nudge

The weirdest one for me was experiencing an earthquake in 2004; not that strong (5 in Richter scale I think) but enough for things to visibly shake and fall down etc. Very surreal when you're living in the area which is pretty much sheltered from natural disasters and has close to none seismic activity; you certainly don't expect an earthquake to happen

A good opportunity for incredible photo footage though ...

The Soyuz MS-12 launch that will bring three astronauts for the Expedition 59 to the ISS will take place today at 8 PM ECT and will be broadcast live on NASA TV.

What kind of animal ist that?

Insects are also animals

I always preferred Airbus as well but wouldn't have declined a flight just because it's a Boeing... That has definitely changed now.

Really hope that Honda delivers this year and Red Bull manages to at least properly challenge both Ferrari and Mercedes... Things are looking good with the car performing well in testing without any significant issues, a new update being introduced in Australia already instead of China (Newey seems to be really into it and extremely motivated again). All good signs; and I have a good feeling about this. Come on Max! Also hoping for Alex Albon to perform well

Now they are making it look like it's their own decision to ground the planes out of concern for safety and are even trying to take credit for it... Can hardly get any lower than that.

Canada too!

That's what actually bothers me most - they are very obviously putting money before safety despite the rest of the world having serious concerns (and I'm not talking about media "scaremongering" or lay persons delving into it; I mean if the majority of aviation experts worldwide is concerned enough to disrupt the entire global air traffic then it's probably safe to say that those concerns are not unfounded...). What I've been hearing is that Boeing's main selling point for those planes was the fact that it didn’t require additional training for someone who was already certified to fly a 737 (otherwise the pilots need to undergo weeks of additional training both in the aircraft and the simulator to get certified to fly it; all that costs airlines a lot of time and money). It wasn't very honest though as due to the changes in the plane design (larger and more powerful engines were moved forward and higher up and the nose was extended), the handling of the jet in certain situations also changed slightly so Boeing added the MCAS (the anti-stall system) to counter those changes. In order to really enforce this sales pitch that flying the new Max doesn't require new pilot certification, they neglected to mention the new MCAS (and the way it can be disabled) in the flight crew operation manual and so a lot of pilots were caught completely off-guard. It is speculated to be the reason behind the previous Indonesian crash as allegedly the MCAS was getting incorrect data from a sensor and kept "correcting" the pitch (i.e. bringing the plane's nose down) so much that the pilots couldn't overcome it with manual controls (and couldn't disable the MCAS as they were not informed of its existence/weren't trained to), leading to complete loss of control and a crash. The Ethiopian crash seems to have happened under very similar conditions and there was a number of similar incidents previously were the pilots were able to correct the issue mid-air. It all makes Boeing look very bad; along with the fact that even after those incidents they still keep on denying any potential safety issues instead of suggesting to ground and investigate the fleet thoroughly. I mean that's 1% of the fleet lost in less than 6 months with over 300 human lives lost; I just can't grasp it.

Norwegian are now suing Boeing and seek compensation as they say they “should not have any financial burden for a brand new aircraft that will not to be used". Understandably so, considering that they are already running losses either way and as a low fare carrier they surely can't afford this. The families of the victims of the previous Indonesian crash are also suing Boeing as they apparently knew about the glitch in the plane's anti-stalling system but did not reveal it to pilots/carriers before the accident.

It's true that Monaco race often turns into a procession but one of the main reasons why I love it is the fact that it shifts the focus extremely to the pure skills of the driver, particularly to the ability to drive at the limit with extreme precision and leaves zero margin for errors. The driving has to be very accurate and consistent, the track has a lot of elevation changes and corners and close walls etc. that makes it so unforgiving. Oh and the setting of course is absolutely beautiful.

I still love Monaco.

Boeing 737 Max 8 has been grounded and banned from entering the airspace pretty much everywhere except the US. Two major accidents with massive loss of human life within just a few months, both under very similar circumstances, and numerous reports from other pilots and aviation experts about issues with the anti-stalling software and especially the new complex (and apparently fundamentally broken) MCAS system that the pilots weren't even taught how to operate properly apparently Boeing still refuses to acknowledge that there's a defect, claims it's a "safe airplane" and promises to release a software update some time in April; while Boeing's CEO has personally asked Trump not to ground the 737 Max in the US. I just recently looked for a flight to Europe and was tempted by a relatively cheap one offered by Norwegian; decided against it because of the low price (too good to be true) and the fact that it uses those 737 Max airplanes. Safe to say, after current events and their response to it I will not fly any Boeing plane in the future at all.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010) A french fantasy-adventure film written and directed by Luc Besson tells the story of Adèle Blanc-Sec, a journalist and travel writer who seeks to find and revive the mummy of the physician of Ramses the Great in order to save her comatose sister. A lot of comical relief and good-hearted old school adventure. That's what all comic book adaptations should look like. Never even heard about this film before... Positively surprised and thoroughly enjoyed it! Luc Besson meets Indiana Jones kind of movie 8/10

Bavarian Frankfurters for the barbecue? With onions and sauce? wtf Banausen...

We missed a massive solar superstorm by just a few days in 2012. Imagine the chaos the world would break into if the power grids worldwide suddenly blackout and most of the electronics we use were fried in such an event... That's why I think massive EMP attacks would be a much more efficient weapon in modern warfare than any other. Non-lethal and avoids civilian casualties initially, but would neutralise most of military targets and render most of the tech unusable and eventually send the whole bombed area/country spiraling down into chaos.

I'm quite keen to see what he can do in F1 in a half decent car. I accept that pay-drivers are a part of motorsports and having access to money is an absolute must for any racing driver anyway but the whole story of Stroll and Prema in F3 kind of left a bad taste.

They made Jafar too handsome and he doesn't look or sound menacing at all...Like seriously? Also Will Smith as the Genie is meh. I do like the overall look of it though!

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) agreed today to study the possibility of collaborating on international space exploration. As a first step, JAXA and Toyota agreed to further cooperate on and accelerate their ongoing joint study*1 of a manned, pressurized rover*2 that employs fuel cell vehicle technologies. Such a form of mobility is deemed necessary for human exploration activities on the lunar surface. Even with the limited amount of energy that can be transported to the moon, the pressurized rover would have a total lunar-surface cruising range of more than 10,000 km. Love to see more and more private companies collaborating with government agencies to further space exploration and colonisation. Toyota is huge company with a lot of technical know-how and brilliant engineers who can certainly deliver. Their proposed lunar rover will be self-driving and use zero-emission electric fuel cell technology; i.e. instead of using a battery, it will use a fuel cell of oxygen and compressed hydrogen, which react with each other to generate electricity. The zero-emissions technology is already used on Toyota's Mirai (hydrogen fuel cell car). The lunar rover will also have solar panels, which will be useful in lunar daylight, which lasts for two weeks in each month.

Bring back multiple tire suppliers, refueling and gravel pits.