Author: Robert Zimmerman
Funding Puts NASA At Square One Again
The space war over NASA: The continuing resolution puts NASA where it was back in February, with everything uncertain.
The space war over NASA: The continuing resolution puts NASA where it was back in February, with everything uncertain.
Maryland uses prisoners, some with fraud and theft convictions, to process Social Security numbers and other personal information
Our government at work: For the past seven years, Maryland has used prisoners, some with fraud and theft convictions, to process Social Security numbers and other personal information of low income residences.
Our government at work: For the past seven years, Maryland has used prisoners, some with fraud and theft convictions, to process Social Security numbers and other personal information of low income residences.
An asteroid discovered more than 100 years ago is actually an extinct comet coming back to life
An asteroid discovered more than 100 years ago is actually an extinct comet. And it is coming back to life!
An asteroid discovered more than 100 years ago is actually an extinct comet. And it is coming back to life!
EPA takes over Texas pollution permits
Power grab! The EPA has taken from Texas regulators the permitting process for air quality on major industrial facilities.
Power grab! The EPA has taken from Texas regulators the permitting process for air quality on major industrial facilities.
Sacramento-area pilot punished for YouTube video
More on that Sacramento-area pilot who is being threatened by the TSA for posting a video showing airport security flaws.
More on that Sacramento-area pilot who is being threatened by the TSA for posting a video showing airport security flaws.
Urban caving in Berlin’s underground bunkers
Urban caving in Berlin’s underground bunkers.
Urban caving in Berlin’s underground bunkers.
SDO has experienced a disk controller failure
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) experienced a disk controller failure on December 21, preventing it from sending near-real-time images. Unfortunately, the SDO website provides little additional information, so I can’t tell you the extent or seriousness of the problem.
Update: The problem appears to be with ground equipment. See this screen capture:

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) experienced a disk controller failure on December 21, preventing it from sending near-real-time images. Unfortunately, the SDO website provides little additional information, so I can’t tell you the extent or seriousness of the problem.
Update: The problem appears to be with ground equipment. See this screen capture:
The sun found to vary in unexpected ways
Recent monitoring of the Sun’s brightness as it went from maximum to minimum in its solar cycle has found that, surprisingly, the changes in brightness across different wavelengths do not necessarily vary in lockstep. Key quote:
SIM suggests that ultraviolet irradiance fell far more than expected between 2004 and 2007 — by ten times as much as the total irradiance did — while irradiance in certain visible and infrared wavelengths surprisingly increased, even as solar activity wound down overall. The steep decrease in the ultraviolet, coupled with the increase in the visible and infrared, does even out to about the same total irradiance change as measured by the TIM during that period, according to the SIM measurements.
The stratosphere absorbs most of the shorter wavelengths of ultraviolet light, but some of the longest ultraviolet rays (UV-A), as well as much of the visible and infrared portions of the spectrum, directly heat Earth’s lower atmosphere and can have a significant impact on the climate. [emphasis mine]
Recent monitoring of the Sun’s brightness as it went from maximum to minimum in its solar cycle has found that, surprisingly, the changes in brightness across different wavelengths do not necessarily vary in lockstep. Key quote:
SIM suggests that ultraviolet irradiance fell far more than expected between 2004 and 2007 — by ten times as much as the total irradiance did — while irradiance in certain visible and infrared wavelengths surprisingly increased, even as solar activity wound down overall. The steep decrease in the ultraviolet, coupled with the increase in the visible and infrared, does even out to about the same total irradiance change as measured by the TIM during that period, according to the SIM measurements.
The stratosphere absorbs most of the shorter wavelengths of ultraviolet light, but some of the longest ultraviolet rays (UV-A), as well as much of the visible and infrared portions of the spectrum, directly heat Earth’s lower atmosphere and can have a significant impact on the climate. [emphasis mine]
Alabama Town’s Failed Pension Is a Warning
Alabama town’s failed pension is a warning.
Alabama town’s failed pension is a warning.
pilot exposes airport security flaws, gets threatened by TSA
A pilot videotapes what he thinks are serious airport security flaws and immediately gets threatened by the TSA for doing it. Key quote:
Three days after the pilot posted his airport security tour on YouTube, four federal air marshals and two sheriff’s deputies arrived at the pilot’s house, which he also recorded. They were there to confiscate his federally-issued handgun. A letter later arrived saying, “An FFDO [Federal Flight Deck Officer] must not engage in… conduct that impairs the efficiency of TSA… or causes the loss of public confidence in TSA…”
The pilot’s attorney believes the feds sent six people to the pilot’s house to send a message. “And the message was you’ve angered us by telling the truth and by showing America that there are major security problems despite the fact that we’ve spent billions of dollars allegedly to improve airline safety,” says Don Werno, the airline pilot’s attorney.
