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Blog Posts

Eruptions

Tungurahua continues to rumble away

Missing
almost 5 years ago

Not really a "new eruption" as such, but the Geophysics Institute of Ecuador is reporting that Tungurahua, one of the most active volcanoes in South America, has been erupting ash and bombs as of late, along with showing signs of increased seismicity. Nothing new for this tongue-twister of a ...

Eruptions

Photo of the 2008 Okmok eruption

Missing
almost 5 years ago

Here's a stunning shot of the current eruption at Okmok Caldera in Alaska (brought to us by National Geographic). Personally, I think the best part is the fact that this was shot by an Alaska Airlines pilot! Talk about "to the right of the plane..." fodder.

Eruptions

More on Okmok

Missing
almost 5 years ago

Sorry about the brevity of this update, but I'm exhausted. From the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO): At this time, based on AVO analysis of satellite data, ash is continuing to erupt from a composite cinder and spatter cone called Cone D in the eastern portion of the 6-mile wide caldera or ...

Daylight Atheism

Doubting the Sun

Dabanner
almost 5 years ago

Imagine, in some medieval monarchy or modern-day oligarchy, that the government passed a law which made it a crime to deny that the sun exists. No country either ancient or modern has ever done this, and it's easy to see why. Who would ever be tempted to deny the existence of the sun? The ...

Daylight Atheism

A Personal Note

Dabanner
almost 5 years ago

As I've said in the past, I don't usually write about myself or my personal life on this blog. But every so often, something forces me to break that rule. This is one of those occasions. As of yesterday, I'm engaged to be married to the love of my life: a wonderful woman who, for the past eight ...

Eruptions

Okmok Update

Missing
almost 5 years ago

Sorry about the delay with updates, I am actually at a meeting filled with volcanologists (of all things), so updates might be a little sporadic. A lot of news today about Okmok erupting in the Aleutians. The Alaska Volcano Observatory had this to say: The eruption at Okmok continues based on ...

Strange Maps

298 - The World As Seen From Paris

Missing
almost 5 years ago

In 1989, Swedish author Herman Lindquist published Rapporter från Mittens Rike (‘Reports from the Middle Kingdom’). The title of the book is ambiguous, as it refers to the well-known epithet for China that has come to symbolise its insularity and self-centredness in previous centuries. In this ...

Eruptions

Okmok in the Aleutian Islands erupts

Missing
almost 5 years ago

Okmok Caldera in Alaska's Aleutian Islands erupted today, sending an ash column to at least 30,000 feet. Very little news has been released about the eruption so far beyond this information about the eruption column and some bits about precursor seismicity. A number of flights to Unalaska Island ...

Eruptions

Rumblings at San Cristobal

Missing
almost 5 years ago

Some news of a series of small eruptions at San Cristobal in Nicaragua. Ash from the small explosions drifted to a town near the volcano, however officials for Ineter in Nicaragua say that there is little chance of a large eruption. San Cristobal is one of the seven active volcanoes in ...

Daylight Atheism

Smoke on the Breeze

Dabanner
almost 5 years ago

In May, I wrote about the freethinker Giuseppe Verdi and my experience attending a performance of his operatic masterpiece, the Requiem. At the time, I had one other thought: strange as it sounds, and despite the fact that its composer was no friend of orthodoxy, Verdi's Requiem was one of the more ...

Eruptions

Thus endth the eruption

Missing
almost 5 years ago

Just a brief note that the USGS has officially pronounced the eruption that started in 2004 at Mt. Saint Helens over. They lowered the alert level to "normal" after months with little to no signs of activity. The new dome that grew in the crater formed by the 1980 eruption is 125 million cubic ...

Eruptions

The continuing eruption at Llaima

Missing
almost 5 years ago

Llaima (Chile) is experiencing an increased tempo in its current eruption. The National Emergency Office in Chile is reporting that the eruption has begun to take a more explosive character, with pyroclastic material being shot hundreds of meters from the main vent. Although the officials have ...

Endless Innovation

How "Long" is the Long Tail?

Missing
almost 5 years ago

Even before the publication of his breakthrough book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, Chris Anderson has consistently used his Long Tail blog as a way to generate conversation around the themes found in the book and point out interesting new examples that he has ...

Daylight Atheism

The Child Brides of Islam

Dabanner
almost 5 years ago

The New York Times published an article last week, Tiny Voices Defy Child Marriage in Yemen, about a stunning act of courage and feminism: in the nation of Yemen, a 9-year-old girl named Arwa Abdu Muhammad Ali, on her own initiative, sought and obtained a divorce from the abusive, violent 35-year ...

Eruptions

Kilauea's new fire fountain

Missing
almost 5 years ago

  Kilauea is busy keeping geologists and tourists alike wondering what the volcano will be doing next. The current report on the volcano tells of a new fire fountain at the Thanksgiving Eve Break-out "rootless cone", about 6 miles from the ocean. The fire fountain started on Sunday night ...