The latest on the ancient controversy of how long we can live.
I say it’s ultimately just physics, and there are no physical laws that require an upper limit on our age.
Commercial Spaceflight Standards
ASTM is launching a working group today to develop them.
The Week In Space
It’s going to be a busy one in DC.
The Idiotic California Launch Tax
Doug Messier has more details. If I were SpaceX, my public comment would be, “See ya later, we’re going to Alaska.”
[Update a while later]
OK, according to this article, the launch companies requested this rule, apparently to clarify their tax situation.
The Engine Competition
The race between Aerojet Rocketdyne and Blue Origin heats up. But as noted in comments over there, there’s a big word missing in the story: Reusability. And the issue isn’t so much reusability of the engines themselves (though I’ve heard nothing to indicate that the AR1 will be reusable), but in the vehicle design. ULA does not want to continue Atlas with a new engine; they know they need at least a recoverable propulsion/avionics unit of Vulcan to even hope to be competitive with SpaceX (and Blue Origin).
X-37
It landed this weekend, but this drives me crazy.
It's not a "space shuttle." Stop calling it a space shuttle. https://t.co/34UyNn94cv
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) May 8, 2017
Diabetes
Scientists have cured mice of Type 1 with gene therapy. Apparently it will work for Type 2 as well, though a lot of that is caused by following terrible nutrition advice.
ObamaCare
“My husband would have died if he’d relied on it.”
All of the mendacious hysteria over this bill has been incandescent, especially compared to the very real disaster that the ACA has been (and which many of us warned about).
Who would've guessed the same folks who said Mitt gave a lady cancer & plans to kill Big Bird would exaggerate about GOP legislation.
— Razor (@hale_razor) May 6, 2017
Who would've guessed the same folks who said Mitt gave a lady cancer & plans to kill Big Bird would exaggerate about GOP legislation.
— Razor (@hale_razor) May 6, 2017
Dems telling even more lies to prevent this bill than they did to pass Obamacare. Impressive, in a way. Wouldn't have thought it possible. https://t.co/qkzzPcYw8c
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) May 6, 2017
The Importance Of Hyphens
My first thought on seeing this was, “Why would I want a damaged screw remover? Just to save a little money?”
Furnace Problem
It’s been warm for the past few weeks in SoCal, and I turned the thermostat off a while ago. But there’s a weather system coming in this weekend that’s going to cool things down, and it was chilly in the house this morning. I turned the thermostat back on, and nothing happened. I checked the fuse, and it’s fine, the switch seems to be on. I’ve determined that there is no power getting to the power switch (which feeds the fuse, which feeds the furnace electronics). No breakers are tripped, and I don’t know which breaker it’s on. Any ideas? If it’s actually failed wiring, that could be nightmare to trace/repair.
[Saturday-afternoon update]
Welp, checked all the breakers, and they all have voltage at the output.
[Sunday-morning update]
Thanks for all the advice in comments. I suspect I’m going to have to kill power to the house, and try to do an RF trace (and hope it comes through the armor). Fortunately, it’s not really an emergency. The temp in the house was 64F when we woke up this morning, and while it will be a cool couple of days until this cutoff low with rain passes through, it will be heating up later this week. Worst case is sweaters and a heavier bed covering, until I figure it out.