…was much warmer than today:
Last winter, the East Coast had record cold. That was ignored because it was “less than 1% of the Earth.” But this week, the Eastern US defines the global climate.
Funny how that works.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
The Food Fight Over Government Nutrition
No, the Republicans aren’t “politicizing it”:
For decades, the government has advised Americans on what they should eat. The advice isn’t just advisory; it drives everything from school lunches and agricultural subsidies to marketing for those bowls of candy we call breakfast cereal. But the science behind this enterprise has always been shaky.
Yes. And Michelle’s lunch program continues to constitute literal, physical child abuse.
Refurbishing Rockets
Loren Grush talked to some Shuttle engineers to assess SpaceX’s chances. I’ve pointed out to several people on Twitter that Shuttle provides very little relevant experience.
[Mid-morning update]
I mentioned it in comments, but this piece I wrote at Popular Mechanics four and a half years ago is just as relevant today: Six False Lessons From The Space Shuttle:
…the reality is that the shuttle taught us nothing about the cost of a properly designed, fully reusable launch system, because that’s not what it was.
It’s a little depressing to see how well that holds up.
A Rocket Launch
NASA’s launches always have been as well, but in a different way. This was more of a popular culture event. Let’s hope we see a lot more of them.
It’s Not Bezos Versus Musk
At least not yet. Doug is right: It’s Bezos versus Branson (and XCOR).
Yes, it's Bezos versus Branson (and XCOR). The tortoise has pulled into the lead in the suborbital game. https://t.co/XNqDcl4jDx
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) December 23, 2015
The quote from the Virgin Galactic employee is brutal.
The RD-180
Jerry Grey says that we will have to rely on it for a while longer. This is a very good history. Interestingly, he stays out of the AR1/BE-4 fight, and makes no specific recommendation of what should replace it, only that something should.
Reusing Rockets
I love the opening of this piece from James Dean:
In more than 65 years of launches from these shores, a rocket landing anywhere near its launch pads meant something had gone terribly wrong.
Not anymore.
Nope.
[Update a few minutes later]
He quotes Elon as saying that the rocket “costs” sixty million, but isn’t that the price? It has to cost less than that for them to make a profit. And I don’t think they’d want to reveal the actual cost, for business reasons, but it would be nice to know just how much margin they have, and how much they can reduce the price if it’s fully reusable.
[Update a few more minutes later]
And here we have an article from Mike Wall, where he quotes Elon as saying it cost $16M to build (if true, that gives them a huge profit margin and room to drop prices in the face of any competition). I saw others reporting that on Twitter on Monday, but no one really clarified if he said “sixty” or “sixteen.” It would be nice to get the actual number.
[Update a while later]
[Update a couple minutes later]
And Jessica Orwig’s.
[Update a couple minutes later]
[Afternoon update]
Here‘s SpaceflightNow’s take on it.
Bezos Versus Musk
The Coming Bright Age
Yesterday’s space success makes Bob Zimmerman optimistic about the future.
NOAA
…caught in a new climate-data scandal?
Scientists don’t operate in secret, or hide their work.