“Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.”

- Will Rogers

Hey, it's not often you get to see a Space Shuttle transporter being used to ferry something about the size of a fighter jet. The article, eventually, makes the valid point that UAVs of this sort aren't really in high demand at the moment, and are mostly being used to test various research concepts. They're expensive, as I understand it approaching a fourth-gen fighter in cost. They're neat on paper, yes, but a few dozen cruise missiles will usually do the same job and we've already paid for those, eh?

Scientists have a new entry in the "where did Saturn's rings come from?" This time, the thought is that, at the start of the solar system, a Titan-sized moon got peeled like an onion as it fell into, and was destroyed by, the planet. I wish they'd spent a little more time on the predictions this theory makes, but it does seem as if the composition of the small inner moons will go a long way toward proving or disproving the idea.

It seems that, after some five hundred years, someone actually has found a secret code in the Mona Lisa. The article seems to only mention a few letters, and then veers off into discussions of da Vinci's love life and how someone is badgering French authorities into giving them a look at his bones, so no idea what it actually may mean.

I've heard of blood transfusions and organ transplants, but poo transplants? Yeah, I'd like to see more science first, too. Colitis is both deadly and miserable, so if someone has found an effective treatment, I'm all for it no matter how gross it might be. But it does need to actually work.

It seems The Closer's next season will be its last. While I've always thought Sedgwick's character's accent to be "Southern via Mars," I have liked the series from its start. It's always sad to see a favorite go, although 8 seasons is a very good run indeed. Ah well, they haven't even finished broadcasting this season yet. Lots more to enjoy!

Looks like Amazon is a helluva lot harder to take down than a bunch of script kiddies previously thought. Too bad, so sad. Think maybe that'll be what causes them to climb out of their mom's basement, blinking, into the sun?

Nah, me either.

And in the, "never expected to see THAT name in the Wikileaks" bin we have news that North Korea seems to have wanted Eric Clapton to play Pyongyang as a gesture of good will. "Seems to" being the operative phrase here, as analysts aren't sure if this is the real deal or some REMF trying to polish his resume or something.

The famously reclusive astronaut Niel Armstrong has written a detailed reply to a column by NPR's Robert Krulwich regarding why the Apollo 11 mission seemed so limited. It's my understanding there were very firm distance limits set by NASA on all the moon landings to ensure the astronauts could rescue themselves if something went wrong with the space suits. Discovery dedicated a documentary to what would happen if, say, the rover fell down an unseen ravine when it was far from the LEM. The conclusions were, "it won't be pretty."

And now Ares has video of that 33 megajoule shot from a Navy experimental rail gun. Flinging a projectile 200 miles and have it arrive doing Mach 7 is pretty damned impressive. If they ever manage to mount one on a ship, I propose Dreadnought as the name.

What happens when you combine a guy who dresses like a chick, an un-fire-able bureaucrat, and the state of California? If you said, "lawsuit-ilarity," come down and collect your prize. The worst part is this'll likely drag on for years, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and not resolve a damned thing. Hooray for government, actual!

Regional figures show icicles kill dozens of Russians each year. Local authorities responsible for regularly clearing roofs of snow and ice are usually blamed.

Not only do they have to worry about starving to death, dying of alcohol poisoning and other Soviet fun, they have to worry about this!

NASA scientists have confirmed the existence of a gigantic lake in what is now the middle of the Sahara. I've read in a few places that earlier radar mapping missions (STS-2 and -41G) were not really the pure science they were advertised as, but instead were subtle cold war demonstrations meant to prove we had the means to detect silos no matter how well the Soviets hid them. Dunno if that's true, but it makes for a neat story.

I'm thinking "the first powered, controlled flight in an Australian-designed and built plane" means the guy was puttering around in a flimsy Wright Brothers-like contraption. Regardless, where it chose to crash land was pretty interesting. That's the problem with exact recreations of really old airplanes... it recreates all their handling vices, too.

That's right! Pierce Morgan from "Americas Got Talent!"

We spotted him at The Old Ebbit Grill in Washington DC!

The (Peoria) Journal Star says the woman attendant told police Thompson asked for "extra nuts" for the squirrel, and began petting it as if it were still alive. She says when she said she didn't think the squirrel was real, Thompson tossed it through the window at her and then drove off.

Read entire quip here.

How FUN does this movie look!

The main characters are parrots! How can you not love it. Oh wait...maybe if you have parrots you would appreciate it more!

Sometimes they're just no improving the original: They told me if I voted for Hillary, that Bill Clinton would basically be a co-president AND THEY WERE RIGHT! The presidency has always struck me as the worst job everyone wants. Nowadays, though, I'm thinking ex president is a pretty sweet gig. It's like being the ultimate granddad. Everyone's happy when you show up, and you get to give the country back when you get tired of it.

Via Instapundit.

