Friday, September 02, 2005

- No one can claim that the first decade of the 21st century has been a boring one. America is attacked for the first time in almost 60 years, we invade two countries, south-east Asia suffers the worst tsunami on record, and America suffers its worst natural disaster. Here are some aerial photos of New Orleans before and after Katrina hit. Its simply hard to believe that this could happen in the United States:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/new-orleans-imagery.htm

- There are two methods for determining the strength of a hurricane: its wind velocity, which is measured on the Safford-Simpson scale (from 1 to 5), and measuring its barometric pressure at the center of the storm. The later method is the most reliable (the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm.) Hurricane Katrina was the 4th most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. Katrina's lowest recorded barometric pressure was 902mb. The strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic was hurricane Gilbert, which in 1988 struck 90 miles south of Texas. It had a pressure reading of 886mb. The strongest hurricanes tend to form in the south pacific. In 1979 Typhoon Tip became the strongest hurricane ever recorded. It had a pressure reading of 870mb. Here is a list of the most powerful and most famous hurricanes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_notable_tropical_cyclones

- With all the carnage and chaos in our universe, surely there is something we can rely on? Something we know will never change? How about the constant speed of light? Scientists for years have told us that light travels at 186,000 MPH, and that never changes...until now. Physicists have found ways to not only slow light down, but to speed it up! That's right...making light travel faster than the speed of light! Follow this article for more information:
http://www.scienceblog.com/light.html

- Thank goodness football is back! I am going to put myself out on a limb, and make some predictions:
Super Bowl: New England beats Carolina
Rose Bowl (NC game): USC beats Texas
Arizona Cardinals finish 6-10.
Detroit Lions also finish 6-10. Steve Mariuchi gets fired (and rightfully so.)

Here are some more predictions regarding the NFL from people much wiser than me:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/specials/preview/2005/scout.report/

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