Friday, September 6, 2013

What the Twitter experiment accomplished

For now on, when I make a post on the Wordpress blog, it will appear automatically on the timeline of tweets. Anybody viewing either blog can see that I've added a post to the Wordpress blog.

It isn't automatic on the blogger blog. When I post something there ( usually in the middle of the day while working ), it will be viewable there, but it won't go on the Twitter timeline until I share it from there ( usually after I get home from work ).

Thus, the two blogs can give an account of the posts on twitter for the day from whichever site you are on. If something looks interesting on the other blog, just click the link in the tweet.

Connect with Xcor

http://www.xcor.com/blog/xcorsocial/

How to keep up with the new space company.

Dead in the water stagnation

http://mobile.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-23985916

Another 300k drop out of labor force.

Vodka from vending machine in Ukraine

http://mobile.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-23985916

Authorities are not amused.

Jobs report disappointing, rate falls

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23990483#TWEET881125

Participation falls again, July jobs revised down

Elin Musk discusses revolutionary manufacturing technique

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNqs_S-zEBY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

More intuitive, uses hand gestures to manipulate virtual objects and 3d printing to make them in real world.

Don't worry, it's extinct

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/06/world/biggest-volcano/index.html

Supposed to get your attention.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Nuclear Thermal Rockets see new interest

http://gizmodo.com/5992441/how-nasas-nuclear-rockets-will-take-us-way-beyond-mars

There may be some factual errors in this, but still a nice write up.

Syrian conflict: Cui bono?

Message:

Answer: Saudi Arabia.

Also, who gets hurt? Russia.

It ain't about the alleged WMD attack---even if true.

Published on Zero Hedge (http://www.zerohedge.com)

Guest Post: Is The US Going To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?

By Tyler Durden

Created 09/04/2013 - 20:06

As we asked (rhetorically, of course) over 3 months ago, why has the little nation of Qatar spent 3 billion dollars to support the rebels in Syria? [1] Could it be because Qatar is the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the world and Assad won't let them build a natural gas pipeline through Syria? Of course. Qatar wants to install a puppet regime in Syria that will allow them to build a pipeline which will enable them to sell lots and lots of natural gas to Europe. If the U.S. is successful in getting rid of the Assad regime, it will be good for either the Saudis or Qatar (and possibly for both), and it will be really bad for Russia. This is a strategic geopolitical conflict about natural resources, religion and money, and it really has nothing to do with chemical weapons at all...

Source URL: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-04/guest-post-us-going-war-syria-over-natural-gas-pipeline

Links:
[1] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-16/mystery-sponsor-weapons-and-money-syrian-rebels-revealed

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Solar electric propulsion contract

http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3041

Scaleable to 300 kw.

Ion thruster

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20040139476

Uses 25 kw.

Thoughts on the road Sep 4

What about using an ion engine for the Holman transfer and and a higher thrust type engine for insertion burns? The objective is to save mass for the long journey to and from a distant planet. The downside is that you would use two types of engines which will be more mass. My understanding is that Dr Franklin Chiang Diaz' Vasimr could possibly perform these combinations of thrusting maneuvers.