I Apologize

Look, I know I should not post this photo on my blog.  It is disgusting and will render anything I say about half as credible from here on out.  I know.  But jeez!  Talk about your bad roller coaster rides!  I think what makes me laugh so much at this - aside from the hilarious looks on the other faces as the poor fellow in front unswallows - is that when I was a kid, a similar thing happened to me. 

I was about ten and we were at the carnival at the State Fair.  I wanted to go on a ride that basically just went around in circles - like the Tilt-A-Whirl it goes around pretty fast and then at various angles, but unlike the Tilt-A-Whirl on this one you sat rather than stood.  No one else wanted to go, so I went and was seated with a pretty fat kid about my age.  I say fat, and what I mean is that he was about my age and height, but probably weighed double what I did.  He was big enough that I was trying really hard to figure out centrifugal force before we got on the ride so I wouldn't be squashed when the whirling began.  Turns out that being squashed was not the worst thing that could happen on this ride. 

Being a big kid, within about fifteen loops on the spin cycle, I became aware of sounds next to me that tweaked my intuition.  I am not sure what they were, but whatever sounds they were my mind immediately posted Threat Level Red.  Sure enough, it was only seconds later when that sound - the squelched half choke, half groan that always accompanies regurgitation - came from the lump of unprocessed cotton candy, corn dog and sno-cone sitting beside me.  THAT sound, was followed by the next expected input...a huge, and surround sound-like SPLAT - the surround effect coming from the fact that the ejected material, having been deployed in a circle after all, does indeed splash down all around you.  The elevated aluminum platform of the ride only amplified the sound.  You know it now, if you are still reading, just as I knew it then:  the next sounds would be: first, gasps of shock and revulsion, second, a few stray "Oh my God"  and  "did that kid just puke?" remarks, and then finally, the ultimate in competitive barfing...yep, the sympathy heave.  This large kid, who had only seconds before been full of fair food for a family of four, had achieved the ultimate and elusive goal of any big-time vomit prankster: a multiple sympathy heave.  Once I realized that my inside seat had saved me from a marinated scone and Coke shower, I was free to fully appreciate the large-scale destruction from  my elevated perch.  The big kid had managed to hurl through 270 degrees of the circle, careful or fortunate only to spew in the area occupied by the people waiting for their turn and a group of parents waiting for their kids to exit the ride.  The empty part of the perimeter was also the quadrant of the platform that His Eminence, the Bishop of Barf, left unsullied.  Amazing!  This kid could set a record - volume, accuracy, composition and even the extremely rare multiple sympathy heave!  Two women - looking back I realize that of course they were not mothers, who would have shrugged this off like every other unfortunate bodily function that had assailed them as they raised their little bundles of joy - who appeared to be with dates were caught up in the moment and almost instantly 'applauded' the big kid's effort with smaller imitations of their own.  smaller, but sincere, it seemed to me.  Fitting tribute.

So, I hope that you'll forgive me this disgusting and low-class photo...no doubt the memory of the Roundup Cleanup makes this picture much funnier for me than for any of you.  Sorry.

Technorati Tags: barf,Goliath 2008 vomit,puke,heave,hurl,throw up,funny pictures,funny photos,gross

EMT: Travolta 'Amazing'

RADAR magazine obtained an interview with Marcus Garvey, the crew chief for the emergency team that responded to the emergency call at the Travolta's Bahamas home.  The sad details of the death of Travolta's son Jett have been widely published, and I usually don't follow celebrity events very closely, let alone write about them.  But I do often check out Radar because I like Steve Huff and his writing, and when I checked Radar today I saw the article interviewing Mr. Garvey.  In the article Garvey says:

"John and Kelly insisted on traveling in the ambulance with Jett. Garvey reveals that John was holding his son's hand and saying, "Come on Jett."

Garvey told RADAR that Kelly was rubbing Jett's hand, saying, "Come on baby, come on Jett." She was in tears.

Jett was pronounced dead at the hospital and when the ordeal was over, amazingly, John Travolta wanted to express his gratitude to Garvey for his effort. "He tapped me on the shoulder and said 'good job, good job,'" Garvey told RADAR.

It is of course heart-rending for any parent to contemplate the loss of one's child.  It is a sign of character to me that in the throes of such a loss Mr. Travolta thought to speak to the EMT who had worked to save his son, and in his way to thank him for what he had done.  It was a generous thing to do. 

Radar's EXCLUSIVE interview here

 

Technorati Tags: Radar Magazine

Yellowstone Quake Swarm Update 10

There really isn't news to report about the series of earthquakes that had been occurring at Yellowstone Park for the last week.  The news is really that after over 500 earthquakes in a very small area over the course of six-plus days, there have been none since yesterday just after midnight (approaching two days ago, actually). 

A very quiet earthquake list for the Yellowstone Lake area

Dr. Robert B. Smith, Research Professor of Geology & Geophysics at the University of Utah, and Director of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory  Dr. Robert Smith bio

I'll be looking for interpretation from Dr. Smith and the team that has been studying the Yellowstone volcano system for many years, because even to them this was a unique event.  To me it felt very much like the magma chamber beneath Lake Yellowstone had either swollen or broken through a barrier and was moving to the Northeast during this period.  The webcorder movements were really hectic and seemed to show almost constant vibration in the area - and contrary to some web posters beliefs, this could not be accounted for by wind or other phenomena as the sensors are buried in specially designed borings several hundred feet down.  Even Katrina couldn't tweak those gauges!  Almost as suddenly as it had started, the swarm stopped, as if the moving magma had finally come up against a barrier that it didn't break through or move around.  Fortunately, this movement seems to have been achieved without creating a steam vent - which would likely have triggered at the least a geothermal explosion and at worst a supervolcanic eruption. 

