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March 2021 Archives
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: The Magnetic Worm Mystery
CONTEXT: Full Moon over the South Pole
Full moon over the @NSF South Pole Station today, photo by Calvin Tsai. pic.twitter.com/7P7ttGbwSh
— BICEP/Keck (@BICEP_Keck) March 31, 2021
Here are pictures from my visit in January, 2013.
CONTINUITY: From 1940—Chimney Felling
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Mars Helicopter “Ingenuity” Almost Ready to Deploy
Almost ready to drop. pic.twitter.com/P9VOoTKoMO
— Kim Steadman (@SpaceGirlKim) March 30, 2021
Here is more about Ingenuity.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Cellular Automata: The Firing Squad Synchronisation Problem
This is a classic one-dimensional cellular automata problem which was posed by John Myhill and 1957 and solved by artificial intelligence pioneers John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky in a paper published in 1962. The original solution uses just three states, with each cell observing only its two immediate neighbours (with special rules for end cells with no neighbours), running in 3n time, where n is the number of cells.
The best known solution, found in 1987, runs in the optimal 2n−2 time with six states. It has been proved that no four state solution is possible, but it is unknown whether a five state solution exists.
Here is more on the firing squad synchronisation problem. I should add this as an example in Cellular Automata Laboratory.
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Retrocausality in a Simple Optical Experiment?
Friend of QGR Julia Mossbridge just published her paper "Long time-frame causally ambiguous behavior demonstrated in an optical system" - give it a read! https://t.co/g3xCiu2xEI
— Quantum Gravity Res. (@emergencetheory) March 29, 2021
Fourmilab's RetroPsychoKinesis Experiments have now been running for 24 years, with a total of 457,876 experiments run by 35,367 subjects.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: The Last Moments of SpaceX Starship SN11
Headphone warning!
— Brady Kenniston (@TheFavoritist) March 30, 2021
Our last views of #Starship #SN11's flight, now with sound!
That's a big boom.
More on the @NASASpaceflight livestream: https://t.co/PbgTUl6KGY pic.twitter.com/3BZD3uOpIc
CONTINUITY: Paris Air Show, 1909
Here is another old autochome I've restored for you, taken 111 years ago at the first Paris Air Show in September 1909. (It isn't colourised). pic.twitter.com/jgvG4n5Zgi
— BabelColour 🎞 (@StuartHumphryes) July 22, 2020
THE HAPPENING WORLD: SpaceX Starship SN11: Launches in Dense Fog, Ends Badly
CONTINUITY: Escape in an Inflatable Airplane? The Goodyear Inflatoplane
CONTEXT: Lightning Man Wades Ashore in Australia
Planetary Photo of the Day: Amazing lightning photo taken January 21, 2018, Sellicks Beach, South Australia by photographer N. Agostini. #PPOD pic.twitter.com/nzLKM5QX3s
— The SETI Institute (@SETIInstitute) March 29, 2021
Monday, March 29, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Boston Dynamics—“Introducing Stretch”
Here is more information about Stretch.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: UFO Stylized Social Facts
The main block to believing in UFOs-as-aliens is lack of a plausible enough social theory that can integrate into our usual theories. To prepare to look for one, I here review the main "stylized facts" that such a social theory would need to explain. https://t.co/lsZBq81ift
— Robin Hanson (@robinhanson) March 28, 2021
From the post, “UFO Stylized Social Facts”:
So it isn’t crazy to think that aliens might have indirect obsessive lazy motives for UFO encounters, motives hidden perhaps even from themselves. But this case of overcoming the usual coordinated limits to fly to a distant star just to glow-buzz their treetops, seems spectacularly extravagant even by the standards of dreamtime humans today.
To do this, aliens need a sufficient level of “slack” resources available to spend on such symbolic activities. And even with hidden motives and lazy organizations, we humans usually at least make up vague stories about the practical ends served by our actions, even when such stories don’t stand up to close scrutiny. So we want an explanation of this level of alien slack, and we’d like to have some ideas of what stories aliens might tell about the ends they accomplished by UFO encounters.
Actually, my crackpot theory in “Flying Saucers Explained” is perfectly consistent with these observations.
CONTEXT: An Empty Suit in Space
[RPT] SuitSat 1: A Spacesuit Floats Free: https://t.co/5wJpT2hZMd by ISS Expedition 12 Crew, @NASA pic.twitter.com/nK1N7jkbsk
— Astronomy Picture Of The Day (@apod) March 28, 2021
No, this is not about the new NASA administrator.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Suez Canal Update
Using Units Calculator, I worked out the kinetic energy of the ship as it struck the bank of the canal.
(220000 tons) * (1/2) * ((13 knots) ^ 2) = 4.463259 gigajoule (220000 tons) * (1/2) * ((13 knots) ^ 2) = 1.0667445 ton tnt
No wonder it's difficult to drag back out.
Sunday, March 28, 2021
CONTEXT: Remember These?
Absolutely wonderful Sylvania "Press" P25B flash bulbs along with their box. On loan from @TubeTimeUS, and an outtake from one of our photo shoots. pic.twitter.com/HUqhMU0CEa
— Evil Mad Scientist (@EMSL) March 28, 2021
You can still buy them, albeit at forbiddingly high prices. Here is the Lowdown on Flash Bulbs.
