Jim B. over at The Sharpener blog posts a sobering assessment of the Peak Oil phenomenon. Outcome: it’s going to happen, and this will change our world. I don’t think we fully understand yet how much this will impact us. But it ain’t going to be a picnic.
-
Talking about A hit, a very palpable hit
Kaan, over at The Consigliere blog, has been watching NASA live TV, and witnessed the moment when the Deep Impact mission achieved one of its major aims: to hit the Tempel 1 comet.
Quote
Deep Impact has just hit Tempel 1 about 30 seconds ago. Been following it on NASA live TV. The TV camera was on the controllers and not on the actual image of the impact as it occurred. So I was looking at everyone getting really exited about the something off screen, making me yell out at the camera guy to turn his camera to the right.
A lot of jumping up and down and clapping and screaming going on in the control room.
Impactor team are wearing red t-shirts and Flyby team in blue
Someone just commented that ‘wow, and we were expecting something subtle!”
Finally, they are replaying the actual image of the impact
Wow. That was pretty huge.
Someone, possibly the mission manager, said “Ok folks we have another vehicle to worry about, so let’s settle down.”
No one is settling down.
End Quote
The BBC also reports on the success of the mission here. When it occurred (05:50 GMT) I was safely tucked up in bed. I’m getting old – when men first landed on the moon, I had dragged the TV into my bedroom and eagerly watched the landing from the comfort of my bed – I was too excited to sleep.
Still, now I can follow the analysis of Deep Impact on the NASA site. And I see that someone has got a sense of humour – headed toward the light, indeed!
5 responses to “Talking about A hit, a very palpable hit”
-
Contains links to Rossetta and Hubble:http://spacenews.dancebeat.info/index.php?topic=deep-impact
-
Contains links to Rossetta and Hubble:http://spacenews.dancebeat.info/index.php?topic=deep-impact
-
Thanks for the links!
-
Ok you have to check this idiot out, too funny:http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/07/05/international/i045114D08.DTL
-
I trust that the courts will treat her with the contempt that she so richly deserves. Perhaps they can fine her for wasting their time – I think to the tune of the same amount that she’s claiming would be appropriate…
Leave a comment
-
-
Make Prejudice History
Prejudice is an interesting phenomenon. You assume that you know what the other thinks before he/she opens her mouth. So I thought well, Elton John – celebrity, showman, clearly not a deep thinker. But then I read this piece in today’s Observer. And I thought – I was wrong. Good on yer, Elton.Leave a comment
-
Live8
I’m watching Live8 at the moment and alternately cringing and weeping at the people taking part. High on the cringe list come people such as Robbie Williams. I mean, what a fucking twat he is. But, thank the gods there are people such as Annie Lennox to restore my faith in humanity. She shone, she brought the message across, I wept.Leave a comment
-
Redback Spider Sex
The Scientific Indian has a wonderful entry on the sex-life of the Redback spider. Nature is endlessly surprising.Speaking as a male of the species, I’m glad that the sex life of homo sapiens is somewhat less stressful.2 responses to “Redback Spider Sex”
-
The Scientific Indian is a nice blog. Recently you’ve been linking to a lot of the same blogs that I frequently visit.
-
I’m tempted to say "great minds think alike" – but I think I’ll resist being so immodest! 😉
Leave a comment
-
-
Puns R Us
I was idly scanning through the table of contents of this month’s journal of Technological Forecasting and Social Change (as one does), and came across this article:Give Peas a Chance: Transformations in food consumption and production systemsgroan…Leave a comment
-
Secrets and Lies
In today’s Guardian, Roy Greenslade – professor of journalism at London’s City University – reviews Dilip Hiro’s book: Secrets and Lies: The True Story of the Iraq War."Hiro is painstaking as he holds up every piece of fake intelligence to scrutiny, revealing both its falsity and the propaganda use to which it was put. Every excuse advanced by Bush and Blair for the invasion is shown to be hollow, as they seek to conceal the main reason for their pre-emptive strike: the desire for regime change. In some of the most telling passages, Hiro reveals the key roles played by the sinister group who surrounded Bush, such as his deputy, Dick Cheney; Rumsfeld’s deputy, Paul Wolfowitz; the under secretary of defence, Douglas Feith; the defence adviser Richard Perle; the president’s chief political adviser, Karl Rove; and, of course, the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. Meanwhile, the senior man, Colin Powell, the secretary of state, was largely isolated from Bush’s gung-ho squad. Despite his policy disagreements however, he performed important tasks on behalf of the warriors, none more so than his lengthy speech to the UN Security Council in the build-up to the invasion. Hiro’s point-by-point rebuttal of Powell’s allegations is masterly."In summary, Greenslade salutes the book as a depressing but magisterial assessment of the reasoning that led to the invasion of Iraq.Another book for the library, I think.Leave a comment
-
Cryptonomicon
Kieran Healey over at Crooked Timber is finding that reading Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon is a hard slog. He’s got 100 pages in, and with another 800 pages to go is wondering whether he should bother.He’s not the only one. I managed to reach page 296 before I gave up in sheer boredom tinged with irritation at the smug writing. I notice that most of the people who commented on Kieran’s entry were also of the opinion that it’s just a bad book. Usually they claimed that his other books, e.g. Snow Crash were much better. Well, I did at least finish Snow Crash, but I can’t remember a single thing about it now. I don’t think that’s the mark of a great novel – it’s usually the mark of disposable summer reading.Leave a comment
-
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Three data points illustrating religious attitudes towards homosexuals:Data Point 1 (the good): Methodist leaders vote to bless gay couples. "In stark contrast to the Anglican communion, which is tearing itself apart over its attitude towards homosexuality, the annual Methodist conference voted unanimously to continue its "pilgrimage of faith" towards gay people".Data Point 2 (the bad): Bromley council to ban gay ceremonies. "Councillors were quoted in local newspapers making comments widely criticised as homophobic. One was reported to have said: ‘Gay marriages are immoral and undermine family values in society’."Data Point 3 (the ugly): Stabbings at Jerusalem Gay March. A religious protester stabbed three people taking part in a gay pride parade in Jerusalem.
