The Internet Cat Video Film Festival.
“It’s the spending, stupid.”
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, any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"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
Scientists find out what makes a stinky rock stink.
From Virgin Galactic come two announcements today
The competition heats up: From Virgin Galactic come two announcements today:
- Richard Branson and family will be the first tourists to fly on SpaceShipTwo.
- They are developing an orbital launcher to work with WhiteKnightTwo capable of putting 500 pounds in orbit.
The second is really the big news, especially as it appears they already have some customers.
LauncherOne will be a two-stage vehicle capable of carrying up to 500 pounds (225 kilograms) to orbit for prices below $10 million. The rocket will be launched from Virgin Galactic’s proven WhiteKnightTwo, the uniquely capable aircraft also designed to carry SpaceShipTwo aloft to begin her suborbital missions. Thanks to the extreme flexibility of air launch, Virgin Galactic’s customers will enjoy reduced infrastructure costs in addition to the wide range of possible launch locations tailored to individual mission requirements and weather conditions. Branson and other senior executives announced that work has already begun on the vehicle.
The competition heats up: From Virgin Galactic come two announcements today:
- Richard Branson and family will be the first tourists to fly on SpaceShipTwo.
- They are developing an orbital launcher to work with WhiteKnightTwo capable of putting 500 pounds in orbit.
The second is really the big news, especially as it appears they already have some customers.
LauncherOne will be a two-stage vehicle capable of carrying up to 500 pounds (225 kilograms) to orbit for prices below $10 million. The rocket will be launched from Virgin Galactic’s proven WhiteKnightTwo, the uniquely capable aircraft also designed to carry SpaceShipTwo aloft to begin her suborbital missions. Thanks to the extreme flexibility of air launch, Virgin Galactic’s customers will enjoy reduced infrastructure costs in addition to the wide range of possible launch locations tailored to individual mission requirements and weather conditions. Branson and other senior executives announced that work has already begun on the vehicle.
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.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“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.
Hubble has discovered a fifth moon orbiting Pluto.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope astronomers have discovered a fifth moon orbiting Pluto.
Five moons, eh? That’s pretty good for something that isn’t supposed to be a planet.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope astronomers have discovered a fifth moon orbiting Pluto.
Five moons, eh? That’s pretty good for something that isn’t supposed to be a planet.
Five rifles for the end of times.
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.
Winner of the 2003 Eugene M. Emme Award of the American Astronautical Society.
"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
Another California city, San Bernardino, has decided to declare bankruptcy.
The day of reckoning looms: Another California city, San Bernardino, has decided to declare bankruptcy.
The day of reckoning looms: Another California city, San Bernardino, has decided to declare bankruptcy.
Suzi Quatro – Can The Can
India is in the process of biometrically identifying every one of it 1.2 billion citizens.
Orwell would be proud: India is in the process of biometrically identifying every one of it 1.2 billion citizens.
Orwell would be proud: India is in the process of biometrically identifying every one of it 1.2 billion citizens.
Cassini has now seen the beginnings of a vortex over Titan’s south pole, the first sign that winter is coming to the planet’s southern hemisphere.
Turn, turn, turn: Cassini has now seen the beginnings of a vortex over Titan’s south pole, the first sign that winter is coming to the planet’s southern hemisphere.
Turn, turn, turn: Cassini has now seen the beginnings of a vortex over Titan’s south pole, the first sign that winter is coming to the planet’s southern hemisphere.
The Democratic candidate for Secretary of State of Missouri claims that no Jews were killed on 9/11, while also suggesting that Jews were involved in the attack itself.
The modern Democratic Party: The Democratic candidate for Secretary of State of Missouri claims that no Jews were killed on 9/11, while also suggesting that Jews were involved in the attack itself.
“Why [was] 9/11 was a official holiday for all Jewish people who worked in the the WTC?” Alam said in a discussion titled, “Was 9/11 a conspiracy??”
Asked earlier this week about this statement, Alam reaffirmed his position. “My question was, ‘What’s the reason not a single Jew was killed on that day,’” Alam said, according to the Washington Free Beacon. “Was there a single Jew killed on that day?”
Gee, I wonder what he would say to these people?
The modern Democratic Party: The Democratic candidate for Secretary of State of Missouri claims that no Jews were killed on 9/11, while also suggesting that Jews were involved in the attack itself.
“Why [was] 9/11 was a official holiday for all Jewish people who worked in the the WTC?” Alam said in a discussion titled, “Was 9/11 a conspiracy??”
Asked earlier this week about this statement, Alam reaffirmed his position. “My question was, ‘What’s the reason not a single Jew was killed on that day,’” Alam said, according to the Washington Free Beacon. “Was there a single Jew killed on that day?”
Gee, I wonder what he would say to these people?
An indoor climbing wall that never ends.
The number of Democrats in the House willing to join the Republicans to vote for repeal of Obamacare appears to be growing.
This is good: The number of Democrats in the House willing to join the Republicans to vote for repeal of Obamacare appears to be growing.
