Recent content by signerror

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    Stargazing House Appropriations Committee Kills James Webb Telescope

    But are those fair comparisons? Hubble cost $1.5 billion at launch ($2.5 billion inflation-adjusted), and $10 billion over its entire program. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/09/us/telescope-is-set-to-peer-at-space-and-time.html?pagewanted=all...
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    Stargazing House Appropriations Committee Kills James Webb Telescope

    Or it might as well be, the result would be the same. Dennis Overbye in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/science/07webb.html" According to this article (found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope" ), the project cost ballooned from $1.6 billion to a current...
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    News Obama Admin Takes Credit for Bush Era Wind Farm Jobs

    I'm disappointed that no one's challenged the underlying premise, that government "creating" jobs by taxing productive income and handing it out for unproductive jobs is really "creating" jobs, or any sort of economic benefit at all. True there is some revenue from wind electricity, but it is...
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    News Offshore oil drilling is safe?

    Well, let's see. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill" . I think much of the oil is either already onshore, or underwater (in micelles created by BP's detergent) where it can't combust, so this 10-4 meter figure is a conservative estimate of how thick the...
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    News What impact will a possible war with North Korea have on American troops?

    US sends carrier group to Yellow Sea; will arrive "early next week". Sources say they will conduct joint anti-submarine exercises with South Korea. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iFz0_2u3nzRFZ30YtPM8sX9UhYJA
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    News What were the consequences of Israel's attack on the Gaza Aid Flotilla?

    By the way, none of this was unexpected. Here's a series of articles in Haaretz (Israeli newspaper), all of which predate the incident: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/mess-report-aid-flotilla-won-t-alter-the-humanitarian-situation-in-gaza-1.292672" (Prescient!)...
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    News What were the consequences of Israel's attack on the Gaza Aid Flotilla?

    Complete lies. The "peace advocates" instigated the conflict with vicious assaults. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-commandos-gaza-flotilla-crew-tried-to-lynch-us-1.293089 But you don't need to rely on their word alone: here's two separate video recordings. (WARNING...
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    News CENTCOM investigation: Killed Reuters cameramen were in company of armed ins s

    Actually, there were ground forces just 100 meters away, in the direction where the camera lens was pointing...
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    News CENTCOM investigation: Killed Reuters cameramen were in company of armed ins s

    CENTCOM investigation: Killed Reuters cameramen were in company of armed insurgents I note several threads on this subject have been closed by moderators. I believe this post meets PF guidelines, particularly with regards to citation. Yesterday, US CENTCOM released its 2007 investigation into...
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    India and Thorium reactors progress

    Actually, they are thermal breeders. This is what is unique about the U-233/Th-232 fuel cycle: unlike plutonium, you can achieve a positive breeding ratio (that is, a net increase in fissile atoms) with thermal (cold) neutrons. In India's nuclear program, they are designing heavy-water reactors...
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    Ares I launch in few minutes, maybe

    IMP - I think the real second stage will have small thrusters to correct that. I.e. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_control_system The video of the launch is on youtube now - it is spectacular! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeIjVB2O9_4 Condensation...
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    Ares I launch in few minutes, maybe

    According to the six hours I spent on NASA TV waiting through delay after delay, the main problem with weather is that flying through clouds causes static charge buildup (triboelectrification) which interferes with RF transmissions. http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/Ares%20I-X/ By "corona" I...
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    Ares I launch in few minutes, maybe

    Now 11:00 AM EDT (15:00 UTC), this time with "only 20% chance of weather interference". 11:08 AM EDT (15:08 UTC) 11:20 AM EDT (15:20 UTC) 11:30 AM EDT (15:30 UTC)
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    Ares I launch in few minutes, maybe

    And we're in day 2.
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    Could a tank or land vehicle be nuclear powered?

    I'm surprised no one mentioned Pamir. The former Soviet Union built (prototype) mobile reactors on large trucks - they were not self-propelled, but they were on wheels. Of course the conclusions in this thread are entirely correct - the system ran on HEU (45%), was very big (much larger than an...
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