Meggaflash Technologies of Ireland is the world's only remaining manufacturer of flash bulbs. Their products are in demand for such applications as cavers photographing large underground galleries, as no other safe, portable light source will illuminate large areas so effectively.
CONTINUITY: A Glitch in the Simulation
We live in a simulation. pic.twitter.com/XUjKtsBQDp
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 27, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Three Russian Submarines Rendezvous and Surface Through the Ice in the Arctic
This exercise was conducted near Franz Josef Land at around latitude 80° N in the Arctic. Here is my visit to Franz Josef Land in better weather,
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: What happens if you put your head in a particle accelerator?
CONTEXT: Paul Davies—Where Did the Laws of the Universe Come From?
And why do the fundamentals of physics seem fine-tuned for life?
CONTINUITY: NASA's First Space Launch Was to the Moon
Here is more about Pioneer 1, launched on 1958-10-11.
Saturday, March 27, 2021
CONTEXT: Generating Bitcoin Addresses from First Principles
Generating a Bitcoin address from first principles. This is gnarly, but you'll understand exactly what is going on.https://t.co/dye0JBWRR6
— John Walker (@Fourmilab) March 27, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: DC-10 Cargo Door II: Turkish Airlines Flight 981 Crash, March 1974
Here is more information about Turkish Airlines Flight 981.
CONTINUITY: Building a Digital Model of the Antikythera Mechanism
Researchers Develop a Digital Model of the 2,200-Year-Old Antikythera Mechanism, "the World’s First Computer" https://t.co/QS6Wzq1INM pic.twitter.com/xahdJPxfV7
— Open Culture (@openculture) March 20, 2021
Here is the paper from Nature Scientific Reports, “A Model of the Cosmos in the ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism”. X-ray computed tomography of the mechanism suggests the mechanism was a mechanical orrery which computed the positions of the Sun, Moon, and five planets known in antiquity and indicates the Greeks who built it understood periodic terms in much the same way as they are used in present-day analytic planetary theories.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Suez Canal Blocked by the Evergreen Container Ship “Ever Given”
Juan Browne analyses the accident that blocked the Suez Canal, focusing on how mega-container ships are vulnerable to crosswinds which overpower their bow and stern thrusters,
CONTEXT: A Rube Goldberg Inspired Useless Machine
Friday, March 26, 2021
CONTINUITY: Kean Walmsley Demonstrates My Commodore 64/128 Programs from the 1980s
Here is Kean's blog post about the programs.
Links to the programs are:
The problems encountered in the neural network demo are due to training it with more characters than its limited size can learn. If you use two or three patterns, it works well. With four or more, it gets confused.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Opening a Bicycle Lock with Thermite
CONTINUITY: Comrades—Use Low-Aerosol Fluxes and Electrode Coatings!
"Use low-aerosol fluxes and electrode coatings" Soviet work safety poster, 1986 pic.twitter.com/zf7jKJyMUl
— Soviet Visuals (@sovietvisuals) March 26, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Deciphering the Zodiac Killer's 1969 Message with Wolfram Language
When #COVID lockdowns presented Sam Blake with substantial free time, he dug into some long-forgotten problems, notably the #ZodiacKiller's 340-character cipher. Read how Blake & his team solved the "holy grail of #cryptography" using the Wolfram Language: https://t.co/9V3uWEGWc3 pic.twitter.com/VBGWCjcRPt
— Wolfram (@WolframResearch) March 25, 2021
CONTEXT: Why SpaceX Is Buying Oil Rigs
CONTINUITY: Ice House
From the Archives: A large, egg-shaped ice house dating to the 1780s was unearthed near Regent’s Park in London.https://t.co/tDBNGrgZ6u
— Archaeology Magazine (@archaeologymag) March 25, 2021
(MOLA) pic.twitter.com/coFEWjbF44
Thursday, March 25, 2021
CONTEXT: Visualising Quaternions with Stereographic Projection
CONTINUITY: The Kickstarter for Robert Kroese's Apocalypse Trilogy, Mammon, Is Live
The Kickstarter for Robert Kroese's new science fiction trilogy, “Mammon”, about “a different sort of apocalypse” is now live. I've backed it.https://t.co/oPrxjQsvoT
— John Walker (@Fourmilab) March 25, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Imaging the Magnetic Fields around a Black Hole
For the first time, EHT scientists have mapped the magnetic fields around a black hole using polarized light waves. With this breakthrough, we have taken a crucial step in solving one of astronomy’s greatest mysteries.
— Event Horizon 'Scope (@ehtelescope) March 24, 2021
Credit: EHT Collaboration#MagnetizedBlackHole #EHTBlackHole pic.twitter.com/sey42kAMSx
Here is more information about how polarised light was used to trace the magnetic fields of the accretion disc. This video explains how magnetic field strength affects the observed pattern of polarisation.
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: What Does Stephen Wolfram's Physics Model Say about Consciousness?
I never expected to have anything useful to say about "consciousness". But thanks to #WolframPhysics maybe now I do (and in addition to philosophical progress, there may be scientific & practical implications)https://t.co/dkMpAXoQDJ pic.twitter.com/oPbExHgWty
— Stephen Wolfram (@stephen_wolfram) March 22, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Is there a Fifth Force? News from the Large Hadron Collider (CERN LHCb
CONTEXT: RAH-66 Comanche—America’s Abandoned Stealth Helicopter
In early 1989, I had the opportunity to briefly “fly” the RAH-66 Comanche flight simulator, which used a virtual reality helmet display instead of the usual surrounding projection screens. The imagery was generated by some serious computing gear in an adjacent room and was stunningly good for the time. Today it would be considered poor to mediocre for a game title on Steam.
