Image created by Brook Boley

Remember the scene where Charlton Heston finds the remains of the Statue of the Liberty? In The Planet of the Apes, I mean. Sorry, I just gave the ending away. It’s a classic trope (the “Earth all along“). And it’s a classic pop culture reference to time dilation.

I recently ran across Carl Sagan’s explanation of time dilation, the phenomenon in which perspectives of time can vary–the concept of relativity that Einstein laid out. The most famous example being the relative slowing of time as you move faster—basically, the reason why Charlton Heston’s mission aboard the Icarus was 18 months for him but more than 2000 years back on Earth, during which time apes evolved, learned English, and took over.

Relative velocity isn’t the only cause of time dilation, but it’s the one Carl Sagan discusses here. The other big factor is gravity—the closer you are to a major source of gravity, like a planet, the slower time passes for you relative to objects farther from the planet.

This is from episode 8 of Sagan’s famous Cosmos series (which I’ve never actually seen). I like the pastoral Italian setting, and especially the opening scene in which Sagan uses a near-collision to illustrate his first point about the speed of light. And while the time dilation thought experiment has a certain poignance, I love the way Sagan supercharges his pronunciation of the Italian names Paolo and Vincenzo. He sounds more Italian than the Italian kids.

[Photo illustration by Brook Boley from Gizmodo's "50 of the Most Insane Things Never Seen on Google Street View"]

What kind of an example does this set for young journalists?

Adorable. He did a good job. But I kept worrying that this would turn into a segment from a program called Wonder Showzen: Beat Kids.

One thing I don’t regret missing, though, is the promotional marketing that NBC must be constantly playing. Boring, I’d guess, but designed to appeal to everybody. Boring. So points to BBC SPORT for choosing something inventive, and specific. That’s Monkey. Fans of Damon Albarn and the Gorillaz will be pleased.

A high-res version with more info is available at the BBC.

While we’re at it, here’s an old favorite:

For a little more information that covers some of the technical details–fuel loss, passenger load, etc.–click on the video (or here) to read the summing up that accompanies the piece on YouTube. Have been thinking about the Vietnam War lately–less because of Iraq than because John Peabody is working on a story about the Hmong community in California. 

P.S.: Sometimes journalists, these days, wonder what the best medium is to tell a story. An event like this can, and probably should, be told many ways. But it’s clear that to get it fast and make it pack a punch, video (or probably film, in those days) is the way to go.

Via Kottke.

Josh Chin gives more of the back story here.

Andrew Leonard at Salon sang its praises here.

Michael talks about the project for the Asia Society, where he now works, here.

And you can view the whole thing here.

Below, a photo I took of damage from underground coal mining in the home of a villager.

A few more pictures here. More available soon, I hope.

“Mad World” seems to have become popular with the YouTube set. Maybe that has something to do with its use in the “trailer” for the Gears of War video game a little while back, the one that is supposed to have been directed by David Fincher, who directed Fight Club and Se7en.In any case, it’s been adapted to accompany a Japanese street dancer and several cuts of the Naruto anime series.

Although the song was part of the soundtrack to the 2001 movie Donnie Darko, it became popular in its own right, according to the Wikipedia article devoted to it. Further, it’s actually a remake of the poppier and new wavier original by Tears for Fears, who may be better known for their perpetually popular “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”

In comparison, the updated version’s music video is much easier on the eyes and has far less puzzling choreography.

By some coincidence, I also watched a few clips from the old Phil Silvers Show on YouTube. Silvers was part of the cast of the 1963 movie It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, in which a bunch of strangers race to get their hands on a lot of stolen money. The opening credits are online, as well as a few clips.

As for the kiwi, it was awarded “Most Adorable” in the YouTube Awards earlier this year. The New York Times‘s Virginia Heffernan called it “sweet but dull.”

