Recently in TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS
Sunday, January 24, 2021
Lunar Lander that Makes its Own Landing Pad
How do you prepare a landing pad on the Moon?@mastenspace says: turn your rocket engine into a giant injector nozzle that coats the lunar surface in (aluminium?) particle that sinter into a solid pad. https://t.co/MwOiHLeZpU pic.twitter.com/QJa4paP0Fc
— ToughSF (@ToughSf) January 24, 2021
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21:24
Saturday, January 23, 2021
Three Hours of Conversation on Physics, Theories of Everything, and Doing Research outside Academia
With Brian Keating (host), Garrett Lisi (developer of the E8 theory of fundamental physics), and Eric Weinstein (in the second two hours).
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14:11
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Tensegrity Structures Explained
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20:17
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Virgin Reaches Orbit with the Help of Cosmic Girl
Scott Manley wraps up Virgin Orbit's successful air launch mission.
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13:14
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Secrets of the “Nothing Grinder”
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13:18
Sunday, January 17, 2021
First Full Test of SLS Booster Fails as Engines Trigger Emergency Shutdown
Here is Scott Manley's quick look analysis of the SLS test firing abort. He notes that in 2020, there was discussion about skipping the “green run” test and proceeding directly to launch. Had they done that, it might have been a really bad day for SLS (but at least the first launch will not carry a crew, although that was also considered in 2020, as part of the push to return to the Moon by 2024).
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21:17
Saturday, January 16, 2021
I Painted My Entire Room with Musou Black—the World’s Blackest Paint
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14:04
Friday, January 15, 2021
Mathematicians Resurrect Hilbert’s 13th Problem
"Long considered solved, David Hilbert’s question about seventh-degree polynomials is leading researchers to a new web of mathematical connections." via @QuantaMagazine https://t.co/ZK6BAxhz12
— Quantum Gravity Res. (@emergencetheory) January 14, 2021
Did you know that every smooth cubic surface contains exactly 27 straight lines?
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12:24
Thursday, January 14, 2021
LED Lamps from Dubai: They Leave the West Behind
Only sold in Dubai: Philips LED lamps that use more LED chips running at lower current, resulting in greater efficiency (light output per electrical power consumed) and much longer life. The initial cost is higher, but the longer life will probably more than recover this. There's an internal voltage regulator which keeps the lamps from dimming or brightening when the mains voltage varies (but means they won't work with dimmers).
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15:55
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
The Many Forms of Brassica oleracea
The invention of broccoli. We totally nailed that one. pic.twitter.com/5dUN4ZUNqq
— Mispy (@mispy11) January 12, 2021
And don't forget Brassica’s wacky fractal sibling, Romanesco!
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13:06
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Exploding Hardened Steel Parts with 150 Ton Hydraulic Press
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13:09
Monday, January 11, 2021
Moon Phases in 2021 (Including Libration and Position Angle)
For additional details, see my:
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12:06
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Vacuum Tubes: Getting Familiar with Getters
More about getters.
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16:20
Monday, January 4, 2021
Thunderstorm Sprite Lightning at 100,000 Frames per Second
Details from Astronomy Picture of the Day.
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19:51
Tighten This Bolt in Any Direction You Want
Tighten This Bolt in Any Direction You Want
— hackaday (@hackaday) January 4, 2021
Metal lathes are capable machines that played a large role in the industrial revolution, and an incredible tool to have at your disposal. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be used to have a little fun, as demon… https://t.co/4IbNbWfli5
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14:32
Saturday, January 2, 2021
Extracting Potassium Metal from Bananas
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12:09
Friday, January 1, 2021
How SpaceX Recovers Falcon 9 after Drone Ship Landings
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15:18
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Understanding Synthetic Aperture Radar
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13:31
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Clam Pollution Sensors
In Warsaw, “the main water pump has 8 clams that have triggers attached to their shells. If the water gets too toxic, they close, and the triggers shut off the city’s water supply automatically.” https://t.co/iP8EcpYR04
— Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill) December 30, 2020
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23:38
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
SpaceX's Launch Pad Problem
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13:02