disasters
Space Station Nearly Obliterated, No Big Deal
Hamilton Nolan · 06/29/11 08:33AM"Everyone into the survival pods, quickly! We may be smashed and the pressure could blow! Space death and boiling blood is what we face!" These words or some version of them were likely spoken aboard the International Space Station yesterday around 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, when the astronauts there were *nearly* obliterated by speeding space debris.
44 Dead in Russian Jet Crash
Seth Abramovitch · 06/21/11 12:48AMAt least 44 are dead after a jet crashed onto a highway in northwestern Russia late Monday night, officials say. It was coming from Moscow, and crash-landed in heavy fog nearly one mile from the runway at its destination in Besovets. There were 43 passengers and 9 crew members on board; some, including a child, survived, and were taken to a nearby hospital. [CNN, video via AP]
John McCain Blames Wildfires on Madcap Torch-Wielding Illegals
Jim Newell · 06/20/11 11:22AMArizona has been having some troubles again, this time with massive wildfires torching the already barren hellscape. You know why? Because it's a desert. All you need is, say, a golf club nicking a rock, or some other painfully simple action, and boom: death flames everywhere. Or you can just blame the illegal immigrants in their pyromanic fly-by-night encampments, as Sen. John McCain has.
What Just Happened at Nebraska's Cooper Nuclear Station?
Seth Abramovitch · 06/19/11 08:36PMSomething not good has gone down at Cooper Nuclear Station, an electrical power plant near the Missouri River in southeast Nebraska. The region has been flooding steadily for weeks, and with river levels rising, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released water from two dams on Saturday in anticipation of more heavy rains this week.
Why You Don't Want to Be in a Hardware Store During an Earthquake
Brian Moylan · 06/17/11 02:11PMTornadoes Hit Oklahoma, Tossing Cars and Claiming Lives
Max Read · 05/24/11 06:20PMPossible 'Tornado Outbreak' in Missouri Today
Jeff Neumann · 05/24/11 04:18AMFirst-Person Video From Inside the Missouri Tornado
Adrian Chen · 05/23/11 09:19AMDeath Toll from Missouri Tornado Climbs to 89
Jeff Neumann · 05/23/11 06:57AMMore details of yesterday's tornado in Joplin, Missouri, have emerged after a press conference there early this morning. Officials said that 89 people are confirmed dead, and a Fire Department spokesman told reporters that the tornado had "cut the city in half." The path of the tornado was a mile wide and six miles long, and it destroyed much of the St. John's Regional Medical Center.
At Least 30 Killed in Missouri Tornado
Jeff Neumann · 05/23/11 12:57AMMeet Grímsvötn, Iceland's Latest Erupting Volcano
Max Read · 05/21/11 04:46PMThe Centers for Disease Control Is Officially Prepared for a Zombie Invasion
Adrian Chen · 05/18/11 10:31AMMother Nature's Driving America to the Poorhouse
Jeff Neumann · 05/14/11 10:58AMEarthquake Hits Spain on the Day Rome Was Supposed to Be Destroyed by Earthquake
Brian Moylan · 05/11/11 02:37PMTwo earthquakes hit southern Spain in quick succession today, resulting in several deaths and widespread damage. This comes on the day some predicted an earthquake would destroy Rome, which resulted in thousands fleeing the city. Looks like the prophesy was only off by a few countries. Let's hope those exiled Italians didn't head to Spain.
'Thousands' Flee Rome in Anticipation of 'Prophet-Predicted Quake'
Max Read · 05/10/11 06:34PMHouse Republicans Lend Big Oil a Hand
Jeff Neumann · 05/06/11 04:15AMGeez, the federal government sure has made the last year so tough for struggling oil companies to get new offshore drilling leases. And if there's one sector that needs a helping hand these days, well, it's oil. But thanks to House Republicans those dark days will soon be over! Yesterday a bill was passed — creatively titled the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act — by a vote of 266-to-149 to bring back offshore drilling auctions, which had been shelved in order to make sure safety and environmental concerns were addressed — a long, drawn out mess that was probably pretty annoying for oil companies.
Southern Storms Round-up: Death Toll Passes 300
Seth Abramovitch · 04/29/11 01:36AMAlabama Governor: Storms Killed 128 People Yesterday
Jeff Neumann · 04/28/11 05:49AMThe 'Advertising in Books' Wall Has Been Breached
Hamilton Nolan · 04/26/11 11:24AMHarry Hurt III (pictured, with pal) used to write a column in the New York Times business section called "Executive Pursuits," in which Harry Hurt went off and did something wacky and upscale and wrote about it. It always struck me as a wholly unnecessary exercise in self-absorption, which had nothing to do with business at all, except for the fact that Harry Hurt is a rich guy. Now, he's back—pioneering the use of advertising and product placement in books. Oh. Good.