Apropos of nothing, I'm thinking "The Russians, the British, the Australians and the Chinese…" sounds like the beginning of one of these "…walked into a bar" jokes.
(I must have it on my brain. Half an hour ago, i watched a video on the "Sumerian dog walks into a bar…" world's-oldest-joke meme. I didn't even know it was a thing, an honest-to-God 4,000 year old joke written in cuneiform, on a clay tablet. And nobody understands the punchline. Archaeological mystery).
Imagine my disappointment 🙂
In compensation for that, Here's a paranoid thought (of my own devising), for the enjoyment of budding conspiracy theorists…
The idea that the moon landing was faked, did not originate with some guy fond of tinfoil headgear.
Stay with me…
Instead, the US Government has a secret Conspiracy Theory Facilitation Program… tasked with devising the most floridly paranoid and deliberately wackdoodle "theories" possible, and then setting them free… (which are almost guaranteed to flourish, in the wild, among the nut-jobs roaming the streets of America).
These wacky ideas are planted and nurtured to create a default public perception, a conditioned herd-reflex, so that when the shadowy powers really DO need to "conspire" for nefarious purposes (maybe blow up some buildings to create a useful massive shift in public opinion, idk) …it's just that much easier to discredit the troublesome skeptic who happened to notice some really glaring loose ends …
But when he tries to tell a fellow citizen, they think "crazy dude living under a freeway overpass"
Skeptic is quite aware of this, and clams up.
Hmmm…
We used to shut away our mentally ill fellow citizens in asylums, keeping these tortured souls hidden from view. And medicating them with drugs to reduce the intensity and craziness of their hallucinations.
But then we had a top-down policy shift, taking away their thorazine, shutting down their treatment facilities, and casting the frightened inmates out into the streets. Supposedly because this is more humane and dignified. It also happens to be cheaper. They now live under freeway overpasses. And they panhandle. They are in our faces at stoplights and outside store entrances.
This doesn't make sense, unless… unless…
OMG
That's why the skeptic clammed up. I didn't actually call him a nut-job, but I looked at him like he was like a homeless crazydude and excused myself to supposedly refresh my drink. I acted like he had an infectious disease…
It's almost like i was conditioned to react that way…
And they've taken 1984 off of the recommended reading list for highschool students. Orwell who?
Nahhh….
[DISCLAIMER: The above is just sarcasm or humor or an exercise in creative writing. I promise, swear and affirm that I one-hundred-percent disavow all of the crazy Un-American thoughts therein. Keep this bag away from small children, it is not a toy. This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer or other reproductive harm. The government is always our friend. I pledge allegiance to the flag! Groupthink is my Co-pilot]
Apropos of nothing, I'm thinking "The Russians, the British, the Australians and the Chinese…" sounds like the beginning of one of these "…walked into a bar" jokes.
(I must have it on my brain. Half an hour ago, i watched a video on the "Sumerian dog walks into a bar…" world's-oldest-joke meme. I didn't even know it was a thing, an honest-to-God 4,000 year old joke written in cuneiform, on a clay tablet. And nobody understands the punchline. Archaeological mystery).
Imagine my disappointment 🙂
In compensation for that, Here's a paranoid thought (of my own devising), for the enjoyment of budding conspiracy theorists…
The idea that the moon landing was faked, did not originate with some guy fond of tinfoil headgear.
Stay with me…
Instead, the US Government has a secret Conspiracy Theory Facilitation Program… tasked with devising the most floridly paranoid and deliberately wackdoodle "theories" possible, and then setting them free… (which are almost guaranteed to flourish, in the wild, among the nut-jobs roaming the streets of America).
These wacky ideas are planted and nurtured to create a default public perception, a conditioned herd-reflex, so that when the shadowy powers really DO need to "conspire" for nefarious purposes (maybe blow up some buildings to create a useful massive shift in public opinion, idk) …it's just that much easier to discredit the troublesome skeptic who happened to notice some really glaring loose ends …
But when he tries to tell a fellow citizen, they think "crazy dude living under a freeway overpass"
Skeptic is quite aware of this, and clams up.
Hmmm…
We used to shut away our mentally ill fellow citizens in asylums, keeping these tortured souls hidden from view. And medicating them with drugs to reduce the intensity and craziness of their hallucinations.
