General Science

Learn Something New Every Day

I did not know this. There is a breeding population of Burmese pythons in the Everglades.

[Thursday morning follow up]

Here’s more on the story from AP:

Overwhelmed with pets that eat more than they do, python owners decide to release their snakes into the wild. It’s so common in the Everglades, Snow’s had to start a python hot line.

And there the Asian natives breed and find a comfortable home in the Everglades’ water, heat and vegetation. They have no predators.

Pythons have also discovered suburbia, said Capt. Ernie Jillson, who helps run the Miami-Dade County fire department’s snake squad. They catch around 20 pythons a year.

Three years ago, a 15-footer stopped traffic when he spread himself across a four-lane road. Last year, another 15-footer gave a 60-year-old woman quite the jolt when she walked outside to find the snake sunbathing on her patio. And rescue workers had to save a cat from the 10-foot python that was chasing it around the backyard pool.

Lawmaker Poppell says he’s no snake lover and doesn’t understand people’s fascination with the slithery creatures.

“How can you want something for a pet that looks at you when it’s hungry?” he said. “I don’t want something to look at me as food, I’d rather they (pets) come to me for food.”

General Science

Broken Drain

Don’t you just hate it when your planet leaks?

Researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology have calculated that about 1.12 billion tonnes of water leaks into the Earth each year. Although a lot of water also moves in the other direction, not enough comes to the surface to balance what is lost.

Eventually, lead researcher Shigenori Maruyama and his colleagues believe, all of it will disappear.

A billion years, eh? Better hurry and pass a treaty against it or something.

Let me be the first, if not the last, to blame George Bush.

Space

April 12th

Today is the forty-fifth anniversary of the first man in space, and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first flight of the Space Shuttle. If you want to celebrate, it’s also the fifth anniversary of Yuri’s Night. Go find a party near you.

[Update a few minutes later]

I have some thoughts on this anniversary over at National Review (note, it’s been edited somewhat from what I submitted).

[Update in the afternoon]

Mark is whining again:

First, Rand has presented a breath taking lack of specifics in his suggestions on how to improve the space program.

I only had nine hundred words. I’ve offered many specifics, many times, in many places. It was an anniversary commemoration, not a policy white paper.

Political Commentary

Spiderwoman

What does Spiderman creator Stan Lee have to do with Hillary?

“Doug from Upland” has the answer:

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of speaking on the phone with legendary superhero creator Stan Lee. The creator of Spiderman acknowledged to me information that could become a sticky situation for one Hillary Rodham Clinton, the smartest woman on the planet.

On the link above – 4th false FEC report – turn to page 34. You will see that a $225,000 in-kind contribution is attributed to Stan Lee personally.

Lee was very surpised when I told him that, on the 4th FEC report from the Hillary 2000 campaign, he is listed as the largest donor — $225,000. He could not understand how that could be. He has testified under oath that he never gave any money. He didn’t have any money to give. He told that to the FBI, to the FEC, and to the Justice Department.

Treasurer Andrew Grossman, Hillary, and, of course, David Kendall, know very well that this is the fourth fraudulent report. They know very well that Lee gave no money. This continuing crime is being pulled off in broad daylight, and the Justice Department does not seem to want to do anything about it.

That report is the 4th time that Andrew Grossman and Hillary Clinton have had the opportunity to tell the truth to the FEC. Four strikes and you’re out? Apparently, not in Hillary’s world.

As someone over there points out, if I were Stan Lee I’d sue her Highness for defamation of character, for accusing me of such a thing.

This is amusing as well:

Note: although Hillary has been removed as a defendant (it will be appealed) in the case Paul v. Clinton, she will be ordered to testify. She and her defendant husband are expected to be in Los Angeles for a sworn deposition in as soon as 60 days. Does anyone remember the last time William Jefferson Blythe Clinton testified under oath?

No, actually. I have no recollection of that…

Space

Thirty-Six Years Ago

Amidst the big anniversary tomorrow, it’s easy to forget that it’s been exactly thirty-six years since Apollo XIII headed off on its ill-fated voyage around the moon. It occurred at an inauspicious time, for those who are triskaidekaphobic.

[Update a few minutes later]

It’s also been five years since the X-33 died. That didn’t happen soon enough.

I disagree with this, though:

NASA was willing to take the risks inherent in the winged potato for one reason: LockMart was willing to put its money where its mouth was, to a degree that Rockwell, McDonnell Douglas, or Boeing weren’t. LockMart had even touted its orbital “VentureStar” as a replacement for the shuttle and Titan IV, ready for flight between 2004 and 2006.

This isn’t true, for two reasons. First, NASA picked it because they were enamored with the technology. Second, there’s no evidence that Lockheed was “willing to put its money where its mouth was,” and quite a bit to the contrary. Their business plan was a joke, and not a good one, but NASA was unable to distinguish between a good and a bad business plan. If Lockheed had really been willing to put its money where its mouth was, it would have made the investment to complete the program. I don’t believe for a minute that Lockheed-Martin management ever intended to develop Vstar with their own money. They just told NASA what it wanted to hear.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!