Hamas breaks truce and fires rocket from Gaza into Israel.
Surprise surprise! Hamas breaks truce and fires rocket from Gaza into Israel.
Surprise surprise! Hamas breaks truce and fires rocket from Gaza into Israel.
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Hamas breaks truce and fires rocket from Gaza into Israel.
The House yesterday voted to rename the Dryden Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong.
Don’t they have better things to do ? The House yesterday voted to rename the Dryden Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong.
As I noted previously, I disagree strongly with this action. To honor Armstrong properly we should name something really important after him. But it is shameless and wrong to steal the honor from Hugh Dryden in doing so. Armstrong, a modest and honorable man, would have surely protested this action himself.
Don’t they have better things to do ? The House yesterday voted to rename the Dryden Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong.
As I noted previously, I disagree strongly with this action. To honor Armstrong properly we should name something really important after him. But it is shameless and wrong to steal the honor from Hugh Dryden in doing so. Armstrong, a modest and honorable man, would have surely protested this action himself.
Homeland Security seizes a man’s boat because they made an error on his custom’s paperwork.
We’re here to help you: Homeland Security seizes a man’s boat because they made an error on his custom’s paperwork.
That he eventually got it back is completely beside the point.
We’re here to help you: Homeland Security seizes a man’s boat because they made an error on his custom’s paperwork.
That he eventually got it back is completely beside the point.
SpaceX has reported that its static fire test today of the Falcon 9 rocket was a success.
The competition heats up: SpaceX has reported that its static fire test today of the Falcon 9 rocket was a success.
The launch of Dragon is now set for Friday.
The competition heats up: SpaceX has reported that its static fire test today of the Falcon 9 rocket was a success.
The launch of Dragon is now set for Friday.
“Vulcan” and “Cerberus” win the poll to name Pluto’s two unnamed moons.
“Vulcan” and “Cerberus” win the poll to name Pluto’s two unnamed moons. Key quote:
Vulcan was a late addition to the Pluto moon name contenders, and pulled into the lead after Shatner, building on his Capt. James T. Kirk persona, plugged the name on Twitter. Vulcan, the home planet of Kirk’s alien-human hybrid first officer Spock, is not just a fictional world in the Star Trek universe. It is also the name of the god of fire in Roman mythology, and officials at SETI added the sci-fi favorite to the ballot for that reason.
“Vulcan” and “Cerberus” win the poll to name Pluto’s two unnamed moons. Key quote:
Vulcan was a late addition to the Pluto moon name contenders, and pulled into the lead after Shatner, building on his Capt. James T. Kirk persona, plugged the name on Twitter. Vulcan, the home planet of Kirk’s alien-human hybrid first officer Spock, is not just a fictional world in the Star Trek universe. It is also the name of the god of fire in Roman mythology, and officials at SETI added the sci-fi favorite to the ballot for that reason.
India successfully launched seven satellites into orbit today on a single launch.
The competition heats up: India successfully launched seven satellites into orbit today on a single launch.
The competition heats up: India successfully launched seven satellites into orbit today on a single launch.
Jihad or Criminality?
The question is worth asking, based on the described series of attacks. Too bad it is considered racist to ask it.
The question is worth asking, based on the described series of attacks. Too bad it is considered racist to ask it.
Beretta has threatened to leave Maryland over the state’s proposed new gun bans.
Pushback: Beretta has threatened to leave Maryland over the state’s proposed new gun bans.
Pushback: Beretta has threatened to leave Maryland over the state’s proposed new gun bans.
“It is big media institutions who are identifiably more liberal to left-leaning who will shut you down, stab you and kill you, fire you, if they perceive that you are not telling the story in the way that they want it told.”
Note that this was not said by a conservative, but by a very liberal commentator with whom I generally disagree. He should know, however, as he was fired by a leftwing “big media institution” for not toeing the line.
