Seven sound recordings made before Thomas Edison.
Seven sound recordings made before Thomas Edison.
Seven sound recordings made before Thomas Edison.
Tag: history
Seven sound recordings made before Thomas Edison.
Mr. Smith goes to Washington filibuster
An evening pause: In honor of Rand Paul’s filibuster today, let’s watch Jimmy Stewart perform a movie filibuster from the (1939) movie, Mr. Smith goes to Washington.
As Mr. Smith says, “Somebody will listen to me.”
A sunstone, used by mariners to judge the position of the Sun when it is cloudy, has been found at a 16th century shipwreck.
A sunstone, used by mariners to judge the position of the Sun when it is cloudy, has been found at a 16th century shipwreck.
A previous study showed that calcite crystals reveal the patterns of polarized light around the sun and, therefore, could have been used to determine its position in the sky even on cloudy days. That led researchers to believe these crystals, which are commonly found in Iceland and other parts of Scandinavia, might have been the powerful “sunstones” referred to in Norse legends, but they had no archaeological evidence to support their hypothesis—until now.
A sunstone, used by mariners to judge the position of the Sun when it is cloudy, has been found at a 16th century shipwreck.
A previous study showed that calcite crystals reveal the patterns of polarized light around the sun and, therefore, could have been used to determine its position in the sky even on cloudy days. That led researchers to believe these crystals, which are commonly found in Iceland and other parts of Scandinavia, might have been the powerful “sunstones” referred to in Norse legends, but they had no archaeological evidence to support their hypothesis—until now.
New research concludes that it was a static electric spark that set fire to the Hindenberg in 1937.
New research concludes that it was a static electric spark that set fire to the Hindenberg in 1937.
New research concludes that it was a static electric spark that set fire to the Hindenberg in 1937.
Proof that cats have been walking on important stuff for basically forever.
Funny: Proof that cats have been walking on important stuff for basically forever.
Funny: Proof that cats have been walking on important stuff for basically forever.
The House yesterday voted to rename the Dryden Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong.
Don’t they have better things to do ? The House yesterday voted to rename the Dryden Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong.
As I noted previously, I disagree strongly with this action. To honor Armstrong properly we should name something really important after him. But it is shameless and wrong to steal the honor from Hugh Dryden in doing so. Armstrong, a modest and honorable man, would have surely protested this action himself.
Don’t they have better things to do ? The House yesterday voted to rename the Dryden Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong.
As I noted previously, I disagree strongly with this action. To honor Armstrong properly we should name something really important after him. But it is shameless and wrong to steal the honor from Hugh Dryden in doing so. Armstrong, a modest and honorable man, would have surely protested this action himself.
The man who taught the air forces of the world how to fly.
The man who taught the air forces of the world how to fly.
The man who taught the air forces of the world how to fly.
William Travis’ letter of defiance returns to the Alamo.
“I shall never surrender or retreat.” William Travis’ letter of defiance returns to the Alamo.
“I shall never surrender or retreat.” William Travis’ letter of defiance returns to the Alamo.
George Washington’s Farewell Address
An evening pause: In honor of George Washington’s birthday, here is his farewell speech, in which he outlined his advice for the citizens of this country to sustain a free America into a long and prosperous future.
The wisdom of these words is astonishing. More so is their predictive quality. Washington knew, possibly better than anyone, the greatest risks that threatened liberty. Woe to us all if we choose to ignore his warnings.
The microfilmed miniature bibles that flew to the moon during Apollo have become the center of a custody dispute between the state of Texas and the author who wrote their history.
The microfilmed miniature bibles that flew to the moon during Apollo have become the center of a custody dispute between the state of Texas and the author who wrote their history.
The microfilmed miniature bibles that flew to the moon during Apollo have become the center of a custody dispute between the state of Texas and the author who wrote their history.
The abandoned calibration targets used by surveillance satellites of the 1960s.
The abandoned calibration targets used by surveillance satellites of the 1960s.
“There are dozens of aerial photo calibration targets across the USA,” the Center for Land Use Interpretation reports, “curious land-based two-dimensional optical artifacts used for the development of aerial photography and aircraft. They were made mostly in the 1950s and 1960s, though some apparently later than that, and many are still in use, though their history is obscure.”
The abandoned calibration targets used by surveillance satellites of the 1960s.
“There are dozens of aerial photo calibration targets across the USA,” the Center for Land Use Interpretation reports, “curious land-based two-dimensional optical artifacts used for the development of aerial photography and aircraft. They were made mostly in the 1950s and 1960s, though some apparently later than that, and many are still in use, though their history is obscure.”
Abraham Lincoln – a tribute on his birthday
The HOAs of Israel
What is a West Bank settlement? If you read the press, it is a place where Israeli Jews have moved in and stolen the land of Arabs in order to occupy their land unfairly. It is a place where Arabs are forbidden, where apartheid has been established against the indigenous population.
Not only are these statements false, they actually turn reality on its head.
In my two visits to Israel I have stayed or visited four different West Bank settlements, and in each place my first impression was that I was visiting a typical American gated community, a suburban community run by a home-owner-association (HOA). You enter by driving through a gate where an attendant waves at you as you go by. He doesn’t stop you, because he either knows you or he has profiled you and sees no reason to ask you any questions. Once inside the roads wind about, passing individual homes or apartments. At the center of the community is a recreation center, often with a pool and library, where events are held and people go for entertainment.
The gated community of Alon Shvut, south of Jerusalem in the West Bank.
Kodak’s test footage of some of its earliest full color Kodachrome film, shot in 1922.
A glimpse into the past: Kodak’s early test footage for full color Kodachrome film, shot in 1922.
