Elephant guns at 82,000 frames per second create some interesting phenomena. Especially interesting are the very brief flashes upon contact with the ballistics gel.
Jul 032023
Jun 302023
A NASA article on the status of the X-57 “Maxwell” says that they’re wrapping up work on it, with no mention of it actually flying:
X-57 Project Creates Paths Toward Electric Aviation
The X-57 is a modification of an existing conventional aircraft to be all-electric. Lots of new technologies were integrated and apparently some useful advances were made, but the real issue remains batteries. Until the energy density of batteries gets a *lot* better, electric-powered aircraft are going to remain pretty niche. Flying the X-57 would be nice, but with the existing batteries it’s kind of dead in the water.
What would be great is if NASA kept working on the X-57 at a low level. The technologies onboard would be occasionally upgraded, and when meaningfully better batteries – or perhaps some sort of modular fuel cell system, perhaps, or indeed a small nuclear reactor (a man can dream) – become available, integrate them into the vehicle and at last fly it.
Jun 102023
Even with a specially made setup and at close range, it’s difficult. This should drive home the difficulty and impressiveness of hit-to-kill interceptors that take out incoming warheads or missile from tens of *miles* away at closing velocities far greater than those of mere bullets.
Also: bullets don’t as a rule fuse together; rather, they explode in a shower of flattened lead fragments.
Jun 052023
Early Universe Crackled With Bursts of Star Formation, Webb Shows
The JWST shows galaxies as far back as 400 million or so years after the Big Bang. Try gaining insight into the universe like this with something, *anything,* other than western science. Suck it, “other ways of knowing.”
Jun 032023
Good news:
In a First, Caltech’s Space Solar Power Demonstrator Wirelessly Transmits Power in Space
This is *many* orders of magnitude away from a practical solar power satellite… but ya gotta start somewhere.
And on the other hand, bad news:
Boeing finds two serious problems with Starliner just weeks before launch
Problem one: bits of the parachute system aren’t as strong as they should be. Bad, but readily solvable.
Problem two: the wiring is flammable. This… is monumentally stupid, a problem that has been well understood since the Apollo 1 fire. this may well require that the capsule be largely disassembled so that *miles* of wiring can be replaced.
Good luck with *that.*
And while Boeing continues to struggle to get a capsule not fundamentally different from Apollo flying SpaceX continues to send crews to the ISS in Dragons.
19 years later… pic.twitter.com/2xead0zqaA
— Rare North American Space Koala (@culpable_mink) June 1, 2023
May 252023
Well, here’s a study to shock exactly nobody:
Antagonistic narcissism and psychopathic tendencies predict left-wing antihierarchical aggression, study finds
Narcissistic individuals and those with psychopathic tendencies are more likely to strongly endorse left-wing antihierarchical aggression, according to new research published in Current Psychology. Antihierarchical aggression refers to a specific type of hostility aimed at challenging or opposing hierarchical power structures or authority figures. The new findings shed light on psychological mechanisms that motivate some individuals to participate in violent political activism.
You want a “red flag law?” Start here.
The study itself:
Understanding left-wing authoritarianism: Relations to the dark personality traits, altruism, and social justice commitment
This, to somewhat stretch the discussion a tad, argues against the recent notion that “Star Trek has always been woke.” Yeah… no. The original series made it clear that in the 23rd century, the Federation – which of course included Humanity – had basically wiped out mental illness. Crazy people more or less didn’t exist in any meaningful form. Which would argue that far lefties would be rare in the United Federation of Planets.
May 252023
Paralyzed man walks again using implants connecting brain with spinal cord
Some sci-fi stuff here, with “it’s the real world, though” results… he’s walking, yes, but *real* *slow.* Not sure if he can feel anything.
May 212023
History is *filled* with astonishingly bad ideas. And who would have guessed that some of the worst would come out of collectivist totalitarian systems like Nazi Germany?
The Case of The Radioactive Toothpaste
Curiously, the toothpaste in question was filled with Radium, the radioactive element of choice for insane and/or stupid product manufacturers in the early 20th century, but Thorium. Why Thorium? Well… “why not” seems to have been the answer.
May 192023
Anyone care to explain WTF is going on here?
May 162023
1: A Remington Rand Printing Calculator showed up today. I need it solely for the number keys. Damn thing weighs a ton. Not sure what I’ll do with it after… It’s not something I have a particular use for, nor am I likely going to be able to restore it properly.
2: I’ve figured out the “video camera:” it’s a Japanese “Monolux” telescope with a box wrapped around it. Some comparison shots between the prop and two copies of the scope I found on ebay:
The size is about right, the shape is dead on, the details are right, the colors are, within limits, correct. The “box” might have been an actual product, but it’s simple enough, and the seams look crappy enough, that making it from scratch seems fully warranted.