10 Comments CherryPie on Mar 22nd 2011
March 19th was the day of the “super moon” phenomenon. The moon reached is closest point to earth in nearly two decades:
A “super moon” refers to a new or full moon that occurs when the Moon is 90% or over its closest position to Earth. It is the first time since January 19, 1992, that the Moon has come into such close proximity to the Earth.
Robert Massey, deputy executive secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, said: “The Moon will be unusually close and a little brighter but the visual effects of it being closer to the Earth is unlikely to be noticed by the human eye.”
Mr Massey added that it would be difficult for those who are not regular star gazers to see a difference in the Moon’s size, with it being just 0.3% bigger than this time last month.
The Moon was 220,625 miles away from London at 18.10 on Saturday, 625 miles closer than it was a month before on February 18. When the Moon is at its furthest distance from the Earth, referred to as an apogee, it can be as far away from Earth as 250,000 miles.
I noticed the moon was shining especially brightly before I had my evening meal but due to buildings being in the way a photo was not possible. I looked forward to a perfect opportunity after my meal, but unfortunately a faint mist had descended…
4 Comments CherryPie on Mar 21st 2011
Secrecy begets tyranny.
Robert A. Heinlein
14 Comments CherryPie on Mar 20th 2011
6 Comments CherryPie on Mar 20th 2011
I took the short questionnaire to discover my ancient Athenian guru:
Your recommended philosophy-guru is ARISTOTLE.
Key fact: The star pupil of Plato.
Must have: A desire to study the world and see what it reveals.
Key promise: The good life, which comes from living a virtuous life.
Key peril: The virtuous life can be tough.
Most likely to say: “Everything has its proper place.”
Least likely to say: “Science is where humanity went wrong.”
20 Comments CherryPie on Mar 19th 2011
A cope (cloak) is a processional garment used in the church. It is semi-circular in shape and would have been folded “sides to middle” and laid flat in these chests.
The splendid iron strap work on the lids is similar to the Chapter House doors, dating the chests as original furniture of circa 1290.*
*Taken from information board on the cope chest.
6 Comments CherryPie on Mar 18th 2011
I find the situation with regards to the damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in Japan quite worrying on many levels, one of which is the playing down of the severity of the situation.
Senior officials advise that there has been ‘no significant worsening’ and other such statements to that effect. This type of statements always ring alarm bells for me. Questions such as no significant worsening from what spring to mind and how bad was it to start with?
MSBNC report on the current crisis:
Emergency workers seemed to try everything they could think of Thursday to douse one of Japan’s dangerously overheated nuclear reactors: helicopters, heavy-duty fire trucks, even water cannons normally used to quell rioters. But they couldn’t be sure any of it was easing the peril at the tsunami-ravaged facility.
Three reactors have had at least partial meltdowns, but an even greater danger has emerged. Japanese and U.S. concerns were increasingly focusing on the pools used to store spent nuclear fuel: Some of the pools are dry or nearly empty and the rods could heat up and spew radiation.
It could take days and “possibly weeks” to get the complex under control, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jazcko said. He defended the U.S. decision to recommend a 50-mile evacuation zone for its citizens, a much stronger measure than Japan has taken.
A senior official with the U.N.’s nuclear safety agency said there had been “no significant worsening” at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant but that the situation remained “very serious.” Graham Andrew told reporters in Vienna that nuclear fuel rods in two reactors were only about half covered with water, and in a third they were also not completely submerged.
If the fuel is not fully covered, rising temperatures and pressure will increase the chances of complete meltdowns that would release much larger amounts of radioactive material than the failing plant has emitted so far.
Low levels of radiation have been detected well beyond Tokyo, which is 140 miles (220 kilometers) south of the plant, but hazardous levels have been limited to the plant itself. Still, the crisis triggered by last week’s earthquake and tsunami has forced thousands to evacuate and drained Tokyo’s normally vibrant streets of life, its residents either leaving town or holing up in their homes.
Physicist Michio Kaku tells msnbc’s Richard Liu that cooling attempts like using helicopter drops to cool down the 700 tons of spent fuel at Japan’s Fukushima reactor site won’t be enough, that they would be better served with a ‘Chernobyl’ approach.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
8 Comments CherryPie on Mar 17th 2011
