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Archive for August 19, 2011

Children Sink into Adult Swim

August 19, 2011 1 comment

townhall.com

A man wearing a Santa hat sits on a roof. He’s talking to his ex-girlfriend on a cell phone, trying with feigned cheer to wish her a Merry Christmas. He asks if she’s with her new boyfriend. Yes, she replies, and she’s with her whole family, opening presents. He says, “That’s great, because I have a present for you,” and he saws off his own head so it falls down the chimney into the fireplace.

This isn’t a horror movie. It’s a cartoon, filmed in stop-motion animation, like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” It runs on the Cartoon Network, which is owned by Time Warner. And it’s aimed at children.

This horrific little severed-head sketch was part of a show called “Robot Chicken,” which has aired for years on this network. Nobody watches that, you say. Think again: “Robot Chicken” has turned up on a list of the Top 25 shows watched by children aged 12 Read more…

Japan’s Northeast Hit by 6.8 Magnitude Quake

August 19, 2011 Comments off
Map showing earthquakesA 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan‘s northeastern coast Friday, triggering a 50 cm (20 inch) tsunami warning that was lifted about 35 minutes later.

The epicenter of the quake, which hit at 2:36 pm, was off the coast of Fukushima, 20 km below Earth’s surface, the same region where the massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck on March 11, followed by the devastating 30-meter tsunami, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The agency said there was no damage from Fridays’s quake and the tsunami advisory was lifted after no waves were sighted. Some highways were closed and high-speed bullet trains were halted after the quake, public broadcaster NHK said.

Friday’s tremor was felt in Tokyo where buildings Read more…

Categories: Earthquake, Japan Tags: ,

Two sunspots on the Sun currently pose a threat for x-class solar flares

August 19, 2011 Comments off

theweatherspace

Here we go again, this time two spots on the Sun turning toward our planet now that are capable of producing powerful X-Class flares.

Two sunspots are now rotating toward the planet over the face of the Sun. Sunspots 1271 and 1272 remain quiet but pose a threat for X-class solar flares.

X-class solar flares are the most powerful solar flare the Sun can produce, according to our planetary scale. These could produce radio and electrical blackouts as well as a brilliant display of aurora if they unleash powerful Earth-directed flares.

The last solar storms a week ago were from sunspots on the farside of the Sun now. They are still together and out of our view, Venus was seen in the same field of view as one blasted toward the planet on the far side of the Sun.

Stay tuned to the sunspots, it could ‘pop’ at anytime.

World Bank Calls On Ghana To Check Population Growth

August 19, 2011 Comments off

ghanaian-chronicle

Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh

Mr. Javed Talat, Executive Director of the World Bank on Monday called on the Ghana Government to fashion out mechanisms that would help check the ever-growing population to solve development challenges.  

He said Technology was fast moving towards reductions in job creation such that unchecked population growth could become disastrous to developing countries in terms of high rates of unemployment.

Mr. Talat made this call when he led a World Bank delegation to visit Vice President John Dramani Mahama at the Castle, Osu.

He said the World Bank had a financial facility to support developing countries to check population growth and suggested to developing countries to adopt such measures in order to advance their economies.

Mr. Talat, who is on a visit to Ghana to assess the country’s performance as part of his economic constituency commended successive governments for stabilizing the country, adding “I want to congratulate all of the leaders of Ghana for maintaining peace and tranquility over the years and I must add that Ghana stands out as a country of progress with political stability.”

The Executive Director also appealed to developing Read more…

Tiny Pocketbots Prepped for Combat

August 19, 2011 1 comment

wired

When the U.S. military first got serious about ground robots, it bought up a bunch of 42-pound machines called PackBots. The name implied that infantrymen would just throw the robots in their rucksacks. In reality, the things were too heavy for already-overloaded troops to carry around on the regular. The PackBot’s main Read more…