Absolutely no context is given here. One *hopes* that the biker was some flavor of political “protestor.”
Sep 152020
Sep 142020
First U.S. Small Nuclear Reactor Design Is Approved
That sounds like good news. One issue, however:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the design of a new kind of reactor, known as a small modular reactor (SMR). The design, from the Portland, Ore.–based company NuScale Power, is intended to speed construction, lower cost and improve safety over traditional nuclear reactors…
Portland? OREGON?!?!
Anyway, it’s a 50 megawatt design, able to be built in clusters to gin up to 600 megawatts. A company exec is quoted as saying they think they can sell up to 1,682 of the reactors by 2042… which sounds like a lot, but it would still only produce around 82% as much energy as the current set of larger reactors. Of course if hundreds of small reactors start coming online producing cheap, safe, reliable and carbon-free electricity, one imagines that larger reactors will also start coming along. Ideally, thorium and breeder reactors will also *finally* enter production. Additionally, a very large number of reactors should require a large number of a new generation of nuclear scientists, engineers and technicians… *exactly* the people you need to develope even more advanced nuclear power systems, including fusion systems. You certainly won’t advance the cause of civilized humanity by hiring THESE idjits.
Looks like the first unit will be sold to power Utah, but will be located in Idaho. I still think that the Great Salt Lake would be a fantastic place for a few hundred of these things.
Sep 142020
I assume the parachute was soaked in kerosene or alcohol or something. Otherwise it seems *incredibly* flammable.
Sep 142020
Seems the horrible nightmare of heat and acid that is the atmosphere of Venus has something else: phosphine. This chemical is *usually* a product of biological processes, and is difficult to produce otherwise. The suggestion is made that there is an existing ecosystem of microorganism floating in the clouds of Venus at altitudes where the temperatures are temperate. These likely single-celled organisms would have had to have evolved billions of years ago when Venus was presumably Earth-like, and survived the transition to hellish conditions that now prevail by wafting up into the sky.
Scientists Detect Apparent Signature of Life in Venus’s Atmosphere
What will *probably* end up being the case is that the phosphine is the result of some previously unexpected chemical process involving the heat, pressure and existing soup of horrifying chemicals that make up the land and sky of Venus. But for now, “life” can’t be easily discounted as a possibility.
Sep 142020
Here’s an effective productivity-blaster… a website that shows a rotatable globe of the Earth at dozens of points in its history back to the Cryogenian period 750 million years ago. You don’t have to go back too far (well, relatively) for Earth to become wholly unrecognizable.
https://dinosaurpictures.org/ancient-earth
Sep 132020
Sep 132020
I’ve never been too enamored of watching other people play video games. “Watch as I blitz my way through Halo!” Meh. But you know what can be damned entertaining? Someone playing the game *wrong.*
Sep 122020
An interesting use of computer image manipulation technology. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but if you want to watch Stalin, Hitler, Tojo, FDR and such singing in harmony… well, today’s your day, I guess.
And because 2020 is – at least until 2021 – peak weird, behold:
Sep 122020
As Elon Musk points out… “Rockets are hard.” Having their first vehicle shut down in flight and fall back to Earth is a shame, but it’s not shameful. They did a lot better than many… it didn’t kerblam on the pad.
Astra’s 1st orbital test launch fails during first-stage engine burn
— Jennifer Culton (@CultonJennifer) September 12, 2020
Thanks, @elonmusk. We appreciate that and are encouraged by the progress we made today on our first of three flights on our way to orbit https://t.co/CrH8iBYNpS
— Astra (@Astra) September 12, 2020
Sep 112020
NASA has released an interesting Request for Quotes:
Purchase of Lunar Regolith and/or Rock Materials from Contractor
A.The Contractor shall:1.Collect from 50g up to 500g of Lunar regolith and/or rock materials (“Collected Material”) from the surface of the Moon (Luna).a.Be responsible for performing all activities necessary, including:1.Determining method(s), providing and or developing equipment, deployment/launch/landing, and operation of all systems the Contractor’s method(s) requires. (this purchase does not include development, production, or launch of space vehicles)2.Identify, negotiate, and conclude, all necessary agreements and approvals for the Contractor’s method and all associated systems, personnel, and operations.2.Provide imagery to NASA of the collection and the Collected Material, and data that identifies the collection location on the Lunar surface.3.Provide the Collected Material to NASA upon its collection from the Lunar surface by in-place ownership transfer from Contractor to NASA. After ownership transfer the collected material becomes the sole property of NASA for use as NASA may determine.
It seems what NASA wants is for someone to go to the moon and box up samples… and leave then there for later collection. Which seems odd… if NASA is going to send a mission of some kind to the moon to collect those samples, it seems that that mission could probably collect them itself. But perhaps by having one or more rovers trundling around picking up samples from various places and delivering them to a central “depot” for collection, things could work better.
Seems very likely that this sort of thing is in service of preparations for mining operations on the moon… digging up water to service a base, or industrial elements for lunar or space-based industry, or perhaps even very rare elements for return to Earth. And this is not only fine, this is praiseworthy. Except, of course, to Certain People. You know the kind. The kind who live off Daddy’s Trust Fund and bitch about capitalism over their ten dollar lattes. Behold:
NASA Is Soliciting Bids to Bring Capitalism to the Moon
Article is what you’d expect: “hurr durr, capitalism bad.”