Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Akatsuki’s engine too damaged to put the probe into Venus orbit in 2015
The engine of Japan’s troubled Venus probe, Akatsuki, has been found too damaged to put the probe into Venus orbit.
JAXA conducted a test ignition of the probe’s main engine on Wednesday to prepare for another attempt to send it into orbit in 2015. But the thrust produced was only one-eighth the amount anticipated, the space agency said. The damage the engine suffered last December when JAXA ignited it in the initial attempt to send the probe into orbit around Venus appears to be more serious than thought, JAXA said.
Soyuz crew returns safely to Earth, despite radio problems
One of the two three-man crews on ISS have returned safely to Earth, despite an unexpected communciations blackout during their descent.
In related news, the Russians have slightly delayed the launch dates for the next manned flights to ISS, which also means that the next test flight of Falcon 9/Dragon will have to be delayed until 2012. Moreover, the Russians are once again balking at allowing Dragon to dock with ISS on this first flight.
Ponzi! Ponzi! Ponzi!
“If you love me, you’ve got to help me pass this bill!”
This is a reason to pass a bill or a law? “If you love me, you’ve got to help me pass this bill!”
A planet with two suns
Questions about White House pressure for campaign donor in GPS controversy
A four-star Air Force general told a congressional committee last week that the White House pressured him to soften his testimony concerning the military’s opposition to the technology being used by the broadband company Lightsquared– a major Democratic campaign donor — because it interfered with GPS signals.
In a related update, LightSquared boss said Wednesday that the company is near an engineering breakthrough that will solve the technical issues that worry GPS users.
The story behind the Italian prosecution of six scientists and one government official over an earthquake prediction
The story behind the Italian prosecution of six scientists and one government official over their failure to make an earthquake prediction.
As is usual in these kinds of stories, things are more complicated than they appear at first glance.
Has Dark Matter been detected?
Virgin Galactic aims for its first launch of SpaceShipTwo within a year
Virgin Galactic expects to make its first launch of SpaceShipTwo within a year.
“The mother ship is finished… The rocket tests are going extremely well, and so I think that we’re now on track for a launch within 12 months of today,” [Richard Branson] told CNN’s Piers Morgan late Wednesday.
Private Japanese weather company to launch satellite to track Arctic Ice
A private Japanese weather company plans to launch a satellite to track Arctic ice for use by shipping.
The satellite will transmit images and information about sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. Weathernews will combine the information with available data on sea currents, weather and wave height to provide consumers with a finished product enabling safe navigation along the northern route.
Though I know most people are skeptical of this idea, I think that all weather information should be gathered and sold by private companies, as Weathernews is doing above. For example, the Weather Channel makes its money providing weather information to the public. If they didn’t get the satellite data free from NOAA weather satellites, they would have every reason to launch their own satellites.
Nobel prize winner resigns from the American Physical Society over its support of global warming
A Nobel prize winner has bluntly resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) because of its unquestioning support of global warming.
Dr. Giaever wrote to Kirby of APS: “Thank you for your letter inquiring about my membership. I did not renew it because I cannot live with the (APS) statement below (on global warming): APS: ‘The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth’s physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.’
Giaever announced his resignation from APS was due to the group’s belief in man-made global warming fears. Giaever explained in his email to APS: “In the APS it is ok to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves, but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible? The claim (how can you measure the average temperature of the whole earth for a whole year?) is that the temperature has changed from ~288.0 to ~288.8 degree Kelvin in about 150 years, which (if true) means to me is that the temperature has been amazingly stable, and both human health and happiness have definitely improved in this ‘warming’ period.” [emphasis in original]
Senate reinserts money for the James Webb Space Telescope
The Senate has reinstated money for completing the James Webb Space Telescope.
The allocation in today’s markup does not automatically mean that the Webb telescope has been rescued. The markup will now go to the full appropriations committee for approval before going to the Senate floor for a vote. The approved bill will then have to be reconciled with the House version, which, NASA hopes, will result in a final appropriation that keeps the telescope alive.
The House version also zeroed out funding for Webb, so reconciling the two budgets will not be easy.
Jack Benny meets Twilight Zone
An evening pause: Jack Benny meets Twilight Zone. “You can call me Twi.”
Washington staffers fear pay cuts, layoffs, loss of perks
Well ain’t that a shame: Washington political staffers fear pay cuts, layoffs, and loss of perks. Some precious quotes:
“Salaries are essentially frozen and in some cases going down,” said one former senior House Democratic aide, who recently left the Hill. “That makes it very hard for some people to stay on the Hill and just promotes a culture of underappreciation.”
and
Many chiefs of staff have started with small office perks: water jugs, sodas and orange juice. One Republican lawmaker told POLITICO that aides now take up a collection because the office can’t afford coffee.
What prigs. The rest of the country is experiencing the highest unemployment and lowest income in decades, and they’re unhappy they don’t have a water cooler or coffee machine.
The increasing possibility that the Higgs Boson does not exist
The increasing evidence that the Higgs Boson does not exist.
September 11 memorial says nothing about what happened on September 11
A September 11 memorial in New Jersey says nothing about what happened on September 11.
The stone reads, “Dedicated September 11, 2011/10 year anniversary,” followed by the names of the current township mayor, committee members and administrator. The marker does not mention the terrorists’ nearly 3,000 victims, the attacks that cost their lives or the origins of the steel. “I mean, how freaking narcissistic can you be?” [retired Police Officer Dennis] Ryan said Tuesday.
Astronomers take one last close look at 1999 RQ36 before sending mission there
Astronomers plan one last close look at 1,900-foot-wide asteroid before sending a space probe there to collect samples.
Discovered in 1999, the OSIRIS-REx target asteroid, designated 1999 RQ36, nears Earth once every six years. During the 2011 closest approach in early September, it will be 10.9 million miles (17.5 million kilometers) away. In 1999, closest approach was 1.4 million miles (2.3 million kilometers).
Strangely, the article above never mentions the fact that 1999 RQ36 has 1 in a 1000 chance of hitting the Earth in 2182, which to my mind is the primary reason for studying it.
Arrests in union violence in Washington
Union civility: Two union protesters have been arrested in Washington for the violent takeover of a grain terminal. Also, police have confirmed the use of racial slurs and signs by union protesters in North Dakota.
One man’s 9/11 idea to rescue people from high-rise buildings
One man’s 9/11 idea to rescue people from high-rise buildings.
It involves attaching a harness around your body. Attached to the harness is a Kevlar rope that is secured at one end to a radiator or pipe. You then pop out of a window and rappel down the face of the building using a device which controls the rate of descent at 6 feet per second. Think of it as a fishing reel with a human attached.