The most fascinating thing about this was that it was clearly an event which was unprecedented - not in history, but in the recorded experience of human beings.  Even the best qualified people had no real way to predict what the activity meant - they could only rely on statistical likelihood based on historical events to discuss what may happen next.  Of the five things Dr. Smith had mentioned leading up to a hydrothermal explosion or supervolcanic eruption, four were present in this case.  The only one that was not noted was an increase in volcanic gasses.  Who knows if the magma movement was more or less routine and the magma was simply able to move more rapidly than is typical through an area where there was minimal resistance, until a after nearly a week a more formidable barrier was finally encountered?  Will this be the end of the quake swarm, or will it resume in the near future and continue for weeks, as some do?  Could these quakes have created new tension instead of releasing it, and a large quake be next?  Might the magma again break through and trigger an explosive event?  I really don't think that, beyond knowing the relative historical frequency of each type of event, anyone can really say what this all means, or what will happen next. 

My smallish mind interpreted what I was seeing and reading as magma movement-related, but that wasn't how Dr. Smith and his colleagues were seeing the same information.  According to Dr. Smith, the earthquake swarm was more of a major seismic event rather than a major volcanic event.   That is, it was related to faults and plate movements mostly and NOT to magma movement.  If anyone is one the fence on this, I say GO WITH THE GUY WHO HAS SPENT 30+ YEARS STUDYING YELLOWSTONE!  Still, I am eager to see anything they come up with concerning this event. And I'll be sure to post whatever I do find, so stay tuned.

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone Supervolcano,Yellowstone Quake Swarm,Quakes,Earthquakes,hydrothermal explosion

New Scanner Takes Stunning Images of Internal Organs

excerpted from an article by Lisa Zyga (article here at inventorspot.com)

Philips Medical Systems has recently unveiled a new medical scanner that can take images of the inside of the body with stunning precision.

While older scanners would have taken hours to perform a full-body CT scan, the Brilliance scanner can complete a full-body scan in less than a minute. The new scanner also reduces a patient's radiation exposure by up to 80% compared with other CT scanners.

Technorati Tags: CT Scanner,New Medical Technology,Brilliance Scanner

Too Much Fiber?

What do you get when breakfast is a flax and  bran muffin, spirulina drops, a prune and a large coffee? 

Answer: Severe mid-commute spatter cone activity!  This is a gal after my own heart!  Notice the dude in the background.  Does he think she really just made this boom-boom?

Technorati Tags: Funny pictures,funny photos,humor

Colder Weather Spurs Late Revival of Arctic Ice

Arctic Research Center:  Sea Ice Ends Year at Same Level as 1979

 
  

  "Thirty years of sea ice data. The record begins at 1979, the year satellite observations began (Source: Arctic Research Center, University of Illinois)

Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close. "        

--Michael Asher (Blog) - January 1, 2009  Link to full entry

Arctic sea ice decreased significantly through much of last year, but satellite data shows the trend was reversed late in the year, with the rate of increase from September to year end showing the fastest rate of change on record - either for rate of increase or rate of decrease.  According to the University of Illinois's Arctic Climate Research Center as reported in the Dailytech.com blog above, the information is collected via satellite observation of the Northern and Southern hemisphere polar regions.  This is the method used to calculate snow cover data as well.

Sea ice is a very useful indicator of short-term trends because it forms and melts much more quickly than the huge and thick ice sheets anchored to bedrock in Antarctica and around the Arctic Circle.  In the last quarter of 2008, the thinner sea ice had less snow cover than the ice sheets to insulate it from the bitterly cold air, and therefore grew much faster than expected, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The Arctic Research Center report (Arctic Research Center Website) uses a system based upon the mean ice anomaly - a measurement which reflects the difference between the current sea ice value and the mean sea ice value for the period between 1979 and 2000 (1979 is the year satellite data first began to be used for this purpose).  The above image shows the mean sea ice anomaly value at near 1, about where it was in 1979.  Note that as late as September the word "unprecedented" was frequently being attached to predictions of low sea ice levels:

http://geology.com/news/2008/arctic-sea-ice-levels.shtml

arctic-sea-ice-in-death-spiral-second-lowest-on-record

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17912_3-10043977-72.html

This is just one of the many ways that science continues to learn about the processes, causes and effects, and the historical record for climate related processes on earth.  Because the record is so complex, it can be very difficult to model the future based on data from multiple and variable sources, collected by different means and over a very short period of time, in terms of the planetary history.  Clearly, science does not yet understand all of the earth's processes or the complex interrelationships that drive them. 

By way of disclaimer, though, please note that merely publishing reports that do not conform to global warming doctrine at face value does not in any way indicate that I am a denier.  I am uncomfortable with many definitive statements that are made concerning earth processes for which we have only cursory and recent data to interpret.  However, that does not mean that we should conduct ourselves as if our activities have no impact on the planet.  Clearly they do, and to whatever extent science ultimately demonstrates, human actions are wasteful and have an unnecessary impact on the ecosystems and processes of the planet.  I prefer to take a logic-based approach in this case rather than an empirical approach where facts are tough to demonstrate.  The logic-based approach, as I see it (and no doubt Gifford Pinchot would concur), is simply to conserve our natural resources, minimize the footprint of humans to the greatest practical degree, and to conduct our future designs, economy and collective lifestyle with as great an emphasis on preserving the natural processes and resources of the earth as we can manage.  By taking this approach, the objective of the current global warming proponents can be met without the need of introducing political agenda and public relations into the scientific process.  The need to prove that each wasteful or polluting activity is having grave consequences right now is moot, if the guiding principal is conservation. 

