Some lovely colorful daisies for all the MOMs out there!
The Sky is NOT Falling – Yet
NASA – NASA Satellites Observe Comet’s Trail
There will be no tsunamis, firestorms or mass extinctions to spoil your Memorial Day weekend.
Image right:This infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows the broken Comet skimming along a trail of debris left during its multiple trips around the sun. On the lower right lies the Ring Nebula, coincidentally in the same direction as the cometary fragment.
Despite speculation that Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 will strike the Earth on May 25, neither the main comet nor any of its more than 40 fragments pose a danger to Earth.“We are very well acquainted with the trajectory of Comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann 3,” said Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office. “There is absolutely no danger to people on the ground or the inhabitants of the International Space Station, as the main body of the object and any pieces from the breakup will pass many millions of miles beyond the Earth.”
However, you can see the comet falling apart right before your very eyes, thanks to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Swift X-Ray and Spitzer Space Telescope.
Click on the Space Rocks page for an animated preview of the next large comet impact.
Mother’s Day
Well, just what shall I get Damsel for Mothers Day? BLING-BLING? Naw, she has plenty of that already. This time she needs BANG-BANG!
Photo: Damsel fires her new piece at the indoor range.
As usual, I met with the boss last week to discuss current activities, progress and problems. When it came time to discuss planned absences, I mentioned that I needed some time off that afternoon to go and pick up Damsel’s Mothers’ Day gift.
“That’s fine,” he said, “What are you going to get her?” he asked.
“A Smith & Wesson 686-6 three-fifty-seven magnum revolver,” I answered.
“No, really . . .” he chuckled.
“Seriously,” I replied, “that’s what she wants. You should have seen her face light up the first time I suggested such a thing. You would have thought I offered her a pair of 200 karat diamond-encrusted slippers and a coach ride to the Prince’s Ball.”
“The Damsel takes pride in our home and garden,” I said, “and home security is definitely on her list of essential ‘housewares.'”
“Right,” the boss said slowly as he mused, as though to ponder how his spouse might consider such a concept, “that’s important these days.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Inset: Not a bad first firing group – five of seven rounds in the “stop zone.”
Space Monkeys
This is sort of a neat little gadget. It would be nice to have one of these handy for help around the house and garden too.
NASA – Limber Robot Might Hitchhike to Space
Lemurs, those wide-eyed, active, monkey-like animals running around the island in the movie “Madagascar,” are known for their ability to leap. A robotic lemur being tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory moves more slowly, but might someday take its own giant leap – by going into space with astronauts.
Image right: The crawling robot, Lemur
“Lemur,” short for the Limbed Excursion Mechanical Utility Robot, was originally conceived to help maintain future spacecraft and space stations. It weighs in at just 26 pounds (12 kilograms) and is small enough to hitch a ride on the space shuttle or NASA’s planned crew exploration vehicle.
“Lemur could be an astronaut’s pet monkey,” says JPL engineer Brett Kennedy, principal investigator for the robotic project. “It can perform tasks that are too small for astronauts to do easily. It’s built to get into the nooks and crannies of a structure.”
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Pissed as a Newt
I had a Cockney friend who used to use the expression “pissed as a newt” for describing someone who was “buzzed.”
Is it just me, or was Newt Gingrich a little buzzed during his appearance on Hannity and Colmes tonight? Overmedicated? Brain hemorrhage? He was even agreeing with Colmes! Sleep it off, Newt. We love ya, but ya gotta be in working shape when you get in front of the camera.
More Maunder Minimum in the Making?
In a previous article, I discussed the effects of the Sun’s behavior on our environment. In that article, I mentioned the Maunder Minimum which occurred coincidentally with a period of cooler-than-normal temperatures here on Earth. In another article, I discussed the “solar conveyor belt” concept of solar plasma circulation. That article has a reference to a NASA article predicting an upcoming “solar storm.”
Yesterday, NASA published an article about a predicted decline in solar activity. The article suggests that observations of the “conveyor belt” can be used to predict solar activity levels in the distant future. Their prediction is for fewer sunspot numbers and lower solar activity during solar cycle 25 following the current cycle (24). This “low” solar peak should occur in 2022.
I wonder if this means we’re in for a period of “Global Unwarming?” If that should happen, then what will ALGOR and the Enviroloons* do for their amusement?
Inset: ALGOR tries in vain to warm things up again.
*a former vice-president turned enviroloon and his band of unscientific non-thinker followers who ignore science in pursuit of their enviro-cultist religion.
Excerpt from the NASA article:
NASA – Long Range Solar Forecast
The Great Conveyor Belt is a massive circulating current of fire (hot plasma) within the Sun. It has two branches, north and south, each taking about 40 years to perform one complete circuit. Researchers believe the turning of the belt controls the sunspot cycle, and that’s why the slowdown is important.
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Love Letters in the Sand
Actually, HATE letters FROM the sand . . .
Once again, Cox and Forkum get it:
Cox & Forkum: From Iran With Hate
Read our old post on the Four Most Dangerous Men in the World.