Asteroids, even small ones, can be devastating if they hit the earth. The Grand Canyon, which is almost a mile wide, might have been created by an asteroid only 150 feet in diameter. Experts estimate that if an object 500 feet in diameter were to hit the earth, it could set fire to trees within a radius of 30 miles, knock down houses within 100 miles, and change weather patterns worldwide for as long as a year because of the dust it would throw up.
In the near future, it may be possible to prevent such disasters. A scanning system may soon be able to provide information on the brightness and position of objects in space. The system would be able to indicate changes in the position of these celestial objects and tell us if there is an asteroid headed for earth. A bomb could then be carried to the asteroid by a spacecraft and fired by a radio signal from earth. The explosion would cause small change in the asteroid’s orbit, but if done early enough, a very slight change would be enough to cause the asteroid to miss the earth.

As urban apartments have come to constitute the background against which the lives of more and more people are lived out and as actual cityscapes have come to seem less and less attractive to many, so the designing and decoration of such apartments have come to respond increasingly to a search for interior harmony. It is no longer so much the outward view from windows, garden, or terrace which is of most concern to the architect, but rather the creation of interior views by means of spatial sculpturing.
In this regard, clean lines and the absence of clutter are seen as particularly conducive to achieve the desired effect, and this means, among other things, concealing mechanical and electronic equipment in cabinetwork or behind paneling.
This whole refocusing inward has given rise to controversy since some claim that it lessens the sense of living in a community, while others insist that it protects the apartment dwellers from a sense of alienation. This is not the place to express a view one way or the other, but one thing that can be said is that the “interior-view” approach is here to stay - - for the moment.

Physical growth among the Quechua of Peru is notably slower than among people in the United States, as evidenced by a number of developmental characteristics, including a delay of the adolescent growth spurt until the early twenties or even later. Such retardation is, naturally, one of the effects of an insufficient intake of calories or proteins, but it also provides an excellent example of adaptation. Indeed, it is estimated that retarded growth, between the ages of 15 and 20, saves on the average Quechua’s caloric intake requirement by more than 44,000 calories each year. While this may not seem greatly significant by American standards, such adaptation means that some 100 square yards less cropland needs to be planted each year for every Quechua who remains physically immature.

The caterpillar larva of Glaucopsyche lygdamus, a small butterfly found in the western part of the United States, has virtually no independent means of protecting itself from the attacks of predatory flies and wasps. If successful, such attacks result in the eggs of the predators being laid in the caterpillar and the latter’s eventual death at the hands of the young it has been host to. Without outside help, it would not be long before Glaucopsyche lygdamus disappeared altogether.
As a means of ensuring its survival, the caterpillar has developed an interesting symbiotic relationship with ants of the Formica genus. The caterpillar provides sugar water, which it secretes by means of a gland specifically adapted to the purpose, for these ants and, in exchange, the ants offer what can best be described as a bodyguard service. What they do, in fact, is surround the caterpillar and squirt an irritant at marauding flies and wasps.
This arrangement works well for both sides: the ants enjoy a ready supply of sugar water, while the butterfly has a much higher chance of survival.

Violent thunderstorms are impressive phenomena wherever they occur. There are, however, certain characteristics of thunderstorms in the Great Plains region of the United States which result in an effect which is extraordinarily different from that caused by such storms in cities or hill country.
The first difference is that storm can be seen approaching from miles away. This approach gives the spectator an unusual perspective and allows him to see the complete storm as if it were a moving entity with defined borders. Even before the storm comes into sight, however, its approach can be both heard as rolling thunder and sensed as a sharp temperature drop.
As the storm advances, like some unstoppable giant, it blacks out the daylight and, thus, heightens the effect of the flashes of lightning with their almost simultaneous accompanying peals of deafening thunder.
The final difference is the commonness with which hail is a feature of Great Plains thunderstorms. The hail is not just common -- or garden -- hail with pea-sized hailstones. Indeed, Spaniards in the sixteenth century spoke of hail the size of bowls, and Native Americans of the Plains also reported hail of extraordinary dimensions. Doubtless, the size lost nothing in the telling, but even today the hailstones in Great Plains thunderstorms are often described as being the size of large marbles or golf balls.