earth related | tomorrow started

manhattanhenge

twice a year, our omnipotent star, the good ol’ setting sun aligns with the east/west streets of new york city’s grid. the origin of the word manhattanhenge, popularly dispersed by the enigmatic astrophysicist neil degrasse tyson, comes from stonehenge (their silhouettes and reactions are parallel). this event occurs annually during the end of may and july 12th and 13th. in 2013, it occured in half-sun form on may 28th and full sun form on may 29th around 8:15PM respectively. if you missed this beautiful cosmological event, you will have another chance to witness it in july (the 12th and 13th) around 8:20PM. how appropriate for science week… by hk

CATEGORIES: earth related, ny places

Canadian Astronaut tweets from space: what a space oddity

this clip has only been seen by 12 million people, and i wasn’t one of them until now, but i love it. i wish i was there, up there, if not then under the sea… canadian astronaut, chris hadfield, was up there and he has been tweeting everything from how to make a sandwich in space to pictures of earth from strait of dover to london-town. this is his farewell piece on his way back to earth, a cover of bowie’s space oddity in zero g. i wonder what i would have done if i was up there… probably a version of planet claire with pp! by dd

CATEGORIES: clips, earth related

what galaxy are you from?

if you know anything about galaxies, you know that they are groupings of stars that number in the hundreds of billions, and that’s just one galaxy. the hubble space telescope (HST) site estimates there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. the most famous (around here that is, on earth) is the milky way galaxy. that’s “kinda” where we’re from. the simple point is that the earth is “part” of the milky way, even though if we see it in the sky it looks like we are observing it from the outside. do you know why that is? because we’re at the very edge of our galaxy. the milky way is a spiral galaxy type, spinning out from the center, so it has arms… sort of like an octopus. the center came first and later it spun. so we, on its edge, are its youngest offspring.

our solar system is just 4.6 billion years old. when our galaxy is 13.7 billion years old.

now do you still think for nine billion years nothing intelligent was born elsewhere in the hundreds of billions of stars in our one galaxy… or maybe in the hundreds of billions of other galaxies (each containing hundreds of billions of stars)? so the chance that we’re alone is near null. in other words, there is a higher probability that life exists out there than it doesn’t. we should be shocked to learn that we’re alone, not the other way around. wow, suddenly scientology makes more sense than christianity (not that i believe in either, i’d run away from any joint that asked me ‘have faith and not question’). well, a few hundred years ago man though the world was flat, just 80 years ago man believed our galaxy was all that there was. even worse they thought our father lived up there in the clouds…. now wait a minute maybe he does. god was just a misunderstood alien, and he lived up there but not in the clouds but in the stars! o.k. i’m going to bed. by dd

CATEGORIES: earth related

ecuador’s rafael correa: an interesting man

rafael correa secures a third term as the president of ecuador. with a phd in economics, educated in belgium and the united states, the man is clearly no dummy and a welcomed soul in a line of externally backed generals who have ruled most of the third world. since 2007, his administration has succeeded in reducing the high levels of poverty, indigence, and unemployment in ecuador. he ordered an increase in the percentage of petroleum revenues spent on social programs for the ecuadorian poor and challenged the foreign oil interests in his country. he said, “many of the existing oil contracts are a true entrapment for the country. of every 5 barrels of oil that the multinationals produce, they leave only 1 for the state and take 4… that is absolutely unacceptable. we’re going to revise and renegotiate the contracts” and he did. critics charged correa with running a campaign against the independence of the media, and if the media there is anything like the media here, sponsored by big business, there was never any independence to begin with, so not many tears shed there. in 2012 an independent survey found that he has 80% of approval rate among ecuadorians, significantly the highest rate in the americas, but a very low rating amongst key foreign governments. to enhance that, he has recently upset the UK and US by supporting wikileaks leader, julian assange, and offering him political asylum, granted inside the embassy in london. the irony of this all is that pinochet, a south american dictator supported by the US and UK, remained in london and died in london in 2006 despite his indictment in 1998, for human rights violations committed in chile, never to face trial. the U.S. provided material support to the military regime of pinochet after his coup and the assassination on september 11, 1973 of its democratically elected president, salvador allende, although criticizing it in public… i suppose, hypocrisy clearly has never had any shame? by xy

CATEGORIES: earth related

it’s about time

by ts

CATEGORIES: earth related

Hurricane Sandy: Lessons I learned from Hurricane Sandy

15 things to do and a few more not to for the next one… and there will be another… and another, thanks to the state of our planet courtesy of man (and a handful of women). here we go:

1- charlie don’t surf, and xy don’t diss no sandy.

2- don’t buy or rent an apt near the water. (in manhattan, broadway runs at the peak of the island and a good bet, further west or east and you’re lower and closer to the water.)

3- forget hamptons and that’s not just for the shitty crowd any more.

4- consider upstate. love trees but plant them far away from your roof.

5- if you own a car a) park it in the city for quick access when all other forms of transport will be down. b) make sure your garage doesn’t park yours on lifts or elevator access floors. in power outages your car will be as good as a brick.

6- keep bike within 4 floors off the street (smokers consider 2). mine was on the 11th floor with offices shut. who needs a bike on an 11 floors walk-up?

7- a skateboard actually saved my life… but just this one time.

9- no power = no water. if you are in a high building the water towers will run out within hours, and with no electricity to power the pump you’ll be out of water too.

10- fill the tub, not for drinking water, but to flush the damn toilet. this will be your worst nightmare in the event of water failure. your romantic candlelight camping vacation in your city apt will quickly turn into a sewer festival. a full tub can handle up to 10 flushes (based on recent research).

11- stock up on candles. in the event of non-emergency you will always have use otherwise. tearless pillars over tea-light candles any day.

12- forget flash lights. get a LED rayovac lantern for $29. i just ordered 3. a single one will light up a 1200 sq ft apt and will last for days on 3 x d batteries. you may want to get a few pocket lights for trips down the 18 floor emergency exit when elevators are down, either from fenix R5 series for around $50 or your standard mini maglite that doubles as a candle (lights up a small room) for under $20

13- invest in a generator if you have outside space to run it. for us apt dwellers consider a APC backup power for under $200 or a power inverter from black & decker for $60. this will allow you to charge up, if nothing, your damn phone.

14- get some cash and water but you can forget about food… you can always lose a few pounds. buy some nuts if you must.

15- when done move to sweden. hope this will be of help.. by dd

CATEGORIES: earth related, surf-skate