All posts by Rand Simberg

Space

A Close Shave

A thirty-meter-diameter asteroid is going to pass within twenty-five thousand miles of the planet this afternoon (America time).

That is very close–about a fifth of the distance to the moon and well inside its orbit. A few thousand miles lower, and it could take out a geostationary satellite. If it were to hit land, it might leave a scar something like this.

And of course, like all bad things that happen, it will be Bush’s fault.

I took the picture Tuesday on a flight from Fort Lauderdale to LA, over Winslow, Arizona. The crater is almost a mile in diameter and about a two and a half miles in circumference. When it hit, back during the Pleistocene, it probably wiped out all life for many miles around. You can read more about it here.

Just another reminder that we have to start paying attention to these things.

[Update at 1:20 PM PST]

Clayton Cramer has more details.

General

Music of Erin

I would be remiss on St. Patrick’s Day if I didn’t point out my favorite Irish band, Altan.

They’re traditional, yet they have a very fresh sound. They’re led by a fantastic fiddler with a beautiful, ethereal voice, Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh (Mary Mahoney to us anglo speakers and readers), from County Donegal (and her ornamentation when she plays is a blend of that county’s style and her own). She’s the daughter of another famous Irish musician, Frank Mahoney.

They get a unique sound (in my opinion) by having a second fiddle, with very good guitar (and other plucked stringed instruments, such as bouzouki) backup and the traditional bodhran drum. The music is sung in both English and Irish, and is wonderful in both cases. Even if you don’t like dancing, their reels, jigs and slip jigs will pull your feet from the floor.

Check out the web site, check out the music, and buy an album or two. I’ve never found one I didn’t like. Also, they’re on tour now on the east coast. If you get a chance to hear them live, don’t miss it.

Weird

Amish Snowbirds

As an about-to-become Florida resident, I found this interesting:

“This would not be the norm for the Amish,” Miller says. “People say the Amish have long faces and short pocketbooks, but we enjoy coming down here and kicking back for a couple of weeks.”

…Two years ago, the Millers went parasailing.

“It’s just like flying,” Miller says. “We were up 650, 700 feet.”

“I closed my eyes for a while,” Becky says. “But it was awesome.”

“Know what I did up there?” Miller asks. “I kissed her.”

It almost reads like an Iowahawk piece, but it’s real.

I fully expect some sect of the Amish to come up with some way of justifying using space technology to homestead asteroids.

Uncategorized

“Damn It, Jim, I’m A Doctor, Not A Philosopher”

In perusing the latest issue of The New Atlantis (which also has pieces by editor Adam Keiper, Bob Park and Bob Zubrin on the new space policy–the Park and Zubrin pieces are regurgitations of the Great Debate), I see that Professor Diana Schaub, one of the recent appointments to the president’s Bioethics Commission (of which much has been discussed in the blogosphere), says that immortality is a bad thing.

Her argument?

Star Trek episodes. I kid you not.

Uncategorized

“Damn It, Jim, I’m A Doctor, Not A Philosopher”

In perusing the latest issue of The New Atlantis (which also has pieces by editor Adam Keiper, Bob Park and Bob Zubrin on the new space policy–the Park and Zubrin pieces are regurgitations of the Great Debate), I see that Professor Diana Schaub, one of the recent appointments to the president’s Bioethics Commission (of which much has been discussed in the blogosphere), says that immortality is a bad thing.

Her argument?

Star Trek episodes. I kid you not.

Uncategorized

“Damn It, Jim, I’m A Doctor, Not A Philosopher”

In perusing the latest issue of The New Atlantis (which also has pieces by editor Adam Keiper, Bob Park and Bob Zubrin on the new space policy–the Park and Zubrin pieces are regurgitations of the Great Debate), I see that Professor Diana Schaub, one of the recent appointments to the president’s Bioethics Commission (of which much has been discussed in the blogosphere), says that immortality is a bad thing.

Her argument?

Star Trek episodes. I kid you not.

Uncategorized

Happy St. Pat’s Day

In honor of the occasion, I’ve decided to make all of today’s posts green.

Now I’m going out to the store to pick up a corned beef–a dish that I only have once a year (partly because Patricia doesn’t like it, but I’m back in California, and she’s in Florida, so I can indulge the holiday and my tastes). I may make some soda bread as well.

Uncategorized

Happy St. Pat’s Day

In honor of the occasion, I’ve decided to make all of today’s posts green.

Now I’m going out to the store to pick up a corned beef–a dish that I only have once a year (partly because Patricia doesn’t like it, but I’m back in California, and she’s in Florida, so I can indulge the holiday and my tastes). I may make some soda bread as well.

Uncategorized

Happy St. Pat’s Day

In honor of the occasion, I’ve decided to make all of today’s posts green.

Now I’m going out to the store to pick up a corned beef–a dish that I only have once a year (partly because Patricia doesn’t like it, but I’m back in California, and she’s in Florida, so I can indulge the holiday and my tastes). I may make some soda bread as well.