| Little is big |
[May. 12th, 2010|10:52 am] |
The mess in the Gulf is remarkably big and small at the same time. Bear with me here - this is not minimizing in any way the disaster, it's just boggling at the numbers - a quick Fermi-Question-inspired exercise.
The Gulf of Mexico (according to Wikipedia) is about 1.6 million square kilometers in size. Let's conservatively assume an average depth of 1 km, giving us a total of 1.6 x 10^15 cubic meters of water. The spill, currently, is about 3.5 million gallons. Let's bump it up 5 million, as that makes the math easier (and we may well get past that mark before long anyway) - a gallon is about 1/250 of a cubic meter. So that means there are around 20,000 cubic meters of oil.
That means that the amount of oil in the Gulf is 2 x 10^4 cubic meters. So compare it to the entire volume of the Gulf, and you have a ratio of 8 x 10^10 to 1 - or 80000000000:1.
Now this is an unhelpful ratio for two reasons: First, the spill is contained to a small portion of the entire Gulf, and second, oil floats. So the oil is concentrated at the top of the ocean, and it tends to thin out (and thus spread). Let's make another pair of assumptions: (1) The oil thins to an average thickness of 1 cm (this is just a guess), and (2) we're only cleaning up, destroying/dispersing, or corralling a tiny, insignificant amount of the total (also a guess).
Then our 20,000 cubic meters of oil can cover around 2 million square meters of sea. Let's assume again that the oil spreads out to cover around 1% of the affected area (many small patches, due to waves, currents, and the fact that the oil's blobbing up from the bottom unpredictably). Then we're affecting around 200 square kilometers - only 1/8000th of the entire Gulf.
Now consider that much of the oil from that small portion of the Gulf is heading toward the coast, and just how little oil it takes to devastate a shore for years to come. To me, it's mind boggling how little it takes to make a mess such as we're seeing unfold. It's a drop in a bucket, considering the size of the Gulf, and at the same time, a huge deal. |
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| Speeding up my phone calls |
[Apr. 26th, 2010|03:35 pm] |
You know how sometimes an automated phone system (today I was making a bill payment over the phone using my bank account, blah blah blah) often repeatedly says:
"Press 1 if correct. Press 2 if incorrect."?
I propose a third option: "Press 3 if you never make mistakes, and all numbers you enter are correct, every time." Then it would never have to ask again during that phone call, and save some time. And if one does screw up, it's their own damn fault for claiming they wouldn't. |
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| New blog posts are up |
[Apr. 1st, 2010|03:05 pm] |
Check 'em out at dillicious.wordpress.com. Please spread the word far and wide if you enjoy it! Yesterday had the debut of Meals for Mamas - quick, kid-friendly dishes - and a chimichurri sauce served with steak, veggies, and pasta.
Tonight there will be a snazzy recipe for lumpia - a type of egg roll! Any requests for tomorrow's entry? |
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| Language |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|03:27 pm] |
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I know what it means, and I know why it (rightly) pisses people off, but the phrase "unfunded tax cuts" is a dumb one. Then again, "unoffset tax cuts" is a little awkward. |
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