We are having a relatively warm January with significantly fluctuating temperatures. Similar weather conditions 101 years ago, coupled with a shoddily built storage tank, caused the Great Boston Molasses Flood, which inundated Boston’s North End sending a wall of molasses, killing 21 and injuring 150. A repost about the tragedy.
The Purity Distilling Company built a large molasses storage tank on Commercial Street in Boston’s North End to store molasses until it could be distilled into alcohol. In early January 1919, just a few days before the disaster, a ship had discharged a full load of molasses into the tank. When the cargo was discharged, the weather was cold, only around 4 degrees F. Then on January 15th, the temperature rose suddenly to an unseasonably warm 40 degrees.
There are so few well-done documentary series involving ships and the sea that it seems worth pointing out that the excellent 
Six years ago, 
One of the better ways to tell if a model works at predicting the future is to run it in reverse to see how well it predicts the past. Climate change models so far have had their limitations. Most current 
In addition to more than 24 people who have died in the terrible Australian bushfires, an incredible number of animals have also perished. Estimates of wildlife deaths range from 
The Winter 2020 edition of 
Good ideas are rarely new. Container ships revolutionized liner shipping in the 1960s and 70s. Nevertheless, the idea of carrying cargo in easily handled standardized containers goes back at least 2,000 years.
Shortly after winning the Sydney Hobart Race for the third time, the 
An interesting new technology, involving special fibers that change color when they are under strain, is allowing scientists to analyze the efficiency of knots. The technology is described in a recent paper by a team lead 
Just before the New Year, 
As we have 