see an eclipse, you had to be geographically lucky."
People shouldn't stare at the sun because there's a risk of eye damage, but cameras can safely capture an eclipse. Not just show, but science
Discovery will do more than beam three hours of the sun. It will explain the science behind the eclipse and show how people in each country react to it. The network hopes to climax its coverage with an arresting image of the eclipse over the Taj Mahal.
Discovery will pull its coverage together with the help of Discovery Europe and a dozen European TV affiliates. British broadcaster Mary Nightingale will be the host.
The last total solar eclipse in the mainland United States took place in 1979. Discovery has time to make plans for the next one -- it comes on August 21, 2017.
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.
***********************************************************
I didn't know where to post this, so I did here. Hope it fits somehow, Marcia.
Gosh, I'm such an idiot!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 34 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (12:16) * 1 lines
It would have fit in tv, too...but this was a good choice of topics as well...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 35 of 1406: Alexander Schuth (aschuth) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (12:35) * 3 lines
Not tv - this is FILMING, not video... But it's not the Filming stuff topic in COllecting, nor the Dead Media in Cultures (or Media?). Pity me a bit, though, perhaps then I feel less unfortunate...
Oh. I see what you mean - THEY do the tv thing. How silly of me. I'm still wound up on my stupidity not to get some filters IN TIME. Bye bye, my chance!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 36 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (12:37) * 1 lines
Take it!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 37 of 1406: Alexander Schuth (aschuth) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (12:39) * 1 lines
What?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 38 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (12:50) * 1 lines
Oh, Alexander, I am so very sorry...but, how is your vision? You did not do a Gallileo, did you? I am not ever going to see a total eclipse...the year it was to happen over this Island, everyone had filters, and I had planned to chase it in case of bad wx. My resident driver said it would clear up by the time of the event - so I missed it under the worst cloud cover in Hilo for years. I hate him for that.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 39 of 1406: Alexander Schuth (aschuth) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (14:29) * 6 lines
Might happen here, too.
Gotta improvise on filters for the camera - how? Any ideas?
Aluminium-coated helium ballons - translucent enough? Or too thick?
Darn! Where's McGyver when I need him?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 40 of 1406: Gi (patas) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (14:35) * 2 lines
Alexander, I too left it too late and have no glasses or filters for it.
I believe there's something on makeshift filters for cameras in the paper, though, so I'll look it up and post here for you.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 41 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (14:35) * 1 lines
cancelled and in syndication methinks...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 42 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (14:36) * 1 lines
MacGyver, that is...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 43 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (14:38) * 1 lines
Aluminun coated mylar baloons are ok as is fully exposed and developed BLACK & WHITE photographic film (not color!) use several thicknesses and use your eye as a judge of what is visible - use many thicknesses to begin and work down to what is acceptable. It is also excellent for filming sun spots.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 44 of 1406: Alexander Schuth (aschuth) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (14:45) * 7 lines
You think so?
Why not colour films? And that's just to look through, right? No matter, all I can get easily is the balloons...
Super 8 Film is not very sensitive (60 Asa?). I'll try, and might also snap a few shots on 35 mm
Gi, thank you! Any help appreciated! Where do you sit? I'm in Middle Europe.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 45 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (14:50) * 1 lines
Alexander you need the metallic particles to absorb some of the light rays. All dark color film does is make your iris open larger thus incurring even more damage to your retina. I am absolutely sure of this!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 46 of 1406: Gi (patas) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (15:47) * 3 lines
Sorry, went to the paper but they only say: neutral glass coated with chromium and nickel... They also say you can use colour film of around 100ASA.
I live in Lisbon, Portugal, so the eclipse won't be half as spectacular as in Germany...
Anyway, I've seen one before with a telescope. We projected the image on a screen and followed it there. It was fun, but I would love one where the light falls and birds stop singing...Like in books and movies, you know... I doubt I'll have that tomorrow... And there may be clouds!:-(
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 47 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (16:07) * 1 lines
Use a pinhole projector. Gi, I am sure the color film is incorrect. We really got the entire world here for that total eclipse and they kept telling us color film is NOT acceptable due to its being non-metallic...(I am not trying to be right, here - I am trying to save retinas!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 48 of 1406: Wolf (wolf) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (21:06) * 3 lines
well there goes my bubble gum foil wrapper and a wad of that freshly chewed up gum theory! *grin* i know nothing about the proper film techniques required to record an eclipse.
but i do know that meteor showers will be seen over our area this week with a good show on thursday (2 meteors a minute). wonder if my minolta 35mm will take a good pic of that? (if not, it's a good way to use up the rest of the film so i can show you the space shuttle pics!!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 49 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (21:33) * 1 lines
Get a tripod or wall for a steady base then set your lens wide open. Do so for 30 seconds, then a minute then 1 1/2 minutes etc and note your results for the next one. (Should have done some homework...but...) Best way to do the eclipse by projecting it onto a piece of paper on the ground through a pinhole in a paper cup or another piece of paper. If it is windy you might like to use cardboard or stake it to the ground.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 50 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (21:38) * 2 lines
Oh yes, and remember to look around. If your eclipse is partial, look at the leaf shadows. They should also project the pinhole image of the partially eclipsed sun. You can even make an aperture using your thumb and forefinger.
Enjoy and report back...Please!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 51 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (23:30) * 5 lines
For the eclipse in your city (eastern coast of the us only for partial)
and for Europe and Africa in totality http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/TSE1999/T99lookNA.html
Home page of Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center - this site has it all
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/TSE1999/TSE1999.html#GenMaps
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 52 of 1406: Alexander Schuth (aschuth) * Wed, Aug 11, 1999 (02:36) * 11 lines
Cloudy and overcast now (9:08 am CET). We're supposed to get 95% eclipse - I'm just right North of the main event.
I'll try the balloons... No exposed developed b/w here for looking.
If I feel like it, I'll shoot 400 ASA colour film for slides and 400 ASA b/w, but then - everybody does that. But I'm gonna trick-film it, if things work out...
Wolf, use two cameras loaded with sensitive film (an astronomer recommneded to me the Fuji 800 ASA colour film for prints, approx. USD 7 per film? 400 ASA should work ok, too), both on tripods.
One, open the shutter for a minute or more at a time, so you get the streaks. Meanwhile, with the other one and widest aperture, work your way up from 10 sec, doubling at each step. (perhaps make two pictures at each step to be sure). WRITE DOWN ("1. pic - 10 sec, 2nd - 10 sec, 3rd - 20 sec..."), also what objective (50mm to 135mm) and aperture.
Looking at the results, you'll be able to see later what was the best setting, and work around that next time.
When packing up, point one camera at the North Star (?), and leave shutter open while packing. You'll get the circles showing how the stars wander around the North Pole... The kids will love it!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 53 of 1406: Gi (patas) * Wed, Aug 11, 1999 (07:35) * 2 lines
Alexander, I hope you saw the eclipse...
I only had the partial view (went out and someone lent me her glasses for a moment)and did that projection gimmick, but what I saw on television was incredible, even moving. Next time I want to be there (as long as it is a reasonable viewing site, like this was).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 54 of 1406: Wolf (wolf) * Wed, Aug 11, 1999 (10:32) * 5 lines
uh, alex, i have a camera that doesn't allow me to open shutters and stuff, but thanks for the tip!! maybe i'll get it one of these days.
i believe the next eclipse is next year?
have a silly question though, alex, can you take a picture through those things that work like submarine scopes (please tell me you know what i'm talking about because my brain has lost the word i'm looking for)!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 55 of 1406: Gi (patas) * Wed, Aug 11, 1999 (13:31) * 2 lines
Next year, but visible only at the Poles, and I'm not going *there*.
There'll be another closer to home in 2005, I think.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 56 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 11, 1999 (18:27) * 2 lines
Now that this eclipse is over, I will tell you that the gods who control these things do not want me to see it. Anywhere! The year after the totality on this Island, and annular eclipse was visible over Southern California, and I was there. An Annular eclipse is one in which the Moon is smaller in diameter visually in comparison with the Sun's and it appears as though the Sun has a big hole through it. In hot, dry, parched Southern California, for just that day, it was dark and so overcast there was no
even a visible darkening of the sky - just as it had been in Hilo the year before. Nothing. Either time. If you want to see an eclipse, be sure I am nowhere in the vicinity!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 57 of 1406: Karen (KarenR) * Wed, Aug 11, 1999 (18:40) * 1 lines
See, Gi, if you had gone to Turkey as I suggested, they had optimal viewing conditions!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 58 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 11, 1999 (18:53) * 1 lines
*lol* Karen, and the most amazing accommodations, too!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 59 of 1406: John Burnett (mrchips) * Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (20:54) * 7 lines
I was incredibly lucky with the Big Island eclipse of nearly a decade back. Strangely enough, my assignment was to broadcast it on the radio in Hilo (where clouds unfortunately obscured the view in most of town). We set up camp the night before at the 8300 foot level of Mauna Loa next to KGMB-TV's (Honolulu) Big Island repeater. We chose that site because the state's university would not allow us up on the more glamorous Mauna Kea and went the previous night because the road up was to be closed the fol
owing morning. It turned out serendipitous despite a bone-chillling night. I used welder's goggles (not the full helmet) and saw a 100 percent eclipse with my own two eyes. KGMB's Big Island engineer, who was also up there, has his ham radio shack on the site. Using a one-watt (that's right, one-watt) microwave remote unit, I broadcast to Hilo not only the eclipse, but traffic reports, weather and cloud conditions and other pertinent information from around the island that was supplied to me via the h
m shack. I used my radio sports play-by-play experience to attempt to create a "theatre of the mind" visual for listeners, and the vast majority of the feedback I got was positive, especially since the idea of a radio
broadcast of an eclipse is rather absurd, when one thinks about it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 60 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (21:23) * 2 lines
No, John, it was not absurd, it was wonderful for heartbroken in Hilo - Me! You saved my sanity, and as I listened to you and your gift with spoken English, it came alive for me. I could 'see' it through your eyes, and I am eternally grateful for it. I had tears of disappointment streaming down my face, but without your live commentary, I would not have 'seen' it at all! That one little Watt of power did what it had to do just fine for your purposes, and your coverage is the one I will always remembe
. A belated Thank You to your boss for allowing this incredible experience to be shared. There is something very special about being up there on the mountains and I am sure you felt more in tune with what was happening than Bob Jones from KGMB did on the Kona side with the circus atmosphere. Mahalo Nui Loa, and thanks for posting in Geo!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 61 of 1406: wer (KitchenManager) * Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (23:51) * 2 lines
oops, looks like I spoke too soon in poetry...I see you've
found your way out and about, John!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 62 of 1406: John Burnett (mrchips) * Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (01:06) * 2 lines
Ver, I can thank Marcia for that. By the way, Marcia, and I know you will see this--because you are all-knowing and all-seeingyou did a wonderful job designing this conference site and I am impressed with your use of the national weather service hurricane tracking map. I did have a spiritual experience on the mountain with the eclipse that it would have been impossible for Bob Jones to have. If he had just gone to his own repeater site--but that wouldn't have been television friendly. No palm trees, n
beach, not a lot of people to interview. BUT WE DID HAVE THE ECLIPSE and he only had a partial view at best.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 63 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (12:33) * 2 lines
I am delighted you said that about the Kona-side view of things. Hilo gets the short end of every stick the state has, but, as you pointed out, WE DID HAVE THE ECLIPSE and Bob Jones only had a partial view...I recall seeing his video tape that evening; I was so proud of the the job you did.
Thank you for the kind words on this Conference. It would not have been possible with out WER's patient help to make it pretty, David's help in feeding me up-to-date information on volcanoes world-wide, and a bunch of credit to Penn State for teaching me well. I really intend Geo to be informational and timely as well as a Q&A and experiences site. So far, so good. Feel free to add to any of the topics. (Oh, yeah, I also do my homework...ever on the search for current information.)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 64 of 1406: Wolf (wolf) * Wed, Aug 18, 1999 (10:34) * 3 lines
speaking of david, we ever gonna see him over here?
and i would like to piggy bag on john's compliments, this place looks great!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 65 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 18, 1999 (13:01) * 1 lines
I am working on him. He sends me information all the time to put in here, including the earthquake in California just after it happened. (His father informed me by email of the one in Turkey!) He says he does not have the time to login. How long does it take to get a username and password? He wastes more time than that wondering what to have for lunch! We should start an email campaign to recruit him, but he just may never forgive me for that. *grin*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 66 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 18, 1999 (13:04) * 1 lines
Oh, and thank you for your kind thoughts, Wolf. We know why it looks this great...*smile*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 67 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Aug 28, 1999 (19:14) * 3 lines
Since I put this on other people's conferences, the least I can do is to enter it on my own:
PENN STATE 41 ARIZONA 7
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 68 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Aug 30, 1999 (16:03) * 208 lines
Back to Geology. This, contributed by Alexander (thank you! and Note the
Hawaiian connection):
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/082499sci-ocean-cables.html
August 24, 1999
Old Phone Cables Open Sea Bed to Science
By MALCOLM W. BROWNE
"Making use of thousands of miles of discarded telephone
cables, scientists have begun to wire remote regions of deep
ocean floor to create an undersea network of geological
observatories.
"The old cables will serve as deep-sea extension cords
running thousands of miles from land-based power stations to
sensors, some of which are already sending back continuous
flows of data from the ocean floor.
"Geologists and other scientists using abandoned cables have
set out to collect a bonanza of information about
earthquakes, underground nuclear explosions, changes in the
earth's internal structure and its magnetic field,
fluctuations in the high-altitude ionosphere and even whale
migration patterns.
"Although seismometers and other geological sensors have long
been operating in most land areas, conspicuous gaps in
global seismic coverage exist under the world's deep
oceans, and oceans cover most of the planet's surface.
"But this has begun to change, thanks in part to rapid
progress in technology that has made old telephone cables
obsolete.
"Dozens of such cables are still serviceable, said Dr. Rhett
Butler, director of a data-collecting network in Washington
called Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
(IRIS). 'These cables were built to last,' he said in an
interview, 'and at least some of them, which went into use
in the mid-1960's, still function perfectly.'
"One such line is a coaxial cable (similar to the cable that
carries television programs into private homes) that was
laid across the deep Pacific Ocean floor by AT&T in 1964
from San Luis Obispo, Calif., to Makaha, Hawaii -- a
distance of nearly 3,000 miles. At the time, it was among
the most advanced phone lines in the world, equipped with
powered vacuum-tube repeaters every 20 miles to refresh the
telephone signals as they traveled along it. The cable,
called Hawaii-2, could simultaneously carry as many as 138
conversations.
"But in 1989 a fishing trawler working in shallow water near
the California coast accidentally cut the $30 million cable.
"The telephone company could probably have repaired the
break, but decided instead to abandon the cable; by then,
optical-fiber cables had come into use, and the new cables
could carry up to a half million conversations with greatly
improved sound quality. AT&T announced that it would make
the abandoned coaxial cable available to scientists who
could find a use for it.
"'It took several years for scientists to consider the
possibilities,' said Dr. Alan Chave, a senior scientist of
the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
'But last year it all came together and we showed that
continuous deep-sea seismic sensing was possible, using
these old cables.'
"The world's first deep undersea seismic observatory capable
of continuous long-term functioning began operating last
September. Its seismometer failed two months later because
of a short circuit, but Dr. Chave and his colleagues plan to
retrieve and repair the instrument in September. With
several upgrades now completed, the observatory (called
'H2O,' standing for 'Hawaii-2 Observatory') will then resume
operation, midway between California and Hawaii, at a depth
of 16,400 feet.
"A feature of the unmanned sea-floor observatory is a
junction box equipped with eight power outlets and signal
connectors allowing scientists to plug more ocean-bottom
sensors into the line. Among the supplementary instruments
scientists plan to install is a hydrophone capable of
listening to whale calls and tracking their migrations.
"The cost of H2O, financed by the National Science
Foundation, was about $2.5 million. If the project had had
to start from scratch by laying its own cable, it would have
cost up to about $120 million, scientists estimate.
"The idea that led to the project dates from a decade ago. In
1988 a scientist at Tokyo University suggested that
abandoned telephone cables might be reused for research, and
that suggestion started American scientists thinking.
Eventually, a consortium that included Woods Hole, the
University of Hawaii and IRIS came up with a plan. A
shore-based power station could pump direct current at 5,000
volts into one end of AT&T's broken cable, creating a
thousand-mile-long extension cord to power scientific
instruments three miles deep. Electricity flowing into the
cable would move along it, powering sensors and repeaters,
and finally grounding the current into the ocean at the
severed end, thereby completing a circuit.
"But making H2O a reality was a hair-raising challenge, as
Dr. Chave described it.
"The tools included the 270-foot research ship Thomas
Thompson; the Jason, a deep-sea remotely operated vehicle;
and the Media, a remotely operated camera platform to watch
the Jason from above, helping Jason's pilot aboard the
Thompson to avoid entangling obstacles three miles below
him.
"The scientists focused their efforts on the part of the
cable reaching from dry land in Hawaii to a spot 1,000 miles
to the east -- a smooth region of sea floor where they
expected seismic signals to be especially useful to
geophysicists. Searching the ocean bottom for the cable last
summer, the team found it nearly one mile from where they
had expected.
"In the next step, the team sent Jason down. Using a joystick
and a television monitor aboard the Thompson, the craft's
pilot, Will Sellers, slowly steered Jason into position,
clamped the jaws of its maneuvering arm on the 1 1/4-inch
cable, and cut it.
"Next came the hardest part: snagging the severed cable with
an 800-pound grapnel and hauling the cut end up to the ship.
Mr. Sellers had to make sure that the grapnel grabbed the
cable at least 16,400 feet away from the cut to create a
counterbalance as the cable was hauled up.
"'It was like positioning a slippery strand of cut spaghetti
on the tine of a fork, making sure that there was enough
weight of spaghetti on the loose end to keep the strand from
sliding off in the other direction,' Dr. Chave said.
"The ship's crew then had to haul up six miles of cable
weighing nearly 24,000 pounds -- the maximum weight the ship
was capable of handling. The risky operation took an entire
day.
"Once the crew had wrestled the cable aboard the ship they
powered electricity into it and used it to make a telephone
call to the National Science Foundation in Washington. The
cable worked perfectly, even though it had lain unused for
nine years on the ocean floor.
"But time and again unexpected problems arose. When the crew
began lowering the cable and a 'termination frame' that
served as a connection between the cable and an outlet, a
chain broke and both cable and frame fell to the ocean
bottom. Fortunately the frame fell in a favorable position,
so that when the junction box was lowered, Jason's arm was
able to complete the setup by connecting the frame with the
junction box. Finally, a seismometer built by the University
of Hawaii was lowered into position nearby and plugged into
the junction box.
"Almost immediately, seismic signals began flowing to Hawaii,
joining the global torrent of signals from more than 100
other sensors contributing to the IRIS network. After the
Woods Hole team returns the repaired seismometer to the sea
floor next month, the scientists hope the cable will
continue to work for up to 30 years.
"Anyone can use the data produced by the network, Dr. Chave
said. Other groups, including one in Japan, are also
exploiting old telephone cables, although IRIS network is
the most extensive.
"'The more evenly you can collect seismic signals from
sensors all over the world,' he said, 'the better you can
tomographically image the structure deep inside the earth.
It's a little like taking a clinical CAT scan using an
inward-looking telescope. For one thing, the seismic data
can tell you about the differential rotation of liquid metal
in the earth's core -- a key factor causing variations in
the earth's magnetic field.'
"In collaboration with a scientist at Bell Laboratories Dr.
Chave is also using 10 abandoned cables, all with one end
reaching land somewhere, as passive sensors to measure deep
ocean currents and changes in the ionosphere. As a current
of sea water flows through the earth's magnetic field, an
electric current is generated in the water, and a resulting
voltage shows up in a cable with one end grounded in sea
water. Current is also induced in an ocean cable by the flow
of electricity through the ionosphere -- a layer of the
atmosphere 50 miles above the earth's surface.
"Three years ago the Navy announced that it was abandoning
some of the hydrophone sensors it had used to track
potentially hostile ships and submarines. Some of these
sensors and their associated cables and electronics have
been made available for civilian research.
"'All this activity is really expanding the reach of
geophysical science,' Dr. Chave said. 'We have to thank
technological obsolescence for giving us some wonderful
tools.'"
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 69 of 1406: Alexander Schuth (aschuth) * Tue, Aug 31, 1999 (12:43) * 1 lines
It's been a note of the Dead Media project.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 70 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 31, 1999 (14:44) * 2 lines
Yes! Thank you for pointing that out. I inadvertently lopped that fact off of
your email when I posted it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 71 of 1406: Alexander Schuth (aschuth) * Thu, Sep 9, 1999 (12:19) * 1 lines
No sweat! It's really great to see with what kind of other areas technology can connect, apart from original purpose... Often stuff never intended or though of originally!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 72 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 9, 1999 (14:12) * 2 lines
I am the sort of person who, before I throw anything away, checks to see what else can be done with the item. Sometimes I store these "widgets" for years before the light bulb goes on and I find an even better use than the original.
Human ingenuity! Where would we be without it?!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 73 of 1406: Wolf (wolf) * Sun, Sep 12, 1999 (14:28) * 1 lines
a lot neater perhaps? i save a lot of stuff too, like cool whip and butter containers. you can imagine the state of my kitchen cabinets! and then scrap fabric that i can't bear to part with because if i ever learn to make a quilt, they'd be good to use on a square.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 74 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (21:07) * 1 lines
There are so many things happening right now that I though it best to put it in All Things Planet Earth. New Zealand experienced a 6.5 earthquake (thank you, AnneH) and Mt Etna is erupting so furiously it has just about decommissioned its VolcanoCam. I will try to put up relevant information and images in the proper topics when they become available. (Thank you KarenR and AnneH)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 75 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (13:43) * 1 lines
In case you're interested we had a little quake in Wales yesterday. It measured 3.5. By the way marcia, sneding me this URL was a sneaky way to get me involved in this conference (SMILE!) Well, I had to have a look didn't I!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 76 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (14:21) * 1 lines
Oh! Thanks for that!!! Thank you for taking the bait. There are lots of goodies to interest you in here including atuo-updating weather maps in Geo 14 which a few folks check almost daily. (Scroll through the entire topic and bookmark your particular favorite - I have UK and the Continent in there!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 77 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (14:32) * 3 lines
Fun! Now I need to try and find ££s for my growing internet bill (we're billed by the second/minute in the UK)!
Is this a special interest area of yours -or just one of many?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 78 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (14:52) * 1 lines
As you will discover, it is one of many - eventually I might just be crazy enough to have one for Archaeology and one for Astronomy. am also into lots of Topics on other conferences such as Books/41 Arthurian themes...and Malachology and just about anything else, actually. I need several more lifetimes to become a professional in each of these categories. I did want to become a Geologist but I did not get along with the math, so I studied to be a techinical writer.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 79 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (14:54) * 1 lines
Maggie, Gi lives in Portugal and was finally able to find an ISP who would give her unlimited time on the internet. I know you pay by the minute (how terrible that must be!!!) - mine is $20.78/month and it is unlimited - as are just about all of the ISP's in the US. My sympathies.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 80 of 1406: Gi (patas) * Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (14:59) * 1 lines
Unfortunately, the free ISPs are so slow that what you save in Internet bills you spend on telephone bills... I'm still looking for the perfect one!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 81 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (15:27) * 1 lines
Auwe!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 82 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (12:41) * 3 lines
A lot of this is a new area for me (goody!) I only did a bit of geology when I taught my kids Geography (apart from what I did at school of course, MANY years ago).
BTW: my ISP is free (I'm on my third one so far)and seems reasonably fast but it's the phone bills that cripple us here.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 83 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (16:49) * 3 lines
Alas, that seems to be the lament of most of the countries in the world
outside of the North American continent...and perhaps not all of that, either
Feel free to wander and post wherever you'd like!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 84 of 1406: Wolf (wolf) * Mon, Nov 8, 1999 (20:23) * 1 lines
we should get astonomy and archeology conferences, what a great idea! and then, marcia, think of all the inter-conference links we could have!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 85 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 8, 1999 (20:57) * 3 lines
Oh Yes! I even know which midnight blue marble wallpaper I want for it and which Horizontal bars...and who I want to cfadm for me...
Archaeology is excellent as well. Need another life time to come back as one of each of those professions!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 86 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 8, 1999 (20:58) * 1 lines
Would Angels fit into the Astronomy and ufo's and the like?! They are in the sky, are they not!!! Links galore! Happy thought, indeed! (I like it...can you tell?! *grin*)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 87 of 1406: Wolf (wolf) * Mon, Nov 8, 1999 (21:01) * 1 lines
nah, couldn't tell one bit, in fact was gonna ask! *GRIN*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 88 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 8, 1999 (21:21) * 1 lines
Just like any hyper kid, the more !!'s I use the more I am virtually jumping up and down with excitement over the very idea!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 89 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jan 1, 2000 (19:47) * 3 lines
Such great ideas and we did not act on them. Must check and see what we can do about that
with the new year and all. But, no fun doing it be telnet! I know Alexander would be
interested in the Archaeology one - for sure!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 90 of 1406: Ann (Ann) * Tue, Jan 4, 2000 (20:31) * 13 lines
This probably belongs on an astronomy topic, but I didn't see one when I looked at the list of conferences, so here it is.
My question is about the age of the universe/earth.
The universe is currently estimated to be about 13 billion years old.
In that time, stars and galaxies have formed, gone through their life cycles, died, gathered back together as nebulae, then created second and maybe third generation systems.
Assuming the earth is only a second generation conglomeration of matter, then all of the heavier elements on the earth came from the first generation.
Now the earth is estimated to be already about 4 billion years old. That leaves only 9 billion years--or only twice the time the earth has been around--for that first generation to have lived and died and given rise to the second generation.
That doesn't seem like enough time to me! Am I missing something? Were life cycles nebulae and galaxies faster in the early universe? If not, how does the creation of the heavier elements work into the current assumptions on the age of the universe?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 91 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 4, 2000 (20:44) * 2 lines
Ann, welcome! May I suggest Topic 24 Beyond Planet Earth?! I think our estimation of the age of the universe will continue to be revised upward as we get bigger and better eyes into the past. For just about forever the age of the Universe was thought not to exceed 5 billion years and wa more likely 4 billion.
Theories are just that...always subject to revision and correction, fortunately!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 92 of 1406: Annette Mercer (laughingsky) * Mon, Jan 17, 2000 (19:13) * 2 lines
I had read a while back where scientists and archaeologists are beginning to suspect that the earth is actually older than they'd previously thought...so
much for revision of theories, eh? Seems as if we come to those somewhat "definite" conclusions, then, we have to step back and say, "wait a minute - what if...?" That's the fun of discoveries - rediscovering!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 93 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 18, 2000 (00:01) * 1 lines
Indeed! When I took Geology in college they were one year away from teaching Plate tectonics! Don't check how long ago that was, but it gives you some idea of how things change!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 94 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 18, 2000 (00:03) * 1 lines
One of my favorite things to discover is old knowledge which is rediscovered. I know we have forgotten more than we have learned from the time of the Pyramids and Stonehenge. They had the same brain as we are using. Why should they not have had as much success?!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 95 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Wed, Jan 19, 2000 (10:40) * 1 lines
Having few means to pass down detailed science across generations, did the ancients really do more than make constructions to celebrate observed extremes of the sun's path? Please convince me.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 96 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 19, 2000 (11:46) * 2 lines
Not as far as I know, Mark. They did not come from Lemuria with exotic knowledge or from outer space. If anyone thinks they did, convince Mark and me.
(I've read the books out there and they are more unbelivable than the idea that the ancients used magic to do things!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 97 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 19, 2000 (11:48) * 1 lines
...just because we cannot replicate the ancient constructions now does not mean it was done by 'other beings' It just means we have not figured it out yet...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 98 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Feb 1, 2000 (16:49) * 2 lines
Ok, why am I not seeing Response 99? It was posted today and is not showing up.
In fact, nothing but what I am posting is showing up right now...test!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 99 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Feb 1, 2000 (16:52) * 1 lines
Maggie, what did you say? I am curious to the max...on confifty using the ip posts show up but not using the URL. Hmmm... (Wish I understood half of what I know about this stuff!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 100 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 2, 2000 (20:55) * 13 lines
Maggie's missing post:
Resp 99 of 99: Maggie (sociolingo) Tue, Feb 1, 2000 (16:13) 4 lines
We've had a couple of TV series where ancient feats were recreated
(?it may be the same as you PBS program). The latest ones were
Caesars bridge across a huge river span that he built in a few days,
and a kind of crane thing that was built to hoist enemy ships out of
the water by one of the greek greats.
(Sorry it's late and my brains going kind of dead, so I can't remember details)
On a different tack - did anyone see reports about snow in the desert
near Jerusalem and 15 inches of snow in Jerusalem itself. I think it
was a 50 year record.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 101 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 2, 2000 (20:57) * 2 lines
Thanks for that and thanks for telnet saving both the URL and the IP posts!
We did mention the Jerusalem snow on Geo 14... Thanks, Maggie!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 102 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Sat, Feb 5, 2000 (07:15) * 4 lines
Slightly off topic:
We've also got a super TV program just now called 'meet the ancestors'. Using forensic science they link an archeological dig with a recreation from the bones dug up, and reconstruct what the person looked like, their life etc. It's been facsinating. I've always been curious about how people lived, and its great to see the forensic skills put to use in this way. They rebuild the face from the skull, by building up the layers of muscles etc on a skull model. Its a mxture of artistry and science. Recently they did a ten year old girl, and to do that they had to take skin depth measurements from a large number of young girls as they only had adult measurements on computer file. This child (from a millenium ago) had had repeated infections as shown by forensics on the bones, and they determined the sex by DNA testing. She was found in an abondoned grave site a short distnace away from a church which is known to have been there 1000 years ago and which had 'relics'.. It was thought that the child would h
ve been taken to the relics (in the surviving crypt) of the church for healing. Pilgrims went through a small wall slit in the church down into the crypt, round the relics, and the out by another slit. An archeological artist drew the scene.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 103 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Feb 5, 2000 (11:20) * 1 lines
That sounds fascinating (and as DO have an Archaeology topic in here!). I hope Discovery or one of those channels picks it up for us to see. Thanks, Maggie!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 104 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (13:59) * 22 lines
Geo factoids
HOW MANY ISLANDS ARE THERE IN HONG KONG?
235 islands.
WHERE WAS THE FIRST TUNNEL IN RECORDED HISTORY?
In Babylon. Built by the Assyrians in about 2100 B.C., the
secret 3,000-foot-long passageway linked the royal palace
on one side of the Euphrates River with the Temple of Jupiter
on the other side.
WHAT IS THE DIAMETER OF THE EARTH AT THE EQUATOR?
7,926 miles. (The circumference is 24, 902 miles.)
WHAT RIVER IS THE ONLY RIVER TO FLOW
NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR?
The Congo River, which crosses the equator twice.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 105 of 1406: _cosmo_ (aa9il) * Mon, May 1, 2000 (22:33) * 12 lines
Greetings all
Well, time to move from the rf field to the geo-magnetic field.
But first, any interest in ley lines (no, thats not you use
for pickups in single's bars...) There are quite a few in
Europe and the UK and there has even been research on the
earth mounds in Wisconsin. Interesting connective stuff.
BTW, there is quite a lot of power around Stonehenge. Same
kind of neat energy around Enchanted Rock in Tx.
mike aka cosmo
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 106 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 1, 2000 (22:48) * 1 lines
Aloha Mike! Geo 27 is perfect for you. That started out with Ley Lines discussions. Maps and photos abound. Roam around and make yourself comfortable!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 107 of 1406: Mike Kana (aa9il) * Tue, May 2, 2000 (22:26) * 4 lines
Ok, off to 27!
(I see you are posting to classic radio just a minute ago...)
Mike
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 108 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 2, 2000 (22:29) * 1 lines
yup! I was following you so you did not get lost. Note that Spring had a problem which caused (or sumthin did) my rc file to delete and took all my wallpaper and horizontal bars and buttons with it. Have reinstated the bars and font colors but...no buttons or wallpaper...*sigh* See ya on 27!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 109 of 1406: geospring (sprin5) * Wed, May 3, 2000 (04:00) * 1 lines
The problem was the /tmp file.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 110 of 1406: geospring (sprin5) * Wed, May 3, 2000 (04:13) * 8 lines
When things are ok it should look like this:
$ df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/sd0a 99135 14975 79203 16% /
/dev/sd0h 16873439 9891364 6138403 62% /usr
mfs:19 15855 434 14628 3% /tmp
thor:/extra/tools 2991146 1362014 1479574 48% /tools
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 111 of 1406: geospring (sprin5) * Wed, May 3, 2000 (04:22) * 1 lines
But when the /tmp file says Capacity 0% no one can write to the file system. It's a little kink in the armor of an otherwise bulletproof operating system.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 112 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 3, 2000 (12:24) * 1 lines
Ah so! I suspected as much, but wondered if it would not just leave the file untouched rather than deleting all of it. Well, I had "a learning experience" and managed to get most of it back on by checking how other rc files were configured. Cfadm pulled me through again! I am gratefulness personified this morning. Now, I have a slightly slow-loading but incredibly beautiful wallpaper to install, if I dare...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 113 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 3, 2000 (16:42) * 6 lines
HOW FAST DOES LIGHTNING TRAVEL?
It travels 90,000 miles a second - almost half the speed of
light. (186,000 miles a second).
EXACTLY HOW LONG IS ONE YEAR?
365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 114 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Thu, May 4, 2000 (03:23) * 1 lines
Excellent statistics, Marcia - can you remind me how fast sound is?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 115 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, May 4, 2000 (12:58) * 2 lines
For rule of thumb reckoning, it travels about 5 miles / second (so you can see how close the lightning is hitting by counting by 5's at one second intervals).
More precise measurement will have to wait till I get into the other room to get the appropraite book. (Did you just get married? )
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 116 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Fri, May 5, 2000 (06:11) * 1 lines
Married? No, not unless 6 years ago is "just". Did you infer I got married from my question about the speed of sound?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 117 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 5, 2000 (12:44) * 27 lines
No, but you came up missing for a while and it was mentioned on Drool that Mark was getting married... But, I should have remembered that it would have been bigamy - you told me you were married in our email about cricket. You are the only Mark around here; I assumed, and you know what that means...!
http://arts.ucsc.edu/EMS/Music/tech_background/TE-01/soundSpeed.html
Speed of Sound
You can measure the speed of sound the same way you measure the speed of a runner, with a stopwatch on a closed
track.
Find a place where you can hear a good echo, and stand a known distance from whatever the sound is reflecting
off of.
Fire a starter's pistol and start the stopwatch. Stop the watch when you hear the echo.
Divide 2 times the distance (it's a round trip) by the time to get the speed.
At 21 degrees C (70°F), you should get 344 meters per second, or 1129 ft per second. At freezing, the numbers are 331
m/s or 1087 ft/s. The proper formula for the change in speed due to temperature is:
Where T is degrees Celsius. The works out to about a 0.1% change per degree Fahrenheit.
The Speed of sound in water is 1480 m/s or 4856 ft/s. More than 3000 miles per hour.
There is a project under way to take the earth's temperature by measuring the speed of sound between the USA and
Australia.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 118 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 5, 2000 (16:14) * 5 lines
WHAT LAKE, ONCE PART OF A SEA, HAS THE ONLY FRESHWATER SHARKS IN THE WORLD?
Lake Nicaragua, in Nicaragua.
WHEN IT COMES TO WAVES IN THE OCEAN, WHAT IS A WAVELENGTH?
The linear distance between the crests of two successive waves.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 119 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 5, 2000 (16:16) * 5 lines
Here is an easy and excellent Speed of Sound Calculator for those using Metric
http://www.measure.demon.co.uk/Acoustics_Software/speed.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 120 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 5, 2000 (16:42) * 3 lines
The above calculator has problems - try this one:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/souspe.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 121 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, May 7, 2000 (15:58) * 74 lines
http://www.discovery.com
Earth Loses Weight
Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery.com News
If the latest measurement of the force of gravity, called the
big G, is correct, it will end 200 years of confusion and
mean Earth weighs 5.972 sextillion metric tons. That's a tad
less than the 5.98 sextillion metric tons listed in some
textbooks. A sextillion is a one followed by 21 zeros.
The constant G tells how much gravitational force there is
between two masses — such as the Earth and moon —
that are separated by a known distance. It's a fundamental
aspect of the universe that doesn't change, similar to the
speed of light.
Scientists were able to calculate Earth's mass based on G
by applying Isaac Newton's famous equation F=ma. In the
equation, "F" stands for the force of gravity (Big G); while
"m" stands for mass (in this case, of the Earth); and "a"
represents the local gravitational effects of Earth, which
scientists already knew. By rearranging the equation, they
were able to solve for "m" and thus calculate Earth's mass.
University of Washington physicists Jens Gundlach and
Stephen Merkowitz their results today at the American
Physical Society meeting in Long Beach, California.
To arrive at the new constant, the physicists refined an
experiment first developed in the 18th century. They used
an extremely delicate device called a torsion balance that
records the effects of the gravity of four stainless steel
balls on a gold-coated plate.
The device is similar to one used 200 years ago to make the
first big G measurement. But it is computer controlled and
contains numerous mechanical refinements that make the
more precise measurement possible.
If the new value is accepted, it would reduce the
uncertainty of G by a factor of 100.
"The experimental situation was just hilarious," said
Gundlach of physicists’ inability to find and agree on G. "Our
experiment was designed to clean that up."
Because gravity is such a weak force, it is extremely
difficult to measure without all sorts of errors creeping in.
Physicists have been working hard to narrow down G, but
different experiments have actually been coming up with
numbers that are spreading farther apart.
This has been especially embarrassing to physicists, since
the other two most basic of all natural constants — speed
of light and Planck’s Constant — are known with great
accuracy. Planck’s Constant is a number that helps
scientists determine the energy behind electromagnetic
radiation.
"It’s the least well known of all the fundamental constants,"
said University of California at Irvine physicist Riley
Newman. Newman's team is working on a National Science
Foundation grant to measure G. They have also built an
instrument, but have a lot of work to do before they find G,
he said.
Gundlach said he will be watching Newman’s work closely
in hopes that the G’s agree.
"If they don’t agree," said Newman, "the confusion will go
on."
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 122 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 8, 2000 (13:47) * 2 lines
WHAT FOUR STATES HAVE ACTIVE VOLCANOES?
Alaska, California, Hawaii, and Washington.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 123 of 1406: lidya maccarthy (livamago) * Mon, May 8, 2000 (17:08) * 2 lines
And what are the names of the volcanoes, dear? Btw, the site looks wonderful.
Congratulations!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 124 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 8, 2000 (17:44) * 10 lines
Do you like my new marble wallpaper, too? (It is so good to see you here again - happy me!) I installed it with an artist in mind for the Aesthetics of Earth topic...*hope*
Hawaii's active volcanoes: Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai, and on Maui, Haleakala
(with the faint possibility of Mauna Kea added)
California's: Lassen and Shasta
Washington: St Helens, and any of the other Cascade mountains in the state since they are in the most active part of the subduction of Juan de Fuca plate under the North American Plate (see plate tectonics topic for good maps on the subject)
Alaska has too many for me to remember off the top of my head...(there is a map for those, too in Geo 2.)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 125 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 9, 2000 (13:32) * 16 lines
Sparky Lifesavers
If you chew a wintergreen-flavored Lifesavers candy in a
dark room and watch in the mirror, you will see electrical
sparks in your mouth. Why? The sugar in the candy is in
crystal form. When you start shearing the crystal apart
with your teeth, you end up with an excess of electrons on
one side of the fissure. Just like a lightning arc, they
jump across the gap to an area that has a positive charge,
and in the process give off light. Interestingly, this
works better with wintergreen than other flavors, because
much of the light that is emitted is ultraviolet, outside
of the visible spectrum. The methyl salicylate in the
wintergreen oil is able to absorb ultraviolet light and
re-emit it at a wavelength you can see.
-- Michael Natkin
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 126 of 1406: lidya maccarthy (livamago) * Tue, May 9, 2000 (18:51) * 9 lines
I love the wallpaper! I think it's very elegant, like everything in this site, and it's very appropriate too. I meant to mention it specifically. You read my mind.
Kilauea I wonder why this one is my favorite!
Didn't it erupt in 1983?
Interesting fact about the lifesaver. I shall check the mirror the next time I eat one.
I watched a show on PBS that was so interesting. It was a Nature special about body changers, and it showed how the salmon (the males ones, I think) slowly lose their shape to become really ugly-looking. This happens as their death approaches. It was amazing! Do we have a topic for animal?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 127 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 9, 2000 (20:21) * 9 lines
You remembered! Kilauea did indeed begin the current eruptive cycle in 1983 and it is still going strong. Thanks for the kind comments on the wallpaper, too.
The lifesaver thing or any wintergreen candy you can snap with your fingers my dad showed me in a dark closet. Never tried it by looking in my mouth with a mirror. My son is unaware of this phenomenon because of the high humidity here.
Wintergreen tends to be mushy...
Please check SpringArk conference of which Wolf and I are cohosts
http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/SpringArk/all/new
Thanks for asking!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 128 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, May 9, 2000 (20:23) * 1 lines
ok, back to the lightening thing, when we see it, we're supposed to count by 5's, one 5 each second? so it's 5, 10, 15? (or, each second counted total multiplied by 5?) i've always used the seconds to judge the distance. interesting!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 129 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 9, 2000 (21:11) * 1 lines
I count "one thousand and one...two...three" and multiply by 5. It's easier for me. The thousand part makes sure you are counting in seconds and not rushing too fast. Mississippi works, too.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 130 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 12, 2000 (12:41) * 9 lines
IF YOU HEAR THUNDER 10 SECONDS AFTER YOU SEE LIGHTNING, HOW FAR AWAY WAS THE LIGHTNING?
2 miles away. Sound travels about a mile in 5 seconds.
IN GEOLOGY, WHAT IS A CALVING?
The breaking off or detachment of an iceberg from a glacier
that has reached the sea, or the separation of a portion of
a floating iceberg.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 131 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 17, 2000 (20:28) * 6 lines
HOW MANY ICEBERGS ARE THERE IN THE WORLD?
Approximately 320,000.
HOW MANY AVERAGE-SIZE HOUSES CAN YOU MAKE FROM ONE GIANT SEQUOIA - THE BIGGEST LIVING THING ON EARTH TODAY?
Fifty. The sequoia often extends 300 feet in height and 25 feet in diameter.
Its seed weighs only 1/6000 ounce.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 132 of 1406: anne hale (ommin) * Wed, May 17, 2000 (20:45) * 1 lines
Umm I accept the Giant Sequioia is the widest tree - but is it the tallest - our giants here in Oz are very tall - I am not sure if the Gloucester tree in the South West of Western Australia wasn't taller. Also I believe there is a very tall tree and large to boot in N.Z. can anyone confirm. Can't remember for the moment the name of our largest tree - thus I mentioned the Gloucester tree. They are in an area called the Valley of the Giants.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 133 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 17, 2000 (21:31) * 1 lines
Sequoia semprevirons is the larges thing ever to live on land. I will do citations for you in the next post. What kind of tree is the tallest Oz tree? The Sequoia is a Redwood (evergreen)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 134 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 17, 2000 (21:36) * 19 lines
Check here for the hugest trees in the USA
http://www.americanforests.org/whatnew/BTFacts.html
Botanical record-breakers are at this amazing uRL
http://daphne.palomar.edu/wayne/ww0601.htm
The world's record for the tallest tree goes to another cone-bearing tree native to California,
the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). In fact, the tallest living redwood on record
stands 367 feet, 62 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. The California redwoods are rivaled
in size by the amazing flowering Australian tree (Eucalyptus regnans). The record for the
tallest tree of all time has been debated by botanists for centuries. Some amazing claims for
towering Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and E. regnans exceeding 400 feet have
never been substantiated by a qualified surveyor. In 1872, a fallen E. regnans 18 feet in
diameter and 435 feet tall was reported by William Ferguson, making it the tallest (or perhaps
longest) dead tree. According to the monograph on Eucalyptus by Stan Kelly (Volume 1 of
Eucalypts, 1977), trees of E. regnans well over 300 feet tall have been measured, but the
tallest tree known to be standing at present is 322 feet.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 135 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, May 18, 2000 (01:06) * 15 lines
Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is a crumbly rock formed from the
fossilized remains of microscopic one-celled plants that
contain a lot of silica in their cell walls. It takes about
24,000,000 of these shells to make one cubic centimeter of
rock. When the rock is powdered, it can be used as an
environmentally friendly insecticide. The powder has a very
rough texture at a microscopic level. The roughness can
lacerate and dehydrate the shells of many insects, killing
them over the course of a few hours. Diatomaceous earth has
many other industrial uses: as an insulator, a filter, and
an abrasive, for example.
...and my father, a chemist, made us our toothpowder using the stuff in purified form along with oil of peppermint and another chalky powder. I was my job to do the stirring so we all got equal amounts of peppermint, grit and chalk. It worked very well!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 136 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, May 18, 2000 (12:16) * 17 lines
ON WHAT PLANET IS THE LARGEST KNOWN
MOUNTAIN IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM?
On Mars. Called Olympus Mons, it's a volcano more than three
times the height of Mt. Everest.
HOW MUCH SYRUP DOES THE AVERAGE SUGAR MAPLE TREE YIELD EACH SEASON?
One to one and a quarter quarts.
WHICH BIRD STRAYS AS FAR AS 2,500 MILES FROM ITS NEST TO FIND FOOD FOR ITS YOUNG?
The albatross, which has the largest wingspan of any living
bird - over 11 feet.
HOW MANY MUSCLES DOES A CATERPILLAR HAVE?
Four thousand - more than five times as many as a human.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 137 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, May 18, 2000 (17:46) * 1 lines
Are the giant trees of Australia and New Zealand evergreens, as well? I find that there are many interesting facts about evergreen trees. The ginko tree, which looses it's leaves in the fall, is related to the conifers, it may even be classed with them. (Marcia probably knows.) About the ginko, it is one of the oldest species of trees in the world. A ginko tree was the only type of tree to survive the blast at Hiroshima. The Sequoia, an evergreen, is currently the largest tree. Lastly, the bristlecone pine tree of the American southwest is the longest lived tree in the world. All that, and they give us oxygen, too.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 138 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, May 18, 2000 (18:17) * 3 lines
Apparently they are eucalyptus is a (getting out my book) member of the Myrtle family (which also includes Ohia - Hawaii's hallmark tree) with 70 genera and 2800 species.
The Ginko (or Ginkgo) is a living fossil (Marcia cannot remember, so she is looking it up). It is a gymnosperm in a class all by itself. It is the lone survivor dating to the Jurassic some 150 million years ago.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 139 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, May 18, 2000 (18:24) * 1 lines
Thank you for clearing up what the noble ginkgo tree is classed as. The ginkgo has many admirable traits, and is highly regarded in herbal lore, used in Chinese medicine, but...When the ginkgo nuts fall off the trees in the fall, they lay there and start smelling like sewage. The ginkgo isn't quite so noble then.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 140 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, May 18, 2000 (20:18) * 1 lines
When my eldest sister was at Penn State her dorm had a huge ginkgo tree in the front lawn. (It has since been felled by lightning and antiquity) I recall the "fragrance" well. Unreal!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 141 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, May 18, 2000 (20:21) * 1 lines
In the scheme of the book, the author arranged it so the most primitive were at the beginning. Out of amost 1000 pages, The gingko was on page 19 right after the cycads!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 142 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 19, 2000 (18:34) * 2 lines
Pi Day is celebrated each March 14 at 1:59pm at the San Francisco's
Exploratorium. (Reported in the Smithsonian Magazine)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 143 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 19, 2000 (19:14) * 11 lines
WHAT CREATURE PRODUCES SPERM THAT ARE 2/3 INCH LONG - THE LONGEST IN THE WORLD?
Some fruit flies of the genus Drosophilia. Their sperm, more than 300 times longer than human sperm, are six times longer than the fly itself - but hair thin and are balled up.
HOW MANY TIMES PER SECOND DOES A MOSQUITO BEAT ITS WINGS?
Up to 600.
HOW MANY CONSTELLATIONS ARE THERE?
100,000.
HOW MUCH HORSEPOWER DOES THE TYPICAL HORSE PROVIDE?
About 24. Horsepower is the power needed to lift 33,000 pounds 1 foot in a minute. Scientists came up with the 24 horsepower figure based on a horse weighing about 1,320 pounds.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 144 of 1406: anne hale (ommin) * Sat, May 20, 2000 (03:50) * 2 lines
Going back to trees. I have wandered through the Valley of the
giants Oz's tallest trees. They are indeed Eucalyptus, the panoply overhead is something to behold. Wonderful smelling and beautifully shaped trees. You can drive a car through. Immense and majestic - you can almost imagine them fully alive and talking. (shades of Narnia). One of the joys of my life and I get very angry when they are chopped down for chipwood for export to Japan.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 145 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, May 22, 2000 (17:51) * 1 lines
Are eucalyptus trees evergreens?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 146 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 22, 2000 (18:03) * 1 lines
...in a way...but not in the way we think of Evergreen. They are (getting out the book again) in the myrtle family and are NOT considered evergreen. However, there are many trees which keep some leaves on them all year round...including many of the Myrtle family.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 147 of 1406: geospring (sprin5) * Mon, May 22, 2000 (18:07) * 2 lines
What's the best plant for a privacy hedge?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 148 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 22, 2000 (18:25) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 149 of 1406: anne hale (ommin) * Tue, May 23, 2000 (06:25) * 1 lines
Tried to post a couple of days ago. The tall trees in Australia are called Karri and Tingle. Magnificent trees but very different. Valley of the Giants in South Western Australia has both and is the most wonderful sight you can imagine. It is virtually unpopulated and seems to go on forever. Our population in this state of Australia is large than India and yet has under 2,000,000 people. We have just discovered a vast underground sea. which covers a quarter of a the state and is in some parts some 2,000meters deep. Bodes well for us in the future.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 150 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 23, 2000 (13:48) * 14 lines
Is your underground sea fresh water? That truly would be a boon!
Dry Thunderstorms
In desert areas, it is possible to have a thunderstorm
where the rain never reaches the ground. The air near the
Earth's surface can be so hot that the raindrops simply
evaporate on their way down. These storms can be especially
dangerous, because the lightning can still strike the
ground, causing fires without even the help of the rain to
put them out before they grow out of control. This
evaporating rain phenomenon is known as virga, and is one
of the reasons that you might see precipitation on weather
radar even when none seems to be falling.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 151 of 1406: anne hale (ommin) * Tue, May 23, 2000 (22:56) * 1 lines
The underground sea is brackish but treatable. It will make the desert bloom. We have thunderstorms and showers like the ones you have just quoted - you can see the rain coming down in the sky but it never reaches us - often happens in summer.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 152 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 24, 2000 (19:12) * 1 lines
That happens in the deserts of Arizona and California with the dry showers which never hit the ground!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 153 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 24, 2000 (22:41) * 1 lines
Since it has not elicited any comments, I guess not many are reading what I post in Paleo (topic 7). There has been some really interesting stuff lately - check it out! Also, I posted two pictures I took last evening of Hilo Bay at sunset and one was taken of me (unbeknownst to me) and that is also posted. Find it and take a look at the Mistress of Geo - if anyone is interested. I was asked if it was recent. yup! Last evening.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 154 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, May 25, 2000 (12:38) * 7 lines
IN WHAT DIRECTION DOES THE JET-STREAM FLOW?
From west to east.
WHY ARE MERCURY AND VENUS KNOWN AS INFERIOR PLANETS?
Their orbits are closer to the sun than Earth's orbit.
Planets orbiting the sun beyond Earth are referred to as
superior planets.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 155 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, May 25, 2000 (16:07) * 20 lines
The most abundant metal in the Earth's crust is aluminium.
The largest wave ever recorded was near the Japanese Island of
Ishigaki in 1971 at 85 meters high.
Fulgurite is formed when lightning strikes sand.
At the nearest point, Russia and America are less than 4 km
apart.
The Channel between England and France grows about 300
millimeters each year.
Mars has a volcano, Olympus Mons, which is 310-370 miles in
diameter and 16 miles high.
The Earth experiences about 50,000 earthquakes each year.
The lowest temperature ever recorded was 129 degrees below 0 at
Vostok, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 156 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 26, 2000 (19:56) * 17 lines
Invader ants win by losing diversity
The Argentine ants that are trouncing U.S. species derive much
of their takeover power, oddly enough, from losing genetic
diversity.
References & Sources
Dolphins bray when chasing down a fish
The first high-resolution analysis of which dolphin is making
which sound suggests that hunters blurt out a low-frequency,
donkeylike sound that may startle prey into freezing for an instant
or attract other dolphins.
References & Sources
Spider real estate wars: Wake up early
Big spiders in a colony get prime real estate day after day by
spinning webs early.
References & Sources
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 157 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 26, 2000 (23:31) * 1 lines
Donn, please login and join us. You said you liked learning new things...*smile*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 158 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, May 28, 2000 (19:07) * 6 lines
Until he does, he sent me this url which should be on everyone's bookmarks for such cases as those we pray don't happen:
EYE ON THE WORLD
http://web.beol.net/tabonga/violent.html
It has links to every sort of disaster web page, every agency which might be of help or source of information, plus the weird and offbeat at the bottom. I'm gonna check the catastrophism pages, myself...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 159 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, May 28, 2000 (19:14) * 1 lines
Actually, you're gonna need permission slips from me to be allowed into some of those catastrophism sites. Taken with a huge grain of salt and a firm grounding in astronomy and geology, it appears ludicrous until you remember those who died because of a comet... Please accept my caveat and if you get upset with what you read there, come here first before you try any Koolaid...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 160 of 1406: anne hale (ommin) * Mon, May 29, 2000 (02:41) * 1 lines
Tried to get in wouldn't let me. Said time out - whatever that means. But I have put it onto favourites to read some time.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 161 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 29, 2000 (11:13) * 1 lines
That one takes a while to load. All the time out means is that it took longer for the URL to respond to the request to download than your browser allowed. If you poke around inside of the parameters under which your browser runs, you can change that. But, perhaps it was busy. It is very good and worth trying again!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 162 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 29, 2000 (11:14) * 1 lines
Aha - you are using IE rather than Netscape. That might make a difference, too.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 163 of 1406: anne hale (ommin) * Mon, May 29, 2000 (23:27) * 1 lines
Got it up on my husbands new computer - amazing programme.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 164 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 29, 2000 (23:56) * 2 lines
You will love having it online. Just watch it when all other things get boring.
Love the little icons, too!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 165 of 1406: anne hale (ommin) * Thu, Jun 1, 2000 (04:42) * 1 lines
yep did all that but messed up his sound card with the sounds of the umiverse!! Wonderful though all the same.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 166 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 1, 2000 (12:53) * 1 lines
Hope it is not irreversible.......they were amazing sounds!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 167 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 2, 2000 (13:18) * 14 lines
Sun Dog
A "sun dog" is a bright spot in the sky that is always at
the same height above the horizon as the sun, but 22
degrees to its left or right. The effect is caused by
refraction of the sun's rays by ice crystals in the
atmosphere, resulting in a second image of the sun reaching
your eyes. (Just as if you hold up a glass of water and
look at an object in the room both directly and through the
water, you will see two images of it.)
Click here to find a nice photograph of this "mock sun" (or parhelion) phenomenon.
http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/lb_images/historic/nws/wea00148.htm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 168 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jun 4, 2000 (15:38) * 5 lines
Q: How many cubic meters of dirt are in a hole 6 meters
long, 2 meters wide, and one meter deep?
A: None... it's a hole!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 169 of 1406: anne hale (ommin) * Mon, Jun 5, 2000 (06:02) * 1 lines
Really Marcia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 170 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 5, 2000 (13:18) * 12 lines
WHAT CELESTIAL BODY GOT ITS NAME FROM A GREEK WORD MEANING "LONG-HAIRED"?
Comet. The name comes from the Greek kom(t(s, an adjective
formed from the verb koman, "to wear long hair."
(There is also a constellation, Coma Bernices)
WHY DOES THE BRONX ZOO GET BLOOD DAILY FROM A LOCAL SLAUGHTERHOUSE?
To feed its vampire bats, part of its captive breeding
collection of bats - the largest in the world.
(Yuck!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 171 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 5, 2000 (14:00) * 17 lines
Flea Facts
Summer time is coming fast and that means flea season. Now
is the time to "know thy enemy" and prepare for battle.
Here are some flea facts to prepare you for the skirmish.
There are 2,400 varieties of fleas, including dog fleas
(Ctenocephalides Canis).
A flea can jump 150 times its own length. This is
equivalent to an adult human leaping over the Statue of Liberty.
A jumping flea accelerates 50 times faster than the space shuttle!
Want to live without fleas? Consider moving to the mountains. Fleas do not live above 500 feet. Fleas thrive in a warm humid environment--about 65 to 80 degrees
Fahrenheit and about 70% humidity.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 172 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Mon, Jun 5, 2000 (15:54) * 1 lines
I really need to know that *grin*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 173 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Jun 5, 2000 (16:24) * 1 lines
Fun Fact: The Earth has a midriff bulge. Due to rotation the Earth is slightly flattened on each of its poles. As a result the circumfrence of the Earth is approximately 26 miles more than the measurement longatudinally around the poles.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 174 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 5, 2000 (17:27) * 3 lines
Yup! We are thus an Oblate Spheroid as astronomers like to call it.
Maggie - it made me itch just posting that data on the fleas.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 175 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Jun 5, 2000 (17:57) * 1 lines
I hope the self-imposed small tigress (red tabby) is holding up well against flea infestation.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 176 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 5, 2000 (18:22) * 1 lines
She got a pretty white collar to wear and she is still giving us a wide berth and staring daggers at us. But, I am tired of killing of her fleas on me! Maybe I should get a tastful one for my own...~
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 177 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Jun 5, 2000 (18:43) * 1 lines
Perhaps one with pearls and alexandrites?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 178 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 5, 2000 (19:00) * 1 lines
There you go! Make that Moonstones and alexandrites and you have a deal! Pearls are too fragile for every day flea collars but lovely for formal occasions. You laugh, but the hippie children - some old enough to get social security - buy the most fles soap and "uku combs" Sheesh! Their personal grooming and hygene leaves a great deal to be desired...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 179 of 1406: (sprin5) * Wed, Jun 7, 2000 (10:13) * 1 lines
I need help from a Web/Frontpage wizard in fixing the geo links on our main page at http://www.spring.net (reason, lack of time!). My plea has been issued forth!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 180 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 7, 2000 (14:27) * 1 lines
I hear you but not sure how to do it... Perhaps cfadm will see your plea in here. I;ll try to track down Ann if all else fails. Other than hiding at the bottom of the page in the wrong table (did you want it in the center?) it is lovely and the links work. I am all smiles to have it there, especially now that there are some people now on board who Really know what they are talking about!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 181 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 7, 2000 (18:18) * 18 lines
This is important.....Please read!
How To Build A Fire Pit
The wilderness is no place to build a fire pit, but if you
want to build one at home here's how.
-First, dig a hole in the ground where you want the fire
pit. Size the hole depending on the size of the fire pit
you want. For most fire pits, a hole one foot deep and
three feet in diameter will suffice.
-Next, line the bottom and sides of the hole with flat
rocks. The rock-lined pit provides an excellent surface for
shoveling out ashes, will support the logs better, and
helps the fire burn hotter.
-Finally, place larger rocks in a ring around the top of the hole.
One final note: Never use rocks from rivers and lakes. They
have absorbed water and can explode when heated.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 182 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 7, 2000 (18:26) * 17 lines
IN THE LATE 1920'S, WHO ARRANGED 200 GOLF BALLS IN NEAT ROWS IN THE HOLLOW OF A FALLEN TREE AT A PUBLIC GOLF COURSE IN WINNIPEG, CANADA?
A gopher, in the mistaken belief that they were eggs and
would make appetizing wintertime eating.
WHY DID LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICIALS SPRAY-PAINT
108 PINK PLASTIC FLAMINGOS WHITE AND PLACE THEM IN GROUPS AROUND MARSHES IN THE EVERGLADES?
To attract snowy egrets, white ibis and wood storks. The
plastic flamingos were much cheaper than the white egret decoys.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF MEN ARE LEFT-HANDED? HOW ABOUT WOMEN?
10 percent of men; 8 percent of women.
in parting...
Wouldn't it be nice if the wattage of a car stereo could
not exceed the IQ of the driver?
--unknown
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 183 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 8, 2000 (14:01) * 21 lines
We have them in Hawaii and they are called Tarantula Hawks though the name is usually reserved for the much larger cousins in the Southwest of North America.
They sting and incapacitate a "cane" (wolf) spider here and drag it somewhere safe to raise her baby. I have watched this industry many times and I am most impressed. She always rises in the air and does a circle for polarization location then off she goes to where her prey is then drags it all the way back to the hole she has dug. Absolutley amazing!
Sphex Wasp
The Sphex wasp has an egg laying ritual that has become a
famous example of how absolutely rigid, instinctive
behavior can appear quite intelligent. The female Sphex
digs a burrow, stuns a caterpillar, drags it to the edge of
her burrow, goes in a for a final check, drags the
caterpillar in, then lays her eggs next to it. On the face
of it, this looks like quite a well-thought out,
intelligent sequence. But if you move the caterpillar a few
inches away, when she comes back out from the inspection,
she will drag it close again, and repeat the whole process
You can move the caterpillar 40 times, and it will never
occur to her to just drag it straight in and skip the
re-inspection. This is a useful reminder that you can't
always attribute human-style motivations to seemingly
intelligent behavior.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 184 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 8, 2000 (17:17) * 10 lines
This has nothing to do with Geo and everything to do with me. Play bagpipes and I will follow you anywhere :
HOW MANY PIPES ARE THERE IN A TYPICAL SET OF SCOTTISH BAGPIPES?
Five: the intake pipe, a valved tube connecting the bag to
the player's mouth; the chanter, a pipe fitted with a
double reed and pierced with eight sounding holes, used to
play the melody; and three drones, pipes fitted with single
reeds that provide the background.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 185 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 8, 2000 (17:18) * 5 lines
HOW MANY POINTERS WERE THERE ON THE FIRST CLOCKS WITH HANDS - MADE IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY?
Only one - to tell the hour. Minute and second hands were
added in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 186 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (20:31) * 7 lines
WHAT IS VOG?
A Hawaiian cousin of smog - it's a fog caused when sulfuric
volcanic fumes mix with oxygen.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 187 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 12, 2000 (20:01) * 16 lines
HOW DID MASSACHUSETTS SEA CAPTAIN JOSHUA SLOCUM - THE FIRST MAN TO SAIL SOLO AROUND THE WORLD - FIGHT OFF PIRATES ATTACKING HIS SLOOP?
He turned away the barefoot pirates by spreading carpet
tacks on the deck of his boat. Slocum completed his historic
46,000-mile, 38 month voyage in 1898.
WHAT WAS USED TO ERASE LEAD PENCIL MARKS BEFORE RUBBER CAME INTO USE?
Pieces of bread.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST LIVING CREATURE EVER EJECTED FROM A SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT?
A bear, in 1962. It was parachuted from 35,000 feet to a
safe landing on earth.
WHAT REASON DID YALE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE STUDENT EDMUND D. LOONEY GIVE WHEN HE SOUGHT PERMISSION IN 1956 TO CHANGE HIS NAME?
He claimed the name Looney would interfere with the practice
of his chosen profession - psychiatry.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 188 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 13, 2000 (16:29) * 12 lines
WHAT PIECE OF CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT IS NAMED AFTER AN EARLY SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH HANGMAN?
The derrick, which is named for Thomas Derrick - who carried
out more than 3,000 executions during his career at Tyburn,
near what is now the Marble Arch in London.
IN 1964, A CAPSIZED FREIGHTER WAS REFLOATED IN KUWAIT BY FILLING ITS HULL WITH POLYSTYRENE BALLS. WHERE DID THIS IDEA ORIGINATE?
In a 1949 Donald Duck comic, in which Donald and his nephews
raised a yacht using ping pong balls.
WHAT WAS THE SYMBOLISM BEHIND FLYING A FLAG AT HALF-MAST AS A SIGN OF MOURNING WHEN THE CUSTOM WAS FIRST INTRODUCED AT SEA IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY?
The top of the mast was left empty for the invisible flag of death.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 189 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 13, 2000 (17:37) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 190 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 13, 2000 (17:40) * 34 lines
Light pulses flout sacrosanct speed limit
Week of June 10, 2000; Vol. 157, No. 24
P. Weiss
Five years ago, a wave of discontent swept away the
55-mile-per-hour U.S. speed limit. Nowadays, some physicists
are taking a hard look at the 670-million-miles-per-hour speed
limit of light in a vacuum, or c.
Albert Einstein posted this limit in his 1905 theory of special
relativity. Although popular lore and some physics textbooks
still contend that nothing races faster than c, experiments going
back decades have repeatedly shown that light can beat that
speed under certain conditions.
A few scientists argue that those experiments hint that Einstein
was wrong. Two new experiments reveal dramatic additional
evidence of superluminal velocity but make no clear case for
repealing Einstein's law, scientists say.
In one study, conducted in Italy, scientists propagated
superluminal microwaves through air by bouncing them off a
mirror. In the other, led by a New Jersey researcher, a laser
pulse approaching a gas-filled cell's entry window materialized
at the cell's exit glass before even reaching the cell.
Although superluminal phenomena might someday help speed
up computers—an avenue being explored by Raymond Y.
Chiao of the University of California, Berkeley—the main
excitement around these experiments stems from basic
physics implications.
More.....http://www.sciencenews.org/20000610/fob7.asp
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 191 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 13, 2000 (17:42) * 71 lines
Science News Week of June 10, 2000; Vol. 157, No. 24
Tsunami! At Lake Tahoe?
Surprised tourists could catch the ultimate wave
By K. Brown
Postcards from Lake Tahoe all
flaunt a peaceful, brilliant-blue
stretch of mountain water. But
geologists have been snapping
a very different picture of the
lake lately. Far beneath Lake
Tahoe's gentle surface, they say,
several hidden earthquake faults
snake across the lake's flat
bottom. These faults put the lake
at a bizarre risk for an inland
body of water.
If the researchers are right, Lake Tahoe tourists could one day
feel the ground tremble and, just minutes later, face a tsunami.
Roiling waves of water would crest to 10 meters at the shore
and crisscross the lake for hours.
Tsunamis typically emerge in oceans, usually after a quake
drops or lifts part of the seafloor. Undersea landslides—alone
or following a quake—can also trigger these giant waves. In
1998, for instance, a tsunami devastated Papua New Guinea,
sweeping away more than 2,000 people living on the country's
northern coast (SN: 8/1/98, p. 69). And in the past decade,
tsunamis have lashed the coasts of Japan, Nicaragua, and
Indonesia, as well. But Lake Tahoe?
While it may seem improbable, Lake Tahoe holds just the right
blend of ingredients to brew a tsunami. For one thing, it has
plenty of water. As the world's 10th-largest lake, Lake Tahoe
stretches 35 kilometers long, 19 km wide, and, in some spots,
500 m deep. What's more, the lake sits smack in the middle of
earthquake country, nestled in a fault-riddled basin that
straddles California and Nevada. Dozens of minor or
moderate quakes erupt along faults in the region every week,
and the Lake Tahoe area is no exception. All it would take,
scientists say, is a strong quake directly beneath the lake to
send the waters spewing, tsunami-style.
To get a better grip on Lake Tahoe's tsunami potential,
University of Nevada, Reno geologists have been modeling
different quake scenarios. According to their calculations, if a
magnitude 7 quake struck either of two major faults under the
lake, the bottom could open like a trapdoor, with a chunk of it
suddenly dropping as much as 4 m. Just behind it would fall a
huge, sinking slosh of water—generating a giant wave that
would reach the surface, gather strength, and come barreling
to shore as a tsunami.
And that's just the beginning. The scientists think the tsunami,
in turn, would create so-called seiche waves, mountainous
waves that lurch from shore to shore for hours on end. "Think of
the lake like a pan full of water. When you knock one end way
down, the water surges and then sloshes back and forth for
some time," says Gene A. Ichinose, a geophysics graduate
student at Nevada-Reno and lead author of the group's study,
which appeared in the April 15 Geophysical Research
Letters. As in a jostled pan of water, some waves would likely
splash past their usual borders—right into the homes and
hotels that dot the Lake Tahoe shoreline.
As Ichinose puts it, "If you feel the earth shaking for 5 or 10
seconds, get to high ground."
Inland tsunamis are extremely rare. Last year, geologist Jody
More....http://www.sciencenews.org/20000610/bob1.asp
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 192 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (13:48) * 20 lines
Parabolic Focus
Have you ever wondered why satellite dishes have the shape
they do? That shape is a part of a paraboloid, which is
what results when you rotate a parabola around its axis. A
parabola is the set of points that are equidistant from a
fixed line (the directrix) and a central point (the focus).
The interesting property of a paraboloid is that if a set
of parallel waves (such as you get from a distant
transmitter) comes into it, the waves will all be reflected
to the focus. So a satellite dish is designed with a
receiver at the focus point to collect the signal that
comes into the area of the whole dish. This amplification
makes it possible to accurately register a weak signal.
This same highly directional amplification concept is used
in the design of the parabolic microphones that you see in
use during sporting events, ensuring that high quality
audio can be gotten from the players on the field even in
the midst of the immense volume of the crowd.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 193 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (19:43) * 8 lines
Holy Cow, That's A Big Horse!
A pure-bred Irish draught horse owned by Joanna Shires of
England may hit a record for size. The six-year-old horse
is 19 hands high (six foot, four inches tall), although
most horses of that breed are under 17.2 hands high. Shires
says the good-tempered horse is still growing!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 194 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (16:25) * 9 lines
IN ASTRONOMY, WHAT IS A WHITE DWARF?
The dense, burned-out remains of a star; a stellar corpse.
THE HIGHEST SURFACE WIND SPEED EVER RECORDED WAS AT MOUNT WASHINGTON,
NEW HAMPSHIRE, ON APRIL 24, 1934. WHAT WAS IT?
It was 231 miles per hour. (Winds become hurricane force when
they reach 74 miles per hour.)
(I was up there in a dead calm. Very disappointing!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 195 of 1406: (sprin5) * Fri, Jun 16, 2000 (00:37) * 1 lines
231 miles an hour!!! Incredible.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 196 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 16, 2000 (00:49) * 1 lines
In the winter that wind can freeze you literally in moments. You can see why I was so disappointed by the dead calm. They test jet engines up there.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 197 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 19, 2000 (17:28) * 25 lines
- The female king crab incubates as many as 400,000 young for 11 months
in a brood pouch under her abdomen.
- Because of their extreme elasticity, the human lungs are 100 times
easier to blow up than a child’s toy balloon.
- From the 1820s to 1960s, the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania,
was owned by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co., making it the only
privately owned river in the United States.
- The Roman historian Pliny was so impressed by garlic and its
perceived powers, he listed no less than 61 medicinal uses for the pungent
bulb. Among them was that of warding off vampires, restoring hair loss,
and preventing warts.
- The hottest day ever in Canada was July 5, 1937 when the mercury
soared to 113 Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) in Midale and Yellowgrass,
Saskatchewan. But that's downright chilly compared to the United States
where the temperature hit 135 (56.7 Celsius) degrees Fahrenheit on July
10, 1913 at Death Valley, California, and Al'azizyah, Libya, where
thermometers reached 137 F (58 C) on September 13, 1922.
- The Bactrian camel is the only mammal on Earth that can survive on
salt water.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 198 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 20, 2000 (00:17) * 17 lines
Why do people get goose bumps?
Goose bumps are a carryover from the days when humans' bodies
were covered with fur. They are caused by the contraction of
tiny muscles at the base of each strand of your body hair, and
when those muscles contract they cause the hair to puff up. This
action served two purposes:
1. It created an insulating layer of air next to the skin that
helped keep a body warm in cold weather. This is why you get
goose bumps whenever you are cold.
2. It gave your furry ancestors (of course, my ancestors weren't
furry) a larger and more menacing appearance in the face of
danger; this is why you get goose bumps when you are scared or
frightened.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 199 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 20, 2000 (17:40) * 10 lines
Why are portholes (windows) on a ship round?
The constant up and down motion of a ship places a lot of strain
and stress on a ship's outer covering, or skin. If portholes
were designed at angles, the stress would tend to concentrate at
those points and perhaps crack the skin (probably not a good
thing). With portholes being round, this stress is evenly
distributed around the holes, making it less likely for these
cracks to occur.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 200 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 21, 2000 (17:40) * 9 lines
WHERE AND WHEN WAS THE GREATEST EARTHQUAKE IN AMERICAN HISTORY?
It took place in Missouri on December 16, 1811, at about
2:00 p.m. It is estimated the quake would have measured
8.7 on the Richter scale, compared with only 8.3 for the 1906
San Francisco earthquake. However, the Missouri area was
sparsely populated in 1811, so the San Francisco quake took
more lives and damages more property.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 201 of 1406: (sprin5) * Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (08:39) * 1 lines
Where in Missouri?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 202 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (13:08) * 1 lines
The New Madrid fault.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 203 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (13:24) * 1 lines
We discussed this last year in the Seismology topic, as I recall. It actually changed the course of Mississippi River!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 204 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (13:26) * 9 lines
Why do dogs sometimes turn around several times before taking a nap?
Domesticated dogs, being descendants of wild dogs, still retain
some of a wild dog's instincts. Wild dogs typically live in the
forest or in the brush, and often have to trample down grass and
weeds to make a comforatable place to lie down. They do this by
walking around and around in tight circles. It is speculated
remnants of this instinct account for a domesticated dog's
tendency to turn around a few times before taking a nap.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 205 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 23, 2000 (17:23) * 8 lines
WHERE AND WHEN WAS THE FIRST RECORDED BASEBALL GAME?
On June 19, 1846, at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey,
the New York Club beat the Knickerbockers, 23-1. On that
date, another baseball tradition began: The New York Club
pitcher, James Whyte Davis, was fines 6 cents for swearing
at the umpire.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 206 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 26, 2000 (17:44) * 13 lines
WHAT ARE THE HIGHEST AND LOWEST ELEVATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES?
The highest elevation is Mount McKinley, Alaska, at 20,320
feet. The lowest is Death Valley, California, at 282 feet
below sea level. The average elevation of the United States
is 2,500 feet.
IF THE FEMALE SIDE OF A FAMILY IS CALLED THE DISTAFF SIDE, WHAT IS THE MALE SIDE?
The spear side. A distaff was a stick with a cleft end, used
to hold the flax or wool from which a woman spun thread. The
distaff was considered a woman's tool, while the spear was
a man's. Both ways of describing genealogy are now rarely used.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 207 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 26, 2000 (23:38) * 20 lines
Why do geese fly in a "V" formation?
I know that answer because I talked with some geese one day - as
they were chasing and hissing at me in my Dad's backyard.
Seriously, who knows, but there are two theories as to why they
do it.
The first theory speculates the "V" formation allows each bird to
take maximum advantage of disturbances in the air created by the
flap of the bird in front. These disturbances are generated in
an inverted "V" pattern very similar to the formation flown by
the geese.
The second theory speculates because the bird's eyes are located
on the sides of their heads, the "V" formation provides each bird
with the best simultaneous view of the flock leader and the
direction of the group's flight.
You can decide for yourself or make up your own theory.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 208 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Jun 27, 2000 (16:38) * 1 lines
Have you ever tried to ask the local geese? Are they called "Nene"?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 209 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 28, 2000 (22:45) * 1 lines
Never asked the Nene, but I sneaked them an oatmeal cookie (very much disapproved by both me and the park service.) They do not fly far enough (do not migrate) to fly in a V, but they are always in pairs.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 210 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 30, 2000 (13:54) * 18 lines
HOW MANY TYPES OF CLOUDS ARE THERE?
There are 10: cirrus, cirrocumulus, cirrostratus,
altocumulus, altostratus, nimbostratus, stratocumulus,
stratus, cumulus, cumulonimbus. Each of these clouds has a
different shape and internal structure.
HOW FAST IS THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT?
The plates (solid segments of the earth's crust and upper
mantle) that consist mostly of continents move at an average
speed of about 2 centimeters per year. Europe and North
America are moving apart at about this speed. The plates that
are mostly under the oceans move faster, at an average speed
of about 10 centimeters per year. It has been 200 million
years since the original supercontinent, Pangaea, broke up
into the continents we know today.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 211 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 5, 2000 (14:59) * 9 lines
IF THE MOON PASSES BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE SUN EVERY MONTH, WHY DOESN'T IT ECLIPSE THE SUN?
The orbit of the moon around the earth is tilted at an angle
of about 6 degrees from the plane of the earth's orbit
around the sun. As a result, the moon is usually above or
below the line between the earth and the sun - except on
certain predictable occasions.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 212 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 7, 2000 (23:41) * 8 lines
Why are ships referred to as "she?"
Many moons ago - that means a long time ago, new sailing ships
were dedicated to a goddess who allegedly protected the ship.
This goddess would allegedly guide the ship safely to its
destination. An image of the goddess was typically carved on the
ship's bow, and this carved image led to the ships being referred
to as "she."
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 213 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 7, 2000 (23:42) * 9 lines
Why are stop signs red?
While the color yellow is the most visible color in the color
spectrum, the color red is the most exciting. The color red
elevates the blood pressure, increases a person's pulse rate, and
heightens the nervous system and tension. This makes the color
red the most likely to attract human attention, which is what a
person would want in a stop sign.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 214 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sun, Jul 9, 2000 (12:44) * 1 lines
interesting!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 215 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jul 9, 2000 (13:38) * 1 lines
I thought so, and could not think of anyplace else for these little bits of information...so they go here. Were we not talking about this just the other day, Wolfie??
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 216 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (00:49) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 217 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (01:00) * 10 lines
Happy First Birthday, Geo
My thoughts and thanks to the man to was so sure I could handle this conference when I was so sure I could not. With infinite patience he held my hand and corrected my errors as I made them. Geo would not have existed without him. I hope he is as happy with my efforts and results as I am. It has been quite a year!
Thanks, also, to those who lurk and comment to me privately. I appreciate your thoughts and interest. To those who actually login and participate, my undying
gratitude. Without you this would have been the most boring monologue in cyber space. Please continue to post - I will try to keep it interesting!
MAHALO NUI LOA
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 218 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (01:06) * 1 lines
Why did I put this on topic 1? It was the first thing I ever created all by myself here. What a feeling!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 219 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (17:27) * 1 lines
this is great!!!!!!! am so proud of you! *HUGS*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 220 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (17:43) * 1 lines
Thanks, Wolfie!!! *Big Warm and Fuzzy Hugs*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 221 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (18:08) * 4 lines
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY GEO!
Thank you Marcia for all the work you do. Geo looks wonderful.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 222 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (19:32) * 1 lines
Thanks Cheryl - you helped too! Many thanks for continuing to find it interesting. It has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done outside of raising an incredible son. In this case the birthing pains lasted longer with Geo, but it was entirely worth it!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 223 of 1406: Ginny (vibrown) * Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (23:34) * 3 lines
Happy First Birthday Geo!! Time flies, eh?
Congratulations, Marcia! Thanks for creating such an interesting conference!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 224 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (23:56) * 2 lines
Wow!!! Thanks Ginny! I consider that high praise, indeed. I know you know about these things and can evaluate what I am doing. Humble gratitude to you!
Other than David, Geo has given me the greatest sense of satisfaction. The first 6 months were the hardest. I had to block and tackle some of the posters in the early days...and there are still some who think Geo is forbiddingly intellectual. Riiiiiiight!!! Oh well...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 225 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (00:01) * 1 lines
Hey, I shoulda thrown a baby luau like they do here... Virtual Victuals could do the catering. Or the local cyber cafe, Bytes and Bites... Probably just as well I didn't. Poi in the keyboard is something you don't want to contemplate!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 226 of 1406: Ginny (vibrown) * Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (00:32) * 6 lines
Poi in the keyboard? Ech!! :-) Bad enough when people spill coffee on keyboards! (And there's a few crumbs in my keyboard at work, I'm sure...)
I've learned a lot by reading Geo, as well as having a lot of laughs. I was always into astronomy and cosmology, but I have a lot to learn about geology. I didn't know anything about volcanos before I met you and David. (And as far as web pages, I only know basic HTML...you've seen my web page!)
Anyway, there's always something new to learn...that's what makes life interesting!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 227 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (12:40) * 2 lines
Got that right, Ginny! Hope you are watching the Tall Ships Parade in Boston
today as I am (The History Channel is carrying it alive) - hoow glorious the day and how magestic the ships! I have a spill guard vinyl cover on my keys to keep them clean inbetween. It is very easy to become accustomed to, and saves s lot of grief! But poi? Yeesh!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 228 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (13:49) * 8 lines
3/4 of the Earth's surface is water....and only 1/4 is land....
The Good Lord's intentions were very clear. A man's time should be
divided accordingly.
3/4 for fishing
1/4 for work
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 229 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (15:26) * 1 lines
What color exactly is poi? Heck, what exactly is poi?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 230 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (20:11) * 1 lines
Poi is a leaden greyish purple translucent glutinous starchy substance obtained by cooking the taro root - a corm - then pounding it into a pasty consistency adding water and straining out the fibrous masses as you go. Eventually a uniform consistency is obtained and kept......more next posting
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 231 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (20:47) * 1 lines
kept twor three days unrefrigerated as it gets more tart and fruity and totally delicious. Fresh is almost tasteless. Anyone hungry?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 232 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Jul 12, 2000 (19:33) * 1 lines
no, grossed out, yes. sounds really gross, marcia, i'm sorry. what do you do with it once you pound the pulp out of it?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 233 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 12, 2000 (20:52) * 2 lines
you strain it through cheese cloth and put it in something like a bowl and gradually thin it with water
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 234 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 12, 2000 (20:54) * 2 lines
wolfie - it is soo good when it is ripe and tangy with little white mold on it which you beat into the mix and eat with Laulau and lomilomi salmon! So Ono!
(I think it is an acquired taste.)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 235 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 12, 2000 (21:06) * 1 lines
Cheryl was so grossed out she did not even post a comment. That'll teach you to ask about Hawaiian delicacies. How about raw crab or sea urchin???
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 236 of 1406: Ginny (vibrown) * Thu, Jul 13, 2000 (00:16) * 2 lines
It does sound rather like an acquired taste, but I'd probably try it, as long as it doesn't look like ocra. It certainly wouldn't be the strangest thing I've ever tried!! I draw the line at raw fish or meat, though.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 237 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (00:21) * 1 lines
Raw fish is wonderful.....funny you should ask... I'm with you on the okra.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 238 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (00:30) * 1 lines
Ginny, when you next visit (iki will be here in October!) I will make sure you get the best tasting poi available and let you report back on the state of the staple.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 239 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Jul 15, 2000 (11:46) * 3 lines
I think I've recovered. Actually, the mold isn't all that gross when you think about it. I eat cheese, which is basically milk which has gone bad. People pay a lot of money for cheeses such as Roquefort and Stilton, which are full of mold. Does the poi start to ferment, which is what gives it the fruity quality? Anyway, I thought an Hawaiian delicacy was Spam.
The thought of raw sea urchin is gross, however. Raw sea urchin is for sea otters. Once at a Japanese restaurant I got a whiff of someone else's sea urchin soup. In a word, disgusting. It smelled as though it should have been in the tampon box in the ladies' room. I'm sorry, but that is the most apt desription for the smell.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 240 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 15, 2000 (18:24) * 5 lines
Yes......gotcha on the sea urchin..do not indulge in any bottom feeders raw.
Penecillin is mold, also. It is pure white mold which gives poi its fruity flavor.
Ever think of wine? Noble Rot, they call it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 241 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sun, Jul 16, 2000 (15:12) * 1 lines
Noble Rot. Yes, the great sweet wines of Sauternes and the Rhine owe their characteristics and longevity to it. Penecillin is also found in the famous ewe's milk cheese Roquefort.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 242 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jul 16, 2000 (16:15) * 1 lines
I wonder if wine and cheese parties are ever gonna be the same for our readers
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 243 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Jul 17, 2000 (16:36) * 1 lines
Maybe not. Then again, people who read the Geo conference are tough. They can take it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 244 of 1406: (sprin5) * Mon, Jul 17, 2000 (18:40) * 1 lines
Rough, tough creampuffs!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 245 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 17, 2000 (21:06) * 3 lines
Wow!! Is that good or not???
Yup, Geologist know how to get down and dirty when necessary...and how to remain ladies at all times (or most all time, anyway)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 246 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 17, 2000 (23:35) * 6 lines
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE SAHARA DESERT IS COVERED BY SAND?
About 20 percent - the rest is comprised of barren rocks, rocky
plateaus and gravel-covered plains.
WHAT IS THE LOWEST BODY OF WATER ON THE EARTH?
The Dead Sea. At its lowest point, it's 1,315 feet below sea level.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 247 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Jul 18, 2000 (18:33) * 3 lines
I love the phrase "rough, tough creampuffs".
Did you know it is impossible to get sunburn at the level of the Dead Sea? It is. It has something to do with the density of the athmosphere, I think.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 248 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Jul 18, 2000 (18:39) * 1 lines
I heard something about the Chandler Wobble today. It seems that as the Earth rotates, it also wobbles on its axis. If you could insert a large rod into the North Pole, you'd notice the rod making a circle of 20 miles in diameter. The Chandler Wobble was first noticed in 1891 and since then no one is quite sure why the Earth does this. There is now a new theory claiming the wobble is due to the displacement of vast amounts of water traveling through the world's oceans, such as currents and tides. It seems large amounts of seawater are being pounded into the Earth's crust, which in turn causes the Earth to wobble as it rotates.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 249 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Jul 18, 2000 (18:39) * 3 lines
I love the phrase "rough, tough creampuffs".
Did you know it is impossible to get sunburn at the level of the Dead Sea? It is. It has something to do with the density of the athmosphere, I think.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 250 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 18, 2000 (18:45) * 1 lines
Hmmmmmm.....interesting theory!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 251 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 22, 2000 (12:38) * 1 lines
Greetings from where the rocks are other than igneous
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 252 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Jul 22, 2000 (13:01) * 3 lines
Are you in California now?
Say hello to the sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. If they answer -- run like hell.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 253 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 22, 2000 (19:22) * 1 lines
Yes, I am midst the alien flora and fauna of the State of California - which is an altered state in all meanings of the word... Hoping the rocks don't talk to me, and I promise to run for cover if they do.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 254 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Jul 24, 2000 (18:43) * 1 lines
California is reputed to be an alternate reality. They rocks haven't started speaking yet, have they?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 255 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 26, 2000 (15:30) * 6 lines
Funny you should ask. I have a sack of volcanic rocks from Long Valley Caldera
whihc speak volumes (but you gotta buy the book to understand it.)
Great whopping hunks of Obsidian and other volcanic origin as well as
a great piece of Granite from the current peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The people, however, as still very far out and seem to be on another planet.
Definitely "Beam me up, Scotty" time here!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 256 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jul 27, 2000 (18:08) * 12 lines
From Frank in Pennsylvania
There has been some weird news in PA lately. In one of the
towns that used to be a coal-mining community a hole opened
in the middle of a downtown street. Its surface dimensions were
about the size of a car, but the bottom didn't show.
They dumped 300 tons of rock down the hole, but the rocks all
disappeared! Last I heard, they were drilling exploratory holes
all around the area to try to find out what is (and isn't) down there.
Of course they assume that there was some sort of settling or
cave-in of an old mine under the town.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 257 of 1406: (sprin5) * Fri, Jul 28, 2000 (04:34) * 1 lines
I've heard of bottomless pits.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 258 of 1406: anne hale (ommin) * Sat, Jul 29, 2000 (02:23) * 1 lines
Read a book once where rocks were swallowed up in a bottomless pit. I mean literally swallowed - sounds like something the same here! How strange.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 259 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sat, Jul 29, 2000 (08:15) * 1 lines
are there any in the US?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 260 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Jul 29, 2000 (12:17) * 3 lines
My Mom used to live in a renovated old house over a coal mine. Despite the renovation work the kitchen floor slanted, if you spilled anything you'd have to run to catch it. Mom has since moved. As far as I know, the house is still standing in one piece.
Still, the thought of something that deep under the town is frigtening.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 261 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 29, 2000 (23:05) * 1 lines
There are reports (Art Bell, if you believe his stuff)of bottomless pits in Oregon.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 262 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 1, 2000 (20:05) * 1 lines
All you geophiles out there, please note that my AOL IM login name is now changed to Kilauea83A. Please add me to your list just in case you need to get in touch with me. When I transferred the information to this new big computer I managed to forget the old login password. Alas, I had to change it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 263 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 9, 2000 (14:28) * 9 lines
Dirty snow melts faster than white snow because it is darker and
absorbs mroe heat.
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
Signals on your telphone travel 100,000 miles per second.
An elephant is not afraid of a mouse.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 264 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Aug 9, 2000 (17:22) * 1 lines
that peanuts thing could explain spontaneous human combustion!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 265 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 10, 2000 (13:39) * 6 lines
The honey bee is the only bee that dies after stinging.
The bat is the only mammal that can fly.
Sharks are the only fish that can blink both eyes.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 266 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 10, 2000 (13:41) * 1 lines
*lol* Wolfie, what peanuts do to my son is unmentionable and objectionable in asocial setting. Pass the Beano!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 267 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Aug 12, 2000 (17:54) * 10 lines
Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake entirely in the USA.
Nepal is the only country in the world which does not have a
rectangular flag - it has two triangular pennants, one on top of
the other.
The great horned owl is the only animal that will eat a skunk.
The kiwi is the only bird that has nostrils at the end of its bill.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 268 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Aug 12, 2000 (17:57) * 19 lines
WHAT IS A QUASAR?
It is another name for a quasi-stellar object. It looks
like a star but emits as much radiation as an entire galaxy,
with a volume far smaller than that of our Milky Way galaxy.
No one knows what quasar is; recent evidence suggests it
might be a galaxy with a big black hole at the center.
WHAT MAKES LAVA LAMPS WORK?
The colored stuff is an oil-based mixture that gets more
liquidy as the water around it warms up; it moves because
of convection currents. Oil and water do not mix, but the
homogenize, which is why you should never shake a lava lamp.
Lava lites were invented by Craven Walker in England and
presented in 1965. They were marketed in America by Adolf
Wertheimer.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 269 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Mon, Aug 21, 2000 (04:48) * 4 lines
Lava lites were invented by Craven Walker in England and
presented in 1965.
Posted presumably to commemorate the death of Edward Craven Walker last week aged 82.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 270 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Aug 21, 2000 (11:58) * 2 lines
Thanks for that update, Mark. I had no idea, and if they were not still so expensive for a night light, I would have added to his bank account long ago!
We Have a real Lava Lamp here but it is atop a mountain and gets out of control from time to time. Better where it is, I think! How is cricket season going??
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 271 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Tue, Aug 22, 2000 (09:18) * 3 lines
Fine, thank you. About a month left.
Keep posting your unusual facts, Marcia. Always well worth a read.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 272 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 22, 2000 (13:49) * 2 lines
Thanks, Mark. I still smile when I think of the Saga of the Cricket Ball...
Did you get snowed on? Imagine snow in England (4-6") in August...!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 273 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 22, 2000 (15:40) * 19 lines
More trivial stuff to make your day:
Your brain is aproximately 80% water.
Your feet perspire approximately one-half of a pint of water per
day. Here in Houston my feet perspire a whole pint, but that's
more information than you wanted to know beside it being damned
hot here in Houston.
William Moulton Marston was the creator of Wonder Woman. He also
invented the polygraph.
Flamingos can only eat when their heads are upside down.
Abraham Lincoln died in a bed slept in by his assassin, John
Wilkes Booth.
Chinese celebrate their birthdays only once every ten years.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 274 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Aug 22, 2000 (17:59) * 1 lines
Wow, I must really be out of the loop. Are you in Houston, Marcia? If you are, the place has a rotten climate, doesn't it? Okay, that's my opinion.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 275 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 22, 2000 (21:20) * 1 lines
Nope, still in Hilo, Hawaii with my Volcano, Kilauea. Honey, when you wander out of the loop I wil personally pull you back in... Will you do the same for me? I do wander sometimes!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 276 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 22, 2000 (21:26) * 1 lines
Oh, I am pseting those comments from someone else. My personal feet do not do that...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 277 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 23, 2000 (15:18) * 11 lines
A toad has no teeth.
There are more chickens than people in the world.
Plymouth Rock weighs seven tons.
Eli Whitney made more money as a gun manufacturer than he did
form the cotton gin.
The roller coaster was invented in the 17th century in Russia.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 278 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (00:36) * 20 lines
From the Trivia guy:
There are more sweat glands on the soles of your feet than on any
other part of your body, which is kinda why I mentioned sweaty
feet earlier in this week's trivia.
Speaking of feet, did you know African elephants stay on their
feet for 35 to 40 years?
According to Goodyear, who allegedly spent 10 years researching
this, a person's right shoe will wear out faster than your left
shoe.
An average person takes 18,000 steps per day. In your average
lifetime, you will walk the equivalent of three times around the
world. I'm tired just thinking about it.
George Washington had a size 13 foot. Robert E. Lee had a size
4.5 foot.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 279 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (18:49) * 5 lines
Marcia, you are a wealth of wonderful knowlege. I will pull you back in the loop it you wander out of it, as well.
I think I read somewhere that there are 3 sheep for every person in New Zealand.
Which brings up a story concerning my aunt's and uncle's vacation to New Zealand several years ago. They were sitting in the hotel's bar, having just started up a conversation with another American. This man had just returned from climbing the highest point in New Zealand. He said when he got up there, he found another climber, an Australian, who said to him, "Did you come up here to get away from the sheep, too? The little woolly bastards are everywhere." It sounds like a comedy sketch line, but my aunt and uncle swear this is what the American climber told them.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 280 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:21) * 3 lines
That is Hilarious!!! Thanks for sharing!
I heard the sheep outnumbered us 10 to one in New Zealand.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 281 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:22) * 1 lines
They've been breeding furiously it would seem.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 282 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:27) * 1 lines
It is about the only thing to do in that beautiful country other than browse the ground. Feeling a little sheepish? Visit New Zealand!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 283 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:31) * 1 lines
You might consider sending that slogan to the New Zealand tourist board.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 284 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:34) * 1 lines
Too funny! I wonder how their sense of humor is these days about those sheep. I have heard curious things about human - sheep relations. Perhaps it is best to keep a safe distance from the subject considering this Island occupies a place in the same ocean that EnZed does...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 285 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:36) * 1 lines
Very true.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 286 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 25, 2000 (11:53) * 15 lines
A hummingbird can not stand on its feet as they are not strong
enough to hold them up on a flat surface.
Your feet swell during the day and can become 10 percent bigger
at the end of the day than they were when you woke up this
morning.
City Ordinance #352 in Pacific Grove, California (USA) makes it
illegal, actually a misdemeanor, to kill or threaten to kill a
butterfly.
The most popular name for a male cat is Tiger.
The state flower of Alaska is a forget-me-not.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 287 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 25, 2000 (15:34) * 7 lines
HOW MANY TIMES DOES THE AVERAGE HUMAN HEART BEAT?
About 100,000 -to pump 5 quarts of blood every minute.
WHAT GEM SERVED AS CLEOPATRA'S SIGNET?
The amethyst. She believed it had magical powers.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 288 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 25, 2000 (21:00) * 130 lines
DISCOVERY DISPATCH FOR 8/25/2000
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MAIN FEATURES
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http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=57917&pr=291&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
DISCOVERY HEALTH, MONDAY, "DESERT VIRUS."
Follow the story of the deadly Hantavirus that seemed to come from nowhere to invade southwestern United States in May 1993.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=57917&pr=291&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
TRAVEL CHANNEL, TUESDAY, "KING OF THE PYRAMIDS."
Never heard of King Sneferu? Well, if it weren't for him you may never have heard of that Tut fellow, either.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=57917&pr=291&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
ANIMAL PLANET, WEDNESDAY, "STALKING THE BIG CROCS."
Wildlife adventurer Wayne Crawford takes you down Africa's Shire River for a look at the closest things to dinosaurs you'll ever see.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=57917&pr=291&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
DISCOVERY CHANNEL, THURSDAY, "CASINO!"
Odds are that you'll be fascinated by the hardcore gambling atmosphere of Atlantic City, where the clientele may be blue collar, but the profits rival the biggest in Las Vegas.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=57917&pr=291&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 289 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 25, 2000 (23:20) * 15 lines
The National Safety Council says more Americans choke on
toothpicks than choking on anything else.
"Celluwipes" was the original name of Kleenex during the initial
marketing effort in 1924.
There are 11 points on the Canadian flag.
Montgomery Ward's first catalog was only one sheet of paper. It
was first printed in 1872. I don't believe thery publish the
catalog anymore (are they even still in business?).
Almost half of the bones in your body are in your hands and feet.
Istanbul, Turkey is actually in two continents - Asia and Europe.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 290 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Aug 26, 2000 (21:01) * 16 lines
Tour plane down: Eight people survive the ditching off Hilo
HILO -- Surfers saw it from the beach, and pilots could hear it from the
sky: The Big Island plane suffering engine problems had to ditch the plane
into ocean whitecaps in Hilo Bay.
One person, a passenger, remained missing this morning. But eight people,
including the pilot, survived the crash landing of a Big Island Air twin-engine
Piper Navajo Chieftain at about 5:30 p.m. yesterday.
The survivors were quickly rescued by the combined efforts of a Hilo Fire
Department helicopter and boat. Both vehicles were joined today by a U.S.
Coast Guard helicopter and the cutter Kiska. Navy divers were to join the
search for the missing person this afternoon.
more...http://starbulletin.com/2000/08/26/news/story1.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 291 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Sun, Aug 27, 2000 (04:02) * 1 lines
ooh nasty! Did you see/hear it Marcia?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 292 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Aug 27, 2000 (14:17) * 1 lines
Only on my public utilities Scanner radio. We did not know about it till the fire rescue units were involved. Had I been monitoring the bands as I usually do, I wold have heard the entire thing. As far as I know, at this hour they still have not recovered the missing person.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 293 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Aug 27, 2000 (14:26) * 2 lines
Mt. Etna is erupting. Watch it happen:
http://www-personal.usyd.edu.au/~gerhard/cam_etna.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 294 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Aug 27, 2000 (14:44) * 17 lines
+----------- Bizarre Product Warning Labels -----------+
Batman Costume - Warning: Cape does not enable user to fly.
European Camera - This camera will only work when film is inside.
Liquid Plummer - Warning: Do not reuse the bottle to store beverages.
Toilet Plunger - Caution: Do not use near power lines.
Little Ones Baby Lotion - Keep away from children
Hair Coloring - Do not use as an ice cream topping.
Boot's Children's Cough Medicine - Do not drive a car or run machinery.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 295 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Aug 28, 2000 (00:31) * 3 lines
Bollide in daytime picked up by weather satellites:
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 296 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Aug 28, 2000 (00:43) * 1 lines
That truly belongs in geo 24 so I will post it there later when I post the entire story of that particular image.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 297 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 29, 2000 (23:22) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 298 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 31, 2000 (22:38) * 8 lines
"Instead of giving money to found colleges to promote
learning, why don't they pass a constitutional amendment
prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as
good as the Prohibition one did, why, in five years we
would have the smartest race of people on Earth."
