...more recent posts
Marjorie Cameron: The Wormwood Star
via kembra fb
Interesting Neal Stephenson article about the history of rockets and the strange lock-in we can encounter along paths of technical innovation.
To employ a commonly used metaphor, our current proficiency in rocket-building is the result of a hill-climbing approach; we started at one place on the technological landscape—which must be considered a random pick, given that it was chosen for dubious reasons by a maniac—and climbed the hill from there, looking for small steps that could be taken to increase the size and efficiency of the device. Sixty years and a couple of trillion dollars later, we have reached a place that is infinitesimally close to the top of that hill. Rockets are as close to perfect as they're ever going to get. For a few more billion dollars we might be able to achieve a microscopic improvement in efficiency or reliability, but to make any game-changing improvements is not merely expensive; it's a physical impossibility.
There is no shortage of proposals for radically innovative space launch schemes that, if they worked, would get us across the valley to other hilltops considerably higher than the one we are standing on now—high enough to bring the cost and risk of space launch down to the point where fundamentally new things could begin happening in outer space. But we are not making any serious effort as a society to cross those valleys. It is not clear why.
more my speed and hopefully my price is the (the little white one)
2012ish Audi A1 All Electric
yes i am studying up for the learners permit!!
the julie project. wow. i'm hooked. but have to get back to work.
change your brain with meditation
Egypt cuts itself (almost completely) off from the internet. Shuts down text messaging. Muslim Brotherhood set to join Friday protests. ElBaradei is back in the country from Vienna and says he will lead if called upon to do so.
im afraid to look. did it snow?
Sandy River Flood from alexandra erickson on Vimeo.
meditate with the whales and stars this week
...and I'm never going back to my old school.
Green Blob Star Mother.
Cave Drops Hints to Earliest Glass of Red
By PAM BELLUCK: January 11, 2011
Scientists have reported finding the oldest known winemaking operation, about 6,100 years old, complete with a vat for fermenting, a press, storage jars, a clay bowl and a drinking cup made from an animal horn. Grape seeds, dried pressed grapes, stems, shriveled grapevines and residue were also found, and chemical analyses indicate red wine was produced there.
The discovery, published online Tuesday in The Journal of Archaeological Science, occurred in a cave in Armenia where the team of American, Armenian and Irish archaeologists recently found the oldest known leather shoe. The shoe, a laced cowhide moccasin possibly worn by a woman with a size-7 foot, is about 5,500 years old
clearing up the dishes from a dinner debate regarding roger williams, providence plantations, rhode island and slavery.
by request
Alcohol Energy Drinks Banned
Notice to Wholesalers & Distributors
Effective Dec. 3, 2010, the OregonLCC has approved a rule change that allows wholesalers/distributors to exchange the seven banned alcoholic energy drinks containing caffeine for other malt beverage products of equivalent value.
The seven products affected by the ban include Core High Gravity HG Green, Core High Gravity HG Orange, Lemon Lime Core Spiked, Moonshot, Four Loko, Joose, and Max.
It is up to the wholesalers/distributors and the retailers to make arrangements for exchanges of these seven products.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Jesse Sweet, Wholesale and Manufacturing Specialist at 503-872-5250 or jesse.sweet@state.or.us.
70s belted sweaters
is she spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise?