The Blip Report for Wednesday, January 29th 2025

Wildfires and atomic clocks

I read a story about skiing - ‘Altay unveils new museum to celebrate origin of human skiing’, that says that cave paintings of the ancient Altay people who lived in the northernmost part of Xinjiang, China, were discovered that showed people hunting on skis! and that these rock art could date to perhaps 10,000 years ago! So … there’s one more thing that China gave to us Occidentals!

And I read another story from China about a terracotta warrior - ‘This newly unearthed terracotta warrior riding a horse with stirrups rewrites the world's military history’, that they discovered a figurine from the tomb of Ding Feng, who died in 271 AD, that shows a rider with a single-sided stirrup, and that the earliest figure of a double-sided stirrup dates to 322 AD. This is hundreds of years before any evidence is seen in the Occident. Thank you China for the stirrups, too!

And then I read a strange story about the fires in Italy - ‘How the Mafia is weaponizing wildfires’ that says that “the Mafia is ‘weaponizing’ fire in the region for control and financial gain”, and that back in 2021, the fires in Sicily were so severe that:

“… the regional Anti-Mafia Commission conducted an investigation into the potential criminal causes behind them. It found perfect fire weather combined with inaccessible forested terrain helped set the stage for fast, uncontrollable fires. But criminal activities ‘constitute the most dangerous factor’ …

Fires are set by seasonal workers eager to prolong firefighting contracts, farmers who want to clear forest for grazing, protestors or people with vendettas.”

I think we may have to send this report to California for them to check out if it’s happening there, perhaps!

And then I read a funny story about one response to Trump’s suggestion of moving some Palestinians to Jordan or Egypt until Gaza can be rebuilt - ‘Iran FM mocks Trump's Gaza plan, suggests sending Israelis to Greenland’, that Iran’s Foreign Minister said:

"My suggestion is different. Instead of Palestinians, expel Israelis and send them to Greenland so they can kill two birds with one stone."

I’m glad that someone has a sense of humor in all this. And then I wondered if the Chinese have taught the Greenlanders how to ski too.

And I read a story about that atomic clock - ‘Atomic scientists adjust Doomsday Clock closer than ever to midnight’, and that they moved it to 89 seconds before midnight.

While I was sweating over this, my feathered friend chirped, asking if their clock is on Daylights Savings Time, cause what happens when we move the clock forward an hour.

And I though that this is just one more reason why we should stop this changing the clock nonsense!

Have fun, timely.