Alaska Volcano Erupts, Air Travel Disruption Possible

by Chris Owen on

It’s been nearly two years since scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) warned that Alaska’s Cleveland volcano could erupt at any time, issuing a code yellow eruption advisory. Saturday, those scientists were proven more than right.

“We haven’t seen a phase like this where we’ve had multiple explosions,” Rick Wessels, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey‘s Alaska Volcano Observatory, told Reuters in a Christian Science Monitor report.

Over the weekend, the Cleveland volcano erupted, spewing gas, steam and low levels of ash 15,000 feet into the atmosphere, directly into the commercial airline flight path between Asia and North America. While disruption in the atmosphere at 15,000 feet is well below the normal 35,000 feet cruising altitude of commercial aircraft, the concern is that further eruptions could disrupt air traffic, much like Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano (pictured) did in 2010.Then, nearly 20 European countries closed their airspace after a secondary eruption ejected an ash plume that rose to a height of 30,000 feet. For now, scientists wait and watch.

[Image credit – Flickr user finnur.malmquist]

Bike Share Program Will Bring 10,000 Bikes To New York City

by Libby Zay on

Anyone who has ever set foot in New York knows transportation options are plentiful. If you don’t want to hoof it through the city or jump in one of the Big Apple’s infamous yellow cabs, it’s possible to hop on subways, buses and even ferries. But after a few hiccups (mainly Superstorm Sandy), the New York City Department of Transportation is officially hopping on the bikeshare trend, and two-wheelers will be available to rent sometime this month, Associated Press is reporting.

London, Barcelona, Paris and Washington, DC are just a few other cities that have introduced bike share programs. But in New York, the undertaking is on a massive scale; when the program launches, there will be 6,000 bikes at 330 stations in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. And that’s just the beginning; there are plans to expand the bike share to 10,000 bikes and 600 docking stations across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

With stats like that, Associated Press reports New York’s bike share will be the largest of its kind in the country (in case you’re curious, the picture above is part of the world’s largest public bike share system is in Hangzhou, China, where there are an estimated 69,500 bikes and close to 3,000 docking stations). So this summer, take advantage of the 300 miles of new bike lanes the city has added in the past five years, plus 200 more miles of greenways and routes that traverse parks. Our prediction is it’s going to be a great summer to pedal around New York.

[Photo credit: Flickr user Payton Chung]

The Kimchi-ite: Iconic Landmark In Seoul Re-Opens 5 Years After Arson Attack

by Jonathan Kramer on


In early 2008, Sungnye-mun (commonly referred to as Namdae-mun), one of Korea’s most important cultural landmarks, was destroyed in a devastating arson attack. The shocking event was a national tragedy and has been engraved into the collective Korean consciousness. Today, people are able to immediately remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news that the gate, which is very much linked to Korea’s identity, had been destroyed. The attack ultimately destroyed much of the gate’s wooden roof, which at the time was the oldest wooden structure in Korea.Now, after more than 5 years of extensive restoration, the iconic Sungnye-mun, meaning “Gate of Exalted Ceremonies,” has reopened to great fanfare with a visit from South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye. During much of its restoration, the gate remained behind scaffolding, which intentionally obscured it from view, making its return to the Seoul landscape all the more welcome.

Originally built in 1398, its intended purpose was to control access to the capital, welcome foreign diplomats and protect the city from Siberian Tigers. During Japanese occupation, from which the gate received its controversial “Dongdae-mun” name, the surrounding walls were destroyed as the Crown Prince of Japan saw himself as too honorable to pass under the gate. Today, it sits in the middle of a grand intersection in the heart of the metropolis, dwarfed by surrounding skyscrapers, symbolic of South Korea’s constant struggle between its modern aspirations and ties to tradition.

Getting to Singnye-mun is incredibly easy, just get to either City Hall subway station and go straight out exit 8 or to Seoul Station and go straight out of exit 3 or 4. The gate is roughly a 10 – 15 minute walk from any of those locations.

For more on Korean culture, food and all around eccentricities, check out The Kimchi-ite by clicking here.

[Image Credits: Jonathan Kramer, Najonpyohyeon and WatchWants via WikiMedia]

Elephants May Be Extinct In Tanzania In A Few Years

by Sean McLachlan on

Jumbo Elephants may disappear from Tanzania within seven years if current poaching trends continue, Sabahi news service reports.

The Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute counted 109,000 elephants in 2009. In 2012, the number had sunk below 70,000. This is due to a surge in poaching. Elephant ivory commands high prices on the international black market. If current trends continue, the elephants could be entirely wiped out within seven years.

The decline in elephants is a step backwards. In the 1980s, during a period of heavy poaching and lax enforcement, the population dipped as low as 55,000. Thanks to better legal enforcement and protection, elephants made a major recovery. Now all that hard work may be ruined.

This comes after sobering news that rhinos are now extinct In Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park. These localized extinctions make it hard for species to maintain a viable population. Groups of animals get smaller and further separated, reducing the available breeding stock.

More detail on the elephant situation in Tanzania can be found in this government report.

[Photo courtesy Muhammad Mahdi Karim]

London City Airport Is Creating The Ultimate Streamlined Passenger Experience

by Libby Zay on

Have you ever wished you could use one smartphone application to bring up your boarding pass, track your luggage in real-time, use a map to find your airport gate and step into a pre-booked curbside taxi? According to a report by the BBC, the possibility isn’t too far off – in fact, a technology is in the early stages of testing at London City Airport.

The concept behind the technology is what’s called the “Internet of Things,” which in essence allows a variety of devices or machines to communicate with each other. So long as these individual objects can connect to the Internet, it’s feasible that an overarching platform could allow them to communicate with one another, and in turn relay that information to people. Not only will this create a better overall user experience at the airport, but if you find yourself getting held up on the way to your gate and missing your plane, your luggage won’t be boarded. Saving travelers from hassles is as simple as that!

“Everything that’s uncomfortable, inconvenient or just a pain in the neck about traveling, we’re trying to turn into a more pleasurable experience,” Robin Daniels, a representative from Living PlanIt, the tech company leading the project at the airport, told the BBC. Although this machine-to-machine communication is still in development, we’re hoping this streamlined experience catches on at all airports soon.

[Photo credit: Flickr user ​johnno_oz]