But then we had a top-down policy shift, taking away their thorazine, shutting down their treatment facilities, and casting the frightened inmates out into the streets. Supposedly because this is more humane and dignified. It also happens to be cheaper. They now live under freeway overpasses. And they panhandle. They are in our faces at stoplights and outside store entrances.
This doesn't make sense, unless… unless…
OMG
That's why the skeptic clammed up. I didn't actually call him a nut-job, but I looked at him like he was like a homeless crazydude and excused myself to supposedly refresh my drink. I acted like he had an infectious disease…
It's almost like i was conditioned to react that way…
And they've taken 1984 off of the recommended reading list for highschool students. Orwell who?
Nahhh….
[DISCLAIMER: The above is just sarcasm or humor or an exercise in creative writing. I promise, swear and affirm that I one-hundred-percent disavow all of the crazy Un-American thoughts therein. Keep this bag away from small children, it is not a toy. This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer or other reproductive harm. The government is always our friend. I pledge allegiance to the flag! Groupthink is my Co-pilot]
- All calls: Call *72 + new number
- Only when busy/no answer: Call *71 + new number
- Turn off forwarding: Call *73
Brazil is a demographic and geographical giant ruled by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, perhaps the hemisphere’s best known Marxist leader. Lula is also the founder of the Foro de Sao Paulo, the world’s largest grouping of Marxist parties and organizations.
The Foro threw its support behind the march in Argentina. Its executive secretary, Monica Valente, not only promoted the Jan. 24 protest and other demonstrations since Milei took office. She also shared on social media a Zoom meeting that over 200 global leftist unionists held with leaders of the main Argentine unions on Jan. 18, six days before the protest. //
Freire insisted that he and other international participants on the Zoom call were taking their cues from the three main Argentine union bosses leading the protest efforts.
But the figurative call to arms was unmistakable. Freire and the others spoke in apocalyptic tones about what would happen to the rest of the world if Milei succeeded, so the Argentines had better stop him lest Mileism spring up everywhere. //
“Argentina is a global laboratory,” Argentine union leader Roberto Baradel said during his remarks. Baradel decried how Milei was making “the right to property the central right in our social, political, and economic life.” //
This is what is arrayed against Milei, who only took office Dec. 10. There was no street violence against him in this dry run, but that isn’t guaranteed going forward. Milei remains immensely popular, an asset he will need.
Americans and Europeans who agree with Milei’s slogan of “Viva la Libertad, Carajo!” (or “Long Live Liberty, [Expletive]!”) have an interest in him succeeding. That’s because if he does succeed, there is a chance that rational policies can be tried at home.
The Argentine president’s success against the Big Global Left also would give us lessons about a possible return of 2020-style, Black Lives Matter-sponsored violence.
Carrie Severino @JCNSeverino
·
During a panel, DC residents voiced their frustrations and demanded accountability from city leaders in addressing the violent crime epidemic that's plaguing our nation’s capital.
DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s response: “We cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of it.”
2:46 PM · Jan 31, 2024 //
The forum was specifically addressing the issue of juvenile crime and juvenile carjackings, and this lawn flamingo of a prosecutor was looking at these residents and declaring that executing his assigned duties was not the solution. //
INTJ
28 minutes ago
"We cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of it."
Dude. That's the only way you're going to get out of it.
Starlab is a joint venture between the US-based Voyager Space and the European-based multinational aerospace corporation Airbus. The venture is building a large station with a habitable volume equivalent to half the pressurized volume of the International Space Station and will launch the new station no earlier than 2028.
"SpaceX's history of success and reliability led our team to select Starship to orbit Starlab," Dylan Taylor, chairman and CEO of Voyager Space, said in a statement. "SpaceX is the unmatched leader for high-cadence launches and we are proud Starlab will be launched to orbit in a single flight by Starship." //
Starlab will have a diameter of about 26 feet (8 meters). It is perhaps not a coincidence that Starship's payload bay can accommodate vehicles up to 26 feet across in its capacious fairing. However, in an interview, Marshall Smith, the chief technology officer of Voyager Space, said the company looked at a couple of launch options.
