We’re here to help you: Last week the federal government abandoned more than a century of precedent to declare it holds senior water rights across much of Arizona’s San Pedro River riparian watershed.
For some additional background, see this story.
The uncertainty of science: Scientists have discovered that the half life of one of their key isotopes for dating the age of the solar system is 30% shorter than previously believed.
The main result of the work of the international scientists, detailed in a recent article in Science, is a new determination of the half-life of 146Sm, previously adopted as 103 million years, to a much shorter value of 68 million years. The shorter half-life value, like a clock ticking faster, has the effect of shrinking the assessed chronology of events in the early solar system and in planetary differentiation into a shorter time span.
The new time scale, interestingly, is now consistent with a recent and precise dating made on a lunar rock and is in better agreement with the dating obtained with other chronometers. The measurement of the half-life of 146Sm, performed over several years by the collaborators, involved the use of the ATLAS particle accelerator at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
An evening pause: Billboard named this song the 20th sexiest of all time in 2010.
A special issue from Nature: Peopling the planet.
I haven’t yet had time to read this special issue, but it will certainly be fascinating, as it apparently summarizes the most current knowledge scientists have about the manner and timing of the human migration of the entire surface of the Earth. Overall, it appears that this migration took place sooner and faster than previously believed. Definitely worth a read.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. All editions can also be purchased direct from the ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from the author (hardback $29.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $6.00). Just send an email to zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
Ground-based astronomy moves forward: The Department of Energy has approved the start of detailed engineering for the camera on the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.
I have to admit, I am puzzled why the Department of Energy is involved in this. Government funding for ground-based telescopes normally comes from the National Science Foundation.
Europe has decided to build a probe to study Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, Jupiter’s big icy moons.
Known as JUICE, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, the probe will enter orbit around the gas giant planet in 2030 for a series of flybys of Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. JUICE will brake into orbit around Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, in 2032 for at least one year of close-up research.
Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, can be purchased as an ebook everywhere for only $3.99 (before discount) at amazon, Barnes & Noble, all ebook vendors, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big oppressive tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
"Leaving Earth is one of the best and certainly the most comprehensive summary of our drive into space that I have ever read. It will be invaluable to future scholars because it will tell them how the next chapter of human history opened." -- Arthur C. Clarke
The destruction of a star by a black hole, seen by astronomers for the first time.
The battle to simplify and ease the United State”s international trade laws heats up.
Want to find something different? Use a search engine that intentionally skips the top million results.
The uncertainty of science: A new study has found that the trends of stream temperatures have no correlation with climate trends.
The competition continues to heat up: Europe considers building its own reusable suborbital space plane.
The test flight of Falcon 9/Dragon to ISS will almost certainly not launch on May 7.
It appears they need more time to assess the results of the static engine test on Monday.
An evening pause:
Some reasonable and unreasonable theories for what the X-37B is doing in orbit.
This happened in Michigan and was instigated by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). And now the police and CAIR are being sued because of it.
Want to relive history? An Australian billionaire is building a full scale replica of the Titanic.
When fully built, the Titanic II will be 270 meters (886 feet) long and capable of holding 1,680 passengers. By modern standards, this is actually fairly small for a cruise ship, especially when compared to newer passenger liners like the behemoth Oasis of the Seas, which measures 360 meters (1,180 feet) long and can hold 5,400 guests.
The Titanic II is set to make the same maiden voyage as the original, traveling from England to New York, by late 2016.
Private companies do have the right to mine the asteroids, established by precedent. Hat tip Clark Lindsey.
An evening pause: The 1984 Grammy performance.
