Toggle light / dark theme

Pluto’s Gargantuan Glacial “Skyscrapers” Reveal Their Secrets

The jagged geological ridges, found at the highest elevations located close to Pluto’s equator, soar hundreds of feet into the sky and are as high as some of the tallest skyscrapers on Earth.

According to an article in the latest issue of planetary science journal, Icarus, the colossal “ice-scrapers” observed on Pluto’s surface are vestiges from the last Ice Age that occurred on the dwarf planet millions of years ago.

Scientists believe that the “ice blades” are the result of solid methane evaporation that formed the towers of ice on the mountain peaks along Chile’s Chajnantor plain.

Disaster relief hacks dominate the stage at the Disrupt SF 2017 Hackathon

At the Disrupt SF 2017 Hackathon, a massive swath of the 102 companies that took the stage on Sunday presented hacks with disaster relief in mind. From ResQme to ResQMi to RescueMe, if you can think of a phrase with the word “rescue” in it, it probably showed up on stage among the roughly 30 emergency and disaster related hacks.

Most of the disaster-related apps that presented today mentioned the recent events of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in their pitches, observing that tech should be able to pair victims, resources and rescue workers far better than existing services. Many of the rescue-oriented apps that took the stage acknowledged that mobile data services usually go down during these events and the vast majority of them offered an SMS-based version of their hack.

While some hacks addressed specific disaster scenarios like emergency ridesharing and drone rescue operations, nearly all of the disaster-related apps mentioned failings of modern emergency management, like a “lack of communication” between victims and rescuers and the absence of a “cohesive program” tracking realtime rescue and relief efforts.

Hurricane Irma Is Going to Slam Straight Into South Florida, Models Now Agree

All hurricane models now agree, hurricane irma is going to slam straight into south florida.

Miami south beach to get 10 feet of sea surge.


If you’ve ever lived in South Florida during hurricane season, chances are you’ve learned to read the various storm projection models like a fortuneteller scanning tarot cards. “I’m sorry, but the European model shows a far stronger eastern trend than the GFS,” you’ve probably said in a serious tone at…

Tech companies rise to help Florida weather Irma

You know those jokes about how people first go online and on social media in times of emergencies before they actually do something about said emergency? Well it’s time to turn that new habit on its head and actually make it useful. Florida governor Rick Scott urged residents to take advantage of apps like Gas Buddy, Google Maps, and Expedia to get the latest information on gas availability and road closures in preparing for hurricane Irma’s landfall. Of course, only before and after the storm, not during and especially not inside it.”

“The devastation in Houston left in Harvey’s wake has sent Florida scrambling to prepare for an even more frightening Irma. This has caused no small amount of panic buying of supplies and gas. The latter has been especially problematic and one that cannot be easily solved. The only temporary answer is to make sure you can actually find an open gas station before you actually get there.”

“Gas Buddy is stepping up to task to go beyond the app’s original purpose. Times like these, people are less concerned about finding the cheapest prices than they are finding gas in the first place. Like in Harvey’s case, Gas Buddy has activated its Fuel Tracker to show stations that have no power, no gas, or both. This information is sourced from users who already had the misfortune of finding that out the hard way.”

/* */