"We looked at multiple launches to get Starlab into orbit, and eventually gravitated toward single launch options," he said. "It saves a lot of the cost of development. It saves a lot of the cost of integration. We can get it all built and checked out on the ground, and tested and launch it with payloads and other systems. One of the many lessons we learned from the International Space Station is that building and integrating in space is very expensive." //
phat_tony Ars Centurion
17y
263
Subscriptor
This is exactly what most space companies should be doing now - assuming Starship is going to work, and start planning based on the sea change that's going to create. There are still so many companies trying to duke it out in small launch where clearly the overwhelming majority of them have no chance of making it. Pivot to take advantage of the fact that everything about space launch is about to change. Figure out what we could do with a 120 ton satellite the size of a space station that we can't do now and build that satellite. Figure out what we could do with swarms of micro satellites that isn't cost effective now if they were 1/10 the cost to get to orbit. Space tugs. Commercial refueling depots. Tourism. Space stations. Solar-system wide internet as a service... NASA has a huge bandwidth problem on the Deep Space Network... even if they aren't asking for proposals, it may be a case of "if you build it, they will come."
I don't know, but when there's a two order of magnitude change pending on the most fundamental constraint of a sizable industry, that's when new players make it and old players can't adapt and break. It's like the advent of microchips, or the internet. Trying to compete with the company that's inventing the two order of magnitude improvement is the last business bet you want to make. Capitalizing on the implications is exactly what you want to do. //
pavon Ars Tribunus Militum
16y
2,100
Subscriptor
Very excited about this, finally picking up where Skylab left off. It had 350m3 pressurized volume in a single Saturn V launch, compared to the 1000m3 of ISS with 15 pressurized modules taking over a decade to assemble.
If you ever get a chance to visit Space Center Houston, you can walk through mockups of both an ISS module and Skylab, and the difference was viscerally striking to me. One was a series of hallways, like the corridors of datacenter, while the other was this spacious open area. The ISS design might be more efficient for the experiments they actually do on the ISS, and for moving about in freefall, but I can't help but imagine there were lost opportunities due to being restricted to such narrow tubes.
Jennifer Griffin
@JenGriffinFNC
·
Follow
And all of those IRGC commanders have already left Syria and gone into hiding leaving those bases. The Pentagon usually does not telegraph so much if it wants the element of surprise.
Shashank Joshi
@shashj
"U.S. officials have confirmed to CBS News that plans have been approved for a series of strikes over a number of days against targets — including Iranian personnel and facilities — inside Iraq and Syria." https://cbsnews.com/news/us-strikes-iran-personnel-facilities-in-iraq-syria-approved-jordan-drone-attack/
10:15 AM · Feb 1, 2024 //
Thanks, Joe Biden, foreign policy genius!
Griffin told Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that some of the IRGC commanders were now back in Tehran. She asked a blunt question, "Has there been too much telegraphing or is the point not to kill any Iranian commanders?" //
In terms of answering the telegraphing question, he just said he wouldn't "speculate." Thanks, another non-answer from Austin.
Skibum
12 hours ago
This situation is a great example of the Democrat superpower - the ability to blind voters to the impact of cause and effect. Democrats manage to never be held responsible for the consequences of their legislative actions. //
piscorman
13 hours ago edited
That is how politicians do it. They create a problem, blame it on the private sector, and create another government solution problem trying to "fix it".
After noting that Omar's speech has led to calls for expulsion from Congress and denaturalization, Turley wrote: "Neither would be appropriate," in his view.
The speech is clearly protected under the First Amendment. Omar is not advocating imminent violent or criminal conduct. She is expressing her personal priorities and loyalties.
The omission of an expression of loyalty to the United States has left many irate and insulted. However, it is still protected speech. Indeed, burning an American flag and condemning America are protected forms of free expression. //
The growing calls for denaturalization are disconnected from governing constitutional and statutory standards. //
Others can condemn Rep. Omar’s comment, but they cannot strip away her citizenship due to her exercise of free speech.
The greatest disconnect in these calls is that Omar would be stripped of her citizenship for exercising the very right that defines us as citizens. //
"This country is not endangered by a lack of patriotism or even a lack of loyalty in others," Turley wrote, concluding: "It is threatened by allowing our anger to blind us to the denial of the very thing that defines us."
Again, while it might be frustrating to some of us and angering as hell to others, as hard as it is to admit, Jonathan Turley was right. //
Just Jim
17 hours ago
Apparently oaths of allegiance mean nothing anymore.
