The report gives a list of eight "Black Swan" scenarios -- a reference to Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book "Black Swan, " which posits that history is built on unforeseeable, surprise events.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The pictures come from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) satellite, and have been referred to as "The Black Marble" in reference to the famous "Blue Marble" daylight pictures.

ENGADGET: Alt-week 12.08.12: The oldest known dinosaur, lighting up a space station and the black marble

While other Olympians go by heroic-sounding nicknames like "bullet" or "torpedo, " Abdirahman calls himself the "Black Cactus, " a reference to his race and to the Arizona landscape in which he trains.

WSJ: Abdi Abdirahman Goes for Gold or Whatever in the London Games