CONTINUITY: Einsteinium Chemistry
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
CONTINUITY: Deckungszielgerät: Shooting Around Corners in World War II
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Building the World's Largest 555 Timer with Vacuum Tubes
Here is more information on the 555 timer integrated circuit.
CONTINUITY: The Unluckiest Satellites: Earthquakes, Rockets and Clogged Pipes
Monday, March 22, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Rocket Lab Electron Launch from New Zealand
It's launch day! Electron is on the pad and the team is in position at Launch Complex 1 for today's lift-off. #TheyGoUpSoFast
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) March 22, 2021
Target lift-off time:
🚀NZDT: 11:30
🚀UTC: 22:30
🚀ET: 18:30
🚀PT: 15:30
Mission info: https://t.co/KaXeISItYX pic.twitter.com/NZY3eQxkwo
Here are details on the mission from Everyday Astronaut. These satellites will be delivered into a 45° inclination orbit, somewhat unusual compared to the more common equatorial and Sun-synchronous orbits.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: SpaceX Starship SN11 Performs Static Fire Test
Starship SN11 appears to have successfully completed its pre-flight static fire test, setting up a launch this week.
— Thomas Burghardt (@TGMetsFan98) March 22, 2021
Chris Bergin wraps up the latest from Boca Chica: https://t.co/11MmIeofrw https://t.co/80ssUmHIn0
CONTEXT: Bell's Theorem: The Quantum Venn Diagram Paradox
How you can demonstrate quantum weirdness with simple polariser light filters.
CONTINUITY: Moving the Telephone Company
In 1930 the Indiana Bell building was rotated 90°. Over a month, the structure was moved 15 inch/hr, all while 600 employees still worked there. There was no interruption to gas, heat, electricity, water, sewage, or the telephone service they provided. No one inside felt it move. pic.twitter.com/07lf2hsgGT
— Stefan Plattner (@splattne) March 21, 2021
The plan was devised and supervised by architect Kurt Vonnegut Sr., father of the author.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: “Tardigrades Exhibit Robust Inter-limb Coordination across Walking Speeds”
A tardigrade taking a stroll. https://t.co/q2pq52gm78 pic.twitter.com/MSHoBWvIK8
— Carl Zimmer (@carlzimmer) March 22, 2021
Here is the paper, “Tardigrades Exhibit Robust Inter-limb Coordination across Walking Speeds”.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: From Iceland—Live Volcano Camera
Here is information about the eruption from the Icelandic Met Office.
Sunday, March 21, 2021
CONTEXT: Five-Position Switch
— Evil Mad Scientist (@EMSL) March 21, 2021
This is what, in computer language design, is called “syntactic sugar”.
CONTINUITY: Energy Storage in Electronically Excited Solid Helium
A short @NASAJPL paper discussing energy storage in 'electronically excited solid helium': https://t.co/BTSeweIwNn
— ToughSF (@ToughSf) March 20, 2021
A metastable state of helium can last for 10,000 seconds and store '20 eV', which I think means 482 MJ/kg. pic.twitter.com/SiGZfalBnO
The JPL Technical Memorandum [PDF] from September 1973 notes that if the stability of the “He IV” phase is demonstrated, it might be possible to induce the phase electrically and trigger the release of the energy from the metastable state.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: The DC-10 Cargo Door: American Airlines Flight 96, June 1972
As mentioned at the very end of this video, the failure of the FAA to mandate fixes to the DC-10 cargo door locking mechanism via an Airworthiness Directive after the American Airlines Flight 96 accident would lead to the loss of Turkish Airlines Flight 981 and all 346 on board in March, 1974.
Saturday, March 20, 2021
CONTINUITY: Plug Compatible
i mean they're footprint compatible, so what's the problem? pic.twitter.com/uKWP4TAxL6
— Tube Time (@TubeTimeUS) March 20, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Crushing Diamonds with a Hydraulic Press: Super Slow Motion Macro Video
Captured at 15,000 frames per second: note how the cut diamond deforms the steel tool.
CONTEXT: Paul Davies—Is It Possible to Build a Time Machine?
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: America's Biggest World War II Plane—The Martin Mars Flying Boat
CONTINUITY: In Defense of the Compact Fluorescent Lamp
Friday, March 19, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Cubesat Propulsion with Water Electrolysed by Solar Panels
This is clever: a propulsion system for cubesats and microsats that electrolyses water into hydrogen and oxygen and burns them in a thruster with Isp 310 s, thrust 1.2 N. Avoids the need for toxic propellant and special handling. https://t.co/oekVaYrNDI
— John Walker (@Fourmilab) March 19, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: The Many Aircraft Powered by the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major Engine
Twenty-eight cylinders in four rows, 71.5 litres displacement, supercharged, optionally turbocharged, output power 3.2 megawatts (4300 horsepower): the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major was the largest displacement piston aircraft engine mass produced in the United States. It powered more than 25 aircraft types, including the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, the B-36 bomber, Northrop YB-35 flying wing, and Howard Hughes' H-4 Hercules (“Spruce Goose”).
