Activities in space and on Earth today continued the opening of a new chapter in spaceflight. An uncrewed capsule, hight Dragon, containing a nominal mass of otherwise expendable and relatively unimportant cargo, docked with the International Space Station (ISS). This it the first time a commercial construct has docked with the ISS; previously, only capsules officially from governments have done …
Perceived Powerlessness?
The news in several places that the recently released movie, The Avengers broke the $1 billion mark for ticket sales (see here, for example) left me wondering, Why? What is it about this movie that has knocked earlier blockbusters (such as the Harry Potter canon) off their pedestals? I mean, I love a good movie, and may even set things …
Taking Big Bites
A couple of weeks ago there was much sound (and some fury) at the prospect of a group of billionaires coming together to form an entity that would seek out and mine asteroids. I loved it! That asteroids may be sources of multiple gigatons of useful materials (metals, mostly) has long been known. That mining them could bring untold riches …
An Intolerable Situation
Yesterday the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (248-168) to pass the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 3523), known as CISPA. I don’t usually express opinions per se here, but this time I will: I find this intolerable I acknowledge that things are getting very dicey in the cyber world, and that there is increasing need for …
Protective Coloration
A recent report from the California Academy of Sciences caught my eye, as it seemed to have implications for organizational dynamics. Summarized here, with a video of the interaction here, the report describes how a fish has developed the capability of imitating the look of an octopus that imitates the look of potentially dangerous fish, thereby allowing the octopus and …
What Would You Do If You Could Not Fail?
I came across this question recently via two different communications channels (Wired magazine and a YouTube video), both referring to the same person. That person is Regina Dugan, who—until March 2012—was director of the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, or DARPA. She left DARPA to move to Google, and faced lots of criticism for the way she allocated work to …
Interaction Modes
Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. -William Arthur Ward, college administrator, writer (1921-1994) Questions: How do you interact with others? What do you do to get others to change their behavior? What makes you …
Human Spaceflight: In Harm’s Way
Because of my long association in various contractual capacities with NASA, friends and neighbors often turn to me to opine about happenings with the agency. The most recent spate of questions began with the stand-down of the Space Transportation System, aka the Shuttle. Most have the perception that NASA is folding. Completely. I hasten to reassure them that NASA is …
Functional Fixedness
What do a flock of starlings (known as a murmuration) and ferromagnetism have to do with each other? On the surface, probably nothing. Nothing, that is, unless you are a team of scientists with a perspective and approach that goes outside what their nominal area of study seems to call for. A team headed by William Bialek at Princeton University …
It Must Be Magic
A little item has crossed my desk twice in the past week. As is often the case, it came from two different correspondents, a continent apart. How and why such things spread is worthy of another post, but for now, allow me to point you to this: A little thought and some research that confirmed my hypothesis was very satisfying, …