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By and large, the U.S. power grid is in a very good position to support the adoption of electric vehicles while still reducing emissions. This can not be said about some places, such as India and China, whose power plants are more dirty than gasoline cars.

No, they found just the opposite, and durther they found that the ruling came from the FCC just as I posted.
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/cell-phones-interfere-plane-instruments.htm

Uhm.. they concluded that cell phones are probably not a danger to newer well shielded planes. But they did prove that interference actually happened in their test.

No, they found just the opposite, and durther they found that the ruling came from the FCC just as I posted.
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/cell-phones-interfere-plane-instruments.htm

This wasn't entirely clear, owing to John Paul I's precedent.
New Pope: It's Francis, Not Francis I

As further evidence I present that stupid 'reality' TV show Sister Wives, where that behavior is paraded openly on television.

There are a lot of 'reality' shows today that show criminal activity openly. Moonshiners, The Devils Ride, and Amish Mafia to name just three. (All on Discovery, it appears. Hmmm...)

I wondered how these people could allow TV crews to come and tape their illegal activities without worrying that the police would just use the tapes in court. Tim the Moonshiner made a comment during an episode that for some reason the cops cannot use this material, they have to actually see them break the law. He said he had a bunch of feds at his door with pictures asking him to admit to doing things, but they didn't cuff him and take him away, so just seeing it on camera must not be enough.

I mean, there must be some reason why the feds are still going to grant him a license to distill legally even after seeing him selling off his backup stash for cash to build his legal still.

As further evidence I present that stupid 'reality' TV show Sister Wives, where that behavior is paraded openly on television.

There are a lot of 'reality' shows today that show criminal activity openly. Moonshiners, The Devils Ride, and Amish Mafia to name just three. (All on Discovery, it appears. Hmmm...)

I wondered how these people could allow TV crews to come and tape their illegal activities without worrying that the police would just use the tapes in court. Tim the Moonshiner made a comment during an episode that for some reason the cops cannot use this material, they have to actually see them break the law. He said he had a bunch of feds at his door with pictures asking him to admit to doing things, but they didn't cuff him and take him away, so just seeing it on camera must not be enough.

I mean, there must be some reason why the feds are still going to grant him a license to distill legally even after seeing him selling off his backup stash for cash to build his legal still.

As further evidence I present that stupid 'reality' TV show Sister Wives, where that behavior is paraded openly on television.

There are a lot of 'reality' shows today that show criminal activity openly. Moonshiners, The Devils Ride, and Amish Mafia to name just three. (All on Discovery, it appears. Hmmm...)

I wondered how these people could allow TV crews to come and tape their illegal activities without worrying that the police would just use the tapes in court. Tim the Moonshiner made a comment during an episode that for some reason the cops cannot use this material, they have to actually see them break the law. He said he had a bunch of feds at his door with pictures asking him to admit to doing things, but they didn't cuff him and take him away, so just seeing it on camera must not be enough.

I mean, there must be some reason why the feds are still going to grant him a license to distill legally even after seeing him selling off his backup stash for cash to build his legal still.

Vehicular armor. More 'burban than hillbilly, I guess.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/alternative-power-sources/solar-power-to-beat-coal-prices-in-new-mexico-130205.htm

The cheap clean energy is here, and it's getting cheaper. The price of solar is falling fast.

http://www.dmsolar.com/solar-module-1141.html

If you're looking to invest more than $50 on LED light bulbs then today's solar is very cheap these days. Here is a retailer that sells some residential panels for only 0.79 per watt. Solar will only continue from here to become even cheaper

In the UK, handguns are banned for civilians. And most police don't carry firearms either. So in your mind, everyone is helpless. Result? A homicide rate a quarter of the USA.

The UK's overall violent crime rate is almost twice that of the U.S.

The U.S.'s homicide rate has fallen by 50% since the early 90s, while the number of guns in private hands has risen and many states have liberalized CCW laws.

