I think the most exciting science is done in places where you don’t understand what’s going on. Once you’re not confused about something, it’s time to move on to the next problem. Brian Jackson, NASA, in Death Valley mystery: What makes rocks wander.
Tag: Science
Links: Science as a Subway, App Pricing, Terraforming IRL & the Importance of Scott Pilgrim
Crispian Jago presents the history of science as a subway map (cool visualization).
The comic strip The Oatmeal tackles the irony of mobile app pricing. Or, in the worlds of “Weird Al” Yankovic: “I hate to waste a buck ninety-nine.”
A 19th-century terraforming experiment: Ascension Island’s artificial ecosystem, instigated by Charles Darwin.
Author Seanan McGuire explains why movies’ financial success matters to fans: Since Scott Pilgrim failed at the box office, similar movies aren’t going to be funded for quite a while. I’ve actually been meaning to write up something similar, but haven’t gotten around to it.
Earthquake Frequency
According to the USGS, the frequency of large earthquakes has remained constant over the last century. In a typical year, the planet has roughly 17 “major” earthquakes (measuring 7.0 to 7.9 on the Richter scale) and one “great” earthquake (measuring 8.0 or higher).
So, no, earthquakes are not increasing as a sign/symptom of the impending end of the world.
(via @2012hoax)
Update March 1: 2012hoax has a nice page showing how recent quakes fit into these statistics, including Haiti, Chile, and the one in Illinois a few weeks ago (which was really quite small — there are 130,000 quakes that size in any given year!).
LHC and an Email Massage
- LHC Update: Another power failure. This is just getting silly. (Oh, and also: World still here.)
- Search hit: “thunderbird thinks this massages is a scam”
LHC Reaction
Large Hadron Collider goes on line.
No mass blackouts with visions of the future, either.