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Tuesday, July 23, 2002 |
Wanna play Spy? - well the U.S. Government is eager to receive your help in the War on Terrorism. Sign up here. Sadly, it appears that no badges will be provided. [Ernie the Attorney]
10:24:25 PM Permalink
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How Evolution Really Works
Nice piece in US News & World Report about the state of evolution. I usually associate this magazine with hocus-pocus and superstition that I see on its covers in the supermarket, but this is a pretty good piece, though that New York Times piece this morning about Cosmology set a very high standard that is going to take some doing to beat.
6:36:02 PM Permalink
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The Little Robots That Could
Some of the best money this country ever spent. The anti-government crowd will tell you that government can't do anything right, that the 60s were a time of excess. But these small robots have been going forever, and have told us more about the cosmos than private enterprise ever will.
More than a quarter of a century after their launches, Pioneer 10, Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and the IMP-8 spacecraft are still going strong. During their primary missions in the Seventies and Eighties, they gave us a unique insight into the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and the solar-wind conditions around Earth. And today, thanks to some nifty long-distance repair work by dedicated space scientists on the ground, the probes continue to radio-signal postcards home to tell us about the path to interstellar space.
Pioneer 10 was launched on March 2, 1972, on an expedition to Jupiter. To mark its 30th birthday, scientists sent a special transmission to the retired spacecraft. After 22 hours, having crossed 7.4 billion miles, Pioneer 10’s reply--equal in power to a nightlight--was heard loud and clear. But without careful remote control maneuvering, Pioneer’s latest messages home could well have been lost in space.
8:12:53 AM Permalink
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13 Million Threatened By Hunger in Southern Africa. The Red Cross has appealed for $61.9 million in help in order to prevent a hunger catastrophe in several southern African nations. The food crisis, which is most devastating in Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, is a result of drought and corruption. It has been exacerbated by HIV/AIDS, which, through its social and economic effects on society, reduces food availability, food access, and food quality. According to Mcbain Kanongodza, secretary general of the Malawi Red Cross, at least 13 million people are threatened by starvation in the coming months. The Red Cross appeal is the largest in three years. Reuters story Red Cross / Red Crescent Press Release United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Appeal Donate to relieve hunger in southern Africa [kuro5hin.org]
Donate Now -- http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html
8:07:19 AM Permalink
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© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
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