I’m generally a big fan of Randall Monroe, but I thought his latest was a misfire. This is a more accurate take.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
Tomorrow’s Mars Hearing
If I were Chris Carberry, I’d be outraged at this, instead of promoting it. None of those people or companies are going to get anyone to Mars. But they’ll spend billions pretending they will.
Do As I Say, Not As I Do
Hillary told State Department employees not to use personal email.
Rules are for the little people.
Coffee Beans
This seems like too much work for me, given that I’ve never had a good cup of coffee (it’s just a matter of to what degree it tastes less awful), but here’s a guide to roasting your own.
How To Make A Spaceship
I just received a review copy of this new book
Elon’s Ambitions
Eric Berger reports that they go far beyond Mars.
He still seems to be a planetary chauvinist, though.
West Coast Atlas Launch
There was a launch scheduled out of Vandenberg yesterday at 11:30 AM, and I’d planned to go to the beach to watch, until I remembered my 10:30 dental appointment. So I ended up being in the chair at the time, a little frustrated that I couldn’t at least get up for a couple minutes to go out into the parking lot to see it. But unfortunately for ULA, but fortunately for me, it was scrubbed, due to a hydrogen leak. So I, and others currently in southern California, will get another chance on Sunday morning.
[Sunday-morning update]
Wow, this launch seems snakebit. A wildfire on the base has delayed the launch until at least the 26th.
Melatonin
…may prevent and treat migraines. I don’t suffer from them, but I know a lot of people who do.
Space Nuclear Reactors
Jeff Bezos says we need them.
You don’t say. I like the way he thinks.
California’s “Boom”
Is about to go bust. The notion that CA is doing better than Texas would be hilarious if it weren’t such an infuriating lie.
Reminder: When the state asks for a federal bailout, it should be only on the condition that it become a territory, and not be allowed back in as a single state.
[Update a while later]
I wish that this didn’t seem related: Printing money in Venezuela didn’t work out all that well. Of course, California can’t print money, fortunately.