Saving a failed orbiting satellite with engineering
Saving a failed orbiting satellite with engineering.
Saving a failed orbiting satellite with engineering.
Category: Behind The Black
Saving a failed orbiting satellite with engineering
Russian space chief suggests a shift away from manned space for Russia
Remarks by the head of the Russian space agency on Thursday suggested Russia is going to shift its space effort away from manned space.
Remarks by the head of the Russian space agency on Thursday suggested Russia is going to shift its space effort away from manned space.
St. Olaf Chapel Choir – John Rutter’s What Sweeter Music
A blank sun during solar maximum
Though it is not yet official, it appears the sun is blank of sunspots today, for the first time since January 16.
Solar scientists have concluded that the solar minimum of the past four years has ended and that the sun is now moving towards solar maximum. The recent activity in August has seemed to confirm this. However, once the minimum has ended, the sun should not have any further blank days until the maximum is over and the sun is ramping back down to solar minimum. That the sun should appear blank again during its ramp up to solar maximum is quite unusual, probably unprecedented, and is further evidence that the sun is heading towards a period of little or no solar activity.
Though it is not yet official, it appears the sun is blank of sunspots today, for the first time since January 16.
Solar scientists have concluded that the solar minimum of the past four years has ended and that the sun is now moving towards solar maximum. The recent activity in August has seemed to confirm this. However, once the minimum has ended, the sun should not have any further blank days until the maximum is over and the sun is ramping back down to solar minimum. That the sun should appear blank again during its ramp up to solar maximum is quite unusual, probably unprecedented, and is further evidence that the sun is heading towards a period of little or no solar activity.
America’s first jet
A living room electon microscope
Thirty years ago IBM introduced its first pc
Another anniversary: Thirty years ago today IBM introduced its first PC.
Another anniversary: Thirty years ago today IBM introduced its first PC.
Fifty years ago tomorrow the Berlin Wall went up
Fifty years ago tomorrow the Berlin Wall went up. Two stories:
- The tunnel digger, about a man who helped dig tunnels to get East Germans to freedom.
- An archive reprinting of a Der Spiegel article published shortly after the wall was build, describing the tepid response of the Western powers to this act of oppression.
Fifty years ago tomorrow the Berlin Wall went up. Two stories:
- The tunnel digger, about a man who helped dig tunnels to get East Germans to freedom.
- An archive reprinting of a Der Spiegel article published shortly after the wall was build, describing the tepid response of the Western powers to this act of oppression.
Appeals court rules against Obama healthcare law
The appeals court for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta today ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional.
The appeals court for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta today ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional.
The mystery of Vesta’s south pole depression
The mystery of Vesta’s south pole depression.
The mystery of Vesta’s south pole depression.
Who’s the real reporter?
Video: Who’s the real reporter?
Video: Who’s the real reporter?
How Iron Age people decorated their homes
Archeologists have discovered a 2,600-year-old wall mural used as a wall decoration during the Iron Age.
Archeologists have discovered a 2,600-year-old wall mural used as a wall decoration during the Iron Age.
Some questions about today’s hypersonic test flight
Here are some additional stories describing today’s test flight of the Hypersonic Test Vehicle.
- Los Angeles Times: Falcon hypersonic vehicle test flight fails
- Aviation Week: Telemetry Lost During Hypersonic Test Flight
- DARPA: HTV-2 collects unique data during several phases of second flight
I have several questions, and no answers:
Ray Lynch – The True Spirit of Mom and Dad
Legal rabbit farm raided and destroyed
The abuse of power: A legal rabbit farm raided and destroyed by Colorado police.
“They’ve destroyed me emotionally, socially and professionally,” Bell said, listing numerous ways in which local animal rights activists have publicized information about the case in an effort to make her and her four children — all adults who haven’t lived under her roof for several years — look bad. But that’s not all.
“They’ve made 4-H kids all across Colorado just sob,” she said, “because I am their 4-H connection.” Bell noted that 12 of the seized rabbits belong to 4-H kids who were planning to show them at upcoming fairs — two at the Jefferson County Fair that begins Thursday and the remaining 10 at the Colorado State Fair which runs from Aug. 26 to Sept. 5 in Pueblo.
The abuse of power: A legal rabbit farm raided and destroyed by Colorado police.
“They’ve destroyed me emotionally, socially and professionally,” Bell said, listing numerous ways in which local animal rights activists have publicized information about the case in an effort to make her and her four children — all adults who haven’t lived under her roof for several years — look bad. But that’s not all.
“They’ve made 4-H kids all across Colorado just sob,” she said, “because I am their 4-H connection.” Bell noted that 12 of the seized rabbits belong to 4-H kids who were planning to show them at upcoming fairs — two at the Jefferson County Fair that begins Thursday and the remaining 10 at the Colorado State Fair which runs from Aug. 26 to Sept. 5 in Pueblo.
Joe Wilson was right when he accused Obama of lying
It turns out that Joe Wilson was right when he accused Obama of lying about Obamacare.
It turns out that Joe Wilson was right when he accused Obama of lying about Obamacare.
“The left is going to have to compromise and cut some domestic welfare spending, and the right is going to have to compromise and cut some military spending.”
From a Tea party activist: “The left is going to have to compromise and cut some domestic welfare spending, and the right is going to have to compromise and cut some military spending.”
