Damage and escape -- Figuring out the motion picture. The growth of nothingness : journeys in an exploding universe ; Slow as molasses : how we learned to love lethargy ; runaway poles : they're really shifting : are we toast? ; The man who only loved sand : and the curious phenomena of the Atacama Desert ; Down the drain : weird goings-on at the Equator, and the Frenchmen who died young ; Frozen : the unhurried riddles of snow and ice ; April's hidden mysteries : deciphering the secrets of spring -- The pace quickens. The gang that deciphered the wind : a desert dweller's airy spells last for a millennium, while two oddballs dodge the Inquisition ; Blown away : a fanatical mariner takes the world to the edge of violence ; Falling : enigmas of the most far-reaching force ; Rush hour for every body : revelations gained by looking within ; Brooks and breakers : Earth's greatest assets are liquid ; Invisible companions : the odd entities zooming through our bodies ; The stop-action murderer : and his battles with the ephemeral -- Barriers of light and sound : a thirty-century quest that began with thunder ; Meteor in the kitchen : and other peculiar end points ; Infinite speed : when light's velocity just won't get you there -- Sleepy village in an exploding universe : back where it all began -- Appendix 1. Table of selected natural speeds -- Appendix 2. A note on accuracy and choice of units.
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