Earthquake

[SamIam]

Here's an interesting tidbit: NASA scientists claim that the massive earthquake that shook Chile on Saturday may have shifted Earth's axis by about 3 inches (8 centimeters) and shortened its days by about one-millionth of a second.

Damn just when I thought Spring was comimg.

[TheMercenary]

That has to be a good thing.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by SamIam

Here's an interesting tidbit: NASA scientists claim that the massive earthquake that shook Chile on Saturday may have shifted Earth's axis by about 3 inches (8 centimeters) and shortened its days by about one-millionth of a second.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

But the quake did make our days shorter by 1.26 microseconds.

[Pete Zicato]

I'm fairly upset about it. I was having trouble getting all my shit done before. This is just going to make it harder.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Pete Zicato

I'm fairly upset about it. I was having trouble getting all my shit done before. This is just going to make it harder.

And then Congress created daylight savings time. Lose even more time.

Is that another hidden tax?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by skysidhe

I was just reading up on Tsunami.

To be out of the danger zone it's 2 miles in or 100 feet above sea level.

Sidhe, this is the biggie.

[ZenGum]

Re Bruce's link :

1.
2. there is probably a slight inaccuracy in the way it is written. The headline refers to a wave 1,720 feet tall. The graphs indicate that vegetation was stripped up to this altitude, which still rates as OMG, but does not mean the wave was 1,720 feet tall. That is the "run-on height", the distance the wave climbs up the land before losing energy.
There was a giant asteroid movie about ten years ago - Armageddon? - in which a chunk of the asteroid hit the Atlantic ocean and sent a tsunami onto North America. They got the physics of the wave pretty much right. A 200 foot wave could run a thousand feet up a hill with the right conditions.

Think for a moment about the landslide that started the Alaskan wave. Here are my back-of-envelope numbers, I think I calculated the acceleration correctly but my fellow nerds are invited to check: 30 million cubic metres, at average crustal density of 5 tons per cubic metre, yields about 150 million tons of rock. Falling from 900 metres (assuming no friction) would take about 13 seconds and deliver a final velocity around 130 m/s, or 488km/h - a little under 300 mph.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by SamIam

This picture from Boston.com really intrigued me. I wonder if the rescuers mistook the dog's whining for a human being. Its a sweet picture but shouldn't they have been digging up man, not man's best friend?

I'd like to think, that if my village was levelled by an earthquake or other natural disaster, the rescue services would pull Pilau from the wreckage if they heard him whining.

Y'just pull out whatever is alive and rescuable.

[SamIam]

Of course I would want my kittens rescued. I luv them. But I would feel terrible if they were rescued at the expense of a human life. That was my only concern.

[classicman]

I really doubt that if the rescuers heard an animal in one place and a person in another that they would concentrate their efforts on the animal.

Then again, there are a few animals I'd rather . . . nevermind.

[Shawnee123]

Of course I would want my kittens rescued. I luv them. But I would feel terrible if they were rescued at the expense of a human life. That was my only concern.

Not me. My cats are worth about 20 humans, depending on the humans. No ulterior motives, ya know? They're very clear about what they want, and what they'll do for it. In exchange for food and warmth and lovin's, they return poo and barf and lovin's

No, I know what you mean but I doubt it was at the expense of humans. They heard a poor puppy whining and of course got him out.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Sidhe, this is the biggie.

That's pretty freaking impressive.

[Pie]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Sidhe, this is the biggie.

That's really cool, Bruce. Like dropping a bag of sand into one end of a full bathtub and seeing the waves slosh over everything.

[xoxoxoBruce]

It's beautiful and not a downer, honest.
Would I lie to you*... my oldest and dearest friends?











*If it didn't involve money or sex.

[SamIam]

Nice clip, Bruce. It all looks so primative, doesn't it?