Dr. Sanity has some thoughts about the “reality-based” community.
Which “Reality”?
Dr. Sanity has some thoughts about the “reality-based” community.
Orwell At Space.com?
I get a daily email from space.com telling me what’s the latest on the site. The emails consist of summaries at the beginning, then a more detailed description of the stories with links. Here’s today’s:
In today’s issue:
Science/Astronomy:
* Getting a Grip on Black Holes
* Black Holes: Dark and Deadly
* Scientists to NASA: Study Earth
* Star Shatters Spinning Speed Record
* Doorstep Astronomy: Sirius Gets Serious
* Supersonic Cosmic Winds Collide in Rare Scene
* Image of the Day: If I Were an SRBSpaceflight:
* NASA Successfully Launches Science Satellite Quintet
* NASA Replaces Charged Astronaut for Next Shuttle Mission
* Next Shuttle Astronauts to Fly Take Aim at ISS
* Shuttle Atlantis Reaches Launch Pad for March Space Shot
* NEW! Daily Space TriviaNEW! LiveScience.com
* New Gallery: Small Sea Monsters
* NEW: Life’s Little Mysteries
* Flu Myths and Truths
* The Secrets (and Perils) of Sword Swallowing Revealed
* Human Compassion Surprisingly Limited, Study Finds
* Antarctica Hides Surprising Subsurface Plumbing System
* Top 10 AphrodisiacsNEW! Cool Stuff:
* VIDEO: THEMIS Away
* VIDEO: THEMIS Revealed
* VOTE! Most Amazing Galactic Images Ever!
* Top 10 Star Mysteries
* UFO Wallpaper
* Gallery: Astronauts’ Views from Space
* Gallery: Visualizations of Mars
* Vote: The Best Space Movies
* Amazing Images: Upload Yours Now and Even Buy a Poster!Plus…
* Uplink, SPACE.com TV and NightSky
* Starry Night, TeamSETI———————————–
Science/Astronomy:
* Getting a Grip on Black Holes
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BC:57135Black holes are dark secrets, shrouded in churning spacetime and scrunched into points smaller than an atom.
* Black Holes: Dark and Deadly
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BB:57135There’s something about black holes that draws in scientists and the rest of us terrestrial dwellers, besides of course their tremendous gravity.
* Doorstep Astronomy: Sirius Gets Serious
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97C1:57135This is the time of the year when I get lots of inquires concerning a certain very bright starlike object shining over toward the southern part of the sky. It?s Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky.
* Supersonic Cosmic Winds Collide in Rare Scene
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BD:57135Two stellar titans are waging wars of wind in the first such scene spotted outside the Milky Way Galaxy.
* Image of the Day: If I Were an SRB
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BE:57135An X-ray look at the famous Pillars of Creation reveals a region peppered by bright young stars.
———————————–
Spaceflight:* Satellite to Study Auroras Ready for Launch
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97B7:57135Five NASA probes aimed at unraveling mysteries surrounding Earth?s colorful auroras are set to launch Friday evening after a 24-hour weather delay.
* Next Shuttle Astronauts to Fly Take Aim at ISS
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97B3:57135NASA’s next shuttle astronauts to fly, a blend of veteran spaceflyers and rookies, are in the final month of training for a March construction flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
Emphasis mine. Note that the first summary description of the story was that the “charged astronaut” had been replaced. But in the more detailed version, there is no mention of her. Nor is there any in the linked story itself.
So what happened? Was Nowak assigned to the next flight, and then removed because of her…incident? That seems unlikely to me. She just flew in August–it seems hard to believe that she’d have gotten another flight assignment in less than a year, given the demand for slots (though I suppose it’s possible, given that she was at least momentarily treated like a rock star during and right after the flight). If so, and NASA changed its mind, why does Space.com have two different versions of the story in its email notification?
Or was it that they got a bogus story that she was originally scheduled on the flight, and then replaced, but it wasn’t true, and when they found out, they changed the summary and link, but forgot to fix the supersummary?
Inquiring minds want to know. I’ve categorized this as “Space,” but it could just as well have been “Media Criticism.”
A Cute Sig
I just saw this on Usenet: “Kids in the back seat cause accidents; accidents in the back seat cause kids.”
Yeah, I know, the blogging’s been light. I’m a little under the weather with a cold, and I’ve got paying work to do. When I get around to it, I may post a form that you can fill out for a refund.
Fighting Fakes
Alan Boyle has a post on the current state of the art in detecting fauxtography. As the researcher notes, this will always be an arms race. With molecular manufacturing, it’s going to become possible to create copies of art that is indistinguishable from the original. I also think that it will mean an end to cash, because it won’t be possible to create uncounterfeitable currency.
American In Orbit
Forty-five years ago today, I was sitting home on the floor in my pajamas, watching the television, as the first American astronaut went into earth orbit. I don’t recall the suspense about the heat shield, but it may be that it wasn’t broadcast live, occurring behind the scenes. Or it may be that I was just too young to make sense of what was going on.
It’s my earliest recollection of the human space program, a subject that became one of lifelong fascination to me, and a career.
Different Strokes
If ever there was a movie that didn’t need to be remade (or even made in the first place), it was Capricorn One
But Dwayne Day, for some unaccountable reason, seems to have liked it.
Too Little For Too Much
It’s not really news, but the latest Orion manifest update shows how pitifully little we’re getting for the many billions of taxpayer dollars that this program will cost. Two flights per year at four astronauts per flight. The Shuttle can carry seven. so it can carry almost as many in a single flight as the Orion will carry in a year.
I’d be willing to be that the program cost in that time period will be (at a minimum) on the order of a couple billion per annum. So that means that each ride will be costing us a quarter of a billion dollars. That’s each ticket, not each flight. And that doesn’t include any amortization of the development costs of either the vehicle itself, or the new launcher. And they told us that Shuttle cost too much.
It also highlights my point about too many astronauts and too few flight slots. If this is the best we can do, then we really should give up on a federal manned space program.
[Monday morning update]
Some thoughts from Louise Riofrio on the oversized astronaut “corps.”
Hitchens, On Steyn
He thinks Mark Steyn’s new book
1. An end to one-way multiculturalism and to the cultural masochism that goes with it. The Koran does not mandate the wearing of veils or genital mutilation, and until recently only those who apostasized from Islam faced the threat of punishment by death. Now, though, all manner of antisocial practices find themselves validated in the name of religion, and mullahs have begun to issue threats even against non-Muslims for criticism of Islam. This creeping Islamism must cease at once, and those responsible must feel the full weight of the law. Meanwhile, we should insist on reciprocity at all times. We should not allow a single Saudi dollar to pay for propaganda within the U.S., for example, until Saudi Arabia also permits Jewish and Christian and secular practices. No Wahhabi-printed Korans anywhere in our prison system. No Salafist imams in our armed forces.
2. A strong, open alliance with India on all fronts, from the military to the political and economic, backed by an extensive cultural exchange program, to demonstrate solidarity with the other great multiethnic democracy under attack from Muslim fascism. A hugely enlarged quota for qualified Indian immigrants and a reduction in quotas from Pakistan and other nations where fundamentalism dominates.
Read the whole thing.
He Can’t Fire Her
I previously speculated that Elizabeth Edwards might have been behind the hiring of the foul-mouthed anti-Christer bloggers. William Beutler thinks that theory “more than plausible.”