M7.4 earthquake to start a sequence that completes the stretch

 

This has the appearance of following the big nuclear earthquake.  I don't use the Japanese names because they hurt my brain.  With the rest of the world, we have 1 in 100 chance of this being a foreshock to the M9-something, but in Japan, it's 1 in whatever.

Crystal-sharp and clean lines means a big M9ish earthquake every few hundred years.  Japan has the records to show it.  The M9 will rip from the lower hump to the big crook.  In contrast, the famous Cascadia anxiety zone is a mucky mess and never has a 9.  

In a week or so, the odds will sink back to the normal horrible odds for Japan.

Sunshine, with a Twist

 The twist being dang cold.

All heat has been shoved out of the neighbourhood.  And we have a messy clipper coming down.

I suppose they could talk about California.

The clipper is a big storm that could be fun.  The Arctic Ice Vortex is a gift that keeps on giving.

Spacex slowly whittles down to physics

 

This is amazing.  This is version 3 on a new launcher.  It is my hypothesis that they went just too heavy for a single rocket.  No matter what they do, they need bearing strength for that first foot of travel.  We are looking now at totally different animals.

It started out as a ketty dream from lalaman.  A shiny rocket from his childhood comics, pinched at the end.  They had to roll out endless sheets of stainless steel.  Now, the upper stage is getting blacker and blacker as they go to carbon fibre.

The tests so far have been with light loads, but this thing needs to take the heaviest loads for distant space travel.  All limited by bearing strength.

Can't wait to see the new upper stage, and see when they fully load it with bricks, which will fall all over the islands when it blows up.  Or not.

ps it's cute to be standard tyrant engineering when they are shaving 10%, but need a factor of two.