Category Archives: Science/Engineering

Life on the moon

Or, rather, among Alaskans who live near Mt. Redoubt, the volcano that’s erupted nineteen times since March 22. It’s coated the countryside nearby in something very like moondust: "gritty, abrasive, electrostatically-charged," according to NASA, "giving Alaskans an unexpected taste of what it’s like to live on the Moon."

Don’t touch that light switch

The climate change sheeple want everybody to swtich off their lights for an hour at 8:30 p.m. tonight in protest. A far better idea would be to leave them on and, instead, watch this video.

Via Instapundit.

Chemotherapy

Mrs. Charm’s good friend is set to begin a round of chemotherapy and radiation next week in her struggle with an unexpected cancer. I suppose cancer is always unexpected. So, too, was the cost of the chemo, alone, the poison that goes along with the burning radiation, to try to kill the tumors without killing the hosts, though it generally debilitates them awfully. So why are these people smiling?

Maybe because they’re getting paid. Six thousand dollars for the first round of chemo, at about a hundred dollars a pill. Luckily Mrs. C.’s friend can afford whatever her insurance doesn’t pay. I suppose this is a good argument for socialized medicine, though I doubt there’ll be as many choices once Barry and his cronies take us in that direction. But with cancer there’s not much choice, anyhow. You try to live a while longer, and some do succeed. Or you accept your dying sooner instead of later and at least depart in as near the condition of your old self as possible. For whatever that might be worth. I suppose it wouldn’t frighten your children as much as the husk you become from the treatments.

The coming Singularity

I mentioned the Artificial Intelligence version to a computer programmer friend the other day, whose son was at Mr. B’s birthday party, and he smiled and, in effect, said that I shouldn’t hold my breath. That seemed about right to me, as I have always thought AI was mainly hype.

SciFi writer Charles Stross calls this stuff "the Rapture of the Nerds." Nevertheless I tend to think the Nanotechnology one is actually close, and invisible, injectable robots someday will be scouring the plaque out of Mr. B.’s arteries. For starters.

Lightning’s fingers

Lightning, as you’ve never seen it before. It comes in the first few seconds of the video, so don’t miss it. Of course, you can always play it over again.

Via meteorologist Mark Murray, KVUE.

Lulin watching

Look south at 1 a.m., using this sky map, to find the green comet. It’s supposed to be naked eye visible, but binoculars might provide a better view. And if the urban light cone is too bright or there’s clouds where you are, try this photo gallery. Or better yet this live Web cast of the flyby.

Colonoscopy

I get these things every five years, thanks to colon cancer running in my family via primary relatives, so I know they’re worthwhile. They don’t hurt, thanks to the drugs you get. The worst thing about them is the awful preparation fluid you have to swallow by the gallon. Tastes like motor oil.

But I really must demur when some bloggers, including the vaunted Instapundit, say they are foolproof at discovering colon cancer. My father had them for years and they didn’t save him. Maybe it depends on the skill of the doc. That would figure. That’s why they’re called medical "practices."