Reading the latest in Scientific breakthroughs these days reminds me of sitting through the first viewing of Idiocracy (I reference that film WAY too much). I personally feel that scientific journals should ONLY be made for public viewing when something not of the moronic nature gets noted.

WHY does this make me upset? I feel that people who really should have gotten into other occupations but due to money and influence which opened doors causing them to get into the scientific fields when really they should be in a quilting circle or pumping gas. Due to overpopulation they’ve pushed the actual productive minds out of the picture or in some dark corner and now we’re in a revolution of "Duh" findings and a new crop of "Duh" occupations.

Case in point: Txt Crimes, Sex Crimes And Murder: The Science Of Forensic Linguistics Example summary: A guy text to his girlfriend "meself" when her texts revealed that she spells it "myself." They trained and hired a professional to spot that.

"Why no- coldheartedkiller could not have done the crime because he spelled ‘l8er’ in his IM’s and the killer obviously spelled it ‘l8r’ with no ‘e’. He’s free to go, just make sure you clean off the bench thoroughly because there’s red sticky liquid that seems to be all over his clothing."

You’re damned right I’m jealous!

I am going to go cry for the future of our world now care to join me? Perhaps we can figure out "HOW" to make up these jobs and get people to hire us on. 

ScienceDaily (Sep. 8, 2008) — Text and instant messaging may soon cease to be an anonymous method of communication as advances in forensic linguistic research make it possible to identify the sender and also predict the gender and age of the author with some degree of success.

At the BA Festival of Science in Liverpool on September 8, Dr Tim Grant, the Deputy Director of the Centre for Forensic Linguistics at Aston University, will describe how language analysis is increasingly playing a key part during police investigations and court cases to help identify the author of incriminating material, whether it be a threatening note, documents planning a terrorist attack or a sexually explicit chat room conversation involving an adult and a child.

He believes that, despite public concerns about the growth of a surveillance society, the ability to identify authorship of electronic communications is beneficial.

Linguistic evidence demonstrating who sent a particular text message has been significant in a growing number of cases where criminals have attempted to use them as alibis. These include difficult murder cases where victims’ bodies were never found, such as the recent prosecution of David Hodgson, who was convicted in February of the murder of his ex-lover Jenny Nicholl. Her body has never been found.

Dr Grant explains: ‘Jenny Nicholl disappeared on 30th June 2005. A linguistic analysis showed that text messages sent from her phone were unlikely to have been written by her but, rather, were more likely to have been written by her ex-lover, David Hodgson. A number of stylistic points identified within texts known to have been written by Jenny Nicholl were not present in the suspect messages. Instead, these were stylistically close to the undisputed messages of David Hodgson.

Hodgson was convicted partly because, in text messages he sent on her phone after she disappeared, he spelled "myself" as "meself".  In her own text messages, Nicholl had spelled the word "myself".

‘The kind of features we were interested in were the shortening of “im” in the texts from Nicholl contrasting with “I am” in the suspect messages and the lack of space after the digit substitution in items such as “go2shop” contrasting with “ave 2 go”’.

Dr Grant has put together a database of more than 7000 texts as part of his research into text messaging style and variation between individuals and groups of individuals. The public can contribute to his ongoing research by submitting text samples to http://www.forensiclinguistics.net/texting. His study seeks to establish base rate information for certain features in texting language, and will also highlight how groups of people who text one another frequently grow more similar in their texting style.

Based on techniques that were first used to measure similarity between marine ecosystems, and then applied to the analysis of sexual crime, Dr Grant has now developed a method to quantify people’s style of text writing. His technique, which assigns a numeric measure of stylistic difference between any two texts, encourages the move from expert opinion based evidence to more methodologically rigorous and empirically tested techniques.

‘Forensic linguistics is a relatively new forensic science but the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners opens a linguistic subregister this month and this will give easy access to reputable practitioners and help cement its position as a key forensic science,’ said Dr Grant.

‘In addition to this formal recognition we are seeing an expansion in casework, particularly in the area of electronic communication – SMS, IRC (internet relay chat) and email. In these kinds of communication it is relatively easy to be, or at least feel, anonymous – new technologies have created an anti-social phenomenon of mass anonymity, and the ability to identify the writer can only be beneficial for society.’

Dr Grant will be presenting this material in his talk at the BA Festival of Science, ‘The BA Joseph Lister Award Lecture – Txt crimes, sex crimes and murder: the science of forensic linguistics’.

