One or two deaths I could understand. I mean, I was pretty shaken up when Aunt Mildred passed away last year. How could that happen? But now I learn that there are over 3 million deaths in the United States every year. That's waaay too many to be coincidence - millions of people don't just die for random, explainable, and unconnected ways. Someone in government really needs to look into that.

Have you been living under a rock? NASA live-streamed practically the entire mission on YouTube and other channels. Pictures taken by the astronauts were posted to NASA's website on a daily basis, and splashed across every newspaper and media channel on the planet!

Bear in mind that during the Apollo mission, we had to wait for the astronauts to return and have film developed before anyone could see images.

The cost of tariffs did make its way into consumer goods, but not in any way that is easily accounted for. An importer can point to a line item on an invoice and say "here's where I paid a tariff that was ruled illegal." Can you point to a similar line item on your latest WalMart/Target/Amazon/Grocery bill?

Please stop complaining. Most of the awesome photography that happened on this mission was performed with Nikon D5s and Nikon glass. The D5 has been in use on the ISS for a long while, the astronaut corps is familiar with it, it's proven its reliability in space environments, and has exceptional low-light capabilities.* Plus, Nikon works with NASA to provide custom firmware and related services.

And before you move the goal posts and start whining "but that camera is so old!" - they also brought a more modern Z9 with them. A modified Z9 will be what is used on the lunar surface.

More info: [1], [2], [3]

* The recent Hello World image that was in every media channel on Earth was shot at ISO 51200, because it's actually capturing the night side of Earth. That is: Weissman took that picture in the dark.

As far as I know, every nuclear-powered spacecraft every launched (include Voyagers) uses an RTG. The heat for producing electricity comes from the alpha decays of Pu-238. That happens at a predictable rate regardless of whether you have one big lump or several smaller lumps of equivalent mass. Bringing smaller lumps together wouldn't increase the decay rate or produce more power.

What you are alluding to is a fission reaction where, yes, bringing the fuel elements closer together can increase reaction rates. But aside from one or two compact demonstration reactors during the 1960s, fission reactors in space don't exist. That may change in the next decade, but you're not likely to get a 50-year operational lifespan from a fission reactor (moving parts! working fluids!) like you can from an RTG.

I don't disagree. But there is no amount of money that will increase the power budget of Voyager 1.

I haven't been keeping up with Amazon's quixotic drone delivery developments. I hope like hell it never shows up in my area. But the fact that it poops the package onto your driveway is hilarious!

In an industrial context, it will depend a lot on the facility. Sure, more recently-built facilities will have all kinds of instrumentation broadcasting to a central control room via SCADA or what-have-you. But there are plenty of older facilities that don't have that. There may be a gauge (an analog dial, even) sticking out of a pipe somewhere, and rely on someone laying eyes on it once per shift or something. Maybe that could have been replaced with a digital gauge that reports to a central system, but if it ain't broke...? Or you have some complex, but old, piece of equipment that has plenty of instrumentation, but no obvious way to get that information our to the world. Or, as the article mentions, sight glasses to look into some chamber or check a fluid level or something. You could park a small camera in front of it, with some machine vision, and have that talk to the mothership. This robot is just that, but can move from one gauge to another.

Let me google that for you: rivian

Or wikipedia?

Or just getting it from the context of the summary?

Rivian is an EV company, and unlike a number of vaporware pedlers seeking their next VC round, actually makes and sells vehicles - around 50,000 last year.

This is a neat case report, and could well point HIV researchers in interesting directions.

But before popping the champagne, keep in mind this treatment is not going to scale to a large population.
1) It involves a bone marrow transplant. Usually you first have to kill the marrow that's in the host, usually by irradiating them. Not only is this dangerous and expensive, it leaves the host without a functioning immune system for weeks (until the donor marrow takes hold). During that time, the patient must kept in isolation to avoid infection. This is a heavy risk, even for someone with HIV. (Most folks with well-controlled HIV have a functioning, though compromised, immune system.)
2) Anything that mentions "stem cell therapy" will immediately be out of a price range for most folks, insurance companies, or national health providers. It's increasingly widespread, but still bespoke for each patient - not at all like cranking out generic aspirin for a few cents.

I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.

Sounds like a job for small claims court.

I'm waiting for a modern remake of The Conversation , complete with glassholes. Alas, audiences today probably won't look up from their phones long enough to take any of it in.

They're also pretty anti-American in the sense of violating the establishment clause of the 1st Amendment. Blue laws are tied quite overtly to the Christian tradition of Sunday being the day for worship. Putting a restriction on the buying/selling of booze because of one religion's preferences does not comport with separation of church and state.

Heck, most self-professed Christians don't even attend regular Sunday services!

More like a case of "game recognizes game". Among swindlers and con men, it's all friends together.

Damn. No mod points today, but perfectly played.