Archive for the 'Off Topic' Category
A Cosmic Burst Repeats, Deepening a Mystery
April 18th, 2017Via: Quanta: To nearly everybody’s surprise, as reported in January in the journal Nature, the bursts originated in a small “dwarf irregular” galaxy, one about a gigaparsec (just over 3 billion light years) away. This made the strength of the signal and its frequent repetitions even more astonishing. “If you’re detecting a bright flash from […]
Apple Calls Journalists to Explain That the Company Has Not Abandoned the Mac
April 6th, 2017Everything is great! Don’t worry. We love you. We’re sorry. Check back next year, mmmkay? The picture at the link looks like an action shot for a Touch of Gray ad. *chortle* Via: TechCrunch: The Mac has an important long future at Apple. Apple cares deeply about the Mac. We have every intention to keep […]
‘Wright Brothers Moment for Space’
March 24th, 2017Via: Bloomberg: If the rocket Elon Musk’s SpaceX expects to launch next week looks familiar, that’s because it is. The Falcon 9 rocket slated to take off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, has flown before, marking the first time Space Exploration Technologies Corp. will refly one of the 14-story-tall boosters it recovered […]
Seeking Adventure And Gold? Crack This Poem And Head Outdoors
March 15th, 2017This is a bit like, Ready Player One, but outdoors. Well, assuming that there is a chest of gold out there… Just buy Forrest Fenn’s books to read the clues. *wink* On a more ominous note, I hope the guy is aware of rubber hose cryptanalysis! It’s probably best to wait until you kick the […]
SpaceX to Fly Passengers On Private Trip Around the Moon in 2018
February 27th, 2017Via: space.com: SpaceX will fly two private citizens on a trip around the moon in 2018, the company’s founder Elon Musk announced Monday (Feb. 27). The private spaceflight company will use its Falcon Heavy rocket to send the two paying passengers into space aboard one of the company’s Dragon spacecraft. The two private citizens, who […]
How EV West Recovers Battery Modules from Wrecked Tesla Vehicles
February 25th, 2017Ever wonder what the highest power density battery modules in the world look like? Via: Jehu Garcia:
AMD’s Ryzen Launches March 2
February 22nd, 2017My nine year old son has watched me build a few high end PCs and he wants to build his own so badly that he can practically taste it. For months, I’ve been saying, “Wait for Ryzen, you must, young Padawon.” After many years, AMD will again be offering strong alternatives to Intel’s CPUs. Ryzen […]
Our 9,000-Year Love Affair With Booze
February 12th, 2017Via: National Geographic: Alcohol isn’t just a mind-altering drink: It has been a prime mover of human culture from the beginning, fueling the development of arts, language, and religion.
SNOLAB: Inside the Dark Matter Lab Buried Over a Mile Underground
February 2nd, 2017Via: Vice: SNOLAB, one of the world’s premier laboratories, searches for dark matter, supernovas, and neutrinos 6,800 feet underground.
PR1ME Mathematics: Singapore Mathematics in New Zealand for Homeschooling Families
January 15th, 2017Quick homeschooling announcement… If you’re homeschooling in New Zealand and interested in Singapore Maths, you will have no doubt noticed that getting the materials here is an expensive hassle. We have been buying the California standards edition materials from the U.S. and having them shipped over to New Zealand at astonishing expense. Thankfully, those days […]