Note that this was not said by a conservative, but by a very liberal commentator with whom I generally disagree. He should know, however, as he was fired by a leftwing “big media institution” for not toeing the line.
Public pressure is now being applied to gun manufacturers who are trying to wheezle out of the boycott against gun-banning states.
Pushback: Public pressure is now being applied to gun manufacturers who are trying to weasel out of the boycott against gun-banning states.
In other words, Armalite is trying to play both ends against the middle. They want to say they are on-board with the boycott (sort of) to placate gun owners, but they aren’t; they’re still going to continue selling to individual police officers… just not to the departments. Armalite will sell to every individual officer in the department that wants an AR-15, but they won’t sell to the department’s official purchasing agent. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.
Owens suggests spending your money with other companies and I agree. We are reaching the moment where you are either for freedom or against it. And if you act against it you are not my friend and will get none of my support.
Pushback: Public pressure is now being applied to gun manufacturers who are trying to weasel out of the boycott against gun-banning states.
In other words, Armalite is trying to play both ends against the middle. They want to say they are on-board with the boycott (sort of) to placate gun owners, but they aren’t; they’re still going to continue selling to individual police officers… just not to the departments. Armalite will sell to every individual officer in the department that wants an AR-15, but they won’t sell to the department’s official purchasing agent. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.
Owens suggests spending your money with other companies and I agree. We are reaching the moment where you are either for freedom or against it. And if you act against it you are not my friend and will get none of my support.
The man who taught the air forces of the world how to fly.
The man who taught the air forces of the world how to fly.
The man who taught the air forces of the world how to fly.
Twenty-three terrifying airport runways.
Twenty-three terrifying airport runways.
And the list doesn’t even include LaGuardia Airport in New York, with its runway in the middle of New York harbor.
Twenty-three terrifying airport runways.
And the list doesn’t even include LaGuardia Airport in New York, with its runway in the middle of New York harbor.
The world’s smallest optical space telescopes to launch on Monday.
The world’s smallest optical space telescopes to launch on Monday.
The world’s smallest optical space telescopes to launch on Monday.
Mammoth Cave is now officially longer than 400 miles.
Mammoth Cave is now officially longer than 400 miles.
This official announcement is a bit old, as the survey work that brought Mammoth over 400 miles was probably done during the October or December 2012 expeditions.
Update: I contacted some of my caving friends who survey in Mammoth regularly, and they have confirmed that the survey reached 400 miles during the October 2012 expedition.
Mammoth Cave is now officially longer than 400 miles.
This official announcement is a bit old, as the survey work that brought Mammoth over 400 miles was probably done during the October or December 2012 expeditions.
Update: I contacted some of my caving friends who survey in Mammoth regularly, and they have confirmed that the survey reached 400 miles during the October 2012 expedition.
“All you need to know to get on a plane these days is the color of your house.”
Does this make you feel safer? “All you need to know to get on a plane these days is the color of your house.”
I realize that this is actually an example of the TSA trying to be helpful to a U.S. citizen, but it also illustrates the complete uselessness of all TSA airport security.
Does this make you feel safer? “All you need to know to get on a plane these days is the color of your house.”
I realize that this is actually an example of the TSA trying to be helpful to a U.S. citizen, but it also illustrates the complete uselessness of all TSA airport security.
William Travis’ letter of defiance returns to the Alamo.
“I shall never surrender or retreat.” William Travis’ letter of defiance returns to the Alamo.
“I shall never surrender or retreat.” William Travis’ letter of defiance returns to the Alamo.
The number of gun companies who have decided to stop selling to anti-second amendment state governments has grown to 44.
Pushback: The number of gun companies who have decided to stop selling to anti-second amendment state governments has grown to 44.
None of the companies listed include any of the big gun or ammo manufacturers, but give it time. The government is sometimes their biggest customer, so to sacrifice that income requires a level of commitment they might not yet be ready to make. Nonetheless, I expect it is only a matter of time before some of the heavy players join this effort, if only to apply pressure to state governments. And when a few do, all will feel pressure to join in.
