LifeofthisWorld

Large-ish Meteor Hits Earth... But No One Notices SPACE.com   Tue, Feb 23 3:05 PM PST   Sign in to like   Reblog on Tumblr   Tweet If a space rock hits the atmosphere, and no one is around to hear it, does the tabloid press still report it as an Earth-shattering event? This pretty much summarizes a large-ish meteor impact over the South Atlantic Ocean, which occurred on Feb. 6, and was recorded by the Fireball and Bolide Reports page of NASA's Near Earth Object Program. The event itself is notable because it is the largest atmospheric impact recorded since the famous Chelyabinsk bolide that exploded over Russia in 2013, causing widespread structural damage and injuries to the city with a population of 1 million. This recent Feb. 6 event unleashed an energy equivalent of 13,000 tons of TNT exploding instantaneously (a.k.a. ... Read more

Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest, has opened a $1.2 billion concourse with the arrival of a British Airways flight from London US News & World Report   20 hours ago   Sign in to like   Reblog on Tumblr   Tweet DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The world's busiest airport for international travel is growing again. Dubai International Airport opened a new concourse Wednesday with the arrival of a British Airways flight from London. Officials say the new $1.2 billion concourse will boost the airport's capacity from 75 million to 90 million passengers annually. Concourse D will be used by more than 70 international airlines flying in and out of Dubai International, by far the Middle East's busiest airport. It is linked to the airport's existing Terminal 1 by an airport train. British Airways and Royal Jordanian will be the first airlines to use the facility, with other carriers phasing in operations over ... Read more

What Great Cities Will Look Like With Sea Level Rise Popular Mechanics   Mon, Feb 22 4:05 PM PST   Sign in to like   Reblog on Tumblr   Tweet As the international climate conference in Paris rolls on, maybe it's time to take stock of things. Like, say, what will happen if we don't do anything to reduce our carbon emissions and global temperatures continue to increase. As every major political party in the developed world apart from the American Republican Party acknowledges, glaciers and ice caps will melt, sea levels will rise, and significant areas in some of the world's greatest cities will be submerged. Below is a series of graphics, via ClimateCentral.org, that show what a number of major cities, from London to Mumbai, will look like in 85 years if sea levels continue to rise. The left shows the makeover these cities will get if global ... Read more

Yemeni rebels pose a rising threat in southern Saudi Arabia Washington Post   18 hours ago   Sign in to like   Reblog on Tumblr   Tweet NAJRAN, Saudi Arabia — Thousands of Saudi troops have been deployed along these desiccated hills, struggling to halt cross-border attacks by Yemeni rebels who fire rockets and carry out lethal ground incursions. The Yemeni fighters have killed and captured hundreds of Saudi soldiers in a conflict that presents Saudi Arabia with the biggest challenge to its territory in years. Thousands of mortars and crude rockets have slammed into schools, mosques and homes in Najran, a city of several hundred thousand people only a few miles from the mountains of northern Yemen. The border assaults have come in response to a devastating air and ground war that a Saudi-led military coalition launched in Yemen ...

Politics The Navy's Colossal Stealth Destroyer Heads Out to Sea Popular Mechanics   6 hours ago   Sign in to like   Reblog on Tumblr   Tweet BATH, Maine (AP) — The largest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy headed out to sea for the first time Monday, departing from shipbuilder Bath Iron Works and carefully navigating the winding Kennebec River before reaching the open ocean where the ship will undergo sea trials. More than 200 shipbuilders, sailors and residents gathered to watch as the futuristic 600-foot, 15,000-ton USS Zumwalt glided past Fort Popham, accompanied by tugboats. Kelley Campana, a Bath Iron Works employee, said she had goose bumps and tears in her eyes. "This is pretty exciting. It's a great day to be a shipbuilder and to be an American," she said. "It's the first in its class. There's never been anything like ... Read more

