Science

Otis’ Stunning Turn To Monster Pacific Hurricane Kills At Least 27 In Acapulco

Published

1 year ago

2023-10-26

Kiara Grace

ACAPULCO, MX — Officials confirmed Thursday that Otis’ astonishing transition into a monster hurricane killed at least 27 people as it destroyed Acapulco.

After the cyclone slammed the iconic city on Mexico’s Pacific coast, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador traveled by road, where at least four people remained missing. He claimed that Otis had toppled every power-line pole in the area where it struck on Wednesday, leaving much of the 1 million-person metropolis without power.

Otis went from mild to monstrous in record time, and experts are baffled as to how — and why — this happened. The toll might grow as tens of thousands of occupants in damaged homes lose power.

“The people sheltered, protected themselves and that’s why fortunately there weren’t more tragedies, loss of human life,” López Obrador told CNN.

The municipal water system in Acapulco was out of commission, and López Obrador, who arrived in Acapulco late Wednesday with many of his top officials, stated that restoring power was a key priority. Approximately 500,000 houses lost power.

Otis’ wind and rain destroyed small farmers’ maize harvests, but the fatalities are “what hurts the most,” he said.

López Obrador disclosed one fatality: a soldier was killed when a wall in his home collapsed on him. Three Navy men were among the unaccounted for.

Early photographs and descriptions showed enormous devastation, with downed trees and electrical wires lying in brown floodwaters that stretched for miles in some places. The consequent devastation delayed the government’s full response, which was still analyzing the damage throughout the coast and made citizens frantic.

Many residents were stealing necessities from stores to withstand the storm. Others left with more expensive items.

After the Category 5 storm blew out hundreds, if not thousands, of windows, the once-sleek oceanfront hotels in Acapulco appeared like toothless, shattered hulks.

There was widespread dissatisfaction with the government. While 10,000 troops were stationed in the region, they lacked the necessary equipment to remove tonnes of mud and fallen trees from the streets. Hundreds of vehicles from the government energy company arrived in Acapulco early Wednesday, but the downed power lines were buried under feet of mud and water.

When Otis struck, Jakob Sauczuk stayed at a seaside hotel with friends.

“We slept on the floor and in between beds,” Sauczuk explained. “We prayed a lot.”

One of his pals showed reporters photographs of the hotel’s windowless, destroyed rooms. Someone had blended clothes, beds, and furniture into a shredded mess.

According to Sauczuk, the hotel provided no notice and no safer shelter to his group.

Pablo Navarro, an auto parts worker staying at a beachfront hotel for the night, felt he would die in his 13th-floor hotel room.

“I took shelter in the toilet, and thankfully the door held,” he claimed. “But there were some rooms where the wind blew out the windows and the doors.”

Navarro stood outside a discount grocery and household goods store near the hotel zone on Wednesday as hundreds of people wrestled everything out of the muddy store, from packs of hot dogs and toilet paper to flat-screen televisions, struggling to push loaded metal shopping carts onto the mud-choked streets outside.

“This is completely out of control,” he remarked.

Isabel de la Cruz, an Acapulco resident, attempted to push a grocery cart full of diapers, instant noodles, and toilet paper through the mud.

She saw it as an opportunity to help her family after losing her home’s tin roof and critical documents in the disaster.

“When is the government ever going to look after the common people?” she said.

Inside one store, National Guard officers permitted looters to steal perishable products such as food but failed to prevent customers from taking appliances, even as others outside loaded refrigerators onto taxis.

Authorities spent nearly all day Wednesday partially restoring the key highway connecting Acapulco to Chilpancingo, the state capital, and Mexico City. The critical ground link enabled dozens of emergency vehicles, people, and supply trucks to reach the devastated port.

Acapulco’s commercial and military airports were still too damaged to resume flights, while López Obrador stated that an air bridge would be built to bring in resources.

In drone footage broadcast online Wednesday afternoon by Foro TV, Acapulco’s Diamond Zone, an oceanfront neighborhood with hotels, restaurants, and other tourist attractions, appeared mostly underwater, with boulevards and bridges entirely hidden by a large lake of brown water.

