Bright light in the sky
There is science, and there is science fiction. And when the two paths join, be very afraid. The news out of Chelyabinsk (for those unfamiliar with Russian geography, Google is your travel guide) shows a meteorite on a collision path with the area. It also shows that some things can’t be predicted, no matter how good the mathematics.
The footage from dash cams, smart phones and whatever else happened to be rolling at the moment show a great light passing “much too close for comfort”, followed by a sonic boom that blew out windows and left a lot of people worse for the wear. I hadn’t seen tincture of iodine smeared on skin for years, but it seems to be the colour of the day for minor medical emergencies over there. Back to the meteorite. The scientists are picking up the pieces (big rock makes many little rockets), and those close to ground zero will be telling their grandkids about the day the sun set twice.
In other news, the company that owns a fleet of large cruise ships are playing nice with an upset client base. One of the boats (I know, it is a ship, not a boat, but humour me) lost power after a fire in the engine room, and when things go dead in the water, all you can do is float. Five days in a boat… 4200 people with short rations, short access to working “facilities” and short tempers. Not the way a dream vacation is supposed to run. Watching the spokesman, in a crested windbreaker, repeating over and over again that the company regrets the situation may not be enough.
