A Dark Society Viewed from Space

A few days ago Slate.com brought up an interesting article on North Korea written last year. It became timely again because of the death of Kim Jong Il, the country's leader, and the ascension of his son to take his place.

The article was written by Christopher Hitchens, himself recently passed. In the article North Korea's true status was eloquently and frankly described. It's not a pretty picture. The most stark demonstration of the country's limited economic wealth was reference to a satellite picture taken at night.  It shows the Korean peninsula, with both countries outlined. South Korea is pockmarked by lighted regions that make it look like it is suffering from an extreme case of the measles. North Korea, however, is almost complete darkness. Only one small area of light appears.

For many years we have heard that North Korea can't feed itself. Now we see that they also don't even have the resources to turn on the lights.

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8351/1207koreaelectricitygrikf0.jpg

GEEK ALERT: Photography at the Speed of Light

The New York Times reports that scientists have been able to photograph a laser beam as it moves forward. This requires shutter speeds equivalent to one-trillionth of a second. The implications for data gathering and analysis are extraordinary.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/science/speed-of-light-lingers-in-face-of-mit-media-lab-camera.html?_r=1&hpw