On the other hand, the U.K.'s gun ban had no impact on the murder rate -- in fact the homicide and gun crime rates went up the first few years after it was instituted. Gun crime in the U.K. roughly doubled between 1999 and 2009.

There are also serious problems with crime being under-reported in the U.K.. And some allege (I'm less certain about this claim) that even murder is undercounted in the U.K. versus the U.S., because U.K. rates are based on final disposition of cases (i.e., someone was convicted) while U.S. rates are based on reports (i.e., there's a dead body).

I suspect that even with that taken into account,though, the U.K.'s homicide rate may be lower -- not for any reason involving firearms, but because the U.S. has more of a problem with economic stratification, and a greater lead pollution problem thanks to our car culture.

When you was a baby, your mother passed you a good load of healthy bacterias while feeding you. And not sure if were just intestinal ones.

Even later in life, kissing increases immunity and reduce allergies, probably because of that passed biodiversity. But with our generation addicted to antibacterial toothpastes and antibiotics, most that will be passed will be antibiotic/antibacterial resistant bacteries, good luck with that.

Which crappy website did you get this misinformation from? This has ben refuted many times e.g., http://news.discovery.com/earth/weather-extreme-events/volcanoes-co2-people-emissions-climate-110627.htm http://www.agu.org/pubs/pdf/2011EO240001.pdf

just like the idea of penicillin was theoretically sound before it was discovered...oh wait that isn't how it happened

maybe one of these?

yeah so clearly nothing is ever discovered by accident without a sound theory behind it first...

Not so much any more, given a hygenic restaurant.

And there's citations for you too.

BTW, What you *should* be watching today is http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/puppy-bowl

I did, for a few minutes. Pathetic.

did they remember to include the "any given Sunday" function in their algorithm? :-)

BTW, What you *should* be watching today is http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/puppy-bowl

Zambia's space program of 1964

Apparently, Vikings did it too, with a special stone.

An "oh machine" has already been created. I don't think we really want that super smart though.

http://health.discovery.com/sexual-health/videos/first-sex-robot.htm

This may be why the communists are making the trip - 'Between 1969 and 1972, Apollo astronauts brought just under 842 pounds of rocks and regolith back from the Moon. In 1985, engineers at the University of Wisconsin discovered significant amounts of Helium-3 in the lunar soil. Helium-3 is a stable isotope of helium — the gas we use to fill party balloons with — and is notable because it’s missing a neutron, an important property that means we can used it in nuclear fusion reactions to produce clean energy. Unfortunately, our most plentiful stores of the isotope are a quarter of a million miles away.' http://news.discovery.com/space/space-energy-mining-the-moon-120907.htm

Except your wrong.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/no-global-warming-hasnt-stopped-121017.htm

AGW deniers are like evolution deniers. No matter how often a pseudo-skeptic claim is debunked, it will just be retold.

Nuclear propulsion has this nasty side effect of fallout opposite the direction of travel. That's ok for space outside of Earth orbit, but I wouldn't use it at launch.

The highest density of accessible natural antimatter in the solar system is Earth orbit. One source of generation is thunderstorms. We need to have a way to store antimatter in quantity longer than 16 minutes for antimatter to be useful.

As far as SpaceX goes, I'm looking forward to seeing their BFR, Big F-kin' Rocket, a.k.a. Merlin 2. Something has to get us off this rock and a space elevator isn't going to be built for a long time. If they publish the date of their first launch, I'd like to see it in person.

I'm feeling a bit dim... I only see a cleaned image and a close up of the cleaned area.
Would you mind linking to the pre-cleaning image?

Its this image: http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef017c356d7348970b-pi

When you dig up the relevant page on JPL you learn that this close up image is clearly taken AFTER cleaning, not before. Its the post cleaned area, and the circular marks are left overs that the brush did not remove.

the same sort of crap.

You mean mermaids aren't real ?!!!

The squid gets all jiggly with some soy sauce.

http://news.discovery.com/videos/animals-dancing-zombie-squid-explained.html

Like the fact that entire universe is simply a computer simulation being run by our future selves in order to look back in time and understand all of our mistakes? http://news.discovery.com/space/are-we-living-in-a-computer-simulation-2-121216.html

GP should read this.
Given funding, there could be a small, self-sustaining, base on Mars within 5 years.

