Supernova news :

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews....me-C5-scienceNews-2

Alyce and Mike,

 Your hairstyles look great. This is the first time I've really seen Mike without a ponytail. Of course seeing that bent the fabric of space and time.

Teacher: Kids, thank Mike for bending the fabric of space and time.

Kids: Thanks Mike.

But sincerely, you folks look great.


Also, why does NASA and other space agencies take nice events and slap them with a non descript label. A big bang in the universe called- GRB060218. I'm sure there are untold numbers of events going on so I guess they have to track them. Of course I wonder if some of these folks would see a nice sunny green hill and call it H062314.

But on a more serious note, I was watching a special a month or so ago about the making of 2001 the movie. It sparked an interest in space which I haven't had since watching the first televised shuttle launch. As a nation (an a world) are we missing the boat on moving into space? What could be done to light the fire under everyone like in the heady days of the Kennedy administration? And could it be done for practical reasons in stead of science for science's sake?

I saw my first episode of Invader Zim the other day. Nice! So that's what all the hubub is about. Gir, Victory is mine!

>Alyce and Mike,
>

Alyce, I love the new 'do. You look gorgeous. Mike also looks good, although gorgeous would not be a fitting description. Handsom. That's it.
>Also, why does NASA and other space agencies take nice events
>and slap them with a non descript label. A big bang in the
>universe called- GRB060218. I'm sure there are untold numbers of
>events going on so I guess they have to track them. Of course I
>wonder if some of these folks would see a nice sunny green hill
>and call it H062314.
>
For classification purposes within their record keeping system. Or was that a rhetorical question?
>But on a more serious note, I was watching a special a month or
>so ago about the making of 2001 the movie. It sparked an
>interest in space which I haven't had since watching the first
>televised shuttle launch. As a nation (an a world) are we
>missing the boat on moving into space? What could be done to
>light the fire under everyone like in the heady days of the
>Kennedy administration? And could it be done for practical
>reasons in stead of science for science's sake?
>
I wrote e-mails to all the presidential candidates in the last election asking for them to not use the opportunity of Mr. Bush's lukewarm promotion of the space program to promote their own campaigns at the expense of NASA. It was an email filled with reasons why we should support the NASA projects.
They all sent me emails thanking me for supporting their campaigns, and they all signed me up for their mailing lists.
I was hoping that China's declaration of intent to make it to the moon would light a fire under the administration butts, but sadly no go. So far.

Also, why does NASA and other space agencies take nice events and slap them with a non descript label.

I shudder to think of what NASA's (and the scientific community in general's) clunky, awkward attempts at making up hip, trendy, market-friendly names for their significant events would be like.

It's not easy to do right, and can be a big problem if done wrong (in the sense of a failure resulting in decreased popularity & acceptance with concomitant reductions in funding). Let the science guys do good science and not bad marketing.

There are apparently a number of astrophysicists who refuse to acknowledge that most of the general public refer to collapsars as Black Holes, on the grounds that the term is vulgar, and the less said about the Big Bang the better.

--Matt
NASA describes GRB060218 as "Best Bang Since the Big One!". Representatives of Zaphod Beeblebrox (former President of the Galaxy and current fugitive) sue the space agency, claiming that the sobriquet has been "closely and persistently associated with the reputation of their client in the public sphere."

[gets up on soap box]

Basically, I don't see that there's political support in this country for a real taxpayer-funded push into space. Until and unless that changes, the best use of the minimal resources we can get would be to advance the state of the art so that it's easier for any interested private group to carry the ball the rest of the way.

So if I were in charge of NASA and related agencies: I'd close down the shuttle program and the ISS, which are all running on borrowed time anyway. I'd take the savings and put them into a) fully funding space-based interferometers, b) basic research into improved rocketry and human spaceflight, and c) basic research into more blue-sky concepts like space elevators as well as the Breakthrough Propulsion Physics program which got cancelled a year or two back. In the meantime, I'd ensure that the regulatory climate was 100% friendly towards private space launch initiatives.

Most of that is self-explanatory except for the interferometers. These are telescopes that could detect Earthlike planets around other stars, and especially advanced interferometers could image those planets. I think that would be the most likely way to quickly increase public interest in the space program.

-- Mark
Another advantage of an interferometer is that it's made of lots of little telescopes, so we can ensure that one is being built in each committee chairman's district.

[hops on orange crate]
Mr Goro, sir, I think the last thing you want to do is have NASA conducting basic research into improved rocketry and manned spaceflight, because at this point, what we really want is just to make both of those things cheaper.

A bureaucracy is not going to be well-suited to cutting costs. It's a political animal, particularly up at the higher levels where decisions get made. It's going to choose the system with the most political benefits every time. Just look at the Stick, it's the worst example of a spacecraft designed by committee I've ever seen. But it has parts from all the right people, in all the right districts.

What you really want is to create a civilian market for space launch. Unfortunately, that is proving to be a slow process, even though the current administration has been very supportive of the efforts that are being made. I'd love to say "real soon now," but I don't know if it will be soon or not. I think that private spaceflight is inevitable, but it could take 5 years or 25 years.

