Back to School at the Kahn Academy

Salman Kahn has made over 1,000 educational videos and posted them on YouTube. The topics are chemistry, physics, biology, math, and even finance. This is a great resource for anyone needing a science tune-up or for a student who needs a different perspective. I'm impressed.

No Stimulus for NASA

It appears that about 23,000 NASA employees will be getting pink slips after the end of the Space Shuttle program later this year. I wonder if the Russians will have a hike in ticket prices for hitching a ride to the International Space Station? If the private sector can't get it done in a short period of time, the US manned space program may not be able to recover for a long time, if ever.

39 Days To Mars

Given all the coming cutbacks in manned spaceflight for NASA, there is a new option that could put Mars within reach in most of our life times. Franklin Chang-Diaz and his VASIMR rocket engine are starting to get some notice.

Astronaut Harrison Schmitt on Climate Change

Here is an opinion by Astronaut Harrison Schmitt on how we should manage climate change. Not only is he a former astronaut, but he was a member of the U.S. Senate for a term. I met Dr. Schmitt on two different occasions. One was after a lecture when I was studying chemistry at Henderson St. University. It was just a year or two after his trip to the Moon. The second time was after a lecture in the Geology Dept. at the University of Tennessee in 2002. Schmitt was the only true scientist (geologist) in the early groups of astronauts for NASA.

Wafer-Thin Plastic Stores Electricity

Researchers in the UK have developed a wafer-thin piece of plastic (actually a supercapacitor) that will eventually replace batteries, even in hybrid automobiles. Think of what this could do for personal electronics.

USA's Wind Energy Potential Triples in New Estimate

Thanks to new wind energy generation technology, there has been a big jump in the potential of wind energy in this country. Last year 10 gigawatts was installed in the US bringing the total to 35 gigawatts. The newer technology means fewer actual numbers of windmills are needed as compared to what was installed a couple of decades ago.

I'm surprised that northwest Ohio is not considered a good site for wind farms.

Sonic Boom at a Recent Atlas Launch

Pet Care After The Rapture

I could not resist posting this link on a very unusual business idea. This could be the start of a whole new industry.

World May Not Be Warming After All

It appears that local factors such as land development may have created a misleading interpretation of global temperatures according to Prof. John Christy who has been a lead author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Jet Fuel From Algae

The Pentagon claims it is just months away from making jet fuel from algae at a cost comparable to that of fossil fuels. There could be a big benefit for civilians on the highways and streets down the road.

From MacBook to Personal Seismograph

If you have MacBook or MacBook Pro, here is a place to get some freeware that turns your laptop into your own personal seismograph. Pretty cool.

US Solar Market To Double In The Next Year

Solar installation could double reaching the gigawatt level in the next year in the USA. This is definitely headed in the right direction. The production of plentiful, cheap power in this country could do a lot for getting the economy out of the doldrums. It would be great to see some true business and political leadership help bring this on.