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Comment Re:The Senators' rocket design dictates a payload (Score 1) 342

That's not pork, that's access peddling. Similar in character, but pork is more local.

IMHO, has very little to do with either of these, however. This one is all about the upcoming elections. Every Senator on the committee who went for this proposal can haul it home and plaster disembodied figures in the billions all over their ads as proof of their own fiscal responsibility. It doesn't even have to make it to the floor. If it gets blocked they can just link it to an opponent's stance on something not necessarily related and score double points.

Reason #348 why it's so damned easy to get re-elected to the Senate.

Comment Re:The Senators' rocket design dictates a payload (Score 2, Insightful) 342

I am absolutely sure that nobody in the industry has submitted research on this subject and the numbers are purely arbitrary.

Nobody on the Committee is from Utah, BTW. If this were a slaughterhouse order, it's more likely the big contracts would be proposed in New Mexico.

Comment Re:Obviously this game was contracted for... (Score 1) 230

by Snarkalicious (#32818950) Attached to: NASA Launches <em>Moonbase Alpha</em>

Strange...

It's always seemed to me that the general mood at this and other such boards are largely dismissive of moon missions as a valuable component of future NASA endeavors. (been there/done that, sustainability issues etc etc)

Why would this policy change, therefore, drop his numbers among the Nerd community?
Transportation

Submission + - Charge an Electric Car Faster Than a Gas Car? (allcarselectric.com)

Submitted by thecarchik
thecarchik writes: Japanese based JFE Engineering has released its ultra-fast charge station. Designed to comply with the CHAdeMo standard developed by Tokyo Electric Power Company, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Toyota, the system is capable of charging a 2011 Mistubishi i-Miev from empty to 50% full in just three minutes. Even just three minutes plugged into the fast-charge station was enough to enable a standard 2011 Mitsubishi i-Miev to travel a further 50 miles before further charging was required.
Idle

Submission + - Momma is so fat, she is Hella of fat. (latimes.com)

Submitted by thodelu
thodelu writes: Austin Sendek, a 20-year-old UC Davis student, is trying to get scientists from Boise to Beijing to use the term 'hella' to denote the unimaginably huge, seldom-cited quantity of 10 to the 27th power.

Comment Re:Who decides what is 'controversial opinion'? (Score 1) 147

Depends on who they put in charge of the list. I know where I work the dude in charge blocks most of the sites I like to visit (DKos, Wonkette etc etc...I iz a soshalist/muslin), but his faves are fair game (Drudge, RedState etc). It all comes down to one person's perspective and their willingness to view things dispassionately.

Although I suppose my example only holds if you view this as a general issue and not one specifically to do with government.

Meh.
NASA

Submission + - No Samples on Japan's Hayabusa Asteroid Probe (nytimes.com)

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "Reports are coming in that JAXA's Hayabusa probe came up empty handed in its bid to collect asteroid matter. There may be gas in the probe but no dust samples as many hoped. Murphy's Law hit JAXA hard, 'After landing in 2005 on the Itokawa asteroid, which is about one-third mile long and shaped like a potato, the probe's sample-capture mechanism went awry. To the public's dismay, JAXA officials said they were not sure whether any samples had been collected. Next, the probe's robotic rover, meant to take photos and temperature readings on the asteroid, inexplicably floated off into space and was never heard from again. Worse yet, after Hayabusa took off from the asteroid, all four of NEC's ion engines shut down. So did all 12 of the chemical-fueled rocket engines made by another space industry giant, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The probe was left drifting in space. Then, for more than seven weeks, for reasons still not clear, there were no communication signals from the probe. Public dismay quickly turned to derision and, eventually, indifference.' The probe did return, however, and hoped to salvage something but now it appears that the only thing it accomplished was one long and error prone journey."

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