Make Mine Minerva

Say Hello To An NEO
No!  Nothing to do with 'The Matrix' or The Architect, or Keanu Reeves, either.  Perhaps I should have used full stops.  N.E.O. stands for "Near Earth Object", or in layman's terms a whacking big chunk of rock whizzing about dangerously close to the Blue Planet.  You know, your our home.

The crowded neighbourhood

     You are probably wondering what this has to do with 'Minerva', the Roman goddess of strategy and intelligence.  
     Nothing.
     It does, however, have everything to do with the Japanese 'Hayabusa' space probe, and the two instrument packages dubbed Minerva, the first of which deployed two Rover units on the 21st September.  These have successfully sent back images of the NEO 162173 Ryugu, which, if that sluggard Art is on the ball -

Blinding glare to starboard is the Sun.

     Here you see Ryugu in all it's shabby splendour.  At a future date the Hayabusa probe is going to explosively launch a 5 lb copper slug into the asteroid, then go poke around in the pristine new crater thus created.
     Any subsequent change in Ryugu's orbit will be infinitesmal.  Of course, there is the risk that any such minute change will, perhaps centuries hence, turn the NEO into an OEO (On Earth Object).
     This would be bad, lest you be unsure.
     Now, shall we see how much capsaicin we can force the motley to drink before it's insides spontaneously ignite?

Yes, let's!

Schadenfreude, I Embrace Thee
No!  It's not the name of a Teuton battleship of the First Unpleasantness, though it does sound splendidly Teutonic, doesn't it?  "SMS Schadenfreude, majestic battlecruiser of His Imperial Majesty The Kaiser's High Seas Fleet".
     Except not.  It means "to take malicious delight in other people's misfortune", and Conrad was first in the queue to get his allocation.  Art?

Not something you will see very often at BOOJUM!

     I am referring to the 'Have Your Say' pages on the BBC's website, where the invective, rancour, spleen and sheer venom are, to say the least, highly entertaining.  Especially to one who cares naught for the ballfoot game, like your humble scribe.  There was one comment I found especially delightful.  Let us quote poster 'Itsokay':

The Mayor of London-should insist that if WH are to use the tax payers stadium then they should at least try and play football in it.

     This is a not very subtle dig at West Ham's tactic of 'parking the bus', which means cramming everyone in front of your own goal to stop the opposition scoring.*

I Know I Promised Not To -
But yes, we are back on the subject of blasters, and a very specific subset of the genre: those in the "Star Wars" universe.  Quite by chance this afternoon I looked at Youtube, and there was a post from "Generation Tech" about "Blasters versus Firearms".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMQyq8VrkaU

     That above the link, if you care to chase it up.  The host goes on to list 10 reasons why a 21st Century handgun is soooooo much better than a Star Wars blaster.  Art?

Firearm, every time

     I have covered some of his points in my own exhaustively-researched posts, but he details things specific to Star Wars, including the somewhat startling revelation that blaster bolts travel at a speed of 78 m.p.h. (glad to see Imperial measurements still hold sway in Teh Future).  So yes, you can easily dodge them.

The Failings Of Tailings
You may never have heard of one of the largest dams in the world: the Syncrude Tailings Dam in Alberta, British America.  This is because it's a tailings dam, not a water retention dam.  Tailings are the horrid leftovers from mining operations, usually a vile toxic slurry that is meant to be kept in an 'empoundment' permanently.  Art?

Part of the embankment, which is 11 miles long

     The whole thing contains over 200 million tons of liquids, which makes the name 'pond' seem a whimsical understatement.
     Tailings dams exist to the number of about 3,500 globally; the "about" is because data collection on them is rather spotty.  What is less spotty is their failure rate, of between 2 to 5 annually, and when they fail it's not just water they release, it's all the chemicals in the tailings, too.  I shall probably go into this in more detail tomorrow - for tonight - the laundry beckons!**



*  I learned this highly technical subject just from reading ballfoot HYS.  How clever am I?
**  My Rock And Roll Lifestyle Part 857