Rescue shaft breaks through to Chilean miners
Rescue shaft breaks through to Chilean miners.
Rescue shaft breaks through to Chilean miners.
Category: Behind The Black
Rescue shaft breaks through to Chilean miners
Kitten massage therapy
Chilean miners are arguing about who should be the last to exit
Things must be looking up! The trapped Chilean miners are now arguing about who should be the last to exit.
Things must be looking up! The trapped Chilean miners are now arguing about who should be the last to exit.
Sunspots return to the Sun
After a three day stretch of blankness, a new sunspot has appeared on the Sun. The question remains: Have we now seen the last blank day for the just ending solar minimum?
After a three day stretch of blankness, a new sunspot has appeared on the Sun. The question remains: Have we now seen the last blank day for the just ending solar minimum?
Bolden ignores Congress with trip to China
The effort of NASA administrator Charles Bolden to increase cooperation with China is apparently in direct conflict with the wishes of Congress.
The effort of NASA administrator Charles Bolden to increase cooperation with China is apparently in direct conflict with the wishes of Congress.
Hayabusa particles mostly rocky
Japanese scientists have announced that the particles found in the Hayabusa return capsule are mostly made up of rocky materials.
Japanese scientists have announced that the particles found in the Hayabusa return capsule are mostly made up of rocky materials.
December Soyuz flight to ISS delayed due to damage
The December Soyuz flight to ISS will be delayed due to the damage the capsule received during its transport by rail to Baikonur.
The December Soyuz flight to ISS will be delayed due to the damage the capsule received during its transport by rail to Baikonur.
SpaceShipTwo makes its first solo flight and landing
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its first solo flight and landing today.
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its first solo flight and landing today.
Physicist resigns for American Physical Society over climategate
Physicist resigns from the American Physical Society over climategate. Key quote:
It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist.
Physicist resigns from the American Physical Society over climategate. Key quote:
It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist.
An engineer’s guide to cats
A Night to Remember
An evening pause: With the death of film director Roy Ward Baker yesterday, I think it appropriate to watch a clip from one of his classics, A Night to Remember (1958). This understated but frighteningly powerful film captured the reality of the Titanic’s sinking in a style that is unfortunately rare today.
The Sci-Fi Airshow
Chile miners should be reached ‘within hours’
The shaft to rescue the trapped Chilean miners should reach them ‘within hours’, according to this BBC report.
The shaft to rescue the trapped Chilean miners should reach them ‘within hours’, according to this BBC report.
Asteroids of note
At today’s press conference at the 42nd meeting of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences, the topic was asteroids, including one which holds the possibility of hitting the Earth.
- 65 Cybele has been found to have water ice and organic molecules on its surface, the second such asteroid so found. Key quote from the abstract:
We conclude that 65 Cybele is covered by fine anhydrous silicate grains, with a small amount of water-ice and complex organic solids. This is similar to comets where non-equilibrium phases coexist, e.g. water-ice and anhydrous silicates; thus we conclude that this is a very primitive object.
According to Humberto Campins of the University of Central Florida, this combination of water and organics could become hospitable to life should some form of energy be added, such as an impact to the asteroid.
- The origin of the asteroid Phaethon, cause of the Geminids meteor shower, has been traced to the Pallas family of asteroids, a family created by the debris thrown out during a crater impact on the large asteroid Pallas. Campins also noted that this proves Phaethon is an asteroid and not a comet, a question that astronomers had been debating beforehand. Read the abstract here.
- Asteroid 1999 RQ36, which has a 1 in a 1000 chance hitting the Earth in 2182 and is also the prime target of a proposed NASA sample return mission, has now been determined to be a member of the Polana family of asteroids. This makes 1999 RQ36 a very primitive asteroid from the very beginnings of the solar system. Moreover, this suggests that the Polana family could be the “most important” source of many near Earth asteroids. The abstract can be found here.
Preliminary rescue date for Chilean miners set
This graphic summarizes the effort underway to rescue the 33 trapped Chilean miners, including noting the October 10 target rescue date.
This graphic summarizes the effort underway to rescue the 33 trapped Chilean miners, including noting the October 10 target rescue date.
Saudis arrest Filipino Catholics for practicing their Catholic religion
Islamic tolerance on parade! A dozen Filipino Catholics and their priest were arrested by Saudi police last week, simply for gathering to practice their Catholic religion. More from Robert Spencer.
Islamic tolerance on parade! A dozen Filipino Catholics and their priest were arrested by Saudi police last week, simply for gathering to practice their Catholic religion. More from Robert Spencer.
A Tea Party in Maryland
Last night I attended the most recent meeting of the Maryland Society of Patriots, a tea party group that was founded back in 2009. Attendance was pretty typical, with about fifty people filling the meeting room of the local library in Burtonsville, Maryland. As usual, Sam Hale, the founder of the group, had garnered a range of candidates to speak to us, including Eric Wargotz, the Republican candidate for the Senator, running against Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland).
For Wargotz, the questions got a bit heated at one point, as one member of the audience wanted to know his commitment to defending the Constitution.
What makes this group significant is that the majority of its members come from very Democratic districts. Yet, not only has attendance been high at almost every meeting, the membership has including a wide range of ordinary people, most of whom have never done politicial activitism in their lives.
This is Eric Cary, who is running for the Maryland State Senate. I’ve included more pictures below the fold. » Read more
Dingel trails in Detroit
Holy mackerel! John Dingell (D-Michigan) trails GOP challenger by four points in Detroit. This in a city that has voted Democrat from 93% to 96% in the last three general elections.
