`New York workers have discovered a trove of Cold War-era supplies within the masonry of the Brooklyn Bridge, a cache meant to aid in survival efforts in the event of nuclear attack.
City Department of Transportation employees were conducting maintenance on the structure Wednesday when they found the cache on the top floor of a three-floor space inside the bridge’s base, agency spokeswoman Kay Sarlin said.
Some containers were marked with two dates notorious in the annals of the Cold War: 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space, and 1962, the year of the Cuban missile crisis when the two superpowers may have come closest to war.’
‘It’s not just that America is being ruled by small and venal men, or that its reputation has been demolished, its army overstretched, its finances a mess. All of that, after all, was true toward the end of Vietnam as well. Now, though, there are all kinds of other lurking catastrophes, a whole armory of swords of Damocles dangling over a bloated, dispirited and anxious country. Peak oil — the point at which oil production maxes out — seems to be approaching, with disastrous consequences for America’s economy and infrastructure. Global warming is accelerating and could bring us many more storms even worse than Katrina, among other meteorological nightmares. The spread of Avian Flu has Michael Leavitt, secretary of health and human services, warning Americans to stockpile canned tuna and powdered milk. It looks like Iran is going to get a nuclear weapon, and the United States can’t do anything to stop it. Meanwhile, America’s growing religious fanaticism has brought about a generalized retreat from rationality, so that the country is becoming unwilling and perhaps unable to formulate policies based on fact rather than faith.’
`Sweden recorded its first case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain on Wednesday, saying European laboratory tests confirm two wild birds found dead in the southeast were infected with the virus. Afghan authorities, meanwhile, said preliminary test results from a U.N. lab left them “99 percent certain” that the country’s first bird flu outbreak was the deadly H5N1 strain.
Danish authorities said they too had found a wild bird infected with an aggressive strain of bird flu, but it was not immediately whether it was the deadly H5N1 strain. If confirmed as H5N1, it would be the first case of the virus in Denmark.
Also Wednesday, Myanmar announced it had culled 5,000 poultry to prevent the spread of bird flu, as authorities in western India prepared to slaughter tens of thousands of chickens.’
`Following two recent studies on changes to Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, NASA is touting a survey that it says confirms “climate warming is changing how much water remains locked in Earth’s largest storehouses of ice and snow.”
In a press release for the survey, NASA directly tied the changes to warming and described the survey as “the most comprehensive” ever in both regions. [..]
“If the trends we’re seeing continue and climate warming continues as predicted, the polar ice sheets could change dramatically,” he said in the press release last Wednesday. “The Greenland ice sheet could be facing an irreversible decline by the end of the century.”’
`A new theory to explain global warming was revealed at a meeting at the University of Leicester (UK) and is being considered for publication in the journal “Science First Hand”. The controversial theory has nothing to do with burning fossil fuels and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
According to Vladimir Shaidurov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the apparent rise in average global temperature recorded by scientists over the last hundred years or so could be due to atmospheric changes that are not connected to human emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of natural gas and oil. Shaidurov explained how changes in the amount of ice crystals at high altitude could damage the layer of thin, high altitude clouds found in the mesosphere that reduce the amount of warming solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface.’
`It’s official: Solar minimum has arrived. Sunspots have all but vanished. Solar flares are nonexistent. The sun is utterly quiet.
Like the quiet before a storm.
This week researchers announced that a storm is coming–the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). “The next sunspot cycle will be 30% to 50% stronger than the previous one,” she says. If correct, the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958.’
`Scientists have discovered a huge crater in the Saharan desert, the largest one ever found there.
The crater is about 19 miles (31 kilometers) wide, more than twice as big as the next largest Saharan crater known. It utterly dwarfs Meteor Crater in Arizona, which is about three-fourths of a mile (1.2 kilometers) in diameter.
In fact, the newfound crater, in Egypt, was likely carved by a space rock that was itself roughly 0.75 miles wide in an event that would have been quite a shock, destroying everything for hundreds of miles. For comparison, the Chicxulub crater left by a dinosaur-killing asteroid 65 million years ago is estimated to be 100 to 150 miles (160 to 240 kilometers) wide.’
`Katherine Albrecht is on a mission from God.
The influential consumer advocate has written a new book warning her fellow Christians that radio frequency identification may evolve to become the “mark of the beast” — meaning the technology is a sign that the end-times are drawing near.
“My goal as a Christian (is) to sound the alarm,” said Albrecht, in a conversation over tea at a high-end grocery store. [..]
If the VeriChip becomes a common payment device similar to the “contactless” payment system in the Exxon Mobil Speedpass, all who wish to buy and sell goods will be compelled “to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,” as it says in Revelation, the Spychips Threat authors contend.
Another passage in Revelation describes a vision in which “a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.” Albrecht and McIntyre write, “Interestingly, an implanted RFID device like the VeriChip could potentially cause such a tormenting sore if it is subjected to a strong source of electromagnetic radiation,” such as a directed energy weapon.’