--Will Rogers
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 299 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 31, 2000 (22:40) * 24 lines
"A university is what a college becomes when the
faculty loses interest in students."
--John Ciardi
"I was thrown out of college for cheating on the
metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the
boy next to me."
--Woody Allen
"In the hands of a teenager, a seat belt buckle
is a lethal weapon."
--National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Official on why there are no seatbelts on public
school buses
"Our schools have been scientifically designed to prevent
over-education from happening....The average American
[should be] content with their humble role in life, because
they're not tempted to think about any other role."
--U.S. Commissioner of Education William Harris, 1889
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
--Mark Twain
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 300 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 1, 2000 (23:24) * 146 lines
DISCOVERY DISPATCH FOR 9/1/2000
-----------------------------------------------------------
================
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
================
DIVE INTO A CORAL ADVENTURE
We're live in the Bahamas on one of the world's largest barrier reefs, among scavenger sea worms, brain coral and shell-less nudibranchs. Now, how can you resist that?
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=63492&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
ANIMAL OLYMPICS: YOU'RE THE JUDGE!
Who's the better predator ... the scorpion or the gila monster? Is an archerfish a cooler killer than a croc? Your votes will determine the outcome.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=62020&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF DOWN UNDER
In Australia you can hear the subtle whispers and the overwhelming roars. The sounds heard nowhere else on the planet. Are you ready for a little listen?
Click below to send a FREE greeting with spectacular views of Australia now.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=62033&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=62033&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
ARE YOU PART OF AN ODD COUPLE?
Somehow, neat freaks and slobs seem to end up living together more often that you'd think. Whether you're an Oscar or a Felix, we have some tips on smoothing out the sticky situation.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=63133&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
=============
MAIN FEATURES
=============
HATE & VIOLENCE: WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Are we all destined to be victims sooner or later? Some people don't think so.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=63501&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Test Your Violence I.Q.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=63501&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
How Likely Are You To Be Murdered?
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=63501&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Youth & Violence: See Our Poll Results.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=63501&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
What would drive a child to kill?
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=63501&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
THE DARKEST SIDE OF RICHARD NIXON?
A new biography claims that the public knew only a few of President Nixon's demons. Might drugs and domestic violence be parts of the man's already-tarnished reputation?
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=62060&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
MONSTER OR LEGEND? YOU BE THE JUDGE.
El Chupacabra is a creature that makes Bigfoot look like the Easter Bunny. But although plenty of people claim to have seen him, no one has ever managed to capture him.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=63493&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORY? (WE CAN HELP.)
Know Your History From A-to-Z.
Calamity Jane, Caligula, Charlemagne, Dick Cheney ... and that's just a little bit of the C's. Imagine all you can find about the ancient and recent past.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=63503&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Eavesdrop on a President.
The private Lyndon Johnson was not the staid, fatherly figure who addressed the American public on television. Hear his phone conversations on topics ranging from the JFK assassination to Vietnam.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=63503&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Stonewall's Last Stand.
It was the Battle of Chancellorsville, and few realized that it meant the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=63503&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
SEE EGYPT'S HIDDEN GEMS
Why see this ancient wonderland just like every other tourist? We have the spots that will run a chill up your spine, and spice up your stories for years to come.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=63067&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
TO YOUR HEALTH
Ahhhhh ... Choo! Summer allergies still plaguing you? Check out our allergy zone for tips on combating those pesky allergens.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=63248&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
STILL GOT THOSE FRESHMAN FIFTEEN?
Help someone else avoid them. In doing so, you will help keep off the 11,000 tons of additional weight added to the hips and bellies of the nation's brightest teen-agers every year.
CLICK BELOW
Help someone else avoid them.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=65589&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
ODE TO NFL OPENING DAY (WITH SPECIAL DISCOVERY.COM LINKS)
The fields are lined,
The helmets cleaned,
Opening days
Are made for dreams
The Bengals bungled, this is true,
But that just means they're overdue.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Eagles teams have been unsteady,
But Donovan and Duce are ready.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Who wouldn't want to be a Colt?
In Peyton's place, would you revolt?
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
The Bears will ask or give no favors
As they prove wrong the old nay-Sayers.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
And so Keyshawn's a Buccaneer,
He'll get the ball the whole darned year.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
The Steelers aren't sure who'll throw
Still, Cowher power overflows.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=6&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
The Giants play a "smash-mouth" game,
And so they drafted Mr. Dayne.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=7&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
A Jet's a Jet, that's J-E-T,
Chrebet's Chrebet, and he runs free.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=8&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Patriots wins don't come with ease,
And so they said, "Belichek, please!"
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=9&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Marino's gone from Dolphin land,
What can you say? We loved you, Dan!
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=10&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
The Cardinals ride, make no mistake,
The rifle arm of "Jake the Snake."
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=11&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=12&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Jamal is back to lug the ball,
So might the Falcons win it all?
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=13&c=64414&pr=331&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
The hype, the cheers, you just can't beat it,
And everyone is undefeated
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 301 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Sep 3, 2000 (15:54) * 21 lines
Over 2500 left handed people a year are killed from using
products made for right handed people.
A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off
until it dies from starvation.
The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9000 years
old.
One quarter of the bones in your body, are in your feet.
A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue.
In Tokyo, they sell toupees for dogs.
Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
The poison-arrow frog has enough poison to kill about
2,200 people.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 302 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Sep 3, 2000 (15:55) * 13 lines
------------ Trapped Miners Eat Coal To Survive ------------
Four Chinese miners showed remarkable endurance and ironclad
stomachs by surviving on a diet of coal and leaves when a
landslide trapped them underground for 13 days. 33-year-old
Wang Bo, a former soldier, took control of the situation and
organized his colleagues to save water and start digging
their way out. The four were eventually reduced to eating
coal, but the trick seemed to work, because after seven days
underground, they could hear rescuers digging down. Finally,
on August 24, Wang and his colleagues saw the light of day.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 303 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Sep 4, 2000 (16:02) * 1 lines
A full-grown elephant weighs LESS than the tongue of a Blue Whale...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 304 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Thu, Sep 7, 2000 (03:29) * 1 lines
After all that 'elephant ears' talk in spring ark ....this IS a surprising fact.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 305 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 7, 2000 (13:01) * 1 lines
Never thought of the connection when I posted the above tongue trivia. Hmmm. Gonna have to check with the only Spanish Pachyderm known in my world.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 306 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Tue, Sep 12, 2000 (04:37) * 2 lines
Go to link below for story on blood fossils ....lost heart trying to transfer it in here... sorry, you'll just have to go and look ....
http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/cultures/29.14
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 307 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 12, 2000 (23:29) * 29 lines
"Spam" stands for Shoulder Pork and hAM.
The concept of "escape velocity" applies only to unpowered
projectiles, not powered rockets.
Maryland has 47 operational State parks, including 7 parks
with waterfront areas, covering 90,239 acres
The first Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages were 3" wide
and 18" long. You made your own bandage by cutting off
as much as you needed.
P.J. Tierney, developer of the modern diner, died of
indigestion in 1917...after eating at a diner.
Jerry Rice holds the NFL record for most receiving
touchdowns in a single season: 22
In 1995, the CN Tower was classified as one of the Seven
Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of
Civil Engineers.
The average cost to take a family of four to an NBA game in
1999 was $266.61, based on two adult tickets, two children's
ticket, four soft drinks, four hot dogs, parking, two game
programs, and two souvenir caps.
100 years ago, Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 308 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 12, 2000 (23:50) * 14 lines
Spectacular Solar Eruption on Sept 12, 2000
Space Weather News for Sept 12, 2000
http://www.spaceweather.com
On Tuesday, Sept. 12, less than 24 hours after the sunspot number plunged
to its lowest value of the year, the Sun unleashed a surprising full-halo
coronal mass ejection (CME). The leading edge of the CME could reach
Earth on Thursday, Sept 14. Forecasters estimate a 30% chance of severe
geomagnetic disturbances (possibly including aurora) at middle latitudes
when the shock front arrives.
For more information and images, please visit http://spaceweather.com
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 309 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 13, 2000 (00:27) * 16 lines
A hockey puck weighs 0.38 pounds.
In an average lifetime, the average human will produce in excess
of 6,250 gallons of saliva (that's spit for those of you in
Arkansas).
Tuna fish swim at an average speed of 9 miles per hour. They
also never stop moving.
According to Metropolitan Life Insurance, major league baseball
players live significantly longer than the average male -
especially if you are a third baseman.
The US state of Alaska's coastline is longer than that of all the
US coastal states combined.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 310 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 14, 2000 (17:29) * 33 lines
The Library of Congress houses 30 million books.
Babe Ruth never had a losing season...as a pitcher!
IBM will capture 4,700,000,000,000 bytes of information at
the 2000 Olympics -- almost 1 byte (character) for every
person on the planet.
On average, we send 38 Christmas cards every year.
Wayne Gretzky holds the record for most goals by a center in
a season: 92
The average length of a domain name is 11 characters.
The US now imprisons more people than any other country.
London - A plane carrying 55 passengers circled an airport
in western Scotland while an air traffic controller had
lunch. The officials at the airport on the island of
Benbecula in the Western Isles of Scotland apologized
for the incident. They said there was just one controller
at Benbecula, and she had to take a lunch break because
national air traffic rules forbid any controller from
working more than two hours without one. It finally
touched down 55 minutes late after the controller
returned to her radar screen.
The water in most underground layers is salty. Layers
containing fresh water are most likely to be found within
a few hundred feet of the surface. At depth, fresh water
is the exception.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 311 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 14, 2000 (18:47) * 13 lines
A domestic cat has eighteen claws: fice on each of its front paws
and four on each of its back paws.
The tip of a whip makes a cracking sound because it is moving
faster than the speed of sound.
An ear of corn almost always has an even number of rows (twelve,
fourteen, or sixteen).
Earthworms have five hearts.
The cat is the only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 312 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Sep 14, 2000 (19:13) * 1 lines
Why do cats have dew claws? Are they like feline thumbs?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 313 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 15, 2000 (00:08) * 1 lines
90% of all volcanic activity occurs in the oceans.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 314 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 15, 2000 (18:55) * 197 lines
DISCOVERY DISPATCH FOR 9/15/2000
-----------------------------------------------------------
================
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
================
THE OLYMPICS SHOWCASE
Olympic Science
Get the scoop on scientific advances that are helping world-class athletes shatter records at an astounding pace, including a few tricks that swimmers have learned from sharks.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=73468&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=73468&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
It's the Animal Olympics!
The best athletes in the animal kingdom are squaring off against each other. You're the judge. Here are the matchups:
Whale vs. Starfish vs. Anglerfish
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=73468&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Gila Monster vs. Desert Lynx vs. Wind Scorpion
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=73468&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Horseshoe Bat vs. Turkey Vulture vs. Aardvark
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=73468&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Archerfish vs. Grebe vs. Crocodile
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=6&c=73468&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Bird-Eating Spider vs. Fer-de-Lance vs. Arrow-Poison Frog
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=7&c=73468&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Shrike vs. Woodpecker vs. Dove
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=8&c=73468&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
DISCOVER OUR NEW CAM UNIVERSE
Exploring your world has never been easier. We've added over 100 new live cams, including real-time views of an asteroid, ferrets and a college dining hall.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=74091&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=74091&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=74091&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=74091&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Pictures of the Day
We're in Taiwan all this month, with some of the most vivid images you'll ever see.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=74091&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=12&c=74091&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Or maybe you missed some of our previous Picture of the Day road trips to:
Paris
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=6&c=74091&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Bimini
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=7&c=74091&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
The Great Lakes
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=8&c=74091&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Turkey and Greece
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=9&c=74091&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Japan
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Tasmania
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=============
MAIN FEATURES
=============
PIGS FLY! (AND OTHER ANIMAL ADVENTURES)
Revenge of the Escargot
Can you imagine being done in by a killer snail? Would it be a slow death? Would your family try to cover it up by saying you met your end in "another senseless wildlife accident"? So many questions, some of which we can answer.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=74138&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
What's the strangest creature you've ever seen? Well, we think we can match your experience with the peculiar sea creatures we've run into on our expedition to study coral in the Bahamas.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=74138&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=74138&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Pigs Fly!
... in the face of medical convention, that is. A new surgical technique using pig intestines is rewriting the book on animal-to-human transplantation. Among the many questions raised is: Why pigs?
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=74138&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Starting Sunday: Ask the Experts About Ticks!
Outdoors people don't fear bears. Or mountain lions. Or wolves. But they quake in terror at the prospect of confronting the tiny, and sometimes lethal, tick. Our experts are here through Sept. 23 to fill you in on these creatures.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=74138&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
SUCCESS IN SCHOOL ... PSSSST, HERE'S THE SECRET
Maybe you haven't been the most ebullient student in the past. Well, there's no time like the present to change all that. Create a new image. Show those hand-raising, answer-knowing, down-their-nose-looking smart kids in your class that you're in on their secret. Let Webmath, A-to-Z Science and Brain Boosters be the advantage you've been looking for.
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http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=74160&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
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http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=74160&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=74160&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=6&c=74160&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Gluing golf balls, oranges and basketballs on sticks and calling it the solar system just doesn't cut it anymore. Science Fair Central will take you to astronomical levels on your next project. And we're ready to announce the 40 finalists in the Discovery Young Scientist Challenge, too.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=7&c=74160&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=8&c=74160&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
MEET YOUR FAVORITE TV PERSONALITIES
You're at "Crocodile Hunter" Headquarters
Steve Irwin is not your ordinary, mild-mannered animal expert. Join his discussion groups, learn his lingo in our Aussie glossary and check out his latest video ... the "Crocodile Rap!"
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Watch "Crocodile Hunter" Any Time You Want
Shocking, wild and chock-full of crocodiles, alligators, pythons, wild pigs and other beasts! Visit the Discovery Store if you can't get enough of TV's most incredible animal expert. You'll find a great selection of videos with all of Steve Irwin's exciting adventures. Get close ... REALLY close ... to some snapping, sharp-toothed creatures!
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Laugh and Learn With Christopher Lowell
Shine a little light into your living space (and your life) with the design inspiration that can only come from Christopher, then check out the incredible work that his fans accomplished when they discovered, "You can do it!"
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Bring Christopher Lowell's Tips and Tricks Right Into Your Home
Think you're not creative? Then visit the Discovery Store where you'll find Christopher's new book, "Christopher Lowell's Seven Layers of Design." Learn secrets for transforming your home into a personal oasis, and discover how easy it is to decorate your rooms with creativity and flair. You'll be painting, pasting and pleating in no time!
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=6&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Lynette Jennings, Simply Extraordinary
We have background information on your favorite design-and-decor diva, along with her personal-appearance schedule and the showcase of America's most beautiful homes.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=7&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=8&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=9&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Inside Information for "Home Matters" Fans!
We can tell you everything you've always wanted to know about Susan Powell, not to mention the scoop on field correspondent, Chris McWatt. (Sorry ... guess we did mention it, didn't we?)
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=10&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=11&c=74194&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
GOOD HEALTH: YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN
Abs-olute Power!
How do they get those six-pack abs? Join world class athletes like Mia Hamm for an interactive lesson in motivation and fitness.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=74236&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Dinner With "The Jetsons"
Intergalactic goulash, black hole peas and planetary pudding. In the year 2120, what kind of food will keep your space colony healthy?
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=74236&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
The School Lunch Crunch
With lunch periods across the country squeezed to just five to 10 minutes, kids barely have time to eat. Many of them forgo the noontime meal completely, leaving them in a nutritional deficit. We have expert tips on helping your kids beat the lunchtime crunch.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=74236&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
DINOSAUR CORNER
Did you ever wonder what a dinosaur sounded like? So did we. Here's what the top dinosaur experts told us.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=74252&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
And there are brand-new theories on how dinosaurs moved, too!
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=74252&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
THE NEWS FROM SPACE
Black Holes: One Size Does Not Fit All.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=74254&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
New Section of Space Station Is Ready for Occupancy.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=74254&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
=======================
INTERACTIVE MINDERS
=======================
**Discovery's Tools**
Send an E-Card
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Get your Health I.Q?
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Build a Roller Coaster
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Search the Night Sky
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Create a Hurricane
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Watch the Growth of a Baby
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*****Can't Miss TV This Week*****
Travel Channel, Sunday, Travel Channel Presents
A three-hour marine marathon, featuring Niagara Falls, the Mississippi River and the world's most dangerous port.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=73306&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Animal Planet, Monday, Jack London's Call of the Wild
What happens when the unsinkable Molly Brown blows into town?
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=73306&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Discovery Channel, Tuesday, On the Inside: Family Plots
The more people involved in a murder, the more likely all will be caught.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=73306&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Discovery Health, Wednesday, Bodies on Ice
Cold can kill, but might it also be the key to immortality?
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=73306&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
TLC, Thursday, The Ultimate 10 Dangerous JobsSome you'd guess (like skyscraper construction). Others may surprise you.
http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=73306&pr=404&cf=1&pa=41&e=S
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 315 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 16, 2000 (20:56) * 62 lines
Mauna Kea may get extremely large scope
Mauna Kea may be considered for a telescope with 10 times the light-collecting area
of the world's largest optical telescopes, already atop the Big Island mountain.
University of California and California Institute of Technology researchers who
developed the 10-meter Keck telescopes have proposed building a 30-meter
California Extremely Large Telescope (CELT).
Almost routine discoveries have been coming out of the twin Kecks. CELT's mirror
would allow astronomers to look deeper into the universe with more detail.
"It means you can study fainter, more distant objects in the same vein of many
observations at Keck, but you can do them better," said Jerry Nelson, University of
California-Santa Cruz professor of astronomy and astrophysics who heads the
telescope design working group.
Mauna Kea and several sites in Chile have been mentioned for the CELT, which
project leaders hope to build in 10 to 15 years.
Joseph Miller, director of UC Observatories/Lick Observatory, estimated the cost at
about $500 million. "We're working on the conceptual design but we don't have
money in the bank so anything could happen two years from now," Nelson said in a
telephone interview.
"People could say, 'Whatever happened to CELT?' It's not a sure thing but we have
strong support at the highest level of academic institutions."
The master plan for Mauna Kea anticipated such a telescope, according to Robert
McLaren, interim director of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.
In the plan, it's called "Next Generation Large Telescope," describing the class of
telescopes CELT falls into -- bigger than a 25-meter aperture, McLaren said.
But while the plan foresees a telescope like CELT, such a project "would have to be
fully reviewed, assessed and approved," he said.
As a one-time Hawaii resident, Nelson said he'd like to see the new telescope go to
Mauna Kea. "But for a project like this, you have to look for the best site for
scientific and technical reasons, as well as fold in political things."
A couple of sites in Mauna Kea's summit area might be suitable for a telescope as
massive as the CELT, he said.
"Nonetheless, one must be sensitive to the political issues in Hawaii about developing
the summit of Mauna Kea," he said.
If that site is chosen, Nelson said, project leaders would work with the community to
address concerns and "not steamroll" over them.
Since the Keck telescopes are owned and operated by UC and Caltech, which
CELT would be as well, Nelson thinks "there would be a very strong connection. I
could envision the same headquarters in Waimea."
Because of the high maintenance costs of such facilities, however, the universities
might end up selling or trading off part of Keck to support CELT, Nelson said.
"It's all highly speculative as to what would happen in 10 years," he said.
McLaren said there is a trend to give the national astronomy community more
access to large telescopes, mostly in private hands, in return for more federal
support.
"In the case of Keck, it's unlikely that would happen real soon," he said, noting
NASA is a partner in the telescope operation.
Nelson said CELT leaders probably will start thinking seriously about sites in a year
and aim for a decision in about four years.
With CELT and adaptive optics, astronomers should be able to study galaxies and
other distant things with better angular resolution than the Hubble Telescope, he said.
"You really win bigger by a bigger telescope, with more light sensitivity and better
resolution, sharper. We will learn more about what's happening at the distant edge of
the universe."
CELT also will be powerful in exploring star-forming regions and planet formation,
Nelson said. "It has a lot of potential. Our (astronomy) communities are really
excited about this.
"Experience has shown when you're building new facilities like this, the most exciting
stuff that comes out of it you haven't anticipated at all -- things you just didn't even
know."
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 316 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Sep 17, 2000 (21:46) * 57 lines
Stuff about things having nothing whatsoever to do with this conference....
A jumbo jet is 16 times more fuel efficient than a Concorde.
So, just how good was that 6-iron from 218 yards that Tiger
Woods hit from a fairway bunker, over water and right at the
flag, to win the Canadian Open? The Toronto Sun asked three
area professionals to go to the 18th at Glen Abbey on Monday
and try it. None came closer than Woods' shot, which landed
18 feet behind the flag in the first cut of rough. Ashley
Chinner, who tied for 13th in 1998 Canadian Open, hit the
green three times with a 6-iron. His best shot was to 30
feet from the fringe. Chris Neale, golf director at Glen
Abbey, got one of his seven shots on the green with a 4-iron.
Tom Jackson, who played the Canadian Tour for 12 years, hit
the green three times with a 5-iron, the closest one 40 feet
away. "The remarkable thing is that Tiger did it with so
much on the line," said Chinner, who also works as a teaching
pro. "I think everyone knows he can pull that shot off. But
under that situation, it was incredible. He worked the
distance out perfectly so he took as much of the risk out
as possible."
http://espn.go.com/golfonline/tours/s/2000/0912/738970.html
In response to changes in sea temperature, humpback whales
adapt their calls so they can be heard by other humpbacks
over the longest possible distance.
64% of Detroit, Michigan residents own a mobile phone.
London - Stephen Brain, 30, won the holiday cheeserolling
race in western England. Racers chase 8-pound double
Gloucester cheese down a steep 300-yard course at Cooper's
Hill near Gloucester. The first racer to finish behind
the fast-rolling cheese gets to keep it. The races were
canceled in 1998 because 27 racers were injured in the
previous year's competition. This year, only one contestant
was taken away in an ambulance. Historically cheeserolling
was once just one event in a big spring celebration which
included long-forgotten sports including "grinning for the
cake," "jumping in the bag," and "chattering for a bladder
of snuff by old women."
In the early 60s, IBM developed the Q7 for System Development
Corporation, a private company funded by the U.S. Air Force
to develop software for early air defense systems.
Jerry Rice holds the NFL record for consecutive games with
a touchdown: 13
Abraham Lincoln (the 16th president) carried letters, bills
and notes in his stovepipe hat.
When two zebras stand side by side, they usually face in
opposite directions.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 317 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Sep 17, 2000 (21:59) * 16 lines
Q. Is there a physiological limit on power output for humans?
A. A person's power output rises when appropriate periods of
rest are included. In 1916 a man carrying 92 pound pigs
of iron 35 feet up an 8 foot high incline into a train
carriage. The man carried 1,156 pigs into the train in
a 10-hour day. Assuming he weighed 145 pounds and rested
for about 15% of the time, this is some 200 watts average
output--a remarkable figure. In fact, it is about as much
energy as a human could hope to put out in a 10 hour day
and was only accomplished after the introduction of rest
periods! The previous record without rest had been 305
pigs. Proper rest *tripled* the total work output (if
you include carrying the man's own weight back and forth).
Bicycle racers use this sprint-coast-sprint sequence to
maintain the highest possible average speed.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 318 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Sep 17, 2000 (23:27) * 13 lines
For those of you who are big Olympic fans like I am:
LEARN TO SPEAK AUSSIE
Ready to hit the frog and toad? Sydneysiders are waiting for you. But you might not be able to understand them if you didn't realize that "frog and toad" means "road". Learn these words from Oz before you go.
Billabong = A watering hole
Woop Woop = The middle of nowhere
Bruce = Man
Sheila = Woman
Footy = Australian Rules football
Mackers = McDonald's restaurant
Amber Fluid = Beer
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 319 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Sep 17, 2000 (23:29) * 12 lines
In the English language, more words begin with the letter "s"
than any other letter.
On average, a person swallows 295 times while eating a meal.
The left bank on a river is the left side as you look downstream.
If you attempted to commit suicide in England in the 1800's, and
were unsuccessful, you would face the death penalty.
Only the female mosquito bites.
(Discovery Channel's promo ads had men dressed as mosquitoes biting humans... Egad!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 320 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Sep 18, 2000 (20:37) * 11 lines
The most common surname in the world is "Chang."
A golf ball, when driven off a tee, can reach speeds up to 170
miles per hour.
A Chinese checkerboard has 121 holes.
A person's left hand does 56 percent of typing.
The Disney dog, Pluto, was originally named Rover.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 321 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Sep 18, 2000 (20:58) * 63 lines
1. Debra Winger was the voice of E.T.
2. Pearls melt in vinegar.
3. It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.
4. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
5. The 3 most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
6. It's possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs.
7. Humans are the only primates that don't have pigment in the palms of their hands.
8. Ten percent of the Russian government's income comes from the sale of vodka.
9. The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," uses every letter in the alphabet. (Developed by Western Union to Test telex/two communications)
10. Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.
11. A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one know why.
12. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the round floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
13. The airplane Buddy Holly died in was the "American Pie." (Thus the name of the Don McLean song.)
14. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. Spades - King David; Clubs - Alexander the Great; Hearts -Charlemagne; and Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
15. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
16. Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them used to burn their houses down-hence the expression "to get fired."
17. Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.
18. The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the General Purpose" vehicle, G.P.
19. The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.
20. The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League All-Star Game.
21. Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
22. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was actually a Captain Kirk mask painted white.
23. If you put a raisin in a glass of champagne, it will keep floating to the top and sinking to the bottom.
24. Snails can sleep for 3 years without eating
25. Actor Tommy Lee Jones and vice-president Al Gore were freshman roommates at Harvard.
26. The fingerprints of koalas are virtually indistinguishable
from those of humans, so much so that they could be confused at a crime scene.
27. Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a "Friday the 13th."
28. The man, who plays Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott on Star Trek, is missing the entire middle finger of his right hand.
29. The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.
30. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
31. All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 322 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 19, 2000 (00:23) * 25 lines
6,000,000,000 hits are expected on olympics.com this month.
The Dead Sea is 1,300 feet below sea level.
Michigan State University has the largest single campus
student body (about 44,000) of any Michigan university,
and is one of the largest universities in the country.
The US incarceration rate plays such a distorting role
in the labor market that one study found that the US
unemployment rate would be 2% higher if prisoners and
jail inmates were counted.
- Justice Policy Institute, "The Punishing Decade"
A snail can sleep for 3 years.
The velocipede was the first bicycle with pedals
The Eiffel tower grows six inches every year. In the summer
the metal expands to make the tower grow, but in the winter
the metal contracts to shrink the tower once again.
Compared to the net worth of the average American, a
nice home in Palo Alto, California costs Bill Gates $2.00.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 323 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 19, 2000 (00:41) * 15 lines
Q. What is the world's most popular beverage?
A. Despite the billions of dollars spent to promote colas
and other sodas each year, soft drinks don't even rate
second in the international beverage market. The
dominant thirst quencher is water, but when it comes
to man-made refreshment, tea reigns supreme. The
worldwide obsession started over 4,000 years ago in
China, when some tealeaves blew into a pot of boiling
water. Today there are over 3,000 varieties of tea
making up the five and a half billion pounds grown
around the world. In the global tea drinking Olympics,
the Irish are the biggest consumers, followed by the
English in second place and the people of Qatar in
third.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 324 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 20, 2000 (20:05) * 33 lines
New Element Discovered
The fire at Los Alamos has lead to another unexpected consequence. A top
secret scientific document - discovered in a bunker whose security systems
were mostly destroyed by fire - reveals the existence of a new element.
The document describes what appears to be the heaviest element known to
science. It has been tentatively named Governmentium (Gv).
This new element has no protons or electrons, thus having an atomic
number of 0. It does, however, have 1 neutron, 125 deputy neutrons, 75 supervisory neutrons and 111 team leader neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by a force called morons, which are
surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since
it has no electrons, Governmentium is inert. However, it can be detected
as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. According
to documents, a minute amount of Governmentium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete when it would normally take less than a second.
Governmentium has a normal half-life of approximately three years; it
does not decay but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of
the deputy neutrons, supervisory neutrons, and team leader neutrons exchange
places.
The mass of Governmentium actually increases over time, since with each
reorganization some of the morons inevitably become neutrons, forming
new isotopes. This characteristic or moron promotion leads some
scientists to speculate that Governmentium is formed whenever morons
reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is
referred to as the "Critical Morass."
Although it is odorless and tasteless, you will know it when you observe it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 325 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 20, 2000 (22:38) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 326 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 20, 2000 (22:51) * 36 lines
A moment for a serious subject - the maintainance of Spring. Yesterday, the entire Spring shut down. I felt as
though someone dear to me had died. There was NO was to see Geo or anything else in any of the other
conferences. Karen and I emailed and she took up the problem with Terry. We are woefully behind in our
payments for the use of Yapp software. check that url above. After the first slash, that is the program which allows
all things to happen here. Without it, we do not exist! Karen explained it to me thusly:
I have spoken with the woman who wrote the Yapp software and she has
explained why we have some periodic site losses in the afternoon, which btw
corresponds to midnight GMT. It has to do with the number of hits we
experience daily and the fact we are exceeding them.
Just FYI, it doesn't matter if you do or don't post at Spring because
lurkers generate hits as well.
She has generously offered to bump up the license limit if the old license
is paid for. BTW, the license is a one-time thing.
Therefore, folks, this is a request for donations.
All payments should be mailed to:
Spring
Accounting Department
182 Clover Road
Cedar Creek, TX 78612
Checks and money orders should be made out to "The Spring". Be sure to include the
login ID of the account.
Karen can now accept PayPal payments if you like. And for those who haven't
signed up for these electronic payments and would like to do so, let me
know. If people sign up under my referral, I would get a signup bonus of
$5, which I will turn over to the Yapp cause.
Please help if you can! Karen already has my contribution and I used PayPal. It is a simple process and the funds are safely in her account. Thanks for helping keep spring flowing and Geo alive!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 327 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 21, 2000 (16:19) * 26 lines
Lightening, not people, starts most forest fires.
In 1924, American Robert LeGendre shattered the world long
jump record with a leap of 25 feet, 4 inches. However, the
jump was part of the pentathlon competition and LeGendre
could muster only a third-place finish overall. The actual
long jump competition was won with a jump of 24 feet, 5 inches.
Mosquitoes have killed more people than have all the world's
wars combined.
40% of Americans have married their first love.
Elephants have been known to remain standing after they die.
Uranus is the only planet that rotates on its side.
The Oakland Bay Bridge took over 1,200,000 rivets, with a
good crew installing 800 rivets per day.
The temperature in eastern Siberia can get so cold that the
moisture in a person's breath can freeze in the air and fall
to the ground.
The Utah state animal is the Rocky Mountain Elk.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 328 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (00:29) * 9 lines
From Terry concerning the need for funds to keep Spring going...
Also, our monthly rate just went up about 20 times, according to the invoice I just received.
Your credit card will automatically be processed. You will receive a confirmati
on e-mail when your card is charged.
Your total payment due is $946
(to quote the email I just received).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 329 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (01:00) * 39 lines
Oregon was jointly occupied by the US and Canada from
1818 to 1828.
90% of the visits by patients to doctors are caused by
conditions that are either self-limited or beyond the
capabilities of medicine in the first place.
- FJ Ingelfinger,
"Arrogance," New England Journal of Medicine 303(1980)
http://upalumni.org/medschool/
Jerry Rice holds the NFL record for consecutive 100-catch
seasons: 3
Top 10 Products sold at Toys"R"Us 08/16/98 to 08/22/98
1. Sony Computer playstation system w. dual shock controller
2. Acclaim N64 WWF Warzone
3. Nintendo Nintendo 64 system
4. Galoob Spice Girls dolls
5. Hasbro Preschool Talking Teletubbies
6. Nintendo N64 Banjo-kazooie
7. Acclaim Playstation WWF: Warzone
8. Evenflo trendsetter travel system
9. Mattel Hot Wheels Basic cars
10. Mattel Hot Wheels Mechanix Vehicles
IBM's Q7, a vacuum-tube computer, had 30,000 vacuum tubes.
At Vicksburg, Mississippi the United States Army Corps of
Engineers Waterways Experiment Station is the world's
largest hydraulic research laboratory.
A bird's eye takes up about 50% of its head.
In 1859, 24 rabbits were released in Australia. Within six
years the population had grown to 2 million
Certain fireflies emit a light so penetrating
that it can pass through flesh and wood.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 330 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (01:10) * 14 lines
In the 1800's, people thought the eggplant was poisonous and
called it the "mad apple."
"Jack" is the most common name in nursery rhymes.
An adult has 206 bones.
Newborn infants have 300 bones.
The first minimum wage was established inthe USA in 1938 - all 25
cents per hour.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 331 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (16:35) * 7 lines
Life at the South Pole ...nice pix
http://astro.uchicago.edu/cara/vtour/pole/dome/life/sun/
and a tour of the south pole center
http://astro.uchicago.edu/cara/vtour/pole/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 332 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (17:02) * 1 lines
Yeah, thanks for putting that here...I was wondering where to put it....this is fine!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 333 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (00:24) * 10 lines
George Washington nicknamed New York as the "Empire State."
Alaska doesn't have counties. Technically, neither does Louisiana (Parishes.)
Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end.
Honeybees and turtles are deaf.
"Shiek" means "old man" in Arabic.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 334 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (01:26) * 63 lines
New measurements
Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter: EskimoPi
2000 pounds of Chinese soup: Wonton
1 millionth of a mouthwash: 1microscope
Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement: 1 bananosecond
Weight an evangelist carries with God: 1billigram
Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour:
Knot-furlong
365.25 days of drinking low-calorie beer because it's less filling: 1
liteyear
16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone: 1 RodSerling
Half of a large intestine: 1semicolon
1000 aches: 1megahurtz
Basic unit of laryngitis: 1hoarsepower
Shortest distance between two jokes: A straight line
453.6 graham crackers: 1 pound cake
1 million-million microphones: 1 megaphone
1 million bicycles: 2 megacycles
365.25 days: 1 unicycle
2000 mockingbirds: two kilomockingbirds
10 cards: 1 decacards
1 kilogram of falling figs: 1 FigNewton
1000 grams of wet socks: 1 literhosen
1 millionth of a fish: 1 microfiche
1 trillion pins: 1 terrapin
10 rations: 1 decoration
100 rations: 1 C-ration
2 monograms: 1 diagram
8 nickels: 2 paradigms
2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University
Hospital: 1 I.V.League
100 Senators: Not 1 decision
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 335 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (10:11) * 1 lines
That's wonderful. Very funny, Marcia.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 336 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (14:56) * 1 lines
My son, who sends very few forwards sent that and I just about wiped me out. A contingent of gentlemen who will appreciate it and do not read Geo(that I know of) I am wondering how well it translated into other languages. Do Spaniards and the English understand what an Esquimo Pie is???
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 337 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (15:42) * 1 lines
Er, actually there were a few that didn't compute ...eskimo pie being one of them, but being the 'academic' I am I didn't like to show my ignorance!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 338 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (22:22) * 1 lines
An Eskimo Pie is chocolate covered vanilla ice cream and is disk-shaped. Play on words, of course. We all must learn thing like that fag means different things on either side of the Atlantic... Next puzzlement - I need to know what needs translations!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 339 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Sun, Sep 24, 2000 (04:14) * 1 lines
Thanks - never heard of that!!!! Yup, Fag does have two different meanings at least here .....! considering the others ....
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 340 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Sep 25, 2000 (20:59) * 3 lines
wait, back a few posts...how did our monthly usage costs increase 20 times? what happened there?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 341 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Tue, Sep 26, 2000 (05:08) * 1 lines
Good question Wolfie .....
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 342 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 26, 2000 (14:56) * 1 lines
Terry explained in in How's your connectin to the Spring topic which is linked to Drool . Topic 43, I think! Lots of lurkers? (Yeah, those millions of men who are checking out that URL I posted in Yahoo and AOl and on ICQ.) I do not have any way of checking who is lurking so I have no idea where they are looking, but I'll wager a goodly sized jewel that it is NOT in Geo!!! Karen also explained in the post I put with my own comments attached. I have no idea where they are lurking, I just know I never want to see Geo go invisible agin!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 343 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 26, 2000 (16:06) * 1 lines
I am haing considerable trouble getting my email. I can send it but the only incoming I can get is kilauea83@yahoo.com at the moment...*sigh* And there has just been a massive CME!!! Look for Aurora!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 344 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Tue, Sep 26, 2000 (16:59) * 1 lines
Just been out and looked ...clear night (for once!!) but nothing except stars to be seen .... *sigh*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 345 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 26, 2000 (17:04) * 2 lines
*sigh...perhaps tomorrow night...the photons are just beginning to hit here now.
Just an aside...anyone who thinks Telnet for email is the best there is...Arrrrgh!!! Three email programs and only one works!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 346 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Sep 26, 2000 (17:16) * 1 lines
Almost like cable television, 63 channels and nothing fit to watch on any one of them, at most times.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 347 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 27, 2000 (22:09) * 16 lines
I spent 4 months in a home with itd own TV dish. I had 900 channels of nothing to watch! Olympics, however, I make an exception for. I'll wantch anything Olympic!
The letters "M.G." on the British sportscar actually stand for
"Morris Garage."
Calvin Coolidge's will was one sentence long.
One of the primary reasons the mayflower pilgrims ended their
voyage at Plymouth rock was pretty much the same reason people
today suspend their journeys: they ran out of beer.
You have to count all the way to one thousand before the letter
"a" is used in spelling a number.
Fireflies light up as a means of sexual attraction.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 348 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 27, 2000 (22:10) * 13 lines
Most of the books you own today will disintegrate in 50 years
(approximately) unless they are printed on acid-free paper.
Seals have been known to swim for as long as 8 months, and as far
as 6,000 miles, without touching land.
New York's World Trade Center has over 43,000 windows. I'd hate
to have to pay and replace all of them.
An ant's sense of smell is comparable to a dog's.
William Shakespeare has no living decendants.
(but His publisher, John Heminge does... Me!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 349 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 27, 2000 (22:11) * 25 lines
The candlefish is so oily that it was once burned for fuel.
23 publishers rejected Dr. Seuss's first book.
The Library of Congress houses 80 million non-book items.
To keep from being separated while sleeping, sea otters
tie themselves together with kelp, often drifting miles
out to sea during the night.
Montana has the largest migratory elk herd in the US.
IBM's Q7s were deployed in pairs to ensure a backup if one
went down, and took up three floors of a building, with one
floor entirely devoted to air conditioners.
The brightest star in the sky, Sirius, gives out 26 times
as much light as the sun.
Human bones can withstand stresses of 24,000 pounds/square inch.
In the Old West a "straight shooter" was an honest person
you could rely on. "Shooting straight" meant that the
person was like a bullet's path: true, not crooked.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 350 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (00:20) * 38 lines
A hummingbird feeds at 1,500 flowers per day.
As of 1999 the white population in California is 16,500,000
while there are now 17,000,000 Latinos, Asian Americans,
blacks and Native Americans. The Latino population has
grown 35.8% in the 1990s to 10.5 million. The Asian
population grew by 36.8% in the 1990s.
Wisconsin has 7,446 streams and rivers.
World Population growth:
1 billion in 1804
2 billion in 1927 (123 years)
3 billion in 1960 ( 33 years)
4 billion in 1974 ( 14 years)
5 billion in 1987 ( 13 years)
6 billion in 1999 ( 12 years)
Projected World Population:
7 billion in 2013 ( 14 years)
8 billion in 2028 ( 15 years)
9 billion in 2054 ( 26 years)
Venetian blinds were invented in 1769, by an Englishman.
Tidal effects are moving the Moon further from the Earth
into slower orbits and lengthening our day in the process.
This will not stop until the Moon is in geostationary orbit
and the Earth's day length equals the month length.
The Spanish Inquisition once condemned the entire
Netherlands to death for heresy.
Compared to the net worth of the average American, where
$100 will buy you tickets, food and parking to take your
family to see an NHL hockey game, Bill Gates could buy
the team for 100 "Bill bills".
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 351 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (16:13) * 1 lines
I love watching the Olympics too, Marcia. I think the defining moment of the current games will be Cathy Freeman winning the 400 meter race. It seemed that the whole world loved her; although not as much as the Australians, of course.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 352 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (16:15) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 353 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (16:15) * 1 lines
I love watching the Olympics too, Marcia. I think the defining moment of the current games will be Cathy Freeman winning the 400 meter race. It seemed that the whole world loved her; although not as much as the Australians, of course.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 354 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (16:17) * 1 lines
That was a really strange hiccup on one of my posts. I don't know what happened.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 355 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (20:52) * 16 lines
It happens when lots of postings are being processed at the same time. It is a glitch in Yapp software that used to happen to me a lot!!!
If all of the oceans in the world evaporated, Hawaii would be the
tallest mountain in the world.
Honey is used to make antifreeze.
Dog meat is a delicacy in China.
A fella by the name of Robert Earl Hughes used to be the heaviest
person in the world. He weighed *just* 1,067 pounds.
Shooting stars are not stars - they are meteors.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 356 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (22:16) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 357 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (22:17) * 9 lines
The above mention of Hawaii refers to The Big Island of Hawaii. The surrounding sea is 28,000' deep (8534.4M)
and almost 14,000' above sea level (4267M) making a total height of Mauna Kea (the highest peak ) 42,000'
(13,161M) That's a whol lot of mountain when you consider that the mass of Mauna Loa is large enough to
contain several mountain chains and is really just a side peak on the entire mountain mass amking up this island.
Actually, the Island of Hawaii is made of five fused volcanoes: Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and
Kilauea. The list is from oldest to youngest. Mauna Kea and Kohala are considered dormant (though Kohala
might just be extinct), Hualalai and Mauna are currently dormant, too, but they have erupted in recent history.
Kilauea is active, even as I write this.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 358 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Fri, Sep 29, 2000 (01:45) * 1 lines
(This alst post reminded me ...Marcia, did you get the Hawaii pix I sent ....or do I need to resend them ...oops!! they're on the laptop!!! Pray I get that modem fixed ...found the problem ...got computerworking fine, just modem not..time's running out for me...)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 359 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 29, 2000 (13:06) * 23 lines
Many healing words said in behalf of your laptop!!
Black-eyed peas are not peas. They are beans.
The flying fox is not a fox - it is a bat.
Catgut string does not come from a cat - it is from a sheep's
intestines.
The kangaroo rat is not a rat - it is a gopher.
The silkworm is not a worm - it is a caterpillar.
Blackboard chalk is not chalk - it is plaster of Paris.
The pineapple is a berry.
St. Patrick was born in Britain.
A prarie dog is not a dog - it's a rodent.
A horned toad is a lizard.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 360 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 29, 2000 (13:57) * 39 lines
The first McDonald's was opened in 1955. The revenue
from the first day's business? $366.12
www.olympics.com has thus far been viewed by 5.7 million
people from 146 countries.
Drop Tea tablets, developed by the Towa Company of Tokyo,
are made of tea leaves tightly compressed into pellets.
To make a fresh brew you just drop three or four into hot
water. Because the compacted leaf surfaces are protected
from air, they are claimed to stay fresh longer than loose
leaves. Added to hot water, the leaves open up to brew
Earl Grey, Darjeeling, Assam, apple or lemon tea.
Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is more transparent than glass.
http://www.psrc.usm.edu/macrog/pmma.htm
If there was a bathtub large enough to hold it,
the planet Saturn would float.
The winter of 1847-48 was so extraordinarily severe in the
country that heavy ice formed in Lake Erie. When it was
broken up during the latter part of March, the winds swept
the ice into the entrance of the Niagara River at Buffalo,
where it jammed in a solid mass, completely choking the
outlet of Lake Erie, with the result that on March 29, 1848,
the falls of Niagara were practically dry.
In the Middle Ages, monks were forbidden to eat meat.
If you are divorced man you are four times more likely to
die in an accident than if you are married.
The Alamo is located in San Antonio. It is where Texas
defenders fell to Mexican General Santa Anna and the
phrase "Remember the Alamo" originated. The Alamo is
considered the cradle of Texas liberty and the state's
most popular historic site.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 361 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Fri, Sep 29, 2000 (18:18) * 1 lines
(healing prayers for the laptop worked ..I'm back online after reinstalling Win98! Dyed my hair to cover grey caused by the crash, and now reinstalling all my programmes and realising I lost all my links etc again .. GRRR)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 362 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 30, 2000 (02:50) * 1 lines
Think I should dye mine too...but it will not turn a living room into a bedroom and keep my favorite painting wall from being turned into a Wall of Fame....!!! What color do you sugggest??? Right now, something witchy and black sounds about right! Brava and kudos on your recovered modem. That was scary!!! Back it all up on your zip drive NOW!!! *hugs*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 363 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Sat, Sep 30, 2000 (05:24) * 5 lines
Backed all data and progs I haven't got disks for before I reformatted hard disk!!!! Now downloading slowly to make sure everything works properly before adding new progs.
Still waiting for unlock codes for Norton sysem works to arrive ...I NEED that!!!
Nah, black would look awful with your colouring ....I always go pretty close to natural ..that way roots don't show and it just enhances ...may not help LR prob but sure boosts ego ....and gives confidence to stand firm ... HUGS
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 364 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 30, 2000 (15:02) * 1 lines
Oh, I hear you! Amen! Anyway, I turned grey much too young - the few I have - but not chestnut again. Look miserable as a blond. How about flaming red??? Yeah, I know...make it subtle and match what you already have!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 365 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Sat, Sep 30, 2000 (17:01) * 1 lines
I'm just lazy ...want to lift the colour, but can't be bothered with touching up roots and stuff ...not much grey, but fading a bit ...and it will be bleached by the African sun soon ...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 366 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 30, 2000 (19:01) * 1 lines
I think I will remain as was intended by nature. in this BIG little town, it surely would be wondered about, Maybe that is what this town needs...a bit of fresh gossip to talk about, but, not about me!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 367 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 1, 2000 (22:16) * 38 lines
The FBI go through 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition each
month at their training center.
The Princess Anne and Princess Margaret hovercrafts have
stopped service across the English Channel. Originally
designed to last 10 years, they operated for 32, logging
a million hours of operation across the 6 vessels. They
had a top speed of 60 to 70 mph and were raised 12 feet
in the air when the air cushion was inflated.
Doctors, as a trade, stand high in the ranks of those who
go mad, top themselves, filch pills, sniff gas, run from
their spouses, weep in the night, live chronically
disjuncted lives.
- M Bywater, "The Doctors We Deserve?"
http://upalumni.org/medschool/
The top 5% of American wage earners pay 86% of the total
income tax collected.
Wood Frogs can survive being frozen. In fact, they spend
winters frozen on land, thawing in the spring.
The planet Pluto takes 248 Earth years to orbit the Sun. For
twenty of those years, it is closer to the sun than the planet
Neptune. The nature of its orbit, however, always prevents it
from colliding with Neptune. One day on Pluto is about the
length of a week on Earth.
When Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle,
it travels at a rate of 25 miles per year.
Jerry Rice holds the NFL record for longest consecutive games
with a reception streak: 193
Only 4% of Americans asked the parents' approval
for their bride's hand.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 368 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Oct 2, 2000 (13:25) * 1 lines
Heinz ketchup travels at the amazing rate of 25 miles per year. That would be perhaps even slower than the sloth which moves so slowly fungus grows on its fur.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 369 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Oct 2, 2000 (13:27) * 1 lines
Marcia, you might not want to go with ketchup red hair. You might consider red, but not quite that red.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 370 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 2, 2000 (15:41) * 3 lines
Or Sunkist orange, either. No, being subtle is more my style. Not into anything flaming unless it is NOT im public...
That Ketchup thing must be just after you have dislodged the initial plug and you end up with half the bottle on your hamburger! As the daughter of a chemist, I know how to avoid that happenstance.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 371 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Mon, Oct 2, 2000 (16:43) * 1 lines
Well, I'm pleased with my new hair colour ..yup, subtle chestnut ..brightened it up nicely ...now where's the scissors???
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 372 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 2, 2000 (23:50) * 31 lines
Here are 5 questions. See if you can answer them. Answers will follow, but don't cheat!
1. Where was Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders born?
2. Name the three countries closest to the United States.
3. What do the following ten places have in common: Atlanta,
Cleveland, Dayton, Hartford, Jacksonville, New Haven, Newark,
Norfolk, Philadelphia, and Phoenix?
4. What country celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday of
October?
5. Where is the world's largest garbage dump?
****************
Answers:
1. Indiana.
2. Canada, Mexico, and Russia.
3. They are all towns in New York state.
4. Canada.
5. Staten Island, New York.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 373 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 2, 2000 (23:54) * 23 lines
The Earth's atmosphere is, proportionally, thinner than
the skin of an apple.
Top 4 Favorite Traditional Amusement Parks:
1. Kennywood, (West Mifflin, PA)
2. Knoebel's Amusement Resort, (Elysburg, PA)
3. Cedar Point, (Sandusky, OH)
4. Blackpool Pleasure Beach, (Blackpool, UK)
Mongooses were brought to Hawaii to kill rats. This did not
work as rats are nocturnal while the mongoose hunts during
the day.
The space station is a $60 billion effort of 16 nations.
It will cover almost an acre and have as much pressurized
space as a Boeing 747 when completed in 2005.
Nevada native tribes include the Shoshone, Washo and Paiute.
Australia's new parliament building in Canberra are one of
the largest buildings in the southern hemisphere, with 4,500
rooms and about 2,700,000 square feet of space.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 374 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 3, 2000 (14:00) * 103 lines
Contact Earth
Imagine if you will... the leader of the fifth invader force speaking to
the commander in chief...
"They're made out of meat."
"Meat?"
"Meat. They're made out of meat."
"Meat?"
"There's no doubt about it. We picked several from different parts of
the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, probed them all the way
through. They're completely meat."
"That's impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the
stars."
"They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don't come from them.
The signals come from machines."
"So who made the machines? That's who we want to contact."
"They made the machines. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Meat made
the machines."
"That's ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You're asking me to
believe in sentient meat."
"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. These creatures are the only
sentient race in the sector and they're made out of meat."
"Maybe they're like the Orfolei. You know, a carbon-based intelligence
that goes through a meat stage."
"Nope. They're born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several
of their life spans, which didn't take too long. Do you have any idea
the life span of meat?"
"Spare me. Okay, maybe they're only part meat. You know, like the
Weddilei. A meat head with an electron plasma brain inside."
"Nope. We thought of that, since they do have meat heads like the
Weddilei. But I told you, we probed them. They're meat all the way
through."
"No brain?"
"Oh, there is a brain all right. It's just that the brain is made out of
meat!"
"So... what does the thinking?"
"You're not understanding, are you? The brain does the thinking. The
meat."
"Thinking meat! You're asking me to believe in thinking meat!"
"Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The
meat is the whole deal! Are you getting the picture?"
"Omigod. You're serious then. They're made out of meat."
"Finally, Yes. They are indeed made out meat. And they've been trying to
get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years."
"So what does the meat have in mind?"
"First it wants to talk to us. Then I imagine it wants to explore the
universe, contact other sentients, swap ideas and information. The
usual."
"We're supposed to talk to meat?"
"That's the idea. That's the message they're sending out by radio.
'Hello. Anyone out there? Anyone home?' That sort of thing."
"They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?"
"Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat."
"I thought you just told me they used radio."
"They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know
how when you slap or flap meat it makes a noise? They talk by flapping
their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through
their meat."
"Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much. So what do you
advise?"
"Officially or unofficially?"
"Both."
"Officially, we are required to contact, welcome, and log in any and all
sentient races or multibeings in the quadrant, without prejudice, fear,
or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we erase the records and forget
the whole thing."
"I was hoping you would say that."
"It seems harsh, but there is a limit. Do we really want to make contact
with meat?"
"I agree one hundred percent. What's there to say?" `Hello, meat. How's
it going?'
But will this work? How many planets are we dealing with here?"
"Just one. They can travel to other planets in special meat containers,
but they can't live on them. And being meat, they only travel through C
space. Which limits them to the speed of light and makes the possibility
of their ever making contact pretty slim. Infinitesimal, in fact."
"So we just pretend there's no one home in the universe."
"That's it."
"Cruel. But you said it yourself, who wants to meet meat? And the ones
who have been aboard our vessels, the ones you have probed? You're sure
they won't remember?"
"They'll be considered crackpots if they do. We went into their heads
and smoothed out their meat so that we're just a dream to them."
"A dream to meat! How strangely appropriate, that we should be meat's
dream."
"And we can mark this sector unoccupied."
"Good. Agreed, officially and unofficially. Case closed. Any others?
Anyone interesting on that side of the galaxy?"
"Yes, a rather shy but sweet hydrogen core cluster intelligence in a
class nine star in G445 zone. Was in contact two galactic rotation ago,
wants to be friendly again."
"They always come around."
"And why not? Imagine how unbearably, how unutterably cold the universe
would be if one were all alone."
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 375 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 3, 2000 (20:28) * 25 lines
TFTD-L@TAMU.EDU
US Code as of: 01/23/00
Title 4, Sec. 8. Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America;
the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. ...
(b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the
ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.
(c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always
aloft and free.
(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, ...
-http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/4/8.html
*****
tftd would like for the US Olympic Committee to instruct the
US athletes on proper conduct including respect for our flag.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 376 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Oct 3, 2000 (20:32) * 1 lines
that was funny!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 377 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 3, 2000 (20:38) * 1 lines
About the meat, I trust. I loved it and did not want it to languish in Screwed unappreciated! The flag comments should also be meaningful to you... *hugs*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 378 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 3, 2000 (20:57) * 37 lines
IBM's Q7s used 10% of Santa Monica's power and were left on
day and night for fear of causing destructive surges in the
city's power.
It has now been revealed that Colossus was in fact the
world's first electronic digital computer, not ENIAC.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,39198,00.html
A student of Carroll High School was blocked from accessing
his high school's home page from his own high school's
library computer. It turns out the high school had installed
filtering software to filter "all questionable material" and
this included filtering out pages containing the word "high."
http://dfn.org/Alerts/contest.htm
Compared to the net worth of the average American, who
might buy a plane ticket on a Boeing 747 for $1200, Bill
Gates could buy three 747s for 100 "Bill bills".
The first police force was established in Paris in 1667.
Police dogs were first used in Scotland in 1816. The
Texas Rangers, established in 1816 were the first US
state police force. The first police car was an electric
powered vehicle in Akron, Ohio in 1899.
The Internet Trade Show List lists 595 Internet-related
trade shows.
The brain requires 25% of the oxygen used by the body.
The earth's magnetic field pulls the electron beams hitting
the cathode ray tube in computer monitors. Every computer
monitor has to be calibrated relative to its position in the
earth's magnetic field. Adjust a monitor in the northern
hemisphere and its colors will be wrong if you plug it into
a computer in the southern hemisphere.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 379 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 5, 2000 (18:32) * 10 lines
Half of the peanuts grown in America are used to make peanut
butter.
Boston College is in Chstnut Hill, Massachusetts.
Leonardo da Vinci could draw with one hand and write with the
other - all at the same time.
A kangaroo can hop at a pace of 40 miles per hour.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 380 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 5, 2000 (18:41) * 11 lines
Robert E. Lee was buried barefoot as the coffin was too small to
allow for his boots.
The electric razor made its debut in America on March 18, 1931.
General Custer's soldiers called him "Hard Ass."
Ping Pong is the national sport of China.
A bear has 42 teeth.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 381 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 6, 2000 (16:04) * 14 lines
VIRUS ALERT!!! October 06, 2000
You may have heard about a variation of the LoveLetter virus called the "US
PRESIDENT AND FBI SECRETS". It's a 'worm' virus that spreads through e-mail as
a chain letter. The worm uses Microsoft's Outlook e-mail application to spread.
The subject header will be US PRESIDENT AND FBI SECRETS=PLEASE VISIT(HTTP://WWW.2600.COM) or a randomly generated 6 letter word displayed in all
capital letters, or it might be blank. The worm will also include a randomly
chosen attachment. The size of the attachment is approximately 12,609 bytes.
Our current virus signature files will detect this worm. However, if you
receive an e-mail prefaced with "US PRESIDENT AND FBI SECRETS" (Even if it sent
by someone you know!) DELETE THE E-MAIL IMMEDIATELY!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 382 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 6, 2000 (16:06) * 35 lines
The cornea of the eye is the only living tissue in the body
that contains no blood vessels. Nutrients come from the
tears and from the liquid that fills the chamber behind the
cornea.
Pigeons and hummingbirds have tiny magnetic particles in
their heads that respond to the Earth's magnetic fields
and that they use for navigation.
In the marriage ceremony of the ancient Inca Indians of
Peru, the couple was considered officially wed when they
took off their sandals and handed them to each other.
If you blow in a dog's face he won't like it, but take him
for a ride in the car and the first thing he does is stick
his head out of the window.
Jerry Rice shares the NFL record with Steve Young for most
touchdowns by a WR-QB combo: 84
For over 20 years the medical literature has carefully
documented the under-treatment of all types of pain by
physicians.
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-76.html
The 12,831 foot long Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is the world's
longest suspension bridge. It was opened on April 5, 1998.
Staying awake for 17 to 19 hours can dampen your mental and
physical reaction times as dramatically as two drinks.
http://www.sciam.com/news/091900/5.html
100 years ago, 18% of households in the United States
had at least one full-time servant or domestic.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 383 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 6, 2000 (17:11) * 31 lines
High altitude and continuous darkness in winter combine to
make interior Antarctica the coldest place on Earth. The
lowest temperature ever recorded was -126.9 F at 11,500 feet
above sea level at the Russian station of Vostok on August
24, 1960.
Dolphins don't automatically breath but have to tell
themselves to.
IBM spent seven years working on the systems for the Sydney
Olympics.
The first sponsored television was in 1930 and was seen
on 44 television sets.
Rain contains vitamin B12.
On Thursday, October 5, 2000, the space shuttle program will
launch its 100th shuttle. The program has transported into
space 596 people and 3,000,000 pounds of cargo.
Wayne Gretzky holds the record for most All-Star game points
in a career: 25
A hummingbird hums because of the nature of the 10 primary
feathers on each wing. These feathers are extremely long
and narrow. When the wings flap, these feathers vibrate,
making the humming sound.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 384 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 6, 2000 (20:38) * 17 lines
HOW DID MANHATTAN GET ITS NAME?
It's a derivative of the Indian word Manahachtaniek, which
means "the island where we all get drunk," apparently
referring to a spirited encounter between the Native Americans
and some newly arrived Dutchmen.
WHY DOES IVORY SOAP FLOAT?
Too much air - originally an error in production. In 1878,
Harley Procter and cousin James Gamble decided to create for
their company a white soap that would rival the popular castile
soaps of their competitors. The product was successfull. Then,
in 1879, a worker mistakenly allowed the soap solution to be
overmixed. The new version of the soap was an immediate
success because it bobbed to the surface of the water.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 385 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 6, 2000 (20:44) * 4 lines
Here on Earth it's almost always true, that tomorrow will follow
today. Yet there is a place where yesterday always follows today.
Where is this place?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 386 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Oct 7, 2000 (10:04) * 12 lines
I don't know, since I'm meat I may well be at a disadvantage. The posting on the aliens was too funny. So where is it that yesterday always follows today? This is one of those Sphinx Riddle things, isn't it?
A bear has 42 teeth. I'll take your word for it as I don't want to wait a few months, find a hibernating bear, pry its mouth open, and count the teeth.
The world's largest garbage dump, the Freshkills Landfill on Staten Island is well on its way, or just has become, the highest point on the east coast of the United States.
The Dutch actually bought Manhattan from a tribe of Indians who lived in what is now Brooklyn. There were Indians living on Manhattan at the time, but they lived up in what is now Washington Heights. As far as I know, no one consulted them on the deal.
Have those imported mongeese become a problem in Hawaii?
Lastly, Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians at Spring.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 387 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Oct 7, 2000 (16:56) * 1 lines
*gonna kill me* Tomorrow comes before yesterday in a dictionary...*ducking*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 388 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Oct 7, 2000 (18:36) * 1 lines
Loved that meat one...blame that dictionary one on my being meat...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 389 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sat, Oct 7, 2000 (19:38) * 1 lines
i did love the meat story!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 390 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Oct 7, 2000 (22:48) * 1 lines
I should post it in Food/vegetarian so Autumn will see it!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 391 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 9, 2000 (01:17) * 50 lines
Originally developed in the Philippines around 1500, the
Yo-Yo was a weapon. It consisted of a four pound stone
attached to a rope about 20 feet long. Tribesmen used it
in two ways. When hunting, they stood off to one side,
held one end of the rope and threw the rock towards the
legs of an animal. The rope became tangled around the
animals legs, and with a tug, the hunter brought the
animal down. Against enemies, the stones would be dropped
on their heads. The tribesmen would quickly recover the
stones, ready for a second blow if necessary. In 1927,
an American named Donald Duncan saw a Yo-Yo in a museum
and spent the next several years transforming this concept
into his new toy. His Yo-Yo's were made of wood, and the
name - the same as the Philippine weapon - is a legal
trademark. Only later did Duncan discover that toys similar
to his Yo-Yo, had been made of ivory with expensive silk
strings, had been used in China as far back as 1000 B.C.,
and had showed up in Europe centuries later. This enabled
other toy manufacturers to make similar toys legally,
though only Duncan was ever allowed to use the name Yo-Yo.
On October 7th, 2000 a 38-year-old Slovenian became the
first person to ski nonstop down Mount Everest. It took
five hours to ski from the peak to the 18,000 base camp.
Incredibly, a sherpa recently set the record for the climb
from base camp to the peak of just 16 hours!
http://everest.simobil.si/eng/default.shtml
Napster users downloaded 1,390,000,000 MP3 files
...in September, 2000.
Babe Ruth struck out 1330 times.
20% of American men proposed on one knee.
The 28th President (Thomas) Woodrow Wilson allowed sheep to
graze on the White House lawn during World War I; their wool
helped raise money for the Red Cross.
Despite its size, IBM's Q7 had a single CPU running at
about 12 KHz (83,333 times slower than 1 gHz Athlon) and
64K of RAM (1,000 times less than the minimum today).
Cats spend 70% of their time sleeping.
Fossilized remains of life 50 million years ago have been
arranged in unusual forms, which is Lemmon's mark of
distinction at the world's largest petrified wood park
in South Dakota.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 392 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 9, 2000 (04:06) * 1 lines
All of this is memorable stuff, but nothing like as memorable as my day has been. My son brought his new fiancee home to meet his volcano, to wlak the lava flows and to admire the glory of a lava flow in the night. Imagine this great lady's courage! She accepted his proposal even after meeting me in July!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 393 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 9, 2000 (04:43) * 1 lines
Overshadowing them all was the W incident...in th ecategory of momumentality
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 394 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (14:47) * 45 lines
During the Cambrian period (500 million BC) an Earth day
was only 20.6 hours long.
Cisco Systems and Microsoft capitalized on the windfall
profits of their employees to wipe out their federal income
tax bills last year. Cisco, the second-most valuable U.S.
company, behind General Electric, eliminated a $1.8 billion
income tax liability by deducting the gains that its
employees realized from stock options during the company's
most recent fiscal year. Microsoft, the world's largest
computer-software company, recorded a $5.5 billion tax
benefit by deducting its employees' profits from stock
options during its last fiscal year. Microsoft reported
federal and state tax liabilities of $4.74 billion in the
year ending June 30.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-3145717.html
Only 15 to 20% of the population functions well in an
environment where they are to be competitive with others.
John Walker, an English chemist, never patented the match
that he invented because he thought it was too important
to be anything but public property.
The Klondike Historical Park in Seattle is only 5000 square
feet and can be safely explored in about an hour. It is also
inside.
In 1937 the tiny asteroid Hermes came within 500,000 miles
from Earth.
In ancient Greece women didn't start counting their age until
their wedding day, rather than the actual day they were born.
They believed the wedding date was the real start of a woman's
life.
Young priests of the island of Leukas, Greece were required
to don the wings of an eagle and plunge from Cape Dukato
into the sea in order to qualify for service at the temple
of Apollo. This feat was routinely performed for hundreds
of years yet no diver was ever hurt. The height of the
dive? 230 feet.
Black cats are considered lucky in England.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 395 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (15:22) * 7 lines
This will not update but the page does regularly and you can see what my kiddies will be feeling as they reacquaint themselves with Kilauea:
http://tux.wr.usgs.gov/results/seismic/BigIsland.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 396 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (15:31) * 4 lines
In the above image, which is a satellite image inhanced, please notice the sea bed just off the southeast coast... Notice the Fan of sediment there? That came from massive faulting and slumping into the sea from that flank of Kilauea volcano. It will as surely happen again as tomorrow will. I just do not want to be here for the earthquake and resulting tsunami from this "mass wasting!"
You will also notice similar fans of slump off the north end of the island.
Loihi, the name in red at the bottom of the image just off the southeast tip is the newest volcano in the chair. The hot spot is moving!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 397 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (17:17) * 1 lines
and how are your babies doing?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 398 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (18:35) * 3 lines
My *babies* are fanstastic. Today they are paying homage to the volcano and introducing her to the relism of fluid rock. I wanna go, too, but he wants it to be a special introduction - which I certainly understand! Still, I wnt to go see....*sigh* I might as well be living living in the middle of the outback of Australia for how close I get to that most amazing of sights.
...polishing up my Alexandrite and thinking Wonderful Wild and Wicked things...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 399 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (18:38) * 12 lines
For those of you about to travel:
Here's a little tip from me to you as an experienced
traveler. Wake-up calls: worst way to wake up. The phone
rings; it's loud; you can't turn it down. I leave the number
of the room next to me, and then it rings kind of quiet, and
you hear a guy yell, "What are you calling me for?" Then you
get up and take a shower. It's great.
-- Garry Shandling
Thanks for asking about my kiddies, Wolfie! *hugs*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 400 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (18:43) * 9 lines
Q. Why are most cameras black?
A. For a while, chrome was popular as a camera finish,
but professional photographers covered it in black
tape to cut down on surface reflections and that led
to the color change.
The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty.
The activist is the man who cleans up the river.
- H. Ross Perot
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 401 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (19:30) * 5 lines
good one mr. perot!
that's interesting about the camera. those pros are constantly fiddling with lights and stuff they don't need the extra frustration of "where's that reflection coming from"!!
i've selected an alexandrite out of the amulet catalog. it's simulated but the whole thing is still gonna cost $600 (setting and all). may have to wait for a good raise!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 402 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (20:06) * 1 lines
Oooh...if it is like my "Mexican Alexandrite" (not the real one I wear all the time!) it will be beautiful and you will love it!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 403 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (22:59) * 15 lines
Northern General Ulysses S. Grant owned slaves who were not freed
until after the Civil War had ended.
Timekeepers have clocked the action in a 60 minute football game
to actually be around 14 minutes.
Leon Uris dropped out of high school to join the US Marines.
In 1978, a college professor conducted a study of fingernail
biting. His findings also revealed approximately 15% of
Americans admitted to also chewing their toenails.
Pigs can run a 7.5 minute mile.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 404 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 11, 2000 (12:25) * 15 lines
A typical American hospital has three to four times more
employees than patients.
Your skin is about 3/16th of an inch thick.
Did you know the federal withholding tax taken out of each
American's paycheck was enacted as part of a "temporary" wartime
measure? Talk about fuzzy math.
The Hawaiian alphabet has only twelve letters.
Sioux Indian Chief Crazy Horse was called "Curly" as a child.
.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 405 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 11, 2000 (12:28) * 37 lines
Honey is used as a center for golf balls and in antifreeze
mixtures.
There are 6 Internet Service Providers serving Iceland.
The Library of Congress has 530 miles of shelves.
Jerry Rice is one of the NFL's best-conditioned players.
Several people, including the Secretary of State and the
Secretary of the Navy, were killed when the ten-ton
"Peacemaker" gun exploded during a firing from the first
propeller-driven warship, the U.S.S. Princeton. They were
on a cruise on the Potomac south of Washington, D.C., in
1844. President John Tyler was also on board with his
fiance, Julia Gardiner -- they were unhurt as they were
in a cabin below deck.
IBM had 2,000 employees along with 4,000 volunteers working
in shifts round the clock at the Sydney Olympics.
On Thursday, October 5, 2000, the space shuttle program was
to launch its 100th shuttle. Shuttles have orbited the Earth
about 13,500 times, travelling 350,000,000 miles -- equal
to going to the sun and back twice.
Big tobacco has played another trick on the public, according
to a paper published in the latest issue of the journal
Tobacco Control. Instead of finding ways to reduce levels
of harmful secondhand smoke, manufacturers chose to hide it,
adding chemicals to their cigarettes that mask the smoke's
odor and visibility. What's worse, those additives may
actually make ETS more dangerous.
http://www.sciam.com/news/091200/2.html
The salamander is the official South Carolina state amphibian.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 406 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Oct 11, 2000 (21:08) * 1 lines
i'm depressed about the pigs being able to run faster than me *frown*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 407 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Oct 11, 2000 (21:09) * 1 lines
honey is in the middle of golf balls? hmmmm, bet it's not edible!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 408 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 11, 2000 (23:58) * 21 lines
It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the
celery has in it to begin with.
Top 4 Favorite Theme Parks:
1. Busch Gardens Williamsburg, (Williamsburg, VA)
2. Disneyland, (Anaheim, CA)
3. Cedar Point, (Sandusky, OH)
4. Paramount's Kings Island, (Kings Island, OH)
5 years after being one of the judges who condemned 19 people
of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, Samuel Sewall
stated the convictions were a mistake.
If you pause Saturday Night Fever at the "How Deep Is Your
Love" rehearsal scene, you will see the camera crew in the
dance hall mirror.
6% of Americans proposed over the phone.
America spends 14% of its GNP on healthcare: $1,000,000,000
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 409 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 12, 2000 (01:39) * 146 lines
Precipitation
What is hail and is it dangerous?
Are raindrops really tear-shaped?
Big and small snowflakes
Can snow be coloured?
Sounds of snow
Which day is the snowiest?
The sound of hail
What do you call it when snow evaporates before hitting the
ground?
I would like to know when it is too warm to snow?
What determines whether precipitation will fall as freezing rain or
snow?
What is the Bergeron Process?
Why are all snow flakes six sided?
What is hail and is it dangerous?
David Bowes, a Grade 11 student in Chatham, New Brunswick was curious
about the formation of hail and how dangerous it is. While hurricanes,
tornadoes and lightning grab all the headlines, hail is one of the most
dangerous and certainly most destructive of all severe weather phenomena.
Each year it injures a few Canadians, kills thousands of farm animals, wildlife
and birds and causes millions of dollars damage. Now I don't know whether
hail has ever killed anyone in Canada. It has killed hundreds in India and in
China. And in the United States, at least 3 people have been killed by falling
hailstones including a 3-month old boy, and it caused a single-engine plane
to crash.
For a hailstone to grow, it must be captured or held up by powerful
thunderclouds while new layers of ice are continuously being added. In most
cases, frozen raindrops or ice balls are caught up in a kind of atmospheric
trampoline as they fall from clouds. The ice particles are thrown back up into
freezing air by strong updrafts where they acquire another layer of ice. These
updrafts can continue to bounce the growing ice pieces back and forth -
sometimes 25 times or more.
Eventually the hailstones grow too heavy to be supported by the
thunderstorm's updraft and fall to the ground as hailstones - the size of peas
or as big as grapefruits or even bigger.
top
Are raindrops really tear-shaped?
Adam Taub of Thornhill, Ontario wonders whether raindrops are really tear or
pear-shaped like you see on cartoons, advertisements and posters.
High-speed photographs of most raindrops nearing the earth show them to
be more like mushroom tops or hamburger buns - not at all tear-shaped.
The falling speed of raindrops is directly related to their size. Small drops,
those less than 2 mm in diameter, tend to remain round as they fall. The
surface tension is sufficient to hold it together as a nearly perfect sphere.
Larger raindrops fall at a speed around 30 km/h.
Because the air pressure or resistance is greatest on the bottom, the drop
flattens there which makes the droplet bulge on top. The side edges bulge
out because air pressure there is lower. So the large raindrops tend to be flat
on the bottom, round on top and wider than they are high just like a
hamburger bun. Really large drops, those say 6 mm or more across, become
distorted into a shape rather like a parachute and then they break up into
smaller drops.
top
Big and small snowflakes
Peggy Power of North York asks why are snowflakes quite big on certain days,
and then smaller on other days?
The shape and size of snowflakes ultimately depend on the temperature and
the amount of water vapour available in the cloud where the flake first forms,
and in the layers of air that the flake falls through as it descends. Some
soggy flakes, measuring about 2 cm in diameter when they reach the earth,
are conglomerations of 100's of matted-together flakes which have passed
through relatively mild and moist air. On the other hand, dry snow tends to
arrive as small, single flakes, unlikely to bind with other flakes as they fall
through dry, cold air.
Nearly anything can happen to a snowflake as it drifts and tumbles earthward.
Pieces break off, evaporate or melt. They bump into each other and
sometimes bind together. If the wind is too strong, the big flakes will rip apart
and you'll only see fragments.
Also the greater the distance a snowflake falls the larger it usually becomes.
About a century ago, monster snowflakes which were larger than a
medium-size pizza supposedly fell from the skies over Montana.
top
Can snow be coloured?
Mr. Eloi DeGrace of Dartmouth sent me a clipping from a newspaper in 1819
citing a peculiar find of red snow. How can that be?
In 1818, Sir John Ross, the noted Arctic explorer discovered large deposits of
red-coloured snow in Greenland. It was found to contain red-tinted,
microscopic plants and animals.
Pure snow is white, but snow is never pure. It contains much more than just
frozen moisture and air. Pollen, single-celled organisms, specks of dust, dirt,
sand, and ash and traces of pollution are sometimes in sufficient quantities
to affect the colour.
The foreign material is carried by wind currents before the snowflake begins to
fall.
Yellow snow (it's not what you think) can be coloured by pollen from a near-by
pine forest fell in Pennsylvania; pink snow has fallen on Vancouver Island;
pale-blue snow fell in the French Alps presumably coloured by copper salts in
the dust from the Sahara desert. During the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, black
and brown soils from Oklahoma and Texas coloured snow in Eastern Canada.
Snow can also change colour after it falls. Colonies made up of algae, fungi
and bacteria living among the crystals feed on the nutrients in the snow.
top
Sounds of snow
Clayton Trought of Aurora Ontario asks why does snow squeak when you walk
on it. I am sure you have noticed that the colder the temperature, the fluffier
the snow and the squeakier the sound it makes when you walk on it. One
explanation is that when the air and snow are only slightly below freezing,
pressure from walking compresses and partially melts the snow crystals
underfoot. Now, lubricated by a thin film of water, the snow can flow and little
sound is made.
But on cold days, when the temperature is, say -15C or lower, foot pressure is
not sufficient to melt the snow. Instead, when you step down, the individual
cold ice crystals move abruptly, slipping and crashing into each other. The
sudden rubbing or smashing produces that familiar cold-weather creaking
sound. Because the sound produced by snow is related to how cold it is, you
can use it to tell the temperature. The louder the snow cries the colder the
temperature of both the air and snow. Another possible explanation is that
the pressure of stepping on the air-filled snowflakes rapidly expels the air
and produces the characteristic squeak or crunchy noise we know so well.
top
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 410 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 12, 2000 (16:37) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 411 of 1406: (sprin5) * Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (07:20) * 6 lines
Did you hear about the big meteorite that fell in Northern British Columbia, it was on NPR this morning.
To quote http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/cmnpd01fm.cfm?PrgDate=10/13/2000&PrgID=3
-- NPR's Richard Knox reports on clues to the earth's formation that are falling from the sky. Last January, a real estate agent in Canada witnessed the crash of a meteorite he described as a gigantic white light from the sky. A week later an amateur scientist discovered pieces of the meteorite, collected and preserved them in the freezer. Scientists now say it's the best sample they have yet to study how the earth was formed. (4:51)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 412 of 1406: (sprin5) * Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (07:36) * 6 lines
And more details at http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20001012/sp_meteorite.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 413 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (13:01) * 27 lines
Cross posted from Springark
Thursday October 12 4:41 PM ET
Scientists Find Completely New Animal in Greenland
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001012/sc/life_animal_dc_1.html
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (Reuters) - Danish scientists have found a completely new kind of animal down a cold well in Greenland and are keeping a colony of them in a fridge, the Arctic magazine Polarfronten reported on the Internet Thursday.
The 0.1-millimeter long freshwater organism does not fit into any one of the previously known animal families -- making it only the fourth such creature to be discovered on the planet in the past 100 years, Polarfronten said.
Studies of the animal named ``Limnognathia maerski'' show that it shares some characteristics with certain seawater life-forms.
Scientists from Copenhagen University and Aarhus University in Denmark have established a new phylum -- or family -- for the tiny animal, whose most remarkable feature is a set of very complicated jaws.
It has now got its own branch, Micrognathozoa, on the tree of the world's known animals, which are divided into slightly more than 30 families, Polarfronten said.
Limnognathia maerski, which reproduces through parthenogenesis, uses its jaws to scrape the bacteria and algae it feeds on from underwater moss growing in icy wells which freeze over during the long Arctic winter.
The animal was found in samples taken in 1994 from a well in Isunngua on Disco island in northwestern Greenland. A colony of the tiny creatures, all females, is in a refrigerator at Copenhagen University.
Greenland, the world's largest island, is part of Denmark.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 414 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (13:22) * 1 lines
Positively amazing, but boring...nothing male around at all??!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 415 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (16:16) * 30 lines
Trick or Treating under the Stars
Thursday's Classroom for Friday, Oct. 13th
http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com
In little more than two weeks, millions of kids will be outdoors after
nightfall on Halloween. Don't let your students go Trick or Treating
unprepared -- a basic knowledge of the northern autumn sky will make
Halloween more fun than ever. This week's activities include:
o Draco-Lanterns -- transform traditional pumpkin carving into a truly
stellar experience!
o Toothpaste Constellations -- Do you have trouble convincing your kids to
brush their teeth? Now you can put all that neglected toothpaste to good
use in this constellation art project.
o What's Your Angle? -- Students learn about triangles and quadrilaterals
as they grow familiar with the autumn constellations.
o Hands Up! -- One of the most useful tools for navigating the night sky
(and learning the basics of angles and degrees) is right by your side.
o The Crazy Constellations Coloring Book -- Students can color original
art by Duane Hilton as they follow along with this week's lessons.
...and more!
Please visit http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 416 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (17:41) * 17 lines
WHAT WAS THE FIRST ZOO IN THE UNITED STATES?
It was the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens, which opened in
1874. In 1938, it became the site of the first children's zoo.
Founded and operated by the Zoological Society of Philadelphia,
the Philadelphia Zoo currently houses more than 1,400 specimens
of over 400 species.
WHAT IS SILLY PUTTY MADE OF?
The rubberlike compound is composed, in part, of boric acid and
silicone oil. Invented at the General Electric laboratories in
the 1940s as an inexpensive synthetic rubber for use during
World War II, it gained its greatest popularity when New Haven,
Connecticut, store owner Paul Hodgson bought a large quantity of
it, put it in small plastic eggs, and called it Silly Putty.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 417 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (18:08) * 3 lines
note that there is a new topic in springark for those newly discovered critters.
that meteorite was way cool!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 418 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Oct 14, 2000 (12:41) * 1 lines
Yeah, I need a piece of a meteorite for my collection. Even a wee little one no one will miss...oh, and a moon rock would be nice. Shoulda made off with the one I guarded that time... Parthenogenic Critters on SpringArk...gonna check!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 419 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Oct 14, 2000 (20:44) * 29 lines
The largest crocodiles ever were Deinosuchus, from the
late Cretaceous era. They were up to 50 feet long.
One skull that was found was almost six feet long.
If IBM's Q7 failed, it would run a diagnostic, telling you
what rack of tubes to pull and what tube to replace in the
rack.
Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York was founded in
1861 by a brewer named Matthew Vassar.
The Oakland Bay Bridge was completed 6 months ahead of
schedule and millions under budget and is considered one
of the 7 wonders of the modern world.
The total weight of all insects Earth, is 12 times greater
than the weight of all people.
The height of the Eiffel Tower varies as much as six inches
depending on the temperature.
It took engineers 22 years to design the zipper.
Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone.
The US has the world's most violent weather. Each year
it experiences 10,000 violent thunderstorms, 5,000 floods,
1,000 tornadoes and several hurricanes.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 420 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 15, 2000 (00:57) * 13 lines
Benjamin Franklin was the 15th child of a Boston soapmaker.
A dragonfly eats, on average, 300 mosquitos per day.
An inch-thick rope of spider's silk can withstand up to 140,000
pounds of pressure.
In 1968, there were 5 million-dollar lottery winners who did not
claim their prize.
A horse can look forward with one eye and backwards with the
other.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 421 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 15, 2000 (22:56) * 24 lines
Frogs never drink -- they absorb water through their skin.
The book that Neo hides his money and software disks in
is a copy of "Simulacra and Simulation" by the Jean
Baudrillard. The book argues Baudrillard's thesis of
"hyperreality": the idea that multiple copies annihilate
the ancient relationship between copy and original...
The British government has sanctioned insurance companies'
use of genetic tests for inherited diseases.
http://www.newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns999968
When North America was first settled, beavers grew to the
size of bears.
Blonde beards grow faster than darker beards.
Worldwide, about 40 square miles of land are transformed into
desert each day.
Rhode Island was the last of the original thirteen colonies
to become a state.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 422 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 16, 2000 (17:14) * 48 lines
A Matter of Time
A Mind-Warping Memo to Kick-Start Your Brain on a Marvelous
Monday Morning
"The time of physics is defined and measured by a pendulum, whether it
is the pendulum of a grandfather's clock, the pendulum of the Earth's
rotation around the sun, or the pendulum of the precessing electron in
the nuclear magnetic field of the hydrogen maser. Time, therefore, is
defined by periodic rotation - that is, by motion related to a point
moving uniformly around a circle." These are the words of physicist
Edgar Lipworth, as reported by the occasionally apocryphal but
invariably colorful Tom Robbins in his book, Even Cowgirls Get the
Blues.
Apocryphal or no, Lipworth's assertion found a warm corner in my mind
where it circled, laid down and then napped for awhile. Upon waking,
the strange thought yawned, stretched its arms and said, "All movement
happens in Space; height, width and depth - the first three dimensions.
And as you already know, the fourth dimension is Time. Light moves
through space and according to Einstein, Time stands still at the speed
of light. Light, my friend, is the pendulum of the universe, marking
and measuring time. And just as faith is the evidence of things not
seen, color is the evidence of light. Color is the momentary, visible
bridge between space and time." Scratching my head, I asked, "Are you
sure?" For a long time there was nothing but silence in my mind. Then,
just as the thought was vanishing over the horizon, it called over it's
shoulder, "Let there be light. Remember?" And then it was gone.
But I had other thoughts to replace it on the playground of my brain.
Here's one of the more interesting ones for you to ponder - "Time is
the mirror in which our choices are seen. And it is through our
choices that our values and beliefs are revealed... If you want to know
what a person believes, you need only to watch what they do."
But the only useful, practical, valuable thought among all these, my
most recent thoughts, is found in the answer to the following Question:
"If objective, fourth-dimensional reality is this meeting place that we
call the space-time continuum, (composed of height, width, depth and
time,) then what would a three-dimensional reality be?"
Ah, but the answer to that question is an illuminating and profitable
one, indeed. I'll share it with you in next week's memo.
Roy H. Williams
MMMemo@wizardofads.com
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 423 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 16, 2000 (23:04) * 26 lines
England is smaller than New England.
Some teenagers are now fearing technological obsolescence
because their younger brothers and sisters know more about
computers than they do.
Robots in Japan pay union dues.
During the Vietnam War, more people were killed in the US
by guns and explosives than US soldiers in the war zone.
- Deane Jordan
100 years ago, there were about 230 murders per year in
the US.
In 1769, Nicholas Cugnot, a French military engineer, built
the first self-propelled car. Designed to pull artillery,
the three-wheeled vehicle could travel about 2.5 miles per
hour while carrying a cannon and four people.
Most fish don't really sleep but rather go through a period
of decreased activity that allows their body to regenerate.
On the other hand, many coral reef fish do sleep and when
they do they sleep by standing on their tails or leaning on
a rock!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 424 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 16, 2000 (23:58) * 10 lines
How does a bird find a worm in the ground?
Before the sun rises and warms up the earth's surface, earthworms
usually crawl up to the earth's surface while it is still cool
and damp with the morning dew. That's also the time they fall
prey to the "early" (and hungry) birds. When a bird stands on
the ground near a worm which is crawiling underneath, the bird
can feel the earth's vibrations with its feet. The bird can also
hear the worm tunneling in the earth below with their ears.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 425 of 1406: (sprin5) * Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (07:14) * 5 lines
I heard a good piece on NPR this morning, a reporter carries video
equipment and tapes his journey though a previously untravled part of the
African interior. The animal and insect sounds nearly drown out this late
night narrative. Worth catching!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 426 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (18:08) * 7 lines
So Japanese robots pay union dues. That's very funny. How exactly do they work out the accounting in regard to this?
Your son's fiancee as thus far passed two trials, meeting you and facing the volcano. Aren't there usally three trials? What's the third going to be?
Tomorrow comes before yesterday in the dictionary. It's a good think you ducked because I was ready to use a virtual yo-yo as a weapon. It's just as well I didn't since I'm mostly a menace to myself when using a yo-yo. No cracks about my being a yo-yo, please. Basically I refer to myself as quirky.
I know that someone here will figure out this riddle, probably Marcia. So here goes: It's the beginning of enternity, the end of time, and found in space.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 427 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (18:59) * 10 lines
My son's fiancee did the third trial first..fell in love with my son and managed to make it reciprocal while winning over his friends' affections. Even the House male likes her!
About those robots...amazing opening for graft, huh!
Yo-yos tend to attack those whose ineptitude they sense. I have had my share of bruises, thank you...
...the letter "E"
Wish we could get NPR radio on this side of the island....
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 428 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (23:13) * 22 lines
There are over 7,000 PCs and 2,000 touch-screens and 540
servers at the Sydney Olympics.
By 1880, Standard Oil refined 95% of the oil in the U.S.
The number of people accessing the Internet in China is now
the same as the number of people in France: 7,200,000.
Rugby, North Dakota is the geographical center of North
America. It's marked by a 15 foot rock obelisk and flanked
by poles flying the U.S. and Canadian flags.
The first cook book was written by the Greeks in 400 B.C.
Henry Ford went broke five times before succeeding.
Autumn leaves actually do not turn color. They lose one color,
green, and show other colors they've had all along. The change
is also caused more by the shortening of the days than by cooler
weather.
- Deane Jordan, "1001 Facts Somebody Screwed Up"
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 429 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (03:39) * 3 lines
Saying 'goodbye' for the next 5 months ...off to Timbuctoo (well, near it anyway ...same country). Look for Marcia posting in Cultures and travel for me.
See you all in March unless I get to an internet cafe or something ...
Maggie
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 430 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (15:21) * 1 lines
take care maggie!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 431 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (18:16) * 27 lines
God Speed Maggie, luv!
+----------------- Bizarre Superstitions ------------------+
Spilling salt is considered bad luck, probably because it was
once so valuable. Superstition has it a person is doomed to
shed as many tears as it takes to dissolve the spilled salt.
Evil spirits can't harm you when you stand inside a circle.
Suspend a wedding band over the palm of the pregnant girl.
If the ring swings in a circular motion it will be a girl.
If the ring swings in a straight line the baby will be a boy.
A knife as a gift from a lover means that the love will soon
end.
[Especially if the knife is delivered to your back.]
If you use the same pencil to take a test that you used for
studying for the test, the pencil will remember the answers.
The number of Xs in the palm of your right hand is the number
of children you will have.
You must hold your breath while going past a cemetery or you
will breathe in the spirit of someone who has recently died.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 432 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (18:18) * 1 lines
My right palm has one X and I have one child.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 433 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (18:43) * 10 lines
Weekend Meteors
NASA Science News for October 18, 2000
On Friday the 13th of October a brilliant fireball startled stargazers in Texas and Kansas. But that was just a piece of space junk -- a real meteor shower arrives this weekend.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast18oct_1.htm?list89800
---
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 434 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (19:26) * 1 lines
i have 2 x's that i can really see and i have two kids!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 435 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (19:32) * 1 lines
How weird! How does that matter, and is it only a female manifestation?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 436 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (19:36) * 1 lines
i have heard that when palm readings are taken, one should read the weaker hand. it seems that the dominate hand changes due to use. i wonder about guy's hands.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 437 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (19:45) * 1 lines
yup, but certain things apparently only show up on dominant hand. Check how many grandchildren you're gonna have!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 438 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (19:48) * 1 lines
checked house male - he has only one X...and two natural children...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 439 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (19:56) * 1 lines
how do i do that?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 440 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (19:57) * 1 lines
I just asked a young teenage lady and she found 6 Xs on her hand! Not in HER future, she says. She said probably have two - the first one and quintuplets for the second one! Her mother has 2 Xs and 2 children...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 441 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (19:57) * 1 lines
the AM has none.......wait, i got it on the grandchildren! took me a minute!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 442 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (19:58) * 1 lines
she has three x's
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 443 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (20:24) * 23 lines
Huh!!! You'll have at least 3 then...*grin*
Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds.
IBM's Q7 could play video and text games and track 400
airplanes simultaneously.
29% of Americans can not drive a stick-shift car.
Microsoft was the worst performer in the Dow Jones Industrial
Average this year (2000).
By age sixty, most people have lost half of their taste buds.
Poverty -- not cancer, not AIDS, not heart disease -- is the
number one killer in the world.
P.T. Barnum never said "There's a sucker born every minute".
The shrimp's heart is in its head.
America media mogul Ted Turner owns 1.5% of New Mexico.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 444 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (20:45) * 12 lines
Q. Why do we read from left to right?
A. The ancient Greeks started out writing from right to left,
as many present day languages still do. They then adopted
a style known as "boustrophedon" a reference to turning
the way an ox turns a plow. This super efficient style
went from left to right and right to left on alternate
lines, saving the eyeballs the trip back to the right side
to start a new line. Around 500 BC, the Greeks began to
write exclusively from left to right. The reasons for the
change are uncertain, but may have to do with a new split
reed pen that was easier to move in that direction.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 445 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 18, 2000 (21:47) * 20 lines
Examples of different types of energy:
1. Kinetic energy - falling water from a dam or wind.
2. Heat energy - anything burning.
3. Electrical energy - obtained from an electric current.
4. Potential energy - energy locked up in coal, oil, gas, food,
and wood.
5. Mechanical energy - a wheel turned by falling water.
6. Solar energy - heat from the sun.
7. Gravitational energy - from anything falling.
8. Atomic/nuclear energy - from splitting an atom.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 446 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 19, 2000 (16:16) * 9 lines
What makes a cat purr?
A cat has two sets of vocal cords when born. One set, contained
in a cat's voice box, makes the "meow" sound. The other set,
which are actually false vocal cords, are vibrated upon inhaling
and exhaling, which produces an involuntary continuous purring
sound.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 447 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Oct 19, 2000 (18:33) * 1 lines
Have a safe journey and an enjoyable visit, Maggie.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 448 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Oct 19, 2000 (18:41) * 7 lines
Marcia, I'm sorry it took so long to get back. You are absolutely right, the letter "E" is the beginning of enternity, the end of time, and found in space. I knew you'd get it.
I'm glad to learn that your son's fiancee passed all three of her tests. The house male approves as well. How about the little fur-person, the marmalade princess?
Speaking of kitties, they can purr and eat at the same time. I always wondered how they did that. Thank you for explaining how they generate that sound.
There's always something to learn at Geo.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 449 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 19, 2000 (19:14) * 3 lines
When my Master Programmer handed me Geo and told me I was to create the first topic, I thought I had chosen a totally useless topic; one so inspecific that nothing would fit in here. I have found it most versatile of late. After all, we ARE all things of Planet Earth!
Miss Kitty, the marmalade princess is skittish of everyone but the male of the species. If I come bearing edibles then she will tolerate me and fling herself tummy-up on my shoes to be petted. Otherise, she just tolerates the rest of us but catches rats almost 1/2 her size and presents them to us. Yak!! Good Kitty!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 450 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 20, 2000 (00:11) * 40 lines
He who blindly quotes what he reads
must at times admit he is an fool.
CORRECTION:
Microsoft could not be the worst performer
in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, because
it is listed on Nasdaq. Thanks, Richmond.
*************************************************************
At age 16 Confucius was a corn inspector.
1,500,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of unique information are
generated each year, the equivalent of 250 books worth for
every man, woman and child on the planet. Of these
1.5 Exabytes of information, 93% of it stored digitally.
http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/how-much-info/
The average car produces 4 times its weight in exhaust
gases over the life of the car.
Cleveland, Ohio got the first traffic light on Aug. 5, 1914.
Jerry Rice is a 10-time ALL-PRO (1986-90, 92-96).
The garden equipment maker Wolf-Garten has built a prototype
machine fitted with an array of four lasers that cuts grass
to an accuracy of 1/25th of an inch. Powerful lasers
evaporate water from the grass and chop the dried residue
into tiny particles. A stream of air then blends the
cuttings with fertiliser before depositing the mixture onto
the lawn. The mower also includes mobile Internet access
and a CD player to entertain you as you cut the lawn.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns226055
Horses were originally used to pull railway cars.
80% of your body temperature escapes through your head.
Polar bears can smell a person up to 20 miles away.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 451 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 20, 2000 (21:46) * 52 lines
+--------------- Bizarre Historical Trivia ----------------+
100 years ago....
Only 14 percent of the homes in the United States had a
bathtub.
There were only 8,000 cars in the US and only 144 miles of
paved roads.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more
heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million
residents, California was only the twenty-first most
populous state in the Union.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
The average wage in the U.S. was twenty-two cents an hour.
The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a
dozen. Coffee cost fifteen cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month and used
borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Drive-by-shootings - in which teenage boys galloped down the
street on horses and started randomly shooting at houses,
carriages, or anything else that caught their fancy - were
an ongoing problem in Denver and other cities in the West.
Plutonium, insulin, and antibiotics hadn't been discovered
yet. Scotch tape, crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced
tea hadn't been invented.
Some medical authorities warned that professional seam-
stresses were apt to become sexually aroused by the steady
rhythm of the sewing machine's foot pedals. They recommended
slipping bromide - which was thought to diminish sexual
desire - into the woman's drinking water.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the
counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist,
"Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,
regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact, a
perfect guardian of health."
Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine.
There were about 230 reported murders in the U.S. annually.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 452 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Oct 21, 2000 (10:05) * 1 lines
Queen Victoria used cocaine. It was an ingredient in an elixer she took for "women's complaints". There is also an ad for Bayer aspirin from the 1890's which states, "Bayer aspirin with herion. Strong pain relief." Last but not least, there was Coca-Cola which originally did have a small amount of cocaine in it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 453 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Oct 21, 2000 (13:07) * 3 lines
Ah, yes... No wonder they called them "The Good Old Days"
Laudinum is what was prescribed for almosty anything which ailed a woman. It was tincture of opium, and it probably kept them from complaining much!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 454 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 22, 2000 (23:58) * 30 lines
In the Arctic, the sun sometimes appears to be square.
An ordinary light bulb converts only 10% of the inputted
electricity as light. The rest is dissipated as heat.
Seven nuclear submarines lie on the ocean floor: five
are Russian, two American. In addition, dozens of obsolete
Soviet submarines are rusting in just a few feet of water
in various Russian ports.
http://www.sciam.com/2000/1100issue/1100scicit2.html
The first envelopes with gummed flaps were produced in 1844.
In Britain they were not immediately popular because it was
thought to be a serious insult to send a person's saliva to
someone else.
Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf under his hat to keep his head
cool. He changed it every two innings.
In England, in the 1880's "pants" was considered a dirty word.
The Blesbok, a South African antelope, is almost the same
color as grapejuice.
The first baseball stadium was built in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania in 1909.
The chance of contracting an infection during a hospital
stay in the US is 1 in 15.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 455 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 22, 2000 (23:59) * 2 lines
I shall remember when sending post to Britain to moisten the flap with a sponge.
...and to tuck a cabbage leaf under my baseball cap...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 456 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 23, 2000 (01:34) * 16 lines
The Year is:
1800 1 vote gives Thomas Jefferson the presidency over Aaron
Burr
1839 1 vote wins the Massachusetts governorship for Marcus
Morton
1868 1 vote saves Andrew Johnson's presidency
1941 1 vote strengthens selective service before World War II
1960 1 vote per precinct gives JFK the presidency
2000 1 vote, your vote, can make the difference November 7th
In America, as well as the rest of the world, 1 VOTE DOES
MATTER. Be the ONE.
Make the difference, SEND THIS TO A FRIEND.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 457 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 23, 2000 (21:43) * 23 lines
The Empire State building was struck by lightning 8 times
during a 24 minute thunderstorm.
There are 26 known spellings for the name of Libyan leader
Mummar Quaddafi.
Carolyn Shoemaker has discovered 32 comets
and about 800 asteroids.
Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.
The katydid bug hears through holes in its hind legs.
Blue eyes are the most sensitive to light,
dark brown the least sensitive.
America once used a five-cent bill.
30,000 people work on the US Space Shuttle program.
Vladimir Lenin bought 9 Rolls Royces while heading the
Soviet Union.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 458 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 24, 2000 (22:26) * 27 lines
As a young lifeguard at a beach near Dixon, Illinois,
future 40th US president Ronald Reagan rescued
77 people from drowning.
There were over 4,000 scooter-related injuries in August, 2000.
http://www.sciam.com/news/102400/4.html
15,000 people per day are signing up with AOL. There are
now 25,000,000 AOL members worldwide, in 16 countries and
8 languages.
Clark Gable used to shower more than 4 times a day.
Andrzej Makowski is the youngest person on record to receive
a driver's license. He received his license when he was just
14 years and 8 months old.
Oregon has more ghost towns than any other state.
Wayne Gretzky won the goals, assists or points season title
29 times and owned all 3 titles continuously for a 4 year
stretch.
Procter & Gamble Co. spent $199,000,000 in TV ads in 1996.
Ostriches live about 75 years.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 459 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 25, 2000 (17:33) * 11 lines
Oct. 25th Solar Coronal Mass Ejection
Space Weather News for Oct. 25, 2000
http://www.spaceweather.com
This morning a full halo coronal mass ejection sped away from the Sun
faster than 620 km/s. The leading edge of a solar wind shock wave could
arrive in the neighborhood of Earth later this week and possibly trigger
auroras. For details and animations please visit
http://www.spaceweather.com
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 460 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 25, 2000 (19:06) * 37 lines
This May Explain A Lot
New research indicates that incompetent people tend not to
know they are incompetent. Not only that, they also tend to
be very confident that they know what they're doing -- even
more confident of their own competence than people who
really do know what they're doing.
The New York Times reports that Cornell University
psychology professor David Dunning reached those
conclusions in a study he conducted with a graduate
student, and wrote about his findings in the December 1999
issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The researchers concluded that one reason incompetent
people do not know how much they do not know, is that the
cognitive skills required to be competent are also required
for recognizing actual competence.
Researcher Justin Kruger told the Times that the
incompetence of incompetent people "robs them of their
ability to realize" they have a problem. It also makes it
difficult for incompetent folks to recognize competence in
others.
