An eruption today of the very remote Cleveland volcano in the Aleutian Islands has caused an air traffic alert.
More volcano news: An eruption today of the very remote Cleveland volcano in the Aleutian Islands has caused an air traffic alert.
Year: 2011
Volcanic activity in the Red Sea is producing a new island
Volcanic activity in the Red Sea is producing a brand new island.
The South Pole had its warmest day on record on Christmas Day this year
The South Pole had its warmest day on record on Christmas Day this year.
Before the global warming crowd starts crowing, note that temperatures for December were actually quite normal, not colder or warmer than the average.
Fired employee goes on rampage
An evening pause: I think this is staged, but it’s worth sticking around for the punchline at the end.
Egypt raids the offices of seventeen human rights organizations
How’s that Arab spring working out for you? Egypt today raided the offices of seventeen human rights organizations.
Egyptian soldiers and black-clad police officers swept into offices, interrogated workers and seized computers across the country. Those targeted included U.S. groups the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and Freedom House, which are funded by Congress to monitor elections and promote democracy overseas.
The terraced slopes of Aristarchus
The science team of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter released a spectacular image of the lunar crater Aristarchus on Christmas Day, looking sideways at the crater’s west wall. The image was taken from only 16 miles above the Moon’s surface. You can see the full image here.
Two things to note from this image:
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Unfit to Print
New Rasmussen poll shows Romney beating Obama 45%-39%
A new Rasmussen poll shows Romney beating Obama 45%-39%.
What is more significant about the poll is how poorly Obama stacks up against every other possible candidate. Though he leads all the others, in no case does he get more than 48% of the vote. Even against a non-entity like Gary Johnson Obama only leads 42% to 27%. These numbers suggest that no matter who runs against Obama, the man is toast.
Top 10 Worst Federal Rules of 2011
The top ten worst federal rules of 2011.
All are crippling, but this one is plain stupid:
4. The Equine Equality Rule. As of March 15 (the Ides of March, no less), hotels, restaurants, airlines, and the like became obliged to modify “policies, practices, or procedures” to accommodate miniature horses as service animals. According to the Department of Justice, which administers the rule, miniature horses are a “viable alternative” to dogs for individuals with allergies or for observant Muslims and others whose religious beliefs preclude canine accompaniment.
China issues a white paper on space, outlining its future goals
China today issued a white paper on space, outlining its future goals. In addition to additional launches of its manned Shenzhou manned capsule,
China also plans to launch space laboratories, manned spaceship and space freighters, and will start a research on the preliminary plan for a human landing on the moon, the document said.
As an important part of deep-space exploration, the country’s lunar probe projects follow the idea of “three steps” — orbiting, landing and returning. In next five years, the country plans to launch orbiters for lunar soft landing, roving and surveying to implement the second stage of lunar exploration, then it will start the third-stage project of sampling the moon’s surface matters and get those samples back to Earth, the white paper said.
You can download the full white paper here [pdf]. Hat tip to Spaceref.com.
A Russian minister has threatened dire consequences after a group of Russian bloggers were able to wander freely through a rocket plant for literally days.
A Russian minister is threatening dire consequences after a group of Russian bloggers were able to wander freely through a rocket plant for literally days.
Samoa will skip Friday to flip across the international dateline to be in synch with its major trading partners in Asia
Jumping into the future: Samoa will skip Friday this week as it shifts across the international dateline to be in synch with its major trading partners in Asia.