It only reached an altitude of 23 miles, but it definitely looks like space. For a prize of $10k, an amateur rocket builder launched a rocket 121,000 feet into the sky and has footage of the entire event. The video’s pretty amazing: Here’s the initiative website with lots of pictures and tech details, and here’s a much longer video of the launch — worth a watch if you have time.
It’s short, and worth quoting in it’s entirety. Lloyd Constantine in the NYT: WHEN Bank of America told its customers recently that it would start charging them $5 a month to use debit cards, it argued that it was forced to make that change because of regulations that altered the economics of the cards. Other banks agreed. The chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, put the effects of the regulations this way: “If you’re a restaurant and you can’t charge for the soda, you’re going to charge more for the burger.” Both banks were responding to the Federal Reserve’s actions to limit the interchange fees banks charge stores each time a debit card is used for a purchase. But
Delegation versus micromanagement. Richard Branson on Steve Jobs: “Leadership doesn’t have a secret formula; all true leaders go about things in their own way. It’s this ability to think differently that sets them apart – and that enabled Steve Jobs to create perhaps the most respected brand in the world. What leadership boils down to is people. Whatever your style, whatever your method, you need to believe in yourself, your ideas and your staff. Nobody can be successful alone – and you cannot be a great leader without great people to lead. Steve Jobs’s leadership style was autocratic; he had a meticulous eye for detail, and surrounded himself with like-minded people to follow his lead. While he was incredibly demanding of his
1. So long, and thanks for all the quarks 2. Spaceships 3. Surprise! U.S. might meet its climate targets
Via James Fallows. This is quite ridiculous:
That was quick. SpaceX, a private space ship company, will begin sending shipments to the international space station this fall: A little less than six months after the final space shuttle launch, a private space company will launch a rocket carrying a cargo capsule bound for the International Space Station. SpaceX said this week that it plans a Nov. 30 launch date for its first rendezvous with the ISS — an encounter that will mark a major milestone in private space exploration. We heard last month that NASA agreed to speed up SpaceX’s flight demo schedule, as SpaceX, eager to start making deliveries under its $1.6 billion NASA contract, asked NASA for permission to combine two planned missions into one. That mission is now
Viruses. Via Marginal Revolution: …in a development that could transform how viral infections are treated, a team of researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory has designed a drug that can identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus, then kill those cells to terminate the infection. …In a paper published July 27 in the journal PLoS One, the researchers tested their drug against 15 viruses, and found it was effective against all of them — including rhinoviruses that cause the common cold, H1N1 influenza, a stomach virus, a polio virus, dengue fever and several other types of hemorrhagic fever. The drug works by targeting a type of RNA produced only in cells that have been infected by viruses. “In theory, it
This cracked me up. Via Popular Science, “European Space Agency Plans to Team Up with Russia for the First Manned Mission to Mars“: If it’s a space race the Russians want, a space race they shall have. But et tu, Europe? Russian news outlet Ria Novosti is reporting that the European Space Agency (ESA), long the ally of Cold War champion NASA, is teaming with Russia on a joint manned mission to Mars, and that their crew will be the first to set foot on the Red Planet. At a press briefing at an air show in Russia this week, ESA chief Jean-Jacques Dordain said the ESA and Roskosmos will “carry out the first flight to Mars together.” Apparently a major catalyst
1. Mortgage rates hit 50 year low 2. Make your own gun powder 3. 13-Year-Old Designs Super-Efficient Solar Array 4. Encouraging news from Elizabeth Warren 5. Nate Silver on Rick Perry 6. And this is just funny.
According to Forbes Magazine my hometown, Framingham, is the 3rd “geekiest” city in the States, as measured by the percentage of the population working in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics. We’re right behind Silicon Valley (San Jose, CA) and Boulder, CO. Too bad Forbes didn’t realize that we aren’t a city at all. We’re just the BIGGEST TOWN IN THE COUNTRY. No big deal. Thanks to SH for pointing me to the article.