Walls and roofs of large structures were partially or fully ripped off. One heavily damaged hotel’s lobby was covered with dislodged solar panels, automobiles, and garbage. In some spots, people were wading up to their waists in water as soldiers shoveled rubble and fallen palm fronds from the sidewalk.

On Wednesday night, the city was completely dark.

On Tuesday, Otis surprised many people by suddenly strengthening from a tropical storm to a powerful Category 5 hurricane as it ripped along the coast.

Acapulco is located at the base of rugged mountains. Luxury houses and slums coexist on the hillsides overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean. The port, which used to attract Hollywood stars for its nightlife, sport fishing, and cliff diving shows, has recently fallen victim to competing organized crime groups, which have sunk the city into violence, driving many international tourists to the Caribbean waters of Cancun and the Riviera Maya, or beaches further down the Pacific coast in the state of Oaxaca.

According to López Obrador, Otis was a stronger hurricane than Pauline, which hit Acapulco in 1997, devastating large portions of the city and killing over 300 people.

SOURCE – (AP)

Science

Australia Asks Residents to Catch Deadly Funnel Web Spider

Published

5 days ago

2024-11-20

Geoff Brown

As summer approaches in Australia, residents are warned to look out for the funnel web spider, one of the country’s deadliest species.

In addition to advising the public to avoid funnel-web spiders during mating season, the Australian Reptile Park in New South Wales has even asked people to capture live funnel-web spiders so they can “milk” their venom.

Native to eastern Australia, the funnel web spider can kill humans in as little as fifteen minutes if they do not receive medical treatment for its poisonous bite.

There have been thirteen fatalities attributable to this species, but none since the development of antivenom in 1981. The Australian Reptile Park is appealing to the public for assistance capturing and donating spiders, as the serum relies on milking live spiders.

Hunting for the funnel net spider in residential areas is common practice after a particularly wet and warm season. Look for spiders in cool, dark places like pools, garden residue, heaps of dirty clothing, and outside shoes.

Australian Reptile Park spider keeper Emma Teni recently blogged about how they rely on spider donations more than ever, especially now that breeding season has arrived and the temperature is perfect.

“Male funnel-web spiders have short lifespans, and with approximately 150 spiders required to make just one vial of antivenom, we need the public’s help to ensure we have enough venom to meet demand.”

“If you spot an egg sac while collecting a spider, it’s important to safely collect that as well,” said Teni. “It can provide a robust supply of healthy young spiders to aid in our antivenom production.”

The spiders won’t be able to climb plastic or glass, but Teni suggests capturing funnel webs in a wide-mouthed jar with a cover. Then, you can lead the spiders into the container using a long spoon or something similar.

After that, fill the jar with moist soil, screw on the top, and bring it to the designated drop-off spot.

“We depend on the public for spider donations, and we want to make sure everyone stays safe during the collection process, especially with conditions being so favourable this year,” said Teni.

Trudeau Orders Facebook to Block Presser Video from Australia

Trudeau Orders Facebook to Block Australian Presser Video

Science

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

Published

2 months ago

2024-10-10

Kiara Grace

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – A spacecraft launched Monday to probe the site of a cosmic accident.

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft launched on a two-year trip to the little, harmless asteroid slammed by NASA two years ago as a practice run for the day when a murderous space rock threatens Earth. It’s the second phase of a planetary defense experiment that could one day save the globe.

SpaceX’s Falcon rocket vanished with Hera into the late morning clouds. An hour later, cheering erupted in the control center in Germany as the spacecraft split from the rocket’s upper stage and returned home. “It’s an amazing day,” the space agency’s director general, Josef Aschbacher, said later.

The 2022 crash of NASA’s Dart spacecraft reduced Dimorphos’ orbit around its larger companion, indicating that if a harmful rock was heading our way, it might be pushed off course with adequate warning.

nasa

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

Scientists are eager to analyze the aftermath of the impact up close to determine how effective Dart was and what improvements may be required to protect Earth in the future.

“The more detail we can glean the better as it may be important for planning a future deflection mission should one be needed,” University of Maryland astronomer Derek Richardson stated before launch.

