Yee Haw!

I'd pay good money for the opportunity to do this.  I think just once, though...

NGC 6872...

This image was captured by a girl's high school astronomy club in Sydney, Australia.  Via APOD, of course.

Japan's Last Quake Survivor?

Three weeks on flotsam, with no food or water – then rescued by men who had given up all hope of finding any survivors.

That's one happy dog (click to enlarge).  I sure hope his owner has survived and can be found.  If not, somehow I'm certain this little fellow will find a loving home.

This story (and these videos) sure put a smile on my face this morning...

Get Your Exercise – While Emailing!

From Google, via reader Simon M.  Looks ... tiring!

Watch the video, and don't forget to click on the "Try Gmail Motion" button...

Moving a Barn...

Via my mom:




Wow!

A Different Take...

...on Professor Muller, whom I wrote about a few days ago.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade...

This site is interesting on several levels: as a demonstration of accessible data mining, as a tool for quantative history study, and as a means for anybody to informally learn a lot more fact-based history (a commodity in amazingly short supply!).

The screenshot at right (click to enlarge) shows one of my own explorations: I wanted to know where slaves actually went.  Answer: the vast majority went to the Caribbean and to South America – not North America.  Prior to seeing these numerical data, I'd known that many slaves went to the Caribbean – but I did not know that such an overwhelming majority went there, nor did I know that so many went to South America.

There is much else to learn at that site...

Just Plain Cool!

Phong shading (a computer graphics technique) helps to solve (tentatively, for the moment) a long-standing mystery in physics: the Pioneer Anomaly.

Takers, not Makers...

This is a bit exaggerated by a common bias: not including the entire software industry (and, similarly, other makers of “intangible” products).  Nonetheless, the point is one that I agree with, and worry about...

Krauthammer on Obama's Syria Policy...

You can reduce it to one word: rubbish.

Explosion and Fire on the USS Stennis...

I don't know anything beyond this news report.  The bare facts: 10 sailors on the USS Stennis (off the coast of San Diego) were injured when an F/A-18C fighter's engine exploded and burned on the flight deck.  None of the injuries are life-threatening.  Two of the sailors are in the hospital in San Diego.

When I was in the Navy, over thirty years ago, a fire at sea was my personal nightmare scenario.  This could have been much, much worse – and when the full story comes out, I won't be a bit surprised to find that a combination of pure luck and skilled damage control is why it wasn't.

These sailors will be in my thoughts today.  If any of my readers have any further news or details, please leave them in comments here...

MESSENGER: More Photos...

At least superficially, Mercury closely resembles our own planet's fair moon.

Go, MESSENGER, go!

Quote of the Day...

Via Ricochet, this jaw-dropper:

A Hamas official quoted by the International Crisis Group, or ICG, said the move violated the "reasonable rules of the game: that when Palestinian projectiles hit open space ... Israel aims at open space in response."

Some lefty sites are already lauding the “reasonableness” of this approach, and are asking Israel to get on board.

By that reasoning (if that's the right term!), if some guy broke into my house and attacked my wife, I wouldn't shoot him with my semi-automatic shotgun, and I certainly wouldn't use all seven shells to make certain he was dead. 

I hereby serve notice on any potential attackers of this house: I do not buy the “reasonableness” of Hamas' argument.  In my home, disproportionate response is a feature, not a bug. 

Translation: if you attack us, you'll likely die quickly, and in a somewhat messy fashion.  I think that's roughly what Israel is saying, too...

Climate Change...

An interesting presentation on climate change science:

Well, Well...

Via Doug S., Jimmy C., Laura F., Bob C. and probably several others whom I've forgotten: James Gosling, of Java fame and recently resigned from Oracle, has landed – at Google.  I can hardly wait to hear what he's going to be doing there.  It's hard to imagine any role for him at Google that wouldn't be good for the future of Java...

The Rational AGW Proponent...

This video was recommended to me by reader and friend Doug W.; it's over an hour long and I haven't had the time yet to view it myself.  The guy in the video is Professor Richard Muller, a physicist at U.C. Berkeley.  Doug liked many of his points (especially vis a vis Al Gore) and his rationality.  Given that he's employed at U.C. Berkeley (the academic home of some notable kooks), the latter is particularly noteworthy.

MESSENGER: First Image from Mercury Orbit!

MESSENGER is doing fine.  The mission controllers are progressing along their planned “wake up” sequence, working their way through all the systems and instruments, getting them ready for MESSENGER's primary science mission.  It won't be long now before the science data start pouring in.

The main imaging system was just brought on line, and as you can see at right (click to enlarge) it's working just fine.

Woo hoo, and three cheers for MESSENGER!

Cryptanalysts: the FBI Wants Your Help!

The FBI has an old, unsolved murder case wherein one of the main clues is some (apparently) encrypted notes (like the one at right; click to enlarge) that they've been unable to decrypt.  It could be that the author of the notes was just nuts, or they could be an actual clue.  Nobody knows for sure.

Can you help?

Jamul Casino Update...

Lakes Entertainment has posted their latest results, and it's more of the same: the long, slow slide downhill.  I've heard no other news about the Jamul Casino for over a year now...

Quote of the Day...

Via Dave H.:

The Wizard of Oz is 70 years old. However if today Dorothy were to encounter men with no brain, no heart or no courage, she wouldn't be in Oz … she'd be in Congress.