Wish I Didn't Know

Since when are these signs called speed humps and not speed bumps?  At any rate, we recommend slowing down for this one!

Source: Imgur

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Amazing photograph.

Source: Imgur

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“I got up at 3am to drive from Seattle to Prosser in eastern WA. It was pretty cool to see the 31 balloons launch at sunrise over the Yakima river.”

This photo was taken on September 26, 2009 in Prosser, Washington, US. by Dene’ Miles.

Source and hi-res original: Flickr

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Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, photographed on July 11, 2009 by Noble Upchurch.

Source and hi-res file: Flickr

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Sunset over cruise ship at James Bay, Victoria, Canada, photographed by Evan Leeson

Source and hi-res file: Flickr

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Early Morning in Paris

This photo was taken on December 11, 2008 in Chaillot, Paris, by Pierre Metivier.

Source and h-res file: Fickr

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“It was one of the most awesome sunsets I had ever seen. After a shower the clouds opened and the light and colors were unbelievable.”

 This photo was taken on December 7, 2006 in Jordaan, Amsterdam, by MorBCN.

Source and hi-res original file: Flickr

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The reflection of Watch Tower and Pingora Peak in the Cirque of the Towers, a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming, photographed by Jack Brauer

Source: Daily Mail

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 The sun rises behind Huron Peak, in in the Sawatch Range, near Vail and Leadville in Colorado, photographed by Jack Brauer

Source: Daily Mail

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Glow California, Glow! - Mysterious NEON Tide Creeps Up On Encinitas Beaches (WIDK)

Posted to WIDK by Emily Moore

(Sara Nelson, Daily Mail) — It could be the grim denouement from a science fiction film, as the silhouette of a man solemnly watches a glowing sea, with a child perched atop his shoulders.

But this is not cinema trickery - it’s a natural phenomena caused by a chemical reaction called bioluminescence, which happens when a naturally-occurring micro-organism in the water is disturbed, causing a chemical reaction which emits light.

The reaction is similar to the ‘glow’ that fireflies use to attract prey or mates. Many undersea organisms ‘glow’, especially creatures that live at depths where light from the surface is less likely to penetrate.

The spellbinding sight was captured at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, California, yesterday. The night-time glow is a side-effect of blooming red algae, known as red tide, which can turn entire beaches scarlet and murky during the day.

The smell of decay, caused by rotting kelp, plankton and fish often accompanies the event as the red algae starves the water of oxygen and light. By night, there is an increase in microscopic plankton called dynoflagellates, which glow in the dark when disturbed by currents or waves.

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Picture This - Sunset Over Amsterdam (WIDK)

(WIDK) — This photo was taken on July 4, 2009 in Amsterdam, North Holland by Werner Kunz.

Source: Flickr

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Water World? - The Floating City That Could Become The Future Of Life At Sea (WIDK)

Posted to WIDK by Emily Moore

(Daily Mail) — It looks like something straight out of a James Bond film - but a British firm believes this floating building could be the future of life at sea.

With 11 accommodation decks, a 360-degree observation area, four helipads, its own dock, several swimming pools and as much space as a cruise liner, it’s not so much a boat as a city.

Although it certainly does not fit the mould of a yacht, the design, called ‘Project Utopia’, was unveiled to stunned onlookers at the glitzy Monaco Yacht Show.

Designer BMT Nigel Gee, of Southampton, Hants, has not yet put a figure on how much the floating island might cost to create or what sort of customer would want to buy it.

The boat is designed to float on four platforms, each with thrusters to keep the whole yacht island stable, even in the extreme seas.

Able to move ‘at slow speeds’, it stretches 65m above the sea’s surface, providing visitors to the 13th floor observation deck with panoramic views.

Just below, the top deck of the main accommodation and service spaces - which could house shops, bars and restaurants - would be covered by a retractable canopy.

He said: ‘Visions of the future are often constrained by familiarity with the present or a reflection on the past.

‘Much is made in today’s design community of starting with a blank sheet of paper yet many, if not all yacht concepts revert back to the traditional form.

‘Because of the perception that a yacht should be a form of transport it becomes an immediate design constraint.

‘Utopia is not an object to travel in, it is a place to be, an island established for anyone who has the vision to create such a place.’

In the middle, a large column plunges down into the water, acting as a mooring system and housing a wet dock providing access from the sea.

James said the design, which has been created in partnership with Yacht Island Design, represents how the firm, which works on yachts, commercial and naval craft, uses state-of-the-art technology to bring innovation to the industry.

He added: ‘Pioneering design ideas such as Utopia are exactly the types of projects that our team excel in.

‘Our forward-thinking approach and unrivalled state-of-the-art engineering experience allows us to work closely with designers, stylists and shipyards, and bring these ideas to life.’

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Sunrise on Phu Chi Fa Clifftop, Thailand (WIDK)

(WIDK) — Phu Chi Fa clifftop at sunrise. Looking over fog in the valleys of Laos from the Thai side of the border. The Mekong river is somewhere down there.

This photo was taken on January 4, 2009 in Wiang Kaen, Chiang Rai, TH, using a Nikon D40X by Tom Marshall.

Source (hi-res image): Flickr

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Obama Administration Set to Ban ASTHMA INHALERS Over Environmental Concerns (WIDK)

(The Weekly Standard BY MARK HEMINGWAYS) — Remember how Obama recently waived new ozone regulations at the EPA because they were too costly? Well, it seems that the Obama administration would rather make people with Asthma cough up money than let them make a surely inconsequential contribution to depleting the ozone layer.

Asthma patients who rely on over-the-counter inhalers will need to switch to prescription-only alternatives as part of the federal government’s latest attempt to protect the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday patients who use the epinephrine inhalers to treat mild asthma will need to switch by Dec. 31 to other types that do not contain chlorofluorocarbons, an aerosol substance once found in a variety of spray products.

The action is part of an agreement signed by the U.S. and other nations to stop using substances that deplete the ozone layer, a region in the atmosphere that helps block harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun.

But the switch to a greener inhaler will cost consumers more. Epinephrine inhalers are available via online retailers for around $20, whereas the alternatives, which contain the drug albuterol, range from $30 to $60.

The Atlantic’s Megan McArdle, an asthma sufferer, noted a while back that when consumers are forced to use environmentally friendly products they are almost always worse:

Er, industry also knew how to make low-flow toilets, which is why every toilet in my recently renovated rental house clogs at least once a week.  They knew how to make more energy efficient dryers, which is why even on high, I have to run every load through the dryer in said house twice.  And they knew how to make inexpensive compact flourescent bulbs, which is why my head hurts from the glare emitting from my bedroom lamp.    They also knew how to make asthma inhalers without CFCs, which is why I am hoarding old albuterol inhalers that, unlike the new ones, a) significantly improve my breathing and b) do not make me gag.  Etc.

Well, tough cookies asthma sufferers! You should have written bigger checks to the Democratic party while you had the chance.

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