Category Archives: Technology and Society

Media Criticism, Science And Society, Social Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

Hazardous Asteroids

29 Comments

…may be more common than we thought:

The scientific orthodoxy said that a Chelyabinsk-size event ought to happen every 140 years or so, but Brown saw several such events in the historical record.

Famously, a large object exploded over the Tunguska region of Siberia in 1908. But there have been less-heralded impacts, including one on Aug. 3, 1963, when an asteroid created a powerful airburst off the coast of South Africa.

“Any one of these taken separately I think you can dismiss as a one-off. But now when we look at it as a whole, over a hundred years, we see these large impactors more frequently than we would expect,” said Brown, whose paper appeared in Nature.

But our response, and actions to become a space-faring civilization, remains pathetic.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Technology and Society

The US Energy Boom

41 Comments

Making the most of it:

Fully maximizing the opportunities presented by the American energy revolution will require a concerted national effort that prioritizes investment in the development of advanced energy technologies—such as low-cost advanced batteries for electric vehicles and more-efficient home refueling units for natural gas vehicles—along with continued growth in domestic energy production. The volatility of oil prices, the presence of anticompetitive forces like OPEC, and the political and fiscal risks to significant and sustained energy-related research and development create an acute need for strong leadership from Washington if we are to capitalize on this moment.

Yet important philosophical differences now divide the major political parties on energy and environmental policies. Pretending such differences do not exist, or dismissing them as petty politics, defies reality and prevents progress on the pressing challenge of oil security.

To move forward, we suggest establishing oil displacement as a national goal. Such a target would advance the goals of robust economic growth, improved environmental protection and effective foreign policy. Best of all, a national consensus on reducing oil dependence should be possible without the resolution of the energy and environmental issues that will continue to be debated for some time.

It would be nice if we had people running the country who understood business. And technology.

Business, Economics, Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Technology and Society

Insanity From Sebelius

117 Comments

The insurance market was “unregulated before ObamaCare“?

Really?

Actually, this is a typical tactic of the left. Decry and lie about problems caused by a “lack of regulation” that are actually caused by overregulation, then demand more regulation to fix them. It’s the same playbook they used in the financial crisis.

By the way, since Sebelius doesn’t seem to think that security is important, you’d be a fool to use it any time soon.

[Update a few minutes later]

I expect a plethora of campaign posters featuring the word, “Whatever.”

Imagine it said as two separate words, accent on the second, Valley-Girl style, like one of Bart’s girlfriends in The Simpsons. “What Evar.”

Hell, we may ever hear it in the opening of SNL on Saturday.

[Update a few minutes later]

HHS knew that it was a security risk, but plunged ahead anyway.

Of course.

[Update a few minutes later]

Of course not: “The system has never crashed.”

[Update a while later]

Five things we learned from today’s hearing: “Sibelius doesn’t seem to know anything about the law she is implementing.”

[Bumped]

The country’s in the very best of hands.

Business, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

The Dream Chaser Test

12 Comments

A report from Joel Achenbach, who’s doing a space project for the WaPo.

As I note on Twitter, Sirangelo’s comments aren’t spinning a failure. The vehicle met its test objectives, other than the ability to get it back, sans a lot of bondo. But as with SpaceX’s loss of their first stage in the ocean, they got the data they needed to move forward. And at least they’re flying and testing, something that NASA has been too risk averse to do of late.

Business, Economics, Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Technology and Society

What’s Next For Health-Care Policy?

5 Comments

Some interesting prognostications from Ben Domenech:

Obamacare’s struggles have obviously vindicated the positioning of the free-market advocates, too – particularly the ones who have been most vociferous in their distrust of the manageability of Obamacare and Romneycare over the past decade and a half. Conservative and libertarian health policy experts like NCPA’s John Goodman, Cato’s Michael Cannon, Heritage’s Chris Jacobs, Heartland’s Peter Ferrara, and FreedomWorks’ Dean Clancy, who have held to that “this is going to be a train wreck” position despite the efforts of The Fixers, are the victors here. All have their favored alternative approaches to national health care policy reform, whether it be through tax credits, deductions, or full deductibility combined with a bigger investment in the safety net or risk pools. But they all share certain aspects in common: they ditch the mandate and exchange-based approach to health reform, and instead rely on individual responsibility and carrots to achieve universal access to care. And, more fundamentally, they all understood that no group of ”experts,” no matter how wise, could possibly predict and control one-fifth of the American economy – particularly one already so distorted by decades of misguided government intervention.

RTWT.