Researchers want to know if Dart (short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test) created a crater or changed the 500-foot (150-meter) asteroid more dramatically. It seemed to be a flying saucer before Dart’s blow and may now resemble a kidney bean, according to Richardson, who participated in the Dart mission and is assisting Hera.

Dart’s wallop sent rubble and boulders hurtling off Dimorphos, adding to the impact’s momentum. For months, the debris track extended thousands of miles (almost 10,000 kilometers) into space.

According to flight director Ignacio Tanco, some rocks and debris may still be hovering about the asteroid, posing a threat to Hera.

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

“We don’t really know very well the environment in which we are going to operate,” Tanco informed me. “But that’s the whole point of the mission is to go there and find out.”

European authorities refer to the $400 million (363 million euros) effort as a “crash scene investigation.”

“Hera is going back to the crime scene and getting all the scientific and technical information,” said project manager Ian Carnelli.

Carrying a dozen science instruments, the compact car-sized Hera must swing past Mars in 2025 for a gravitational boost before landing at Dimorphos by the end of 2026. It’s a moonlet of Didymos, the Greek word for twin, a five-times larger asteroid that spins quickly. At that point, the asteroids will be 120 million miles (195 million kilometers) from Earth.

Hera will attempt to enter orbit around the rocky duo, progressively reducing flyby distances from 18 miles (30 kilometers) to a half-mile (1 kilometer). The spacecraft will examine the moonlet for at least six months to determine its mass, shape, composition, and orbit around Didymos.

Before the crash, Dimorphos circled its larger partner from three-quarters of a mile (1,189 meters) away. Scientists believe the orbit has become tighter and more oval-shaped, and that the moonlet may be tumbling.

Two shoebox-sized Cubesats will launch from Hera for even closer drone-like examinations, with one employing radar to peek beneath the moonlet’s boulder-strewn surface. Scientists believe Dimorphos was produced from particles shed by Didymos. The radar measurements should assist in determining whether Didymos is the small moon’s parent.

A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test

After their survey, the CubeSats will attempt to land on the moonlet. If the moonlet tumbles, the situation will become more complicated. Hera may potentially conclude its mission with a perilous touchdown but on the bigger Didymos.

Neither asteroid poses a threat to Earth, before or after Dart appeared. That is why NASA chose the pair for humanity’s first asteroid-deflecting demonstration.

Asteroids, which are remnants of the solar system’s origin 4.6 billion years ago, circle the sun principally between Mars and Jupiter in what is known as the main asteroid belt, where millions of them live. When they fall from the belt and land in our area, they become near-Earth objects.

NASA now has around 36,000 near-Earth objects, the majority of which are asteroids, although there are also some comets. More than 2,400 of them are deemed potentially dangerous to the Earth.

SOURCE | AP

Science

A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October

Published

2 months ago

2024-10-09

Kiara Grace

NEW YORK — Prepare to spot a rare and dazzling comet.

The space rock is hurling toward Earth from the far reaches of the solar system and will make its closest approach on Saturday. It should be visible through the end of October, assuming clear skies.

A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October

Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas should be visible to the naked eye, but binoculars and telescopes will provide a clearer view.

“It’ll be this fuzzy circle with a long tail stretching away from it,” explained Sally Brummel, planetarium manager at the Bell Museum in Minnesota.

What is a comet?
They are frozen remains from billions of years ago when the solar system was formed. They heat up as they swing toward the sun, revealing their distinctive streaming tails.

In 2023, a green one that had last visited Earth 50,000 years ago flew past again. Other significant flybys were Neowise in 2020 and Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake in the mid to late 1990s.

Where did Tsuchinshan-Atlas come from?
Also known as C/2023 A3, was found last year and named after the observatories in China and South Africa that spotted it.

It originated in the Oort Cloud, which extends far beyond Pluto. After making its closest approach to Earth at 44 million miles (71 million kilometers), it will not return for another 80,000 years, provided it survives the journey.

A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October

Every year, several comets are detected, but many of them burn up near the sun or are too far away to be observed without special equipment, according to Larry Denneau, a key researcher with the Atlas telescope that helped discover it.

How to View

Those seeking to see Tsuchinshan-Atlas should go outside about an hour after sunset on a clear night and look to the west.

The comet should be visible from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

SOURCE | AP