Who is El Nino?

There are several possible correct answers.  If you are a religious person try reading the New Testament to learn more, this is a spanish reference to the Christ child.  If you are my contact with the embassy I think I was suppose to say "you seek the man with the purple hat and yellow beard."  If you are a weather man El Nino is "a warming of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America that occurs every 4 to 12 years when upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water does not occur. It causes die-offs of plankton and fish and affects Pacific jet stream winds, altering storm tracks and creating unusual weather patterns in various parts of the world." (Dictionary.com)

So, is El Nino good or bad.  I am going with good on this one.  For example, Christ is good.  Bad weather is bad, but it can distract us from other problems.  For example, el Nino causes drought conditions in parts of the world.  This means they do not need to worry about floods, this is good.  In other parts of the world el Nino causes Floods, they do not need to worry about lack of water for their crops and live stock.  See, el Nino is good.  It is part of nature just letting us know who is boss, that regardless of how many holes we put in the ozone, or how many species we wipe out, nature still has the power to make us complain. 

I think that mother nature just gets tired of all the complaining; "its too hot," its too cold," "its too wet," "we need more rain."  Then she lays the smack down on us.  Hehe, that will teach us.  Maybe.

How do atomic clocks work?

Atoms are curious things.  For a long time they were the smallest things out there.  But like all technology, new things are smaller, new things here being subatomic particles.  This leads to the result that atoms are old.  And just like grandpa, they have the shakes.  But unlike grandpa, these shakes are predictable and don't lead to spilled coffee, or accidents while shaving with a strait razor. 

Scientists have harnessed the predictability of the atoms movement to tell time.  Most of the atomic clocks use cesium atoms which vibrate at 9,192,631,770 Hertz.  This is a big number, which clearly shows how shaken up traditional atoms have become as a result of these renegade subatomic particles.  For comparison, most people with shakes, either palsy, or withdrawal, or a sugar buzz never exceed several hundred Hertz. 

The vibration is measured using things like lasers and microwaves.  Over all, this clock is accurate to 1 second after 20 million years.  This was tested at some point I am sure, scientists don't just spit out numbers at random.  The probably used Einsteins general relativity to do this however, and all quantum mechanics know this could lead to error.  So, as for me, I don't wear a watch. You can never be too careful. 

How does one compost?

The subtleties of the English language appear to be lost on you.  Do you wish to learn how you yourself would compost, or how to make compost out of your yard wastes. 

In reality it does not matter which you had in mind, as both processes are essentially the same.  However, it is not recommended to compost animal products for household use (reference needed, find one on Google, you can search from this page :)) <-- That is suppose to be a smiley at the end of a parenthetical comment, not a double chin smiley.

Composting works by letting worms and microbes and black magic (think Harry Potter and his evil devil worshiping friends) do their things and break down organic material into smaller pieces which can then be recycled by other plants.  After these other plants have used the material one of two things can occur.  Either the plant will die and then can be composted, or an animal will eat the plant, then die and be composted.  The second option is not preferred however, as mentioned in the missing reference above, clearly then it is better to eat animals then vegetables.

To start your own compost pile throw a bunch of organic crap (leaves, grass clippings, Lima beans) in a pile on the ground.  Every so often 'stir' the pile to ensure that oxygen can get  throughout the pile to allow the microbes to "do their thing."  After a couple of months the microbes will be done, and you will have what farmers call "brown gold."  At least I like to think that is what they would call it.