The Evil Eyebrow

Category: News

  • I-35W Bridge Collapse, Minneapolis

    If you look at any news feed in the US, whether it’s internet, cable, network, newspaper, whatever, I’m sure you’re aware of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis/St. Paul of the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi river. At the moment, there is no report on a cause, and they are still recovering cars from the river this morning. I35W Bridge The Interstate bridge is the one on the left in this image (taken from Google Maps! thanks, Google) with eight lanes of traffic. I can’t find a reliable estimate on the daily traffic across this bridge; several sources note “between 100,000 and 200,000 vehicles per day” which is a bunch of crap. That’s such a huge range, it’s worthless. If I were forced to guess, I’d say the traffic on this bridge was around 150,000 vpd, but that is just a guess.

    Discounting the trauma of this incident, the impact upon traffic patterns between St.Paul and Minneapolis will be huge. Interstates are built to provide the maximum mobility (ability to move long distances at speed with high numbers of vehicles per lane per hour) while the roadway next to it in the image above will be designed to permit a great deal more access (ability to link to adjacent routes and properties) which cuts down on the number of vehicles that can traverse the roadway within a given amount of time. I’m glad I don’t live on that roadway right now, it has just doubled its traffic, at least.

    Once the recovery of vehicles and victims is complete, I will be interested to see how the Minnesota DOT handles the reconstruction of this bridge. There was a recent similar disaster on I-40 across the Arkansas river which killed 14 and closed I-40 for 2 months. That collapse was due to a barge collision with a bridge pier. From what I can see in the images at this website, I think there may be more involved with the reconstruction in this case, not helped by the location which is in the center of a large urban area. I doubt that the I-35W bridge was up to the current standards for bridge construction since it was constructed in 1967. Usually, putting together plans for a bridge such as this one would take at least a year, but MDOT does not have that sort of time.

    I don’t currently know where the reports are, but I seem to recall that of all the tens of thousands of bridges in the US, about 50% are considered structurally deficient like this one was. “Structurally Deficient” does not mean “In danger of imminent collapse” but it does mean that the bridge in question should be upgraded or replaced on an expedited basis. Unfortunately, given the state of transportation funding across the nation, many bridges on the deficient list are being ignored due to money constraints. Also, keep in mind that the list of deficient bridges includes every single bridge in the country, including those ancient log bridges on a dirt road in the boonies. The National Highway System is usually maintained in a better-than-average condition than county roads.

    More food for thought: The same list of deficient infrastructure includes dams and levees, which have a much greater chance of causing serious harm or death if they collapse.

  • Biofuel Alternative to Ethanol

    The University of Wisonsin, Madison (great campus) has announced that researchers have been able to derive a fuel source from plant sugars. This fuel has a higher energy density than ethanol, with lower energy requirements for production. This is a good thing, because (some argue) ethanol has a nearly 1:1 energy return. For every erg of energy you get out of ethanol during transportation, you have to put an erg in during production. Compare that to a 25:1 return from gasoline, and you’ll see why I don’t think ethanol is a viable alternative fuel source. Sure, it could subsitute for gasoline, but we will require 25 times more energy production elsewhere, and currently that means more natural gas, oil, or coal burning. Not a good solution. Of course, if we went thoroughly nuclear in our electric generation, we would eliminate a large percentage of primary generation greenhouse gas emissions at the same time we were providing enough surplus energy to produce a less-than-cost-effective fuel. But that is another post.

  • Self-Serving Publicity? Or Good-Natured Intentions?

    The University of Georgia has extended a scholarship to a soccer player who may not be able to play. They indicate that despite her medical condition, Caroline Simpson is welcome to come to her freshman year in any capacity.

    I confess that my first thought after reading this article was, “that’s some well-aimed publicity for the school,” but I shouldn’t assume that there were ulterior motives here. From all accounts, Ms. Simpson is an excellent addition to any college soccer team, when she’s on her game, and the chances of her relapsing during college are, while high, still acceptable for a player of her caliber.

    I think it shows enormous grit and gumption for a coach to make a decision like this, in today’s what-have-you-done-for-me-since-breakfast culture, and I applaud him.

  • Washing your Keyboard

    NPR Morning Edition had a story today concerning the cleansing of your computer keyboard. Most manufacturer’s recommendations that I’ve seen have involved wiping the surface down with mild disinfectant and/or using canned air to blow the crumbs/dust/hair out from between the keys (holding upside down and vigourously shaking, as is the practice by yours truly, is discouraged).

