So lo and behold, an asteroid!!  A solid close call that should be taking place…. today.  NASA has a program called the Near-Earth Object Program, which I’ve heard about once before ages ago, but basically attempts to track as many asteroids, comets, etc., and attempt to depict their drunken paths through the solar system, as opposed to their sober counterparts which stay in their orbit….. if they stick to their rehab.

This one would be a little too close for comfort.

The asteroid will be passing between the Earth and the Moon, which apparently hasn’t happened since 1976, only this time we actually know about it before it happens.  It’s roughly the size of the Toronto Rogers Centre, according to CBC.ca, but for our American comrades….. Yankee Stadium?  That’s just a guess on my part.  I can only assume stadiums and arenas are more or less the same size, and if this asteroid were actually making a house call to Earth, I doubt it would matter.

The next event like this shouldn’t happen again until 2028, giving plenty of time for an up-and-coming supervillain to totally use it to his/her advantage.  Unfortunately the Avengers are making an appearance NOW of all times, which means we’re totally screwed down the line.  I think that movie’s going to be a total let-down.

I know I know, many of you were supremely worried (and by many I mean maybe one of the three people who still visit my site a day).  I don’t know who you are, but that’s what my little WordPress chart tells me!  I was getting curious.

So it seems like ages since I’ve actually written a post, and realized it’s only been since 2010, which is not nearly as long as I thought, but I can imagine the eternity it seemed like to my die-hard fan(s)!  While I can’t make any promises with the persistance of posts, a friend of mine oddly enough discovered this blog and said she really liked it, so with encouragment like that, why would I stop?!

It’s funny how writing & publishing work.  My job (as in day job) involves writing quite a few reports, and you don’t realize what progress you’ve made in writing style until you compare it with what you wrote only a year before.  Before writing this post, I had a fun little look-over of my old posts, and they already “sound” out-of-date, with respect to my writing style.  I’m not saying this blog is by any means formal (shit, crap, fuck, toolface), but it’s still nice to know I’m making progress…. Or at least feel like I’m making progress.

But oh the things I’ve missed writing about!  From tsunamis and nuclear power, to trucks full of bees tipping on the highway and my unrelated awesome cooking skills these days!  Not to mention particles going faster than the speed of light?!  What the hell…?  Anyways, so hopefully I’ll get back on this tippy ball of mine, and put out some posts!

But for now…………….. stay tuned.

This is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve witnessed secondhand.  If you haven’t gathered the jist from the title, there is (was) a massive traffic jam spanning 100km, or 9 days within China.  The jam is more-or-less over now but……………… come on.  This is ridiculous.  If this isn’t a sign that your country is getting a little ahead of itself, then holy shit, I don’t know what is.

"Drive topwise.... TOPWISE!"

Seriously, I cannot wait for China to explode.  It may not be until I’m in my 50′s, when they’ve got away with so much bullshit that I won’t even care, but oh man that’s gonna be some birthday.  Really though, this traffic jam is a sign of self-destruction.  Keep in mind that China is new to vehicles…. like very new, relatively.  And being new to vehicles means having the driving skill of someone driving a Model T…. in the 20′s.  Just instead of of driving a Model T on your way to eat crumpets at your cousin/sister-in-laws, you’re driving a lorry full of coal from Mongolia.  There are no driving schools, and needless to say no common sense or courtesy.

I actually randomly (and unrelated) found a YouTube video showing a very frustrating video of a traffic jam in a city in China.  Frustrating in the sense, that you know exactly how to resolve the traffic issue in this specific intersection, and it drives you crazy because eventually they figure it out, then 10 seconds later some other dumbass steps in and effs it all up again.  Alas, I’m way too lazy right now to post the video, so go find it yourself.

Anyways, what gets me about this is how driving reflects attitude, and I’ve been thinking about this ever since I’ve been able to drive.  Not only reflecting the attitude of the driver (which every can see and is pretty obvious), but the attitude from a political and social aspect.  It goes to show that driving is not related to common sense, it’s related to what people are exposed to.  If someone who just bought a car (i.e. in China) starts up a driving school in China, not that one actually exists, based on driving laws created by a bunch of other people who have never driven, then everyone’s going to follow their example.  Thinking their example is correct, no one would stop to think “Hey, maybe if I didn’t pull out in front of this guy, he would be able to turn left, and the one hundred cars behind him would be able to drive straight through…. but I need to get to my ex-boss’ cousins sons birthday party, so I don’t have time for thit shit”.  Really?

There’s actually a science based on traffic behaviour.  I read an article about a specialist on the subject, and he’s supposed to be the best in civil engineering (something that many towns and cities could use).  However, I think I’ll save that for a later post.

UPDATE:  I changed my mind about the video, here you go.

Which, now that I look at it a little more closely, I think I’ve been to it before.  Anyways, it’s called the Breaking News Video Network (BNVN), and it’s a site chock full of videos showing severe weather phenomena, as well as natural disasters and other atmospheric…. phenomena.  I don’t like to use the same word twice in a sentence.