By the way, the researchers say they also noticed that
people who can't tell a joke tend not to realize that
they're not funny -- and as a result they persist in
telling jokes badly.
-From the National Association of Science Writers
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 461 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 26, 2000 (01:18) * 25 lines
45% of Americans consistently follow the speed limit.
IBM's Q7 could play "Stars and Stripes Forever", using the
tape drives as trombones, the line printers as percussion
and the bit speaker as the flutes.
The London subway (Underground) first opened in 1863.
Henry Ford bought a Rolls Royce in 1924. When caught driving
it, he said, "My Ford was being serviced so I drove over in
the next best thing!"
At birth a panda is smaller than a mouse, weighing about four ounces.
A 1995 survey of 149 medical students found that all of them,
100%, had been introduced as "doctor" by hospital staff.
This not only violates federal and professional guidelines,
it's explicitly illegal in Massachusetts.
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-1.html
The IBM systems at the Sydney Olympics involved 13 million
lines of computer code.
The Egyptian's wore something akin to a kilt.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 462 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 26, 2000 (15:09) * 8 lines
Re the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) mentioned in post 459. This image is awesom
Better still go to the url at post 459 and click on the small image to see the larger one. I have never seen one as large as this. Northern climates, please check for Aurorae, please!!! Extreme southeen ones, check too! The come back and tell us all about it!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 463 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 26, 2000 (15:51) * 9 lines
Lunar Leonids 2000
NASA Science News for October 26, 2000
Next month the Moon will plow through a stream of debris from comet Tempel-Tuttle, the parent of the Leonid meteor shower. Meteoroids that strike the Moon don't cause shooting stars as they do on our planet. Instead, they hit the lunar terrain at high speed. Scientists will be watching for signs of impacts as the Moon heads for a close encounter with the Leonids.
FULL STORY at
http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast26oct_1.htm?list89800
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 464 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, Oct 27, 2000 (17:46) * 1 lines
i like the incompetent people explaination. that is classic!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 465 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 27, 2000 (19:23) * 1 lines
Yup!!! I also put in in screwed. How much better a place that that for such an subject. I guess The Man has more than his share of them working for him...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 466 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 27, 2000 (19:49) * 3 lines
Thanks to John in Canada, we have this handy URL to use for time corrections for all over the world. I will use it often!
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 467 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Oct 28, 2000 (00:29) * 1 lines
As the rest of the world moves their clock hand back and hour tomorrow night, we move the entire state 1000 miles closer to the rest of you. Not sure how it impacts us in relation to the Orient or Australia but we remain on Hawaiian Standard Time Year round. Maybe the world just gets 1000 miles smaller for Standard time?!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 468 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Oct 28, 2000 (12:42) * 1 lines
Yes, it's that one weekend a year, which is 1 hour longer than all the others, expect one. This weekend is 2 hours longer than that one. It's back to standard time for me.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 469 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 29, 2000 (13:45) * 3 lines
William, you were right. No one reads Geo on Sunday. Maybe I should stage cricket matches...? Bullfights...? Football games...? (Your choice of definition of "football")
*sigh*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 470 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (16:57) * 16 lines
On what night is Halloween observed when Oct. 31 falls on a
Sunday?
Halloween isn't an established holiday by law. It is traditional
that Halloween is Oct. 31 no matter what day of the week it falls
on. Halloween dates from 837 when Pope Gregory IV instituted All
Saints or All Hallows Day on Nov. 1 to take the place of an
earlier festival known as the Peace of the Martyrs. The day was
set aside to honor all saints, known and unknown. Halloween then
is a shortened form of All Hallows Eve - the evening before All
Hallows Day. Certainly, you have a choice of celebrating it on
Oct. 30, Saturday, if you wish. Many of the area parties will be
held then rather than on Sunday. It's probably appropriate to say
some people equate Halloween with the occult or Satanism and
don't approve of it at all.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 471 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (17:29) * 15 lines
FAST FACTS:
I don't know about you, but in my student days, mastering
English grammar seemed about as easy as learning the art of
black magic. Well I was apparently onto something. The word
"grammar" entered medieval English as "gramarye," via
Scotland. The Scots got it from the French word, "grimoire,"
which meant a collection of magic spells. The connection was
made between grammar and magic because most people then were
illiterate, so any linguistic smarty-pants was metaphorically
seen as dabbling in sorcery.
I wish they had retained grimoire. It sounds more like the
way I felt about the subject.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 472 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (20:59) * 3 lines
(and the funny thing is halloween was made to divert the evil spirits in paganism believed to roam the earth before midnight of Oct 31 and has nothing to do with satamism at all) the ritual was to dress as scary as possible and place jack-o-lanterns at the gates to scare off the ghosts that wanted to party before All Saint's Day! But the scary thing is that satamists have used the day to celebrate their religion.
and that is hilarious (grimoire)!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 473 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (21:05) * 15 lines
ABCNEWS.com
Oct. 31— The original Halloween had little to do with fake blood, vampire teeth, or trick-or-treating safety patrols.
Halloween traces its ultimate origins back to the Druids—a Celtic priestly class—who believed that the spirits of the dead would roam the earth at the turn of the new year on Nov. 1. According to this pagan Celt tradition, the veil between this world and the other was at its thinnest on this “all souls” day and people would dress up and paint their faces to remove differences between the two worlds so they could better interact with the souls of the dead. Costumed villagers would offer up a feast and then parade to the outskirts of town leading the ghosts away.
The Christians added to the festival in the seventh century by making Nov. 1 a celebration of all the known and unknown saints and martyrs—hence the name All Saints Day or All Hallows Day. The night before was known as All Hallow E’en or Even (evening) and the day after, Nov. 2, became known as All Souls Day.
Over the centuries, pranks, bonfires, belief in the return of the ghosts and dead souls, fortune-telling and ritualistic games began to be associated with Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.
Tricks, Treats and Lit Vegetables
Trick-or-treating is a recent 20th century American phenomenon, but it has roots in ancient customs. The Irish originally initiated a custom hundreds of years ago where groups of farmers would go house to house soliciting food for the village. Prosperity was promised for generous givers and threats were made against the stingy villagers.
The custom of trick-or-treating is also related to the Gaelic practice of giving cakes to the poor at Samhain or “summer-end,” a seasonal festival that coincided with All Souls Day. They came to be called “soul-cakes,” and in return recipients were obligated to pray for a good harvest.
The custom of carving jack-o’-lanterns is thought to derive from an old Irish custom of creating lanterns out of vegetables. In Ireland and Great Britain, customs included throwing stones, vegetables and nuts into a fire “to keep the spooks away.” People would also hollow out turnips and pumpkins and place a lighted candle inside to drive evil spirits away from the home.
An American Mega-Holiday
The Halloween holiday in America became popular in the 1920s and 1930s. At that time, Halloween activities were fairly simple—kids would bob for apples or play with Ouija boards.
According to costume experts, witch and ghosts costumes were common, as were Chinese and Japanese dress in response to the Asian arts movement at the end of the century. The modern movie-making industry would later inspire the more elaborate monster and horror-themed costumes we know today.
With the help of mass merchandising efforts, Halloween has become a multimillion-dollar event and a good excuse for little kids and plenty of adults to overdose on the sugar.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 474 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (21:14) * 1 lines
Happy Samhain (pronounced SAW-wen), everyone. We were all pagan once. Get in touch with your roots! Ovedose on empty calories (sugar)...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 475 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (16:53) * 12 lines
Time to look skyward as your go house-to-house:
Halloween Aurora Watch
Space Weather News for Oct. 31, 2000
http://www.spaceweather.com
There is a slight chance for middle-latitude aurora on Halloween night,
the result of a solar eruption on Sunday that probably sent a coronal mass
ejection in the direction of our planet. For details please visit
http://spaceweather.com.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 476 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (17:27) * 20 lines
Why did the Russians name their cocktail after Mololtov?
Now let's see, was it three parts gasoline to one part
vodka, or three parts vodka to one of gasoline? Hold the
vodka, please! Add a little borscht? Only for color. Shaken
or stirred? Not on your life.
As for why the Russians named this simple gasoline bomb
-- gas in a bottle with a wick -- after Molotov, they didn't.
The Finns, who first threw it at the Russians, named it. And
why were the Finns being so rude? Because in 1939 the
Russians invaded Finland, once part of the Russian Empire
under the czars.
The outnumbered Finns had to resort to guerrilla
warfare and sarcastically honored Vyacheslav Molotov, then
Premier of the USSR, with their "cocktail." But the bombs
didn't stop their much bigger foe, and they were soon, uh,
Finnished.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 477 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 1, 2000 (12:29) * 17 lines
Not new but good to remember: From the World Village Project, which says the 1,000 person "village" would have 584 Asians, 124 Africans, 95 Eastern/Western
Europeans, 84 Latin Americans, 55 Russians, 52 North Americans, 4
Australians and 2 New Zealanders.
As far as language, 165 would speak Mandarin, 86 English, 83
Hindi, 64 Spanish, 58 Russian and 37 Arabic, with the rest made
up of people speaking Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese,
German, French and 200 other languages.
There would be 329 Christians, 178 Moslems, 167 non-religious,
132 Hindus, 62 Buddhists, 45 atheists, 3 Jews and the remainder
"other." Some 330 would be children, and only 60 would be older
than 65. Twenty-eight new babies would be born each year, and 10
people would die every year. Other interesting information: 70
would own automobiles; 200 people would control 75 percent of the
wealth and fewer than 10 would have a college education.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 478 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 1, 2000 (17:33) * 34 lines
+--------------- Bizarre National Holidays ----------------+
NOVEMBER IS
November is... International Drum Month
November is... Peanut Butter Lover's Month
November is... Slaughter Month
November 1 is ... Plan Your Epitaph Day
November 4 is... Waiting For The Barbarians Day
November 5 is... Gunpowder Day
November 8 is... Dunce Day
November 9 is... Chaos Never Dies Day
November 13 is... National Indian Pudding Day
November 18 is... Occult Day
November 20 is... Absurdity Day
November 22 is... Start Your Own Country Day
November 28 is... Make Your Own Head Day
November 30 is... Stay At Home Because You're Well Day
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 479 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Nov 1, 2000 (18:32) * 1 lines
wow, we wasted tax money to make these days official?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 480 of 1406: (sprin5) * Wed, Nov 1, 2000 (18:46) * 1 lines
What about November 7th, national throw away your vote day?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 481 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Nov 1, 2000 (19:11) * 1 lines
exactly! but i'm going to vote anyway. cuz then i can complain!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 482 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 1, 2000 (19:51) * 1 lines
Yup... Me too. I vote in each and every election insuring my right to complain about what ensues. And, they are expecting something like less than 50% voter turnout?! A lot of people are gonna be biting their tongues!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 483 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 1, 2000 (20:01) * 31 lines
At The Smithsonian:
Earthquakes Through Time: The ~55,000 earthquakes with magnitudes 5.0
that have occurred since 1960 are sequentially displayed on more than 30
colorful world and regional physiographic maps. The sizes and colors of
the dots correspond to the earthquake magnitudes and depths, respectively.
An option permits the display of tectonic plate boundaries and names. A
powerful advanced-users mode allows the generation of cross-sectional and
3-dimensional views that provide a window into the Earth's interior.
Eruptions Through Time: This program sequentially displays ~1300 eruptions
from 1960 to 2000 on more than 20 different maps. Plate boundaries and
earthquakes can also be shown. Triangle sizes reflect eruption magnitudes
and their colors distinguish eruption types. The name of the volcano is
displayed for the duration of each eruption, providing a visual primer to
the world's most active volcanoes.
Smithsonian Exhibit Version: Earthquake and eruption data are combined on
a single world map that dramatically emphasizes the point that earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions outline plate boundaries. This same program is
featured on a 40" monitor in the Geology, Gems, and Minerals Exhibit Hall
in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.
Seismic Waves: Six major earthquakes are highlighted to show how the
resulting seismic-wave fronts travel through the Earth and across its
surface. Three simultaneous views can be seen in this program: a
cross-section through the Earth's center, a 3-dimensional view of the Earth
from space, and seismogram traces where seismic stations sequentially
record the arrival of different types of earthquake waves.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 484 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Nov 4, 2000 (23:24) * 8 lines
------------------- The Great White Pig -------------------
SPAIN - Not many fishermen would expect to haul in a wild
boar after casting their nets 3 miles out at sea. But that
is just what happened to a group of fishermen in Spain. No
one knows how the wild pig managed to end up so far out at
sea, or how it managed to survive for so long. The boar will
reportedly be released into the wild near their home port of
Tarragona as soon as it has recovered fully from its ordeal.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 485 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Nov 4, 2000 (23:26) * 7 lines
...without comment (some of my best friends live and work in London... my favorite of all cities in the world...
London, England - All of London is aghast at a new study that
revealed that people who believe they have been abducted by
aliens exhibit 5 times higher rates of ESP. Some in the UFO
community have said this proves that the implants that aliens
leave inside the abductees turn them into human receivers.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 486 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Nov 4, 2000 (23:35) * 19 lines
Oh dear...
Billy Graham was once considered the best Fuller Brush salesman
in North Carolina.
"Utopia" is an ancient Greek word meaning "nowhere."
Casanova traveled with a custom-made portable bath made for two.
A dolphin's brain is bigger than a human's.
A golf hole is four inches deep.
Clark Gable's middle name was Clark - his first name was William.
U.S. Presidents Grant, Taft, Hoover, and Eisenhower never held
any other elective office.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 487 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 7, 2000 (12:58) * 9 lines
France's King Louis XIV was on the throne so long he was
succeeded by his great grandson.
Jousting is the official state sport of Maryland.
A cucumber is 96 percent water.
A dime has 118 ridges on it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 488 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 7, 2000 (14:44) * 22 lines
Election Day in the USA... VOTE!!!
"I don't want to set the world on fire," goes the song.
"I just want to start a flame in your heart." Or perhaps
just induce heartburn, depending on how the romance goes.
But no matter what course love takes, we often resort to fire
for metaphors to describe it.
This particular expression derives from another of
life's passionate activities: politics. In 19th century
America, people cared enough about their party's candidates
to march in parades for them. These campaign parades were
great spectacles. Bands joined in the fun, and partisans
carried torches to show how strongly they felt about their
favorite. Eventually, "carrying a torch" as an expression of
passion also became synonymous with strong romantic feelings
for someone.
Of course, in love as in politics, you don't always
win. You may even get burned.
(Source: WHY YOU SAY IT by Webb Garrison)
---------------
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 489 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Nov 7, 2000 (15:49) * 5 lines
Okay, so who was it that sat around and counted the ridges on a dime?
November is Peanut Butter Lover's Month. Marcia, since you're fond of peanut butter, how are planning on celebrating?
Thanks for all the information on Halloween and Samhain. I know I'm late on this, but the Day of the Dead celebrated in Mexico seems a really fascinating holiday.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 490 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 7, 2000 (18:43) * 1 lines
How I would choose to celebrate it is not appropriate to put here. However I like to get very persoal with peanut butter and share it with someone V E R Y special...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 491 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 8, 2000 (16:36) * 22 lines
Who invented sunglasses?
It was definitely not some Hollywood movie star. But
shades of Tinsel Town, the first sunglasses there was no
single inventor -- were used to hide behind.
Fifteenth century Chinese judges didn't worry about
being recognized. But they did care, in the interests of
being even-handed, about hiding their reaction to trial
testimony. They didn't want people to follow their eye
movements so they wore smoked-tinted quartz spectacles to
conceal them.
Our modern, widespread use of sunglasses to keep out
the glare, however, stems largely from pilots in the 1930s,
who began to wear them to shield their eyes from the sun.
Civilians quickly emulated the aviators. Some even adopted
sunglasses for fashion as well as protection, hoping to make
their social life take off.
(Source: EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINS OF EVERYDAY THINGS by Charles
Panati)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 492 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 8, 2000 (16:42) * 12 lines
FAST FACTS:
Elevators rank as the safest form of transportation and have
the record of only one fatality every 100 million miles
traveled, That's pretty good, unless you happen to be the
one.
Steps on the other hand, are five times more dangerous than
elevators. That's because very few people trip over an
elevator.
(Source: USELESS DIGEST)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 493 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 9, 2000 (23:04) * 11 lines
The ridges on ccorduroy are called "wales."
There are eleven time zones in Russia.
Fish can become seasick if kept aboard a ship.
The average American carries four credit cards.
It takes four hours to hard boil an ostricj egg: it weighs 30
ounds.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 494 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 9, 2000 (23:05) * 30 lines
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ylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamylglycylalanylphenylalanylvalylprolyl-
phenylalanylyalylthreonylleucylglycylaspartylprolylglycylisoleucylglutamylglu-
taminylserylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucylglutamylalanyl-
glycylalanylaspartylalanylleucylglutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolyphenylalanyl-
serylaspartylprolylleucylalanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonylisoleucylglutaminyl-
asparaginylalanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanylglycylva-
lythreonylprolyalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanylglutamylmethionylleucyala-
nylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolythreonylisoleucylprolyli-
soleucylglyclleucylleucylmethionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylvalylphenylala-
nylasparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalanyltyrosylalanylglu-
taminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycylvalylaspartylserylvalylleucylvalylala-
nylaspartylvalylprolylvalylglutaminylglutamylserylalanylprolyphenylalanylargi-
nylglutaminylalanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylalanylprolyiso-
leucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartylalanylaspartylaspartyl-
aspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryltyrosylglycylarginyl-
glycyltyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylserylarginylalanylglycylvalylthreonyl-
gylcylalanylglutamylasparaginylarginyalanylalanylleucylprolylleucylaspartagi-
nylhistidylleucylvalylalanyllysylleucylysylglutamyltyrosylasparaginylalanylala-
nylprolylprolylleucylglutaminylglycylphenylalanylglycylisoleucylserylalanylpro-
lyaspartylglutaminylvalyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalanylglycylalanyla-
lanylglycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalyllysylisoleucyli-
soleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamylprolyglutamylly-
sylmethionylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenylalanylvalyglutaminylproly-
methionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylarginylserine, n.:
The chemical name for tryptophan synthetase A protien, a
1,913-letter enzyme with 267 amino acids.
-- Mrs. Bryne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and
Preposterous Words
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 495 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Nov 11, 2000 (10:15) * 3 lines
I own a Mrs. Byrne's dictionary, from it I learned that a deuteragonist is a supporting actor. Mrs Byrne's can offer hours of fun browsing.
About that ostrich egg...How many omelettes could you get out of one?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 496 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Nov 11, 2000 (22:12) * 23 lines
Love obscure words. If make obfuscating that much more effective!
WHY CAN WE SEE THOUGH GLASS?
Because solid though it may seem, glass is really a
viscous liquid. I'll pause a moment while that crosses your
synapses and bounces among your neurons.
Mind you that's a viscous, not vicious liquid such as a
mix of vodka and champagne. A viscous liquid stiffens when
cooled, but never becomes completely solid. Unlike solids,
in which the atoms arrange themselves in a rigid, crystalline
molecular structure, glass atoms just hang out, helter-
skelter-like. Light can squeeze between them.
The molecular make-up of glass, unlike that of ordinary
solids, such as wood, also keeps it from absorbing visible
light. Its structure also prevents the loss of light through
internal reflections, characteristic of a solid. Only glass'
outer surface reflects light, which makes it considerably
more useful than, say, silver or tin for eyeglass lenses.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 497 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (17:21) * 1 lines
superheating of sand makes glass, right?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 498 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (18:12) * 1 lines
selting the silica in sand and adding Borax for flux... Yup!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 499 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (18:13) * 1 lines
Melting the silica in sand and adding flux makes glass.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 500 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (19:19) * 30 lines
The largest tree in the world weighs more than 6,000 tons.
There are over 15,000 people in the Witness Protection Program.
More than 90% of battery lead is recycled, compared to 62.5
percent of aluminum cans, 35% of glass containers and 69%
of newspapers.
The anthrax vaccine program has clearly resulted in the
loss of more personnel than the very thing it was designed
to protect against.
- Dan Marohn, American Airlines & Air National Guard F-16 pilot
[More than half the pilots in his 163rd Fighter Squadron
left over the anthrax vaccine.]
RAM is 25,000 times cheaper in 2000 than in 1985.
One study showed that people who drank one to three cups of
coffee per day were 30% less likely to commit suicide than
non-drinkers. Those drinking six cups a day were 80% less
likely to kill themselves.
A "threnody" is a song of lamentation, or "dirge".
The longest traffic jam in Japan's history was 84 mile long
and involved 15,000 vehicles.
Despite being a nine-inch-tall bird (unlike in cartoons),
the roadrunner can run as fast as a human sprinter.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 501 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (19:19) * 1 lines
betcha that tree is a Sequoia giganteum
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 502 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 13, 2000 (11:53) * 54 lines
From Maggie in Mali:
NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE
To the citizens of the United States of America,
In the light of your failure to elect anybody as President of the
USA and thus to govern yourselves and, by extension, the free world,
we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence,
effective today.
Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial
duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories including
New Jersey. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, please
comply with the following acts:
1. Look up "revocation" in the now official Oxford Dictionary ($75).
Start spelling English words correctly.
2. Learn at least the first 4 lines of "God Save The Queen"
3. Start referring to "soccer" as football
4. Declare war on Quebec and France
5. Arrest Mel Gibson for treason
6. Close down the NFL. Learn to play rugby
7. Enjoy warm flat beer and steak and kidney pudding. Train
waitresses to be more aggressive with customers and not to tell you their names.
8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday, this has been replaced
with November 5th
9. All members of this British Crown Dependency will be required to
take 6 weeks annual vacation and observe statutory tea breaks.
10.Driving on the left is now compulsory - recall all cars to effect
the change immediately.
11.Report to our Consulate General in NY - M Wragg - for your new
passport and job allocation.
12. Add the Royal Insignia to the top of the Washington Monument -
and the Queens Christmas speeches to the Lincoln Memorial.
13. Stop referring to the World Series of Baseball and instead call
the National Series of USA, Cuba and Japan.
Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you
shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).
Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice day!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 503 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Nov 13, 2000 (19:10) * 1 lines
now that cracked me up (esp. the backdate of taxes due!) *laugh*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 504 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 13, 2000 (22:47) * 34 lines
As of September 1998, the highest recorded mileage for a car
was 1,615,000 miles for a 1966 Volvo P-1800.
California is in no danger of sliding into the Pacific.
It will eventually slide into Canada. The continental
plate it's sitting on is traveling north, not west.
The world's first Electric Trolley System was introduced in
Montgomery, Alabama in 1886.
95% of the known cases of gout occur in males. Known as
the "Rich Man's Curse," attacks are often thought to be
caused by an overindulgence in rich foods. It is a
deficit in purine metabolism and in certain steroid hormones.
2/3 of us speed up at a yellow light.
The Eiffel Tower was built by Gustave Eiffel, who also built
a dam in Russia and locks for the first attempt at the Panama
Canal. Eiffel also designed the right arm of the Statue of
Liberty and the full steel structure holding it all together.
In the wettest place on Earth, Hawaii's Mount Waialeale, it
rains about 90% of the time: 480 inches per year.
The reason Scotsmen still wear the kilt is because it is a
source of pride. The kilt displays a Scotsman's tartan--
the color of his clan. Because of the Dress Act of 1746,
Scots were banned from wearing kilts or tartans and thus
it became a matter of pride to wear them.
Each Shuttle is worth about $3,000,000,000
and costs another $1,000,000,000 to launch.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 505 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 13, 2000 (23:33) * 1 lines
Yeah, that tax deal gets everyone!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 506 of 1406: (sprin5) * Tue, Nov 14, 2000 (07:42) * 1 lines
What's the weather forecast for Mt Waialeale today?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 507 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 14, 2000 (11:46) * 1 lines
if it's like Hilo, RAIN is the weather-du-jour every day!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 508 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 14, 2000 (22:02) * 33 lines
The reason that all lightbulbs, even tungsten filamented
and halogen gas filled ones, eventually wear out is that
the filament metal slowly but steadily evaporates. In
fact, the reason a "halogen" (tungsten halogen) bulb
lasts longer is that the halogen gas helps to redeposit
some of the evaporated tungsten atoms back on the filament.
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" featured 7,500 boas, cobras and
pythons, and 50 tarantulas.
PepsiCo spent $236,000,000 in TV ads in 1996.
Cats spend 15% of their time grooming.
Certain fireflies emit a light so penetrating that it can
pass through flesh and wood.
In 1867 US Secretary of State William H. Seward offered
Russia $7,200,000 (or two cents per acre) for Alaska.
When it comes to doing invasive procedures like spinal taps,
the majority of 1500 medical students surveyed (63%) seldom
or never obtained specific permission. At the same time,
"72% of patients indicated they would be upset to find out
they had been the unsuspecting subject of a novice's first
spinal tap."
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-2a.html
Charles Dickens kept the head of his bed aligned with the
North and South poles believing that the earth's magnetic
field would pass longitudinal through his body and ensure
a good night's rest.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 509 of 1406: (sprin5) * Wed, Nov 15, 2000 (08:22) * 1 lines
His head was toward the North or South? Or did it matter? I always sleep with my head to the South.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 510 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 15, 2000 (11:15) * 1 lines
About the only way I can arrange my bedroom is with my head to the north. Have no idea about Dicken, though. If it geomagnetism he is thinking about it seems, like a compass needle, the head should point to the north. Do no know!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 511 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Nov 15, 2000 (19:51) * 1 lines
my head's to the south.....hmmmmm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 512 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 15, 2000 (20:00) * 1 lines
maybe my genius is running out of my toes?!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 513 of 1406: (sprin5) * Thu, Nov 16, 2000 (08:24) * 1 lines
Wonder what the feng shui experts say about this?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 514 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 16, 2000 (19:05) * 1 lines
I'll check - think I once covered that in another topic. Time for me to check back...stay tuned!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 515 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 16, 2000 (19:17) * 18 lines
The London Underground carries 2,500,000 passenger a day,
on 500 trains.
Planting trees won't save the climate:
http://www.sciam.com/news/111500/5.html
Anthrax spores are routinely found in animal hides.
In 1999, Bill Gates made $4,566,000...per hour.
The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
The saguaro cactus blossom is the official Arizona state flower.
McDonald's uses 500,000,000 pounds of hamburger each year.
The longest alphabet is Cambodian -- 74 letters.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 516 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 16, 2000 (20:37) * 31 lines
A standard Slinky contains 87 feet of wire.
There is $480,000,000,000 in US currency in circulation.
Fearful of hospital infections, some surgeons are giving ALL
their patients potent antibiotics. Shouldn't they be kept
for emergencies?
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns226048
Michael J. Fox's middle name is really Andrew.
Most men's bodies are composed of about 40 percent muscle;
women's bodies are 30 percent muscle.
Chances of being hit by lightning in your lifetime is
1 in 600,000. Risk of dying by lightning is 5 times
greater for men than women. 21% occur in June, with the
riskiest state being Florida.
800 tornadoes a year strike the U.S., causing an average of
80 deaths and 1,500 injuries per year.
Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green invented the first
suntan cream by cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee
pot on his wife's stove, and then testing the batch on his
own head. His invention was introduced as Coopertone
Suntan Cream in 1944.
IBM was paid more $100,000,000 for its services at the
Sydney Olympics.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 517 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 20, 2000 (16:33) * 27 lines
"Indiana Jones" was the name of George Lucas' pet Malamute.
On Nov 16th, 2000 ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers) announced that they had chosen ".biz,"
".aero," ".name," ".coop", ".info", ".pro" and ".museum" as
new top level domain names.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-3730464.html
There have been 250,000,000 Dr. Seuss books published.
Hard drive storage is 12,000 times cheaper now than in 1985.
There are 45,000 large dams in the world.
5 countries have more than 1,000 large dams each.
People surfing the Web at home spent 23% more time online
this year than last year.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-3731909.html
People who bought the first Kodak cameras had to mail them
back to Rochester, New York for reloading.
The country of Togo has the lowest crime rate in the world, with
an average of just 11 reported crimes annually for every 100,000
people.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 518 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 20, 2000 (22:04) * 27 lines
Dunkin' Donuts serves about 112,500 doughnuts each day.
The rudder from the Titanic weighed more than the Santa Maria.
A new VW beetle can handle more weight than many popular SUVs.
The community of Mountain View, Arkansas is called the Folk
Capital of America. The little town preserves the pioneer
way of life and puts it on display for visitors at the Ozark
Folk Center State Park from March through October.
If a person counted at the rate of 100 numbers a minute and
kept counting for eight hours a day, five days a week, it
would take a little over 4 weeks to count to one million and
a lifetime (80 years) to reach a billion.
A South African bullfrog can grow to be 35in in length.
In England there is no difference between a pig and a hog,
but in the U.S. a pig over 180 pounds is considered a hog.
In 1968, a convention of beggars in Dacca, India, passed a
resolution demanding that the minimum amount of alms be
fixed at 15 paisa (about three cents).
It is unlawful to refuse a person a glass of water in AZ.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 519 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 21, 2000 (13:23) * 21 lines
Are you like me? "QWERTY," the keyboard's first five
letters, vividly describes my typing ability. My fingers
function less than felicitously. I am a hunt-and-peck has-
been, devoid of digital dexterity, clueless in coping with
the keyboard's loopy logic.
Why do they make it hard on us? Why do keyboards
ignore alphabetical order? Blame the typewriter. The first
machines in the 19th century did go from A to Z. But this
stymied good typists because the most frequently used keys
were contiguous. When typists struck, say, the "a" and "b"
keys in rapid succession, the spokes carrying those letters
often jammed. The solution: separate these and other often-
used keys.
Computers carried over the QWERTY keyboards that people
were already used to. These machines never jam; they just
crash, destroying our work and driving us to drink.
(Source: EVER WONDER WHY? By Douglas B. Smith)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 520 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Nov 21, 2000 (17:24) * 1 lines
Marcia, I am tempted to say that you are a wealth of useless knowlege, but it is such wonderful knowlege. Besides, is any knowlege ever really "useless".
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 521 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 21, 2000 (17:54) * 1 lines
Irrelevant information is my specialty. I am still worried about those bullfrogs 3 feet long!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 522 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 22, 2000 (12:34) * 32 lines
Best time to buy a computer: right after Christmas, you save
about 25%. Best time to buy a big-screen TV: the day after
the Super Bowl, average savings are about 50%.
General Motors Corp. spent $285,000,000 in TV ads in 1996.
Of 1600 medical students who were asked, "Do you specifically
ask permission as a medical student to perform invasive
procedures [like spinal taps]?", 56% said "Never."
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-2a.html
The word "Psychic" comes from the Greek letter "Psi" - Unknown.
More turkeys are raised in California than in any other state.
Every year of a dog's life is not the equivalent of seven years
in human terms. Best estimates now are that the first year is
worth about 18 to 21 years, and each year thereafter four.
A girl, in the Vacococha tribe of Peru, to prepare her for
marriage at the age of 12, is placed in a basket in the hut
of her prospective in-laws and must remain suspened over an
open fire night and day for 3 months.
It took 670,000 hours to put the 31,000 insulating tiles
on the original Shuttle.
The national flag of Mozambique features the silhouette of an
AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle. It is the only national flag
that features the symbol of a gun.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 523 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Wed, Nov 22, 2000 (13:12) * 1 lines
Psychic comes from the Greek word psyche, meaning soul or butterfly.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 524 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 22, 2000 (13:42) * 1 lines
OOOhhhh... I like that. I think the nymph so named came to a bad end when she fell in love with Narcissus. Or was that Echo. Gotta brush up on my Edith Hamilton. Thank you, Mark!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 525 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 22, 2000 (14:54) * 31 lines
+-------------- Bizarre Thanksgiving Trivia ---------------+
Cut and planed lumber was hard to come by in the New World,
and since the Pilgrims didn't intend to go back to Europe,
they dismantled the Mayflower and used it's lumber to build
a barn.
Ben Franklin wanted the turkey, not the eagle, to be the U.S.
national symbol. He considered the eagle a "bird of bad
moral character" because it lives by being a shrewd thief.
Franklin Roosevelt tried to change the Thanksgiving holiday
date to the next-to-last Thursday in November in order to
create a longer Christmas shopping season, but was forced to
move Thanksgiving back to its original date because of
negative public response.
The heaviest turkey ever raised weighed in at 86 lbs, about
the size of a large German Shepherd. It was grown in England.
When Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin sat down to eat their
first meal on the moon, their foil food packets contained
roasted turkey and all of the trimmings.
Turkeys can drown if they look up when it is raining.
Turkeys in fields near the Air Force test areas over which
the sound barrier was broken were known to drop dead from
the shock of passing jets.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 526 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 23, 2000 (12:34) * 18 lines
PLUM PUDDING...
Here's a dish with a peekaboo ingredient: who knows where
it's hiding. In fact if you were to dive into a plum pudding
with sensitive electronic detection devices, you would find
nary a plum in the place.
A treat for desert since the earliest Thanksgiving
celebrations, plum pudding's ingredients include flour,
sugar, spices and suet (fat). This mush is steamed, not
baked, and is unleavened, making it pudding rather than cake.
As for plums, the stealth ingredient that lends its
name to this post-turkey goo, credit linguistic practices
currant, uh, current in colonial America. "Plums" and
"plumbs" were what they called raisins, the final ingredient
in plum pudding.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 527 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 23, 2000 (21:12) * 28 lines
Bulls do not charge because a cape is red. They charge
because of the movement of the cape -- it does not have
to be red or any other bright color.
The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial consists of the
Gateway Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion and St Louis'
Old Courthouse.
Ants stretch when they wake up. They also appear to yawn
in a very human life fashion before starting work each day.
The underside of a horse's hoof is called a frog.
Two French toolmakers were the first engineers to put the
engine in the front of the car. This gave the car better
balance, made it easier to steer, and made it much easier
to get all your luggage in.
The ant can lift 50 times and pull 30 times its own weight.
The number one selling snack in the U.S. is potato chips.
And the #1 item ordered in restaurants? French Fries.
Emperor Henry VII (1269-1313) of Germany, during his reign
as Duke of Luxembourg, was so proud of his police efficiency
that he offered to reimburse personally any victims of
robberies occurring within the boundaries of his duchy.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 528 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Nov 24, 2000 (12:04) * 19 lines
What bird has the longest migration path?
You think that you're keen on piling up those frequent
flyer miles? Consider the Arctic Tern. When it flies south
it covers almost the distance from the North to the South
Pole, 11,000 miles in all.
This 17-inch winged wonder flies further than any of
its fine-feathered friends. It's habitat ranges from New
England well into the Arctic Ocean, from which it migrates
south in August. After spending part of the winter in
Antarctica it does the Tern-around, flying the 11,000 miles
back to its home, arriving in June.
Do you suppose it's ever occurred to this birdbrain
that it gains nothing by flying from one cold place to
another cold place for the winter? Who's its travel agent?
(Source: HOW A FLY WALKS UPSIDE DOWN by Martin M. Goldwyn)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 529 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Nov 24, 2000 (13:41) * 15 lines
WAS PUBLIC KISSING EVER A CRIME IN THE UNITED STATES?
Yes, and it still is in some places. In 1656 in Boston, a
Captain Kimble was placed in the stocks for kissing his wife
in public on the Sabbath. To this day, it is illegal in
Indiana, for a mustached man to "habitually kiss human
beings." In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it is still a crime to kiss a
stranger.
WHAT IS THE LARGEST SHARK ATTACK EVER RECORDED?
On November 28, 1942, hundreds of British seamen and Italian
prisoners of war were killed by sharks when a German U-boat
sank the steamer Nova Scotia off the coast of South Africa.
Nine hundred men were on the ship when it sank; 192 were left
when a rescue ship arrived.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 530 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sun, Nov 26, 2000 (20:49) * 1 lines
*laugh* that kissing thing!! *LOL*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 531 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Nov 26, 2000 (22:42) * 19 lines
All 17 children of Queen Anne died before she did.
Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they cannot find food.
Spain has 1,196 large dams, fifth most in the world.
Modems are about 2,500 times cheaper in 2000 than in 1985.
The state of Florida is bigger than England.
Blind people can pick out the meaning of a spoken sentence
more quickly than sighted folks.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns226050
Colorado has the highest mean altitude of all the states.
California police in the 1920s thought they had gotten the
drop on a moonshiner. What they found, instead of a still,
was Philo T. Farnsworth's invention: the television.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 532 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (20:37) * 3 lines
was Philo the child who invented TV? there was something on discovery about a 14 year old boy who actually invented television.
i can imagine that blind people can really tell what's going on since they must rely on inflection and tone and such rather than rely soley on facial expression. how hard it must be to not be able to read others' nonverbal action--but i'm sure that they can tell because of their heightened use of other senses. hmmmm.....gives me something to think about!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 533 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (20:56) * 35 lines
Yup!!!! Philo T. Farnsworth!!!
23 publishers rejected Dr. Seuss's first book.
Over 1,000,000,000 pounds of depleted Uranium exist in the US.
It is radioactive and has a half life of a billion years.
http://www.iacenter.org
The world's oil companies are now finding only one barrel
of oil for every four that we consume.
- Colin Campbell, oil geologist
New Scientist, July 10, 1999
Political enemies of President Teddy Roosevelt once schemed
to humiliate him by hiring a professional boxer to purposely
bump into him on the street and start a fight. The boxer
did what he was supposed to, but was promptly beaten up
by Roosevelt shortly after the fight began.
In 1992 further studies by the New Jersey Department of
Health confirmed a 6.9 fold increase in bone cancer in
young males. (Cohn, Perry D. Ph.D. "An Epidemiological
Report on Drinking Water" Fluoridation and Osteosarcoma
in Young Males, New Jersey Department of Health,
Environmental Health Service, Trenton NJ November 8, 1992)
http://www.bruha.com/fluoride/
Chrysler spent $370,000,000 in TV advertising in 1996.
The world's oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9000 years old.
The London Underground has over 260 stations and 16,000 staff.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 534 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Nov 28, 2000 (17:52) * 1 lines
marcia, i just love this stuff. wonder what makes them think to look stuff like this up!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 535 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 28, 2000 (19:10) * 22 lines
People like me Wolfie - we are far too curious!!!
When we don't care about something, why do we not "give a
hoot" about it?
Well I suppose we might be distinguishing ourselves from
owls, which give a hoot about everything. But what's the
point? I, for one, am quite sure that I'm not an owl—you,
too?--and I don't feel the need to give such comparisons any
further thought.
A little research shows that the expression comes not
from birds but rather the backwoods. In nineteenth century
rural America people declared something valueless by saying
it "wasn't worth a hooter." (Don't even think about that
word's meaning in modern slang. We're not goin' down that
dirt road).
"Hooter" was the backwoods pronunciation of iota, the
smallest letter in the Greek alphabet, which we still use to
imply that something has little or no value. Hoot is simply
a contraction of hooter. And if you don't like that, I don't
give a . . . hoot.
(Source: DICTIONARY OF WORD AND PHRASE ORIGINS by William and
Mary Morris)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 536 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 29, 2000 (15:32) * 34 lines
Are there any living creatures that never die?
Because there's no justice in the world, I'm sure that
my next-door neighbor, who plays his stereo at 2 a.m., will
end up in this category. Beyond him, science offers slim
pickens' when it comes to immortality.
In fact we've got just two kinds of candidates -- sort
of. Theoretically, some one-celled animals divide
indefinitely and thus maintain their biological integrity.
But scientists have not counted any such activity much beyond
10,000 generations, just about the point where the brain
cells of the scientists themselves give up the ghost.
Then there's the hydra, an aquatic creature with a
clever trick. It regenerates, replacing its cells with fresh
ones that it grows about every month or so. There's no end
to it. That's more comebacks than Richard Nixon or Bill
Clinton could ever claim.
(Source: Martin M. Goldwyn, HOW A FLY WALKS UPSIDE DOWN)
FAST FACTS:
November
The second week of November is National Split Pea Soup
Week, according to the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Industry. They
used to serve that stuff in my high school cafeteria, but
they spelled it Split Pea Soup Weak.
November 3 is National Sandwich Day, brought to you
of course as a public service by Ziploc Sandwich Bags. The
company was also going to sponsor a sandwich week, but feared
they might be spreading themselves too thin.
(Source: THE BOOK OF DAYS)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 537 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 29, 2000 (16:43) * 32 lines
It costs 4.2 cents to print a US legal note (dollar bill).
Coffee increases alertness and enhances performance on
certain tasks. Tests on drivers and typists prove that
two cups of coffee can help. However, research shows
it helps most if the drinker is bored or fatigued.
Only 27% of the total risk estimates fell within the order
of magnitude reported in the literature. For every
complication, many physicians made underestimation or
overestimation errors by several orders of magnitude and
a few consistently denied existence of any risk. [For
example] substantial percentages of physicians under-
estimated the risk of death due to [hernia repair] by a
factor of 100 or even 1000.
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-2a.html
The nation's first scheduled steam railroad began in New
Castle, Delaware in 1831.
Michael Jordan's high school basketball team cut him.
Richard Hooker's novel, M*A*S*H, was rejected by 21 publishers.
The power propelling the Shuttle upward at launch is
equal to that in 23 Hoover dams.
Pope Paul IV, who was elected on 23 May 1555, was so outraged
when he saw the naked bodies on the ceiling of the Sistene
Chapel that he ordered Michelangelo to paint over them.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 538 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 29, 2000 (23:00) * 25 lines
King Louis XIV of France owned about 1,000 wigs.
13 boxes of jello are purchased every second in the US.
Ole Evinrude, a Norwegian immigrant, founded the Evinrude
outboard motor company in 1909.
On average, a woman will speak 7000 words over the course of
a day while a man will only speak 2000 words in a day.
The fastest fish is the sailfish: up to 60 miles per hour.
The "spot" on 7UP comes from its inventor who had a red eyes.
He was albino.
Punta Gorda in Florida means "fat point" when translated
from Spanish. The name was given to the city because a
broad part of the land in Punta Gorda juts into Charlotte
Harbor.
220 billion computer chips are made each year.
Brandy is from the Dutch "brandewijn", meaning burnt or
distilled wine.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 539 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 29, 2000 (23:24) * 6 lines
Q. What does Parallax mean?
A. While looking at an object, cover first one eye, then
the other. The object appears to move. Parallax is
the apparent movement of an object as a result of two
different points of view.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 540 of 1406: (sprin5) * Thu, Nov 30, 2000 (14:00) * 1 lines
That 7,000 word avg for women vs. 2,000 words for men ties in with the MSNBC study I just saw that says women listen with both sides of their brain while men only use the left side, could it be the same for speech? This is a drastic difference. The left side of the brain is the one that interprets language. Go to msnc.com and search for "men brain" and you'll find this fascinating article about the differences in how men and women communicate.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 541 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Nov 30, 2000 (21:24) * 1 lines
men and women brains are wired differently. women are used to using all their senses to interpret everything around them. perhaps as a protective mechanism from our earlier periods of nurture and self-preservation. that is interesting. maybe it just means we talk too much? *LAUGH*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 542 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 30, 2000 (22:24) * 1 lines
I can monitor several conversations and read at the same time. I know of at least one man who can also - but it is rare.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 543 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 30, 2000 (22:57) * 30 lines
The Indonesian coffee Kopi Luwak is the most expensive in the
world, selling for $300/pound. The reason its so expensive
is the way it is processed. Its beans are ingested by a
small animal called a Paradoxurus. The beans are then
extracted from the excreta and made into Kopi Luwak.
The heart is not on the left side of the chest. It's about
in the center with its strongest portion on the left side,
thus, it can be heard slightly better from the left.
44% of American men tailgate to try to speed up
the person in front of them.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Kangaroos can hop as fast as 40 miles per hour.
By the late 1930's, more than thirty radio serials reached
a daily audience of forty million, twice the audience reached
by television soaps today. This vast audience was a bonanza
for program sponsors. "Ma Perkins", a successful radio serial,
sent the sales of Oxydol, a laundry detergent, through the
roof. Soap companies plunged into the business of producing
serials that featured their products, and they so dominated
daytime that serials became known as "soap operas".
Processing power is about 200 times cheaper in 2000 vs 1985.
Japan has 2,675 large dams, fourth most in the world.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 544 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 30, 2000 (22:58) * 3 lines
This may come in very handy for conversions:
http://www.webcom.com/~legacysy/convert2/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 545 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 30, 2000 (23:04) * 6 lines
Q. Where does the "blue blazer" come from?
A. Blue jackets were ordered for all crew members by the
captain of the HMS Blazer in the middle 1800s. They
were good looking, and caught on with everyone.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 546 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 1, 2000 (01:06) * 21 lines
How did they choose which presidents to carve on Mt. Rushmore?
Well it's a good thing they didn't vote on it or we
might still be facing a blank mountain.
South Dakota's Mt. Rushmore is said to have been named
for a lawyer who was just passing through (sounds like a
presidential election, doesn't it?). In the 1920s the
state's tourism board decided that it would take more than
that name to fill the local hotels so it proposed to have a
sculptor carve on the mountain the images of famous figures
from western history, such as Kit Carson.
They hired John Borglum, who had already been engaged
to carve Robert E. Lee's visage on Stone Mt. in Georgia.
Borglum had a better idea for Mt. Rushmore: presidents
Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. And so
it came to pass.
(Source: JUST CURIOUS, JEEVES by Jack Mingo and Erin
Barrett)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 547 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 2, 2000 (23:26) * 14 lines
A New Star in Space
NASA Science News for December 1, 2000
Something in the heavens is growing
brighter and it will soon become one
of the most eye-catching stars in the
night sky. No it's not a supernova.
It's the International Space Station!
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast01dec_1.htm?list89800
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 548 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 2, 2000 (23:47) * 3 lines
Track the new star using this url:
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/realtime/JTrack/Spacecraft.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 549 of 1406: Mike Griggs (mikeg) * Sun, Dec 3, 2000 (05:04) * 1 lines
Can't wait until those solar panels are fully fitted - it's going to be so *cool* to see the space station from Earth!!!! I want to go!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 550 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Dec 3, 2000 (16:10) * 3 lines
Me too, Mike!
After I posted the ISS and J-track information I went outside to look for it overhead. The skies were spectacularly clear - you could see the Great Galaxy in Andromda with naked eye deespite a quarter moon and a street light next to me. As I was scanning the sky I noted the most amaxing huge fireball! It was the color of a yellow frosted Christmas tree light - yellow-orange and bright but not brilliant which makes me think it was a piece of space junk. It had along tail sparkling with debris as it fell south to north.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 551 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Dec 3, 2000 (19:17) * 22 lines
Does the U.S. Constitution guarantee an American's right to
own a gun?
Whoa! Don't point that thing at me! I know this is a
controversial issue, with feelings running high on both
sides. So in my tradition of fearlessly following the truth
wherever it may lead, I'm going to offer a little, uh,
ammunition for each side.
The Bill of Rights says, "A well-regulated militia,
being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of
the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." So
unless you and the other folks who hang at the pizza parlor
constitute a state militia, the Constitution doesn't
guarantee your right to own so much as a peashooter.
On the other hand (the one with the trigger finger),
the states are sure as shootin' free to regulate or not
regulate private gun ownership. So go for it -- the
legislation of your choice, not your gun, that is.
(Source: DICTIONARY OF MISINFORMATION by Tom Burnam)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 552 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 4, 2000 (00:40) * 18 lines
14,000,000 Bic pens are sold daily in 150 countries.
The toothbrush was invented in 1498.
The cells which make up the antlers of a moose are the fastest
growing animal cells in nature.
Archduke Karl Ludwig (1833-1896), brother of the Austrian
emperor, was a man of such piety that on a trip to the Holy
Land, he insisted on drinking from the River Jordan,
despite warnings that it would make him very ill. He died
a few weeks later.
Scientists discover 10,000 new species of insects every
year.
The catfish has the most taste buds -- over 27,000.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 553 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 4, 2000 (22:02) * 43 lines
The largest wave ever recorded was near the Japanese Island
of Ishigaki in 1971 and was 260 feet high.
Experiments conducted in Germany and at the University of
Southampton in England show that even mild and incidental
noises cause the pupils of the eyes to dilate. It is
believed that this is why surgeons, watchmakers, and others
who perform delicate manual operations are so bothered by
noise. The sounds cause their pupils to change focus and
blur their vision.
The hydrogen filling the Hindenburg airship did not explode,
and the 35 dead were either killed by burning diesel or
jumped to their deaths. In 1997, a retired NASA scientist
found that the real culprit was the flammable fabric of the
airship's outer skin, not the hydrogen.
Many pesticides contain fluorine as an "inactive"
ingredient -- serving as the adjuvant ("ferry") that
delivers the agent to its target. Because they are
considered "inert", listing is not required on labels.
[As a Chemical Engineer, I can tell you that Fluorine
is the EXACT OPPOSITE of inert. Inert means unreactive,
and Fluorine is the most reactive element known to man.
HF, Hydrogen Fluoride, can etch glass!]
http://www.bruha.com/fluoride/html/pesticides.htm
Of the 500 to 1,000 chemicals used in the manufacture of
silicon chips, some are known or suspected carcinogens--
such as arsenic, which allows chips to better conduct
electricity and is vital to the chip-making process.
It takes over 60 people, spending four months and using
6,000 gallons of paint, to paint The Eiffel Tower.
Trains in the London Underground average 20.5 miles per
hour (counting stops).
Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee.
About 20% of adults have or have had a cockroach that called
their inner ear canal home -- they enter while you sleep!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 554 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 5, 2000 (20:24) * 16 lines
If a US coin has the letter "S" printed on it, it was minted in
San Francisco; a "D" means it was made in Denver; no letter at
all means it was minted in Philadelphia.
The odds against a flipped coin coming up with the same side
showing ten times in a row are 1,023 to 1.
The mill, equal to one-tenth of a cent, was declared the lowest
money of account by the US Congress in 1786. The mill, as a
coin, was never minted.
"E Pluribus Unum," the Latin expression appearing on US currency,
means "one out of many."
Abraham Lincoln was carrying Confederate money when he was
assassinated.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 555 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 5, 2000 (20:27) * 20 lines
Why do we tell someone who's all riled up to keep their shirt on?
Our clothes often speak for us in more ways than one,
dressing up many colorful English expressions. For example,
"now the shoe is on the other foot," "even a big shot puts on
his pants one leg at a time," and "keep it under your hat."
As for keeping your shirt on when you get all huffy-puffy,
there was once a practical reason for such behavior. In the
19th century men's shirts were more restrictive than they
would later become. Men who were angry enough to throw a
punch needed to take it off before they could get it on.
Keeping their shirts on thus kept the peace.
By the 1920s styles had changed, but by then the expression
had entered the language and could be heard everywhere --
except in burlesque houses.
(Source: HEAVENS TO BETSY! & OTHER CURIOUS SAYINGS by Charles
Earle Funk)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 556 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Dec 6, 2000 (00:45) * 40 lines
A boustrophedonic layout is where alternating lines are
oriented left-to-right and right-to-left instead of the
standard Western layout of left page top-to-bottom, then
right page top-to-bottom. It is the layout that was used
in the infamous Florida "butterfly" ballots.
The Chunnel officially opened May 6, 1994
The new public network will be cheaper.
- Equipment will be 70 % cheaper;
- Access lines, 60 to 80 % less;
- Maintenance, 50 % less;
- Provisioning, 72 % less
The American Film Institutes "Top 10 All Time Movies":
1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. Casablanca (1942)
3. The Godfather (1972)
4. Gone With The Wind (1939)
5. Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
6. The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
7. The Graduate (1967)
8. On The Waterfront (1954)
9. Schindler's List (1993)
10. Singin' In The Rain (1952)
The shuttle has 6,000,000 parts.
Mountains are formed by a process called orogeny.
A survey in Academic Medicine found that 89% of trainees
personally observed unethical conduct by residents or
attending physicians.
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-2b.html
Gertrude Ederly was still a teenager when she became the first
woman to swim the English Channel on August 6, 1926. Not only
did she swim the channel, but she broke the speed record held
by a man.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 557 of 1406: (sprin5) * Wed, Dec 6, 2000 (08:36) * 1 lines
Singin' In the Rain, by the way, is how most people feel about this election according to the latest scientific poll. Can you say boustrophendonic?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 558 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Dec 6, 2000 (13:03) * 3 lines
I can say it because I took archaeology in college!!! Still want to be incarnated as one...*sigh*
We had an election? This millennium?! Hope they decide the outcome before the next one begins!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 559 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Dec 6, 2000 (13:05) * 16 lines
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION CENTER
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver
Reply to: sedas@neis.cr.usgs.gov or neic@usgs.gov
The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey,
National Earthquake Information Center: A major earthquake occurred
about 95 miles (150 km) west-northwest of Gyzylarbat, Turkmenistan at
10:11 AM MST today, Dec 6, 2000 (10:11 PM local time in Turkmenistan).
A PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE OF 7.2 WAS COMPUTED FOR THIS EARTHQUAKE. The
magnitude and location may change slightly as additional data are
received from other seismograph stations. No reports of damage or
casualties have been received at this time; however, this earthquake may
have caused substantial damage and casualties due to its location and
size.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 560 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Dec 6, 2000 (15:10) * 41 lines
When it's exactly midnight, is it A.M. or P.M.?
Welcome to the Twilight Zone. The correct answer is
"neither." Midnight is a transitional, imaginary moment in
time, neither here nor there.
Midnight is defined as twelve hours after noon. At noon
the sun reaches its zenith or high point -- the "meridian" in
A. M. (before the meridian) and P. M. (after it). But since
the sun never actually stops, that "point" doesn't really
exist -- it's just a convenience. Similarly, midnight is the
transitional moment between (P. M.) after the meridian, and
(A. M.) before it. In reality the time may be just before
(A. M.) or after (P. M.) midnight, but never midnight on the
dot.
Noon, at least, is in the middle of the day, whereas
midnight is the dividing line between days. Poor midnight:
it never has a nice -- or any -- day.
(Source: THE STRAIGHT DOPE by Cecil Adams)
FAST FACTS:
One small step for whom?
When Neil Armstrong became the first human being to set
foot on the moon, what he also stepped on was his lines. He
was supposed to say, "That's one small step for a man, one
giant leap for mankind." And that's what encyclopedias and
almanacs quoted.
The only problem, as he acknowledged later, is that he
left out the "a" and actually said, "That's one small step
for man, one giant leap for mankind." "Man" and "mankind"
mean the same thing in this sentence, so he has us taking a
small step and leaping at the same time.
Had he done that himself he would have fallen flat on
his face. Heck, for that we could have sent Chevy Chase to
the moon.
(Source: BIG SECRETS)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 561 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 7, 2000 (00:24) * 21 lines
Mars has a volcano, Olympus Mons, which is over 300 miles
in diameter and 16 miles high.
The dragonfly has about 30,000 lenses covering the retina
of its eye, and thus sees many, many images where we see
only one.
Bryan J. Patrie, a Stanford graduate student invented the
Watercolor Intelligent Nightlight, which informs midnight
bathroom-goers if the toilet seat is up or down without
having to turn on the light.
There is about as much water on Earth now as there was three
billion years ago.
80% of Americans sing in the car.
Joseph Stalin refused a German request to swap prisoners in
World War II. His son, who was captured during the war,
died in a prison camp as a result.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 562 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Dec 7, 2000 (21:04) * 1 lines
that water thing is true. the water isn't going anywhere, just the locations of it has changed (although waterways may seem dried up, the water has actually just been evaporated back into the atmosphere in the form of rain, fog, etc.). think about it for a second. a very interesting fact! thanks marcia!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 563 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 7, 2000 (22:56) * 26 lines
Thanks Wolfie - you're the best!!!
There are no rivers in Saudi Arabia.
Elk River is the home of the Idaho Champion Western Red
Cedar Tree, the largest tree in the state. Estimated to
be over 3000 years old this giant is more than 18 feet
in diameter and stands 177 feet tall.
"BIC" is a shortened version of founder Marcel Bich's name.
315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
Removable storage is about 100 times cheaper in 2000 vs 1985.
India has 4,291 large dams, third most in the world.
Seoul, the South Korean capital, means "the capital" in Korean.
The official, neutral name of Switzerland, which has multiple
official languages, is the latin "Confederation Helvetica", or
the Helvetic Confederation, hence the "CH" on license plates.
In 1998, 9,200,000,000 US legal notes were printed.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 564 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Dec 9, 2000 (10:08) * 5 lines
I love the new reddish spacer bars. Did you miss me? You don't have to answer that. Anyway, I've missed reading all the fun and interesting facts on this topic. So I hope that Marcia, the Goddess of the Geo Conference had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I also hope that things are going well for Curious Wolfie, the Alpha Male, and the Pups.
One of the earlier posts concerned the word "psychic" and its etomology in the Greek word "psyche" meaning soul, and symbolized by the butterfly. The Greek mythologial character Psyche was noted as had fallen in love with Narcissus. She didn't. Psyche was loved by Eros, the Roman Cupid, much to the chagrin of his mother Aphrodite, the Roman Venus. I believe it was Echo who pined away until nothing but her voice was left for love of the beautiful youth Narcissus.
I have a geographical fun fact, West Virginia is the only American state which sits entirely on a mountain range.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 565 of 1406: (sprin5) * Sat, Dec 9, 2000 (12:14) * 5 lines
Of course we missed you, Cheryl!
Marci's probably having her morning coffee about now.
That image of Echo is powerful.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 566 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sat, Dec 9, 2000 (18:08) * 3 lines
hi cheryl!!
i love these facts too marcia!!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 567 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 9, 2000 (23:08) * 3 lines
I'ze here! Yeah, part of the joy of having a conference is putting fun stuff on it. That you are also enjoying it is double pleasure!
Yup, Cheryl I did miss you - but you know that *hugs*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 568 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Dec 10, 2000 (17:16) * 1 lines
Oooh, and you noticied my red horizontal bars!!! It took e mages to find just the right length and thickness to look right. I like these very well, indeed. You are the first to mention them (Wolfie was in on my choice when I posted them originally so she knew right away.)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 569 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Dec 10, 2000 (19:38) * 29 lines
Windmills always turn counter-clockwise, except in Ireland.
22% of computers break down every year, compared to 9% of
VCRs, 7% of big-screen TVs, 7% of clothes dryers and 8%
of refrigerators.
Coffee only boosts intellectual speed and not physical power.
It takes 286 kilowatts of power to produce a single six-inch
silicon wafer.
Salvador Dali once arrived to an art exhibition in a limousine
filled with turnips.
The street names in the game monopoly come from Atlantic City,
New Jersey.
The March Hare character in Alice in Wonderland is based
on the behavior of hares in the spring, when they often
jump up and down and bang the ground with their big hind feet.
Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to slow the
film down so you could see his moves. That's the opposite
of the norm.
Pez was invented in 1927 by Eduard Haas, an Austrian anti-
smoking fanatic, who marketed peppermint-flavored PEZ as a
cigarette substitute.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 570 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 11, 2000 (14:13) * 17 lines
Why is it that if you do something from the beginning, you're
starting from scratch?
If you know the origins of the expression, "to toe the mark,"
you should have a good idea of what starting from scratch is
all about. If that includes you, please leave the room now.
How can I feel like a smarty-pants if you know as much as I do?
That mark you are asked to toe is the starting line of a
race, a line that was originally scratched on the ground.
Ordinarily everyone starts from that scratch line, beginning
at the beginning. But sometimes contestants in sports such
as golf or horse racing are given an advantage and don't have
to start from scratch. Handicaps are useful when uneven
experience, skill, or size dictate that fairness can only be
served by artificially leveling the playing field.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 571 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Dec 11, 2000 (17:12) * 1 lines
how come ireland's windmills turn backwards?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 572 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 11, 2000 (17:31) * 1 lines
Yeah, I wondered that too. Will check the prevailing winds and the methods of attaching sails to the mills. However, did you ever have a pinwheel on a stick when you were a kid? I used to make them, and by attaching alternate corners to the usual ones you could reverse the rotation. I think this is just a local tradition of pinning the sails in Ireland. But, I will search further so see if that is the case.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 573 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (09:46) * 1 lines
interesting--i never tried to mess with the pinwheels. now let me see if my kids have any left! *grin*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 574 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (12:27) * 22 lines
You can make them out of manila folders or construction paper, too...
-----
Hydrogen is less hazardous than gasoline.
Spain grows 98% of all green olives.
"Beijing" means northern capital in Chinese.
Butterflies taste with their feet.
The statue "The Thinker" by Rodin is actually a portrait
of the Italian poet Dante.
In a 1998 sampling of 1700 American second year residents,
46% saw others falsifying patient records; 70% saw others
mistreating patients. 28% of the residents stated that
they had been required to do something that they believed
was, "immoral, unethical or personally unacceptable.
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-2b.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 575 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (12:58) * 31 lines
George Washington never pledged allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America. Nor did John Adams, Thomas
Jefferson or Andrew Jackson put their hands over their hearts
and recite the litany so familiar to Americans. Lincoln
didn't do it either. Even President Chester A. Arthur of
course you remember him—never took the Pledge.
That's because the Pledge dates only from 1892. The words
familiar to every American school child were written that
year by Francis Bellamy, a staff member at Youth's
Companion, a boy's magazine, as part of a Columbus Day
celebration.
(Source: DICTIONARY OF MISINFORMATION by Tom Burnam)
-------
Not so mellow yellow
There's been much concern in recent years about the danger
posed to artists' health by some of the materials they use in
their work. But when the British government banned a paint
color called Indian Yellow back in 1908, it had nothing to do
with protecting artists.
This color was produced by feeding mangos to cows and then
collecting their urine, from which were derived the magnesium
and calcium salts used to make the paint. (Don't try that at
home!) The government banned the color because officials
thought it unfair to make cows pig out on mangos.
(Source: JUST CURIOUS, JEEVES)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 576 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (17:05) * 1 lines
euw!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 577 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (19:29) * 1 lines
yeah, I just sent it to an eminent artist friend of mine. Have you sniffed your Old Masters paintings lately???
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 578 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (19:33) * 1 lines
nope (don't have any)....but it made me wonder about the red M&M's!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 579 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (19:33) * 32 lines
The ball at the top of the flagpole is purely decorative now,
but it originally contained one match and one .45 caliber
bullet, for the Color Guard to burn the flag and shoot himself
in the event of inevitable capture.
Venture capital invested in Internet companies has topped
$80 billion in the first three quarters of 2000, compared
with $60 billion for all of 1999.
Ants stretch when they wake up in the morning.
When the shuttle comes in for a landing, it does so at a
22% descent angle. Normal commercial aircraft descend at
a 2% descent angle.
Minneapolis, Minnesota is home to the oldest continuously
running theater (the Old Log Theater) in the U.S.
Some people think that the stage musical Les Miserables runs
a bit long, but it's a mere flash in time compared with one
of the sentences in the novel on which it is based. This
3-page, 823-word sentence is divided by 93 commas, 51 semi-
colons and 4 dashes.
Waste products from the production of a single six-inch
silicon wafer include 25 pounds of sodium hydroxide.
Ostriches stick their head in the sand to search for water.
The Chunnel is 31 miles long (23 miles under the sea
and 8 under land).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 580 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (19:36) * 1 lines
i've also heard that ants yawn!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 581 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (19:41) * 1 lines
never got that close to one. Wonder how they saw that? Maybe I don't want to know the grad student laboring so hard to create a thesis...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 582 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (19:43) * 1 lines
haha!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 583 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (19:44) * 1 lines
(you ok?)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 584 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 14, 2000 (16:17) * 13 lines
(yeah, I am, but B is not and I am concerned!)
Heard back from artist about the Mango and urine yellow paints:
I DID know about Indian yellow, and in fact, I have a large tube of it. I
think it is a synthetic version of the urinary product, but has some
marvelous effects unattainable with any other yellow. The fact that each of
these colors has a very unique and tangible base is one of the things I
think of as the very esoteric (while remaining thoroughly earthbound)
aspects of the art and science of painting. I can actually smell the
difference in colors, since they are made from distinct elements, basically.
I know them as a cook knows the fragrance of each spice. Fortunately, my
Indian yellow is synthetic.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 585 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 14, 2000 (16:40) * 25 lines
The photo most often requested from the U.S. National Archives
is that of the meeting between Elvis Presley and President
Nixon in 1970. Presley had requested that Nixon make him an
honorary drug enforcement agent and Nixon accommodated him.
The name LEGO is from the Danish, "LEg GOdt," that
translates to "play well."
The deepest London Underground tunnel is 221 feet below
ground.
There is no rice in rice paper.
Pez candy gets its name from the German word for peppermint,
Pfefferminze.
An eagles nest can weigh as much as two tons.
The MGM lion lived in Memphis until his death.
The plural of piecemeal is flockmeal.
Strawberry Point, Iowa is home of the world's largest
strawberry.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 586 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 14, 2000 (20:06) * 22 lines
More then 25% of the world's forest are in Siberia.
Edwin Land received 535 patents during his lifetime,
then second only to Thomas Edison.
Thomas Jefferson anonymously submitted design plans for the
White House. They were rejected.
A snail can sleep for 3 years.
If a spider dismantles his web, that means a bad storm is near.
Historically, only Hawaiian men danced the Hula.
The US has 6,575 large dams, second most in the world.
Many sailors used to wear gold earrings so that they could
afford a proper burial when they died.
"Tug of War" was an Olympic event between 1900 and 1920.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 587 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Dec 14, 2000 (20:25) * 1 lines
(i shall keep B in my prayers) these facts are really fun. i mean, we knew snails were slow but three years to sleep? so do they take a year to actually fall asleep, a year to sleep, and a year to do the waking up? *laugh*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 588 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (13:59) * 1 lines
(Thanks, Sweetie! Me too!) Good questions about the snails. Dontcha wonder who bothered to watch them for 3 years...! Think I dated him once...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 589 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (14:01) * 20 lines
"Smith" is the most common last name in the USA. Rounding out
the top ten, in order, are:
-Johnson
-Williams
-Brown
-Jones
-Miller
-Davis
-Wilson
-Anderson
-Taylor
Paul Revere took his midnight ride on a horse named Brown Beauty.
In China, the day a child is born it is considered one year old.
There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower, 296 steps
to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and 168 steps to the
crown of the Statue of Liberty.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 590 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (18:00) * 8 lines
What do the letters "S-O-S," as in "help" stand for?
Well, it doesn't stand for anything. These letters were chosen
for Morse Code as a distress signal because of their somplicity -
three dots, three dashes, and three dots. It *doesn't stand for
"Save Our Ship."
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 591 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 16, 2000 (19:29) * 4 lines
CHRISTMAS SOLAR ECLIPSE FOR NORTH AMERICA
http://www.skypub.com/sights/eclipses/solar/001225partial.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 592 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 18, 2000 (00:52) * 18 lines
In 1899 an electric vehicle captured the world land speed
record with a speed of 66 MPH.
The press as a whole refused to believe the Wright Brothers
for nearly five years after their first flight. Editors
discarded invitations to witness numerous flights.
"Bandwidth will increase in the same way that memory has
increased in PCs," says Don Listwin, senior vice president
at Cisco Systems Inc. He expects performance to double
and prices to be cut in half every 18 months.
Olympic games in 1900 included croquet, fishing, billiards,
and checkers.
Sequoia trees can be over 3,000 years old because the bark
is virtually impervious disease, insects and even fire.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 593 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 18, 2000 (19:28) * 22 lines
(I have done this - straight under one!)
Is it possible to drive around a rainbow?
Legend has it that there is a pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow, and a song in a famous movie suggests that we can
expect to find a wizard and a wicked witch over the rainbow.
But what's on the reverse side of that colorful arc?
Whatever it might be, it's all in the eye of the beholder.
Put away that roadmap because rainbows don't exist in an
actual location. They are the product of sunlight hitting
tiny drops of moisture in the air. The light is refracted
and broken up into its component colors, producing the light
show we call a rainbow. If you move, your change in
perspective will change the rainbow, but you can never get
around it.
Well since it's all inside your head, so to speak, you could
spin around to try to get behind it. But then you'll fall
down, banging your head, and all you'll see are stars.
(Source: TRIUMPH OF THE STRAIGHT DOPE by Cecil Adams)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 594 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 19, 2000 (22:22) * 27 lines
An average American uses 168 gallons of water per day.
Every year, without fail, the Amazon river bursts its banks,
flooding an area of forest the size of England.
A grain elevator in Hutchinson, Kansas is 1/2 mile long and
can hold 46 million bushels in 1,000 bins.
There are only four sports that are completely native to the
U.S.: baseball, volleyball, basketball, and roller derby.
109 people have cancelled their subscription to National
Geographic to protest their use of metric measurements.
The two hemispheres of a dolphin's brain work independently.
For 8 hours, the entire brain is awake. The left side then
sleeps for 8 hours. When it wakes up, the right side sleeps
for 8 hours. Thus the dolphin gets 8 hours of sleep without
ever having to stop physically.
The number of births in India each year
is greater than the population of Australia.
Waste products from the production of a single six-inch
silicon wafer include 2,840 gallons of waste water.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 595 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 19, 2000 (22:40) * 24 lines
While performing her duties as queen, Cleopatra sometimes
wore a fake beard.
40,000,000,000 packages/yr of Ramen noodles are consumed.
An opossum does not sleep while hanging upside down by its tail.
As much as 40% of the entire world's varieties of freshwater
fish are to be found in the Amazon River basin.
Grants, New Mexico was at one time known as the carrot
capital of the country.
In 1962, the FDA tried to prohibit the sales of vitamins
and minerals in all but very limited potencies and
combinations, by first classifying, and then regulating
them as prescription drugs.
Coffee is the second largest item of international commerce.
The largest is petrol.
Neptune has not yet completed one orbit since its discovery.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 596 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Dec 20, 2000 (20:56) * 38 lines
A rat can last longer without water than a camel.
Recent studies have found that the increase in moral reasoning
and moral development normally expected for the age and
education level of medical students are not occurring over
their four years of undergraduate medical education..."
Evidence is beginning to appear that demonstrates that the
structure of medical education may actually inhibit moral
reasoning ability rather than facilitate it. Ethical
sensitivity increases between the 1st and 2nd year but then
decreases throughout the rest of medical school, such that
the 4th-year students are less ethically sensitive than
those entering medical school.
- "Medical Education" Journal
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-2b.html
There are significant problems with storing hydrogen.
A tank full of hydrogen gas at atmospheric pressure would
need to be 3000 times larger than a gasoline tank for a
similar journey.
Six Major Actors Who Never Won an Oscar (times nominated):
Richar Burton (7)
Peter O'Toole (7)
Greta Garbo (4)
Kirk Douglas (3)
Cary Grant (2)
Morgan Freeman (2)
Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina anthem.
The subject of the Mona Lisa was a Florentine merchant's
wife. Her lack of eyebrows reflected the custom in Florence
in those days to shave them off.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 597 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 21, 2000 (17:12) * 10 lines
Ursid Meteor Surprise
NASA Science News for December 18, 2000
The normally meek Ursid meteor shower could surprise sky watchers with a powerful outburst on Dec 22nd when Earth passes through a dust stream from periodic comet Tuttle.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast18dec_1.htm?list89800
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 598 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 21, 2000 (17:16) * 22 lines
Yes Virginia, there really is a Christmas eclipse!
Thursday's Classroom for Dec. 18, 2000
http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com
Reliable sources at the North Pole report that Santa Claus and his
reindeer plan to linger over North America after sunrise on Christmas Day,
long after all the presents have been delivered. Why? The Jolly Old Elf is
hoping to catch a glimpse of a partial solar eclipse!
This week's episode of Thursday's Classroom features stories for kids and
seven original lesson plans about the coming solar eclipse. For details
visit http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com
The Dec. 25th eclipse will be limited to North America, but if you live
elsewhere we have lessons for you, too. Please see "Interplanetary
Christmas" for plenty of educational holiday activities:
http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/index_09dec99.html
Happy Holidays!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 599 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 21, 2000 (20:02) * 21 lines
A hippo can opens its mouth wide enough to fit a four foot
tall object inside.
The opera singer Enrico Caruso practiced in the bath,
while accompanied by a pianist in a nearby room.
Coffee seems to help extroverts more than it helps introverts.
Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote.
A quarter has 119 grooves on its edge, a dime has 118 grooves.
Douglas MacArthur's mother used to send letters to his
military superiors suggesting they promote her son.
The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven
is $6,400.
A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 600 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Fri, Dec 22, 2000 (16:18) * 1 lines
Happy Winter Holidays to one and all! Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day, Happy Hannukah, Joyous Kwanzaa, Blessed Ramadaan, and Happy Winter Soltace, unless you're in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case, Happy Summer Soltace, and for any antique Romans out there, Happy Saturnalia!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 601 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 22, 2000 (20:46) * 1 lines
I was all ready to deck the halls of Geo for the holidays until I saw the veritable plethora of them. I echo Cheryl's comments. Season's Greetings, to all.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 602 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 23, 2000 (18:22) * 5 lines
Check what Peace on Earth means when we all work together...
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg
Thanks Gandalf, for reminding us!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 603 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 23, 2000 (18:59) * 143 lines
MIDWINTER FESTIVAL OR CHRISTMAS
Midwinter, or rather the winter solstice, marked the end of the first
half of the Celtic year. It marked the date of the southernmost rising
and setting of the sun. By our calendar, the day of the longest night
usually falls on 21st December. The Celtic festival of the winter
solstice, like Samhain, also had Roman and Christian festivals grafted
onto it, the very important celebration of Christmas, and the Roman
festival of Saturnalia.
The festival dedicated to Saturn began on the 19th December. It
celebrated the overthrow of the old father-god, Saturn, by the
new father-god, Jupiter or Deus Pater (God the father, although in
this context he is actually God the son). These gods have direct
counterparts in Greek mythology (Cronos and Zeus) and in Celtic
mythology (Bran and Bel or Belin). The basic symbolism is very
ancient and a trifle convoluted. The goddess (Madron, mother of all
creation, the moon) is married to the god Mabon (her son, the Sun).
The renewal and continuation of the marriage (creation, the kingdom,
life and the harvest) depends on the aging god (or king) being replaced
by the young god (his twin, also Mabon, the new Sun, the new king).
The Saturnalia also known as 'Dies Natalis Invicti Solis', the Day of
Birth of the Unconquered Sun. Resulting from this title, the Saturnalia
also became associated with the New Year. Subsequently the Romans
created a new god to oversee the transition on the following Kalends,
or first month day. He was Janus, the two-headed god who looked back
over the past and forward into the future. His name gave rise to the
naming of this first month, January.
The Saturnalia was a fire festival, homes were decorated with evergreens, candles,
and especially constructed coloured lanterns. The formal
festivities lasted seven days though the whole of the preceding month
was dedicated to Saturn. Personal gifts were exchanged, wrapped in
coloured cloth. Popular festival foods were figs, dates, plums, and pears
and apples, fresh melons and pomegranates from Africa, quince preserved
in honey, sweet bread, cakes and pastries pressed into the shape of stars,
nut breads, cheese pies, shelled pistachios, filberts, pine nuts and walnuts
accompanied by cider and mulled wine.
Many of these customs seem to be synonymous with the traditional
festivities of Christmas. In fact Christ's birth-date was deliberately
and artificially set in the third century AD to coincide with, absorb
and supersede the pagan festival dedicated to Saturn. It is not certain
when Christ was born, research has put his birth most likely in the
spring. Some of the many controversies caused by the switch from
the old Julian calendar to the Gregorian by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 persisted in
the popular folk story that Christ was actually born on
January 6th. At midnight on the eve of that day animals kneel in homage
to the Christ Child in mangers and stables. The theme of the advent
and the virgin birth is, of course, not Celtic or Roman, although there
are virgin births in other religions and mythologies. Specifically
Christian though, are the three Magi.
Two midwinter tradition, almost certainly Celtic in origin are the
Yule Candle and the Yule Log. Early Welsh texts, a good example being
the 'Romance of Amergin', give us detailed evidence of the Druid preoccupation with
trees and their mythological and religious
significance. The Yule Log was directly associated with fire and the
purifying embodiment of the sun god. Bringing the Yule Log indoors
was symbolic of bringing the blessing of the sun god into the house.
The collecting, hauling and kindling of the wood were conducted with
great ceremony. The word Yule, however, is derived from the Middle
English 'yole', from the earlier Anglo-Saxon 'geol'. It's meaning is
unclear but could be related to 'geolo' (yellow) or 'geoleca' yolk. The
word appears in a variety of spellings, in Old Norse and other Teutonic languages, it
appears though, to have no Celtic counterpart. The
Goidelic for Christmas is 'Noillach' (Scots Gaelic) or 'Nollaig' (Irish)
related to the Brythonic 'Nadelik' (Cornish) or 'Nadolig' (Welsh) derived
from the Latin 'Natalicia'.
The Yule Candle was very large and ornamental, usually blue, green or
red in colour, which was lit at the beginning of the Christmas season
and associated with several superstitions. It could only be extinguished
using a pair of tongs, blowing out the flame invited bad luck. Only the
head of the household could light or extinguish the flame. The
unconsumed remnant of the candle was preserved as a protection, to be
lit during thunderstorms to prevent the house being struck by lightning.
Its tallow was rubbed on the sole of the plough before spring ploughing,
to bless and promote the seed. The lit candle was displayed in a window,
as a sign of goodwill, a custom still widely observed in parts of New
England and rapidly spreading throughout the rest of the US. These associations
derive from the ancient Celtic veneration for the candle as
a symbol of light in the darkness of winter. The Romans used oil lamps,
but the Celts made candles from wicks or reeds dipped in tallow rendered from beef
lard. Some sources erroneously list pig fat, this does not set
firmly enough for candle making, it would have been used in lamps only.
The Yule Log had a number of associated superstitions. It had to burn steadily
without being extinguished, or bad luck would follow. It could
be cut down on one's own land, or accepted as a gift from a neighbour,
or be stolen from the forest, but it could not be bought or sold: the
exchange of money for a Yule Log would destroy its magic properties.
It was decorated with evergreens and dragged to the house by oxen if it
was too heavy to be manhandled. In Cornwall, the figure of a man was chalked on
the log, to be consumed by the fire. Did this represent an
earlier sacrifice by burning?
Wine, cider or ale, and sometimes corn, was sprinkled over the log before
it was lit. Apparently some communities soaked the log for several days before it was
ready for the fire. One must presume the alcohol was initially burning rather than
the soggy log.
After the Yule season, part of the unconsumed log was kept safely to
one side and used to ignite the new log in the following year, probably
from the communal bonfire. The remainder was kept to attach to the
plough in the ploughing season and the ashes were gathered up and sprinkled on the
land to ensure a good harvest next year.
The two plants still associated with the Yule, namely the holly and the
ivy, were also associated with the Celts and the Saturnalia. Saturn's club
was of holly wood and his sacred bird, the golden crested wren, nested in
ivy. Holly represents the letter T (Tinne) in the Ancient Druidic alphabet
Beth-Luis-Nion. It is the totem tree of the oak god's twin (or father), the
holly god, or Green Knight, represented by Bran in the British tradition, Cronos in
Greece and Saturn in Rome. He is the god of the waning part
of the year, while his brother-son Bel is the god of the waxing part of the year. When
Christian mythology began to include aspects of earlier pagan mythology, John the
Baptist became identified with oak. He was beheaded
at midsummer, the day of transition between the oak king and the holly
king, in turn leading to the identification of Jesus with the oak's
successor, holly. This is the origin of the lines in the carol 'The Holly and
the Ivy'…. Of all the trees that are in the wood, the Holly bears the crown
and, I feel, is a small demonstration that Christians then were perfectly comfortable
sharing the traditions of the Celts.
In Middle English the word for holly was spelt 'holi' this was derived
from the Old English 'Holen'. Holy was also spelled 'holi' from the Old English
'halig'. There has been an association of holly and Holy ever
since. A further connection with Jesus is the shape of the letter itself.
The Hebrew 'Tav', the Greek 'Tae' and our letter T all graphically
represent the cross of the Crucifixion.
Ivy represents the letter G (Gort) in the Ancient Druidic alphabet Beth-
Luis-Nion. The vine and the ivy share the characteristic of growing
spirally and both are associated with resurrection. As with holly, ivy is associated
with Bran, Saturn and Cronos and had many of the same attributes.
Then of course there is the Mistletoe, one of the Druids most sacred
plants and venerated in folk-law way after the Druids passing. With
good reason too, the plant contains eleven proteins and lectins (which
are currently being investigated for anti-cancer effects). Its known uses, ancient and
modern, include the infusion of dried leaves and berries
which makes a tea that has hypotensive (reduces blood pressure),
cardiac stimulant, diuretic and sedative properties, when taken by
humans (this is not a suggestion). It has been demonstrated to have
an antineoplastic (tumour reducing) effect on animals.
The custom of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas seems to
confirm Pliny's description of it as an acknowledged aid to fertility,
although it was also an earlier custom to hang mistletoe in the porch
of a house as a more general and innocent sign of peace and hospitality.
In Christian times, mistletoe was carried as a defense against witches, or placed in a
baby's cradle to prevent its abduction by fairies.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 604 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 23, 2000 (19:00) * 3 lines
Ooops, citation for the above got away from me:
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/shaman/99/midwinter.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 605 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 23, 2000 (19:04) * 8 lines
Imbolc
An additional festival was added later. This is Imbolc and was held in Leinster to celebrate the Goddess Brigit. This festival
marks the ending of Winter's grip and the passing of the influence of the Crone or Cailleach to the Maiden of Spring. It is the
time of the first lambs and of new beginnings. Brigit's sacred flame was tended in Leinster in a sacred center for female Druids.
This festival was usually one of the home and the hearth and was usually presided over by the female head of the house.
http://www.summerlands.com/crossroads/library/celticfi.htm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 606 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (15:09) * 3 lines
*******************************
ECLIPSE STUFF POSTED ON GEO 24
*******************************
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 607 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (18:08) * 20 lines
Where did the iceman get the ice he delivered to homes before
refrigeration?
You've seen old movies in which a big burly guy delivers the
ice that kept food cold in the icebox. But you never see
where he got the ice to put on his truck. Was it magic? Did
HE have a refrigerator perhaps a truly pre-production
model?
Not at all. Before civilization advanced to the level of TV
dinners and keeping leftovers frozen for months because we
can always pop them in the microwave, they actually got ice
from very cold places, such as frozen ponds in the winter.
They even shipped it in from Alaska.
The problem was keeping the ice from melting. The solution
was sawdust as insulation on the ice itself and between the
walls of the icehouse, where ice was stored. With that kind
of insulation it could even be shipped south to Latin
America! Cool, heh!
(Source: DO FISH DRINK WATER? By Bill McLain)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 608 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (18:09) * 29 lines
+-------------- Bizarre Christmas Traditions --------------+
In Italy they have no Christmas trees, instead they decorate
small wooden pyramids with fruit.
In Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, it is customary for
the streets to be blocked off on Christmas eve so that the
people can roller-skate to church.
An artificial spider and web are often included in the
decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. A spider web found
on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.
It is a British Christmas tradition that a wish made while
mixing the Christmas pudding will come true only if the
ingredients are stirred in a clockwise direction.
A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head
of a pig prepared with mustard.
Sending red Christmas cards to anyone in Japan constitutes
bad etiquette, since funeral notices there are customarily
printed in red.
In Norway on Christmas Eve, all the brooms in the house
are hidden because long ago it was believed that witches
and mischievous spirits came out on Christmas Eve and would
steal their brooms for riding.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 609 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (15:34) * 7 lines
The stopwatch on 60 Minutes is made by Heuer.
An ant has five noses.
A cave man's life span was only 18 years.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 610 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (15:36) * 13 lines
Cinderella is known as "Tuna" in Finland.
In days long ago, when men who worked on the railroad visited a
brothel, they left their red lamps outside - and there you have
the coining of the phrase "red light district."
A duck feather weighs approxiamtely .016 to .063 grams.
The term "senator" means "old man" in Latin.
Earthworms don't have eyes or ears.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 611 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (16:53) * 35 lines
Why do we call a wild fight a real "donnybrook?"
There are all kinds of gradations of conflict and colorful
ways to describe them. For example, there's the rhubarb
between you and your neighbor over a backyard fence, the
parents of kids who have been fighting who go at it
themselves hammer and tong, and the brouhaha over who had the
right of way on the freeway ramp.
On the spectrum of contentiousness, a donnybrook is helter-
skelter and Katy-bar-the-door. And why not? The word comes
from a fair begun in medieval times at Donnybrook, on the
site of the modern Dublin. The fair was held amid much
drinking. One boisterous thing led to another. People were
pleased as punch to be having such a grand old time and
before you know it they were punching as they pleased in the
midst of a general melee. In fact you could call it a real
donnybrook.
(Source: HEAVENS TO BETSY! & OTHER CURIOUS SAYINGS by Charles
Earle Funk)
Mix up
Ivory soap didn't always float. Proctor and Gamble's famous
product began life in 1878 as White Soap. It smelled good,
had a rich, white color, and sunk like a stone if you let go
of it in the bathtub.
Then the guy who ran the machine that mixed White Soap's
ingredients neglected to throw the off switch one afternoon
when he took his lunch break. The soap that resulted had
more air in it. The lighter bar floated, consumers loved it,
and the rest is history.
I just thought you should finally know the real story a
matter of history coming clean, so to speak.
(Source: EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINS OF EVERYDAY THINGS)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 612 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (17:30) * 10 lines
AT WHAT WIND SPEED DOES A SNOWSTORM BECOME A BLIZZARD?
Wind speed in excess of 35 miles an hour is considered a
blizzard.
WHAT IS THE WARMEST MONTH OF THE YEAR IN THE ARCTIC?
The month of July, when the average temperature is no more
than 50 degrees F, 10 degrees C.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 613 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (19:40) * 26 lines
And you thought you had a bad job...
Beijing Scoops the Last Ladles of Nightsoil
BEIJING (Reuters) - Ending a century-old tradition, nightsoil
collectors have cleared the last lavatory in Beijing by hand,
another milestone in what has been dubbed the "toilet
revolution" sweeping China.
Armed with long-handled ladles and wooden barrels, six
collectors on Saturday paid their final early morning call on two
courtyard homes on one of Beijing's famous "hutong"
alleyways.
The squat-style "draught lavatories" -- pits that can
accommodate only one user at a time -- were once common
in the Chinese capital.
But modern public conveniences with flush toilets have made
them obsolete.
Not that nightsoil collectors are now out of a job altogether.
Much of the sewage from public toilets, as well as residential
blocks and tourist hotels, still drops into septic tanks that are
cleared by nightsoil trucks with long nozzles attached to
suction pumps.
The small green trucks are a familiar sight darting about the
streets of Beijing on their way to the suburbs, where their
human waste is spread on cabbage patches.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 614 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (20:00) * 27 lines
Pez is one of the most secretive companies in the US.
It is not even known who currently owns the company.
The world's longest fence is 1,000 miles longer than the
Great Wall of China. 3,307 miles long, it runs half the
length of Australia and is designed to keep the Dingos
separate from the sheep.
1,000,000 one dollar bills would weigh 2,040 pounds.
The British fired 2,876 shells into the Bismarck on the day
they sank it.
Supermassive black holes contribute about as much energy
to the universe as do all the stars combined.
http://www.sciam.com/news/121400/2.html
There are only 2 original parts on the President's limousine.
Contrary to popular belief, most black widow spiders don't
eat their mates.
The Chunnel is 131 feet below the English Channel floor.
China has over 22,000 large dams, the most in the world.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 615 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (22:02) * 9 lines
Q. What continent has the most silver?
A. 50% of the world's silver is in South America. Peru has
12%. The rest is mostly in North America. Mexico, Canada
and the US all have large silver reserves. In the rest of
the world, silver is mainly found in Australia, Poland and
some of the former Soviet republics.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 616 of 1406: (sprin5) * Wed, Dec 27, 2000 (04:06) * 1 lines
They say (on a tv show I saw the ohter night) that the S African diamond trade is moving to the NW territory, where they have specially micro marked diamonds. This is a region not marked in bloodshed or strife, so the diamonds are sought after because they aren't tainted with overtones of repression.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 617 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Dec 27, 2000 (14:07) * 22 lines
That is nice to know. Does DeBeers own that, too? Theyhave a huge stockpile of diamonds which are NOT rare, to make them more expensive, but the ones out of Russia are lovely and much more affordable since DeBeers cannot control them.
Even colored ones!
Why don't doors in homes open outward as they do in all
public buildings?
The reason for the outward orientation of doors in public
places is simple: in case of danger, as in a fire, people
have to be able to open the door and pour through the doorway
quickly and in great numbers. If the doors opened inward,
people might pile up at the exit as everyone pushed to get
through at once instead of stepping back to allow space for
the door to be opened.
Doors open inward in homes at least the front door does
because they sometimes have to be removed from the hinges in
order to allow furniture to be moved in. If the hinges were
on the outside, burglars could also remove them. Since there
are fewer people in a home, there's no danger of a pileup at
the door in case of fire.
(Source: WHY DO DOGS HAVE WET NOSES? By David Feldman)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 618 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 29, 2000 (18:05) * 9 lines
Millennium Meteors
NASA Science News for December 29, 2000
One of the most intense annual meteor showers, the Quadrantids, will peak over North America on January 3, 2001. Observers in western parts of Canada, the USA and Mexico could see an impressive outburst of shooting stars, numbering as many as 100 per hour.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast29dec_1.htm?list89800
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 619 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 29, 2000 (22:46) * 7 lines
WHAT DID BLIND CELLARMASTER DOM PERIGNON SAY WHEN HE DISCOVERED CHAMPAGNE IN 1668?
"Oh, come quickly, I am drinking stars!"
WHAT DOES THE WORD KOALA MEAN IN AUSTRALIA'S ABORIGINE LANGUAGE?
Koala means "no drink". This Australian marsupial gets all
the liquid it needs from the eucalyptus leaves it eats.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 620 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (13:30) * 32 lines
There were 1,511,300 drunken driving arrests in the US in 1999.
407,100,000 people have Internet access as of Dec, 2000.
There are three earlier versions of La Giaconda, the
Mona Lisa painting's real name, underneath the top layer.
In one of those versions da Vinci allegedly gave his
subject not only eyebrows, but a beard, moustache and
sideburns as well.
Devoid of its cells and proteins, human blood has the same
general composition as seawater.
There are about 8,600 species of birds on Earth.
Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia
were the 13 original American colonies.
The phrase "a red letter day" dates back to 1704, when holy
days were marked in red letters in church calendars.
Without using precision instruments, Eratosthenes measured
the radius of the Earth in the 3rd century B.C. and came
within 1% of the value determined by today's technology.
The practice of naming hurricanes began early this century
when an Australian weather forecaster decided to insult
politicians he didn't like by naming devastating tropical
storms after them.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 621 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (13:31) * 17 lines
Why is that liquid refreshment served in big bowls at parties
called punch?
If one can legitimately describe what you are drinking as
"spiked," you might easily conjecture why the drink is called
"punch," especially if you wake up prone next to the punch
bowl. You might never know what hit you.
But the word's origin is not so direct. It was a product of
the British colonization of India. In the northern part of
that land the Brits came upon a refreshing native drink made
from rice alcohol blended with tea, sugar and lemon, all
diluted with water. The colonizers, noting that the drink
had five ingredients, used the Hindi word for five, "punch,"
to describe it.
Now of course you also have five fingers, and if you curl
them into a fist . . . . Just a thought.
(Source: WHY YOU SAY IT by Webb Garrison)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 622 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (18:14) * 28 lines
General Custer was the youngest general in US history.
He was promoted at age 23.
Waste products from the production of a single six-inch
silicon wafer include 7 pounds of miscellaneous hazardous
waste.
UN statistics show that 88 nations have a lower death rate
than the US.
Early systems of measurement used body parts to calculate
length. A cubit ran from elbow to middle fingertip. The
distance from fingertip to fingertip of outstretched arms
was a fathom.
Oreos have been the number one selling cookie in America
since their introduction in 1912.
Elephants have 4 teeth. As they wear out, they are replaced,
up to 6 times. After that, the elephant can't eat and starves.
Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
The highest temperature ever recorded on Earth was 136
degrees Farenheit on September 13, 1992, in Azizia, Libya.
The bottle-nosed whale can dive to 3,000 feet in 2 minutes.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 623 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (18:35) * 28 lines
+-------------------- Bizarre Holidays --------------------+
JANUARY
January is... National Fiber Focus Month
January 1 is...First Foot Day
January 2 is...Run Up the Flagpole and See if Anybody Salutes It Day
January 8 is...National JoyGerm Day and Man Watcher's Day
January 10 is... Peculiar People Day
January 11 is... National Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend Day
January 12 is... Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day
January 22 is... National Answer Your Cat's Question Day
January 23 is...Measure Your Feet Day
January 24 is... Eskimo Pie Patent Day
January 27 is...Thomas Crapper Day
January 28 is... National Kazoo Day and Rattle Snake Round-Up Day
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 624 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 2, 2001 (13:55) * 36 lines
Why is the flag flown at half-staff to honor someone who has
died?
The Greeks and the Romans believed that the souls of the dead
began their journey to the afterlife by crossing the river
Styx rowed across by a fellow named Charon. With our modern
transportation, we wouldn't be caught dead making such an
important trip in so tacky a manner. Yet we still honor the
passing of prominent people with a custom that stems from a
time when travel by boat was where it was at.
The flag at half-staff, originally unconnected to death,
comes from an old naval ritual. When a ship lost a battle,
the crew was obliged to fly the winner's pennant from the top
of their mast. In order to make room for it, the losing
captain ordered his own flag lowered halfway. By
implication, this gesture of respect was also a symbol of
loss. Even after this custom faded, captains might dip their
flag to a passing ship as a sign of respect, like tipping
one's cap. Eventually the practice was adopted to honor the
dead.
(Source: EVER WONDER WHY? By Douglas B. Smith)
----------------------------------------------------------
Look for the silver lining
In one of history's most famous assassinations, Charlotte
Corday stabbed to death French revolutionary Jean Paul Marat.
She gave it to him while he was taking a bath. No doubt you
have seen the famous painting that depicts the scene.
But history had the last laugh: She killed an already dying
man. He was in the tub to treat an invariably fatal skin
disease. Nevertheless, had Charlotte let nature take its
course we wouldn't have that famous painting, now would we?
My mother always said that you could find something good in
most everything.
(Source: THE JOY OF TRIVIA)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 625 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 2, 2001 (14:04) * 12 lines
Listen to the Quadrantids tonight
Space Weather News for January 2, 2001
http://www.spaceweather.com
The Quadrantid meteor shower will peak over North America before dawn on
Wednesday morning, January 3rd. No matter where you live you can listen
to the shower by tuning in to a radio meteor listening station at the NASA
Marshall Space Flight Center. The installation, located in Huntsville,
AL, is perfectly situated to detect a Quadrantid outburst. For more
information and realtime audio please visit http://www.spaceweather.com
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 626 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 2, 2001 (14:11) * 21 lines
Tiger Woods made $9,188,321 on the PGA Tour in 2000.
He averaged $459,416 per start, $110,703 per round
and $1,622 per stroke.
By the year 2005, Bill Gates' wealth could overtake
the GDP of the United Kingdom.
A cricket's chirps can tell you the temperature. Just count
the number of chirps it makes in 15 seconds and add 40. The
result is a good approximation for the temperature in degrees
Fahrenheit.
Birds do not sleep in their nests. They may occasionally
nap in them, but they actually sleep in other places.
Tremendous, stupendous, hazardous and horrendous are the
only words in English that end in "dous".
Internet data alone is expected to account for 90 percent of
the world's bandwidth by 2003.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 627 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 2, 2001 (14:29) * 27 lines
There are more than 50 different kinds of kangaroos.
The first Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is worth more than twice
its weight in gold -- an estimated $50,000,000.
When Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto, he announced
the coordinates of its orbit. Astronomers around the world
retrieved old photographs and -- sure enough, there was Pluto,
right in front of their faces. Nobody had seen it because
they didn't know where to look.
Half the world's population now live in cities.
The Greek unit of currency, the Drachma, has been in use for
2,650 years.
In 1830 the first railroad station was built in Baltimore,
Maryland.
The U.S. interstate highway system requires that 1 mile in
every 5 must be straight. These sections can be used as
airstrips in a time of war or other emergencies.
The ZIP in Zip-code stands for Zoning Improvement Plan.
Most mammals view color only as shades of gray.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 628 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 2, 2001 (17:22) * 8 lines
Q. Which nations of Europe consume more food than they produce?
A. Nearly all the nations of Europe run billion-dollar food
deficits. Only three European countries have billion-
dollar or better food surpluses: the Netherlands,
Denmark and Ireland.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 629 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Jan 2, 2001 (18:42) * 1 lines
50 different kinds of kangaroos? wow!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 630 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 2, 2001 (21:45) * 59 lines
I only know of Red kangaroos and the other ones. Not 49 other ones!!!
CORRECTION:
The U.S. interstate highway system requires
that 1 mile in every 5 must be straight.
These sections can be used as airstrips in
a time of war or other emergencies.
HpstrDufuz points out the truth here:
http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/airstrip.htm
ADDITION:
Tremendous, stupendous, hazardous and horrendous
are the only words in English that end in "dous".
HpstrDufuz adds "apodous", a zoological term
meaning "having no feet".
*************************************************************
The first Harley Davidson motorcycle, built in 1903,
used a tomato can for a carburetor.
15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.
West Virginia is the only state to have acquired its
sovereignty by proclamation of the President of the
United States.
Margaret Mitchell has sold 20,000,000 copies of "Gone With
The Wind".
The largest incense stick ever made was almost 15 feet long
and 6 inches thick.
In the 1940s a survey listed the top 7 discipline
problems in public schools: talking, chewing gum, making
noise, running in the halls, getting out of line, wearing
improper clothes, and not putting paper in wastebaskets.
A more recent survey lists these top 7: drug abuse,
alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery, and
assault. Arson, gang warfare, and venereal disease
rounded out the modern "top ten".
- George F. Will
Although in America today life expectancy at birth is near
the best of any civilized country in the world, at age 40
life expectancy is near the bottom.
- New York State Medical Journal, Sept. 15, 1955
The rumbling sound your stomach sometimes makes is called
a "borborygmi."
The brain accounts for just 2% of body weight,
but burns up 20% of our daily caloric intake.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 631 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 3, 2001 (15:15) * 4 lines
A sunrise/sunset calculator from the
U.S. Naval Observatory website.
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/data/docs/RS_OneYear.html
Put in your lat/lon and time zone, and you're in business
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 632 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 3, 2001 (15:48) * 11 lines
Happy Birthday Kilauea
0930 January 3, 2001
You know how hard it is to remember anniversaries, especially "after all these years." Well, that happened today until a sentimentalist reminded us that today is the 18th anniversary of the ongoing eruption, which was born on January 3, 1983, and is now a healthy adult with no sign of early senescence.
___
Lava continues down Pulama pali and onto the coastal flat this Wednesday morning at 0454. More of the flow on the pali is crusted, however, so that the scene is less colorful than it has been for the past week or more. Most of the lava is confined to the east flow, where one river descends the pali amid a sea of patchy incandescence from past, still hot, surface flows. The west flow is dark except for one small incandescent spot, possibly a skylight, high on the pali.
Lava fed by the flows continues to pond high on the coastal flat, some 2 km or so from the coast. The position of glow this morning suggests that the lava has not moved significantly seaward in the past 24 hours.
