The conspiracy theories are already flashing across the internet, and who knows exactly what happened. Just at present, nobody except the perpetrators. What we do know right now is that an act of great cruelty was perpetrated, in the form of detonating bombs that appear to have been designed to destroy people’s arms and legs. That is vile, but what is even more vile is that this was intentionally done to runners, in order to make the act seem as depraved as possible.
read more

I recently realized I was lonely–most of my friends are in Texas or the UK, so I rarely see them. I joined a couple of "ladies" clubs, but found them unsatisfactory. One of them seems to be mainly about playing cards, while another is filled with querulous old gals who are constantly complaining about their health.

I’ve had long email "conversations" before, but this time I thought I’d make it official: I decided I hate better go "virtual," and join Facebook.

When I log on, I’m immediately sucked into a huge, poignant wave of humanity–of the joys and sorrows of people I hardly know. It can be emotionally overwhelming.
read more

Just as Whitley Strieber and Art Bell predicted in Superstorm 14 years ago, climate scientists are now warning that Europe is about to become the target of gigantic storms, some of them on the scale of Superstorm Sandy.

On the Common Dreams website, Andrea Germanos quotes climatologist Jeff Masters as saying, "Global warming brings a warmer Atlantic Ocean," and will create "more frequent and intense hurricanes following pathways directed towards Europe."
read more

Up until now, the invisibility cloaks have been bulky contraptions–not easy to slip on and off for people who want to role play Harry Potter. However, researchers have now developed a cloak that is just micrometers thick.

Objects are detected when waves–whether they are sound, light, x-rays or microwaves– rebound off its surface. The reason we see objects is because light rays bounce off their surface towards our eyes and our eyes are able to process the information.

While previous cloaking studies have used metamaterials to bend the incoming waves around an object, this new method uses an ultrathin metallic screen to cancel out the waves as they are scattered off the cloaked object.
read more