    However, the NPR story was about washing your keyboard in the dishwasher.

    Though an entertaining piece to listen to, I think they’re all insane. Well, wait. Maybe they’re not. Our household has experience a few keyboards awash in drink, with no lasting adverse effect. The only funkiness was when only a few drops of fluid were in the keyboard, causing odd short circuits between keys, resulting in a sdentewcve thwat lookewsd likwe thisa. So, maybe washing (and drying!) a keyboard isn’t such a bad idea.

    This topic has apparently made a big dent on google.

    I’m adamantly convinced that though this might not kill your keyboard, it has got to shorten its lifespan by a large fraction. And really, the only reason to do this is to have a clean looking keyboard, not necessarily one that is sanitary. So, if you can put up with a keyboard that is a bit grimy (better yet, buy a black one) you’re good to go.

  • Awesome Astronomy, Terrible Reporting

    This morning, I was alerted by the Atlanta Journal Constitution (reg. req’d) that a Georgia State University astronomy program on Mt. Wilson, in California, had imaged the surface of Altair, a sun-sized star that is one of the brightest in the northern sky. This is cool because it’s the first time a star this size has been seen this way.

    image_5451429 However, accompanying this article was this image. It was very early when I read the news, so it didn’t ping my bullshit detectors, although the sheer amount of detail really should have been a tip-off. It wasn’t until I ended up at the National Science Foundation website that I noticed the caption that should have accompanied the image.

    An artist’s rendition of Altair

    What’s a little detail like that, between friends?

    Regardless, this is excellent astronomy and great science. I could not find the actual image that goes along with the press releases. Hopefully that will pop up into the public domain soon.

  • Going Overboard

    Insane Harry Potter fans now have a theme park to look forward to.

    I wil admit to being a huge Harry Potter fan, but not an insane one. Insane ones love ALL the movies and go to ALL of the HP-themed Dragon*Con sessions. And, of course, they’ll travel to California Florida to see a theme park.

  • uTube.com

    This story dropped into my reader today. It’s about how the Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment corporation (utube.com) has diverged from their product line and stuck Ringtone ads at the top of their website. It is a serious dichotomy. They apparently are being swamped by mistyped YouTube.com url’s and decided to cash in.

    untitled

    1102 Edit: It’s tough to make out the text on that image. I recommend going to the site and comparing their products with their other products.

  • Computers Are Trying to Kill Us

    The Master Control Program has it in for humans. Or maybe it’s Skynet. Or maybe WOPR

    Whatever diabolical digital entity it is, it’s paring us down using our satellite navigation systems against us.

    Thanks to Transport Blog for alerting us to this menace.

  • Eric Rudolph is a Dolt

    Eric Rudolph, the convicted abortion clinic bomber and the perpetrator of the backpack bomb at the 1996 Olympics here in Atlanta, is sending out hate mail from prison.

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Victims of Eric Rudolph, the anti-abortion extremist who pulled off a series of bombings across the South, say he is taunting them from deep within the nation’s most secure federal prison, and authorities say there is little they can do to stop him.

    I’m not sure why this is news. Here is a man who is obviously not on the same path as the majority of Americans, who will probably never be convinced that what he has done is evil, yet is protected by the First Amendment. He may write whatever the heck he wants, and having AP articles pop up about it is just media masturbation.

    What causes the title of this post is the supposition that a man, who will die in his cell, can “get back” at the families of his victims. To anyone who is angered or disturbed by this man’s writings, especially the victim’s families, I say: “He will never ever breathe a free breath of air again.” To Eric Rudolph I say: “You are a dolt, dude, who is in prison. Congratulations on your letters, though.”

  • Gas Station Price Fixing

    Does this make sense? Quoted from an AP article.

    Center City BP owner Raj Bhandari has been offering senior citizens a 2 cent per gallon price break and discount cards that let sports boosters pay 3 cents less per gallon.

    But the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection says those deals violate Wisconsin’s Unfair Sales Act, which requires stations to sell gas for about 9.2 percent more than the wholesale price.

    I’m surprised that this law is legal. I suppose it could be an effort (I’m guessing here) to keep big-chain gas stations from underpricing single-station owners and running them out of business, but the law seems to be at odds with a person involved with a civic undertaking, in this case.