Oh, and yes, I realize that is idealistic.  Once we have uniformly adopted conservation I propose we move on to world peace. 

Technorati Tags: Sea Ice increases,global warming,climate change,climate science,climate change reporting

McDonald's Employee in Olympia Thwarts Kidnapping Attempt on Child

by Michele Johansen & Lexie Tigre

Examiner.com Seattle Story

excerpted from Examiner.com Seattle:

On December 19, 18 year-old Serenity LaChappelle saved a little girl from an attempted kidnapping at a McDonald's in Olympia. The story begins earlier that morning when Sheila Brown left her two children, Kasia, who is 8, and Devon, who is 10, at the Olympia library. Brown was in the process of moving her family to a homeless shelter in Olympia from one in Tacoma. Due to the snow, the library closed early and then Devon and Kasia went to the McDonald's across the street to wait for their mother.

While at the front counter, police allege that Richard Earl Knauss went up to the two kids and grabbed the girl on her shoulder. He instructed her to go with him but the young girl refused. She looked to LaChappelle, a McDonald's employee, for help and insisted she did not know the man. LaChappelle recalls, "She looked at me and she goes, 'I don't know him. I don't know him.'" LaChappelle then said to Knauss, "Sir. She says she does not know you. Please don't touch her." And with that, LaChappelle struggled with Knauss but was able to pull the girl over the counter to safety and then pulled her brother over as well.

Knauss ran away but was quickly found by police. He denied involvement and claimed he was not even at McDonald's. He later recanted his story but has pleaded not guilty to second-degree kidnapping.

It was heartwarming to read about LaChappelle's bravery, since it seems rare that situations such as these make the news. I know it is tempting to look at this and automatically look to the mother and judge her actions. Yes, these children are young and were left alone. Times hard, people, and I ask you to remember that she and her family were moving to a homeless shelter. Instead of focusing on that, think about LaChappelle and be thankful there really are heroes among us.

Technorati Tags: McDonald's Worker Thwarts Kidnapping,Child Abduction

Yellowstone Quake Swarm Update 9

Today has continued calm around Yellowstone Lake.  There has been just one earthquake today, just after midnight, and the ground shaking on the webcorders maintained by the University of Utah have also shown dramatically reduced activity.  This could indicate that the movement of magma underground has stopped, possibly due to blockage.  The most recent quakes were all at the northeast end of the lake, though, just where many of the largest hydrothermal explosions have occurred in the past - creating Mary Bay among many other features.  Time will tell if this calm represents the end of the swarm, or something else.  I'll post more updates if events warrant. 

 

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone Supervolcano,Yellowstone Quake Swarm,Yellowstone

Yellowstone Quake Swarm Update 8

Things seem to be quieter this evening, perhaps following a pattern that has been ongoing since the swarm began - very active periods followed by calm periods.  We'll see if things get busy again by morning.  In the meantime, there was finally an update from Dr. Smith, reported by www.kutv.com...:

"By Friday, January 2nd, Smith said over 500 tremors had been recorded around the north end of Yellowstone Lake. The biggest quake was a magnitude 3.9 - not big enough to cause damage. “This is a big deal”, said Smith, who has been studying the volcanic and geothermal activity at Yellowstone for over 30 years. There have been clusters, or “swarms” of quakes at Yellowstone before, but not this many for this long says Smith. “What’s important about them is that this is not normal, not usual to have these longer swarms so we pay particular scientific attention to them in terms of how they might relate to faults or to geysers or other hydrothermal features,” said Smith. "

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone Quakes Swarm,Yellowstone Supervolcano

Yellowstone Quake Swarm Update 7

The earthquakes continue again today for the sixth day at Yellowstone.  Since midnight there have been nine quakes, and three greater than 3.1 magnitude.  The webcorders continue to show near constant ground movement, and it is possible that there have been more than these nine reported events as the seismologist reviews have been taking a while with so many events to review.  As of this morning there are 330 quakes shown on the list since last Saturday, but I notice that events that occurred yesterday are being added today, and the Yellowstone Volcano Center indicated that there have been over 400 yesterday, so that number could be much higher.  This morning's two most recent quakes - a 3.6 and a 3.1 - were located right at the north end of the lake.  The last two quakes were not only larger than normal in the swarm, but they were even closer to the surface - .18 kilometers and .1 kilometers.  This very shallow activity is what has me wondering if there will be a hydrothermal explosion.

From the US News blog on this event - quoting an email from a Splunk member who crunched the numbers:

"I'm sending you this email with some information I've gleaned from the USGS archives.  I'm analyzing the ANSS data (http://www.ncedc.org/cnss/) in an install of Splunk, which is a timeline based search and reporting engine.  I have 30 years of data in the system, with about 2M quakes total. 
Using  the ANSS data, I discovered the number of 2.5 or higher quakes in the *general* Yellowstone area for the decade of the 1980s was 128.  The number of 2.5 or higher quakes for the region directly around the lake in the *last 4 days* was 30. 
Again, for 2.5 mag or greater quakes:
Entire region of Yellowstone for 10 years = 128 quakes
Area just around Yellowstone Lake last 4 Days = 30 quakes
The entire 1980s of 2.5 or higher quakes in the vicinity of the lake was a paltry 4 quakes.  Doing a quick back of the envelope calculation using the number of quakes and the intensities, the  activity over the last 4 days has released roughly 100x the amount of energy released in the entire 1980s for the same general region.  In the last week alone there have been 10 quakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater around the lake, with one as high as 3.8."

