Technically Speaking

I have heard the news earlier today and iit is really hard to fathom the enormous power of nature. This tsunami has taken more than 13,773 lives at present count and the count is rising.

The tsunami waves were triggered by an 8.9 magnitude underwater earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, rearing up into walls of water as high as 10 meters (30 feet) as they hit shallow coastlines in south and south-east Asia.

The earthquake hit at 6:58 a.m.; the tsunami came as much as 2 1/2 hours later, without warning, on a morning of crystal blue skies. Sunbathers and snorkelers, cars and cottages, fishing boats and even a lighthouse were swept away.

I am seeing now that the quake was measured to be 9.0. It is the worst recorded in over 40 years but not surprisingly it was another product of the “Ring of Fire”.

I did a little research on tsunamis and found that they can be generated a number of ways… Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, explosions, and even the impact of cosmic bodies, such as meteorites, can generate tsunamis. I think that the most interesting one and probably the most common one is the earthquake generated tsunami. Here are some facts on the phenomena and following are some tips to survive them although they seem a little naive.

Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated with the earth’s crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position. Waves are formed as the displaced water mass, which acts under the influence of gravity, attempts to regain its equilibrium. When large areas of the sea floor elevate or subside, a tsunami can be created.

Large vertical movements of the earth’s crust can occur at plate boundaries. Plates interact along these boundaries called faults. Around the margins of the Pacific Ocean, for example, denser oceanic plates slip under continental plates in a process known as subduction. Subduction earthquakes are particularly effective in generating tsunamis.

This simulation (2 MB) of the 1993 Hokkaido earthquake-generated tsunami, developed by Takeyuki Takahashi of the Disaster Control Research Center, Tohoku University, Japan, shows the initial water-surface profile over the source area and the subsequent wave propagation away from the source. Areas in blue represent a water surface that is lower than the mean water level, while areas in red represent an elevated water surface. The initial water-surface profile, as shown in this image, reflects a large, long uplifted area of the sea floor lying to the west (left) of Okushiri Island, with a much smaller subsided area immediately adjacent to the southwest corner of Okushiri.

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I just took this survey on MSNBC that determines your Digital IQ. I’m pleased to say that it has recognized me to be quite digitally savvy. Try your luck. The survey is 62 questions that you should be able to answer in about 5 minutes.

This isn’t exactly metadata, but some interesting facts about data has come to my attention. I am one that believes that just about anything you need info on can be found on the web, if you search hard enough. The statistics I came across tends to back that theory.

On Monday, researchers at the University of California evaluated, and contributed to, the information glut with the release of their report “How Much Information? 2003,” which pegs the quantity of new information stored in 2002 at 5 exabytes, or 5 quintillion bytes.

That, said researchers at U.C. Berkeley’s School of Information Management and Systems, amounts to the print collections of the Library of Congress–500,000 times over.

According to the article, there was 18 exabytes of data transmitted in the year of 2002. Most of it being transmitted over telephone networks and the data in the form of voice and data. The majority of data stored in 2002 was stored by magnetic media, mainly computer hard disks.

Source: CNET News.com

I have been a fan of the Atkins diet for about four years now. Loosing 20 pounds in 2 months the first time I tried it. I instantly became a fan. I see it as the diet in which you don’t really diet. Since I have started using the diet to shed pounds quickly I have seen many reports on it. Most trying to debunk it. I found this article on CNN today supporting some of the key touch points about the diet. Here is a clip.

Over the past year, several small studies have shown, to many experts’ surprise, that the Atkins approach actually does work better, at least in the short run. Dieters lose more than those on a standard American Heart Association plan without driving up their cholesterol levels, as many feared would happen.

Skeptics contend, however, that these dieters simply must be eating less. Maybe the low-carb diets are more satisfying, so they do not get so hungry. Or perhaps the food choices are just so limited that low-carb dieters are too bored to eat a lot.

Now, a small but carefully controlled study offers a strong hint that maybe Atkins was right: People on low-carb, high-fat diets actually can eat more.

Read all about it.

This undated composite image from NASA (news - web sites)
shows a fully dark (city lights) full disk image centered on the South
Pole, showing the continent of Antarctica. New Zealand scientists have
won approval to drill up to two kilometres (1.3 miles) under Antarctica
to study ice sheet movement.(AFP-NASA/File)

Source: Yahoo News

Here is a trivia question: How many planets are visible without a telescope? Most people will answer “five” (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). But if you answered “six,” congratulations, you can go to the head of the class!

That sixth world that can be spied without optical aid is the planet Uranus. This week will be a fine time to try and seek it out, especially since it is now favorably placed for viewing in our evening sky and the bright Moon is out of the way.

Of course, you’ll have to know exactly where to look. Barely visible by a keen naked eye on very dark, clear nights, Uranus — currently shining at magnitude +5.7 — is now visible during the evening hours among the stars of Aquarius, the Water Carrier. Conveniently, Mars serves as a great guidepost, being just below the more distant world in our sky.

Source: Space.com

What weighs more, a cloud or an elephant? The answer is obvious, right? Well let’s take a look. The average elephant weighs about 6 tons (roughly 12,000 pounds). What does the average cloud weigh? What is an average cloud? Let’s take a small rain cloud.

Let’s start with a very simple white puffy cloud — a cumulus cloud. How much does the water in a cumulus cloud weigh? Peggy LeMone, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, did the numbers.

“The water in the little cloud weighs about 550 tons,” she calculates. “Or if you want to convert it to something that might be a little more meaningful… think of elephants.”

One rain cloud weighs about as much as 91.666667 elephants, okay lets say 100 elephants, I won’t Speak so Technically. 100 elephants, that’s a lot of weight. What keeps all that water floating up there?
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I have come across some very interesting and not so well-known facts about our planet at Space.com. Their article, 101 Amazing Earth Facts, answers questions ranging from ” What makes thunder?” to “Can rocks float?”. Here are a few examples.

Q. What is the hottest place on Earth?
A. El Azizia in Libya recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius) on Sept. 13, 1922 — the hottest ever measured.

Most people would have thought Death Valley but the highest temperature recorded there was 134 Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913.

Q. And the coldest place around here?
A. 129 Fahrenheit (-89 Celsius) at Vostok, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983.

No surprise there!
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