Dawnie Darko: 36 Hours 38 Minutes 52 Seconds until the world ends. I totally made that up, although I should ask my Grandma what her church says because every few years they have the end of the world date and time predicted (why so bent on the afterlife when you have so much to experience here? Sounds like creditor dodging to me.)

Just in case you haven’t heard, there’s a *slight* chance the world could be eaten up in a huge vortex/worm hole, destroyed by a giant sonic boom, snuffed out of existence by any sci-fi theatrics that we could conjure up inside our heads based on vivid imaginations or awesome films that we’ve viewed here and there through out our lives. Chances are… well… impossible, but it’s still fun to create a faux panic.

In a nut shell: 300 feet below the surface of Swiss/French border lies the LHC. What is the LHC? The Large Hadron Collider that is supposed to assist in the Big Bang Theory.

I guess many people have been freaking out over their run away imaginations. The first step in learning about the theory of creation is merely sending a particle beam in one direction through the LHC and in time, over a period of weeks, build up to minor/tiny collisions. No clanging, banging or collisions come 9.10.08. Sorry, I guess no one is going to get out of bill paying this week.

Start writing those screenplays though, it could be the next summer blockbuster.
The live webcast will be shown here, providing we don’t die.

Scientists hope for surprises in Big Bang experiment

By Robert EvansMon Sep 8, 2:47 PM ET

Scientists involved in a historic “Big Bang” experiment to begin this week hope it will turn up many surprises about the universe and its origins — but reject suggestions it will bring the end of the world.

And Robert Aymar, the French physicist who heads the CERN research centre, predicted that discoveries to emerge from his organization’s 6.4 billion euro ($9.2 billion) project would spark major advances for human society.

“If some of what we expect to find does not turn up, and things we did not foresee do, that will be even more stimulating because it means that we understand less than we thought about nature,” said British physicist Brian Cox.

“What I would like to see is the unexpected,” said Gerardus t’Hooft of the University of Michigan. Perhaps, he suggested, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) machine at the heart of the experiment “will show us things we didn’t know existed.”

Once it starts up on Wednesday, scientists plan to smash particle beams together at close to the speed of light inside CERN’s tightly-sealed Large Hadron Collider to create multiple mini-versions of the primeval Big Bang.

Cosmologists say that that explosion of an object the size of a small coin occurred about 13.7 billion years ago and led to formation of stars, planets — and eventually to life on earth.

A key aim of the CERN experiment is to find the “Higgs boson,” named after Scottish physicist Peter Higgs who in 1964 pointed to such a particle as the force that gave mass to matter and made the universe possible.

But other mysteries of physics and cosmology — supersymmetry, dark matter and dark energy among them — are at the focus of experiments in the 27-km (17-mile) circular tunnel deep underneath the Swiss-French border.

FEARS OF DISASTER

CERN, the European Centre for Nuclear Research, says its key researchers — and many ordinary staff — have been inundated by e-mails voicing fears about the experiment.

There have been claims that it will create “black holes” of intensive gravity sucking in CERN, Europe and perhaps the whole planet, or that it will open the way for beings from another universe to invade through a “worm hole” in space-time.

But a safety review by scientists at CERN and in the United States and Russia, issued at the weekend, rejected the prospect of such outcomes.

“The LHC will enable us to study in detail what nature is doing all around us,” Aymar, who has led CERN for five years, said in response to that review. “The LHC is safe, and any suggestion that it might present a risk is pure fiction.”

Cox, from the School of Physics and Astronomy at Britain’s Manchester University, was even more trenchant. “I am immensely irritated by the conspiracy theorists who spread this nonsense around,” he said.

When the experiment begins soon after 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) on September 10, disaster scenarists will have little to work on.

In the first tests, a particle beam will be shot all the way around the LHC channel in just one direction. If all goes well, collisions might be tried within the coming weeks, but at low intensity. Any bangs at this stage, said one CERN researcher, “will be little ones.”

(Editing by Laura MacInnis)

Look at the title of the article:

“Cigarettes’ Power May Not Be In Nicotine Itself, New Study Suggests”

I debunk you!

ScienceDaily (Sep. 4, 2008) — There may be a very good reason why coffee and cigarettes often seem to go hand in hand.

A Kansas State University psychology professor’s research suggests that nicotine’s power may be in how it enhances other experiences. For a smoker who enjoys drinking coffee, the nicotine may make a cup of joe even better.

“Try again oh ye who wasted their parents money on an Ivy League education when they could have bettered society by ‘service with a smile’ at my local McDonalds.

