The magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile last Saturday actually shifted the axis of the Earth by 8 centimeters. This led to an increase of the rotation of the Earth, which shortens the days by 1.26 microseconds (0.00000126 seconds). Unfortunately, this can only be calculated, not actually measured. The smallest amount of time that can currently be captured is 5 microseconds.

Now, what does that mean?

Even less sleep for me, I guess.

Sigh.

In comparison to Chile, the 2004 Sumatran earthquake (magnitude 9.1) is estimated to have shortened the length of day by 6.8 microseconds and shifted Earth’s axis by 7 centimeters. It did not have an impact as strong as the one in Chile – JPL research scientist Richard Gross explains why:

First, unlike the 2004 Sumatran earthquake, which was located near the equator, the 2010 Chilean earthquake was located in Earth’s mid-latitudes, which makes it more effective in shifting Earth’s figure axis. Second, the fault responsible for the 2010 Chiliean earthquake dips into Earth at a slightly steeper angle than does the fault responsible for the 2004 Sumatran earthquake. This makes the Chile fault more effective in moving Earth’s mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting Earth’s figure axis.

CSU-Generalsekretär Alexander Dobrindt hält die Grünen für “eine verkrustete und verzopfte Partei, mit der Zukunftspolitik nicht möglich ist”. Daraus schließt er: “Politische Gemeinsamkeiten mit den Grünen sehe ich Null Komma Null, die kann man nicht mal mit der Lupe suchen”.

Soso. Nicht mal mit der Lupe suchen. Von finden kann da ohnehin keine Rede sein.

Denn: im Gegensatz zu den Grünen sind die Christkonservativen modern, zukunftsorientiert, und alles andere als verkrustet. Und verzopft sowieso nicht.

Herr Dobrindt ist wie ein sehr schlechter Film, der deswegen schon wieder gut ist.

Kennt ihr solche Filme? Nichts ist amüsanter als ein miserabler Film, der sich selbst ernst nimmt und für besonders herausragend hält. Wie Battlefield Earth oder Druids.

Hut ab, Herr Generalsekretär. Oder am besten gleich: Krawatte ab, und stattdessen lieber Comedy machen?

(Quelle: tagesschau.de)

• A school in the US equipped students with laptops – and actively spied on them and their families at home using integrated webcams (without their knowledge or consent). Moreover, they were actually stupid enough to discipline a pupil for “improper behavior”, using a photograph of the webcam as evidence. (source)
• Over 200 Russians got sick after a mass in the church St Michael in Irkutsk. The infection was caused by … holy water. (source)
• “Don’t you hate it when you can’t get that pesky alien implant out of your groin? Dr. Roger Leir is here to help.” They are serious about this, by the way: Dr. Leir actually removes alien implants, if you happen to have problems with them. He has lots of “evidence” posted on his website. (source)
• “Harvard professor and noted Google critic Ben Edelmen provided video evidence of the Google toolbar transmitting data back to the Mountain View Chocolate Factory after he chose to disable the application in the browser window he was currently using.” (source)
• Utah passed a bill two days ago, disputing science of climate change, claiming emissions are “essentially harmless”. (source)
• The German cinemas increased their turnover by 22.8% in the year 2009. So much for “internet piracy is killing the movie industry”. On the other hand, it has to be stated that there seems to be a rather sad ongoing trend: small cinemas are closing down, and the big chains are gaining more and more market share. But the same applies to all other stores, e.g. bookstores, so that’s nothing the “pirating” can be blamed for. It’s the way capitalism works, I presume. (source)

In the US, polygraphs (lie detectors) are still widely used by law enforcement – in spite of the fact that they rely on measuring physiological excitement.

“You have not slept and were treated badly for the last 24 hours. We are three bullies in police uniforms, and we are armed. We want to know if you commited a crime. We are screaming at you.
Wait, the polygraph tells me … you are sweating! And your heart is beating fast! You must be guilty!”

This is unbelievable.

In 1988, the “Employee Polygraph Protection Act” was signed. It states that companies must not force (potential) employees to take polygraph tests in order to employ or sack them.
The idea behind this law is not that polygraphy is nonsense, but that employees’ privacy (!!) must be protected.