The world's oldest known computing device has been recreated in Lego. Recreated functionally, but not (apparently) an exact duplicate. Then again, since the original is pretty squashed, maybe a functional replica will do just fine.

I suppose you have to have an acquired taste for haggis flavored chips.

The flag is known to be the only one flown by Custer's troops that was not destroyed or captured by the Native Americans who overwhelmed the US troops in the battle in what is now the western state of Montana.

What gives me a warm fuzzy is that it sold higher than Michael Jackson's glove.

Folks curious about just what Space X is and who's behind it may find this earlier in-depth look at the company of interest. Sounds like they have the right combination of tech and talent to me.

Looks like the SDFD did their job right, and that house full of explosives just burned right down. I've never completely understood how "raised" and "razed" ended up meaning opposite things, but, well, there ya go.

Mike J. gets the Trinity no-prize for bringing us news that the "stuxnet" virus seems to still be a problem for the Iranian nuclear program. Could we actually be lucky enough to defuse this situation with just a computer program? It'd be nice if we could.

Oh wait... I forgot, this was the airport that let the planes fly into the NY Trade Centers too.

With pixes!

Watch how one guy gets pulled into the grave too... poor dude.

Bad weather, resulting in 30-foot waves in the Antarctic's Drake Passage, was said to have caused the technical damage, leaving the 160 people on board at the mercy of the sea.

Glad you are OK Cindy! Go back to rescuing homeless animals!

"Instead of briefly grabbing for testing or tasting purposes, this female apparently considers human swimmers as a potential food source," she said.

Oh calm down...it's about a shark.

Careful! There are many squee moments!!!

Making the rounds: Aretha Franklin has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

A group of scientists are proposing (yet another) theory that explains dark matter and why the whole universe wasn't annihilated by anitparticles billions of years ago. This time they're proposing a super-dense particle that, due to its makeup, prefers to decay in a unique, asymmetrical way that would naturally lead to the universe we see now. Me, I think it sounds pretty convenient, but they do claim there are existing experiments which should be able to disprove the idea. Hey, why not?

Pennsylvania has decided to expand its elaborate vending machine beer and wine machine into Walmart stores. I actually saw one of these things on a Modern Marvels show dedicated to vending machines. It's an incredibly elaborate answer to the incredibly elaborate problem posed by PA's drinking laws. That the whole problem could be solved quickly and cheaply by changing the laws seems not to have occurred to anyone. Well, anyone important, at any rate.

Heck I loaded this one up local. This is the exact conversation I have with Ellen, every time a front moves through. She calls me up at work to biatch about how the thunderstorm is splitting apart.

Congratulations to SpaceX for the successful first launch of the Dragon space capsule. From the article, one of the main challenges they have man-rating the capsule is cooking up an escape system. Which is very interesting, since I happen to know someone...

Update: it appears the mission was completely successful. Woot!

That being, "The United State's production of oil has reached a new peak this year." And the next. And the next. And the next. It would be sweet irony indeed if the high oil prices that had peak oil believers merrily twirling 'round the tops of their towers were what tipped us onto the road of outright energy independence. Twirl faster, you loons, twirl faster!

Via Instapundit.

"I know! I know! Let's use a picture of a handsome naked athlete with a ball covering his... you know! That'll make a great PETA ad against fur! I dunno, seems to be just too rich to actually be true. I gotta say, I think I'm smelling a hoax. Or, you know, body wash or something. Picture is startling but technically SFW. Technically.

Via Violins and Starships.

The things you learn, trolling Google's news service: the world's first commercial 747 is ending its days quietly rotting away in a South Korean parking lot. Seems it got turned into a restaurant about ten years ago, and then was abandoned when that business failed. The article claims aviation buffs are trying to figure out how to bring it home, but, when I look at the photos, it seems pretty clear if it's going anywhere it'll be in boxes.

I guess the internet really has sped even the most staid of discussions up. This time, instead of it taking months or even years for a tennis match of scientists to complete a volley, it only takes a few days. Even I thought the description of NASA scientists' discovery of an exotic type of bacteria sounded a little weird. Does it mean that they're wrong, or even that the science is bad? Only time will tell.

Chris gets a most informative no-prize in an envelope that squeaks for bringing us the latest in British instructional videos, circa 1975. Mark and I remember these things thrown on a screen by a squeaky 16mm projector. You know, those things schools used to use before they could afford VCRs. Which, of course, you know are these gigantic machines that used T-A-P-E to project...

Oh, hell with it. Pop in a Blu-ray, let's enjoy the movie.

Pro tip: Cars have brakes. Giant cans of paint don't. Fortunately nobody got hurt. I bet it'll be fun to hear how they explain that to the insurance adjuster.

