Year: 2013

Not only can the very fast rotation of neutron stars sometimes speed up suddenly, scientists have now discovered that their rotation can suddenly slow as well.

12:44 pm

Not only can the very fast rotation of neutron stars sometimes speed up suddenly, scientists have now discovered that their rotation can suddenly slow as well.

The neutron star, 1E 2259+586, is located about 10,000 light-years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia. It is one of about two dozen neutron stars called magnetars, which have very powerful magnetic fields and occasionally produce high-energy explosions or pulses. Observations of X-ray pulses from 1E 2259+586 from July 2011 through mid-April 2012 indicated the magnetar’s rotation was gradually slowing from once every seven seconds, or about eight revolutions per minute. On April 28, 2012, data showed the spin rate had decreased abruptly, by 2.2 millionths of a second, and the magnetar was spinning down at a faster rate.

Astronomers had a theory which explained the sudden increase in a neutron star’s rotation. They don’t have one yet for why this star slowed.

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Planetary Resources today announced a Kickstarter fund-raising campaign for its space telescope Arkyd.

11:46 am

Planetary Resources today announced a Kickstarter fund-raising campaign for its space telescope Arkyd.

Forgive me if I am less than enthusiastic about this. Supposedly Planetary Resources had big money backing from a lot of wealthy people, including some Silicon Valley Google billionaires. Why then do they need this campaign? It makes me suspect that the company is an emperor with no clothes.

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Japan has decided to develop its first new rocket in two decades and use the private-sector to reduce costs.

9:09 am

The competition heats up: Japan has decided to develop its first new rocket in two decades and use the private-sector to reduce costs.

The article is very vague about how Japan will shift design and construction to the private sector. They need to do this, however, if they want to compete, as their space agency has been very inefficient at accomplishing anything cheaply or quickly.

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The five year conviction of a former police officer for gun possession because he was moving with his guns from Maine to Texas thru New Jersey and was subjected to a warrantless search of his vehicle has been upheld by the court.

6:42 pm

Another example of why you should avoid New Jersey: The five year conviction of a former police officer for gun possession because he was moving with his guns from Maine to Texas thru New Jersey and was subjected to a warrantless search of his vehicle has been upheld by the court.

A jury acquitted him of the charges for possession of the “assault firearms” and handgun possession but convicted him in absentia of illegal possession of hollow-point bullets, shotguns, rifles and a high-capacity magazine. He was apprehended in Texas and extradited to New Jersey.

“What I don’t understand is I am a citizen without a criminal history who has served this country not only in the military but as a volunteer to my community and as a police officer, not even making hardly any income at all, and I would have given my life to protect another person and for this country,” Reininger said in a statement. “How can I be convicted for exercising my right? When does it become a crime for exercising one’s right?”

The three-judge appellate panel insisted New Jersey’s gun control laws do not violate the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, citing the Supreme Court’s recent Heller decision. “The Second Amendment does not create ‘a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever purpose,'” Judge Ronald B. Graves wrote for the panel. “Furthermore, the Second Amendment does not preclude the state from regulating the manner in which accessories must be transported.”

The court also upheld the warrantless search of Reininger’s vehicle.

All he was doing was peaceably traveling through New Jersey on his way home. Vile. Very vile.

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A Maine doctor has stopped accepting any insurance, posts his prices online, and is doing fine.

9:46 am

The future? A Maine doctor has stopped accepting any insurance, posts his prices online, and is doing fine.

the decision to do away with insurance allows Ciampi to practice medicine the way he sees fit, he said. Insurance companies no longer dictate how much he charges. He can offer discounts to patients struggling with their medical bills. He can make house calls. “I’m freed up to do what I think is right for the patients,” Ciampi said. “If I’m providing them a service that they value, they can pay me, and we cut the insurance out as the middleman and cut out a lot of the expense.” Ciampi expects more doctors will follow suit. Some may choose to run “concierge practices” in which patients pay to keep a doctor on retainer, he said.

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