Aqvaria

The death spiral of arctic ice

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:45:00 +0200

Scientists are concerned of the extent of sea ice cover that has gotten smaller and smaller over the summers since the 1980s. Not just because the ice melt as a consequence of global warming, but also because the sea ica has acooling effect by reflecting sunlight back into space. So when the ice shrinks and opens up more ocean, more of the sun’s heat is soaked up by the dark sea.

“With the climate feedbacks kicking in,we’ll lose the summer ice cover probably by the year 2030.” said Mark Serreze, an Arctic climate expert at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

Phdcomics.com

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:34:32 +0200

Phdcomics.com

simko: While traveling recently, I sat across from a couple that was hearing impaired Deaf. At some...

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:08:52 +0200

simko:

While traveling recently, I sat across from a couple that was ~~hearing impaired~~ Deaf. At some point during the trip, they got into an argument - their facial expressions turned angry, and the speed of their signing rapidly increased. Like most couples, they eventually stopped fighting and came to some sort of an agreement. She smiled at him, he smiled at her, and they resumed signing at a more casual pace… Witnessing the argument made me realize just how unnecessary yelling is when you’re trying to get a point across.

Reminds me of a my own little mystery last term. I work as a swim teacher, and last term R was my assistant. R always talked with very, very low voice and very slow (showing insecurity, according to me). The mysterical thing is that the children always (most of the times at least) became quiet and listened to him anyway. I made an experiment and lowered my own voice, talking slower, but they never even realized that I spoke. How did it work so well for R?!

Blue, blue and blue

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:44:13 +0200

Blue, blue and blue

Photo

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:42:44 +0200

Fluffy

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:41:44 +0200

Fluffy

Blue, white, black (almost) There has been some thunderstorms...

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:40:37 +0200

Blue, white, black (almost)

There has been some thunderstorms during the summer, some stronger than others. Unfortunally I have not been in reach of a camera most of the times, but once I managed to get home in the end of a thunderstorm and got some pictures of the clouds leaving.

Algal bloom of the Baltic Sea

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:16:00 +0200

The recent warm sunny weather in northern Europe has triggered an algal bloom in the Baltic Sea. The last week a lot of people of the Swedish east coast have been forced to stay out of the water in spite of the heat due to the poisionus algae, or more correct, cyanobacteria. The Swedish National Space Board have requested a series of pictures of the current algeal bloom in the Baltic Sea from the European Space Agency, ESA. The pictures shows how the algaes are driftting and that concentration varies a lot between different parts of the sea.

July 24th:

July 25th:

July 27th:

July 28th:

(Via openarms)

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:15:40 +0200

(Via openarms)

Four examples of "human-made" natural disasters

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:51:00 +0200

Four examples of "human-made" natural disasters:

The mud vulcano in Java - since May 29th 2006 the Lusi Mud Volcano has puored out between 7000 and 15,000 cubic metres of mud each day, displacing eleven villages.The blowout in the Banjar Panji-1 gas well was the most likely mechanism for triggering the Lusi eruption according to the latest study.

Earthquake in Koyna, India - A magnitude 7.5 quake struck the area killing 200 people and injuring thousands more in the largest dam-induced earthquake on 11 December 1967. The area was a nearly non-seismic region, but, since a large dam was built and its reservoir filled the region has experienced frequent earthquakes. By artificially holding a large volume of water in one place, dams increase pressure on fractures beneath the surface of the earth and likely to cause quake. Drilling and mining are also known to cause earthquakes.

The disappearence of Lake Peigneur, Louisiana - On 20 November 1980 the lake vanished into the ground in an enormous whirlpool. It is believed that the cause was a Texaco oil rig drilling into a salt mine directly beneath the lake. The water to poured into the mine and the oil rig and eleven barges were sucked down.

The flooding of Rapid City, South Dakota -In June 1972, more than 200 people died and 3000 were injured when he Canyon Lake Dam burst. The burst eas caused by a storm where more than 35 centimetres of water fell in six hours over the Black Hills. Scientists that had been carrying out cloud-seeding experiments nearby were later blamed for the floods. But scientists of today says it is highly unlikely that the cloud-seeding caused the heavy rainfall.

(Via National Geographic) A bit crowded - the heat in Suining,...

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:20:00 +0200

(Via National Geographic)

A bit crowded - the heat in Suining, China, makes thousands of people to visit the swimmingpool.

Swimming skills are rare in China and the swimming floats are popular.

(Via handa:chet3) Winter green in Bollinger Canyon

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:16:00 +0200

(Via handa:chet3)

Winter green in Bollinger Canyon

(Via PHDcomics.com) This is soo true…

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:07:42 +0200

(Via PHDcomics.com)

This is soo true…

(Via thisshouldbeit:sft)

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:06:04 +0200

(Via thisshouldbeit:sft)

100+ species of bats in 2 hectares of Equadorian rainforest

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:39:00 +0200

The diversity of bat species found in Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the eastern part Equador is the highest number of bat species ever recorded in one place. (Via National Geographic)

Moments in the rain (via openarms:eyecatcher)

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:12:47 +0200

Moments in the rain (via openarms:eyecatcher)

"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country"

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:03:51 +0200

“The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country”

- George Bush (via travors)

(via National Geographic) Three white lion cubs born in a...

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:58:11 +0200

(via National Geographic)

Three white lion cubs born in a wildlife park of northern Germany on June 30th.

"It’s the weekend. Help reduce weekend e-mail overload for both you and your colleagues by working..."

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:48:18 +0200

“It’s the weekend. Help reduce weekend e-mail overload for both you and your colleagues by working offline.”

- Since late 2006, PricewaterhouseCoopers employees logging on to work e-mail on Saturdays and Sundays have been greeted with this text in a pop-up window. Businessweek (via somethingchanged)

Love it.

(via miss-r)

Where to live if you have cancer

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:09:00 +0200

Where to live if you have cancer:

An examination of cancer threatment i 31 countries. Seems like I live in a quite good country (Sweden), but I will certainly think twice if moving to Denmark or UK.

Interactive map