Is it on the verge of resurrection? That would be pretty cool. I wonder if they’d be as smart as elephants?
Category Archives: Technology and Society
Do Not Say “Yes”
The latest phone scam. I was at a friend’s house the other day when he got one of these. He asked “her” “Are you a robot”?
My FISO Telecon
I talked about the book in the context of recent events. The slides and audio are available for download now. There was a glitch partway through in which everything was echoing, not sure if they edited that part out or not.
Dream Chaser
Could it be used for a Hubble repair mission?
Theoretically, not sure how practical it is. First they have to test it to see if it can even get to and return from orbit.
Winston Churchill And ET
A recently discovered document with his speculations about extraterrestrial life.
The Climate Cover Up
I was amused to hear about the panic of “scientists” in the government “protecting” from the Trump administration data they’ve been hiding for years. But here’s a comprehensive round up of their rewriting the past.
A Taxonomy Of Uncertainty
This is a beautiful taxonomy. The root of a great deal of suffering is people believing their field is level 3, when it's actually level 4. pic.twitter.com/8yg2sRocNL
— Will Wilson (@WAWilsonIV) February 15, 2017
Climate science is currently somewhere between levels 4 and 5, but many (particularly ignorant adherents of the climate religion) think that it’s at 2 or 1.
SLS/Orion
NASA is thinking about putting up crew on its very first flight.
The hubris and hypocrisy of this is breathtaking. https://t.co/KsfsIbUM0X
— SafeNotAnOption (@SafeNotAnOption) February 15, 2017
And yet they continue to delay commercial crew because “safety is the highest priority.”
[Update a couple minutes later]
This is also the kind of thing you might do as an agency with Falcon Heavy/New Glenn and Crew Dragon/Starliner breathing down your neck.
— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) February 15, 2017
[Update a couple minutes later]
A congressional staffer told me about this last week: A hearing on NASA’s past, past, past and present, no future.
[Update a few minutes later]
More from Eric Berger.
[Update a while later]
Joel Achenback weighs in.
[Update a while later]
@SpcPlcyOnline NASA's version of the Hail Mary three quarter court shot buzzer beater pull the goalie in the last minute maneuver.
— Parabolicarc.com (@spacecom) February 15, 2017
[Update a while later, just before noon Pacific]
Thoughts from Keith Cowing. Yes, it’s a Hail Mary. And reckless, in my opinion. If it was to save the world, OK, but to save a bloated jobs program?
[Update early afternoon]
[Update a while later]
And here’s the story from the Chrises at NASA Spaceflight.
[Update a few minutes later]
And Jeff Foust’s take. Excellent point in comments:
If NASA agree[s] to this (putting astronauts on 1st flight of brand new rocket), they better not whine about SpaceX loading astronauts before fuel.
Indeed.
The Window Shade
Reflections from Wayne Hale on the apparent new anti-social activity in airplanes: Looking out the window.
I have actually been requested to put my shade down on an occasion in which the sun was beaming right in the window. On my trip to Israel a couple years ago, the sun came up as we were approaching the French coast, but the plane remained dark. I had to crack the bottom if I wanted to see, as we crossed the French then Italian Alps and Monico, and then Italy and Greece. Last week on the way to DC I ended up with a window seat with no window (the seat in front of me had two). It was almost claustrophobic. When I hear about these new aircraft coming along without windows, I think “No way.”
Making In Space
Here’s a nice survey of advances in orbital manufacturing. What goes unsaid is that this further obviates the need for heavy-lift systems.