Satellite proposed to send solar power to Earth
NASA has given some NIAC funds to Artemis Innovation Management Solutions to study a solar power satellite. It is to be made from small mass-produced mirrors assembled into an odd bell-shaped configuration; the mirrors reflect sunlight onto an array of PV cells which in turn are backed up by a phased array microwave emitter.
For the most part, I think India is moderately promising. While a whole bunch of ’em are still poking rice into mud with a stick in order to just barely survive, a lot of others of ’em have adopted capitalism and science, and have made at least parts of their nation high-tech centers. They’ve got nukes, they’ve got rockets, they’ve got spacecraft and their own aerospace industry. They’ve got Bollywood… strange and alien as it may be, it nevertheless tends to demonstrate both craftsmanship and a sense of fun. And they have a hell of a lot of tech support.
While I personally find Hinduism to be as theologically sensible as, well, every other religion ever, it at least has the potential of being a perfectly fine modern religion (hint: so far as I’m aware, their texts don’t tell ’em to convert or kill the infidels… unlike certain other “religions” I could mention). Hinduism seems to be perfectly accepting of moderinization, and despite some admittedly horrific remnants (such as wives being expected to throw themselves on their husbands funeral pyres, fakirs still plying their trade, the acceptance of a caste system, etc.), they seem to be ready to get drunked up and party.
But every now and then a news story comes along to show that India still has some pretty bad *official* problems:
Indian skeptic charged with “blasphemy” for revealing secret behind “miracle” of weeping cross
The short form: an Indian skeptic shows that a “miraculous weeping Jesus statue” is actually a “Jesus statue that’s dripping drain water from the local plumbing.” And so the local Catholic Church has blasphemy charges filed against him.
Blasphemy charges. Let that sink in. A nation trying to modernize and gain a position of prominence actually has functioning laws against *blasphemy.* Worse, in this case it’s a matter of the “blasphemer” simply pointing out hard facts.
Feh.
Bad India! No cookie for you!!
Now, at first blush what might seem odd is that this is a distinct minority religion pushing to punish a disbeliever, rather than the local majority religion. But look at the West: it’s generally not the Catholics or Lutherans or regular Baptists causing trouble… it’s a few pushy minority religions that have learned to game the system. While the US fortunately does not have anti-blasphemy laws (thank Odin for that), we have a media and a legal system that think that spurious, irrational and just plain unbelievable charges of “racism” are fun to promote, when it comes to certain religions that, unlike Hinduism, do think that causing trouble for non-believers is a fine thing. Seeing this may have spurred the local Indian Catholic church to decide to punish the skeptic.
As the man (Heinlein) said: Of all the strange crimes that humanity has legislated out of nothing, blasphemy is the most amazing – with obscenity and indecent exposure fighting it out for second and third place.
I stopped by a few specialist computer stores today, as well as Best Buy and Costco. The Best Buy/Costco option would seem to provide a computer that would meet my needs for around $600, but would probably be low-quality, short-lifespan rickety equipment. The specialty stores claimed they could build me a computer specifically for my needs for:
1) “A to Z Computers:” $1000
2) “PC Computers:” $1400
3) “PC Laptops:” $2700
Actually, the word that came to mind wasn’t “poltroon,” but another “p” word meaning much the same thing. But, you know… “family-friendly blog” and all…
Short form: there’s a shooting range 1.5 miles from his house, and the noise upsets his delicate lil’ sensibilities.
Feh.
I live a few miles from a wildlife refuge that once or twice a year is opened up into a wildlife shooting ground. The morning of the opening of duck season sounds like a WWI artillery barrage. Additionally, the entire area around here is open to hunting and target practice. You know what? It’s hardly noticeable.
So I wandered by Spaceweather.com to see if there’s any chance of an aurora anytime in the future, and what do I see:
Translation: the northern lights are almost on top of me. Woo! So I rush my camera equipment together, head out, and get a lensfull of this:
ARGH!!!
Huh.
[youtube 7vob-w_kjYc]
And because why not:
[youtube 5erjj6aS5Ws]
As it turns out, even those who are part of political movements that seek to destroy capitalism and install a totalitarian fascist/socialist state will nevertheless resort to c apitalism when it turns out that the reality of their ideology makes itself plain. For example, witness one Melissa Borrett of Lubbock Texas. She starts off like this:
…she was struggling as a waitress to make ends meet. She had even been living at the Occupy Lubbock encampment near Texas Tech University’s campus in Lubbock.
So, apparently the “Occupy Lubbock” gig wasn’t making ends meet. I’m shocked. So what did she do? Well… she kinda went 180 degree, and started a business that offers maid service. Slightly unconventional maid service, to be sure:
Lubbock businesswoman offers nude maid service
So, she’s gone from Occupier spending her time trying to tear down corporations… to becoming an evil, evil boss her own self. Plus, she’s now objectifyin’ wimminfolk. That’ll go over well.
From the Fifth Semiannual Report to Congress (NASA, 1961) comes a photo of a supersonic transport wind tunnel model. This configuration would have been quite difficult to translate into a practical airliner design; while the dedication to area ruling would have made it quite low drag at supersonic, it would have made manufacturing a nightmare. Additionally, the severe wasp-waisting of the fuselage would have made not only the structural design of the pressure vessel a challenge, it would have made the passenger seating layout quite a mess.
