Keeping an eye on CERN...

Black Hole Machine? [Click here to find out.]

From CERN's press release a few days ago: "CERN reiterates safety of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) on eve of first beam."

Geneva, 5 September 2008. A report published today in the peer reviewed Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics1 provides comprehensive evidence that safety fears about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are unfounded. The LHC is CERN’s2 new flagship research facility. As the world’s highest energy particle accelerator, it is poised to provide new insights into the mysteries of our universe.

“The LHC will enable us to study in detail what nature is doing all around us,” said CERN Director General Robert Aymar. “The LHC is safe, and any suggestion that it might present a risk is pure fiction.” [read more]

However, not everyone agrees. Here's what Citizens Against the Large Hadron Collider has to say about the dangers.

You can check out CERN and how it came to be by clicking on the links below.
CERN Welcome Page
CERN Scientific Information Service
CERN Wiki

Happy Earth Day! Please don't litter!

There's littering and then there's felony littering.



Here's a story about our local environment reported in today's Pensacola News Journal.

A contractor charged with dumping an entire home on another man's property received a suspended sentence Monday, and the victim isn't happy with the outcome.

Otis Jerome English, 57, originally charged with felony littering, pleaded to a lesser, misdemeanor offense and charges of trespassing and disturbing the peace. English faced up to five years in state prison if convicted of the original felony charge. His trial was scheduled to begin this week. Geeker also ordered English to pay $1,100 in restitution to property owner Jonathan Owens, co-owner of the Alexakos & Owens construction company.

For the complete story go to the Pensacola News Journal's site.

Maine Trip, May 2007 -- Day 1

Fright Night is Every Night in Bangor, Maine

About two weeks ago, on a Thursday in mid-May, I went to Maine to see my parents and sister and her family. I took American Airlines (and their American Eagle brand of little jets for smaller cities) from Pensacola, Florida, to Bangor, Maine. Jack stayed home to watch the cats and tend the garden.

Usually when I go to Maine I fly to Boston and then drive up to Augusta where my parents live. From Boston to Augusta is a little more than a three hour drive -- longer if you stop at L.L. Bean in Freeport. Going to Boston instead of Bangor means less time in the air but it was certainly worth the extra flight and the extra flying time to arrive in Bangor, just an hour's drive away from Augusta. With no big-city traffic congestion.

I left Pensacola at 9:25 A.M. (Central Time) and arrived in Bangor at 10:20 P.M. (Eastern Time -- it's one hour earlier than Central Time). The distance was 2,371 miles: 604 miles from Pensacola to Dallas; 1,389 from Dallas to New York's LaGuardia; 378 from New York to Bangor. All the flights were full and there were many disappointed people on stand-by. I spent the night at the Sheraton Hotel that's attached to Bangor International Airport.

The hotel was fine and I was tired from a long day of flights and waiting for flights. I was delighted to discover the AM and FM radio reception was good. I love to listen to the radio at night. And the one station I wanted to listen to in Bangor came in clear as a bell -- Stephen King's WKIT, 100.3 FM, the Rock of Bangor. It is one of the only live radio stations left in Maine and it has actual local DJs, 24/7. And yes, it's that Stephen King. Oh, and yes, Stephen King fans -- Bangor is Derry.

You can check out the station's website here and listen to it here. (If you have trouble listening to it from my link, try launching the live feed from the station's website.)

Lizzie Borden's Family Home(You Can't Make Up Stuff Like This)

Stranger than fiction (part of a series).
Not only is the house in Fall River, Massachusetts, still standing -- today it's a restored, upscale bed & breakfast inn. With, what else, an ax murder theme. And guided tours. You can even sleep, or try to sleep, in rooms where the bodies were found.

There's more information on the house and lots of photos at the Celebrate Boston website.