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From User: Rattle

Current Topic: Science

Kaguya (Selene) Images of Earth-Rise Over the Moon | SpaceRef
Topic: Science 9:40 am EST, Nov 14, 2007

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have successfully performed the world's first high-definition image taking of an Earth-rise* by the lunar explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE,) which was injected into a lunar orbit at an altitude of about 100 km on October 18, 2007 (Japan Standard Time. Following times and dates are all JST.)

Don't miss the pictures and video.

Kaguya (Selene) Images of Earth-Rise Over the Moon | SpaceRef


The wrath of 2007: America's great drought | Independent Online
Topic: Science 10:00 am EDT, Jun 11, 2007

America is facing its worst summer drought since the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression. Or perhaps worse still.

From the mountains and desert of the West, now into an eighth consecutive dry year, to the wheat farms of Alabama, where crops are failing because of rainfall levels 12 inches lower than usual, to the vast soupy expanse of Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida, which has become so dry it actually caught fire a couple of weeks ago, a continent is crying out for water.

In the south-east, usually a lush, humid region, it is the driest few months since records began in 1895. California and Nevada, where burgeoning population centres co-exist with an often harsh, barren landscape, have seen less rain over the past year than at any time since 1924. The Sierra Nevada range, which straddles the two states, received only 27 per cent of its usual snowfall in winter, with immediate knock-on effects on water supplies for the populations of Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

But the long-term implications are escaping nobody. Climatologists see a growing volatility in the south-east's weather - today's drought coming close on the heels of devastating hurricanes two to three years ago. In the West, meanwhile, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests a movement towards a state of perpetual drought by the middle of this century. "The 1930s drought lasted less than a decade. This is something that could remain for 100 years," said Richard Seager a climatologist at Columbia University and lead researcher of a report published recently by the government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

This is rather alarming. More data here.

The wrath of 2007: America's great drought | Independent Online


Space elevator robot passes 1,000-foot mark - Space.com - MSNBC.com
Topic: Science 6:04 pm EDT, Sep 27, 2005

LiftPort Group Inc., of Bremerton, Wash., has successfully tested a robot climber — a novel piece of hardware that reeled itself up and down a lengthy ribbon dangling from a high-altitude balloon.

Furthermore, the company has created LiftPort Nanotech in Millville, N.J. That company is delving into mass production of nanotubes, focused on creating super-strong materials, “because, ultimately, that’s what leads to a long and strong ribbon in the sky,” Laine said.

“We’re not a PowerPoint company anymore … we’re a hardware company,” Laine concluded.

This is great to hear. Michael Laine did several very interesting talks at DragonCon this year. I was quite impressed. Hopefully everything will work well for them as they push their climber designs to the one mile limit.

Space elevator robot passes 1,000-foot mark - Space.com - MSNBC.com


The reason for the season
Topic: Science 9:52 am EST, Dec 20, 2004

Winter Solstice Dec 21 2004 7:42 AM EST

For those of us on the east coast, the sun will be at its closest about a half hour after it rises.

The reason for the season


Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: Science 2:04 pm EDT, Sep 16, 2004

] Each day a different image or photograph of our
] fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief
] explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Some days are more interesting then others..

Astronomy Picture of the Day


:: Xinhuanet - English :: China's first manned spacecraft in orbit
Topic: Science 12:49 am EDT, Oct 15, 2003

] China's first piloted spacecraft has entered the outer
] space, and Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei is now the first
] Chinese astronaut in space in the world's 241st manned
] space mission.

] At around 9:10, Shenzhou-5 moved into the
] preset orbit, indicating success of China's endeavor to
] hurl a piloted space vehicle of its own into the orbit.

] In the meantime, The Yuanwang-1 measuring vessel has
] been monitoring the target over the Pacific Ocean; and
] the Beijing Space Command and Control Center ordered
] the craft to open up the solar panels.

Of course, it ain't over till the dude is back on the ground.

:: Xinhuanet - English :: China's first manned spacecraft in orbit


RE: Cloned humans, aliens, and history books
Topic: Science 10:11 pm EST, Dec 30, 2002

Rattle wrote:

] On the other side, I really hope they are not full of shit,
] and have sucessfuly done it. I really like the idea of the
] history books reading that the first human clone was created
] by a nutty group of loons with dreams of immortality who
] thought that humans were genetically engineered by aliens.

The problem is that this sends a really bad message about cloning. This baby, if real, is probably going to be fucked up. People looking for an excuse to ban genetic engineering (some of whom have reasons that are no more realistic then those of this Alien group) will hold up this poor child as an example of the bad things that happen when you screw with genetics.

It is wrong to take poorly understood genetic techniques and apply them to a real human being. Its mad science, in the English sense. Its science that hurts people.

We are increasingly in an environment where alarmist, reactionary thinking rules the day. Look at the Stock Market. Thats people betting AGAINST future growth in this country. Take Bill Joy, Fukuyama, and the DMCA, throw in 19 terrorists and this Alien group... shaken, not stirred. We may be heading toward a dark time, when certain kinds of thoughts, explorations, and considerations, are simply not allowed in the light of day, and must occur under a shrowd of secrecy regardless of how responsible they are. I kept hearing that theory from everyone at Defcon. I discounted it, but it is a distinct possibility.

RE: Cloned humans, aliens, and history books


Lessons From Networks, Online and Other
Topic: Science 1:34 am EDT, Jun 24, 2002

Albert-Lazlo Barabasi, a professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame, became fascinated with the structure of the Internet in 1998. He and his student researchers designed software robots that went out on the Net and mapped as many of its nodes, hubs and links as they could. He then began studying other networks and found that they had similar structures. The Internet in particular, he found, had taken on characteristics of a living ecosystem.

That made for a valuable insight in itself. But Professor Barabasi went a step further and analyzed the genetic networks of various living organisms, finding that their genes and proteins interacted in much the same networked way as the Internet.

This conclusion, described in Professor Barabasi's new book, "Linked: The New Science of Networks", could alter the way we think about all the networks that affect our lives.

I've already recommended this book, but today's NYT interview provides some additional background in case you haven't already bought the book.

Lessons From Networks, Online and Other


 
 
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