World on fire
Video: The world on fire.
Video: The world on fire.
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
World on fire
Orbital Sciences had its profits rise in the third quarter of 2011
Good news: Orbital Sciences saw a significant rise in profits in the third quarter of 2011.
They will need the cash to make sure their Taurus 2 rocket succeeds.
Good news: Orbital Sciences saw a significant rise in profits in the third quarter of 2011.
They will need the cash to make sure their Taurus 2 rocket succeeds.
A successful first launch of a Russian rocket outside of the old Soviet Union
For the first time, the Russians today successfully launched a Russian rocket from a spaceport outside of the old Soviet Union.
The Soyuz also put into orbit the first two satellites of the European Galileo GPS constellation.
For the first time, the Russians today successfully launched a Russian rocket from a spaceport outside of the old Soviet Union.
The Soyuz also put into orbit the first two satellites of the European Galileo GPS constellation.
An independent study of climate suggests the climate has warmed 0.9 degrees Celsius since 1950
An independent study of land temperature records by a team led by Richard Muller concludes that the climate has warmed 0.9 degrees Celsius since 1950.
Does this prove that human-caused global warming is happening? No, not even close. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, and others have not yet been able to duplicate its results. Also, a warming trending since 1950 can be caused many things, and it is only a very short snapshot of a vastly longer movie.
Nonetheless, it does appear that real science (open data, honest analysis, and a willingness to entertain opposing viewpoints) is beginning to return to the field of climate research. For this we should celebrate.
An independent study of land temperature records by a team led by Richard Muller concludes that the climate has warmed 0.9 degrees Celsius since 1950.
Does this prove that human-caused global warming is happening? No, not even close. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, and others have not yet been able to duplicate its results. Also, a warming trending since 1950 can be caused many things, and it is only a very short snapshot of a vastly longer movie.
Nonetheless, it does appear that real science (open data, honest analysis, and a willingness to entertain opposing viewpoints) is beginning to return to the field of climate research. For this we should celebrate.
A baby star surrounded by “oceans of water”
A baby star surrounded by “oceans of water.”
A baby star surrounded by “oceans of water.”
Delays in prepping the launchpad force Orbital to delay the first test flight of its Taurus 2 rocket
Delays in prepping the launchpad has forced Orbital to delay the first test flight of its Taurus 2 rocket.
Delays in prepping the launchpad has forced Orbital to delay the first test flight of its Taurus 2 rocket.
NASA has given its okay to SpaceX’s Dragon abort system design
NASA has given its okay to SpaceX’s Dragon abort system design for manned launches.
NASA has given its okay to SpaceX’s Dragon abort system design for manned launches.
First Soyuz rocket launch from South America scrubbed
First Soyuz rocket launch from South America scrubbed.
First Soyuz rocket launch from South America scrubbed.
Astronomers snap a picture of a exoplanet as cool as the Earth
Astronomers snap a picture of an exoplanet six times the mass of Jupiter but as cool as the Earth.
Astronomers snap a picture of an exoplanet six times the mass of Jupiter but as cool as the Earth.
Boeing’s private space capsule passes its wind tunnel tests
Boeing’s private space capsule has passed its wind tunnel tests.
Boeing’s private space capsule has passed its wind tunnel tests.
How NASA’s bureaucracy intends to maintain control over space exploration
How NASA’s bureaucracy intends to maintain control over space exploration. More here.
How NASA’s bureaucracy intends to maintain control over space exploration. More here.
GAO and SpaceX blast military’s plans to spend $15 billion for all its launches through 2018 in one purchase
GAO and SpaceX blast the military’s plans to spend $15 billion for all its launches through 2018, in one bulk purchase.
The reason given by the military for buying all these launches up front is to save money. In reality, it is to favor the companies they want to do business with, rather than open up the business to as many competitors as possible.
GAO and SpaceX blast the military’s plans to spend $15 billion for all its launches through 2018, in one bulk purchase.
The reason given by the military for buying all these launches up front is to save money. In reality, it is to favor the companies they want to do business with, rather than open up the business to as many competitors as possible.
“After completing this study, we know less about dark matter than we did before.”
The uncertainty of science: “After completing this study, we know less about dark matter than we did before.”
The uncertainty of science: “After completing this study, we know less about dark matter than we did before.”
Russians plan to stick with ISS through 2028.
More Russian space news: They plan to stick with ISS through 2028.
More Russian space news: They plan to stick with ISS through 2028.
Russians look at lunar caves for their lunar bases
Using images from Japanese and American lunar orbiters, the Russians are looking at lunar caves to build Moon bases by 2030.
Using images from Japanese and American lunar orbiters, the Russians are looking at lunar caves to build Moon bases by 2030.
Gilad Shalit released for 1000 Palestinians
Gilad Shalit has been released for 1000 Palestinians convicted prisoners. And who were these Palestinians? Some examples:
They include the perpetrators of some of the most ghastly terrorist attacks of recent years: Brutal killers like Abd al-Aziz Salehi, who gleefully displayed his blood-soaked hands to a cheering Ramallah crowd in 2000 after lynching two Israelis and mutilating their bodies. Like Ibrahim Yunis, mastermind of a 2003 cafe bombing that left seven innocents dead, including an American-born doctor and his 20-year-old daughter on the eve of her wedding. Like Ahlam Tamimi, a Palestinian television personality who boasts of her role in organizing the 2001 bombing of a pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem, in which 15 people were killed, seven of them children.
