13 years ago

 AARRRGH, history, Hmm..., rockets, spacecraft  12 Responses »
Feb 012016
 

There I was, driving through the dreary interior of California on a 200-mile trip to go out on a date, when I turned on the radio to hear that the Space Shuttle Columbia had exploded on re-entry. There followed at least an hour  of the dusty nothingness that is the road to Sacramento, and then the date, which involved meeting the young ladies mother. Neither of them gave a rats ass about the Shuttle, while I was kinda desperate to see the news on the TV. Yeah, not what you’d call a great social success story. Oh well.

Anyway, there has long been debate on whether if, with enough knowledge and effort, the crew could have been saved. I’m of the opinion that the moment the foam smacked the wing, the crew was pretty much doomed. But maybe…

The audacious rescue plan that might have saved space shuttle Columbia

 Posted by at 9:24 pm

Trump train hits a bump

 Hmm..., news, politics  13 Responses »
Feb 012016
 

Well, how about that: Cruz won the Iowa caucus with 28%; Trump got 24%. The big surprise is that Rubio got 23%.

On the other side, Clinton (D:Dishonesty) has 49.8 %, while Crazy Uncle Bernie got 49.6%. The third guy got 0.5%, so the Dems can’t claim that they are torn between two bad candidates… they had three to choose from, along with (I suppose) write-ins and “None Of The Above.” The third guy has dropped out, not that anyone is going to notice.

 Posted by at 8:58 pm

PC? This story has it *all*

 Crazy, humor, news, politics, youtube  5 Responses »
Feb 012016
 

OK, so we’ve got a white guy in charge of an Arizona branch of the NAACP. If that’s not hi-larious enough, he used the F-word to apologize for using the T-word to describe a portion of a female reporter while at a protest over some students using the N-word. Throw in: a preacher wanting to remove the guy from his position at the NAACP due to his “white privilege.”

 

 Posted by at 1:56 pm

“Technological Doping”

 dumbassery, Hmm..., news, ಠ_ಠ  9 Responses »
Feb 012016
 

Here’s a new one:

UCI confirms motorised doping uncovered at cyclo-cross World Championships

I’ve heard of using “performance enhancing drugs” in bicycle races before, but not actual motors. And if I had, I don’t think I’ve heard of it referred to as “doping.”

Sadly the article does not provide  design of the motorized bike. The motor, and presumably batteries or fuel tank or whatever it uses, are hidden within the frame (which would not seem to provide a whole lot of volume for such things), and it’s unclear just how a hidden motor provides power to the wheel. In order to be of use to a racer the motor would have to provide a fair bit of power and at least some meaningful duration; if this was done with a system that can be safely hidden within a racing bicycles frame it must be a technological marvel.

Entertainingly, the racer caught using the motorized bikes claims: “I didn’t know anything about it. I don’t know how that bike got there. I was surprised to see that bike standing there. It’s not my bike. There’s been a mistake.”

Yeah.

 Posted by at 1:05 pm
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