China is second guessing, third guessing Mother Nature. The Middle Kingdom launched its third geostationary meteorological satellite – the Fengyun-2-06 as part of its Long March Series.

The satellite weighs in at 1,390kg and was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology in cahoots with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The 2-06 is the third in the series and is to play a part in weather forecasting (weather guessing) for China and her neighbors, all in hopes of reducing the impacts of disasters.

China has sent 115 missions into space as part of China’s Long March Series of Rockets launched in 1970. China also hopes to be a better player and partner in international meterological organizations.

I don’t know what this satellite launch costs, but I wonder if money might not have been better spent on the ground, shoring up mountains and providing break walls and dams and such.

What do you think?

Source: Xinhuanet

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If the Earth had a personality of its own, if Mother Nature were a real entity … we would be able to see the results of when she gets mad. Really really mad!

The Dasongshu Village of Xishelu Township in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China’s Yunnan Province was cut in half by a landslide. From the pics I can count 20+ other landslides in the area, but without a village at the bottom.

Some 40 people were killed and the area was isolated by the landslides and mud-flows. Helicopters had to fly in relief materials. So far, 43 are missing, 10 are injured, 60,800 people have been evacuated and 1.27 million people have been affected.

A more pertinent question – do we really want to know what happens when Mother Nature gets really really mad? If we don’t start taking better care of our planet, we are too sure to find out. And something tells me, we really really don’t want to know.

Source: Sina

How often do people thing they can do things better, improve on the way our planet and all its intricacies have been designed? We reroute rivers, relocate forests, try to make it rain, try to make it stop. One Japanese group has taken the initiative and has successfully reshaped the watermelon. Yup, to be sure. A group in Kagawa Prefecture Japan put growing watermelons into translucent plastic cubes while they were still on the vine, then let them grow.

The reason? To keep them from rolling off the table at supermarkets. Nope. So, it would be easier for them to fit into refrigerators. Remember, it was the Japanese who used to tape women’s feet so they wouldn’t grow also, presumably so it would be easier to get their feet in and out of their mouths when they said something stupid.