Links:

US News Blog discussing the past frequency of quakes

Illustration of the current Quake Swarm at Yellowstone

NEIC Earthquake List

Animation map

These show the webcorders just minutes ago - more jumps:

www.quake.utah.edu...
www.quake.utah.edu...
www.quake.utah.edu...
www.quake.utah.edu...

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone Supervolcano,Yellowstone Quake Swarm

Another Theodore Roosevelt Gem

If we begin to think that the corruption we see in Washington and on Wall Street is something new, we need only read up on the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.  It is not new.  The abbreviated version is contained in the following quote:

"A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad."
                                                        --Theodore Roosevelt

Technorati Tags: Theodore Roosevelt quotes,Quotes,Wall Street corruption

Yellowstone Quake Swarm Update 6

There is a new statement from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory tonight.  One interesting item to be gleaned is that though scientists have been reviewing the many quakes as rapidly as possible, they are at a point where they've only been able to analyze the larger quakes in the swarms, and have a backlog of as many as 400 events in the series yet to evaluate.  That is quite a backlog, and as long as the quake activity remains anywhere near the volume of the last five days, the backlog will only grow. 

Using the guarded language one would expect, the statement indicates that scientists are considering the possibility of hydrothermal explosions, or less likely, volcanic events, but it reads to me that they simply don't have the data available to predict what the follow on might likely be, and therefore rely on the statistically small likelihood that this is anything other than a larger than normal, longer than normal series of quakes.  Only time will tell. 

"The December 2008 earthquake sequence is the most intense in this area for some years. No damage has been reported within Yellowstone National Park, nor would any be expected from earthquakes of this size. The swarm is in a region of historical earthquake activity and is close to areas of Yellowstone famous hydrothermal activity. Similar earthquake swarms have occurred in the past in Yellowstone without triggering steam explosions or volcanic activity. Nevertheless, there is some potential for hydrothermal explosions and earthquakes may continue or increase in magnitude. There is a much lower potential for related volcanic activity."

Links:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/

http://www.seis.utah.edu/

http://www.quake.utah.edu/helicorder/heli/yellowstone/index.html

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/

http://pboweb.unavco.org/shared/scripts/stations/?checkkey=WLWY&sec=timeseries_plots&timeseries=raw

 

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone Quake Swarm,Yellowstone supervolcano,Yellowstone Earthquakes

Amazing Photo of San Francisco in Ruins after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire

I just finished reading the book A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester.  I've read about the disaster in San Francisco before, but as usual Winchester's book is a broad, thorough examination written to read as engagingly and pleasantly as a good novel.  It's hard to imagine the destruction of that quake and the fire that followed after.  This picture, taken from a balloon shortly after the fires died down shows just how total the destruction was. 

If you'd like to zoom in for greater detail follow the link:  http://www.abneypark.com/sanfranfromairship.jpg

Technorati Tags: 1906,San Francisco Earthquake,Great San Francisco Earthquake,1906 Quake,Seismic Events

Great Newspaper Ad from Chicago

Seen by Jason and reposted from http://www.37signals.com

Technorati Tags: humor,funny advertisement,funny newspaper ad,funny photos,funny pictures

Yellowstone Quake Swarm Update 5

The number of quakes has declined significantly today, and the webcorders are also showing reduced activity.  This may be the point where the event calms down, or it could be similar to Monday night, when the activity quieted down only to become even more active on Tuesday morning.  We'll see over the next twelve hours or so.  It could also be a precursor to a larger quake like the Hebgen Lake Quake, as there was a swarm followed by relative calm just prior to that event.  Of course, the un likely eruption or hydrothermal explosion is still a possibility,  Finally, the event could go on for weeks, according to Dr. Smith of the University of Utah.  Still no updates from Dr. Smith or his team and it has been since Monday.  The Salt Lake City station KSL reported yesterday that he is in Yellowstone himself monitoring events.  I suppose an update would be unsatisfying anyway, because it would likely include just basic information as it is clear from his earlier comments and follow-up with KSL that the geophysical world just has no data on how supervolcanoes behave prior to eruption or even large hyrdothermal explosions.  This means that many of us will continue to monitor the webcorders, USGS and U of U quake report pages to see what comes next.  Hopefully this will just be an interesting anomalous series of quakes and nothing more.  Hopefully.

The following US Geological Survey chart shows prior supervolcano activity in graphic form for reference on the relative size of the Yellowstone system:

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone Supervolcano,Yellowstone Quake Swarm,Hydrothermal explosion

NO! Absolutely No!

From Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weiner

http://www.smbc-comics.com/

Technorati Tags: comics online,humor,funny photos,funny pictures

Obama's Notes on his First Day

Comic by Wolf Morganthaler

http://www.wulffmorgenthaler.com/

Technorati Tags: comics online,funny photos,funny pictures,humor

Yellowstone Quake Swarm Update 4

The earthquakes continue this morning with ten quakes since midnight in the area of Yellowstone Lake.  This is a slower pace than we've seen, but the live webcorders seem to indicate a lot of harmonic activity continuing as well.  And the quakes have come in groups  with gap intervals over the past few days, so we'll have to see how day 5 finishes.  Here is the latest activity:

January 1, 2008 12:51 PM Earthquake List

Interesting Related Links:

Yellowstone Rising

Yellowstone Rising Map

3D Map of Yellowstone Magma Chamber

US News Interview with Chief Scientist at Yellowstone

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone supervolcano,Yellowstone Quake Swarm

Lowest Sunspot Activity Since 1900 Tied to Temperature Drop Over the Past Two Years?

