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August 3, 2021 Archives
Tuesday, August 3, 2021
CONTINUITY: Welwitschia mirabilis Has Only Two Leaves, Lives for Millennia
WELWITSCHIA- This 'two-leafed plant', that has an incredible capacity to survive the hardest of climate changes, holds the secret for future genetically engineered crops in dry areas. https://t.co/kR1zEPoG20
— P.Uday Shankar (@udaygeeth) August 2, 2021
Here is the research paper, “The Welwitschia genome reveals a unique biology underpinning extreme longevity in deserts” from Nature Communications. Here is more on Welwitschia.
Posted at
11:11
THE HAPPENING WORLD: SpaceX: Engines Installed on Starship Super Heavy Booster
Raptors on Super Heavy pic.twitter.com/jJy1vftHNB
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 2, 2021
29 Raptor engines and 4 grid fins have been installed on Super Heavy ahead of first orbital flight pic.twitter.com/XHkCZ9VYK4
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 3, 2021
I knew that reminded me of something!
Posted at
11:04
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Bouncing Cosmological Models vs. the Big Bang and Inflation
I have no idea why Prof. Keating saddles these in-depth, technically sound videos with click-bait titles (“New Model DUNKS on the Big Bang!”) or clutters them with “video clip art” having nothing to do with the presentation. If you can get past that, there's a serious discussion of cyclic cosmological alternatives to the standard big bang cosmological model, the problems they solve, the challenges they face, and how observations may allow testing them.
Posted at
10:49
CONTINUITY: Vacuum Tube Computer Part 15: Soft-Start Power On Circuit
With the project about half done and already employing around 90 vacuum tubes, it's time to deal with the massive in-rush of current when power is applied to all of those cold heaters at once. (Vacuum tube filaments have low resistance when cold, which rises as they reach operating temperature.) A clever circuit which uses the filament warm-up of gas-filled thyratron tubes as a time delay comes to the rescue.
Posted at
10:40
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Boeing Starliner OFT-2 Launch
There is a 60 percent probability of acceptable weather predicted for today's launch of the Atlas 5 rocket and Starliner spacecraft.
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) August 3, 2021
The primary concerns are associated with the threat for lightning around Cape Canaveral.https://t.co/Ftu4JRKnpb
“This time for sure!”
Update:
Boeing confirms the launch of ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket and its Starliner spacecraft has been scrubbed for the day.
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) August 3, 2021
ULA has a backup launch opportunity tomorrow, but there’s no word yet on the next attempt.https://t.co/Ftu4JRKnpb
2021-08-03 14:33 UTC
Posted at
10:17