As far as being stuck in the solar system, "we" are, but our grandchildren may not be with some technology advancement.

Using current ion drives it would take 14,417 years to reach Alpha Centauri, not 100,000.

Using what scientists have designed, but not gotten funded, it would be possible to reach that system in less than 40 years. In under 50 years there would be a data stream from another solar system. If there was a verified habitable planet, it would still require a generation ship to get there.

I seriously doubt something larger than the volume of a skyscraper for a single unmanned mission would get funded. Once we can use robotic construction and resource gathering, it's not unreasonable to think that this class of probe could be sent. If Phobos has useful material, we're already partway there.

For anyone interested in how biological viruses work, I thought this was pretty cool.. one of the more interesting things I've seen on Discovery in a long time. It plays out like an elaborate bank robbery or something

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/cell-breach.htm

It's actually not that unheard of for astronauts to play pranks in space. For example:

Having successfully completed the first ever two-space vehicle rendezvous in orbit with Frank Borman and James Lovell, Jr. in Gemini 7, Schirra and Stafford were understandably in high spirits before they began their atmospheric reentry maneuvers.

But, before beginning their journey home, NASA received a report from the pair saying they had spotted a UFO. According to Schirra's memoirs "Schirra's Space," Stafford contacted Mission Control and said: "We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit.... Looks like he might be going to re-enter soon.... You just might let me pick up that thing.... I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit."

Before Mission Control had time to digest the "UFO sighting," they heard an extraterrestrial rendition of "Jingle Bells" coming from Gemini 6. Schirra and Stafford had smuggled a harmonica and miniature sleigh bells onto the spacecraft especially for this moment.

http://news.discovery.com/space/big-pic-jingle-bells-first-space-music.html

It's not like people haven't crashed planes to see what happens and filmed it from all sorts of angles.

What all you nay-sayers forget is that this is only the very beginning of (debatable) usefulness. What comes out of this research over the next 10, 30 or 50 years, however, may prove surprising, and not just for how far this "mule" has come, but what other technologies it throws off along the way.

Mod parent up. This always bothers me with these kinds of stories. While the immediate usefulness of this particular project may be questionable, the long-term benefit of this type of research is potentially huge, and the best way to find the flaws and improve the technology is to put it to the test in real situations.

DARPA and NASA (and other similar organizations) projects very often result in tons of technologies that provide huge benefits across the board. When you aim for the stars, even if you fall a little short, you still often hit a worthwhile target. Just think about robotics, the internet, advanced materials, all kinds of food safety improvements, etc. All of these things that we take for granted now were the direct result or biproducts of DARPA and NASA projects. The world would NOT be the same as it is without this type of research.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spin-off_technologies
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/ten-nasa-inventions.htm

No, it's the Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs. Seems like a suitable project.

Actually most people survive plane crashes: "95.7 percent of people involved in a plane crash actually survive. Even in the most serious class of crashes, more than 76 percent of those on board live to tell the tale" (source)

Real news would be if a mission was sent to the seventh planet to search for oceans of diamond.

Headline - NASA sends probe into Uranus.

Just when NASA was needing some exotic matter, new ones are discovered.

At least, until we are used to see them, this new ones will be pretty exotic.

Anything that moves the tech forward is worthwhile.

NASA developed a lot of tech specifically to get us to the moon, and along the way everyone else (who isn't going to the moon) gets to benefit from the advances.

This is like that. The goal was to get Obama elected. But the breakthroughs are something that everyone else can benefit from now that they're here.

Mixing oil and water isn't a good thing...

What aggravates me is that we come up with these absolutely ridiculous solutions that would require some of the largest, most costly coordinated efforts of mankind, and do all kinds of irrelevant little things to ourselves so we can feel like we're doing something.

