Tardigrades under Antarctica

 awesomeness, critters, Hmm..., news, science  No Responses »
Jan 182019
 

Tiny animal carcasses found in buried Antarctic lake

The tardigrades in question are actually *land* critters. Scientists speculate that during warm periods 10,000 or 120,000 years ago, when the Antarctic glacier they drilled a kilometer through was not there, the tardigrades had washed into a lake, which then froze over. The glacier then moved in and grew increasingly thick. The lake itself isn’t frozen solid, and does have seemingly living bacteria in it. The tardigrades do not seem to have been living in the lake, but are ancient remains. Nothing more advanced than bacteria is expected to be alive in those conditions.

 Posted by at 2:47 pm

Yay, missile defense

 news, nukes, politics, rockets, spacecraft, THIS is why Trump won, weapons  No Responses »
Jan 182019
 

Yesterday the Trump Administration announced that the US is going to get back into the “Star Wars” business. Not to the scale of the original Strategic Defense Initiative days, when the goal was to put a dent in a Soviet full strike, but to knock down a strike from the likes of Iran or North Korea or Canada.

“Star Wars” Lite? We Explain Trump’s Missile Defense Strategy

A direct link to the Missile Defense Review is HERE. Ideas include F-35’s and drones armed with lasers and/or interceptor missiles to do boost phase interception… which would, of course, require that the aircraft be on-station near the launch site as it happens. This might work for the likes of North Korea or Iran, but wouldn’t be valuable against Russian or Chinese land or sea based ICBMs. For those, they also want to use space based interceptors. Yay! If the US actually goes ahead and fields a flock of Brilliant Pebbles, as was planned late in the SDI days, it will require a *lot* of low-cost launch capability.

It ain’t gonna happen, of course.

 Posted by at 2:23 am

My pitch for “Space Force”

 art, blather, humor, politics, science fiction  No Responses »
Jan 172019
 

Rather than just complain uselessly about what a political disaster the new Netflix show “Space Force” is *probably* going to be, I decided to put a little thought into what it *could* be, if I had anything to say about it. So here are a few basics about what a Space Force comedy show *could* be. Feel free to make suggestions in the comments, and pass this along to Hollywood execs.

The setting: Top Secret facility “USSF Base Mt. Mysterious,” somewhere in the Sierras of California. Mt. Mysterious is the newest USSF facility, basically a “think tank” for the Force. Responsible for coming up with plans, strategies and new technologies. Total number of personnel at the base is, so far, only a few dozen. The nearest town to Mt. Mysterious is the small mountain town/tourist trap of Nowheresville, filled with the stock-standard assortment of eccentric small-town types such as ranchers, B&B owners, coffee shop proprietors, marijuana growers and dispensers, etc.

Regular cast:

Colonel Jim Bland (Steve Carrell): Just transferred from the USAF to the USSF and newly-installed base commander of Mt. Mysterious. A-political, but also a-competant. Has a proven track record of failing upwards; wherever he goes, every facility or project he was involved with is shuttered shortly after. Thinks the USSF is an exciting opportunity, but is forever getting bad ideas and bad advice. Cheerful and upbeat; gullible with the IQ of a turnip.

Gregory Laurie (Freddie Highmore): Main viewpoint character. Standard “Aspergers=mental superpowers” type, brought to Mt. Mysterious just before Colonel Bland. Not officially a member of the USSF, but he hacked his way into the base computers, analyzed some of the top secret plans on file, found errors and then sent in corrections. Was given the choice between working at the base and a deep dark prison-hole; jumped at the chance to work for the USSF. Good with computers and whatever else the plot needs.

Ida Dunner (Laura Prepon): Secretary to Colonel Bland. Competent and devoted to the cause of the USSF. Often “loses” orders to and from Colonel Bland, with the result that the base prospers. Secretly reports to General Bateson, while still being somewhat fond of the hapless Bland. Has an arsenal of firearms at home, loves to hunt.

Dr. Emmett L. Rotwang (Tim Allen): Mt. Mysterious chief engineer. Eccentric mad-scientist type responsible for numerous advanced weapons and propulsion projects. Most of the projects are seemingly insane…. and most of them work. Constantly fighting a battle against budget cuts. Dreams of planting the US flag on Mars and claiming the Moon. Has a prototype warp drive under construction in his basement.

Captain Han Ford (Anthony Ingruber): Mt. Mysterious chief pilot. Can and does fly everything, from the seemingly civilian helicopter used to shuttle into the nearby town of Nowheresville, to the bases single F-35B to the prototype spaceplane they keep meaning to launch one of these days. Spends a lot of free time at Dr. Rotwang’s house helping him with his projects.

Sargent Thor Manwell (Chris Pratt): In charge of maintenance and construction at the base. Poplar among base female personnel. Often goes hunting with Ms. Dunner.

