Linky

[reldnahkram]

3D visualization of the London Underground, including trains. Be sure to click through to the other experiments at the bottom - they're nifty too.

How (not) to create lots of new real estate in New York. Also, click the link to "non-stop malfunctioning megaphone of bad ideas" for something called the big squirt.

I have had it with these motherfucking walruses on this motherfucking submarine">. Check out the source Dark Roasted Blend post for more nifty things.

Why yes, I will always link to homemade transit map wall decorations.

The drought conditions in the southwest are getting worse.

400 days round-trip to Venus, 790 to visit Mars too, all with Apollo equipment.

A nice collection of 1920s mugshots.

Comments

[ccommack]

Re: southwestern water: ohshit. If outflows through Glen Canyon Dam are getting restricted, then (yup, I see the linked article mentions this prominently), that threatens to send the level of Lake Mead, downstream of Glen Canyon, below the level of the water intakes for the Las Vegas/SNWA system, which are only just below the present water level. They're working on a newer, deeper intake for SNWA, but for an engineering project of this size and type in Vegas, it's "on schedule, on budget, built to proper standards, pick two at most". If the 2M residents of Clark County lose half their water supply... well, all bets are off, if you'll forgive the expression.

[uncleamos]

If I may combine two of those stories, the Colorado River is actually comparable in flow to the Hudson. (That's a comparison of the Colorado River Compact benchmark flow at Lee's Ferry - which was taken before the dams were built and - we have since learned - after a very wet period. Oops. On the other hand, the Hudson figure is present outflow at New York, which is below the dams. So basically the Colorado figure is high and the Hudson figure is low. So actually the Colorado River is smaller than the Hudson, and maybe by a lot. I'm having trouble laying my hands on rigorous data on short notice.)

The point being, nothing about Southwest water use is sustainable. Not the Colorado River Compact and Projects, not the rapidly draining aquifers, and in the long run, maybe not even the Hetch Hetchy system. Serious changes are coming soon and, no, I do not think the Bureau of Reclamation is out in front on any of the issues.