The average temperature on earth has declined over the past two years by about half a degree Celsius - an amount that similar to the temperature increases reported over the past century.  This year may be the coldest on record in the past century.  All four major global temperature tracking outlets (Hadley, NASA's GISS, UAH, RSS) reported that during the period of January 2007 to January 2008, global temperatures have dropped significantly.   2008 has set a number of records for cold and snowfall.  In the U.S., NOAA recorded over 60 local snowfall records and more than 100 all-time low temperatures for the month of October.

This cooling trend - whatever its cause - was not predicted by climate models.  It was, however, predictable, at least according to some scientists who study sunspot activity.  Since 2000, sunspot activity has been in decline, and this year sunspot activity has matched an inactivity level not seen since the early 1900s.  The sunspot activity on the sun ordinarily follows an 11 year cycle where the activity peaks and then slows.  It isn't unusual to record 100 sunspots in a single month, and then as then cycle winds down, the number can decline to near zero.  Typically, a new cycle begins fairly quickly, but not this year.  Through July of this year the average monthly total  was three, and in August there were none recorded. 

According to the publication Daily Tech, over the last 1,000 years, there have been three previous similar events — known as the Dalton, Maunder and Sporer Minimums.  These events have each corresponded to rapid cooling. The largest came to be known as the Little Ice Age (1500-1750).  Geoscientists have found excellent correlations between periods of warming and cooling on earth and sunspot activity. 

http://www.oar.noaa.gov/spotlite/archive/spot_sunclimate.html

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7y.html

That is not to say that human activity is a non-contributor to global climate.  But it is interesting to note the sunspot activity and the apparent correlation to global temperatures.  It will be interesting and to see if this period of cooling is prolonged, and should it be, may be a hidden benefit in that it may offset some of the climate change predicted to occur in the next century, giving us an extension that seems to be much needed in reducing the impact of human activity on climate.

Technorati Tags: Climate change,sunspots,sunspot climate impact

Happy New Year from Seattle!

Technorati Tags: Happy New Year,2009

Yellowstone Quake Swarm Update 3

It is interesting to note how much the ground deformation change instruments are indicating that the surface is rising at an increased rate in the area of the microquakes.  Does this, combined with the continued quakes under the area of the dome, and the area where most hydrothermal explosions have occurred indicate something is brewing?  I don't know, and I don't think the scientists know either.  It is somewhat strange that Dr. Smith has made no comments again today despite increasing focus on the phenomena.  Strange, but not necessarily meaningful.  Necessarily. 

 

Here are today's quakes at the north end of Yellowstone Lake:

 MAG    DATE    LOCAL-TIME  LAT     LON    DEPTH    LOCATION
        y/m/d     h:m:s     deg     deg     km

 2.1  2008/12/31 22:29:09 44.507N 110.309W  1.5   64 km (40 mi) SSW of  Cooke City-Silver Gate, MT
 2.2  2008/12/31 22:19:51 44.509N 110.350W  1.7   62 km (39 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.5  2008/12/31 08:05:00 44.514N 110.360W  1.1   61 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 3.3  2008/12/31 08:02:11 44.523N 110.361W  4.9   61 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.5  2008/12/31 05:50:01 44.518N 110.368W  2.0   61 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.1  2008/12/31 05:46:53 44.520N 110.362W  2.0   61 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.9  2008/12/31 05:42:06 44.519N 110.367W  0.1   61 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.6  2008/12/31 05:26:56 44.501N 110.385W  2.2   60 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.4  2008/12/31 05:23:52 44.520N 110.371W  1.0   60 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.7  2008/12/31 04:52:19 44.503N 110.371W  0.4   61 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.3  2008/12/31 04:40:04 44.526N 110.368W  2.2   60 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.6  2008/12/31 04:25:24 44.516N 110.376W  1.8   60 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.4  2008/12/31 04:25:11 44.523N 110.364W  2.2   61 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.4  2008/12/31 04:22:16 44.520N 110.382W  2.2   59 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 2.7  2008/12/31 04:15:44 44.522N 110.372W  1.2   60 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.5  2008/12/31 04:12:40 44.516N 110.373W  0.6   60 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.8  2008/12/31 04:08:59 44.532N 110.381W  0.4   59 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 0.6  2008/12/31 04:08:34 44.527N 110.367W  2.1   60 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 2.4  2008/12/31 04:06:14 44.520N 110.371W  1.2   60 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.9  2008/12/31 04:05:12 44.532N 110.380W  0.3   59 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.3  2008/12/31 03:53:29 44.520N 110.364W  2.2   61 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 0.9  2008/12/31 03:52:59 44.504N 110.381W  2.1   60 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.5  2008/12/31 03:52:23 44.546N 110.394W  0.7   58 km (36 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.9  2008/12/31 03:43:37 44.524N 110.372W  1.5   60 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 0.9  2008/12/31 03:26:38 44.523N 110.367W  0.0   61 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.1  2008/12/31 03:26:01 44.532N 110.381W  2.0   59 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.8  2008/12/31 03:23:43 44.530N 110.380W  1.0   59 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.2  2008/12/31 03:23:07 44.529N 110.380W  0.9   59 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.5  2008/12/31 03:21:49 44.521N 110.373W  2.1   60 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 1.4  2008/12/31 03:16:44 44.527N 110.367W  0.8   60 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 3.6  2008/12/31 02:02:28 44.525N 110.362W  4.3   61 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 3.0  2008/12/31 01:58:11 44.527N 110.369W  1.3   60 km (37 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT
 3.3  2008/12/29 12:14:49 44.521N 110.369W  1.8   60 km (38 mi) ESE of  West Yellowstone, MT

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone Quake Swarm,Yellowstone Supervolcano

What to Do When A Mob Threatens?