CONTEXT: NASA Press Conference on Space Launch System Hot Fire Test
All of the taxpayer-funded space cowboys and -girls wear Artemis-branded muzzles so they don't infect anybody who views the video. Meanwhile, here's today's Dilbert.
Mask During Zoom by Scott Adams https://t.co/9hrjPKh2OL via @Dilbert_Daily
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) March 19, 2021
CONTINUITY: March 1965: Atlas-Centaur Fifth Flight Launch Attempt
This is a slow-motion silent film (the launch takes a while to get underway) of the fifth attempt to launch an Atlas-Centaur booster on 1965-03-02. The goal was to place a payload simulating the Surveyor lunar landing probe into a highly elliptical orbit using a single burn of the Centaur upper stage.
It ended badly. Moments after liftoff, the two Atlas booster engines shut down (you can see them “coughing” in the video) and the rocket settled back onto the launch pad, creating a huge explosion. Investigation concluded the booster's fuel pre-valves had only opened partially, then shut due to fuel pressure, starving the engines of fuel.
Here is a view of the same event showing the entire rocket, while it lasted.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Shuffling Soyuz
Today at 16:38 UTC, #SoyuzMS17 will be redocked from the Rassvet Module to the Poisk module. The maneuver will take about 29 minutes. The redocking is necessary so that Soyuz MS-18 could dock to the Rassvet module, while Poisk could be safely used for the upcoming spacewalk. pic.twitter.com/lkAVopwG63
— Katya Pavlushchenko (@katlinegrey) March 19, 2021
Thursday, March 18, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: A Place in Britain Visited by Fewer People than the Moon
CONTINUITY: Sabine Hossenfelder: Physics Isn't Pretty
Is the quest for mathematical beauty misleading physicists seeking the fundamentals of physical theory? These ideas are explored in greater length in Dr Hossenfelder's book, Lost in Math.
CONTEXT: Asteroid Eating Fungus!
Some of these ideas sound wacky, but this is precisely the kind of thing NASA (if it exists at all) should be doing: exploring and pioneering risky but potentially big-payoff technologies at low technology readiness levels where modest seed funding can rule out those that aren't worth pursuing and mature those that are to the point industry can develop them further. This is was what NASA's predecessor, the NACA, did with great success for decades.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: NASA to Try Space Launch System “Green Run” Again
Test technicians and engineers in the @NASAStennis test control centers have given a “go” for today’s Green Run hot fire test of the #Artemis I core stage.
— NASA_SLS (@NASA_SLS) March 18, 2021
For the latest @NASA Green Run updates, visit the @NASAArtemis blog HERE >> https://t.co/A5x2ZgGROd pic.twitter.com/VkDRyq3IYl
The first attempt, on 2021-01-16, shut down prematurely due to an engine parameter exceeding a limit. The Space Launch System, NASA's giant “rocket to nowhere”, will, if it ever flies, discard four RS-25 Space Shuttle Main Engines and two solid rocket boosters, all of which were routinely reused during the Space Shuttle program, in the Atlantic Ocean. This disposable insanity has cost U.S. taxpayers around twenty billion dollars so far, and the Office of Management and Budget estimated in 2019 that after all development costs were sunk, each launch would cost around US$ 2 billion.
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
CONTINUITY: Building A Simple High Voltage Nitrogen Laser
The Transversely Excited Atmospheric (TEA) laser requires no vacuum system, glass-working, special mirrors, or pure gases. If you have a high voltage power supply, it can be built with components available at the hardware store and emits a coherent beam of ultraviolet light.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: A Self-Amplifying RNA Vaccine for Malaria?
A self-amplifying RNA vaccine effective against malaria? https://t.co/J8TuzWQY5b Here is the U.S. Patent Application, published on 2021-02-04: https://t.co/2i3jj9InVv This is a continuation of patent 10,842,859, granted 2020-11-24: https://t.co/8zXQPEjPmG
— John Walker (@Fourmilab) March 17, 2021
If this proves safe and effective in human trials, it is a game changer for tropical regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: SpaceX Starship SN10—High-Altitude Flight Recap
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Illegal Content on the Bitcoin Blockchain
Illegal Content and the Blockchain https://t.co/Cnu6JeeAVe
— Schneier Blog (@schneierblog) March 17, 2021
It is possible to embed arbitrary content on the Bitcoin blockchain. What happens when prohibited content (pornography, government secrets, copyright-protected material, etc.) is published there? By design, there is no way to “unpublish” data on a blockchain without “forking” the cryptocurrency it supports. Bruce Schneier examines the possible consequences of this.
Frankly, I've been surprised this has not happened on a large scale long before now. With the growing prominence of Bitcoin and the raging “cancel culture”, it looks like a bonfire ready to be lit.
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: The United States Army Has a “Chief Diversity Officer”
Extremism can tear apart cohesive teams.
— U.S. Army (@USArmy) March 13, 2021
Col. Timothy Holman is the Army’s chief diversity officer and his aim is clear: do what he can to help open a path for future Army leaders and make the force as diverse as the nation it defends.#PeopleFirst ➡️ https://t.co/wfjpbFGaEO pic.twitter.com/eMlFrcUAi3
“We'll have to postpone the amphibious assault. The troops are not sufficiently diverse, and some are suspected of extremism!”
