Lifeboat Foundation

A comprehensive new catalog that factors in “hidden” quakes is helping scientists better understand the planet’s tectonic activity.

Episodic tremor and accompanying slow slip are observed at the down-dip edge of subduction seismogenic zones. While tremors are the seismic signature of this phenomenon, they correspond to a small fraction of the moment released; thus, the associated fault slip can be quantified only by geodetic observations. On continental strike-slip faults, tremors have been observed in the roots of the Parkfield segment of the San Andreas fault. However, associated transient aseismic slip has never been detected. By making use of the timing of transient tremor activity and the dense Parkfield-area global positioning system network, we can detect deep slow slip events (SSEs) at 16-km depth on the Parkfield segment with an average moment equivalent to M_w 4.90 ± 0.08. Characterization of transient SSEs below the Parkfield locked asperity, at the transition with the creeping section of the San Andreas fault, provides new constraints on the seismic cycle in this region.

The discovery of deep-seated slow slip events (SSEs) was enabled by the establishment of continuous global positioning system (GPS) measurements at the Nankai and Cascadia subduction zones (1, 2). Soon after, tectonic tremors that are temporally and spatially correlated with SSEs were discovered in Japan , leading to the recognition of the coupled phenomenon called episodic tremor and slip (ETS) (4, 5). ETS mostly occurs below the transition from brittle to ductile fault zone properties , where increasing temperatures and pore pressures due to metamorphic dehydration reactions inhibit fast ruptures. Long-lived tremor signals, in contrast with classical earthquakes, are made of a large number of low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) that are thought to be due to the activation of small seismic asperities by surrounding slow slip. Strain rate transients due to SSEs correlated with tremor bursts are observed for transient durations ranging from minutes to months.

Seismological Lab

Umm what??? :0.

He think they might be trying to create a super-intelligent “future leader.”

The company Algordanza will turn cremated human or animal ashes into a memorial diamond of your loved one — for a price.

Future residents of Paramount Miami World Center, a 600-unit condominium building now under construction, may be the first in the world with a private skyport for their use, television station WSVN reports.

Infrastructure matters. Flying cars will never, um, get off the ground if they don’t have places to land. Helicopter landing pads and heliports are apparent answers to the question of where to touch down. However, landing spots or sky ports built specifically for flying cars could offer convenience and amenities specifically applicable for or adapted to flying cars.

Continue reading “The World’s First Flying Car Skyport Is Under Construction in Miami” »

The future of VPNs may be fighting quanta with quanta.

If you’ve been playing Fortnite in the past day or so, you may have heard a rumble. It’s a little one, right now—some players likely didn’t notice it amid a field of explosions and shotgun blasts—but it’s definitely happening. Social media is full of reports that the leaked Earthquake event is in fact already underway, albeit apparently in its very early stages. It’s unclear what’s going to happen or what’s going to come of it, but the fact that it’s already started makes it clear that this is happening now, not later.

We don’t know much about the earthquake yet, mostly because whatever files are going to be used to govern it are likely yet to come with next week’s patch. But we can assume that the tremors we’re feeling now are at the very low end of what’s to come, and leaked files indicate that they could get to be around 70 times stronger. It’s also not so much of a leap to assume that we’re going to get some cracks opening up throughout the map, and maybe even a volcano to balance out the icy biome that we got with season 7.

The earthquake would appear to be in some way tied to the Prisoner skin, who may be some sort of disgraced Fire King reclaiming his throne. Traditionally the challenge skin plays some role in ushering in the next season, and he may be on his way to summon up some grand fire storm akin to the ice storm from earlier in the season, or something like that. An earthquake follows from that and offers up a chance to transform the map on a fairly grand level: as big as the ice biome was, the rest of the map was relatively unaffected save the addition of ziplines.

Continue reading “Fortnite’s Earthquake Event Has Already Started” »

New work raises the estimated diversity of viruses in the seas more than twelvefold and lays the groundwork for a better understanding of their impact on global.