This is interesting. I can see a lot of benefits to rocket-engine design from these kinds of improvements as well, particularly for staged combustion. I wonder if Blue Origin is aware of this kind of thing? Also, it doesn’t say anything about improved performance and reduced cost and parts count from 3-D printing, but I think that will be significant as well.
A Rose By Any Other Name
You have to feel bad for this guy:
Bich wrote in part, “I find it highly irritating that nobody seems to believe me when I say that my full legal name is how you see it. I’ve been accused of using a false and misleading name of which I find very offensive.”
Given his residence, maybe he should think about a name change.
The Collapse Of ObamaCare
The money-losing insurance companies pulling out of the market next year could be a huge election gift to Republicans. Not just for Congressional races, if the message is “we’re going to repeal it, and a Republican in the White House will sign that bill.”
[Update a while later]
ObamaCare insurers are suffering. That won’t end well.
"Death spiral" is such a harsh phrase. We prefer "gentle glide path to single payer." https://t.co/lzrCKGOzT4
— HealthCaliphate (@HealthDotGov) November 19, 2015
The Future Of Space
There was an interesting discussion this afternoon at Council of Foreign Affairs with Lori Garver, John Logsdon, and Charles Miller. The Youtube is now available. Note that they touch on many of the themes in my upcoming paper, on how we have to stop trying to do Apollo again, that SLS is a jobs program, that propellant transfer is a game changer, the need for a competitive private sector, etc. Lori was quite harshly critical of NASA (and Congress).
The Jews Of Nazi Germany
The latest leftist trope is that the public reaction to them at the time was the same as it is for the “harmless” Syrian refugees now. The only problem with that is that (unexpectedly!) the comparison doesn’t hold up.
The New Commercial Space Bill
Stephen Smith has an analysis. While it’s nice that they slightly mitigated the idiotic language about using SLS/Orion for ISS missions in 2010, the most significant aspect of the bill, to me, is the extension of the learning period. I don’t think the language about mining is all that significant, legally. It simply makes explicit what’s always been customary law since the moon samples.
Lois Lerner
The Attorney General says that she was protected by prosecutorial discretion.
Just as predicted. This corrupt administration protects its own.
The English Language
Possibly the weirdest one on the planet.
Funny, seems perfectly normal to me. But it’s a fascinating history.
Coffee
A daily habit may contribute to longevity.
That’s why I choke down the swill ever morning. I’ve never found any other reasons to do so.
Speaking of my apparent imperviousness to caffeine, I was staying with an old (in both senses of the word) friend in Seattle last week, and he noted that since he’d gone more paleo in his diet, he noticed much less of a caffeine effect from morning coffee or evening tea. I started drinking it after I’d changed my diet as well, so maybe carbs enhance it. Actually, someone should do a study on that.
College Pays Off
“…on average. Your results may vary.”
What, exactly, are we getting for all the money we’re spending on college? “Helping students pay for college” sounds like a fine public policy goal. “Helping people to spend years of their lives taking on debt just to find out that they’re unlikely to get a high-paying job” … considerably less so.
Degree-blind loans are disastrous. They’d never happen if the colleges and banks had skin in the game. They survive only through well-meaning but mindless taxpayer largess.