The crater of Pu`u `O`o is dark this morning. Seismic tremor is weak to moderate near Pu`u `O`o and weak below Kilauea's caldera. The tilt at Kilauea summit and along the east rift zone is flat.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 633 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Jan 3, 2001 (16:46) * 1 lines
ok, someone gave a name to the rumbling tummy sounds? they must've had a lot of time on their hands!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 634 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 3, 2001 (16:57) * 26 lines
check our your filtrum and AM's frenulum... (may not have one, actually)
Every sailing ship had to have cannon for protection.
Cannon of the times required round iron cannonballs. The master
wanted to store the cannonballs such that they could be of instant
use when needed, yet not roll around the gun deck. The solution was
to stack them up in a square-based pyramid next to the cannon. The
top level of the stack had one ball, the next level down had four,the
next had nine, the next had sixteen, and so on. Four levels would
provide a stack of 30 cannonballs. The only real problem was how to
keep the bottom level from sliding out from under the weight of the
higher levels. To do this, they devised a small brass plate ("brass
monkey") with one rounded indentation for each cannonball in the
bottom layer.
Brass was used because the cannonballs wouldn't rust to the "brass
monkey," but would rust to an iron one. When temperature falls, brass
contracts in size faster than iron.
As it got cold on the gun decks, the indentations in the brass monkey
would get smaller than the iron cannonballs they were holding. If the
temperature got cold enough, the bottom layer would pop out of the
indentations spilling the entire pyramid over the deck.
Thus, it was, quite literally, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a
brass monkey."
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 635 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 3, 2001 (18:57) * 7 lines
Q. What did European clergymen originally think of hot chocolate?
A. Chocolate drinks were the first form of chocolate to spread
widely in Europe but clergymen were not pleased. They
considered the caffeine kick of chocolate a spur to bad
behavior.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 636 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 3, 2001 (19:52) * 36 lines
Theodore Roosevelt was the only US president to deliver an
inaugural address without using the word "I".
Mysterious monolith appears in Seattle park.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/15774.html
There are significant problems with storing hydrogen.
You could liquefy and compress the hydrogen, but this is
costly and uses between 20 and 40% of the energy eventually
stuffed into the tank. Also, the tanks themselves are
robust and heavy--hydrogen only accounts for between 5 and
7% of their weight even when they're full. For buses and
trucks this isn't a problem but it effectively limits the
range of a hydrogen car to half that of a regular one.
The Seattle Space Needle is 605 foot tall and is attached
at its based with 72 bolts, each 30 feet long.
Aunt Jemima was a real person.
Our original expectation [in studying three dental school
classes in California] was that, as the students progressed
through dental school, they would learn more about
professional ethics and display a higher level of ethical
responses. The exact opposite occurred. In the first year
67% had a high ethics score. In the final year it had
plummeted to 18%. Approaching the end of their professional
education, the students were at the nadir of ethicality.
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-2b.html
The world's largest alphabet is Cambodian, with 74 letters.
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined.
[100,000 of which are in Manitoba, according to that
province's license plate]
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 637 of 1406: (sprin5) * Thu, Jan 4, 2001 (08:16) * 1 lines
So that's where that expression comes from!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 638 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 4, 2001 (16:55) * 35 lines
Seems we passed it past an archaeologist or two. One,who also enjoyed it, said there was not evidence for that brass plate in archaeological finds, but agreed with me that it was probably the creation of under used and over active college students. Sill a clever story!
Why do we sometimes call a hodgepodge a mishmash?
If you come from the northeastern United States, you might
suspect that there's a spelling error here. Isn't it
"mishmosh?" Isn't this another one of those slang
Yiddishisms that have made their way into colloquial English,
like something being "kosher?" Well, no. It's not even
Yinglish, that blend of English and Yiddish that produced
language-bridging expressions such as "fancy-shmancy."
Mishmash, in fact, has a fairly old English pedigree. It
dates from about 1500, about the time that "mash," a crushed
mixture with the consistency of mush, also entered the
language. Mishmash is what linguists call a reduplication, a
doubling of a word root or syllable to form a new word. The
result is a word that sounds very much like what it
describes. And that's the whole megillah.
(Sources: Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins by William
and Mary Morris; The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology,
edited by C. T. Onions; The Oxford Companion to the English Language, edited by Tom McArthur)
Cinderella is one of our most beloved children's stories.
Who can forget the mistreated girl who ends up with the
Prince and the glass slipper?
Whoa! There ain't no glass slipper. This error came about
because the most well known version of the old legend the
one from the Mother Goose stories contains a
mistranslation. The fellow who got it from the old French
mistook "pantouffles en vair," slippers lined with white
squirrel fur, for "pantouffles en verre," slippers of glass.
White squirrel fur? Not only does she really believe that
she has a fairy godmother, she's also kinky to boot?
(Source: FABULOUS FALLACIES)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 639 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 5, 2001 (00:47) * 22 lines
Elephants have poor hearing.
At age ninety, Peter Mustafic of Botovo, Yugoslavia,
suddenly began speaking again after a silence of 40 years.
The Yugoslavian news agency quoted him as saying "I just
didn't want to do military service, so I stopped speaking
in 1920. Then I got used to it".
A skunk can propel its spray 10 feet.
Penguins don't always live in cold climates. Though they
can be found in the South Pole, they can also be found on
the equator.
The Chunnel uses 3-tube construction: the two main tubes
are 24 feet in diameter, and carry trains in each direction.
The service tunnel provides ventilation and access for
personnel.
Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until
the child reaches 2-6 years of age.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 640 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 5, 2001 (13:17) * 4 lines
Travel Channel, Tuesday
"Hawaii Volcanoes"
Join us in paradise to check out the most active volcanoes in the world.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 641 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 5, 2001 (18:18) * 26 lines
Q. If I heat a 3 foot long iron bar, I can hold it at one end
with my bare hands. If I then dunk the bar in water, it
gets too hot to hold and starts to vibrate. Why?
A. When red-hot iron touches water near atmospheric pressure,
it boils the water so fast that a thin film of steam
completely separates the water from the hot metal. So
you can think of the bar as being in a closely fitting
bubble of steam, surrounded by water. The bubble is
unstable because of its buoyancy, so liquid water touches
the iron at some point soon after the creation of the film.
Where they touch, steam is produced very rapidly and it
drives the iron and the water apart again. This movement
drives the opposite side of the iron bar against the
opposite side of the bubble. Again it contacts liquid
water, and the the bar gets driven back toward the first
point of contact, hence the vibration. The heating of
the iron at the cooler end is caused by steam flowing
upward along the rod. Its buoyancy drives the steam upward
and it follows the rod because of the Coanda effect--
flowing fluid tends to follow a surface because if it
tries to flow away from the surface it leaves behind a
partial vacuum that draws it back. The steam then
condenses on the rod where the rod is below 212 degrees.
This will rapidly heat the whole rod to 212 degrees.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 642 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jan 6, 2001 (18:29) * 20 lines
Just how heavy and cumbersome was a suit of armour?
You've probably seen movies in which a knight in armour was
lifted by a winch onto his horse, so heavy was his protective
covering. Or maybe you've seen the scene where Sir Somebody
is knocked from his horse and can't get up without assistance.
"Poppycock," as we used to say in medieval England. Those
suits of armour weighed no more than about 50 pounds and were
flexible enough to permit Sir Laughalot to walk around. You
wouldn't want to play squash in one, but they were not much
more constricting than a business suit, the armour worn by
today's corporate warriors.
Which reminds me: A couple of years ago, in a museum, I saw a
knight in armour from the medieval kingdom of Bohemia, later
part of the Czech Republic. Could this have been the origin
of the phrase, "The Czech is in the mail?" Just a thought.
(Source: DICTIONARY OF MISINFORMATION by Tom Burnam)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 643 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sun, Jan 7, 2001 (15:44) * 3 lines
Happy Belated Birthday Kilauea! You've become a healthy adult in 18 years. So is Kilauea of legal drinking age in the state of Hawaii?
I hope that every celebrated, and continues to have, a Happy New Year. On the subject of holidays, Twelfthnight or Epiphany was January 6th, and I can say Merry Christmas because January 7th is Orthodox Christmas.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 644 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jan 8, 2001 (18:44) * 15 lines
Age 21 legal drinking age in Hawaii.
LUNAR ECLIPSE TONIGHT
NASA Science News for January 8, 2001
On January 9th sky watchers across some parts of Earth will enjoy a
total lunar eclipse. But what would they see if they lived, instead, on
the Moon? This story considers Tuesday's eclipse from a different point
of view.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast08jan_1.htm?list89800
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 645 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Jan 8, 2001 (18:53) * 4 lines
really? we have a near full moon tonight (i mean, it's right there)...
check your email, sweetie!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 646 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Tue, Jan 9, 2001 (12:54) * 1 lines
Quite excitingly, the full moon is right outside my apartment and about to go into eclipse over the next hour or two. All I have to do is cross the street and look up every half-hour or so.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 647 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Tue, Jan 9, 2001 (13:32) * 3 lines
And now almost total eclipse.....
Eclipsed from the bottom up
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 648 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 9, 2001 (13:53) * 31 lines
Wheeeeeeeeee!!!! Live and direct! Thanks Mark and big hugs for your eye-witness account.
***
Jackie Bibby holds the record for sitting in a bathtub with
the most live rattlesnakes: 35 of them.
The Seven Deadly Sins are lust, pride, anger, envy, sloth,
avarice, and gluttony. The Seven Virtues are prudence,
courage, temperance, justice, faith, hope, and charity.
The Moon travels around the Earth at 66,641 miles per hour.
The Statue of Liberty's mouth is 3 feet wide.
Ross Perot resigned from the General Motors Board of Directors
because of the decision to purchase Hughes Aircraft Company.
Holland gets by on a total of four food additives.
We have over 1,400.
- US Congressman Fred Richmond, Chairperson,
Subcommittee on Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations
and Nutrition
The Netherlands and The United States both have anthems that
do not mention their country's name.
Natchez, Mississippi was settled by the French in 1716 and
is the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi River.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 649 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Tue, Jan 9, 2001 (16:42) * 2 lines
And now the full moon is back, (at 66,641 mph?).
It disappeared bottom first, and then reappeared right side first. Strange.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 650 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 9, 2001 (16:57) * 5 lines
Lunar eclipse from the Midlands, England...
Partial: http://www.cix.co.uk/~aal/partial.jpg
Totality: http://www.cix.co.uk/~aal/totality.jpg
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 651 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 9, 2001 (16:59) * 1 lines
Thanks, Ian, and friend Anyone else take pictures???
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 652 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 9, 2001 (18:47) * 6 lines
YOu just KNEW this was gonna happen, didn't you???
From Reuters:
An estimated 1,500 white witches are planning to gather in Britain,
Sweden, Iceland, France, Canada and Austria during the eclipse to ward
off any doom it may bring, the BBC reported.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 653 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Jan 9, 2001 (18:49) * 1 lines
I had a sneaking suspicion.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 654 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 10, 2001 (16:07) * 4 lines
This now from MSNBC about Stonehenge:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/513457.asp?bt=nm&btu=http://www.msnbc.com/tools/newstools/d/news_menu.asp
Been there and seen it - they restored it Just enough in my opinion. Thoughts?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 655 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 10, 2001 (17:05) * 34 lines
1. In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured
on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the
mattress tightened,
making the bed firmer to sleep on.
Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight".
2. It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for
a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-
in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and
because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the
honey month or what we know today as the honeymoon.
3. In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old
England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell
at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down.
It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"
4. Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked
into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed
a refill, they used the whistle to get some service.
"Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.
5. In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had
consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When
anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the
King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they
were having sex. The placard had F.*.*.*. (Fornication Under
Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that came from.
6. In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen
Only Ladies Forbidden ... and thus the word GOLF entered into
the English language.
(don't think #5 is correct...)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 656 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 10, 2001 (22:38) * 17 lines
A group of owls is called a parliament.
Jordan's national anthem does not mention the country's name.
No president was an only child.
Wisconsin's streams and rivers, if joined end-to-end, would
stretch 26,767 miles.
The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover
Cleveland's baby daughter Ruth.
A dragonfly can fly up to 30 miles per hour.
President James Garfield could write Latin with one hand
and Greek with the other--simultaneously!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 657 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 10, 2001 (23:11) * 23 lines
The tuatara lizard of New Zealand has 3 eyes: 2 in the
center of its head and the third on top.
Malaysia's national anthem does not mention the country's
name.
The average life span of an umbrella is 1 1/2 years.
A rock band amplified at close range is 140 decibels --
100,000 times louder than the 85 decibel level that causes
permanet hearing loss from prolonged exposure.
Julie Nixon, daughter of Richard Nixon married David Eisenhower,
son of Dwight Eisenhower.
Andrew Johnson, was the only president who was a self-educated
tailor. He made his own clothes and that of his cabinet.
A piano has to withstand 15 tons of force from the strings.
It would take 212 years to drive a car to the sun,
at 50 miles per hour.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 658 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Thu, Jan 11, 2001 (05:08) * 1 lines
I don't think any of the "facts" in No 655 are right. P's and Q's comes from "pleases and thank-yous". "Wet your whistle" started out as "whet your whistle" to do with whetting (sharpening) your appetite, and golf comes from a Dutch word. I suspect the source may be a wind-up.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 659 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 11, 2001 (13:03) * 45 lines
Ah yes, Mark, thank you! Feedback is much appreciated! This from a fellow Londoner:
I would take all this with a significant pinch of
salt.
# At the time of Shakespeare people slept on wooden
beds, as anyone who has been to the Shakespeare museum
will tell you.
# Not too sure of the origins of mead but it was
certainly made and served in the inns of England at
least 1000 years ago.
# Pints are the order of the day in English pubs,
never quarts (A filthy European intrusion into our way
of life as far as I'm concerned). This has been so
forever to the best of my knowledge.
# I have never heard of whistles in ceramic jugs. A
simple.."another pint if you please inn keeper" would
have worked just as well and been less trouble.
# I think not. I am inclined to believe that certain
citizens would not have waited for the consent of
their intended partner before taking action, let alone
the monarch.
..and two real ones for you.
Derivation of the word POSH.
A relatively modern introduction into the English
language. When wealthy couples travelled across the
Atlantic to New York from Southampton and back, they
would always have a cabin on the port side of the ship
on the outward journey and starboard on the homeward
leg. This meant that the sun always shone through the
porthole of their cabin. Thus...Port Out Starboard
Home gave rise to POSH.
The Royal Fish
The sturgeon is a royal fish. Any sturgeon caught in
British territorial waters must be offered to the king
or queen of the day. Only when the monarch declines
the offer can the fish be eaten by its capturer.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 660 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 11, 2001 (22:05) * 45 lines
CORRECTION:
Thee Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named
after Grover Cleveland's baby daughter Ruth.
No, it was named after Babe Ruth. The Ruth
Cleveland thing was a dodge to avoid paying
royalties, and was later used to keep a product
bearing the Famous Ballplayers name off the market.
- HpstrDufuz
*************************************************************
The "Cob" in cobweb is an old English word for spider.
President Taft got stuck in his bathtub on his Inauguration
Day and had to be pried out by his attendants.
Jerry Rice holds the Super Bowl record for most receiving
touchdowns in a game: 3
Lie detectors do not. Independent research consistently
shows they are barely better than chance at detecting lies.
That is why they are not admitted into a court of law
unless both sides agree to it, and often not then.
London was the first city with a population over 1,000,000,
in 1811.
The Practicioner, a British medical journal, has determined
that bird-watching may be hazardous to your health. The
magazine, in fact, has officially designated bird-watching
a hazardous hobby, after documenting the death of a weekend
bird-watcher who became so immersed in his subject that he
grew oblivious to his surroundings and consequently was
eaten by a crocodile.
At the Rocky Mountain Front Eagle Migration Area west of
Great Falls, Montana more golden eagles have been seen in
a single day than anywhere else in the country.
87,000,000 people in China have a family name of Li.
Abe Lincoln's mother died when the family dairy cow ate
poisonous mushrooms and Mrs. Lincoln drank the milk.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 661 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jan 14, 2001 (22:47) * 39 lines
CORRECTION:
Lincoln's mother died of mushroom poisoning
It was in fact a plant called white snakeroot,
that was transmitted via milk.
- Dave
*************************************************************
Andrew Jackson thought that the world was flat.
Consumers spent $10.7 billion in online shopping during the
2000 holiday season, up from $5.2 billion in 1999.
If persons in the untreated group die at any time in the
study interval, they are reported. In the treated group,
however, deaths which occur before completion of the
treatment are rejected from the data, since these patients
do not then meet the criteria of the term 'treated'.
- Hardin B. Jones, PhD, ACS 11th Annual Science Writers Conference
362,000,000 Oreos have been sold to date.
In 1865 opium was grown in the state of Virginia and a product
was distilled from it that yielded 4% morphine. In 1867 it
was grown in Tennessee: six years later it was cultivated in
Kentucky. During these years opium, marijuana and cocaine
could be purchased legally over the counter from any druggist.
The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
Even though a mosquito beats its wings 600 times per second,
it only travels about one mile per hour.
The Chunnel was the biggest civil-engineering project of
the 20th century.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 662 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 16, 2001 (23:23) * 10 lines
A butterfly's taste buds are located on its legs. They are
microscopic hairs, called sensilla, on the terminal part of
the butterfly's legs.
54,000 car accidents occur each year in the U.S.
Gold was first used to fill cavities in 1855.
A pelican eats 1/3 its body weight in a single meal.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 663 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 17, 2001 (19:37) * 105 lines
This is too close to me to hide it in s Sports conference where I also posted it uner the Olympics topic. Nancy, his youngest daughter is one of my dearest friends.
http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/dave_kindred/20010116.html
No peace over resting place for 'World's Greatest Athlete'
by Dave Kindred
After Jim Thorpe's death in 1953, both houses of the Oklahoma
Legislature approved $25,000 for a memorial and gravesite honoring
the Sac and Fox Indian, an Oklahoman who may have been the 20th
century's greatest athlete.
"But Oklahoma blew it," says Thorpe's daughter, Grace, a Native
American civil rights activist who lives in Prague, Okla. "The
governor vetoed the bill."
So began one of sports' more curious stories. The great man's widow
shopped his body across America for four years before finding a
burial place.
Now, 112 years after Jim Thorpe's birth, comes news that the story
isn't over yet.
His sons and daughters are at odds as to where he should be buried.
And Grace Thorpe is insisting on the return of 1912 Olympic trophies
she believes are rightfully her father's, trophies that were valued
then at $50,000 and today "may be priceless," she says.
After what Thorpe's third wife, Patricia, perceived as Oklahoma's
insult to her dead husband, she twice moved his remains looking for a
permanent site. She once proposed to leave the body in Carlisle, Pa.,
the home of the Carlisle Indian School where Thorpe had gained his
first football fame, if the town would change its name to Jim Thorpe,
Pa.
No deal there.
"Then she was in Philadelphia," Grace Thorpe says, "and saw on
television a reporter named Joe Boyle talking about the Pennsylvania
towns of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk. They were arguing about
whether they should merge services and the like.
"Patricia thought, 'Maybe that's just the place.' She drove the two
hours or so to Mauch Chunk, went into a bank and asked if anyone knew
Joe Boyle. They said, 'He's right over there.' He was in the bank at
that very moment."
Soon enough, the disagreeing towns came to agreements with Mrs.
Thorpe.
They would merge into a town named Jim Thorpe. At a cost of $10,000
they would build a mausoleum for Thorpe's remains.
"And there, in the mausoleum in a pretty, little park, in a pretty
town in the Poconos, on the Lehigh River, where they've honored Dad
in many ways, even last September with as grand a parade as you'd
want to see," Grace Thorpe says, "is where Dad should stay."
But her brothers don't agree. As it happens, Grace and Gail Thorpe,
the only living daughters, are opposed to their three brothers' idea
that, once again, Jim Thorpe's remains should be moved.
Jack Thorpe, of Shawnee, Okla.: "My father was an Oklahoman who grew
up in the Indian culture here, and he should be given an Indian
burial. His birthplace and one of his original homes are honored
here. In Oklahoma City, there's a hospital named for him, the Jim
Thorpe Rehabilitation Center. We're not thinking of any legal action,
or anything, but it's only logical to have him returned."
Grace Thorpe: "For one thing, I believe Patricia signed a contract
with the Mauch Chunk people that Dad would never be moved. As for
that 'Indian burial,' Dad was a baptized Catholic. He always
considered himself a Christian, and he was buried with the last rites
of the Catholic Church."
The Thorpe family is to meet this weekend hoping to end the
controversy.
Meanwhile, Grace Thorpe says she's organizing a "Justice for Jim
Thorpe Committee" in her continuing efforts to locate and acquire two
trophies given to her father for his victories in the 1912 Olympics
at Stockholm, Sweden.
"One was a life-size bust of the King of Sweden, the other was a
Viking ship encrusted with semi-precious jewels made for the czar of
Russia," she says.
Thorpe was forced to return the trophies, along with his gold medals
in the pentathlon and decathlon, because the U.S. Amateur Athletic
Union declared him a professional for having accepted a few dollars
for playing summertime minor-league baseball.
The gold medals were returned to Thorpe posthumously in 1982.
But not the trophies.
"I think they're somewhere in the International Olympic Committee's
museum in Switzerland," Grace Thorpe says. "But they're not on
display. A reporter has said he saw the bust of the king of Sweden
still in a wooden box marked 'Carlisle Indian School.' And we've seen
a picture of the Viking ship, but not the trophy itself."
Dave Kindred is a contributing writer for The Sporting News. E-mail
him at kindred@sportingnews.com.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 664 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 17, 2001 (21:56) * 36 lines
Do you ever get the feeling that you are in over your head?
That you just can't fathom something? That, in short, it's
too deep?
There is something so elemental about the ocean depths that
we embrace it as a metaphor for the unknown or the
unknowable. But ancient mariners sometimes needed literally
to plumb the depths -- to see if a passage was safe for ships,
for example.
Mariners determined depth by lowering a weighted rope until
it touched bottom and then marking the point on the rope
where it broke the surface. When they hauled in the rope
they extended their arms repeatedly, fingertip to fingertip,
along this length to measure it. They called this unit of
measurement a fathom, from an Anglo-Saxon word for embrace
(holding out your arms). Today we're more precise: a fathom
is six feet.
(Source: EVER WHY? By Douglas B. Smith)
************************************************************
Just nosing around:
Elephants can do much more than carry around their baggage in
front of their face and make a mess to the point where you
just can't keep them in the house. A case in point: Six
elephants at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center have been
induced to join the Thai Elephant Orchestra. You know what
their noses look like. Can you imagine a pachyderm playing
that thing? You don't have to - they've released a CD so you
can hear them for yourself.
The idea for the band was Richard Lair's. He's an authority
on elephants. Lair, by the way, ruefully admits that the
animals are being exploited although profits from the CD
will buy milk for orphaned baby elephants and likens them
to "prisoners."
"Prisoners?" How would you like to be the one to tell the
big bull elephant that his conjugal visiting hours are up?
(Source: THE NEW YORK TIMES, December 16, 2000)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 665 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 17, 2001 (22:19) * 33 lines
All US Presidents have worn glasses. Some of them just didn't
like to be seen with them in public.
The concrete in the Hoover Dam could pave a two-lane
highway from San Francisco to New York.
The name of the Pilgrim's second ship that was to accompany
the Mayflower to the "New World" was The "Speedwell". It
had to turn back because it wasn't seaworthy.
Before winning the election in 1860,
Abraham Lincoln lost 8 elections for various offices.
Second hand tobacco smoke is the third leading preventable
cause of death, after active tobacco smoking and alcohol use,
contributing to more than 50,000 deaths per year in the U.S.
Among quadruplets there are 156 females born for every 100
males -- the norm for single births is 94 females for every
100 males.
Out of the 11 original patents made by Nikola Tessla, for
the generation of hydroelectric energy, 9 are still in use,
(unchanged) today.
Don Featherstone, designer the Pink Flamingo, is president
and part owner of the company that sells an average of
250,000 to 500,000 plastic pink flamingos a year.
Any statistic that appears interesting is almost certainly
a mistake.
- A. S. C. Ehrenberg
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 666 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Jan 20, 2001 (12:12) * 1 lines
I wear glasses. I've never had the urge to grow up and be president though.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 667 of 1406: (sprin5) * Sat, Jan 20, 2001 (12:20) * 1 lines
That's an incredible stat about the Hoover Dam.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 668 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jan 21, 2001 (15:00) * 3 lines
The Pink Flamingoes stat staggered me. People actually buy them on purpose???
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 669 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jan 21, 2001 (15:09) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 670 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jan 22, 2001 (03:57) * 106 lines
**************************************
THIS MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE - Please read!
**************************************
NOTES FROM A SELF DEFENSE CLASS
The guy who taught the class has a female friend who was attacked last
year in the parking garage at Westport Plaza in St. Louis one night after work
and taken to an abandoned house and raped. He started a women's group and
began teaching these classes soon after.
This guy is a black belt in karate and trains twice a year with Steven
Segall. He and the others in this group interviewed a bunch of rapists
and date rapists in prison on what they look for.
Here are some interesting facts:
The #1 thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are
most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun, braid or other hairstyle
that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with
long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.
The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women whose
clothing is easy to remove quickly. The #1 outfit they look for is
overalls. Many of them carry scissors to cut clothing and overall straps can be
easily cut.
They also look for women on their cell phone, searching through their
handbag, or doing other activities while walking. Because they are off
guard, they can be easily overpowered. The time of day men are most
likely to attack and rape a woman is in the early morning, between
5 & 8:30 a.m. The number one place women are abducted from/attacked is
grocery store parking lots. Number two is office parking lots/garages.
Number three is public rest rooms.
The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and
quickly move her to a second location where they don't getting caught.
Only 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence
but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years. If you put up any kind of a fight
at all, they get discouraged. It only takes a minute or two for them to
realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming.
These men said they will not pick on women who have umbrellas, or other similar
objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands. Keys are not a
deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them
as a weapon.
So, the idea is to convince these guys you're not worth it. Several
defense mechanisms he taught us are:
* If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with
you in an elevator or stairwell, look him in the face and ask him a question,
like what time is it, or make general small talk. "I can't believe it is
so cold out here; we're in for a bad winter." Now that you've seen his face
and could identify them in a lineup, you lose appeal as a target.
* If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and
yell "Stop!" or "Stay back!" Most of the rapists this man talked to said
they'd leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be
an EASY target.
If you carry pepper spray, tell them. (This instructor was a huge
advocate of it because it will be a deterrent.)
* If someone grabs you, you can't beat him with strength but you can by
outsmarting him. If he grabs your wrist, pull your wrist back so your
hand is in waving position (palm facing forward) and twist it toward yourself
and pull your arm away.
It is hard to hold onto wrist bones that are moving in that way. He
stumbles toward you and you stumble back, so you can use that momentum to bring the same hand out and backhand him with your knuckles in the forehead, nose or
teeth.
* If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker
Either under the arm between the elbow and armpit or in the upper inner
thigh...HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the
underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset
she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands -- the guy needed
stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it. It
hurts.
* After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I know from a
particularly
unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy's balls (sorry to be graphic),
it is extremely painful. You might think that you'll piss the guy off and
make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our
instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause a lot of trouble.
Start causing trouble and he's out of there.
* When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and
bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as
possible. The instructor did it to me without using much pressure and I
ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly. Of course the
things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take
someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don't dismiss
it go with your instincts. You may feel a little silly at the time but you'd
feel much worse if the guy was really trouble.
Better to be safe than sorry!! Never get in the car with him, if he wants
To rob you, throw the money or keys so he has to go get it, then run and yell
"Fire." It's more effective than "Help."
Never help a person with a van trying to load it himself and having
trouble (with possibly a fake broken arm or leg), that's how Ted Bundy got 60 of
his victims...in mall or grocery store parking lots.
Be careful! Please forward this to the friends you care about; it's
simple stuff that could save their lives. If you read it a few times and think
about the defense techniques taught, you will be better equipped to defend
yourself in a frightening situation.
Don't hesitate to send it to the men you love too.
We all need to be better prepared.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 671 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 24, 2001 (12:48) * 48 lines
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_ *:-.,_,.-:**:-.,_,.-:
NOW YOU KNOW EVERYTHING!
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_ *:-.,_,.-:**:-.,_,.-:
1. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
2. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
3. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
4. The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
5. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
6. There are more chickens than people in the world.
7. Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.
8. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is Screeched.
9. On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament
buildings is an American flag.
10. All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20.
11. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange,
silver, or purple.
12. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
13. All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial
on the back of the $5 bill.
14. Almonds are a member of the peach family.
15. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
16. Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
17. There are only four words in the English language which end in
"dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
18. Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina
de los Angeles de Porciuncula"
19. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
20. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
21. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
22. In most advertisements, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.
23. Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
24. The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after
Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life."
25. A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.
26. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
27. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
28. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
29. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
30. In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.
31. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar
tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
32. Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister.
33. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
34. There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.
35. "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 672 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 24, 2001 (22:44) * 27 lines
Sugar was first added to chewing gum in 1869...by a dentist.
The walls of the American fort on Sullivan Island, in
Charleston Harbor, South Carolina were made of spongy
Palmetto logs. This was helpful in protecting the fort
because the British cannonballs bounced off the logs.
The man who first swam across the English Channel was Capt.
Matthew Webb, a shipmaster who made it across in 21 hours,
45 minutes in August 1875. His zigzag route covered nearly
40 miles. At that time, the mayor of Dover, England
declared, "I do not believe that in the history of the
world any such feat will be performed by anybody else".
If the 362,000,000 Oreos produced so far were stacked on
top of one other the stack would be 10 times taller than
the distance from the earth to the moon -- 2,500,000 miles.
Fingernails grow 1.5 inches a year
The Chinese were the first to invent ketchup. The
ingredients were pickled fish and spices but no tomatoes.
In the 1870's New England colonists mixed tomatoes into
the sauce creating present day ketchup.
The largest cockroach ever found was 3.8 inches long.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 673 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 24, 2001 (23:10) * 51 lines
One correction I did not want to make is the one below...
CORRECTION:
The largest cockroach ever found was 3.8 inches long
"Many years ago, the Officer of the Day found
a six inch cockroach in the dining facility
[of Marine Corps Base Camp LeJeune, NC] and
killed it with one shot from his .45 caliber
duty weapon."
- Jeff, former U.S. Marine
*************************************************************
Kilts are not native to Scotland but originated in France.
Richard Nixon was on the cover of Time magazine more than
anyone else -- 55 times.
Dr. Seuss was born on March 2nd.
An elephant can smell water up to three miles away.
In exploring medical student attitudes, sociologists hit upon
a particularly telling question. The question, "Would you
yourself consider donating your body to a medical school to
be used as a cadaver?" was asked of 99 medical students during
their gross anatomy course. Only 11 said yes. In another
study only 3% of medical students were willing to give up
their bodies for dissection. "Even more striking than the
numbers were the tone and phrasing of the answers," the
researchers report. "In response to this question, students
abandoned their customary calm. Their answers became abrupt,
tension-laden, and filled with emotion."
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-11a.html
At the NCI a study was done on 35 patients getting
chemotherapy. Radiation and chemotherapy caused a
2900% increase in secondary cancers.
The most extras ever assembled for a single scene were
the 300,000 people used in the two-minute funeral scene
in the movie "Gandhi".
In 1807 the first successful steamboat, the "Clermont,"
made its maiden voyage from New York City to Albany.
Greenland is 3 times the size of Texas.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 674 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 25, 2001 (21:56) * 6 lines
Please check out this website while it is still available - absolutely amazing!!
WORLD'S LARGEST HUMAN GATHERING SEEN FROM SPACE
-----------------------------------------------
Space Imaging's Ikonos satellite has taken a detailed color photograph of the largest human gathering in the history of the world, the Maha Kumbh Mela, a spiritual event held every 144 years in Northern India.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26ikonos/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 675 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 25, 2001 (22:31) * 40 lines
Washington. 100 million newly printed 60-cent international
stamps carry a picture of the Grand Canyon and on the bottom
of each stamp the words "Grand Canyon, Colorado." The Grand
Canyon is actually located in Arizona, although the river was
carved by the Colorado River. The Post Office is currently
trying to decide whether to reprint them.
- USA Today
U.S. law prohibits the export of strong encryption software,
but that doesn't stop California's Network Associates Inc.
To get around the law and export its encryption program,
Pretty Good Privacy, the company publishes its code in a
28-volume book and sells it to an independent Swiss company.
The Swiss buyer recompiles the code and sells it to NA's
overseas arm, which then sells it to foreign companies.
The process delays the program's international release, but
it IS legal because the actual software isn't exported.
Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D.
Eisenhower each used the word "I" only once in their
inaugural addresses.
A "pogonip" is a heavy winter fog containing ice crystals.
The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continuously held horse
race in the country. It is held at Churchill Downs in
Louisville, Kentucky on the first Saturday in May.
Studies show that people respond more to the caffeine they
think they've consumed more than they respond to the amount
of caffeine that they've actually consumed.
The custom of playing tricks on people on April 1 began in
France after a new calendar was instituted in the 16th
century. Previously, the New Year had been celebrated on
April 1, but the new calendar switched it to January 1.
Out of habit, many people continued to observe April 1 as
the beginning of the year and became known as "April fools."
Eventually the custom arose of playing tricks on that day.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 676 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 26, 2001 (15:26) * 14 lines
In the interest of accuracy, for which I strive diligently, I lpost the following with thanks to Jody:
How can you be so certain that "Mary Had A Little Lamb" was written by
Sara Josepha Hale when the authorship is mired in dispute after dispute?
Some have feverishly maintained that one Mary Hall, a classmate of Tom
Sawyer of Sterling, Mass. who owned the lamb, wrote it. Accordinly, she
brought her lamb into school one day just has it says in the poem.
Others are equally certain that John Roulston wrote it about Mary
Sawyer's lamb.
It is true that Mrs. Hale published it in a youngsters' magazine that
she actually edited.
Well, it was Mark Twain, who wrote, "It is the difference of opinion
that makes the horse races."
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 677 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 26, 2001 (17:13) * 2 lines
For those of you who want an intelligent and non-racially tainted discussion of genetics, phylogony, evolution and associated interests, please join Marshall Smyth and a whole lot of interesting discussion (and me) at a most worthy place:
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/geneticsandevolutionclub
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 678 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jan 28, 2001 (15:24) * 32 lines
The longest street in the world is Yonge Street, which starts
in Toronto, on the north shore of Lake Ontario, and winds its
way north then west to end at the Ontario-Manitoba-Minnesota
border -- about 1,000 miles.
When written in Roman numerals, the year 1666 is the only
date in history that is written from the highest to the
lowest value, MDCLXVI (1000 + 500 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 5 + 1).
A pig's snout is called a gruntle.
A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time. It is 1/100 of a second.
There is a mistaken belief that the word Indian refers
somehow to the country, India. When Columbus washed up
on the beach in the Caribbean, he was not looking for a
country called India. Europeans were calling that
country Hindustan in 1492 -- Columbus called the people
he met "Indio," from the Italian in dio, meaning "in God."
- Russell Means
In the 36 years after the first crossing of the English
Channel, 70 others tried and failed. Then in 1911, T.W.
Burgess became the second to cross. Twelve years later,
a third man, American Henry Sullivan, completed the swim.
Dr. Seuss coined the word "nerd", in his 1950 book
"If I Ran The Zoo".
Koalas and humans are the only animals with unique prints.
Koala prints cannot be distinguished from human fingerprints.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 679 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jan 28, 2001 (22:05) * 21 lines
Cleopatra was part Macedonian, part Greek, and part Iranian.
She was not an Egyptian.
A camel can shut its nostrils during a desert sandstorm.
Rhode Island shares a state water border with New York.
Some crickets burrow megaphone-like tunnels that help send
the sound of their chirps as far as 2,000 feet away.
22 million bees were used in movie "The Swarm".
Americans spent $20,000,000,000 on pizza in 1988.
Ham radio operators got the term "ham" coined from the
expression "ham-fisted operators" a term used to describe
early radio users who sent Morse code (i.e pounded their
fists).
There are 2,598,960 five-card hands possible in a deck of cards.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 680 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jan 29, 2001 (15:42) * 2 lines
Please go outside and look at Venus near the moon... it is brilliant and visible in daylight here. Look at it at night and it is astoundingly brilliant. In a small telescope it looks like a mini crescent moon.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 681 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 31, 2001 (18:12) * 32 lines
There were 600,000,000 email accounts globally, 350,000,000
in the US alone.
Pigs are the only other creatures with an intolerance to
excessive sun.
A 1993 report to Congress documented that less than a
quarter of U.S. medschools require nutrition as a separate
course.
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-4.html
600 - The number of Silicon Graphics workstations used for
making movies and special effects at George Lucas' Industrial
Light & Magic, the company that created "Star Wars: The
Phantom Menace."
5 terabytes - The quantity of data moved around per day on the
Industrial Light & Magic network during the production of
"The Phantom Menace."
Western Australia is the largest state in the world at over
1 million square miles -- 1/3 of Australia.
Fort Pierre Chouteau in South Dakota was the largest
(90,000 square feet) and best equipped trading post
in the northern Great Plains. It was built in 1832 by
John Jacob Astor's (1763-1848) American Fur Company as part
of its expansion into the Upper Missouri region.
50 - The number of engineers employed to maintain the movie
production system at Industrial Light & Magic.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 682 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Wed, Jan 31, 2001 (18:25) * 1 lines
Marcia, you never cease to amaze with your wonderous facts. The only fun fact I've come across lately is that people who suffer from persistant mouth sores are treated with a candy containing hot peppers as one of the ingredients. It would seem that the hot peppers numb the pain receptors in the mouth, thus giving these people relief.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 683 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Thu, Feb 1, 2001 (11:26) * 1 lines
Venus was great yesterday.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 684 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Feb 1, 2001 (18:58) * 29 lines
Great that you looked!!! Venus IS amazingly brilliant.
Jet skis produce more pollution per year than barges,
tugboats and cruise ships combined.
The Sun travels at a speed of 155 miles per second, yet takes
230 million years to complete one revolution of the galaxy.
A bowling pin needs to tilt only 7.5 degrees to fall.
North Dakota passed a bill in 1987 making English the
official state language.
In 1994, the average age of the Rolling Stones was greater
than that of the top GM executives (50.6 vs 49.8 years).
Bananas are gigantic herbs that spring from underground stems.
They are not trees as they have no trunk.
Casey Kasem is the voice of "Shaggy" on Scooby-Doo.
In 1994, the entire global communications network could transmit
about 1 trillion pieces of digital data per second. Today, a
single fiber optic strand can move 1.6 trillion pieces of data.
This latest technology could ship the entire contents of the
Library of Congress to New York on a single fiber in 14 seconds.
Killer whales live 70 to 80 years.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 685 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Feb 1, 2001 (19:00) * 1 lines
Truth time - I subscribe to a trivia-in-your-email service. The only plus other than that I learn this stuff too, is that they make the goof and correct them, I do not. Since no one will play Trivial Pursuit with me...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 686 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 4, 2001 (15:40) * 12 lines
Subject: the reason for the oil shortage
There are a lot of folks who can't understand how we came to have an
oil shortage here in the USA.
Well, there's a very simple answer. Nobody bothered to check the oil.
We just didn't know we were getting low. The reason for this is
purely geographical. All the oil is in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana,
Wyoming, etc.
All the dipsticks are in Washington, DC.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 687 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 4, 2001 (21:25) * 34 lines
Animal Crackers came with a string handle so they could be
hung on a Christmas tree.
In all, over 4,200 people from 42 countries have attempted
to cross the English Channel. Among the successful were
a 12-year old boy and a 67-year old man.
Time from London to Paris:
Train & Hovercraft = 5 hours
Plane = 4 hours (includes transportation time from airports)
Chunnel = 3 1/2 hours
The average American consumes 1,500 pounds of food each year.
1,000 gallons of water are required to grow and process each
pound of that food. This means that in the U.S., in a single
year, an average of 1.5 million gallons of water is invested
in the food eaten by just one person. This would be enough
water to cover a football field four feet deep.
The New York City Subway, began operating in 1904.
People who work at night tend to weigh more than people who don't.
The pop top can was invented in Kettering, Ohio by Ermal
Fraze.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, then he
picked 8 quarts worth since in dry measures, a peck is
8 quarts.
The signature three chimes for NBC are the notes G - E - C.
The notes stand for General Electric Company - the parent
company of NBC.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 688 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Feb 5, 2001 (18:41) * 1 lines
The last time I played trivial pursuit I got the question, "What is diphalic terrata?" It's a medical condition in which the patient suffers from having two penises. No, I didn't get the answer, nor did anyone else. The answer got a big laugh when we all read it, though.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 689 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 7, 2001 (20:08) * 3 lines
I would not have known that but the first word shoud have told me something!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 690 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 7, 2001 (23:00) * 27 lines
A report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
says U.S. motor vehicle deaths fell from 18 per 100 million
miles traveled in 1925 to 1.7 per 100 million miles in 1997.
Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel at 170 mph.
The number of possible ways of playing the first four moves
per side in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000.
There are ten body parts that are only three letters long:
eye, ear, leg, arm, jaw, gum, toe, lip, hip, and rib.
Bambi was originally published in 1929 in German.
Caterpillars have about four thousand muscles.
Pokemon stands for "pocket monster."
The Columbia River gorge in Oregon is considered by many to
be the best place in the world for windsurfing.
A Georgian climber has become the oldest man to scale Mt.Everest,
the world's highest peak, the Nepalese tourism ministry said
Sunday. Lev Sarkisov, a mountain guide from Tbilisi, was 60
years and 161 days on Wednesday when he set foot on the 29,028
-foot-high summit.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 691 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 7, 2001 (23:18) * 7 lines
If you still like to spend time online, I found an interesting site. You
know how every once in a while you receive e: mails that turn out to be
untrue, or worse a scam? Well someone actually collected these, here is the
address
http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/library/blcpr.htm?terms=hea
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 692 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Feb 8, 2001 (22:17) * 24 lines
New Zealand's south island is the oldest exposed surface
on earth.
Japan is 1,300 miles long.
A hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute on average.
The world's largest weather vane sits on the shores of White
Lake in Montague, Michigan. It is 48 feet tall with a 26-foot
wind arrow.
The oldest exposed surface on Earth is New Zealand's south island.
The gorge of the Grand Canyon is 217 miles long.
Alison Streeter of Great Britain has swam across the
English Channel 32 times.
Most historians now think that, far from being a spy, Mata
Hari was simply an innocent scapegoat who was shot because
the French government wanted to cover up its military
ineptitude by fabricating a story about an all-powerful
ring of German agents.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 693 of 1406: MarkG (MarkG) * Fri, Feb 9, 2001 (11:14) * 5 lines
Re Mount Everest being 29,028 feet high:
The British Commission charged with determining the height of the mountain before it had ever been climbed received calculations from five scientific teams they had charged with obtaining the measurement of the highest point on Earth.
When they averaged out the five submissions, they found the average came to exactly 29,000 feet. They decided they could not publish this as the height, since it would look like a wild guess, so they randomly added 28 feet, and the height of Mt Everest in feet has been 29,028 ever since.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 694 of 1406: Moon Dreams (Moon) * Fri, Feb 9, 2001 (14:26) * 1 lines
I like the way the commissions decide these things. All known data could be made up.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 695 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Feb 9, 2001 (19:57) * 47 lines
Yup...scary, isn't it. I would also like to meet THEM. As in, "THEY say..."
Thanks Mark. Facinating!
Queen Supayalat of Burma ordered about 100 of her husband's
relatives clubbed to death. She did this to ensure the
throne to her husband.
25% to 50% of medical and paramedical terminology consists
of synonyms, some obsolete. The micro-organism Candida
Albacans has more than 170 different names. Terms have
multiple, sometimes opposite, definitions. "Nyctalopia"
means night blindness in English, but in French it means
day blindness. Some assign the designation "petit mal" to
3% of all forms of epilepsy; others classify 80% of all
seizures this way.
- Jean Kennedy and C.E. Kossman, M.D.,
"Nomenclature in Medicine",
Bulletin of Medical Library Science, 1973
Bill Gates' income currently exceeds the GDPs of Israel
and Singapore
Male birds actually do most of the singing, primarily to stake
out their territory and to invite females of their species over
to mate. Females tend to select as mates those male birds who
sing the most. It is believed they do this not because they like
the quality of the singing, but because they have learned the
males who sing the most have the most food in their territory.
Since the male doesn't have to spend much time hunting for food,
it has more time to sing.
There are only 4 deserts in the U.S.
An 18th century German named Matthew Birchinger, known as
the little man of Nuremberg, played 4 musical instruments
including the bagpipes, was an expert calligrapher, and was
the most famous stage magician of his day. He performed
tricks with the cup and balls that have never been
explained, yet Birchinger had no hands, legs, or thighs,
and was less than 29 inches tall.
The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England
in 1896 -- Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.
Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand
and draw with the other at the same time.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 696 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Feb 12, 2001 (13:42) * 27 lines
Daily capacity of the Chunnel, built as deep as 470 yards
under the seabed, is 600 trains. The EuroStar train
reaches speeds of 186 mph.
China consumes 25,000,000 trees per year...for chopsticks.
Peanut allergies are the most severe of all food allergies,
killing an estimated 100 people each year.
http://www.sciam.com/news/020901/3.html
In 1999, 280,000,000 cell phones were sold.
The USDA has no legal power to recall rancid meat. In fact,
they cannot even fine companies for *shipping* contaminated
meat. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/02/08/schlosser_interview/
Greenland is over 20 times larger than Iceland.
Many people believe that North Carolina was the first state
to declare independence from England with the Mecklenburg
Declaration of 1775.
John Wilkes Booth's brother once saved the life of Abraham
Lincoln's son.
500,000 Animal Crackers animals are produced every hour.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 697 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Feb 13, 2001 (17:58) * 1 lines
So does anyone know exactly how high Mt. Everest is? I think it's still growing, as India and and the rest of Asia are still colliding into one another. There are people who believe that K2 is in fact the highest mountain on Earth. Their view is considered something of a peculiar one.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 698 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 14, 2001 (21:07) * 31 lines
Mark??
+---------------------- Bizarre Laws ----------------------+
CALIFORNIA
Sunshine is guaranteed to the masses.
Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of
a tavern, school, or place of worship.
In Baldwin Park, nobody is allowed to ride a bicycle in a
swimming pool.
In Belvedere, there is a City Council order which reads: "No
dog shall be in a public place without its master on a leash."
In Blythe, you are not permitted to wear cowboy boots unless
you already own at least two cows.
In Chico, detonating a nuclear device within the city limits
results in a $500 fine.
In Los Angeles, you may not hunt moths under a street light
and toads may not be licked.
In Pacific Grove, molesting butterflies can result in a $500
fine.
In San Francisco, persons classified as "ugly" may not walk
down any street.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 699 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 14, 2001 (21:18) * 20 lines
The first Rolls-Royce sold in 1906 for $600.
On October 18, 1867 Alaska officially became the property
of the United States. Many Americans called the purchase
"Seward's Folly."
To protect themselves from blowing sand, camels have 3 eyelids.
Christianity has 1,000,000,000 followers.
The U.S. city with the highest rate of lightning strikes per
capita is Clearwater, Florida.
It was not until the Renaissance that the consonant
"V" was distinguished from the vowel "U".
The Nile River is the longest in the world: 4,145 miles.
Ants stretch when they wake up in the morning.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 700 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Feb 15, 2001 (17:21) * 3 lines
(((((((((((( L 0 0 K ))))))))))))))))
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20010205/crystals.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 701 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sat, Feb 17, 2001 (13:55) * 1 lines
Those are enormous crystals.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 702 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Feb 17, 2001 (18:56) * 23 lines
They really are huge Crystals! Too bad they are flawless gypsum. Only 2 on Moh's scale! Your fingernail is 2 1/2 !
The Venetian in Las Vegas is the world's largest hotel.
Costing $2,500,000,000 to build, it uses $500,000 worth
of electricity each month.
The city with the highest murder rate is East St. Louis,
with one out of every 1,418 people killed each year.
"Pajamas" comes from the Persian words "pa" (leg) and "jamah"
(garment).
The saguaro is the largest American cactus.
Allan F. Mogensen, the creator of Work Simplification,
coined the phrase "Work Smarter, Not Harder" in the 1930s.
Earthworms have 5 hearts.
One out of every 43 prisoners escapes from jail,
but 94% are recaptured.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 703 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Feb 20, 2001 (13:14) * 27 lines
Nearly half of all bank robberies happen on Friday.
Papa John's pizza restaurants go through 100,000,000 pounds
of cheese, 1,000,000,000 tomatoes and 110,000,000 pizza
boxes each year -- 6 pizzas per second are delivered.
http://www.papajohns.com/kids/index.htm
Chromosome 19 contains more genes than any other chromosome.
A dragster consumes a gallon of nitro fuel...per second.
The QVC network is the fourth largest, based on revenue.
American astronomer, mathematician, clockmaker, surveyer and
almanac editor Benjamin Banneker has been called the "first
black man of science." Banneker took part in the original
survey of Washington, D.C. His almanac was published from
1792 to 1797.
In 2000, 400,000,000 cell phones were sold globally.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-4763712.html
There are 17 different Animal Crackers animals, with
an average of 22 or 23 animals per box.
Einstein couldn't speak fluently at age nine.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 704 of 1406: (sprin5) * Tue, Feb 20, 2001 (13:40) * 3 lines
"Nearly half of all bank robberies happen on Friday."
Getting ready for the weekend?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 705 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 21, 2001 (23:15) * 46 lines
Cars produce four times their weight in carbon dioxide
each year and the average home produces 50 tons a year.
In the US, the meatpacking industry uses automated meat
recovery systems which scrape the last shred of meat off
the bone, but which have been found to introduce a fair
amount of bone and spinal cord material into ground beef.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/02/08/schlosser_interview/
Islam has 500,000,000 followers.
The average brain comprises 2% of a person's total body weight
yet it requires 25% of all oxygen used by the body, as opposed
to 12% used by the kidneys and 7% by the heart.
For many years, the Arabic numbers that we take for granted
today weren't trusted in Europe. In fact, in the 1300s,
their use was forbidden in commerce. The Europeans realized
that Arabic numbers could be made to look a like. A 4, for
example, could be drawn to look like a 9.
When we walk, we use more than 200 different muscles.
Pacific Park, on the venerable Santa Monica Pier in California
re-creates the amusement parks once dotting the ocean areas
along the Pacific Coast. Featured are 11 amusement rides
including the 1910-vintage hand-carved merry-go-round that
appeared in the movie "The Sting."
I told Carl Perkins about this friend of mine in the Air
Force, a black man from Virginia named C. V. White. He
used to get dressed up to go to town on Saturday night
with his three-day pass. He had his blue Air Force
uniform with standard-issue black shoes and he'd always
say, man, don't step on my blue suede shoes, I'm going
out tonight. I'd say, C. V., hold on now, they're black
Air Force issue and he'd say, Tonight, they're blue suede
shoes, don't step on them. I never forgot that and I
told Carl, write a song about don't step on my blue suede
shoes. He wrote it that night.
- Johnny Cash
Fulgurite, formed when lightning strikes sand. The effect
of the lightning continues straight down for several feet.
forming a glass spike about an inch wide...in the shape
of the lightning bolt!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 706 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Feb 23, 2001 (19:36) * 25 lines
Raindrops can fall at a maximum speed of 22 mph.
The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing
their hands in Jell-O.
Halifax - Canada will consider striking down a 244-year-old
provincial law that offers hunters a bounty for Indian scalps.
The Nova Scotia government has asked Ottawa to confirm that
the 1756 proclamation by then-governor William Lawrence no
longer has any force or effect. Nova Scotia must ask the
federal government for guidance because the law came into
effect before the present-day province existed and before
Canadian Confederation in 1867. (Reuters)
"Florida" is Spanish for "flowery".
America's first department store, Zion's Co-operative
Mercantile Institutional, opened in Salt Lake City in 1868.
It would take over 13 years to stay one night in every room
at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
You can hear the tick of a watch from 20 feet away in a very
quiet environment.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 707 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Feb 23, 2001 (20:17) * 5 lines
Thank You, Neil, for this treat for the eyes:
http://www.burgess-shale.bc.ca/
I need some of that!!! A big slab would be nice but I'd settle for a teeny bit.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 708 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Feb 24, 2001 (21:28) * 1 lines
Want something to do which is different from last year and outrageously expensive? http://www.incredible-adventures.com/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 709 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 25, 2001 (18:14) * 8 lines
Heart Disease is the cause of one death every 33 seconds --every 60 seconds
it's a woman!
In the time it takes to click a mouse, you can help fight this devastating
disease.For each visit to http://heart1.webmd.com through February 28, 2001,
WebMD and Lilly will make a donation on your behalf to the American Heart
Association. These dollars will be used to fund lifesaving research and educational programs. Every dollar can save a life.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 710 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Feb 26, 2001 (11:56) * 39 lines
A googol is a 1 followed by 100 zeros. The name is said to
have come from the nine-year old nephew of the American
mathematician, Edward Kasner. A googolplex is the number
1 followed by a googol of zeros. And a google.com is an
extremely fast and very unbiased search engine.
The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia has nearly
68,000 miles of telephone lines.
A mole can dig 300 feet in one night.
In Alaska it is illegal to look at a moose from the window
of an aeroplane or other flying vehicle.
The Australian Emu is the fastest bird on land: 31 mph.
Washington, D.C. was the first American city planned for a
specific purpose. It was designed by Major Pierre Charles
L'Enfant, to be a beautiful city with wide streets and many
trees. The district was originally a 10 miles square
crossing the Potomac River into Virginia. The Virginia
part of the district was given back to Virginia in 1846.
About 4% of the world's water is in the Arctic Ocean.
We originally held the view that our 'elite' students --
those that had high grades in college, came from professional
backgrounds would be most ethical however the opposite
occurred: The 'elite' students scored low on ethics, while
the less academically successful students from nonprofessional,
nonmedical, and low-income origins tended to score higher.
The results were clear and consistent: students with high
college grades were less ethical.
- a dental school study,
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-21b.html
4,000 Chips Ahoy! cookies per minute exit ovens that
are 100 yards long.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 711 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Feb 26, 2001 (12:48) * 21 lines
~~*~~Is Carob better for you than chocolate?~~*~~
Please note: this is not about chocolate's power to restore
the soul, cleanse the spirit, bring enlightenment and turn
you on. Nothing else on this planet can do that.
No, this is more mundane you know, calories, sugar content,
nutrition, etc. And on that count the answer is clear: no, it
isn't inherently better for you than the original.
BUT, although carob, prepared from the ground and roasted
pods of the carob tree, does not differ enough in sugar and
other content to make a difference, it does taste sweeter
than chocolate before both are processed. So you need to add
less sugar to a recipe in which you substitute carob for
chocolate. Hence it's presence in "health" food.
Final thought: What, then, are you going to do to add life to
the years you think you've added to your life by eating
carob?
(Source: THE STRAIGHT DOPE by Cecil Adams)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 712 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Feb 27, 2001 (14:06) * 26 lines
High-wire acts have been enjoyed since the time of the
ancient Greeks and Romans.
In 2000, the US Pacific Fleet handled 14,273 "embarks",
civilian visits to military vessels, up from 11,644 in 1999.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/02/23/greeneville/
The QVC call center can handle up to 100,000 calls per hour.
Mary Kies, of South Killingly, Connecticut was the first
woman to receive a US patent, for a machine to weave silk
and straw.
Ketchup was originally a Chinese medicine.
The flames from the Shuttle are up to 500 feet long.
Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone.
Humans have only about 30,000 genes. The mustard weed has
almost as many genes as we do.
When a snail hatches from an egg, it is a miniature adult,
shell and all. The shell grows with the snail, and the
snail never leaves the shell.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 713 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 28, 2001 (00:18) * 5 lines
I saw the International Space Station go over this evening! It was an incredibly clear and brilliant sky with the mountains silhouetted against the twilight sky. Then it darkened and every star and the crescent moon stood out brilliantly. I knew where to look for it, and suddenly brightening and moving against the background of stars, a "star" crept slowly upward to zenith, growing brighter as it did so. It silently slid from NE to SW, rivalling Jupiter in brightness and hue. Please check these sites to see when you can see it over your head and realize there are real people inside of that little star!
http://www.skypub.com/sights/satellites/iss_na.shtml
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/Spacecraft.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 714 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Wed, Feb 28, 2001 (05:26) * 1 lines
Oh I am jealous!!!!!!!! Not got time online now - but Marcia can you look see when it may be over Mali and email me??? Please.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 715 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 28, 2001 (12:46) * 1 lines
Sure - Will do Maggie!! The amazing thing about seeing it is realizing it is like a planet up there - shining only by refelcted sunlight, so we can only see it at dawn or dusk. It is pretty dim (about 4th magintude) when I first saw it come into daylight over the lower NE flank of Mauna Kea. It steadily brightened to negative magnitude (negatives are always the brightest) rivaling Jupiter and sneaking silently across the night sky spangled with stars containing sleeping astronauts. How absolutely astounding. Tomorrow night I get another chance to see it. Email will contain the visibility for Mali. It did go over central Africa least night according to J-Track.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 716 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 28, 2001 (14:31) * 16 lines
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION CENTER
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver
The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey,
National Earthquake Information Center: A major earthquake occurred
about 10 miles (20 km) northeast of Olympia, Washington at 11:54 AM MST
today, Feb 28, 2001 (10:54 AM PST in Washington). A PRELIMINARY
MAGNITUDE OF 7.0 WAS COMPUTED FOR THIS EARTHQUAKE. The magnitude and
location may be revised when additional data and further analysis
results are available. Some damage has been reported in Seattle. This
earthquake is located in the same general area as a magnitude 7.1
earthquake on April 13, 1949. That earthquake killed 8 people and
caused damage and landslides in the Olympia-Tacoma area. The location
for this earthquake was furnished by the Geophysics Program, University
of Washington, Seattle.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 717 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 2, 2001 (14:39) * 22 lines
******************
Changing the Map
******************
Purging Offensive Words From Town Names
PIERRE, S.D. (Reuters) - Under a new state law to be enacted on Friday,
more than three dozen South Dakota towns will be renamed to remove the
words ``Squaw'' or ``Negro'' because the words are offensive.
Among the place names deemed by the bill to be ``offensive and
insulting to all of South Dakota's people, history, and heritage,'' were Squaw
Lake, to be renamed Serenity Lake, and Negro Gulch, to be renamed Last
Chance Gulch.
Similar renaming measures have been adopted by other states including
Maine, Montana and Minnesota.
Among the examples listed by the bill, the town of Squaw Teat Creek
will be renamed East Rattlesnake Creek, and Negro Creek will become
Medicine Mountain Creek. A total of 39 towns will be renamed, though many do
not have replacements as yet and suggestions were being sought.
South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow and supporters of the legislation,
including representatives of local American Indian tribes, were scheduled to
attend a bill-signing ceremony on Friday at the state capitol, a state
spokesman said on Thursday.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 718 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 2, 2001 (14:44) * 31 lines
A humpback whale can eat 5,000 fish in a session.
A hummingbird draws nectar with its tongue...13 times/second.
King Charles VIII of France was obsessed with the worry
about being poisoned. He ate so little that he died of
malnutrition, around 1498.
The average talker sprays about 300 microscopic saliva
droplets per minute, or about 2.5 droplets per word.
Sao paulo - Commuters in Brazil's city of Sao Paulo waited
for hours to board a suburban train recently and then spent
hours crammed inside it without it moving. They got frustrated
and burnt the whole train down. Local television showed a
helicopter view of a long chain of carriages, all of them
smoking or in ashes, after passengers abandoned the train
and set it on fire. A police official said he believed it
would be practically impossible to find the culprits of the
arson, which he said completely destroyed the train costing
some $1.2 million. (Reuters)
The Grant Canyon varies in width from 4 to 18 miles.
Giraffes can't cough, so they are very susceptible
to throat infections.
A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
The legbones of a bat are so thin that no bat can walk.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 719 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Mar 4, 2001 (18:10) * 3 lines
Please check out the newest topic in Geo. It is fascinating and, again, we have a credentialed person with whom to discuss the subject - Earth Medicine. He would like to discuss understanding true health in all its aspects.
Aloha Gary. You are most welcome.
http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/45
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 720 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Mar 5, 2001 (23:29) * 53 lines
"Misc9"...9 interesting items in one email per day!
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At one time the people of Nicaragua believed that if they
threw beautiful young women into a volcano it would stop
erupting.
Americans spend more money on fast food than on higher
education, personal computers, computer software or new cars.
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2001/02/08/schlosser/
In New Orleans, 1870, English boxing champion Jim Mace and
his American opponent Joe Coburn danced around each other
for 3 hours and 48 minutes without landing a single punch.
Although the introduction of streptomycin to treat tuberculosis
reduced the number of TB deaths by 50%, the disease had so
declined before the TB bug was even discovered (thanks to
better nutrition, housing, sanitation) that overall medical
treatment only accounted for 3% of the drop in mortality
over about the last 150 years.
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-27.html
More people are killed annually by donkeys than die in air crashes.
The flag of the Philippines is the only national flag that
is flown differently during times of peace or war. A portion
of the flag is blue, while the other is red. The blue
portion is flown on top in time of peace and the red portion
is flown in war time.
New Internet copyright laws that have just gone into effect
throughout Australia make it illegal to forward an e-mail
memo without the author's permission, and could result in
fines of $60,000 or five years in prison, according to a
story by the Aussie Sunday Telegraph.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/17324.html
If you are locked in a completely sealed room, you will die
of carbon dioxide poisoning before you will die of lack of
oxygen.
Online venders ship 650,000 packages every day.
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 721 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Mar 5, 2001 (23:33) * 6 lines
Oops missed this bit for the posting above ^
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 722 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Mar 6, 2001 (18:07) * 12 lines
After Three Strikes, Is La Niña Out?
NASA Science News for March 6, 2001
La Niña-like conditions that have persisted in the Pacific Ocean for three
years might finally subside this Fall. The change could pave the way for a
weak El Niño -- and a surge of hydroelectricity for power-starved
California.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast06mar_1.htm?list89800
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 723 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Mar 6, 2001 (18:36) * 34 lines
New York was the last state to put photographs on drivers'
licenses, in 1984.
20% of the world's water is in the Indian Ocean.
Attila the Hun was a dwarf.
The Earth experiences about 50,000 earthquakes each year.
You can detect the wing of a bee falling on your cheek
from a height of half an inch.
Saint Marys, Georgia is the second oldest city in the US.
Tropical ants, when a flood sweeps down on them, roll themselves
into a huge living ball which drifts upon the water--with the
young safe and dry at the core.
Fluorides lower the intelligence capacity of humans, with
children, again, especially susceptible to early fluoride
toxicity. IQ levels were significantly lower than children
not exposed to fluorides in all age groups listed.
[Li,X.S.,Zhi,J.L.,Gao,R.O.,"Effects of Fluoride Exposure
on the Intelligence of Children", Fluoride, 1995]
http://www.bruha.com/fluoride/
The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during
World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 724 of 1406: anne hale (ommin) * Wed, Mar 7, 2001 (03:34) * 1 lines
Hey are you saying that 20% of worlds water is in the Indian Ocean - thats amazing I live beside the Indian Ocean in Perth! I would have thought the Southern Ocean would have been very significant having recently been on the shores of it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 725 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 7, 2001 (20:36) * 37 lines
Hey Anne!!! Good to see you, Dear!!! Ia m wading through my email - I owe you one!
More than one-third of the world's commercial supply of
pineapples comes from Hawaii.
In 2000, 2,600,000 children and young adults were injured
while playing sports.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/03/05/sports.injuries.ap/
The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from old English law
which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything
wider than your thumb.
The QVC broadcasting studio has 36 television cameras, all
remotely-controllable via joystick.
The Berlin Wall was built in August 1961.
Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of linen.
American Airlines, in 1987, save $40,000 by eliminating one
olive from each salad served in first class.
It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there
have only been 230 years of total peace throughout the
civilized world.
More than 200 human genes are the result of the horizontal
transfer from bacteria. We got some of our genes from
bacteria through contamination that somehow breached the
traditional boundaries.
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 726 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 7, 2001 (21:41) * 39 lines
"Misc9"...9 interesting items in one email per day!
*************************************************************
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http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=496359
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A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall
object inside.
An igloo will stand up to modern artillery better than a
concrete barricade. They are almost invisible from the air
and can't be spotted by infrared sensors.
On dry, windy days, pollen can travel up to 500 miles.
The flying gurnard, a fish, swims in water, walks on land,
and flies through the air.
President Grover Cleveland was a draft dodger. He hired
someone to enter the service in his place.
Albertson College of Idaho in Caldwell was founded as the
College of Idaho in 1891 and is the state's oldest 4-year
institution of higher learning.
Multiply 37,037 by any single number (1-9), then multiply
that number by 3. Every digit in the answer will be the
same as that first single number. Eg. 37037*2*3=222222
A quarter has 119 grooves on its edge, a dime has 118.
The Sahara desert is bigger than all of Australia.
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 727 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 9, 2001 (21:01) * 3 lines
You thought getting hit by Mir junk was bad...check this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/monitoring/media_reports/newsid_1209000/1209034.stm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 728 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 9, 2001 (22:05) * 5 lines
***************************
SHUTTLE AND ISS on NASA TV
***************************
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/rrg2.pl?encoder/nasatv.rm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 729 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Mar 13, 2001 (14:08) * 3 lines
Ever See a Foucault Pendulum tracing the rotation of the earth beneath it in the sand? Check out what the Seattle earthquake did to this one. (The images are a bit slow to load but most amazing)
http://www.gaelwolf.com/pendulum.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 730 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 16, 2001 (17:25) * 11 lines
http://my.aol.com/news/news_story.psp?type=1&cat=0200&id=0103161643311766
Mir Descent, Demise to Be Broadcast Over Internet
Reuters
Mar 16 2001 4:43PM
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The planned farewell fall to earth of the fabled
Russian space station Mir next week will be filmed and broadcast about
four hours afterward over the Internet for all the world to see, a Los
Angeles space aficionado said on Friday.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 731 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 17, 2001 (15:00) * 1 lines
To watch the Mir re entry video http://www.mirreentry.com
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 732 of 1406: Nan (moonbeam) * Sat, Mar 17, 2001 (22:52) * 1 lines
Marcia, thanks for that fascinating link to the "earthquake rose" in Seattle!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 733 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Mar 19, 2001 (14:55) * 36 lines
Nan! *Big Hugs* It has been a long time. Welcome back and Aloha!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every month 90% of American children eat at McDonald's.
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2001/02/08/schlosser/
In 37% of individuals the thirst mechanism is so weak
that it is often mistaken for hunger.
Alcoholism is responsible for:
50% of all auto fatalities
80% of all home violence
30% of all suicides
60% of all child abuse
65% of all drownings.
- Kathleen Whalen Fitzgerald
Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger paid $772,500 for President
John F. Kennedy's golf clubs at a 1996 auction.
Aeronaunasiphobia is the fear of vomiting.
Bob Dole is 10 years older than the Empire State Building.
The Sahara desert is 6 times bigger than the Gobi desert.
With a population of less than 9,000, Montpelier, Vermont
is the smallest state capital.
Life expectancy in the 18th century was 45 years.
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 734 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Mar 19, 2001 (14:56) * 33 lines
"Misc9"...9 interesting items in one email per day!
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The flea can jump 350 times its body length -- equal to
a human jumping the length of a football field.
A cockroach will live nine days without it's head, before it
starves to death.
Edison's first lightbulb filament was made of carbonized cotton.
The giraffe has a black tongue that is 14 inches long and
no vocal cords.
Butterflies taste with their feet.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain.
Starfishes haven`t got brains.
The Berlin Wall was 96 miles long.
In Italy, it is illegal to make coffins out of anything
except nutshells or wood.
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 735 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Mar 19, 2001 (14:57) * 53 lines
"Misc9"...9 interesting items in one email per day!
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Almon Stowger of El Dorado, Kansas invented the dial
telephone in 1889.
The total wealth destruction since the market's peaks in
March 2000? $4.9 trillion -- almost half of the value
of all U.S. goods and services last year.
Lucifer is latin for "Light Bringer". It is a translation
of the Hebrew name for Satan, Halael. Satan means
"adversary", devil means "liar".
A lion's roar can be heard from five miles away.
The most orders shipped from one of QVC's six warehouses
in one day? 260,000 shipments
Sigmund Freud was afraid of ferns.
English chemist John Walker never patented his invention
of matches because he felt such an important tool should
be public property.
The male mutation rate is twice the female mutation rate.
This means that males account for the majority of bad
mutations, but also for the majority of evolutionary progress.
May 23, 1992: 290 residents of Hooper Bay, Alaska were severely
poisoned by sodium fluoride when the city's fluoride dispenser
malfunctioned, injecting 150 PPM of fluoride into the drinking
water for over a week. Dominic Smith, previously healthy 41
year-old leader of the local National Guard, died of fluoride
poisoning after swallowing an estimated 1200-2400 mg of sodium
fluoride from the local drinking water supply. One overdose
symptom of fluoride is thirst, and Dominic just kept drinking
more water until he died. Fluoride is cumulative in the body
--somewhat like radiation--so it's been predicted that those
poisoned residents who didn't die will have worsened health
for the rest of their life. Half of the town drank from a
different well, and they didn't get sick.
http://www.connect4free.net/home/geofjoan/chem_sen/halogen.html
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 736 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Mar 20, 2001 (17:41) * 3 lines
I have received a welcome corection (please help me here - I just post these "facts") from HB - thanks Henry! Now, if only I could find where the original post was with the error.
Re The Hockey Miracle: That game was played on February 22, 1980, not February 2.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 737 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 21, 2001 (13:15) * 78 lines
BLACKOUTS WILL NOT AFFECT USGS EARTHQUAKE MONITORING OR POSTING OF
INFORMATION
Power outages that may occur on the San Francisco peninsula will not affect
the earthquake monitoring ability of the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo
Park.
"All our computer systems in the earthquake monitoring area have
continually-charged batteries, so if power is lost, they go right on
operating. If we were without power long enough to start draining the
batteries, we have a large diesel-powered electrical generator that can be
used indefinitely to produce power to run the computers," said Mary Lou
Zoback, chief of the USGS earthquake hazards team. "We'll continue to
receive signals from our network of seismometers, and will be able to
convey that data to the public officials who rely on it."
Whether or not others are able to access the USGS data on computers
depends, of course, on whether or not the user has a back-up power source
to keep their computers operating.
Having back-up generators is not new to the USGS earthquake program. On
Oct. 17, 1989, when the Loma Prieta earthquake knocked out most electrical
power on the peninsula, crucial earthquake-monitoring computers at the USGS
had back-up battery power, and no incoming data from seismometers was lost.
As the night wore on and the batteries began to weaken, USGS technicians
hooked the computers up to a diesel-powered generator and were able to
continue monitoring the hundreds of aftershocks from that earthquake, until
electrical power was restored to the building on October 18.
In 1998 a back-up electrical system was installed that can generate 300
kilowatts of electricity, which assures that no data will be lost in future
earthquakes. The main generator has a 1,000-gallon tank for diesel oil and
can run for 200 hours on that 1,000 gallons.
The USGS, in cooperation with UC Berkeley, maintains a network of more than
500 seismometers throughout northern California that send signals by
satellite, radio transmitters and telephone lines to Menlo Park, anytime
the earth moves. As soon as a signal is received in Menlo Park, it is
analyzed by computers that determine the location of the earthquake's
epicenter, by longitude and latitude; the magnitude, or amount of energy
released by the earthquake; and the exact Pacific Standard or Daylight time
that the earthquake occurred. That information is immediately posted to
the USGS web site at http://quake.wr.usgs.gov, where it can be accessed by
anyone with a computer, internet server and electrical power.
In addition to having back-up power for the earthquake-monitoring
computers, the USGS also has a generator to provide uninterrupted power to
maintain refrigeration systems in its water-analysis laboratories.
In case of a power outage, public functions of the USGS, such as its map
sales center and access to its earth-science library will not be available.
As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science and civilian
mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2,000
organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial, scientific
information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. This
information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the
loss of life and property from natural disasters, contribute to the sound
conservation, economic and physical development of the nation's natural
resources, and enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological,
energy and mineral resources.
* * USGS * * *
This press release and in-depth information about USGS programs may be
found on the USGS home page: http://www.usgs.gov. To receive the latest
USGS news releases automatically by email, send a request to
listproc@listserver.usgs.gov. Specify the listserver(s) of interest from
the following names: water-pr: geologic-hazards-pr; biological-pr;
geologic-pr; mapping-pr; products-pr; lecture-pr. In the body of the
message write: subscribe (name of listserver) (your name). Example:
subscribe water-pr joe smith.
Carolyn Bell
Public Affairs Specialist
U.S. Geological Survey
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 738 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 21, 2001 (14:51) * 12 lines
U.S. Spy Map Agency May Have Found Mars Polar Lander
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. spy mapping agency said Wednesday it may
have found the remains of NASA's Mars Polar Lander craft, which lost contact
with earthly controllers in 1999.
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), a part of the Defense
Department that usually makes maps and takes images of Earth for intelligence,
military and humanitarian purposes, used pictures made by a NASA satellite
orbiting Mars to track down what could be the doomed polar lander.
More... http://my.aol.com/news/news_story.psp?type=1&cat=0200&id=0103211413340527
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 739 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 21, 2001 (15:21) * 60 lines
Thanks, Ian!
A Scale of Air Temperatures
Like the Beaufort Wind Scale
Air Temperatures
Fahrenheit Celsius Observations
60° 16° Californians put on their mink coats.
50° 10° Miami residents turn on the heat.
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
45° 7° Vermont residents go to outdoor concert.
Californians weep pitiably.
40° 4° You can see your breath.
Californians disappear.
Minnesotans go swimming.
35° 2° Italians cars don't start.
32° 0° Water freezes.
30° -1° You plan your vacation in Australia.
25° -4° Ohio water freezes.
Minnesotans eat ice cream.
Canadians go swimming.
20° -7° Politicians begin to talk about the homeless.
New York City water freezes.
Miami residents plan vacation farther south.
15° -9° French cars don't start.
Cat insists on sleeping in your bed with you.
10° -12° You need jumper cables to get the car going.
5° -15° American cars don't start.
0° -18° Alaskans put on T-shirts.
-10° -23° German cars don't start
Eyes freeze shut when you step outside.
-15° -26° You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo.
Arkansans stick tongue on metal objects.
Miami residents cease to exist.
-20° -29° Cat insists on sleeping in pajamas with you.
Politicians actually do something about the homeless.
Minnesotans shovel snow off roof.
Japanese cars don't start.
-25° -32° Too cold to think.
You need jumper cables to get the driver going.
-30° -34° You plan a two week hot bath.
Swedish cars don't start.
-40° -40° Minnesotans button top button.
Canadians put on sweater.
Your car helps you plan your trip South.
-50° -46° Congressional hot air freezes.
Alaskans close the bathroom window.
-80° -62° Polar bears move South.
Green Bay Packer (and Buffalo Bills) fans order hot cocoa at the game.
-90° -68° Lawyers put their hands in their own pockets.
-100° -73° Hell freezes over.
Republicans finally tell the truth about Iran Contra.
By: Peter W. Meek My home page
Net-sig: --Pete
Send e-mail: mailto:pwmeek@mail.msen.com?subject=Web page -- boat-airtemp
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 740 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 21, 2001 (15:40) * 45 lines
"Misc9"...9 interesting items in one email per day!
*************************************************************
Click here to recommend "Misc9" to someone you know:
*************************************************************
Wool is naturally flame resistant. When aflame, it burns
slowly, smoldering and charring but giving off little heat.
Due to privacy concerns, President Bush will no longer send
personal e-mail to his dear friends, according to an e-mail
he sent to the 47 dear friends, which included a golfer,
members of his family and campaign contributors. His former
address was: G94B@aol.com.
The secret formula for Coca-Cola contains the extract of
coca leaves after the cocaine has been removed.
You can detect one drop of perfume diffused throughout
a three-room apartment.
Herb Bales, a jeweler in Fairfield, Ohio, had two diamonds
set in his top front teeth.
It took 1,175 animators working in Disney studios in Burbank,
California, Orlando, Florida, and Paris, France to complete
the animated Tarzan. Because of the time differences,
production was able to occur around the clock for more than
three years.
77% of surgical residents in New York City work in excess
of 95 hours a week [despite New York being the only state
to regulate doctors' hours].
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-28.html
The toothbrush was invented in China in 1498.
Maine is the only state that borders on only one state.
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 741 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 21, 2001 (16:23) * 10 lines
Dear Washington State Residents:
The earthquake was just a warning.
Now that we have your attention, sell us your power, give us back our
sunshine, take back your rain, and we'll take back our earthquakes.
Otherwise this could get ugly!
The People of California
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 742 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 23, 2001 (15:12) * 45 lines
"Misc9"...9 interesting items in one email per day!
*************************************************************
Click here to recommend "Misc9" to someone you know:
*************************************************************
Skin temperature does not go above 95F even on the hottest days.
Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly solo, nonstop
across the Atlantic, was only the 67th person overall to do
it. He did not sleep for 24 hours before his 33 1/2 hour
flight, and kept awake by holding his eyes open with his
fingers, slapping himself, and opening the cockpit window
He flew at a top speed of only about 110 mph and carried
five sandwiches he bought at a drugstore at the last minute
(he is reported to have said that he wouldn't need more than
five if he made it across the Atlantic, and he wouldn't need
more than five if he didn't). He still holds the record for
"ticker tape," 1,750 tons, tossed on him in his parade up
New York City's "Canyon of Heroes".
Kulang, China runs seven centers for recycled toothpicks.
People bringing used toothpicks to the recycling centers
are paid the equivalent of 35 cents per pound.
Cost of raising the average dog for 10 years: $5,000+
The hyoid bone, in your throat, is the only bone in the body
not attached to any other bone.
Plaster in Paris is naturally fire retardant. At about 600
degrees Farenheit the chemical water that is stored in it is
released. That is why walls are often "sweaty" after a fire.
If you see a rainbow you have your back to the sun. If you don't,
you can't see it.
Jupiter's core is in fact made of non-metal, but due to the
immense pressure inside Jupiter the core has become metal.
This metal is hydrogen.
Any free moving liquid in outer space will form itself into
a sphere due to surface tension.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 743 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 23, 2001 (22:23) * 3 lines
I just posted Mir reentry image on Geo 24
http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/24.413
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 744 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 24, 2001 (18:35) * 44 lines
*************************************************************
Click here to recommend "Misc9" to someone you know:
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There is a tea in China called "white tea" which is simply
boiled water.
Approximately 98% of software in China is pirated.
The Australian $5,$10,$20,$50 and $100 notes are made out of
plastic. [The New Zealand $20 as well...]
Cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them; a fully
ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball.
In Britain's House of Commons, the government and opposition
sides of the House are separated by two red lines. The
distance between the lines is two swords' lengths, a reminder
of just how seriously the Brits used to take their politics.
135 million cars travel the nation's streets, roads, and
interstates each day.
1,525,000,000 miles of telephone wire are strung across the US!
Membership in the rose family (Rosaceae) is not limited to
roses. It also includes almonds, apples, apricots,
blackberries, cherries, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums,
raspberries and strawberries.
A "transient dynamometer" is worth more than a million
dollars. Kollmeier says this device works with software to
test the capabilities of an engine and gearbox. "Here you
can do everything that's happening in the car," he says,
gesturing toward the idle machine. "You can simulate a
complete speed race."
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.03/formula1.html
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 745 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Mar 29, 2001 (18:52) * 19 lines
An aurora alert, plus the biggest sunspot in 10 years!
Space Weather News for March 29, 2001
http://www.spaceweather.com
HUGE SUNSPOT: The largest sunspot in ten years is crossing the solar disk.
The fast-growing spot, called AR9393, covers an area of the Sun
equivalent to the total surface area of 13 Earths! Visit spaceweather.com
to learn how this sunspot compares to others in history and how to safely
observe it.
AURORA ALERT: An eruption near sunspot AR9393 hurled a coronal mass
ejection toward Earth on Wednesday. Forecasters estimate a 15 to 25%
chance of severe geomagnetic storms when the expanding cloud buffets our
planet's magnetic field, most likely on Friday.
For more information and updates, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 746 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Mar 29, 2001 (23:57) * 41 lines
"Misc9"...9 interesting items in one email per day!
*************************************************************
Click here to recommend "Misc9" to someone you know:
*************************************************************
The Queen of England has two birthdays. Her real one on
April 21st, and a "official" one on the third Saturday
in June when the weather is better.
How do you know what's in a hamburger? There's something
called 'mechanically recovered meat' and that's a serious,
serious problem. It can have spinal cord in it, and that's
the infectious part with regard to mad cow disease. People
are going to look a little more suspiciously at hamburger,
at least in Europe. I don't think most Americans have any
idea about recovered meat.
- Nicol Fox, "Spoiled: Why Our Food Is Making Us Sick
and What We Can Do About It"
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/03/26/mcdonalds/
Turkeys can drown in the rain by looking up at the
precipitation with their mouths open.
Ketchup is excellent for cleaning brass, especially tarnished
or corroded brass.
In 2000, "snow sports" caused only 4% of sports injuries.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/03/05/sports.injuries.ap/
Chefs started using onions 5,000 years ago to spice up their
cooking.
It takes ten tons of rose petals to make one pound of rose
oil for perfume.
It takes two million flowers to yield one pound of jasmine.
The orchid lasts longer than any other bloom.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 747 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 30, 2001 (22:34) * 12 lines
Interplanetary shock wave strikes Earth's magnetosphere, auroras could follow
Space Weather News for March 31, 2001
http://www.spaceweather.com
A relatively dense and strongly magnetized interplanetary shock wave
hit Earth's magnetosphere at ~0100 GMT on March 31st (8 p.m. EST
on March 30th). Strong geomagnetic activity, including mid-latitude
auroras, are likely to follow.
Visit http://www.SpaceWeather.com for details and updates.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 748 of 1406: (sprin5) * Sat, Mar 31, 2001 (13:05) * 3 lines
Art Bell was going bananas about this last night. Callers were reporting spectacular displays as far south as Arizona and New Mexico.. didn't see anything from the upper deck in Cedar Creek. Did anyone see any Northern Lights in their area. This may be going on tonight as well.
Treat yourself and go out and look at the sky tonight, whereever you live and give us a report please!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 749 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 31, 2001 (17:09) * 3 lines
Yup, tonight is a good idea to check... See Mike's most on Geo 34. I was istening to Art Bell while standing in the yard looking north. I could swear I saw two bands drifting across the sky just as they said they were in Nevada. My watchers in Canada and in New York and Pennsylvania got rain...alas!
Watchers - you gotta watch for a while - they fluctuate in intensity. Let your eyes become accustomed to the dark. Get some chairs and sit and look northward.
Then report back!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 750 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 31, 2001 (18:49) * 4 lines
...the northern lights were great with reds, greens, and blues over the mountains of southeastern British Columbia last night, even with a bright crescent moon...in the past, I have only seen such colours near the arctic circle...this type of phenomenon is a good argument against light pollution, although
when you can't see it, or have never seen it, you don't know what you are missing...
Ken in Canada
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 751 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 31, 2001 (19:09) * 13 lines
Space Weather News for April 1, 2001
http://www.spaceweather.com
A severe geomagnetic storm that began around 0100 UT on Saturday, March
31st (8 pm EST on Friday, March 30th) is still raging a day later. Sky
watchers should remain alert for auroras after nightfall on Saturday
--even if you happen to live someplace where auroras are rare. Last
night's Northern Lights, for example, extended as far south in the United
States as Texas, Arizona, and southern California.
Visit SpaceWeather.com for more information about the ongoing storm and to
view a growing photo gallery of auroras from around the world.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 752 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 31, 2001 (23:32) * 6 lines
The Solar cronograph of the first CME being over come by the second Huge Coronal Mass Ejection which caused the aurora above.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast27mar_1.htm?list89800
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 753 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 12, 2001 (16:27) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 754 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 12, 2001 (16:27) * 1 lines
http://www.shibumi.org/eoti.htm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 755 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 12, 2001 (16:30) * 1 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 756 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Fri, Apr 13, 2001 (13:31) * 5 lines
My fun fact for today is that 20 percent of the Earth's surface fresh water in contained in the five Great Lakes.
I do have a question for you, Marcia. I also read that 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water is contained in Lake Baikal in Siberia. Is that true, as well? How large is Baikal?
It seems daunting to think that 40 percent of surface fresh water is concentrated in two locations.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 757 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Apr 16, 2001 (23:25) * 1 lines
Lake Baikal used to be the world's largest body of fresh water. It has been severly depleted of late and I will hunt up more goodies for you to ponder on our waste of our resources. Next post...Lake Baikal
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 758 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Apr 16, 2001 (23:32) * 19 lines
http://www.baikal.eastsib.ru/baikalfacts/index.html
Lake Baikal is between 51 29'N and 55 46'N latitude and 103 41'E
and 109 57'E longitude. It is about 636 km long and about 80 km wide. Its
broadest point is located between the villages of Onguryon on the Western
shore and Ust-Barguzin on the eastern shore, and its narrowest point is
between the Selenga River Delta and the opposite Western shore. The
length of the coastline is about 2,100 km. There are 30 rocky islands on
the lake, the biggest one being Olkhon Island which is more than 130 km2
in area. Legend has it that Olkhon Island is the birthplace of Mongolian
ruler Genghis Khan. Compared with the other great lakes of the world,
Lake Baikal is enormous. Lake Tanganyika is half of Baikal's size, and
Lake Ladoga is 23 times smaller. Baikal's volume, at 23,600 km3, is
greater than any other fresh water lake and makes approximately 20
percent of the world's surface fresh water. As a point of comparison, if you
were to drain Lake Baikal, it would take the Great Lakes of the United
States: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario to refill the empty
basin.
More at the above url.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 759 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Apr 16, 2001 (23:36) * 2 lines
I found this url very interesgting:
http://www.inr.ac.ru/INR/Baikal.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 760 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Apr 17, 2001 (16:58) * 1 lines
Thanks Marcia. Baikal is unique and extraordinary. It is too sad what's happened to it within recent decades. I also enjoyed reading about the origin of the word "baikal".
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 761 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Apr 17, 2001 (20:00) * 17 lines
I was delighted you asked - it is one wonderful excuse to do eome treasure hunting on the net. I love searching for information and learning new things.
Dust Storm Spreads Across West
The Associated Press
Apr 17 2001 8:07PM
DENVER (AP) - A dust storm that started in Mongolia and picked up
industrial pollution from China has spread a haze across a quarter of the
mainland United States, experts said Tuesday.
The whitish haze has been seen from Calgary, Alberta, to Arizona to
Aspen, where weekend levels of particulate - matter that reduces visibility
and can cause respiratory problems - quadrupled from the previous
weekend.
more... http://my.aol.com/news/news_story.psp?type=1&cat=0100&id=0104172008341577
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 762 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Apr 17, 2001 (22:02) * 12 lines
Watch out for auroras on April 17th and 18th
Space Weather News for April 18, 2001
http://www.spaceweather.com
An interplanetary shock wave struck Earth's magnetosphere as night fell
across the Americas on Tuesday. Sky watchers located in northern Europe,
Canada, and across the northern tier of US states could spot auroras
Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The shock wave was generated by a
powerful solar explosion on Easter Sunday. For more information and
updates please visit SpaceWeather.com.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 763 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Apr 23, 2001 (05:20) * 3 lines
I guess if you can see this you don't need to be told, but the login URL for geo now is http://66.70.14.230/yapp-bin/public/browse/geo/all
Will keep you updated as things get back to normal and all the numbers disappear from the url.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 764 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Apr 23, 2001 (11:21) * 1 lines
Rats, my Happy Earth Day post was lost in computer limbo. Still, I hope that it was a happy one.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 765 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Apr 23, 2001 (14:04) * 4 lines
it was - and I appreciate it. I should go post the globe with hearts circlilng again. Thanks Cheryl and Big Hugs!
For those who actually login and post try this url
http://66.70.14.230/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/geo/all/new
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 766 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Apr 23, 2001 (15:58) * 190 lines
SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT
brought to you by [1]SciQuest
Friday, April 20, 2001 Edition
_________________________________________________________________
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/
[1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY
* Talking Heads (Special Report)
* Founder Populations Fuel Gene Discovery
* Researchers Find Important Clue in the Evolution of Plants
* Pyramids and Sphinx Both Inspired by Desert Landforms
* Digging for Genetic Fossils: Researchers Solve Structure of
Ancient Biological Molecule
* Scientists Worried About Rush to Find Neanderthal DNA
* Comfort Feeding
* Boiling Brains
* Explorer Unveils Lost City of Alexandria
* What Was Eating Clams and Brachiopods 250 Million Years Ago,
Before Modern Predators Existed?
* Men Fish for Compliments
* Brazilians Meet New Amazon Tribe
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut
[1]MARINE BIOLOGY
* Great Barrier Reef Choking to Death
* Ships to Probe Biological Enigmas of the Frozen Southern Ocean
* Scientists Determine How Chemistry Keeps Weird Worms "Out of Hot
Water" at Steaming Deep-Sea Vents
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-marbio
[1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES
* Once Thought Extinct, Siamese Crocodile Is Photographed in Siam
* Study Explores Social Memory in Elephants
* Chimps Touched by Television
* U.S. Geologic Survey Issues Wildlife Health Alert for
Foot-and-Mouth Disease
* Congo War Devastating Endangered Wildlife
* Aping Others: The Transition to Culture
* Measuring the Muscle: New Depicts How the Tuna's Body Is Built for
Speed
* Lifestyles of the Bright and Toxic Overlap
* Everything You Need to Know About Survival You Can Learn From an
Alligator
* Sex Lives of Wild Fish: Genetic Techniques Provide New Insights
* Owls Have "Surround Sound"
* Coal Mines Bring Fish Industry Life
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi
[1]ASTRONOMY
* Astronomers Find Distant "Double Planet"
* Orphan "Planet" Findings Challenged by New Model
* Cosmologist Explains Dust in Eros Craters
* NASA to Track More Asteroids With New NEAT Camera
* Asteroid Eros: Most Detailed Analysis of Up-Close Images
* Exploratorium Webcast on Hubble Telescope April 19-24
* Hubble Spots Mysterious Flash of Light on Jupiter
* 40 Years of Human Spaceflight
* Eyes Down to Look Up at the Heavens
* Blank Line
* U.S. Mars Agenda on Slow but Steady Course
* Europe, Japan and North America Prepare for Joint Construction of
the Giant Radio Telescope "ALMA" in Chile
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron
[1]GEOGRAPHY/GIS
* City Limits
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geogra
[1]GEOLOGY
* Ancient Climate Excursion Linked to a Rare Anomaly in Earth's
Orbit
* Geologists' Discoveries of How Sandstone Traps Riches Will Help
Oil, Gas Explorers
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog
[1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY
* Damaged Chimneys and Unexpected Liquefaction From Nisqually
Temblor Yield Earthquake Insights
* Earthquake Hunters
* Earthquakes Shake, Rattle, and Roll
* Researchers Solve Century-Old Earthquake Mystery in India
* Understanding Two Big Ice Cubes
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy
[1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY
* Air Pollution Control Efforts Will Add to Global Warming if Carbon
Monoxide Is Not Curbed Along With Nitrogen Oxides
* Scientists Suggest New Index to Capture "Flavors" of El Ni±o
* Miniature Unmanned Planes Descend on Arctic for Research
* Researchers Achieve Best Global Picture Ever of Climate-Modifying
Aerial Particles
* Human-Induced Greenhouse Warming Pumps Heat Into Oceans
* Scientists Watch Dark Side of the Moon to Monitor Earth's Climate
* Wetter Upper Atmosphere May Delay Global Ozone Recovery
* U.S. Needs Major Steps to Overtake European Climate Research
* Bright Sky, Dirty City?
* NASA Demonstrates How Earth's Global Heat Engine Drives Plant
Growth
* Colorado State's Hurricane Update Calls for Slightly More Storms
but a Season That Still Remains Close to Average
* Human-Induced Greenhouse Warming Pumps Heat Into Oceans
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo
[1]OCEANOGRAPHY
* Satellite Spots Unique Ocean Eddy and a Bounty of Food for Fish
* First Automated Floats for Monitoring Ocean Carbon Launched in
North Pacific
* Human-Induced Greenhouse Warming Pumps Heat Into Oceans
* NSF Ships to Probe Biological Enigmas of the Frozen Southern Ocean
* Scientists Determine How Chemistry Keeps Weird Worms "Out of Hot
Water" at Steaming Deep-Sea Vents
* NASA Demonstrates How Earth's Global Heat Engine Drives Plant
Growth
* Scientists Release First Images of Hydrothermal Vents Found in the
Indian Ocean
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano
[1]SATELLITES & REMOTE SENSING
* First Automated Floats for Monitoring Ocean Carbon Launched in
North Pacific
* Miniature Unmanned Planes Descend on Arctic for Research
* Archeologist Uses Tools of the Future to Explore the Past
* New Flashlight Sees Through Doors as Well as Windows
* "XM Rock" Checks Out in Orbit, "XM Roll" Slated For May 7 Launch
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-satrem
[1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION
* Oceans of Electricity
* Research Accelerates on Advanced Water-Treatment Technologies as
Their Use in Purification Grows
* What Future for Carbon Capture and Sequestration?
* It's a Bug's Life
* Synthetic Clay Could Assist Radioactive Waste Cleanup
* Bran Versus Heavy Metals
* Biodiversity Increases Ecosystems' Ability to Absorb CO2 and
Nitrogen
* Powerline Eyes Help Prevent Bushfires
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro
[1]MINING
* Output From Major Platinum-Group Metals Producer Could Increase
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-mining
_________________________________________________________________
¨ Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc.
To register, modify your selection of topics, or unsubscribe from this
newsletter, please visit:
[1]http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi
_________________________________________________________________
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 767 of 1406: Marcia Hemming (marci) * Fri, Apr 27, 2001 (00:59) * 1 lines
test
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 768 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 27, 2001 (12:12) * 1 lines
Yup that's my test - Terry.........!!! hmmmmmmmm Need to email you....
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 769 of 1406: Marcia Hemming (marci) * Sun, Apr 29, 2001 (10:02) * 1 lines
I did email you and thanks. Still looking up datapipe information but currently am in telnet and this isn't the best place to do it. Later!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 770 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 7, 2001 (12:27) * 22 lines
California faces possible afternoon blackouts May 7, 2001
Web posted at: 3:31 PM EDT (1931 GMT)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Warm weather and a large number of power plants off-line for maintenance prompted the operators of California's grid to
warn of the possibility of rolling blackouts Monday afternoon.
The last time California's power crisis caused blackouts was in March.
The California Independent System Operator declared a Stage 2 alert in the morning, as electricity reserves dwindled to close to 5 percent. Stage 3 is
the most serious, when the state can order short blackouts across selected areas.
"There's a strong possibility of blackouts this afternoon," ISO spokeswoman Lorie O'Donley said.
ISO officials urged conservation Monday morning because high temperatures in California and the Southwest were pushing up demand for electricity.
Temperatures were forecast in the 90s in the Sacramento area.
Several key power plants were closed for pre-summer maintenance, O'Donley said. Those plants normally would provide enough power for about 9.4 million
homes.
Among the plants down for repairs are four nuclear power plants.
California was hit with rolling blackouts January 17 and 18 and March 19 and 20.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 771 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 11, 2001 (08:13) * 5 lines
Ancient Sea Floor Slab Said Big Geologic Find
A massive slab of rock near the Great Wall of China is actually a section of ocean floor dating back 2.5 billion years, scientists said on Thursday in announcing an important geological discovery that also could yield clues about early life on Earth.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010510/sc/science_tectonics_dc_1.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 772 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 11, 2001 (10:30) * 117 lines
SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT
brought to you by [1]SciQuest
Friday, May 11, 2001 Edition
_________________________________________________________________
ZirChrom Separations Introduces Faster Buffer Wizard for
"Problem-Free" Buffer Preparation -- The Buffer Wizard can make all
calculations to prepare buffers with multiple acid and base
selections, at any desired pH, molarity, and volume. Try this free
tool, available only at [2]www.zirchrom.com
_________________________________________________________________
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/
2. http://www.zirchrom.com/
[1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY
* Study Supports Out-of-Africa Origin for East Asians
* Collapse of Simple Life Forms Linked to Mass Extinction 200
Million Years Ago
* How Did We Get So Smart? Study Sheds Light on Evolution of the
Brain
* Founding Fathers
* Asia Dried Africa
* Have Goat, Will Travel
* The Latest Pisces of an Evolutionary Puzzle
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut
[1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES
* Russian Ship to Rescue Baby Seals
* Researchers Spend Decade Rooting for "Bear" Facts
* Lobsters Play Biological Violins
* "Heatwave" Stresses Penguins
* Aquaculture Cleans Up Its Act
* The Latest Pisces of an Evolutionary Puzzle
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi
[1]ASTRONOMY
* Humans Could Set Foot on Mars by 2020, Says NASA Chief
* A World of Mystery and Paradoxes
* Seven Billion Miles and Counting....
* The Perils of Pauline
* Life Signposts
* Mars: A World Riven by H2O or CO2
* ET-Hunting Software Nears 3 Million Users
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron
[1]GEOLOGY
* Asia Dried Africa
* Role of Ice Age Dust in Climate Change
* Researchers Uncover Evidence That Sheds Light on Origins of the
Planet
* Collapse of Simple Life Forms Linked to Mass Extinction 200
Million Years Ago
* Massive Methane Release Associated With End of Severe Ice Ages
* Rocks May Have Given a Hand to Life
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog
[1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY
* Underground Delays
* Swelling of Ground Surface in Oregon Spotted by USGS
* The End Is Shy
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy
[1]HYDROLOGY
* Checking the Condition of Atlantic Slope Watersheds
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-hydrol
[1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY
* Asia Dried Africa
* Role of Ice Age Dust in Climate Change
* NASA Instrument Snaps Pictures of Desert in the Sky
* Scientists Show for the First Time How Much Ocean Whitecaps Impact
Global Temperatures
* Climate Negotiations Continue
* Scientists Develop New Extreme-Storm Hazards Map
* Carbon Dioxide Levels Key to Global Warming Predictions
* Grime Every Mountain
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo
[1]OCEANOGRAPHY
* Scientists Show for the First Time How Much Ocean Whitecaps Impact
Global Temperatures
* Massive Methane Release Associated With End of Severe Ice Ages
* Floyd, Other Major Hurricanes of 1999 Caused Significant Changes
in Nation's Largest Lagoonal Estuary
* Astrobiology Travels to the Indian Ocean
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano
[1]SATELLITES & REMOTE SENSING
* Landsat 4/5 Operations to End
* Second Boeing-Built XM Satellite Rolls Into Orbit
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-satrem
[1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION
* Re-Engineering the Toilet for Sustainable Wastewater Management
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro
_________________________________________________________________
© Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc.
References
1. http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 773 of 1406: Mike Griggs (mikeg) * Fri, May 11, 2001 (12:11) * 4 lines
oops...someone forgot to close their center tag :-)
Interesting stuff, Marcia...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 774 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 11, 2001 (12:24) * 3 lines
Mahalo, Mike!