`Observations by astronomers tracking near-Earth asteroids have raised a new object to the top of the Earth-threat list.
The asteroid could strike the Earth in 2102. However, Don Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, US, told New Scientist: “The most likely situation, by far, is that additional observations will bring it back down to a zero.”
He adds: “We’re more likely to be hit between now and then by an object that we don’t know about.” ‘
`Forces brewing deep beneath Yellowstone National Park could be making one of the largest volcanoes on Earth even bigger, a new study reveals.
In the past decade, part of the volcano has risen nearly five inches, most likely due to a backup of flowing molten rock miles below the planet’s crust. [..]
Radar observations from the European Space Agency’s ERS-2 satellite reveal that the jellybean-shaped Yellowstone caldera—a giant depression caused by past volcanic explosions—began to rise in 1995.
Although the caldera floor started to sink in late 1997, part of the north rim, called the north rim uplift anomaly (NUA) continued rising until 2003.’
`Los Angeles officials were still scratching their heads today over what caused a mysterious black goo to burble from streets downtown, forcing the evacuation hundreds of apartment dwellers.
A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said investigators had yet to identify the “black tarry substance” more than 24 hours after it erupted at Olive Street and Pico Boulevard.
But he said there might be “a correlation” with a petroleum company drilling operation nearby.
“The samples we have taken _ this was determined to be (a) nontoxin, nonflammable, nonhazard,” said fire Capt. Ernie Bobadilla. “We’re looking to I.D. the scope of the problem.
“This problem is not a simple fix.”‘
`When burying a body in the backyard, don’t put it too close to the septic system. That was one piece of advice offered on Wednesday to a business conference on preparing for a potentially lethal bird flu andemic.
Preparations for a global flu pandemic, which many experts believe is overdue, have begun but the grisly details are horrific and the number of sick could quickly overwhelm the health care system.’
`6. Total number and types of nuclear warheads and bombs built, 1945-1990: more than 70,000/65 types [..]
8. Number of nuclear warheads requested by the Army in 1956 and 1957: 151,000 [..]
13. Fissile material produced: 104 metric tons of plutonium and 994 metric tons of highly-enriched
uranium [..]
41. Volume in cubic meters of radioactive waste resulting from weapons activities: 104,000,000 [..]’
`The huge profits reported by oil and gas companies would turn into losses if the social costs of their greenhouse gas emissions were taken into account.
That is the conclusion of research by the New Economics Foundation (Nef).
Nef found that the £10bn-plus profits just reported by Shell and BP are dwarfed by costs of emissions associated with their products. [..]
Reporting previously undisclosed figures, Nef’s policy director Andrew Simms writes: “Our new calculations from research in progress with WWF, based on Treasury statistics, show that UK government income from the fossil fuel sector – conservatively estimated at £34.9bn ($61bn) – is greater than revenue from council tax, stamp duty, capital gains and inheritance tax combined.’
`The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected on a large commercial chicken farm in Nigeria — the first reported outbreak in Africa, the World Organization for Animal Health said Wednesday.
The outbreak appears to be restricted to birds, and no human infections have been reported, the Paris-based organization said. [..]
“The significance is that it’s a completely new continent that we need to be looking at,” said Alex Thiermann, an expert for the World Organization for Animal Health, known as the OIE, said of the virus’ arrival on the world’s poorest continent.’
`The Augustine Volcano in Alaska continued erupting on February 2, 2006. The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) reported a continuous plume of volcanic ash emitting from the volcano, accompanied by low-level explosions and pyroclastic flows of hot ash and rock fragments. The observatory warned that sudden eruptions producing ash clouds as high as 7,600 meters (25,000 feet) could occur without warning.’
`Sydney is the Australian city most at risk of an earthquake, while Brisbane and Townsville are the most likely to be hit by a tropical cyclone, according to a global insurance company.
Swiss Reinsurance Company launched Australia’s first ever natural catastrophe bond on Monday as a way of covering against major disasters. [..]
“How real are the risk exposures covered by this capital?” said Swiss Re head of Australia and New Zealand property and casualty business Keith Scott.
“Very real,” he said.’
`The nation’s largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online.
Verizon, Comcast, Bell South and other communications giants are developing strategies that would track and store information on our every move in cyberspace in a vast data-collection and marketing system, the scope of which could rival the National Security Agency. According to white papers now being circulated in the cable, telephone and telecommunications industries, those with the deepest pockets–corporations, special-interest groups and major advertisers–would get preferred treatment. Content from these providers would have first priority on our computer and television screens, while information seen as undesirable, such as peer-to-peer communications, could be relegated to a slow lane or simply shut out.’
‘Now that most scientists agree human activity is causing Earth to warm, the central debate has shifted to whether climate change is progressing so rapidly that, within decades, humans may be helpless to slow or reverse the trend. [..]