This site combines my two favourite loves… severe weather, and watching it.  It’s fantastic stuff.  Lightning storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and now I’m watching floods.  Not so much extreme flooding, but just videos of cars driving through flooded streets.  I don’t know what it is about it, but I could watch it for hours.  Before geology, I always wanted to get into meteorology, but I figured it usually ended up with telling a weatherman what to say, or just overall sitting behind a desk and not getting to see much weather, except during your drive to and from said desk.  Also the program involved a lot of physics.  After that first year class, no thanks.  But now it’s related to everything I talk about, who knew!?

If you weren’t clever enough to find the two links in the above writing, here it is in plain sight below.

Breaking News Video Network

Alright, well first off, I know I haven’t written a post in ages, because I’m the one that hasn’t written them, so calm down!  In my defense, it’s summer, or at least it was during my absence.  But now it’s drawing to a close, and I actually feel like writing a post.

Secondly… holy shit it’s a tornado of fire!!!

So after watching that, you may have noticed Brazil is having some fire issues, which I didn’t realize.  The publicity is more or less focussed on Russia, probably because it’s rampaging through villages (plural), and here in Canada, mostly in BC.  People are being evacuated a’plenty!  It’s crazy.  What I just realized as well is that this heat wave seems to be, dare I see….. worldwide!  It seems it’s pretty dry everywhere, or just lacking humidity, like in Brazil.  Here in Northwestern Ontario, we’ve had heat wave after heat wave, along with unusual rainfall which is completely unpredictable most of the time.  I’m not trying to get anybody’s opinions rowled up about global warming, because too be honest, it’s annoying (but feel free to comment).  It’s become such a hot topic over the past decade that the typical public has dumbed it down to a yes-or-no debate… Are humans involved in contributing to it, or no?  The whole debate is ten times more involved… and also, who gives a shit.  What would we do differently if you could come up with an answer to that question?  Basically people are asking “Was it our fault?”, therefore “Is it our problem?”.  I guarantee you, if someone somewhere says that humans didn’t contribute to the warming of the Earth, then it’s back to business-as-usual.

Why am I talking about this.  I just got my own opinions rowled up!!  OH THE IRONY!!!

Anyways, enjoy that video of the tornado of fire… and I’m back to blogging, so check back often!!  And for the randoms that actually bookmarked this page, I’ll make it worth your while!  Non-sexually.

But their latest attempt has yet again, hit the fan.  The oil spill in the Gulf, which occurred after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20th, is now the 3rd largest waste of oil in history.  BP has come under a lot of scrutiny for their lack of success in cleaning up their mess, which is beginning to damage a good chunk of the US coastline.

Site of the Deepwater Horizon.

The company’s been brainstorming several different methods to contain the leak ever since the accident, but so far they’re coming up short.  Let’s go through some of the the list, shall we?:

Oil Booms: Large floating barriers that that go down just a few feet below of the surface of the water (oil floats), and contains the oil as it spreads.  So far, these are doing their job to a certain extent, sometimes rough seas, or just improperly placed barriers can cause oil so sneak through and reach the coastline… and there is a LOT of oil.

Controlled Burning: Basically, they try to contain the oil with oil booms, and burn it off.  Good idea, but it creates just as much atmospheric waste as it does marine.

Dispersant: I was too tired to look anything up.  BUT I’LL GET THERE!

Dome over leak: I honestly don’t know what they were trying out here.  They would put a giant dome over the remainder of the wreckage to contain the oil, then what?  Well, I guess while I was writing that, I realized they’d just try to pump it out.

Pipe to the surface: Basically another rig to suck up the oil to the surface, however the oil is a little too heavy to makes it way to the top, and the only to get enough sucking power to keep it coming to surface, is to build a new drill rig, which would probably take some time.

Top Kill Method: This was the most recent method so far that failed miserably.  I had my doubts when I heard about it, but I also had some hopes.  Basically it’s like pumping heavy mud and cement down through an adjoining pipe and ‘clogging’ up the leak.  Why it failed?  I couldn’t tell you, but it did.

Top Kill method.

So, what’s next?  It seems their final option, seems like the most obvious to me.  Cutting the pipe for a clean cut, and capping it off.  But they must have some reason for not trying it out earlier.  Earlier today, rumour had it that the leak would not be taken care of until August, which got me a little rowled up, but now they’re expecting a result in the next 24 hours.  I won’t lie, their back and forth makes me a skeptical.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings…

UPDATE: Well, they’ve attempted to cap that well, but surprisingly hasn’t received that much attention.  Maybe because IT’S NOT ENTIRELY CAPPED.  They put a cap over the BOP (Blow-Out Preventer), meant to prevent these types of accidents, however it’s not capturing all of the oil, only roughly a third of it (but rising).  They seem to be ok with it.

The same volcano in Iceland, which for some reason doesn’t have a name, which erupted last month, is at it again!  It’s located in the Eyjafjallajoekull area, so we’ll just call it that… but not out loud, because that’s just ridiculous.

