We were without piped water for about a week after a moderate but very shallow earthquake tore through Christchurch, New Zealand, ruining most of the central city area. We had to use disposable paper and plastic plates because of the lack of water for washing dishes, and handwipes and hand sanitiser for personal hygiene. Fortunately we had electricity back within a day, unlike much of the city that went for weeks without power. The first night after the quake, we cooked on the top of our log burner fire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BshxCIjNEjY

The RocketMotorTwo engine was designed and built by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the company that is also developing its own space plane, the lifting-body Dream Chaser.

Instead of eating food that's been in animal shit, how about eating animals that have been using shit as food?

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/there-is-a-staggering-amount-of-feces-in-our-food

Men of lofty genius are most active when they are doing the least work. - Leonardo da Vinci

Many years ago, when I was aged about 12, I recall reading about a ship that had sunk and was drifting around underwater. I have heard about shipping containers doing this sort of thing, but I was wondering if you had ever seen a ship or a boat drifting around underwater.

That's a good question and it does. The fuel and oxygen are combined together in the gas generator which drives the compressor turbine. The incompletely combusted exhaust from the turbine is either diverted into the engine nozzle bell to add extra power (Rocketdyne F-1) or is vented through a small rocket nozzle near the main engine nozzle (SpaceX Merlin).

"You're wearing it wrong!"

Me too, that would solve the battery-life problem and it would not require its own charger

Here is an an example of a nation that has among the lowest tax burdens of any major country: fewer than 2 percent of the people pay any taxes. Government is limited, so that burdensome regulations never kill jobs. Maybe it's an example of a nation that lives up to the ideals of the the Tea Party conservatives and the Republicans http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/opinion/05kristof.html?_r=0

My uncle who is a well-known hunter in New Zealand thinks that animals have a sense like that. He told me that he would often have animals that were lined up in his gunscope suddenly glance towards him and bolt away. He claims that since he started thinking "Bless you" when he squeezes the trigger, that the animals are much less flighty.

I think a good way of describing it is "Teaching our students Non-Science" ;-)

I think you mean Opportunity, the twin of the Spirit rover that stopped working a while back. They were solar-powered versus the nuclear-powered Curiosity.

If he had encountered an alien, he would have said his name backwards, "Gnorts, Mr Alien!"

If you think that's bad, did you hear about the guy who injected cocaine into his urethra? It had the intended effect initially, but it ended with him losing both his legs, nearly all his fingers, and his member falling off!

http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1993-04.html

http://www.cocaine.org/health/dangers.html