Word: acidic
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...unforeseeable. In the 1890s it was widely predicted that the U.S. would be bare of trees by the 1920s -- they would all have been chopped down to provide wood for heating and cooking. Along came oil burners and the gas stove, saving the trees to be menaced instead by acid rain...
That was only the beginning of disaster: now the real tragedy began. Nitric oxides rained from the air, turning the sea to acid. Clouds of soot from incinerated forests darkened the sky, hiding the sun for months. Worldwide, the temperature dropped precipitously, killing off most of the plants and animals that had survived the initial cataclysm. Though some species would linger on for millenniums, the reign of the great reptiles was finally over...
Accounts of the execution agree that the victims were shot, but vary as to what happened to the bodies. Among the reports: they were doused with sulfuric acid, cremated or tossed into a mine shaft. The research team found some evidence to support parts of the stories. The teeth and bones, for instance, show etching and whitening indicative of acid. One surprise was that Czar Nicholas appeared to have had little dental care and suffered from severe periodontal disease. The Czarina, on the other hand, had highly sophisticated dental work, including porcelain crowns...
...young White House speechwriter, Patrick J. Buchanan, wrote a memo to President Richard Nixon suggesting that the theme be used as a weapon. His campaign strategy: cut the country and Democratic Party in half, and pick off "far the larger half." The Republicans told America that George McGovern meant "acid, abortion and amnesty." Nixon's "half" in the 1972 election was a landslide...
Would it be worth it? "It's not a solution to all earthquake problems, but there are a lot of practical applications," says Allan Lindh of the U.S. Geological Survey. "To have 30 seconds' warning would sound like a helluva idea to me if I worked near a sulfuric acid vat." Japan has already built advanced systems to shut down nuclear power plants, cut the gas flow from public utilities and issue tsunami alerts. Similar systems could divert incoming aircraft, warn rescue workers of aftershocks and minimize damage to computer, telecommunication and financial data networks...