Here follow this week’s ephemera.

• Things you didn’t know you had to worry about: What to do when your pilot gets sucked out the plane window. Um, I have to sit down now. Oh, I’m already sitting? Ah, I didn’t realize. Well, then. *shudder*
• Cars, whole houses, and even severed feet in shoes: The vast field of debris from Japan earthquake and tsunami that’s floating towards U.S. West Coast. Wow — you have to see the photos, if nothing else. Spotted by the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, the debris field is predicted to hit the west coast of North America about three years from now. Forget letters in a bottle, picture some poor Japanese family’s entire home washing up on your shore.
• Growth Rings: Maps of U.S. population change from the 2000 to 2010 census. The continued hollowing-out of Detroit is impressive, but by now that’s only because it’s been going on for so long — the pattern of people moving away from the core to the suburban fringes is universal. They also point out a tiny reversal in the very core of Detroit — for some young people, it’s getting cool to be urban again.