I can’t find it now, but someone was commenting on Twitter the other day about a BBC story on a labrador that “adopted” a nest of ducklings. The word “adopted” was in quote marks, presumably to indicate no official paperwork was actually completed.
You mean in real life or fiction? In real life, there’s that town that was abandoned because the coal mine below it has been on fire for like 40 years. I think it was called Centralia.
There are more than on example. Mines have been burning in Congo in great number. A mine has burned / is still burning / we don’t know in France where toxic waste had been stored, and so on… bad ideas everywhere.
Centralia, PA. One of many places where coal deposits are burning. You want something really weird, google “Darvaza gas crater.”
This just in: paleontologists and geologists now believe that the Permian mass extinction (the biggest one of them all) was triggered by volcanic activity igniting huge deposits of coal, dumping an immense amount of CO2 and SO4 into the air in a (geologically) short period.
The weird thing is that the news is reporting it like this. Lightning starting a coal seam fire is the sort of thing I’d expect reality blindness to block out. I’d expect people to be like, “What’s the big deal? There’s always been a coal seam fire between this apartment building and the high school.”
As I understand it, reality blindness tells you that things you “know” aren’t true can’t be happening. If you “know” dogs don’t talk, you can’t hear Sweetheart. If you “know” superheroes are the stuff of comic books and increasingly convoluted movie franchises, you can walk straight past AG-I without blinking.
I don’t see how this relates to lightning strikes causing coal seam fires, which is a) a thing that can happen, even in our world (it’s probably what happened to Burning Mountain in Australia) and b) probably not a thing most people would have even thought about enough to “know” it can’t happen, until they learned it did. (I only learned about Burning Mountain just now, when I googled whether this was a thing that happened.)
In fact, I think it’s quite likely that “lightning starting a coal seam fire” is the reality blind explanation, and what’s actually happened is something else.
Okay, we have Sweetheart’s pack and other “refugees” hemmed in by a blizzard, and a sentient swamp being burned to the ground by lightning strikes. We know Dr. Lee reverse-engineered a weather machine, and it is likely that she filed the plans with her superiors before giving a copy to Ira. It sounds like Anasigma is making their next move, and using madtech to simultaneously cover their tracks so the reality-blind can write it off as business as usual.
Do we know that she reverse-engineered the weather machine? I don’t remember anything saying that. All we know for sure is that she gave plans for a weather machine to Ira for Christmas. She didn’t say where she got the plans, or who had designed them.
Of course, even if she did turn the weather machine “sane” before giving the plans to Ira, A-Sig would also have the original “Mad” design, so who knows what they’re using.
Did the St. Bernard get vetted and approved by the adoption agency first?
I can’t find it now, but someone was commenting on Twitter the other day about a BBC story on a labrador that “adopted” a nest of ducklings. The word “adopted” was in quote marks, presumably to indicate no official paperwork was actually completed.
“Vet”?! Don’t say “vet”!
Hmmm… an underground coal seam fire? I have a sudden feeling of deja vu.
Glad I’m not the only one, but struggling to remember from when/where….
You mean in real life or fiction? In real life, there’s that town that was abandoned because the coal mine below it has been on fire for like 40 years. I think it was called Centralia.
There are more than on example. Mines have been burning in Congo in great number. A mine has burned / is still burning / we don’t know in France where toxic waste had been stored, and so on… bad ideas everywhere.
Centralia, PA. One of many places where coal deposits are burning. You want something really weird, google “Darvaza gas crater.”
This just in: paleontologists and geologists now believe that the Permian mass extinction (the biggest one of them all) was triggered by volcanic activity igniting huge deposits of coal, dumping an immense amount of CO2 and SO4 into the air in a (geologically) short period.
Fiction. Refined further, I believe this comic, though my memory often fails me.
When Sweetheart destroyed the Earth…
Yup. Her little misadventure with the drone and VR. Also our only confirmed encounter with Pavane to date.
“You’re still wearing the hat.”
Ah! Thank you!
If you want it, here’s the link.
Mind you, if you meant in Fiction, that’s a thing that happened in the movie version of Silent Hill.
Yeah, on rereading this the “coal seam” part stuck right out at me.
https://78.media.tumblr.com/7e2f3af520538c8dace1e4f76d6fc6d9/tumblr_inline_p9mmqxAnvh1szgtgh_540.png
If anyone asks, this is terrible and I’m really sorry about making this.
Actually, I wonder if I can I just reach out and …
(Nope, I guess IMG tags are stripped from the HTML of comments. Ah, well.)
Yep, sorry. WordPress doesn’t allow inserting images in comments. I forget offhand the details of why.
I don’t know why either, but I think I’ll send them a thank you letter anyway. Comment boards, sheesh, who needs them…..
But… That’s a chicken.
Fact about Carbondale: it’s in the totality track for *both* the 2017 eclipse and the 2024 eclipse.
Feel free to work that in. Or if it’s already in the script, send my no-prize to this address.
Almost went to Carbondale for the eclipse last May, but went to Nebraska instead. Carbondale was clouded over, so I got lucky.
And once again, Unity is the more focused one…
…although I do love the way she just casually takes a bite out of the computer monitor mid-conversation.
Well, Unity is only half blonde.
Awww, Unity is just so darn cute!
The weird thing is that the news is reporting it like this. Lightning starting a coal seam fire is the sort of thing I’d expect reality blindness to block out. I’d expect people to be like, “What’s the big deal? There’s always been a coal seam fire between this apartment building and the high school.”
Or “Boy, Carbondale is sure smoggy again today. Weird summer we’re having.”
I don’t think that’s how reality blindness works.
As I understand it, reality blindness tells you that things you “know” aren’t true can’t be happening. If you “know” dogs don’t talk, you can’t hear Sweetheart. If you “know” superheroes are the stuff of comic books and increasingly convoluted movie franchises, you can walk straight past AG-I without blinking.
I don’t see how this relates to lightning strikes causing coal seam fires, which is a) a thing that can happen, even in our world (it’s probably what happened to Burning Mountain in Australia) and b) probably not a thing most people would have even thought about enough to “know” it can’t happen, until they learned it did. (I only learned about Burning Mountain just now, when I googled whether this was a thing that happened.)
In fact, I think it’s quite likely that “lightning starting a coal seam fire” is the reality blind explanation, and what’s actually happened is something else.
Okay, we have Sweetheart’s pack and other “refugees” hemmed in by a blizzard, and a sentient swamp being burned to the ground by lightning strikes. We know Dr. Lee reverse-engineered a weather machine, and it is likely that she filed the plans with her superiors before giving a copy to Ira. It sounds like Anasigma is making their next move, and using madtech to simultaneously cover their tracks so the reality-blind can write it off as business as usual.
Do we know that she reverse-engineered the weather machine? I don’t remember anything saying that. All we know for sure is that she gave plans for a weather machine to Ira for Christmas. She didn’t say where she got the plans, or who had designed them.
Of course, even if she did turn the weather machine “sane” before giving the plans to Ira, A-Sig would also have the original “Mad” design, so who knows what they’re using.
Unity is remarkably focused this arc. Guess it just depends on who you’re saving…