Here is more, if you can take it, from the official army.mil Web site: “Army aggressively working to eliminate extremism, says chief diversity officer”. A quote:
According to the Office of the Provost Marshal General, suspicious behavior or actions of a person, or group of people, should be reported. There are numerous means of reporting: the chain of command, local law enforcement, iSALUTE, and the Insider Threat Hub, among others. If the actions of the person or group are life threatening, call emergency responders and/or 911.
Are there awards for particularly prolific informers?
As I've said before, “Superpower, shmuperpower: one little tap and the whole thing collapses.”
THE HAPPENING WORLD: A Jet-Powered Go-Kart
CONTINUITY: “Principles of Gas Filled Tubes”: 1945 Training Film
One of the rooms at my engineering school had fluorescent lighting with a dimmer that used a bank of thyratron tubes to chop the AC waveform into slices delivering the desired input power. When you turned the dimmer way down, you'd get weird dancing plasma effects in the fluorescent tubes. I ought to try that some time with a triac and oscillator drive.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: How Radio Hobbyists Decoded SpaceX’s Telemetry and Engineering Video
Here is information on the data format by the people who figured it out and background on software-defined radio.
Monday, March 15, 2021
CONTINUITY: Was the “Wow!” Signal a Sign of Extraterrestrial Life?
This is a conversation with Dr Robert Dixon, director of the Ohio State University SETI program at the Big Ear Radio Telescope when the “Wow!” signal was received in 1977.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: International Space Station: First Major Expansion in a Decade
Sunday, March 14, 2021
CONTEXT: “His Master's Voice”—The Out-Take
I never considered there'd be outtakes of the "His Master's Voice" promo shoot IN 1901 but now I can't stop laughing. pic.twitter.com/myQK2DliGS
— Mark Greenmantle 🛩️🇦🇺 (@MarkGreenmantle) March 14, 2021
CONTINUITY: Submarine Diesel Engines: WW II U.S. Navy Training Film
The ways they get “supercharging for free” by compression of scavenge air in the cylinder are very clever, not to mention two pistons in the same cylinder.
CONTEXT: When the University of California Bragged about Contributing to Nuclear Weapons Tests in Nevada
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Join the Army, Learn a Trade
Watch as @JackieAina explains how the @USArmyReserve prepared her for a career as a beauty influencer & diversity activist with millions of social media followers. Visit @DoDOutreach for more of her story. #KnowYourMil #JackieAina 💄 pic.twitter.com/5PBNsIQbCa
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) March 28, 2019
If I'm a military planner in Peking, I've got to be thinking “One little push, and the whole bankrupt house of cards folds.”
CONTEXT: Mail the Kid to Grandma's House
Meanwhile... “In the Early 1900s, the United States Postal Service Would Let You Mail a Child” https://t.co/d1eN9eQTFK
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) March 14, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: It's Pi Day! Calculating π with Avogadro's Number
Here is a similar Monte Carlo estimation of the value of π run on the Analytical Engine.
Saturday, March 13, 2021
CONTINUITY: Shifting Cargo: 2013 National Airlines Flight 102 Crash in Afghanistan
Here is more information about this accident. This is the dash camera video of the crash.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Arthur C. Clarke on Predicting the Future
It was 1964 and this is Arthur C. Clarke on the accurate futurist.
— Brian Roemmele (@BrianRoemmele) March 13, 2021
“If by some miracle a prophet could describe the future exactly as it was going to take place his prediction would sound so absurd, so far-fetched that everyone would laugh him to scorn”
pic.twitter.com/OxHKkcjLvp
CONTEXT: A Regular Expression Hexword Puzzle
RegEx Crossword https://t.co/jI6w3stgGJ
— nixCraft (@nixcraft) March 12, 2021
It's a crossword puzzle where you need to fill in the hexes with character sequences, so that they match the regular expressions listed around the edges. pic.twitter.com/VLNTGFBu0P
What's a regular expression?
CONTINUITY: SpaceX to Launch Falcon 9 Booster on Ninth Mission
Targeting Sunday, March 14 at 6:01 a.m. EDT for Falcon 9's next launch of 60 Starlink satellites. The first stage booster supporting this mission has completed eight flights to date https://t.co/bJFjLCzWdK pic.twitter.com/aTNacxYAiE
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 13, 2021
If launched and recovered successfully, this first stage booster will become the “fleet leader” with nine launches and landings.
Update: (2021-03-14 11:15 UTC)
Nine up, nine down for this Falcon 9 booster. pic.twitter.com/njrNw3GdVA
— Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) March 14, 2021
Deployment of 60 Starlink satellites confirmed pic.twitter.com/AMLK4R9dMn
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Mount Etna Eruption
L’#Etna encore en éruption, la 12e phase aujourd’hui depuis le 16 février. Photo spectaculaire de Fernando Famiani pic.twitter.com/uxM9bHZfEX
— Antonino Galofaro (@ToniGalofaro) March 12, 2021
Friday, March 12, 2021
CONTEXT: Why are UFO aliens so incompetent? Maybe it's bureaucracy!
Why are UFO aliens so incompetent? Maybe it's bureaucracy! I've long suspected collectivism and coercive government to be the explanation of the Fermi paradox. Grabby aliens broadcast socialism to avoid development of rivals. https://t.co/ENlPWa3cku
— John Walker (@Fourmilab) March 12, 2021
CONTEXT: Can Gravitomagnetism Explain Galactic Rotation Curves without Dark Matter?
