Category Archives: Science/Engineering

The warmest year on record? Try 1934.

Posted on August 10, 2007 | Comments Off on The warmest year on record? Try 1934.

Take that, global warming ideologues. And this: five of the 10 warmest years on record all occurred before World War II.

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Weather/Climate

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Reefer madness

Posted on July 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Reefer madness

Apparently the title of a 1930s law enforcement flick is to be taken literally. If one can believe the Lancet, that Brit medical rag of ill repute lately famed for its doubtful conclusions of the number of civilian killed by American troops in Iraq. Moreover, the cannabis "study" appears to be merely the latest establishment response to an attempt to downgrade possession/sale of the weed to a misdemeanor or less. Who says science ain’t political? Wasn’t "global warming" proof enough?

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Scribbles

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mySKY

Posted on July 13, 2007 | Comments Off on mySKY

This sounds really cool, if a bit pricey at $399:

"Here’s how it works: You point it at a planet, or star, or galaxy that you want to identify, aim as best you can, and press a button. Voila–information about what you’re aiming at appears on the device’s color LCD; some more important objects even have voice recordings and video that go along with them."

Of course it would then reduce your night-vision considerably. But that’s a minor problem, I suppose. 

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space

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Green comet

Posted on July 13, 2007 | Comments Off on Green comet

Lower Colorado River Authority meteorologist Bob Rose notes this at spaceweather.com:

"Grab your binoculars. Pretty green Comet Linear VZ13 is gliding through the constellation Draco this week. It’s too dim for the unaided eye, [but some say a 7X35 binocular will do just fine]. To find [VZ13] go outside after sunset and face north; the comet lies just a few star hops from Polaris."

It helps to be high enough to see the horizon. A finder map here which is dated the 10th but should be helpful through tomorrow night. 

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space, Weather/Climate

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Water, water everywhere

Posted on July 11, 2007 | Comments Off on Water, water everywhere

For the second time in three months, astronomers have concluded there is water beyond the solar system. This time, researchers at Harvard and in France say they’ve found suggestions of it on an otherwise inhospitable world–a red-hot Jupiter-size gas giant–64 light years away:

"Investigations showed the planet, which orbits a star in the constellation of Vulpecula (the Fox), appeared larger at wavelength bands that corresponded to water, suggesting the substance was present in the atmosphere."

The previous one, also a hot Jupiter, is twice as far away. All this long-distance research draws conclusions only by inference, but it’s still pretty cool. 

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space

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Going batty

Posted on July 9, 2007 | Comments Off on Going batty

Austin’s famous colony of Mexican freetail bats–under the Congress Avenue bridge–is just the start of insect-reducing operations in Texas. A bigger and more useful bunch from 12 major caves scattered across the Winter Garden of South Texas fill the sky to such an extent each night that they appear as storm clouds on weather radar, according to a new study by the National Science Foundation.

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Texana

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The power of light

Posted on July 7, 2007 | Comments Off on The power of light

Laser light. Where a killowatt equals roughly 1.3 horsepower, or about a quarter the thrust of a modern push lawn mower. What for? Preparing for the power beaming competition in the 2007 Space Elevator games. Beam transport for a space elevator. It ain’t rocket science.

Via the Space Elevator Blog 

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space

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