Points of Information – Page 838 – Behind The Black

Two predictions of the next solar maximum

August 3, 2010 9:21 am Robert Zimmerman

Two new predictions of the upcoming solar maximum were published today on the Los Alamos astro-ph preprint webpage. Both call for a weak solar maximum, with one expecting a sunspot number of 92 at maximum while the other predicting a number of 72.

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Muslim outreach by NASA

August 3, 2010 8:59 am Robert Zimmerman

Three citizens of the United Arab Emirates are now the first non-American citizens to train at the NASA Ames Research Center, with more to come, suggesting that NASA Administrator Charles Bolden really meant it when he said his foremost priority was Muslim outreach.

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Newsweek sale summary

August 3, 2010 8:51 am Robert Zimmerman

Ed Driscoll has an excellent summary outlining the sale of Newsweek to the husband of Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-California). Fun quote from headline: Washington Post Unloads Newsweek for $1; Buyer Clearly Overpaid

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Repair spacewalk scheduled

August 3, 2010 8:39 am Robert Zimmerman

The first spacewalk to replace the pump module on ISS and thus fix on of the station’s two cooling system is now scheduled for Friday at 6:55 (EDT).

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Frog counts flawed?

August 2, 2010 11:48 pm Robert Zimmerman

Scientists have found that the methods used to measure frog populations in the U.S. might be flawed, producing many more false positives than expected and thereby overestimating the populations.

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NASA shuts down website

August 2, 2010 7:50 am Robert Zimmerman

Talk about stupid: It seems the legal eagles at NASA have shut down a website that featured a variety of webcams, showing NASA missions.

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Met office report

August 2, 2010 12:06 am Robert Zimmerman

The Met Office in the United Kingdom has issued a report on the state of the climate. In it they state unequivocally that the “world is warming”. Unfortunately, the report fails to address the questions that have been raised about much of the existing climate data, following the climategate scandal.

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Largest known Roman canal discovered

August 1, 2010 11:27 pm Robert Zimmerman

Archeologists have discovered the largest Roman canal ever built at the mouth of the Tiber river.

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Closing out debate on climate

August 1, 2010 10:35 pm Robert Zimmerman

It appears that McCarthyism and the blacklist are both alive and well, thriving happily in the field of climate research. Key quote:

It is disturbing, to say the least, that organisations and persons who would be quick to claim professional status consider that it is their current duty to disparage, or to refuse to debate with, or to muzzle scientists whose views on climate change they apparently disagree with.

Read the whole article.

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ISS cooling system failure

August 1, 2010 10:18 pm Robert Zimmerman

More on that failure of the cooling system on ISS. It appears that NASA is gearing up to send two astronauts out for up to two spacewalks to try to fix the problem.

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CME heading to Earth

August 1, 2010 10:14 pm Robert Zimmerman

Duck! The Sun has unleashed a coronal mass ejection towards the Earth.

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Elites vs everyone else

August 1, 2010 10:18 am Robert Zimmerman

War between the elites of our society and everyone else. Key quote:

If this election has a theme, it’s going to be the rejection of the elites and a return to a form of populism with a long streak in American history — the demand of citizens to their government to get the hell out of their lives.

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China launches 5th satellite in its own GPS system

August 1, 2010 10:11 am Robert Zimmerman

China successfully launches the fifth satellite in its own GPS system.

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Cooling system failure on ISS

August 1, 2010 10:09 am Robert Zimmerman

A failure in the cooling system on the International Space Station yesterday has forced the astronauts to shut down some of their systems while ground control troubleshoots the situation.

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Undersea adventure by robots

August 1, 2010 9:54 am Robert Zimmerman

Undersea adventure by robot. An unmanned probe completed its first dive beneath the Arctic ice this week.

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Burt Rutan on future of space

August 1, 2010 1:19 am Robert Zimmerman

At an airshow on Thursday, July 29, in Oskosh, Wisconsin, Burt Rutan, designer of SpaceShipOne, made some interesting remarks about the past and future of private space flight. Key quote:

Rutan said NASA should give 10 to 15 percent of its budget to new space companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX without regulating how to spend the money. “That would allow them to not (have to) beg for commercial investment, while still working in an entrepreneurial mode.”

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The winds of Titan

July 31, 2010 10:09 pm Robert Zimmerman

Scientists are beginning to unravel the wind patterns on Titan.

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Spirit appears dead

July 31, 2010 9:52 pm Robert Zimmerman

After more than six years, it appears that the Mars rover Spirit has finally died. The rover was originally designed to only operate 90 days.

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Who are the racists?

July 30, 2010 5:48 pm Robert Zimmerman

Who are the racists? Readers (and one former editor) respond with dismay because Essence magazine has hired a fashion editor who happens to be white.

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Paperwork nightmare of healthcare

July 30, 2010 5:28 pm Robert Zimmerman

Law of unintended consequences strikes again. The new healthcare law has a provision, unrelated to healthcare, that involves a paperwork nightmare for small businesses.

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Steny Hoyer and taxes

July 30, 2010 2:48 pm Robert Zimmerman

A political note: my Congressman happens to be Steny Hoyer, who waxed poetic recently about taxes and the coming expiration of the Bush tax cuts. Hopefully, this man will free Hoyer from such concerns.

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House bill stalled?

July 30, 2010 2:32 pm Robert Zimmerman

The space war over NASA continues. The pushback from commercial space advocates and industry proponents seems to be having an effect. House aides have indicated that the House NASA authorization bill will not be voted on until September.

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Hayabusa on display

July 30, 2010 9:22 am Robert Zimmerman

The Japanese space agency JAXA has put Hayabusa’s heat shield, outer capsule, and parachute on public display, to large crowds.

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The non-face on Mars

July 30, 2010 9:19 am Robert Zimmerman

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter takes a picture of the non-face on Mars.

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Foust reports on space war

July 29, 2010 2:17 pm Robert Zimmerman

The space war continues. Jeff Foust has two reports today on the political state of NASA’s budget. First, Congress has approved language that requires continuing funding of Constellation. Second, it looks like the House may vote on the new NASA authorization bill this week.

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Opportunity sees its first dust devil

July 29, 2010 10:35 am Robert Zimmerman

The Mars rover Opportunity has spotted its first dust devil after six-plus years of travel.

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Themis satellites transferred to Moon

July 28, 2010 7:50 pm Robert Zimmerman

Two NASA probes, originally launched to study the Sun and having completed their mission, have had their orbits adjusted so that they can study the Moon instead.

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Images show water ice?

July 28, 2010 7:45 pm Robert Zimmerman

Radar images from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter appear to show deposits of approximately 1.6 trillion pounds of water ice on the Moon.

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Layoff notices in Florida

July 27, 2010 9:03 pm Robert Zimmerman

The United Space Alliance, which runs shuttle operations for NASA at Cape Canaveral, has announced layoffs roughly 900 effective October 1. Key quote: “Local workforce officials expect that up to 8,000 KSC employees could lose jobs by the time the shuttle program ends.”

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Wolf says NASA budget passage bleak

July 27, 2010 8:59 pm Robert Zimmerman

The space war continues. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Va) of the House Appropriations committee says that there is little chance the NASA budget will be approved until January.

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