This is good: The number of Democrats in the House willing to join the Republicans to vote for repeal of Obamacare appears to be growing.
The glaciers of the Karakoram Range in the Himalayas are not shrinking as predicted, according to satellite data.
The uncertainty of science: The glaciers of the Karakoram Range in the Himalayas are not shrinking as predicted, according to satellite data.
The uncertainty of science: The glaciers of the Karakoram Range in the Himalayas are not shrinking as predicted, according to satellite data.
The rise and fall of Germany’s solar power industry.
A campaign in England to reform that country’s libel laws.
The Russian company building that country’s Glonass GPS system is under investigation by the police for the embezzlement of more than a half billion rubles.
The Russian company building that country’s Glonass GPS system is under investigation by the police for the embezzlement of more than a half billion rubles.
The Russian company building that country’s Glonass GPS system is under investigation by the police for the embezzlement of more than a half billion rubles.
A student experiment that was successfully flown up and down to ISS by Dragon is apparently a failure because no one on ISS ever turned it on.
A student experiment — successfully flown up and down to ISS by Dragon — is apparently a failure because no one on ISS ever turned it on.
Per instructions from NanoRacks, the Houston company that works with NASA to integrate such deliveries, Warren packed his worms, or C. elegans, into a glass ampule, or tube, then packed that tube into a larger one containing a liquid “growth medium” for the worms. An astronaut aboard the space station was to crack the outer ampule in a way that would release the worms into the surrounding liquid. It never happened.
The article is very diplomatic about this, but it is very clear that either the astronauts on ISS screwed up, or NASA did by not giving them clear instructions.
A student experiment — successfully flown up and down to ISS by Dragon — is apparently a failure because no one on ISS ever turned it on.
Per instructions from NanoRacks, the Houston company that works with NASA to integrate such deliveries, Warren packed his worms, or C. elegans, into a glass ampule, or tube, then packed that tube into a larger one containing a liquid “growth medium” for the worms. An astronaut aboard the space station was to crack the outer ampule in a way that would release the worms into the surrounding liquid. It never happened.
The article is very diplomatic about this, but it is very clear that either the astronauts on ISS screwed up, or NASA did by not giving them clear instructions.
I’m farming and I grow it
A survey of doctors nationwide has found that 83% have considered abandoning the practice of medicine due to Obamacare.
Repeal the damn thing! A survey of doctors nationwide has found that 83% have considered abandoning the practice of medicine due to Obamacare.
Repeal the damn thing! A survey of doctors nationwide has found that 83% have considered abandoning the practice of medicine due to Obamacare.
Cassini has shifted its orbit so that it can look down on Saturn and its rings.
A hotel for stargazers
The fizzle continues
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center today posted its monthly update of the ongoing sunspot cycle of the Sun. As I do every month, I am posting this graph, which you can see below the fold.
» Read more
Life before air conditioning.
“Christianity should be destroyed and wiped from the face of the earth.”
New research suggests that — despite its known bad effects — weightlessness might actually slow the aging process.
New research suggests that — despite its known bad effects — weightlessness might actually slow the aging process.
Don’t jump into that spaceship yet! The research was done on worms, and is to put it mildly very preliminary. Moreover, none of the results change anything regarding the serious loss of bone density and the weakening of the muscles and cardiovascular system caused by weightlessness.
New research suggests that — despite its known bad effects — weightlessness might actually slow the aging process.
Don’t jump into that spaceship yet! The research was done on worms, and is to put it mildly very preliminary. Moreover, none of the results change anything regarding the serious loss of bone density and the weakening of the muscles and cardiovascular system caused by weightlessness.
New research has apparently disproven the Mono Lake research that suggested that arsenic might replace phosphorus as one of the basic building blocks of life.
The uncertainty of science: New research has apparently disproven the Mono Lake research that suggested that arsenic might replace phosphorus as one of the basic building blocks of life.
The uncertainty of science: New research has apparently disproven the Mono Lake research that suggested that arsenic might replace phosphorus as one of the basic building blocks of life.
Human ingenuity at its best.
Daffy Duck – What makes Daffy Duck?
National Park Service is proposing the removal of several historic bridges in Yosemite because they interfere with water flow, according to environmentalists.
The National Park Service is proposing the removal of several historic bridges in Yosemite because they interfere with water flow, according to environmentalists.
Look, why don’t they simply admit it: They really want don’t want any humans to visit these parks, and simply outlaw them all? That way, the job of the National Park Service will be so much easier: They — and their environmentalist buddies — will finally have the park to themselves to play in without being bothered by all those disgusting American citizens.
The National Park Service is proposing the removal of several historic bridges in Yosemite because they interfere with water flow, according to environmentalists.
Look, why don’t they simply admit it: They really want don’t want any humans to visit these parks, and simply outlaw them all? That way, the job of the National Park Service will be so much easier: They — and their environmentalist buddies — will finally have the park to themselves to play in without being bothered by all those disgusting American citizens.