Gilad Shalit has been released for 1000 Palestinians convicted prisoners. And who were these Palestinians? Some examples:
They include the perpetrators of some of the most ghastly terrorist attacks of recent years: Brutal killers like Abd al-Aziz Salehi, who gleefully displayed his blood-soaked hands to a cheering Ramallah crowd in 2000 after lynching two Israelis and mutilating their bodies. Like Ibrahim Yunis, mastermind of a 2003 cafe bombing that left seven innocents dead, including an American-born doctor and his 20-year-old daughter on the eve of her wedding. Like Ahlam Tamimi, a Palestinian television personality who boasts of her role in organizing the 2001 bombing of a pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem, in which 15 people were killed, seven of them children.
More details about SpaceShipTwo’s last test flight
More details about SpaceShipTwo’s last test flight and the initial stall after its release from WhiteKnightTwo.
More details about SpaceShipTwo’s last test flight and the initial stall after its release from WhiteKnightTwo.
The designer of spy satellite finally reveals his life’s work
The designer of the spy satellite KH-9 HEXAGON (more generally known by its nickname “Big Bird”) has finally been able to describe his life’s work.
What surprised me most from this story is the fact that HEXAGON used film to record its images, not some form of digital or electronic technology. The film was returned to Earth in four “re-entry buckets” that were snatched out of the air by a modified C-130 airplane. I had assumed that by the time HEXAGON was launched they had abandoned film. Not so.
The designer of the spy satellite KH-9 HEXAGON (more generally known by its nickname “Big Bird”) has finally been able to describe his life’s work.
What surprised me most from this story is the fact that HEXAGON used film to record its images, not some form of digital or electronic technology. The film was returned to Earth in four “re-entry buckets” that were snatched out of the air by a modified C-130 airplane. I had assumed that by the time HEXAGON was launched they had abandoned film. Not so.
NASA contracts two research flights using Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo
NASA has signed a contract with Virgin Galactic to use SpaceShipTwo for two suborbital research flights.
NASA has signed a contract with Virgin Galactic to use SpaceShipTwo for two suborbital research flights.
Obama administration has pulled the plug on one part of Obamacare after admiting it cannot work
The Obama administration has pulled the plug on one part of Obamacare after admitting it cannot work.
Although sponsored by the government, CLASS was supposed to function as a self-sustaining voluntary insurance plan, open to working adults regardless of age or health. Workers would pay an affordable monthly premium during their careers, and could collect a modest daily cash benefit of at least $50 if they became disabled later in life. Beneficiaries could use the money for services to help them stay at home, or to help with nursing home bills.
But a central design flaw dogged CLASS from the beginning. Unless large numbers of healthy people willingly sign up during their working years, soaring premiums driven by the needs of disabled beneficiaries would destabilize it, eventually requiring a taxpayer bailout. After months insisting that problems could be resolved, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, finally admitted Friday she doesn’t see how that can be done.
Now we merely have to repeal the rest of this travesty.
The Obama administration has pulled the plug on one part of Obamacare after admitting it cannot work.
Although sponsored by the government, CLASS was supposed to function as a self-sustaining voluntary insurance plan, open to working adults regardless of age or health. Workers would pay an affordable monthly premium during their careers, and could collect a modest daily cash benefit of at least $50 if they became disabled later in life. Beneficiaries could use the money for services to help them stay at home, or to help with nursing home bills.
But a central design flaw dogged CLASS from the beginning. Unless large numbers of healthy people willingly sign up during their working years, soaring premiums driven by the needs of disabled beneficiaries would destabilize it, eventually requiring a taxpayer bailout. After months insisting that problems could be resolved, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, finally admitted Friday she doesn’t see how that can be done.
Now we merely have to repeal the rest of this travesty.
Ancient Greek ships shipped more than just wine
New data has shown that ancient Greek merchant ships transported a wide assortment of goods, not just wine.
What is interesting about this story is how it punctures a hole in an assumption too many archeologists have been making about the amphorae, the standard shipping container of the ancient Mediterranean:
Amphorae have been found in their thousands in wrecks all over the Mediterranean Sea. Some of them contain residues of food, such as olive pits and fish bones, but the vast majority of them are discovered empty and unmarked. Foley says historians tend to assume that these containers were used mainly to transport wine — in a survey of 27 peer-reviewed studies describing 5,860 amphorae, he found that 95% of the jars were described as having carried the beverage.
The new research found evidence for many things besides wine, illustrating again the dangers of assuming anything in science.
New data has shown that ancient Greek merchant ships transported a wide assortment of goods, not just wine.