Well, if you were a sea captain thinking of mutineers, or a bank guard worried about a mob breaking in, AND you lived in the early 1800s this type of weapon would be just the ticket.  There are many varieties of so-called "Duckfoot" guns, all with multiple barrels designed to be fired at once.  This one has eight barrels, a barbed handle and a blade to help with any follow-on hand-to-hand fighting that may ensure discharging the weapon.  It would have to be a pretty resolute mob, though, after facing down eight .45 caliber lead balls fired at them...

Technorati Tags: Duckfoot guns,firearms,guns,weapons

Combing the Map

Technorati Tags: online comics,funny,humor

Yellowstone Quake Swarm Update 2

 

The scale on this is eight miles on a side, and the diagram is courtesy of a discussion board member called Shirakawa.  This represents the magnitude, depth and location of the earthquakes in this series of quakes beneath the North end of Yellowstone Lake.

A correction of an earlier comment on hydrothermal explosions : "an explosion 13,800 years ago left a 5 kilometer diameter crater at Mary Bay on the edge of Yellowstone Lake (located in the center of the caldera)." --FEMA Region VIII statement issued today.

Updated Map and listing of quakes at Yellowstone this week (incomplete as there are so many quakes that seismologist review is taking up to a day): Recent Yellowstone Quakes

The swarm has reintensified today after a slight drop in activity yesterday.  It is interesting to note that the quakes continue to occur in the area of Yellowstone Lake beneath the dome on the lake's floor, and in the vicinity of most of the hydrothermal explosions on record.  Like most people watching this interesting swarm, I'd love to hear from the U of U director, even if they aren't clear about what the quakes mean, to get an idea of what they are thinking.  Still, I guess they cannot speculate too much, as spooking people would be a bad thing to do.  So, we wait, watch and will see...

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone Quake Swarm,Yellowstone Supervolcano,Yellowstone Earthquakes,volcano

A Bad Influence

From F minus Website

This online comic is always funny. 

Technorati Tags: comics online,humor,funny pictures,funny photos

Yellowstone Earthquake Swarm Update

Illustration of a Yellowstone eruption from the Discovery Channel/BBC co-production 'Supervolcano'.

The small earthquakes are continuing today in the caldera at Yellowstone National Park, with a couple of mid-sized events near and above 3:

Recent Quake List 

Yellowstone Quake Map

It is clear that no one is sure what, if any larger significance these events will have, in terms of a volcanic or hydrothermal event, but geophysicists and geologists are keeping close watch.  FEMA has announced that it is monitoring the events.  Why?  Well, it is possible that the tremors are a precursor to an eruption, though the odds are low, as such events occur only every 600,000 years, or so.  Still, it has been approximately 640,000 years since the last supervolcano eruption at Yellowstone, and even events that happen only rarely all happen at a precise moment in time. 

Another possibility, and one more likely, it appears, is for a hydrothermal explosion.  This occurs much more frequently and can vary widely in size.  A hydrothermal explosion occurs when superheated water finds it's way to the surface and the reduced pressure creates an explosive release.  There are ten of these craters at Yellowstone, and they vary widely in size.  Debris can be thrown hundreds of feet to tens of miles in such explosions.  It is interesting to note that the cluster of small quakes now underway in Yellowstone are all in an area at the Northern end of Yellowstone Lake, the same area where most of the hydrothermal explosions in the Park have occurred over time (look for the stars in this map):

Yellowstone Volcanic Events Map

Streaming video of Old Faithful: Old Faithful Webcam Streaming Live

So, just what kind of event is about to happen, if any?  Most people's gut reaction is probably right - that is, to have a passing thought about cataclysm, think twice about going for a snowmobile run around Yellowstone Lake, and go on with a regular day.  Without 'showing your work' as math teachers like to say, this thought process reflects complex math and risk assessment.  That is, it gives weight to each of the several possibilities approximately according to their likely occurrence. 

The story has begun to get press- after four days - worldwide, but still the only comments from Dr. Smith for the record are from Monday morning, and tell us that this is unusual and we don't know what it may indicate.

If you're interested in the seismograph images for the area: University of Utah Seismograph Webcorders

If you're interested in a visual interpretation of the quake swarm check out:  Yellowstone Earthquake Swarm December 2008

If you'd like to investigate the dome-building activity go here: Yellowstone ground deformation data

Additional links:

Volcanic Locations near Yellowstone Lake

US News Article with discussion of supervolcano intensity scale

Google Blog Search for Yellowstone Quake Swarm

Google News Search

Geologic History of Yellowstone and Direction of North American Plate Movement

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone supervolcano,yellowstone quake Swarm,Yellowstone hydrothermal explosion,micro quakes at Yellowstone

Can you Blame Her?

 

I like this comic strip, which can be found at http://jasonlove.com/

Technorati Tags: funny pictures,funny photos. comics online,humor

How to Ensure a Snow Day at School

 

And how much trouble we're in is determined by whether the faculty was inside at the time, or outside...

Technorati Tags: funny photos,funny pictures,humor

Real Life and Flip Flopping

From Bizzaro by Dan Piraro, a comic I almost always crack up out loud when reading:

Read the strip and blog at http://www.bizarro.com/

Technorati Tags: comics online,online comics

Moses, Cut the Crap!

 

If you know the author, please let me know and I'll credit him. 

Not the Colonel!

These are two great examples of a very funny comic by Doug Bratton and found at www.popculturecomics.com

 

Technorati Tags: comics,comics online,funny pictures,humor

I DO NOT Have a Weight Problem

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Comics,funny pictures,humor

Is it Hard for you to Wake up?

