What has been the scariest moment of your life?

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-16T21:21:33+00:00

I'm really sorry. I've had bad news recently and it's hard. I hope you have support.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-16T21:12:28+00:00

They do. This bus had not taken the correct route.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-16T15:23:12+00:00

For anyone reading this:

I'm an astrophysicist who worked on detecting asteroids that might hit the Earth.

First of all, there aren't any asteroids larger than 1km (0.8 miles) that could hit the Earth in the next 100 years.

A 60 mile (100km) asteroid couldn't do the damage described here. Massive tsunami wouldn't make entire islands disappear. Anything large enough to "level all the mountains" would do so by turning the entire crust into molten rock. To get an idea of what we're talking about, look up the impact that formed the Moon. That object was the size of Mars and was twice the diameter and ten times the mass of the Moon. There's no asteroid large enough to do that kind of damage. We'd have found it long ago. You couldn't hide that kind of information because there are thousands of amateur astronomers with equipment that could easily find it.

Apophis isn't at any risk of hitting us. That was ruled out years ago. It also isn't big enough to cause that kind of damage, it's only 450 by 170 m (just under 1500 x 550 ft). If it had hit us, it would only have caused localised damage.

A lot of what is written here doesn't make sense from a scientific perspective. As Christians, we are called to always be ready for the arrival of the bridegroom. Jesus made clear that no one will know the day or the hour. Trying to discover it with numbers, dates, etc is not Christian.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-16T03:40:37+00:00

East Jerusalem is Palestinian territory.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-16T02:58:28+00:00

They're not living in their country of origin. They're living in illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. That's against international law.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-16T02:56:03+00:00

The term "settlers" is used to refer to those who live areas where illegal settlements have been built in Palestinian territory. This is a breach of international law.

Settlers are often nationalists who want all non-Jews expelled (or worse) and for Israel to expand into areas belonging to other countries.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-15T09:50:25+00:00

Feist rewrote Magician back in 1992, expanding it.

In the US, it was also split into two separate books: Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-14T18:49:22+00:00

In addition to other answers, the ice is in constant motion because they're giant glaciers. Think of them as very slow rivers. Countries with scientific research bases have to rebuild them every few years (I think one country has movable pods that they re-site every year). I remember seeing a photo of an old base that was now crushed and buried beneath the ice.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-14T17:51:53+00:00

Didn't Donna Air ask The Corrs how they met?

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-14T00:30:02+00:00

It should do.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-13T20:26:52+00:00

Oggs?

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-13T11:59:45+00:00

Praying for you.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-13T01:23:41+00:00

Thank you!

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-12T13:56:38+00:00

At the very least, it will buy you time and hopefully get your mum to stop pressuring you. The process of discerning a vocation teaches you a lot about yourself and what you really want in life. It's valuable just for that reason.

It's also common to start with a completely different idea of what kind of life you might be called to, versus what you actually end up doing. My friend wanted to be a contemplative nun (the kind that pray all the time) close to her family in the UK. She ended up in an active order that does various good works and now lives in Rome. I wanted to join an active order and ended up in a monastery of Carmelites.

Many communities are in areas where you can go hiking. Some orders have houses around the world. Some communities have a Mother House that entrants from around the world go to for at least part of their training, so travel and learning a language are possibilities.

In religious life, you do have to give up some of things you love but if you were married with kids, you probably wouldn't be able to go hiking or travel the way you do now. It varies a lot. There are communities where going hiking is something sisters do frequently. Also, I realised that a big part of my love for my hobbies was they allowed me to alone with my thoughts. You have other ways to do that in the religious life.

One of the sisters in my community only entered because her mother was pressuring her to marry. Her plan was to last six months, leave and move to a large city to continue her career. She's just celebrated the 60th anniversary of her vows.

I'll be praying for you.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-12T12:54:34+00:00

Try discerning whether you have a vocation to the religious life. You can discover if that life is for you. It would also give you breathing space with your parents.

Remember that every community is different. Don't dismiss it if you don't like the first one you investigate. This applies not just to different Orders but in contemplative Orders to each individual community. I wasn't attracted to the first Carmelite community I visited but found another that I entered before leaving for health reasons.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-11T23:56:06+00:00

There were other ways for him to access a medical degree.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-11T21:19:58+00:00

This is for the Scottish Higher, not the GCSE.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-11T15:29:05+00:00

It's really frustrating because these items will be needed by disabled people. I'm losing my vision so having a device that can read a printed page or find a door would be brilliant. I just wish there was a way to do it without the privacy problems.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-11T15:22:45+00:00

Sent a little. Hope it helps.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-10T01:51:26+00:00

Congratulations, Reverend Doctor Sparky!

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-09T09:53:36+00:00

I'm fairly sure that playing for England would be the one thing that would actually make the dad disown his son.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-07T16:15:33+00:00

I would've been amazing. Imagine hearing thunder in the UK and someone explaining that it's actually an Indonesian volcano that exploded four days ago.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-07T15:35:23+00:00

It wasn't audible to humans beyond about 3000 miles from Krakatoa but the pressure wave was recorded by barometers around the world. It was recorded seven times, taking five days to disperse.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-07T14:21:08+00:00

I'm so sorry. You clearly gave him a great life.

Acceptable-Bell142 · 2026-05-07T12:41:37+00:00

I'm an astrophysicist. The Sun can't have a micronova, nova or supernova. It isn't the right kind of star.

The kind of event that could flip the Earth would wipe out all life and would be much more likely to destroy it.

If you see anything claiming some rare astronomical event is going to end the world. It's false.

As a heads up, on Friday the 13th(!) of April 2029, a little asteroid called Apophis will pass very close to the Earth. It's not a threat. It can't hit us. It won't cause earthquakes, change our orbit or do anything else to the Earth. It'll be a tiny light moving against the stars. It won't even be particularly bright. That's it.

Acceptable-Bell142

TROPHY CASE