Asteroid Detection

It is widely believed that a large asteroid collision was responsible for the event that caused dinosaurs to suddenly go extinct after ruling the planet for millions of years.  They were not capable of foreseeing the event, but humans are.  So we spend time, effort, and money scanning the sky for these dangerous objects.

Even so, recently an asteroid exploded in an air-burst above the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia.  The asteroid wasn't detected until it slammed into the atmosphere at a speed of tens of kilometers/second.

I recently watched this fascinating video about the tremendous difficulty of detecting earth-crossing asteroids, and thought I'd share it.

My package from Thailand arrived...

...a few days ago.  No, it's nothing illicit.

Career Autobiography - Part 6: Later Submarine Years - Experience and Supervision

Part 5 is here:

Open-Source Nuclear Power Plant Plans

I just stumbled across this.  Plans for your own 100 MW(e) Nuclear Power Plant!  How cool is that!

Download the .pdf and get going!  Just kidding.  The permitting would be a nightmare, even for a table-top power plant like this one.

Wilton Model 9-600 vise restoration

A couple of years ago, I ended up in possession of a Wilton "Bullet" bench vise - a model 9-600.

More radioactive junk at my house

The previous post about radioactive junk is here:

Career Autobiography - Part 5: Early Submarine Years - Standing Watch

Part 4 is here:

When you first arrive on a submarine, you are pretty much useless - and your shipmates let you know about that right away.  When you first come aboard, you will be called a "NUB".  This is Navy slang for "Non-Useful Body".

This sweet little Christmas gift!

I've been meaning to mention this neat little item I got for Christmas that I really appreciate:

Quirky Music Video

There's something funny and cool about a guy in a powdered wig shredding on a distorted guitar...

January stuff

I'm posting this on the day after Groundhog Day.