Samarium

So once again, I break the whole wait until the periodic table titles end to talk about other science-y things. But with Hurricane Irene, I thought it might be appropriate to give a shout out to our good friend water. And since water is kind of a big deal, it will be mentioned plenty more times. On the topic of big deals, here are some pictures from LP's local newspaper documenting the big damage that water causes. Good thing I left early on Sunday...

This is a road pretty close to my house. Apparently water is powerful enough to strip off a layer of asphalt. CRAZY.

The remains of the firehall in the next town over.

Need I explain more than meets the eye on this one?

No joke, when the weather is normal, the water under this bridge is probably six to ten feet below the road. Not so much now.

Fun Fact: Samarium-cobalt magnets are found on electric guitar pickups, as the magnets are known to withstand high temperatures (If any of you are musicians, you might understand this more than I do).