Bolden in trouble?
NASA administrator Charles Bolden is off to China, despite opposition in Congress and new rumors that his future in this administration is shaky.
Author: Robert Zimmerman
The New York Mets 1969
An evening pause: Who says miracles cannot happen? In 1969, the New York Mets proved that they can. Even if you are not a sports fan, watch this short film (which only covers the World Series and not the entire astonishing season) and you’ll get a glimmer of how miraculous that victory was. Today, October 16, is the anniversary of that victory.
The Streets of New York
An evening pause:
Charles Lollar vs Steny Hoyer
Steny Hoyer must be in trouble. At the Charles County Candidate Forum on Wednesday, he lowered himself to actually debate his opponents for the upcoming Congressional election, the first time I have seen this happen since I moved to his district in 1999. However, his Republican opponent, Charles Lollar, got the last word, and made Hoyer look bad.
Recent landslide on Mars
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken this image of what appears to be a recent landslide on Mars, located on the southeast wall of Zunil crater. When the landslide took place is not known, though the color suggests that it happened so recently that the debris has not yet been covered by wind-blown dust.
The color of a wind turbine can attract bugs
Scientists have found that the color a wind turbine is painted will influence the number of bugs it attracts, which in turn will influence the number of bats and birds killed by the turbine. The least attractive color for bugs: purple!
Prosecutors recommend acquital on all charges for Wilders
Dutch prosecutors have recommended acquital for Geert Wilders on all charges. Though this is a vindication for Wilders, it is tragic that government officials thought they had the right to put Wilders on trial to begin with, merely because of things he said. Moreover, the trial is still scheduled to go on next week, despite these recommendations.
Two Democratic candidates try to silence their opposition
Freedom of speech alert! Rather than debate their opponents, two Democratic House candidates are trying to shut them up.
In the first case, incumbent Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) is trying to use election laws to block an anti-abortion group from putting up billboards against him. Ed Morrissey at hotair.com has more details.
In the second case, incumbent Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Pennsylvania) is trying to get radio stations to pull the radio ads of another anti-abortion group which attack her for her healthcare vote.
In both cases, the Democratic candidates voted for the Healthcare bill, and seem to want to hide that fact now from the voters. Not only does this illustrate the contempt they have of freedom of speech, it shows us just how toxic the healthcare bill has become politically. I suspect that this law is going to dog the Democrats who voted for it for years to come.
World record 3200 model rockets launched simultaneously
An evening pause: On October 9, 2010, the Boy Scouts set a world record by launching 3200 model rockets — simultaneously.
A wish list of spectacular future planetary missions
Steve Squyres of Cornell University and the project scientist of the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity spoke today at an astrobiology symposium in Arlington, Virginia. He described several spectacular planetary missions that might be flown in the coming decade. All are being considered. None have yet been chosen or funded.
- A mission to grab a sample from a comet and return it to Earth.
- A mission to put a rover or lander on one of the poles of Mars to study the frozen layers of water under the icecap.
- Mars sample return mission. This mission is so difficult and expensive that it probably would be broken down into three parts:
- Two rovers on the surface to gather and cache sample material.
- A lander/rover mission to grab the samples and bring them up to Mars orbit. “Putting into orbit a precious cargo the size of a coconut,” Squyres said.
- A mission to grab the sample cargo in Martian orbit and return it to Earth.
- An orbiter to study both Jupiter and its moon Europa.
- An orbiter to Enceladus, the moon of Saturn, to study the water and organic chemistry in its mysterious plumes.
- An orbiter to Titan, with balloon to probe the atmosphere as well as a “lake lander, a boat” to study Titan’s lakes.
- A variety of landers and rovers to go to Venus. One of the more astonishing mission concepts would land, then take off again to visit different places on the surface.
Squyres is the co-chair of a committee of the National Science Foundation that is right now putting together a decadal survey for outlining unmanned planetary research for the next decade. This survey is expected to be released in March, which is when we will find out which of the above missions the planetary science community prefers.
X-37b spotted again
Via Clark Lindsey, amateurs have spotted the X-37b again, in what appears to be a lower orbit.
Climate Talks in China Limp Toward Deadlock
Thank god for small blessings. The climate talks in China this past week are limping towards a deadlock, with no new agreements. It appears that the biggest problem are disagreements between China and the U.S.
Personally, I love how this quote from the article so nicely illustrates the totalitarian nature of many climate activists and their organizations:
Currently, the World Resources Institute is proposing the White House abandon legislative means and rely on the existing Clean Air Act to make emissions reductions administratively.
In other words, if the elected Congress of the United States is unwilling to pass restrictions (because a majority of the people of the United States oppose them), then the government should ignore the people’s wishes and impose those restrictions, without permission.
Ugh. The less power these environmental dictators have, the better for everyone else.