Again, unbelievable.

(Source: tagesschau.de)

I like weird data and facts.

The magazine brand eins just released a book full of numbers – “Die Welt in Zahlen – 2010” – which is highly recommendable. I hope they don’t mind if I translate a couple of items into English to make a bit of advertising.

• Pirate assaults on ships in 2003: 445
• Pirate assults on ships in 2008: 293
• Increase in piracy-insurance in the last 12 months: 900%

• Turnover made by Real Madrid in season 07/08 (in million Euro): 366
• Turnover by all German football, handball, icehockey and basketball clubs together in the same time: 500

• Worldwide turnover with digital music in 2004 (in billion dollars): 0.4
• Worldwide turnover with digital music in 2007: 3.7
• Number of illegal downloads per legal download: 8

It sounds like an urban legend really – can someone confirm this?

In the UK, Apple stores don’t have “no smoking” signs. Legally they need them but they “ruin the design of the store””, so for every apple store they pay £50 a day to keep their windows sign free.

Whether it’s true or not, it’s too good for not posting it.

(Source: Lewis King)

Some officials at an international European airport come up with the funny idea to put explosives in bags of passengers who don’t know about this, in order to check the security of the airport.

Security finds explosives. After a hard day of work, the conversation maybe goes like this:

“Hey guys, good job. By the way, did we actally find all explosives we put into the luggage?”
- “Not sure sir, we didn’t count how many we put in. Around ten, I presume?”
“Oh well, should be fine really. It’s just explosives in the luggage of random innocent travellers. What could possibly go wrong?”

Or perhaps like this?

“Hey guys, funny thing huh, we missed one, hehe.”
- “Ye well, lol. Wonder what will happen?”
“Haha, the person will get arrested I guess. Let’s go to a bar and get wasted.”
- “Sure.”

Now comes the part where it gets less funny, because that actually happened. RTI.IE reports that Bratislava Airport Security put eight explosives in luggage of unsuspecting passengers, and failed to detect all – leading to a major incident at Dublin Airport this morning.

The explosive was one of eight pieces of contraband planted by the authorities in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers at Bratislava Airport in Slovakia last weekend as part of a test of security procedures.

Seven were detected by airport security, but the eighth – 90g of research development explosive – was put in the luggage of a Slovakian electrician who lives and works in Dublin.

The 49-year-old unwittingly brought the material to Dublin when he returned from Christmas holidays.

(via fefe)

(via Iggy)

Slate wrote a very good article about a product called the “Artificial Virginity Hymen Kit”, which helps women to fake virginity in their wedding night.

If you’re a woman in a conservative Muslim country, you had better bleed on your wedding night. If you don’t, your husband or his family will know you aren’t a virgin. For that, you could be beaten or killed.

If you’re a man, on the other hand, all you have to do on your wedding night is ejaculate. Nobody expects you to bleed or produce any other proof of virginity.

Some day, this barbaric and hypocritical tradition will end. Until then, the best we can do is fool it. You want blood on your wedding night? We’ll give you blood. Fake blood.

Here’s a short description of the product by Joseph Freeman, Associated Press:

The Artificial Virginity Hymen kit, distributed by the Chinese company Gigimo, costs about $30. It is intended to help newly married women fool their husbands into believing they are virgins—culturally important in a conservative Middle East where sex before marriage is considered by many to be illicit. The product leaks a blood-like substance when inserted and broken.

Now, rather famous Muslim lawyers and lawmakers (e.g. Sheik Sayed Askar, a member of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood who is on the parliamentary committee on religious affairs), are demanding a ban on the kit.

Slate’s conclusion:

If a $30 item that leaks fake blood violates your faith so profoundly that you must ban it, then what you have isn’t really a faith. It’s a fetish. And your fetish won’t survive globalization.

[...] Rigid proscriptions against premarital sex are excessive, futile, and unnecessary. They breed hypocrisy and contempt for authority. In the age of the artificial hymen, you can still preach and practice fidelity. Just don’t ask God to protect your sick craving for wedding-night blood. She can’t and won’t.

Virginity fetishism is doomed, boys. Give it up.