There are many reasons why a human colony on Mars is a desirable goal, scientifically and politically. The strategy of one-way missions brings this goal within technological and financial feasibility. Nevertheless, to attain it would require not only major international cooperation, but a return to the exploration spirit and risk-taking ethos of the great period of Earth exploration, from Columbus to Amundsen, but which has nowadays been replaced with a culture of safety and political correctness.
From The Pop-up City
It’s officially called a ‘transfer accelerator’ by Dutch railway maintenance company ProRail, but everyone else would say it’s a slide. An awesome slide. Installed next to a stairway at the newly renovated railway station Overvecht in the city of Utrecht, the slide offers travellers the opportunity to quickly reach the railway tracks when they’re in a hurry.
The slide was designed by HIK Ontwerpers.
Bewarned that this is funny because… I would never recommend this to anyone.
Now suppose that we set up manned outposts on other planets (or, for that matter, satellites) in the solar system. How would people there count time?
Obviously, the simplest way would be for them to keep some Earth time, say Greenwich time, and let go at that. Surely this would make relationships with Earth easier.
[...]
So what do the Martian settlers do?
If they just use an ordinary watch synchronous with Earth movements, it will hopelessly lag behind the Sun. If one day it reads noon in the middle of the day, then two weeks later it will read noon at dawn. Now a solution of sorts would be to move the watch back 37 minutes each day, say at noon, but would YOU like it? I know I wouldn’t, and settlers wouldn’t either. They would keep forgetting it, so the watches would have to be built to adapt themselves automatically. But does this really solve the problem? With that trick, each time between 12:00 and 12:37 PM happens twice in succession. So you plan to catch the 12:24 from Syrtis? Which one, the 12:24 ‘before’, or the 12:24 ‘after’? And how easy is it to boil eggs between 12:36 and 12:02?
Read the whole essay, The Fortieth of July by Pierre Hallet. It’s a light, well-written, enjoyable read, about something you probably haven’t considered before. Also, you’ll have to read it to see why it’s called the The Fortieth of July.
Star With a ‘Stache
, Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA, via Unofficial National Geographic Tumblr
Seen in visible light, the star known as Zeta Ophiuchi is dim, red, and surrounded by inky blackness. But in infrared the star becomes a bright blue ball of fire topped with a glowing “mustache” of interstellar dust, as seen in a new picture from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, telescope.
Astronomers think Zeta Ophiuchi was once part of a stellar duo known as a binary pair. Then the companion star exploded, releasing Zeta Ophiuchi to go flying away on a fast-tracked solo act through space. The star is now plowing through a cloud of dust and gas at 15 miles (24 kilometers) a second. As the star moves, its powerful radiation is compressing the gas and dust in its path, creating a bow shock that shines in infrared.
These suitcases from Sarah Williams are pretty epic.
Williams’s aim, by challenging the fashion industry’s view of craft, was to create something that has never been seen before.
Williams-British Handmade uses British talent; everything is made, as much as possible, with hand tools.
Crafted Fashion collection from Williams-British Handmade [via London Underground | Emotional Baggage]
I’m just not sure if packing in them would be impossible, or easier than with a conventional suitcase…
I will be gone until Saturday or Sunday, competing in more events than I signed up for, so expect silence.
Also, the motivational poster on the wall at the hotel reads:
GOALS: effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.
Seeing that on the wall in my hotel room has really helped me understand what I need to do to be successful in life.
Not.
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