Chernobyl

Twenty-one years after the worse nuclear diaster in history, we understand how it happened, but not what the long term effects are. Beyond the 50 or so people who died imediatly, no one can say for sure how many people the accident effected. Wikipedia actually gives a pretty good background on the acident and its aftermath, including the contraversy surrounding its death toll. [link] Whatever the numbers are, they ignore the actuall human suffering and the real effect on the built enviroment. Slate profiles the lives of the survivors, including children with rare birth defects. Another site takes you on a trip through the exclusion zone, and shows what was left behind. [link].

Tsunami destroyed Minonaen Civilization on Crete

3500 years ago the Crete was home to one of the most advaced civilization in europe, but the in abruptly disapeared. Recent discoveries sugest that a tsunami was the most likly responsible for the demise of the Minoan civilization. Beach pebbles and shells were found mixed up with shards of pottery over 7 meters above sea level. The tsunami could have been trigger by the euruption of nearby Mt. Santorini. Well the civilzation would not have been totaly wipped out by the wave, they damage would have permently crippled the society, lead to its decline. Most interestingly, the destruction on Crete could possibly explain the myth of atlantis. (link)

One Laptop per Child

The OLPC wiki is a repository of information on the One Laptop per child project.

Meet SD's Chief Weather Watcher

Last Week's U-T had a profile Jim Purpura, the head of the National Weather Service's San Diego office. A native of the midwest who worked for nearly two-decades in "tornado alley," he is quickly to point out that fair weather Southern Califonia is safe from severe weather

Purpura's office covers all of San Diego and Orange counties, plus western Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The area encompasses nine climate zones, including deserts, beaches and mountains.

That varied terrain can play a part in many “low-probability but high-impact” events, including flash floods, fires, severe storms, tsunamis and even tornadoes

read the whole article here.

UC Merced vs. Fariy Shrimp (vs Humanity)

The California conservation fairy shrimp, an endangered species is holding up construction at UC Merced. While most people support saving the whales, eagles, or other charismatic creatures, the half inch long crustacean doesn’t have as much support. Many people think that building a university is much more important than a little shrimp and that there would be no big loss to the world if there were a few less animals floating around in vernal pools, or even if there were fewer vernal pools.
While it may be a bit of a jump, I think the question “what would the earth look like without fairy shrimp?” just begs the question “what would the earth look like without humans?” Conveniently, New Scientist magazine has the answer.
If Human life completely disappeared from the face of the planet, most of our currently environmentally problems would correct themselves in a few decades, and after a few centuries most of the signs of civilization would disintegrate. It’s a bit sobering to realize that the most dominate species on earth could ever be merely a spec of history.

Tsunami/Earthquake in the south Pacific

Last week an 8.1 earthquake centered near the Solomon Islands, set off a tsunami which destoryed at least 500 homes and killed 13 people. (link) Beaches were closed in northern Australia, but no waves reached the Australian coast. One of the more lasting effects of the event may me seen on the island of Ranongga, which was lifted 10-feet out of the ocean

RIP: Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut, one of the great American authors of the last century passed away yesterday and this morning the internet is filled with tributes. His works have never been part of a CAT course, although his ideas would easily fit in the mold of Culture, Art, and Technolgy. His 1963 novel, Cat's Cradle, explores science, regilion, and technology and climaxs with a spectacular man-made natural diaster involving ice-nine. While a substance like ice-nine is thermodynamicly impossible, the idea that man can create something beyond his own control is a valid one. Global Warming may not the result of a single substance, but it is certianly a process that may be rapidly moving beyond man's control.