Agent Tasha Vasquez (Michelle Rodriguez): OSI agent based at Mt. Mysterious, tasked with keeping an eye on both the staff and potential spies, cyber or otherwise. Also responsible for bringing Gregory to the base. Grim, skeptical and suspicious.

Recurring Characters:

Senator Pantsy Nelosi (Tina Fey), sits on the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee. Opposed to the existence of the USSF, has aspirations of higher office. A recurring antagonist on the show, is largely responsible for the placement of Colonel Bland. A large faction of her campaign funds are funneled in from China. The question is, does she know?

Moonbeam Causehead (Lena Dunham): Social activist in Nowheresville. Protests everything. Runs the local Socialist Feminist Collective Bookstore which never seems to sell any actual books.

Flower (Kate Upton): Another social activist in Nowheresville, a common feature at the Socialist Feminist Collectivist Bookstore and at any and all protest rallies. Airheaded, bubbly and cheerful, always ready to help… and actually an FBI agent who despises social justice warriors and is keeping tabs on the network of spies and saboteurs that seems to be growing in the Mt. Mysterious region. Clandestinely reports to Agent Vasquez.

General Morgan Bateson (Kelsey Grammer): USSF Chief of Staff. Gruff, arrogant but also hyper-competant and driven to make sure that the USSF succeeds. Dislikes Senator Nelosi intensely. Plans on turning the USSF into a force of warships that will lead the American conquest of the entire solar system.

Nole Sezob (Johnny Galecki): Genius owner and director of Blue Harvest Inc. A self-made billionaire and tech innovator, now working on his own private space program. Has a secret agreement with the USSF to carry out clandestine launches as well as put some of Dr. Rotwangs inventions into production… and into orbit. Outgoing and friendly; harbors a hatred of Communists and their lackeys.

Mr. Nupit (Alec Baldwin): Advisor to Senator Nelosi. Forever taking calls from Russia. Regularly visits Nowheresville and the Socialist Feminist Collective Bookstore. Asks many questions, leaves behind spy cameras.

The President (Arnold Schwarzenegger): Publicly supports the USSF. But privately…?

 

The staff at Mt. Mysterious work to make the USSF successful, to counter threats from Russia, China and especially the dastardly Canadians, and to avoid the bumbling orders of Colonel Bland. Over the first season there is a growing suspicion that Senator Nelosi is more than just a political opponent.

 Posted by at 8:04 pm

Bugs on a Galaxy

 aircraft, history, Hmm..., projects  No Responses »
Jan 162019
 

Boeing lost to Lockheed the competition that produced the C-5. But Boeing wound up making out like bandits; they took their efforts and turned it into the 747 and sold the hell out of ’em. Lockheed of course wanted in on that action, but their efforts to turn the  C-5 Galaxy into a civilian aircraft by way of the L-500 were unsuccessful. Plans were in place for both passenger and cargo haulers, with various pitches such as stuffing the aircraft full of automobiles.

This was from 1970. Those Cadillacs and Continentals suggested as alternatives would soon fall victim to the early 70’s OPEC oil embargo and the subsequent skyrocketing price of gas.

 Posted by at 10:12 pm

“Space Force:” A good idea that will probably suck

 art, Forward!, Meh., politics, science fiction, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 162019
 

No, not the *actual* Space Force, but the show that Netflix is rushing into production, likely with the intention of mocking the whole concept.

Steve Carell to Star in Netflix Comedy Based on Trump’s ‘Space Force’

 

Imagine how awesome a show based on the USSF *could* be if it was made by people who wanted to make an awesome show. Imagine what a sh!tshow of political gibberish this will *probably* be.

 Posted by at 12:59 pm

Everything wrong with Disney Star Wars, in one fan film

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Hmm..., news, science fiction, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 152019
 

Disney Bought the Star Wars franchise. Then they made “The Force Awakens,” that the fandom generally went nuts, with some “hey, wait, isn’t that the *exact* same plot as ‘A New Hope’?” complaints in the background. Then they made “Rogue One,” and everyone pretty much loved it. Then they made “The Last Jedi,” and the fandom turned inside out because it was a flawed and to many an insulting take on Star Wars. Then they made “Solo,” and the fandom freakin’ hated it.

Four datapoints is not enough for a detailed and accurate trend analysis, but it’s enough to get a sense of where things are going. And the sense is that things are trending downwards, which Disney has recognized by  shelving a whole bunch of announced and rumored projects. But there is a *fifth* data point: “Vader Episode 1: Shards of the Past.” This is a 15-minute fan-film released about three weeks ago. From what I can tell, the fandom *loves* it. Me… I guess I liked it ok. It was well produced, had some interesting ideas. But I accept that the rest of the fandom thinks it’s the greatest thing since sliced Jedi.

Here it is:

So… how does Disney respond to this highly popular fan film? A fan film where the creator had spoken to the right people and made sure to not step on any toes and didn’t even crowdfund it? Does Disney applaud this labor of love? Does Disney recognize it as a worthy effort? Does Disney at least leave it alone?

