You’d think this would’ve been bigger news

 blather, news, science, science fiction  4 Responses »
Mar 162013
 

Astrobiologists discover fossils in meteorite fragments, confirming extraterrestrial life

Confirmation of extraterrestrial life would be Big News. Thus either the media missed this, or maybe it’s not exactly confirmed. Maybe the article itself has something to say…

These findings aren’t a slam dunk, though. According to our in-house biologist John Hewitt, there’s a strong possibility that the fossils aren’t actually biological in nature — they simply look biological.

So… it looks intriguing, but is not confirmed. But that sort of thing doesn’t stand in the way of a good headline writer…

 Posted by at 8:29 pm

Something from nothing

 awesomeness, history, news, religion, science, science fiction  42 Responses »
Mar 152013
 

I’m surprised this didn’t get more press:

Ex nihilo: Dynamical Casimir effect in metamaterial converts vacuum fluctuations into real photons

In short: experiments have shown the production of pairs of photons from… nothing. By careful tinkering with the Casimir effect, researchers in Finland were able to extract actual, measurable energy in the form of photons from the zero point vacuum fluctuation. This is probably wretchedly far from extracting useful and commercially viable levels of energy from nothing, but the fact that it seems to have been done is fairly Earth shaking in implication. Not least: arguments that the universe could not have come from nothing, and thus *needed* to have some external driving force (intelligent or otherwise) would now seem to be null and void.

zpm

 Posted by at 6:17 pm

F-1 Rocket Engine Insulation

 history, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Mar 152013
 

The mighty F-1 rocket engine from the Saturn V is almost always depicted without the thermal insulation blankets that they actually flew with. Model kits, toys, artwork, diagrams… they all show the engine bare. It’s rare to find any sort of illustration of the insulation, though I’ve done so before HERE and HERE.

And here’s another… a photo from an F-1 training manual.

f-1 insulation

 Posted by at 12:44 am

Submarine diagrams?

 blather, drawings, ships  8 Responses »
Mar 142013
 

Anyone know of a source for good, clear, detailed and, most importantly, accurate diagrams for US submarines such as the Washington and Franklin class boomers and Sturgeon and Los Angeles attack subs? I have Friedmans “US Subs since 1945” and Polmars “Cold War Subs,” but they’re not doing the job.

 Posted by at 10:31 pm

Cruz vs. Feinstein

 awesomeness, I'm from the government, politics, weapons, youtube  2 Responses »
Mar 142013
 

Senator Cruz questions Senator Feinstein, who refuses to answer the question. Not that it’ll help, but it’s instructive to witness the fecklessness of the fascists in the US FedGuv like Feinstein as they try desperately to avoid the implications of what they are attempting to foist upon the people.

[youtube NYI3MEhegvQ]

 Posted by at 7:05 pm

Yay! We can do what we were able to do 40 years ago!

 awesomeness, news, nukes, science, spacecraft, wisdom  4 Responses »
Mar 142013
 

U.S. Starts Making Plutonium

doc-brown

Short form: after a 25 year lapse, the DOE is finally back in the business of making plutonium-238 for NASA radioisotope thermionic generators. The US stopped making PU-238 for NASA in the late 1980’s due to environmental concerns, and unwisely turned to Russia for this vital resource. After Russia also got out of the PU-238 production biz, NASA has been left with a dwindling stockpile, with future missions endangered. Looks like they’re targeting 1.5 kilograms per year of new PU-238 production. Woo!

philobw

An interesting presentation on NASA plans for PU – production and utilization – is HERE.

 Posted by at 6:23 pm

Marvin

 cats, photography  4 Responses »
Mar 142013
 

At this point, I’m pretty sure that Marvin is just an old cat. But she has certainly taken to living with a human; if I’m in the same room with her, chances are good she’s laying next to me (though not on me). She has an unstoppable desire to be in physical contact, even if it’s only just reaching out a paw to touch my leg. Usually, though, she wants to be right up next to me.

Dsc_4847

 

“Gimme”

Dsc_4850

 Posted by at 5:53 pm

Cutlass with a difference

 aircraft, drawings, history, projects, ಠ_ಠ  4 Responses »
Mar 142013
 

In 1949, the Langley Aeronautical laboratory of the NACA studied external stores (apparently fuel tanks) configurations for the Vought F7U Cutlass. A wide and occasionally unusual range of layouts was considered. As it happened, the Cutlass was a disaster of an airplane, with low powered engines prone to flameout in the rain and landing gear prone to collapse. The Cutlass did not last long and a surprising fraction were destroyed in crashes.

 

 Posted by at 2:35 am
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