Where I come from, a solar system is defined as the union of one sun and a few planets.

We don't go in for that kinky multi-stellar shit.

I dunno... we usually get about two discoveries of Atlantis a year.

(But I'm starting to worry, because I haven't heard of any new discoveries of Atlantis lately.)

Depends on what you mean by 'reproducible'. Who's going to reproduce the discovery of the Higg's boson? Who's going to reproduce the big bang, biological evolution, climate change, or continental drift. Of if not actually reproduce those events, what counts as reproducing the science behind them.

The devil is in the details.

Indeed. Once I learned about confirmation bias, I started to see examples of it everywhere. ;^)

I use Swish (page in Swedish) quite a lot. In Sweden it's common to pay with Swish on flea markets, online auctions, craigslist-like private sales or even to split a bill among friends at a restaurant. It not much harder to use than SMS. In some parts of the world, especially in Africa, paying with the mobile is even more common than cash or plastic cards.

One good reason is that any outbreak of open war would very likely result in the immediate deaths of tens of thousands of South Koreans in Seoul. The South Korean capital is only 35 miles from the North Korean border, and the North Korean government is relying on a sort of mutually-assured-destruction strategy there to deter foreign attacks.

I saw a 'gator right at the edge of the VAB parking lot last month. In a drainage ditch, up to the fence, cars parked right on the other side.

With luck, they'll start incorporating our radio transceivers. I hear that SpaceX flies with several USRPs now, so that's not completely unrealistic. That might be as close as I can get. Anyone who can get me a base invitation, though, would be greatly appreciated and I'd be happy to do some entertaining speeches while there. I need a base invite for Vandenberg, too. I got in to the official viewing site for the first try of the last launch (and that scrubbed too), but this next one is on Pad 6.

You can turn in your man card at the desk on the way out.

Wah. Allowing some stranger dictate to you what you must do or be, based on his own arbitrary conception of masculinity, is a pretty spineless way to live.

Actually, making tools and organizing labor is we're really good at. I personally have never killed anything larger than a bug in my life; I suspect a lot of other people haven't either. I've never had to, because there have always been other people who are willing to do those unpleasant tasks for me, in exchange for modest amounts of money.

Granted, I could learn those skills (and others) if I had to, but it would probably take me some days or weeks before I got good at it. It's not clear I would survive long enough to learn them.

So yes, humanity is the most deadly predator the planet has ever had. Any particular human being, OTOH, most likely is not -- we're more likely to be the most effective C++ programmer the planet has ever had, or the best Fedex deliveryman, or some other not-so-helpful-during-the-zombie-apocalypse skill.

I was in Florida to speak at Orlando Hamcation and went to see the DISCOVR launch at Kennedy Space Center. I paid $50 to be at LC-39 for the launch, an observation tower made from a disused gantry on the Nasa Causeway between the pads and the Vehicle Assembly Building. A crawler was parked next door! A hot sandwich buffet, chips, and sodas were served. It was cold and windy! I watched for a few hours and unfortunately the launch scrubbed due to high stratospheric winds.

The next day, Delaware North Corporation, which operates tourism at KSC, decided not to open LC-39 or the Saturn 5 center for the launch. This was the third launch attempt and I guess they decided most people had left. I was annoyed.

The closest beach was going to be closed in the evening, it's a sensitive ecological area. I ended up seeing the launch from Jetty Park. This turned out not to be such a great location, the tower wasn't visible at all and the first 10 seconds of the rocket in flight were obscured before we saw it over a hill.

What's a better viewing location?

How long would it take the 95% to eliminate (or convert, if you prefer) most of the 5%?

Finally, someone uses their brain. Sure, we could send a big army over there and stomp them into the ground. But then what?

And if anyone thinks Saddam's dead-enders were a big headache, what do you suppose a bunch of religious zealots will be?

Cue Mencken on problems and solutions.

Actually he had better fear for his life.

But it's nice of them to tell everyone it's hitting them where it hurts.

Precisely the argument used to rationalize the war in Vietnam.