Randall Munroe
@xkcd.com
An innocuous start to May 18th on this account following Mount St. Helens 44 years ago in real time
6:30 a.m. 🧵
The rising sun bathes Mount St. Helens in soft light. Some are awake, such as Gary Rosenquist at Bear Meadow, while others sleep.
At Coldwater II, David Johnston chats with colleague Bob Christensen back in Vancouver, reporting clear conditions and brisk temps.
I love these historic election reporting methods so much! I think my favorite is 1896, when—in addition to the explosive rockets—the Tribune also constructed giant megaphones and hired a circus announcer to continually yell the results. xkcd.com/2068
Since aurora are often filmed in time-lapse (partly for technical reasons) I’ve always been a little unclear on a few things. In person, do they appear to move, or do parts fade in and out? Are they fast or slow?
Last night I learned that I was confused because the answer is "yes, all of those."
PSA: If you live anywhere near this blob and it’s not cloudy, tonight is a good night to go outside and look up www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/...
It could also be a story where the hero was sent back in time on a last-ditch mission to stop you, but the evil minions sent by Future You thwarted them, preserving your coming reign of terror
All the images in this thread are geographic features from the US National Map (apps.nationalmap.gov/viewer) whose names are officially recognized by the US Board on Geographic Names: www.usgs.gov/us-board-on-...
“Hey, wanna go for a hike? No, I know I’m always tricking you into going into haunted houses and graveyards, but I promise I’m over that now. There will be absolutely no ghosts this time. Just a nice pleasant hike up a hill I discovered.”
“We just have to wade through a few creeks up ahead, but don’t worry, they’re all very normal and in no way suspicious. No, I’m not going to let you look at the map, but I promise, they’re fine.”
“What the heck—why is the ground rippling and splashing? Why are my feet wet? I don’t understand what’s happening or what all this water is! Help! Map, do you have any advice?!”
“Listen, I get that you’re an anti-royalist, but can you PLEASE stop complaining about monarchies for five minutes and focus on labeling these geographic features?”
“Yeah, sure”
“Hey Randall, wanna go visit Death Trap and The Tongue of Starvation?”
“Nah,
Browsing the US National Map and came across this lake in DeSoto County, Florida. That’s an odd name; I wonder where it– … oh. Huh.
Based on your first impressions from his picture, what do you imagine this guy is like? How do you feel about him?
This seems unnecessarily narrow. Couldn’t Heracles just as easily be based on a real person who was even stronger, whose feats got toned down over time?
