Sons of the Pioneers – Tumbling Tumble Weeds
An evening pause:
Year: 2011
An audit by NASA’s inspector general finds that NASA can’t keep track of its moon rocks
An audit by NASA’s inspector general has found that NASA can’t keep track of its moon rocks.
In a report issued by the agency’s Inspector General on Thursday, NASA concedes that more than 500 pieces of moon rocks, meteorites, comet chunks and other space material were stolen or have been missing since 1970. That includes 218 moon samples that were stolen and later returned and about two dozen moon rocks and chunks of lunar soil that were reported lost last year.
An update on the climate treaty talks in Durban
An update on the climate treaty talks in Durban.
I gather from this article that the talks appear to be going nowhere. (The reporter desperately wants a deal, and you need to read between the lines to sense how unlikely the deal is.) Not only is the U.S. reluctant to sign anything, so is India, China, and Brazil. Furthermore, even if the Obama administration agreed to something, it is highly unlikely any treaty could get through the Senate.
Also, it appears that the $100 billion Green Climate Fund is is in trouble as well.
All good news, as far as I am concerned. None of these deals have anything to do with climate or science. Instead, they are designed to redistribute power and wealth, by fiat, from one set of countries to another.
The trial of seven Italian earthquake experts facing manslaughter charges for not correctly predicting an earthquake continued this week.
The trial of seven Italian earthquake experts facing manslaughter charges for not correctly predicting a deadly earthquake continued this week.
The prosecution’s argument that the experts had underplayed the possible occurrence of a major quake was bolstered by testimony from Daniela Stati, the former civil protection officer for Abruzzo, who took an active role in the March 31 meeting. Stati confirmed what she had previously told prosecutors in 2010, that one of the indicted said during the meeting that the continuing tremors represented a “favorable signal” because there was a continuous discharge of energy that made stronger tremors less likely. In fact, scientific evidence suggests that groups of small earthquakes tend instead to increase the chances of a major earthquake nearby, even though the absolute probability of such a quake remains low. Stati said that nobody within the commission objected to this statement. She also underlined that the “reassuring message” given to the press by her, L’Aquila Mayor Massimo Cialente, and two of the indicted, Franco Barberi and Bernardo De Bernardinis, was based on comments made at the meeting.
Final results show the number of Atlantic hurricanes in 2011 was average, far less than predicted
The final results for the 2011 hurricane season show that the number of Atlantic hurricanes this year was completely average, not too many or too few, but well below what was predicted. See the graph at the bottom of the page.
Recent results from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have found no evidence of dark matter, a result in some conflict with data obtained from several underground research detectors.
The uncertainty of science: Recent results from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have found no evidence of dark matter, a result in some conflict with data obtained from several underground research detectors.
The mystery here is that there is no doubt that something causes the outer objects in galaxies to move faster than expected. Scientists have labeled this something as dark matter, guessing that some undetected and unknown mass exists in the outer reaches of galaxies, thereby increasing the gravity potential and hence the velocity in which objects move.
The problem is that they have yet to identify what that dark matter is.
City lights seen from space show the evolution and development of countries over time
City lights as seen from space show the evolution and development of countries over time.
NASA looks to 3D printing to create spare parts and tools in ISS
NASA looks to 3D printing to create spare parts and tools on ISS.
The first female astronaut from Russia in decades might fly to ISS in 2013
The first female astronaut from Russia in decades might fly a six month mission to ISS in 2013.
The year long mega storms of Saturn
Casablanca – “I bet they are asleep in New York. I bet they’re asleep all over America.”
An evening pause: On the anniversary of the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor: “I bet they are asleep in New York. I bet they’re asleep all over America.” From Casablanca (1942).
On the way to its winter haven, Opportunity found more evidence of water on Mars
On the way to its winter haven, Opportunity found more evidence of liquid water that once flowed on Mars, specifically a geological vein that they think might be gypsum.
The vein examined most closely by Opportunity is about the width of a human thumb (0.4 to 0.8 inch, or 1 to 2 centimeters), 16 to 20 inches (40 to 50 centimeters) long, and protrudes slightly higher than the bedrock on either side of it. Observations by the durable rover reveal this vein and others like it within an apron surrounding a segment of the rim of Endeavour Crater. None like it were seen in the 20 miles (33 kilometers) of crater-pocked plains that Opportunity explored for 90 months before it reached Endeavour, nor in the higher ground of the rim.
According to what project scientist Steve Squyres said at a press conference today at the AGU meeting, “This is the single most significant piece of evidence that liquid water once flowed on Mars.”