Meanwhile, there's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_shipping#Exhaust_emissions

So that's 4% of climate change emissions, and millions of tons of other harmful shit that gets pumped into the atmosphere.

And these: http://news.discovery.com/earth/coal-fire-pollution-global.html

That's one fire. There are thousands of these burning 24/7, around the world. China's coal fires alone produce 3% of the world's annual co2 emissions from fossil fuels. And it's completely wasted.

But, you know, keep losing sleep at night worrying about the tire pressure in your car and the .05 mpg you'd save.

The Science channel seems to be attempting to fill that void somewhat. Reruns of Fringe, Firefly, etc. It's not great, but it's a start.

http://science.discovery.com/

And Paula Cooper is not one of those 2500 children, because after the wacko left got her death penatly revoked, she was only given 60 years, after she and three friends broke into a 78 year old womans home where she proceeded to stab her 37 times.

Story submitter here, yes, I did do a copy/paste submission (using my smartphone, not exactly easy to do!), and after submitting this story noticed this too. I should've picked up on it. Please accept this alternate story link as a token ... http://news.discovery.com/human/early-human-tools-121107.html

Of course it's speculation. How do you think you figure these things out? Time travel?

But it is potentially useful speculation. Instead of trying to find life on everything floating around random bits of fusion, look for specific parameters. Basically, one is attempting to Goldilocks the Drake Equation. Since there appear to be lots of lots of bits of rock orbiting random stars this can be a useful thing.

This was one of the links at the bottom of the OP article. It is a pretty funny look at some unrealistic dreams of going to Mars.

http://dsc.discovery.com/gear-gadgets/boost-your-wifi-signal-using-only-a-beer-can.html

The *surface* of pluto is an average of about 44k. Pluto, like many bodies in our solar system, is considered to have a liquid water mantle.

could not agree with you more. as much as i respect their intelligence and creativity and all that ...

but they are still the worst monsters on the planet ... ok, well besides us.

and just because i can't find an article about dolphins raping humans does not mean that it doesn't happen. you have been warned

http://military.discovery.com/videos/top-secret-weapons-revealed-sky-hook.html

Seems like they found a few good uses for the system.

And China is going to become very interesting for that reason.

Not because of government conspiracy, but due to social constructs which favor male children. And I think there is just as much "people in power" conspiracy going on in places where prostitution is illegal. Which is to say, none. If there were, Nevada would be heavily pressured to conform, or at least disallow anyone from out of state to participate.

Your observation is not incorrect, but taking it to the next level and implying that it is intentionally being used for that purpose is quite a jump. Especially when more obvious explanations abound, such as the inherited so-called Puritanical views, and the incestuous cycle where it's seen as wrong, so it becomes a political issue, and then "everyone knows" that it should be outlawed. So the voter pandering continues.

Many of the people voting to keep it illegal, and enforcing the law, are very much for the idea personally, and they have to keep up the facade. If everyone just blurted out what they really thought, honestly, we would have a lot less opposition. We have to get past the social construct before we can talk about it being an oppressive position.

The claim that the wheelwas turned the wrong way, by the granddaughter of the second officer, is disputed by the great-granddaughter of the quartermaster (Robert Hichens) who supposedly panicked and misinterpreted the order. Hichens was in disrepute immediately after the disaster, branded a coward for refusing to return his lifeboat back to pick up survivors. He was no hero, public sentiment was against him, there was no reason for surviving officers to keep secret from the US and British inquiries any additional contribution he might have made to the accident.

I also don't know where the "props did not reverse" comes from. Titanic's two outboard engines indeed could not reverse, but the main one could.

In addition to the things already listed, here are two more sites that give some of the technologies that were originally developed for the Space Shuttle specifically or NASA in general, and then found more widespread commercial use:

http://spinoff.nasa.gov/shuttle.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spin-off_technologies
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/ten-nasa-inventions.htm

A quick list of some of the interesting ones: An artificial heart, video stabilization software, material used in prosthetic limbs, the scratch-resistant coating used on eyeglasses, memory foam, and powdered lubricants.