The principles embodied in the Oath are codified in Section 337(a) in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which provides that all
applicants shall take an oath that incorporates the substance of the following:Support the Constitution;
Renounce and abjure absolutely and entirely all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which the applicant was before a subject or citizen;
Support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
Bear true faith and allegiance to the same ... //
etba_ss
15 hours ago edited
Turley is wrong. She's violating the oath she took, which is grounds for expulsion from Congress and revoking her naturalized citizenship.
Besides that, the law is not a suicide pact. There are two sets of rules at play. We better decide if we want to surrender or if we want to restore this country. Those are the two choices. Writing a white paper on the virtues of the law is going to get us and Turley sent to a gulag. //
Watch-tower
18 hours ago
He is not always right and in this case he is not. She took an oath of office. Her words violate that oath. Some investigation is needed to see if she have received favors, titles or renumeration from Somalia, as that would violate the Constitution.
This is more than free speech. This is a disavowal of her US citizenship.
Rogue Rose Watch-tower
16 hours ago
And she fraudulently took the oath of citizenship.
“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America ... //
The most common type of dementia, Alzheimer’s is caused by a buildup of amyloid proteins in the brain, with risk factors including age, family history, unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and certain medical conditions.
But in a study published in Nature Medicine, researchers from the University College London (UCL) linked growth hormone treatments to the development of Alzheimer’s, according to a UCL press release.
The researchers studied patients who received a type of human growth hormone that was extracted from the pituitary glands of deceased people (c-hGH).
The c-hGH has been shown to lead to greater amounts of amyloid-beta protein in the brain, the researchers found. //
The treatment in question has not been used for almost 40 years, having been abandoned in 1985 when it was found to possibly spread Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD,) which can also cause dementia, brain damage, and death. //
The study goes on to note that Alzheimer's disease is not contagious, which no doubt caused many White House staffers to breathe a sigh of relief.
The study, however, also notes that treatment with human growth hormone isn't the only cause of Alzheimer's disease.
nginx-proxy-settings for a Soundbridge radio, that only supports http streams, but wants to play https streams too.
context: https://mind.work/2021/01/18/rescue-of-the-soundbridge-m1001/
To use it in your own projects, replace 'localhost' in 'mind_work/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf' with the hostname you actually use.
Build: docker-compose build
Start: docker-compose up
Recognition of a Palestinian State after what Hamas did, with the help of Iran no less, is enabling terrorism in the Middle East and across the world. Hamas started this war with a terror attack that killed hundreds. They raped women, defiled the bodies of those they killed, took and later killed hostages, and have routinely stolen from their own people in order to create weapons to launch more terror attacks. These are not the actions of people who deserve statehood in the international community. They are the actions of a group of terrorists who should be eradicated.
Recognizing Palestinian statehood is just one of a "big menu of options," according to the sources who spoke to Axios. But it should not be an option. They should not be rewarded for routinely targeting Israeli civilians in their attacks. They should not be given recognition over an area they don't so much control as much as they rob. The people of Gaza live in poverty because the ruling class, Hamas, takes all resources meant for their citizens and uses those resources to take part in terrorism.
A responsible State Department would hear this suggestion of recognizing Palestinian statehood and dismiss it immediately. But if there is one thing the Biden administration is not, it's responsible.
If we want Washington to work for us, the American people, we must start by restoring power back into the hands of those we elect and away from unelected bureaucrats. A critical aspect of this transformation hinges on addressing a doctrine known as Chevron Deference. Far more than a mere technicality, this legal principle has significantly shifted the dynamics of our nation's lawmaking, blurring lines of accountability and diminishing the legislative role of Congress.
For over 40 years, Congress has been derelict in its duties, hiding behind Chevron Deference, established in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (1984), to delegate its power to federal agencies. This abdication of responsibility has led to vaguely worded legislation, paralyzing gridlock, and sprawling omnibus bills. One stark example of this issue is the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. Under the influence of Chevron Deference, its interpretation has been subject to dramatic shifts with each changing administration, illustrating the instability and confusion bred by this doctrine. //
The doctrine of Chevron Deference is a fundamental deviation from the constitutional design of our government. The legislative branch, intended by the framers of the Constitution to be the sole creator of laws, has enabled unelected bureaucrats to interpret and effectively create laws, eroding this principle. This isn't about the intelligence or capability of bureaucrats, but about the principle of democratic representation and accountability.
