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By the way, did you know that about once every million years of so a huge volcanic eruption or asteroid wipes out the bulk of life on this planet, and every 100 million years of so, a mega asteroid wipes out almost all non aquatic life, and that about 3 asteroids a week allegedly get within about 100,000 miles of earth? Also, did you know that Yellowstone is overdue to blow again, and that is the biggest volcanic formation under land on Earth, and if it blows a big one again will kill everything within several hundred miles, and put the grain belt in America under a foot or so of ash? I didn't either until I read the wrong chapter in Bill Bryson's most fascinating book about A Short History of Nearly Everything.

Maybe we should get out worry beads out about THAT!

Maybe so...

Scientists closely monitoring Yellowstone. 200 degree ground temperatures reported.

Posted by Happy2BMe
On News/Activism 01/01/2004 8:33:27 PM PST with 601 comments

Idaho Observer ^
Scientists CloselyMonitoring YellowstoneProLiberty.com12-23-3 Recent eruptions, 200 degree ground temperatures, bulging magma and 84 degree water temperatures prompt heightened srutiny of park's geothermal activity... BILLINGS, Mont. -- Yellowstone National Park happens to be on top of one of the largest "super volcanoes" in the world. Geologists claim the Yellowstone Park area has been on a regular eruption cycle of 600,000 years. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago making the next one long overdue. This next eruption could be 2,500 times the size of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption. Volcanologists have been tracking the movement of magma under...

Another little factlet from Bryson is that we don't know if there are 2 million or 200 million species on Earth, and either number is about equally likely. Another is that raccoons once were were the size of hippos. In fact, at one time, there were a lot of very BIG mammals. One of the biggie explosions almost wiped out the horse family. All but one of the 16 species was wiped out. Where would we be without the horse? A theory is that another of the biggies (I don't remember which one), cut down to homo sapiens to a few thousand on the entire planet, a number at which they remained for a long time. The theory goes on as to that is why the genetics of homo sapiens are so remarkably unvariegated, indeed less variegated across the species as a whole, than one nuclear family of apes.

Have I caught your interest yet?

OMG, now you done it. I gave up worrying as my 2004 New Year's Resolution and you busted that in the first week.

BILLINGS, Mont. -- Yellowstone National Park happens to be on top of one of the largest "super volcanoes" in the world. Geologists claim the Yellowstone Park area has been on a regular eruption cycle of 600,000 years. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago making the next one long overdue. This next eruption could be 2,500 times the size of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption.

And on top of that, San Francisco is overdue for the next big one, which means that the Christopher Lloyd show might be interrupted. This was a bad week to give up worrying, to paraphrase Airport.