There are three specific events that these scientists describe as especially worrisome and potentially imminent, although the time frames are a matter of dispute: widespread coral bleaching that could damage the world’s fisheries within three decades; dramatic sea level rise by the end of the century that would take tens of thousands of years to reverse; and, within 200 years, a shutdown of the ocean current that moderates temperatures in northern Europe.’
`One of America’s most experienced astronauts has denounced the space shuttle as a deathtrap and accused US space officials of stifling all concerns raised about its safety. [..]
Veteran astronaut Mike Mullane’s outburst therefore comes at a deeply embarrassing time for the Nasa. Apart from dealing with the Challenger anniversary, it is now struggling to save its remaining space shuttles so they can complete the international space station.’
`Take any good nuclear Armageddon movie, from Dr. Strangelove, to Fail Safe, to The Sum of All Fears, there’s always a scene in which the erstwhile lightly engaged president is either tendered an urgent note or handed a telephone by his top aide. Cut to a closeup on the president’s face. His expression changes immediately, the color drains from his face, followed by a sound-on-sound slash cut that takes the viewer to an underground bunker, deep under a Virginia mountain. There, a collection of grim faced, high-ranking military men work determinedly to avoid a global catastrophe. . .
What words are written on that note, what could it say that can make the President go white in an instant? What are the words that the president never wants to see on a note thrust into his hand while he is busy giving a speech? I believe the answer is “PINNACLE/NUCFLASH”.’
‘Six former heads of the Environmental Protection Agency — five Republicans and one Democrat — accused the Bush administration Wednesday of neglecting global warming and other environmental problems. [..]
All of the former administrators and EPA’s current chief, Stephen Johnson, raised their hands when asked by the event moderator whether they believe global warming is a real problem, and again when he asked if humans bear significant blame.
But agency heads during five Republican administrations, including the current one, criticized the Bush White House for what they described as a failure of leadership.’
`Osama bin Laden said al Qaeda was preparing attacks in the United States but the group was open to a conditional truce with Americans, according to an audio tape attributed to him on Thursday.
It was the first purported bin Laden tape since 2004. Al Jazeera television, which aired the tape, said it was dated to the Muslim lunar month corresponding to January.
“The operations are under preparation and you will see them in your houses as soon as they are complete, God willing,” said the speaker on the tape.’
`Thirty years ago, the scientist James Lovelock worked out that the Earth possessed a planetary-scale control system which kept the environment fit for life. He called it Gaia, and the theory has become widely accepted. Now, he believes mankind’s abuse of the environment is making that mechanism work against us. His astonishing conclusion – that climate change is already insoluble, and life on Earth will never be the same again.’
`Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that “God is mad at America” and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting.
“Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it’s destroyed and put stress on this country,” Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day.
“Surely he doesn’t approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We’re not taking care of ourselves.”
Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a “chocolate” city again. Many of the city’s black neighborhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina.’
`Norway is planning to build a “doomsday vault” inside a mountain on an Arctic island to hold a seed bank of all known varieties of the world’s crops.
The Norwegian government will hollow out a cave on the ice-bound island of Spitsbergen to hold the seed bank.
It will be designed to withstand global catastrophes like nuclear war or natural disasters that would destroy the planet’s sources of food.’
`This is not a guide for wusses whose aim is merely to wipe out humanity. I can in no way guarantee the complete extinction of the human race via any of these methods, real or imaginary. Humanity is wily and resourceful, and many of the methods outlined below will take many years to even become available, let alone implement, by which time mankind may well have spread to other planets; indeed, other star systems. If total human genocide is your ultimate goal, you are reading the wrong document. There are far more efficient ways of doing this, many which are available and feasible RIGHT NOW. Nor is this a guide for those wanting to annihilate everything from single-celled life upwards, render Earth uninhabitable or simply conquer it. These are trivial goals in comparison.
This is a guide for those who do not want the Earth to be there anymore.’
`Every year we grow more and more dependent on the Internet. But would you know what to do if your connection suddenly went down?
No one knows when the Internet will fail. It could happen at any time, leaving you bereft of your e-mail, your sports scores, and your Blogs. Therefore, it’s important that you and your family have a contingency plan for just such an emergency. If your connection to Cyberspace were to ever get severed, you should at least be prepared. We have included a few key points that should assist you if that were to happen.’
‘The following table lists potential future Earth impact events that the JPL Sentry System has detected based on currently available observations. Click on the object designation to go to a page with full details on that object.
Sentry is a highly automated collision monitoring system that continually scans the most current asteroid catalog for possibilities of future impact with Earth over the next 100 years. Whenever a potential impact is detected it will be analyzed and the results immediately published here, except in unusual cases where an IAU Technical Review is underway. For more information on impact monitoring and risk assessment see our Impact Risk Introduction and Frequently Asked Impact Risk Questions.’
Amusing animation describing how we’re all going to die.
(3.7meg shockwave)