What is interesting about this story is how it punctures a hole in an assumption too many archeologists have been making about the amphorae, the standard shipping container of the ancient Mediterranean:
Amphorae have been found in their thousands in wrecks all over the Mediterranean Sea. Some of them contain residues of food, such as olive pits and fish bones, but the vast majority of them are discovered empty and unmarked. Foley says historians tend to assume that these containers were used mainly to transport wine — in a survey of 27 peer-reviewed studies describing 5,860 amphorae, he found that 95% of the jars were described as having carried the beverage.
The new research found evidence for many things besides wine, illustrating again the dangers of assuming anything in science.
The scattered remains of Comet Elenin will pass the Earth on Sunday, 22 million miles away
Chicken Little was wrong again! The scattered remains of Comet Elenin will pass the Earth, on Sunday, 22 million miles away.
Chicken Little was wrong again! The scattered remains of Comet Elenin will pass the Earth, on Sunday, 22 million miles away.
Europe has invited Russia to join the US/ESA ExoMars mission as full partner
Lacking sufficient funds, Europe has invited Russia to join the US/ESA ExoMars program as full partner.
Lacking sufficient funds, Europe has invited Russia to join the US/ESA ExoMars program as full partner.
The man who created Unix, Dennis Richie, has died
Twenty-three Indian Ocean nations test their own tsumani warning system
Twenty-three Indian Ocean nations successful tested their own tsumani warning system on Wednesday.
Twenty-three Indian Ocean nations successful tested their own tsumani warning system on Wednesday.
Robot Gas Attendants Could Keep Old Satellites Chugging
Robot gas attendants could keep old satellites chugging.
MDA has a contract, and a good design. If they succeed in refueling an old communications satellite with a robot, it will be fundamentally change the launch industry. If satellites don’t have to be replaced as often, there will less need for launches, reducing the demand for rockets.
Robot gas attendants could keep old satellites chugging.
MDA has a contract, and a good design. If they succeed in refueling an old communications satellite with a robot, it will be fundamentally change the launch industry. If satellites don’t have to be replaced as often, there will less need for launches, reducing the demand for rockets.
An archeology discovery in Africa suggests that Stone Age humans had an understanding of basic chemistry
An archeology discovery in Africa suggests that Stone Age humans had an understanding of some basic but complicated chemistry.
Archaeologists have found evidence that, as long ago as 100,000 years, people used a specific recipe to create a mixture based on the iron-rich ochre pigment. The findings, published in the journal Science, “push back by 20,000 or 30,000 years” the evidence for when Homo sapiens evolved complex cognition, says Christopher Henshilwood of the universities of Bergen in Norway and Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, who led the work. “This isn’t just a chance mixture, it is early chemistry. It suggests conceptual and probably cognitive abilities which are the equivalent of modern humans,” he says.
An archeology discovery in Africa suggests that Stone Age humans had an understanding of some basic but complicated chemistry.
Archaeologists have found evidence that, as long ago as 100,000 years, people used a specific recipe to create a mixture based on the iron-rich ochre pigment. The findings, published in the journal Science, “push back by 20,000 or 30,000 years” the evidence for when Homo sapiens evolved complex cognition, says Christopher Henshilwood of the universities of Bergen in Norway and Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, who led the work. “This isn’t just a chance mixture, it is early chemistry. It suggests conceptual and probably cognitive abilities which are the equivalent of modern humans,” he says.
Amateur astronomers discover near Earth asteroid
Amateur astronomers discover near Earth asteroid.
Amateur astronomers discover near Earth asteroid.
Space News suggests Congress use the billions for NASA’s heavy-lift rocket to fund JWST
In an editorial yesterday Space News suggested that Congress use the billions it is allocating for NASA’s heavy-lift rocket to fund the James Webb Space Telescope instead.
This is not surprising. Webb already has a strong constiuency (astronomers, the public) while the Space Launch System has little support outside of Congress and the specific aerospace contractors who want the work. With tight budgets as far as the eye can see into the future, and the likelihood that Congress is going to become more fiscal conservative after the next election, it would not shock me in the slightest if SLS gets eliminated and the money is given to Webb. And if the SpaceX and Orbital Sciences cargo missions to ISS go well then cutting SLS would almost be a certainty, as this success would demonstrate that these private companies should be able to replace SLS for a tenth of the cost.
And I also think this would be a much wiser use of the taxpayers money.
In an editorial yesterday Space News suggested that Congress use the billions it is allocating for NASA’s heavy-lift rocket to fund the James Webb Space Telescope instead.
This is not surprising. Webb already has a strong constiuency (astronomers, the public) while the Space Launch System has little support outside of Congress and the specific aerospace contractors who want the work. With tight budgets as far as the eye can see into the future, and the likelihood that Congress is going to become more fiscal conservative after the next election, it would not shock me in the slightest if SLS gets eliminated and the money is given to Webb. And if the SpaceX and Orbital Sciences cargo missions to ISS go well then cutting SLS would almost be a certainty, as this success would demonstrate that these private companies should be able to replace SLS for a tenth of the cost.
And I also think this would be a much wiser use of the taxpayers money.
India puts four satellites in orbit with one rocket
Success for India: Its PSLV rocket yesterday lifted four satellites into orbit.
Success for India: Its PSLV rocket yesterday lifted four satellites into orbit.