Category: Behind The Black

Paper extolling the benefits from interstellar spaceflight

1:44 am

This guy is thinking ahead: a paper extolling the scientific benefits of interstellar space travel (published in a 2009 issue of the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society) was made available today on the Los Alamos astro-ph website. Fun quote from the abstract:

Significant benefits are identified in the fields of interstellar medium studies, stellar astrophysics, planetary science and astrobiology. In the latter three areas the benefits would be considerably enhanced if the interstellar vehicle is able to decelerate from its interstellar cruise velocity to rest relative to the target system. Although this will greatly complicate the mission architecture, and extend the overall travel time, the scientific benefits are such that this option should be considered seriously in future studies.

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Republicans lead by 10 in Gallup generic poll

1:26 am

Still doubt the magnitude of the turnover expected in the November 2010 election? Then consider Gallup’s most recent generic poll, which has the Republicans now up by 10 points, the most in history. Key quote:

The Republican leads of 6, 7, and 10 points this month are all higher than any previous midterm Republican advantage in Gallup’s history of tracking the generic ballot, which dates to 1942. Prior to this year, the highest such gap was five points, measured in June 2002 and July 1994. Elections in both of these years resulted in significant Republican gains in House seats.

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The Columbia River Gorge

12:07 am

We’ve moved on from Mt. St. Helens to the Columbia River Gorge. Below is a shot of Vista House at Crown Point, looking east into the gorge. In the distance you can see Beacon Rock.

The Columbia River Gorge

Today’s hike was short, a six mile loop starting at Multnomah Falls (620 feet total).

Multnomah Falls

The falls and hike are probably among the most popular tourist attractions close to Portland. And since today was Saturday, there were a lot of people around. Nonetheless, the numbers quickly dropped as we worked our way up the trail, dropping to only a handful of people once we climbed past the top of the falls. The hike itself included a lot of waterfalls and babbling streams, but it also weaved its way through some impressive evergreen forests.

forest of trees

I find it sad how few people are willing to do the little extra work necessary to reach these beautiful places. At one point on our way down, we passed a family that was clearly discussing whether to continue. They had already climbed about 80 percent of the way up, but the father and mother were tired and seemed willing to stop. When the son (about 12) asked me how much farther it was to the top and I said it was only about 20 to 30 minutes, he was off like a shot, with the parents forced to follow, albeit reluctantly. My immediate thought was, “Go, kid, go!”

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