National. Ignition. Facility.

Fusion tests set at new Livermore facility

The celebration in a heavily guarded section of the Lawrence Livermore lab marked the fact that research and tests are about to start at the new $3.5 billion National Ignition Facility, or NIF. It will be an unprecedented, years-long physics experiment, and the outcome is by no means certain.

It's purpose is to focus the immense energy in an array of 120 laser beams onto a tiny glass target the size of a BB shot, which is filled with hydrogen. This is all done under immensely high pressure to make the target heat like the fiery interior of a star at a 180 million degrees Fahrenheit.

Bruno Vanwonterghem, operations manager
for the National Ignition Facility, stands in front of the target chamber.

Pretty frakkin' cool

Army Field-Testing "Judge Dredd" Super-Grenade-Launcher

What makes it super? Well, everything. Basically the idea is that the shooter can tell the gun at precisely what distance to air-burst the shell. So if a jihadi is hiding behind a corner, you tell the gun to set the charge off just as it passes his position, blowing it up at an angle from which he has no cover. Same deal if he's in a trench -- you blow it up just as it passes over his head.

It basically denies an enemy the advantage of cover.

The Next State To Feel Jesus' Wrath?

Rhode Island, where 60% of the population support gay marriage. New York is 50-50, as is California. So much for the traditionally "gay" states...

By the way, if you want to publicly support gay marriage, you do so with a white knot. Levi Strauss is now using it in their advertising. Thank Thor it's not another goddamn ribbon or wrist band. A white knot actually symbolizes what it means, in defiance of all the ribbons and wrist bands everywhere. AIDS never should have adopted a ribbon: a tombstone would have been more appropriate and affective.

Elizabeth In The Control Room...It's Still Up

Someone pranks Nancy Grace, and it even has turtles doing it!

Le Wrath Di Kahn

From Robot Chicken:


That's an opera I want to see!

3... 2... 1....

17 Steps to the Moon and Back: Anatomy of a Moonshot

Mission Guide



(Spider, for GateTree)

I Wish I Had Google When I Was A Kid

A gasoline-free car

Honda FCX Clarity - hydrogen fuel = water exhaust.

Dolcxa!

Shatnerquake!!

It's Shatner VS Shatners!

William Shatner? William Shatner. WILLIAM SHATNER!!! It's the first ShatnerCon with William Shatner as the guest of honor! But after a failed terrorist attack by Campbellians, a crazy terrorist cult that worships Bruce Campbell, all of the characters ever played by William Shatner are suddenly sucked into our world. Their mission: hunt down and destroy the real William Shatner.

Featuring: Captain Kirk, TJ Hooker, Denny Crane, Rescue 911 Shatner, Singer Shatner, Shakespearean Shatner, Twilight Zone Shatner, Cartoon Kirk, Esperanto Shatner, Priceline Shatner, SNL Shatner, and - of course - William Shatner!

No costumed con-goer will be spared in their wave of destruction, no redshirt will make it out alive, and not even the Klingons will be able to stand up to a deranged Captain Kirk with a lightsaber. But these Shatner-clones are about to learn a hard lesson...that the real William Shatner doesn't take crap from anybody. Not even himself.

It's Shatnertastic!

From the Inside Flap
"It's like Die Hard, but instead of Bruce Willis fighting terrorists it's William Shatner fighting other versions of himself... In other words, it's fucking awesome!" - CARLTON MELLICK III, author of Satan Burger

"This is surreal and weird and funny, and it's also super violent, in the same food-coloring-plus-corn-syrup-equals-fake-blood sort of way as Evil Dead 2 or Bad Taste." - THE PORTLAND MERCURY'S BLOGTOWN

At Least She Looks Menacing

The USS Independence (LCS-2) In Mobile Bay, Looking Bad-Ass Anyway, With Its Two Nacelles

The US Navy has ordered a second General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the one built in Mobile. I have serious misgivings about this warship concept, which seems exorbitantly expensive for lightly armed, lightly armored frigates (with no Aegis air defense and aluminum hulls).

The Navy is trying out 2 designs, and their asking for another of the GD design may be a good sign. If they were in love with the other design (one of which was completed first and another ordered months ago), the second of the GD design would never have been funded. With dozens planned, winning the competition would be great news for our fair state.

That being said, I would scrap the whole program and build Aegis frigates based on the Norwegian Nansen class. But I do like the name of the ordered warship: USS Coronado.

And she does look bad-ass, nacelles and all:

The USS Independence, Front View

Atlantis Returns Safely

After an extremely dangerous mission, space shuttle Atlantis has returned safely. I can't wait to see the results of their worth-while mission.

Dawkins' New Book Out In September

But you can pre-order now:

This Guy May Be A Genius

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Is This Really The Best Way To Tell The Public To Shoot The Recently Deceased In The Head?

The Boston Police Department will alert us via Twitter of the zombie holocaust.

I'll Twitter after I get my MySpace and Facebook pages going. Unfortunately, that will be after the zombie holocaust, the rapture, and the heat death of the universe. So could some solipsistic bore with no hobbies and interests call me when that twit comes down?

I Loathe The Term "Missing Link"

Science has many transitional fossils, including dozens on dozens showing the evolution of humans. And while this new fossil is extraordinary and valuable, it is "a missing link," not "the missing link." The latter implies that we had none to begin with, and we do: we have museums full of them, depending on what you want linked to what.

I saw this news earlier, but I saved posting about it until I could get some opinions of actual evolutionary scientists, not crackpot science journalists who will sensationalize anything and then report objections on the most objective and consentient conclusions for "balance."

PZ Meyers has now posted about the find; it's far more enlightening and "balanced" than our beloved national news sources.