I'd really like to see some of those remote sensing images they get. It is never gonna happen, but it is totally mind-blowing what they can see with the imagry they have now!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 775 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 11, 2001 (12:26) * 23 lines
The following was sent to me by a high school student in California. Thanks, Meredith!
Give Water
Just one click is all it takes to make a free donation to
help Thames Water and WaterAid achieve our vision of a
world where everyone has access to safe water and
effective sanitation.
All you have to do is visit www.givewater.org and click
on the "click here" button.
Nothing could be simpler. Your donation will be paid for
by givewater.org's sponsor, Thames Water, and it only
takes a few minutes.
Safe water is one of life's most basic necessities. Yet
across the world over 1.4 billion people do not have
access to this vital human need. You can help change
this situation for the better.
Visit www.givewater.org to click to make your
free donation NOW!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 776 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 11, 2001 (12:27) * 1 lines
http://www.givewater.org
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 777 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 11, 2001 (12:31) * 17 lines
According to the Knight-Ridder News Service, the inscription on the
metal bands used by the U.S. Department of the Interior to tag
migratory birds has been changed. The bands used to bear the address
of the Washington Biological Survey, abbreviated:
Wash. Biol. Surv.
until the agency received the following letter from an Arkansas camper:
"Dear Sirs:
While camping last week I shot one of your birds. I think it was a
crow. I followed the cooking instructions on the leg tag and I want to
tell you, it was horrible."
The bands are now marked Fish and Wildlife Service.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 778 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, May 13, 2001 (20:35) * 5 lines
Norwegians Claim Amundsen As Double Polar Champion
Norwegian polar experts, celebrating a flight by explorer Roald Amundsen across the Arctic 75 years ago on Saturday, said he was probably the first person to conquer both the North and South Poles.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010512/sc/people_amundsen_dc_2.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 779 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 14, 2001 (13:30) * 10 lines
At the age of seven, Mum-zi joined the harem of Chief
Akkiri, ruler of the estuary of Calabar, Nigeria. Shortly
after her bethrothal, Mum-zi became pregnant. At the age of
eight years and four months, she gave birth to a perfectly
normal, well-developed child.
When the daughter of Mum-zi and Akkiri also gave birth at
the age of eight, Mum-zi became a grandmother at age 17 -
the youngest grandmother on record.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 780 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 15, 2001 (21:39) * 18 lines
* The magnetic mysteries of atom clusters: (15 May)
Tiny clusters of atoms have been found to exhibit
surprising magnetic effects, in addition to their
recently discovered thermal peculiarities. Mathieu Jamet
of the Universite Claude Bernard-Lyon 1, France, and
co-workers detected unexpectedly strong magnetic
anisotropy in a single cluster of 1000 cobalt atoms
around three nanometres wide. They also managed to flip
the direction of magnetization in a cluster for the first
time - an achievement that could be important for
high-density magnetic recording (M Jamet et al
2001 Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 4676). Physicists
recently found that clusters of 147 sodium atoms become
colder when heat is added to them because a relatively
large fraction of the atoms are on the surface of the
cluster.
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/5/8 ]
----------------------------------------------------------
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 781 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 15, 2001 (21:40) * 5 lines
Destruction of Amazon Jungle Hits 5-Year High
Destruction of Brazil's Amazon rain forest jumped last year to the highest levels since 1995, prompting the government on Tuesday to pledge new controls to reduce deforestation.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010515/sc/brazil_environment_dc_1.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 782 of 1406: Mike Griggs (mikeg) * Sat, May 19, 2001 (02:59) * 7 lines
Norwegian polar experts, celebrating a flight by explorer Roald Amundsen across the Arctic 75 years ago on Saturday, said he was probably the first person to conquer both the North and South Poles.
Well they would say that, wouldn't they? I think they're possibly a touch biased :-)
Speaking of Scott/Amundsen, a few weeks ago I went to an exhibition about their Antarctic expeditions. *So* moving - as a child I was always fascinated by the story, but to actually walk around this museum, follow the timelines and see so many fantastic artifacts was truly incredible. They actually had Scott's diary there, open on the last page...so moving. I don't believe I've ever been moved to tears by a museum exhibit before!
Here is a link to the website: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/south/index.htm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 783 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Sat, May 19, 2001 (04:30) * 1 lines
National Maritime Museum ... that's a Greenwich isn't it?? Admission price looks a bit steep at £7.50.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 784 of 1406: Mike Griggs (mikeg) * Sat, May 19, 2001 (16:53) * 1 lines
Greenwich is right....not far from me. You're in the UK too aren't you Maggie?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 785 of 1406: Maggie (sociolingo) * Sat, May 19, 2001 (23:32) * 3 lines
yup .... High Wycombe. Greenwich is a bummer of a journey from here. Pity. did you see the Britannica site I posted on clocks???? Fun site if you have shockwave which I presume you do have .....
Just booking into London Eye for daughter 1's hen party ....(plus river cruise and 70s gear)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 786 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, May 20, 2001 (22:28) * 52 lines
Took a trip down but Thames by boat to Greenwich - the only way to see it, amd froze off our proverbials! Great trip thought. Have picture of self astride the Prime Meridian, and the ball half way down the mast at Flamsteed House.
*********************
Researcher Says Jet Lag Causes Brain Shrinkage
Chronic jet lag causes a part of the brain to shrink and impairs mental functions including memory, researchers said on Sunday.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010520/sc/health_jetlag_dc_1.html
____________________________________
DNA Shows Black Genes in White Britons
One in every 100 ``white'' Britons is directly descended from an African or Asian, a study into DNA has found.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010519/sc/science_britain_black_dc_1.html
____________________________________
World's Growing Power Needs Hamper Climate Efforts
Rocketing electricity demand worldwide poses a big threat to global efforts to cut pollution and reduce global warming, experts say.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010520/sc/energy_electricity_dc_1.html
____________________________________
Insufficient DNA Halts Tests on Two Titanic Dead
Two families who want to claim unidentified Titanic victims and put names on their gravestones were notified on Saturday that Canadian researchers have been unable to obtain enough DNA from the remains to analyze their kinship, a spokeswoman for the researchers said.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010519/sc/life_titanic_test_dc_1.html
____________________________________
'Ginger' Inventor Uses Cartoonist Dad to Sketch
A retired illustrator for Mad magazine may be the chink in the armor of secrecy surrounding the invention dubbed ``Ginger,'' which purportedly will be more revolutionary than the World Wide Web.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010519/sc/life_inventor_picture_dc_1.html
____________________________________
Brazil Spots More Foot-And-Mouth After Slaughter
Brazil confirmed a fresh outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in its southernmost state on Saturday and began slaughtering infected cattle immediately.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010519/sc/food_brazil_disease_dc_1.html
____________________________________
HK Continues Poultry Slaughter to Stop Flu Spread
Hong Kong continues to slaughter all of its 1.2 million live poultry and enforce a territory wide cleaning of vending stalls Saturday to halt the spread of an avian bird flu.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010519/sc/health_hongkong_dc_2.html
____________________________________
Mystery Syndrome Killing Kentucky Horses Subsides
A mystery illness that has killed hundreds of young horses and caused mares to miscarry or give birth to stillborn foals appears to have subsided.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010519/sc/life_horses_dc_5.html
____________________________________
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 787 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, May 20, 2001 (23:11) * 71 lines
Pearl Harbor Supersite
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/
- Read personal stories of the attack sent in by our readers--or
share your own
- Experience the battle in the Attack Map, our ground breaking
re-creation
- Uncover the true stories that inspired the Touchstone film
"Pearl Harbor" and read interviews with Alec Baldwin, Cuba Gooding, Jr.,
and others in Beyond the Movie
- Plus, find time lines, fascinating facts, and more
NEW National Geographic TV Special
"Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack"
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/channel/pearlharbor.html
Sunday, May 27
8 p.m. ET
On NBC and the U.S. National Geographic Channel
Can Bob Ballard, the explorer who found the Titanic, solve the
mysteries of Pearl Harbor? Journalist Tom Brokaw hosts this
National Geographic exploration into what really happened on
December 7, 1941.
Is the National Geographic Channel in your area? Find out at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/channel/
Pearl Harbor Trip
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngexpeditions/expeditions_trip_48.html
This December join author and noted World War II historian Thomas B. Allen on a
special National Geographic Expedition to Pearl Harbor. Attend the
60th-anniversary ceremonies, visit the attack sites, and more.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC STORE:
http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/v2.0-bin/ecm/s?cuid=8373&uid=vh4xz0bz8cb2fe2lb8
Shop National Geographic online! Click here to discover great,
affordable products that bring the world and its wonders to you.
New Video: "Legacy of Attack"
http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/v2.0-bin/ecm/s?cuid=8451&uid=vh4xz0bz8cb2fe2lb8
"Legacy of Attack" investigates the lingering mysteries of the
attack with explorer Robert Ballard and journalist Tom Brokaw.
New Book: "Graveyards of the Pacific"
http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/v2.0-bin/ecm/s?cuid=8375&uid=vh4xz0bz8cb2fe2lb8
Deep-sea explorer Robert Ballard has created a vivid and authoritative
history of war in the Pacific, including an in-depth look at Pearl Harbor.
Return to the Battle of Midway
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/midway
Relive explorer Robert Ballard's discovery of the sunken World War II carrier
Yorktown. Revisit the battle through maps, survivors' stories, and more.
Pearl Harbor Map at Map Machine
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/index.html?id=362&size=medium&left=-161.75&bottom=18.87&right=-154.55&top=23.55&poin
t=x-158.153,x21.208&text=Pearl+Harbor
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Magazine: Oil and Honor at Pearl Harbor
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0106/feature5/index.html
Go beyond the new article with online-only photos
and field notes, an instant poll, and more.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER Magazine: Baltimore Summer Festivals
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/0105/baltimore.html
Little Italy to Lexington Market--set sail for fun in
Maryland's "Charm City."
ADVENTURE Magazine: Outbreak--Ebola
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0105/photo.html
"Exposure" took on a harrowing new meaning as photographer
Seamus Murphy covered a recent plague in Uganda.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 788 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Wed, May 23, 2001 (18:51) * 5 lines
Hello Maggie!!! Are you back in England?
Mike,since I was educated in the US, I was taught a rather favorable view of Amundsen. He was well prepared and quite capable. Of course, it's not as dramatic a story as Scott's. In my classes Scott was viewed as something of a gallant failure.
Lastly, on the subject of Pearl Harbor; I remember one of the older members of my family talking about hearing Franklin Roosevelt's famous speech on the radio. She said she remembered just bursting into tears and running up the stairs hysterically crying because she was afraid that her brothers would be drafted. Two of her brothers actually joined the army, (the third was too young), and were sent to the Pacific. They did come home without any serious injuries.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 789 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 23, 2001 (23:25) * 1 lines
Why am I suddenly creaking when I hear you talk about the "Older Mmembers" of your family talking about Pearl Harbor?! (No, I don't remember it either first hand!) I do dimly remember hearing about it and out here in Hawaii, you cannot avoid it. My son was an interpretive ranger on the USS Arizona Memorial for the National Park System, so I got the royal tour when I went - with my very own ranger as guide. Uniform and all! I guess our parents and grandparents all had relatives in that war - an uncle in the US Navy, one in the US Army, and my dad working on the invention of the Radome and the Proximity Fuse. He got two Army-Navy E's for that work! (Now ask me what they are!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 790 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 23, 2001 (23:36) * 15 lines
On March 15, 1959, Robert Foster entered the swimming pool
of the Bermuda Palms Hotel in San Rafael, California.
Before entering the pool, Foster had primed himself for his
ordeal by breathing oxygen from a tank for a half hour.
As Foster lowered himself into the pool, members of the
Marine Skin Divers Club prepared to time him. A doctor was
present and an expert in first aid stood by, as Foster
intended to stay at the bottom of the pool longer than any
other man had ever been under water.
This he did. When he emerged, the clockers stopped their
watches at 13 minutes, 42.5 seconds.
Don't try this on your own.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 791 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 23, 2001 (23:40) * 19 lines
One of the most unusual competitions that ever took place
was the track race held in the American Institute's indoor
arena in New York City on February 21, 1882, under the
auspices of the Williamsburg Athletic Club. The rules
stipulated the race would be 24 hours long: the athlete who
did the most mileage around the track in that time would be
delcared the winner.
At 10 p.m., 14 competitors lined up for the race. After 23
hours had elapsed, only seven of them remained on the track.
James Saunders was so far ahead it seemed impossible for
anyone to beat him.
By common consent, the race was halted a few minutes later -
almost an hour before the stipulated finish. At this point,
Saunders had run 120 miles. He also won $100 and the cheers
from a crowd of 800 fans.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 792 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 25, 2001 (13:08) * 11 lines
Unmasking the Face on Mars
NASA Science News for May 24, 2001
New high-resolution images and 3D altimetry from NASA's Mars Global
Surveyor spacecraft reveal the 'Face on Mars' for what it really is.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast24may_1.htm?list89800
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 793 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 29, 2001 (20:01) * 3 lines
Ok guys what is Yonaguni? http://members.theglobe.com/jerrod_hill/30th_parallel/yonaguni.html
Rob, can you suggest a url for me to look up and log NZ earthquakes for Geo 26? I hunted but found no list.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 794 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Wed, May 30, 2001 (06:09) * 14 lines
Hi
Sure can. http://www.gns.cri.nz the most reliable place for New Zealand geological information.
Just wondering if you can remember what you were doing when the news broke that Unzen had erupted in 1991? I was watching the 6.PM news eating dinner and they showed a big cloud rushing down the volcano (infamous one with the vehicle)and my initial reaction was: Hey mate, hope you got away.
Dad was coming out with his dinner and stopped directly in front of me. I could see around him, over him or between his legs. "Dad? Can you please move". No response. "Dad, can you please move?"
"I'm trying to watch this". Was the reply.
Can you PLEASE MOVE?
I gave up and moved myself. I thought only rugby could stop Dad dead like that. Unzen obviously has stopping power.
Rob
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 795 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 30, 2001 (14:14) * 6 lines
Hilo has just made it into the 20th century (yes, I know it is the 21st now!) It takes a while over here but all of the transponders and links around Mauna Kea were completed and on Monday I heard my first PBS broadcast in daylight. I had a room full of Bizet's Symphony in C and Haydn... All of my radios have been reset to 91.1. Thank you, powers that be!
Regarding Unzen, I did not hear about it till my son alerted me to it. I quickly flicked onto CNN and they were showing the pyrocalstic footage, and I thought "Can't wait to see the Krafft's footage of THAT one!" Then the news came that they had gotten their wish - to die in a volcano eruption. I just prayed that it was fast! I did not know Harry Glicken but my son did...
Thanks for the earthquake link - I'm off to glean goodies to post in Geo 26.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 796 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 30, 2001 (18:53) * 17 lines
Trivia is back - just what you needed .. NOT!
"I", the first person singular, is capitalized in English -
the only language to do so.
Octavio Guillen and Adriana Martinez were married in Mexico
City in 1969 after a world record engagement of 67 years.
Sherlock Holmes writer Arthur Conan Doyle was an opthamologist.
The state flower of Alaska is a forget-me-not.
C.W. Post introduced coupons in 1895 when he offered "once
cent off" to kick off sales for his new cereal, Post's Grape Nuts.
Annie Oakley's nickname was "Little Sure Shot."
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 797 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Fri, Jun 1, 2001 (15:29) * 3 lines
Marcia, please don't tell me that you "creak". Remember age is all in your head, except that maybe your knees have their own ideas on the subject. (I'm using the rhetorical "you" in that statement.) I hope that you found your royal tour of Pearl Harbor very informative. I won't ask about "your very own park ranger".
Speaking of park rangers, one of the funniest (strange and haha) I'd seen was that of park ranger leading a gackle of tourists through the French Quater in New Orleans. "Tres bizarre".
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 798 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 1, 2001 (15:49) * 3 lines
Me??? Creak? Nevah! I am long limbed, lithe and agile and active. Not for me the rocking chair. That is why I chose to spend my birthday on a lava flow watching a new one flow down the cliffs. So far my knees and all the rest of me is in top working condiditon (slight exception for still-healing finger.)
My very own Park Ranger was my SON ! Ask away, I am very proud of him. Before he got a geology job full time he was an Interpretive Ranger at the Volcanoes National Park and at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. He looked kinda funny in the Smokey Bear hat but was proud to claim him in any case!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 799 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 1, 2001 (19:16) * 30 lines
For anyone who has not heard of the reverse hoax going around (do not follow their instructions to delete this file. You need it to run Windows!!!) Check the below links for the entire story. Thanks Maggie!:
http://www.bipt.be/virus/viruswarning.htm
http://www.europe.f-secure.com/hoaxes/sulfnbk.shtml
This hoax which originates from Brasil (originally in Spanish) is
interesting. It is diffusing more and more widely on the internet in more
and more different languages. In most of its variants it says that some new
virus, called SULFNBK.EXE has managed to creep into your computer and should
be erased, before the first of june. But the sulfnbk.exe is really a
composing part of the system of Microsoft Windows. So in fact, this hoax
urges you to destroy yourself a program that is perfectly all right. In that
way it is reminiscent of the joke 'Belgian virus' which goes like:
ATTENTION VIRUS (name can be different): Attention, this is a Belgian virus
1) send this messages to ALL your correspondents
2) erase your hard disk.
The English variant has as subject name 'EMERGENCY - VIRUS!!'
------------------------------------beginning of hoax message
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------
Content of message:
' FORWARD TO ANYBODY YOU HAVE SENT EMAIL OR RECEIVED FROM THEM!
I found this on my computer, as did several other people I
know........please check yours. BB URGENT. A VIRUS could be in your computer
files now, dormant but will become active on June 1. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS BELOW
TO CHECK IF YOU HAVE IT AND TO REMOVE IT NOW. It was brought to my attention
yesterday that a virus is in circulation via email. I looked for it and to
my surprise I found it on mine. ..please follow the directions and remove it
from yours TODAY!!!!!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 800 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 1, 2001 (19:18) * 7 lines
the warning ending thusly:
It should be noted, however, that Magistr virus-worm can choose SULFNBK.EXE
file as its victim, infect it and send it out. So if you find this file
attached to an e-mail message please delete it, never run the attachment.
But if it is on your system, it's perfectly OK.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 801 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 1, 2001 (19:44) * 24 lines
/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert
\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org)
==========================================================
| News
==========================================================
* Nuclear theory gets analytical: (1 Jun)
Phase transitions have fascinated physicists for
centuries. The formation of ice is an everyday example of
a material that changes shape at a phase transition,
while more exotic examples are found in nuclear and
particle physics. But describing the detailed properties
of nuclei in the phase-transition region has previously
eluded theorists. Now Franco Iachello of Yale University
in the US has developed an analytical model that predicts
various nuclear properties, including the energy levels
and transition rates, for any nucleus undergoing a
certain phase transition. The theory has been boosted by
the discovery by Rick Casten and Victor Zamfir, also at
Yale, of nuclei that match the predictions (F Iachello
2001 Phys. Rev. Lett. at press; R Casten and N
Zamfir 2001 Phys. Rev. Lett. at press).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/6/1 ]
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 802 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 1, 2001 (19:51) * 20 lines
A college mathematician has calculated we spend more than
five years of our lives waiting on things such as in lines,
on the telephone, in traffic, and so on.
There were not many significant historical accomplishments
during the Millard Fillmore presidential administration here
in the USA. He did, however, negotiate a deal with Peru
over the use of guano - bird droppings.
No one knows who wrote the bathtub nursery rhyme "Rub a Dub
Dub."
A duck frequently swims while sleeping.
The Suez Canal was originally slated to be the site for the
Statue of Liberty.
The 1940 Tokyo Olympic Games and the 1944 London Olympic
Games were both cancelled.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 803 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 1, 2001 (19:52) * 33 lines
----------------------------------------------------------
/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert
\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org)
==========================================================
News
==========================================================
* New superconductor gets ready for applications: (31
May)
The widespread use of superconductors in the distribution
of electricity has moved a step closer to reality,
following results from three independent research groups
which indicate that magnesium diboride could be used in
applications that involve both high electric currents and
high magnetic fields. The results come less than five
months after the surprise discovery that
magnesium diboride , a simple compound, can conduct
electricity without any resistance.
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/5/15 ]
----------------------------------------------------------
* Optical clocks look up: (31 May)
The most accurate measurements of optical transition
frequencies ever made could lead to a new generation of
atomic clocks. Thomas Udem and co-workers at the National
Institute of Standards and Technology in the US have used
a combination of a femtosecond laser and a photonic fibre
to measure transitions in mercury ions and calcium atoms
with unprecedented accuracy (Phys. Rev. Lett.
86 4996). They have also placed a new lower limit
on any variation of the fundamental physical constants
with time.
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/5/16 ]
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 804 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Sat, Jun 2, 2001 (02:50) * 7 lines
Hi
Here is a good one for you that I found a while and just remembered I still had it. This is of Unzen's lava dome and I thought it appropriate to post it today in time for June 3, the 10th Anniversary of the eruption.
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Unzen/3041914_020_large.jpg
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 805 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Sat, Jun 2, 2001 (02:53) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 806 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Sat, Jun 2, 2001 (02:59) * 11 lines
Brain dead. Go to bed Rob.
here it is THIS TIME. If this does not work. Then the image is no longer available.
Marcia feel free to ignore Msgs 804, and 805.
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Unzen/30410914_020_large.jpg
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 807 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 2, 2001 (14:54) * 1 lines
want them deleted? Can do that or teach you how! (Done!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 808 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 2, 2001 (15:01) * 3 lines
I did not delete 804 - it has the intro you needed for the image you pasted. Many thanks for doing so. As soon as I can do so I will send you the html command string so you can post pictures here, to! Gotta get the one of the Kraffts on here next!
Hugs! and thanks!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 809 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 2, 2001 (20:39) * 17 lines
NEW ZEALAND GEOLOGY
The New Zealand landmass, including the North, South,
and outlying islands, is part of a larger submerged
microcontinent that originally formed on the eastern margin
of the Gondwanaland supercontinent. It separated from
Gondwanaland during the Late Cretaceous. Its location on
the mobile margin of the Pacific Ocean has resulted in a
complex geological history of punctuated tectonic activity
from the Cambrian to the present. The origin and
development of New Zealand’s continental crust are
researched to understand basement rocks and the growth
and development of the New Zealand continental area. This
is fundamental to appreciating natural resources,
particularly mineral and hydrocarbon potential.
More... http://www.gns.cri.nz/earthact/nz_geology/index.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 810 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jun 3, 2001 (00:14) * 5 lines
7.0 on 06/03/2001 02:41:59 GMT ----- KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
190.9 km deep 29.46S 178.61W Source: WWWNEIC Quality: B Type: M
date: Sun Jun 3 04:46:43 GMT 2001
Rob, Please check in. I am worried about you! (Yes, I know... no electicity and all that. I am monitoring it even as I sit here gnawing on my keyboard in anxiety!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 811 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jun 3, 2001 (01:51) * 1 lines
Welcome back Rob. I do hope you felt this one, most positively! No tsunamis, please! You are not high enough to deal with that! *HUGS*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 812 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sun, Jun 3, 2001 (12:53) * 1 lines
Rob is okay? He's been able to contact you, Marcia?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 813 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jun 3, 2001 (13:36) * 1 lines
Yes, He emailed me last night my time. When any quaked of magnitude 7 or greater happen, I worry. Our 7.2 did widespread damage and it was a deep plate quake, also. Rob lives on a flood plain. Great earthquakes can liquify such places. I was much relieved to hear he was safe! I do hope he enjoyed the ride.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 814 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, Jun 4, 2001 (05:23) * 12 lines
Hi
Dear sweetheart, you need not worry. Unless it is a 100 metre high wave, there is 9km separating me from the coast in a straight line to the nearest open coastline. Environment Canterbury (provincial government in NZ handles just resource consents for building projects to go ahead, oversees the sustainable management of the soil air and water resources at our disposal and the transportation network. Things like economy and social services have a role but the central government in Wellington is responsible for them overall. Defence only has anything to do at local level if there is a civil defence emergency that has regional implications (earthquake in Pacific generates tsunami, earthquake on Alpine Fault raises havoc in Christchurch, Waimakariri jumps banks, 1992 snowstorm repeats itself).
The Waimakariri is not a problem unless the warning system that is supposed to give upto 36 hours warning of a flood fails. The weather system that brings the heavy rain would need to rain for probably three days non stop and drop over 600mm of rain in that time. Either that or have a saturated catchment that can take no more rain and you get an event drop 200mm or more. In the first case it would take 36 hours for the first flood waters to reach the sea and probably another 36 unless it was a microburst or something similar, to top the banks and even then there is a second bank to be topped. While no being unrealistically hopeful, I have to remember that the banks have not been tested properly yet.
On to other things. The reason why I know so much about natural hazards and geographical issues and geology, plus current affairs is because Dad holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology, and a Masters in Planning. I was brought up listening to current affairs and things like that, and also very little else on television other than the cricket actually interested me. I was quite unpopular at intermediate and early highschool years (years 7-11 - age 11-16)because while everyone else my age watched the Simpsons, Neighbours, Home and Away, Shortland Street, Married with Children and so on, I watched 3 News, and Holmes.
I never went to concerts and never paid attention to showbiz and still don't for the latter. I never talked about the celebrity gossip or followed the music scene and it was only at intermediate that I started reading fiction of ANY sort.
Today I am to a limited extent a fan of Star Wars, and have read the Willard Price adventure series, but true stories and documentaries still outgun on a given day most other things in those categories. Classical music was from the outset one of my favourites and because Mum and Dad are big John Denver fans as well, John Denver invariably became immensely popular with me. I am lousily out of date with showbiz so don't try talking to me about it because I am not interested EXCEPT for Pearl Harbour, for which Dad and I have already got tickets to. However I am not overly confident it will be an all time great film because Tora Tora Tora covered the nuts and bolts of the story pretty damn well.
So as you probably figured out for yourself by now, I am not your everyday young person and to that end I had to pay as far as class popularity went at intermediate and high school
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 815 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 4, 2001 (13:27) * 7 lines
Thank you for the reassurance and a bit about your location being inland. I have still resident in my mind the Marina District of San Francisco after it liquified in the last eruption. Honey, you have made my whole day brighter with your clarifications that you are safe. That Tsunami will get us, too, when/if it happens, as we will both need to check in after we re-surface!
We are going to see Pearl Harbor this week, as well. I am eager to see it. I hear good reports from Neil who has the Flight ( Geo 42) topic here, so I know it has to be pretty good. Not gorey, he said. I do not need gore to know the horrors of war. We will trade notes as soon as we all see it. Perhaps in Movies or in Geo 20 or even a new topic Geo Movies. Your tastes in telly and music seems very like mine. Somehow that does not surprise me. I do watch the volcano specials on channels like The Learning Channel, Discovery, and History channels.
I'll go create your new topic for you since you did not mention wanting to do it yourself. Just thought I'd offer but also know you are ver busy.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 816 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 4, 2001 (14:42) * 1 lines
Topic 46 is now up and running for those whose land lies at or near the water table or face other watery peril. How about Bayou contry in the US? That is really living on or just below waterlevel. Oh, that and the Sacramento River broke through the levees yesterday. Hugs mess I will post on 46.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 817 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 4, 2001 (18:02) * 14 lines
How fast is "in a jiffy?" Faster than you can say it. A
"Jiffy" is equal to one hundred thousand billion billionths
of a second according to lexicographers.
More women are millionaires than men in the USA.
Only one fifth of the Sahara Desert is sand. The rest of
the world's largest desert is barren rock and rubble.
More monuments have been built to honor Buddha than anyone
else.
It takes about four pounds of potatoes to make a pound of
potato chips.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 818 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 4, 2001 (18:16) * 12 lines
Horace, dear, what on earth is a Battery chicken?
From the Telegraph...(via Liam)
A FIFTH of battery chickens and 10 per cent of eggs contain residues of drugs regarded as too dangerous for use in human medicine, according to the Government's own figures, a report says today.
The report for the Soil Association, the organic farming body, accuses the Government of "grossly misleading the public" by asserting that 99 per cent of poultry and 97 per cent of eggs are free of detectable drug residues. In fact, the results of positive tests for individual drugs are expressed as a percentage of all tests undertaken for all substances, most of which are never found, says the report.
In practice, tests for drugs known as antimicrobials, which control single-celled protozoan parasites such as coccidia that cause illness in chickens, were positive in 20 per cent of chicken meat and 10 per cent of eggs tested. The drugs used include nicarbazin, which has been shown to cause birth defects in animals, and others not licensed for laying hens.
Richard Young, one of the authors of the report, said: "These antimicrobial drugs have never been properly evaluated for safety but there is evidence that they have the ability to cause cancer, birth defects and heart attacks. Some residue samples are more than 50 times over the legal limit, yet the Veterinary Medicines Directorate has brought no prosecutions."
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 819 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 5, 2001 (14:04) * 13 lines
Vincent van Gogh didn;t begin to draw until he was 27.
Sauerkraut originated in China some 1,000 years before it
became a favorite in Germany.
A pigeon's feathers weigh more than its bones.
One-third of all the canned fish in the USA is eaten by
cats.
Your lungs use about 12,500 quarts of air each day.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 820 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Jun 5, 2001 (19:11) * 3 lines
Does Miss Kitty, the marmalade princess, eat canned fish? Or as resident of Hawaii, does she eat fresh fish?
I have no idea what a "battery chicken" is.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 821 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 5, 2001 (21:39) * 1 lines
Horace, what is a Battery chicken? Miss Kitty keeps changing her mind - she gets catfood. Spurns human food as beneath her consideration. Just lucky she is cute! I may have to post a picture of her...!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 822 of 1406: horrible horace (horrible) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (15:49) * 1 lines
Battery Chicken?? the worst kind of abuse of Gods creatures that can be...Hens kept in small cages with no room to turn or groom themselves..24hr light so they lay themselves to death in 10 months or so.....in a cage 3feetx3feetx1 high
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 823 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (16:13) * 1 lines
Battery as in the case of assault and battery? Battered wife syndrome? How truely wretched. It happens here big time I understand - in the USA. Makes them into machines instead of God's creatures. Aot of feed animals are no better off with the big meat suppliers. Buy locally here and you get range beef, range eggs and young healthy chickens not adulterated by hormones. Good for you! Told you he wasn't Horrible by any stretch of the imagination! Did you get that thieving fox yet? The one that ate your duckies and chickies? How does fox taste, I wonder...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 824 of 1406: horrible horace (horrible) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (17:10) * 2 lines
Fox is inedible.....its vermin and I'm still waiting for the varmint.At least it did not get the Pheasants(yet?) we have a pair of wild ones who come to the yard to eat,its nice to see
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 825 of 1406: horrible horace (horrible) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (17:14) * 1 lines
This little Thrush fell from the nest
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 826 of 1406: horrible horace (horrible) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (17:14) * 2 lines
But its ok now ,dont worry
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 827 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (17:48) * 1 lines
Oh it is adorable! Did the parents take it back into the nest? Did they feed it ok? Or is this another job for Father Goose?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 828 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (17:53) * 1 lines
You are a very good student, Horace - your first image post and it was centered, as well. Take a bow! Are you this good at everything you do?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 829 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (18:29) * 7 lines
Hilo Bay live webcam - From the Tsunami Museum rooftop.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 830 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (18:31) * 1 lines
Actually that is from the intersection of Kamehameha Avenue (Front Street to the old timers) and Waianuenue Avenue. We just may drive by and you will see us there! Or I could go hold up a sign and say HI GEO... (don't count on it!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 831 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (18:33) * 1 lines
Let us know when this happens, ok?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 832 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (18:37) * 1 lines
Oh yes, I'll let you know! On the other side of the outermost roadway there used to be train tracks and depot and all sorts of warehouses. They got washed out in the 1946 tsunami and totally wiped off the map in the 1960 one. You know I am not a grand-standing type but hate to disappoint my fans *grin* Perhaps I could take a photo of the cam peering back at me!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 833 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 6, 2001 (19:15) * 23 lines
/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert
\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org)
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| News
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* New X-ray probe lights up the cosmos: (6 Jun)
The radiation that streams across space from pulsars,
black holes and other astronomical objects carries
information in its intensity, frequency composition,
spatial distribution and polarization. But the
polarization of X-rays is particularly difficult to
measure - attempts to study it have been hampered by poor
sensitivity and have only succeeded for a few very
intense sources. Now a team of astronomers led by Enrico
Costa at the Istituto de Astrofisica del CNR in Rome has
devised a probe to measure the polarization of X-ray
sources a hundred times dimmer than those previously
observed (E Costa et al 2001 Nature
411 662).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/6/2 ]
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 834 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 7, 2001 (00:10) * 1 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 835 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 7, 2001 (00:16) * 19 lines
Wildlife lover John J. Audubon was also a wildlife killer.
He shot as many as one hundred brds a day, using the victims
as models for his paintings.
The inside of a cucumber is 20 degrees (F) colder than the
air temperature on a warm summer day.
A.C. Gilbert was a United States pole vaulter in the 1908
Olympics. A year later he invented the Erector Set.
"E" is the most commonly used letter in the English
language. Author Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a book,
"Gadsby" that did not use the letter at all (and it had
50,000 words in this novel).
0 degrees longitude, 0 degrees latitude is in the Atlantic
Ocean.
(not standing on the corner now - too dark....)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 836 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 7, 2001 (00:31) * 1 lines
G'morning Rob! I guess it is time for us to shift worlds. I am in evening and you are in morning and it is another day for you. Hugs and take care!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 837 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 7, 2001 (18:07) * 1 lines
GEO'S back !! Post as you wish!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 838 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 7, 2001 (19:54) * 16 lines
READING this story is more likely to damage your health than using a chainsaw, according to a Government report that also warns of an alarming increase in the number of accidents caused by tea cosies, place mats and socks.
If you are also wearing wellington boots while holding a loofah and standing near a birdbath, then the chances of even finishing this sentence uninjured are worryingly small. The latest report from the Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System, published by the Department of Trade and Industry, reveals that in 1999 leaves, birdbaths and sponges and loofahs posed far more of a menace to health than rat poison or meat cleavers.
Printed publications injured far more people than chainsaws - 4,371 compared with 1,207 - while tea cosy injuries almost doubled in 1999, up from 20 in the previous year to 37. However, the report gives no details of how these apparently innocuous household items managed to hurt people admitted to hospital.
The frightening scale of the menace posed by wellington boots (5,615 injuries) and sponges and loofahs (966) becomes clear when the same report reveals that meat cleavers caused 329 injuries in the same period and 439 people were harmed by rat or mouse poison.
The report, compiled by logging the accidents reported by people admitted to a sample group of hospitals and then extrapolating estimates for the whole country, found that the number of people going to hospital after a trouser accident is worryingly high. In 1999, trousers caused 5,945 accidents, 808 more than in 1998.
The trend was balanced only by the drop in injuries inflicted by armchairs, down from 18,690 to 16,662. Nevertheless, armchair injuries "leave little room for complacency", New Scientist says today, adding that injuries inflicted by vegetables "remain unacceptably high" at 13,132. Hospital admissions caused by socks and tights rose from 9,843 to 10,773, while birdbath accidents almost trebled to 311.
Roger Vincent, of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: "We never cease to be amazed by the way in which people manage to injure themselves, but it remains the case that home accidents are still the major cause of injuries in this country. Nearly three million people are injured in the home every year and 4,000 of them die."
From The Telegraph (thanks Liam!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 839 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 7, 2001 (20:55) * 28 lines
Treasures of Sunken Egyptian Port Revealed
Colossal statues, sunken ships, gold coins and jewelry are among the treasures newly uncovered by a French marine archaeologist in the submerged ancient city of Heracleion off the Egyptian coast.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010607/sc/egypt_city_dc_1.html
____________________________________
Human Hunters Spelled Doom for Ice Age Behemoths
The arrival of human hunters triggered a mass extinction of large animals in North America, dooming such Ice Age behemoths as the woolly mammoth and mastodon, as well as one in Australia tens of thousands of years earlier, scientists said on Thursday.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010607/sc/science_extinction_dc_1.html
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Measles Vaccine Causes Lymphoma Remission in Mice
The battle against advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma may have an unlikely new weapon -- the measles vaccine.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010607/sc/health_lymphoma_dc_2.html
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Forecaster Sees Active Atlantic Hurricane Season
A noted meteorologist at Colorado State University on Thursday revised his outlook for the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season, now calling for above average activity though not as busy as last year.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010607/sc/weather_hurricane_outlook_dc_1.html
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Next Space Station Crew Hail Ties, See No Mistrust
The next U.S.-Russian crew bound for the International Space Station said Thursday they saw no evidence of the ``symmetry of mistrust'' that NASA head Daniel Goldin warned had tainted joint space exploration.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010607/sc/space_iss_crew_dc_1.html
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Brown Dwarfs Might Have Their Own Planets
The cool, dim cosmic objects known as brown dwarfs form more like stars than planets, and might even have planets of their own, astronomers reported on Thursday.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010607/sc/space_dwarfs_dc_1.html
____________________________________
Robot Arm Glitch Delays Space Station Construction
NASA engineers cannot get a robot arm glitch that delayed international space station construction to repeat itself, but the problem is not solved, NASA's lead station flight director said on Thursday.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010607/sc/space_robotarm_dc_1.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 840 of 1406: horrible horace (horrible) * Fri, Jun 8, 2001 (16:15) * 1 lines
Regarding the little Thrush,I did on this occasion break the golden rule..leave things alone.As the Song -Thrush becomes scarcer,due IMHO to the depradations of the Magpie,I felt that I should restore it to the nest.It was in too dangerous a spot for safety and had not been fledged,it fell out of the nest. All ended well ,next morning baby was bellowing for food from the near-by chestnut tree and mum was like a demon refueling the little brat.I found another today but as it was in long grass and with plenty of cover,I just said hello and passed on my way...............
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 841 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 8, 2001 (16:55) * 3 lines
Happy Birthday, Wolfie
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 842 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 8, 2001 (16:59) * 1 lines
You are a good steward of the land, Liam. Thanks from all who might ever hear the European Thrush's song - including, especially, me. Chick, not Brat! Your mummy apparently fed you till you could do so for yourself. The little ones are adorable. I am delighted all turned out well.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 843 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 8, 2001 (19:29) * 14 lines
Western Europe is sinking at the rate of one inch every ten
years.
The Statue of Liberty's pedestal was more expensive than the
statue itself.
"Gymnasium" stems from the "gymnos" which means "naked."
That's how the ancient Greek athletes practiced.
The most widespread disease in the world is tooth decay.
According to an old English time unit, one "moment" is 1
minute and 30 seconds.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 844 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 8, 2001 (19:59) * 34 lines
Liam sent this one (as usual) it is wonderul but please, if you IM me, skip the bottom stuff. I amd still trying to figure out what SSSSSS means as well as TY
Web speak - A new industry, a new language. Your weekly dotcom dictionary
Rain dance
The ritual series of actions performed by computer users desperate to resuscitate a crashed computer without resorting to hitting the power button. Usually starts with rapid mouse clicks, followed by several hard whacks of the "Esc" key before holding down Ctrl and Alt and hammering Delete. It never works, by the way.
DARPA
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency which was responsible for the genesis of the internet back in the 1960s. It pursues projects where the risks and rewards are very high, and "where success may provide dramatic advances for traditional military roles and missions."
IPN
One of DARPA's latest research initiatives is the InterPlaNetary Internet Project which aims to test interplanetary communications systems based on internet protocols later this year. One day you will be able to get junk mail from Mars . . .
Premumble
The opening remarks make at the start of a presentation before the speaker gets on to the real content of the PowerPoint slides. The business variant of "A funny thing happened on the way to the theatre".
Aimster
File-sharing website that is suffering dual law suit assaults. AOL has accused the company of infringing one of its trademarks (the AOL Instant Messenger program is called AIM) and the Recording Industry Association of America is accusing the site of Napster-style copyright infringements. Sounds like a very expensive name, to me.
Texting
Text messaging - which involves sending short messages over your mobile phone to other mobile users - is proving to be even more popular than email. A new language is developing to make writing text messages less of a hassle on the small mobile keypad. Here is our weekly column to help you send and understand text messages.
d:*O William Hague wearing a baseball cap, view sideways
Abt2 About to
I4t I thought
Ega2PlES Eager to please
DoUACpt? Do you accept?
DoUAgrE? Do you agree?
1stly firstly
DoUCmHrOftn? Do you come here often?
0CnStpUNow Nothing can stop you now
2dAsYaLkEDA Today's your lucky day
ActYaAgeNtYaShuSIz Act your age not your shoe size
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 845 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 8, 2001 (20:11) * 23 lines
----------------------------------------------------------
/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert
\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org)
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| News
==========================================================
* Buckyballs bounce back: (8 Jun)
A tennis ball rolling slowly towards a football might not
disturb it very much - but throw the tennis ball quickly
and you would expect a bigger reaction. On the
microscopic scale, however, particles behave differently.
Thomas Kunert and Rudiger Schmidt of the Technical
University of Dresden, Germany, calculated what would
happen when carbon-60 molecules - or fullerenes - are
bombarded with a selection of smaller ions. To their
surprise, the velocity of the 'missiles' made no
difference to the amount of energy they imparted to the
target molecules (T Kunert and R Schmidt 2001 Phys.
Rev. Lett. 86 5258).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/6/4 ]
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 846 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jun 8, 2001 (20:23) * 14 lines
The average office chair on wheels travels about eight miles per year.
Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as U.S. President by his father.
Because she wrote for up to 14 hours per day, "Little Women"
author Louisa May Alcott alternated writing with her right
and left hand to avoid writer's cramp.
A cow spends an average of 18 hours a day chewing.
Andy Johnson was a tailor who made his own clothes - until
he became President of the United States.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 847 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jun 10, 2001 (21:58) * 3 lines
MT ETNA IS ERUPTING
http://web.poseidon.nti.it/Sorvis/vulcano.asp?Vulcano=Etna&Refresh=30
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 848 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 11, 2001 (23:03) * 40 lines
Computer Users Not at Higher Risk of Carpal Tunnel
Heavy computer use does not increase the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition marked by pain and numbness in the hands and wrists, according to a study released Monday.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/sc/health_carpaltunnel_dc_1.html
____________________________________
Smokers with Breast Cancer Risk Spreading Disease
Breast cancer patients who smoke have a much higher risk of the disease spreading to their lungs than do nonsmokers, according to a new study released on Monday.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/sc/health_breastcancer_study_dc_1.html
___________________________________
Heart Attack Risk Seen in Tiny Pollution Particles
Exposure for as little as two hours to elevated levels of fine particulate air pollution -- the kind in automobile emissions -- raises the likelihood of heart attack, especially among people already at risk for cardiac disease, researchers said on Monday.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/sc/health_heart_pollution_dc_1.html
____________________________________
Study Finds Using Marijuana Ups Heart Attack Risk
The risk of a heart attack jumps nearly five-fold during the first hour after smoking marijuana, posing a particular threat to middle-aged users of the drug, according to a study released on Monday.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/sc/health_heart_marijuana_dc_1.html
____________________________________
Snacks, Alcohol Up Marijuana Users' Calorie Count
Regular marijuana smokers consume up to 40 percent more calories than non-users -- mostly through alcohol, salty snacks and cheese -- and are more likely to smoke tobacco cigarettes, researchers said on Monday.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/sc/marijuana_dc_1.html
____________________________________
Experts Unveil New Parkinson's Treatment Strategy
New treatment guidelines for Parkinson's disease patients published on Monday direct doctors to change the drugs used as the first line of defense against the incurable brain malady.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/sc/health_parkinsons_dc_1.html
____________________________________
Medical Research Damaged by Allison's Fury
The floods that swamped south Texas last week destroyed a vast amount of scientific work in progress at the world's largest medical facility and drowned an estimated 32,500 laboratory animals, a disaster that could set back medical research for years, officials said on Monday.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/sc/weather_allison_research_dc_1.html
____________________________________
Study: Hundreds of Asian Birds Face Extinction
Some 300 Asian bird species face extinction because of destruction of their habitat through such acts as deforestation and wetland clearance, worldwide conservation group BirdLife International says.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/sc/environment_india_birds_dc_2.html
__________________________________
Britons to Be Offered Free Life-Saving Training
Britons will be offered free life-saving training because more than a third of people would not know what to do if someone collapsed with a suspected heart attack.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/sc/health_heart_dc_4.html
____________________________________
Bush Offers Non-Binding Steps on Global Warming
President Bush on Monday pledged to use science and diplomacy to fight global warming, as he tried to blunt international criticism over his rejection of the Kyoto climate treaty before he visits Europe.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/sc/bush_environment_dc_3.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 849 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Tue, Jun 12, 2001 (06:41) * 1 lines
What medical facility was damaged by Allison?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 850 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 12, 2001 (14:33) * 1 lines
From what you posted that Holly wrote to you, the blood supply and all the equipment stored in the basement got ruined in one of the hospitals in the Houston area.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 851 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 12, 2001 (18:42) * 22 lines
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/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert
\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org)
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| News
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* Fibre optics detect drunk drivers: (12 Jun)
Fuel leaks, pollution and even the alcohol in a driver's
breath could soon be monitored by a new device based on
optical fibres. Masayuki Morisawa of Yamanashi
University, Japan, and colleagues coated an optical fibre
with a polymer that changes its refractive index when it
absorbs alcohol vapour. Chemicals that contain alcohols -
many of which are toxic or explosive - play a central
role in industry, and the efficient detection of leaks is
crucial for the safety of workers and the environment (M
Morisawa et al 2001 Measurement Science and
Technology 12 877).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/6/5 ]
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 852 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 13, 2001 (22:21) * 43 lines
New Scientist Newsletter 16 June 2001
Bringing you the top headlines from all sections of New Scientist.com
each week
KILLER GAS
Why pilots' lives could be at risk from dry ice carried on cargo
aircraft
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns22959
THWACK!
Baseball fielders need to listen carefully if they want to stop that
batsman getting a home run
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns229524
TWIST AND SCOUT
Could corkscrewing microbots burrow into tumours and destroy them?
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns22957
LIGHTS OUT
We're about to find out how wild animals really behave during an eclipse
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns229525
GENTLY DOES IT
It may not take much force to accidentally kill a baby. Even mild
shaking can be lethal
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns229526
DEAD WEIGHT
Why do corpses eventually float to the surface of lakes and rivers? And
how long does it take?
http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/lastword.jsp?id=lw1355
VIRTUALLY HUMAN
It breathes, it bleeds, it bruises. It's a living doll that could give
us fresh insights into the way our bodies work
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/features.jsp?id=ns22951
AND FINALLY...
Need information about your area? Just want to listen to a story? Plug
your headphones into a park bench...
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns22955
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 853 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 16, 2001 (19:02) * 23 lines
The bursting Comet LINEAR, plus a solar activity alert
Space Weather News for June 16, 2001
http://www.spaceweather.com
BURSTING COMET: The crumbling comet C/2001 A2 (LINEAR), better known as
"Comet LINEAR," brightened suddenly this week to magnitude 3.3. Its fuzzy
head is easily visible to the unaided eye from dark-sky sites in the
southern hemisphere, and the comet's tail is a beautiful sight through
binoculars, say observers. Later this month the brightening comet will
also make an appearance in northern skies.
SOLAR ACTIVITY: The sunspot number is up and solar activity is on the
rise as well. A pair of coronal mass ejections that billowed away from
the Sun on Friday could deliver glancing blows to Earth's magnetic field
this weekend. Forecasters estimate a 15% chance of severe geomagnetic
storms at mid-latitudes by Sunday. Sky watchers should remain alert for
auroras near local midnight.
For more information about viewing comet LINEAR and ongoing solar activity
please visit SpaceWeather.com.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 854 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (14:16) * 6 lines
In baseball, a lefthanded pitcher is called a southpaw.
This term comes from the fact most baseball diamonds are
laid out with home plate toward the west so the sun won't
bother the batter. The lefthanded pitcher, as a result,
faces the west with his pitching arm to the south.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 855 of 1406: _cosmo_ (aa9il) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (19:03) * 27 lines
Hi Marcia and Geoites
Ok, this should probably go under 'Beyond Planet Earth' but
fate has led me here so here goes.....
(the following ponderence does involve events within the atmosphere...)
Last week, I was re-reading an old 'zine that put forth the topic
of UFO's being Fortean phenomena - I guess there are some criteria
devised by Charles Fort for evaluating such things.
Anyway, I started wondering if UFO events are cyclic or 'seasonal'.
Even though we are at the solar maximum, I have not heard much from
the UFO crowd. There is plenty of info shooting around from the
SETI bunch. Everyone is listening but no abductions as of late?
This could be tied into current state of the social psychological
mass collective. In other words, is there enough weirdness or
need for weirdness right now that the UFO count goes up? During
times of normalcy, does the mass consciousness cry out for something
out of the ordinary to liven things up a bit? Dunno, guess I'll have
to stay up late one nite and listen to Art Bell to see who or what
calls in.
73 de AA9IL
Mike
radio cosmo international
(after listening to some of the bland programming from the corporate
FM stations in Chicago, I sure do see the need for a pirate station
to spring up....)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 856 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (19:19) * 3 lines
Cosmic Mike, Art Bell is definitely your man for the Waaaaay-out-there news. Even his website has new stuff on alien abductions supposedly or autopsies. (I hhad water in my ears when I heard him tell of it so I am not sure which it was.) SETI has sane people crunching their data. Notice that the alien abductions never involve people of ordinary mental capacity? Skeptic, perhaps. I might even call myself a agnostic which it comes to the paranormal. I am definitely being left out of their loop on this one.
Tune in NPR. At least you get some good music along with food for thought, but not much fluff on that station!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 857 of 1406: _cosmo_ (aa9il) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (19:52) * 37 lines
Hi Marcia
Yea, ol' Art has some interesting folks on his show - guess I'll have
to set up a tape recorder or VCR to come on at midnite to record the
show - the VCR idea would give me hours of recording time - only problem
I see is figuring out how to set the clock (typical engineer....)
One thing I noticed about the SETI crowd is that there are two camps
(for lack of a better term...) - there is one SETI group which appears
to be astronomers running a group that is conducting research and is
primarily interested in donations/funding to keep the research going
(a noble cause, indeed....). The other group (Seti League)is more
geared to the hams/amateur astronomers/garage tinkerers/hacker DIY
crowd who want to build their own systems in their back yards. I
find myself strongly alligned with DIY/hacker bunch.
RE NPR - I have finally found an NPR station that I really like - its
the Wisconsin affiliate which is very regional in their orientation
- lots of good stuff out of Madison and Milwaukee. The Chicago station
has a share of good programming but there was a point where every time
I tuned in to them they were either talking about politics or the
stock market or money which is fine for the affluent North Shore
crowd but didnt pack too much significance to me. The Wisconsin
radio was more my style. Amazingly enuf, another good public
radio program came out of Detroit of all places. Finally, my
all time favorite for the short time I listened to it was the
public radio feed for Ketchikan Alaska which really put the
emphasis on the regional programming and quirky music. My true
liking is still for community or college radio although I used
to listen to Pacifica along time ago during my stint in Houston.
They were by far the most edgy programming on the air but now
I think Pacifica is being torn apart by internal strife or some
other foolishness. And thats my rant for the day!
73 de Mike
radio cosmo international
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 858 of 1406: _cosmo_ (aa9il) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (20:34) * 10 lines
Ok, scratch the above favorite radio comments....
WBCQ gets it - listening right now to back to back Weird Al tunez
and misc other looney muzak. Now, thats what I call world service
shortwave broadcasting!
7.415 on yer dial and it did make me smile
73 de Mike
radio cosmo international
yas!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 859 of 1406: _cosmo_ (aa9il) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (20:35) * 4 lines
and now they are playing the 'Happy Happy Joy Joy Song!'
estatic!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 860 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (21:25) * 9 lines
In used to give my son Weird Al tapes in his stocking each Christmas. YOu found a station which actually airs them? Cosmic, indeed!
Why are you using a VCR to tape a radio program? (NOT an engineeer but my VCR clock is set to WWVH) Radio Shack has 10 hours tapes. get a little cheap voice activated tape recorder or direct wire one into a radio (watch that solder, it's HOT!!!) I used a voice activated one for years to take cricket matches (Yeah, I know) and put it in a covered bowl with towels for sound dampening, then close the door to the spare room. It worked just fine@
NPR is about the best I can do. We get some combination of goodies out of Minnesota as close as I can tell.
Yup, definitely with the back yard DIY guys. I already support as many things as I can afford to do. SETI is valuable and they will manage to find support.
Aloha mai
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 861 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (21:47) * 1 lines
if you have any more info on UFO's and SETI, paraspring has it's own topic for it! i haven't run my SETI background program in awhile---hmmmm....need to check in with them!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 862 of 1406: _cosmo_ (aa9il) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (21:59) * 18 lines
howdy howdy
Yea, I was quite suprised for an international shortwave broadcaster.
If you look at their web page (search for WBCQ) there might be a
streaming feed on the net. The show is produced by Complex Variable
Studios. I was having too much fun when I posted those last few
messages - listening to goofy music while sawing/forming brass
retaining clamps to fasten the 10ghz transverter to its weather
proof box - goodthing I didnt take the tip of my thumb off with
the razor saw. Yep, very DIY/hacker...
Re the VCR - that is a bit overkill for taping shows but it is the
only timer controlled device in the house except for clock radios.
I know you can buy stereos that have timers built in but no funds
allocated in the R&D budget. Anyway, enuf rambling - I must be
too wired and it is getting late. Have a groovy evening.
73 de Mike
radio cosmo international
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 863 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (22:54) * 3 lines
I had not run my SET for some time thinking it was causing my PC to crash frequently. It does expand to use any computer space you are not using currently, but I just downloaded SETI 3.03 and am up and running again.
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/windows.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 864 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (22:57) * 6 lines
Mike, ten each of fingers and toes will be most beneficial. Will check on the suggested WBCQ (the call letters say it all, don't they?!)
Gotcha on the budget woes. Been there and done that.
Hang in there and keep intact and in contact.
3s and 8s!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 865 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 19, 2001 (20:39) * 1 lines
Mauna Kea is the only mountain in Hawai`i where glaciers once existed. During the last ice ages (starting from 150,000 years to 200,000 years ago), three glacial episodes have occurred on Mauna Kea. Glacial morraines on the volcano formed about 70,000 years ago and from approximately 40,000 to 13,000 years ago. It is possible that glaciers had existed on Mauna Loa, but any evidence is now buried by younger lava.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 866 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 19, 2001 (21:08) * 31 lines
http://volcanohawaii.homestead.com/Kohala.html
Kohala is the oldest volcano on Hawai`i Island, as shown by the large scars by valleys
on its windward (northeast) side. There are giant valleys there that cut many hundred
perhaps thousands of feet into the volcano's flank.
Kohala is a very small volcano compared to other volcanoes on the island, but it was
originally much larger. Much of its southern flank has been covered by lavas by Mauna
Kea. The Hilo Ridge, a large submarine ridge extending east of Hilo, is believed to be a
rift zone of Kohala. It is thought so because lava dredged up from the ridge does not
have the same chemical composition of Mauna Kea lava but is the same as Kohala lava.
So Kohala was once a giant volcano, and its highest point is believed to have been
buried by Mauna Kea lavas.
Another thing that has made Kohala volcano smaller is subsidence. All Hawaiian
volcanoes on Hawai`i Island steadily sink into the Earth's crust. At least 1,000 meters
have been lost to subaerial subsidence.
Kohala is thought to be the oldest volcano on the Big Island next to the now
submerged Mohukona volcano. It emerged from the sea more than 500,000 years ago.
Shortly before Kohala completed its shield stage between 250,000 and 300,000 years
ago, a giant landslide removed the northeast flank. It was some 20 kilometers wide at
the shoreline, and the large landslide blocks traveled some 130 kilometers across the
ocean floor. Though the scarp is less prominent now than it was back then, you can still
see the fault scarps of the headwall of the landslide the famous sea cliffs of windward
Kohala.
When Kohala volcano was its largest, it was some 1,000 meters taller, and twice as wide as it is today. Then, some 300,000 years ago, the eruption rate started to
decrease. It was then when subsidence began to become more powerful than volcanic
forces, and the volcano slowly sank below sea level and its summit lowered. By this
time, Mauna Kea was already erupting vigorously, and began to cover over Kohala's
southern flanks, covering most of the southeast rift zone and perhaps the summit. Soon,
Mauna Loa came into the picture and helped bury Kohala.
By 65,000 years ago, Kohala had erupted for the last time. It is today classified as extinct.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 867 of 1406: _cosmo_ (aa9il) * Tue, Jun 19, 2001 (22:06) * 21 lines
Howdy Howdy
Gonna sneak this in between the lava flow...
Re the UFO stuph, gonna migrate that to paraspring since that is more
suitable although the SETI is more space news related - have to keep
sci fi and science research in two different containers. Only
a couple of days now til the solstice. I might be up early enuf
to catch the sunrise. And finally the radio stuff - I get all
giddy when there is phun programming out there which really makes
me want to make my contribution to the cause. Been reading some
books on the social and political nature of community/micropower
radio plus might finally try to start this really heavy book
on radio art and avant garde from the early 1900's to the 60's
but Im going to have to be in the right frame of mind (or lack
thereof...) before I tackle THAT. Kinda like trying to read
the Silmarilion (sp?) after finishing up 'Lord of the Rings'
onward thru the fog
de Mike
radio cosmo international
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 868 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (00:01) * 5 lines
I read them in that order and read The Hobbit last!!! I own all in slip-case hard bound books. They are definitely keepers!
Put SETI 3.03 back online and am crunching data at 700MHz again. heheheh
Off we go into the wild wolly Wolfie's Paraspring. Beam me up, Scotty!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 869 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (00:25) * 1 lines
Terry, where is the SETI@home topic on Spring? For those who have not been beamed up. I thought it was in the Radio conference.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 870 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (00:28) * 1 lines
If you can, and will (I forget the command and where the original one is) link it to Geo please?!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 871 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (09:30) * 1 lines
Hmm, sure. Where is the seti@home topic?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 872 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (16:08) * 3 lines
That was MY question.... will hunt further and post it as soon as I can find it.
Oh Terry, Liam just sent sun setting on Bree Dolmen taken from the inside. I need to find my things on the net. To WHAT URL ARE MY FTP THINGS GOING? I'd lov to post these! Mine will be of the sun setting behind Mauna Kea in about 6 hours.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 873 of 1406: horrible horace (horrible) * Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (17:37) * 1 lines
Drat and I did not manage to get a shot of the meteorite shooting across just after ,the biggest round here for years,Liam.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 874 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (19:41) * 2 lines
When you ftp cd to /home/spring.net/marcia
And you should be able to put stuff there.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 875 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (21:01) * 3 lines
Thanks terry, it worked!!! Only trouble is I still cannot find it on the internet to put the url of the images in my command strings. I casn put it there but it is not where I can find it.
Liam, do you think it was a bit of spack junk? What color? A bollide? Did NIck see it? I amso delighted for you.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 876 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (23:20) * 1 lines
Now what did I do? Terry!! Not only can I not find my stuff on the net I neither can spring. Geo is naked and I have no idea what went wrong!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 877 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 21, 2001 (00:12) * 1 lines
Ok, I deleted my rc files till I find out what and where they are now or should be. What you see is The Default settings....*sigh* They have a certain sentimental value to me but I'll never tell! Terry, hwere on the net are my files?????????????/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 878 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 21, 2001 (00:33) * 2 lines
I can restore all but the buttons and bars... so far....painfully slowly
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 879 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Jun 21, 2001 (07:03) * 1 lines
OK, email the exact details of what's going on and the process you're going through and I'll try and duplicate it and either fix it or tell you what I think you might need to do.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 880 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Jun 21, 2001 (07:18) * 1 lines
I just looked at the background and buttons are there. So tell me exactly what you did by email to restore them, marci. ok?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 881 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 21, 2001 (12:32) * 2 lines
Ok, Terry, I made a copy of the rc file so I can send it to you as it should be.
And answer our other questions. Thanks!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 882 of 1406: Mike Griggs (mikeg) * Thu, Jun 21, 2001 (17:57) * 1 lines
Do you remember my postings about Mount Fuji and the groovy pictures I had of it? Well, I'm going to scan them in and post them - just give me a few days!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 883 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 21, 2001 (19:28) * 11 lines
A Close Encounter with Mars
NASA Science News for June 21, 2001
Today Earth and Mars will experience their closest encounter in a dozen
years. Stargazers won't want to miss the Red Planet blazing bright in the
midnight sky.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast21jun_1.htm?list89800
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 884 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 23, 2001 (20:21) * 39 lines
Saturday June 23 8:47 PM ET
Major Quake Rocks Peru, 25 Feared Dead
By Miguel Zegarra
AREQUIPA, Peru (Reuters) - At least 25 people were reported to have been killed on Saturday when a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 rocked southern Peru, civil defense officials and reporters in the affected areas said.
``Fourteen people are believed dead in Moquegua,'' Juan Luis Podesta, head of the national civil defense agency, told Canal N cable television.
The agency told Reuters no overall official death toll was yet available, but one official added: ``It's going up minute by minute.''
Moquegua, a small town with cobbled streets where most of the houses are made from mud adobe, is some 856 miles south of Lima, near the Chilean border.
The quake -- one of the strongest worldwide in recent years -- struck at 4:33 p.m. EDT. Its epicenter was 51 miles northwest of the southern town of Ocona, Peru's Geophysical Institute said.
``There is an enormous quantity of injured and the dead are literally thrown about on the ground,'' an RPP reporter in Moquegua said, filing by satellite phone. He put the death toll there as high as 25 but CPN radio quoted hospital officials as saying there were 12 confirmed dead in Moquegua.
According to local residents, a landslide had blocked one of the town's chief roads and many houses had collapsed. ``We have nowhere to escape to,'' one man told RPP. Many residents were in the streets, preparing to spend the night outside in parks and other areas seen as secure, the radio said.
Peruvian officials said the earthquake measured six on the Richter scale but the U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) reported it as magnitude 7.9.
The USGS (news - web sites) said it struck Peru's Pacific coast some 375 miles southeast of Lima and 120 miles west of Arequipa, Peru's second city.
Tearful Peruvians phoned in to radio stations frantic for news of their family members in the affected areas.
STATE OF EMERGENCY IN PERU'S SECOND CITY
Red Cross officials confirmed two children had died in the city of Arequipa, Peru's second city, some 630 miles south of Lima, and police said 168 may be injured there.
Red Cross officials in Arequipa confirmed the death of two children. No further details were immediately available.
A civil defense spokesman said other people were also reported dead but there was no official confirmation.
Some 30 percent of the historic buildings had been damaged in Arequipa, known as Peru's ``white city'' because of its fine colonial architecture and churches.
Arequipa's mayor, Juan Manuel Guillen, said a state of emergency had been declared. The quake cut off electricity supplies, plunging the city into darkness, but power was restored by around 7 p.m. EDT.
``The city is paralyzed,'' a Reuters reporter in Arequipa said.
more... http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010623/ts/quake_peru_dc_5.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 885 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 23, 2001 (20:28) * 57 lines
If you have never gotten one of these on your monitor, count yourself lucky
TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 002
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED 23 JUN, 2212 UTC
THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE PACIFIC BASIN EXCEPT
CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND ALASKA.
. . . A TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH ARE IN EFFECT . . .
A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR:
CHILE, PERU, ECUADOR, COLOMBIA
A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR:
PANAMA, NICARAGUA, EL SALVADOR, MEXICO
FOR OTHER AREAS IN THE PACIFIC, THIS MESSAGE IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY.
AN EARTHQUAKE, PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE 8.2, OCCURRED 23 JUN, 2033 UTC.
COORDINATES: LATITUDE 16.0 SOUTH, LONGITUDE 73.3 WEST
VICINITY: NEAR COAST OF PERU.
EVALUATION: WE HAVE AN OBSERVATION OF A TSUNAMI AT ARICA, CHILE WITH
ZERO-TO-PEAK AMPLITUDE OF 0.8M
ESTIMATED TIMES OF INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL AT LOCATIONS WITHIN THE
WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE:
CHILE IQUIQUE 2125Z 23 JUN
ARICA 2137Z 23 JUN
ANTOFAGASTA 2159Z 23 JUN
CALDERA 2220Z 23 JUN
COQUIMBO 2255Z 23 JUN
VALPARAISO 2305Z 23 JUN
TALCAHUANO 0039Z 24 JUN
EASTER IS 0215Z 24 JUN
PERU LA PUNTA 2214Z 23 JUN
ECUADOR BALTRA IS. 0055Z 24 JUN
COLOMBIA TUMACO 0104Z 24 JUN
BUENAVENTURA 0110Z 24 JUN
BAHIA SOLANO 0135Z 24 JUN
PANAMA BALBOA HTS. 0303Z 24 JUN
NICARAGUA PUERTO SANDINO 0305Z 24 JUN
CORINTO 0310Z 24 JUN
SAN JUAN DL SUR 0316Z 24 JUN
EL SALVADOR ACAJUTLA 0324Z 24 JUN
MEXICO ACAPULCO 0342Z 24 JUN
BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.
THE TSUNAMI WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
RECIPIENTS OF THIS MESSAGE LOCATED IN CALIFORNIA, OREGON,
WASHINGTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND ALASKA SHOULD REFER ONLY
TO ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER MESSAGES FOR INFORMATION
ABOUT ANY TSUNAMI THREAT IN THOSE AREAS.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 886 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Sun, Jun 24, 2001 (03:47) * 6 lines
Hi
I had a brainwave (No - not a seismic wave or shockwave), about how we could shatter a bit of complacency our various corners of the world. Why don't we all
write letters to the local daily (for me the Press), about the Peruvian earthquake and remind the readers of the problems such earthquakes pose and that we are all overdue for a damaging event of considerable magnitude, and probable loss of life.
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 887 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jun 24, 2001 (18:58) * 3 lines
Splendid idea!!!
We know all too well. Our chief of Civil Defense and current Mayor were on all stations all day yesterday keeping us updated! To whom can I write on your behalf ???
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 888 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jun 24, 2001 (22:15) * 4 lines
I can FTP again. This photo is on my files at Spring! Next come the buttons and the Mt St Helen's sequence! As soon as I eat supper!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 889 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, Jun 25, 2001 (04:06) * 16 lines
Hi
Here is one for you. Write to editor@press.co.nz to post a letter in the 2nd largest newspaper currently circulating in New Zealand, or to
Hon. George Hawkins think his email is ghawkins@ministers.govt.nz (NOT SURE)
Minister Civil Defence
Parliament Buildings
Wellington
New Zealand
Spread the word. I was thinking a saturation of local dailies (like whatever is in Hilo for you and the Press if you are interested. If we pass the word to Sandi she can raise a storm in the LA Times. What do you say?? I have already written one to the Press (am waiting to see if it gets out)and the New Zealand Herald is next on my hit list. Also try applying the pressure on a state or even federal level if you REALLY want action.
I fired one to the Press after the Indian shake, and quite delibrately raise the issue at family gatherings, where as a general rule everyone agrees but no one is properly prepared. At the moment when he is not killing himself on the Air Plan for Canterbury, Dad agonises over how to attach bolts to the giant rimu shelf stand in the lounge. I am wondering how to secure the speakers of my music system without permanently marking the furniture they stand on. The television is my biggest problem, as it is about 29" from memory and is facing the chair that Dad usually sits in.
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 890 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 25, 2001 (15:57) * 5 lines
Excellent ideas, all! I shall write Press directly! Perhaps the fact that I share on my island the same tsunami threats you do on yours and have similar volcanic hazards might carry some weight. Also a few verbal scenes from my own disaster relief volunteering might make it more personal. I'll sure give it a try. By all means, get Sandi involved. How about Hardin? Complacency is a deadly thing!
I have a very large television which I considered sitting on a small platform on the floor. All it could do is fall over. However, a well-intentioned friend built a huge heavy case-stand surrounding it on three sides, and it is in a room with all glass on three sides. It is not going to be my refuge even though the seating is way back from the electronic equipment. All that glass has made it thorough several 6+ and one 7.2 Maginitude quakes intact. I am not counting on my luck, however, and in Hawaii, there are no heavy tables to get under. They simply don't have them here! I do have a box-framed no glass doorway which is heavily reinforeced and I have riden many quakes there. (I missed that one on the quiz because tables are impriacical here and box doorways are the best. Almost every house has one such place in it just for that reason!)
Can you move your dad's chair back? Our speakers (other than the tiny digital ones on this computer) are also sitting on the floor. Let's face it, Hawaii is the land of floor dwellers! *HUGS* Rob!!! Be safe!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 891 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Wed, Jun 27, 2001 (05:05) * 7 lines
Hi
Letters can't be more than 150 words long, which is a bit short I think, but that is the Press limit. Send your mailing address to confirm where you live with the letter and understand that not all letters get printed. It takes up to a week but sometimes as little as a day for letters to be printed, any responses have similar variation. www.stuff.co.nz does not have a letters section because it is a newspage for all New Zealand, but I will watch the Press for you - just like I have been watching everyday of publication for longer than I can remember.
No, I cannot move it - at least not without doing massive damage to the wall. Strongest points in the house are the doorways and desks. Because of their proximity to the section of kitchen ceiling above which the hot water cylinder rests, the two arches are not an option.
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 892 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 27, 2001 (14:14) * 6 lines
Thanks for the infmormation on limitation of number of words. I will edit carefully and let you know when it goes into the ether to The Press. I once wrote a lengthy letter to Radio Australia International after their superb coverage of the Olympics held in Los Angeles (our cover age was a total embarrassment.) Surprise! A few Sunday nights later, when I had forgotten all about it, "mailbag" program came on and they read my letter in its entirely with my full name and location. Since the resident troll was displeased with me at the time, only I heard it. As far as I know, no one I know heard it but me. I was delightfully incredulous!
I always add my address to my signature when I send things like that for verification purposes. Thanks for the reminder.
Stay out of the archways! I am still trying to figure why you have your water tank on the roof. Even with solar panels on the roof, our tank in anchored to the concrete slab and boxed in with 4x4's to secure it to the house studs.
On that quiz I only got 70% because out circumstances are unique out here. I knew what they wanted me to say, but I answered it as I would do to save my own life. Oh well. Now you know why I did not mention my results in your clubs. It would have taken too much space and incurred too much boredom if I had. *sigh*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 893 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 27, 2001 (18:58) * 1 lines
What does the Loch Ness Monster have to do with Earthquakes? Check Geo 9.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 894 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 27, 2001 (19:57) * 16 lines
Rob, is this first one real?
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauatamatemateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu is the name of a hill in New Zealand. At 57 letters, it tis the longest place name in the world and means "the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knee who slid, climbed,
and swallowed mountains, known as land-eater, played on his flute to his loved one."
According to regulations, a racehorse's name can be no
longer than 18 letters.
In the Mutt & Jeff comic strip, Jeff was named after Boxer
Jim Jeffries.
Tom Seaver's first name is actually "George."
The maximum weight of a basketball is 22.9 ounces.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 895 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (06:27) * 9 lines
Hi
Believe it or not, Taumata.................................................. (thats 50 dots for the other 50 letters) is real, but no one ever calls it by the full name for obvious reasons.
I heard about the Loch Ness thing. Now this is cool. If it is the logical explanation then so much for the 1500 year old story. First reaction was e-mail the story to a friend in Greenock near the southwestern end of the old fault zone. By sheer coincidence (story was not up online at the time)I mentioned in the e-mail that the Loch Ness is strait because it is in a valley that used to be dominated by a faultline (don't know if the fault is still functional).
I do not know which of the tanks is in the roof but I know where NOT to go in an earthquake. I also know that for a magnitude 8.1 the Peruvian people are lucky it was not on shore.
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 896 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (15:43) * 47 lines
The Great Glen, of which Loch Ness is the most famous part, is indeed a fault.
http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/DAAC_DOCS/geomorphology/GEO_2/GEO_PLATE_T-23.HTML
The topography in this scene of northwestern Scotland is deceptive because it suggests relatively simple underlying geology
(Price, 1976). In fact, the Plate fails to reveal some very interesting aspects of this region that is so important to the
development of geologic concepts. Here, G. Barrow first arrived at his concepts of metamorphic zones and index minerals
in the Dalradian schists. The region is also noted for excellent exposures of ring dikes and cauldrons and its assemblages of
Precambrian and Lower Paleozoic crystalline rocks. It is also the type of locality for the Caledonian orogeny. The
Highlands can be correlated with the Scandinavian Highlands (Norway) and the northern Appalachians, which once
formed a continuous belt before the breakup of Pangaea.
In the Plate, the most prominent topographic feature is the long linear depression along which several lakes, including Loch
Ness (Figure T-23.1), are aligned. This feature is a valley developed in a l-km wide zone of weakness associated with the
Great Glen fault (Anderson, 1978). Devonian rocks in the valley suggest that it is quite ancient (initial erosion must be
Pre-Devonian). The fault is left-lateral transcurrent with a cumulative horizontal displacement of 104 km (with some vertical
movement). The Great Glen fault separates two geomorphic units, the Northern and the Grampian Highlands. The
southeast edge of the latter lies along the Highland Boundary Fracture Zone, a normal fault that borders the Midlands
graben.
Precambrian assemblages comprised a craton against which much of the Caledonian tectonic activity was directed
(Anderson, 1978). The Caledonian Front is marked by the Moine thrust (roughly along the left edge of Plate). Behind the
Front, the rocks of the Highlands consist mainly of the Moine schists (Late Precambrian, with some activity perhaps as
young as 410 Ma) distributed about equally on either side of the Great Glen fault. West of the fault, the terrane is sliced by
a series of westward-directed thrust sheets associated with autochthonous nappes, which impart a northeast lineation to the
topography. Valley adjustment is guided by these faults. These sheets consist of Lewisian, Torridonian, Moinian (mostly
metasedimentary), and some Cambrian units; most displacements carry older rocks over younger ones. In parts of this
subregion (e.g., around Inverness) are deposits of Devonian Old Red Sandstone, moderately deformed, that rest
unconformably on the older metamorphic assemblages.
The Late Precambrian-Cambrian Dalradian metamorphic rocks occupy roughly the eastern third of the Grampian
Highlands. In the Grampian Highlands, in addition to Moinian and Dalradian units and deformed Old Red Sandstone beds,
there are remnants of sediments laid down in the Carboniferous, Permo-Triassic (New Red Sandstone), and the Lias.
Structurally, the older metasedimentary rocks (and the underlying Lewisian units) were affected by at least three or four
major folding phases, commencing probably in Mid-Ordovician and culminating with the first stage of the Caledonian
orogeny in Late Silurian that continued into Late Devonian. Kyanite and sillimanite grade metamorphism affected all older
rocks.
The landscape of the Highlands (Embleton, 1984) is rugged, bleak, and strangely beautiful. The highly dissected terrain
indicates great differences in rock resistance. Steep- sided towers of Torridonian sandstones, as well as cuestas and
plateaus cut from other rocks, add diversity to the vistas (Figure T-23.2). The mountain on the right, towering above the
exhumed SubTorridonian surface of low relief, is an erosional remnant, an outlier of the Moine thrust. Bare rock is
common, with a cover of forests, heath, and brush. Rounded knobby hills and monadnocks and mountain ranges above
1000 m alternate with low moors. The land was largely covered by Late Pleistocene glacial ice. The high plateau area has
been glacially eroded to form cirques, arêtes, sharp ridges, and broad glacial troughs, many of which are filled by lakes.
Many valleys are ice-sculptured weak zones along faults. Fjord-like inlets (firths) on the west coast are also ice cut.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 897 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (15:47) * 4 lines
Postglacial Tectonics and Palaeoseismicity in the Scottish Highlands
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/depts/geo/modules/fieldguide.html
A whole bunch more including one comparing the Great Glen with the San Andreas Fault http://www.google.com/search?q=Great%2BGlen%2Bfault%2Bactivity
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 898 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (15:49) * 3 lines
Yup, Peruvians, as bad as it was, are fortunate it was not on land. The body count would be horrendous.
Now, about that water tank on your roof, I'll just plug you into my worrying each time the ground moves under your feet and it was not some nubile maiden causing it to happen *;)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 899 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (15:53) * 1 lines
That Maori place name sounds like some of the ones in Wales. Hawaiians usually break them into other words so one can breathe and still get the words out.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 900 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (17:48) * 50 lines
What Makes Fireflies Flash? Nitric Oxide
Reuters
Jun 28 2001 1:59PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - They flash when they want sex, but what
makes them do it? For fireflies, it is a matter of highly specific chemistry,
scientists reported on Thursday.
Researchers have long known that the fireflies' flash is part of a mating
ritual, but they have not known until now exactly how the signal gets from
the insects' brains to their lanterns, as the luminous sections of their
abdomens are called.
"For a long time there's been a bit of mystery about how the nerve cells
that control the lantern actually can trigger the light production," said Barry
Trimmer, a neurobiologist at Tufts University in Boston, whose research
was published in the journal Science.
Part of the mystery lies in the fact that the nerve cells never touch the cells
that make the light, Trimmer said in a telephone interview.
The signal to flash in a specific way -- different firefly species flash in
different ways -- is transmitted by molecules of nitric oxide, a common
gas also found in human brains.
Not to be confused with nitrous oxide, the "laughing gas" sometimes
used recreationally and by dentists to ease discomfort, nitric oxide
controls blood pressure in humans and other animals.
It also is a major factor in penile erection in mammals, Trimmer said,
though this has nothing to do with the fireflies' love life.
"It's a very important molecule but it's unique in that it can travel right
across cell membranes and it can go more or less where it likes, but it
lasts for only a few seconds," he said of nitric oxide.
This short-lived gas is what triggers the light flash, Trimmer said.
Every firefly species have a distinctive pattern of flashes, and there are
some 130 species in the United States. However, Trimmer and his fellow
researchers only worked with two species and they only had two months
a year to do it, owing to the short summer season in New England.
The insect's brain controls the type and duration of flashing, with some
firefly species having one long flash and others having three short
flashes in a row, he said.
Scientists who study the human nervous system often do research using
insects, because insects' brains can stay alive even when they are
removed from the insects' bodies, Trimmer said.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 901 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 6, 2001 (19:40) * 53 lines
----------------------------------------------------------
/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert
\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org)
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* Single electrons flick the switch: (6 Jul)
Physicists have long dreamt of a transistor that can be
switched on and off by just one electron. To date, most
prototype devices have only worked at very low
temperatures, but a buckled carbon nanotube could be the
answer, according to Cees Dekker and co-workers at Delft
University of Technology in the Netherlands. Dekker's
group has successfully controlled the current flow in a
portion of such a tube at room temperature by loading
individual electrons into it (H Postma et al 2001
Science 293 76).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/7/3 ]
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* High-energy and particle physics win prizes: (6 Jul)
Groundbreaking research into high-energy physics has been
recognised by the European Physical Society following its
2001 awards. The prizes will be presented on 16 July at
the International Europhysics Conference on High Energy
Physics in Budapest, Hungary.
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/7/4 ]
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* Antiproton weighs in: (6 Jul)
The most accurate measurement yet of the mass of the
antiproton - the antimatter counterpart of the proton -
has been announced by the ASACUSA collaboration. Japanese
and European physicists joined forces at the antiproton
decelerator at CERN to establish that the proton and
antiproton charges and masses agree to within six parts
in 100 million (M Hori et al 2001 Phys. Rev.
Lett. to appear).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/7/5 ]
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* BaBar claims matter-antimatter first: (6 Jul)
Physicists from the BaBar experiment at Stanford in the
US have directly detected charge-parity violation for the
first time. CP violation is thought to explain why the
universe is composed entirely of matter, even though
equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been
created in the Big Bang. 'The result determines directly
for the first time the magnitude of the fundamental
matter-antimatter asymmetry in Nature' says Paul Harrison
of Queen Mary College in London and chair of the BaBar
steering committee in the UK.
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/7/6 ]
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 902 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 7, 2001 (15:01) * 21 lines
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* Atoms perform a quantum flip : (5 Jul)
Everyday experience - and Newton's first law of motion -
tells us that a billiard ball rolling in one direction
cannot spontaneously start move in the opposite
direction. But such rules do not apply in the quantum
world, where atoms have been seen performing this trick -
known as 'dynamical tunnelling' - according to two teams
of physicists. The teams found that atoms can jump back
and forth between two stable states of motion that have
equal and opposite momentum, without passing through the
zero momentum state that separates them (W Hensinger
et al 2001 Nature 412 52, D Steck
et al 2001 Sciencexpress 1061569).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/7/2 ]
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 903 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jul 8, 2001 (17:54) * 3 lines
This digital photograph was sent from MGI PhotoSuite II: The Complete PC Photography Experience. Visit http://www.mgisoft.com for more information.
.JPG)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 904 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Jul 9, 2001 (19:09) * 1 lines
9/10's of the iceberg really is below the waterline.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 905 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 9, 2001 (21:18) * 1 lines
Yup! This is the first time I have ever seen its actuality. The most beautiful part is under the water!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 906 of 1406: horrible horace (horrible) * Tue, Jul 10, 2001 (16:42) * 1 lines
Same as when I go swimming :)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 907 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 10, 2001 (18:45) * 1 lines
*lauging helplessly* You mean I gotta take up SCUBA to see the best side of you?! Next time you pop into that frigid stuff I will be down there checking!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 908 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jul 12, 2001 (00:16) * 11 lines
The ever-vigilant and worthy of hugs Liam has found us this:
UMass Researcher Solves the Mystery of the Shower Curtain
AMHERST, Mass. - There’s no way to get rid of the daily
annoyance of the shower curtain billowing in and sticking to
an exposed body part, but there’s now a way to explain the
phenomenon, thanks to a researcher at the University of
Massachusetts.
more... http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/archive/2001/070901shower.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 909 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jul 12, 2001 (21:22) * 21 lines
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* Superconductivity: boron goes it alone: (12 Jul)
Boron - one of the lightest elements in the periodic
table - becomes a superconductor when it is squeezed,
according to a team led by Russell Hemley of the Carnegie
Institute of Washington in the US. They found that boron
loses its resistance to electrical current below 6 kelvin
and at a pressure of 160 gigapascals. Now theorists must
explain why the 'transition temperature' of boron rises
as the pressure increases, in contrast with other metals
(M I Eremets et al 2001 Science 293
272).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/7/10 ]
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 910 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jul 12, 2001 (21:43) * 6 lines
The Shuttle Atlantis is up and working on the ISS. To watch NASA TV
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/rrg2.pl?encoder/nasatv.rm
To find where to look and when to look to see it with your own eyes over your home:
http://www.skypub.com/sights/satellites/iss.shtml
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 911 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Jul 12, 2001 (21:47) * 1 lines
that iceberg pic is beautiful! and we know that's where they get the phrase "that's just the tip of the iceberg"!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 912 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Jul 12, 2001 (21:50) * 1 lines
gollleeee, i have to get up really early to see this thing. can i expect more than a satellite trapsing above me? will we be able to tell what we're looking at?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 913 of 1406: _cosmo_ (aa9il) * Thu, Jul 12, 2001 (21:59) * 10 lines
Watching sats are cool - Amsat is selling a tracking program
for $30 - Instant Track - Amsat also has the keps for various
satellites including the iss so you can calculate passes and
watch the satellite footprint over the earth.
Worth the investment!
73 de AA9IL
Mike
r c i
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 914 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jul 12, 2001 (23:01) * 1 lines
J-Track has a free one! http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 915 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jul 12, 2001 (23:03) * 3 lines
Mike, check out J-track and see if I need to buy yet more software.
I do buy it, by the way. I do not keep using sharware indefinitely! The inventors need to eat, too so the least I can do is to pay for my share of their brilliance!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 916 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 13, 2001 (18:10) * 13 lines
Comet LINEAR Flares Again
Space Weather News for July, Friday the 13th
http://www.spaceweather.com
Just yesterday Comet LINEAR (C/2001 A2) was fading from view as it receded
from Earth. But now the volatile comet is again a naked-eye object. It's
glowing at about 4th magnitude in the pre-dawn sky with a pair of tails
you see through binoculars or a modest telescope. Comet LINEAR has a
history of crumbling then flaring as freshly exposed ice is vaporized by
sunlight. What will the comet do in the days ahead? See for yourself!
Visit SpaceWeather.com for details.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 917 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 14, 2001 (00:29) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 918 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 14, 2001 (00:34) * 1 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 919 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 14, 2001 (00:36) * 1 lines
Well, Cocco, it does not work! The marquee command and yapp software do not work but it is heartfelt in any case. The command was supposed to make the words scroll across the page and it does work elsewhere, but not here!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 920 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sat, Jul 14, 2001 (09:04) * 1 lines
they do scroll, marcia!! now how'd you do that?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 921 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sat, Jul 14, 2001 (09:08) * 1 lines
She's a 'wiz that's how!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 922 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 14, 2001 (15:26) * 2 lines
You have to use Internet Explorer to see it, Wolfie. Watch for your email. Believe it or not, I taught a guy in Barcelona, Spain (his English is splendid)
basic html. He is a fast learner. He came back later in my day and overnight for him with this scrolling programming.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 923 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 14, 2001 (15:28) * 22 lines
----------------------------------------------------------
/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert
\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org)
==========================================================
----------------------------------------------------------
| News
==========================================================
* Optical clock is on the dot : (13 Jul)
The world's most accurate atomic clock - which uses the
oscillations of visible light as a 'pendulum' - has been
developed by Thomas Udem and colleagues at the National
Institute of Standards and Technology and the University
of Colorado in the US. The 'optical clock' is around
seven times more accurate than existing atomic clocks,
which are based on longer-wavelength microwave signals.
Udem's team used a 'frequency comb' to link the
high-frequency optical signal emitted by a mercury ion to
a more manageable microwave frequency (S Diddams et
al 2001 Science to appear).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/7/11 ]
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 924 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 17, 2001 (18:32) * 20 lines
**********************************
Occultation of Venus Tonight
**********************************
Off-topic heads up that today the moon (a waning crescent) will
occult Venus as seen from the continental U.S., Hawaii, northern
Mexico, Cuba, the Caribbean, and the most populated regions of
Canada. This a daytime occultation, so binoculars or a telescope
will afford the best view, though in clear blue skies both the moon
and Venus can be seen naked eye.
For the Los Angeles area, the occultation begins around 10:17am PDT
and ends at 11:50am. For Washington, D.C., it starts at 2:30pm EDT
and ends at 3:36pm. See the July issue of Sky & Telescope, pp.
100-102 for a map and a table of times for various major cities.
Or you can run SkyMap for your specific location, and play with the
map time to see when Venus disappears and reappears from behind
the moon.
(I also posted this in Geo 24...)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 925 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 17, 2001 (18:36) * 2 lines
I guess it is over for most of us by now and it is cloudy here, in any case.
Did anyone catch it?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 926 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 18, 2001 (20:16) * 35 lines
and you knew it all along:
----------------------------------------------------------
/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert
\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org)
==========================================================
----------------------------------------------------------
| News
==========================================================
* Latest superconductor has an iron constitution : (18
Jul)
Japanese physicists have demonstrated for the first time
that iron becomes a superconductor under high pressure.
Katsuya Shimizu and colleagues at Osaka University found
that iron loses its strong ferromagnetism - which usually
destroys superconductivity - at pressures around 15
gigapascals and temperatures below 2 kelvin. The team
also detected the Meissner effect, another signature of
superconductivity, in iron (K Shimizu et al 2001
Nature 412 316).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/7/12 ]
----------------------------------------------------------
* Bose-Einstein condensation bursts out: (18 Jul)
Explosions and collapses are two of the latest effects to
be observed in the most detailed study yet of the
dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates - the so-called
fifth form of matter. Elizabeth Donley and colleagues at
the University of Colorado and the National Institute of
Standards and Technology are confident that their
observations of ultracold rubidium atoms will produce new
insights into the quantum world (E Donley et al
2001 Nature 412 295).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/7/13 ]
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 927 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 18, 2001 (22:59) * 3 lines
Ok Geophiles, here is one to add to your bookmarks. It has all sorts of neat links and might even make cool wallpaper for your desptop.
http://www.ktf-split.hr/periodni/en/index.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 928 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jul 19, 2001 (23:48) * 68 lines
(((((((((((((((((( McAfee.com Dispatch )))))))))))))))))))))
------------------------------------------------------------
**VIRUS ALERT - W32/SirCam@MM (Sir Cam Virus)**
------------------------------------------------------------
[This message is brought to you as a subscriber to the
McAfee.com Dispatch. To unsubscribe, please follow the
instructions at the bottom of the page.]
McAfee.com has seen a large and growing number of consumer
computers infected with W32/SirCam@MM. This is a HIGH RISK
VIRUS FOR CONSUMERS. The infected email can come from
addresses that you recognize. Attached is a file with two
different extensions. The file name itself varies.
The email message can appear as follows:
Subject: [filename (random)]
Body: [content varies]
Hi! How are you?
I send you this file in order to have your advice
or I hope you can help me with this file that I send
or I hope you like the file that I sendo you
or This is the file with the information that you ask for
See you later. Thanks
--- the same message may be received in Spanish ---
Hola como estas ?
Te mando este archivo para que me des tu punto de vista
or Espero me puedas ayudar con el archivo que te mando
or Espero te guste este archivo que te mando
or Este es el archivo con la información que me pediste
Nos vemos pronto, gracias.
The virus searches for .GIF, .JPG, .JPEG, .MPEG, .MOV, .MPG,
.PDF, .PNG, .PS, and .ZIP files in the MY DOCUMENTS folder
and attempts to send copies of these documents to email
recipients found in the Windows Address Book and addresses
found in cached files.
For detection and removal instructions for the Sir Cam Virus,
click here.
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=2371
McAfee.com VirusScan Online and Clinic subscribers:
If you don't have ActiveShield installed and updated, you
are not protected from this virus. Click here to download
ActiveShield.
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=2372
Retail VirusScan Users:
Version 4.0.70 and above with DAT file 4148 will detect and
remove this virus. To download the latest DAT files,
click here.
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=2253
____________________________________________________________
________________________Virus Fixes_________________________
Find out more about this virus. Click here to go to the
W32/SirCam@mm Help Center.
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=2371
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 929 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jul 26, 2001 (00:03) * 19 lines
If Mount Pinatubo's brimming lake overflows, the towns downstream are in
big trouble
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991071
Could folic acid supplements lead to more twins?
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991070
A strap-on robotic skeleton will make light work of heavy lifting jobs
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991072
A bizarre theft in Florida left nine people eating transgenic sausage
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991074
A new battery that can be printed on paper
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991069
Bone marrow cells can develop into kidney cells
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991068
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 930 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 27, 2001 (13:58) * 29 lines
TITAN 4 TO LAUNCH BEFORE DAWN FRIDAY FROM CAPE
----------------------------------------------
America's most powerful unmanned rocket is ready to launch the next space sentry that will stand guard in orbit to spot enemy missile launches and nuclear explosions. Liftoff of the Titan 4B rocket with the Defense Support Program-21 satellite is slated for 4:08 a.m. EDT on Friday.
http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b31/status.html
CRAFT SNAPS EXTRAORDINARY IMAGES OF MT. ETNA ERUPTION
-----------------------------------------------------
NASA's Terra satellite captured the July 22 explosion of the Mt. Etna volcano in remarkable images. Etna is located near the eastern coast of Sicily, to the southwest of mainland Italy. Major eruptions have been issuing from both summit and flank vents.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/26mtetna/
STAR WITH MIDRIFF BULGE EYED BY ASTRONOMERS
-------------------------------------------
For the first time ever, a star spinning so fast its mid-section is stretched out has been directly measured by an ultra-high-resolution NASA telescope system on Palomar Mountain near San Diego.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/26altair/
SATELLITE FLIES THROUGH EARTH'S MAGNETIC TAIL, SEES RARE EVENT
--------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to a fluke encounter while flying through the Earth's magnetic tail two years ago, NASA's Wind spacecraft may have solved a long-standing mystery about how the sun's magnetic field interacts with that of the Earth.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/26wind/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 931 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 28, 2001 (21:43) * 6 lines
You won't believe this:
* New! More Satellite Views from Space Now Available
http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagepump/index.php
Check out more incredible satellite views from space. Our new collection contains a wonderful view of the Hollywood sign, the Barringer Meteorite Crater in Arizona, and much more.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 932 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sun, Jul 29, 2001 (11:43) * 1 lines
Is this a breakthrough, can you see your own neighborhood?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 933 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sun, Jul 29, 2001 (13:18) * 1 lines
No, I haven't dropped off the end of the Earth, or more precisely spun off of the sphere. I'm back and do I ever have a lot of catching up to do. I hope that you, Marcia, Wolfie, Terry; et al, are all doing well.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 934 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jul 29, 2001 (15:49) * 3 lines
Cheryl!!! *HUGS* of welcome back. I was about to send the 7th Fleet to look for you. (How deep is the Ohio River at Pittsburgh?!)
They take very few satellite photos of Hawaii that they actually make available to the public. That means only terrorists have access to them (don't they always?!) There are images of Kilauea from space but I am not close enough to be in the photo, fortunately. I can't believe that Medina photo or the airport photos. I'll be checking for the next releases. Have they found you yet, Terry? It's like very long distance "Where's Waldo."
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 935 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sun, Jul 29, 2001 (21:34) * 3 lines
you know what? this just occurred to me. i had watched a show some time ago concerning whether or not we really went to the moon. they had some convincing photos to prove that perhaps we didn't. they said that we have no telescopes powerful enough to veiw the surface of the moon. OK, here's the thought: we have satellites that can take pictures of license plate numbers, why can't they focus on the moon and find the flag we put there?
(hi everybody!!! *HUGS*)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 936 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 30, 2001 (01:40) * 1 lines
Wolfie, try reading a newspaper on your lap using a strong pair of binoculars. You can't do it because you cannot focus that short of a focal distance. Neither can these telescopic cameras. They are specific for their use just as the Hubble is. The Earth-photographing satellites are too near (short) sighted to see the moon and the Hubble is WAY too far sighted.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 937 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 30, 2001 (01:43) * 2 lines
Ooooh I cannot wait till John gets back to Volos from Athens.
Beaming smiles and hugs to him!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 938 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 30, 2001 (15:19) * 49 lines
(((((((((( Code Red Virus ))))))))))
A Very Real and Present Threat to the Internet:
July 31 Deadline For Action
Summary: The Code Red Worm and mutations of the worm pose a continued and
serious threat to Internet users. Immediate action is required to combat this threat.
Users who have deployed software that is vulnerable to the worm (Microsoft IIS
Versions 4.0 and 5.0) must install, if they have not done so already, a vital security
patch.
How Big Is The Problem? On July 19, the Code Red worm infected more than 250,000
systems in just 9 hours. The worm scans the Internet, identifies vulnerable systems,
and infects these systems by installing itself. Each newly installed worm joins all the
others causing the rate of scanning to grow rapidly. This uncontrolled growth in
scanning directly decreases the speed of the Internet and can cause sporadic but
widespread outages among all types of systems. Code Red is likely to start spreading
again on July 31st, 2001 8:00 PM EDT and has mutated so that it may be even more
dangerous. This spread has the potential to disrupt business and personal use of the
Internet for applications such as electronic commerce, email and entertainment.
Who Must Act? Every organization or person who has Windows NT or Windows 2000
systems AND the IIS web server software may be vulnerable. IIS is installed
automatically for many applications. If you are not certain, follow the instructions to
determine whether you are running IIS 4.0 or 5.0. If you are using Windows 95,
Windows 98, or Windows Me, there is no action that you need to take in response to
this alert.
What To Do If You Are Vulnerable?
a. To rid your machine of the current worm, reboot your computer.
b. To protect your system from re-infection: Install the patch as specified in the
instructions.
The security bulletin that describes the patch and the vulnerability it addresses is
posted at: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-033.asp
Because of the importance of this threat, this alert is being made jointly by:
Microsoft
The National Infrastructure Protection Center
Federal Computer Incident Response Center (FedCIRC)
Information Technology Association of America (ITAA)
CERT Coordination Center
SANS Institute
Internet Security Systems
Internet Security Alliance
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 939 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Jul 30, 2001 (17:40) * 3 lines
Thanks for the hugs, Marcia. *HUGS* I don't think that the Seventh Fleet could get up the Ohio, but they could alert the Coast Guard here. Pittsburgh is a large inland port. We do need rain but the Ohio and Monongahela were deep enough to accomodate a very large concrete piece of preconstructed dam to to be moved up river by barge last Friday.
The redworm virus is frightening. Thanks for the information.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 940 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 31, 2001 (15:16) * 7 lines
Wow! That must have been something to watch being floated up river. Where are they installing it?
I know how big the Rivers really are - I've been to Point Park (it was called that before the staduim was built, I think - in hope of urban renewal.)
Coast Guard works for me. They are kept busy rescuing the crazy surfers and fishermen. Just let me know when to send them over!
Re: The Red Worm virus, I am happy with W98 and now I know why! I have heard of 20 of the same USGS earthquake reports being bounced to one poor user. So far so good for us.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 941 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 3, 2001 (17:05) * 23 lines
Just what you wanted to know - from Liam
RAT GENES INCREASE VITAMIN C IN PLANTS
BLACKSBURG, July 26, 2001 Genes from the lowly rat may hold the key to increasing Vitamin C in the world s food supply. Craig Nessler, head of plant physiology, pathology, and weed science at Virginia Tech, has found that by transferring certain rat genes into lettuce, he can turn on the plant s latent Vitamin-C-producing pathway. In laboratory experiments using that process, he increased the level of Vitamin C in lettuce by 700 percent.
But Nessler says we shouldn t expect to see the rat-altered lettuce in grocery stores. "We realize that a plant altered by a rat gene wouldn t appeal to consumers," he says.
He and his colleagues are using what they ve learned from the rat-gene work to try to discover other ways to stimulate the Vitamin C gene in lettuce and other plants.
Nessler chose to use rats in his research because the gene was readily available and rodents are natural producers of Vitamin C.
"The reason sailors on their way to the new world got scurvy while rats thrived was because humans have lost the ability we once had to make our own Vitamin C, while rats have retained it," he explains. Humans still have the gene, but a genetic defect has rendered it inoperative.
Nessler says his work is a specific way to do what nature has been doing throughout the earth s history the hybridization of plants. "Nature does it by chance, and farmers have been doing cross-pollination by hand for years," he says. "But now we have the ability, through biotechnology, to be very specific in what new traits we introduce into plants."
According to Nessler, the method plants use to produce vitamin C is virtually unknown to scientists. They do know, however, that the vitamin serves as a preservative, and theorized that if they could increase the level of Vitamin C in lettuce, the product would have longer shelf life. It also might help keep salad-bar lettuce fresh which would be welcomed by the restaurant industry. Vitamin C is a natural product, in contrast to biosulfites, which the FDA banned from use on raw foods because one out of 100 people has an allergic reaction to them.
Nessler says that the timing of his experiment was fortunate. Shortly after he and his colleagues had successfully introduced the gene into lettuce, another scientist s paper stated that plant and animal biochemical pathways differed so much that animal genes could not work in plants. So, theoretically, he says, the experiment shouldn t have worked and if he had read and believed the conclusions of that article, he might never have attempted it.
"Because they are immobile, plants tend to have better biochemistry than animals," Nessler says. He theorizes that plants may have both plant and animal pathways, or that there may be a stronger connection between the pathways than previous research has shown.
