Word: warns
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Military experts warn that limited reconnaissance missions can lead to air and ground combat. "The air force will argue that to remove the risk of < losses, they would like to take out some if not all of the Iraqi air defenses again," says Colonel Andrew Duncan of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "Then you're on the slippery slope to escalation." But the allies may have concluded that their best tactic is to squeeze Saddam between rebellious Kurds to the north and hostile Shi'ites to the south. (See related story on page...
...thing to warn people that the Big One is coming -- someday soon. Engineers can design stronger bridges and sounder buildings; city planners can guide development in ways that reduce hazards. It's quite another thing to sound the alarm for an earthquake less than a minute away. Such early-warning systems are technically feasible, though there is debate about whether they would save lives or promote panic...
...possible," explains Massachusetts Institute of Technology geophysicist M. Nafi Toksoz, "because seismic waves propagate through the earth's crust relatively slowly, 5 to 8 km/sec. With an extensive network of sensors, we can locate the epicenter and determine the magnitude of an earthquake. This gives us the opportunity to warn people in outlying areas." How long a warning depends on the distance from the epicenter. Had such a system been in place in Mexico, for example, residents of Mexico City would have had nearly a minute to brace themselves for the two offshore quakes that killed more than...
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...
...unwitting touch of humor is added by the program notes, which warn that the play was written in 1979 before we knew about AIDS. Kids, don't try this at home: "The only way to completely avoid AIDS is to abstain from sexual intercourse," cautions the program for a play which contains 10 1/2 depictions or descriptions of extramarital sex. The moral is clear: If you sleep with your sister, use a condom...