0 Years After Revolution, Some Filipinos Yearn for ‘Golden Age’ of Marcos New York Times   Mon, Feb 22 9:00 PM PST   Sign in to like   Reblog on Tumblr   Tweet MANILA — As Filipinos prepare for the 30th anniversary on Thursday of the “People Power” revolution that toppled Ferdinand E. Marcos, the Marcos family legacy is undergoing a political renaissance by those who claim it was a “golden age” of peace and prosperity. “I think Marcos was our best president,” said Richard Negre, a Manila resident who was born two years after the dictator was overthrown. “That was when the Philippines was the leader of Asia. We were respected.” Ferdinand Marcos, who died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, ruled the Philippines with an iron fist for two decades, with his wife Imelda, whose lavish lifestyle — and thousands of pairs of shoes — became a global symbol of greed and ... Read more

Syrian Kurdish YPG says to abide by U.S.-Russian ceasefire   34 minutes ago     Related Stories German killed in Syria while fighting ISIS with Kurdish YPG: YPG official   Reuters U.S-Russian Plan Calls For Syria Ceasefire Starting Saturday   Huffington Post Obama urges Russia to stop bombing 'moderate' Syria rebels   Reuters Kerry issues warning as Syrian parties back halt to fighting   Reuters Syrian army gains ground around Aleppo, looks to Raqqa   Reuters Is it Time to Retire? Fisher Investments   Sponsored   BEIRUT (Reuters) - The powerful Syrian Kurdish YPG militia will abide by a U.S.-Russian plan aimed at halting fighting in Syria, but reserves the right to respond if attacked, YPG official Redur Xelil told Reuters on Wednesday. "We, in the People's Protection Units (YPG), give great importance (to the plan), and we will abide by it completely, while reserving the rig...

Big-spending Chinese clubs stumble in Asian Champions League   By  JOHN DUERDEN 22 minutes ago     SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Big-spending Chinese clubs endured a disappointing opening night in the Asian Champions League on Wednesday. Guangzhou Evergrande, coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, and Sven-Goran Eriksson's Shanghai SIPG both failed to win their opening group matches. Defending champion Guangzhou, with former Atletico Madrid striker Jackson Martinez making his debut, was held to a 0-0 draw at home by Pohang Steelers of South Korea. Guangzhou was forced to play the Group H match in an empty stadium as punishment for filming opponents ahead of last year's final. Japanese club Urawa Reds took first place in the group by beating Sydney FC 2-0. Yuki Muto and Shinzo Koroki scored in each half. Earlier, Shanghai SIPG lost to Melbourne Victory 2-1 in Group G. The Australian team scored the winner on a disputed penalty, c...

U.S. to boost freedom of navigation moves in South China Sea: admiral By Idrees Ali, Reuters   2 hours 9 minutes ago   Comments   Sign in to like   Reblog on Tumblr   Share   Tweet   Email By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States, which is worried by China's military buildup to assert dominance in the South China Sea, will increase freedom-of-navigation operations there, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday. "We will be doing them more, and we'll be doing them with greater complexity in the future and ... we'll fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows," Admiral Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Command, told a House Armed Services Committee hearing. "We must continue to operate in the South China Sea to demonstrate that that water space and the air above it is international," Harris said. On Tuesday, Harris said China was "changing the operational landscape" in the S...

his is the most ridiculous claim that China has on the South China Sea Jeremy Bender, Business Insider   1 hour 35 minutes ago   Comments   Sign in to like   Reblog on Tumblr   Share   Tweet   Email (US Navy Photo)  Chinese Admiral Yuan Yubai. Since the establishment of modern China following World War II, both China and Taiwan have claimed nearly the entirety of the South China Sea as their own.  The countries  established  such a claim with a Nine Dash Line throughout the region that, Beijing and Taipei assert, show how the entirety of the South China Sea belongs to them. Whether the Nine Dash Line has  any basis  in international law or not, it is far from the most ridiculous basis for a claim that China has over the sea.  Instead, Chinese Vice Admiral Yuan Yubai was responsible for the most ridiculous claim for why all of the South China Sea belongs to Beijing.  Speaking at...