Health, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Technology and Society

Maximum Lifespan

16 Comments

We still don’t know the limit. As I often say, there is no law of physics that requires either senescence or mortality. Indefinite health and life is, in theory, a solvable problem.

[Afternoon update]

A commenter points out this recent article. Yes, I’ve discussed this with Gary, and it’s currently his focus, not space. Because none of us are getting any younger. BTW, the company name is pronounced “ocean,” I think. And yes, we should be trying to get Congress to tell the FDA to recognize aging as a disease to be treated, and not simply inevitable.

Popular Culture, Science And Society, Space, Technology and Society

Harlan Ellison

11 Comments

RIP.

In addition to the books and short stories, he wrote some Twilight Zone episodes, and Star Trek.

Business, General Science, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Space, Space Science, Technology and Society

JWST

22 Comments

We expected this yesterday, but here it is:

Following an Independent Review Board report on the James Webb Space Telescope project, NASA has announced a further delay to the telescope’s anticipated launch. Coming just three months after a year-long delay to 2020, NASA now says the telescope will not be ready to launch until 2021 at the earliest and that the project will breach its $8.8 billion USD cost cap.

The cited mismanagement at NG and NASA is just staggering. The new overrun is about the amount that it was supposed to cost, in total, originally. What a programmatic disaster.

[Update after noon]

Here’s the story from Jeff Foust.

[Update a while later]

[Thursday-morning update]

Here‘s Marina Koren’s take:

A wiring error caused workers to apply too much voltage to the spacecraft’s pressure transducers, severely damaging them. And during an acoustics test, which examines whether hardware can survive the loud sounds of launch, the fasteners designed to hold the sun shield together came loose. The incident scattered 70 bolts, and engineers scrambled to find them. They’re still looking for a few. “We’re really close to finding every one of the pieces,” Zerbuchen said.

These three errors alone resulted in a schedule delay of about 1.5 years and $600 million, Young said.

I think that’s about Northrop Grumman’s annual net income. If I were NASA, I’d tell them that if they ever want another NASA contract, they’ll eat it themselves.

[Update a while later]

Alex Witze has more, over at Nature.

Education, History, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, War Commentary

Stop Trivializing Naziism

9 Comments

Thoughts from David Harsanyi:

It’s difficult to take this spurious reasoning seriously, but simply because you think you detect some trace parallels between what Nazis engaged in and contemporary politics doesn’t make them comparable in any important way. The Nazis adopted a bunch of socialist policies, but that doesn’t mean Bernie Sanders is a would-be Himmler.

Admittedly, there is huge space in-between zero tolerance and lawlessness at the border. But none of the positions that have been taken in American political discourse so far portends the Fourth Reich. Switzerland and Japan, to name just two liberal democracies, have far stricter immigration laws than the United States, and neither is on the cusp of fascism. Simply because the arbitrary number of allowable immigrants you’ve come up with differs from that of your political opponent doesn’t make that person a budding sociopath.

Popular Culture, Social Commentary, Space, Space History, Technology and Society

Buzz

2 Comments

Emilee Speck got the court documents. As someone who’s known them all for years, this is very sad.

[Afternoon update]

Here’s a statement from Christina:

[Wednesday-morning update]

Here’s the latest, from Chris Davenport.

[Bumped]

[Late-morning update]

Marina Koren has more at The Atlantic.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!