Can gravitomagnetism (the Lense-Thirring effect, or frame-dragging) explain galactic rotation curves without need for dark matter? https://t.co/CYziJFzrUV Full paper: https://t.co/OjlQM5RAqS
— John Walker (@Fourmilab) March 12, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Nuclear Powered Laser Cannon Fires on Alien Planet
You'd think that with a budget of more than US$ 2 billion, they'd be able to make it go “PEW! PEW!” instead of sounding like a clock ticking.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Tired: Vegetarianism, Wired: Eating Bacteria
Farming bacteria for protein has an electricity-to-biomass efficiency of 54% and consumes only 0.16 kg of ammonia and 0.11kg of water per kg of biomass, with as little as 0.5 litres of volume per kg of protein produced (no land area needed). https://t.co/1i8KGUqmOe pic.twitter.com/D1grTrHx9g
— ToughSF (@ToughSf) March 11, 2021
Thursday, March 11, 2021
CONTINUITY: Building a Vacuum Tube Computer: Four-Bit Instruction Register
This project's goal is to build a vacuum tube implementation of the Motorola MC14500B Industrial Control Unit, a CMOS microcontroller with a one bit data path which was manufactured between 1977 and 1995 and frequently used to replace electromagnetic relay controllers in industrial equipment.
The electrical design is interesting, using a B+ voltage of just 24 volts, which is great for safety and avoiding unwanted excitement, but limits the fan-out of gates.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Space Factories—Building 3D Printed Spacecraft in Space
CONTINUITY: Slow Food—72-Hour Beef Wellington
CONTEXT: Why Real Explosions Don’t Look like Movie Explosions
Ahhhh—the old det cord and petrol trick…
CONTINUITY: From the 1960s—A Seven-Segment Neon Nixie Tube Emulator
This is amazing: a direct replacement for Nixie tubes that provides a seven-segment flat display using light pipes, neon bulb illumination, and a diode logic decode matrix to convert digit signals to segment encoding. The drive voltage is sufficiently high that the voltage drop in the diodes isn't a problem.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Descending Perseverance Rover Images its Heat Shield Impacting Mars
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Microsoft Experimenting with Sea-Floor Data Centres
Microsoft has demonstrated that sealing up servers in nitrogen-filled pods and lowering them onto the seabed is a good idea.
— ToughSF (@ToughSf) March 9, 2021
Free cooling, free real estate and 8x lower failure rate than conventional human-accessible servers after two years underwater.https://t.co/BuhZPoyAxB pic.twitter.com/c7ASMdHmb8
Disadvantage: technicians can't go there and fix things. Advantage: technicians can't break working gear trying to fix things.
CONTEXT: SpaceX Starship SN10 Hard Landing Possibly Due to Helium Ingestion
SN10 engine was low on thrust due (probably) to partial helium ingestion from fuel header tank. Impact of 10m/s crushed legs & part of skirt. Multiple fixes in work for SN11.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 9, 2021
If you look closely at the moment of engine re-start before the landing, there's a momentary green plume from one of the engines. This would be consistent with “engine-rich combustion” due to fuel starvation and the consequent oxygen-rich mixture burning copper components in the combustion chamber and nozzle.
Update: Elon Musk confirms this speculation. (2021-03-12 13:47 UTC)
Green flame in this context means engine is burning internal components made of copper. This is usually followed by a RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly).
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 12, 2021
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Excavating with Hypersonic Ram-Accelerated Projectiles
Shoot the ground... with hypersonic ram-accelerated projectiles...to create a 5km deep borehole...to extract geothermal energy.
— ToughSF (@ToughSf) March 7, 2021
This is the 'HyperDrill' that @HyperSciences is testing:https://t.co/RsObApYKV4https://t.co/fqH1VQv5KYhttps://t.co/gAG5QAWbRfhttps://t.co/D2LYPTvp4h pic.twitter.com/cMzbmvEEf2
Perhaps they should call it the “Not-So-Boring Company”.
CONTINUITY: Potato Toys
"Potato Toys" - a 1931 Soviet guide to making toys out of, well, potatoes. Happy Friday, everyone! pic.twitter.com/0KfgjZBBUl
— Soviet Visuals (@sovietvisuals) March 27, 2020
CONTEXT: Starling Murmuration in Ireland Resembles Giant Bird
#Starling murmuration on Lough Ennell in Westmeath, Ireland by James Crombie#birds #birdwatching #birdphotography #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography#NaturePhotography#TwitterNatureCommunity pic.twitter.com/r2yfSFpXRj
— Nature & Animals🌴 (@naturezem) March 4, 2021
You can make your own murmurations with Fourmilab Flocking Birds for Second Life.
Monday, March 8, 2021
CONTINUITY: The Nuclear Power Generator That Went to the Bottom of the Sea before Flying in Space
Intact SNAP-19 fuel capsule with a plutonium-238 is shown among debris on Pacific Ocean floor resulting from aborted launch of a ‘Nimbus B’ weather satellite in 1968. Six months later, it was lifted from the bottom and used in the ‘Nimbus 3’ satellite. pic.twitter.com/f91gDReZXy
— NUKES (@atomicarchive) March 7, 2021
Radioisotope thermal generators (RTGs) are tough.