A glimpse into the past: Kodak’s early test footage for full color Kodachrome film, shot in 1922.
Some beautiful color images from World War II America.
Some beautiful color images from World War II America.
Many of these images were staged, but some were not. All give a good feel for what life was like during the war.
Some beautiful color images from World War II America.
Many of these images were staged, but some were not. All give a good feel for what life was like during the war.
The House passed legislation Monday proposing to rename the Dryden Flight Research Center in California after Neil Armstrong.
Don’t they have better things to do? The House passed legislation Monday proposing to rename the Dryden Flight Research Center in California after Neil Armstrong.
As much as I think Armstrong should be honored in as many ways as possible, it seems cheap and inappropriate to take the honor away from Hugh Dryden, whose work helped make Armstrong’s lunar mission possible. Moreover, Armstrong, being a very modest man himself, would likely be quite appalled by any action that would rob someone else of a memorial in order to give it to him.
Don’t they have better things to do? The House passed legislation Monday proposing to rename the Dryden Flight Research Center in California after Neil Armstrong.
As much as I think Armstrong should be honored in as many ways as possible, it seems cheap and inappropriate to take the honor away from Hugh Dryden, whose work helped make Armstrong’s lunar mission possible. Moreover, Armstrong, being a very modest man himself, would likely be quite appalled by any action that would rob someone else of a memorial in order to give it to him.
What the future was supposed to be like
What the future was supposed to be like.
What the future was supposed to be like.
The nine most important archeological and paleontological discoveries in 2012.
The nine most important archeological and paleontological discoveries in 2012.
I especially like #8, since it involves an actual person.
The nine most important archeological and paleontological discoveries in 2012.
I especially like #8, since it involves an actual person.
Vi Hart – What was up with Pythagoras?
Katherine Jenkins – Requiem for a Soldier
An evening pause: On this anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I give thanks to the past generation that gave me freedom.
I wish you’d lived to see
All you gave to me
Your shining dream of hope and love
Life and libertyWe are all one great band of brothers
And one day you’ll see – we can live together
When all the world is free.
William Butler Yeats – The Second Coming
An evening pause: In memory to the 20,000 or so violent attacks committed by Islamic radical since September 11, 2001, I think this poem by William Butler Yeats is appropriate. Written it 1920, it somehow sensed the the coming conflict.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
On the road
I am off to Ames, Iowa, today where I will be giving a lecture tomorrow at Iowa State University to the Iowa section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The subject: Predicting the future of space travel based on the past.
I am off to Ames, Iowa, today where I will be giving a lecture tomorrow at Iowa State University to the Iowa section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The subject: Predicting the future of space travel based on the past.
Why state regulation is better than federal regulation
In response to my condemnation of the insane requirement by Obamacare that restaurants and take-out pizza delivery services publicly post on their menus the calorie count for every item, including a calorie count for each of the literally thousands of topping variations for pizzas, regular reader Patrick Ritchie asked me, “What level of super market labeling would you support?”
I replied, “I think the federal government has no business requiring any labeling at all. This is a state matter, pure and simple, both for practical and Constitutional reasons.”
He responded, “Which practical reasons? I’m genuinely curious. What makes a state regulation inherently better than a federal one?”
My response to this last question was quite long, and after reading it Patrick suggested I elevate the comment into a full headlined post. I have decided to do so. Here is what I wrote, edited slightly for clarity:
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A tour of the escape bunker under the Apollo launchpad.
A tour of the escape bunker under the Apollo launchpad. With some great images.
A tour of the escape bunker under the Apollo launchpad. With some great images.
An exhumation of the body of Danish astronomy Tycho Brahe has proven he was not murdered.
An exhumation of the body of Danish astronomy Tycho Brahe has proven he was not murdered as speculated by some.
An exhumation of the body of Danish astronomy Tycho Brahe has proven he was not murdered as speculated by some.
The discovery of volcanoes on Io
On March 8, 1979, as Voyager 1 was speeding away from Jupiter after its historic flyby of the gas giant three days earlier, it looked back at the planet and took some navigational images. Linda Morabito, one of the engineers in charge of using these navigational images to make sure the spacecraft was on its planned course, took one look at the image on the right, an overexposed image of the moon Io, and decided that it had captured something very unusual. On the limb of the moon was this strange shape that at first glance looked like another moon partly hidden behind Io. She and her fellow engineers immediately realized that this was not possible, and that the object was probably a plume coming up from the surface of Io. To their glee, they had taken the first image of an eruption of active volcano on another world!
Today, on the astro-ph preprint website, Morabito has published a minute-by-minute account of that discovery. It makes for fascinating reading, partly because the discovery was so exciting and unique, partly because it illustrated starkly the human nature of science research, and partly because of the amazing circumstances of that discovery. Only one week before, scientists has predicted active volcanism on Io in a paper published in the journal Science. To quote her abstract:
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SpaceOps is looking for funding to build its private spacecraft modeled after the American Gemini capsule.
Got money to invest? SpaceOps is looking for funds to build its private spacecraft modeled after the American Gemini capsule.
The idea is a good one, as the Gemini capsule was quite capable. Getting almost $100 million from crowd-sourcing however is going to be very tough.
Got money to invest? SpaceOps is looking for funds to build its private spacecraft modeled after the American Gemini capsule.
The idea is a good one, as the Gemini capsule was quite capable. Getting almost $100 million from crowd-sourcing however is going to be very tough.
Katherine Jenkins – Hymn to the Fallen
The Hunchback of Notre Dame – God Help the Outcasts
An evening pause: On this day, the 74th anniversary of the start of Krystalnacht in Germany, some appropriate and beautiful music from the animated film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).