Pushback: The number of gun companies who have decided to stop selling to anti-second amendment state governments has grown to 44.
None of the companies listed include any of the big gun or ammo manufacturers, but give it time. The government is sometimes their biggest customer, so to sacrifice that income requires a level of commitment they might not yet be ready to make. Nonetheless, I expect it is only a matter of time before some of the heavy players join this effort, if only to apply pressure to state governments. And when a few do, all will feel pressure to join in.
A jetpack that takes off like a plane.
A jetpack that takes off like a plane.
With a name right out of Thunderbirds, Skyflash is, if nothing else, ambitious. The wing, which is worn like a backpack, is designed to take off from the ground and, if successful, will be the smallest twin engined plane ever built.
A jetpack that takes off like a plane.
With a name right out of Thunderbirds, Skyflash is, if nothing else, ambitious. The wing, which is worn like a backpack, is designed to take off from the ground and, if successful, will be the smallest twin engined plane ever built.
The Antares hot fire test of the rocket’s first stage was successfully completed tonight.
The competition heats up: The Antares hot fire test of the rocket’s first stage was successfully completed tonight.
The 29-second hot fire test took place at 6:00 p.m. (EST) on February 22, 2013 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s (MARS) Pad 0A, which was designed and built over the last several years to accommodate liquid-fuel space launch vehicles. The primary goals of the test were to ensure that the launch complex’s fueling systems and the Antares stage one test article functioned properly in a fully operational environment, that engine ignition and shut down commands operated as designed, and that the dual AJ26 first stage engines and their control systems performed to specifications in the twin-engine configuration. The test included a full propellant loading sequence, launch countdown and engine ignition operation. The pad’s high-volume water deluge system flowed throughout the entire period of the test to protect the pad from damage and for noise suppression.
The first stage will now be prepped for a full scale test launch of Antares, expected in about six weeks. If that is successful, Orbital Sciences will then follow with a flight of the Cygnus capsule to ISS.
The competition heats up: The Antares hot fire test of the rocket’s first stage was successfully completed tonight.
The 29-second hot fire test took place at 6:00 p.m. (EST) on February 22, 2013 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s (MARS) Pad 0A, which was designed and built over the last several years to accommodate liquid-fuel space launch vehicles. The primary goals of the test were to ensure that the launch complex’s fueling systems and the Antares stage one test article functioned properly in a fully operational environment, that engine ignition and shut down commands operated as designed, and that the dual AJ26 first stage engines and their control systems performed to specifications in the twin-engine configuration. The test included a full propellant loading sequence, launch countdown and engine ignition operation. The pad’s high-volume water deluge system flowed throughout the entire period of the test to protect the pad from damage and for noise suppression.
The first stage will now be prepped for a full scale test launch of Antares, expected in about six weeks. If that is successful, Orbital Sciences will then follow with a flight of the Cygnus capsule to ISS.
A new poll finds that the public opposes cuts to virtually all types of spending.
We are doomed: A new poll finds that the public opposes cuts to virtually all types of spending.
We can make believe we can keep spending as we have, but reality always wins.
We are doomed: A new poll finds that the public opposes cuts to virtually all types of spending.
We can make believe we can keep spending as we have, but reality always wins.
Falcon 9 static fire test is now set for Monday.
The Falcon 9 static fire test is now set for Monday.
I’m not sure if this is a reschedule, or the information I posted from previous stories was incorrect. Either way, this test is their standard preparation for Falcon 9’s next launch.
The Falcon 9 static fire test is now set for Monday.
I’m not sure if this is a reschedule, or the information I posted from previous stories was incorrect. Either way, this test is their standard preparation for Falcon 9’s next launch.
Because of the cost of Obamacare, employers are dropping healthcare coverage for spouses.
Finding out what’s in it: Because of the cost of Obamacare, employers are dropping healthcare coverage for spouses.