To ensure that laws reflect the will of the people and maintain the balance of power essential to our constitutional republic, we must end Chevron Deference. This change is vital for restoring legislative power to elected representatives. Additionally, adopting single-issue legislation would compel Congress to draft laws that are precise, transparent, and accountable, reflecting the true intent of our Founding Fathers. Single-issue bills, as advocated by James Madison in The Federalist No. 62, would ensure that each law is thoroughly debated and understood before being passed. This approach would eliminate the complexities often buried in omnibus packages, allowing for greater transparency, less government waste, and a greater public understanding of legislation. //
SLOTown Hoosier
3 days ago
This common-sense analysis is hindered by the fact that most Americans have little common-sense, but much sense of self and self-interest. All they care to know about Chevron is that they can fill up their cars.
“Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress, but they regard the things government does for others as socialism."― Earl Warren //
Random US Citizen
3 days ago
This will help, but the real issue is the SC decision in NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp in 1937 in which the court decided that anything that had the slighted effect on "interstate commerce" could be regulated by congress. A vast swath of unconstitutional laws and regulations hinge on the idea that congress can regulate almost anything as long as there's even the most tenuous connection to commerce. Pick a federal law that's a bad idea and the chances are better than even that the reason it exists is because the black-robed tyrants decided that what they "felt" about an issue was more important than the rule of law or the plain text of the constitution.
Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.
ColderWeather Random US Citizen
3 days ago
NLRB was expansionary for sure, but the one that really had the effect you state here is Wickard. As bad a decision as Dred Scott, Plessy, and Korematsu. //
ConservativeInMinnesota
3 days ago edited
Departments can't make their own rules, that authority belongs to Congress. Congress doesn't have the constitutional power to delegate rulemaking authority to the administrative state. The Constitution requires Congress to make all laws, carry them into execution, and explicitly calls out any department of the US.
Art 1 Sec 8
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
Nayib Bukele @nayibbukele
·
We are HONORED to receive your attacks, just days before OUR election.
I would be very worried if we had your support.
Thank you 🙏🏼
Rep. Ilhan Omar @Ilhan
I led Members of Congress in sending a letter to @SecBlinken urging action on threats to democracy in El Salvador.
The State Dept must review its relationship with El Salvador and defend democratic values. The Salvadoran people deserve free and fair elections without fear of…
12:49 PM · Jan 31, 2024 //
Not only was Omar humiliated by Bukele, but X's Community Notes feature also stepped in to set the record straight.
"El Salvador’s democratically elected president Nayib Bukele won the 2019 election with a 54% majority," the community note read. "Under his leadership El Salvdor’s murder rate has fallen 93% and he currently has a 91% approval rating amongst El Salvadorian citizens."
Despite Bukele's popularity and incredibly successful efforts in turning one of Latin America's most dangerous countries into one of its safest, Omar and her Democratic colleagues had the nerve to go after Bukele's effective, albeit uncompromising, style of leadership. //
Maximus Decimus Cassius GeoMcGeo
an hour ago
A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. ~ Taylor Caldwell
Our enemies are not foreign, they are domestic
While Blinken's people were leaking that a policy rethinking was underway, the National Security Council was caught with its jaw hanging down.
- A White House National Security Council spokesperson said it "has been longstanding U.S. policy that any recognition of a Palestinian state must come through direct negotiations between the parties rather than through unilateral recognition at the UN. That policy has not changed."
- The State Department declined to comment.
There are three sticking points. First, the boundaries of this new terrorist empire have to be set. No one knows what that would look like. Second, the obvious impact of what will be an Iranian-controlled terror state bordering Israel that could have mutual defense treaties with other nations hostile to Israel and UN representation doesn't seem to have been considered. Third, everyone appears to be assuming away the high probability that Israel will refuse to accept this terror state.
If this happens, it effectively kills Trump's Abraham Accords by bringing Palestinian demands back to the center of Middle East geopolitics. It will be nearly impossible for any Arab nation to continue relations with Israel if Israel refuses to accept the strategy of rolling bilateral recognition agreements that the White House envisages.
Unless this is derailed, we have effectively abandoned our tacit alliance with Israel and handed a massive strategic victory to the country that will control the government in this new state. //
Mildred's Oldest Son
7 hours ago
The anti-semitism of the democrat party knows no bounds. The Obama/Jarrett pawn, Biden, will throw Israel under the bus to further the Iranian mullahs' goal to destroy Israel. The treachery and the pandering to Iran, and the leftist, pro-Palestinian protesters is disgusting, absolutely disgusting.
