What Caught My Eye Today

Ethiopia - Finally, Ethiopia has something to brag about that the rest of us don't have--a new ocean. Researchers now confirm that a 35-mile rift in the desert of Ethiopia that first appeared in 2005 will likely become a new ocean eventually. There's something you don't hear everyday. A new study finds the processes creating the rift are nearly identical to what goes on at the bottom of oceans, further indication a sea is in the region's future. Using newly gathered seismic data from 2005, researchers reconstructed the event to show the rift tore open along its entire 35-mile length in just days. Dabbahu, a volcano at the northern end of the rift, erupted first, then magma pushed up through the middle of the rift area and began "unzipping" the rift in both directions. The result shows that highly active volcanic boundaries along the edges of tectonic ocean plates may suddenly break apart in large sections, instead of in bits, as the leading theory held. And such sudden large-scale events on land pose a much more serious hazard to populations living near the rift than would several smaller events. I'm pretty sure that is geologist speak for "when this ocean thing goes down, you don't want to be anywhere near Ethiopia.

National Pride - Or in this case, lack thereof... A new Gallup poll suggests that some 700 million people worldwide, or more than all the adults of North and South America combined, think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and want to permanently move to another country. Ordinarily, I would find this statement rather intriguing, but like some many other news stories, the headline is a bit deceiving. On average, 38% of the adult population in sub-Saharan Africa, or around 165 million people, said they would up stakes and head for another country if they had the chance. Gee whiz, that is a surprise. Who would have imagined that constant civil war and famine would be cause enough for people to want to re-locate? The most popular destination was the United States, where nearly a quarter of the 700 million -- around 165 million people -- said they would like to settle. Yeah, let's see how much they want to come here after they see the health care system that we have. In joint second were Britain, Canada and France, each being named as the preferred destination of around 45 million people. Thirty-five million said they would go to Spain, 30 million to Saudi Arabia, and 25 million each to Australia or Germany. How refreshing is it that not a single Scandinavian country is mentioned here? Seriously, those guys always seem to top lists like this. The least likely to want to emigrate were Asians -- only one in 10 Asian adults said they would move to another country. Makes sense. Being the most populous continent by a large margin over everywhere else, one would assume there is something desirable about staying put. I cannot for the life of me figure out what that might be, but what do I know.

Armageddon - This topic has always fascinated me. Not that I have a death wish or anything like that. I just find it help put all this other day-to-day nonsense in proper perspective. As you may know the latest prediction for the end of life as we know it is right around the corner in 2012 with the end of the Mayan calendar. Now before you start getting your affairs in order (or plan the life-ending bender), consider these previous doomsday predictions:

• The Prophet Hen of Leeds, 1806 -A hen in the English town of Leeds in 1806 appeared to be laying eggs on which the phrase "Christ is coming" was written. Many people became convinced that doomsday was at hand - until a curious local actually watched the hen laying one of the prophetic eggs and discovered someone had hatched a hoax.
  Don't you hate it when someone with half a brain spoils all of our paranoia by asked a dumb question like, "did someone actually check the eggs to see if anything was written on them?"
• The Millerites, April 23, 1843 - A New England farmer named William Miller, after several years of very careful study of his Bible, concluded that God's chosen time to destroy the world could be divined from a strict literal interpretation of scripture and determined the world would end some time between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. When April 23 arrived (but Jesus didn't) the group eventually disbanded; some of them forming what is now the Seventh Day Adventists.
  Miss a prediction, start a religion. I'd say this dude did alright for himself.
• Halley's Comet, 1910 - In 1881, an astronomer discovered through spectral analysis that comet tails include a deadly gas called cyanogen (related, as the name implies, to cyanide). This was of only passing interest until someone realized that Earth would pass through the tail of Halley's comet in 1910. There was speculation that everyone on the planet would be bathed in deadly toxic gas, resulting in a widespread panic across the United States and abroad. Finally even-headed scientists explained that there was nothing to fear.
  Of course, before this revelation came up, the newspaper publishers that dreamt this rumor up had sold a whole heapload of papers to a very gullible public.
• Pat Robertson, 1982 - In May 1980, televangelist and Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson startled and alarmed many when - contrary to Matthew 24:36 ("No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven...") he informed his "700 Club" TV show audience around the world that he knew when the world would end. "I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world," Robertson said.
  And indeed there was judgement. The verdict: Those of you dumb enough to be dupped by this guy are guilty as charged for diluting the gene pool.
• Nostradamus, August 1999 - One of the most famous predictions of Michel de Nostrdam read, "The year 1999, seventh month / From the sky will come great king of terror." Many Nostradamus devotees grew concerned that this was the famed prognosticator's vision of Armageddon.
  That's just plain bunk. Everyone knows that the seventh month is July, not August. Duh.
• Y2K, Jan. 1, 2000 - As the last century drew to a close, many people grew concerned that computers might bring about doomsday. The problem, first noted in the early 1970s, was that many computers would not be able to tell the difference between 2000 and 1900 dates. No one was really sure what that would do, but many suggested catastrophic problems ranging from vast blackouts to nuclear holocaust. Gun sales jumped and survivalists prepared to live in bunkers, but the new millennium began with only a few glitches.
  Yeah, the poop didn't really hit the fan until 2001.
• May 5, 2000 - In case the Y2K bug didn't do us in, global catastrophe was assured by Richard Noone, author of the 1997 book "5/5/2000 Ice: the Ultimate Disaster." According to Noone, the Antarctic ice mass would be three miles thick by May 5, 2000 - a date in which the planets would be aligned in the heavens, somehow resulting in a global icy death.
  I'm assuming boy wonder didn't get the memo on global warming.