It may all sound good in theory, but as a former addict… I’d have to say ‘Close, but no potato.’ You could say the same thing about ANY drug (legal or street- such as caffeine in the form of chocolate/coffee etc).

Most of life events have a certain flavor that goes along with it. Sports are more enjoyable with beer/ale. A partner goes better with wine. Movies are more enjoyable with popcorn and sex goes better with vodka martinis.

And that may explain why smoking is so hard to quit.

It *may* but it wouldn’t be correct. Yes, with most addictions there could be a certain amount of psychological associations. People wind up with a drinking disorder that has roots in depression that results from a failed relationship, hardship with jobs/family etc. Alcohol numbs the pain… we know that. There is typically a root reason for addiction, that’s a duh statement and the more we depend on the chemical enhancements/distractions, the more we rely on it to keep us from whatever it is we’re avoiding.

I wouldn’t say cigarettes enhance any flavor. In fact, if you know anything about smoking you know it kills your taste buds and sense of smell. That’s the whole reason why in the first three months of quitting, your sense of taste and smell dramatically increase and it’s almost shocking to become so sensitive to odorous world around you that you were previously oblivious to. I smoked for 22 years and I have quit cold turkey. I think I know a little about smoking/not smoking from experience”

“People have very regimented things they do when they smoke,” said Matthew Palmatier, assistant professor of psychology at K-State. “If you think about where people smoke or who they smoke with, you realize that it occurs in very specific places, often with a specific group of people. Maybe it’s a reason why nicotine is so addictive — if you get used to having that extra satisfaction from things you normally enjoy, not having nicotine could reduce the enjoyment in a given activity.

“They are speaking of the social smoker, not the type I usually see as the addict. The addict more than likely smokes alone in an isolated environment. Mainly they do this because smoking is indeed frowned upon and the act of smoking is one out of addiction, not socializing. They will smoke in the car to or from some where, they will use their smoking habit/addiction to depart from an unpleasant situation as a removal. It gives them a boost and an out. It does not lift nor enhance the mood, it merely takes the edge off and offers a chemical high that induces a false sense of relaxation.”

“People may not be smoking to obtain a pleasurable drug state. They may be smoking in order to regulate their mood, and that effect could make nicotine more addictive than other drugs.”

Palmatier said much previous research on nicotine addiction has looked at the drug itself rather than the other factors he is studying.

“No one takes drugs primarily for the drugs you idiot… there is usually a core reason and you intertwine your purpose for escape through whatever drug you are escaping through. After you get your emotional fix, you wind up physically hooked- and if enough time is spent treating that previous escape as your new h20- common biological function in life (breathing, drinking, eating, laughing, talking etc) you don’t think about associations any more- it’s habit and part of your chemical make up. You maintain it, you continue it, it’s now second nature to you and you don’t think of seriously doing away with it because it’s now embedded into your biological structure.”

“The approach we’re taking is out of left field,” he said. “But it seems to be one of the best explanations as to why people smoke.”

Palmatier has a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to understand how this phenomenon can be used to better design tobacco addiction treatments, usually offered in patches and pills. He began psychological research in addiction as a graduate student and later began researching the reinforcing effects of nicotine.

“I’m sorry- but it was the cigarette itself I was addicted to and a reason to break from work or a social gathering. I would primarily smoke at home (outside) and I was alone with absolutely nothing else going on. Prithee, what did it enhance? Isolation?”

“The big picture is trying to figure out why people smoke,” Palmatier said. “There are a lot of health risks, and the majority of smokers already know what they are. They want to quit but can’t. It’s not because nicotine is a potent drug; it doesn’t induce significant amounts of pleasure or euphoria. Yet, it’s just as difficult if not more difficult to quit than other drugs.”

At K-State, Palmatier studies rats that are allowed to self-administer nicotine by pushing a lever. The main source of light in their testing environment shuts off when the rats earn a dose of nicotine. After about a minute, the light comes back on to signal that more nicotine is available.

By manipulating this signal, Palmatier and his colleagues found that the rats weren’t really that interested in nicotine by itself.

“We figured out that what the rats really liked was turning the light off,” Palmatier said. “They still self-administered the nicotine, but they took more of the drug when it was associated with a reinforcing light.”

Palmatier and colleagues published a paper on their research in the August issue of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Palmatier has begun looking at how rats respond to sweet tastes after having nicotine. He said preliminary results show that nicotine has comparable effects on sweet tastes. That is, rats respond more for sugar-water solutions after getting nicotine.

