- Train travel in Europe is not having a good few weeks. Last
week’s deadly crash in northwest Spain that killed 78 remains a major story and
although it was less damaging, a crash Monday evening in western Switzerland was the
latest scary incident. Two commuter trains collided head-on in the village of
Granges-près-Marnand, about five miles south of Payerne, at about 6:50 p.m.
local time. Swiss rail officials confirmed that at least 40 people were
injured, including five seriously. Swiss Federal Railways spokesman Reto
Schaerli did not have an explanation for what happened and said investigators were
still working to determine who was at fault. "At the moment, we don't have
any ... information how this collision happened," Schaerli said. At the
time of the crash, the trains were on a route between Payerne and Lausanne, a
city on the shores of Lake Geneva, Schaerli said. In a country where mountains
are the norm and often one set of tracks winding through an elevated pass is
shared by trains going in both directions, the odds are a crash occurring would
seem to be much higher than the rate at which they actually happen. Emergency
personnel from Payerne and several surrounding communities responded to the
scene to treat the injured. The crash interrupted train service between Payerne
and Moudon -- a city near the line's halfway point – for the remainder of the
day, but it returned to normal early Tuesday. In the aftermath of the crash,
the engineer of one of the trains was missing, Schaerli added, although he did
not specify which of the two trains the missing engineer was piloting or how
the engineer had exited the train. If Europe doesn’t manage to go a week or two
without a derailment or crash on the tracks, its railways are going to develop
an Amtrak-tastic reputation…….
- Earthquakes can wreck many acres of real estate and ruin
lives. According to a team of German researchers, they may also release large
amounts of methane
gas from the seabed. In addition to toppling buildings, triggering landslides
and launching tsunamis, researcher David Fischer and his team believe releasing
gas is another possible effect of a quake. Fischer’s crew studied underwater
quake off Pakistan nearly 70 years ago that fractured seafloor sediments and
created pathways for methane, a potent greenhouse gas, to bubble up from below.
They believe the phenomenon may be widespread enough that climate scientists
should take it into account when estimating the amounts of heat-trapping gases
in the atmosphere. “We suggest there is a new source that they might want to
consider in the future,” Fischer said. Methane forms from the decomposition of
organic material and commonly seeps from reservoirs under the seafloor in many
places around the world. In extreme conditions, it mixes with seawater to form
icy compounds, called gas hydrates, in the top layers of sediments. These
hydrates act like an impermeable barrier that prevents more free methane from
coming up from below. For their research, the team analyzed sediment cores
taken in 2007 from two locations in the northern Arabian Sea where hydrates
were present and seepage was occurring. Chemical signatures in the core
suggested that the methane flow greatly increased sometime in the mid-20th
century. Fischer then matched that timeline with a magnitude 8.1 earthquake
occurred in the area in 1945. “The quake broke open gas-hydrate sediments and
the free gas underneath migrated to the surface,” Fischer concluded. “The
hydrates themselves did not dissolve. “They remain there.” The upward flow of
methane from the sea floor still takes place and the research team estimated
that nearly 10 million cubic yards of methane have been released from the core
sites over the years. That’s a hell of a lot of gas……
- Philadelphia and its baseball team are on notice. The
closer the Philadelphia Phillies inked closer
Jonathan Papelbon last offseason with the thought that he could be a solid
addition to the bullpen of a possible playoff contender. Instead, the team lots
its eighth
straight game Sunday, a 12-4 rout at the hands of the Detroit Tigers, dropping
them to a season-worst seven games below .500. Their playoff hopes are D-E-A-D
and Papelbon is none too happy with their play of late. Simply put, Jonathan
Papelbon don’t tolerate no losers. "I
definitely didn't come here for this," he fumed. The good news is that he
is on the trading block and could find a new home before Wednesday’s trade
deadline. "No, I would like to stay here," Papelbon said when
asked about the possibility of being traded. "But if I'm going to have to
put up with this year after year, then no, I don't want to be here. Why would
you? Why would anybody?" His four-year, $50 million deal, signed in 2011,
doesn’t seem to be offering much solace in this time of losing. He has been on
disappointing teams before, including the 2011 Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox entered
September as the leaders of the AL East, only to miss the playoffs following a
late 7-20 swoon. Their year ended with lots of losses and tales of players
eating fried chicken, drinking beer and playing video games in the clubhouse
during games. "It's going to take, in my opinion, a lot," Papelbon
said. "And in my opinion, I think it's going to have to be something very
similar to what the Red Sox went through a couple years ago. From top to
bottom." Amazingly enough, the Phillies are reportedly interested in
moving their disgruntled closer if the right offer comes along……..
- Amusement park rides are quickly becoming the European
train rides of American family entertainment. Last week’s death at Six Flags in
Texas when Rosa Ayala-Gaona fell out of a roller coaster after
complaining that she did not feel properly secured was a tragic incident that
will hopefully never be replicated. The experience a few thrill seekers at
Carowinds in Charlotte, N.C. had over the weekend was thankfully not deadly,
but nonetheless terrifying. These park goers were buckled into one of the
park's most popular rides, the Windseeker, and zipped through the tallest ride
at Carowinds. Pete Suthers was one of those who was enjoying the view from 36
stories up when suddenly the ride went from thrilling to chilling. "As
soon as we got to the top that was it," Suthers said. He and his daughter
were among those trapped high above the ground for more than an hour after the
ride abruptly came to a stop. "360 feet in the air. We have been stuck for
over an hour," he said in a video he filmed with his smartphone during his
mid-air adventure. He attempted to keep a few of the 64 riders who happened to
be in his immediate vicinity. “I thought, I should have brought my sun cream
with me because it was getting to be a bit hot up there and then there were one
or two people starting to freak out a little bit, so I was trying to calm the
people down behind me," he said. The Windseeker has experienced problems
before. It broke down last summer, leading to a national review of all rides of
similar design. The good news in this particular situation is that a safety
sensor engaged when the problem occurred and the ride's safety system activated.
Riders were given a free meal at one of the park’s overpriced concession stands
and free tickets for another day at Carowinds……..
- Sometimes, albums drop and sell tens of thousands,
hundreds of thousands or even millions of copies in their first week. Last week
was not such an occasion for former Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell. Borrell’s solo album
dropped last week and it tore up the charts to the tune of 594 copies in its first week of release.
“Borrell 1” debuted to mostly favorable reviews, but positive thoughts and
words from critics don’t always translate to boatloads of people rushing out to
buy a new release. In fact, the album sold few enough copies that it didn’t
even ding the radar of the Top 100 of the UK Official Album Charts. Its
disappointing sales were further amplified by the fact that a former “X Factor
(Karaoke” contestant named Jahmene Douglas snagged the top spot on that same
chart with an album full of cover tracks featuring him butchering other
people’s tracks. That album, “Love Never Fails,” solid 19,000 copies in the
United Kingdom. Borrell recorded his album with his new band Zazou. "Fred
[Stitz, bassist] was in the last line-up of Razorlight. We were playing big
shows, the every Monday night we'd play blues and tango at this underground
club with a bunch of kids who were totally disenfranchised from the mainstream,
just hanging out. The band grew out of that,” Borrell said of his new act. It
may have grown out of a bunch of ostracized punks who played weird music at an
underground club, but judging by the album’s paltry sales, that music remains
stuck in the underground and may not surface for air or daylight any time soon…….
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