Robert H. gets the coveted Albigensian no-prize for bringing us evidence that the media frenzy about climate change has a long and rich history. Yes, yes, "This is a Crisis! You are a Dangerous, Greedy, Immoral, Evil, Stupid, Naive, Misguided Person! Denier! Apostate! Here's your yurt, we're off to Cancun!" Must always remember to post up those cautions. Don't want the plebes to get the wrong idea.

One of our clinic cats, Sir Humphrey Winston III. He thinks he is a person.

ANY attention given to the smaller green chicken of the two, makes the larger green chicken mad.

Weatherman Joe Bastardi (no, really, that's his name. Stop giggling! I said stop it!) is predicting lots of snow for lots of people this Christmas season. And yes, the only real point to this is to poke fun at this guy's name.

Bad: explosives-laden home is discovered in a suburban neighborhood. Worse: It's in a state that'll turn getting rid of it into a decade-long project costing millions of dollars. I'd imagine that other places (west Texas, central Ohio, basically any place that has fun fireworks) would be shouting "watch this!" and throwing a match in.

Well, hey, how else are we gonna know about fifty models all climbing into bed together? Those stories don't just write themselves, you know! (SFW)

So, what exactly happened to the engine on that Quantas A380 that forced an emergency landing? It f'ing exploded, that's what happened. Kudos to the Airbus guys for building the bird strong enough to take this sort of thing. Oh, and as far as the durability of the massive airliner in the face of a typical terrorist-sized SAM attack? Well, there's one data point right there.

Assuming the weather holds and the launch doesn't, Space X will attempt the first test of its manned space capsule tomorrow morning (EST). The test will be unmanned and seems to be a (hopefully) straightforward shakedown of basic capabilities. If all goes well, more tests in 2011 will ultimately lead to manned flights that same year. Fingers crossed!

Robert H. gets a no-prize guaranteed to send die-hard greens into an apoplectic frenzy for bringing us news that we may all in fact be in the grip of a "mini ice age." Yes, I understand it's all about climate change and yes, "one-paper-does-not-make-a-trend-who-is-this-maniac-you-dangerous-denier-type-person!!!" The point is when regular folks like me see temperature trending consistently up, that's worrying. When we see the temperature trending up and down, well, that's just weather.

Remember that balloon team who augered in during a storm a few months ago? Yep, they're dead. I think it's pretty amazing they could be found, and, now that they have a rough fix, authorities may be able to salvage the cupola and perhaps figure out what really went wrong. Aside from, you know, two people crazy enough to fly a balloon through a thunderstorm.

Ok, I admit it, I occasionally follow a few of the ridiculous pop-culture dramas that regularly stream out of Hollywood. I, too, had wondered just what the hell had gone wrong with Randy Quaid. After reading this in-depth profile of him and his wife, I'm still wondering what the hell's gone wrong. It's awfully easy to blame a kooky wife. Then again it's damned rare for two people to fall into the deep end of the crazy pool at the same time. I can only hope they learn to swim out before they drown.

While I'd rather the location look a little less seedy, I'll definitely count this as progress. There's supposed to be a Fiat dealership starting around here, too, but it seems to be run by a holding company I'm not familiar with. I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled!

It's official, Ohio State, of all places, will face off against Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. Ellen's idea was to make Ron take a drink every time he shouted about donkeys, poo, genitals, or prostitutes, but Amber turned us down. She wants to make sure he gets to see the second quarter.

No, really, when cellphones attack. Lucky for me, I hate talking on the phone and therefore do it as little as possible. Ellen? Well, let's just say if exploding cellphones really were a deadly problem, I would've been a life insurance beneficiary long before now.

Me: "Olivia, what did you learn at the new human origins exhibit at the dinosaur museum today?*"

Olivia: "I come from neanderthals?"

"No, neanderthals are your cousins."

"Wow, I have some ugly cousins!"

-----
* It was a "daddy day." Ellen works, daddy and Olivia road trip. Today, it was the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. As far as the name, she's a girl. Contradictions are built-in.

Along the warmth of the coast, this long, spindly-legged lizard deposits its eggs where they can fend for themselves. If a predator doesn't get them, they'll hatch into a whole new generation of yellow-bellied skinks. Up in the mountains, the eggs would have a rougher time of it. The temperature at higher altitudes drops, and the skink eggs don't have the same chance as their coastal siblings do. The yellow-bellied skink has found a solution to that; it disposes with eggs entirely and carries its young internally until it can give birth to them.

Is it a snake or a lizard!

Or...BOTH!

Researchers at Warwick University testing the Naga Viper found that it measures 1,359,000 on the Scoville scale, which rates heat by tracking the presence of a chemical compound. In comparison, most varieties of jalapeño peppers measure in the 2,500 to 5,000 range -- milder than the Naga Viper by a factor of 270.

Habanero take a step, no wait, several steps down from super hot!