“The taste aspect is really important because we can actually figure out how nicotine is increasing the subjects’ behavior,” Palmatier said. “If it makes a reward more pleasurable, then it may increase the palatability of a sweet taste.”

“ACK! Again, you pretty much lose your sense of taste/smell when smoking (and we’re talking medium to heavy smoker) so wouldn’t it make sense that you go for something with MORE flavor (seemingly more to the non smoker) because to the smoker the taste/scent is moderately mild? Think of it this way- if you couldn’t tell that you were drinking water, you were thirsty… you down a bucket of water to get the same sensation of having a small glass of the stuff.“

Palmatier said that a future phase of research would be determining whether nicotine can make unpleasant experiences more tolerable, helping explain why lighting up after a bad day at work can be tempting.

“This was obviously written by people who have never lit up in their lives. They obviously are in dire need to write up a thesis on something asap and lack creative thinking and ideas. My suggestion: Find another line of work.”

I am in total love! Isla Jade was FINALLY born early this evening/late afternoon. 7lb 14 oz and completely looks like her daddy. My apologies to the many letters I’m supposed to write but right now I’m SO tired and drained and I’ll get more personal tomorrow. I just want to get the Isla news out there!

See more- pics of the new baby!!… Continue reading Beautiful Isla

Ash is birthing the baby! Water broke this morning… she’s still in labor as I’m writing this… (ran home to get Jonathon) and now I’m heading back YAY! Isla is almost born.

I have no idea what I was googling that took me to the site I wound up at. AH… never mind, I recall what it was. I was trying to find what the safest country from natural disasters was. I *think* it was Finland… and then I saw the Snow Castle aka Lumilinna. My jaw dropped, my eyes opened really wide and I oohed the word, “Neeeeeeeeeeat…”

The more I looked at it and thought about it realistically, the more I questioned how spoiled I was because the thought of spending a weekend in a -5 degree room where you couldn’t get nekkid, the bathroom wasn’t in the hotel room… and you had to sleep in a sleeping bag… I saw no easy in and out of the situation (say a three hour tour and then back into humane climate).  Perhaps one day (if it’s still around, apparently it’s rather new) I’ll warm up to the idea. Get it? “Warm up…”

The next opening will be January 30th 2009 and it runs about around $285 – $350 a night per person.

Check this out though:
Snow Hotel

Kemi , Finland

Snow hotel with accommodation and charm.
What makes the Snow Castle stand apart from most other Ice and Snow properties is the proximity of it to the airport and the ease of access. If you can get to Kemi, you can get to the Snow Castle.
“The Snow Hotel with its arctic surroundings is a unique place. It is an excellent way to experience the coldness of an arctic night. Temperature in the hotel rooms is approximately – 5 º C, but guests will have a good night sleep in a warm Ajugilak sleeping bag. There are 30 double rooms, 2 group rooms for five people and a suite.”
On the Northern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia the SnowCastle of Kemi is a magnificent example of the great talent and skills of local architects and their builders. Inside the towering walls of the SnowCastle both children and adults can find unforgettable experiences. The Artwork of ice and snow with lights and sound effects is a delight for the age and soul in this wintry scenery.
The first SnowCastle was a gift from UNICEF in 1996 and the town of Kemi to all the children in the world. Everybody in Finland knows what snow is, but the majority of children in the world have never seen or experienced snow. Still, snow is something that stimulates imagination of every children: what does snow looks like, feels like, taste like?

SnowRestaurant tables are made of ice and the seats are covered with reindeer skin. SnowRestaurant serves hot and cold drinks, lunch, snacks and naturally á la carte. From 27th January until 6th April the SnowRestaurant is open during the opening hours of the SnowCastle. Note: Lunch and dinner reservations must be made at least two days in advance. Don’t just turn up hungry!

Guests of the SnowHotel have been able to enjoy of the new CastleLounge since December 2003.
The lounge has been decorated using lappish materials. Clients may play games, watch tv or chat with friends and get to know new people before going to sleep. The lockers for clients luggage are also situated there as well as a cozy bar-cafeteria serving clients with warm drinks just before going to sleep.
The Snow Castle is very much focussed on children and they play host to two colourful snowball characters. Arttu, the Genie of the Castle, is all childrens´ favourie since the first SnowCastle. Arttu comes from a valley far, far away, where snow never melts. He lives there with his wife Terttu and their two little snowballbabies Pilvi and Pyry. The Snowballfamily lives most of the year in their homevalley, but when SnowCastle opens its doors Arttu and Terttu come to Kemi.
Useful information to the guests of SnowCastle
- SnowCastle is situated within walking distance from local hotels and the railway station.
- Distance from the airport by car 10 minutes
- SnowCastle is a large area, SnowHotel, SnowRestaurant and SnowChapel are located inside the walls of the Castle.
- SnowCastle is open daily from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.
- Toilets are located in the warm Reception House

Neat, huh?