By denying coverage to spouses, employers not only save the annual premiums, but also the new fees that went into effect as part of the Affordable Care Act. This year, companies have to pay $1 or $2 “per life” covered on their plans, a sum that jumps to $65 in 2014. And health law guidelines proposed recently mandate coverage of employees’ dependent children (up to age 26), but husbands and wives are optional.
Finding out what’s in it: Because of the cost of Obamacare, employers are dropping healthcare coverage for spouses.
By denying coverage to spouses, employers not only save the annual premiums, but also the new fees that went into effect as part of the Affordable Care Act. This year, companies have to pay $1 or $2 “per life” covered on their plans, a sum that jumps to $65 in 2014. And health law guidelines proposed recently mandate coverage of employees’ dependent children (up to age 26), but husbands and wives are optional.
The head of the Transportation Department threatens long delays if the sequestration cuts take place March 1.
Chicken Little report: The head of the Transportation Department today threatened long delays if the sequestration cuts take place March 1.
Either he is lying or he has decided to make the most harmful cuts to hurt the public the most. Sequestration will lower the budget of the FAA by 8.2 percent, which will cut that agency’s budget from $18.7 to $17.2 billion, which is still more than the FAA got in 2009, by $300 million. I don’t remember long delays and limited airport operations at that time, do you? See here for my sources.
There is no reason to shut down operations or cause significant travel delays, unless LaHood wants to cause pain so that the money flow keeps pouring in.
Update: One more comment. It took me all of five minutes of research to come up with the past budgets of the FAA to give the sequestration cuts some context. I think it disgraceful that the reporter for this story couldn’t do the same.
Chicken Little report: The head of the Transportation Department today threatened long delays if the sequestration cuts take place March 1.
Either he is lying or he has decided to make the most harmful cuts to hurt the public the most. Sequestration will lower the budget of the FAA by 8.2 percent, which will cut that agency’s budget from $18.7 to $17.2 billion, which is still more than the FAA got in 2009, by $300 million. I don’t remember long delays and limited airport operations at that time, do you? See here for my sources.
There is no reason to shut down operations or cause significant travel delays, unless LaHood wants to cause pain so that the money flow keeps pouring in.
Update: One more comment. It took me all of five minutes of research to come up with the past budgets of the FAA to give the sequestration cuts some context. I think it disgraceful that the reporter for this story couldn’t do the same.
An update on Boeing’s CST-100 capsule.
The competition heats up: An update on Boeing’s CST-100 capsule.
The competition heats up: An update on Boeing’s CST-100 capsule.
A new U.N. report states that Iran has moved one step closer to building its own nuclear weapon.
The day of reckoning looms: A new U.N. report states that Iran has moved another step closer to building its own nuclear weapon.
The day of reckoning looms: A new U.N. report states that Iran has moved another step closer to building its own nuclear weapon.
R.I.P. Dr. David S. McKay: 1936-2013
R.I.P. Dr. David S. McKay: 1936-2013. More here.
Though he was most famous for being the lead author of the 1996 paper suggesting that fossil life had found in a Martian meteorite, McKay was one of the giants of planetary science whose work was far more extensive and important. He will be missed.
R.I.P. Dr. David S. McKay: 1936-2013. More here.
Though he was most famous for being the lead author of the 1996 paper suggesting that fossil life had found in a Martian meteorite, McKay was one of the giants of planetary science whose work was far more extensive and important. He will be missed.
New data has allowed scientists to lower the chance that the asteroid Apophis will hit the Earth in a future orbit.
New data has allowed scientists to lower the chance that the asteroid Apophis will hit the Earth in a future orbit.
