Jack William Bell @jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com
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Whenever you are past the edge, out in the wind, look for me.
Joined Aug 2018
It's looking like the Tau Herculids meteor shower was a bit of a bust. I couldn't see it here at all (cloud cover). People who could see it reported 10 to 25 meteors an hour – not awful, but a far cry from the 'potentially 1000 an hour' figure some news sites were waving around. (Which I never believed anyway.)
> Tau Herculids meteor shower puts on a 'decent' display. https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/31/world/tau-herculids-meteor-shower-display-scn/index.html
> Rocket Lab catches, then drops booster in helicopter capture attempt. https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/02/tech/rocket-lab-helicopter-booster/index.html
Hey Rocket Lab, I know *exactly* what that's like! You see the batter hit a pop fly and run like hell, somehow managing to judge it just right and get under the ball; and then miracle of miracles, it lands right in your mitt and you are all, "Woohoo! I caught it!" and the crowd is going wild …
… and then the ball bounces right back out and falls at your feet, mocking you and your dreams.
> A Weird Paper Tests The Limits of #Science by Claiming Octopuses Came From #Space. A summary of decades of research on a rather 'out-there' idea involving viruses from space raises questions on just how scientific we can be when it comes to speculating on the history of life on Earth. https://www.sciencealert.com/a-weird-paper-tests-the-limits-of-science-by-claiming-octopuses-came-from-space
Weather isn't cooperating around here, but the Draconids meteor shower is happening this week. And it's one you don't have to be up at 3:00 AM to see!
As a matter of fact? There are two of them! The Arid meteor shower is also happening – and it's kinda the 'new kid on the block' as meteor showers go.
* https://phys.org/news/2021-10-arid-meteor-outburst-week.html
I'd like to see some critiques of this article; is it backed up by other work? If true, well, wow…
> A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it – possibly inspiring the Biblical story of Sodom. https://theconversation.com/a-giant-space-rock-demolished-an-ancient-middle-eastern-city-and-everyone-in-it-possibly-inspiring-the-biblical-story-of-sodom-167678
Today again, Jupiter did it's job as the janitor of the solar system, cleaning up junk that might otherwise whack into us…
> Something big Just hit Jupiter! Something big Just hit Jupiter! https://www.universetoday.com/152583/something-big-just-hit-jupiter/
> See the First Images NASA’s Juno Took As It Sailed by Ganymede. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/see-the-first-images-nasa-s-juno-took-as-it-sailed-by-ganymede
> NASA’s Mars helicopter had a midair brain fart. Ingenuity made frantic attempts to correct ‘phantom errors’ based on glitchy navigation data. https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/28/22457316/nasa-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-navigation-glitch-sixth-flight
I really feel for Ingenuity here. I mean, I know exactly what it's like to get up, walk across the room, suddenly realize I forgot why, start back, stop, turn around, and then finally just give up and collapse on the floor in a confused heap.
Don't you?
> When a Mars Simulation Goes Wrong. A recent mission atop a Hawaiian volcano shows humans still have much to learn before they set foot on another world. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/06/mars-simulation-hi-seas-nasa-hawaii/553532/
People love the idea of colonizing Mars; often either ignoring or hand waving away the dangers of living on a planet inhospitable to life as we know it, six or more months away from help if things go wrong.
Thing is? We can't even figure out how to *pretend* we are living on Mars safely…
> SpinCalc, an artificial-gravity calculator in JavaScript. https://www.artificial-gravity.com/sw/SpinCalc/
Useful little #webtool for those of us who write #ScienceFiction
Yesterday a very brave man passed away. RIP Allan McDonald.
> The Challenges of Building Human Habitats in #Space. https://interestingengineering.com/the-challenges-of-building-human-habitats-in-space
> NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover Provides Front-Row Seat to Landing, First Audio Recording of Red Planet. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-mars-perseverance-rover-provides-front-row-seat-to-landing-first-audio
Literally the first time any human being has heard what it sounds like to be on another planet. How cool is that?
Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/
There's a lot of great information here! History of #space flight, specs and data for space vehicles, details on propellants and engines, and more.
> A newly discovered space object called 'Farfarout' is the most distant thing in our solar system. https://www.businessinsider.com/astronomers-discover-solar-system-most-distant-object-farfarout-2021-2
Far out, man!
> Where Are All the Tiny Black Holes? The discovery of a celestial “unicorn” that’s just a slim 2.9 solar masses may help unravel a mystery that has long puzzled astronomers. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/01/tiny-black-holes-mass-gap/617866/
The One Place on the #Space Station Astronauts Aren’t Supposed to Clean. https://www.universetoday.com/149727/the-one-place-on-the-space-station-astronauts-arent-supposed-to-clean/
> Humans could move to this floating asteroid belt colony in the next 15 years, astrophysicist says. Should we build a 'megasatellite' of human habitats around the dwarf planet Ceres? It's more plausible than it sounds. https://www.livescience.com/megasatellite-colony-ceres-oneill-cylinder.html
I'm a longtime fan of colonizing asteroid instead of Mars. After all, why fight your way out of a deep gravity well, only to go back down into another one? And the engineering challenges are nearly equivalent.
Holy Fuck!
> There Is No Secret Underground Base on Mars. https://slate.com/culture/2020/12/mars-base-haim-eshed-galactic-federation-debunked-no-need-to-look-into-it-further.html?via=recirc_recent
Oh, wait… They said 'no'. 'No Secret Underground Base…'
Sorry. Please return to your previous Fediversing.
- Programmer
- Writer
- Musician
- Tourist
Admin
Whenever you are past the edge, out in the wind, look for me.
Joined Aug 2018
