Climate scientist banned from Saudi Arabia for showing picture of dog with Saudi dress
Climate science meets Islam! A climate scientist was immediately banned from Saudi Arabia when he showed a picture of dog with Saudi dress during a lecture there.
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
The regulations are “overly prescriptive, operationally burdensome, and the incentives are too difficult to achieve to make this voluntary program attractive.”
Why don’t we just repeal it? “An umbrella group representing premier organizations such as the Mayo Clinic wrote the administration Wednesday saying that more than 90 percent of its members would not participate, because the rules as written are so onerous it would be nearly impossible for them to succeed.” There’s also this lovely quote:
[The Obamacare regulations] are overly prescriptive, operationally burdensome, and the incentives are too difficult to achieve to make this voluntary program attractive.
NASA wants to turn Congress’s heavy-lift rocket into a shuttle-derived rocket
Pork and more pork: NASA is considering turning Congress’s heavy-lift rocket requirement, the program-formerly-called-Constellation, into a shuttle-derived rocket that would cost $10 billion and only fly once.
The first tourist in space, a woman from Britain
The first tourist in space was not Dennis Tito, but this woman from Britain.
India designing reusable spacecraft
ISRO, India’s space agency, pushes to get funding for a reusable spacecraft.
The Crab Nebula erupts with flares six days
In mid-April the Crab Nebula erupted for six days, repeatedly emitting the most powerful flares ever recorded from the supernova remnant.
Scientists think the flares occur as the intense magnetic field near the pulsar undergoes sudden restructuring. Such changes can accelerate particles like electrons to velocities near the speed of light. As these high-speed electrons interact with the magnetic field, they emit gamma rays.
To account for the observed emission, scientists say the electrons must have energies 100 times greater than can be achieved in any particle accelerator on Earth. This makes them the highest-energy electrons known to be associated with any galactic source. Based on the rise and fall of gamma rays during the April outbursts, scientists estimate that the size of the emitting region must be comparable in size to the solar system.
Vesuvius: Europe’s ticking volcano time bomb
Vesuvius: Europe’s ticking volcano time bomb.
Dawn Captures First Image of Asteroid Vesta
Dawn captures its first image of the asteroid Vesta as it closes in on a rendezvous set for July 16.
Nine Androids You Can Actually Own
Did a fungal infection kill forty percent of the world’s amphibians?
Did a fungal infection kill forty percent of the world’s amphibians?
The above article outlines an intriguing solution to this mysterious die-off. Sadly, the article also makes a silly effort to link everything to climate change, without justification. Pay attention to the former and ignore the latter.
We don’t know.
Earn $100K to $200K as a California lifeguard!
Want more evidence that government spending is out of control? In one California city lifeguards earn $100K to $200K per year. They also retire with 90 percent of their salary, after only 30 years of work at as early as the age of 50.