Steven Aftergood at the Federation of American Scientists presents
Fifty Years of Space Nuclear Power
"A plutonium fueled RTG that was deployed in 1965 by the CIA not in space but on a mountaintop in the Himalayas (to help monitor Chinese nuclear tests) continues to generate anxiety, not electricity, more than four decades after it was lost in place. See, most recently,
"River Deep Mountain High" by Vinod K. Jose,
The Caravan magazine, December 1, 2010." (
MeFi previously)
posted by HLD
on Jun 28, 2011 -
8 comments
GenDisasters is a genealogy site, compiling information on the historic disasters, events, and tragic accidents of Canada and the U.S. that our ancestors endured, as well as, information about their life and death.
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on Dec 9, 2008 -
12 comments
The Book of Accidents: Designed for Young Children (1831). "In presenting to his little readers
The Book of Accidents, the Author conceives he cannot render a more important service to the rising generation and to parents, than by furnishing them with an account of the accidents to which Children, from their inexperience or carelessness, are liable. If generally studied it will save the lives of thousands, and relieve many families from the long and unavailing misery attendant on such occurrences."
[Via]
posted by homunculus
on Jul 3, 2008 -
34 comments
NewsFilter: "A Montgomery minister found in his home this summer died with his hands and feet bound behind his back and dressed in two rubberized suits, an offical autopsy showed. ... The Rev. Gary Michael Aldridge was found dead June 24. Police ruled the 51-year-old pastor of Thorington Road Baptist Church was alone at the time of his death and that there was no foul play involved."
He's a
Liberty University graduate and former Liberty dean.
[more inside]
posted by ibmcginty
on Oct 12, 2007 -
133 comments
15 days ago, there was a relatively small earthquake near Beaconsfield, Tasmania, which left 3 miners trapped in a gold mine. The situation looked grim after the body of
one of the miners was recovered. But after 5 days, there was elation as the other two were found,
still alive, buried one kilometer underground in a small cage. Australia's major commercial networks immediately sent their top news celebrities to the small mining town, assuming there would be a quick and easy rescue. In hindsight, they were perhaps a bit over enthusiastic. Accusations of a
media circus, and
chequebook journalism soon followed. After a couple of days of nothing happening, the media even started
turning on their own.
The story took an unexpectedly sad twist this weekend when one of Australia's most well known journalists
died at the site from an apparent heart attack. But tonight, after 15 days underground, it seems the rescuers are
finally breaking through the rock to
reach the unfortunate trapped miners.
posted by Diag
on May 8, 2006 -
19 comments
*Look* both ways before you cross the street "The dangerous drawbacks of driving a hybrid: it's so quiet that pedestrians can't hear it when it's starting up or idling, and they often walk right into the path of the moving vehicle." I've got a feeling this is how I'm going to buy it. Oh well, like the lady said, if it's not one thing it's another.
Tip of the hat to
Kausfiles via
Auto Blog.
posted by mojohand
on Feb 7, 2006 -
97 comments
Not a particularly interesting person? Perhaps you'd be more interesting if you had been attacked by pygmies, or survived a fall from a 19 story building. But who has the time to actually HAVE crazy life threatening accidents.
Now, you no longer need to.
posted by jonson
on Nov 11, 2005 -
29 comments
"People were tripping over each other, climbing over the seats to get to the exit." Warbaby posted a
link on July 7 to an article by Lee Clark that said people don't panic in disasters. Survivors from Tuesday's Toronto plane crash give a different story. Here's one account:
Ho said people at first were calm and lining up, but once fire from the back of the plane, "people were tripping over each other, climbing over the seats to get to the exit."
He said a flight attendant told him to jump out the front door with no chute, but it was about a 12-fioot drop. He ran to a second door. It had a damaged chute, but he took it.
"I jumped and fell onto some people," Ho said. "Some people broke their arms or legs."
posted by stevefromsparks
on Aug 3, 2005 -
42 comments
Ever wonder
what it's like? Do you hit the brakes, swerve left, swerve right? If it's never happened to you, take a look at this and see just how fast it all happens. Talk about "in the blink of an eye".... WOW.
(.wmv file... and possibly not safe for the squeemish.)
posted by Witty
on Dec 3, 2003 -
80 comments
Top 10 data disasters The BBC report on a list of 10 data mishaps and asks for more. Some of the user submitted stories are too funny. So how did you lose yours?
posted by brettski
on Oct 16, 2003 -
36 comments
So let me get this straight. These shoes, they
vibrate? All joking aside, the use of tiny vibrations in the soles of shoes to help keep the elderly from falling seems like a very interesting idea...
posted by Lokheed
on Oct 3, 2003 -
4 comments
Streets strewn with glass and gold. In the nation's capitol, freelance 'runners' dash from police station to police station, grabbing auto accident reports the moment they appear and phoning the victims, trying to convince them to file suit. If they succeed, "personal injury cases can be sold to a lawyer for $300 to $600, sometimes more if the victim broke some bones or died. Not bad money." Whatever you may think of the social policy wisdom of D.C. allowing this, this tiny subculture of high-energy hustlers living on the ragged fringe of law and mainstream ethics is colorful as hell, and would make a great context for a novel or film.
WaPo link. [via Overlawyered.com]
posted by Slithy_Tove
on May 6, 2003 -
6 comments
Just two months after the Sydney teenager Jessica Michalik was crushed to death in the mosh pit at a Limp Bizkit concert, the American rock/rap band is promoting an Internet game in which concert-goers try to avoid a violent death.
More
posted by murray_kester
on Mar 31, 2001 -
6 comments
Yet another rail crash in the UK, and trains are still not back to normal in the wake of the last one. It will be interesting to see how this increases road travel, something the country clearly isn't prepared for.
posted by methylsalicylate
on Feb 28, 2001 -
18 comments
Remember the movie Magnolia? One of the themes running through the movie was of amazing coincidences and chance.
This story of a people getting hit by trains near San Francisco this week mentions one such coincidence. A man was hit by a train, and on that very train was the chairman of a "nonprofit group whose goal is to reduce the number of train-related collisions, deaths and injuries." The additional fact that this safety group leader was enroute to give a speech on grade-crossing safety makes it approach urban legend status, but it did indeed happen.
posted by mathowie
on Jul 15, 2000 -
5 comments
Interest in traffic Web site no accident after a dramatic increase in fatal accidents, the osaka prefectural police started posting the exact locations of upcoming traffic inspections [for speeding & drunk driving] on
their website, and now they are logging record numbers of hits -- the idea being that the more people who know about their plans for traffic inspections, the better. the police feel that disclosing such information will help cut down on the number of deadly road accidents.
whether it has had a noticeable effect on traffic safety, however, is uncertain -- the number of drivers caught for violations is about 10 percent less than by this time last year, but the death toll on the prefecture's roads are about the same
posted by palegirl
on Jun 8, 2000 -
4 comments
Does everyone know about the
Darwin Awards? (These are the awards given to people who most improve the human race... by departing early...)
The most commonly cited one is the story of the guy who mounted a rocket on his Chevy Impala, and flew it into a canyon wall... well, as with most good stories,
it's based on an actual event. [ Reserve an hour or more, and bring diapers. ]
posted by baylink
on Apr 19, 2000 -
4 comments
Not even canines are safe from road rage. God I hate San Jose. Even if the guy's from Virginia, there's just something about this place that turns people into monsters, and not the good kind like mummies and werewolves.
posted by luke
on Mar 1, 2000 -
2 comments
