Day: August 10, 2017

The Sea Level Did, in Fact, Rise Faster in the Southeast U.S.

rjzimmerman:

Sea levels are rising, but the incursion into land seems to be more pronounced on the shores of the southeast US. Scientists are discovering a correlation between atmospheric patterns over that part of the world, combined with a general global increase in sea level.

Excerpt:

In the paper, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the scientists proposed a mechanism to explain the rapid increase: Two large-scale atmospheric patterns had intersected to push up the water off the Southeast coast, causing a “hot spot” of sea-level rise.

This new mechanism, if it holds up to scientific scrutiny, might ultimately give researchers the ability to predict tidal flooding more accurately and warn communities what to expect months in advance.

William V. Sweet, a sea-level researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was not involved in the new work, pointed out that the long-term trend in sea level was a relentless increase, but that much is unknown about the variations that can occur over short periods. “The more we can understand what’s causing those, the more we can be prepared for the next influx of tidal flooding events,” Dr. Sweet said.

The Sea Level Did, in Fact, Rise Faster in the Southeast U.S.

gorillateaparty:

robotprick:

fangirlofall:

facts-i-just-made-up:

gabriel-patches-titanfeather:

sixpenceee:

These swimming pools with black tiles are my aesthetic. 

Make the black tiles out of that black material that absorbs all light and swim over the void.

Fun fact about Vantablack- Because it absorbs all light, it heats up very fast. If exposed to direct sunlight, it takes in all the UV and heat and contains them, and can reach heats well over 212°F, the boiling point of water. So if you did coat the pool in that material, the water would boil as soon as the sun touched it, killing everyone swimming in it.

But that’s not all. The flash boiling of an entire pool of chlorinated water would release the chlorine as gas, which would kill everyone within a 200ft radius of the pool. And it doesn’t end there.

The release of chlorine gas combined with the heat of the black tiles would be more than sufficient to fuse the boiled hydrogen ions with the chlorine, creating an explosive reaction with the nitrogen in the air. So shortly after everyone in the pool boils and everyone around the pool dies of chlorine gas poisoning, the region would explode with the force of a small atomic bomb (8kt for a pool like those pictured above), leveling about 50 city blocks.

You’d think that would be bad enough, but get this-

Such chemical explosions expel gamma rays. Gamma rays ionize hematite, which is the mineral from which the black material mentioned is made. This creates Scopohyoscpnol, a compound known as “The Zombie Drug” because it essentially erases the brain and induces cannibalistic tendencies in its victim. It can be transmitted through saliva, infecting all who are bitten within hours.

So basically, if you did have Vantablack tiles in your pool, you would boil your friends, poison your neighbors, nuke your city, and condemn the globe to a zombie plague. But to be fair, it would look pretty cool.

Reason to read urls: exhibit one

Fuckin…

But they won’t.

Source: sixpenceee

clatterbane:

I found out what’s apparently really been going on with that ankle BS, after getting maybe 2 hours of terrible sleep before it totally woke me up. Doesn’t seem to be at all my best guess before, though I don’t have the spoons to go into that right now. Also trying not to get myself more worked up thinking about it atm 🙄

It’s dealt with the best I can for now, and I’m hoping that and the pain meds I had to get in will let me get a few hours more/hopefully better sleep. Also tried putting some extra padding over it, so with any luck that might help some too.

What really sucks, though, with trying to sleep on the ankle, is that I don’t have a lot of reasonable choice in positions thanks to some of the other longer term crap. I’m pretty much stuck wedging myself in one particular position, and can’t lie with the other side down or flat on my back without some pretty bad pain other places. Which leaves that ankle on the bottom, pressed into the bed. Rolling around too much trying to get pressure off that fucks up other existing problems, which was one of the reasons I had to just get up for a while this morning. Not just the pain flare in the ankle itself.

Another thing I doubt most people who have never dealt with similar personally would ever even consider on their own. As just one possible complication of adding even one more otherwise minor-looking new (hopefully) temporary injury or illness in on top of chronic conditions. That can be so much harder to deal with than if it weren’t interacting so badly with other existing issues. It may look like an overreaction to something relatively small, when sometimes it’s just about the last straw in terms of coping ability.

(Having to remind myself of this too, yeah. Again. No wonder I’ve felt like total crap for days, all things considered. Definitely haven’t been imagining there’s a problem either–which has never happened in reality. But yeah, there is a real problem, and I honestly got kind of shaken again by how much I feel like I just need to try to ignore.)

Not relishing the idea of even gimping down to the corner shop later, but we’ll have to see. Of course shit like this would have to happen when I’m on my own for about another week. But, I do really need to pick up a couple of things later, including some more ibuprofen. At least there is indeed a corner shop not far away.

What really happened with that, while I’m reminded after treating it again:

The knob on the outside of that ankle had a callus for years, from sitting with it against the floor a lot. It was just kinda there. But, I haven’t been sitting like that much for a while, because it’s uncomfortable now for other reasons. (Which might be relevant.)

Nothing looked unusual when I started waking up with it hurting like hell right over the knob maybe a couple of weeks ago, as I mentioned before. No obvious inflammation or bruising or anything.

But yeah, AFAICT now? That deep callus had decided to start lifting up and trying to come off, even if I couldn’t see any obvious problem at a glance. As I figured out not long before posting, after waking up in bad pain with the callus stuck to my sock and a nasty deep crater where it had been! 😳

Yeah, some infection had built up under there too. Pretty sure that was causing most of the pain. The thing finally coming off let that drain, though.

Sleeping in the brace did help some before that, but I suspect as much from the padding (remember my knobby ankle pressing into the bed?) as from stabilizing the joint motion so it pulled at the callus less.

Anyway, it looked pretty terrible at first, and kinda freaked me out. Felt pretty sick from the infection too (which would help explain the previous few days, yeah). I was honestly tempted to go to the hospital, as motivated as I am to avoid that. Especially with the complicating factor of diabetes. But, I knew it was likely much safer for me not to, especially with no backup available right now. Go nonverbal and/or (god forbid) have a meltdown without good backup right there, you’ll be lucky to just get some abusive treatment and not sectioned for your troubles. There are also the animals to think about. And I did spend half the day nonverbal anyway, without all that added stress and overload. Things got pretty bad after I had to gimp to the store yesterday evening, but I made it.

So, I went ahead and started treating it with antibacterial soap, peroxide, and Neosporin a few times a day, with cushioned bandages. And it’s already looking and–maybe more importantly–feeling better today. Hopefully the topical treatment will do the trick. *fingers crossed*

I was concerned that infection might have gone into the joint, but the improvement in pain has me more hopeful for now. It’s still not at all good, but not nearly like yesterday. And I managed to sleep better, if in a super-awkward position to try and keep it from pressing into the mattress as much.

(Really hoping I can avoid a “Hello, I’m very sick, please come home ASAP” episode. But, I will do that if things start getting much worse and just waiting it out doesn’t seem feasible.)

But, a little update on that while I was thinking about it and just about had the wording ability. Getting ready to try for a nap right now, which I could really use still.