And now, a very tiny airplane tour of lower Manhattan. For decades, RC enthusiasts have wanted to mount cameras on their planes. Now it's actually happening. I wonder if nowadays it's possible to watch the video live, and use it to pilot the aircraft? It would seem to be a lot easier than the "normal" way to fly them.

Here's your cat. And here's your twenty dollars...

After 37 years of service, the last operator of the F-111 is retiring the type. It was a unique aircraft, designed to a unique set of requirements. It succeeded almost in spite of itself, and we won't see its like again. Salut!

Yes.

And now, some absolutely spectacular pictures of thunderstorms on the plains. I'm pretty sure they've been massaged at least a little in photoshop. I'm also pretty sure completely unretouched they're still spectacular shots.

No, really, why would anyone have a problem with a "snow klansman," complete with hanging noose in one hand? Yeah, it's Idaho, so the eight or so black people who live in the state almost certainly didn't see the thing. From the article, the man in question sounds like a hateful old kook who's annoying but basically harmless. I'm just glad he knocked it down on his own, because I'm pretty sure teenagers in the area would've been less discriminant about it.

Mark gets a no-prize that'll knock Klingons off the starboard bow for bringing us news of the discovery of a critter that might not even be based on the same chemistry we are. Discovered in a godforsaken lake somewhere in eastern Cali no less. When I read the article, it's also possible this just happens to be a bacteria you can't kill with a stick. It'll take a few more experiments, a lot more grant money, and a slow-motion journal-based flame fest to be sure. Hey, that's science!

Making the rounds: the recent snow storm in the Buffalo area has left drivers stranded on the highway for more than 12 hours. Ok, normally I tell people we don't drive our Alfas in the winter because of the road salt. It never occurred to me it might be possible for me to be forced to camp out in one. Yeah, gonna put this in the, "reasons I don't ever, EVER, want to live in the snow shadow of the great lakes" file, that's for sure.

If this graph doesn't prove soaking the rich does nothing for the federal budget, well, I guess nothing will. Faith always trumps evidence, and I expect the left side of the peanut gallery to deny this with such force it'll make a fundamentalist Christian take notes.

The best part is, they'll think it's the Christians who're being dangerously hard-headed about their beliefs.

So, for punishment, here's what they have to write on the blackboard 200 times: our taxes are not too low; our government is spending too much.

Doesn't matter how many times I look at it, even as a moldering wreck, the Ekranoplan is still a damned cool flying machine. I don't have any idea what it'd cost to bring that thing back to life, but I really hope someone eventually tries.

The Army has announced the deployment of an all new hand-held infantry cannon. I've been watching segments about "smart rounds" on various Discovery channel tech porns documentaries for a few years now. It's nice to see them actually making it to the field, although I can't help but wonder just how much more expensive the ammo is for this thing than for, say, your garden variety M4.

The world's first successfully cloned animal has been cloned once again. This time there are four "Dollies," and instead of needing hundreds of sheep embryos to produce a single clone, they only needed to use five. Me, I can't believe it's been fourteen years since the original Dollie was born.

Just what everyone needs for the holidays!

The end of the world prophecies!

Two ladies that hit and all time low.

No need for shopping bags for these 2!

Making the rounds: the coffin which once held Lee Harvey Oswald's body will soon be auctioned off. What I want to know is, who'd hold onto something like that for nearly twenty years? It's not like it can be used as a coffee table or anything. Well, in a normal house, not like ours, I mean...

GOP to dems: lame duck agenda: not yours. Meddlesome policies: you can not haz. STFU & GBTW on the stuff that matters. Last time the GOP stood their ground in the Senate, the media worked hand-in-glove with the Clinton administration and delivered a win to the dems. Will they be smart about it this time? We'll see...

Nothing like a bit of CGI fun to bring the art, and enormity, of a classic to life. What I find at least as remarkable is this most iconic tapestry of the middle ages sat unremarked and unexamined for some seven hundred years after it was created. It almost literally sat in a box so long that its true origins have long been lost, and we are left with speculation. Sometimes simple survival can be a remarkable thing.

Via Violins and Starships.

Now that Virgin is proving some basic concepts in ballistic spacecraft launched from aircraft, NASA is (literally) dusting off their own older, and presumably much more expensive, version of the same idea. As long as they make the research public at the end, which I think they're required to do by law, I'm all for it.

And in the, "yeah right, your food is way healthier than ours" category, we have fifteen sandwiches from around the world. Some of them look and/or sound pretty good, but most definitely don't sound healthy. Oh, and would someone chase the UK out of the kitchen? French fry sandwiches sound about as appealing as poutine, to me at least.

Robert H. gets a dark and mysterious no-prize for bringing us yet another volley in the seemingly endless, "Yes there is! No there isn't!" theory that a very large planetary mass lies beyond Pluto. This time, the "yes" camp has volleyed into the "no" camp with the hypothesis that something as big as Jupiter is out there.