Ebb returns its first video of the far side of the moon
Ebb (of the Grail spacecraft) has returned its first video of the far side of the Moon.
Author: Robert Zimmerman
Russia announces plans to launch Phobos-Grunt 2 in 2018
If at first you don’t succeed: Russia today announced plans to launch Phobos-Grunt 2 in 2018.
The face in space
The hotbed of star birth, called NGC 3324, is full of hot young stars, whose ultraviolet radiation is making the gas clouds glow. The stellar wind and radiation from the newborn stars has also punched out a cavity in the surrounding gas and dust. The edge of the wall of gas and dust at the right in the photo resembles the profile of a human face, with a ridge in the center that looks like a nose.
Will we go back to the Moon?
A boycott against Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher of scientific journals, has quickly gathered the support of more than 2,400 scientists.
Trouble in peer-review land: A boycott against Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher of scientific journals, has quickly gathered the support of more than 2,400 scientists.
The NY Times reported today that the investigation into MF Global’s bankrucpty has located most of the missing $1.2 billion of customer money
The NY Times reported today that the investigation into MF Global’s bankrucpty has located most of the missing $1.2 billion of customer money.
Investigators have determined what happened to nearly all of the customer money that disappeared from MF Global around the time of its bankruptcy last Oct. 31, but have not publicly disclosed their progress, fearing that doing so might cripple efforts to recover the cash and pursue potential wrongdoing, people briefed on the investigation said.
While authorities have traced hundreds of millions of dollars to banks, MF Global’s trading partners and even the firm’s securities customers, investigators remain uncertain about whether they can retrieve the money.
As I was reading this article I had the strange feeling that I lived in an alternative universe. At no point did the New York Times bother to mention the name of former Democratic New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, the economic go-to guy for the Obama administration and the man who was in charge of MF Global when all of this illegal and incompetent activity occurred. For those that want to know a bit more about the story, you might want to go to this New York Post editorial today, which lays out the issues that the New York Times so conveniently wants everyone to forget, and also notes that even now Corzine is out there campaigning and raising funds for Obama’s re-election.
Well, as they say, birds of a feather will flock together.
A U.S. government panel today unanimously recommended that scientists limit publication of results relating to bird flu.
A U.S. government panel today unanimously recommended that scientists limit publication of their results relating to bird flu.
We found the potential risk of public harm to be of unusually high magnitude. In formulating our recommendations to the government, scientific journals and to the broader scientific community, we tried to balance the great risks against the benefits that could come from making the details of this research known. Because the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) found that there was significant potential for harm in fully publishing these results and that the harm exceeded the benefits of publication, we therefore recommended that the work not be fully communicated in an open forum. The NSABB was unanimous that communication of the results in the two manuscripts it reviewed should be greatly limited in terms of the experimental details and results.
As much as I am almost always in favor of the free flow of information, in this case this recommendation seems quite reasonable. The situation is in many ways identical to the government’s policy to routinely limit publication of the engineering details of its weaponry.
The Japanese government has given the final go-ahead for a new Hayabusa asteroid sample return mission, set for launch in 2014.
The Japanese government has given the final go-ahead for a new Hayabusa asteroid sample return mission, set for launch in 2014.
A NASA spacecraft has directly detected atoms from outside Solar System and found that the region is depleted in oxygen.
A NASA spacecraft has directly detected atoms from outside Solar System and found that the region appears depleted in oxygen.
Tennessee Ernie Ford – Sixteen Tons
Laser-guided bullets
Invented by engineers at the US government’s Sandia National Laboratories, the self-guided bullet homes in on a laser spot trained on a target from up to 1.4 kilometres away from its firing point. If the target is a moving truck, say, and it moves after the bullet is fired, the laser illumination as seen by a laser sensor in the bullet’s nose instructs the bullet to finely twist tiny rudder-like fins on its rear end to keep it on target.
California’s controller announced today that the state will run out of cash in March, three months before the end of its fiscal year.
Democratic Party budgeting: California’s controller announced today that the state will run out of cash in March, three months before the end of its fiscal year.
Five of the biggest unsolved mysteries of physics
The Great Moonbuggy Race
The Great Moonbuggy Race is an engineering competition that requires a team of six students to design a “proof-of-concept” wheeled rover that will race over a half mile of simulated lunar terrain. In April, two team members, one male and one female, will drive the completed vehicle in competition at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This contest will present design challenges that are similar to those encountered by the original lunar rover team. This is the 16th year of competition for high school teams, but it will be the first year for Chicago’s public high school students.
The Russians have announced that the loss of Phobos-Grunt was due to the failure of an onboard computer to be properly hardened against cosmic rays.
The Russians have announced that the loss of Phobos-Grunt was due to the failure of an onboard computer to be properly hardened against cosmic rays.
Could this be the actual violin that played the last song on the Titantic?
Could this be the actual violin that played the last song on the Titantic?
