Is the Iranian regime on a path to extinction?
Category Archives: Technology and Society
Starship’s Heat Shield
…remains a problem, even with the recent successful flight.
This is the kind of technology that (as it did as the NACA, before it became NASA) that NASA should have been prioritizing for decades. But it was more important to build a giant expendable rocket without a design reference mission.
The Great MAGA Reversal
How helping Ukraine became America First.
They have a lot to teach us, particularly to prepare for China.
It’s True
Actually, the same can often apply to "NASA-developed." https://t.co/g6WKTjGYhl
— Not-So-OK Boomer (@Rand_Simberg) July 26, 2026
Starship Flight 13
I’d probably characterize it as “progress.” It was the goal, after all.
It was disappointing to lose the booster, but at the rate they’re building them, they can accomplish their mission goals without recovering them; it will just cost more. And I’m sure they’ll work out the final bugs.
[Late-morning update]
Time-lapse of today’s Starship flight, from liftoff to splashdown, in just 150 seconds. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/1jGFPK4CYV
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) July 25, 2026
Commercial Space
It isn’t a tulip mania; it’s the next Internet.
I will note that SpaceX stock continues to decline, with a daily (and historic, for its short history) low today of $110.85, so everyone who bought at the IPO is currently underwater. But probably a buying opportunity now.
John C. Dvorak
RIP.
We continue to lose giants from the early days of PCs.
For Climate Alarmists
Chris Martz has ten questions:
Here are TEN questions that I have for any climate alarmists reading, and I hope I can get some honest answers down in the comments:
— Chris Martz (@ChrisMartzWX) July 21, 2026
1️⃣ You have asserted that the planet is dangerously overheating. So, what exactly is the correct globally averaged surface air temperature…
I’d like to see Michael Mann’s answers.
A Golden Oldie
From twenty-one years ago on this date. A lot of comments there from commenters who may no longer be with us.
First Starship V.3 attempt was on the anniversary of the launch; today’s will be on the anniversary of the landing. I’ll be discussing that and Evoloterra on The Space Show at 7 PM PDT.
The Odyssey
Christian Toto reviews it.
I’m still on the fence about going to a theater for it.
[Friday-afternoon update]
Here is Peter Suderman’s review.
[Bumped]
[Saturday-afternoon update]
I just watched Christopher Nolan’s #TheOdyssey and I left the cinema with a deep sense of disappointment.
— Herod Priovolos (@herodpriovolos) July 17, 2026
I entered expecting Homer’s world to breathe: salt in the air, darkness over the sea, gods watching from a distance, and a wounded man struggling to return home. Instead,… pic.twitter.com/qeoryve9b6
[Monday-morning update]
Another review, from John Podhoretz.
[Bumped]
…and another, at Tablet magazine.
Regardless of faithfulness to Homer, it sounds like quite the visual spectacle.