Unlike the last eruption, this one actually occurred under glacial ice, raising water levels in rivers by several metres before the eruption even began.  No casualties whatsoever, however quite a few villages had to be evacuated.

This isn't Iceland, but pretty cool, yeah?

But while this eruption is wreaking havoc for parts of Iceland, the stories in the news are concentrated elsewhere.  Again, unlike the last eruption, this one released tons and tons of volcanic ash into the air, and prevailing winds are smackin’ Europe in the face!!  Long story short, don’t get on that plane, yo!  Flights anywhere to and from most of Europe, are grounded because of all the ash flying about.

Why does this mess things up?  Well when most people think of ash, they think of the stuff left in firepits basically… wood ash.  Volcanic ash is a little different.  Think of it as smashing a window down to a dust, because that’s what volcanic ash is…. glass.

Getting fine glass sucked up into an engine just isn’t a good thing.  Haven’t you ever seen Dante’s Peak?!  Actually, however lame that movie is, scientifically it’s probably more accurate than any other volcano movie.  Except for no geologist looks like Pierce Brosnan…. except for me, I’m fucking dashing.

So for your enjoyment, here are pictures of me in geology action!:

Here I am getting ready to unload some samples...

Here I am questioning my career choices...

I’m still not sure how I feel about this… Medication nowadays is being inserted with tiny antennae that will transmit a signal to whoever, that the pill has indeed been taken.

The goods....

I didn’t know that this world of ours had such a crushing problem of people not taking their meds.  So, some smartass decided to input a tiny antenna, obviously non-toxic or else that would kind of go against the idea of taking your meds in the first place.  Also, wrapped in silver, which we ingest in minute amounts every day anyways.  So if you overdose and live, maybe you’ll shit out a nice watch in a couple days (too soon?).

What I’m curious about, if you read the article, is why they tested these pills and antennae on cadavers.  I’m just honestly curious, I don’t know anything about medicine, sooo….. anybody?

Discovered by two smart people at the University of Arizona, two black holes that are not only ‘supermassive’, but also theorized to be the most primitive black holes discovered so far.

Black hole..... just a young'in.

How do they know this?  Well supposedly, in the beginning, there was no dust… literally.  Seeing as the universe had barely been created, cosmic ‘dust’ has not yet been created to float around the universe, therefore could never be accreted into the classic dusty disk that is commonly seen swirling around the common black hole that we’re used to seeing so far.

Think of it like Saturn.  You know, the planet with the rings.  Now Saturn’s gravity is so great, that it attracted all dust and rock into it’s orbit, creating it’s rings.  Now, if Saturn was created just after the creating of the universe, it wouldn’t have any rings because there would be nothing around to be sucked into it’s orbit… this is obviously hypothetical because technically nothing would be around to created Saturn either.

Anyways, when NASA was looking for black holes (or not looking for them, I dunno), they were looking for classic signatures involving quasars with accretion disks (rings of dust) to be associated with them.  So when they were surprised to find these two without any of those classic signatures, then I’m sure you can figure out the rest… because I just mentioned it.  Above.  You didn’t read it, did you?  Shhiiiitt…

Feel free to comment though if you’re not following, that’s what this blog is for!

Wicked shot of a the volcanic fissure that erupted near the Katla volcano in Iceland.

Iceland’s about to go off, I swear!  This tiny little country (only a population of over 200,000) is the most geologically active country on this non-stop action planet of ours.  The reason…?  The mid-atlantic ridge, where the North American and the Eurasian tectonics meet, and in this case, are being pushed apart.  The ‘push’ is cause my recycled magmatic material being pushed up along the mid-atlantic ridge, causing the plates to extend some 10′s of centimeters a year.  The fact that Iceland is directly on the ridge is the reason, you may have noticed, that this volcano occurs more along a ‘line’, other than the typical crater style volcano you see all over the place.  I’m not going to go into the differences, unless you ask, because it can get retarded.

However, I have noticed that on the CBC article, they refer to this volcano as a hot spot, which it definitely isn’t.  Alright, looks like I’m getting right back into this, shit it’s getting late.  A hot spot is defined as a volcanic event not related to any plate boundary activity… seeing as Iceland is right on a boundary, it’s not a hot spot.  The most famouse of hot spots…..?  Hawai’i…. take a look at where it lies, right smack in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, or geologically speaking, the Pacific Plate.  Ok really, I’ll stop…. if you actually want to know more, just comment on here, and I’ll lay it all out!!  Holy shit my brain is oofffffff, it took me an hour to figure out what I was writing… damn you TV!!!  Every time I look at it, I forget what I’m writing about, and now this entry is way too effing long.

Anyways, while this Icelandic eruption was relatively small, it’s causing a stir over whether it not it will be a precursor to a much larger eruption from the nearby Katla volcano, so I’ll keep you posted on what happens….. by flying over and camping out.  I watched the video below on mute, so I don’t know if there’s any chatter in there, I’m assuming there is… enjoy!