Month: January 2012
Congress ended its least-productive year in modern history after passing 80 bills — fewer than during any other session since year-end records began being kept in 1947.
Good news! Congress has just ended its least-productive year in modern history, passing only 80 bills, less than any other session since these records began being kept in 1947.
Scientists have found that the structure of Titan’s atmosphere appears to change daily and seasonally, much like the Earth’s.
Scientists have found that the structure of Titan’s atmosphere appears to change daily and seasonally, much like the Earth’s.
“The most interesting point is that their model shows the presence of two different boundaries, the lower one caused by the daily heating and cooling of the surface – and varying in height during the day – and the higher one caused by the seasonal change in global air circulation,” commented Paulo Penteado from the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Science at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. According to [Benjamin Charnay from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris], this link between the lower atmosphere’s layers and the moon’s daily and seasonal cycle has never been seen on another moon or planet besides the Earth.
One caveat: the results are based upon a computer climate model. Though this model was tweaked based on actual data, that data remains slim and incomplete.
Volunteers wanted to search for exoplanets
Want to find your very own exoplanet? Volunteers wanted!
Fauré – Pie Jesu
An evening pause:
Phobos-Grunt has crashed into the Pacific Ocean
No harm done: Phobos-Grunt has crashed into the Pacific Ocean, west of Chile.
Phobos-Grunt due to crash to Earth anytime in the next ten hours
Updated and bumped. An updated prediction from Aerospace now calls for Phobos-Grunt to come down sometime between 9 and 3 pm (Eastern). This puts the U.S. now out of danger, though Europe, South America, Africa, Australia, and the southern half of Asia all remain in the spacecraft’s path.
Watch your heads! Phobos-Grunt is due to crash to Earth anytime in the next ten hours. And unfortunately, this new prediction has it flying over both North America and much of Europe and Africa during that time period.
Six Small Math Errors That Caused Huge Disasters
It real does pay to learn math when you are in school: Six small math errors that caused huge disasters.
NASA to mothball two wind tunnels at Langley
NASA to mothball two wind tunnels at Langley.
But NASA can spend millions to build Langley a new conference center and cafeteria. Am I crazy or is there something really wrong here?
Moody Blues – Nights in White Satin
An evening pause:
NASA is soliciting private aerospace companies to bid on building their designs for rocket upper stage that will send the Orion capsule beyond Earth orbit.
NASA is soliciting private aerospace companies to bid on building their own designs for the rocket upper stage that will send the Orion capsule beyond Earth orbit.
This is good news: Rather than design the upper stage themselves, NASA is behaving like a customer and looking for someone else to provide them the product, much as the agency has been doing in buying from private companies crew and cargo services for ISS. Using this approach the agency is more likely to get its upper stage quickly and at less cost.
A private organization is now taking the White House to court over the president’s decision to install three new members on the National Board Relations board without Senate approval.
The court suits begin: A private organization is now taking the White House to court over the president’s decision to install three new members on the National Board Relations board without Senate approval.
Once again, President Obama’s decision to make these appointments in this unprecedented manner, when it was obvious the appointments would be challenged legally, was a terrible decision that will do no good and a great deal of harm. At minimum, it puts a cloud over anything these appointees do.
Above all, this action is further evidence that this President is an arrogant man with no interest in running the government in a manner that is reasonable or fair.
NASA awards $42m for new Langley cafeteria and conference center
NASA has awarded a $42 million contract to build a new cafeteria and conference center at its Langley Research Center in Virginia.
They can’t build a rocket to put humans in space, but dammit, those NASA workers are going to have nice place to meet and eat!
Panda escape
An evening pause: Freedom: even this panda thinks it’s a good idea.
The child suicide bombers of Islam
The child suicide bombers of Islam.
Yeah, this religion and the culture it spawns is exactly the same as all the others. Yeah, right.
Obama asks for more power to consolidate government agencies
President Obama today asked Congress for additional power to consolidate six government agencies.
While this at first sounds like a very good idea, I must admit that it is difficult for me to trust this man with more power, at any time. In addition, how serious can we take his claim of desiring to save money when his administration is on a pace to increase the federal debt by more than $6 trillion, exceeding the debt accumulated by all Presidents from George Washington to Bill Clinton?
A totally drug-resistant tuberculosis strain has emerged in India.
Not good: A totally drug-resistant tuberculosis strain has emerged in India.
The discovery makes India the third country in which a completely drug-resistant form of the disease has emerged, following cases documented in Italy in 2007 and Iran in 2009.
The computer system of the Japanese space agency has been attacked by hackers.
The computer system of the Japanese space agency has been attacked successfully by hackers.
Engineers have gone to a back up radio system on Cassini after a primary unit did not respond as expected in late December.
Engineers have gone to a back up radio system on Cassini after a primary unit did not respond as expected in late December.
The cause is still under investigation, but age may be a factor. The spacecraft launched in 1997 and has orbited Saturn since 2004. Cassini completed its prime mission in 2008 and has had two additional mission extensions. This is the first time its ultra-stable oscillator has had an issue.
I Know Him So Well – Judy Kuhn & Sissel
An evening pause: From the musical Chess, a concert version from 1989, sung by Judy Kuhn & Sissel.