DIY Capsule Drop Test
- By Kristian von Bengtson |
- June 17, 2012 |
- Comments
We had a fantastic day performing drop tests of our DIY space capsule. Stay tuned for much more data coming soon. So far, I just want to share this fantastic photo with you.. Ad Astra Kristian von Bengtson
Rocket Shop, Science BlogsShuttle-Era Manned Mars Flyby (1985)
- By David S. F. Portree |
- June 17, 2012 |
- Comments
Piloted Mars-Venus flybys enjoyed high-level support in the 1960s, but fell victim to budget cuts along with most other plans for NASA’s post-Apollo future. The concept enjoyed a brief revival in the mid-1980s, after a CIA memo suggested that the Soviet Union might attempt such a mission in the late 1990s. Beyond Apollo blogger David S. F. Portree describes NASA’s optimistic Shuttle-era piloted flyby plan, which would have used Space Station and Lunar Base hardware.
Beyond Apollo, Science BlogsMercury Space Observatory (1964)
- By David S. F. Portree |
- June 16, 2012 |
- Comments (4)
Piloted spacecraft differ from most other types of space vehicles in that they need to return precious cargo to Earth’s surface. Beyond Apollo blogger David S. F. Portree describes how, a year after the last manned Mercury mission, a NASA engineer proposed that Mercury capsules be re-purposed to return a new precious cargo: photographic film containing high-resolution images of comets, stars, and galaxies.
Beyond Apollo, Science BlogsDIY Capsule Drop Test, Pyro Separation and Betty Page
- By Kristian von Bengtson |
- June 15, 2012 |
- Comments (7)
Tomorrow is yet another fantastic day for Copenhagen Suborbitals. In cooperation with Lindoe Space Test Center and Blue Water Shipping will be performing a drop-test of Tycho Deep Space. The purpose is to validate how the capsule will react to water impact when landing with three large main parachutes. The parachutes are designed to create [...]
Rocket Shop, Science BlogsA Toast to Mike the Durable
- By Deborah Blum |
- June 15, 2012 |
- Comments
A ragtag group of Prohibition-era schemers tried to kill a local drunkard with poison alcohol, but their plan backfired. Elemental blogger Deborah Blum retells the classic story of what happened next.
Elemental, Science BlogsNational Geographic Awards Ocean Dive, Mountain Climbs
- By Jeffrey Marlow |
- June 15, 2012 |
- Comments
The National Geographic Society posthumously awarded ocean explorer Jacques Piccard with the Hubbard Medal — the Society’s highest honor — while mountaineer Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner was crowned Explorer of the Year.
Science Blogs, The Extremo Files9-Year-Old Who Changed School Lunches Silenced By Politicians
- By Maryn McKenna |
- June 14, 2012 |
- Comments (174)
Nine-year-old student Martha Payne took photos of her school lunches in western Scotland, but had to shut down her blog because she’s now forbidden to take a camera into school. Superbug author and blogger Maryn McKenna reports.
Science Blogs, SuperbugMystery of the Missing 1258 A.D. Eruption Solved?
- By Erik Klemetti |
- June 14, 2012 |
- Comments (71)
A geologist now claims to know where a gargantuan eruption in 1258 A.D. occurred. Volcanologist and Eruptions blogger Erik Klemetti reports.
Eruptions, Science BlogsLunar Base or Space Station? (1983)
- By David S. F. Portree |
- June 14, 2012 |
- Comments (18)
In Dec. 1983, the National Science Foundation’s Division of Policy Research and Analysis enlisted Science Applications Incorporated (SAI) of McLean, Virginia, to compare the science and technology research potential of an Earth-orbiting space station and a base on the moon. In its report, which was completed on Jan. 10, 1984, SAI cautioned that, because its [...]
Beyond Apollo, Science BlogsThe Complexity of Cities and SimCity
- By Samuel Arbesman |
- June 14, 2012 |
- Comments (6)
SimCity game files could help estimate the complexity of an actual city. Mathematician and Social Dimension blogger Samuel Arbesman explains how in his latest research.
