Sunday, April 18, 2010

Better or worse

The name of Eyjafjallajökul was probably quite unknown for most of us. Now we know it is a volcano in Iceland whose ashes stop air traffic over most of Europe. Millions of individuals are affected directly or indirectly. This is a natural catastrophe.

Has it not been a lot of natural catastrophes recently? Earth quakes in Haiti, Chile, China...

For the first time in human history we have the opportunity to change assumptions into knowledge. We can have statistics instead of guesses.

Is the earth feeling better or worse? Is the stomach of the earth in balance, or will there be more uncontrolled outbreaks?

Is there any artificial way to release tensions in the earth, so we can avoid the effects of sudden earth quakes and volcano outbreaks?

Could there be any such artificial methods?

The Galapagos Islands seems to be a safety-valve used by the earth when the pressure gets to strong. The Galapagos method seems quite harmless and free from disturbing side effects. The Iceland and other open air volcanoes have difficult side effects, obviously.

Can the energy be tamed and used properly? If we could tap a very little amount of the heat from inside the earth we could warm many family homes.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Comfort and control

Car accidents in Sweden have been on a low level compared to most countries, and recently the level has fallen still more.

During the last Easter period - Easter is a peak period in car traffic and usually in accidents - only two individuals were killed in traffic accidents compared to 9 individuals in 2009.

Maybe it is a bit early, but we could ask if a critical point in car accidents has been reached. Will car accidents spontaneously become fewer and fewer?

The decrease in the number of accidents has not happened by itself. The roads have been safer. A lot of barriers between lanes have been built. The cars have been better. The control has been better, with automatic cameras taking pictures of those driving over the speed limit.

Most accidents are related to the subjective situation of the car driver at the moment of accident. If we want a spontaneous decrease in traffic accidents, we want this subjective situation to be more comfortable in avoiding risks than taking risks.

For most car drivers this is already the case. They feel perfectly comfortable in avoiding risk, even if it means going slower and letting other cars pass by.

So the key factors for better car safety would be in comfort and control.