Although Nessler does not think that lettuce enriched in Vitamin C through rat genes will ever be commercially available, he does hope that his research will result in more acceptable ways to turn on latent vitamin production in lettuce and other crops. His hope, he says, is that the discoveries from his research will one day improve the nutrition of people in developing countries. "It s important that people with limited food resources get more vitamins into their diet, if they are to survive and be healthy," he says.
He notes that research has provided evidence that Vitamin C and other antioxidants also help prevent symptoms of aging related to dementia.
"This kind of technology is extremely good for both mankind and the planet," Nessler says. "With the precision of the scalpel, we can breed very specific traits into plants. Most efforts in the past have been directed at making it easier for the farmer to produce good crops. We re using this same kind of biotechnology in an attempt to improve the plant for the consumer."
And someday, Nessler hopes, a big salad may be just as rich a source of Vitamin C as a tall glass of orange juice.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 942 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 3, 2001 (22:26) * 21 lines
Earth 'is 200m years older than we thought'
By Robert Uhlig
THE ground beneath our feet may be 200 million years
older than previously thought.
According to an improved dating technique, the Earth's
crust is now thought to be 4.3 rather than 4.1 billion years
old. The finding by German scientists means that models of
the formation of the core, intermediate mantle and surface
crust must be revised.
It could also help to solve the conundrum of how life
emerged on Earth so soon after the planet's formation. The
oldest rocks contain evidence of life and photosynthesis up
to four billion years ago, but the Solar System formed only
about 4.5 billion years ago.
more... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected?ac=005695042353513&rtmo=gGYGkk7u&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/et/01/8/2/ecnearth02.html
Liam strikes again! Thank you, dear. Does anyone think we need a planetary geology topic?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 943 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Aug 5, 2001 (17:40) * 10 lines
* Element 118 disappears two years after it was
discovered: (2 Aug)
Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
in the US have retracted their claim to have discovered
element 118. The retraction follows more detailed
analysis of the original data at Berkeley and the failure
of experiments at Berkeley, the RIKEN laboratory in
Japan, and the GSI laboratory in Germany to observe the
element.
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/8/1 ]
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 944 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Aug 5, 2001 (22:31) * 4 lines
If you are a user of Yahoo Messenger you may have gotten a dire warning about their charging if we do not submit "1000,000" signatures. It is NOT true.
Check Yahoo's help site for confirmation:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/mesg/mesg-01.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 945 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Aug 6, 2001 (18:52) * 3 lines
Marcia, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner with the answer to your question about where the dam was being installed. In an earlier post I'd mentioned that a concrete dam had been floated up the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers. It is actually half of the intended dam to be installed at Braddock. It will replace the century old, leaking Braddock Lock and Dam 2. It's currently at Duquesne for more work. It will then be floated to Braddock; where it will be manoevered into place and be flooded to hold it there.
The reason it is being basically constructed elsewhere and moved, is to save money. It is more cost effective than constructing temporary dams on the Monongahela until the construction would be completed. The dam was moved 27 miles along the two rivers and at one point on the Monongahela only cleared the river bottom by 6 inches.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 946 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Aug 9, 2001 (16:58) * 1 lines
test
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 947 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Aug 9, 2001 (20:58) * 1 lines
Sorry we're down right now. I'm working on fixing it. Meantime, we can meet in the austen chat room. See the link on Spring's main page.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 948 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Aug 13, 2001 (15:40) * 1 lines
Whoopee, we're back up and running. Y'all come and I will tell the world of a very busy seismic weekend (wouldn't you know!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 949 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 15, 2001 (19:50) * 20 lines
----------------------------------------------------------
/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert
\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org)
==========================================================
----------------------------------------------------------
| News
==========================================================
* Ion strings make brilliant beams : (15 Aug)
Physicists have long struggled to combat heating in the
ion beams used in high-energy experiments. Laser cooling
can be used to reduce collisions between the ions, which
create heat and reduce the energy of the beam. Now Ulrich
Schramm and colleagues at the University of Munich have
created the first 'crystalline' ion beam, which is
virtually free from collisions. "The crystalline beam is
the ultimate state for an ion beam in terms of brilliance
and stability", Schramm told PhysicsWeb. "It represents a
different phase and has its own properties" (T Schatz
et al 2001 Nature 412 717).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/8/12 ]
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 950 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 15, 2001 (19:55) * 17 lines
An animal epidemic is called an epizootic.
Murphy's Oil Soap is the chemical most commonly used to
clean elephants.
The United States has never lost a war in which mules were
used.
Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald
Reagan
All porcupines float in water.
Cat's urine glows under a blacklight.
.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 951 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 15, 2001 (20:01) * 62 lines
BRAIN INSPIRES NEW MEMORIES
Quantum memories should mimic ours.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-4.html
UDDER SUICIDE
E. coli kill off milk-making mammary cells.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-3.html
ROBOCUP 2001 BOOTS UP
Soccer automatons' clash drives AI big league.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-1.html
DINOSAUR FACES REARRANGED
Palaeontologist picks new place for dinosaur nostrils.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-2.html
LEAN MACHINES A GOOD GAG
View from tilting-trains can be sickening.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010802/010802-13.html
POPULATION SET TO DECLINE
The world's population may peak by 2070.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010802/010802-10.html
COLD COMFORT FOR SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
High-temperature superconductors are like low-temperature ones
after all.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010802/010802-11.html
STARRY AURA SPOTTED
Red dwarf's corona glimpsed from ground.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010802/010802-12.html
ANTIMATTER MICROSCOPE FINDS FAULTS
Semiconductor manufacturers could soon have a new way to
detect defects.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010802/010802-8.html
PI SHARED FAIRLY
Mathematicians edge closer to proving that all numbers get an
equal slice of pi.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010802/010802-9.html
LIGHTNING JUMPSTARTS EVOLUTION
Shocked bacteria swap genes.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010802/010802-7.html
ORGANIC WHITE BULB MIXED
Two blues make a white-light-emitting device.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010802/010802-6.html
MUCK, GLORIOUS MUCK
Modified pigs make greener manure.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010802/010802-5.html
=====================================================================
Nature Science Update is produced by the Nature News Service
-- the popular science news syndication arm of the leading
international science journal Nature.
To find out about buying news and features like this for your
website or news paper please e-mail:
mailto:syndication@nature.com.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 952 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 17, 2001 (18:38) * 16 lines
NASA Langley Laser Activity
Laser light activity will be conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center, adjacent to the Langley AFB, Hampton, Va at 58,000 FT MSL [37 05 47 North / 076 23 22 West].
The laser activity will start Aug. 20, 1300 UTC and end Aug. 21, 1200 UTC.
This is a vertical laser.
Keith Stein, Editor (kstein@erols.com)
Space & Missile Defense Report (SMDR)
http://www.kingpublishing.com/publications/sm/
Popular Communications Magazine, Space Monitor
http://www.popular-communications.com/
SpaceCluster.Com
http://www.spacecluster.com/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 953 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Aug 19, 2001 (23:44) * 43 lines
New Scientist Newsletter 18 August 2001
What does your computer password tell us about you?
http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opfeedback.jsp?id=ns230499#14
Why temporary tattoos can spell trouble
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991160
Is the football manager an endangered species?
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991163
New Scientist talks to the first "professor of happiness"
http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp?id=ns23045
Billions of identical chickens could soon be rolling off production
lines
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991159
A new device can read rock guitarists' lips
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991162
The mobile phone with a flair for languages
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991161
AND FINALLY...
If you're pushed for time and macaroni cheese is your thing, then you're
in luck. A company called BreakAway Foods of Columbus, Ohio, has frozen
and packaged macaroni cheese in a cardboard cylinder so it's ready to
eat after a minute in the microwave. Better still, insert a stick into
the heated package, and you can push it up to eat like an ice lolly as
you wander about - mmm, yum-yum...
http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opfeedback.jsp?id=ns230499#12
*************************************************************************
Discover how five individuals have dedicated their lives to preserving
and understanding the animal kingdom. Their unique projects, supported
by the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, include elusive snow leopards,
unique seahorses, colourful seabirds, majestic griffon vultures, and
industrious ground beetles - some of the world's living wonders.
http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;3152517;6044940;c?http://www.rolexawards.com
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 954 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 22, 2001 (17:21) * 23 lines
The latest NASA satellite images of the earth: They are amazing!
Widespread Fires in the Pacific Northwest
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5104
Nasca Lines, Peru
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5103
Klamath Basin, California-Oregon
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5102
Lava Plateaus in Argentina
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5101
Fires in California, Nevada, and Oregon
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5100
A CLAMS-Eye View of Earth
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5099
Smoke Blankets Siberia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5098
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 955 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 23, 2001 (21:28) * 19 lines
Much to my sorrow, I post this Obituary. I met him once...
----------------------------------------------------------
/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert
\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org)
==========================================================
----------------------------------------------------------
| News
==========================================================
* Sir Fred Hoyle 1915 - 2001: (22 Aug)
The astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle has died at the age of 86.
Hoyle famously coined the phrase 'big bang' to describe
the explosion in which the universe was born, but
rejected that idea in favour of his 'steady-state'
theory. Hoyle was the first to realise that all chemical
elements are created inside stars by nucleosynthesis - a
central idea in modern astrophysics - but missed out on a
Nobel Prize for his efforts.
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/8/16 ]
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 956 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 24, 2001 (01:13) * 1 lines
I watched the International Space Station go over just now with Beethoven coming to me through my windows.....it was glorious and brilliant. Nothing like having the Emperor Concerto to accompany celestial events. Alas I was elated alone and cheered quietly for them as they glided across an opening in the clouds. People, stop reading this and go check http://www.heavens-above.com It will even tell you when you can see iridium flares!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 957 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 24, 2001 (01:21) * 1 lines
John, do your Volos astronomical adventures include a sighting of the ISS? Thus far just Wolfie and I have seen it...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 958 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Fri, Aug 24, 2001 (16:34) * 3 lines
Good site for astronomical adventures from your chair in the garden. I would have been on ISS with my beloved woman, or alone to watch both sides of the world.
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 959 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 24, 2001 (21:00) * 1 lines
In that case if I were not with you up there I would have been down here hugging you as you passed over. On a very clear night with moonlight you can photograph the snow on Mauna Kea from my chair, as well. It is beautiful by moonlight...!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 960 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Aug 26, 2001 (17:59) * 6 lines
For a taste of "my" island http://www.hawaii-forest.com/essays/9704.html
Thanks, Maggie!
This is my favorite page, though. It shows my side of my island:
http://www.hawaii-forest.com/geology.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 961 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Aug 27, 2001 (14:52) * 16 lines
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF AMERICANS ARE CHRONICALLY DEHYDRATED?
75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. In 37% of Amer-
icans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mis-
taken for hunger.
Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue. Eight
to ten glasses of water a day could significantly ease back
and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers. Drinking five
glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer
by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%,
and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.
HOW MANY BABIES IS A GARTER SNAKE ABLE TO GIVE BIRTH TO?
A garter snake can give birth to 85 babies.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 962 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Aug 27, 2001 (15:01) * 6 lines
I want to remain healthy but not lonely because of a "fragrance" of the kind I would not wish to have. Why don't fish smell like peppermint?!
Ever wonder why you take supplements, if you do, particularly the fish oil capsules that make your breath smell like a mackerel died in your stomach? "Good lord," my mother noted just the other night, "Why on earth do I take all this stuff?" This week's newsletter is a partial answer to her thoughtful question--just why would you take omega-3 fatty acid supplements? After sorting through several hundred references in the medical literature, I'm inclined to ask "Why on earth not?" These essential (meaning we can't manufacture them ourselves but must obtain them from our diet) polyunsaturated fatty acids possess definite anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-clotting properties that translate out into improved mobility, decreased incidence of stroke, and perhaps less heart disease and cancer of the breast or prostate. If you
plan to try this at home, please note that it took from two to fifteen weeks of regular use to see the bene-fish-ial results.
http://www.femailhealthnews.com/newsletter.cfm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 963 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 28, 2001 (15:40) * 21 lines
HOW LARGE IS THE ENGELMANN OAK TREE, NATIVE TO CALIFORNIA, THE LARGEST AND OLDEST ORGANISM OF ITS TYPE ON THIS PLANET?
Hundreds of years old, it is the height of a seven-story
building, has a 100-foot-wide canopy, and a 12-foot diameter trunk.
HOW MANY DREAMS PER YEAR DOES THE AVERAGE PERSON HAVE?
The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year.
WHICH STATE AVERAGES THE MOST DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORMS?
Florida leads the nation in the number of days with
thunderstorms. During an average year, parts of Florida can
have more than 100 days with thunderstorms. The reason has to
do with both their geographical location and prevailing
weather conditions.
STATES WITH THE GREATEST THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY:
1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Mississippi
4. Louisiana
5. Georgia
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 964 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 28, 2001 (22:04) * 3 lines
Want to make your own Lava Lite in miniature? This sounds so good I need to try it out to see how it works:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/volcano.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 965 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 29, 2001 (16:05) * 26 lines
HOW MANY NEURONS DOES THE HUMAN BRAIN CONTAIN?
The brain contains more than 100 billion neurons--as many as
there are stars in the Milky Way.
WHAT DR. SEUSS BOOK WAS WRITTEN TO WIN A BET?
"Green Eggs and Ham," one of Dr. Seuss' most popular titles,
was the result of a bet between Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)
and the founder of Random House, Bennett Cerf. Dr. Seuss
wagered that he could write a book using only 50 words and
Cerf bet him he couldn't. Dr. Seuss won, but never collected
the money.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST KNOWN ITEM MADE FROM ALUMINUM, AND FOR WHOM WAS IT MADE?
The first known item made from aluminum was a rattle--made for
Napoleon III in the 1850s. Napoleon also provided his most
honored guests with knives and forks made of pure aluminum.
At the time the newly discovered metal was so rare, it was
considered more valuable than gold.
What is a GARUA?
A GARUA is a type of drizzle found in Western Peru, South
America. During the winter, this drizzle is often thick enough
to generate a portion of the regions rainfall amount.
To SUBSCRIBE visit: http://www.shagmail.com/sub/sub-trivia.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 966 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 30, 2001 (19:41) * 14 lines
Bigger Buckyballs bolster superconductivity
Physicists have more than doubled the temperature at
which carbon-60 - also known as the 'buckyball' - can
behave as a superconductor. Bertram Batlogg and
co-workers at Bell Laboratories in the US achieved the
'transition temperature' of 117 kelvin by adding a
methane-based compound to the material. They believe that
the increased transition temperature is due to an
expansion of the crystal structure, and that it could
exceed 150 kelvin if the crystal can be stretched just 1%
further (J Schon et al 2001 Science to
appear).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/8/21 ]
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 967 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 30, 2001 (19:43) * 21 lines
WHAT IS THE LARGEST MANMADE HOLE ON EARTH?
The Bingham Canyon copper mine in Utah is the biggest manmade
hole on Earth. It is more than a half-mile deep and 2.5 miles
across. An astronaut can see this hole from the space shuttle
with his bare eyes.
IN HOW MANY ARTICLES DID THE WORD "RECESSION" APPEAR IN "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL" IN 1990?
1,583, by the paper's own count.
DURING AN AVERAGE YEAR, HOW MANY VIOLENT THUNDERSTORMS STRIKE THE UNITED STATES?
The United States average more than 10,000 Severe Thunderstorms
each and every year, with many thousands of additional Thunder-
storms that are not considered Severe. By the way, Florida leads
the nation with the most average Thunderstorms, with parts of
the state having more than 100 Thunderstorms per year!
HOW WAS THE MICROWAVE INVENTED?
A researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 968 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 31, 2001 (14:23) * 48 lines
(((((((((((((((((((( VIRUS ALERT )))))))))))))))))))))))
Computer Virus Alert:
A new worm has been detected that -- disguised as a warning from Microsoft -- mass mails itself to users and once launched from an attachment, encrypts executable files, rendering them unusable. This is an mass-mailing worm and file encryptor. Due to the configuration of hard coded SMTP server specified, the mailing routine does not currently work (relaying has been disabled on that server).
The worm is designed to arrive in an email with the following information:
From: "Microsoft Support"
Subject: Invalid SSL Certificate
Body:
Hello,
Microsoft Corporation announced that an invalid SSL certificate that web sites use is required to be installed on the user computer to use the https protocol. During the installation, the certificate causes a buffer overrun in Microsoft Internet Explorer and by that allows attackers to get access to your computer. The SSL protocol is used by many companies that require credit card or personal information so, there is a high possibility that you have this certificate installed. To avoid of being attacked by hackers, please download and install the attached patch. It is strongly recommended to install it because almost all users have this certificate installed without their knowledge.
Have a nice day,
Microsoft Corporation
Attachment: sslpatch.exe
Running the attachment causes the virus to attempt to extract all MAILTO: html tags found in .HT* files within the MY DOCUMENTS folder. It then tries to send itself to those addresses via SMTP. Finally, the virus encrypts all .EXE files in the current directory such that they are no longer executable.
Method Of Infection
This virus attempts to propagate itself as an email attachment, mass-mailing itself to all addresses that it can locating in HTML documents found in the MY DOCUMENTS folder.
Removal Instructions
Use specified engine and DAT files for detection and removal. Delete any file which contains this detection.
Windows ME Info:
NOTE: Windows ME utilizes a backup utility that backs up selected files automatically to the C:\_Restore folder. This means that an infected file could be stored there as a backup file, and VirusScan will be unable to delete these files. These instructions explain how to remove the infected files from the C:\_Restore folder.
Disabling the Restore Utility
1. Right click the My Computer icon on the Desktop.
2. Click on the Performance Tab.
3. Click on the File System button.
4. Click on the Troubleshooting Tab.
5. Put a check mark next to "Disable System Restore".
6. Click the Apply button.
7. Click the Close button.
8. Click the Close button again.
9. You will be prompted to restart the computer. Click Yes.
NOTE: The Restore Utility will now be disabled.
10. Restart the computer in Safe Mode.
11. Run a scan with VirusScan to delete all infected files, or browse the file's located in the C:\_Restore folder and remove the file's.
12. After removing the desired files, restart the computer normally.
NOTE: To re-enable the Restore Utility, follow steps 1-9 and on step 5 remove the check mark next to "Disable System Restore". The infected file's are removed and the System Restore is once again active.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 969 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Sep 3, 2001 (14:41) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 970 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Sep 3, 2001 (14:44) * 12 lines
Terry.... and whoever else can see this, these are my Geo buttons and my horizontal bars. If I can post them here, why can't
my rc file find them? This is more than a little frustrating. Please enable my rc file to see this URL.
http://www.spring.net/marcia/public%20/GeoButtons
The buttons and bars should look like these examples.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 971 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Mon, Sep 3, 2001 (17:02) * 13 lines
Your rc file looks like this in geo:
define fw 'world builder'
define wallpaper 'geoback.gif'
define xxlinkcol
'bgcolor="#ffffff" link="#005500" vlink="#770000" alink="#0000ff" text="#000000"'
define adspace '
HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thespring">
SRC="http://www.spring.net/cfadm/a/button.gif" alt="In Association with
Amazon.com">'
What do I need to change?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 972 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Sep 3, 2001 (19:12) * 5 lines
When I put the command:
define gifs 'http://www.spring.net/marcia/public%20/GeoButtons'
which is the rc command to install my buttons and bars, I not only do not get them, I lose the marble background and all default gifs excepting the amazon.com link and the Spring button. I just forwarded you an email which Wolfie wrote after a few hours of trouble-shooting.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 973 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Sep 3, 2001 (19:54) * 20 lines
---------------------------------
nature science update
---------------------------------
This week's Nature Science Update http://www.nature.com/nsu includes:
Nerve chip goes live
First nerve cell-silicon microchip built.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-7.html
Human gene number climbs
New estimate ups our gene number by a third.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-4.html
Pots pan bugs
Copper kitchenware may lower food-poisoning risk.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-3.html
For more news like this visit Nature Science Update, the NPG's free
popular science daily webzine, every day: http://www.nature.com/nsu
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 974 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 4, 2001 (18:33) * 14 lines
* Quantum entanglement gets a laser-like lift: (29 Aug)
Lasers have been used to amplify light for many years,
but physicists have now achieved a similar feat with
pairs of 'entangled' photons for the first time. The
phenomenon could lead to a reliable method for creating
such pairs, which could be the basis of future quantum
computers and encryption techniques. Antia Lamas-Linares
and co-workers at the University of Oxford, UK, exploited
quantum effects to boost the number of entangled photons
created when an ultraviolet laser passes through a
crystal (A Lamas-Linares et al 2001 Nature
412 887).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/8/20 ]
----------------------------------------------------------
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 975 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 5, 2001 (00:38) * 56 lines
NEW CONTENT ON GNS WEB-SITE 05-09-2001
=======================================================
GNS has been ranked as the most popular Science based website
for the week of August 28 to September 3rd. (by Hit-Wise) Hey thanks
for your support!
http://www.accessnz.co.nz/statistics/rankings/scientific.html
=========================================================
GNS is developing an integrated geological hazard model for
New Zealand to estimate the future hazards that the country is likely to
face. The general 4-Step methodology of probabilistic hazard analysis
s being applied to this combined model.
http://www.gns.cri.nz/earthact/modelling/index.html
=========================================================
The latest instalment of Annual Volcanic summaries is now online.
http://www.gns.cri.nz/earthact/volcanoes/summary/volcsumm.html
New Zealand Volcanological Record is an annual summary of
volcano and geothermal observations from New Zealand's active
and potentially active volcanoes. It covers Raoul Island, Auckland,
White Island, Okataina, Rotorua, Taupo, Egmont (Taranaki),
Tongariro-Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu, and includes visual, seismic,
geodetic, geochemical, geothermal and geological observations.
==========================================================
The bio of our latest new director, Brenda Tahi is now online.
http://www.gns.cri.nz/about/directors.html#Brenda
=========================================================
Call for proposals: Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting 2002
http://www.gns.cri.nz/news/conferences/geophys.html
GNS is one of the local sponsors of the Western Pacific Geophysics
Meeting (WPGM) 2002, being held at the Wellington Convention Centre,
Wellington, New Zealand, from 9 to 12 July 2002. Past WPGM's have
attracted participants from around the world, making this a very exciting
opportunity for New Zealand earth sciences.
http://www.agu.org/meetings/wp02top.html
==========================================================
Exploration industry questionnaire
http://www.gns.cri.nz/earthres/oilgas/quest.htm
GNS is collecting information to identify gaps in research and
development for the exploration industry in New Zealand. The
information will be used to improve understanding of stakeholder
requirements and to improve our input into future research and services
planning, including research budgets. This is an opportunity for everyone
associated with the upstream petroleum industry to help identify priorities
and investment requirements for research funding. Results from the
questionnaire will be circulated back to the industry.
============================================================
Registration details are now available online for the ILP (paleoseismology)
Conference in Kaikoura. http://www.gns.cri.nz/news/conferences/kai/index.html
============================================================
(I want to go to the paleoseismology conference!!!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 976 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 5, 2001 (17:30) * 44 lines
Terry and I have both and this - get rid of it NOW!!!
(((((((((((((((((( McAfee.com Dispatch )))))))))))))))))))))
-----------------------------------------------------------
** VIRUS ALERT - W32/APost@mm ("APost" or "New Backdoor") **
------------------------------------------------------------
W32/APost@mm ("APost" or "New Backdoor") worm has been
spreading over the past 24 hours. This is a MEDIUM ON WATCH
worm. The infected email can come from addresses that you
recognize and may contain the following information:
Subject: As per your request!
Body: Please find attached file for your review.
I look forward to hear from you again very soon. Thank you.
Attachment: README.EXE
Running the attachment causes the worm to copy itself to the
Windows directory and send a copy of itself to every entry
in the user's Microsoft Outlook Address Book. It will then
display a small dialog box titled "Urgent!". This dialog box
contains one single large button labeled "Open". If this
button is pressed then the worm sends out further copies of
itself, displays an error message box with the title "WinZip
SelfExtractor: Warning" and then terminates.
For detection and removal instructions for the W32/APost@mm
("APost" or "New Backdoor") worm, click here.
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=2422
McAfee.com VirusScan Online and Clinic subscribers:
If you don't have ActiveShield installed and updated, you
are not protected from this virus. Click here to download
ActiveShield.
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=2372
Retail VirusScan Users:
Version 4.0.70 and above with DAT file 4157 will detect and
remove this worm. To download the latest DAT files,
click here.
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=2253
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 977 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 6, 2001 (20:47) * 41 lines
another warning from McAfee:
(((((((((((((((((( McAfee.com Dispatch )))))))))))))))))))))
------------------------------------------------------------
** VIRUS WARNING - W32/magistr.b@mm **
------------------------------------------------------------
McAfee.com has seen a large and growing number of systems
infected with the W32/magistr.b@mm worm in Europe and South
America. Currently, there is a low incidence of this worm
in North America. This is a MEDIUM RISK virus that is spread
via email.
The messages sent by the worm contain varying subject
headings, body text, and attachments. The body of the
message is derived from the contents of other files on the
victim's computer. It may send more than one attachment and
may include non-EXE or non-viral files along with an
infectious .EXE file.
Five minutes after the virus is activated, it attempts to
send copies of itself to email addresses found in the Windows
Address Book, and in the Outlook Express, Netscape and
Eudora mailboxes on the hard drive.
The virus payload may also cause the following:
· Erasure of CMOS/BIOS info
· Destruction of sectors on the hard disk
· Deletion of all .NTZ files on the machine
· Termination of Zone Alarm firewall program
· Creation of a SYSTEM.INI [boot] shell value to
run itself at startup
· Overwrites the WIN.COM/NTLDR
For detection and removal instructions for the
W32/Magistr.b@mm virus, click here.
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=2429
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 978 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 7, 2001 (13:27) * 14 lines
Virus Alert - VBS.Haptime.A@mm
VBS.Haptime.A@mm is a Visual Basic Script (VBS) worm. It infects .htm, .html, .vbs, .asp, and .htt files. It replicates using MAPI objects to spread itself as an attachment. Also, the worm attaches itself to all outgoing messages using the stationery feature of Outlook Express. The worm utilizes a known Microsoft Outlook Express security hole so that the worm is executed without having to run any attachment.
Microsoft has patched this security hole, which eliminates security vulnerabilities in "Scriptlet.TypLib" ActiveX controls. The patch is available at the following Internet address:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/TechNet/prodtechnol/ie/downloads/scrpteye.asp
If you have a patched version of Outlook Express, then this worm will not work automatically.
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Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 979 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 8, 2001 (15:42) * 11 lines
* Magic layer solves semiconductor snag : (7 Sep)
Devices made from the semiconductor gallium arsenide have
been grown successfully on silicon chips for the first
time following a breakthrough at Motorola Labs in the US.
Mismatches between the crystal structures of silicon and
the so-called III-V semiconductors have thwarted attempts
to make semiconductor devices on cheap silicon substrates
for 30 years. The advance - stumbled upon in a separate
experiment - could lead to cheaper and faster optical
communications and microelectronics.
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/9/3 ]
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 980 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:44) * 24 lines
HOW MUCH DOES A TOMATO TRUCK HOLD?
A typical tomato truck holds 50,000 pounds of tomatoes, which
is about 300,000 tomatoes.
HOW MUCH DOES THE LARGEST TOMATO EVER GROWN WEIGH?
The largest tomato on record is a 7-pound monster grown in
Oklahoma.
ARE TOMATOES FRUITS OR VEGETABLES?
Technically a tomato is a fruit, since it is the ripened ovary
of a plant. But it 1893 the Supreme Court ruled in the case of
"NIX v. HEDDEN" that tomatoes were to be considered vegetables,
even though, botanically, it is a fruit. Because vegetables and
fruits were subject to different import duties, it was necessary
to define it as one or the other. So, tomatoes were declared to
be a vegetable given that it was commonly eaten as one.
WHO INVENTED KETCHUP?
The Chinese were the first to invent ketchup which was called
"ke-tsiap" and which had pickled fish and spices (no tomatoes).
In the 1870’s New England colonists mixed tomatoes into the
sauce creating present day ketchup.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 981 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (15:47) * 30 lines
HOW DOES BREAD BECOME TOAST?
When the surface temperature of bread reaches about 315 de-
grees, its sugars and starches begin to carmelize. The bread
not only becomes crunchier, but sweeter, too. With more heat-
ing, sugars and grain fibers turn into carbon, and you have
burnt toast.
WHY DO PEOPLE USE AN "X" IN A LETTER TO INDICATE A KISS?
The "X"s that people sometimes put at the end of letters or
notes to mean a kiss actually started back in the 1000's
when Lords would sign their names at the end of documents
to other important people. It was originally a cross that
they would kiss after signing to signify that they were
faithful to God and their King. Over the years though, it
slanted into the "X".
IF THE ENERGY RELEASED BY A HURRICANE EACH DAY COULD BE
CONVERTED TO ELECTRICITY, HOW MUCH ELECTRICAL
POWER COULD THIS SUPPLY?
The energy released by a hurricane each day would, if convert-
ed to electricity, keep the entire United States supplied with
electrical power for up to three years.
WHY ARE UPPER AND LOWER CASE LETTERS NAMED THIS?
Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower'
because in the time when all original print had to be set in
individual letters, the 'upper case' letters were stored in
the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower
case' letters.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 982 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (20:13) * 1 lines
as always, interesting info. i esp. liked the tomato truck factoid as spain recently held their tomato festival!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 983 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (21:22) * 1 lines
Oh yes, and someone managed to put Colin Firth amongst it all - pristine, of course! Mmm what a waste of perfectly good tomatoes! My son refuses to eat them!!! So did his father. Implied they's rather eat raw eyeballs. I never challenged that claim. I should have!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 984 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (21:32) * 4 lines
Cheers!
A swig of beer could one day protect you from HIV
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991286
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 985 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (16:20) * 5 lines
Alas this is not a pyroclastic flow chasing this person. From Reuters:
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 986 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (17:29) * 20 lines
WHEN IS IT APPROPRIATE TO FLY THE FLAG UPSIDE DOWN?
The flag can be flown upside down in an emergency only, to mean
"Help Me, I am in Trouble!"
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY WROTE THE WORDS TO "THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE MUSIC FOR THIS SONG?
The music is from an old English drinking song called "To
Anacreon in Heaven." Francis Scott Key wrote the words to
this song on the back of an envelope 187 years ago. Held
aboard a British warship as Baltimore's Fort McHenry was
bombarded during the War of 1812, the young lawyer was
inspired by an American flag still flying at dawn's early
light. Congress made it the official anthem in 1931.
WHAT IS A VEXILLOLOGIST?
A vexillologist is one who is an expert in the history of flags.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 987 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (16:52) * 23 lines
September 18, 2001
There is a new mass-mailing worm that utilizes email to propagate itself.
The name of this new computer worm is W32.Nimda.A@mm. W32.Nimda.A@mm
arrives as a readme.exe in an email. Symantec (anti-virus Vendor) is
currently working to develop new virus signatures to detect this computer
worm. The following information is known about this new worm at this time:
The worm sends out probes to IIS (Internet Information Server) servers
attempting to spread by using a web exploit similar to
W32.BlueCode.Worm.;
Infected or compromised servers may display a webpage prompting a
visitor to download an Outlook file which contains the worm as an
attachment;
The worm will create an open network share allowing access to the
system;
The worm will also attempt to spread via open network shares.
If you receive an email with a readme.exe file attached even if its from
someone you know, please verify with the sender before you launch the
attachment. If you receive an email with the readme.exe from someone you
don't know, please delete the email immediately! If you have any questions
please contact the Solutions Center.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 988 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (17:18) * 1 lines
Nimda is a killer. I'm going to run checks on all my Win2k servers with IIS tonight.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 989 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (17:36) * 1 lines
upside down flag is a symbol of distress. when you fly your flag, if you fly it at night, keep it lit (porch light will suffice), don't let it touch the ground either.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 990 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (17:51) * 3 lines
Your flag should not be left out in storms either. Since Hilo is a rainforest climate and Hawaiians believe rain is a blessing since ancient times, we leave them up in our gentle rains... I wonder if it is blessings this week or tears from heaven...!
Terry, this really is a serious virus. Not only did I get warnings from my son (which is what I posted) CNN is also carrying a warning on their scrolling news on the bottom of the picture on television. Thanks for safeguarding Spring for us all.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 991 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (18:12) * 18 lines
WHAT IS THE ONLY BOOK TO TOP THE BESTSELLER LIST TWO YEARS IN A ROW?
Richard Bach's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" was Number One
in both 1972 and 1973.
WHAT WAS THE ONLY NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING NOVEL
IN THE UNITED STATES TO BE PUBLISHED ANONYMOUSLY?
"The Inner Shrine" in 1904 by Basil King.
WHO WAS THE ONLY WOMAN TO WIN BOTH PULITZER PRIZE AND NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE?
In 1932, Pearl S. Buck won the Pulitzer for "The Good Earth"
and six years later, crowned that achievement by winning the
Nobel Prize in literature.
WHAT IS THE ONLY COUNTRY TO REPORT ANNUALLY A 100% LITERACY RATE?
Iceland, where every citizen must gaduate from high school.
To procure employment, citizens must speak at least three
languages.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 992 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (20:42) * 28 lines
(((((((((((((((((( McAfee.com Dispatch )))))))))))))))))))))
------------------------------------------------------------
** VIRUS ALERT - W32/Nimda@MM **
------------------------------------------------------------
McAfee.com has seen a large and growing number of systems
infected with the W32/Nimda@MM. This is a HIGH RISK virus
that is spread via email. W32/Nimda@MM also spreads via open
shares, the Microsoft Web Folder Transversal vulnerability
(also used by W32/CodeBlue), and a Microsoft content-type
spoofing vulnerability.
The email attachment name VARIES and may use the icon for an
Internet Explorer HTML document.
It will also attempt to spread itself as follows:
- The email messages created by the worm include content
that allows the worm to execute the attachment even if
the user does not open it.
- It modifies HTML documents, so that when this infected
window is accessed (locally or remotely), the machine
viewing the page is then infected.
Once infected, your system is used to seek out others to
infect over the Web.
AVERT is currently analyzing this threat and will post more
details online shortly.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 993 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:23) * 11 lines
W32.Nimda.A@mm is a new mass-mailing worm that utilizes multiple methods to spread itself. The worm sends itself out by email, searches for open network shares, attempts to copy itself to unpatched or already vulnerable Microsoft IIS web servers, and is a virus infecting both local files and files on remote network shares.
The worm uses the Unicode Web Traversal exploit. A patch and information regarding this exploit can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms00-078.asp.
When the worm arrives by email, the worm uses a MIME exploit allowing the virus to be executed just by reading or previewing the file. Information and a patch for this exploit can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-020.asp
Users visiting compromised Web servers will be prompted to download an .eml (Outlook Express) email file, which contains the worm as an attachment.
Also, the worm will create open network shares on the infected computer, allowing access to the system. During this process the worm creates the guest account with Administrator privileges.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 994 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (16:50) * 21 lines
SUNFLOWERS ARE THE NATIONAL FLOWER OF WHAT COUNTRY?
Russia. Descendants of Mennonite immigrants to Canada say that
their parents brought seed from Russia because it was a popular
item in private kitchen gardens for producing seed for roasting
and eating whole. The first of these migrations occurred about
1875.
THE SUNFLOWER WAS OFFICIALLY NAMED THE STATE FLOWER OF WHICH STATE?
Kansas. The sunflower was officially named the Kansas state
flower in 1903. Wild sunflower is so common in Kansas that it
can be considered a weed.
SUNFLOWERS ARE NOW THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT WORLD OIL CROP AFTER CANOLA, SOYBEAN, OR FLAX?
Soybean. Soybeans are grown for edible oil and are also used
to make tofu and soy sauce. The oil may also be used to produce
paint, ink, fertilizers and other products.
THE TALLEST SUNFLOWER ON RECORD WAS GROWN IN WHAT COUNTRY?
The Netherlands. It was 25 feet, 5 1/2 inches tall.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 995 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (17:02) * 44 lines
The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (09/19/2001)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
New Features:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/
* Well Grounded (DAAC Study)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/MODISCalibration/
A team effort allows scientists to validate and make MODIS data accessible to a wide audience.
--------------------
In the News:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/
* Latest Images:
NASA Confirms Arctic Ozone Depletion Trigger
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5161
Whiting in Lake Michigan
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5160
Mount Shasta Snowpack
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5159
Urban Growth in Cairo 196598
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5158
Typhoon Nari Approaches China
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5157
Mixing Waters and Moving Ships off the North Carolina Coast
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5156
* NASA News
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/
- El Niño, La Niña Rearrange South Pole Sea Ice
- New Computer Model Tracks and Predicts Paths of Earth's Dust
- NASA Confirms Arctic Ozone Depletion Trigger
- Satellites Spot Developing Antarctic Ozone "Hole"
- QUIKTOMS Ozone Monitoring Instrument Prepared for Launch
* Headlines from the press, radio, and television:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/
- No Glaciers in Glacier National Park
* New Research Highlights
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 996 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (17:09) * 41 lines
This was sent to me by Lance. Please read it!
Subject: Urgent........please read!
PLEASE READ THIS "VERY CAREFULLY".......THEN SEND IT
OUT TO ALL THE PEOPLE
ONLINE THAT YOU KNOW. SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS NOTHING
TO TAKE CASUALLY; THIS
IS SOMETHING YOU "DO" WANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO. THINK
OF IT AS "BIG BROTHER"
SENDING YOU A WARNING............
If a guy with the screen-name of SlaveMaster -----
contacts you.........
do not answer. DO NOT TALK TO THIS PERSON, DO NOT ANSWER
ANY OF HIS/HER INSTANT
MESSAGES/E-MAIL.
He has killed 5-6 women (so far) that he has talked to
on the Internet.
PLEASE SEND OUT TO ALL THE WOMEN ON YOUR BUDDY LIST.
ALSO ASK THEM TO PASS
THIS ON.
He has been on Yahoo and AOL and Excite so far. This
is no JOKE.!!!
PLEASE SEND THIS TO MEN TOO.......JUST IN CASE!!! Send
to EVERY ONE YOU
KNOW!! LADIES, THIS IS SERIOUS. CUT AND PASTE THIS
FROM IT'S LONG FORWARD
LIST. PLEASE CHECK CAREFULLY AND MAKE SURE TO FORWARD
TO ANYONE I HAVE NOT
INCLUDED ON MY LIST.
THANKS
Fiona Luke
Deputy County Counsel
(909) 387-5474
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 997 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (18:29) * 12 lines
HOW MUCH TYPING DOES THE AVERAGE PERSON'S LEFT HAND DO,
RELATIVE TO A PERSON'S RIGHT HAND?
Left hand--56%, and the right hand--44%.
WHY ARE TYPEWRITER AND COMPUTER KEYBOARDS ARRANGED AS THEY ARE?
Typewriter and computer keyboards are arranged in the so- called "QWERTY" pattern because, in the early days of mechanical typewriters, proficient typists could type so fast that the keys frequently jammed against each other. In an effort to space often-used keys apart to prevent jamming, the familiar but illogical QWERTY pattern was developed.
WHAT WERE KLEENEX TISSUES MARKETED AS WHEN THEY WERE FIRST INTRODUCED IN 1924?
A cold cream remover.
WHAT ARE THE TWO MOST PERFECTLY DESIGNED CONTAINERS EVER MADE, ACCORDING TO RAYMOND LOEWY, THE INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER WHO INTRODUCED STREAMLINING TO PACKAGING?
The old Coca-Cola bottle and the egg.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 998 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (21:36) * 11 lines
* Friction riddle is cracked: (20 Sep)
Friction is a familiar effect that plays a central role
in everyday life, but scientists have never fully
understood it. Now two physicists have related the
macroscopic forces involved in friction to the atoms of
the surfaces in contact. Michael Marder and Eric Gerde of
the University of Texas at Austin believe their model
could describe frictional effects in systems that range
in size from nanomachines to the Earth's crust (E Gerde
and M Marder 2001 Nature 413 285).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/9/8 ]
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 999 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (15:35) * 32 lines
WHERE DID THE EXPRESSION "SON OF A GUN" ORIGINATE?
"Son of a gun" has its origins with sailors. When a ship was
in port for an extended period of time, wives and other women
were permitted to live on board with the ship's crew. Occasion-
ally, children would be born on board and a convenient place
for the birth to happen was between guns on the gun deck. If
the child's father was unknown, the child was entered in the
ship's log as "Son of a gun."
WHERE DID THE TERM "DASHBOARD" COME FROM?
The term "dashboard", a car's instrument panel, dates back to
horse-and-buggy days when dashing horses kicked up mud, splash-
ing the passengers riding behind them. The dashboard was de-
vised to protect them.
WHERE DID WE GET THE EXPRESSION, "TO GET ONE'S GOAT"?
"To get one's goat" means to annoy someone enough to make him
lose his temper. According to writer H.L. Mencken, the expres-
sion originated with real goats and real horses. Supposedly,
racehorses that were skittish before a race could be calmed
down by putting a goat in the stall with them. (You'd THINK
that would just upset them more.) If a gambler or competitor
wanted to really upset someone's horse, he would pay a stable-
boy to remove the goat before the race, thus making the horse
MORE skittish and less likely to win.
WHERE DID THE PHRASE "SLEEP TIGHT" COME FROM?
The phrase "sleep tight" originated when mattresses were set
upon ropes woven through the bed frame. To remedy sagging
ropes, one would use a bed key to tighten the rope.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1000 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (15:40) * 15 lines
* Interference makes super-sensitive ruler*
Physicists in Germany have built a new kind of
interferometer that could measure distances up to five
hundred times more accurately than existing devices. Many
rays of light interfere in the device to create a finely
spaced diffraction pattern, which could reveal changes in
distance a thousand times smaller than the wavelength of
the light used. Yuri Ovchinnikov and Tilman Pfau of the
University of Stuttgart believe that their interferometer
could be used to make ultra-precise measurements and new
optical switches for fibre-optic systems (Y Ovchninnikov
and Tilman Pfau 2001 Phys. Rev. Lett. 87
123901).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/9/9 ]
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1001 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (18:28) * 45 lines
I have been sent an acronym not on this list. Does anyone know what (SSSSSS) means?
Acronyms Internet jargon:
btw
By the way
lol
Laughing out loud
rotfl
Rolling on the floor laughing
rotflol
Rolling on the floor laughing out loud
imo
In my opinion
imho
In my humble opinion (note: most of the time the opinion
following is not so humble)
imnsho
In my not so humble opinion
rl
Real life
irl
In real life
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
rtfm
Read the f----- manual (If someone tells you this, you have
probably asked an obvious question. The best way to avoid
this is to consult the FAQ for whichever subject you are
asking about.)
fyi
For your information
iirc
If I recall correctly
fwiw
For what it's worth
hth
Hope that helps
oic
Oh, I see!
hand
Have a nice day
(note: if someone answers your query with "HTH", "HAND." at the end, they're
usually being sarcastic)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1002 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Sun, Sep 23, 2001 (02:13) * 9 lines
Hi all
1000 MESSAGES - WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Marcia, dear, it is with congratulations I announce we have passed 1000 messages!!!!!!!!!
Hugs
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1003 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (14:23) * 9 lines
I had not noticed! Thank you, Rob!!! Who could have imagined? 1000!!! My thanks to all who have assisted - it would not be very interesting if I was the only one posting!
HOW LARGE IS THE BASE OF THE GREAT PYRAMID IN EGYPT?
The base of the great pyramid in Egypt is large enough to
cover ten football fields. According to the Greek historian
Herodotus, it took 40,000 men twenty years to construct this
great monument.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1004 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (13:04) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1005 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (13:05) * 45 lines
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((New Virus Alert))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
W32.Vote.A@mm is a mass-mailing worm that is written in Visual Basic. When executed, it will email itself out to
all email addresses in the Microsoft Outlook address book. The worm will insert two .vbs files on the system, and
it will also attempt to delete files from several antivirus products.
It requires the file Msvbvm50.dll to execute.
When executed, the worm will attempt to email itself to all contacts in the Microsoft Outlook address book. The
email will appear as follows.
Subject: Fwd:Peace BeTweeN AmeriCa and IsLaM!
Message:
Hi
iS iT A waR Against AmeriCa Or IsLaM !?
Let's Vote To Live in Peace!
Attachment: WTC.EXE
Next, the worm will insert two .vbs files on the system:
\\ZaCker.vbs
\\MixDaLaL.vbs
In addition, the worm will attempt to download and execute a file. This file is detected as Backdoor.Trojan by
Norton Antivirus.
Finally, the worm will attempt to delete all files from several folders. These folders appear to be the default
installation folders for several antivirus products. For Norton AntiVirus, this worm will only attempt to delete the
files if Norton Antivirus is located in C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus.
Removal instructions:
1. Run LiveUpdate to make sure that you have the most recent virus definitions.
2. Start Norton AntiVirus (NAV), and make sure that NAV is configured to scan all files. For instructions on how
to do this, read the document How to configure Norton AntiVirus to scan all files.
3. Run a full system scan.
4. Delete all files that are detected as W32.Vote.A@mm. If the worm has run and Norton AntiVirus is installed in
C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus, you should reinstall Norton Antivirus.
5. If the computer has been rebooted after the infection, or if the computer seems very unstable, it is recommended
that you reinstall the operating system.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1006 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (13:48) * 1 lines
Any message worded like that is an obvious red flag.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1007 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (14:58) * 1 lines
Yes, and I look very carefully at email from people I don't know! You'd br amazed or appalled or both at how ignorant some email users are out there.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1008 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (18:38) * 38 lines
CHEF HATS: Chefs started out wearing different colored skull
caps, each color representing a level of their experience.
The caps gained height not as a stylish statement, but to
allow more ventilation around the chef's head. The tall hats
were worn to allow the heat to rise above the chef's head.
The taller the hat, the more experienced the chef. Every fold
indicates a level of accomplishment in the education of the
chef. Viennese chef Antonin Careme set the ultimate standard
by propping up his cap with cardboard, and chefs have followed
suit for centuries, though the cardboard has since been re-
placed by starch.
RAINCHECKS: The term "raincheck" originated in the 1880's. It
refers to a voucher given out to spectators at a baseball game
when the game was rained out and cancelled and had to be re-
scheduled. Possession of a raincheck allowed these spectators
entrance into the rescheduled game. Rainchecks weres then ap-
plied to other sporting events and eventually to any offer
that was not taken up right away. When one goes to a store to
purchase a sale item, and the item is sold out, a raincheck is
issued so the customer can pick up the item in the future at
the sale price.
WHAT MAKES A PARROT'S FEET DIFFERENT FROM THE FEET OF OTHER BIRDS?
A parrot's feet are designed with four toes--two pointing
forward and two pointing backward. All other birds have feet
with three toes pointing forward and one pointing backward.
This design enables the parrot to climb trees, hang upside
down, and grip food with its feet to feed itself more easily.
WHERE DID THE WORD "PUMPERNICKEL" COME FROM?
The name "pumpernickel" was coined by Napoleon's troops dur-
ing the Napoleonic Wars. His men complained that although
they were often poorly fed, there was always bread for Napo-
leon's favorite horse, Nicoll. Thus the word "pumpernickel"
was coined--pain (bread) pour (for) Nicoll.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1009 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (19:47) * 19 lines
AURORA ALERT
Space Weather News for Sept. 25, 2001
http://www.spaceweather.com
AURORA ALERT: An interplanetary shock wave spawned by Monday's powerful
solar explosion swept past our planet at approximately 2100 UT (2:00 p.m.
PDT) on Tuesday, Sept. 25th. The solar wind velocity soared from 400 km/s
to more than 800 km/s in a matter of minutes as the shock wave sped by.
Earth is still inside the resulting high-speed solar stream and auroras
are possible tonight even at low latitudes where such displays rarely
happen. Sky watchers are advised to look for Northern Lights after local
sunset. Local midnight is usually the best time for aurora spotting but if
a powerful geomagnetic storm develops bright auroras might be visible at
any time of the night.
For details and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com
Now, run outside and look - take photos if possible and make notes. SHARE!!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1010 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (04:29) * 21 lines
Hi all
Marcia, MSG 985: Alas this is not a pyroclastic flow chasing this person.
Rob: No and you know as well as I do that it is just as well for the sake of New York that it is not.
For those of you who do not know what a pyroclastic flow is, here is an image of
one. Essentially what it is, is a billowing grey cloud of dust, rocks, gas that has been heated to often over 1000 degrees Celsius. They are EXTREMELY destructive and EXTREMELY lethal. In May 1902 an explosion of NOT more than 10% the destructive power of the Mount St Helens eruption, 1980, from the Caribbean volcano Pelee, killed 30,000 people in just over 2 MINUTES. For more information see the articles I posted in http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/worldvolcanism on Montagne Pelee (Articles dated something like May 6 from memory).
This is the infamous 6 shot sequence that the photographer Gary Rosenquist bravely shot from Bear Meadow 6 miles northeast from Mount St Helens on the day of the big 1980 eruption.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/Rosen1.jpg - shot of the volcano 5 minutes BEFORE the eruption started.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/Rosen2.jpg - SHOCK IS........ a magnitude 5.1 earthquake has collapsed the huge bulge that was growing on the north flank. 2.5km3 of rock is now rushing downhill at 180-200 miles an hour.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/Rosen3.jpg - the summit explosion begins. In this shot the avalanche has just exposed the gas filled magma inside, which immediately explodes.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/Rosen4.jpg - the explosion cloud begins to expand.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/Rosen5.jpg - Explosion cloud overtakes the avalanche at almost the speed of sound. No noise was heard at ANY stage during the onset of the eruption but very loud explosions were heard up to 690 miles from the volcano later on.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/Rosen6.jpg - Final shot before Rosenquist decided his life was in immediate danger. Whole sequence was shot in less than 1 minute. 57 people lost their lives that day and over 200 were injured. Damage cost US$1 billion.
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1011 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (18:09) * 1 lines
Thanks for this eloquent bit on our favorite "want to see but not die in the process" volcanic event. No, New York had enough sorrow with what it did experience. It still looks like a very bad Hollywood disaster movie to me. The unreality factor is still hauntingly similar to the Unzen victims fleeing their own disaster.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1012 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 27, 2001 (00:33) * 3 lines
Be aware that the current Klingerman Virus warning is making the rounds of email. For the true nature of this little warning please see:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/klingerman_hoax.htm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1013 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 1, 2001 (23:06) * 16 lines
Northern Skies are Glowing
Space Weather News for October 1, 2001
http://www.spaceweather.com
NORTHERN LIGHTS: A pair of solar wind disturbances buffeted Earth's
magnetosphere during the weekend and triggered a geomagnetic storm. On
Sunday, Sept. 30th, and Monday, Oct. 1st, high-latitude sky watchers
spotted some of the most beautiful Northern Lights of the young aurora
season. See them for yourself by visiting our growing photo gallery.
Forecasters say there is also a chance for more auroras during the nights
ahead. The best time to look is around local midnight.
SOLAR ACTIVITY: A solar proton storm is underway following an M9-class
eruption on the Sun today. The blast also hurled a bright lopsided
coronal mass ejection into space and, perhaps, a solar wind disturbance
toward Earth. Visit spaceweather.com for updates and details.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1014 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 2, 2001 (19:46) * 25 lines
HOW MANY WRITING SYSTEMS APPEAR ON THE ROSETTA STONE, FOUND NEAR ROSETTA, EGYPT,
IN 1979 BY A NAPOLEONIC EXPEDITION?
Three. The inscription is written in the Greek alphabet,
Egyptian hieroglyphics, and demotic script (a cursive form
of Egyptian hieroglyphics). The stone is now housed in the
British Museum.
WHAT FAMOUS AMERICAN INVENTOR RAN TWICE FOR MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY--
IN 1836 AND 1841--AND LOST BOTH TIMES?
Samuel F.M. Morse
WHICH CITY WAS THE FIRST TO HAVE ONE MILLION PEOPLE?
The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was
Rome, Italy in 133 B.C. London, England reached the mark in
1810 and New York City, USA made it in 1875. Today, there are
over 300 cities in the world that boast a population in excess
of 1 million.
WHY IS THERE A STRING ON A BOX OF ANIMAL CRACKERS?
The Animal Crackers box is designed with a string handle
because the animal-shaped cookie treats introduced in 1902
as a Christmas novelty were packaged so they could be hung
from Christmas trees.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1015 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 2, 2001 (19:48) * 15 lines
WHERE IS THE AMERICAN FLAG FLOWN 24 HOURS A DAY, BUT IS NEVER RAISED, LOWERED OR SALUTED?
On the Moon.
WHAT IS THE ONLY COUNTRY WHOSE FLAG IS NOT RECTANGULAR IN SHAPE?
Nepal's flag is asymmetrical.
WHAT IS THE ONLY COUNTRY TO HAVE A SINGLE-COLORED FLAG?
Libya, which is solid green.
THE DEEPEST SPOT IN ANY OCEAN IS FOUND IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. WHERE IS THAT SPOT?
The Challenger Deep in the Marianas Trench, near Guam, extends
about 36,000 feet below the surface. (To compare, Mount Everest
is 29,000 feet high.) The average depth of the Pacific is about
13,000 feet.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1016 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 2, 2001 (19:51) * 22 lines
HOW LONG A LINE WILL THE AVERAGE LEAD PENCIL DRAW?
The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or
write approximately 50,000 English words. More than 2 billion
pencils are manufactured each year in the U.S. If these were
laid end to end, they would circle the world nine times.
HOW MANY VERSES DOES THE GREEK NATIONAL ANTHEM HAVE?
158 verses. John....do you know them all?
HOW OFTEN IS A NEW STAR BORN?
A new star is born in our galaxy is born every 18 days. About
20 new stars are born each year. For comparison, there are
100,000 million stars in our galaxy.
WHAT DOES THE WEATHER TERM "GREEN FLASH" REFER TO?
The green flash is visible when most of the sun is below the
horizon. It is caused when light is refracted, bent or scat-
tered by dust particles in the atmosphere. The intensity of
the green flash depends on the visibility. They are best seen
at high latitudes over flat horizons, like the ocean. It can
be seen all year long but is very rare.
((( Not for me is it rare. I have seen is often )))
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1017 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 2, 2001 (19:54) * 26 lines
WHY ARE THE BUTTONS ON MEN'S AND WOMEN'S CLOTHES ON OPPOSITE SIDES?
Since most people are right-handed, the holes on men's clothes
have buttons on the right--to make it easier for men to push
them through the holes. When buttons were first used, they
were expensive, so only wealthy women could afford them. The
buttons on women's clothing are on the OPPOSITE side so their
maids could dress them. Since a maid faces the woman she is
dressing, having the buttons on the left of the dress places
them on the maid's right.
WHAT STATE CAPITAL WAS ORIGINALLY CALLED PIG'S EYE?
St. Paul, Minnesota was originally called "Pig's Eye", as it
was the nickname of one of the town's first settlers, a French-
Canadian trader named Pierre Parrant.
WHAT WAS THE INTERNET CALLED WHEN IT WAS BEING DEVELOPED BACK IN 1969?
ARPAnet...for the Advanced Research Projects Agency network
of the U.S. Department of Defense.
WHAT IS CONSIDERED THE SNOWIEST PLACE IN THE WORLD?
Mount Baker in Washington, USA, is considered the snowiest
place in the world, where measurements can be taken. It
endured while under a whopping 95 feet of snow during the
1998-1999 winter season. Previously, Mount Rainier held the
record.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1018 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 2, 2001 (19:57) * 29 lines
WHY ARE EVERGREENS NAILED TO THE TOP OF NEWLY CONSTRUCTED BUILDINGS?
Once the roof rafters are raised on a new dwelling, the custom
is to nail an evergreen tree to the highest peak to appease
the wood gods and bring good luck to the house. It's just one
of many superstitions associated with wood and trees, probably
with early origins in pagan rituals and druid rites.
WHAT DO THE LETTERS IN THE ACRONYM "LED" STAND FOR?
The acronym LED stands for "Light-emitting diode". It's the
light on a computer product that indicates the power is on.
WHAT IS THE LARGEST MOUNTAIN IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM?
The largest mountain in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on
Mars. At a height of over 26 km (16 miles), it is nearly
three times taller than Mt. Everest. Olympus Mons is also
enormous in its width: 600 km (360 miles) across.
HOW DID THE EXPRESSION "GREEN THUMB" ORIGINATE?
According to James Underwood Crockett, it comes from the fact
that algae growing on the outside of earthenware pots will
stain a person's thumb (and fingers) if he or she handles
enough pots. Hence, a person who is always working with flower-
pots has a green thumb. Another theory is that it originated
during the reign of King Edward I of England. He was fond of
green peas and kept half a dozen serfs shelling them during
the season. The serf who had the greenest thumb won a prize.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1019 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 2, 2001 (20:45) * 5 lines
A new one to think about
New 'War Vote' Virus Deletes Computer Files
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010924/tc/tech_votevirus_dc.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1020 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 3, 2001 (22:21) * 19 lines
WHAT ARE THE FINANCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION IN THE UNITED STATES?
Sleep deprivation results in direct annual costs of $15.9
billion, and more than $100 billion in indirect costs, such
as car accidents, injuries, and lost productivity.
ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS BUREAU, WHAT ARE THE FIVE MOST COMMON SURNAMES IN THE UNITED STATES?
Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, and Brown, in that order.
HOW MANY ADULTS GET ENOUGH SLEEP?
Only one-third (37 percent) of adults get at least eight
hours of sleep each weeknight. Almost one-third (31 percent)
sleep fewer than seven hours each weeknight, and 69 percent
say they frequently expeRience sleep problems.
WHAT WAS SOLD IN THE BURPEE MAIL-ORDER CATALOG WHEN IT WAS INTRODUCED BY 17-YEAR-OLD WASHINGTON ATLEE BURPEE IN 1876?
Chickens were sold in the catalogue. Burpee soon added
chicken feed and then the vegetable and flower seeds for
which the catalog has long been famous.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1021 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 4, 2001 (22:33) * 4 lines
Snapping shrimp make flashing bubbles
Snapping shrimp produce a loud crackling noise that is intense enough to disturb
underwater communication. This sound originates from the violent collapse of a large cavitation bubble generated under the tensile forces of a high-velocity water jet formed when the shrimp's snapper-claw snaps shut (Fig. 1). Here we show that a short, intense flash of light is emitted as the bubble collapses, indicating that extreme pressures and temperatures of at least 5,000 K (ref. 4) must exist inside the bubble at the point of collapse. We have dubbed this phenomenon 'shrimpoluminescence' — the first observation, to our knowledge, of this mode of light production in any animal — because of its apparent similarity to sonoluminescence, the light emission from a bubble periodically driven by ultrasound.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1022 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 4, 2001 (22:34) * 1 lines
the above is from http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v413/n6855/abs/413477a0_fs.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1023 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 4, 2001 (23:43) * 14 lines
To pixillate you - I particularly wonder about the second one:
Why fish are being sent back to school
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991374
Special maize prevents venereal disease
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991373
Portable food-poisoning detector
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991376
Energy from the mini-beasts of the sea
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991375
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1024 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 5, 2001 (16:47) * 22 lines
FROM WHERE IS THE WORD "CURFEW" DERIVED?
The word "curfew" is derived from an old French word that
means "cover fire". In Europe during the Middle Ages, a
curfew was a metal cone or shield that was used to put out
the hearth fire in the evening. The word "curfew" came to
mean the end of the day's activities.
HOW MUCH DUST COMES FROM OUTER SPACE EACH DAY?
About 27 tons of dust rains down on the earth each day from
space, making a total of almost 10,000 tons each year.
HOW MUCH POPCORN DO AMERICANS CONSUME A YEAR?
Americans consume more than 17 billion quarts of popped corn
a year--about 68 quarts for each of us.
WHAT IS THE ONLY BONE IN THE HUMAN BODY NOT CONNECTED TO ANOTHER BONE?
The only bone in the human body not connected to another is
the hyoid, a V-shaped bone located at the base of the tongue
between the mandible and the voice box. Its function is to
support the tongue and its muscles.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1025 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 5, 2001 (20:31) * 16 lines
For John and Mike and Terry and others who understand electomagentism:
* First nanotube circuits get logical: (5 Oct)
The ever-shrinking world of electronics just got smaller
following the first demonstration of digital logic
circuits made from carbon nanotubes. Cees Dekker and team
at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands used
different combinations of 'nanotube transistors' to
create several devices, including a voltage inverter and
a NOR gate. As conventional silicon microelectronics
approaches its fundamental size limit, Dekker and
colleagues believe that their devices - which work at
room temperature - are an important step towards
nano-electronics (A Bachtold et al 2001
Science to appear).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/10/4 ]
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1026 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 5, 2001 (20:34) * 1 lines
John, if I'm rotating faster in Hawaii than you are in Greece, do I weigh more here or there? Who is being pressed harder by stellar energy, solar flux and pulled by gravitational forces? It is all relative, isn't it? We weigh nothing in space!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1027 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Sat, Oct 6, 2001 (07:05) * 14 lines
Dear Marcia:
If we suppose that your mass is constant, your weight it depends mainly on two things. First is the force of gravity that push you to the centre of the Earth and second is the centrifugal force (as result from the rotation of the Earth around her axis) that push you to the contrary direction i.e. to the space. Your weight is the total result. I.e. the attraction of gravity minus the centrifugal force. We can say that the force of gravity is the same in Hawaii and in Greece. But the centrifugal force it differs, because we live in different parallels on the Earth and you travel on a bigger circle than I travel. I.e. you are moved more fast around the axis of Earth.
I calculated these two speeds. You are moved with speed of 1577 Km/h while I move with speed of 1296 Km/h I.e. you are moved with bigger speed of 281 Km/h. Also, I calculated that the centrifugal force in Volos is 0.822 times (i.e. smaller) of the centrifugal force in Hawaii. This means that somebody in Hawaii weighs a little less that he weighs in Volos in Greece.
Physics gives the mathematic type for the calculation of the centrifugal force:
Fc = mÙ^2/r
where Fc = centrifugal force, m = mass, Ù = angular speed, and r = radius.
Gravitational forces from Sun, Moon and stars, decreases too much little our weight; how much exactly, it depends on the mass of each sky body, and on his distance from us. (Newton laws). The Sun with big mass and the Moon in short distance from us, they have the bigger part of the gravitational effect on Earth. They are producing the tides in the entire mass of the Earth. I use the piezoelectric result of these tidal forces to predict EQ’s.
Can you imagine what will happen if the earth begin to revolve with double speed suddenly? i.e. if we had sunrise every 12 hours suddenly?
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1028 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Oct 6, 2001 (17:04) * 5 lines
John and I discussed this above post on IM. I got it reversed until I did a little demonstration on my desktop. I think when I am fortunate enough to get to Greece I will refrain from weighing myself. I wonder how much the increase amounts to. I suspect it has a lot to do with the mass you are to begin with.
Sunrise every 12 hours? I'd like to see it every 90 minutes for a while in the right company! Think about living on Uranus (if life was passible on frozen methane) - each dawn is many many years away from the last one.
Thank you for your most considered response. I am delighted when my late-night musings result in thought-provoking posts. *Hugs* John!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1029 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Oct 6, 2001 (21:15) * 7 lines
This picture was taken from a telescope I can see from my yard.
MUST SEE PICTURE OF 'PERFECT' SPIRAL GALAXY
-------------------------------------------
A remarkable first-light image was obtained with a new state-of-the-art instrument at the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii. The image clearly reveals a large galaxy in Pisces has been called the "Perfect Spiral Galaxy" due to its nearly ideal form.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0110/03gemini/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1030 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 9, 2001 (14:07) * 26 lines
WHY ARE THE EDGES OF LASAGNA NOODLES USUALLY CRIMPED?
The curls at the edge of the lasagna noodles help retain the
sauce and the filling between the layers. If the noodles were
flat, the sauce and filling would slip out between the layers
when cooking and eating.
HOW LARGE IS THE PACIFIC OCEAN?
The Pacific is larger than all the land in the world put
together, covering about 70 million square miles--more than
one-third of the Earth's surface.
WHAT PUTS THE "POP" IN POPCORN?
A drop of water in each kernel, surrounded by starch. When
the corn is heated, the water turns to steam. Pressure builds
until it explodes and the starch inflates, inverting the
kernel.
WHY DO WE SAY SOMEONE IS "IN THE LIMELIGHT" IF THEY ARE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION
A "limelight" was an intense white light made by heating a
cylinder of lime in an oxy-hydrogen flame. This method of
lighting was invented in the 1820s, and used primarily in
lighthouses. Later, limelights were developed for special
lighting effects in theaters, much like a spotlight is used
today. So, being in the limelight means being in the spot-
light, or in the full glare of public interest.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1031 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 9, 2001 (14:09) * 24 lines
SPACEWALK OUTFITS SPACE STATION ALPHA'S NEW MODULE
--------------------------------------------------
The two Russian cosmonauts of the Expedition Three crew living on the international space station stepped outside Monday for a successful spacewalk to outfit the newly arrived Pirs docking module.
http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html
Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers can watch six video clips from Monday's spacewalk:
http://spaceflightnow.com/plus/
TITAN 4 LAUNCH VIDEO RELEASED
-----------------------------
The U.S. Air Force has released video of Friday's launch of an Titan 4B rocket carrying a spy satellite. Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers can watch the video now:
http://spaceflightnow.com/plus/
ULYSSES SEES THE SUN BEGIN TO QUIETEN DOWN
------------------------------------------
Order is returning to the solar wind as the Sun begins to shake off the chaos that has characterised its behaviour during the recent peak in its 11-year activity cycle.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0110/09ulysses/
GETTING A CLOSE-UP VIEW OF PLANETARY BIRTH
------------------------------------------
Early next year, scientists hope to gain insight into conditions that precede planet birth by deploying a powerful new instrument: the Keck Interferometer. The twin Keck telescopes are the world's largest telescopes for optical and near-infrared astronomy.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0110/09birth/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1032 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 10, 2001 (00:12) * 16 lines
Go outside and look up. Aurora alert!!!
Here Comes the Sun -- watch out for auroras later this week
Space Weather News for October 10, 2001
http://www.spaceweather.com
A solar explosion on Tuesday (Oct. 9th at 1110 UT) hurled a full-halo
coronal mass ejection toward Earth. The expanding cloud, which sped away
from the Sun traveling approximately 1000 km/s, could strike our planet's
magnetosphere as soon as Thursday, Oct. 11th. Sky watchers, especially
those living above geomagnetic latitude 50 degrees, should remain alert
for Northern Lights during the nights ahead. The best time to spot auroras
is usually around local midnight. Visit SpaceWeather.com for details and
updates.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1033 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 10, 2001 (13:23) * 23 lines
HOW MUCH U.S. CURRENCY IS IN CIRCULATION?
There is about 500 billion dollars of U.S. currency in circu-
lation and most of it is held outside of the United States.
WHICH DENOMINATION OF CURRENCY IS THE MOST COUNTERFEITED?
In the United States, the $20 is the most counterfeited,
followed by the $100 note, the $10 note, the $50 note, the
$1 note, and the $5 note. The $100 is the note that is most
counterfeited in foreign countries.
HOW MUCH INK IS USED PER DAY AT THE BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING?
Between the Fort Worth Texas and the Washington D.C. facil-
ities, The Bureau of Engraving and Printing uses about 18
tons of ink per day.
HOW DID THE DOLLAR SIGN - $ - ORIGINATE?
The origin of the dollar sign is not known, but may be derived
from the Spanish or Mexican "P's" that appeared on the peso, or
piastre, which are Spanish silver coins of the seventeenth or
eighteenth centuries marked with an "8" because they were worth
eight reals. The dollar sign "$" is probably derived from the
figure `8' as it appeared on `pieces of eight'.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1034 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 10, 2001 (13:28) * 60 lines
Statement by USGS Director Chip Groat on World Disaster Reduction Day
Today, October 10, is World Disaster Reduction Day--a term that in the past
has applied largely to natural disasters. But this year, in the wake of the
September 11 attacks on the United States, it has taken on a new meaning.
Unnatural disasters, those caused by hatred and intolerance, may seem an
even more daunting challenge to our society than the earthquakes and floods
we have faced before. However, the lessons we have learned from a century
of battling natural hazards can help us in this new fight. Over the past
100 years, we've gotten much better at saving lives. In 1900, a hurricane
hit Galveston, Texas, without warning, taking at least 6,000 lives and
perhaps twice that many. In 1902, an incandescent cloud of volcanic gas and
ash swept down the flanks of Mont Pelee, in Martinique, wiping out a city
of 30,000 people. In 1906, a great earthquake struck San Francisco, taking
hundreds to perhaps thousands of lives. From those disasters, we learned,
and those lessons have saved lives throughout the 20th century.
Terrorism has become another of the hazards we face, and we can use many of
our approaches to dealing with natural hazards as we begin to deal with
this unnatural hazard--approaches such as monitoring the warning signals,
understanding the problem, sharing information, educating the public to
take steps that protect themselves and their loved ones. It will take a
long-term commitment from all sectors of our society, but we have made
progress against the threat of natural disasters with these tools and we
can use them to reduce the threat of terrorism as well.
Many of the steps we have taken to mitigate one natural disaster have
provided unexpected benefits for others--building codes that protect from
ground shaking also strengthen buildings against strong winds and
landslides. In the same way, actions to reduce risks and losses from
natural disasters-- such as improved communication structures, better
notification systems, strengthened infrastructures--can help protect us
against attack, and actions to reduce vulnerability to terrorism can help
in the fight against natural disasters.
USGS capabilities have already been critically important as we respond to
the disaster and prepare our Nation for the future. The USGS geospatial
data set is the Nation's only national coverage of our infrastructure--our
dams, bridges, highways, airports, and urban areas. These maps and images
have contributed significantly to the efforts to understand the scope and
focus resources as needed for recovery. Looking to the future, ongoing work
on real-time water quality may prove invaluable in monitoring public water
supplies to ensure our water is safe to drink. The geophysical techniques
used to monitor earthquakes may be useful in response and recovery.
These are only a few of the possibilities that can be envisioned. We need
to bring the full impact of science and technology to bear on the hazards
we face, whether terror in the skies or tremors in the Earth. The USGS
stands ready to play our part in the struggle to ensure a safe and secure
future for our children and our world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kathleen K. Gohn U.S. Geological Survey
Public Affairs Specialist Office of Communications
703-648-4242 phone 119 National Center
703-648-4466 fax Reston, VA 20192
kgohn@usgs.gov
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1035 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (13:07) * 21 lines
WHAT DID SOUTH CAROLINA HAVE ON ITS LICENSE PLATES BEFORE IT WAS KNOWN AS THE "PALMETTO" STATE?
Before being known as the Palmetto State, South Carolina was
known as, and had emblazoned on their license plates, the
Iodine State.
WHAT BROTHERS WERE THE FIRST IN AMERICAN HISTORY TO APPEAR SEPARATELY ON UNITED STATES POSTAGE STAMPS?
Wilbur and Orville Wright.
WHICH BANK IS BUILT FROM BRICKS SENT THROUGH THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE?
The Bank of Vernal, in Vernal, Utah is the only bank in the
world that was built from bricks sent through the mail. Back
in 1919, builders realized it was cheaper to send the bricks
through the United States Postal System (seven bricks to a
package) than to have them shipped commercially from Salt
Lake City.
WHEN WERE RUBBERBANDS INVENTED?
Rubber bands, made from vulcanized rubber, were first
patented in March of 1845 by Stephen Perry of Perry and
Company, a London rubber manufacturer.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1036 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (18:51) * 13 lines
* Chaotic lasers decode data:
A foolproof way to send and receive encrypted messages
could follow the first demonstration of a technique to
predict chaotic fluctuations in laser light. Alan Shore
and colleagues at the University of Wales in Bangor
applied the technology to a pair of lasers - one was used
to send the encoded message and the other received and
deciphered it. Secure encryption techniques are crucial
for sending private information over the Internet (S
Sivaprakasam et al 2001 Phys. Rev. Lett.
87 154101-1).
[ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/10/6 ]
----------------------------------------------------------
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1037 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (12:39) * 33 lines
WHO WAS THE ONLY PRESIDENT TO EARN A Ph.D?
Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 1856-1924, was the only president to
earn his doctorate. He was the twenty-eighth U.S. president,
born in Staunton, Virginia, and the son of a Presbyterian
minister. He studied at Princeton and Johns Hopkins, gaining
his Ph.D. with the first of his major books on American government, Congressional Government (1885).
WHAT DID IT MEAN TO "SAVE FACE" IN THE LATE 1700'S?
Men and woman of this period wore a lot of makeup, and since
bathing was not frequent, they often had layers upon layers
of makeup on. Obviously if one of the fashionable people were
to sit too close to the fire, their makeup would start to melt.
To prevent this, a servant would place a screen in front of the
fire to block the heat, so the person would then "save face".
WHEN WAS GAS WARFARE FIRST USED?
Chemical and biological warfare have been used long before
World War 1. During the Peloponnesian War in the 5th century
BC, Spartans used sulphur and pitch to overcome the enemy.
During ancient and medieval times, soldiers sometimes threw
bodies of plague victims over the walls of besieged cities,
or into water wells. During the French and Indian wars in
North America (1689-1763), blankets used by smallpox victims
were given to American Indians in the hope they would carry
the disease.
IN WHICH U.S. STATE DOES MALE LIFE EXPECTANCY EXCEED 70 YEARS?
Hawaii is the only state in the United States where male life
expectancy exceeds 70 years. Hawaii also leads all states in
life expectancy in general, with an average of 73.6 years for
both males and females.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1038 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (14:01) * 1 lines
Perhaps life expectancy is longer in Hawaii because the inhabitants like living there so well they're in no hurry to leave.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1039 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (21:15) * 3 lines
Possibly true about longevity in Hawaii! Perhaps we are already in Paradise and do not have to go anywhere else!
We also do not feed people to our volcanoes. We eat a lot of good and varied food and are far from man-made pollutants. It is really rather special in Hawaii - most certainly away from Honolulu!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1040 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (15:46) * 20 lines
WHY DO SPEED SKATERS WEAR DIFFERENT COLORED ARMBANDS?
In speed skating, competitors wear colored armbands to
indicate their starting lanes. White is worn by the skater
starting in the inner lane; red by the skater starting in
the outer lane. The skaters change lanes after each circuit
of the track.
HOW FAR COULD A BEE TRAVEL ON ONE GALLON OF NECTAR?
A bee could travel 4 million miles at 7 mph on the energy it
would obtain from 1 gallon of nectar.
WHERE WAS THE HIGHEST WIND SPEED IN THE WORLD RECORDED?
The highest wind speed in the world was recorded on April 12,
1934 when observers on Mount Washington in New Hampshire
recorded a peak gust of 231 miles per hour. Over a five-minute
period, wind speeds averaged 186 miles per hour. Mount
Washington is home to an important weather observatory and
features its own webcam, viewed at www.mountwashington.org
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1041 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (15:48) * 1 lines
I've been to the summit of Mt Washington. Much to my disappointment it was a dead calm there, but I did get to see the equiment they have installed for all sorts of atmospheric monitoring.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1042 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (14:34) * 37 lines
HOW DID THE PIGGY BANK GET ITS NAME?
During The Middle Ages, in about the fifteenth century, metal
was expensive and seldom used for household wares. Instead,
dishes and pots were made of an economical clay called pygg.
Whenever housewives could save an extra coin, they dropped it
into one of their clay jars. They called this their pygg bank
or their piggy bank. Over the next 200 to 300 years, people
forgot that "pygg" referred to the earthenware material. In
the nineteenth century when English potters received requests
for piggy banks, they produced banks shaped like a pig. Of
course, the pigs appealed to the customers and delighted the
children. In fact, even to this day, clay bottles filled with
hot water are still used as bed-warmers in parts of Britain,
and are called "pigs" or "china pigs";
WHICH ANIMAL CAN SEE IN MORE THAN ONE DIRECTION AT THE SAME TIME?
The American woodcock, with its eyes placed toward the top of
its head, can see backward and upward, and forward and upward,
with binocular vision and, laterally, almost 180 degrees with
each eye.
WHAT ARE SOME FOREIGN CUSTOMS TO PREDICT OR ENSURE FERTILITY?
To see how many children a newlywed couple will have, the
Finns count the number of grains of rice in the bride's hair.
Czechs send off the newlyweds under a barrage of peas.
Italians throw sugared almonds. An African tradition is to
throw corn kernels (to signify fertility).
WHY IS THERE A HOLE IN THE LEFT-HAND CORNER OF THE OLD FARMER'S ALMANAC?
The hole in the upper left-hand corner was originally placed
there in 1792 so that the little book could be hung in out-
houses for a little light reading. It costs $43,187 to punch
a hole in the 4.4 million printed copies of The Old Farmer's
Almanac. The 1/4-inch holes drilled into 4.4 million copies
weigh 8,800 pounds or 4.4 tons. The holes produce approxi-
mately 1 billion pieces of confetti each year.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1043 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (13:03) * 25 lines
WHAT IS THE GEOGRAPHIC CENTER OF THE UNITED STATES?
The exact point lies in Butte County, South Dakota, just west
of Castle Rock.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE BLOOD TO CIRCULATE THROUGH THE BODY?
On average, it takes about 45 seconds for blood to circulate
from the heart, all around the body, and back to the heart
again. An average adult's heart beats more than 100,000
times a day.
WHAT 1964 TELEVISION SITUATION COMEDY AS NOT BEEN OFF THE AIR EVEN ONCE SINCE
ITS INCEPTION?
It was back in 1964 that "Gilligan's Island" premiered on
CBS-TV and since then has never, not even once, been off the
air. The endlessly rerun sitcom is known and loved in strange
and unlikely places throughout the globe.
IS A RAINBOW CIRCULAR IN SHAPE IF ONE LOOKS DOWN ON IT FROM THE SKY?
Rainbows are the reflection of the sun on water droplets in
the air. On the ground, you can see only those droplets
extending to the horizon, hence the bow. The higher off the
ground you are, the more of the horizon, and thus the more of
the rainbow, you can see. If you're in an airplane, you do in
fact see a circle, with the airplane's shadow in the center.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1044 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 18, 2001 (10:57) * 30 lines
WHAT WAS THE FIRST EVENT EVER HELD AT THE UNITED CENTER IN CHICAGO?
The Democratic National Convention in 1996 was the first event,
and also the largest event, booked at the United Center. On
average, 30,000 people occupied the building. Over 1,000 pounds
of confetti were dropped, and 200,000 red, white, and blue
balloons were dropped, which had been blown up manually by volunteers.
HOW MUCH GARBAGE IS COLLECTED AT THE UNITED CENTER AT THE END OF A CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS OR BULLS GAME?
On average, seven to ten tons of garbage is collected after
each sporting event.
WHO WAS THE FIRST FARE-PAYING TOURIST TO EVER VISIT SPACE?
California billionaire Dennis Tito, was the first fare-paying
tourist to visit space. Originally, Tito's destination was the
aging Mir complex, but the station "retired" to the South
Pacific before Tito had a chance to fly. Instead, his Russian
hosts--which were being paid about $20 million for the flight--
successfully wrangled passage for Tito to the International
Space Station.
WHAT IS THE LONGEST MUSCLE IN THE HUMAN BODY?
The longest muscle in the human body is the sartorius. This
narrow muscle of the thigh passes obliquely across the front
of the thigh and helps rotate the leg to the position assumed
in sitting cross-legged. Its name is a derivation of the ad-
jective "sartorial," a reference to what was the traditional
cross-legged position of tailors (or "sartors") at work.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1045 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 19, 2001 (13:21) * 32 lines
Please be aware! 809 area code scam: http://www.scambusters.org/809Scam.html
If you're wondering how we found out about this problem, we discovered
it in two ways. First, we simply received a copy of one of the emails from
a customer. Second, we visit http://groups.google.com/ every
couple of weeks to see what is being said about us and Internet
ScamBusters in the newsgroups. We discovered that there has been a
lively thread about this topic in the alt.folklore.urban newsgroup. It has
also been discussed in the rec.arts.sf.fandom, alt.books.david-weber,
rec.autos.makers.jeep+willys, and several other newsgroups.
Before we get to the mistakes and changes people made to our issue of
Internet ScamBusters, here is a brief review of the 809 scam:
The "809" scam has many permutations but they all involve a message to
you (either by email, phone or pager) that you immediately call or fax a
number in the "809" area code or some other area code in the Caribbean.
Examples of why you should call or fax the phone number include
avoiding litigation, receiving information about someone who has been
arrested or died, winning a wonderful prize, or getting a job.
The "809" area code is in the Caribbean, yet most people are not aware
that they are making an international call when they dial the "809" area
code, since you simply dial 1-809-xxx-xxxx to make the call. No
international codes are required.
The problem comes from the fact that some phone numbers in the "809"
area code are "pay-per-call" numbers (such as 900 numbers in the US) -
but there are no legal requirements that callers be informed that they are
being charged extra in the Caribbean. When you return one of these
"pay-per-call" 809 calls, the scamsters try to keep you on the phone as
long as possible, and you may be charged very high rates for the call,
reportedly up to $25 per minute.
It is difficult to get credit for these charges if you do get scammed since
you did make the call, and resolving the problem involves getting credit
from international phone companies.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1046 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 19, 2001 (15:24) * 10 lines
IN THE PAST 30 YEARS, WHICH TYPE OF WEATHER--HURRICANES, FLOODS, BLIZZARDS, OR TORNADOS--HAS CAUSED THE HIGHEST CASUALTY RATE IN THE U.S IN TERMS OF FATALITIES?
Floods. During the past 30 years, flooding has resulted in more
than 400 deaths annually, which is more than any of the others.
For example, over the same period of time, hurricanes resulted
in less than 100 deaths.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1047 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 21, 2001 (20:45) * 9 lines
From: sr@hfradio.org
AURORA ALERT!
Aurora activity is heating up.
At 0100 UTC (22 Oct 2001), PACE latitude
activity exists from about 55 degrees, to
higher latitudes. Visual Aurora, and Aurora
mode propagation is likely.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1048 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 21, 2001 (20:46) * 1 lines
I do know better. It must be because I have just gotten the daughter I always wanted =)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1049 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 21, 2001 (20:50) * 1 lines
*sigh* Ok, who's messing with me? I DO know how to command the end of bold face letters. If it is still here, apply to a higher power to command the closure. I've done everything I can think of...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1050 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 21, 2001 (21:22) * 1 lines
=) thanks!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1051 of 1406: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Sun, Oct 21, 2001 (22:06) * 13 lines
Hi all
Marcia: I do know better. It must be because I have just gotten the daughter I always wanted.
Rob: *and everyone at Geo swamps you with hugs, kisses, flowers, and a never ending rain of good wishes* - how did it go??? The Bride was stunning, and David was stunned. Mother nature smiled, the sun came out in Christchurch, and now Rob is going to liberate a can of Canterbury Draught on your behalf.
Rob: Realistically, I am expecting a mini deluge when the Mother in law of Mrs Little returns. But in the meantime have a holiday, because Geo will be safe in the capable hands of Terry. Oh and if you go to that place on the San Andreas Fault near San Francisco can you get a picture of the displaced fence. Mum and Dad went to Lake Daniels where the concrete wall crossing the Alpine Fault is, and got me a pic in January. I will get a copy of the photo done for you. The fault goes THROUGH a motor camp at Franz Josef - I want to see it!!!
Enough of that. I had better go before this becomes a rant.
Hugs
Rob
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1052 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 21, 2001 (22:42) * 5 lines
*Collapsing in delighted exhaustion* I turn the care and nurturing of this most precious couple to their hands. I'll always be mother, but more importantly, their friend and staunch supporter. I could not be more delighted.
Deluge to follow, anon... Lift one for me, Rob. I don't indulge except for champagne on special occasions! I hope you all feel well-toasted. You were!
Aloha!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1053 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 23, 2001 (16:42) * 35 lines
CAN HUMAN HAIR TURN WHITE OVERNIGHT FROM FRIGHT OR STRESS?
Since hair is dead tissue, it would be incapable of becoming
white until it grows out from the roots, which would take
weeks. But hair can appear to turn grey when a condition
called "diffuse alopecia areata" occurs in one with a mix
of normal and grey hairs.Alopecia can result in sudden, sub-
stantial hair loss. It affects mostly pigmented hairs, leav-
ing white ones untouched, giving the impression that one has
become suddenly grey.
WHEN WILL THE NEXT FULL MOON OCCUR ON HALLOWEEN?
A full moon rarely shows up on Halloween, although Halloween
is often associated with full moons. Full moons on Halloween
over the past century have occurred in 1925, 1944, 1955, and
1974. The next full moon on October 31 will occur in 2020.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE "IT'S RAINING CATS AND DOGS"?
This phrase is believed to come from the days when street
drainage in 17th Century England was so poor that heavy
rainstorms could easily drown cats and dogs and their bodies
were seen floating in the streets, giving the appearance that
it had literally "rained" cats and dogs. Also, in Northern
mythology, the cat is believed to have supreme influence on
the weather, symbolizing the downpouring of rain. The dog is
taken as a symbol of wind accompanying a rainstorm. In old
German pictures, the wind is depicted as the head of a dog.
Therefore, when one says "it is raining "cats and dogs" it
is with reference to a heavy rain with strong winds.
WHAT IS THE FORMULA FOR TELLING THE TEMPERATURE BY COUNTING THE CHIRPS OF A CRICKET?
To determine the outside temperature in degrees Fahrenheit,
count the number of times a cricket chirps in precisely 15
seconds and then add 37. To get the temperature in degrees
Celsius, count the number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide
by 3, and then add 4.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1054 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 23, 2001 (17:00) * 44 lines
HOW DID THE TRADITION OF PUMPKIN CARVING GET STARTED?
The Irish brought this tradition of pumpkin carving to America.
The tradition originally started with the carving of turnips.
When the Irish immigrated to the U.S., they found pumpkins a
plenty and they were much easier to carve for their ancient
holiday.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD COBWEB?
The root of "web" was a prehistoric Germanic word that also
gave us "weave." The most commonly encountered "cob" is the
corn-cob. That kind of "cob" comes from a very old English
word that meant "head or top." It is possible that "cobweb"
is related to that word, but a more certain ancestor is the
Middle English "coppe," which meant simply "spider." Over
the years "coppe" was gradually slurred to "cob," and,
then, "cobweb."
WHAT DOES "SAMHAIN" MEAN?
Samhain, (pronounced SOW-in, SAH-vin, or SAM-hayne) means
"End of Summer", and is the third and final Harvest. The dark
winter half of the year commences on this Sabbat. It is gen-
erally celebrated on October 31st, but some traditions prefer
November 1st. It is one of the two "spirit-nights" each year,
the other being Beltane. It is a magical interval when the
mundane laws of time and space are temporarily suspended, and
the Thin Veil between the worlds is lifted. Communicating
with ancestors and departed loved ones is easy at this time.
HOW MUCH DO U.S. CONSUMERS SPEND ON HALLOWEEN?
With an estimated $ 1.93 billion in candy sales, Halloween
is the sweetest holiday of the year, beating out Easter,
Valentine's Day, and Christmas. One fourth of all the candy
sold annually is purchased between September 15th and
November 10th.
U.S. consumers spend as much as $ 1.5 billion on costumes
each year, and more than $ 2.5 billion on other Halloween
paraphernalia, such as decorations and crafts more than
$ 100 million of which is spent online.
The first Halloween card was made in the early 1920s.
These days, U.S. consumers spend about $50 million on
Halloween greetings.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1055 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 24, 2001 (16:35) * 33 lines
http://www.shagmail.com/sub/sub-trivia.html
WHO WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO WIN TWO NOBEL PRIZES?
Madame Marie Curie was the first person ever to win two Nobel
Prizes, winning the first one in 1903 in Physics, and the
second in Chemistry in 1911. She used part of the prize money
to change the wallpaper and put a modern bathroom into her
Paris home.
HOW MANY PEOPLE READ "PEOPLE MAGAZINE"?
With a weekly readership of 36 million, "People Magazine"
generated $724 million in gross revenue in 2000. At an annual
rate of $103.48, subscribers pay more for "People Magazine"
than any other weekly consumer magazine. One out of two Amer-
icans will read "People" in a given year, and more people read
"People" each week than watch the highest-rated television
shows or attend the biggest movie openings.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST TOY TO BE ADVERTISED ON TV?
The first toy product ever advertised on television was Mr.
Potato Head®. Introduced in 1952, Mr. Potato Head® took ad-
vantage of TV's explosive growth to gain access to tens of
millions of newly "plugged-in" households.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM "INDIAN SUMMER"?
Indian Summer comes from the early Native Americans, who be-
lieved that the condition was caused by a warm wind sent from
the court of their southwestern God, Cautantowwit. Indian Sum-
mer is a period of warm weather following a cold spell or hard
frost, occurring between St. Martin's Day (November 11th) and
November 20th.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1056 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (14:27) * 33 lines
WHERE DID THE WORD "PUMPKIN" ORIGINATE?
References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name
"pumpkin" originated from the Greek word "large melon" which
is "pepon". Pepon was changed by the French into "pompon".
The English changed "pompon" to "pumpion". American colonists
changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin".
WHO CONCEIVED OF THE IDEA OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME?
The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin
Franklin during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris
in 1784, in an essay, "An Economical Project." Although Ben
Franklin suggested it, it was first adopted in 1916 during
World War I, in several counties in Europe, although it was
proposed several times before, but rejected.
WHERE DID THE TRADITION OF WEDDING SHOWERS COME FROM?
Wedding "showers" began in the 1890's whe a hostess filled
a paper parasol with small presents from the guests and
turned it over the head of the bride-to-be. Over the years,
with brides needing heavy household appliances, gifts became
too heavy to drop on the heads of even the bravest recipients,
so other practices evolved.
WHERE IN THE UNITED STATES IS DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME NOT OBSERVED?
Daylight Saving Time, for the U.S. and its territories, is
NOT observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico,
the Virgin Islands, the Eastern Time Zone portion of the
State of Indiana, and the state of Arizona (not the Navajo
Indian Reservation, which does observe). Navajo Nation par-
ticipates in the Daylight Saving Time policy, due to its
large size and location in three states.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1057 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (14:29) * 31 lines
WHERE DID THE EXPRESSION "ON THE Q.T." ORIGINATE?
"On the Q.T." is slang for "confidentially" or "quietly."
Although "Q.T." looks as though it is the initial letters of
two words, its origin is the first and last letters of the
word "quiet." The earliest citation in the Oxford English
Dictionary for "Q.T." is from 1884, in the common form "on
the strict q.t.," and it is also found in James Joyce's
"Ulysses" of 1922.
WHERE IS THE PUMPKIN CAPITAL OF THE WORLD LOCATED?
This self-proclaimed pumpkin capital of the world is located
in Morton, Illinois. It is home to Libby corporation's pumpkin
industry.
WHAT IS THE "STOCKHOLM SYNDROME"?
It is a psychological behavior usually seen in kidnapping and
hostage cases, where the hostages develop a liking toward the
kidnappers and their cause. First noticed in 1973, when four
hostages in a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden, after six days
of captivity refused to testify against their captors, raised
money for their legal defense, and one of the hostages eventu-
ally became engaged to one of her captors. This behavior was
termed the 'Stockholm Syndrome'.
WHAT IS THE STRONGEST BONE IN THE HUMAN BODY?
The strongest, largest, and longest bone in the human body
is the femur or thighbone, and it is hollow. Ounce for ounce,
it has a greater pressure tolerance and bearing strength than
a rod of equivalent size in cast steel.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1058 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (20:15) * 6 lines
[1]GEOLOGY
* Corals Lock El Nino History in Radiocarbon
* Finding Fault With Great Glen Theory
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1059 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 30, 2001 (13:51) * 34 lines
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF AMERICANS ARE DOG OWNERS?
There are 52.9 million dogs and 59 million cats, and nearly
300 million people in the United States. Although there are
more cats than dogs, dogs can be found in 4.2 million more
households than are cats.
HOW DOES SUNSCREEN WORK?
There are two kinds of sunscreens--physical and chemical.
Physical sunscreens are opaque formulations, such as zinc
oxide and titanium dioxide, and completely block sunlight.
Chemical sunscreens reflect or absorb the ultraviolet light
that causes tanning and burning. The absorbed energy is
reemitted in a harmless form, either heat or fluorescence,
neither of which is perceptible. The effectiveness of a
chemical sunscreen is indicated by its SPF (sun protection
factor): a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 will allow you to
stay in the sun for 15 times as long as you could if you
didn't use sunscreen. Thus, if ten minutes in the sun
without sunscreen will produce a modest tan, a sunscreen
with an SPF of 15 will produce the same results in 150
minutes.
HOW MANY DOG OWNERS GIVE THEIR DOGS HOLIDAY AND/OR BIRTHDAY GIFTS?
79 percent of Americans give their dogs gifts to celebrate
their birthdays and holidays.
WHICH MOUNTAINS ARE GROWING THE FASTEST?
The world's tallest mountains, the Himalayas, are also the
fastest growing. Their growth--about half an inch a year--
is caused by the pressure exerted by two of Earth's conti-
nental plates (the Eurasian plate and the Indo-Australian
plate) pushing against one another.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1060 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 30, 2001 (13:53) * 25 lines
WHICH MONTHS WILL HAVE A FRIDAY THE 13TH?
Months that start on a Sunday will always have a Friday the 13th.
WHAT ANIMAL IS PRONE TO HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE?
The giraffe, because this animal's heart uses tremendous
force to pump blood through its neck, which is about ten to
twelve feet in length. A giraffe's heart weighs about 25
pounds and has walls up to three inches thick.
HOW MANY PARTICLES OF SKIN DOES A HUMAN BEING SHED EVERY HOUR?
Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour--about
1.5 pounds a year. By 70 years of age, an average person will
have lost 105 pounds of skin. Humans shed and regrow outer
skin cells about every 27 days--almost 1,000 new skins in a
lifetime. The largest human organ is the skin, with a surface
area of about 25 square feet.
WHAT IS FONTINALIA?
After the end of the summer season in ancient Rome, on
October 13th, citizens celebrated Fontinalia, a tribute to
Fontus, a water god, by holding a feast in honor of the
blessing of good water. They decorated wells and public
fountains with garlands of flowers and threw petals into the
waters.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1061 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 1, 2001 (22:42) * 60 lines
TRIVIA TIME - Thursday, November 1, 2001
"Four Items a Day of Enduring Insignificance"
------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe for FREE and get Trivia Time delivered daily. Visit:
http://www.shagmail.com/sub/sub-trivia.html
Subscribe
------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings Infomaniacs,
Bats are misunderstood mammals. But Sharon Peterson, the "bat
lady" who lives in my neighborhood, is on a crusade to educate
people about bats and also to provide entertainment. She and
her husband make several presentations a month, educating
people of all ages, from school children to senior citizens.
Peterson has traveled all over the United States, either
studying bats or doing presentations. She visited Bracken
Cave, south of Austin Texas. The cave is known to have the
world's largest known urban bat colony in North America.
At last count, an estimated 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed
bats were living in the vicinity.
A year ago, Peterson purchased two Egyptian fruit bats. It
is illegal to keep a bat in captivity, but Peterson holds a
Class C exhibitor's license from the USDA, which allows her
to keep and show the bats. Peterson doesn't worry about con-
tracting rabies, to dispell another myth. Only about one
half of one percent of the entire bat population carries
rabies.
Bats serve three important ecological purposes, including
eating insects, pollinating fruit-bearing trees, and dispens-
ing seeds to help with reforestation. With all of the good
that bats do, Peterson urges people not to kill them if they
ever find one flying around inside their home.
If you'd like to find out more about bats, please visit
Peterson's website at www.incrediblebats.com
Lee
Lee@shagmail.com
HOW MANY SPECIES OF BATS ARE THERE IN THE WORLD?
Bats are the second largest order of mammals with around 934
species, including three varieties of vampire bats. They are
second only to rodents, with about 1,700 species. There are
40 species of bats in the United States, and 18 in the state
of Colorado. Bats only produce one baby a year.
WHY DO BATS HANG UPSIDE DOWN?
Bats hang upside down because they can't lay down, and are
actually relaxed when in a gripped position. Blood flows
differently in bats than in humans, which prevents blood
from rushing to their heads.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1062 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 1, 2001 (22:43) * 1 lines
(See, I don't really make up all of this stuff....!!!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1063 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Nov 2, 2001 (13:30) * 19 lines
WHY DOES THE GESTURE OF RUNNING ONE POINTED FINGER OVER THE OTHER SIGNIFY SHAME?
The origin of this gesture may be the Christian symbol of the
cross. The movement indicates that the cross is broken, a
metaphor for having done wrong or committed a sin.
HOW MANY MILES OF PIPELINE AND AQUEDUCTS ARE IN THE U.S. AND CANADA?
There are approximately one million miles or enough to circle
the Earth 40 times.
WHEN DID THE FIRST ROTARY TOOTHBRUSH APPEAR?
At least 20 new ideas for tooth care devices appeared in the
magazine Popular Mechanics between 1920 and 1930. Interplak
was the first rotary action toothbrush for home use, appearing in 1987.
WHAT WORD HAS THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF SEPARATE DEFINITIONS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE?
The word "set" has the highest number of separate definitions
in the English Language (192 definitions according to the
Oxford English Dictionary.)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1064 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Nov 2, 2001 (14:44) * 5 lines
I don't know where to put this. It belongs in Geo 24, but you never go there, so I put it here just in case I get lucky and you report some meteors and I also get to see some. Many heavy clouds currently blanket my skies. *sigh*
*Leonid Meteor Shower Predictions for 30 U.S. Cities
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/leonids_citytimes.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1065 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Nov 2, 2001 (14:53) * 5 lines
This Weather Satellite image is thanks to John, and it is puzzling for several reasons. Please look at it carefully. Note the long thin cloud which resembles a jet condensation trail. But, also note that it extends over almost 1/4 of the Earth's surface. Also, that it casts a shadow on the ground, and that it is much higher than the other clouds. Considering that we are currently involved in the insanity of war, is it some sort of trail left by a very new craft from Area 51 (where the stealth technology was developed)? I will be watching earth satellites from now on. Especially those over eastern Europe.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1066 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Nov 2, 2001 (21:26) * 38 lines
HOW MANY ADULTS JOIN IN HALLOWEEN FESTIVITIES?
Halloween isn't just for kids. While 82 percent of children
take part in Halloween festivities, a surprising 67 percent
of adults also join in the fun.
WHAT DOES THE CUSTOM OF BOBBING FOR APPLES AND OTHER APPLE CUSTOMS MEAN?
Bobbing for apples at Halloween originated as part of a
folk tradition practiced in the British Isles. A popular
divination was for young unmarried people to try to bite
into an apple floating in a tub of water or hanging from
a string. The first person to bite into the apple would
be the next one to marry.
Peeling an apple in front of a candle-lit mirror was be-
lieved to produce the image of one's future spouse.
Peeling an apple in one long, unbroken apple peel was said
to estimate the number of years you had to live. The longer
the peel, the longer your life expectancy.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF PUMPKIN PIE?
The origin of pumpkin pie occurred when colonists sliced off
the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and filled the insides
with milk, spices, and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in
the hot ashes of a dying fire.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE "DEAD AS A DOORNAIL"?
"Dead as a doornail" first appeared in English Around 1350
A.D. Shakespeare used the phrase in several of his plays.