Science Blogs, Social DimensionRowdy Beer-Guzzling Slobs v Estrogen-Sotted Girly Men: When Press Releases Go Manly
- By David Dobbs |
- June 14, 2012 |
- Comments (6)
One of the mixed blessings of being a science writer is the strange smorgasbord of press releases offered up in one’s inbox each week. Now and then one arrives and makes you think, Lordy, I should publish this sucker As Is, see what happens. A friend got one such today and shared it with me: “A [...]
Neuron Culture, Science BlogsJust How Hot is Io’s Volcanic Surface?
- By Erik Klemetti |
- June 13, 2012 |
- Comments (25)
Io is one of the hottest and most active moons in the solar system, but its volcanoes aren’t losing as much heat as predicted. Volcanologist and Eruptions blogger Erik Klemetti reports on a new study of the Jovian volcanic moon.
Eruptions, Science BlogsFun in Cities: Feature, Not Bug
- By David Dobbs |
- June 13, 2012 |
- Comments
From P.D. Smith, a man who knows cities and fun: I’ve written a piece for Arc 1.2, the new digital quarterly from the makers of New Scientist, about cities and fun: “Every year for three whole days in the picturesque Piedmont town of Ivrea, Italy, some three thousand people pelt each other mercilessly with oranges, [...]
Neuron Culture, Science BlogsSeriously Tough Love: Morality the Hard Way
- By David Dobbs |
- June 13, 2012 |
- Comments
My post yesterday on morality and evolution drew a useful heads-up from the writer and entrepreneur Jag Bhalla: a review he wrote for The Wilson Quarterly of a recent book on the same subject, evolutionary biologist Christopher Boehm’s Moral Origins: The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame. This book, published last month, slipped under my [...]
Neuron Culture, Science BlogsDoes Your Download Progress Bar Lie to You?
- By Rhett Allain |
- June 13, 2012 |
- Comments (14)
When you download a big file, how does your computer calculate the progress and remaining time? Dot Physics blogger Rhett Allain uses math to root out progress bar deception.
Dot Physics, Science BlogsHarold Urey’s Lunar Landing Sites (1961)
- By David S. F. Portree |
- June 13, 2012 |
- Comments (4)
All fields of scientific exploration have their pioneers, the giants upon whose shoulders stand today’s scientific explorers. Harold Urey, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1934 for his discovery of deuterium, became in the 1950s a pioneer of lunar science. In 1961, NASA asked him to recommend lunar landing sites. Beyond Apollo blogger David S. F. Portree describes Urey’s 13 sites and what the Nobel Laureate believed they might tell us about the moon.
Beyond Apollo, Science BlogsEruptions Summer Schedule 2012
- By Erik Klemetti |
- June 12, 2012 |
- Comments (27)
We are well into June now (hard to believe), so I thought I’d give you an idea of what the summer schedule looks like for Eruptions. This summer, for me, is all about getting research done on a variety of projects, focussing on my work at Lassen Peak/Lassen Volcanic Center and at Mineral King. As [...]
Eruptions, Science BlogsDo Evolution and Morality Talk Much? David Sloan Wilson & Simon Blackburn Discuss
- By David Dobbs |
- June 12, 2012 |
- Comments
Morality, even when it doesn’t involve slick trolley problems like killing Whitey, poses a perennial puzzle, particularly in light of evolution. Does human morality rise innately, from culture, or both? Did we evolve merely a capacity to think morally, or a compulsion to do so? What do the evolutionary roots of morality, complex as they might [...]
Neuron Culture, Science BlogsA Random Walk with Pi
- By Samuel Arbesman |
- June 12, 2012 |
- Comments (8)
Researches have crafted one of the most elegant visualizations of π, a number with seemingly infinite decimal places. Mathematician and Social Dimension blogger Samuel Arbesman shows off the images and explains how they made them.
Science Blogs, Social DimensionRepost: Teeth, From the Outside In
- By Brian Switek |
- June 12, 2012 |
- Comments (1)
[This essay was originally posted on December 6, 2011] When people ask me to sum up what I write about, I often respond “Prehistoric creatures with big, scary teeth.” That isn’t strictly true –- my interests are a bit wider than that – but I do have a fondness for sharp-toothed Jurassic theropods, sabercats, and [...]
Laelaps, Science Blogs
