Year: 2012
Andrew Breitbart, 43, has died
R.I.P. Andrew Breitbart has died unexpectedly at 43. More here.
Seven Republicans demand increased NASA supervision of the new commercial launch companies.
Seven Republicans demand increased NASA supervision of the new commercial launch companies.
This is what I call shooting yourself in the foot. One reason the tea party movement started is because Republicans during the Bush years had sometimes become as unreliable as Democrats when it came to some basic political issues. If we want private enterprise and the free market to rule, then the last thing a bunch of Republicans should be doing is demanding greater supervision by government agencies.
At a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, NASA’s inspector general outlined more than five thousand security lapses at the agency in 2010 and 2011, including the theft of a laptop with the control codes for ISS.
At a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, NASA’s inspector general outlined more than five thousand security lapses at the agency in 2010 and 2011, including the theft of a laptop with the control codes for ISS.
“My only purpose today is that this event is shut down.”
Islamic freedom of speech: “My only purpose today is that this event is shut down.” With video.
This happened, not in Egypt or Syria or Iran or Iraq, but in California, on the campus of the University of California-Davis. And while it happened the police did nothing.
Comparing all the global warming climate models for the past twenty years with the actual data.
A scientist compares all the global warming climate models developed during the past twenty years with the actual data:
We’ve checked all the main predictions of the climate models against the best data. The climate models get them all wrong. … Therefore:
- The climate models are fundamentally flawed. Their assumed threefold amplification by feedbacks does not in fact exist.
- The climate models overestimate temperature rises due to CO2 by at least a factor of three.
Read the whole article. Not only does Evans outline the failures of all the climate models, he also clearly and distinctly describes the actual debate that has been going on in the climate field for the past three decades. It isn’t the effects of carbon dioxide that climate scientists have been arguing about, but, as Richard Lindzen explained to the UK Parliament last week, whether other climate factors, called feedbacks, will amplify or suppress the warming produced by CO2.
Using its Space Launch System and Orion capsule, NASA is aiming for an unmanned test flight around the Moon in December 2017.
Using its Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule, NASA is aiming for an unmanned test flight around the Moon in December 2017.
Two important tidbits revealed by this article: First, the first test flight of Orion will use a Delta 4 Heavy rocket. Two, NASA hopes to have its heavy lift SLS rocket ready for the 2017 mission.
Forgive me for being cynical, but I will believe the second tidbit only when it happens.
Falcon 9 is on the launchpad in Florida, being prepared for a countdown and fuel test tomorrow.
Fingers crossed: Falcon 9 is on the launchpad in Florida, being prepared for a countdown and fuel test tomorrow.
What is the International Space Station’s weakest link?
What is the International Space Station’s weakest link?
Mark Mulqueen, ISS vehicle director for Boeing Co., said keeping the station’s environmental control and life support systems, or ECLSS, functioning over the next decade will likely be engineers’ toughest challenge. “I don’t think it’s sparing or the structure to get to 2020,” Mulqueen said. “It’s probably continued refinement of how we successfuly operate our ECLSS system on-orbit. There has been a lot of effort going into understanding that.”
The article outlines a number of other areas of concern, none of which appear to be serious, for now, but could be a problem as the years pass.
A $35 computer
The Page Turner
An evening pause: Rube Goldberg would be proud.
Dissecting the bad arguments on both sides of the climate debate.
Dissecting the bad arguments on both sides of the climate debate.
What I find intriguing about Singer’s analysis is that the bad arguments from the global warming camp seem to come from noted scientists writing for the IPCC, while the bad arguments on the skeptical side mostly come from non-scientists on the fringes.
In either case, they remain bad arguments, but it is tragic that so many scientists participate in it.