Category Archives: Space, Science & Tech

Chase the rainbow

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Here’s a 20-minute video, compressed to 48 seconds, of that rainbow I photographed yesterday, slowly moving to the right (as the clouds move to the left) and then eventually disappearing. In the early part of the clip, there’s also a hint of a second rainbow, off to the right of the main rainbow. Anyway…

Heeeere comes Bonnie!

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I blogged over at Sullivan’s Travelers about newly designated Tropical Depression Three, which has just formed over the Bahamas. It’s likely to become Tropical Storm Bonnie, and to move through the Florida Straits and into the Gulf of Mexico. That expected track virtually guarantees that this storm will get a whole lot of media attention, far more than your average… Read more »

Hurricane Alex’s weird eyewall dynamics

Hurricane Alex, the Atlantic Basin’s strongest June hurricane in 44 years, has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it moves over mountainous terrain, after “ripping off roofs, causing severe flooding and forcing thousands of people to flee coastal fishing villages” in northern Mexico. Meanwhile, Dr. Jeff Masters is looking back at some eyewall replacement weirdness that happened yesterday as… Read more »

Hurricane Alex strengthens, nears Mexican coast

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Landfall is expected early tomorrow morning. Winds are “conservatively” estimated at 80 mph, and expected to increase. From the 5am EDT discussion: VERTICAL SHEAR IS FORECAST TO REMAIN LIGHT UP UNTIL LANDFALL OCCURS IN ABOUT 24 HOURS. GIVEN THAT ALEX IS ALSO MOVING SLOWLY OVER SOME OF THE WARMEST UPPER-OCEAN HEAT CONTENT IN THAT REGION OF THE GULF OF MEXICO…STEADY… Read more »

iPhone 4 thoughts

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    > After five days as an iPhone 4 owner, here — as promised — are a few of my miscellaneous thoughts about the device: • It’s awesome. I mean, this has to be bullet point number one, right? Having never owned any smartphone before, it’s like I’ve stumbled directly into nerd nirvana with this thing. It’s mind-blowingly incredible… Read more »

BOOM!

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Once upon a time — the summer of 1991, when I was nine years old, to be exact — I was in Chicago, leaving the Field Museum of Natural History in the midst of a massive thunderstorm, when lightning struck the Sears Tower… but my view was completely blocked because I happened to be standing directly behind one of the… Read more »