X user MorosKostas wrote:
This is hilarious. Theft is so common in California that it happened right in front of Newsom, and when the cashier (who didn't realize it was Newsom) said they can't stop shoplifters due to the California government, Newsom got mad at her and asked to see the manager. //
Then Newsom said he questioned why he was spending $380 when everyone else walked right out.
How completely lacking in self-awareness is Newsom, that he doesn't seem to understand that this is going on. Employees in his state are being told not to bother with shoplifters like this because they wouldn't face any consequences.
Indeed, Newsom seems more upset about the worker blaming him for it than about the Democratic policies that have led to this problem (along with the liberal DAs that refuse to prosecute such cases). //
VoteGeneric
14 minutes ago
Newsome doesn't shop at Target. His housekeeper shops at Target.
Made up story for the press.
This entire ordeal is dumb. The statue never should have been allowed in the first place. Further, the leniency applied to those tearing down statues of Thomas Jefferson can't be ignored. Are we really a country that lets people off for destroying works of art but charges people with hate crimes for damaging a statue of satan? I guess we are.
So, how did the team do it? They ditched traditional, space-rated hardware. They just couldn't take the mass penalty. For example, the RAD750 computer that operates most modern spacecraft—including the Perseverance rover—weighs more than 1 pound. They couldn't blow that much mass on the computer, even if it was designed specifically for spaceflight and was resistant to radiation.
Instead, Tzanetos said Ingenuity uses a 2015-era smartphone computer chip, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor. It has a mass of half an ounce.
The RAD750, introduced in 2001, is based on 1990s technology. The modern Qualcomm processor was designed for performance and has the benefit of 20 years of advancement in microprocessor technology. In addition to being orders of magnitudes cheaper—the RAD750 costs about a quarter of a million dollars, while the Qualcomm processor goes into inexpensive mobile phones—the newer chip has bucketloads of more performance.
"The processor on Ingenuity is 100 times more powerful than everything JPL has sent into deep space, combined," Tzanetos said. This means that if you add up all of the computing power that has flown on NASA's big missions beyond Earth orbit, from Voyager to Juno to Cassini to the James Webb Space Telescope, the tiny chip on Ingenuity packs more than 100 times the performance.
A similar philosophy went into other components, such as the rechargeable batteries on board. These are similar to the lithium batteries sold in power tools at hardware stores. Lithium hates temperature cycles, and on the surface of Mars, they would be put through a hellish cycle of temperatures from -130° Fahrenheit (-90° C) to 70° (20° C).
The miracle of Ingenuity is that all of these commercially bought, off-the-shelf components worked. Radiation didn't fry the Qualcomm computer. The brutal thermal cycles didn't destroy the battery's storage capacity. Likewise, the avionics, sensors, and cameras all survived despite not being procured with spaceflight-rated mandates.
"This is a massive victory for engineers," Tzanetos said.
Indeed it is. While NASA's most critical missions, where failure is not an option, will likely still use space-rated hardware, Ingenuity's success opens a new pathway for most science missions. They can be cheaper, lighter, and higher-performing in every way. This is almost unimaginably liberating for mission planners. //
The concept of flying Ingenuity came along at just the right time, in the early 2010s, as NASA was finalizing the payloads that would fly on the Perseverance rover to Mars in 2020. When NASA had to make the call on whether or not to fly the technology demonstration mission, the right mix of technologies was coming online: high energy density batteries, high-performance processors for mobile devices, lightweight cameras, and MEMS accelerometers to measure acceleration.
These devices were pushed and perfected as part of the mobile phone revolution. If there had been no iPhone, there would have been no Ingenuity. It was the perfect confluence, and it resulted in the miracle on Mars. //
It's a perilous exercise to judge history while being in the middle of history, of course. But I would rate Ingenuity among the three most innovative and important things that NASA has done during the 21st century. The other two are the James Webb Space Telescope and the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program.
Ars Technica was recently used to serve second-stage malware in a campaign that used a never-before-seen attack chain to cleverly cover its tracks, researchers from security firm Mandiant reported Tuesday.