Leave a comment
-
Ladybird Books on Computers
Ooooh! I remember Ladybird books! they were wonderful – in a bizarre sort of way. Now someone has scanned two versions of the Ladybird book of Computers and put them on the web to delight all lovers of serious camp (and computers, naturally).Golly.(hat tip to Boing Boing)Leave a comment
-
How to Fold a T-Shirt
I saw this video about a year ago on the Internet, but reading this article in The Guardian this week reminds me to try this way to fold a T-Shirt… I think this belongs under the "Performing Arts" category – don’t you?Leave a comment
-
Another Reason To Celebrate Today
The Spanish parliament has voted in favour of allowing gay couples to marry and adopt children. When the law comes into effect in a month’s time, Spain will become the third European country after the Netherlands and Belgium to legalise same-sex marriage.Excellent news! And if Martin and I decide to move to sunnier climes when we’re getting old and doddery, then now at least we know that our marriage will continue to be recognised in Spain…Update: Extracts from Prime Minister Zapatero’s speech are here, translated by Rex Wockner. An amazing speech.Leave a comment
-
Another Anniversary
One Hundred years ago today, Albert Einstein published "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" ("Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper") – the third of four articles published in 1905 that together comprise the Annus Mirabilis Papers. This article laid the foundation of Special Relativity.Leave a comment
-
NationMaster
One of the great things about the Internet is just how much reference data is being put on line these days. Organisations such as the OECD, the UN, governments, industry bodies – the list goes on and on.The downside is just how much data there is out there, and tracking down information from that mass of data is increasingly time-consuming. But I came across what looks to be a very useful site: NationMaster. The organisation behind the site has compiled data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, World Health Organization, World Bank, World Resources Institute, UNESCO, UNICEF and OECD. The site has easy to use tools to provide comparisons between nations, using over 4,600 different statistics.It’s a terrific resource, and one which will be up alongside Wikipedia in my bookmarks.Leave a comment
-
First Anniversary
I see, with a shock of surprise, that today marks the first anniversary of my retirement. The year has dashed past so quickly. And I thought that I would have all the time in the world to do all the things that I’d put on hold while I was working. Yet, I seem to be busier than ever, and there are still loads of things that I haven’t got around to. I could swear that time is speeding up. Shades of Alice and the Red Queen.Leave a comment
-
Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
Now this is pretty scary research. I can understand the possible application, but it’s also hardly surprising that it’s drawn reactions from animal rights groups.And going to the news story, I see that plans to test this on humans should be ready within the year. Er, any volunteers out there?Leave a comment
-
Elsevier and the Arms Trade
Up until today, when I thought of Elsevier, I associated the name with books, in particular scientific journals and publications. However, Tom Stafford points out that the Reed-Elsevier Group also includes Spearhead Exhibitions Ltd. Amongst the variety of exhibitions that it is responsible for is something nasty in the woodshed: the DSEi arms fair – the largest arms fair in the world.As Tom points out, organising international arms fairs seems totally at odds with Reed-Elsevier’s expressed aim to play ‘a positive role in our local and global communities’ (2003’s ‘Reed Elsevier Cares’ programme).Leave a comment
-
I am a Statistic
MIT are running a survey of weblogging at the moment. I went and filled out their survey…
Leave a comment
-
Charles Clarke: Newspeak Supremo
I see the UK government had less than a stunning success in the debate in the Commons over ID cards last night. Although they won the debate to continue with the proposals, their majority was halved.But the highlight in the debate was Charles Clarke saying: "I argue the ID card system is a bulwark against the surveillance society, the Big Brother society, and not a further contribution to it".Er, say what? That is as perfect expression of Orwellian Newspeak as I think I’ve heard in recent times. And in case you think it was a slip of the tongue, Clarke has obviously been saving this up, as reported by Chicken Yoghurt.Leave a comment
Geoff Coupe's Blog 
Leave a comment