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Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

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Re: Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

#31

Post by mohamedsa »

wlievens wrote: post #16
paulgerhardt wrote: post #7

Anyone know what this article meant by "enphaoronate"?

When linking pictures, Phil Plait always adds a line that basically means "Click to enlarge". He started using the Simpsons phrase embiggen at some point, and a while after that he started making up words vaguely related to the context. Pharaos are big in a metaphorical sense. Enpharaoronate means embiggen.

> Pharaos are big in a metaphorical sense.

Incidentally, I've heard that 'Pharaoh' comes from an ancient Egyptian word meaning 'big house' or 'big palace'.

Another speculation is that it's related to the Arabic word فارع, meaning 'very tall'. So it's might be nearer than expected to the intended meaning :)

If 'Enpharaoronate' were a real word it would fit very well in translating a famous Egyptian proverb from Arabic: "Said to the Pharaoh: what Enpharaoronated you? He said: I didn't find anyone to stop me."

Re: Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

#32

Post by three14 »

three14 wrote: post #19
mapleoin wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this paragraph should shed a bit more light on what the author meant: But if enough people can get to space, they’ll see the planet for what it is: a fragile, magnificent ball with a thin shell of atmosphere protecting it from the entire Universe… and no artificial boundary lines to be seen. We made those ourselves, and we put an awful lot of stock in them. Remembering that fact might also be an important way…

I have no problem getting rid of international borders. Just install a global government of my choosing to control everything. No one else will have a problem with my choice, right?

Interesting that this was downvoted - probably because someone was impressed by the importance of remembering that we all need to unite to solve problems. I was trying point out how many problems are solved because we have international borders. Absolute power corrupts absolutely? We at least can limit power at borders. Seeking asylum? Sure is great that there's more than one country. Your government taken over by Communists? At least there are other countries reminding your fellow citizens that Communism isn't the best idea. It's not like you actually need borders to create wars.

Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs, and Steel argues that Western Europe became more advanced than China despite a head start in China because there were so many countries, so one country's government couldn't ruin things.

Re: Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

#33

Post by icegreentea »

shivam14 wrote: post #4

Looking at a composite night picture of the world, another river with a heavy relative concentration seems to be the Indus in Pakistan. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights2_dmsp_big.j... In general, the picture provides a great insight into both the affluence and population density of various parts of the world.

One of the great ones is looking at the Trans-Siberian Railroad. It's like the man-made version of a river (that's not a canal). It's just this string of humanity reaching across Asian.

As for the sister comment, I believe China would be twice of bright, and the lights likely extending all the way to the edge of the deserts/mountains.

Re: Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

#34

Post by stygianguest »

demallien wrote: post #26
simonw wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a video my wife took that illustrates the point: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nataliedowne/5120992880/

Great video. I find it depressing that they couldn't think of anything better to do with that fertile land than to put a highway along the middle of it. From Luxor onwards the fertile band is substantially wider, more like 20km, as can be seen on Google Maps. http://maps.google.fr/?ie=UTF8&ll=29.61167,31.330261&#38... Does anyone know why the desert of North Africa is so... desert? - In Australia, even the deserts, w…

Moving sand dunes make it very hard for vegetation to grow.

Re: Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

#35

Post by kloncks »

eru wrote: post #27
nlwhittemore wrote: post #11

Pretty amazing. On the books, Cairo has 11 million people. Most people think its closer to 20, and that, day to day, another 20 or so come in from outside for work. I lived there on and off for a few years, and it's truly one of the most remarkable places in the world.

Day to day only 20 people on average and net come to Cairo? That would be just 7300 a year and nothing to write home about. (I guess it's more than that. By comparison, Istanbul grew by around a million people a year for a very short time in the 90s.)

Pretty sure the author of the comment meant 20 million

Re: Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

#36

Post by kloncks »

I'm Egyptian. One of my absolutely favorite parts of Egypt is Nuweba (North of Dahab, South of Taba) in the Sinai.

You stand in the Gulf of Aqaba and just a few hundred meters in front of you is the coast of Saudi Arabia. To the Northeast, you can have a glimpse at the port cities of Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan.

I've never been in a place with so many countries right next to each other. The profound thing, like the author mentions, is that there's absolutely nothing in that nature dictating or talking about any borders.

From that perspective, all those lands look pretty much the same: gorgeous.

Re: Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

#37

Post by ronnier »

kloncks wrote: post #36

I'm Egyptian. One of my absolutely favorite parts of Egypt is Nuweba (North of Dahab, South of Taba) in the Sinai. You stand in the Gulf of Aqaba and just a few hundred meters in front of you is the coast of Saudi Arabia. To the Northeast, you can have a glimpse at the port cities of Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan. I've never been in a place with so many countries right next to each other. The profound thing, li…

I've been in the same situation, but a different perspective.

In Eilat, viewing Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Re: Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

#38

Post by eru »

kloncks wrote: post #35
eru wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Day to day only 20 people on average and net come to Cairo? That would be just 7300 a year and nothing to write home about. (I guess it's more than that. By comparison, Istanbul grew by around a million people a year for a very short time in the 90s.)

Pretty sure the author of the comment meant 20 million

Oh, I misread. I read another day another x people come permanently for the better job opportunities. And he was talking about commuters.

Re: Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

#39

Post by kloncks »

ronnier wrote: post #37
kloncks wrote: post #36

I'm Egyptian. One of my absolutely favorite parts of Egypt is Nuweba (North of Dahab, South of Taba) in the Sinai. You stand in the Gulf of Aqaba and just a few hundred meters in front of you is the coast of Saudi Arabia. To the Northeast, you can have a glimpse at the port cities of Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan. I've never been in a place with so many countries right next to each other. The profound thing, li…

I've been in the same situation, but a different perspective. In Eilat, viewing Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

It's sad that to this day not enough Israelis/Egyptians take advantage of the peace accords provisions and travel to the other country.

Little known fact: Israelis can enter the Sinai with just personal id and no visa. Same goes for Egyptians in specific parts of Israel.

Not enough people cross over, due to the "borders" that we put up.

Re: Turns out, it is a river in Egypt

#40

Post by tjic »

> Of course, pictures like this are more profound for what you don’t see: country borders.

Except, some country borders are phenomenally obvious from space - those that separate totalitarian / communist countries from free market / democratic countries.

Look at the border between Israel and Syria.

Look at the border between North Korea and South Korea.

Look at older pictures of the border between East Germany and West Germany.

Capitalism lets people grow, innovate, and develop. Authoritarian governments stifle that.

Thus, in pictures from space, capitalist countries are well lit (if at night), or covered in crops (during the day), and countries with large governments are dark (at night) and barren (during the day).

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