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Category Archives: Business
SpaceX And Orbcomm
This morning’s flight seems to have been a complete mission primary success. No word, though, on recovering the stage. No status updates on relighting engines, entry, etc. Reports of Elon’s and other plane circling the recovery zone. Sea state seems to be good, less than three-foot waves.
[Update a few minutes later]
Rocket booster reentry, landing burn & leg deploy were good, but lost hull integrity right after splashdown (aka kaboom)
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2014
My response:
Was it caused by thermal shock from water contact on hot engine? Maybe try dropping it on an island in the Bahamas instead? @elonmusk
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) July 14, 2014
Uber Surge Pricing
This piece on the economic ignorance and irrationality of consumers reminds me of my old piece, “Three Cheers For Price Gougers.”
The Big Fat Surprise
Another review of the book:
The book’s subtitle is Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet, which gave me the impression I was about to start reading a hefty science book. There’s plenty of science in The Big Fat Surprise, but it’s more of a history book. It’s the story of how lousy science conducted by arrogant scientists and adopted by equally arrogant policymakers led to lousy decisions that produced lousy consequences. I doubt any Fat Heads out there still believe nutrition science is conducted by impartial researchers who aren’t already wedded to an outcome, but if so, reading this book will disabuse you of that notion. It’s all laid out here in a richly detailed story that runs 340 pages … the egos, the arrogance, the obsession with pursuing and (ahem) proving a single hypothesis, the scientific bullying, the corruption, and of course the ham-handed interference by the 900-pound gorilla known as the federal government.
Gee, in what other field have we seen that sort of thing?
SLS Figures Of Merit
In response to this:
The @NASA_SLS boosters burn 1.5M pounds of propellant in 2 minutes – an average 6.25 tons of propellant every second! #FactFriday
— Explore Deep Space (@XploreDeepSpace) July 11, 2014
I tweeted this:
If total ascent burn time's ten minutes, @NASA_SLS burns about $10M taxpayer dollars per second. @XploreDeepSpace
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) July 11, 2014
Arianespace
How SpaceX is shaking it up.
That’s what disruption looks like.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Not to mention what’s happening to ULA.
Mars 2021 Flyby
It looks like Taber and Jane haven’t given up yet. But they need to give up the SLS fantasy.
Space-Based Solar Power
I haven’t perused this article yet, but Japan has always taken the concept more seriously than we have (well, except briefly in the late seventies).
Don’t Learn To Code
Always good advice, in any field of endeavor. Sadly, it doesn’t happen that much in education these days.
The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy
Revealed. It’s always ironic to see all these rich leftists plotting to force the rest of us to spend our money on their pet projects.