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A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy -
The Kunming Anomaly
Kunming, the Capital of China's Yunnan province, also dubbed as "Spring City" (in a metaphorical sense, as temperatures during the terrestrial "Winter" do not remain within the usual boundaries as classified by "Spring" - for "Spring" in China/Yunnan, please see here...), displays one of the most interesting geological anomalies in the known galaxy.
When a meteor struck the soon to be City (in astrophysical terms), it deployed traces of a (to Terrestrians unknown) silicon-metal (SilMet23) compound (during the 23rd round of a drinking session, Andromedan experts came to the conclusion, that Terrestrians will be able to detect this trace element by the year 2252), deep under the city center. This SilMet23 compound is so far the only the only deposit known, which, and we will explain later why, is not a bad thing.
As every child knows, a special silicone-metal (SilMet25) compound is the reason why the infamous "Forgot-Rod" is working as it should. When the "Forgot-Rod" is passed by the brain(s) of a life form, the SilMet25 compound reacts with the brainwaves, creating a harmonic dissonance, therefore erasing brainwaves momentarily. The result is a short-term memory loss.
In Kunming, the rare SilMet23 compound is static and the effect is not observable, as long as life forms are not moving.
However, as soon as life forms start moving within the city, the static SilMet23's field starts interacting with their brainwaves.
Due to it's unique geographical position and altitude (the guide won't quote latitude, longitude
and altitude, as Earth continents are still drifiting and any given number would be incorrect the next second), these effects take shape in bizarre problems.
For example a motorist will think, that his car (for "Car" - see here...) ends right after the rear of his head. As logic servers, the effect becomes more pronounced with higher velocities, as a stronger harmonic field will be created. While a motorist moving with the earth's equivalent of 1.78953436@s he/she will still have a faint idea of his/hers cars length, he will have forgotten completely when he/she reaches a velocity of 1.78988764@s.
To the innocent bystander the effect is not showing, as he is not actively moving through the SilMet's field. All traffic will therefore seem erratic and illogical, if not dangerous to species with lowered reflex times (for example, see "Human"), special caution is necessary for any life form with reflex times under 0.21$s.
On the other hand, visitors across the whole Galaxy are known to spend a relaxing day at one of Kunming's larger intersections, enjoying Kunming's Anomaly. Unquoted sources even relate to the "Larger Kunming Automotive Fender-Bender Lottery", as a <quote>"... chance to become rich within milli @s and loose it all within the next @" </quote>
Kunming residents rally against chemical plant
Posted byThanks Ian. That summed it up very well. Nice to hear a voice of reason here. If I could I'd promote your comment. I guess my latest Forum post went in the same direction, just so much more sarcastic.
Again, I couldn't agree more.
Kunming Zoo to move, Yuantong Mountain to become park
Posted byTo answer (or raise) questions about the relationship of the safari park and the zoo, I can offer you some "experts" (as well as some journalists) opinions, quoted from a China daily article in 2004. You'll find the link to the whole article on the bottom of my post...
... "The zoo is a well-run commonweal which belongs to the public and State," she says. "The wild animal park is a private enterprise. I could never understand why such a good base for zoological education and research should be dumped and its assets be given to a private entity — Huzhou Jinjing Investment Co Ltd from Zhejiang. Isn't this a drain of State property?"...
..."in China, most such [safari] parks are simply artificial surroundings for animals to run loose, some experts point out. So there is no essential difference between such parks and zoos, except parks are farther out of ordinary citizens' reach and charge more for admission.In Kunming's case, the zoo charges 10 yuan (US$1.25) for adults and five yuan (about 60 cents) for children, as compared to the park's 35 and 100 yuan (US$4 or 12) for locals and tourists from outside Kunming, not to mention its distance from the city."...
..."As a commonweal, a zoo focuses on education, research and other public interests, while a park as an enterprise is destined to pursue profits."...
Source: www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-06/29/content_343575.htm
I think there is just no empathy for animals left, and oh yeah, how is a zoo in Anning or Chneggong close enough to be called in "ordinary citizen's reach"? Let's hope they'll only extend the premises and not the number of animals too.
Manufacturer addresses Kunming metro safety, comfort concerns
Posted byHmmm, no air conditioning? I don't know, this could work out but I wouldn't bet on it. During winter it should be "ok". It's cold outside you wear a lot of stuff and so you just leave your jacket, scarf and hat on when you get on the train. BUT, summer on the elevated tracks going out towards the airport? This summer we had several AC's failing on our German bullet trains and it was a disaster. People collapsed with heat strokes on the train, emergency stops on the open tracks just to get the people out, etc... ...
And then the guy pointing out: "The subway's signal system is controlled by a computer, and within the controlling system, each train will have sensing antennae installed," Yang said. "The antennae will transmit information such as car location to the controlling platform, with computers automatically directing the conductors of each train."
I mean, this is Train protection system 101, every track should have something like this by now (in working condition too). Hopefully the trains won't have an easy safety override for the conductors/engineers.
Illegal 'gutter oil' operation casts shadow on Kunming food safety
Posted bySewer Oil stands as a term and it's so disgusting that I am not sure whether I should believe it's existence or not, though I have seen stories written about it and I have seen people doing it (maybe it's the usual denial reaction), the story goes like this.
Back in the days, restaurants would discard used cooking oil into the cities sewer system where it would collect on certain points (either floating on top or building up large chunks on the side walls). People would then go down into the sewers and skim off/collect this oil, filter, maybe refine, but in the end sell it again.
I read stories about restaurants getting aware of those collection points on (or close by) their property and selling "licences" to people to, officially, clean the gutters.
The only "upside"I see is that, after cooking with this oil there shouldn't be any traces of viruses or bacteria left, as the oil is probably heated up to over 180 degrees Celsius, which, even on a short time exposure, make sure that everything still living in it should be dead.
Nowadays, every restaurant is supposed (by law) to have an oil filter system (basically a large metal box with different chambers to slow down water flow, so that the oil can be skimmed off) in the kitchen, I guess this makes the operation more economical and cleaner (hate to say this).
But like I said, it's so hard to believe that it might be an urban myth and I am not sure. If you want to see for yourself, google is your friend and will help you, if you ask it about sewer oil nicely.
Illegal 'gutter oil' operation casts shadow on Kunming food safety
Posted byI would like to see how this operates from a business point of view. You know like, how can they run this with profit, how low can the cost of chemicals be to bleach (what the F are they using to do that anyway) and perfumize actually be?
It's the same with fake eggs"? How can the production cost of a fake egg be possibly lower than that of a real egg?
Can someone shed some light on this?