The next thing I have to write about is an idea I had for a comic that I’m going to draw whilst practicing for another comic.

Excerpt from an e-mail I had sent:

“Picture me out slaying zombies. I’m kicking major ass… sweaty, getting tired… but I’m determined. Cell phone rings and it’s another ‘ex’(I have way too many of those) who I haven’t heard from for awhile. He basically tracked me down just to tell me about his successful love life that I really didn’t need nor care to know about (strangely it’s not uncommon)- I’m looking at the phone with an incredulous look, about to do in the zombie… but instead of killing him, I drag the zombie clear across town (venting to the confused zombie the whole way who’s being dragged and at first looks scared/confused… and then bored) okay wait… I’m still on the call while dragging the zombie and he’s bragging and asking if I’m still not getting any… and I finally speak, “Well you know how I’ve always said you’ve got to create your own happiness in life…” I knock on the door… he opens it, I toss the zombie in and hold the door shut and smile- “Yeah, I’m feeling very blissful about now.”

The recent Gulf Coast threat had me thinking: ‘The majority of the people who lived there had to flee and rebuild else where. Many people returned because it was all they knew and new people moved there because… we’ll they’re just idiots.’ So they move back because we aren’t really a species who gets up and moves where ever… like… across an entire ocean to build anew… oh no, our land is 100% filled with natives who have lived here for thousands of years…. Anyway, they move back and three years later disaster comes again… and they’re forced to evacuate… again…. which they’ll of course wander back once they’re told it’s okay and continue this cycle until they decide to just move right over to Florida… :\

I wonder if people live for disaster. I get a little excited when I hear there might be a huge storm and I’m slightly disappointed when there’s nothing. In my location there’s rarely anything… in fact a huge pastime of people residing in this area is to drive out to the coast and get a place near ocean so they can witness storms.

For many years I felt that I lived in an area that over exaggerated any type of weather system that moved through the area, including a mild Earth tremor. It feels good to know I was correct. According to Forbes, Salem Oregon is listed at number 9 as one of the safest geographical places to live in the US.

Think about that. How many cities in how many states are we talking about? A hell of a lot. To me that’s pretty impressive and gives me a license to call the locals (which I suppose I am one) weather wimps.

We may not have a lot to worry about where natural disasters are concerned, but it doesn’t mean we’re immune from a whole other set of dangerous situations.

Looming Doom:
Being bored to death
Utter stupidity by the residents can scramble and boggle your brain
Take all the stereo typical bad drivers in the world and now move several people from each category here and give them licenses to drive

From MSNBC which was from Forbes

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, some Americans — particularly Gulf Coast residents — may be wondering whether there are places in the U.S. that are safe from such natural disasters.

The short answer? No. The Midwest may not be vulnerable to hurricanes, but twisters drop in regularly. Major earthquakes don’t tend to strike New England, but strong winds can peel the roof off a northeastern house and snowstorms can shut down cities.

“Every location in the country is exposed to one disaster or another,” says Wendy Rose, spokeswoman for the Institute for Business & Home Safety, a Tampa, Fla.-based nonprofit insurance industry group that aims to reduce losses from natural catastrophes.
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Still, some places are less susceptible than others to natural hazards. To get an idea where they might be, we partnered with Sperling’s Best Places, a data collection company based in Portland, Ore. Sperling’s has compiled weather and disaster data for 331 metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., and we used the information to discern the safest — and least safe — areas in which to live.

At the top of our list was Honolulu, Hawaii, which lives up to its reputation as a paradise. It is not only blessed with year-round beautiful weather and long stretches of beach; Hawaii is also not prone to tornadoes, wind, hail or extreme weather.

Forbes Safest places
Rank Location
1. Honolulu, Hawaii
2. Boise City, Idaho
3. Santa Fe, N.M.
4. Yakima, Wash.
5. Spokane, Wash.
6. Richland-Kennewick-Pasco, Wash.
7. Medford-Ashland, Ore.
8. Corvallis, Ore.
9. Salem, Ore.
10. Las Cruces, N.M.