From a Tea party activist: “The left is going to have to compromise and cut some domestic welfare spending, and the right is going to have to compromise and cut some military spending.”
Contact quickly lost during third test flight of hypersonic plane
Contact was quickly lost today soon after a hypersonic glider was released by its rocket launcher during a test flight. More here.
Contact was quickly lost today soon after a hypersonic glider was released by its rocket launcher during a test flight. More here.
Hubble captures a necklace in space
Who needs aliens and imagined cities on the moon when you have a reality that produces such strange and beautiful things as the image on the right?
On July 2, the Hubble Space Telescope took this image of a planetary nebula, aptly dubbed the Necklace Nebula. As the caption explains,
A pair of stars orbiting close together produced the nebula, also called PN G054.2-03.4. About 10,000 years ago one of the aging stars ballooned to the point where it engulfed its companion star. The smaller star continued orbiting inside its larger companion, increasing the giant’s rotation rate.
The bloated companion star spun so fast that a large part of its gaseous envelope expanded into space. Due to centrifugal force, most of the gas escaped along the star’s equator, producing a ring. The embedded bright knots are dense gas clumps in the ring.
The binary still exists, and can be seen as the star in the center of the necklace. The two stars are now only a few million miles apart and complete an orbit around each other in about a day.
Japan revises its tsunami warning system following March earthquake/tsunami
Japan has revised its tsunami warning system following the March 11 earthquake/tsunami.
Japan has revised its tsunami warning system following the March 11 earthquake/tsunami.
83% of Obamacare Grants Awarded to States That Supported Obama in 2008
So you think Obamacare isn’t about power and control? 83% of Obamacare grants were awarded to states that supported Obama in 2008.
So you think Obamacare isn’t about power and control? 83% of Obamacare grants were awarded to states that supported Obama in 2008.
A government that kills
500 billion new reasons to repeal Obamacare
TSA lawyers argued yesterday they did nothing wrong in arresting a protester who removed his shirt and pants at a security checkpoint
Thugs: TSA lawyers argued yesterday they did nothing wrong in arresting a protester who removed his shirt and pants at a security checkpoint to reveal the fourth amendment of the Bill of Rights written on his chest.
Thugs: TSA lawyers argued yesterday they did nothing wrong in arresting a protester who removed his shirt and pants at a security checkpoint to reveal the fourth amendment of the Bill of Rights written on his chest.
Astonishing underwater pictures from a maze carved inside a glacier
Diving inside a glacier in Switzerland. With pictures.
Diving inside a glacier in Switzerland. With pictures.
The state of the Himalayan glaciers
A new study of the glaciers of the Himalayas by the Indian Space Research Organization and the Geological Survey of India has found that, based on satellite data, 2184 were retreating, 435 were advancing, and 148 showed no change.
It is refreshing that the scientists and politicians involved in India refused to cite global warming as a cause, referring instead to the “natural cyclic process”. As India’s former environment minister Jairam Ramesh noted, “There is no doubt that the general health of the Himalayan glaciers is worsening, but the truth is incredibly complex.”
A new study of the glaciers of the Himalayas by the Indian Space Research Organization and the Geological Survey of India has found that, based on satellite data, 2184 were retreating, 435 were advancing, and 148 showed no change.
It is refreshing that the scientists and politicians involved in India refused to cite global warming as a cause, referring instead to the “natural cyclic process”. As India’s former environment minister Jairam Ramesh noted, “There is no doubt that the general health of the Himalayan glaciers is worsening, but the truth is incredibly complex.”
Danielle “ate the sandwich” Anderson – Things we have in common
An evening pause: Danielle “Ate the Sandwich” Anderson.
Making hard choices
A new poll shows that the congressional special election to replace Anthony Weiner in the traditionally Democratic district in Queens/Brooklyn, New York is surprisingly competitive.
The poll found [Democrat] Weprin, a state assemblyman, leading [Republican] Turner, a retired broadcasting executive, 48 percent to 42 percent in the race for the Democratic-friendly Queens and Brooklyn-area seat.
Two thoughts: First, this poll fits with another that shows for the first time a majority of adults don’t want their own Congressman reelected. If so, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Democrat appears so weak in Brooklyn/Queens, a place I lived for most of my life and a place I found to be so knee-jerk Democrat that you couldn’t admit to being Republican without risking being blacklisted from all things.
Second, despite the mess the federal government is in as well as the disgraceful scandal that caused the previously elected Democratic Congressman to resign, it is also not surprising that 48 percent of the population still wants to vote Democrat in this district. This is my biggest fear: the continuing unwillingness of too many Americans to honestly face our government’s budget problems.
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The very slow ramp up to maximum
As it does every month, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center released today its monthly updated graph of the Sun’s solar cycle sunspot activity. I have posted the July graph below.
For the first time in four months there was a increase in sunspot activity, albeit small. The sun has been even more active in August, as shown by the flurry of sunspots on its face from August 1 (shown on the left) and the August 8 solar flare, the most powerful produced in four years.
This monthly graph, however, continues to suggest that the next solar maximum will be very very weak, even weaker than the most up-to-date predictions for the next solar maximum.
Bat stowaway forces airplane to return to airport
A bat stowaway on a Wisconsin to Georgia airplane flight forced the plane to return to Wisconsin.
A bat stowaway on a Wisconsin to Georgia airplane flight forced the plane to return to Wisconsin.