The one good thing about CEV/Orion is that it is uses a capsule, which means that it should be fairly straightforward to launch it on newer commercial launch vehicles when and if they come along.

Jon Acheson

Um.. that was me speaking before about the political process and space.
To go on :

>[gets up on soap box]
>
>Basically, I don't see that there's political support in this
>country for a real taxpayer-funded push into space. Until and
>unless that changes, the best use of the minimal resources we
>can get would be to advance the state of the art so that it's
>easier for any interested private group to carry the ball the
>rest of the way.
>
>So if I were in charge of NASA and related agencies: I'd close
>down the shuttle program and the ISS, which are all running on
>borrowed time anyway. I'd take the savings and put them into a)
>fully funding space-based interferometers, b) basic research
>into improved rocketry and human spaceflight, and c) basic
>research into more blue-sky concepts like space elevators as
>well as the Breakthrough Propulsion Physics program which got
>cancelled a year or two back. In the meantime, I'd ensure that
>the regulatory climate was 100% friendly towards private space
>launch initiatives.
>
>Most of that is self-explanatory except for the interferometers.
>These are telescopes that could detect Earthlike planets around
>other stars, and especially advanced interferometers could image
>those planets. I think that would be the most likely way to
>quickly increase public interest in the space program.
>
>-- Mark
>Another advantage of an interferometer is that it's made of lots
>of little telescopes, so we can ensure that one is being built
>in each committee chairman's district.


You will never get much in the way of political pressure to build anything. Because just as we support the Space Programs and the idea of moving out off of our vastly overcrowded planet (well, I support that anyway), there are just as many people who are violently opposed "wasting money" as they put it, on space. When that money could be spent to feed, educate, and clothe the poor.
You and I know what wonderful things we've gotten from the space program, but those people do not want to open their minds to a list in any case.
Cousin Sue

Thanks, guys, for the compliments on the hair. We were both overdue for a change! The best part about mine is I experience fewer bad hair days, since it looks good even when it's messed up!

There are pics of my nephew in today's Musing, though none of them are great. He's a toddler now and doesn't hold still long enough for good pictures.

-Alyce

You know, for a show that (by any previous standard) had only a small audience during its run, Buffy the Vampire Slayer sure has had a lot of impact:

http://www.pbs.org/speak/words/sezwho/buffy/

"He's from sum udda planet or sumtin. He don't speak no English."
"Uh, yeah... and you do?"

--Matt
Good hint for expeditious slayage: anybody who cringes a lot and refers to the main bad guy as The Dark Lord is possessed.

There's a cute picture of Mike reading to my nephew in today's Musing. And a couple nice outdoorsy shots, too.

-Alyce

Edited by author 09-01-2006 02:27 PM
Couldn't let even another half-a-second pass without telling everybody this:

In case some little kids run up to you and start speaking excitedly about something called an Ursinho Puff, there's no need to wig and then dole out the harshness, Dr. Tran-style. You can be cool, because now you know that that's just Português for Winnie the Pooh.

--Matt
...and knowing is half the battle.

>Couldn't let another even another half-a-second pass without
>telling everybody this:
>
>In case some little kids run up to you and start speaking
>exitedly about something called an Ursinho Puff, there's no need
>to wig and then dole out the harshness, Dr. Tran-style. You can
>be cool, because now you know that that's just Portugu&#EA;s for
>Winnie the Pooh.
>
>--Matt
>...and knowing is half the battle.

That makes sense though. Because Edward Bear's "Winnie *ther* Pooh" because of the business with the bees and the balloon and the gorse bushes. So he got the name because his arms stuck straight up in the air for some time after the adventure, and when a bug flew onto his nose he couldn't wave it off, but could only go, "Pooh!" to try to blow it off.
So now you know that too.

Winnie *ther* Pooh is not a naughty name.

Cousin Sue

In related news, "bearbeiten" means "to work on" in German, and makes me giggle every time I see it.

Jon Acheson

And don't get me started on "baguette magic"...

>
> In related news, "bearbeiten" means "to work on" in German, and
> makes me giggle every time I see it.
>
> Jon Acheson
>
> And don't get me started on "baguette magic"...

Is that like Trail Magic on the Appalachian Trail?

Cousin Sue

Hmmm.... AD Vision is having a Labor Day Sale:

http://www.advfilms.com/sale.asp

In addition to their contemporary anime titles, they have older titles like Macross, Dirty Pair, and Gatchaman.

They're also distributors for some live action Japanese movies, as well as Farscape, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, Mutant X, and Robotech.

I'm going to be making an order on Monday 09/04 some time. Is anyone interested in getting in on it to save on shipping?

--Matt
The Excel Saga lunch box calls out to me.... Oh yes, it shall be mine.

Is anyone interested in getting in on it to save on shipping?

Sure am. Let me look through it and I'll get back to you about it tomorrow.

--Joe