Holy mackerel! John Dingell (D-Michigan) trails GOP challenger by four points in Detroit. This in a city that has voted Democrat from 93% to 96% in the last three general elections.
Global hurricane activity at 33-year low
Didn’t Al Gore tell us that we were going to get more big storms? The global hurricane activity is at 33-year low.
Didn’t Al Gore tell us that we were going to get more big storms? The global hurricane activity is at 33-year low.
JPL scientists demand correction of White House statements before Supreme Court
JPL scientists demand correction of White House statements before Supreme Court over privacy suit.
JPL scientists demand correction of White House statements before Supreme Court over privacy suit.
Federal government spending rose 9% in 2010
So, Congressman Hare (D-Illinois), is the debt still a myth? According to numbers released today by the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government’s spending rose 9% in 2010, for a total deficit of $1.291 trillion.
So, Congressman Hare (D-Illinois), is the debt still a myth? According to numbers released today by the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government’s spending rose 9% in 2010, for a total deficit of $1.291 trillion.
Soyuz launches with three astronauts, headed to ISS
A Soyuz rocket launched a new crew of three astronauts to ISS today. Fun quote:
The six [astronauts on ISS] on Nov. 1 will celebrate the 10th anniversary of continuous human presence on the station.
A Soyuz rocket launched a new crew of three astronauts to ISS today. Fun quote:
The six [astronauts on ISS] on Nov. 1 will celebrate the 10th anniversary of continuous human presence on the station.
Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Heart like a wheel
An evening pause: A belated memorial to Kate McGarrigle, who passed away from cancer on January 18, 2010. Here she and her sister Anna sing their classic, “Heart like a Wheel”, Cafe Lena 1990.
The basic ingredients of life might exist in Titan’s atmosphere
Big news! In a simulation of the upper atmosphere of Titan at about 600 miles altitude, scientists have discovered the basic ingredients of life are quickly synthesized when exposed to the kind of hard radiation found there. Key quote from the press release, issued today at the 42nd meeting of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences:
The molecules discovered include the five nucleotide bases used by life on Earth (cytosine, adenine, thymine, guanine and uracil) and the two smallest amino acids, glycine and alanine.
For those who don’t remember their high school biology, these nucleotides are the building blocks of DNA.
The abstract of the scientist’s work can be found here.
What the scientists did was recreate the basic ingredients of Titan’s upper atmosphere, comprised of nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide. Cassini data has shown that within this atmosphere are very large molecules, as yet unidentified.
The scientists then bathed their recreation in the kind of intense radiation expected at that altitude, and amazingly produced the complex organic molecules that are basic to life. Moreover, the experiment was the first to produce these complex molecules without the presence of water, something that scientists have previously thought was required. These results suggest that in addition to forming in the oceans, life could also form in the upper atmospheres of planets.
This result also suggests strongly that it is incredibly easy to produce the basic building blocks of life, almost anywhere in the universe where organic molecules are present.
White House arbitrarily gives healthcare law waivers to some companies
The law for some but not for others: Threatened with a firestorm of protest just prior to the election because a number of large corporations were going to drop millions from healthcare coverage because of the new Obamacare regulations, the White House today arbitrarily waived for one year those provisions for 30 large companies.
This action raises three obvious points:
- If the healthcare law was so wonderful, why is the White House suspending its inception?
- Why should these companies get a break, and not others? In fact, if I was the owner of a company that did not get a waiver, I would sue.
- This once again proves false the claim by Obama that the law would force no one to lose their healthcare plan. To me, the words “You lie!” come quickly to mind.
Ed Morrissey at hotair.com makes some additional good points about this absurd situation.
ESA struggles to fund returnable module
Government space faces budget realities: The European Space Agency is struggling to find the funds to both extend ISS as well as upgrade their cargo carrier so that it can also return cargo from ISS.
Government space faces budget realities: The European Space Agency is struggling to find the funds to both extend ISS as well as upgrade their cargo carrier so that it can also return cargo from ISS.
Bigelow about to announce big news
Private space moves forward, without NASA: Clark Lindsey at www.rlvnews.com notes that Robert Bigelow — the man behind the first private space station’s — seems poised to announce the first six nations who’ve agreed to rent space on his stations.
Private space moves forward, without NASA: Clark Lindsey at www.rlvnews.com notes that Robert Bigelow — the man behind the first private space station’s — seems poised to announce the first six nations who’ve agreed to rent space on his stations.
Bolden’s trip his idea, not the White House’s
According to the website SpaceRef, NASA administrator Charles Bolden’s trip to Saudia Arabia and China this past week was his idea alone, and that the White House did not want him to go.
According to the website SpaceRef, NASA administrator Charles Bolden’s trip to Saudia Arabia and China this past week was his idea alone, and that the White House did not want him to go.
The Sun was brighter when it was dimmer?
The science is settled? According to one scientist’s data, the Sun actually brightened in visible wavelengths during the ramp down from solar maximum to minimum in 2004-2007 — the exact opposite to what was expected — while dropping in the ultraviolet four times more than predicted.
The science is settled? According to one scientist’s data, the Sun actually brightened in visible wavelengths during the ramp down from solar maximum to minimum in 2004-2007 — the exact opposite to what was expected — while dropping in the ultraviolet four times more than predicted.
Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery
The cause of the mysterious honey bee die-off since 2006 appears to have been identified.
The cause of the mysterious honey bee die-off since 2006 appears to have been identified.