Thousands of previously unknown tombs in Saudi Desert spotted from space
Thousands of previously unknown ruins in Saudi Desert spotted from space.
Tag: engineering
Russian spacewalk finishes early
Meanwhile, up on ISS two Russians have successfully completed a five hour spacewalk, getting all their work done early.
Europe’s ISS freighter launches successfully
Europe’s second ISS freighter, dubbed Johannes Kepler, launched successfully today.
Why more railroad subsidies make no sense
Why high-speed rail makes no sense. Key quote:
High-speed rail would transform Amtrak’s small drain [on the government] into a much larger drain. Once built, high-speed rail systems would face a dilemma. To recoup initial capital costs — construction and train purchases — ticket prices would have to be set so high that few people would choose rail. But lower prices, even with favorable passenger loads, might not cover costs. Government would be stuck with huge subsidies. Even without recovering capital costs, high-speed rail systems would probably run in the red. Most mass-transit systems, despite high ridership, routinely have deficits.
The next flight of the Chinese manned spacecraft could last three weeks
China on the march! The next flight of their Shenzhou manned spacecraft could be a three week unmanned mission designed to test rendezvous and docking with their soon-to-launch Tiangong 1 space laboratory.
The delay in the launch of the European cargo ship could delay the next Shuttle launch
The delay yesterday of the launch of the European cargo ship to ISS might also delay the next Shuttle launch.
The great wind scam
The great wind scam. Key quote:
“With demand for power at record levels because of the freezing weather, there have been days when the contribution of our forests of wind turbines has been precisely nothing,” wrote Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail Dec. 27. “It gets better,” Mr. Littlejohn continued. “As the temperature has plummeted, the turbines have had to be heated to prevent them from seizing up. Consequently, they have been consuming more electricity than they generate.”
Florida Governor Joins Two More in Rejecting Federal High-Speed Rail Spending
The governor of Florida has joined two states in rejecting Obama’s proposed $53 billion federal high-speed rail program.
Australian space beer ready for micro-gravity test
Australian space beer ready for micro-gravity test.
Computer Crushes the Competition on ‘Jeopardy!’
The computer has crushed the human champions in the second of three rounds of “Jeopardy!”
The launch of Europe’s freighter to ISS delayed one day
The launch of Europe’s freighter to ISS was scrubbed today. They will try again tomorrow.
Stardust images of comet locate crater from Deep Impact’s impact
More news from Stardust: scientists have now identified what they think is the crater produced by Deep Impact’s impact in 2005. Key quote:
The images revealed a 150-metre-wide crater at the Deep Impact collision point that was not present in 2005. The crater is a subtle feature in the images, but it appears consistently in multiple views from the spacecraft. “So I feel very confident that we did find the [impact] site,” said mission member Peter Schultz of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, at a press briefing on Tuesday. The crater’s features are “subdued” rather than sharply defined, like those of craters made in hard materials like rock. “The message is: This surface of the comet where we hit is very weak,” said Schultz. The crater also has a small mound in its middle, indicating that some of the material thrown up by the impact was drawn by the comet’s gravity back down into the crater, he said: “In a way, it partly buried itself.”