The best theory about "doornail" notes that until the nine-
teenth century, metal nails were both expensive and rarely
used. Metal nails were used in the construction of doors,
but were usually driven straight through the door and then
bent over on the otherside, which made them impossible to
remove. Such nails were called "dead" in carpentry jargon,
at the time, because they could not loosen and work them-
selves free.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1067 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Sun, Nov 4, 2001 (06:24) * 2 lines
Thank you Marcia. I watched this strange line in the satellite photograph. Can somebody from you explain what really is?
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1068 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Nov 4, 2001 (12:48) * 1 lines
Have you discovered any other images like that since? I wish I had known that day because I could have looked at the hemisphere satellite weather maps that I have posted on Geo 14. I have looked at the Japanese site in hope of accessing that weather satellite, but my computer does not show that characters, and I cannot find the images. I will have to wait for you to tell me if and when this strange cloud appears again. If it is something that is man-made, it will surely appear again. Thank you again for bringing it to my attention. No one has suggested anything except for a very high altitude plane of some sort rather like the U-2. I have no idea what it is. It is far too long-lived to be a simple condensation trail, I think.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1069 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Mon, Nov 5, 2001 (07:51) * 5 lines
Hi,
If this long cloud doesn't man-made effect, what can be at that case? I believe that it is not result of some extraterrestrial effect. Then, maybe is the result of some natural process. The length of this strange cloud is so much big. I cannot imagine certain natural process in so much extended area. The only significant report during that day, were the 7.0 R in the New Britain region. Does not exist any acceptable correlation between the two facts.
I search certain satellite images of the earth every day. It was the first time that I observed something strange like this. I will continue to look. I will inform you if I find something interest.
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1070 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 5, 2001 (14:40) * 3 lines
John, I studied the jet stream maps at http://www.weather.com and they are at that latitude north. It occurred to me that might be part of the determining factor. I still wonder about the longevity of the cloud. It covers the earth from central Asia to beyond the Pacific as far as we can see. I would monitor that weather map if only I could find it, but I am also monitoring several, as well. I think this will occur again. Fascinating, indeed.
The "cloud" is definitly not extra-terrestrial. Is anything other than the stray meteroite that comes into the earth's atmosphere? No! I suspect there is an atmospheric event making this cloud. What amazes me is that it is so high and so long yet casts a shadow in the earth. I am still waiting for comments from meteorologist to whom I sent it. The lack of a fast response from them makes me think there is much investigating and discussion going on. I'll let you know when and if I hear anything from them.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1071 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 5, 2001 (14:56) * 26 lines
WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE SAYING "AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY"?
This saying was translated from the Welsh folk proverb,
circa 1866: "Eat an apple on going to bed, And you'll keep
the doctor from earning his bread."
WHERE DID THE TERM "FREELANCE COME FROM?
Today we think of a freelancer as a creative person who works
alone. But the origin of the term rests with medieval knights--
and their lances--who were not committed to one lord. A "free
lance" was a knight who sold his services to whomever he chose
(no doubt often the highest bidder).
HOW MUCH DID THE LARGEST APPLE WEIGH?
The largest apple ever picked was from Caro, Michigan, and
weighed 3 pounds, 2 ounces.
WHY ARE THE UNDERSIDES OF SOME LEAVES LIGHTER IN COLOR THAN THE TOPSIDES?
Several species of plants have two-toned leaves, with the
undersides often displaying silver-grey hairs that help
reduce evaporation of precious water. The hairs also act
as a deterrent to chewing or sucking insects as well as
chewing mammals. The lighter color of their undersides
helps reflect sunlight--an important consideration for
plants native to mountainous areas closer to the sun, or
in deserts where intense sunlight can burn foliage.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1072 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Nov 6, 2001 (16:06) * 1 lines
Last night the Aurora Borealis were sort of visible in Pittsburgh. If you looked to the north, you saw a red glow permeating the sky.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1073 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 6, 2001 (17:12) * 1 lines
YES!!! Thanks Cheryl, and welcome back *Hugs* We've missed you!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1074 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Nov 6, 2001 (17:32) * 1 lines
*Hugs* back at ya! I've missed all of you, too.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1075 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 6, 2001 (19:05) * 20 lines
HOW OFTEN DOES A HUMAN BLINK DURING THE DAY?
On the average, a person will blink 17,000 times in one day,
or once every five seconds. The rate of blinking can vary from
person to person, and by occupation.
WHAT IS SYMBOLIC ABOUT FOLDING THE AMERICAN FLAG INTO A TRIANGULAR SHAPE?
The American flag is folded into a triangular shape to
symbolize the shape of the cocked hats worn by soldiers of
the American Revolution.
WHICH IS THE ONLY U.S. STATE TO RECOGNIZE FLAG DAY AS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY?
Pennsylvania is the only state which recognizes Flag Day as
a National Holiday.
WHAT KIND OF FLAG IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST FLAG?
The world's largest flag is an American flag, as deemed by
"The Guinness Book of World Records". It is 505 feet by 255
feet and weighs 3,700 pounds and takes at least 700 people to
raise it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1076 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 7, 2001 (21:05) * 28 lines
WHAT TWO POINTS IN THE UNITED STATES ARE FARTHEST APART?
Log Point, Elliot Key, Florida and Kure Island, Hawaii, are
exactly 5,859 miles apart.
WHO INVENTED THE CELL PHONE?
The Cell Phone was invented by Martin Cooper, who at that time
was a vice-president at Motorola. He made the first cell-phone
call on April 3, 1973, on a street corner in New York. Using
the first working prototype of a cellular phone, the Motorola
Dyna-Tac, he called his rival Joel Engel, research director at
Bell Labs. Motorola introduced its cell phone in 1983 after
five generations, 15 years, and $90 million. Cooper built a
small radio telephone which could be carried by a person. It
is not clear that he developed the concept and the mechanism
for automatically switching over when a phone went from one
cell to another, so the true inventor is the person or company
which developed the automatic switchover system.
HOW MANY U.S. CELL PHONE USERS ARE THERE?
Today, there are over 107 million cell phone users in the
United States.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST CELL PHONE LIKE?
The first cell phone, a Motorola Dyna-Tac, was nine inches
long, five inches wide, 1.75 inches tall, weighed 2.5 pounds,
had a talk time of 35 minutes, and a recharge time of ten
hours.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1077 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 8, 2001 (16:29) * 19 lines
WHAT BREED OF DOG HAS THE BEST EYESIGHT?
Greyhounds have the best eyesight of any breed of dog.
WHAT IS A "PET ROCK"?
The Pet Rock, a lucrative "invention" of the 1970's, was
first introduced in 1976 and was an immediate hit. Nearly
1.5 million common smooth stones, packaged in cardboard "pet
carriers" with air holes and enclosed Pet Rock care instruc-
tions, were sold within six months.
HOW MANY DOG PARKS ARE THERE IN THE U.S. AND CANADA?
There are currently 542 dog parks in the U.S. and 478 in Canada.
WHO WAS THE FIRST "INTERNET CHARACTER" BALLOON IN THE MACY'S PARADE?
Butler Jeeves of the Internet site Ask Jeeves.com made his
debut as a large helium balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day
parade in 2000. Jeeves was the first Internet character
balloon in the famous New York parade.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1078 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 8, 2001 (16:57) * 3 lines
Leonid Meteor Shower Predictions for 30 U.S. Cities
http://space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/leonids_citytimes-1.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1079 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Nov 8, 2001 (18:39) * 1 lines
Wonder if Austin is on the list?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1080 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 8, 2001 (21:15) * 1 lines
Houston is. My closest one is Honolulu and a bit farther northern latitude from Hilo.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1081 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 8, 2001 (21:30) * 26 lines
Rave review for Hawking's new book (Nov 8)
[http://physicsweb.org/article/news/5/11/3]
Stephen Hawking's long-awaited new book The Universe in a Nutshell is
published in the UK today. Dubbed by the publishers Bantam Press as the
"inspiring sequel" to his best-selling A Brief History of Time, Hawking's
new book guides the reader on a "search to uncover the secrets of the
universe - from supergravity to supersymmetry, from quantum theory to
M-theory and from holography to duality". Reviewing the book for Physics
World, astrophysicist Joseph Silk of Oxford University calls The Universe
in a Nutshell "a delight to read" and "full of Hawking's wry humour". He
adds that it is "far more accessible" than A Brief History of Time, which
sold an estimated 25 million copies but was notorious for being largely
unread.
Fresh light shed on black holes (Nov 8)
[http://physicsweb.org/article/news/5/11/4]
New observations of the X-rays and visible light emitted by the matter
orbiting a black hole may challenge current theories about the regions
that surround black holes. Henk Spruit of the Max Planck Institute for
Astrophysics in Germany and colleagues believe that – in contrast with
existing theories – the visible light they observed is synchrotron
radiation that originates from a region of the disk about 20 000
kilometres from the black hole. This is the first time in over 20 years
that X-rays and visible light from the disk around a black hole have been
observed simultaneously (G Kanbach et al 2001 Nature 414 180).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1082 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Nov 10, 2001 (23:07) * 26 lines
WHAT WAS THE FIRST COUNTRY TO REQUIRE THE USE OF SEATBELTS IN CARS?
Czechoslovakia in 1969.
HOW QUICKLY DOES HUMAN HAIR GROW?
Hair grows about 1/72nd of an inch per day, or about 1/2-inch
per month. Age affects the growth of hair--the fastest growth
is between ages 15 and 30, with a sharp decline between ages
50 and 60.
HOW DID THE TRADITION OF THE DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RING BEGIN?
In 1477, Archduke Maximilian of Austria presented a diamond to
Mary of Burgundy, and that is how the tradition of offering a
diamond ring got its start. Currently, Canada has the highest
diamond-engagement-ring acquisition rate in the world, as 85
percent of all Canadian brides received diamond engagement
rings in the year 2000. In the United States, it was 74
percent.
WHAT IS POGONIP?
The word pogonip is a meteorological term used to describe
an uncommon occurrence--frozen fog. It was coined by Native
Americans to describe the frozen fog of fine ice needles that
occur in the mountain valleys of the western United States.
According to Indian tradition, breathing the fog is injurious
to the lungs.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1083 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Nov 11, 2001 (19:20) * 3 lines
This is an amazing program-cum-wallpaper program to keep you current with world-wide earthquakes. Thanks to Ian I have it running on my desktop. Anyone want me to forward the zip file? Let me know!
http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~tuna/xearth/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1084 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 13, 2001 (17:39) * 36 lines
WHAT UNITED STATES CITY RECEIVES THE MOST SUNSHINE PER YEAR?
Yuma, Arizona averages 339 days sunny days a year, more than
any other city in the United States. It averages only three
inches of rainfall annually.
COMPARED TO A HUMAN BEING, HOW GOOD IS AN EAGLE'S VISION?
Eagles can see eight times better than any human. A bald
eagle can make out another flying eagle 12 miles away.
WHAT IS THE FIRST MAGAZINE TO PUBLISH AN ALL-COLOR ISSUE?
In December of 1946, "Arizona Highways" magazine was the first
nationally circulated consumer magazine to publish an all-color
issue. The magazine's first issue in April of 1925 sold for
$0.10, and its initial function was to inform its readers of
the state's road building efforts. Today, as "Arizona Highways"
magazine begins its 76th year, it boasts of subscribers in
every state in the United States, plus two-thirds of all other
countries in the world. It is a one-of-a-kind magazine, as it
contains NO advertising.
WHAT IS THE WORLD'S LONGEST LIVING PLANT?
The creosote holds status as the longest living plant. The
creosote bush spreads out from a stem crown, sharing the root
system of its neighbors. When the crown dies, it leaves sur-
viving plants, which break up into expanding circles. All of
the plants originating from the stemcrown are identical to
each other--clones of the original bush. The king clone in
the Mohave Desert, sometimes called the world's oldest plant,
started from a seedling more than 12,000 years ago. During
its lifetime, the last major period of glaciation in North
America (Wisconsin Glaciation) came to an end, the great
Egyptian and Mayan pyramids were built, the first human
walked on the moon, routine satellites and manned spaceships
orbited the earth . . . and the shrub is still living.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1085 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (17:35) * 12 lines
Thanks to Ian:
"According to the Radioactive Substances Act 1983, anything containing
more than 400Bq/kg must be regarded as radioactive and kept isolated from
the environment subject to administrative controls or be disposed of as
radioactive waste. These limits apply only to radioactive material
produced in industry and not to other substances such as tea (840Bq/kg),
coffee (1640Bq/kg) and fertiliser (3100Bq/kg), although they are way above
the limits set by the act."
(Source: CEGB, Berkeley)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1086 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Nov 17, 2001 (17:26) * 26 lines
HOW MANY TIMES PER SECOND CAN A DOLPHIN CLICK?
Dolphins find food and orient themselves by emitting a series
of clicks, up to 2,000 a second, from an internal nasal sac
called a "melon".
HOW DOES A DOLPHIN DIFFER FROM A PORPOISE?
There are 30 species of dolphin (25 saltwater and 5 freshwater)
and six species of porpoise. Dolphins have round, cone-shaped
teeth, and porpoises have flat, triangular-shaped teeth. The
dorsal fin of a porpoise is triangular, while that of a dolfin
is crescent-shaped. Porpoise snouts are shorter than dolphin
snouts.
WHEN DID THANKSGIVING BECOME A NATIONAL HOLIDAY IN THE UNITED STATES?
President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national
holiday in 1863, setting the date as the last Thursday of
November, following an intense campaign by Sarah Josepha Hale,
editor of a ladie's magazine. In 1939, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt moved the date up one week, supposedly to stimulate
the Depression economy. Congress then passed a law establish-
ing the fourth Thursday in November as the official holiday.
WHY ARE THE MARINES NICKNAMED "LEATHERNECKS"?
Until 1872, the Marine uniform included a high leather collar.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1087 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Nov 17, 2001 (17:28) * 32 lines
WHO BEGAN THE "HELPING HANDS" ORGANIZATION?
The idea for monkey helpers occurred to Dr. M.J. Willard, a
behavioral psychologist, while she was assisting an individual
who was then recently paralyzed from the shoulders down in a
car accident. Willard thought that an animal with hands, such
as a capuchin or "organ grinder" monkey, could perform the
simple tasks that a quadriplegic could no longer do for him or
herself. Known for their manual dexterity and friendly dispo-
sition, capuchin monkeys are particularly well suited to be
trained as monkey helpers. Judi Zazula, an occupational ther-
apist and rehabilitation engineer, joined Willard in pursuing
the idea.
WHEN WAS THE FIRST TRAINED CAPUCHIN MONKEY PLACED TO ASSIST AN INDIVIDUAL?
Hellion, the first monkey helper was placed with Robert in
1979. Judy Zazula, who is now Executive Director of Helping
Hands, has focused her attention on developing the foster
family, training, and placement programs that allow capuchin
monkeys to successfully assist disabled individuals.
HOW MANY PEOPLE VISITED THE EIFFEL TOWER IN PARIS, FRANCE IN THE YEAR 2000?
6,315,324 visitors had the chance to walk up 704 steps to the
second level, or could opt to take the pulley elevator that
ascends and descends the legs of the structure. On a clear
day, the view from the Eiffel Tower offers 42 miles of visi-
bility.
WHAT IS THE UNITED STATES' FIRST COAST-TO-COAST HIGHWAY?
Lincoln Highway, the nation's first coast-to-coast highway,
spans 3,389 miles from New York City to San Francisco. The
first mile of Lincoln Highway was paved in October of 1914.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1088 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Nov 17, 2001 (17:30) * 27 lines
WHAT U.S. STATE RAISES MORE TURKEYS THAN ANY OTHER?
More turkeys are raised in California than in any other state
in the United States. More than 675 million pounds of turkey
will be consumed at Thanksgiving.
WHICH SODA WAS THE FIRST TO COME IN AN ALUMINUM CAN?
The first 12-ounce aluminum soda can was introduced in 1964
by Royal Crown Cola. Coke didn't start using aluminum until
three years later, and that same year Pepsi came out with a
seamless can.
ARE THERE DIFFERENT KINDS OF LADYBUGS?
There are about 500 different kinds of ladybugs in the United
States, and nearly 5,000 world wide. They come in all different
colors--Reds, yellows, orange, grey, black, even blue and pink.
WHAT LED TO THE INVENTION OF THE COFFEE FILTER?
In 1908, Melitta Bentz, a 35-year-old housewife from Germany,
had the idea to use paper to filter out unwanted residues.
She punctured the bottom of a brass pot and lined it with
blotting paper taken from the notebook of her oldest son.
Perfectly filtered coffee--without bitterness and grounds--
dripped out of the bottom. Melitta realized the value of her
invention and registered it with the Patent Office in Berlin.
On July 8, 1908, Melitta Bentz received a patent registration
for her "Filter Top Device lined with Filter Paper".
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1089 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Sun, Nov 18, 2001 (15:33) * 1 lines
There really is a Melitta behind brand name Melitta for filters and coffee accessories.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1090 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 20, 2001 (12:49) * 1 lines
My thought exactly. Melitta filters are always a little more expensive, but if it is covering intellectual property, then it is perfectly acceptable.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1091 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 21, 2001 (14:56) * 26 lines
WHAT ORGANS AND TISSUE CAN ONE DONATE?
Needed solid organs include the heart, kidneys, pancreas,
lungs, liver and intestines as well as bone marrow. Tissue
that can be donated include the eyes, skin, bone, heart
valves and tendons.
IS THERE AN AGE LIMIT ON WHO CAN DONATE ORGANS AND TISSUE?
Whether individuals can donate organs and tissue depends on
their physical condition, not their age. Newborns as well as
senior citizens have been organ donors. However, individuals
under the age of 18 who wish to donate must obtain the consent
of an adult who is legally responsible for them, such as a
parent or guardian.
WHAT SUPERBOWL RING SIZE WAS MADE FOR WILLIAM PERRY OF THE CHICAGO BEARS?
William Perry (the Refrigerator) has a size 23 Superbowl ring
for his part in the Bears’ 1986 victory.
HOW MUCH DOES THE LEAGUE PAY FOR SUPER BOWL RINGS?
The League pays for up to 125 rings at $5,000 per ring (plus
adjustments for increases in gold and diamonds). League also
pays for 125 pieces of jewelry for the losing team, which may
not cost more than one-half the price set for the Super Bowl
ring.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1092 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Nov 23, 2001 (13:13) * 23 lines
HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS ARE THERE TO MAKE CHANGE FOR A U.S. DOLLAR?
There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
WHAT IS THE MOST-SPOKEN LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD?
Mandarin is most-spoken language in the world, spoken by 1.07
billion people, followed by English, spoken by 514 million p
eople. Third is Hindi, spoken by 496 million, and Spanish, by
425 million people.
WHAT COUNTRY HAS THE MOST DONUT SHOPS PER CAPITA IN THE WORLD?
Canada has more donut shops per capita than any other country--
one for every 9,000 of its 30 million residents. That compares
with one U.S. shop for every 26,000 Americans. Of three leading
chains, Tim Hortons has 2,047 stores in U.S. and Canada, Dunkin
Donuts, Inc. has 5,146 stores in 39 countries, and Krispy Kreme
Donuts, Inc. has 192 stores in 32 states.
HOW LARGE IS HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT?
To build this new airport, the island of Chek Lap Kok was
blasted level. The resulting Hong Kong International Airport
covers five square miles. The passenger terminal alone covers
137 acres.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1093 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (19:24) * 1 lines
The hummingbird is in a holding satellite pattern waiting to land. Thank you, John, for this dear little bird. I'll post more of the graphics as soon as the atmosphere over Hilo stabilizes a little more.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1094 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (19:26) * 23 lines
(((((((((((((((((( McAfee.com Dispatch )))))))))))))))))))))
------------------------------------------------------------
** VIRUS ALERT - W32/Badtrans@MM **
------------------------------------------------------------
McAfee.com has received an increasing number of reports from
home users with a new variant of Badtrans, referred to as
Badtrans.b. AVERT has raised the Risk Assessment on this
variant of W32/Badtrans@MM to HIGH RISK FOR CONSUMERS.
VirusScan and other McAfee products with DAT files 4172 and
higher are protected from this variant.
W32/Badtrans@MM is a mass-mailing worm that drops a
remote-access Trojan. The virus arrives via the Microsoft
Outlook email program and attempts to send itself by replying
to unread email messages.
The email may contain the text "Take a look to the attachment"
in the message body and will contain an attachment that is
13,312 bytes in size. The attachment name is created in
three sections, for example, card.doc.pif.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1095 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (20:03) * 1 lines
*whew* i just caught up on this topic! and i noticed the little hummer today! looks great *HUGS*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1096 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (20:12) * 1 lines
Little hummer? As in HumVee?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1097 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (20:49) * 1 lines
As in Hemmingbird, perhaps? He is precious, whatever the origin. He will be even cuter when I get him where he was intended to go.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1098 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (22:08) * 1 lines
oh, where's he supposed to go? (hummingbird, terry) i've got one as my pointer!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1099 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (22:09) * 1 lines
You will see. Tomorrow I work on changes which will surprise you.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1100 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (22:11) * 1 lines
ooooohhhh gooody!! *drooling*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1101 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (22:14) * 1 lines
(marcia, wish i could im!--gotta run now and do the pup's hair)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1102 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (22:28) * 3 lines
Understand about Wolfies and their pups! I also look for you on IM, but the only other person there is B and he never talks to me anymore. I wonder if I am invisible. Perhaps it is the gods of the internet trying to tell me something!
I miss sharing things with you in real time. *HUGS* *sniff*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1103 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (23:04) * 6 lines
The "Snake Oil" merchants are out there again. This spam from my email:
Colloidal Silver is being proven to be stronger than other antibiotics in fighting off virus and germs. Order a free report today which list the different ailment colloidal silver has shown success with such as small pox, anthrax, and minor problems such as common colds, Epstein bar virus, infections and more.
BEWARE of such things! All they do is waste your money!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1104 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (16:26) * 1 lines
and could make you really sick!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1105 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (16:56) * 3 lines
You're right about that. I am unusually wary of things sold via email mass marketing, especially if they have been advertised on The Art Bell radio show.
(We're still working on geo's graphics. I'll let you know when we have arrived at the ones we like best. Last night two differnt backgrounds were tried and discarded. It isn't as easy as it seems to find one that is both attractive and easy to read through.)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1106 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (17:24) * 3 lines
Can you believe the "snake oil" merchants are rearing their ugly heads. It's a shame.
Wolfie and her pups. Wolves are, of course, among the best of parents. Curious Wolfie seems to be no exception to that.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1107 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (20:09) * 5 lines
you're so kind, cheryl, thank you!
marcia, feel free to email all your experiments with backgrounds. maybe i can tweek them for you or come up with accompanying buttons and stuff!
and is that bar thinner or what?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1108 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (20:14) * 3 lines
YES!!! I found a thinner bar! Finally! Now, if it only goes with what else we have planned...
Wolfie, I send you one idea. I will send you others. I need your ideas, too!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1109 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (20:15) * 1 lines
yes, i do have the one you sent me. need to go back and look at it again. thanks for entrusting me with them!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1110 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (20:17) * 3 lines
Does anyone know how I can get rid of the spring button or change it to match the rest? I can't delete it since it is not in my files! I also think we need to change the Kill button, even though I am probably one of the few who can see it.
Wolfie, do you like the skinnier bar-lines? I like them because they are not so intrusive on the title page - or here, for that matter!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1111 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (20:18) * 1 lines
yeah, the skinnier lines make room for more meat! i can see the kill buttons in the conferences i host. don't know how to keep them from popping up either. and i had a cute pic for earthquake and it wouldn't let me ftp it over. isn't that strange?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1112 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 28, 2001 (12:35) * 40 lines
Wow, that really is strange, but the ftp problems. Email it to me, please!
I wonder if security problems since 9-11 have made it more difficult or impissible to fpt to a file to which you do not have the password. I don't know, but you might ave much better luck with /marci instead of the /marcia which was unable to deisplay the buttons in the first place.
Yes! That's why I was so delighted to find these bar-lines. Less obtrusive!
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
WHICH PROFESSION TOPS THE LIST OF THE TEN JOBS
WITH THE HIGHEST PREVALENCE OF LOW BACK PAIN DUE TO AN INJURY AT WORK?
Truck driving tops the list, followed by 1) construction equip-
ment and heavy machine operators, 3) construction workers,
4) janitorial and building maintenance workers, 5) firefighters,
6) police officers, 7) heavy equipment mechanics, 8) health care
therapists, 9) physicians, dentists, and nurses, and 10) people
involved in agriculture, forestry, and commercial fishing.
WHAT IS THE FULL NAME OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES?
The full name of Los Angeles is: "El Pueblo de Senora la Reina
de los Angeles de Porciuncula".
HOW MANY AMERICANS ARE AFFECTED BY LOW BACK PAIN?
Low back pain affects more than 20 million Americans and is
the leading cause of disability among people ages 19 through
45. It is the Number One leading cause of missed work days,
costing Americans $60 billion a year in treatments and
American businesses about $15 billion annually.
CAN A CENTURY YEAR BE A LEAP YEAR?
A year is a leap year if it is divisible by four, but century
years are not leap years unless they are divisible by 400. So,
the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but the
year 2000, as of course you now know, was a leap year. Why do
we have leap years? The actual length of a year (the rotation
of Earth around the Sun) is 365.2422 days. If we didn't have
leap years, the seasons would shift about a quarter of a day
every year, and after 100 years the seasons would be off by
25 days. The extra leap day adjusts this drift.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1113 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Thu, Nov 29, 2001 (10:55) * 3 lines
I think that we are just like this little hummingbird. We are searching nectar of cognition in any informed place. My opinion is that GEO is an open “SPRING FLOWER”, full of knowledge and almost real time scientific information’s. Congratulations to all the invisible assistants and especially to the psyche of GEO which is Marcia.
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1114 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 29, 2001 (14:01) * 1 lines
*Blush* From you, John, that is high praise, indeed. I am grateful to all who contribute their curiosity and interest to our ongoing search for knowledge and understanding. I love your little hummingbird, and your expertise which has made Geo more interesting and aesthetic. My gratitude is endless.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1115 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 29, 2001 (20:52) * 37 lines
WHAT HAVE ASTRONAUTS LEFT BEHIND ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON?
The American flag was left behind by the first visitor, Neil
Armstrong, although by now, probably only the pole remains.
The first Apollo landing crew left a commemorative plaque.
The remains of seven unmanned lunar probes, Surveyors 1
through 7, are there, plus three lunar rovers. There are six
long-term scientific stations on the Moon, which include seis-
mometers to measure tremors in the Moon's crust and some re-
flectors to bounce back light beams are sent up there. The
Russians left several unmanned probes and assorted lunar ro-
vers on the Moon as well.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE "CHARLIE HORSE" MEANING LEG CRAMP?
It may have originated with a common occupational hazard of
constables. Constables were called "Charleys" in 17th cen-
tury England, and aching legs were a part of the job. Or it
may have come into usage after a lame horse named Charley
pulled a roller across a Chicago White Sox ballpark in the
1890s, and the term stuck to described a common malady among
baseball players.
WHAT ARE THE MOST COSTLY WEATHER EVENTS EVER TO STRIKE THE UNITED STATES?
The drought of 1988 ranks as the most costly wather disaster
with total loss at $39 billion. Drought spreads farthest, lasts
longer, and touches more lives than any other natural disaster.
South Florida's Hurricane Andrew in 1992 ranks second at $26.5
billion, and the 1993 Mississippi River flood ranks third with
a damage toll of $22 billion. Even when dollar losses are infla-
tion-adjusted, U.S. weather disasters are becoming more costly
because, with a growing population, the nation's valuation is
greater now than ever before.
HOW DID THE FOOTBALL HUDDLE COME TO BE?
In the 1920s, deaf players on the football team at Gallaudet
College invented the football huddle to prevent opposing teams
from being able to read their signals.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1116 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 29, 2001 (20:55) * 31 lines
WHAT TYPES OF WOOD HAVE THE HIGHEST HEAT VALUE AND MAKE GOOD FIREWOOD?
Ash, red oak, and hickory are on the list of firewood with the
highest heat value, where one cord = 200 to 250 gallons of fuel
oil. The other woods on this list are American beech, apple,
ironwood, sugar maple, white oak, and yellow birch. Any one of
these woods provides an economical way to heat your home in the winter.
WHAT IS THE DEEPEST LAKE IN CANADA, AND HOW DEEP IS IT?
The Great Slave Lake with a depth of 2,015 feet is the
deepest lake in Canada, located in the east-central Fort
Smith region, Northwest Territories, near the Alberta border.
HAS FIRST CLASS MAIL VOLUME DECLINED IN THE UNITED STATES?
Compared to the same period last year, first class mail volume
has increased by 104 million pieces in fiscal year 2001, and
total mail volume has increased 1.8 billion pieces so far this year.
CAN THUNDER AND LIGHTNING OCCUR DURING A SNOWSTORM?
Yes, thunder and lightning can occur during a snowstorm,
although it is very rare. The biggest snowstorms are those
marked by thunder and lightning, a phenomenon meteorologists
call "thunder snow." It's unusual because snowstorms are cold,
and cold air doesn't rise and create thunderclouds as warm air
does. But if there is enough energy in the atmosphere and a
lot of moisture, thunderclouds can form and drop snow instead
of rain when the temperature is just below freezing. Thunder-
storms with snow are more likely to occur near the coast be-
cause the storm can form over the comparatively warm water of
the ocean and move inland, meeting much colder conditions.
(Absolutely true. In Hawaii it is the only way we get snow!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1117 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Nov 29, 2001 (21:02) * 12 lines
Super-short laser flashes light up ultra-fast events (Nov 28)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/5/11/16
X-ray pulses that last for less than a femtosecond – or 10^-15 seconds –
have been created for the first time by physicists in Austria. Ferenc
Krausz of the University of Vienna and colleagues have used the
ultra-short bursts of X-rays to probe the ionization of krypton – a
process that takes place too quickly for existing techniques to detect.
The breakthrough marks the transition from tracking fast molecular
processes to monitoring the ultra-fast dynamics of a whole range of
sub-atomic events on an attosecond – 10^-18 seconds – time-scale (M
Hentschel et al 2001 Nature 414 509).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1118 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 3, 2001 (20:58) * 29 lines
CAN A LITTER OF KITTENS FROM ONE MOTHER HAVE MORE THAN ONE FATHER?
Yes, In fact, any of the species that have litters and can be
bred multiple times during one heat cycle can have offspring
with different sires. The scientific term for such breeding is
superfecundation. Female cats need to be bred before they re-
lease eggs from their ovaries. In general, they engage in the
act of mating several times before they ovulate, so there could
be sperm from different males in the reproductive tract before
the eggs are released. But having multiple sires is uncommon.
Determining the sires of a litter of kittens would require
paternity testing involving their DNA.
HOW MANY POUNDS OF PASTA DOES THE AVERAGE ITALIAN EAT COMPARED TO THE AVERAGE NORTH AMERICAN?
The average person in Italy eats more than 51 pounds of pasta
every year, compared to the average North American, who eats
about 15.5 pounds per year.
WHAT IS THE LOUDEST SOUND PRODUCED BY AN ANIMAL?
At 188 decibels, the whistle of the blue whale is the loudest
sound produced by any animal.
WHAT IS DIGITIGRADE?
Cats are the only domestic animals that walk directly on their
claws, not on their paws. This method of walking is called
"digitigrade." When cats scratch furniture, it isn't an act of
malice. They are actually tearing off the ragged edges of the
sheaths of their talons to expose the new sharp ones beneath.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1119 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 4, 2001 (18:16) * 19 lines
WHERE IS THE LARGEST HOLSTEIN DAIRY FARM?
Elsie, Michigan is the home of the world's largest registered
Holstein dairy herd.
WHAT STATE HAS THE LARGEST TEMPERATURE SPREAD IN THE UNITED STATES?
Nevada is the state with the all-time largest temperature
spread--the highest temperature to lowest temperature in
one year. In 1984, the temperature spanned from 50 degrees
below zero F in January, to 125 degrees F in June, a range
of 180 degrees that year. South Dakota is next with a span
of 177 degrees.
HOW MUCH MILK IS PRODUCED BY ONE COW DURING ITS LIFETIME?
A cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.
HOW LARGE IS THE LARGEST CATTLE RANCH IN THE WORLD?
Strangeray Springs cattle station in South Australia is the largest ranch in the world. Its area covers 30,029 square kilometers, and is only slightly smaller than the European country of Belgium.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1120 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 4, 2001 (18:17) * 25 lines
WHAT INSECTS HAVE THE LONGEST LIFESPANS?
A queen termite seems to top the list at about 50 years,
while tarantulas can live 30 years. Some wood beetles can
take up residence in a tree and emerge 40 years later,
while the 17-year locusts may be the most well-known
long-living species. But,overall, most insects live less
than a year.
WHY DOES HORSERADISH GET HOTTER THE MORE IT IS GROUND UP?
When horseradish root cells are crushed, the enzyme activity
caused by the crushing releases highly volatile oils in the
roots. This effect is enhanced the more the roots are crushed.
The reaction can be stopped by adding white vinegar to the
roots. The earlier the vinegar is added, the milder the crushed
horseradish will be.
WHERE DID THE TERM "CORN SNOW" ORIGINATE?
Corn snow is characterized by large, loose granules during the
day, which freeze together at night, then loosen up again the
next day. This kind of snow is usually found in the spring,
and you hear the term often in ski reports. It originated in
Old English, most likely coming from the appearance of the
snow.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1121 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 4, 2001 (18:40) * 27 lines
(((((((((((( Virus Alert )))))))))))
December 4, 2001
There is a new malicious virus code quickly spreading that comes as a
screen saver (.scr) attachment to e-mail, the file name is gone.scr. At
this time, it does not appear to have an auto-execute feature; therefore,
users must actually click on the attachment to execute the code. DO NOT
CLICK ON THE ATTACHMENT - DELETE the email.
Our Internet Email provider blocks and cleans up the virus and provides the
following message:
*** eSafe on MailConnect EAV001 detected a hostile content in this email
and
removed it. ***
gone.scr Msg #705 - The file type scr is on the Restricted List.
How are you ?
When I saw this screen saver, I immediately thought about you
I am in a harry, I promise you will love it!
You should not be accessing any Web Based email from Yahoo. MSN, etc. This
type of email does not go through the email filters for FFIC and we cannot
clean up the Virus before it gets to your workstation. You may not only
infect your workstation but others.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1122 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 4, 2001 (18:42) * 1 lines
This is not a hoax. I downloaded the patch from Mcafee just after my son sent me the above warning. Beware of the hotmail and yahoo downloads.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1123 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Dec 4, 2001 (18:45) * 1 lines
we were warned against any emails that have "hi" in the subject line.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1124 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 4, 2001 (19:01) * 7 lines
This is called the *goner* virus and more is available at
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011204/ts/tech_worm_dc_3.html
I've battled one such worm, and it can be extremely annoying. Be aware that they also warn you that ICQ and MSN shared files are also a good way to get it.
Know your IM partner before you permit downloads to your hard drive!
Hugs, Wolfie, you really don't need to sort out the computers from this menace (and you usually get that job!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1125 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Dec 4, 2001 (21:05) * 1 lines
not anymore!! *laugh* 'tis someone else's job now!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1126 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 4, 2001 (22:51) * 1 lines
Glad to hear that you are not trying to remedy what the cyber-inept have done to their computers. Perhaps you are cracking the whip this time? One can only hope!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1127 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Dec 5, 2001 (18:11) * 1 lines
new place, new usage of my talents!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1128 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Dec 5, 2001 (18:33) * 1 lines
Oh dear! The mind boggles to think of possible ways to use your talents! I am trying NOT to email you about what I don't need to know. I'm trying very hard to be polite. *Sigh*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1129 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Dec 5, 2001 (21:26) * 1 lines
(actually, they don't know where to put my talents to good use so i do what i'm paid to do--whether or not i'm talented at it is anyone's guess!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1130 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Dec 5, 2001 (22:12) * 1 lines
It sounds like the reputation of the man for whom you work! Hang in there. I'm a huge Wolfie-fan!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1131 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Dec 6, 2001 (18:32) * 1 lines
thanks sweetie!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1132 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 6, 2001 (18:48) * 24 lines
JUST HOW LARGE ARE THE GREAT LAKES?
The Great Lakes contain six quadrillion gallons of fresh
water, one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. The
Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes in
the world. They have a combined area of 94,230 square miles
which makes them larger than the states of New York, New
Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and
Vermont combined.
WHAT IS THE SHEEP-TO-HUMAN RATIO IN THE FALKLAND ISLANDS?
In the Falkland Islands there is a human population of
under 2,000 but a sheep population of 700,000, making
350 sheep for every person. In New Zealand, there are
approximately 20 sheep per human and in Australia, there
are around ten.
WHY WAS THE EIFFEL TOWER IN PARIS, FRANCE BUILT?
The 7,000 ton, 112 year old Eiffel Tower was built by Gustave
Eiffel in 1889 for the world exhibitions being held in Paris
that year for the centennial of the French Revolution. 300
steelworkers used 18,038 steel pieces and 2,500,000 rivets in
its construction. The Eiffel Tower requires a new coat of paint,
50 tons of it, every seven years.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1133 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 6, 2001 (19:01) * 27 lines
WHEN DID LONDON ESTABLISH
EMERGENCY PHONE SERVICE?
In 1937 the emergency 999 telephone service was established
in London. More than 13,000 genuine calls were made in the
first month.
WHAT ARE THE WARMEST CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES?
The number one U.S. city that has the most days over 90
degrees F is Yuma, Arizona, which has 175 days a year above
90 degrees. Second is Phoenix, with 167; and third is Tucson,
with 140. Also on the list are Las Vegas, Nevada; Fort Myers,
Florida; and the Texas cities of Brownsville, San Antonio,
Austin, San Angelo, and Corpus Christi.
CAN ANY ANIMAL LIVE BY DRINKING SALT WATER?
The Bactrian camel is the only land mammal on Earth that can
survive on salt water.
WHERE IN THE WORLD DOES A FLOATING POST OFFICE EXIST?
Michigan, USA, is the only place in the world with a floating
post office. The J.W. Westcott II is the only boat in the
world that delivers mail to ships while they are still under-
way. This "post office" has been operating for 125 years.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1134 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Dec 9, 2001 (20:16) * 27 lines
WHEN DID GREAT BRITAIN BECOME THE UNITED KINGDOM?
The union of England, Scotland, and Wales formed the "United
Kingdom of Great Britain" in 1707. The "United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland" was formed in 1801. But not until 1945,
after most of Ireland had gained its independence, did Great
Britain's official name become the "United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland."
WHERE IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES IS THE AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE
THE HIGHEST?
Phoenix, Arizona, has had the highest number of days in a year
with temperatures above 90 degrees. For the past 38 years,
Phoenix has had 167 days each year with temperatures at least
90 degrees F. Just for the record, the highest temperature ever
recorded in the continental United States was 134 degrees F,
documented at Greenland Ranch, Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913.
HOW QUICKLY DOES HEINZ CATSUP LEAVE ITS BOTTLE?
The speed at which Heinz catsup travels as it leaves the
bottle is a blistering 25 miles per year.
HOW MANY LANGUAGES HAS THE BIBLE BEEN TRANSLATED INTO?
The Bible has been translated into 2,018 languages, with
countless more partial translations, and audio translations
(for unwritten languages). By comparison, Shakespeare, con-
sidered by many to be the master writer of the English lan-
guage, has only been translated into 50 languages.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1135 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Dec 9, 2001 (20:22) * 13 lines
Solar cell edges towards endless energy
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/5/12/2
A limitless source of clean-burning fuel is a step closer following the
discovery of a material that can extract hydrogen from water using energy
from visible light. Zhigang Zou of the National Institute of Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology in Japan and colleagues have developed
a photocatalyst that uses optical radiation – which makes up 43% of solar
energy. A reliable source of hydrogen is one of the ‘holy grails’ of
energy production – hydrogen releases lots of energy when it burns and
the only by-product is water. Previous catalysts have only responded to
ultraviolet radiation, which accounts for just 4% of the Sun’s energy (Z
Zou et al 2001 Nature 414 625).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1136 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sun, Dec 9, 2001 (22:36) * 1 lines
but i am the ketchup queen--everyone in my house makes me pour their ketchup out of the glass bottles (we use the plastic ones at home, but those little diners and stuff use the glass ones).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1137 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Dec 10, 2001 (14:04) * 1 lines
I wonder how fast Catsup leaves plastic containers. I guess it depends on how hard you squeeze the containers. In Hawaii, it is just about impossible to find it in glass bottles. I would imagine the shipping and dropping of the boxes caused considerable loss as did falling off shelves during earthquakes. Anything is better than trying to extrude it from those little foil packets you cannot get open. Oh, have you forgotten, the Chinese invented catsup as a vegetable (no comments from the policitally correct, please!) Does any other country eat as much of the stuff as we do? Or even have it at all?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1138 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (14:49) * 23 lines
WHO ARE THE ONLY FATHER AND SON TO RECEIVE A MEDAL OF HONOR?
First Lieutenant Arthur MacArthur (Civil War) and General
Douglas MacArthur (WWII) are the only father and son in his-
tory to each receive a Medal of Honor. The award has been
presented to five sets of brothers.
WHEN WAS THE BIBLE FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH?
The first translation of an English Bible was initiated in the
7th century. Of course, it was not the English of today: it was
Anglo-Saxon. As English developed and new writing styles were
introduced, the Bible, or portions of it, often was the first
to represent the new language.
HOW LARGE IS THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE DEFICIT?
As of April 8, 2001, the postal deficit was $270 million. This
is $10 million less than the $280 million given in management
bonuses.
WAS THE NAME "TINY TIM" THE FIRST CHOICE FOR CHARLES DICKENS?
Before settling on the name of Tiny Tim for his character in
"A Christmas Carol," three other alliterative names were con-
sidered by Charles Dickens. They were Little Larry, Puny Pete,
and Small Sam.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1139 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (15:10) * 1 lines
glad he chose tiny tim!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1140 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (15:59) * 1 lines
Me too! Puny Pete does NOT have the same ring to it. I wonder if this is an apocryphal tale, or it it is true. Dickens WAS noted for some pretty colorful names...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1141 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (17:16) * 4 lines
Some time ago I posted a very unusual cloud which John noticed on a weather satellite image. Might this be the reason for this cloud?
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5268
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1142 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (17:22) * 1 lines
This would also explain Art Bell's strange crossing clouds he seems to think are some plot of the government to rain strange substances down on mankind.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1143 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 13, 2001 (17:59) * 5 lines
* Viewer's Guide: Geminid Meteor Shower Tonight
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/geminid_meteors_011207.html
For those whose appetite for "shooting stars" was whetted by last month’s spectacular Leonid meteor shower, the Geminid meteor shower will reach peak activity Thursday night, Dec. 13, and into the early hours of Friday morning.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1144 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Dec 13, 2001 (19:55) * 1 lines
you mean i didn't miss 'em? i thought i did. what about the eclipse? think i missed that one too.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1145 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 14, 2001 (20:54) * 29 lines
WHAT WAS THE FIRST ITEM MADE OF ALUMINUM?
The first known item made from aluminum was a rattle, which was
made for Napoleon III in the 1850s. Napoleon also provided his
most honored guests with knives and forks made of pure aluminum.
At the time, the newly discovered metal was so rare, it was con-
sidered more valuable than gold.
WHY DOES ONE GET A BETTER AIM WITH ONE EYE CLOSED?
Not everyone getS a better aim with one eye closed, but those
who do, do so because of a phenomenon called binocular rivalry.
If you look through a gun sight with the left eye, what you see
is not identical with what you see with the right, and the two
images compete rather than blend. Some people can mentally
suppress the competing image, but some find it uncomfortable,
so they close one eye. In aiming, most people tend to use the
dominant eye, which generally but not always has better vision.
If the eyes differ in focal length, (that is, the distance away
from your eye at which what you see comes into the best focus
n the retina), some may use one eye for long distances and the
other for short distances.
WHERE IS THE WORLD'S GREATEST TEMPERATURE EXTREME?
The world's greatest temperature extreme--the range between
record high and low temperature-is found in Verkhoyansk,
Siberia: 36.7 degrees C (minus 98 degrees F) to minus 76.8
degrees C (minus 90 degrees F). That is a 113.5 C degree
(188 degree F) difference.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1146 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec 22, 2001 (16:24) * 33 lines
HOW DID THE WORD "YULETIDE" ORIGINATE?
The word "Yuletide" originated from the word "Yule", which was
recorded In Latin writings as early as A.D. 726. At that time,
the form of the word was "guili". Both terms refer to a 12-day
pagan feast celebrated around the time of year that has come
to be known as the Christmas season.
WHY IS "XMAS" USED AS AN ABBREVIATION OF "CHRISTMAS"?
This abbreviation for Christmas is of Greek origin. The word
for Christ in Greek is "Xristos". During the 16th century,
Europeans began using the first initial of Christ's name,
"X" in place of the word "Christ" in Christmas as a short-
hand form of the word. Although the early Christians under-
stood that "X" stood for Christ's name, later Christians
who did not understand the Greek language mistook "Xmas"
as a sign of disrespect.
WHAT IS SYMBOLIC ABOUT POINTSETTIAS?
Poinsettias are native to Mexico, and they were named after
America's first ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett. He
brought the plants to America in 1828. The Mexicans in the
eighteenth century thought the plants were symbolic of the
Star of Bethlehem. Thus the Poinsettia became associated with
the Christmas season. The actual flower of the poinsettia is
small and yellow. But surrounding the flower are large, bright
red leaves, often mistaken for petals.
HAS IT EVER SNOWED IN THE SAHARA DESERT?
On February 18, 1979, snow fell in the Sahara Desert. There
are no records to indicate if it had snowed there before or
since. Not surprisingly, the 1979 snowfall quickly melted.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1147 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (06:26) * 9 lines
What really was the Star of Bethlehem?
I found this enough complete and very interesting page:
http://sciastro.net/portia/articles/thestar.htm
But the mystery remains unsolved.
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1148 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (14:30) * 1 lines
The Star of Bethlehem will remain a mystery, I think. When I was a little girl the Hayden Planetarium in New York City took their great Zeiss planetarium projector back in time to discover what it might have been. Planetary conjunction? Supernova? Thank you for a most fascinating URL, John. I think we are meant to wonder at the night skies. It is one of the universal things we humans share in common. Despite our long history of bloody and futile war, we still keep the ability to wonder at the great beauty of the Cosmos. At least, those of us who have the ability to dream. Long may that dream continue. We need to reach beyond ourselves to have a perspective of just how small we truly are.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1149 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (17:05) * 39 lines
HOW DID THE TRADITION OF USING A BABY TO SIGNIFY THE NEW YEAR BEGIN?
The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was
begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that
time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a
baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god
as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby
as a symbol of rebirth. The use of an image of a baby with a
New Years banner as a symbolic representation of the new year
was brought to early America by the Germans. They had used the
effigy since the fourteenth century.
HOW DID THE PRACTICE OF MAKING NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS BEGIN?
The tradition of making New Year's resolutions dates back to
the early Babylonians. While popular modern resolutions might
include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking, the early
Babylonians' most popular resolution was to return borrowed
farm equipment.
WHEN DID THE TOURNAMENT OF ROSES PARADE BEGIN?
The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886. In that
year, members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages
with flowers. It celebrated the ripening of the orange crop in
California. Although the Rose Bowl football game was first
played as a part of the Tournament of Roses in 1902, it was
replaced by Roman chariot races the following year. In 1916,
The football game returned as the sports centerpiece of the
festival.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE CANDY CANE?
In the late 1800's a candy maker in Indiana wanted to express
the meaning of Christmas through a symbol made of candy. He
used a plain white peppermint stick (white to symbolize the
purity and sinless nature of Jesus). Next, he added three
stripes to represent the Holy Trinity. Then a bold stripe
was added represent the blood Jesus shed for mankind. When
looked at with the crook on top, the candy cane looks like a
shepherd's staff. Turned upside down, it becomes the letter
"J" for "Jesus".
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1150 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (17:06) * 1 lines
I think there is very little in human history that is not ultimately a fertility rite of some sort. Well done, Greece! I did not know.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1151 of 1406: Lucille Oftedahl (alyeska) * Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (18:16) * 2 lines
I don't know if this is the place for this but has anyone been reading about the deep sea squid that has been recently discovered in the deep waters of most of the worlds oceans.
I's weird looking. Like a spider with several thin arms and two that are shaped like arms bent at the elbow.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1152 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (19:08) * 1 lines
Lucie, please tell me more! I will search for it. I heard it mentioned than promply forgot it since nothing more was said. I'll post what I find in my languishing Topic 36 - Oceanic Geo. Thanks! *Hugs* Happy New Year! You have been my twin for a long time, too. Cheryl... Where are you? Are we the Three Graces Plus One, or the Four Fates?!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1153 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (19:43) * 1 lines
you may also post news on this item in springark! (i've heard of the giant squid but didn't know anyone was actively searching for it)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1154 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (19:51) * 3 lines
They found one!!! If I recall correctly... Yup you have the critter over there. I wanted to decorate Springark for the holidays, too, but it would not accept my commands. *sigh* Which topic? I need to go back and post lots of stuff. If only I have 36 hour days... *Hugs*
I'm watching a game from your old home town. I'll be looking for you but you are not there *sigh*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1155 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (19:52) * 3 lines
created a topic called "sitings" just for these purposes (giant squids or otherwise)
alas, i'm not there *sigh*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1156 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (20:23) * 3 lines
Alas.. but you are missed and I feel the homesickess with you! Hugging you and not minding all that stray hair and wolfie drool... =)
Ooh good topic, Wolfie, about sitings!! I could put lots of things there. In fact...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1157 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (14:20) * 56 lines
*************************************
National Geographic: Volcano Hunters
*************************************
From: "Stephen James O'Meara"
For any of you who have not seen and wish to see our National Geographic
Explorer Movie: VOLCANO HUNTERS...it will air in part this Sunday, December
30, 2001 on MSNBC, 8PM on THE BEST OF NGS EXPLORER 2001 SHOW.
Stephen O'Meara
*************************************
Online images: Alaskan volcanoes
*************************************
From: Tina Neal
A CD_ROM collection of digital pictures with brief captions is now
available online at http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/dds/dds-39/
Neal, Christina, McGimsey, Robert, and Diggles, M.F., 2001, Volcanoes of
the Wrangell Mountains and Cook Inlet region, Alaska--selected photographs:
U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-39, version 1.1 (CD-ROM)
From the introduction:
This CD—ROM contains 97 digitized color 35-mm images which represent a
small fraction of thousands of photographs taken by Alaska Volcano
Observatory scientists, other researchers, and private citizens. The
photographs were selected to portray Alaska’s volcanoes, to document recent
eruptive activity, and to illustrate the range of volcanic phenomena
observed in Alaska.
These images are for use by the interested public, multimedia producers,
desktop publishers, and the high-end printing industry. The digital images
are stored in the “images” folder and can be read across Macintosh,
Windows, DOS, OS/2, SGI, and UNIX platforms with applications that can read
JPG (JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group format) or PCD (Kodak’s
PhotoCD (YCC) format) files. Throughout this publication, the image numbers
match among the file names, figure captions, thumbnail labels, and other
references. Also included on this CD—ROM are Windows and Macintosh viewers
and engines for keyword searches (Adobe Acrobat Reader with Search). At the
time of this publication, Kodak’s policy on the distribution of
color-management files is still unresolved, and so none is included on this
CD—ROM. However, using the Universal Ektachrome or Universal Kodachrome
transforms found in your software will provide excellent color. In addition
to PhotoCD (PCD) files, this CD—ROM contains large (14.2”x19.5”) and small
(4”x6”) screen-resolution (72 dots per inch; dpi) images in JPEG format.
These undergo downsizing and compression relative to the PhotoCD images.
Each of these resolutions is located in the following folders:
PhotoCD format (PCD’s): /images/PCD/
JPG files (landscape, 1024 pixels wide; portrait, 768 pixels high):
/images/JPG/large_screen/
JPG files (landscape, 432 pixels wide; portrait, 432 pixels high):
/images/JPG/small_screen/
Feel free to use any of these images but please cite the photographer and
the U.S. Geological Survey.
For more information:
tneal@usgs.gov, mcgimsey@usgs.gov, or mdiggles@usgs.gov
==============================================================
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1158 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (14:33) * 46 lines
WHERE DID THE CUSTOM OF USING MISTLETOE AND HOLLY AT THE HOLIDAYS COME FROM?
Two hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Druids used
mistletoe to celebrate the coming of winter. They would gather
this evergreen plant that is parasitic upon other trees and
used it to decorate their homes. They believed the plant had
special healing powers for everything from female infertility
to poison ingestion. Scandinavians also thought of mistletoe
as a plant of peace and harmony. They associated mistletoe with
their goddess of love, Frigga. The custom of kissing under the
mistletoe probably derived from this belief. The early church
banned the use of mistletoe in Christmas celebrations because
of its pagan origins. Instead, church fathers suggested the use
of holly as an appropriate substitute for Christmas greenery.
WHY DO SOME CHAMPAGNE AND WINE BOTTLES HAVE AN INDENTATION IN THE BOTTOM?
This indentation is called a punt, and was originally the
result of old-time glassblowing techniques. The blowpipe was
attached to the neck of the bottle. After the glass was blown,
the bottle was transferred to a tool called a punty. An inden-
tation in the bottom was the result. Bottles were probably made
this way to improve stability, since hand-manufacturing was
subject to error. Today's manufacturing techniques make it pos-
sible to create stable, flat-bottomed bottles, but punts are
still used for finer wines, perhaps because people have come to
expect them and also to make the bottles look bigger.
ON A GIVEN DAY, HOW MANY PEOPLE CELEBRATE A BIRTHDAY?
On the average, 675,000 birthdays occur each day worldwide.
WHAT IS FIRST FOOTING AND HOGAMANAY?
First Footing is celebrated in Scotland on December 31st. It
states that the first foot inside your door after midnight
will fortell of the next year's future. It is also custom to
walk the boundaries of your property in Scotland. In remote
areas, Scottish dances, or ceilidhs take place, as well as
fire ceremonies. Hogamany is the Scottish New Year, celebrat-
ed on December 31st. In the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and
Stirling, it has become a huge festival, with kissing and
singing and flame and fire, which symbolize the bringing of
the light of knowledge from one year to the next, lighting
the way into the next uncharted century, putting your dark-
ness past, but carrying forward its sacred flame of hope and
enlightenment into a better world.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1159 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (15:42) * 23 lines
The Slinky© was created by a Penn State Engineering graduate.
IN WHAT OTHER WAYS HAS THE SLINKY® BEEN USED?
Though it was developed to be a toy, other applications for
the Slinky® have been discovered. The Slinky® has been used
as an antenna by soldiers in Vietnam, as a therapy tool, and
for coordination development. The possibilities are endless.
HOW LARGE IS THE LARGEST SNOWFLAKE ON RECORD?
The largest snowflake ever observed was 15 inches (38 cm)
across, observed at Ft. Keough, Montana on January 28, 1887.
Snowflakes that were 3.75 inches (9.52 cm) across and 0.25
inch (0.64 cm) thick fell in 1888 at Shirenewton, England.
HAS THE SLINKY® EVER BEEN SEEN IN A MOVIE?
The Slinky® has even made it to the silver screen. Slinky's®
appearances include: Ace Ventura-When Nature Calls; Demolition
Man; Other People's Money; and Hairspray. In Disney's digitally-
animated feature Toy Story, the Slinky® Dog played an important role.
HOW MANY FEET OF WIRE DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A SLINKY®?
About 63 feet of wire.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1160 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (15:44) * 33 lines
WHICH COUNTRY RATES HIGHEST IN COFFEE CONSUMPTION?
Scandinavia has the world's highest per capita annual coffee
consumption, which is 26.4 pounds.
WHAT IS "MONSOONED" COFFEE?
Monsooned Coffee is coffee deliberately exposed to monsoon
winds in an open warehouse to increase body and reduce acidity.
WHO INVENTED THE COFFEE PERCOLATOR?
There are several claimants to the honor of inventing the
coffee percolator but the one that seems to be most likely
is Benjamin Thompson, 1753-1814 (also known as Count Rumford).
He is also credited with the invention of the double boiler,
range stove, pressure cooker and thermos bottle. Thompson's
experiments and inventions occurred in Bavaria in about the
1780s. The first patent for an electric coffee percolator
was taken out by James H. Nason for Franklin, Mass. U.S. in 1865.
WHY IS CAFFEINE A STIMULANT?
Caffeine is not a direct stimulant; instead, it blocks the
action of another chemical, naturally present in the human
body, that has a calming effect on the activity of cells,
especially those in the brain and spinal cord. Caffeine,
found in tea, coffee and cocoa, is one of a class of chemicals
called methylxanthines that temporarily occupy the same cell
receptors as adenosine, a chemical produced by the body's
energy metabolism. Caffeine enters the brain very rapidly and
stays active for several hours. The time needed for caffeine
concentrations in the bloodstream to drop by half is about
three to six hours in a healthy adult.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1161 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 1, 2002 (22:07) * 4 lines
Hapy New Year to Geo and all those who wander here. Peace, Health and Happiness for 2002
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1162 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 1, 2002 (22:08) * 1 lines
*sigh* I'd try it again, but I am tired and you know I meant Happy...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1163 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 2, 2002 (18:31) * 10 lines
NEW IMAGES OF 'PILLARS OF CREATION' IN EAGLE NEBULA
---------------------------------------------------
Evidence has been found for recent star formation in the so-called "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula in new must-see pictures. Those huge pillars of gas and dust are being sculpted and illuminated by bright and powerful high-mass stars in the nearby NGC 6611 young stellar cluster.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0201/02esoeagle/
CONNEXION BY BOEING RECEIVES FCC LICENSE
----------------------------------------
The Boeing Company has been granted a license by the Federal Communications Commission that will enable passengers on airplanes to transmit and receive broadband data in flight, using its revolutionary Connexion by Boeing service.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0201/02connexion/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1164 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 4, 2002 (17:25) * 96 lines
The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (01/3/2002)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
New Features:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/
* Snow Sleuths (DAAC Study)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/SnowSleuths
Scientists use ground-based measurements to learn how snow looks from space.
* When Land Slides (DAAC Study)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Landslide/
Data imaging techniques provide scientists with new tools to study and map landslides.
--------------------
In the News:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/
* Latest Images:
Fires Continue to Rage Near Sydney, Australia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6770
The South Pole and the Ross Sea
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6769
MISR Pictures the Plight of Periled Penguins
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6768
Lake Effect Snow Covers Buffalo
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6767
Dust Storm, Aral Sea
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6766
El Misti Volcano and the City of Arequipa, Peru
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6765
Severe Bush Fires Near Sydney, Australia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6764
Blanket of Snow Covers Salt Lake City
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6763
The Wandering Lake
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6762
Soufriere Hills, Montserrat, West Indies
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6759
Heron Island, Australia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6758
Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6757
Vegetation in North America
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6756
Global Enhanced Vegetation Index Measurements
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6755
Christmas Mountains Wrapped in Holiday Colors
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=6754
* NASA News
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/
- NASA Sensor Captures Plight of Periled Antarctic Penguins
- All Systems "Go" on New Weather Satellite
- MODIS Improves Global Vegetation Mapping
* Media Alerts
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/
- Study Explores The Effect Of Temperature On Mortality
- Here Comes the Rain
- Southern Ocean Iron May Have Come from the Depths, Not the Atmosphere
- Antarctic Mud Reveals Ancient Evidence of Global Climate Change
- The Past Says Abrupt Climate Change in Our Future
- Engineered Strategies to Mitigate Global Warming Could Influence Biosphere
- LLNL Scientists to Present Tool for Ridding the Atmosphere of Excess Carbon
- Alaska's Columbia Glacier Will Retreat 10 Miles
- Pollution in Asian Air Mass Likely Measured on Both Sides of Pacific
- New Study Shows Early Signals of Climate Change in Earth's Cold Regions
* Headlines from the press, radio, and television:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/
- Antarctic Experts Warn of Global Warming Meltdown
- Antarctica's Climate Clues
- Earth's Temperatures Warm to Record Levels
- Tracking Climate Change on the Tundra
* New Research Highlights
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/
-
Earth Observatory Announcements
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1165 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 9, 2002 (17:50) * 22 lines
WHERE DID THE EXPRESSION "EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING" ORIGINATE?
This expression has been around since 1637, when it appeared
as a line in one of John Milton's poems: Was I deceiv'd, or
did a sable cloud turn forth her silver lining on the night?
It's been a staple of song and verse ever since, appearing in
Dickens's Bleak House, Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado, and Noel
Coward's 1953 song "There Are Bad Times Just Around the Corner."
WHAT WAS THE FIRST MINIMUM WAGE IN THE UNITED STATES?
The first minimum wage, $0.25, was established by Congress
in 1938.
HOW FAST DOES RAIN FALL?
Rain falls at an average of seven miles per hour.
WHAT WORD IN MODERN ENGLISH HAS BEEN AROUND THE LONGEST?
The answer is a tie. According to the Oxford English Diction-
ary, which includes the dates of the earliest known usage of
each English word, the words "town" and "priest" were noted
around the years 601 to 604, taken from 7th-century Anglo-
Saxon documents and stone inscriptions.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1166 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 9, 2002 (19:17) * 23 lines
WHO WAS THE SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY STUDENT WHO BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN TO OFFICIALLY
FINISH THE BOSTON MARATHON?
Katherine Switzer, 1967. Switzer championed the cause of
women's running, and played an instrumental role in adding
the women's marathon to the Olympics.
WHAT CAUSED JAPAN'S LONGEST TRAFFIC JAM?
On August 12, 1990, Typhoon Winona, combined with the summer
holiday rush, created the longest traffic jam in Japan's his-
tory, an 84-mile-long chaotic mess. About 15,000 vehicles
were involved.
ON WHICH HOLIDAY ARE THERE THE GREATEST NUMBER OF COLLECT CALLS MADE IN THE U.S.?
Father's Day is the holiday on which there are the greatest
number of collect calls made in the United States.
WHO INVENTED THE PEACE SYMBOL?
The Direct Action Committee, a group pushing for nuclear
disarmament, invented the peace symbol in 1958. The forked
symbol is actually a composite of the semaphore signals
"N" and "D," to stand for nuclear disarmament.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1167 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 9, 2002 (19:25) * 1 lines
Be prepared, I am a great follower of all things Olympic... *smile*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1168 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Jan 9, 2002 (19:49) * 1 lines
should we expect the olympic rings to grace geo?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1169 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 9, 2002 (21:31) * 1 lines
Don't know, do ya?! I've been out hunting, let us say, for some appropriate gifs. I'd love to see an olympics in the ancient style, but for winter, being naked in the Rockies might be a bit more than even the well-conditioned male could endure. The image summoned in my mind is interesting, though...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1170 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Jan 9, 2002 (21:33) * 3 lines
i'll bet!! but we know what cold does *wink*
will do some checking for olympic rings of the ancient sort!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1171 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 9, 2002 (21:40) * 1 lines
Talk about shrinking assets...! Indeed !
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1172 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 10, 2002 (19:26) * 34 lines
WHERE DID FRUITCAKE ORIGINATE?
Fruitcake originated in ancient Egypt and was considered an
essential food for the afterlife.
WHAT TWO U.S. CITIES ARE CONSIDERED THE "FRUITCAKE" CAPITALS?
Claxton, Georgia and Corsicana, Texas claim to be the "Fruit-
cake Capital" of the U.S.
(I get one of these Texas cakes each year for Christmas from a lovely uncle I have not seen for years.)
WHY DON'T CASHEW NUTS HAVE SHELLS?
Cashew nuts are expensive, and never have shells because the
shell and skin of the cashew nut contains extremely caustic
oil that can painfully blister the skin. This dangerous oil
must be completely removed before the nut can be touched or
eaten.
WHAT IS THE CHINESE LEGEND OF THE KITCHEN GOD?
A week before the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival begins,
the Kitchen God returns to heaven to report on a family's
behavior during the previous year. A negative report by the
Kitchen God means a family will suffer bad luck during the
year to come. Legend has it that a beggar named Zhang leaped
into a fireplace to escape being seen by his former wife,
embarrassed by the way he had mistreated her. His wife tried
in vain to put out the fire, but was ultimately forced to
watch her former husband's ashes fly up the chimney. Upon
hearing the story, the Jade Emperor decided to reward the
man for admitting to his wrongdoings by making him Kitchen
God, charged with watching over everyone's behavior. In order
to ensure a favorable report from the Kitchen God, the custom
evolved of feeding him Sticky Cake, which is a type of fruit-
cake.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1173 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Jan 10, 2002 (20:30) * 3 lines
i read Amy Tan's book "The Kitchen God's Wife" and it was wonderful!
well, no wonder those fruitcakes last forever!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1174 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 11, 2002 (00:17) * 1 lines
Mine get stale after we don't eat them for a year but that is probably because they are wine-free and I need to saturate them. I have a brand new one. I wonder if I will remember to wait 25 years to try it out?! Wolfie, I'll will it to you!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1175 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, Jan 11, 2002 (20:32) * 1 lines
uh......ohhhhh kkkkkkk, i think! *grin*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1176 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, Jan 11, 2002 (20:32) * 1 lines
i can give it to the AM, he likes fruitcake!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1177 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 11, 2002 (21:35) * 3 lines
YES!!! There is a cure for AM, after all *laugh* But it is cruel...
I'll send it on to my son and let his wife decide if it is edible for him! (I love you too much, Wolfie! I could not send you this cake!)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1178 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jan 12, 2002 (22:24) * 16 lines
[1]GEOLOGY
* Supernova "Smoking Gun" Linked to Mass Extinctions
* Primordial Air May Have Been "Breathable"
* Ancient Supernova May Have Triggered Eco-Catastrophe
* January Media Highlights: GEOLOGY and GSA TODAY
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog
[1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY
* Heat Flow Signature Key to Understanding Triple Junction Dynamics
* Using Simulations and Remote Sensing, Geologists Create High-Tech
Hazard Maps to Mitigate Volcanic Risk
References
1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1179 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sun, Jan 13, 2002 (05:00) * 1 lines
Wow, a supernova reached out and touched someone.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1180 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jan 13, 2002 (13:55) * 1 lines
At least someone. I found that amazing. They are always so far from us they seems to be just another bright object in our crowded night sky. Not so that one! Unimaginable!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1181 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jan 14, 2002 (15:36) * 11 lines
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS IT SAID TO HAVE THE BEST CLIMATE?
Quito in Ecuador, South America, is said to have the most
pleasant climate in the world. It is called the "Land of
Eternal Spring". The temperature rarely drops below 46
degrees Fahrenheit during the night, or exceed 72 degrees
Fahrenheit during the day.
(They ovbiously have not been to Hawaii - Marcia)
***
The "pound" key symbol (#) is called an "octothorpe".
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1182 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 16, 2002 (22:34) * 11 lines
Nuclei put a new spin on quantum computing
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/6/1/8
An electrical method has been used to transfer `spin' between electrons
and nuclei in a semiconductor for the first time. Jurgen Smet of the
Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Germany and co-workers
devised the technique, which is a step towards the storage of information
in the quantum states of particles. The effect could also lead to a new
tool to probe the interactions between the spins of electrons and nuclei
(J Smet et al 2002 Nature 415 281).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1183 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 17, 2002 (21:43) * 22 lines
HOW MANY OLYMPICS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO WAR?
Five Olympics have been cancelled. The 1916 Summer Games was
cancelled due to World War I. The 1940 and 1944 Summer and
Winter Olympics were called off during World War II.
***
One can get 7.5 million toothpicks out of a cord of wood.
***
WHO CAME UP WITH THE INCH?
It was King Edward II of England (1324) who decreed the inch
to be equal to three barleycorns end to end.
WHAT WAS UNUSUAL ABOUT PABLO PICASSO'S BIRTH?
A near fatal misjudgment marked Pablo Picasso's birth. He
was abandoned on a table when a midwife thought he was still-
born, but an uncle noticed the infant struggling for breath
and got a doctor, saving his life. When he died in 1973,
Picasso left behind 1,876 pictures, 1,355 sculptures, 2,880
ceramics, 11,000 drawings and sketches and 27,000 etchings
and lithographs. His estate was worth $250 million.
***
There are six grams of gold in an Olympic gold medal.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1184 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 17, 2002 (21:44) * 1 lines
I heard that the inch was the length of the thumb joint of King Alfred the Great. Anyone else know what the story is? I'll check my books. I'm sure to have it somewhere.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1185 of 1406: Michael McNeil (Weatherlawyer) * Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (13:40) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1186 of 1406: Michael McNeil (Weatherlawyer) * Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (13:41) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1187 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (15:47) * 3 lines
I'm sure one or another of us can do this. Let me try. (Gadzooks! They used one of my satellite images!)
I thought Africa broke away from South America, but they do resemble one another. Although, the Andes occupy the place of the Great African Rift. How curious! It never occurred to me before!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1188 of 1406: Michael McNeil (Weatherlawyer) * Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (18:52) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1189 of 1406: Michael McNeil (Weatherlawyer) * Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (18:56) * 1 lines
The point I want to make is that while theyy do all fit together in a wonderful way is no reason to believe that that is the only way they fit together in a wonderful way.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1190 of 1406: Michael McNeil (Weatherlawyer) * Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (19:18) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1191 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (19:42) * 3 lines
Ice carves mountains by seeping into cracks as water then prying off layers when it freezes at night. Roadways are protected against all of these rocks in the spring thaws in California and in the Rocky Mountain states.
Glaciers move entire mountains carving out valleys with the rock burden they carry with them as they flow downward.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1192 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (19:46) * 1 lines
yep, the expanding and contracting goings on of ice. concrete does this too but not enough to grow mountains.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1193 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (20:31) * 1 lines
Good point, Wolfie - concrete does do this, too!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1194 of 1406: Michael McNeil (Weatherlawyer) * Sat, Jan 19, 2002 (10:22) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1195 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jan 19, 2002 (16:21) * 14 lines
last thing I heard of Glaciers is that they transport great boulders and, like battering rams, chip rock off the valleys they traverse. Scree is the tail end of the journey.
How Glaciers Erode And Transport Sediment
As a glacier moves, particularly a warm glacier, it causes erosion of the underlying surface. However, ice doesn't seem as if it
should be a particularly effective material for wearing away hard rocks, so how do glaciers manage to produce such large
erosional features?
Material from underlying bedrock or sediment is picked up by the glacier and 'held' in the ice as it moves. Material falling
onto the surface (often the result of freeze-thaw activity, or frost shattering, on the surrounding rock walls) is also
transported, and often finds its way down through crevasses to the base of the glacier. Material held within the glacier is
called 'englacial moraine'. It is this material trapped in the ice, that allows the glacier to erode its surroundings.
more... http://www.zephryus.demon.co.uk/geography/resources/glaciers/erode.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1196 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jan 19, 2002 (16:22) * 1 lines
I've seen house-sized granite boulders nicely rounded in a rounded valley floor from glaciers.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1197 of 1406: Michael McNeil (Weatherlawyer) * Sat, Jan 19, 2002 (17:32) * 0 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1198 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sat, Jan 19, 2002 (20:46) * 3 lines
marcia, that is how i understand glacial theory and how those round rocks got to where they did in the plains of Kansas.
what is your theory michael? and can you provide any examples?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1199 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jan 19, 2002 (22:11) * 1 lines
Mike, we need to understand from whence this discussion springs. If you are speaking of glaciation of the UK, it is much different from the mountainous areas of North America. If you are arguing on a theological basis, that changes everything and you need a different conference for that. What I have stated stands. I suggest you check what wind can do to scupt the hard rock of land.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1200 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (06:44) * 16 lines
Excuse me but I cannot understand what you try to tell us Mike. Maybe the reason is my not good English; but I don’t think so. I am not so good with philological and complex concepts even if I am good in complex analysis.
It is essential that we must describe the problem or the real fact with clear words at the beginning. If we do not make this we are as swimming in an ocean without end. I felt like this when I was reading previous responses and I can tell you that that does not match to Geo conference.
Foggy thoughts and answers on answers does not consist a discussion but a theater of absurdness. I suppose that you keep one “from machine God” (as we say in Greece) in order to tell us or to establish us what you think or what you try to suggest us. This is not a suspense (as you can say) but abusive way to our intellect. I cannot accept it.
If you have something to suggest us make it clear and then tell us your logic. Remember that anything new, needs real and not only theoretical proof. I know that you believe that you can build some theory later, based on some hypothesis. My place is that any theory based on hypothetical reasons does not exist. I discard it.
We welcome you here and we need your CLEAR THOUGHTS. I suggest you to respect Geo profile and its past. Geo is trying to be useful to the visitors, as you can see. We are ready to make bona fide discussions on anything, but not on hypothetical or theoretical basis because we cannot conclude anything.
Can you accept this? If not I will be invisible against you. I hope that you don’t want to write only for yourself here! Please help us.
I am sorry Marcia. I feel responsible because I suggested Mike to you. I apologize.
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1201 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (14:11) * 3 lines
If there is to be discussions based entirely on religious scripture, they belong in Philosophy Conference, Cultures Conference or some other. Check the main conference index for a more suitable place to publish religious views. Intolerance is one thing I will not tolerate on Geo.
Terry, please see Geo Conference Business for more on this problem. Also see your email. My generosity has been taken advantage of and I do not appreciate topics created both off-conference topic and ill-advised.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1202 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jan 21, 2002 (23:03) * 48 lines
In Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese, the words "death" and
"four" are pronounced nearly identically. The word "four" is
read as "si" in Chinese Mandarin and "shi" in Japanese, a
close homonym for the word death. As a result, the number four
causes anxiety and stress among many Chinese and Japanese. The
superstition is so widespread that the number four is omitted
in some Chinese and Japanese floor and room numberings. The
Chinese Air Force avoids the number in designating aircraft.
WHAT HAPPENS TO AN AVERAGE AMERICAN ADULT IN ONE DAY?
The average adult in one day speaks 48,000 words, exercises
seven million brain cells, takes 23,000 breaths, laughs 15
times, and his/her heart beats 104,000 times.
***
It takes 110 domestic silkworm cocoons to
make a man's tie and 630 to make a blouse.
***
WHAT FISH SWIMS UPSIDE DOWN?
The Nile catfish swims upside down. To accommodate its unusual
method of swimming, it has developed a light-colored back and
a dark belly,the reverse of the usual fish color-scheme.
WHAT WAS THE CAUSE OF DEATH FOR MOST COWBOYS?
From the 1850s to the 1880s, the most common cause of death
among cowboys in the American West was being dragged by a
horse while caught in the stirrups.
***
Wanamaker's of Philadelphia was the first U.S.
department store to install electric lighting, in 1878.
***
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TABLE SALT, SEA SALT, KOSHER SALT, AND ROCK SALT?
Table salt is made by driving water into a salt deposit (mine)
and evaporating the brine that is formed, leaving dried crys-
tals that look like granulated sugar. Sea salt is what remains
after seawater is trapped and evaporated. If you substitute
sea salt in cooking or to flavor food, you may need to use more
than table salt because it is less dense. Kosher salt is made
much the same way as table salt but is raked continuously dur-
ing the evaporation process. This gives it a lighter, flakier
texture. Kosher salt also is denser and more flavorful than
table salt, used in pickling and conforms to Jewish dietary
laws. Rock salt is table salt that is not refined and is not
used in or on food.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1203 of 1406: Lucille Oftedahl (alyeska) * Tue, Jan 22, 2002 (00:34) * 1 lines
Thanks Marcia
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1204 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 23, 2002 (00:29) * 1 lines
Hugs, Lucie! It's good to see you any time. You know you are family here!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1205 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 24, 2002 (00:59) * 55 lines
he Segway(tm) Human Transporter (HT) is the first self-bal-
ancing, electric-powered transporter designed to enhance the
productivity of people by increasing the distance they can
travel and the amount they can carry while integrating the
user in the pedestrian world. Initially, the Segway HT will
be available for commercial customers in industries such as
package delivery, tourism, and public safety. Release for
consumers is projected for late 2002.
www.segway.com.
WHAT EVENT WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE 2002 WINTER OLYMPICS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1948?
The skeleton event, which is similar to the luge. Competitors
travel on their stomach, head first, down the track on a sled.
The origins of this sport can be traced back to the late 19th
century. The sport derives its name from one of the first
sleds, which was made by an Englishman. The sled was a rack of
metal that some would say resembled a skeleton. The men's skel-
eton event is being held for the first time since the 1948
Games in St Moritz. Women's skeleton is making its Olympic
debut.
***
There are four curbside frog ramps in the
streets of Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
***
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WAS THE ONLY PERSON TO SIGN FOUR KEY DOCUMENTS THAT CREATED THE UNITED STATES. WHAT ARE THEY?
Benjamin Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence,
the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Peace Treaty with
Britain, and the Constitution.
WHAT IS THE FIRST DISEASE TO BE GLOBALLY ERADICATED?
Smallpox is the only disease to be eradicated worldwide. At
one time it was a deadly scourge that killed many. However,
smallpox remains a threat. While the disease currently in-
fects no one, the virus is still out there. After its eradi-
cation in 1977, the smallpox virus was kept in only two lab-
oratories in the world--in Atlanta in the US, and Koltsovo
in Siberia. There is concern now that the virus may come
into the hands of terrorists and some countries are stock-
ing up on smallpox vaccine.
***
A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.
***
WHO WAS THE FIRST "FIRST" LADY TO WEAR A RED INAUGURAL BALL GOWN?
Laura Bush made history last January when she wore a red gown
to her husband's inaugural ball. Mrs. Bush has formally donated
her red Michael Faircloth-designed gown to the Smithsonian where
it joins 80 other pieces of first-lady inaugural fashions that
date back to Edith Roosevelt's 1905 robin's-egg-blue ball gown.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1206 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jan 26, 2002 (23:57) * 17 lines
Interesting notes from family memebers who included them in email:
Recently there have been items in the news here related to the
coal-mining history of some of the PA communities near Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.
A man began to notice some creaking sounds and some cracks in his walls.
He wondered if the house was safe to live in. Some mining-related govt. agency (I forgot its name)
came and did some drilling. They found that there was indeed an abandoned coal mine tunnel about
35 feet beneath his house. They ruled that there was no danger to his continued
occupancy of the house.
Smoke has begun to rise out of the ground near a new housing development
that was built near former mining activity. The smoke has the sulfury smell of burning coal.
It is coming up from an area of buried coal waste. The waste wasn't of high enough
quality to market, but has enough carbon to burn. What lit it?....Who knows!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1207 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Sun, Jan 27, 2002 (03:23) * 9 lines
I have some possible answers Marcia:
We use coal as main fuel in the cement factory where is my job. We are grinding this coal before we drive it to the burners. So, we made big stacks of ungrinding coal in an open area as storage area. We had self-ignitions enough times until now. Coal can self-ignite under specific conditions of temperature and moisture. (this is the more possible reason).
Fire means existing air stream to the underground storage area. And the danger for some explosion is high. Carbon monoxide (CO) as result of non-complete combustion, in mixes with air, becomes explosion mixture. It is enough a content of about 2.5% of CO or slightly higher, in the total gas mixture. The danger for an explosion is high.
I wonder for the security of this house. 35 feet are too low and landslide is real fact already. What will be the result of a medium EQ? It is not so easy to say that this house it doesn’t in danger.
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1208 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sun, Jan 27, 2002 (10:35) * 1 lines
i'd move to a different house too!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1209 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jan 27, 2002 (13:40) * 5 lines
Thank you, John! You are a wonderful encyclopaedia for me. For several years I lived in the coal belts of Pennsylvania and of West Virginia. Carbondale, PA wa actually falling into the great mine whose main seams were under the business area of town. It had also self-ignited. The last time we drove over the roadways which undulated frighteningly we promised not to go that route again.
The softer coal dust in Applachains cause uneding misery from early death for the miners to poverty for the rest of the community. Underground explosions are fairly frequent and claiming the wage-earner of the already-poor families.
30 miles away is not nearly far enough but that is as close to one as ever cared to live again.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1210 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jan 27, 2002 (20:19) * 10 lines
Response to John's comments regarding the Pennsylvania mine:
Good comments! I like his (John's) thoughts about the self-ignitions, especially.
The mine that is 35 feet (if I remember correctly) below the house might
be too narrow to cause trouble. Some of the old mines were quite small,
and/or were in fairly strong layers of rock.
Anyway, the events are "ghosts" from Pennsylvania's past!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1211 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jan 28, 2002 (11:34) * 42 lines
WHY NAME A SEARCH ENGINE "YAHOO?"
The name of the Internet directory "Yahoo" is an acronym.
According to the company, the name "Yahoo" stands for "Yet
Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle."
***
In 1984, Apple’s Macintosh computer went
on sale. Price tag: $2,495.
***
WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SAMUEL CLEMENS/MARK TWAIN AND HALLEY'S COMET?
In 1835, the year Samuel Clemens, writer, reporter, and pub-
lisher was born, Halley's Comet passed over. Twain vowed that
he would not die until he saw the famous comet again. Then,
just before Twain died, Halley's Comet passed over. He died
the next day--April 10th, 1910 at 6:30 p.m.
HOW MANY TOWNS IN THE UNITED STATES HAVE THE WORD "TURKEY" IN THEIR NAMES?
There are 61 towns in the United States with the word "turkey"
n their names (e.g., Turkeytown, Alabama and Turkey Foot,
Florida).
***
A whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster
than the speed of sound (760 miles per hour).
***
WHO SENT THE FIRST EMAIL?
Sent by computer engineer Ray Tomlinson in 1971, the email
was simply a test message to himself. It was sent from one
computer to another computer sitting right beside it in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, but it traveled via ARPANET, a
network of computers that was the precursor to the Internet.
Tomlinson had been fooling around with two programs called
SNDMSG and READMAIL, which allowed users to leave messages
for one another on the same machine. He applied the idea
behind these programs to a third program called CYPNET,
which allowed users to send and receive files between com-
puters. Despite his groundbreaking success with email, Tom-
linson is better known for introducing he "@" sign as the
locator in email addresses.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1212 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Mon, Jan 28, 2002 (14:07) * 1 lines
Cool stuff Marci!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1213 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jan 28, 2002 (15:52) * 34 lines
Some is really weird - but always interesting!
WHO HOLDS THE TOP SPOT IN CONCERT TOURS IN THE U.S. IN 2001 BY REVENUE FROM TICKET SALES?
The rock band U2, with $109.7 million dollars in ticket sales.
The band 'N Sync is in second place at $86.8 million, and Back-
street Boys is third at $82.1 million. U2's $107.9 million in
ticket sales is second only to the Rolling Stones' gross of
$121.2 million in 1994. The top 100 concert tours sold 34.4
million tickets in 2001, and brought in $1.75 billion.
***
The only person ever to decline a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
was Sinclair Lewis for his book, "Arrowsmith".
***
IN WHAT YEAR'S OLYMPICS WERE ELECTRIC TIMING DEVICES AND A PUBLIC-ADDRESS SYSTEM USED FOR THE FIRST TIME?
Electric timing devices and a public-address system were first
used in 1912, in Stockholm.
WHAT U.S. CITY PURCHASES THE MOST ICE CREAM?
The city in the United States that purchases the most ice
cream on a per capita basis is Portland, Oregon.
***
In the Walt Disney movie "Fantasia", the Sorcerer's name is
"Yensid", which is "Disney" spelled backwards.
***
WHAT IS "CATCH-18"?
"Catch-18" is the original title of the Joseph Heller novel
"Catch-22". The title was changed to avoid confusion with the
Leon Uris novel, "Mila 18", which had recently been published.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1214 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jan 28, 2002 (15:54) * 38 lines
HOW MUCH DID THE AVERAGE U.S. CONCERT TICKET COST IN 2001?
The average concert ticket cost $43.86 in 2001. Opera singer
Andrea Bocelli had the highest average ticket price at $161.45.
***
The only English word that contains a triple
letter is "goddessship".
***
WHICH COUNTRY HAS THE LOWEST CRIME RATE?
The country of Togo, with an average of just 11 reported crimes
annually for every 100,000 of the population.
WHAT WAS THE WHITE HAND SOCIETY?
The White Hand Society was a community group sponsored by
Italian-American business leaders. It was organized in 1907
to oppose the work of the Black Hand. It developed its own
police force but sustained itself for only five years.
***
The letters "YKK" on zippers stand for Yoshida Kogyo
Kabushibibaisha, the largest zipper manufacturer in the world.
***
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE "MAKE NO BONES ABOUT IT"?
To "make no bones about it" means to do something in a straight-
forward or unapologetic manner-to "just do it." It is such an
ancient phrase, dating back to at least 1548, that its origins
annot be accurately traced. It may have originally arisen as a
metaphor, referring to someone who did not make a fuss if bones
turned up in his or her soup or stew. Or it may be based on
"bones" being a very old slang term for dice. Someone who "made
no bones" would be a player who simply cast the dice when his
turn came, omitting all the mystical little rituals (such as
blowing on, or talking to, the dice) gamblers often develop to
conjure up good luck in a game.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1215 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jan 28, 2002 (16:04) * 49 lines
WHAT PLAY HAS HAD A LONGER RUN THAN "THE FANTASTICKS"?
Only "The Mousetrap," the Agatha Christie murder mystery, has
had a longer run than "The Fantasticks". The London show is in
its 49th year and shows no signs of slowing down.
***
Luciano Pavarotti always looks for a bent nail on stage
before he feels secure in singing in opera.
***
WHAT IS GERARDUS MERCATOR KNOWN FOR?
Mercator is best known for his mapping technique in which para-
llels of latitude and meridians of longitude are rendered as
straight lines to display an accurate ratio of latitude to lon-
gitude. This 1569 innovation became known as "Mercator projec-
tion". It was widely adapted for use in navigation charts,
since a Mercator-projection map permits navigators to easily
plot straight-line courses. Mercator was the first person to
use the term "atlas" to refer to a collection of maps; an un-
finished edition of the atlas he had begun compiling was pub-
lished in 1606 after his death, and was known as the Mercator-
Hondius Atlas.
HOW MUCH MONEY IN TICKET SALES HAS THE LONDON PRODUCTION OF "CATS" GARNERED?
The London production of "Cats", the world's longest-running
London-based musical, has taken in nearly $200 million in
ticket sales over the years and has been seen by more than
eight million people. The Broadway version ran for 20 years
and closed in 2000. "Cats," the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical
based on some poems of T.S. Elliott, will close in London on
May 11, which will mark its 21st birthday.
***
In Iceland, people are listed by their
first names in the phone book.
***
WHAT ARE SOME FOLK TRADITIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PERFORMING ARTS?
* Never speaking last line of play dialogue at rehearsal.
* Never say "Good luck" to a performer. Say "Break a leg!"
* Trip on your first entrance and you'll be lucky.
* Spit into your dancing shoes before putting them on.
* Wigs are unlucky, squeaky shoes lucky.
* Never whistle in a dressing room (since, by whistling, you
are summoning the Devil).
* Never put a hat on a bed or shoes on a table.
* It is good luck to have a bad dress rehearsal, as this means
the first performance will be good.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1216 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Jan 28, 2002 (18:11) * 1 lines
that is so interesting--if the name of that book had stayed the same-we'd be using the phrase catch 18 instead of a catch 22 (you know, d if you do, d if you don't)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1217 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Jan 28, 2002 (18:12) * 1 lines
incidentally, so i can show how ignorant i am, i've never read the book....
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1218 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 29, 2002 (17:49) * 48 lines
WHAT WAS THE FIRST U.S. COIN TO MINTED WITH THE MOTTO "IN GOD WE TRUST?
The U.S. two-cent coin was minted between 1864 and 1873, and
was the first coin to bear the motto "In God We Trust". The
motto was omitted from the new gold coins issued in 1907,
causing a storm of public criticism. As a result, legislation
passed in May, 1908 made "In God We Trust" mandatory on all
coins on which it had previously appeared. Legislation ap-
proved July 11, 1955, made the appearance of "In God We Trust"
mandatory on all coins and paper currency of the United States.
By Act of July 30, 1956, "In God We Trust" became the national
motto of the United States.
***
A stack of one-dollar bills one mile high would
be worth more than $14,000,000.
***
WHAT DOES "WD-40" STAND FOR?
"WD-40 literally stands for "Water Displacement, 40th attempt".
That's the name straight out of the lab book used by the chemist
who developed WD-40 back in 1953. The chemist, Norm Larsen, was
attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion--a task
which is done by displacing water. Norm's persistence paid off
when he perfected the formula on his 40th try.
HOW MANY STARS ARE IN CAMPBELL'S SOUP?
The Campbell Soup Company uses more than 44 billion stars
each year in its canned Chicken & Stars Soup. In three years,
Campbell's produces more tiny pasta stars than there are in
the Milky Way.
***
Elwood Edwards' voice is heard saying
"you've got mail" over 27 million times a day.
***
WHY IS THE PITCHER'S MOUND 60 FEET SIX INCHES FROM THE HOME PLATE?
Until 1893, the pitcher's mound was 50 feet from home plate.
Pitchers were having a relatively easy time tossing fast balls
and strikes, and the game was becoming a bore. Thus, officials
decided to move the mound back 10 feet. A diagram showing a
distance of 60' 0" was presented to a surveyor, who was supposed
to map out new fields. Unfortunately, the surveyor misread the
diagram as showing 60' 6", and designed the new field accord-
ingly. The blueprints and several new mounds were finished be-
fore the error was noticed, so the measurement remained.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1219 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 29, 2002 (18:31) * 3 lines
Nevada Athletic Commission votes to deny boxing license for Mike Tyson.
I can't believe honor has finally overcome greed in Las Vegas! I wonder how much this verdict cost...
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1220 of 1406: Lucille Oftedahl (alyeska) * Tue, Jan 29, 2002 (18:55) * 1 lines
I am surprised I really thought they wouldn't do ot.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1221 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jan 29, 2002 (21:32) * 1 lines
Neither did I. But after hearing tonight's State of the Union speech and everyone behaving like life mattered and not political affiliation, I am delightedly surprised. It's about time!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1222 of 1406: Lucille Oftedahl (alyeska) * Tue, Jan 29, 2002 (22:40) * 1 lines
I dno't know why they keep putting up with him. Why not just rescind his licence for good. they know he's two sandwiches short of a picnic.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1223 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Jan 30, 2002 (08:50) * 3 lines
When he said he was "no Mother Theresa". Surprise, surprise.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1224 of 1406: Lucille Oftedahl (alyeska) * Wed, Jan 30, 2002 (10:46) * 1 lines
LOL I'm sure his ex will agree to that.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1225 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Jan 30, 2002 (19:18) * 1 lines
wait a sec, i missed something....who said he wasn't mother theresa?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1226 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Jan 30, 2002 (19:20) * 1 lines
neh-vuh mind!!! i'm glad!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1227 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Feb 2, 2002 (16:52) * 4 lines
Thank you for the hard work,Terry! Now go sleep and enjoy your Super Bowl Game. Each time Geo dies so do I! Did I see that you downloaded Apache software and crypto-protection, or was that for another site? Whichever it is, I am delighted.
Mother Theresa.....*grin* He was the last to know?!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1228 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Feb 2, 2002 (16:56) * 11 lines
he's two sandwiches short of a picnic.
I'm going to remember this one. However, let me remind you of an old trusim.
You know you're a Rockhound when...
Take a sack of marble with you on field trips
For each rock you pick up, replace it with one of your marbles.
When you have lost all of your marbles
You ARE a rockhound.
(translations available - see me.)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1229 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sat, Feb 2, 2002 (17:16) * 3 lines
*laugh*
i'm so glad to see spring back up and running!!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1230 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Feb 2, 2002 (17:19) * 1 lines
*HUGS* Me too!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1231 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Feb 2, 2002 (17:50) * 48 lines
HOW MANY CLIMBERS HAVE REACHED THE SUMMIT OF MT. EVEREST?
There have been over 4,000 Mt. Everest summit quests and 660
summit successes, along with 140 quest deaths. Fifty tons of
garbage have been left behind, and the temperature range is
2 degrees F in summer to minus 76 F in winter, with winds up
to 177 mph (which equals the sound of the take off of a 747).
***
The Latin word "veto" means "I forbid".
***
HOW OLD IS COFFEE?
Avicenna, an Arabian philosopher, introduced coffee as a med-
icinal tonic around 1000 AD. He called it "bunc." The drink
didn't really catch on as a social beverage in Persia and
Arabia until the 16th century.
WHERE IS THE APOLLO 8 SPACECRAFT HOUSED?
Apollo 8 is exhibited at The Museum of Science and Industry
in Chicago, Illinois, which is the largest science museum in
a single building in the Western Hemisphere. It has more than
800 exhibits and more than 2,000 interactive units located in
over 350,000 square feet of exhibit space. It was the first
museum in North America to develop hands-on, interactive ex-
hibits. Opened in 1933, it is the oldest science museum of its
kind in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most popular
museums in the world. Exhibits include a 3,000-square-foot
model railroad (one of the largest in the world), the world's
first permanent exhibit on AIDS/HIV, and the Apollo 8 space-
craft, the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon.
***
The transparent cornea of the eye is the only living
tissue in the human body that contains no blood vessels.
***
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME CUTLASSES WERE USED FOR BUSINESS (AS DISTINCT FROM CEREMONIAL) PURPOSES?
In December 1939. A German navy ship, the Altmark, disguised
as a freighter, was sailing through Norwegian waters, which
were off limits for non-Norwegian warships. Hidden beneath
decks, in contravention of the rules of war, were a number of
British prisoners of war. The British navy's intelligence
got wind of this and sent a cruiser, HMS Cossack, into Nor-
wegian waters (in itself a prohibited act) to intercept the
Altmark and free the prisoners. The British boarding party
carried cutlasses instead of firearms lest they would acci-
dentally shoot one of their own.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1232 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sun, Feb 3, 2002 (08:29) * 2 lines
Wow coffee's 1000th anniversery, I read this as drink a cup o' coffee in my La Madeleine cup, the tall one. bunc? Ha!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1233 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 3, 2002 (12:18) * 45 lines
The term "bunc" has a completely different meaning, now. My coffee-drinking is over for the moment and I am into my daily infusions of lots of ice water.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO ADVERTISE DURING
THE SUPER BOWL GAME HELD FEBRUARY 2, 2002?
The average price of a 30-second commercial in the game is
just under $2 million. An expected 130 million viewers will
be watching. In comparison, to advertise on a top-rated
television show is around $400,000. The Super Bowl is the
most heavily viewed program of the year, and some people
will watch just for the ads. Anheuser-Busch will be the
biggest sponsor this year with five minutes of ads, and
Pepsi has three minutes.
***
The largest cockroach on record was 3.81 inches in length.
***
WHICH IS THE ONLY PLANET TO HAVE AN ORBIT THAT CROSSES THAT OF ANOTHER PLANET?
Pluto, usually the farthest planet from the sun in our solar
system, crosses Neptune's orbit. Pluto is a tiny planet,
smaller than Earth's moon, and its elliptical orbit takes 248
years and carries it as close as 2.8 billion miles from the
sun and as far as 4.6 billion miles away from the sun. In 1979,
Pluto crossed Neptune's orbit on its way closer to the sun,
making Neptune the farthest planet for most of the 1980s.
Pluto recrossed Neptune's orbit again in 1999 as it headed
away from the sun and once again became the most distant planet.
WHAT METROPOLITAN U.S. CITY HAS BORDERS WHICH ENCOMPASS TWO NATIONAL PARKS?
Greater Miami, Florida, where one can hike through pristine
Everglades National Park or ride on glass-bottom boats across
Biscayne National Park.
***
Lemurs are primarily left handed.
***
HOW MANY MARRIAGE LICENSES WERE ISSUED IN LAS VEGAS IN 2001?
The Clark County Marriage License Bureau in Las Vegas, Nevada
distributed 123,000 licenses in the year 2001. It now has a
new computer system that will speed up the licensing process
and provide colorful, more professional marriage certificates.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1234 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 3, 2002 (12:24) * 40 lines
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM "EAVESDROPPING"?
"Eaves" are the edges of a roof that project past the exterior
walls of a building, usually designed to carry rain water away
from the foundations. The "eavesdrip" in Old English was a
specific place--the outside area from the walls of a house to
the edge of the roof--a space to shelter oneself from the rain
or, if one were sneaky, where conversations within the house
could be overheard rather clearly. "Eavesdrip" eventually be-
came "eavesdrop," and by the late 15th century the noun had
become a verb, meaning to secretly listen to someone else's
conversation.
***
Icelanders eat their national emblem, the puffin.
***
HAVE U. S. POSTAL RATES INCREASED ABOVE THE RATE OF INFLATION?
Since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, postage rates
have increased below the rate of inflation. And the United
States Postal Service, unlike other government agencies, is
notsubsidized by the U. S. Government.
WHAT FISH CAN SWALLOW MEALS LARGER THAN ITSELF?
The blackswallower, a deep-sea fish, can eat fish bigger than
itself. It does this by moving its heart and gills out of the
way. It also has moveable teeth in its throat to help break
down the prey and a stomach that stretches far enough to
handle fish twice its own size.
***
The first American piano was built in
Philadelphia in 1775 by Johann Behrendt.
***
WHEN DID THE PRACTICE OF NUMBERING HOUSES COME TO BE?
Houses were first numbered in Paris, France in 1463. In
Britain, numbering did not appear until 1708, on a street in
London's Whitechapel area.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1235 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 3, 2002 (14:28) * 62 lines
**************************************
What a difference a century makes....
**************************************
The year was 1902, one hundred years ago.
The average life expectancy in the U. S. was 47-years.
Only 14% of the homes in the U. S. had a bath tub.
Only 8% of the homes had a telephone. A 3 minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.00!
There were only 8,000 cars in the U. S. and only 144-miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the
21st most populous state in the Union.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower in France.
The average wage in the U.S. was 22-cents an hour.
The average U. S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95% of all births in the U. S. took place at home.
Ninety percent of all U. S. physicians had no college education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard."
Sugar cost 4 cents a pound. Eggs were 14 cents a dozen. Coffee cost 15 cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
The five leading causes of death in the U. S. were [in order of frequency]:
1. Pneumonia and Influenza.
2. Tuberculosis.
3. Diarrhea.
4. Heart disease.
5. Stroke.
The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30.
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
One in ten U. S. adults could not read or write.
Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach, and the bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."
Eighteen percent of all households in the U. S. had at least one full-time servant or domestic.
There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U. S.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1236 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sun, Feb 3, 2002 (18:40) * 1 lines
now i could get into moving organs out of the way in order to fit in that piece of cake after eating out!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1237 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 3, 2002 (18:50) * 1 lines
Moving teeth and organs around certainly is novel. I'd never heard of anthing that could do that! You move the organs... I'll remove the calories!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1238 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sun, Feb 3, 2002 (18:53) * 3 lines
*laugh*
it really sounds gross!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1239 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Feb 4, 2002 (15:06) * 90 lines
All things of the Earth - as budgeted FOR the US taxpayer.
