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ISS

Space Station Saved By a Toothbrush? 179

Hugh Pickens writes "Denise Chow reports that two spacewalking astronauts successfully replaced a vital power unit on the International Space Station today, defeating a stubborn bolt that prevented the astronauts from properly installing the power unit on the ISS's backbone-like truss with the help of some improvised tools made of spare parts and a toothbrush. Astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide started by removing the power box, called a main bus switching unit (MBSU), from where it had been temporarily tied down with a tether, then spent several hours troubleshooting the unit and the two bolts that are designed to secure it in place on the space station's truss. After undoing the bolts, the spacewalkers examined them for possible damage, and used improvised cleaning tools and a pressurized can of nitrogen gas to clean out the metal shavings from the bolt receptacles. 'I see a lot of metal shavings coming out,' Hoshide said as he maneuvered a wire cleaner around one of the bolt holders. Williams and Hoshide then lubricated a spare bolt and manually threaded it into the place where the real bolt was eventually driven, in an effort to ensure that the receptacle was clear of any debris. Then the two applied grease to the sticky bolt as well as extra pressure and plain old jiggling until finally 4½ hours into the spacewalk, Hoshide reported: 'It is locked.' When Hoshide reported that the troublesome bolt was finally locked into place, the flight managers erupted in applause while astronaut Jack Fischer at Mission Control told the astronauts 'that is a little slice of awesome pie.'"

Comment Re:Cue the young earth creationists (Score 1) 267

It is open to interpretation, and mine still allows for this. Like I said, if the atmosphere was full of dust and ash, and then cleared enough for light to get through (like an overcast day), you would have day and night, but you would not be able to see stars, the moon, or the sun. When the atmosphere finishes clearing up (on the fourth day), they become visible.

Obviously we look at it from different perspectives. I am a Christian, and I believe the Bible is divinely inspired and meant to teach us. I also believe science is another way of discovering the work of God. If one seems to contradict the other, I assume it is a failure in interpretation, because they should both agree.

My assumption is that you totally reject the Bible to begin with, so you can very easily conclude that it is any perceived inconsistency with what you already think you know just reinforces your opinion that it is rubbish.

Comment Re:Cue the young earth creationists (Score 1) 267

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking, but I'll try to explain what I meant.

If the early earth had an atmosphere that was dense with ash or debris (from heavy volcanic activity and impacts with other objects), then it may have been so thick that sunlight could not reach the surface. When He said "Let there be light," it may have just been when the atmosphere cleared up and allowed light to reach the surface. Separating the day and the night just describes the rotation of the earth, but the fact that light only hits the surface when it faces the sun would not have been evident from that vantage point until the sky cleared enough to let light through.

I think that makes way more sense than saying he created the sun after creating the earth. It sounds like you're suggesting it could mean he created the sun first, but created sunlight after, but that also makes no sense to me. I probably misunderstood you though. Care to clarify?

Comment Re:Cue the young earth creationists (Score 1) 267

I am not a young-earth creationist, but you should read more carefully.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

God said "Let there be light" on the first day (after having created the heavens and the earth), but since the point of view of that verse is from the Earth's surface ("and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters"), that could just mean that "Let there be light" is just the first time sunlight has been able to reach the surface of the Earth, not necessarily that it was the creation of the sun.

Comment Re:I'm confused (Score 1) 289

I didn't know about this. How long does this protection last? If they let him go free and then the US asks for him in a $TimeInterval, is he still under the UK's protection? (where $TimeInterval = 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, etc.)

What about the above-mentioned Temporary Surrender clause in the US-Sweden Extradition Treaty? Would Sweden really suffer sanctions if the US throws its political weight around to help them out?

This isn't about "USA EVIL!" This is just an acknowledgement of the fact that the State Department REALLY REALLY wants to get their hands on him.

Google

Billionaires and Polymaths Expected To Unveil a Plan To Mine Asteroids 531

dumuzi writes "A team including Larry Page, Ram Shriram and Eric Schmidt of Google, director James Cameron, Charles Simonyi (Microsoft executive and astronaut), Ross Perot Jr. (son of Ross Perot), Chris Lewicki (NASA Mars mission manager), and Peter Diamandis (X-Prize) have formed a new company called Planetary Resources, and are expected to announce plans on April 24th to mine asteroids. A study by NASA released April 2nd claims a robotic mission could capture a 500 ton asteroid and bring it to orbit the moon for $2.6 billion. The additional cost to mine the asteroid and return the ores to Earth would make profit unlikely even if the asteriod was 20% gold."
Technology

Self-Sculpting "Sand" Can Allow Spontaneous Formation of Tools 124

parallel_prankster writes "Researchers at MIT are developing tiny robots that can assemble themselves into products and then disassemble when no longer needed. 'A heap of smart sand would be analogous to the rough block of stone that a sculptor begins with. The individual grains would pass messages back and forth and selectively attach to each other to form a three-dimensional object; the grains not necessary to build that object would simply fall away. When the object had served its purpose, it would be returned to the heap. Its constituent grains would detach from each other, becoming free to participate in the formation of a new shape.' To attach to each other, to communicate and to share power, the cubes use 'electropermanent magnets,' materials whose magnetism can be switched on and off with jolts of electricity."

Comment Re:April fools (Score 1) 470

This could be a response to any number of comments in this thread, but the fact is that the Bible does not say how old the world is. The 6000 year theory is just someone's interpretation. As a Christian, it boggles my mind why other Christians hold on to that idea so strongly, when the Biblical evidence for that interpretation is so weak.

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