CONTINUITY: Dominoes, Mutilated Chessboards, Tesselation, and the Arctic Circle Theorem
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: How Will NASA Test the Next Lunar Lander?
CONTEXT: Fly…yes. Land…no.
3/6 14:56
— RoyalAlbatrossCam (@RoyAlbatrossCam) March 6, 2021
Flying for the albatross is mainly effortless, landing can be a little bit harder. #RoyalCam chick had a front row seat to a ‘how not to land’ lesson.
Lucky for the somersaulting alby, recovery was quick and only the chick was watching!!https://t.co/9A481yiiom pic.twitter.com/WsPGdxsu1g
Sunday, March 7, 2021
CONTINUITY: Moons of Pluto in Fiction and Fact
In his 1940 novel “Calling Captain Future", Edmond Hamilton made up three moons of recently-discovered Pluto: Charon, Styx, and Cerberus. Today 3 of Pluto's 5 moons are named Charon, Styx, and Kerberos, discovered 1978, 2012, 2011. https://t.co/uHqaxYsogI
— John Walker (@Fourmilab) March 7, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Switzerland Bans the Burka, Continues to Mandate Mask-Wearing in Public
Switzerland voters enact “Burka ban” on face coverings in public, popular vote 51.2% and 18/5 cantons for. https://t.co/kMfeLcgRqI Meanwhile, federal mandate for mask wearing in public remains in effect. More evidence for cosmic giggle factor.
— John Walker (@Fourmilab) March 7, 2021
CONTINUITY: The Heron Returns to Fourmilac
The heron returns to Fourmilac! This is why we don't have goldfish (any more). pic.twitter.com/dKEYgN3NUV
— John Walker (@Fourmilab) March 7, 2021
It's easy to see the dinosaur ancestry in these chaps.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Inside a 1 Watt Dubai LED Lamp
Philips make a line of LED lamps, sold only in Dubai, which are much more efficient, cooler-running, and longer-lived that the “Chinese junk” sold elsewhere in the world. An earlier post, on 2021-01-14, examined a 3 W lamp in this series. There is also a 1 W candle (E14) base lamp: can they fit the (literally) brilliant, flicker-free, and efficient current regular circuitry into that tiny little base?
CONTEXT: Solving the Trolley Problem
— jimmy buckets (@kehwho) March 6, 2021
Here is background on the trolley problem, which was originally an intellectual exercise in philosophy and ethics, but turns out to have real-world implications for the design of autonomous vehicles.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Finally! A Cat Detector
Is That A Cat Or Not?
— hackaday (@hackaday) March 7, 2021
Pandemic induced boredom takes people in many different ways. Some of us go for long walks, others learn to speak a new language, while yet more unleash their inner gaming streamer. [Niklas Fauth] has taken a break from his other p… https://t.co/62WJ6SJUGS
It uses a Raspberry Pi running TensorFlow with the COCO-SSD object identification model.
Day 357 of the pandemic™
— Niklas Fauth (@FauthNiklas) March 3, 2021
I made the cat detector. https://t.co/qLYgkjQRXI pic.twitter.com/fOAKCrN7aw
Saturday, March 6, 2021
CONTINUITY: Iluminatus!
I'm currently re-reading, for the first time since it was originally published in the mid 1970s, Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus Trilogy.
This is, more than 45 years later, just what you need to understand and appreciate the absurdity of the 2020s.
“But they can rule by fraud, and by fraud eventually acquire access to the tools they need to finish the job of killing the Constitution.”
“What sort of tools?”
“More stringent security measures. Universal electronic surveillance. No-knock laws. Stop and frisk laws. Government inspection of first-class mail. Automatic fingerprinting, photographing, and urinalysis of any person arrested before he is charged with a crime. A law making it unlawful to resist even unlawful arrest. Laws establishing detention camps for potential subversives. Gun control laws. Restrictions on travel. … Instead of realizing that there is a conspiracy, conducted by a handful of men, the people reason—or are manipulated into reasoning—that the entire populace must have its freedom restricted in order to protect the leaders.”
This is a quote from a book published in 1975 (p. 220).
Get a copy of your own before it's cancelled and disappeared.
CONTINUITY: The Story of the Molotov Cocktail and How It Got Its Name
THE HAPPENING WORLD: A Bicycle Lock That Fights Back—but Is It Legal?
CONTEXT: United Airlines Flight 1175 Boeing 777-200 Fan Blade Out Incident: Animation and Interview
Here is an interview with Captain Christopher Behnam on his experience in the cockpit.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: SpaceX Starship SN10 Flight in High-Definition and Slow Motion
Friday, March 5, 2021
CONTINUITY: When Italy Bombed Britain in World War II
CONTEXT: Why Planet 9 May Not Exist
Thursday, March 4, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Checking Out the SpaceX Starship SN10 Wreckage
The morning after, Everyday Astronaut visits the site of SpaceX Starship SN10's second, less graceful, landing after its flight yesterday.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Scott Manley Analyses the SpaceX Starship Flight, Landing, and Unexpected Re-flight
CONTEXT: Soyuz Electro-Mechanical Space Clock—Part 2
Here is Part 1: restoring the clock to operation.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: New Supernova Remnant Discovered in the Milky Way
In this colour composite #eROSITA image from the first all-sky survey, Hoinga is marked in the upper-right quadrant (Red: 0.3-0.6 keV, Green: 0.6-1.0 keV, Blue: 1.0-2.3 keV). The large bright source in the lower quadrant is from the supernova remnant “Vela” with “Pupis-A”. pic.twitter.com/EW1Kqs2c6p
— eROSITA (@eROSITA_SRG) March 4, 2021
This thing is enormous—at 4.4°, it is almost five times the apparent diameter of the full Moon.