Nope. They copyright-struck it on YouTube, and now it is monetized via intrusive ads… and the money goes to Disney.

So… like with Star Trek/CBS/Axanar, here we have a labor of fan love being mistreated by the IP holder in such a way as to turn off the love of the fans.

BRILLIANT.

On the other hand: Disney is making bank off this fan film. Does that now make this fan film canon?

UPDATE:

It seems someone at Lucasfilm spoke to someone at Disney and made them see the light. the “Dude, we have trouble enough with the fans as-is due to the crappy produce you are releasing, don’t make it worse.”

 Posted by at 6:23 pm

The most unintentionally hilarious thing you’ll read today

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Hmm..., news, politics, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 142019
 

Short form: about two weeks ago there was a drive-by shooting in a suburb of Houston, Texas. A seven-year-old black girl was shot in the head and killed. The initial reports had it that the killer was a white man with blue eyes, which led to the supposition that this was a racially motivated “hate crime,” and led to opinion pieces such as this:

Was Jazmine Barnes a victim of domestic terrorism? Will white America own it?

Where white people are essentially told that we should collectively bear responsibility for the murder of the child.

Small problem: the white guy who was seen speeding from the scene was merely a bystander, who not unwisely decided to get some distance. The actual shooter? Black feller. Whoops, there goes the narrative.

But that’s not all. As part of “white domestic terrorism is a bignormous threat,” the idjit writer uses an example of a gun “buy back” program in Baltimore where someone turned in a rocket launcher. This is touted as a major example of the NRA being evil gun nuts.

But the thing is, the rocket launcher is little more than an expendable fiberglass tube, no more dangerous than a whiffleball bat. The biggest scandal is that the BPD actually spent $500 for a worthless – and harmless – bit of Army surplus. Behold:

The thing I wonder about is the submachinegun *next* to the AT4 tube. I don’t immediately recognize it; it really looks like the sort of gun that could be knocked out by a reasonably well equipped home machine shop. If that is in fact the case, that should be a *way* bigger story than an expended rocket launcher tube.

 

 

 

 Posted by at 6:23 pm

X-22 Derivative Artwork

 aircraft, art, history, projects  No Responses »
Jan 142019
 

An advertisement from 1963 depicting a Bell concept for an operational derivative of the X-22 VTOL. This was designed as a naval anti-submarine aircraft; it looks like it might be a little bit bigger than the surprisingly small X-22. The configuration is much the same as the X-22, but the fuselage is much rounder, especially around the cockpit.

 Posted by at 12:29 pm

Joy Unbounded

 blather, critters, Hmm..., politics  No Responses »
Jan 132019
 

It is always unwise and unwarranted to ascribe to non-human species human emotions. We simply don’t know that non-humans – from monkeys to dogs to cats to cows to parrots to snakes to fish to worms to Antifa members – actually feel  the emotions we do, in the way we do. But there are times when it is very, very hard to deny that they sure *seem* to. We’ve all seen dogs who do damnably fine simulations of happiness and sadness and the like. I saw another example today of just such a thing.

As previously mentioned, my left shoulder is a mess. I’ve found that driving seems to help; I assume that part of it is taking my mind off the pain, and part is due to the fact that with my hand on the wheel, a good fraction of the weight of the arm is taken off the shoulder. Whatever, I found myself driving around a bit today. And not far from home I saw chaos on the road ahead… several vehicles pulled over, police lights, lots of motion. As I got closer I saw that the issue was a half dozen or so horses running around freely; in short, someone had left a gate open and the horses had bolted, and efforts were underway to collect them.

A frame from a brief and terrible-quality cell phone video I shot of the horses running around. Seethe mountains in the background? Yeah, me neither. Air quality still sucks.

The horses were running as a group through the snow-covered fields. They were not running to escape; they were running just to run. Horses were evolved for the purpose, and when they are prevented from running and suddenly the opportunity presents itself… they run. To all appearances, they run for the pure joy of it. When I first moved to my place here in Utah back in 2004, the neighbors had themselves a horse that they kept in a *tiny* pen. For a creature with minimal ability to make facial expressions, it sure as heck looked depressed. Soon after, the fencing around my back four or so acres was fixed up and I let them keep the horse in that field. Upon first being moved from that tiny pen to my field… the horse ran. And ran. And ran. It ran the perimeter; it ran from corner to corner. It covered every square foot just as fast as it could, because it could.

Running, it seems, gives horses joy. Because that’s what they are for.

 

Mandatory political analysis: recognition that doing what you’re made to do makes you happy, and not doing it makes you sad, might be an explanation for a lot of the trouble in the world today, especially among men. Men who started off as boys who were trained (and often drugged) to not act like boys, who grew up to be ashamed of being male and masculine and to despise their nation, their culture and their ethnicity and to feel nothing but shame and guilt.

 Posted by at 11:00 pm
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