A pilot videotapes what he thinks are serious airport security flaws and immediately gets threatened by the TSA for doing it. Key quote:
Three days after the pilot posted his airport security tour on YouTube, four federal air marshals and two sheriff’s deputies arrived at the pilot’s house, which he also recorded. They were there to confiscate his federally-issued handgun. A letter later arrived saying, “An FFDO [Federal Flight Deck Officer] must not engage in… conduct that impairs the efficiency of TSA… or causes the loss of public confidence in TSA…”
The pilot’s attorney believes the feds sent six people to the pilot’s house to send a message. “And the message was you’ve angered us by telling the truth and by showing America that there are major security problems despite the fact that we’ve spent billions of dollars allegedly to improve airline safety,” says Don Werno, the airline pilot’s attorney.
Big tax hike in Oregon results in substantially less revenue
When will the left learn? A big tax hike in Oregon results instead in substantially less revenue for the state.
When will the left learn? A big tax hike in Oregon results instead in substantially less revenue for the state.
Did the Martian methane signal come from Earth?
The uncertainty of science: Did the Martian methane signal come from Earth?
The uncertainty of science: Did the Martian methane signal come from Earth?
A Martian eclipse
The hubbub about this week’s lunar solstice eclipse was, from my perspective, mostly manufactured press blather. For those who had never seen a lunar eclipse, it was a spectacular experience, but there really was nothing scientifically or technically unique about the fact that it happened to occur on the solstice.
However, below is an eclipse that is definitely unique both technically and scientifically. Scientists using the Mars rover Opportunity have filmed an eclipse on Mars, showing the Martian moon Phobos crossing in front of the Sun. Consider the engineering accomplishment: not only did they need to be able to calculate exactly when this would happen at a very particular spot on the Martian surface, they had to have a camera there able to take the movie. And they had to operate it from Earth!
Government liabilities rose $2 trillion in FY 2010
So you think NASA’s gonna get some money, eh? According the Treasury Department, the government’s debt rose by $2 trillion last year alone.
So you think NASA’s gonna get some money, eh? According the Treasury Department, the government’s debt rose by $2 trillion last year alone.
SS2 Glide Tests Exceed Expected Progress
The glide tests of SpaceShipTwo have exceeded expectations, and are ahead of schedule.
The glide tests of SpaceShipTwo have exceeded expectations, and are ahead of schedule.
How to play in the desert
Scientists complete IceCube observatory in Antarctica
Scientists have completed the IceCube neutrino observatory in Antarctica, a cubic kilometer in size and situated a mile deep in the ice.
Scientists have completed the IceCube neutrino observatory in Antarctica, a cubic kilometer in size and situated a mile deep in the ice.
Avoiding the facts in the climate debate
Yesterday the New York Times published a long article by Justin Gillis describing the work of Charles Keeling, the scientist who first measured the increase in carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. The article is very much worth reading, as it does a generally reasonable and detailed job of giving the history, background, and importance of Keeling’s research.
Unfortunately, the flaws of Gillis’s article illustrate the difficulty of debating climate change science, or maybe any political issue, in our times. Though Gillis does make an effort to give the skeptical scientists their fair due, he is so convinced they are wrong that his article in the end fails to address the basic areas of disagreement on which the entire climate debate today hinges. In fact, by avoiding some of the debate’s most basic issues, Gillis ends up creating barriers which make an honest analysis of the issues impossible.
That this seems to happen in almost all political debates today is distressing, at the least. How can we honestly face our problems if we refuse to face all the facts on which those problems hang?
Let’s consider the specific areas where Gillis’s demonstrates a large blind spot:
1. One of the fundamental facts that throws a wrench in all global warming theories is the fact, recognized by all climate scientists, that in all past global warming events, the Earth’s climate warmed before the levels of carbon dioxide rose. In other words, an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere did not cause global warming. Instead, the warming encouraged the increase in carbon dioxide.
An honest appraisal of the science of climate change would always recognize this puzzling but very significant data point. Gillis, however, fails to mention it. Nor is Gillis alone in this failure. Almost all global warming advocates as well as their willing helpers in the press routinely ignore this important detail. Yet, that climate scientists can’t explain this fact is one of primary reasons many are skeptical of the disaster scenarios put forth by global warming advocates.
As I say, an honest discussion of this subject would always recognize this point.
2. As his primary evidence that the Earth is now warming from the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide, Gillis has this to say:
In 2007, a body appointed by the United Nations declared that the scientific evidence that the earth was warming had become unequivocal, and it added that humans were almost certainly the main cause. Mr. Gore and the panel jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize.