“We are fortunate that the way things have happened, we are pretty safe,” says Ray Lovell, spokesman for Hawaii State Civil Defense. “Knock on wood.”

Between 1972 and 2000, Hawaii had a total of 12 major disasters declared, according to the Federal Emergency Management Administration. That’s relatively low, especially compared to states like Texas, where 51 major disasters were declared in the same period, or California, which had 45.

Hawaii can get hurricanes, but the last major one was in September 1992 and its damage was localized, with little loss of life, Lovell says. The few brush fires this year didn’t burn any or injure any people. Their effect was “just the aggravation of having to close some roads and use some of the National Guard and other military to drop water,” he explains.

Unlike many places, Hawaii can fall victim to tsunamis. But the last death from a giant wave happened in the 1970s, he says, when a few campers were drowned on a coastline. And though there is an active volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island, it’s not a particular threat right now.

“We’re really blessed,” says Lovell.

Other relatively safe places included Boise, Idaho; Santa Fe, N.M.; and three cities each in Oregon and Washington. But despite the lower incidence of frequent natural disasters in the Pacific Northwest, people who live there know that their area is far from secure.

The region is rife with potential natural hazards, says Rob Harper, spokesman for the Emergency Management Division of the state of Washington’s Military Department. Among them are the tsunamis, earthquakes and volcano activities. Mud flows could come sliding down Mt. Rainer. A fault that lies 300 miles of the coast could create a huge swell of water.

“In that scenario, they have about 15 to 20 minutes to evacuate,” Harper says. “And we can’t forget Mount St. Helens as a volcano threat.”

Grim scenarios indeed. Then again, the last tsunami recorded was in 1700, Harper says. The last major mud flows happened thousands of years ago, he adds. In contrast, Florida experienced four major hurricanes back-to-back in the summer of 2004 alone.
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Such dramatic and damaging weather events are a major reason why the bottom of our list — the least safe places to live — is dominated by coastal and southern cities. Monroe, La., was ranked the least safe on our list, with frequent wind and hail. And, according to scientists, increased global warming will only lead to more hurricanes per year, resulting in greater loss of life and property. Dallas has lots of wind and hail and is prone to some tornadoes. (In fact, Texas has the highest homeowners insurance rates in the U.S.) Jackson, Miss., gets hit by twisters and West Palm Beach-Boca Radon, Fla. gets smacked regularly with hurricanes.

Sperling’s Best Places collected climate, hail, tornado and wind data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; earthquake data from the U.S. Geological Survey; hurricane data from the International Hurricane Research Center; and compiled brush fire information independently. It then indexed all those numbers to show a metro area’s relative tendency to experience disasters or extreme weather (abundant rain or snowfall or days that are below freezing or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit). The numbers shown for natural disasters are out of 100 — the higher the number, the more common such events are. The lower the number, the less common. Sperling’s did not include rare events such as tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.

Forbes Least safe places
Rank Location
1. Monroe, La.
2. Dallas, Tex.
3. Jackson, Miss.
4. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
5. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.
6. Kansas City, Mo.
7. Elkhart-Goshen, Ind.
8. Tulsa, Okla.
9. Memphis, Tenn.
10. Shreveport-Bossier City, La.

We then added up the numbers to determine how relatively safe each place is. We didn’t give any one type of disaster more weight than another — although tornadoes and earthquakes can result in extensive damage, so can hail and rain. In fact, water has the potential to be the most destructive force of all.

“The most potentially damaging natural disaster is flooding,” says Caroline Gorman, spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry research group based in New York City. “That’s why the private insurance market doesn’t even try to sell it. It happens in every state, it happens all the time. There are so many different ways for water to do damage.”

Live in an unsafe place and plan to stay? There are things you can do to make your house less susceptible to damage and destruction.

The Institute for Business & Home Safety has a program called Fortified for Safer Living, which helps homeowners and builders incorporate materials and technologies into new homes that will allow the buildings to withstand severe weather like hurricanes and earthquakes. For example, there are ways to connect a roof to walls and walls to the foundation so that the stress of, say, hurricane wind, would be distributed throughout the structure instead of just affecting one wall. The strategies can make a home fire-, tornado- or earthquake-resistant. The organization has a ZIP code locator that will tell you what kinds of things can help your home.

“It’s just like you would choose the safety features on your vehicle,” Rose says. “You should also choose them for your home.”
© 2008 Forbes.com