Interesting!

http://www.upworthy.com/the-unbelievable-difference-between-your-face-its-mirror-image?c=ufb1

The Overview Effect: A Constant State of Vertigo.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is the host of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey I was a big fan of the original version of this show with Neil's mentor, Carl Sagan. I have always found the mechanics of the universe fascinating, so much so that I think I might have experienced a vicarious 'Overview Effect' at a very early age. Astronomy helped to shape my world view. I have always held the conviction that all matter is illusion, that I am energy hurtling through a suspension of energies, trapped by my own limited perceptions. I don't claim to know what's beyond the illusion, although it's fun to speculate. But the mystery fascinates me. I remember laying on the grass, looking at the stars when I was 11 or 12 years old, having learned that the Earth spins on it's axis at about 1000 mph, and being able with a little imagination to feel the tenousness of gravity's grip on me. A sense that at any moment I might fly off into deep space. A thrilling sense of vertigo. Then learning that the speed of our orbit is about 108,000km/hr around the sun. It's my morning habit to have a coffee in the first sunshine of the day. There's a part of me that believes I am stardust, and communing with stardust is somehow spiritually nourishing or something like that. "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter!" to quote Master Yoda. I have a symbiotic relationship with the stars. I glanced up at the sun, 150 million clicks away and that sensation of being stuck on a ball spinning wildly through space hit me with a wave of vertigo again. I never want to lose that sense of wonder

Also from IPCC

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/massive-u-n-report-says-climate-risks-go-beyond-red-n67516

I am not looking for these stories, this is mainstream news.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/food-shortages-caused-by-climate-change-to-leave-millions-hungry-report-warns-1.1743851

As I Was Saying Earlier...

http://www.ted.com/talks/hugh_herr_the_new_bionics_that_let_us_run_climb_and_dance?utm_campaign=&utm_source=m.facebook.com&utm_medium=on.ted.com-facebook-share&awesm=on.ted.com_g08Gu&utm_content=awesm-bookmarklet

Self Defense Against Feral/Domestic Cats

The sound is bad in the first scene, but it gets better. Knowledge is protection!

Roll the Bones

While digging tunnels in London, workers came across 25 skeletons from the time of the Black Death. I wouldn't say that I'm a 'Doomsday Prepper' type by any means. I don't hoard food, I haven't turned my home into a defacto fortress. That isn't to say that I haven't educated myself for various disaster scenarios. (Bear with me, this will come full circle by the end, you know me). One nugget I found in this article was the mention of the varying conditions of bones in the different layers of burial. The earliest bones showed signs of malnutrition, attributed to the "Great Famine" that preceded the first round of the Black Death (which eventually claimed 75 million lives in Europe). Earlier today I had read an article about a massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia in the 12th Century. It's credited with being the cause of a Little Ice Age at the time, as well as being one of the precipitating factors of the dark ages, and the 'Great Famine'. Disease, climate change affecting global economic stability, all created a 'perfect storm' of cirucmstances bringing about the collapse of civillization at the time. Bones found from a later period, after the famine, when the plague had been in full swing testified to this: "The later skeletons, however, show more signs of upper-body injuries, consistent with a period of lawlessness and social breakdown." A study conducted by NASA last week addressed perfect storms such as this, stating that the utter collapse of civilization is likely in our lifetime. It said "The fall of the Roman Empire, and the equally (if not more) advanced Han, Mauryan, and Gupta Empires, as well as so many advanced Mesopotamian Empires, are all testimony to the fact that advanced, sophisticated, complex, and creative civilizations can be both fragile and impermanent." You can read the entire article here. We tend to be quite arrogant about our level of civilization, considering ourselves considerably more evolved than our ancestors 700 years ago. I realized just how untrue this was watching the news this week. One needs look no further than side by side pics of modern riot police and Roman centurions to see just how alike we are. RIOT POLICE IN KIEV 2013

A TYPICAL ROMAN CENTURION FORMATION

Now for the full circle. While some might view this article about some old skeletons uncovered in an excavation as scholarly and thought provoking, I find it to be more of a warning. The NASA article mentions nearly half a dozen advanced and sophisticated civillizations that collapsed under a perfect storm of circumstances. It points out that it is a "recurrent cycle", and just such a perfect storm is brewing now. These tunnel laborers uncovering the bones of their 13th century brethren's short brutal live, may just find themselves the next layer in the dirt.

Data Visualization

I love this concept. It reminds me of when I was cooking in hotels, and my Chef had scheduled me on a continuous string of 'clopens'. A 'clopen' is a shift where you work until the restaurant closes, then come back for an opening shift the next day. It is a destroyer of minds. I told him that I'd be happy to do all closes, no days off if he needed, but that working the clopens was turning me into a mental and physical wreck. He was a bit insensitive to my needs to say the least, so I resorted to my own data visualization. I graphed out my sleep patterns for him. The big rollercoaster spikes of sleep/work left him unmoved still, and nothing changed until I eventually quit, refusing to work for any job that intentionally scheduled that way again. The graphic really did a paint a vivid picture that I remember to this day however, and these data visualizations are even more eye opening.

Rock Me Mama Like a Euro Train.

In 1978 there was nothing I wanted more than a train set. And on Christmas I got one. It was the Durango line, a little train set with cattle cars and flatbeds etc. My dad and I had big plans for it. We spent time in hobby shops, looking at layouts, buying magazines, accessories, building models. Eventually I even got my dream train, a Via passenger train, with lights in every car! Trains were hip and cool in the 70s. They were all over the movies, and there was a romance to them that seems to be missing today. That romance was best captured in Silver Streak, a suspense comedy with Jill Clayburgh and Gene Wilder. I had an unbelievable crush on Jill Clayburgh, I watched that movie again and again. When I came across this article from Life magazine on one of my favorite sites, I had to share it! But before you click on the link, check out the trailer for Silver Streak!