This “body” is of course the IPCC. That Gillis is strangely reluctant to actually name this organization in his article suggests he knows its reputation is seriously damaged. Rather than face this fact and deal with it, however, he prefers to ignore it, and in the process help his readers avoid this fact as well.
Yet, the IPCC reports have known problems. They contain some fundamental factual errors, as well as citing as evidence numerous press releases from environmental advocacy groups, hardly a reliable source of information. This is not to say that the IPCC reports should be dismissed wholesale, but for Gillis to depend on them as his sole source of proof of global warming without recognizing these problems is not only inappropriate, it discredits everything he writes. It also suggests that he relies more on the prestige of the organization who issued the report, rather than the science behind it. His further reference to Al Gore and the Nobel prize is further evidence of this reliance on authority.
Once again, an honest appraisal of the present state of the global warming debate would gladly face all these facts, and describe them for the reader.
3. Gillis makes the unfortunate decision to call anyone who questions the science of global warming a “contrarian.” The use of this denigrating term, comparable to the use of the term “denier”, suggests that Gillis has a closed mind about the subject, and has no interest in finding out anything about the skeptical view.
An honest appraisal of the debate, however, would avoid these kinds of loaded terms. It is perfectly fine to note the weaknesses of the skeptical position. It is not acceptable to use ad hominem attacks to discredit them.
All in all, the three examples above encompass all of the basic problems we face in almost all our political debates today:
- First, the refusal to face some inconvenient facts.
- Second, the willingness to rely on authority or prestige, rather than the facts themselves.
- And third, the willingness to use ad hominem attacks to discredit anyone who disagrees with you.
Until we stop doing these foolish things, we will find it impossible to discuss or solve our problems reasonably, and with good will.
Solar Sail Flotilla Could Divert Possibly Dangerous Asteroid
Another scheme to stop a dangerous asteroid: Use a flotilla of solar sails to divert Apophis.
Another scheme to stop a dangerous asteroid: Use a flotilla of solar sails to divert Apophis.
How Close to the Sun could we get?
How close to the Sun could we get?
How close to the Sun could we get?
Congress freezes NASA’s budget until March
The space war will continue until March: Unable to pass a real budget, Congress has instead passed a continuing resolution that, among everything else, freezes NASA’s budget at 2010 numbers through the spring.
The space war will continue until March: Unable to pass a real budget, Congress has instead passed a continuing resolution that, among everything else, freezes NASA’s budget at 2010 numbers through the spring.
Winter Solstice in the Arctic
Giant Mars Pits Revealed in Sharp Detail
NASA Might Merge its Exploration and Operations Directorates
More evidence that the American government manned spaceflight program is dying: NASA is considering a merger of its Exploration and Operations directorates. Without a shuttle, there really is no need for Operations.
More evidence that the American government manned spaceflight program is dying: NASA is considering a merger of its Exploration and Operations directorates. Without a shuttle, there really is no need for Operations.
New Scientist story: Expect Earth’s twin planet
According to a statistical analysis, scientists predict the discovery of Earth’s twin in 2011.
Note that I reported this story three months ago, on September 13!
According to a statistical analysis, scientists predict the discovery of Earth’s twin in 2011.
Note that I reported this story three months ago, on September 13!
So What Happens When California Goes Bankrupt
So what happens when California goes bankrupt?
So what happens when California goes bankrupt?
Ten Years On the way to Pluto
Alan Stern, project scientist of NASA’s mission to Pluto, New Horizons, gives his perspective ten years after the start of the project.
Alan Stern, project scientist of NASA’s mission to Pluto, New Horizons, gives his perspective ten years after the start of the project.
How Obamacare is Hastening the bankruptcy of state governments
Repeal the damn bill! How Obamacare is hastening the bankruptcy of state governments. Key quote:
If state Medicaid spending increases by 41 percent as projected by [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services], then by next year Medicaid could end up consuming nearly 30 percent of the average state budget. Medicaid would greatly exceed all other state priorities, including education, which tops state budgets at about 22 percent. In fact, state spending on education would experience certain cuts next year. [emphasis mine]
Repeal the damn bill! How Obamacare is hastening the bankruptcy of state governments. Key quote:
If state Medicaid spending increases by 41 percent as projected by [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services], then by next year Medicaid could end up consuming nearly 30 percent of the average state budget. Medicaid would greatly exceed all other state priorities, including education, which tops state budgets at about 22 percent. In fact, state spending on education would experience certain cuts next year. [emphasis mine]
Flight to test the taste of beer in microgravity delayed until February
The first flight to test the taste of beer in microgravity has been delayed until February due to poor weather.
The first flight to test the taste of beer in microgravity has been delayed until February due to poor weather.