Recent observations from Pan-STARRS PS1 telescope at Haleakala, Hawaii have reduced the current orbital uncertainty by a factor of 5, and radar observations in early 2013 from Goldstone and Arecibo will further improve the knowledge of Apophis’ current position. However, the current knowledge is now precise enough that the uncertainty in predicting the position in 2029 is completely dominated by the so-called Yarkovsky effect, a subtle nongravitational perturbation due to thermal re-radiation of solar energy absorbed by the asteroid. The Yarkovsky effect depends on the asteroid’s size, mass, thermal properties, and critically on the orientation of the asteroid’s spin axis, which is currently unknown. This means that predictions for the 2029 Earth encounter will not improve significantly until these physical and spin characteristics are better determined.
The new report, which does not make use of the 2013 radar measurements, identifies over a dozen keyholes that fall within the range of possible 2029 encounter distances. Notably, the potential impact in 2036 that had previously held the highest probability has been effectively ruled out since its probability has fallen to well below one chance in one million. Indeed only one of the potential impacts has a probability of impact greater than 1-in-a-million; there is a 2-meter wide keyhole that leads to an impact in 2068, with impact odds of about 2.3 in a million.
The second paragraph basically says that the keyholes that might bring Apophis back to Earth are very small, making it unlikely that the asteroid will fly through any one of them in 2029. The first paragraph however notes that it will be impossible to chart the asteroid’s course accurately enough to rule out this possibility until we have more data on the asteroid itself.
New data has allowed scientists to lower the chance that the asteroid Apophis will hit the Earth in a future orbit.
Recent observations from Pan-STARRS PS1 telescope at Haleakala, Hawaii have reduced the current orbital uncertainty by a factor of 5, and radar observations in early 2013 from Goldstone and Arecibo will further improve the knowledge of Apophis’ current position. However, the current knowledge is now precise enough that the uncertainty in predicting the position in 2029 is completely dominated by the so-called Yarkovsky effect, a subtle nongravitational perturbation due to thermal re-radiation of solar energy absorbed by the asteroid. The Yarkovsky effect depends on the asteroid’s size, mass, thermal properties, and critically on the orientation of the asteroid’s spin axis, which is currently unknown. This means that predictions for the 2029 Earth encounter will not improve significantly until these physical and spin characteristics are better determined.
The new report, which does not make use of the 2013 radar measurements, identifies over a dozen keyholes that fall within the range of possible 2029 encounter distances. Notably, the potential impact in 2036 that had previously held the highest probability has been effectively ruled out since its probability has fallen to well below one chance in one million. Indeed only one of the potential impacts has a probability of impact greater than 1-in-a-million; there is a 2-meter wide keyhole that leads to an impact in 2068, with impact odds of about 2.3 in a million.
The second paragraph basically says that the keyholes that might bring Apophis back to Earth are very small, making it unlikely that the asteroid will fly through any one of them in 2029. The first paragraph however notes that it will be impossible to chart the asteroid’s course accurately enough to rule out this possibility until we have more data on the asteroid itself.
In an interview in Australia, the head of the IPCC has admitted that the climate has stopped warming now for the past seventeen years.
Consensus! In an interview in Australia, the head of the IPCC has admitted that the climate has stopped warming now for the past seventeen years.
No computer climate model offered in any IPCC report predicted this long pause in warming. They all instead insisted that because of the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the global temperature would have to rise, and do so quickly and with catastrophic results.
In other words, those models were wrong. The climate is very complicated, and we don’t yet understand very well how it functions.
Consensus! In an interview in Australia, the head of the IPCC has admitted that the climate has stopped warming now for the past seventeen years.
No computer climate model offered in any IPCC report predicted this long pause in warming. They all instead insisted that because of the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the global temperature would have to rise, and do so quickly and with catastrophic results.
In other words, those models were wrong. The climate is very complicated, and we don’t yet understand very well how it functions.
“Whose side are you on?”
How to see Comet PANSTARRS, expected to be visible to the naked eye in the evening sky in March.
How to see Comet PANSTARRS, expected to be visible to the naked eye in the evening sky in March.
How to see Comet PANSTARRS, expected to be visible to the naked eye in the evening sky in March.