President's FY 2003 Budget for USGS ? Science in Support of Natural
Resources and the Nation's Public Lands
The President has proposed a budget of $904.0 million for the Interior
Department's U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Fiscal Year 2003. This
includes $36.7 million for a government-wide legislative proposal to shift
to agencies the full cost of the Civil Service Retirement System and the
Federal employee health benefits program for current employees. Without the
legislative proposal, the request is $867.3 million, a net decrease of
approximately $47 million below the 2002 enacted. (Funding totals discussed
below exclude the legislative proposal.) The 2003 budget focuses resources
on core USGS programs, such as mapping and hazards, and those that directly
support science-based land and natural resource management by the
Department.
"We will continue our emphasis on providing sound science on public lands
in support of other Interior bureaus, enabling them to more effectively and
efficiently fulfill their resource management and protection
responsibilities," said USGS Director Charles Groat. "Our broad range of
expertise in mapping, geology, hydrology and biology is proving to be an
important part of the science foundation needed by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service to
address complex resource management issues on lands they manage," Groat
said. The USGS will also continue to provide timely, objective scientific
information to other Federal agencies, state and local partners and
stakeholders to address resource, natural hazard and natural science
issues.
The USGS budget includes an increase of $4.0 million for the Department's
Critical Ecosystems Studies Initiative, providing long-term monitoring,
assessment and science support to Everglades restoration. Additionally, the
USGS proposes $1 million to develop enterprise GIS tools, bringing together
geospatially referenced hydrologic, biologic, geologic and topographic data
into a common decision support system needed by land and resource managers.
The FY 2003 budget also proposes funding of $1.2 million for USGS to
conduct estimates of undiscovered oil and natural gas resources on Federal
lands in the continental U.S., and $500 thousand to update the national
assessments of geothermal resources last updated in 1979. "Science
contributes to the critical foundation of our Nation's energy strategy. We
will continue to play an important role in providing reliable scientific
information in support of the President's National Energy Policy," said
Groat. The 2003 budget will also include $1 million to produce digital base
maps of Alaska needed by resource managers to make environmentally sound
resource decisions.
As the Nation's principal natural resources science agency, the USGS is
playing a significant role in understanding environmental contributions to
diseases and human health. In FY 2003, the USGS proposes funding of $1
million to apply its core mission expertise to address complex
environmental health issues, such as the distribution and movement of
disease-causing agents including radiation, pesticides and pathogens in
water, air and soil in the U.S.? Mexico border region. "This is a wonderful
opportunity for us to partner with university health centers, communities
and government agencies in both countries to study links between
environmental factors and human health, and provide information needed by
state governments, public land managers and local communities to develop
effective environmental health strategies."
A significant portion ($22.0 million) of the proposed decreases for USGS
are in two water quality programs. The National Water-Quality Assessment
Program ($-5.8 million) and the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program ($-13.9
million) provide extensive data and research-based information to state and
Federal regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. Included in the Toxics Program reduction is a $10 million transfer
to the National Science Foundation to initiate a competitive-grants process
to address water-quality issues. The budget request for the NAWQA program
reflects a plan to secure funding from partners and customers to maintain
NAWQA's current schedule and scope.
In 2003, USGS will carry out the Secretary's management strategy,
implementing the President's five government-wide initiatives for strategic
management of human capital, competitive sourcing, improved financial
performance, expanded electronic government and budget and performance
integration. USGS will also seek other areas of efficiencies, such as
continuing the development of the E-Gov Geospatial One-Stop initiative to
make geospatial data more accessible and usable.
The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to:
describe and understand the Earth; minimize the loss of life and property
from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy and mineral
resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.
### USGS ###
This press release and in-depth information about USGS programs may be
found on the USGS home page: http://www.usgs.gov. To receive the latest
USGS news releases automatically by email, send a request to
listproc@listserver.usgs.gov Specify the listserver(s) of interest from the
following names: water-pr: geologic-hazards-pr; biological-pr; mapping-pr;
products-pr; lecture-pr. In the body of the message write: subscribe (name
of listserver) (your name). Example: subscribe water-pr joe smith
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1240 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Feb 5, 2002 (15:19) * 7 lines
Hello Marcia, Wolfie, John, Lucie, Terry, et. al. I've missed you. There's lot's to catch up on here, as I've been away so long.
The new background is beautiful, Marcia. The border using the Greek key motif is looks great.
Is there any particular reason that Nile catfish should swim upside down?
I'm sorry to be presumptious in asking you this question, Marcia. It's just that you're a wonderful source of information. My question concerns a fire in a coal mine under a Pennsylvania town. The fire seems to have been going on for years in abandoned mine under a town. I just can't seem to remember the name of the town. Do you know what it is?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1241 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Feb 5, 2002 (16:57) * 5 lines
Cheryl, you are NEVER presumptuous! Asking questions is the way we all learn.
I'll look it upabout the upside down catfish. I glanced at the article and assumed it was scanning the bottom for food. But, if that is the case, why don't all catfish swim upside down?! I'm going to search for this - you have piqued my curiousity again!
We are delighted you are back. Welcome Home! I've missed your expertise!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1242 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Feb 5, 2002 (17:01) * 1 lines
Many thanks for the warm welcome.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1243 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Feb 5, 2002 (17:09) * 5 lines
It is always here for you! We have a new topic for Rob to discover. I offered it to him last night since Yahoo seems to be messing with his clubs there. We will be regaled with amazing stories. I am delighted.
John, your topic offers continue. When you get well enough to be intellectually restless, you have carte blanche here. *Healing hugs* I've been thinking of deleting the four posts in Geo44 and giving it to you just for posting your graphs and charts. Or I could make a new topic. When you are ready, so am I.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1244 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Feb 5, 2002 (18:40) * 3 lines
hi cheryl--that is interesting about the upside down catfish (though to him, he's right side up!)
marcia, didn't we talk about the coal mines in pennsylvania somewhere in geo?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1245 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Feb 5, 2002 (18:41) * 1 lines
Hi Wolfie! The world from the catfish's perpective is right side up. That's interesting.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1246 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Wed, Feb 6, 2002 (05:32) * 7 lines
Hello friends
I returned from the nebula of high fever. I feel as I returned in first day of the spring. Geo is alive and stronger. The storms that covered Geo and me, almost simultaneously, are history already. Thanks to all of you. Especially, we must thank Terry for his painful but successful work.
Marcia, we will realize your suggestions about new topics, soon. The time run fast but we are present to make this place easy-to-use and above all more interesting.
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1247 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Feb 6, 2002 (21:11) * 3 lines
John! Happy news, indeed. I can finally breathe out again after a very long frightning few weeks. I'm sure it has been an eternity to you. (I am not psychic, but I did feel much happiness from your part of my life this morning. I seemed to know you had emerged intact. Welcome back!
*HUGS*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1248 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Feb 7, 2002 (21:17) * 3 lines
Hi Sam! If you made it this far and are not totally numb from the experience, I bid you welcome and Aloha! I've already hugged you welcome back to Spring...
Speaking of welcoming hugs - there are a few very special ones I'd love to deliver in person. Welcome back !
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1249 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Feb 11, 2002 (16:21) * 1 lines
John, it's good to learn that you've recovered from your fever.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1250 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Tue, Feb 12, 2002 (08:55) * 1 lines
Thank you Cherlyl. I am glad that I can to discuss again with friends here.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1251 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Feb 15, 2002 (15:14) * 18 lines
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE OLYPIC FLAG DURING THE TIME BETWEEN OLYMPIC GAMES?
The Olympic Flag made its debut at the 1920 Olympic Games in
Antwerp, Belgium. At the end of each Olympic Games, the mayor
of that host-city presents the flag to the mayor of the next
host-city. It then rests at the town hall of the next host-
city for four years until the Opening Ceremony of their
Olympic Games.
WHAT IS THE MOST ABUNDANT MINERAL ON EARTH?
Silicate perovskite is the predominant mineral found in
Earth's lower mantle and the most abundant mineral on Earth.
***
There have been 270,000 earthquakes since 1975,
and 63 deaths by avalance since 1974 in Iceland.
***
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1252 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 24, 2002 (14:26) * 36 lines
HOW DEEP WILL A MANATEE SWIM?
Although manatees are excellent swimmers, the deepest that
one has been observed diving is 33 feet. Typically, the
gentle creatures feed no deeper than about ten feet below
the surface of the water.
***
George Washington's second inaugural address was
the shortest ever delivered, at only 135 words.
***
WHERE DOES THE EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF
HUMAN HABITATION EXIST IN NORTH AMERICA?
The Blue Fish Caves on the Bluefish River in the northern
Yukon contain the earliest evidence of human habitation in
North America. Today, some experts believe humans have lived
in this region for more than 14,000 years.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THERE A DUGONG KEPT FOR DISPLAY AND RESEARCH?
The TOBA Aquarium in Japan is the only aquarium in the world
to keep dugongs for display and research purposes. On the
basis of field research, this aquarium has succeeded in car-
ing for these animals for more than 17 years.
***
The state of Illinois was the first state east
of the Mississippi to give African American women
the right to vote in 1913.
***
HOW MANY LIGHTHOUSES ARE THERE IN THE STATE OF MAINE?
The state of Maine has 62 lighthouses. One of the most famous
(and oldest) is Portland Head Light, which was commissioned
by President George Washington.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1253 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 24, 2002 (17:46) * 40 lines
HOW MANY AREAS IN THE U.S. ARE NAMED IN HONOR OF GEORGE WASHINGTON?
The nation's capital, along with 1 state, 31 counties and
17 cities (18 counting the town of "George," in central
Washington State) are named in George Washington's honor.
***
A clock that is broken is correct at least twice a day.
***
IS MOUNT VESUVIUS STILL ACTIVE?
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which buried the
cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, is perhaps the most famous
volcanic eruption on record and one of the first to be docu-
mented by an eyewitness. The volcano is still active. Mount
Vesuvius has erupted several times since 79 AD, the most re-
cent eruption occurring in 1944, and the most deadly eruption
was in 1631.
***
A clock that loses 30 minutes a day will show the correct time
once every 24 days, but a clock losing only one-thousandth of
a second per day will be correct only once every 118,275 years.
***
WHAT IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF CLOCKS IN THE UNITED STATES?
The National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania,
officially opened to the public in 1977 with fewer than 1,000
items but has increased to over 12,000 items. Today, the museum
is recognized as the largest and most comprehensive horological
collection in North America. The collection includes clocks,
watches, tools and other time related items. The main focus of
the collection is on nineteenth century American clocks and
watches. Additional collections include early English Tall case
clocks, Asian timepieces from Japan and China, and timekeeping
devices from Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Russia.
Chronologically, the exhibits take you on a tour through the
entire history of timekeeping technology from early non-mechan-
ical devices to today’s atomic and radio controlled clocks.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1254 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Feb 25, 2002 (17:51) * 1 lines
Chuckles, the Amazon River dolphin who had lived at the Pittsburgh Zoo since the early 1970's died last week at the age of 34. It was expected for him to die at about age 19. Chuckles was the longest lived river dolphin in any zoo or aquarium.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1255 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Feb 25, 2002 (19:33) * 1 lines
Thanks and Geo's sympathies to all who knew Chuckles. That is truely amazing. I guess we don't destroy everything we touch.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1256 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Feb 25, 2002 (19:37) * 33 lines
WHAT DOES IT COST TO RAISE A CHILD IN THE U.S.?
The cost of raising a child for a middle income U.S. family
from birth to 18 is estimated at $160,140 not including college
tuition. If broken down, that translates into $8,896.66 a year,
$741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week, a mere $24.24 a day, and
just over a dollar an hour.
WHAT CROP DID GEORGE WASHINGTON GROW ON HIS FARM?
As a farmer, Washington grew marijuana on his farm and pro-
moted it's growth. (In the 1790s, the crop was grown mainly
for its industrial value as hemp and for soil stabilization.)
As a farmer, Washington is credited with introducing the mule
to America.
WHAT PERCENT OF A NEWLY MINTED DIME IS SILVER?
No percent. As of 1965, the U.S. Mint stopped using silver
to make dimes. They contain 75% copper and 25% nickel, bonded
to an inner core of pure copper. Previously, dimes were 90%
silver and 10% copper.
***
One hundred years ago, the salary for the average
U.S. worker was between $200 and $400 per year.
***
WHEN TRANSLATED, WHAT DO THE LATIN WORDS MEAN ON A DOLLAR?
The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means "God has
favored our undertaking." The Latin below the pyramid, NOVUS
ORDO SECLORUM, means "a new order has begun." At the base
of the pyramid is the Roman Numeral for 1776.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1257 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Feb 26, 2002 (13:51) * 1 lines
thanks for that info, cheryl! i'm glad to know he lived to a ripe old age. i'm going to copy and paste it over to spring.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1258 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Feb 26, 2002 (14:17) * 1 lines
I posted something over there yesterday in Marine Mammals. We gotta find more goodies for it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1259 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Feb 26, 2002 (17:59) * 5 lines
Chuckles was a character. I should post some of his newspaper making exploits over at SpringArk, as well. He lived in a natural habitat exhibit, designed to resemble a patch of riverbank on the upper Amazon. Chuckles used to sleep by resting his tail out of the water on the rocks that bounded the water. He'd rest his head and rostrum (snout) on the floor of the pool. Periodically as he slept his head would raise up to break the surface of the water so he could take a breath.
Now as to what Chuckles in the newspaper. There was a "sex scandal" back in the eighties, I think. The Zoo had volunteers who'd swim with Chuckles on a regular basis. This was so he won't get bored and lonely, remember he was intelligent and social. Allegedly, one of the younger female volunteers was seen, ahem, "sexually manipulating" Chuckles. The more recent incident was about 2 or 3 years ago, Chuckles had just moved in to his newer, larger habitat. One of the visitors to the Zoo wasn't happy just watching the dolphin. No, he had to try to reach into the exhibit to touch him. Chuckles took umbrage at this, probably feeling that his space had been invaded, and bit the trespasser. Nobody really blamed Chuckles for his actions too much.
It's sad that he's no longer there. Still, he did live to a ripe old age as Wolfie noted.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1260 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Feb 26, 2002 (21:30) * 3 lines
Hmm only heard of one trainer having relations with her charge, but it was a dolphin, as I recall. Interesting! Talk about a money-maker. You'd pack the place with a show like that - but who needs more animal abuse?! Seems they arrested a man in Britain for things like that with a goat. Not sure which of them filed the complaint.
Yes, More about Chuckles, Please!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1261 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Feb 26, 2002 (23:07) * 3 lines
We are back in the earthquake predicting business. John has been able to update his graphs of signals on Geo. This is pure magic to me.
http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/67.2
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1262 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Feb 28, 2002 (15:50) * 1 lines
Okay, if I can find more about Chuckles, I'll post it here.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1263 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Feb 28, 2002 (16:34) * 8 lines
Above, after enduring a winter storm that pelted parts of the Big Island with rain and hail
earlier in the week, Hiloans awoke Wednesday to the spectacular panorama of Mauna
Kea, crowned with an abundance of snow down to below the 8,000-foot level. This
idyllic view was taken at noon from the mauka extreme of Haihai Street. http://www.hilohawaiitribune.com/index.html
Haihai Street is the street you see in my pictures of Mauna Kea from my yard. One joy of my dental visit today was seeing both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in white mantles of snow. It is truly beautiful. Tonight by moonlight I will attempt to take another image. One night past the brightest full moon of the year might just look fantastic even without a telephoto lens.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1264 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Feb 28, 2002 (17:10) * 1 lines
how pretty!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1265 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Feb 28, 2002 (17:58) * 41 lines
WHO IS "SUE"?
Sue is the largest, most complete, and best preserved Tyranno-
saurus rex. She was discovered by fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson
in 1990, in the badlands of South Dakota. The Field Museum pur-
chased Sue at public auction in 1997. The skeleton on display
is the real thing and not a plastic model or a plaster cast.
Sue stands 13 feet high at the hips and 42 feet long from head
to tail. One of the only pieces of Sue that is not mounted is
her 5-foot-long skull, which is too heavy to be placed on the
steel armature that holds together her more than 200 fossilized
bones. In its place, the Museum has installed a cast replica.
***
The names of the three wise monkeys are: Mizaru--See No evil,
Mikazaru--Hear No evil, and Mazaru--Speak No evil.
***
WHERE WAS THE WORLD'S FIRST UNIVERSITY?
The world's first university was established in Takshila,
India in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the
world have studied more than 60 subjects. The University of
Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest
achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
HOW OLD ARE MOST DIAMONDS FOUND IN NATURE?
By most accounts, diamonds are one billion to three billion
years old. They are formed deep within the Earth's crust,
and come to the surface via Volcanoes. Most diamonds are
found in Kimberlite, which is volcanic rock.
***
The perimeter of a pyramid divided by two times the
height is exactly equivalant to the number pi (3.14159...).
***
APPROXIMATELY HOW MANY LEGOS ARE IN CIRCULATION?
Since the Lego Group began manufacturing blocks in 1949, more
than 189 billion pieces in 2,000 different shapes have been
produced. This is enough for about 30 Lego pieces for every
living person on Earth.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1266 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Feb 28, 2002 (19:48) * 9 lines
Micro-jets make designer droplets
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/6/2/21
Drug delivery and food manufacturing could benefit from a new technique
for coating tiny liquid droplets with other liquids. Ignacio Loscertales
of the University of Malaga in Spain and colleagues have created a device
that uses electrohydrodynamics to tailor the size of the `core' and
`shell' of liquid droplets, which can be just tens of nanometres across
(I Loscertales et al 2002 Science 295 1695).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1267 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 2, 2002 (14:17) * 62 lines
WHAT IS YOOT?
Yoot is a board game with four pawns per team. The number of
spaces one's pawn advances is determined by how a set of four
sticks lands when it is tossed into the air. These sticks are
curved on one surface and flat on the other surface. If they
all land face up (flat surface facing up), the pawn moves
four spots. If three land face up, the pawn moves three spaces.
If two, then two, and if one, then one. There is one marked
stick, and if that one is the only one that is face up, then
the pawn moves *backwards* one spot. If they all land face
down (curved surface facing up), then the pawn moves five
spots. If your pawn lands on top of another pawn, that captured
pawn must start from the beginning again, and the capturing
pawn can take another turn at the sticks. If the thrown sticks
all land 100% face up or 100% face down, then an additional
turn is taken.
***
"Mr. Peanut" was created in 1916 by a Suffolk,
Virginia child who won $5.00 in a design contest
sponsored by Planters Peanuts.
***
WHAT IS SAE-BAE?
Sae-bae is the customary bow to one's elders. While bowing
the recipient is wished much luck for the new year. Grand-
parents receive sae-bae from their children and grand-
children. Aunts and uncles receive sae-bae from their nieces
and nephews. Parents receive sae-bae from their children.
The children will receive money from those to whom they do
sae-bae.
WHAT IS DDUK-GOOK?
Dduk-gook is a soup that is made with sliced rice noodles.
The rice is pounded into a sticky but firm and doughy noodle,
about 1.5 inches in diameter. This very thick noodle is
sliced and served in a soup with meat and vegetables, and
sometimes dumplings.
***
The world's smallest mammal is the bumblebee bat of
Thailand, which weighs less than a small coin.
***
HOW DID "LIFE SAVERS" MINTS ORIGINATE?
In 1912, when candy maker Clarence Crane first marketed "Crane’s
Peppermint Life Savers," life preservers were just beginning to
be used on ships--the kind used for tossing to a passenger who
fell overboard. Crane had been a chocolate maker. Chocolates
were hard to sell in summer, so he decided to try to make a mint
that would boost his summertime sales. At that time most of the
mints available came from Europe and they were square in shape.
Crane was buying bottles of flavoring in a drug store one day
when he noticed the druggist using a pill-making machine. It was
operated by hand and made round, flat pills. Crane had his idea.
The pill-making machines worked fine for his mints, and he was
able to add the life preserver touch by punching a tiny hole in
the middle. Later Crane was to sell his rights to his new candy
for under $3,000. He may have regretted that decision, for "Life
Savers" earned the new manufacturer many millions of dollars.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1268 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 2, 2002 (19:28) * 5 lines
Watching NASA TV - listening to their discussions and comments - choose Channel 2
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/video/video45m.html
I am listening to them closing in on the Hubble Space telescope. I will watch them do the work starting tomorrow. This is exciting - and you can watch it happen! Then run outside and watch them go over live as you listen to your computer speakers telling just what they are doing. I can hardly wait!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1269 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 2, 2002 (19:44) * 2 lines
Watching it overhead? This site includes Athens, Greece (close enough) and Honolulu, Hawaii (also close enough)
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/SSapplications/Post/SightingData/sighting_index.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1270 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 2, 2002 (20:47) * 2 lines
Folllow the tracking of satellites 0ver the earth via J-Track
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/Spacecraft.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1271 of 1406: Robert Stringer (ArkDoc) * Sat, Mar 2, 2002 (20:58) * 1 lines
I need help deleting freetel program from my PC
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1272 of 1406: Robert Stringer (ArkDoc) * Sat, Mar 2, 2002 (20:59) * 1 lines
does anyone have a copy of the freetel program?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1273 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 2, 2002 (22:02) * 1 lines
No, but you can delete it using the utility in the control panel under the start button. Does this work on your computer? The add/delete program option is quite efficient!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1274 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Mar 3, 2002 (18:28) * 27 lines
Latest PhysicsWeb Summaries
===========================
News
~~~~
Holograms help build 3D nanostructures
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/6/3/1
A new method of building complex nanoscale structures has been
demonstrated by Dieter Meschede of the University of Bonn in Germany and
colleagues. The team created a three-dimensional interference pattern by
shining a laser into a `holographic crystal', and used the pattern as a
stencil to position atoms from an atom laser. This technique could be
used to construct ultra-small photonic crystals, and could pave the way
for all-optical circuits (M Mützel et al 2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 88
083601-1).
New clue for planet hunters
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/6/3/2
The hunt for planets orbiting distant stars has been boosted by the
discovery that such stars should be surrounded by a tell-tale disc of
dust. Markus Landgraf of the European Space Agency (ESA) and colleagues
have found the first direct evidence that such a disc exists in our own
Solar System, beyond the orbit of Saturn. Astronomers will now be able to
draw up a shortlist of those stars most likely to harbour planets
(xxx.lanl.gov/abs/astro-ph/0201291).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1275 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Mar 4, 2002 (21:56) * 52 lines
WHO IS NOLAN BUSHNELL?
Nolan Bushnell qualifies for the title of "Father of Arcade
Video Games". He built an arcade game (Computer Space)
in 1969 which used a raster-scan TV monitor display. The game
was not a success. Bushnell left Nutting Associates to found
Atari, which then produced Pong, the first truly successful
commercial arcade video game. He was the first to take a
license under Ralph Baer's patents in the 70's. Nolan Bushnell
developed PONG after he played a ping-pong game on an Odyssey
1TL200 at a L.A. Magnavox dealership demo in May of 1972.
***
The average age of a video game player is 28 years old.
***
WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR PAC-MAN?
The hero for the game of Pac-Man was "born" from gazing at a
pizza with one slice missing, as Toru Iwatani, Namco in Japan,
tried to think of a character for his new game. He looked down
at the pizza, then it dawned on him--a circle with a wedge
missing for a mouth--and so, Pac-Man was born. The Japanese
have a slang word--paku paku--they use to describe the motion
of the mouth opening and closing while one eats. The name
"Pac-Man" came from that word. The American rights were to go
to Atari originally, but they turned them down, saying the
game was too easy.
WHICH ATARI VIDEO GAME WAS FIRST TO USE SCROLLING?
While the original Atari Football game was first created in
1973, it wasn't released until 1978. It was delayed because
the game couldn't scroll the screen. In other words, players
couldn't move beyond the area shown on the monitor. When the
game was finally released, it became the first game to utilize
scrolling, a key part of many games today.
***
The Atari Pong video game console was the Number One
selling item for the holiday season in the U.S. in 1975.
***
WHO IS RALPH BAER?
Ralph Baer also qualifies for the title of "Father of Arcade
Video Games". Baer came up with the concept of playing games
on a standard TV set or TV monitor in September of 1966. The
idea was to make interactive use of tens of millions of home
TV sets in homes world-wide. The final equipment built at
Sanders Associates in 1967 (the Brown Box) was licensed to
Magnavox in 1970 and appeared as the Odyssey 1TL200 on the
market in the U.S. in May of 1972. Approximately 100,000 of
these video game systems were sold that year by Magnavox.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1276 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 8, 2002 (20:15) * 7 lines
COMET IKEYA-ZHANG CONTINUES TO BRIGHTEN
Comet Ikeya-Zhang is now a naked-eye object visible low in the west as
twilight fades for Northern Hemisphere observers. More information about
the comet, including a graphic illustrating the comet's location after
sunset and a chart showing the path of Comet Ikeya-Zhang, is available on
our Web site at:
http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_477_1.asp
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1277 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 8, 2002 (20:39) * 43 lines
WHICH TWO ACTIVITIES CAUSED THE MOST ORTHOPEDIC (MUSCLE AND BONE) INJURIES TO CHILDREN AGES 5-14 IN THE U.S. in 2001?
Bicycling (764,251) and basketball (507,865) injuries cost $33
billion dollars in 2001. Data on costs include medical expen-
ses, liability suit damage awards, a money value for pain and
suffering, and wages lost by parents who take time off work
because of a child's injury. Following closely behind are foot-
ball, roller sports such as inline skating and skateboarding,
playground equipment, soccer, baseball and softball, and
trampolines.
***
The state with the highest percentage of
people who walk to work is Alaska.
***
FROM WHERE DID THE CLYDESDALE HORSE DERIVE ITS NAME?
The Clydesdale is a breed of heavy draft horse developed in
and deriving its name from the district in Scotland where it
was founded. Its type was evolved by the farmers of Lanark-
shire, through which the River Clyde flows. The old name for
Lanarkshire is Clydesdale.
WHAT WAS DETROIT, MICHIGAN RENOWNED FOR BEFORE AUTOMOBILES?
Long before Detroit became known for the production of auto-
mobiles, the city had earned a national reputation for the
manufacturing of cigars and chewing tobacco. Tobacco companies
were among the city's leading employers at the turn of the
twentieth century, employing more than 10,000 people. In the
mid-1920s, it was estimated that 210 million cigars and 14
million pounds of chewing tobacco were produced in Detroit
each year.
***
The animal responsible for the most human
deaths world-wide is the mosquito.
***
WHICH WEIGHS MORE--A POUND OF FEATHERS OR A POUND OF GOLD?
A pound of feathers weights more than a pound of gold.
Feathers are weighed by avoirdupois weight which has 16 ounces
to the pound. Gold is weighed by troy weight which has 12 ounces
to the pound. So, a pound of feathers weighs four ounces more
than a pound of gold. (submitted by Jim)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1278 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 8, 2002 (20:43) * 17 lines
HOW HIGH IS AUSTRIA'S HIGHEST MOUNTAIN?
Austria's highest peak, the Grossglockner, is in Salzburg.
It is 11,394 feet high and means "great bell".
WHERE IS THE OLDEST LIVING ROSE BUSH?
The oldest living rose bush can be found outside a cathedral
in Hildesheim, Germany. It has been there since 815 A.D. The
bush caught fire in World War II from Allied bombs which were
dropped nearby, but the roots were undamaged, enabling the
rose bush to thrive again.
***
The lungs contain 300 million air sacs in which oxygen
can be absorbed by the blood. If spread flat,
this would be half the size of a tennis court.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1279 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 8, 2002 (20:44) * 41 lines
WHERE WAS TRAFFIC ENGINEERING DEVELOPED?
Traffic engineering was not developed in London, New York or
Paris, but rather in ancient Rome. The Romans were noted road
builders. The Appian Way stretched 350 miles from the Eternal
City to Brundisium. In Rome itself there were actually stop
signs and even alternate-side-of-the-street parking.
***
160 cars can drive side by side on the Monumental
Axis in Brazil, the world's widest road.
***
WHAT IS THE OLDEST BRIDGE IN CONTINUOUS USE IN THE U.S.?
Erected in 1697 at the decree of William Penn, the Frankford
Avenue Bridge which crosses Pennypack Creek in Philadelphia
is the oldest U.S. bridge in continuous use.
WHAT WAS THE MOST EXPENSIVE CAR BUILT IN AMERICA DURING THE ROARING TWENTIES?
Known as "The American Rolls Royce", the McFarlan was the
most expensive auto built in America during the Roaring 20's.
***
Automatic windshield wipers were introduced as
standard equipment in 1923.
***
WHEN DID THE HOLLAND TUNNEL OPEN?
In November of 1927, after seven years of construction and
over $48 million, the Holland Tunnel, New York City's con-
nection to Jersey City, New Jersey under the Hudson River,
opened to traffic. It was named after the chief engineer of
construction, Clifford Milburn Holland, who died before the
tunnel was completed. When the tunnel opened to traffic in
1927, the toll was 50 cents, the trip took eight minutes,
and 51,694 vehicles passed through on opening day. Today,
the toll is four dollars, the trip can take up to an hour,
and more than 100,000 vehicles pass through the tunnel
daily. Since it was built in 1927, more than one billion
vehicles have used the Holland Tunnel.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1280 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 15, 2002 (22:56) * 48 lines
WHY IS THE NUMBER "THREE" SIGNIFICANT TO IRELAND?
Three is Ireland's magic number. Hence, the Shamrock. Crone,
Mother and Virgin. Love, Valor, and Wit. Faith, Hope, and
Charity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Numbers played an impor-
tant role in Celtic symbolism, with the number "three" being
the most sacred and magical. Three may have signified totality:
past, present, and future, or behind, before, and here, or sky,
earth, and underworld. "Three accomplishments well regarded in
Ireland: a clever verse, music on the harp, the art of shaving
faces".
***
Pennsylvania is the first state of the fifty United States
to list their web site URL on a license plate.
***
WHY DO EARTHWORMS COME UP OUT OF THE GROUND WHEN IT RAINS?
Earthworms breathe air. They are able to breathe water through
their skin, but not for long periods of time. When it rains
and the ground fills with water, they would otherwise drown if
they did not come out. They have to go back underground before
too long, or the hot sun could dry them out, causing them to
suffocate. Some scientists don't agree with the worm-drowning
theory. They say worms can live underground in water for weeks
and speculate that the reason that worms come out after it
rains is to mate or to look for different kinds of food. Since
the rain has made the surface moist and humid, they can move
around freely without fear of dehydrating.
***
The 1980 class at the U.S. Military Academy at
West Point was the first to include women.
***
WHAT IS THE OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY OCCUPIED
MILITARY POST IN THE UNITED STATES?
Two hundred years ago this week, Congress established the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point, the nation's oldest continu-
ously occupied military post. George Washington considered
this spot on the Hudson a key strategic point. Fortifications
were built, and a chain was stretched across the river to
control traffic. The academy was born after the Revolution,
when Washington recognized the importance of an institution
devoted to the art and science of war. West Point ranks
fourth among colleges in the number of Rhodes Scholars pro-
duced, with 79.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1281 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Sat, Mar 16, 2002 (19:35) * 4 lines
Climax the events for the celebration of Carnival this Sunday and in all cities of Greece are organised Carnival parades and events. Also, will revive once again the carnival customs, many from which, in the passage of the years, they transport rites of ancient God Dionyssos. Characteristic examples are the BEARERS OF BELL in Skyros, the BOULES and the GENNITSAROI in Naoussa, the VLACHIKOS Marriage in Thebes and the FIRES in IOANNINA.
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1282 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 20, 2002 (13:51) * 20 lines
WHAT ARE TEN ESSENTIAL ITEMS THAT NO BACKPACKER SHOULD BE WITHOUT?
In the 1930s, the Mountaineers, a Seattle-based hiking, climbing and conservation organization, came up with a list of ten essential items that no backpacker should be without: map, compass, water and a way to purify it, extra food, rain gear extra clothing, matches, first aid kit, multipurpose knife, flashlight with extra bulbs and protection from the sun.
WHAT ARE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF RECREATION IN THE U.S. NATIONAL FORESTS?
Recreation in U.S. national forests contributes at least $111
billion to the gross domestic product and generates roughly
2.9 million jobs each year. Meanwhile, the national forest
logging program loses $1.2 billion annually while
simultaneously cutting big chunks out of recreation revenues.
***
35 miles per hour is the average speed most cars
travel on interstate highways in the U.S.
during peak morning and afternoon rush.
***
THE TOP THREE SCHOOLS AND THE NUMBER OF RHODES SCHOLARS IN EACH?
Each year West Point cadets compete for and win many prestigious scholarships. West Point is 4th on the list of total winners for Rhodes Scholarships, 7th for Marshall and 3rd on the list of Hertz Fellows. In each case the institutions with more scholarship winners also have larger student bodies. USMA began competition for the Rhodes in 1923. Since this time, USMA has had 79 Rhodes Scholars, which puts them 4th nationally behind Harvard (274), Yale (185), and Princeton (161).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1283 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Mar 21, 2002 (18:54) * 21 lines
Losses and games for quantum computers (Mar 20)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/6/3/14
Physicists believe that quantum computers are capable of outperforming
classical computers for certain tasks. But now researchers at the
University of Amsterdam have shown that classical laser pulses can
perform one of these tasks - a database search - just as quickly as the
quantum approach. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Science and
Technology of China have shown that a riddle known as the prisoner's
dilemma has an unusual outcome when it is treated as a quantum problem.
A recipe for female success (Mar 20)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/6/3/15
More female decision-makers and family-friendly working practices are
among the measures needed to encourage more women to take up careers in
physics, according to resolutions agreed at the first International
Conference on Women in Physics held in Paris earlier this month. Over 300
physicists unanimously approved eight recommendations - aimed at schools,
universities, industry, government and funding councils - to enable women
to contribute more effectively to physics.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1284 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Mar 21, 2002 (19:46) * 46 lines
WHAT US THE KELVIN SCALE?
The Kelvin absolute temperature scale was proposed in 1848 by
physician and mathematician William Thomson based on his
studies of the theory of heat and thermodynamics. The Kelvin
temperature scale has as its lower limit absolute zero, a hypo-
thetical temperature characterized by a total absence of mol-
ecular motion and heat energy, so the scale has no negative
values. The Kelvin degree is the same size as the Celsius de-
gree, and the conversion from Kelvin to Celsius is done by
adding 273 degrees to the Celsius value. When using the Kelvin
scale, the degree symbol is omitted and the temperature is fol-
lowed by a "K". The scale derived the name Kelvin from the
title Baron Kelvin of Largs, bestowed upon Thomson in 1892. The
Kelvin scale is widely used by scientists, engineers, and meteo-
rologists.
***
The first magnets used were natural stones called
lodestones. The word "lode" means lead and so the stone
was used to magnetize compass needles and lead sailors home.
***
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE FERROMAGNETIC?
Substances which can be induced to become magnetized in a
magnetic field are called ferromagnetic. Soft ferromagnetic
materials become demagnetized spontaneously when removed
from a magnetic field. Hard ferromagnetic materials can re-
tain their magnetism, making them useful in the production
of permanent magnets.
WHAT WAS MICHELANGELO'S FULL NAME?
The prolific Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect and poet
was born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni in March
of 1475.
***
Magnetic lines of force form complete loops. They never cross.
By convention, magnetic lines of force point from north to
south outside a magnet, and from south to north inside a magnet.
***
WHICH U.S. PRESIDENT HAD ELECTRICITY WIRED INTO THE WHITE HOUSE?
President Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893), the 23rd president,
had the White House wired for electricity, but because he was
afraid of getting shocked, he would not touch the switches.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1285 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 22, 2002 (16:17) * 37 lines
Comet Ikeya-Zhang Streaks Across Northern Sky
Reuters
Mar 22 2002 5:47PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Comet Ikeya-Zhang, discovered by two
amateur astronomers in February, can be seen streaking across skies
over the Northern Hemisphere for the next several weeks, scientists said
on Thursday.
No telescope is needed, but binoculars are recommended to see the
comet, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said in a
statement.
To find Comet Ikeya-Zhang, look in the western sky shortly after sunset
and locate the planet Mars -- that will be a red point of light about 18
degrees up from the horizon. (An outspread hand at arm's length covers
about 15 degrees, so Mars is a bit higher than one hand-span.)
To the right of Mars are two bright stars in a nearly vertical line. The comet
is at the same height as Mars, to the right of the two bright stars about as
far again as the distance from Mars to the stars.
Observers should be able to see the comet's bright, star-like nucleus
surrounded by a fuzzy cloud of dust and gas called the coma. The comet's
tail streaks points nearly straight up from the horizon.
The comet should be visible in the west-northwestern sky for several
hours after sunset for the next few weeks, according to The Planetary
Society, which seeks to encourage exploration of the solar system.
First detected on Feb. 1 by amateurs in Japan and China, respectively,
Ikeya-Zhang was last seen in 1661, according to the Harvard center's
Brian Marsden.
On this trip, the comet came closest to the sun on March 18 and now is
headed back into deep space.
An image of the comet taken by the MicroObservatory telescope in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, is available online at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/press/comet-image.html.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1286 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Mar 28, 2002 (21:30) * 15 lines
WHAT ARE THE GLACIAL GROOVES?
The Glacial Grooves on the north side of Kelleys Island, Ohio,
are the largest easily accessible such grooves in the world.
They were scoured into solid limestone bedrock about 18,000
years ago by the great ice sheet that covered part of North
America. A trough 400-feet long, 35-feet wide, and up to 10-
feet deep remains today. The ice, probably hundreds of feet
thick, flowed from the north in what is now the Lake Erie
basin. The Devonian limestone containing the grooves contains
marine fossils that are 350 to 400 million years old. Many
other grooves were quarried away during the last century.
Fencing now protects this National Natural Landmark. A walk-
way and stairs permit visitors a good view of the grooves.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1287 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Mar 28, 2002 (22:49) * 18 lines
COMET IKEYA-ZHANG AT ITS BRIGHTEST?
This week may be the best time to spot Comet Ikeya-Zhang. It's now visible
low in the west-northwest at the end of evening twilight. More information
about the comet, and a link to our interactive sky chart that will show
you the comet's position through May, is available on our Web site at:
http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_477_1.asp
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE GREAT SPRING PLANET LINEUP OF 2002 HAS BEGUN
Four planets -- Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter -- form a huge diagonal
line stretching from high in the southwest to low in the west at dusk.
Look for Jupiter near the zenith as you face southwest, Saturn (with
dimmer Aldebaran) far to its lower right, Mars far to the lower right of
Saturn, and Venus low above the western horizon during evening twilight.
For more tips on what you can see in the heavens, go to This Week's Sky at
a Glance & Planet Roundup:
http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1288 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 10, 2002 (17:00) * 39 lines
Anomalies hint at magnetic pole flip
The Earth's magnetic poles might be starting to flip say researchers who have seen strange anomalies
in our planet's magnetic field.
The magnetic field is created by the flow of molten iron inside the Earth's core. These circulation
patterns are affected by the planet's rotation, so the field normally aligns with the Earth's axis - forming
the north and south poles.
But the way minerals are aligned in ancient rock shows that the planet's magnetic dipole occasionally
disappears altogether, leaving a much more complicated field with many poles all over the planet. When
the dipole comes back into force, the north and south poles can swap places.
The last reversal happened about 780,000 years ago, over a period of several thousand years. Now
Gauthier Hulot from the Institute of Earth Sciences in Paris and his colleagues think they have spotted
early signs of another reversal.
South African anomaly
They used data from the Ørsted satellite to study strange variations in the Earth's magnetic field. In
particular, one large patch under South Africa is pointing in the opposite direction from the rest of the
Earth's field and has been growing for hundreds of years.
The anomalies have already reduced the overall strength of the planet's magnetic field by about 10 per
cent. If they continue to grow at the same rate, the Earth's dipole will disappear within just two
millennia.
But Ørsted is the first satellite to take a snapshot of the Earth's magnetic field for 20 years, and such
scant data makes it difficult to predict future shifts.
"We can't really tell what will happen," says Hulot. "But we speculate that we're in an unusual situation
that might be related to a reversal."
Journal reference: Nature (vol 416, p 620)
http://www.newscientist.com/news/print.jsp?id=ns99992152
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1289 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 10, 2002 (18:36) * 15 lines
from : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MeteorShowers
Ikeya-Zhang is a comet that you can spot from dark skies with your
naked eye, but it's even better in binoculars if you have some. For
those of us in the northern hemisphere, Ikeya-Zhang can been seen low
in the NE before dawn begins. I've updated the JPG of the
sky surrounding the comet as it will appear tomorrow morning for
someone near 35 degrees north latitude. You can find this image at:
http://www.geocities.com/~starwanderer/meteor.htm
Just go to the page and click on the Current Visible Comets link.
I'll continue to update the image every few days during the next few
weeks.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1290 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Apr 10, 2002 (18:59) * 1 lines
what exactly is an "anomaly"?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1291 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 10, 2002 (19:39) * 1 lines
Anomaly is, by definition (and in my words), something that is not expected. A surprise finding or signal or even the fly in your soup.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1292 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 11, 2002 (15:04) * 6 lines
Into the Mantle, a Series
The Earth's crust, where we live, is a thin tissue of rock on top of the mantle, which holds over two-thirds of the planet's mass. (The other third is the core.) So to a first approximation, the mantle IS the Earth. This article introduces a series of six more pages on what we've been learning about the mantle.
http://geology.about.com/library/weekly/aa020298.htm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1293 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Fri, Apr 12, 2002 (05:47) * 1 lines
For a second, I thought you were going to talk about Mickey Mantle and the World Series, then I read past the headline. What does the mantle weigh? The core?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1294 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 12, 2002 (15:49) * 1 lines
Weight? I might be able to give you mass. The mantle varies from fluid state to very dense solid peridotite. I have a chunk of it erupted by Mauna Kea in late stage erutpions - coated in new lava. Now, I am also curious. Let me check on that!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1295 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 12, 2002 (15:54) * 6 lines
The Density of the Upper Mantle
Seismic studies reveal that the continental crust is about 40 km thick and that the oceanic crust is about 7 km thick. Yet the average elevation of the surface of the continents above the ocean floor (which is the surface of the oceanic crust) is only about 4 km. Thus the continents must have great `roots' that extend well below the level of the base of the oceanic crust.
more and the math and such involved...
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:uLXzLZ9MVrEC:geosci.uchicago.edu/classes/natsci102/lab2.pdf+Weight%2BMantle&hl=en
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1296 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 12, 2002 (15:59) * 3 lines
This situation is similar to blocks of wood floating in water. Archimedes' Principle requires that the force acting upward on the base of the continental crust be equal not only to the weight of the mantle that is displaced by the continental crust. but also to the weight of the continental crust that is floating the mantle. You can determine the force per unit area (pressure) that is acting on the base of the continental crust by the product of the density of the continental crust, the thickness of the continental crust, 40 km, and the acceleration of gravity on Earth.
Further explanations and formulae ... http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:uLXzLZ9MVrEC:geosci.uchicago.edu/classes/natsci102/lab2.pdf+Weight%2BMantle&hl=en
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1297 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 12, 2002 (16:10) * 40 lines
More about the Mantle
The researchers used data obtained by measuring the velocity of sound waves
bounced into Earth's crust -- the top layer of surface ranging from 15 to 30 miles
deep -- which allowed them to estimate the crust's density and thickness. They then
were able to infer the weight of the crust and upper mantle -- known collectively as
the lithosphere -- to a depth of about 100 miles.
The study indicates parts of the Western landscape are being subjected to high
amounts of a force known as "gravitational potential energy" that deforms the
landscape under its own weight, Jones said. The relatively large number of
earthquakes in the Great Basin are probably the result of a relatively thinner and
weaker crust being "leveled out" by the gravitational potential energy, he said.
Surprisingly, some of the highest amounts of gravitational potential energy were
measured in Colorado's Rio Grande Valley from Leadville south to the San Luis
Valley, he said. A large "fault scarp" visible at Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National
Monument in the Rio Grande Valley indicates a large earthquake with a magnitude
greater than 7 may have struck the area from 10,000 to 14,000 years ago.
Although the valley has been seismically quiet in recent centuries, "the forces available
to drive deformation appear to be quite large there," said Jones. "It looks like
gravitational potential energy is trying to drive southern Colorado apart. But we need
to better understand the strength of the lithosphere in that region."
The lithosphere's strength appears to be dependent on both its thickness and
temperature, said Jones. The crust, which is heated by reactions in Earth's deep
interior, appears to be warmer in the Basin and Range region of Nevada than in
Colorado's Rio Grande Valley and therefore more susceptible to earthquakes.
"The situation is analogous to heating up a frozen chunk of molasses," he said. "If the
crust is colder and stronger, it is better able to resist deformation."
Although the study provides evidence that deformation in the West and perhaps
other continental regions are driven by topography, most scientists still believe
deformation beneath the oceans is caused primarily by lateral movements of the huge,
rigid plates beneath the continents and sea floor, he said.
Researchers believe the continental crust floats on the mantle like an iceberg floating
on water, said Jones. The crust and upper mantle appear to be more "buoyant" in
some areas than others, "essentially holding up or pulling down the landscape," he
said.
http://www.cyberwest.com/cw08/v8scwst.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1298 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 12, 2002 (17:11) * 30 lines
Even better stuff is found on the following URL
http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues96/apr96/phenom_apr96.html
American scientists have discovered that the Earth is lighter than previously thought.
Their calculations suggest our planet weighs in
at 5.972 sextillion tonnes - that is 5,972
followed by 18 zeros. This new weight is about
10 billion, billion tonnes less than the best
previous estimates.
The researchers from the University of
Washington arrived at the new value by using
a more precise measurement of Isaac Newton's
gravitational constant - one of the
fundamental quantities in physics.
Affectionately known as Big G, the constant
tells us how much gravitational force acts
between two masses separated by a known
distance.
Like the other fundamental constants such as
Planck's constant and the speed of light, Big G
is hugely important. It is a necessary
ingredient in determining the mass not only of
the Earth but also of the Moon, the Sun and
the other planets.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_732000/732018.stm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1299 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 12, 2002 (20:02) * 5 lines
HOW MUCH DID THE MULTI-LAYERED SPACE SUITS WORN BY ASTRONAUTS ON THE APOLLO MOON LANDINGS WEIGH--LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM INCLUDED?
On earth, the space suits weighed 180 pounds; on the moon, with
the reduced lunar gravity, they weighed 30 pounds.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1300 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 12, 2002 (20:05) * 5 lines
* Viewer's Guide: Moon Joins the Great Planet Alignment
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/planets_moon_020412-1.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1301 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (20:17) * 46 lines
Five planets line up in rare celestial array
By ANDREW BRIDGES AP Science Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The five brightest planets visible from Earth have lined
up in plain sight to form a spectacular celestial array that won't be seen
again until 2040.
Through the next four weeks, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn and Venus will
appear tightly clustered in the western sky, forming a knot of planets that
can be viewed in the evening despite the glow of light-soaked cities.
"The five naked-eye planets are converging in one part of the sky and from
now until mid-May you can see all five at one glance, which is pretty
unusual," said John Mosley, an astronomer at the Griffith Observatory in
Los Angeles.
Each evening, the alignment will assume different shapes, as the five
planets continue on the orbital paths that take them around the sun. The
planets orbit in the same plane, like grooves in a phonograph record, only
at different distances.
Each planet also varies in the amount of time it takes to orbit the sun:
Mercury zips around once every 88 days; Saturn takes more than 29 years;
other three fall in between. At times the planets appear to cluster together.
Similar bunchings occur every 20 years or so, although they are not always
visible. The last they were this visible was in 1940. In May 2000, the five
planets formed a tighter bunch, but were so close to the sun that they were
washed out by its glare.
In 2004, they will appear together again in the night sky, but will be
spread over a much wider area, said J. Kelly Beatty, executive editor of
Sky & Telescope magazine. They won't be as easy to spy at a single glance
again until 2040.
"This is the nature of the clockwork of the solar system," Beatty said. "We
like to think of it as a way to remind people there is a simple beauty in
the heavens that doesn't require any special training to appreciate."
Astronomers stress there is no astronomical significance to the pileup. It
is, Beatty said, just a "pretty coincidence."
That hasn't stopped doomsayers in the past. In the months before the May
2000 lineup, some thought it foretold widespread catastrophe. No such
disaster happened. In February 1954 B.C., a similar alignment led the
Chinese to restart their calendar at year 0, Mosley said.
To view the planetary alignment, find a dark area and look west as twilight
ends. Binoculars or a telescope are not needed.
The planets already are appearing together nightly, although they will be
at their closest on May 14, when Jupiter will be high and bright in the
sky. Below it, Venus will be paired with the crescent moon. Mars will lie
below it, and Saturn below it. Farther down and to the right, Mercury will
hug the horizon.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1302 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (18:50) * 5 lines
McAfee.com has seen a growing number of computers infected
with W32/Klez.h@MM. The risk assessment has been updated to
MEDIUM. As always, we recommend that you keep your
anti-virus software up-to-date for the best protection.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1303 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (22:25) * 4 lines
Julie is funny, enthusiastic, and above all, a volcano fanatic of the first order. Read her fantastic reports on Geo 70. There is nothing even faintly boring about this future geologist, and her enthusiasm is highly contagious.
Go catch a little Julie. You will keep coming back for more!
http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/70/new
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1304 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Mon, Apr 22, 2002 (18:22) * 1 lines
The Moon joined the Great Planetary Alignment. Gee, just when I thought the Moon was a non-conformist.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1305 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Apr 22, 2002 (18:57) * 1 lines
Absolutely. When I looked the moon was at my Zenith.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1306 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (17:15) * 1 lines
i don't know what all that means but when i looked, i saw a bunch of really bright objects and a half moon just about straight up (and really bright for a half-moon, too)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1307 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (20:25) * 1 lines
You were looking at the Grand Alignment plus some very bright winter stars from Taurus, Orion and Sirius in Canis Major. It really is beautiful up there and will continue to be for the rest of the month.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1308 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (21:24) * 1 lines
oh goodie!! at least i'm seeing it (even if i don't know what's what! *laugh*)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1309 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (21:43) * 14 lines
From Ami - with great thanks from me:
The discovery of heaviest element yet known to science
A major research institution has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. This new element has been tentatively named "Administratium." Administratium has 1 neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 5 deputy neutrons, and 111 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by a force called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.
Since Administratium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Administratium causes one reaction to take over 4 days to complete when it would normally take less than a second.
Administratium has a normal half-life of 3 years; it does not decay but instead undergoes a reorganization, in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons and assistant deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Administratium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization causes some morons to become neutrons forming isodopes.
This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to speculate that Administratium is formed whenever morons reach a certain concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass." You will know it when you see it.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1310 of 1406: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (01:27) * 41 lines
I found this really cool quiz. Add a point for each one that applies to you.
You Might Be A Geologist If.....
1. You can pronounce the word molybdenite correctly on the first try.
2. You think the primary function of road cuts is tourist attractions.
3. You own more pieces of quartz than underwear.
4. You associate the word hard with a value on the Mohs scale instead of work.
5. Your rock collection weighs more than you do.
6. You have a strong opinon as to whether pieces of concrete are properly called rocks.
7. You don't think of cleavage the same way as everyone else.
8. You follow when you see the local univeristy's geology class going on a field trip.
9. You associate the name Franklin with New Jersey instead of Ben.
10. There's amethyst in your aquarium.
11. Your spelling checker has a volcabulary that includes the words polymorph and pseudomorph.
12. You won't use dictionaries that list brontosaurus but not apatosaurus.
13. You think there is nothing wrong with looking at the stone facades of buildings with your hand lens.
14. They won't give you time off from work to attend the local rock and mineral show and you go anyway.
15. You have ever purchased an individual, unfaceted rock, regardless of price.
16. You have spent more than 10 dollars for a book about rocks.
17. You point to every rock and name it on a car trip.
18. You find yourself compelled to examine individual rocks in driveway gravel.
19. You are planning on using a pick and shovel while on vacation.
20. You've worked with drillers like the characters in Armageddon.
21. You think Herkimer, New York might be a cool place to go on vacation.
22. You associate the word saw with diamonds instead of wood.
23. You've fabricated a backpack for your dog to hold your rocks.
24. You don't think trilobites look like cockroaches.
25. The baggage handelers at the airport know you by name and refuse to help with you luggage.
26. You never throw anything away.
27. Your employer has asked you not to bring any more rocks to the office.
28. You file stratigraphically yet you can't find important files faster than your secretary.
29. You have part of your rock collection under a black light.
30. You room is always messy.
31. You yell at people when they kick at a rock on the ground.
32. You have more rocks than you have room for.
33. You have a pet rock.
Okay here's the scoring...
0-10 You're a pseudolith
11-20 You've seen Dante's Peak
21-30 You take no coprolites
30+ You are rock solid
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1311 of 1406: S B Robinson (SBRobinson) * Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (12:33) * 5 lines
Hmm.... the only one i fit is #30
*laughing*
(while my mom hangs her head in shame. -dont worry mom, i clean it before company comes over) ;-)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1312 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (16:15) * 1 lines
Oh Julie, that IS me - from beginning to end! Thanks. I love it!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1313 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (18:45) * 1 lines
what a neat quiz julie, but i'm with EsBee and #30!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1314 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (23:10) * 37 lines
RAILROAD MEASUREMENTS....????
Does the statement, "We've always done it that way" ring any bells?
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.
Why was that gauge used?
Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads.
Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.
Why did "they" use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Okay!
Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their Legions. The roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman War Chariot. And bureaucracies live forever. So, the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what "horse's ass" came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman War Chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.
Now the twist to the story...
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what are arguably the worlds most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.
And you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1315 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Apr 25, 2002 (17:39) * 1 lines
*laugh* i've heard this tale before!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1316 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 25, 2002 (19:25) * 3 lines
Since this concerns everyone and the health of their computers, I am putting it here. It is a simple and FREE fix and it works using very little RAM in comparison with my McAfee which invariably freezes my computer. I got my email downloaded and a file was attached to one of them from someone I did not know. I suspected a virus so I opened it to see. Indeed, I found a little message that a virus was detected in this email and it had been removed to the "virus vault" which means cyperspace amnesia. Please download this fantastic AVG program. It works so beautifully.
http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.htm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1317 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 26, 2002 (15:11) * 1 lines
Whomever's list I am on, this is the third removal notice of the I-Woem/Klez H virus removal. Please protect your email and your computer. What have you got to lose? AGV is the best as far as I am concerned.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1318 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 26, 2002 (23:59) * 39 lines
WHAT ARE SOME TAX FACTS BY THE NUMBERS?
The IRS budget is $9.4 billion.
132 million people will file returns this year.
69.2 million used professional preparers.
40.2 million, or 32% of all taxpayers, itemize deductions.
93 million tax refunds are likely to be issued.
Half of federal revenue comes from individual income tax:
$994 billion.
***
The most common error on tax returns
is a wrong Social Security number.
***
WHAT IS THE AVERAGE REFUND?
The federal government collected $1.1 trillion in individual
income taxes last year. IRS spokesmen refused to say what
projections are for this year, but refunds for 2001 are
averaging $1,964, through April 5th.
WHAT IS THE PERCENTAGE OF WRONG ADVICE GIVEN BY THE IRS?
The percent of wrong advice given by IRS employees last year
to investigators posing as taxpayers was 47%.
***
The amount left over after taxes for winners of the top
prize on "The $64,000 Question" in 1956 was $25,000.
***
WHAT ARE SOME MORE TAX FACTS?
The audit rate in 2001 was 0.58 percent.
Words in the U.S. tax code: 2.8 million.
Through April 5, 35 million of the more than 130 million
individual tax returns that will be filed this year had been
filed electronically--with another 3.6 million filed by
telephone.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1319 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (02:09) * 86 lines
The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory
-----------------------------------------------------------------
New Features:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/
* Domes of Destruction (DAAC Study)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Domes/
Imagery from the ASTER satellite instrument helps scientists monitor volcanic domes.
--------------------
Natural Hazards:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/
* Latest Events:
Fire: Fires and Smoke in Thailand
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2650
Fire: Wildfires in Northern Australia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2651
Dust and Smoke: Dust Storm in Burkina Faso
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2649
Volcano: Miyake-Jima Eruptions
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2647
Volcano: Ash Fall Around Sheveluch Volcano
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2648
Dust and Smoke: Dust Cloud over Sea of Japan
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2642
Fire: Wildfires in Northern Australia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2651
Fire: Biomass Burning in Vietnam
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2645
Volcano: Three Sisters Volcanoes
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2646
--------------------
In the News:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/
* Latest Images:
Phytoplankton off the West Coast of Africa
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8284
Rio de Janiero
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8283
Unusually Low Snow Cover in the U.S.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8282
Parana River Delta in Argentina
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8281
Larsen B Ice Shelf Collapse
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8280
The Three Sisters
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8279
Los Angeles
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8277
* NASA News
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/
- Changing Antarctica Viewed by NASA Satellite
* Media Alerts
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/
- Sea Level Rise Threatens Marshes in Chesapeake and Delaware Bays
- Researchers Project Future Shrinking Biodiversity of Mexican Species
- Trees Aren't Going to Solve Global Warming
- Tropical streams, rivers 'exhaling' millions of tons more CO2 than thought
* New Research Highlights
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/
-
Earth Observatory Announcements
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1320 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, May 12, 2002 (16:00) * 7 lines
A GOOD CELESTIAL SKY SHOW GETS BETTER
-------------------------------------
The Moon will join five visible planets to perform a seldom-seen celestial show on Monday evening. To see the conjunction of the planets and moon, look in the western sky above the horizon just after sunset. Look for Venus, the brightest star in the group. Red Mars will be right below, and Jupiter, which appears white, will be topmost. Mercury is closest to the horizon, and Saturn is just below Mars.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0205/11alignment/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1321 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, May 12, 2002 (22:43) * 10 lines
Will Rogers said this about gasoline prices in the early 1930's:
"...there you have a business that is in the hands of a few men,
and they see that the price is kept up. It's not regulated by supply
and demand, it's regulated by manipulation."
I guess we haven't learned much since then!
(Thanks to HF for this)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1322 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 13, 2002 (22:54) * 13 lines
Something Worth Seeing on May 14th
Space Weather News for May 14, 2002
http://www.spaceweather.com
The planet Venus and Earth's moon will have an eye-popping close encounter
on Tuesday, May 14th. Finding the pair is easy: simply face west after
sunset. The slender crescent moon will lie less than two degrees (about
the width of your index finger held at arm's length) from brilliant Venus.
A bonus: Look at the moon's dark terrain. Sunlight reflected from our own
planet makes it glow. A crescent moon with "Earthshine" is one of the
loveliest sights in the heavens. Visit spaceweather.com for photos and a
finder chart.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1323 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 3, 2002 (23:26) * 8 lines
Weird Sunset
On June 10, 2002, something extraordinary will happen to the setting Sun
over North America.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/03jun_sunset.htm?list89800
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1324 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 4, 2002 (22:54) * 47 lines
June Meteors - The Arietids
June has two major showers, the June Lyrids and the Ophiuchids and
one minor shower worth mentioning, the Arietids.
The Arietids is an unusual meteor shower in that it is mostly a
daytime shower. While it is possible to see a few bright meteors in
the hour or so before dawn, most of the meteors will occur after dawn
and are not visible to the eye. The Arietids peak on the morning of
June 7th. If you'd like to observe these visually, view toward your
northeastern horizon. The meteors will appear to originate there and
move upwards.
Fortunately there are ways of observing meteors other than visually.
You can listen to them on the WWW courtesy of NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center and the Naval Space Surveillance Radar (NAVSPASUR) in
Kickapoo, TX. The listening will be best during the hours around dawn
in Alabama and Texas. This will be between the hours of 4 AM EDT (3
AM CDT, 2 AM MDT, 1 AM PDT) and 11 AM EDT (10 AM CDT, 9 AM MDT, 8 AM
PDT).
You can find links to these audio streams on the MeteorShowers web
pages. Go to http://www.geocities.com/~starwanderer/meteor.htm and
click on the June link. You'll find four links to the audio streams
mentioned above. I have two links to each. While they are up and
running most of the time, occasionally a stream will be unavailable.
Just choose one of the others.
As I mentioned briefly above, June also has the June Lyrids and the
Ophiuchids. The June Lyrids will peak on June 15/16 and the
Ophiuchids peak on June 20/21. I'll send out another message with
more details about these as their time draws closer.
Community email addresses:
Subscribe: MeteorShowers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: MeteorShowers-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: MeteorShowers-owner@yahoogroups.com
Shortcut URL to the group page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MeteorShowers
Shortcut URL to the Meteor Showers in 2002 page:
http://www.geocities.com/~starwanderer/meteor.htm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1325 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Jun 9, 2002 (14:26) * 20 lines
Wow! An unusually beautiful solar blast....
Space Weather News for June 9, 2002
http://www.spaceweather.com
SOLAR BLAST: The ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded an
unusually beautiful eruption on the Sun today. The giant "prominence" was
bigger than 50 planet Earths from end to end. Visit SpaceWeather.com and
see for yourself.
Also, DON'T FORGET THE SOLAR ECLIPSE! Across much of North America on
Monday, June 10th, the setting Sun will become a strange-looking crescent
when the Moon glides in front of our star. Follow the links at
SpaceWeather.com for more information, including eclipse-safe observing
tips.
WARNING: Never stare directly at the Sun. And never, ever look at the Sun
through an unfiltered telescope. Even during an eclipse the Sun can damage
your eyes.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1326 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 13, 2002 (20:09) * 2 lines
I saw the eclipse and got some terrific photos. The lighting was tuly weird!
More as soon as I can download them.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1327 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Mon, Jun 24, 2002 (11:58) * 10 lines
How many times you have drive your car after some glasses of alcoholic drink? How many grams alcohol per litre of blood you had?
I found this is online alcohol test from the web site of Renault. You can try it and find the alcohol content of your blood.
http://www.safetyconcept.renault.com/conseils/einxb15.htm
In any case, we recommend that drivers abstain at all times from consuming any alcoholic drink before taking the wheel.
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1328 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 24, 2002 (13:17) * 3 lines
Hi John, *HUGS* I am back from a wonderful weekend deep in the hills of Tennessee. Much to share with you, but suffice it for here to say I not only atttended meetings where my host (and self-offered archaeologist for Geo when he gets time for such things) delivered an excellent paper. I met all sorts of wonderful people - if you want to know how decent and unaffected REAL American s are, spend time with my new friends from Tennessee and Kentucky.
Drunk driving on these mountain roads are unconscionable. Certain death to all who attemped to do so and to the innocent victims would surely result.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1329 of 1406: S B Robinson (SBRobinson) * Wed, Jun 26, 2002 (12:12) * 4 lines
Oh Marcia! i'm so jealous of your time in Tennessee!
i lived there for two in College and thought Tenn was a Beautiful state, both in nature and the people who live there. I wish you could have seen it in the fall, when all the trees are turning. You didnt by any chance get to Chattanooga did you?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1330 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Fri, Jul 5, 2002 (01:50) * 29 lines
RADARSAT
RADARSAT is a sophisticated Earth observation (EO) satellite developed by Canada to monitor environmental change and the planet's natural resources. Launched in November 1995, RADARSAT provides Canada and the world with an operational radar satellite system capable of timely delivery of large amounts of data. RADARSAT also provides useful information to both commercial and scientific users in the fields of agriculture, cartography, hydrology, forestry, oceanography, ice studies and coastal monitoring.
RADARSAT-1 is a Canadian-led project involving the Canadian federal government, the Canadian provinces, the United States, and the private sector. This sophisticated remote sensing satellite was launched in November 1995. RADARSAT-1 carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), a powerful microwave instrument that can transmit and receive signals to "see" through clouds and darkness, obtaining detailed images of the Earth. It is used to monitor the Earth's resources and environmental change, and support commercial industries such as fishing, shipping, agriculture, and oil and gas exploration. The development and operation of the RADARSAT-1 system is expected to generate 10,000 person years of employment in Canada and provide more than $1 billion in benefits to the Canadian private and public sectors.
More here
http://www.space.gc.ca/csa_sectors/earth_environment/radarsat/default.asp
I found these interesting for some of you topics(below), when I visited some particular topics in the above site:
For Marcia: Images of Maui, Hawaii
http://www.space.gc.ca/csa_sectors/earth_environment/radarsat/radarsat_info/early_images/hawaii.asp
For latest friend of Marcia in Canada:
FLY through Aspy Fault, Cape Breton –mpeg video (1.1 MB)
http://www.space.gc.ca/_video/csa_sectors/ear_env/radarsat/cap_bre_1.mpeg
For Anne: Images and mpeg video
Perth, Australia (images)
http://www.space.gc.ca/csa_sectors/earth_environment/radarsat/radarsat_info/early_images/australia.asp
FLY through Sydney Area-mpeg video (917 KB)
http://www.space.gc.ca/_video/csa_sectors/ear_env/radarsat/cap_bre_2.mpeg
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1331 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 8, 2002 (14:29) * 3 lines
What incredible images, John! Many thanks and Big *HUGS* for posting them.
My weekend including the 4th was amazing. I am not sure where to put it but I did add greatly to my host's rock pile with the ones I brought back from the streams we visited. Moer under rocks, I guess. I really don't knwo where to put this. I eve found a chunk of ancient a'a flow! It looked just like old Hawaiian Lava. At first my mind just dismissed it as like all the rocks I have seen around me. Then, I remembered I was NOT in Hawaii. Photos to come as soon as ... *sigh* My laptop awaits sending. I hear it is all fixed and fast and efficient and full of storage waiting for me. I can hardly wait.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1332 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Fri, Jul 12, 2002 (08:14) * 59 lines
Toumaï, face of the deep
Earliest known record of human family turns up in Chad.
11 July 2002
HENRY GEE
A lifetime ago, the South African anatomist Raymond Dart came across an intriguing skull in a case of fossils sent to him from a limestone quarry in the Transvaal. The skull was from a baby primate of some kind, and Dart convinced himself that it was a relic of an intermediate stage in human evolution - an 'ape-man', or 'missing link'.
Toumai: The most important hominid discovery in living memory.
He called it Australopithecus africanus, the Southern Ape from Africa, wrote up the discovery and sent it to Nature. It was published in the face of strong opposition1.
None of the London-based authorities of the day believed the report, from a relative unknown working in an obscure part of the world. They were convinced that Dart had found a fossil monkey.
Dart was eventually vindicated, and Australopithecus africanus stands at the beginning of the science now known as palaeoanthropology - the study of human origins and evolution.
Dart's discovery came at a time when all we knew of human origins were the almost-human Neanderthals, 'Java Man' (later Homo erectus) and Piltdown Man (later exposed as a fraud).
After Dart came such scientists as Robert Broom and Louis Leakey. With associates and successors, they discovered a variety of ape-men and near-humans that lived in southern and eastern Africa between five million and two million years ago, when fully fledged members of our own genus, Homo, first appeared.
This week Nature publishes a report to match that of Dart(2,3): a strange, new skull, from an unexpected place, reported by little-known scientists, which will have large and largely unpredictable consequences for our understanding of human origins.
Gap plugged
The newfound skull is between six and seven million years old, and represents the earliest member of the human family so far discovered. The next-oldest hominids come from Ethiopia4 and, more controversially, Kenya5, and are between five and six million years old. A hominid is a member of the human family, as distinct from chimpanzees and other apes.
Like Dart's finding 77 years ago, the new find breaks the mould by having been discovered where few thought to look: this time in the inhospitable heart of northern Chad, on the southern fringes of the Sahara. This is where the stories diverge.
Dart's discovery was met with scepticism. The skull found by Michel Brunet and Patrick Vignaud of the University of Poitiers, France, and their colleagues in the international Mission Paleoanthropologique Franco-Tchadienne (MPFT) will be greeted with acclaim.
Dan Lieberman of Harvard University, one of the palaeontologists who have seen the fossil, says that it will have an impact on the field like "a small nuclear bomb". I'd argue that this is the most important hominid discovery in living memory.
Nicknamed 'Toumaï' - a local name for a child born perilously close to the start of the dry season - the skull's importance is its vintage. Toumaï is from a crucial interval in human evolution about which virtually nothing is known.
Ten million years ago, the world was full of apes; five million years ago, the first good records of hominids appear(4,5). Between these two benchmarks, the human lineage diverged from that leading to chimpanzees. And yet the entire record of human evolution in this interval is frustratingly sparse - a few fragments remain, all of which can be fitted into a shoebox.
The wealth of information to be gained from Toumaï, properly known as Sahelanthropus tchadensis, and an accompanying collection of jaws should enrich our understanding of human origins in ways that we can barely yet appreciate.
Face facts
This short new face of the past contains an odd mixture of primitive and advanced features. Toumaï's braincase is very ape-like, but his or her canines are small, more like those of a human. Toumaï has prominent brow ridges of the kind seen only in our own genus, Homo.
Does this mean that Toumaï represents a deep and direct ancestor of Homo, side-stepping the various African 'ape-men' from between five million and two million years ago, discovered over the past 70 years? Bernard Wood of George Washington University in Washington DC thinks not.
Wood suggests that Toumaï's combination of features represents a small sample of a huge and hitherto unsuspected diversity of fossil hominids, way back in the past.
References
Dart, R. A.The Man-Ape of South Africa. Nature, 115, 195 - 199, (1925).
Brunet, M. et al. A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central Africa. Nature, 418, 145 - 151, (2002).
Vignaud, P. et al. Geology and palaeontology of the Upper Miocene Toros-Menalla hominid locality, Chad. Nature, 418, 152 - 155, (2002).
Haile-Selassie, Y.Late Miocene hominids from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature, 412, 178 - 181, (2001).
Senut, B. et al. Premier hominide du Miocene (formation de Lukeino, Kenya).
Les Comptes rendus de l'Academie des sciences, 332, 137 - 144, (2001).
© Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020708/020708-11.html
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1333 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (11:24) * 1 lines
Thank you for posting that. Don brought home a newspaper from work with this article in it. John, you are so good to post the image ,also! It is much appreciated!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1334 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (19:20) * 6 lines
* Two large naked-eye sunspot groups continue to spawn flares and other
energetic explosions on the Sun. Look for possible auroral displays as low
as the middle latitudes.
For details, see This Week's Sky at a Glance and Planet Roundup:
http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1335 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (19:22) * 1 lines
I will look but I think I am too far south for Aurora displays.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1336 of 1406: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (22:14) * 1 lines
I have been waiting all my life to see an aurora. And I live in one of the most brightest areas in the world. I will never see one. WAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1337 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 27, 2002 (15:42) * 1 lines
Julie, with the way the sun has been acting up, you stand a vry good chance to seeing one on your visit to the Northwest with your parents. A new CME just happened to add to the others. Keep the faith!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1338 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Mon, Aug 5, 2002 (06:08) * 35 lines
Earth Getting Fatter
(The changes are very, very slight)
Scientists have known for some time that the Earth is not a perfect sphere.
It is shaped a little like a pumpkin - wider at the middle and narrower at the poles. It is a difference of more than 20 kilometres.
But now new research published in the journal Science suggests our planet is getting even wider - if only by the odd millimetre.
The scientists behind the report, Christopher Cox and Benjamin Chao, base their findings on space-based observations from past 25 years.
Abrupt change
Since the early 1980s, satellite laser-ranging studies that have been used to work out the planet's gravity field have demonstrated how the Earth has lost a bit of its pumpkin look - it has actually become slightly more spherical.
This has been put down to a rebound effect in the mantle - a thick layer of nearly molten rock between the Earth's crust and its core - following the loss of the heavy mass of ice at the poles after the last Ice Age.
But Cox and Chao say their work suggests this trend reversed abruptly about four years ago.
They are doubtful that phenomena such as further glacial melting or atmospheric changes can explain the rapid turnabout.
Small measurement
Instead, they suggest two possibilities. One is that changes in ocean circulation have shifted a larger mass of water towards equatorial regions; the other is that there has been a shift in mass at the boundary between the Earth's fluid outer core and the mantle.
Further studies will be required to work out what is really happening.
Cox says any increase in the Earth's girth is of the order of millimetres and may even be imperceptible given the rather technical way these things are monitored.
"It depends on where the effect is, because it is measured in terms of a change in the shape of the gravity field," he says.
"If it is in the ocean, it may be a few millimetres, but if it is in the core there could be no apparent change in the actual shape of the Earth."
Source: BBC NEWS World Edition(Friday, 2 August, 2002, 04:16 GMT 05:16 UK)
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1339 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Aug 5, 2002 (19:10) * 2 lines
*Smile* Thank you for posting that, John. I have a large back-log of things to post in Geo and I keep getting more. I really do appreciate your being here.
Big grateful *HUGS*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1340 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Tue, Aug 13, 2002 (01:31) * 37 lines
Ancient rock points to life's origin
By Dr David Whitehouse
Chromite: A mineral from beneath an ancient ocean
The continents were moving across the face of the Earth much sooner than had been thought, according to new evidence from China.
The new data come from a huge chunk of the rock that lay beneath the sea floor 2.5 billion years ago.
Tim Kusky, of St Louis University, US, says it is the first large intact piece of oceanic mantle ever found from our planet's earliest period, the Archean.
Located not far from the Great Wall of China, the ancient mantle rocks are preserved in a highly faulted belt 100 kilometres (62 miles) long.
It may also contain clues as to when life developed on Earth.
Origin of life
Working with researchers from Peking University, Kusky found the rock section where last year the same team discovered the Earth's oldest complete section of oceanic crust.
The newly found rock was formed tens of kilometres below the ancient sea floor. Scientists say it preserves 2.5-billion-year-old minerals that hold clues to the origin of how continents move across the globe - plate tectonics.
The minerals, including an unusual type of chromite (iron chromium oxide) deposit previously only known from deep ocean floor rocks, appear to have been deformed at extremely high temperatures before they were completely crystallized by volcanic heat.
This indicates that the rocks were moving away from mid ocean ridges, say scientists. This suggests that the continents were moving more than 500 million years earlier than was previously believed.
Thermal vents
The discovery that ancient tectonic plates were shifting could throw some light on the origin of life on Earth.
Hot volcanic vents on the ocean floor may have provided the nutrients and conditions required for life to begin.
Because such volcanic vents are associated with tectonic movements Kusky says that it is possible that life developed and diversified around these vents as the plates started spreading.
The research is published by the Geological Society of America.
Source: BBC News Online science editor
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1341 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug 15, 2002 (12:01) * 2 lines
A Chromite?! Now I need to have one of those for my collection of impossible-to-obtain rocks right next to the moon rock. Absolutley fascinating!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1342 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Tue, Aug 27, 2002 (01:22) * 16 lines
THE THREATENING SEAWEED
A tropical seaweed is threatening the Mediterranean marine ecosystem. Its name is Caulerpa taxifolia and it comes originally from the Caribbean. It found its way into the waters of the Mediterranean by mistake when the Monaco Oceanographic Museum emptied the waters of its tropical aquaria into the sea in 1985. A few scientists beg to differ with this theory and propose that the presence of the seaweed in the coast of the Monegasque Principality dates from a long time ago. They think that something happened in 1985 which led the seaweed to overdevelop. Other investigators, however, persist in searching for the possibility of scientific error or even sabotage. Whatever the explanation, the truth is that Taxifolia has demonstrated a remarkable adaptability in the last thirteen years. It has mutated and developed at much higher rates than in the Caribbean. As a result it has caused the neighbiring marine flora to suffocate and, by extension, has caused the death of the resident fauna. Not without cause, the exp
rts have dubbed Taxifolia the "killer seaweed".
The competitive advantage of Taxifolia is due to its crawling root which permits it to survive at depths where the light is minimal. By this means, it forms dense colonies which can have more than 8000 such roots per square meter! The bad news, however, does not stop here. Its roots contain toxins which could possibly reach man through the food chain. Fortunately, such eventuality is still remote, since plant eating fish don't seem to like the taste of Taxifolia. Nevertheless, this has allowed the killer seaweed to grow unchecked.
During the last thirteen years, its spread has been more than impressive. It has conquered thousands of hectares. Colonies of Taxifolia have been detected as far east as Croatia. The experts havent's yet discovered the remedy. Attempts at systematic uprooting haven't produced results and neither has the spraying of the colonies with salt. Professor Alexandre Menaise of the University of Nice believes that the seaweed can be fought by the introduction of two rare Caribbean mollusks into Mediterranean waters. These feed exclusively on Taxifolia. The French government, however, is hesitant in front of the unavoidable question: How will the mollusks react to their new environment? If they also mutate, then they might add one more uncontrollable ecological headache. In the meantime, the only consolation for the scientists is that during the thirties a relative of Taxifolia, the species Caulerpa olifera had also invaded the Mediterranean with similar spectacular growth. A few years later, however, it disappeared
ll by itself.
Text by Thanassis Koutsis
Source: GEORAMA Magazine
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1343 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Tue, Aug 27, 2002 (01:23) * 10 lines
TOXIC DISASTER
In the middle of April, an ecological disaster also caused the economic destruction of the fishermen of Elanch Bay in South Africa, 200 kilometers south of Capetown. One thousand tons of lobsters and other shellfish were washed out on the coast while trying to escape from a toxic tide. The water toxic for the creatures because the oxygen in it had dropped to lethally low levels. It is not the first time that such an event has happened, yet the fishermen report that had not witnessed such destruction in over thirty five years. The authorities took immediate emergency measures to prevent the people from harvesting the crop of dead shellfish since their consumption could have caused phenomena ranging from simple digestive disturbances to serious food poisoning.
Text by: Thanassis Koutsis
Source: GEORAMA Magazine
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1344 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 27, 2002 (21:25) * 5 lines
There is threatening Kudzu in the southern states of the US. It is a vine that is like a green menace. It covers and chokes out all other things. I think it looks just like tropical vines - only a green shape remains of what used to be buildings and cars.
Seaweed chokes everything in its path and smothers the animal bvpopulation underwater. This is a serious matter!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1345 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Wed, Aug 28, 2002 (03:50) * 3 lines
I wonder if such forms of life are the revenge of nature or human products in some laboratories or something else. What we have to see more? Who can protect humanity?
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1346 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Aug 28, 2002 (06:45) * 13 lines
I think that's what's plaguing Town Lake in Austin, they've tried a bunch of stuff to get rid of it, but it's tenacious.
Actually, it's "hydrilla" that's threatening Town Lake.
"Hydrilla is a non-native aquatic plant that is spreading rapidly in many Texas water bodies. This fast growing plant is native to Africa, Australia, and parts of Asia but was introduced to Florida in 1960 via the aquarium trade. It is now well established in the southern states, as well as in 85 Texas reservoirs.
Hydrilla was first discovered in Lake Austin in July 1999, when Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) documented approximately 23 acres of the plants. By July 2000, growth had increased to 200 acres. This rapid growth rate is typical of hydrilla and can potentially impact all aspects of lake use, including recreation, drinking water treatment and hydropower generation.
more at
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watershed/hydrilla.htm
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1347 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 28, 2002 (14:03) * 2 lines
The Texas weed sounds like water hyacinth that plagues the sooutheast waterways.
Originally, the lack of nutrients in the waterways was what limitied its growth. However, with the farm runoffs containing chemincal fertilizers and phosphates from household effluents, we have made the fertility of the plants far beyond what would be normal. We are making all things fertile beyond what nature planned, including the human race. There is not enough room for all creatures large and small to be so abundant. Answer? It will not be easy or popular to suggest anything that comes to mind.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1348 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 28, 2002 (14:06) * 1 lines
John, we have been contaminating our own house (the Earth) for as long as we have been occupying it. I think it will be difficult if not impossible to correct at this stage of our evolution. We have become spoiled and willful just as children and we like only for others to do the changing. Alas!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1349 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Tue, Sep 3, 2002 (05:48) * 10 lines
Alternative Energy
Fossil fuels are depleted 100,000 times faster than they are formed. World energy consumption is expected to increase 40 to 50 percent by the year 2010, while the global mix of fuels — renewables (18 percent), nuclear (4 percent) and fossil (78 percent) — is projected to remain substantially the same as today. Where do we go from here?
Source: Environmental News Network
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1350 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 3, 2002 (16:33) * 1 lines
Thank you for posting the alternative energy information. David got a notice late yesterday afternoon that California was "dangerously low" on itspower resources. I have never lived where that has happened. I am not surprised with outside temperatures at 102F degrees.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1351 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Wed, Sep 4, 2002 (05:03) * 9 lines
You have high temperatures and is normal a dim-out because big number of air conditionings are in operation. Personally, I have a small AC voltmeter in my laboratory and I can monitor the voltage continuously. We have the lower temperatures that I ever lived in this epoch. It is like October!!! (63F to 73F).
Heavy rainfall floods homes, brings transport chaos
Heavy rainfall across Attica yesterday afternoon flooded dozens of homes and caused transport chaos for the third time in as many months, prompting Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis to sack Civil Defense Agency Chief Yiannis Papanikolaou, who is to be replaced by retired police chief Yiannis Georgakopoulos. The Kifissos River broke through thousands of sandbags which had bolstered it following the damage wreaked by previous rains. The districts of Moschato, Rendi and Neo Faliron were the hardest hit, once again, with homes and stores flooded after rainfall rose to 80 centimeters. The fire service was besieged by calls, many from people trapped in elevators following power cuts. Parts of Pireos Avenue and other roads near the Kifissos River were flooded.
Source: KATHIMERINI (Athens Newspaper)
John
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1352 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Sep 5, 2002 (20:48) * 1 lines
October is a good feeling. It has finally cooled down in California. A little cooler than usual. I think it is only suitable for lizards in this state!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1353 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Tue, Sep 17, 2002 (03:53) * 7 lines
Earth's Third Moon Discovered
An amateur astronomer has discovered what could be a new object orbiting the Earth; maybe it's a recently captured space rock, or maybe it's just a remnant from the Apollo program. Whatever it is, the object, dubbed J002E2, seems to orbit the Earth every 50-days in a wide orbit. If it turns out to be natural, the object will become the Earth's 3rd moon (and you only thought we had one), after Cruithne which was discovered in 1986 in a long erratic orbit.
Complete story in BBC News
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1354 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Sep 17, 2002 (18:10) * 1 lines
Boy, do I feel dumb. I only thought that the Earth had one moon. Oh well, live and learn.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1355 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Sep 17, 2002 (20:05) * 1 lines
me too, cheryl, i don't remember hearing about the second one!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1356 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 17, 2002 (22:45) * 3 lines
Where are they other than ^up^ there? I watched satellites go over for three weeks and only one moon appeared. Thank you, John. I did see the article and forgot to post it.
I am safely back east and content to be here for a long time.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1357 of 1406: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Mon, Sep 23, 2002 (06:11) * 15 lines
Earth's magnetic field "boosts gravity"
Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition
Hidden extra dimensions are causing measurements of the strength of gravity at different locations on Earth to be affected by the planet's magnetic field, French researchers say.
This is a controversial claim because no one has ever provided experimental evidence to support either the existence of extra dimensions or any interaction between gravity and electromagnetism. But lab measurements of Newton's gravitational constant G suggest that both are real.
Newton's constant, which describes the strength of the gravitational pull that bodies exert on each other, is the most poorly determined of the constants of nature. The two most accurate measurements have experimental errors of 1 part in 10,000, yet their values differ by 10 times that amount. So physicists are left with no idea of its absolute value.
Now Jean-Paul Mbelek and Marc Lachieze-Ray of the French Atomic Energy Commission near Paris say they can resolve the contradiction by taking into account the location of the labs where the experiments were carried out.
The pair suggest that electromagnetism and gravity influence one another enough for gravity's pull to be noticeably affected by the Earth's magnetic field.
Much more in: NewScientist
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1358 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Sep 23, 2002 (19:33) * 1 lines
*HUGS* marcia, i've been worried but didn't know how to reach you. email me sweetheart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1359 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 24, 2002 (16:35) * 1 lines
Hugs! Wolfie, I am still getting email from my old server so for the meantime I will stay with it. That click to email me from either the front page of Geo or any post still gets to me. Talk to you on IM Wolfie? I've been missing you too!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1360 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Sep 25, 2002 (18:00) * 1 lines
i'll try--been super busy with end of fiscal year madness!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1361 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 27, 2002 (06:33) * 3 lines
I've also been busy. Lots of "stuff" happening in my life too. I just wish mine were easier to resolve. Talk when you can! HUGS, Wolfie. We're on your side!
I wish I knew what happened to my graphics!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1362 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Oct 29, 2002 (22:11) * 4 lines
Alexandria Library reopens 1,600 years on
Glittering ceremony attended by dignitaries from around the world to mark opening of state-of-the-art center for learning
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=22116
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1363 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Nov 7, 2002 (11:46) * 6 lines
From the above url:
Its southern-facing, windowless wall of granite bears engraved letters of most of the world’s alphabets, a silent pledge to promote diversity, culture and unfettered learning.
Controversy has dogged the project since the beginning, from claims that valuable antiquities from the original Greek city of Alexandria were destroyed in the construction, to criticism that it amounted to an expensive gimmick which in itself does little to improve education in a developing country
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1364 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Nov 15, 2002 (19:07) * 1 lines
I find it very sad that this grand edifice contains NO books!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1365 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 14, 2003 (20:35) * 19 lines
Scientist Proposes Sending Probe to Earth's Core
Reuters
May 14 2003 8:11PM
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Space exploration is old hat. So why not go down instead of up -- maybe by setting off a small nuclear explosion to create a door to the earth's core?
In a plot worthy of Jules Verne, a prominent California planetary scientist believes it may be possible -- and very educational -- to send a probe all the way to Earth's core.
"My point is to get people to realize that we have dedicated immense resources to exploring space. I'm advocating balance," said Dave Stevenson, professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Interior exploration could be accomplished by applying proven technologies and some well-grounded scientific assumptions about the planet, he says in a paper published in the latest edition of the journal Nature.
Still, "the main reaction I'm expecting is laughter," the scientist admitted.
"It's wildly over-optimistic ... the arguments he gives are very vague," said Ray Jeanloz, professor of geology & geophysics at the University of California, Berkeley. "But ... he's exactly right about the knowledge that could be gained."
Stevenson's proposal calls for a crack to be opened in the earth, maybe with a nuclear bomb. According to his figures, the crack will need to be several hundred yards in length and depth, and about 12 inches wide, to accommodate a volume of about 100,000 to several million tons of molten iron.
More... http://my.aol.com/news/news_story.psp?type=1&cat=0200&id=030514201102197880
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1366 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 14, 2003 (21:20) * 13 lines
Additional information on the above topic:
Route one to the centre of the Earth (May 14)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/7/5/8
David Stevenson, a geophysicist from the California Institute of
Technology, has proposed a novel way to study the Earth's core - by
violently projecting a communication probe down to it. However, he admits
that the energy of the explosion needed to penetrate the Earth would be
very high - about 10^15 joules. This is equivalent, he says, to an
earthquake of magnitude 7 on the Richter scale or the energy released
from a nuclear device. The probe would send back results to the surface
via high-frequency seismic waves (D Stevenson 2003 Nature 423 239).
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1367 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 27, 2004 (13:08) * 7 lines
Everyone, go outside tonight.
TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE TONIGHT !!!
Viewer's Guide: Oct. 27 Total Lunar Eclipse
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/041022_eclipse_guide.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1368 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 27, 2004 (13:08) * 1 lines
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1369 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Wed, Oct 27, 2004 (14:07) * 1 lines
Last chance until 2007 to see a total lunar eclipse.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1370 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Oct 27, 2004 (17:19) * 1 lines
*aaaaarrroooooooo*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1371 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Nov 10, 2004 (13:13) * 1 lines
Please someone have seen it. I hear it was red. If it was, you have seen some of the most impressive eclipses ever. I love it when the moon is bright enough that you get a true 3 dimentional effect. It is stunning.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1372 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Nov 10, 2004 (20:31) * 1 lines
i saw it but it was more of a burnt umber towards the bottom. the pics i took came out terribly. we were looking at it through binoculars too and you could really tell that the moon is an orb.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1373 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Nov 14, 2004 (14:40) * 1 lines
My son took great pictures several years ago that are in here somewhere. But that took time exposures and clock drive to do it. I once did a bright one on a freezing snowly night in West Virginia when I was just out of college. I took time exposures and got the whole eclipse in an arc across one photo. It was entrusted to a "friend" and I never saw it again.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1374 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sun, Nov 14, 2004 (21:03) * 1 lines
oh no!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1375 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Nov 15, 2004 (12:08) * 2 lines
That was the most publishable of the words we used. Oh no is just about says it all. Anyway. try a tripod next time and a time exposure. That should get you enough light to capture the moon and then some. *hugs*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1376 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Nov 15, 2004 (18:08) * 3 lines
can i do time exposure with an SLR camera?
*HUGS* how have you been marcia, marcia marcia? got msn up and running yet?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1377 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 16, 2004 (09:27) * 3 lines
Those SLR cameras are the original and best at doing timeed exposure photography. Set the timer for various times beginning with about 10 seconds then up the times by increments of 10 seconds till you get the one you like. Make notes and it will be with you forever! Great for eruptions at night, also!
Still working on getting this up to speed on the MSN, Hopefully by the end of the day... *HUGS* back Wolfie!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1378 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Nov 16, 2004 (11:21) * 1 lines
OK Wolfie. I'm back on MSN with Kilauea83 See you there!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1379 of 1406: Conf admin (cfadm) * Wed, Mar 2, 2005 (14:12) * 5 lines
http://teens4planetearth.com/2922444/girlshome
If you’re one of those girls who can’t get enough of all things nature-related, this is the site for you! Many young women have turned their ideas into amazing environmental projects, making a real difference in their communities. Now you can too.
A girly page if I ever saw one.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1380 of 1406: Conf admin (cfadm) * Sat, Mar 5, 2005 (12:36) * 3 lines
http://www.bloomington.in.us/~ibclark/
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1381 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 9, 2005 (17:07) * 7 lines
The young are saving the world - which I encourage!!! How realistic are these sites? Saving the endangered possum from the Tennessee cook pot is not gonna happen. We can't save what we don't know is in trouble, and they are to be applauded for concern beyond their own clothes closets. That's why I watch Zoom on PBS (Well, ONE of the reasons...)
Thanks, CA, I had no idea there were so many who cared at such an early age.
(I do still own the information about the Tennessee Pygmies. Stand by!)\\
Wow, I sound terribly stilted. I love eager young kids. i just miss being around them I guess. Thanks again!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1382 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Mar 10, 2005 (06:57) * 1 lines
We're at least feeding the local possum, from our cat bowl. But I haven't seen Pogo lately.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1383 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Mar 10, 2005 (22:00) * 5 lines
Good heavens, was I that out of sorts last night? I spent a considerable amount of time discussing the issue brought to Geo by ConfAdmin and Was informed that such devotion to what is right keeps freeways from paving over archaeologically significant sites before they are excavated. Mea Culpa. I am now talking lashes with wet noodles or other prescribed punishment. Again, Thanks for letting us know our past is in future good hands.
Pogp Possum?! Ah yes. I have all of Walt Kelly's books. That was some fine stuff.
Did I tell you about the pilot reporting the "fox-sized rat" on the runway? I actually heard this exchange on my scanner !!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1384 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Fri, Mar 11, 2005 (08:24) * 3 lines
You didn't tell me about that!
Man that's huge.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1385 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 11, 2005 (20:33) * 1 lines
Turns out according, to the tower (talking to the pilot), what he reported seeing was Supper on the hoof. Likely a possum. The pilot admitted he had never seen such an animal. What is really funny is that all air related conversations are low key and everyone talks like Chuck Yeager. As soon as they launched into the possum banter, everyone took on a "Bubba" accent. In any case, the possum was rounded up and put safely away from the runways where the really BIG birds land.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1386 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, Mar 11, 2005 (21:08) * 1 lines
could it have been a nutria? they look like beavers with rat tails!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1387 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar 11, 2005 (21:14) * 1 lines
The way this guy reported it, it could have been anything. The ground crew dashed out and captured a misguided Possum decidedly unhappy with the surroundings. He was saved from the stewpot for the time being.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1388 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, Mar 11, 2005 (21:14) * 1 lines
*laugh*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1389 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sat, Mar 12, 2005 (06:23) * 6 lines
We had a possum come up to our porch and try to get to some catfood that was on a table with just 2 legs. Well, the whole mess fell, coon catfood and all. I didn't see it but I sure heard it about 3 am in the morning. And the next morning the the coon was lying in a pool of blood.
Later, that day the coon was gone. It wasn't a goner after all.
But I haven't seen any coons up on the porch since.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1390 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 12, 2005 (13:51) * 3 lines
Raccoons are the ace scavengers of the world and will try to eat just about anything. Possums are not much being them in this. Tennessee seems ready to make a bid to prove the contest as soon as I leave anything edible outside.
In Hilo, I witnessed a wonderful exchange involving human, fish and a hungry heron. The human was flipping rice crackers into the fish pond. The fish would all fight to be the one to get the cracker. The heron noticed this and as soon as a cracker hit the water, he was there to catch the fish. Alas, the human was not as sporting and stopped the food chain by keeping the rest of the rice crackers to himself.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1391 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sun, May 8, 2005 (12:01) * 10 lines
Deep below a desolate Utah mountain lies the largest platinum deposit ever discovered. A billion-dollar find, it waits for any company that can drill a world's record, three-mile-deep mine shaft.
EarthCore is the company with the technology, the resources and the guts to go after the mother lode. Young executive Connell Kirkland is the company's driving force, pushing himself and those around him to uncover the massive treasure.
But at three miles below the surface, where the rocks are so hot they burn bare skin, something has been waiting for centuries. Waiting ... and guarding. Kirkland and EarthCore are about to find out firsthand why this treasure has never been unearthed.
This is a new podcast by Scott Sigler, you can load it on to your Ipod or other portable mp3 player.
http://scottsigler.net/earthcore.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1392 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sun, May 8, 2005 (12:02) * 6 lines
EarthCore is the world's first podcast-only novel: you can't find it in stores, you can't download the full audio, and the only way to find out what happens is to subscribe to the podcast. This novel is a cross between episodic modern-action fare like "24" and classic sci-fi movies like Predator and Starship Troopers. Subscribe via RSS, or click on the episode links to download the MP3s.
To subscribe, copy this link into your podcast application: http://feeds.feedburner.com/EarthCore
AIM: EarthCorePodcast * Yahoo: scottcarlsigler * Skype: scottsigler
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1393 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Mon, May 9, 2005 (10:34) * 3 lines
Don't miss my podcast with the author of "Earth Core" coming up on Tuesday. Get all the details on http://austincast.com.
It's something's Marcia Hemming Geo fans won't want to miss.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1394 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, May 11, 2005 (18:53) * 11 lines
Wednesday 5/11/2005 Scott
Sigler is the author of
Earthcore, the world's first
podcast novel. His podcast has risen to number 4 at Podcast
Alley. He talks about the behind the scenes at his locale atop a hill in
San Francisco, where is building a large following (4,000 listeners going to
10,000) and contemplating some future science/horror thrillers via print and
podcast.
is the actual entry on http://austincast.com
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1395 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 20, 2005 (11:16) * 1 lines
OH NO!! I did miss it. Platinum in the United States? Happy news indeed. We relied a great deal on South African platinum for our needs. This new find - if it proves usable - will ease our ouflow difficulties a bit ! Thanks for finding that information, Terry.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1396 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, May 20, 2005 (17:09) * 1 lines
hi marcia!! girl, i've missed you! do you still have msn messenger?
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1397 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 30, 2005 (19:28) * 1 lines
Hi Wolfie, yes I have MSN messenger. I just need to boot it and stay off of it until you page me. I've gotten various family members in the past. I'll try. Possibly not tomorrow, though. I think it is someone's birthday and have to reamain flexible just in case I get lucky *;)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1398 of 1406: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, May 31, 2005 (19:52) * 1 lines
you know what? i remembered every day this month that yesterday was your birthday until yesterday! oh, what is wrong with me? HAPPY BELATED Birthday Marcia!!! *HUGS*
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1399 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Jun 7, 2005 (14:33) * 1 lines
Marcia, I hope that you had a very happy birthday. Happy Belated Birthday and have a great year!!!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1400 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 11, 2005 (21:12) * 1 lines
Many thanks, Cheryl. Yes I did have a great birthday. See Geo 88 for details :)
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1401 of 1406: geomancer (cfadm) * Fri, Jul 14, 2006 (13:18) * 8 lines
Locations on planet Earth for global warming pictures.
http://www.canary-project.org/map.html
The photos are here:
http://www.canary-project.org/photos_belize.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1402 of 1406: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 22, 2006 (12:39) * 5 lines
Very good name, Geomancer. I am envious that I did not think of it for myself.
I have been traveling since May and I raally did not forsake you. In fact, I have been gathering things to post here and there in Geo. I am grateful to DB for posting his Amaricana information.
Onward to responding.
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1403 of 1406: Paul Terry Walhus (paulterry) * Mon, Jul 21, 2008 (18:59) * 1 lines
We've passed our 8th anniversary at Geo... Geo began July 10, 2000
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1404 of 1406: geomancer (cfadm) * Mon, Jul 21, 2008 (19:21) * 1 lines
Happy Anniversary Geo!
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1405 of 1406: Cheryl (CherylB) * Wed, Feb 4, 2009 (16:08) * 23 lines
Toxic Gases Caused World's Worst Extinction
Michael Reilly, Discovery News
Feb. 4, 2009 -- An ancient killer is hiding in the remote forests of Siberia. Walled off from western eyes during the Soviet era and forgotten among the endless expanse of wilderness, scientists are starting to uncover the remnants of a supervolcano that rained Hell on Earth 250 million years ago and killed 90 percent of all life.
Researchers have known about the volcano -- the Siberian Traps, for years. And they've speculated that the volcanic rocks, which cover an area about the size of Alaska, played a role in runaway global warming that led to the end -- Permian mass extinction, the worst dying the planet has ever seen.
Now a team of researchers led by Henrik Svenson of the University of Oslo in Norway have performed a series of experiments, showing the volcano employed an arsenal of deadly weapons during its 200,000-year-long assault on the biosphere.
Prime among them was carbon. Searing magmas from the volcano intruded into the Tunguska Basin in eastern Siberia, a region laden with thick deposits of coal, oil and gas. Heat from the molten rock baked the hydrocarbons, turning the area into the world's largest fossil fuel-burning plant. In all, the volcano may have belched as much as 100,000 gigatons of carbon into the air (all of humanity emits about eight gigatons of carbon annually).
That's more than enough to cause a global climate apocalypse. But the team also wanted to know what happened when lava infiltrated the area's abundant salt deposits. When heated in a laboratory to 275 degrees Centigrade (527 degrees Fahrenheit), the salts released a host of toxic gases, chief among them methyl chloride, an efficient ozone-killer.
"This is the first geologically realistic evidence that ozone collapse during the end-Permian could have actually happened," Svenson said.
But there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the findings, Linda Elkins-Tanton of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said.
"There is evidence of a large number of genetic mutations in the fossil record around this time," she said, which could be the result of an onslaught of ultraviolet radiation due to a weak ozone layer. "But the idea of ozone destroyers is pretty new. The question is whether or not the eruptions were powerful enough to inject gases into the stratosphere."
The answer may come from close examination of hundreds of pipe-like structures strewn throughout the Tunguska Basin. Often 300 meters (984 feet) in diameter, Svenson's team believes the pipes are ancient volcanic craters left over after the lethal mix of carbon and chlorine gases exploded into the atmosphere.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/02/04/volcano-mass-extinction.html
Topic 1 of 99 [Geo]: All things planet Earth
Response 1406 of 1406: geomancer (cfadm) * Thu, Mar 5, 2009 (19:39) * 1 lines
It's amazing that a single volcano could rule the planet for 200,000 years.
geo conference 
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