 

If you know the author is this bit, please tell me and I'll credit them.

Technorati Tags: Comics,funny pictures,humor

There is Something Worse...

 

If you know who produced this comic, please let me know and I'll credit them.  Very funny, eh? 

Technorati Tags: Winter sucks,comics,humor,funny pictures,humorous pictures

Yellowstone Earthquake Swarm

Over the past several days, something that may just be very unusual has been occurring in ancient caldera in Yellowstone National Park.  Over 250 micro earthquakes have occurred during that brief time, and while earthquake swarms are not uncommon in themselves, either at Yellowstone or other volcanoes, several aspects of this current swarm make it unusual, and therefore very interesting.

First, the many small earthquakes are not only occurring rapidly, but they are occurring in a very small area, less than one kilometer across.  They are also happening in Yellowstone lake just below, and immediately around the location of a dome on the floor of the lake - discovered only recently. 

Second, the quakes are generally very shallow.  Several have been less than .3 kilometers from the surface, and the average depth is about 2.5 kilometers, which places them at about the same depth as the magma chamber that drives the geothermal engine at Yellowstone, fueling the geysers.

Third, the quakes are occurring within the caldera itself, while the smaller swarms of 1985, 1995 and 2004 all occurred outside the caldera, nearer to Hebgen lake.  It is very likely that the quakes are related to magma movement through the geophysical system at Yellowstone, but it seems to be unclear to scientists at this time whether the quakes are a precursor to some sort of eruption, or just a particularly active set of routine quakes.  said Robert Smith, a professor of geophysics at the University of Utah said that "they're certainly not normal", and added that "we might be seeing something precursory. "

In the past couple of years seismologists have inched closer to developing a predictive technique to allow warnings before eruptions.  This technique was used to prevent loss of life in the eruption of Popocatepetl in 2000.  It indicates that sometimes harmonic tremors and quake swarms can predict volcanic eruptions. 

Likely the swarms at Yellowstone are just a larger than usual magma movement event, and no eruption is imminent.  At least, we'd best hope so, because the world's largest supervolcano would almost certainly cause immeasurable destruction both in the area within 100 miles and indeed around the world.  Some links to follow the action:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/

http://www.seis.utah.edu/

http://www.quake.utah.edu/helicorder/heli/yellowstone/index.html

http://www.quake.utah.edu/recenteqs/Maps/111-45.html

http://quake.utah.edu/req2webdir/recenteqs/Maps/Yellowstone_full.html

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Yellowstone Quake Swarm,Yellowstone supervolcano

Edible Dirt

Technorati Tags: humor,comics,funny,Edible Dirt

If you haven't seen Matt Rosemier's comic Edible Dirt, you should check it out today!  http://eddirt.frozenreality.co.uk/index.php?id=530

Stop, Drop and Roll

 

This Modern Life

Who has What it Takes to be an Assassin?

The CIA had an opening for an assassin. After
all of the background checks, interviews, and
testing were done there were three finalists
Two men and One woman. For the final test,
the CIA agents took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun.
"We must know that you will follow your instructions,
no matter what the circumstances. Inside this
room you will find your wife sitting in a chair.
You have to kill her."
The first man said."You cannot be serious. I
could never shoot my wife,"
The agent replies, "Then you're not the right
man for this job."
The second man was given the same instructions.
He took the gun and went into the room. All was
quiet for about five minutes. Then the agent
came out with tears in his eyes. "I tried, but
I can't kill my wife." The agent replies, "You
don't have what it takes. Take your wife and
go home."
Finally, it was the woman's turn. Only she
was told to kill her husband. She took the gun
and went into the room. Shots were heard, one
shot after another. They heard screaming, crashing,
banging on the walls. After a few minutes, all
was quiet. The door opened slowly and there stood
the woman. She wiped the sweat from her brow
and said, "You guys didn't tell me the gun was
loaded with blanks. I had to beat him to death
with the chair."

Technorati Tags: CIA joke,Assassin joke

Empathy Deficit Disorder

Technorati Tags: Empathy Deficit Disorder,Psychology

adapted from the Toronto Star (link at the end)

According to Dr. Orlaith Fraser's , modern humankind's collective inability to genuinely identify with others has lead to a new problem: Empathy Deficit Disorder.

Empathy is often misunderstood to be sympathy, but empathy is quite different from sympathy.  The original German term  for empathy means "feeling into" as opposed to "feeling with."  Empathy is not merely realizing that someone else's feeling would be pleasant, or unpleasant.  That's sympathy.  Empathy is understanding what they are feeling, and relating it to times in your life when you may have felt similarly.

In Liverpool, Dr. Orlaith Fraser's fascinating study of chimps and conflict resolution shows that our closest evolutionary ancestors almost certainly are capable of empathy.   The research found that after a display of aggression, other chimps would often console the victimized chimp with hugs or kisses.

"This study removes doubt that consolation really does what the term suggests: provide relief to distressed parties after conflict," Dr. Frans de Waal of the Yerkes Primate Center at Emory University in Atlanta told The Associated Press.

"The evidence is compelling and makes it likely that consolation behaviour is an expression of empathy."

So how can humans make each other feel better?

There is an art to empathy.

In his new book Trading Places, Dr. Les Parrott, a clinical psychologist and his wife, Leslie, a family therapist, advise readers on how to build a better marriage (and, no, it doesn't involve marrying someone with the same first name).

Parrott says he's often fantasized about being able to "literally hand out a box of mutual empathy – the revolutionary tool for instantly improving a relationship."

We caught up with him by phone for a game of five questions.

Q: Where has our empathy gone?

