Mountain Omens

08/05/2026

"There Will Come Soft Rains" (1950) by Ray Bradbury - plot summary:

A nuclear catastrophe has left the city of Allendale, California, entirely desolate. However, within one miraculously preserved house, the daily routine continues – automatic systems within the home prepare breakfast, clean the house, make beds, wash dishes, and address the former residents without any knowledge of their current state as burnt silhouettes on one of the walls.

The AI system of the house chimes the date by saying, "Today is August 4, 2026".

A sickly and emaciated dog, having previously belonged to the family, enters the house. It is unable to enter the kitchen, where the automated systems are making pancakes. It runs around in a frenzy, before dying. After an hour, the automated systems remove the dog's body, incinerating it.

That evening, the house recites to the absent hostess a random selection by her favorite poet, "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Sara Teasdale. A windstorm blows a tree branch through a window in the kitchen, starting a fire. The house's systems desperately attempt to put out the fire, but the doomed home burns to the ground in a night. The following dawn, all that remains is a single wall, which contains an automated system that endlessly reads aloud the date by repeatedly saying, "Today is August 5, 2026".

08/02/2026

The human rights experts are extremely worried

07/29/2026

Marines Just Added AI That Turns M240 Machine Guns Into Drone Killers. Read more in the comments.

07/29/2026

The hero mutant protects Seattle's favorite cryptid from tech run amok!

Joe Saddler with our savior.

07/29/2026

Astronomers captured a rare image of the flare from a black hole "devouring" a star on the outskirts of a faraway galaxy, NASA said.

The event involved an "orphan" black hole lighting up as it shredded a nearby star apart, a phenomenon known as a tidal disruption event (TDE), according to a paper published Monday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

These types of black holes are described as "orphan" or "wandering" black holes because they are located on the outskirts of a galaxy rather than in the center. https://abcnews.visitlink.me/miB_o4

07/27/2026

07/22/2026

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/us/pan-am-clipper-endeavor-wreckage-found.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

07/19/2026

Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Seattle, is widely regarded by independent experts as the location of the world's largest concentration of deployed nuclear warheads.

While the exact number is classified, estimates place roughly 1,000 to 1,300 nuclear warheads at the base. Originally established in 1944 as a naval ammunition depot during WW2, Bangor became a key site for storing conventional naval munitions. During the 1970s, the U.S. selected Bangor as the Pacific home for its new Trident submarine fleet, and the base underwent a massive expansion during the Cold War.

One of the base's more unusual security measures is its use of trained bottlenose dolphins through the U.S. Navy's Marine Mammal Program. The program began in the 1960s after researchers recognized that dolphins could detect underwater objects with remarkable accuracy using natural echolocation. At Bangor, the dolphins patrol the harbor and can locate unauthorized divers, submerged equipment, and other underwater objects that may be difficult for electronic sensors to detect.

During some missions, trained dolphins have been equipped with a bite plate that carries a marker or shackle. If they detect an unauthorized diver, they can attach the device, allowing security personnel to quickly locate and detain the person. The animals are not trained to attack, but in a sense, someone can end up being "caught" by a dolphin before being detained by human security forces.

07/11/2026

The chances of a strong or very strong El Niño developing this year are increasing, NOAA says. Here's what that means for the Pacific Northwest:
https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/environment/its-rapidly-intensifying-over-85-chance-of-super-el-nio-developing/281-ffd02e3e-9f54-4dcb-afb0-1893a657d739?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KING_5