Social Seismology: The Chutzpah Scale

Personally, I think that we should measure chutzpah in a manner that is analogous to how we measure earthquakes.

Example usage: "Social seismologists are reporting that that incident registered as a 7.6 on the Chutzpah Scale, with an epicenter near Westwood." pic.twitter.com/EVQy8XUvC5

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) December 28, 2019

Apple Seismology

Here is a cool 'Quick Study' about "apple seismology".

Quoting the article's lead: Just as an earthquake’s seismic waves reveal properties of Earth’s interior, elastic surface waves on an apple can tell us about what’s going on inside the fruit.

This research may be a contender for an Ig Nobel prize.

Update: Apple seismology was discussed originally in a 1973 mathematical modeling paper by J.R. Cooke and Richard Rand. (This paper is cited in the Physics Today article above.)

What Happens in Puebla Stays in Puebla

Today I am flying to Puebla, Mexico to attend LANET 2017, the 1st Latin American Conference on Complex Networks.

As you probably know, there was an earthquake there a few days ago, but the conference is still happening (and only a few people have cancelled). The show must go on!

"Caltech: Where America Goes to Hide."

Yes, really.

See item #11 on this list of 15 survival tips that we learned from The Rock in the movie San Andreas.

Sadly, the article spelled "Caltech" incorrectly.

Also, "Caltech: Where America Goes to Hide." should be the university's new slogan. That is such an awesome slogan!

(Tip of the cap to whoever posts to Facebook for California Institute of Technology.)

20 Years Ago Today

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Northridge earthquake, which occurred during my senior year in high school.

It was early morning. I heard the neighborhood dogs all go nuts, then felt everything and saw a wall-covering bookshelf spew many of its books, and was very happy that it occurred while I was in bed instead of next to the bookshelf.

Then I went back to bed.

Imprisoning Them with Science?

I've heard of being blinded with science, but this verdict in Italy that has ruled guilt and calls for associated imprisonment of scientists for their failure to predict an earthquake is just absurd.

Alright, follow scientists. You better choose things like your ensemble of initial conditions really well from now on! Otherwise you might be in big trouble...

(Tip of the cap to DJ Patil.)

Visualization of the Tsunami's Propagation (and a Few Thoughts)

Here is a very pretty vizualization of the tsunami that arose from the magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Japan. Somehow I tend to treat these things with a mixture of scientific fascination and more common human emotions.

One of the impressive things about the natural disaster is that the coast of Japan has apparently shifted by 8 feet. Also impressive is the fact that earth's axis has been shifted by almost 4 inches. The part that I think I find the scariest is the issue of nuclear meltdown. I'm more used to extreme situations like this in things like SimCity, where it doesn't actually count.

One of the reasons I find this scary is that I am from Los Angeles, so I automatically wonder whether something like this will happen there while I'm still around to witness it. I know it's all hands on deck at Caltech when earthquakes occur, but magnitude 8.9 is pretty damn scary.

(Tip of the cap to Kevin Hickerson for the visualization.)

Boobquake

Apparently, one person's response to a Iranian cleric's asinine assertion that scantily clad women cause earthquakes is to test the theory, and the movement is gaining a lot of steam. Here is the Facebook page for boobquake, and here is the original post (which Somerville's web filter is blocking, by the way) by Purdue senior Jen McCreight.

(Tip of the cap to my Ph.D. student Puck Rombach.)

Update (4/26/10): Today is the day, and it's Richter's birthday. Win!

Earthquake (in Britain, of all places)

Last night while I was watching an episode of Angel I felt was seemed like an earthquake, but I figured it was maybe undergrads up to some shenanigans because I didn't expect any local earthquakes. As it turns out, there was a small earthquake (magnitude 4.7). I must admit that it made me feel a little nostalgic. :)

Something that small is no big deal to me, but of course I'm from Southern California, so I am curious what locals think of it.