The fourth and last of the X-15 panoramas.
Apr 212012
Apr 212012
Jerry Pournelle (science fiction author) has a blog. Todays post has links, article snippets and commentary on the concept of diversity… and how it’s turned into a nightmarish mess. Give it a read, and despair for the future.
Diversity vs. the Melting Pot
Apr 202012
Yesterday I said that Indian media dubbing the Agni-V ICBM as a “China Killer” was maximum trolling. I think this might actually be even more maximal:
Chinese media pick chinks in India’s missile armour
Ooof.
Apr 202012
This is pretty spiffy… space-based photos showing how various areas of Earth have seen the bloat of urbanity.
Images from space track relentless spread of humanity
Apr 202012
Used rocket launcher left for trash pickup causes Kingwood-area scare
The story is completely lacking in details other than it was stuffed full of dust bunnies and cobwebs. My guess: an old bazooka or LAW tube (at a described length of 3 feet, my bet is a LAW) was left in somebodies basement or attic, and someone who didn’t really know – or care – what it was simply threw it out.
Apr 202012
The government has put the Lockheed Sea Shadow up for sale:
BID DEPOSIT-SEA SHADOW/HMB-1
Current Bid: 10,000 USD (Reserve Not Met)
Bidders: 0
Close Time: 05/04 05:00 PM CT
THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE BEING SOLD AS ONE LOT AND ARE NOT TO BE SEPARATED UNTIL AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE GOVERNMENT FACILITY. THE EX-SEA SHADOW (IX-529), YEAR BUILT: 1983, BUILDER: LOCKHEED MARTIN, OVERALL LENGTH: 164 FEET, WATERLINE LENGTH: 118 FEET, EXTREME BEAM 68 FEET, WATERLINE BEAM: 58 FEET, MAXIMUM NAVIGATIONAL DRAFT: 15 FEET, DRAFT LIMIT: 15 FEET, LIGHT DISPLACEMENT: 499 TONS, HULL MATERIAL: STEEL HULL AND SUPERSTRUCTURE, DIESEL ELECTRIC PROPULSION SYSTEM, NUMBER OF PROPELLERS: TWO. (THE EX-SEA SHADOW SHALL BE DISPOSED OF BY COMPLETELY DISMANTLING AND SCRAPPING WITHIN THE U.S.A. DISMANTILING IS DEFINED AS REDUCING THE PROPERTY SUCH AS IT HAS NO VALUE EXCEPT FOR ITS BASIC MATERIAL CONTENT.) THE EX-HUGHES MINING BARGE (HMB-1), COVERED SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE DECK CARGO BARGE/FLOATING DRY-DOCK (WITH DOCKED EX-SEA SHADOW (IX-529) ON BOARD.) HMB-1 – LIGHT DISPLACEMENT: 4,585 TONS, LENGTH OVER ALL): 234 FEET, BREATH: 106.8 FEET, DEPTH: 18.8 FEET, HEIGHT OF WING WALLS ABOVE MAIN DECK: 62 FEET, LENGTH INSIDE WING WALLS: 276 FEET, WIDTH INSIDE WING WALLS: 76.6 FEET, YEAR BUILT: 1972, DRAFT: FORWARD: 8 FEET, AFT: 9 FEET, AIR DRAFT: 97.7 FEET, BUILDER: NATIONAL STEEL SHIP BUILDING COMPANY, SAN DIEGO, CA., CONSTRUCTION: WELDED STEEL, SPOON BOW AND FLAT BOTTOM WITH 18 INCH DEAD RISE, AND RADIUS BILGE PLATING. THESE ITEMS ARE BEING SOLD AS ONE LOT AND WILL NOT BE SEPERATED.
Which of course sounds AWESOME. But they crap all over the awesomeness with this requirement:
THE EX-SEA SHADOW SHALL BE DISPOSED OF BY COMPLETELY DISMANTLING AND SCRAPPING WITHIN THE U.S.A. DISMANTILING IS DEFINED AS REDUCING THE PROPERTY SUCH AS IT HAS NO VALUE EXCEPT FOR ITS BASIC MATERIAL CONTENT.
Gah. Can you imagine what kind of amazing yacht it could’ve made?
So, you’re bidding on scrap metal that *you* have to go to the bother of scrapping. Feh.
Apr 202012
Wednesday evening in Thatcher, Utah, looking east towards Tremonton and the Wasatch mountains after a small rainstorm.
Apr 202012
One more…
Apr 192012
So a 757 flies into a flock of birds on takeoff from JFK International, has a strike on one of the engines and returns for a safe landing. Modestly newsworthy. A passenger takes a video of the birdstrike; modestly newsworthy. News anchor demonstrates a stunning lack of knowledge of the aircraft involved: priceless.
Watch the video.
Apr 192012
Combo of “awesome scientific advance” and “I’ve seen this movie.”
Synthetic DNA Created, Evolves on Its Own
This has all kinds of interesting implications. It expands what DNA could be; new organisms could be engineered with quite different capabilities than life as we know it. It also shows that a different chemistry could permit the development of life (thus: expanding the possibilities for alien life), as well as showing that supernatural explanations are not needed to explain how things like DNA could come to be.