White nose syndrome has been found in bats in Europe
White nose syndrome, the fungus that has been killing bats in the northeast United States these past five years, has now been definitively found on bats in Europe.
With this information, scientists now know that it is the differences between North American and European bats that can explain why European bat colonies can survive the fungus while North American bats cannot. Furthermore, this information should show us how future North American bats will adapt to the fungus.
The CBO has projected another trillion plus deficit for 2012, the fourth year in a row the U.S. government has produced such a deficit.
The day of reckoning looms: The CBO now predicts another trillion-plus deficit for 2012, the fourth year in a row the U.S. government has produced such a deficit.
For those who like to blame Bush for everything, it must be noted that these deficits, all during the Obama administration, are three to four times larger than any previous single year deficit of any previous administration. As bad as the deficits were in the Bush years — and they were bad — they don’t hold a candle to what Obama has done.
The crash of the Rosat last fall might have landed on Beijing instead, had the spacecraft remained aloft a mere seven minutes longer.
The fall of Rosat last October, which ended up in the Bay of Bengal, might have instead landed on Beijing had the spacecraft remained aloft a mere seven minutes longer.
The Russians now say the next manned flight to ISS will be delayed a month, until the end of April, due to defects found in the Soyuz capsule.
The Russians now say the next manned flight to ISS will be delayed a month, until the end of April, due to defects found in the Soyuz capsule.
The story suggests some confusion over what caused the cracks, either defects to the capsule itself or a mistake in the testing process.
A commission set up to probe the setback said violations of the testing procedure caused the damage to the reentry vehicle incident, earlier reports said. Either excessive pressure was applied by the personnel, or the shell of the reentry vehicle had defects or was improperly welded up.
West Virginia sheriff falsified ballots in close election
Democratic Party campaign tactics: A West Virginia sheriff has pleaded guilty to falsifying ballots in close election.
Lincoln County, West Virginia Sheriff Jerry Bowman admitted falsifying absentee ballots in a case stemming from an investigation by federal authorities, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Also pleading guilty to lying to investigators was Lincoln County Clerk Donald Whitten, the U.S. Attorney said.
Both are Democrats. I also like the article’s last paragraph, which tells us more about Democratic Party in Lincoln County, West Virginia as well as the consequences of one party rule:
Several years ago, Lincoln County’s Circuit Clerk and Assessor were convicted of felonies for vote buying after tampering with the 2004 Democratic primary. That same assessor, Jerry Weaver, is running for sheriff, despite being a felon.
Mean Mary James – I’ve Been Down
An evening pause: An original song from Mean Mary James. And damn good, too!
The Dearborn, Michigan Christians who were arrested for handing out Christian literature at a Muslim event have won a $100,000 settlement from the city.
A victory for free speech: The Dearborn, Michigan Christians who were arrested for handing out Christian literature at a Muslim event have won a $100,000 settlement from the city.
The highway is the tenant … and actually pays rent.
“The highway is the tenant … and actually pays rent.” With pictures.
A Republican has announced he is running for the Congressional seat in Arizona being vacated by Gabrielle Gifford.
A Republican has announced he is running for the Congressional seat in Arizona being vacated by Gabrielle Gifford.
As it turns out, I moved from Steny Hoyer’s (D-Maryland) district in Maryland to Gifford’s district in Arizona, so this is an election I will have a say in. Time to start learning something about the candidates, as the primary is now set for April 17 and the special election for June 12.
New York to get new … typewriters!
Government in action: New York to get new … typewriters!
Six former and current employees have sued the FDA agency under the Obama administration over its secret surveillance of their private emails.
How Obama encourages transparency: Six former and current employees have sued the FDA agency under the Obama administration over its secret surveillance of their private emails.
According to a release by the law firm representing the group, the FDA targeted the employees with a “covert spying campaign” that lasted for two years after it learned they had written a letter to President-Elect Obama in early 2009. … The plaintiffs allege the agency used spyware to read the their personal emails and take screenshots while they used government computers. But whether such reconnaissance is illegal is not quite clear. According to the Washington Post, “the startup screen on FDA computers warns employees, ‘you have no reasonable expectation of privacy,’ ” including any communication accessed or sent from the machine.”
According to the law firm representing the current and former FDA employees, the monitoring continued even after the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General “denied the FDA’s request to take any criminal and/or administrative action against the whistleblowers” and noted the whistleblowers’ communications with Congress were protected under law.
Newt and Scientists: A Long, Complicated Love Affair
Newt and scientists: A long, complicated love affair.
The article gives you the science community’s take on Gingrich. And since that community is almost entirely Democratic in make-up and routinely hostile and almost bigoted in their hatred of Republicans, it is not surprising that this take has a certain schizophrenic air about it. They want to like him because of his passionate interest and support of science, but how can they? He’s a Republican (whispered softly like one was saying a curse word.)
Identifying our galaxy’s next supernova
“We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law.”
“We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law.”
Not surprisingly, the law is Obamacare, as now being imposed by the Obama administration.