CONTINUITY: Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth!
Want a full time biotech job to revive the Woolly Mammoth and eventually restore the species to the northern wild?
— Stewart Brand (@stewartbrand) March 3, 2021
We're hiring. Details at the link and below.https://t.co/1SDsT3onbO pic.twitter.com/bkCKs6Eief
What could possibly go wrong?
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: SpaceX: Starship SN10, Successful Flight and Landing
And then…
#SN10 reflew a lot quicker than any of us expected 🤯 that was insane!!!! So.... congrats and also RIP 🤷♂️😂 bye bye SN10, congrats on making history!!!! @spacex @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/FkDTa9ISRi
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) March 3, 2021
CONTINUITY: Hog Crossing
Not your usual Russian dash cam footage from the town of Lobnya near Moscow pic.twitter.com/jdmdoseRNL
— Francis Scarr (@francska1) March 3, 2021
CONTEXT: “Orders”—No States, No Flags, No “Leaders”, No Wars
CONTINUITY: Anvil Launching
Did you guys know anvil launching is a sport? No? Now you do pic.twitter.com/UOI8qTr7sA
— Luis (@punished_lui) March 2, 2021
Heck, on Fourmilab Island, it's the sport!
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Vikings and Spaceships! The War of the Iron Dragon is Now Available
Volume 5 of Robert Kroese's epic Vikings and spaceships saga, “The War of the Iron Dragon”, is now available! https://t.co/d9bW0F3PVZ The Kindle edition https://t.co/siOXM54IQH is free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
— John Walker (@Fourmilab) March 2, 2021
To celebrate the publication of volume 5, the Kindle edition of the first novel in the series, The Dream of the Iron Dragon, is presently free for everybody.
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: SpaceX: Landing Failure Due to Fatigue Failure in Engine Heat Shield Cover
SpaceX has concluded fatigue on an engine cover caused one of the nine Merlin first stage engines on the company’s most recent launch to shut down early during ascent, leading to the loss of the booster during an offshore landing attempt.
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) March 2, 2021
Full story: https://t.co/DvoyAHLlIb pic.twitter.com/aN5TI97C9m
The engine cover failed during ascent of the first stage booster during the launch on 2021-02-15, leading to a premature shutdown of the engine. The Falcon 9 first stage has an engine-out capability, so the remaining eight engines successfully completed the burn and allowed the second stage to delver the payload as planned. But damage to the engine caused it to fail during the re-entry burn, leading to failure to recover the booster. The engine cover that failed was the “fleet leader”, with more previous flights than any other of the same design. It was pure bad luck that the damaged engine was one of the three chosen to fire for the re-entry burn.
CONTINUITY: Does Computability Theory Exclude Containment of Superintelligence?
A 2016 paper, “Superintelligence cannot be contained: Lessons from Computability Theory” argues that inherent limits to computability (such as the halting problem) make all proposed strategies for containing a super-intelligent artificial intelligence impossible.CONTEXT: Orwellian Nightmare for Kids—Courtesy of Los Angeles Government Schools and Microsoft
California is a dystopian nightmare. pic.twitter.com/5nWEarQNoa
— Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) March 1, 2021
Coming next: “vaccine passports” for Mom and Dad, with not only their vaccination status but social credit scores as well! “Where do you want to go today?”—not there.
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Rocket Lab: Introducing Neutron—Peter Beck Eats His Hat
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: In-depth Analysis of the United Airlines 1175 Fan Blade Failure
United Airlines flight 328 was not the first Boeing 777 to experience a catastrophic fan blade failure. On 2018-02-13, UAL 1175, also bound to Hawaii (from San Francisco) suffered a fan blade failure around a hour before arrival in Honolulu. As in the more recent event, the engine cowling was lost and resulted in increased drag on the aircraft. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has issued its final report on the incident and in this video Juan Browne examines it in depth, explaining the implications for two-engine operations over long ocean crossings (ETOPS).
The ETOPS flight rules assume an engine failure en route is benign and does not damage the aircraft structure or affect its aerodynamic performance. Both of these 777 incidents and the Southwest flight 1380 737 engine failure in April 2018, although considered “contained”, destroyed the engine cowling and added dramatically to drag on the aircraft. An airliner in such a configuration may not be able to maintain the altitude and speed prescribed by the ETOPS guidelines and, forced to fly at a lower altitude where fuel efficiency is less, might not have the fuel reserves expected to reach the closest alternate landing site or destination.
I've always thought the concept of flying over the Pacific Ocean on two engines a triumph of bean-counting over common sense.
Monday, March 1, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Heat Pumps: The Future of Home Heating
Heating a house with a heat pump powered by electricity generated from natural gas may actually provide more heat than burning the natural gas directly in a home furnace, despite electricity generation from natural gas being only around 40% efficient.