How Proposed Pedestrian-Impact Safety Standards Will Soften Automotive Design
This is the type of over-regulation I talked about in the Modern life should be better post.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wants new regulations so that pedestrians don’t get hurt when they get hit by a car.
Imagine how difficult it will be to implement this rule without limiting the driver’s field-of-view or reducing the car’s efficiency.
Lunar Outpost unveils sleek new ‘Eagle’ moon rover (photos)
This sweet looking lunar rover was built by Lunar Outpost, and is one of three designs proposed for the Artemis 5 Moon mission set to launch by the end of the decade.
It’s not clear why the rover has no roof. Cosmic rays are a big hazard on the Moon. Polyethylene, a very common plastic, is the material recommended for cosmic ray shielding.
Donald Trump’s Energy Department Saved Your Appliances
With the internet and smart phones, we are living in the future. It’s fantastic. At the same time, many appliances and other mundane technology is getting worse. Regulations put in place by government bureaucrats make our lives worse.
President Clinton’s vice president, Al Gore, was directed to reduce federal regulations. Every president has tried to deregulate, but President Trump may get it done. Eventually, this will be a big deal.
Reuters: Plane flips over in Toronto
Maybe it will come out later, but where is the video of the plane flipping over? Airports must have cameras all over the place. I’ve flown on plenty of Bombardier CRJ jets on the feeder airlines. I didn’t like it so much. While landing, the runway looks like it’s swinging back and forth like a pendulum. The pilot aspires to touch down at the bottom of the arc. So far, the brisk wind is suggested as a cause.
In a way, this crash inspires confidence. There were 80 people onboard, and no deaths or life-threatening injuries. Just getting people out of the inverted seats could be the cause of several injuries. That is a sturdy little jet.
I’ve been scanning and organizing old photos.
A year after I started at Caterpillar, management sent me to a week-long SLAM training course in Chicago. Turns out that a random bunch of engineers can be a lot of fun.
WaPo: First lunar lava cave has been found.
WaPo: First lunar lava cave has been found.
My prior post about China looking at lunar lava caves referenced an article that didn’t have any new information about lunar lava caves. This recent WaPo article announces the first direct evidence of a lunar lava cave. There are a few similar news reports all based on this Radar evidence of cave conduit science article. This science article has less fluff and more interesting information. That link may not remain active, so I will post an interesting diagram from the article.
SpaceNews: China interested in lava tubes.
China, and anyone interested in a Moon base, should be interested in lava tubes. If NASA does wake up, it’s likely to roll over and go back to sleep. Fortunately, Elon Musk needs a Moon base to get to Mars.
The movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, got a lot right. The surface of the Moon is an obnoxious place to live. The surface temperature goes from about -200o F to 200o F. Gamma rays bombard the surface, but cosmic rays are a bigger problem. Cosmic rays hitting the Earth produce the Northern Lights as their energy dissipates in the atmosphere and are deflected by our magnetic field. Those subatomic particles moving at nearly the speed of light, are not easily screened
WSJ: Quest for electric planes.
WSJ: Quest for electric planes.
Why must we entertain and finance blatantly stupid ideas? Nothing is going to make Greta Thunberg happy, so let’s stop trying. No government money or mandates should encourage the dumb ideas.
Dark matter detector doesn’t find dark matter.
In a cavern, mile below the surface of South Dakota, is the world’s most sensitive dark matter detector. They haven’t detected any dark matter
The tech, called MO/GO, short for “mountain goat,” is a hybrid soft/rigid system designed to assist wearer mobility and boost the wearer while walking.
Pretty sure they came up with MO/GO first, then came up with the “mountain goat” explanation. Still, it would help a lot of people if it works.
The launch cost of $4,500 will almost certainly restrict its use for the non-mobility limited.
Depending on the performance specifications of the actual product, this could be big. It’s certainly cheaper than a knee replacement and is in the price range of mobility scooters. The military would be interested, along with people who aren’t impaired, just not up t the challenge.
MO/GO isn’t a great name, I’d go with “kicking pants”.
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