A gas explosion in New Zealand coal mine, trapping 27
Gas explosion today in a New Zealand coal mine has trapped 27 miners.
Gas explosion today in a New Zealand coal mine has trapped 27 miners.
Gas explosion today in a New Zealand coal mine has trapped 27 miners.
Our TSA at work: “She put her full hand on my breast and said, ‘What is this?’.
The future of funding for public radio in the next Congress truly looks dim. NPR had zero Republican support in a funding bill approved by Democrats on Thursday,
What Obama fails to understand.
How the U.S. snoops on Russian nukes from space.
Hooray for private space! SpaceShipTwo successfully completed its third glide flight yesterday.
NASA managers have once again delayed the launch of Discovery, now set for no earlier than December 3.
Astronomer and comet/asteroid tracker Brian Marsden has died. Marsden was the kind of gentleman that makes writing astronomy articles so much fun. Even when I was a newby science writer back in the early 90s he was always willing to answer any of my questions, and give me blunt and honest answers to boot. R.I.P.
Some cogent thoughts from James Delingpole about climate politics on the one year anniversary of the release of the climategate emails and the refusal of the elite ruling class to address the issue. Key quote:
And why is this so? In part, at least, it is because of the abject, ongoing failure of our Mainstream Media to report environmental issues with the robust scepticism that ought to be the natural tack of responsible journalists. Too many environmental reporters are still regurgitating press releases handed to them by activist organisations like the WWF, Greenpeace and Friends Of The Earth. In the MSM, as in government, it’s like Climategate never happened.
Almost literally, the probe Deep Impact flew through a snowstorm when it flew past Comet Hartley 2 on November 4. Below is one of the best pictures from the moment. More images can be found here. Key quote:
[The images] revealed a cometary snow storm created by carbon dioxide jets spewing out tons of golf-ball to basketball-sized fluffy ice particles from the peanut-shaped comet’s rocky ends. At the same time, a different process was causing water vapor to escape from the comet’s smooth mid-section. This information sheds new light on the nature of comets and even planets.

Note that all the close-up images taken by Deep Impact are going to be slightly out of focus, as the camera was launched with a defect.
More madness: Police arrested seven men, for playing chess in an upper Manhattan park.
California prosecutors say they’ll charge TSA agents if pat-downs are inappropriate.
How to properly fight terrorism at airports.
Freedom of speech alert! Al Sharpton wants the FCC to threaten stations with a loss of their license if they carry Rush Limbaugh.
The law, a living document! The Federal Labor Relations Authority has given TSA staffers permission to unionize, despite the fact that the law creating the TSA expressly forbids such action. More here.
NASA management is reviewing the “flight rationale” for Discovery’s next mission, considering the cracks in the external tank. Key quote:
Troubleshooters are assessing the structural integrity of the tank and its foam insulation to develop the necessary flight rationale, or justification, for proceeding with another launch as early as Nov. 30.
The dying stars that look like jellyfish.
For the first time scientists succeed in trapping atoms of anti-matter. Key quote:
The team know the trap worked because they made about 10 million antihydrogen atoms which promptly obliterated themselves. Then they turned off their new trap and saw 38 more obliterations — meaning those 38 antihydrogens stuck in the trap.
Despite the howls of panic over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill this past summer, sea life is flourishing in the gulf. Key quote:
A comprehensive new study says that in some of the most heavily fished areas of the Gulf of Mexico, various forms of sea life, from shrimp to sharks, have seen their populations triple since before the spill. Some species, including shrimp and croaker, did even better. [emphasis mine]
Government marches on! Budget disagreements in the EU could delay construction of an experimental fusion reactor.
The space war delayed: The Senate has postponed its hearing on NASA’s future until December 1.
Feel the hate: A man shot his television in outrage over Bristol Palin’s success on Dancing with the Stars, then held off the police for fifteen hours.
Analyzing the actual and very minimal risks of terrors. And as I like to say: Live in fear, die in tyranny.
What a difference a year makes! Tomorrow will the one year anniversary of the release of the climategate emails.
Sometimes going is hard: The engineering challenge of human waste management in space.