A benign image of a pizza was uploaded to a third-party website and was then linked with a URL pasted into the “about” page of a registered Ars user. Buried in that URL was a string of characters that appeared to be random—but were actually a payload. The campaign also targeted the video-sharing site Vimeo, where a benign video was uploaded and a malicious string was included in the video description.
Evidence shows that shoving data in peoples’ faces doesn’t work to change minds. //
But in all my years of working with the public, I’ve found a potential strategy. And that strategy doesn’t involve confronting pseudoscience head-on but rather empathizing with why people have pseudoscientific beliefs and finding ways to get them to understand and appreciate the scientific method. //
The word pseudoscience means “false science,” and that’s where my definition starts. Pseudoscience is a practice, a mode of investigation, that looks like science but misses the point. Or, as I like to phrase it, pseudoscience has the skin of science but misses its soul. //
The skin of science is visible to non-scientists; it’s what science looks like from the outside. That skin usually involves some combination of advanced jargon that’s generally indecipherable, the wielding of sophisticated mathematical tools for describing nature, and, of course, the fancy technical gear for making measurements and observations.
But these are just the tools of science; they aren’t what makes science so uniquely powerful. That's the scientific method. We’ve all learned the basics of the scientific method (make a hypothesis, test it, repeat), but it’s only in scientific training that you can acquire the skills necessary to put that method into practice. This—the scientific method and the skills to put it to use—is the real soul of science.
It involves skills like rigor, where we take our own statements seriously and follow them to their full logical conclusions. Or humility, where we learn to accept that any statement can be proven wrong at any time. There’s also fundamental skepticism, in that we allow the evidence to dictate our beliefs. Science is characterized by a spirit of openness, by requiring that methods and techniques be shared and publicized so that others can critique and extend them, and connectedness, which is a sense that statements we make must connect with the broader collection of scientific knowledge. Lastly, science persists in a constant state of evolution, where we always refine our beliefs and statements given new evidence or insights.
These qualities together make the scientific method work on a day-to-day basis. And while any individual scientist will fall short at one or more of these qualities for at least some—or, sadly, the entirety—of their careers, the practice of science is to always strive for these noble goals. //
The world is harsh, confusing, and unfair. Pseudoscience gives comfort, explanation, and predictability. //
So, the first step when confronting a pseudoscientific belief is to not bother arguing it. I have a personal rule: Unless someone asks me directly for my opinion, I don’t offer it. I’ll admit that sometimes I just can’t hold my tongue, but in the vast majority of situations, I’d rather preserve a relationship than drive a wedge into it just because someone isn’t adhering to strict scientific thinking. People believe all sorts of weird things, and the likelihood of me changing their minds—on UFOs, homeopathy, or whatever—is so small that it’s simply not worth the effort.
Instead, I try to practice what’s known as radical empathy. This is empathy given to another person without any expectation of receiving it back in return. I try to see the world through someone else’s eyes and use that to find common ground. Why do they believe in UFOs? Is it because they want mystery and wonder to be alive in this world? Hey, me too! Why do they buy homeopathic medicine? Is it because they desperately wish they could do something about their medical condition? Yeah, I hear that. Why do they get a palm reading? Is it because they could use some guidance through their complicated lives? Couldn't we all.
We need to find common ground and leverage that to share the joy, power, and beauty of science. //
Instead, if we’re going to win hearts and minds, we need to find common ground and leverage that to share the joy, power, and beauty of science. The worldview offered by science is breathtaking in its scope. One of the reasons I love the scientific worldview is its ability to see the inner workings of nature and understand the deeper levels that bring about our daily experiences. Science opens up the world and makes it knowable. Yes, there is always uncertainty; our beliefs are always provisional. That is a small price to pay for freedom, for the ability to change your mind when the evidence demands it and see the world with new eyes.
The scientific worldview is a gift. I’ve learned to not bother trying to convince someone to turn against their pseudoscientific beliefs. It rarely works, and it just makes science look bad. Instead, by finding common ground, admitting the limitations of science, and showcasing how science is a powerful force in the world, I hope to generate a positive image of science and its role in society.
Instead of getting into an argument, I would rather find a way to get someone to see the world the same way that I do: as a Universe filled with mystery and wonder, revealed by a powerful toolset for investigating those mysteries. I would rather people see behind the skin of science and understand, appreciate, and celebrate its soul. I believe that’s the only way to build trust—and hopefully help people listen to scientists when it really matters.