A: Any time you're under pressure or stressed or hungry or angry, you're not going to be empathetic. What most people don't understand is that empathy involves both your head and your heart.

And most of us think we're being pretty generous when we do one or the other, when we analyze or sympathize, and that's only halfway there.

Q: What are the signs of Empathy Deficit Disorder?

A: The primary indicator is they just can't seem to recognize your perspective or another person's perspective.

Empathy is that ability to put yourself in somebody else's shoes and imagine what life must be like to be in their skin.

Q: Are women naturally more empathetic beings?

A: Research shows women will fall into sympathizing far more frequently than men and men tend to fall into analyzing far more frequently than women. It's not that either gender is necessarily better at empathy.

Q: Can a person learn empathy?

A: Absolutely. What we discovered in our research is that there are skills that people can pick up on.

There's a school of thought in psychology that says awareness is curative.

Once you become aware of your social style, the more you can do about it.

Q: Is there one social relationship where the empathy deficit is most apparent?

A: Marriage is by far and away the most likely place. We don't work at it very much; that's why people get stuck in ruts.

Research shows 90 per cent of the things we struggle with in marriage would be resolved if we just saw things from the other person's perspective.

Diana Zlomislic

LIVING REPORTER

Toronto Star

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/451439

A Book is Man's Best Friend...

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."       --Groucho

Technorati Tags: humorous quotes

You Don't Understand. No, I Think it is YOU Who Does Not Understand...

“ When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life. "

The author is unknown to me, as I read the quote online and no attribution was given.  Whoever it was, it was a wonderful bit of insight and one many of us could do with a reminder of.

Technorati Tags: Quotes,wisdom quote,insight

Comics for the Season

A few amusing comics about the season from around the web:

Technorati Tags: comics,funny comics,funny pictures,funny photos,christmas jokes,christmas comics

It May Not Be the Way You or I Would Handle it, but you MUST Admire the way Diaz Walks his Talk

from Zen Moments (original links at end)

"This is the amazing story of Julio Diaz, who was on his way home one evening. His normal routine was to get off the train one stop early, to visit his local diner.  The station platform was empty, but as he was walking towards the stairs something dramatic and unexpected happened.  Suddenly a young teenager came up to Julio, pulled a knife and demanded money.

Julio just handed over his wallet, saying: “Here you go”.

But as the teenager turned to go, Julio said: “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”

The story unfolds with Julio offering to take the teenager to the diner to eat with him. He explains: “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money… I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as simple as it gets in this complicated world.”

When they have finished eating, Julio asks for his wallet back in order to pay for the meal. He then offers to give the teenager $20 in exchange for one thing…

His knife."

http://www.zenmoments.org/victim-treats-mugger-right/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89164759

Technorati Tags: zen moments,walking the talk,mugging,crime,killing with kindness

Love is a Behavior

This is a piece developed to benefit the Swedish national child protection agency. 

Behavior is the Truth
words: Andrew Vachss      art: Frank Caruso

 

Wild Weather over Mt. Rainier

A lenticular cloud has hovered over the state's tallest peak. Seen maybe a dozen times a year, it still looks cool every time.  The cloud is formed when warm, moist air runs into the surface of Mt. Rainier. The mountain's topography forces the air upward, which cools and condenses the air -- turning it into a cloud.
As the air sinks back on the other side of the mountain, it dries out and the cloud dissipates. That's why it just hangs over the summit area.

Photos and explanation from KOMO News 4 in Seattle.

Technorati Tags: Lenticular clouds,Mt. Rainier,unusual weather,weather phenomena

A Sign for Our Times

This is just my way of recognizing a piece of 'news' that I think is front page stuff.  We all expect Navy Seals to be tough, resilient and highly motivated. Even by these high standards, Lieutenant Jason Redman stands out. He is a SEAL – part of the Navy's elite Special Ops team – who took rounds from a machine-gun in his face and arm in Iraq last year. Jason posted a bright orange sign on the door of his hospital room at Bethesda National Naval Medical Center:

Just in case it is hard to read, here is the text:

"Attention to all who enter here. If you are coming into this room with sorrow or to feel sorry for my wounds, go elsewhere. The wounds I received I got in a job I love, doing it for people I love, supporting the freedom of a country I deeply love. I am incredibly tough and will make a full recovery. What is full? That is the absolute utmost physically my body has the ability to recover. Then I will push that about 20 percent further through sheer mental tenacity. This room you are about to enter is a room of fun, optimism, and intense rapid regrowth. If you are not prepared for that, go elsewhere."

Thank you for your service Lieutenant Jason Redman.  And thank you for the inspiration you have brought to many of us without doing anything beyond being yourself.

Refer to the National Review online for additional details of the story. 

Technorati Tags: Navy Seals,Wounded,Sign on the Door

Good or Bad, You get on with it.

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."                                            --Robert Frost

Sometimes the greatest wisdom slips by unnoticed, disguised as ordinary and hidden in plain sight.  I always thought that this statement by Robert Frost was deeply insightful, and to avoid only picking a poet as a surrogate for expressing this wise point of view, it reminds me of the dialogue in Tombstone when Doc Holiday is dying in the sanitarium and Wyatt Earp tells him he just doesn't know how to live anymore.  Holiday's (Val Kilmer's) well-written and well-acted reply was an earnest and soft: "It's just life, Wyatt.  You get on with it."  And really, the more I reflect on this idea, the more I come to feel that there is wisdom enough to live a fine life just by listening and remembering this idea often.  Ultimately, with or without our consent and participation, life goes on.

Technorati Tags: Tombstone,Quotes,Wisdom quote,live now,Robert Frost