More than a century ago, a single ancient shipwreck was explored off the Greek island of Antikythera. Among the treasures brought to the surface was the famed Antikythera Mechanism, a mechanical computer two millenia old that could predict astronomical events. Since that time, though, the site has not been explored in much detail. It seems that that is finally about to change. The possibility exists that more of the mechanism, another of the mechanisms, or different but similarly advanced mechanisms might be found.

Which would be awesome.

Return to Antikythera: Divers revisit wreck where ancient computer found

Got the landing platform roughed out:

UPDATE: revised the engine arrangement.

Such as this leopard sending an impala airborne and then body slamming it when it takes it down.

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October 3, 1942: a German A-4 rocket (a.k.a. V-2) launches from Peenemunde and attains an altitude of 90 or so kilometers, becoming the first man-made object to exit the atmosphere, if rather briefly.

An interesting column:

Column: Stealth war to redefine science

Where we read about the fight to have “soft” sciences such as sociology seen – and funded – at the same level as “hard” sciences such as physics.

I have no doubt that somewhere out in the world is a woman who will read this proposed job, realize that she fits the bill perfectly *and* that she wants to do it. But will this person be within a thousand miles of the job site? I have doubts.

Topless dungeon master sought

A Craigslist poster is looking for a woman to dungeon-master a D&D game/bachelor party. DM must be familiar with D&D 3.0 or 3.5, and topless. C-cup or greater preferred.

1) Schematics and whatnot of the “Quinjet” from the “Avengers” movie. I’m discussing building a CAD model of this for Fantastic Plastic, but diagrams are unavailable. Screenshots galore will be available, but I could really use accurate diagrams.

2) The same for the “Avengers” helicarrier.

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3) Either a scan of this, or at least pointers to when and where it was published (apparently sometime prior to October, 1944):

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4) Better/more detailed diagrams & illustrations – and original source documentation – of this early 1980’s concept by Martin Marietta for a “Phase II” restoration of the Iowa class battleships into battlecarriers by replacing the aft turret with a hangar, ski-jumps for Harriers and VLS missiles, for a conversion kit:

Not far from here is Stinky Springs, a natural hot springs that lives up to its name. Apparently it was a jumpin’ place decades ago, but has fallen not so much into disrepair as into ruin.

Some people are really into hot springs (I’m not one of ’em), but I can’t imagine too many wanting to take advantage of Stinky Springs. The place is not only an infrastructure disaster – the concrete pools are badly damaged, the actual covering structure long ago burned down fell over then sank into the swamp, and there’s broken beer bottle glass and other garbage *everywhere* – but the basic elements of the hot springs also seem to be more “life threatening” than “healthful.” An online news article from a dozen years ago points out some issues:

Hydrogen sulfide levels at 50 parts per million begin to cause irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract. Levels 100 ppm or higher are considered “immediately dangerous to life or health.” …

Each of the bathing stalls built at the springs showed hydrogen sulfide levels between 43 and 96 ppm. At the point where the water enters the bathhouse, levels were at 370 ppm.

Water temperatures ranged from 109.7 degrees to 114 degrees. The standard for a public swimming facility hot tub is a maximum of 105 degrees.

And the smell. Yeeesh. The algae and extremophile bacteria love the place, and certainly give it a whole lot of color… greens, reds, browns, all in a scum that covers everything wet. The sulfurous stank is really quite powerful.

Stinky Springs is a pretty good example of the “Tragedy of the Commons.” While I believe that it is on privately owned land, it is in no way commercialized. The land is open to the public, and I have on more than one occasion seen members of the public actually making use of the “facilities” there. But it is for all intents and purposes owned and run by nobody; nobody profits financially from its public use. And thus nobody is incentivized to maintain or improve it. At the same time, it has been repeatedly vandalized. When I moved out here in 2004 there was a ramshackle wooden structure over the facility that was burned to the ground a few years later… some bits and pieces were stuck back up and wrapped with tarps to provide a modicum of privacy for “bathers.” While vandals, hooligans, dirtbags, darn kids and other assorted ne’er-do-wells litter the place up, nobody bothers to pick up the trash. Since there is no charge for using the hot springs, there’s no incentive to improve the facility; and it’s far enough from civilization that unless it had some sort of guard of it, any improved infrastructure would probably be set on fire.

This is the water flowing *in* to the stalls. Yeeick.

Some burnt remnants of the previous structure. Note the mis-spelled “HOT SRINGS” sign. That’s been there for as long as I can remember.

As an engineer I can see some ways to clean the place up and turn it into a functional, reasonably hygenic place. Construction would have to be almost entirely of reinforced concrete, chosen for resistance to weather, temperature extremes and chemical attack. But the question would be why to go to the bother. Hot springs are not the draw they were a century ago… hot water is available from any tap. It may be that Stinky Springs is, like a buggy whip factory or Detroit, just plain past its usefulness and beyond recovery.

This 1959 Boeing booster concept not only did away with the cockpit, but also the jet engines and the wings. Instead, this was a simpler design intended for ocean splashdown and recovery. Aerodynamic flaps maintained stability.