Random Thoughts....

Er, isn't the issue behind the whole earthquake and fracking relationship now pretty much pinned to the wastewater injection of the contaminated water afterward, not the actual process of fracking?

There have been at least a few studies showing that to be the issue here. Unfortunately people have just gone on repeating the 'fracking is causing earthquakes' line that was around at the start, even though it's now shown to not be the main issue.
 
Er, isn't the issue behind the whole earthquake and fracking relationship now pretty much pinned to the wastewater injection of the contaminated water afterward, not the actual process of fracking?

AFAIK, that's the leading theory, but again there's not great correlation - the injection is also going on in North Dakota and Texas and we're not getting more quakes near injection sites. On the other hand, Texas wasn't terribly seismically active to start with. Gotta get CrazyJeeper to check me on that.
 
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Except that wasn't really reductio ad absurdum. What you are saying is that if a human activity is causing issues in one area but not in others, it should be stopped in all areas period and never used again.


Hmm.... pretty sure I never said anything remotely like that.
 
AFAIK, that's the leading theory, but again there's not great correlation - the injection is also going on in North Dakota and Texas and we're not getting more quakes near injection sites. On the other hand, Texas wasn't terribly seismically active to start with. Gotta get CrazyJeeper to check me on that.

Injection is likely the cause of the seismic activity in OK because of the faults that already exist in that area. It basically lubricates the rock allowing it to move easier. North Dakota or West Texas don't have nearly as many faults so they don't have the same problems as that particular part of northern Oklahoma.

Fracking on the other hand has not been proven to cause any seismic activity. Wastewater injection occurs whether wells are fracked or not. Pretty much all oil production has water associated with it that is separated at the well site and then re-injected.
 
:nod:

EDIT:
I saw the video.

"This doesn't classify as music"

YOU GO TO YOUR ROOM RIGHT NOW! :shakefist:


Now seriously, my kid is 7 and he loves Slayer, System of a Down, Metallica, and other "loud" bands, so I think he is in the right path. :lol: :evil:
 
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:nod:
I saw the video.

"This doesn't classify as music"

YOU GO TO YOUR ROOM RIGHT NOW! :shakefist:

To be fair, I haven't been a big fan of their latest albums. Ride the Lightning through the Black album covers the period of their music that I like most.
 
'Writing Spiders'

'Writing Spiders'

I don't know how many of you like 'bugs', but I've always been somewhat fascinated by spiders. Living in the 'country' as we do, we have quite a few varieties on our property. I generally leave them alone, as they do a good job catching flies and mosquitoes, so they're usually welcome to stay.

We also have a small garden that's inside a white fence. That's a double invitation to the 'writing spider', also known as the 'black and yellow garden spider' (argiope aurantia). They get their nickname from a section in the center of their webs which has a zig-zag pattern that someone once thought looked like handwriting. As common spiders go, these are big guys (but smaller than tarantulas...)! This year, we have an especially large female living on the 'inside' of the 'west' fence-row. She doesn't seem to be afraid of humans - I got within a couple of inches to take the photographs below. From toe-to-toe (do spiders have toes??), she's about 3 inches (roughly 8 cm) long - about the length of an adult human index finger. These spiders catch all kinds of prey, up to and including small lizards! They have a life span of about 6 months, hatching in the spring and dying around the time of the first hard frost.

If you've read this far and are still curious, you can find more info at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia

SL

Waiting for prey:
vUPjYFe.jpg


'Tummy view' with ruler:
53iKEXK.jpg
 
Hi.
I am an entomologist and I approve of this post. :lol:
 
I don't think I've seen any writing spiders in my garden but I have seen other types. I let them have free rein for the reasons you mentioned, plus I don't have problem with the presence of spiders, in general.

And speaking of multiple-legged creatures, I have been watching this one for the last couple days waiting for those wasp cocoons to hatch. Circle of life...tobacco hornworm
hw.jpg
 
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We always called these Corn Spiders growing up. Pretty common down in Texas as well. My cousins and I would find the larger ones set up in their webs and then go catch grasshoppers, pinch off their jumping legs, and toss them into the webs to watch the spider wrap them up. It's incredibly fast and neat to watch.
 
....

tumblr_ll49afmel11qbc7xz.jpg
 
Recently I noticed my Dolomite 1850HL was infested by spiders. They live on top of the doors and under the rain gutters and casually drop in to your hair as you enter/exit the vehicle. I can powerwash the whole car and scrub it clean and then come back the following afternoon to find it coated in spider webs again.

I dunno' why but the thing attracts beasties like nothing else, I've had to remove two wasp nests from it so far, it must be the bright colour...
 
As long as I've lived in California, in every one of the 4 vehicles I've owned personally, and the 4 others owned by others I've lived with. All have had spiders set up shop inside the side view mirrors. I never fully assembled them, but I've used auto car washes, poured water directly inside.never tried spraying any insecticide inside, because I'd be worried about what the chemicals would do to the internals.
 
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Insecticide shouldn't work, because spiders aren't insects.

Pedantic comment over. Move along. :lol:
 
Fair enough. Technically, the flame thrower isn't an insecticide per se, either... :)
 
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