The fact they thought they could resolve the "telemetry problem" without access to the rocket, tells me it wasn't anything on the rocket. They said the rocket was healthy when they aborted the launch. I'm guessing they were having issues with the air-force radar long before the launch was scrubbed. I'm speculating it was providing suspicious data, and then suddenly no data at all. Perhaps they thought the radar system just needed to be restarted, and then it never came back online.

I have a Nexus 7 with 5.0 Lollipop. Trust me when I tell you this. YOU DON'T WANT IT! It's plagued with bugs! It's like Windows ME all over again. There's a reason it wasn't rolled out by major manufacturers like Samsung. It never made it through their quality testing.

Until I looked at this map, I had no idea so much of the planet was inhospitable. Basically all of the purple on the map is a desert, excluding a few places in the southern hemisphere where it was winter.

My wife's car has an older version of Sync, and I can update it myself by downloading a file to a USB drive and plugging it into the car. It took less than an hour. For some reason, dealer mechanics can't do anything computer related in less than a day.

Who is we? The federal emissions regulations don't require testing of every vehicle. That is up to the states. Most of them don't check.

Allow me to explain how emissions testing works. A vehicle is assigned an "end of useful life" by the EPA based on the type of vehicle. The manufacturer then ages the vehicle artificially by running it 24/7. The manufacturer then has to test the aged vehicle to show compliance. This typically means the emissions from a new vehicle are much lower than an old one. Even if it is working properly.

California added an diagnostic requirement that says your "Check Engine" light has to come on if it's likely you aren't meeting the emissions regulations. How many people drive around with that thing on?

I'm simplifying a bit, but the point is, the great recession has caused a lot of vehicles to be driven past their declared "end of useful life". Even if they are still meeting the emissions requirements. They will be higher.

Retail profit margins are razor thin as it is. The reason they make so much money is the volume. If they can shave a few cents off of each of the billion products they sell each year, that's tens of millions of dollars! That's very noticeable!

Of all the possible applications for the IoT, industrial applications are by far the most promising for that reason. Some industries are so competitive that successful companies look at fractions of a percent improvements as major investment opportunities. Industries that don't have that kind of high volume, fiercely competitive market, won't invest in this technology. However, the logistics industry is currently investing heavily in this technology.

I believe you mean N2O. NO2 is broken down by SCR. Unfortunately, N2O can be formed as a side effect of the SCR reactions. However, N2O is regulated as a greenhouse gas.

You are correct. The ITU defined 4G, and none of the carriers followed the standard. Instead, they strong armed the ITU to change the definition of 4G to fit the technology they had already deployed. I suspect the same will happen with 5G as well.

My parents live in a neighborhood with buried power lines. Yeah, on average the power goes out less often. However, they've had a recent issue with the buried lines decaying after 30+ years underground. When that happens, it's a much longer, and more expensive repair.

The thing that bothers me is well meaning landowners planting trees near power lines. Personally, I blame schools that hand out saplings to children without proper education. Yeah, they look nice when they are small. They don't stay small.

Elon Musk really hates hydrogen as a fuel. Not just for cars, but even for rockets.

The energy cost of methane is the lowest and it has a slight Isp (specific impulse) advantage over kerosene...it does not have the pain-in-the-ass factor that hydrogen has

I know hydrogen has a high "pain-in-the-ass" factor, but are electric cars that much better?

The U.S. Navy is doing similar research creating jet fuel from sea water. This would allow aircraft carriers to stay on location longer because they wouldn't have to worry about running out of fuel for aircraft. Basically the only things that would need to be delivered would be supplies for the crew (food, toilet paper, etc.).

than what every major employer does in the United States? I know when I go to work, I have to wear and RFID badge that gets scanned when I enter the building. I also have to use it to access certain areas. The last three places I've worked had similar systems.

Take a page out of the Android playbook only instead of naming the releases after something sweet, name them after a man convicted of murdering his wife.

I believe René Descartes already asked this question. His response was ultimately, "I think, therefore I am".

Sounds like this area of physics is crossing into philosophy.