In the last few years, it seems, big things tend to happen when the G-8 Summit is taking place. The thing is, they aren’t usually happening where the G-8 Summit is taking place. Granted, one of the things that occurs, with varying degrees of success, is a protest. Organizers have pretty much neutralized that by keeping demonstrators far away from the meeting and the media, with the exception of the summer of 2001, in Genoa, Italy, when the Italian police responded forcefully to people protesting corporate globalization, resulting in riots, damage, and the death of one protester. But consider last year, when Britain hosted the summit at Gleneagles, Scotland. Blair had hoped to get a unified statement on the need to combat global warming, among other issues, and Londoners were celebrating their designation as host of the 2012 Olympics, announced on July 6. But then, on July 7, during the summit, 52 people were killed on London’s subway and train system by coordinated attacks by suicide bombers.

This year, G-8 season is dominated by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah (based in Lebanon–the distinction made here about who is fighting whom is a careful one). Somehow, the conflict remained on simmer for much of the World Cup, when the world wouldn’t have been watching, and then exploded about a week ago, when the world would. And to hear most commentators describe the international response, one gathers that the G-8 fiddled while Beirut burned.

The question of how quickly to respond to a given situation is one that has dogged the Bush administration since September 11, 2001. Critics have been vocal about how the White House is slow to take action or make public statements in disasters or conflicts not of its own making: September 11th, the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina. While some point out that first responders are trained to walk rather than run to an emergency so as to better assess the situation, those seven minutes Bush spent in kindergarten are painful to behold. (And in addition to criticisms of Bush’s slow diplomacy, some are criticizing how slowly Americans are being evacuated out of Lebanon. Those evacuees had also been asked to reimburse the government up to $200 for their passage to Cyprus, a fee the State Department eventually reversed course on.)

“So why the wait?” asks Fred Kaplan, who writes the War Stories column at Slate, about Bush’s slow Middle Eastern diplomacy. The potential for escalation is great, and anticipated: the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Force noted that if Hezbollah did not return the two soldiers it abducted, “we will turn Lebanon’s clock back 20 years.” Kaplan posits some answers to his own question:

There are two possible reasons, neither mutually exclusive. First, Bush may not yet have decided what to do, and there’s no point sending Rice—who would clearly be speaking with the president’s authority—if she has no position to offer. Second, Bush may be in no hurry to put this fire out; he may want the Israeli government to gain more leverage, to twist Hezbollah’s arm tighter, before pressuring them both to the negotiating table.

Kaplan, like other observers, points out that Bush’s options are limited because he has cut off diplomatic ties with Syria and Iran, who might be able to tell Hezbollah to stop what it’s doing. That’s why he needs Kofi Annan and the U.N. to step in, part of what Bush’s lunchtime chat with Tony Blair was about, when Bush famously used the word “shit” to describe Hezbollah’s actions. (This came after the Bush’s decision on making closing remarks: “Just gonna make it up. I’m not going to talk too damn long like the rest of them. Some of these guys talk too long.” After asking Chinese president Hu how long his flight home would be: “Eight hours? Me too. Russia’s a big country and you’re a big country.” And after thanking Prime Minister Blair for his birthday present: “Thanks for the sweater. Awfully thoughtful of you. I know you picked it out yourself.” Blair’s response: “Oh, absolutely.”)

And that may be how we remember St. Petersburg 2006: as a blooper reel of diplomatic outtakes and hijinks, if we remember it at all. The BBC transcript of their conversation, for example, begins with Bush greeting Blair: “Yo, Blair.” The transcript also drily notes Bush’s table manners:

Blair: Because I think this is all part of the same thing…

Bush: (with mouth full of bread) Yeah

Here’s some video (note at the end, Blair looks at the microphone while Bush is talking and says, “Is this…?” and then cuts the sound.)

The Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci spotlights the Bild-Zeitung’s headline “Bush: Love Attack on Merkel!” (Bush: Liebes-Attacke auf Merkel!)

And, in a favorite exchange, Putin has a witty retort to Bush’s Russia criticism. The crowd eats it up.