Featured Articles
Space Elevator Concept Starts to BuzzAll the News that Fit to DistortGoing Up?...all the way to Geosychronous Orbit
A couple of articles on a concept found in science fiction from Arthur C. Clarke and others: a tethered orbital elevator system! At first glance if one is unfamiliar with the concept it sounds like something from a hallucination - but the physics works, and with recent new developments in materials technology, the means are also now available.
The big advantage: CHEAP cost to orbit, especially compared to rocketry. Check these articles out: one from this weeks Sunday (London) Telegraph, and the other from none other than the big gorilla of the blogosphere hisself: Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds writing on Tech Central Station.
Click on image to enlarge. (Image from liftport.com)The race is on to build the first "space elevator' - long dismissed as science fiction - to carry people and materials into orbit along a cable thousands of miles long.In a significant step, American aviation regulators have just given permission for the opening trials of a prototype, while a competition to be launched next month follows in the wake of the $10 million (£5.6 million) "X Prize'', which led to the first privately developed craft leaving the Earth's atmosphere, briefly, last year.Folks, this isn't pie in the sky conceptualizing - it's going into the engineering phase - that's about as concrete as it gets!
I've written here in the past about NASA's work on space elevators, and on the new leaner, meaner, prize-oriented approach favored by NASA Administrator Mike Griffin. Now there are some signs of real progress on a number of fronts. As I noted earlier, NASA was offering prizes for space elevator research. That's still going on, but there are some new studies suggesting that space elevators may be closer to practicality than previously thought.Indeed!
The New York Times broke this great story two days ago. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, asked Judge Roberts for his views on New York Times v. Sullivan, the 1964 Supreme Court decision that revolutionized American libel...Thirsty Thursday
I love Thursdays. Not because there's anything special about them, or because super-extra-wonderful things happen on Thursdays, but because it's my very busy day, and because at the end of every Thursday I can relax a little and look forward...BSG
Battlestar Galactica, one of the few television series that I watch regularly, finished up with its summer finale tonight. Season two didn't pack quite the same punch as season one did, for the following two reasons: Too many Baltar -...Hitchens, Galloway Hosted By Unfunny White Guy
I can't say as though I've ever watched Bill Maher's show on HBO, but couldn't resist tuning in tonight to see George Galloway and Christopher Hitchens. It was about what you'd expect, and nothing worth noting. Galloway truly is treacherous...Its Time to Start Thinking about John McCain
With a courage based on the proposition that, if I get it wrong no one will remember, and if I get it right, I can remind everyone that I'm brilliant, I confidently predict that John McCain will be the Republican...Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Roberts
By a vote of 13 to 5. From the Washington Post: Voting No were:Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.), Joseph Biden (Del.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) , Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.)Democrats voting Yes:Sens. Patrick Leahy (Vt.) , Herb Kohl...iTunes Mania!
The last few songs I've downloaded on iTunes: Heard It In a Love Song -- The Marshall Tucker Band. Black Water -- The Doobie Brothers. Sloop John B -- The Beach Boys. A Pirate Looks at Forty -- Jack Johnson,...
A Message from tdaxp
Send feedback to danhabbott@gmail.com
What's New with the Blogs
Sheehan and the anti-American socialistsScore One For the Good Guys
Winning in Iraq
Wednesday Night Palms
"You gave us back our city"
VICTORY AT GROUND ZERO
South Dakota Blogs
Stuck On StupidChairman Thune?
North Dakota
Musburger
Daschle Gets QUOTE OF THE DAY in Hotline
Stuck On Stupid
Impeach Clinton! Oh, Wait...
A.N.S.W.E.R. Hates You
The Big Scary Patriot Act
Like Watching a Train Wreck
Black Hills and Muddy Waters
GOP Administration Continues Leftward March
Something New Under the
Sabato's Crystal Ball
NY Post Chooses Herseth for Prez
Dissent on the Right
Voter Fraud
Mit Romney Revisited
American Blogs
The politics of scandalPreemptive Hollywood Appeasement
Statement By President Bush On The War On Terror
McCain Meets Mama Moonbat
RITA UPDATE
CHUCKAQUIDDICK: WHERE'S THE MSM?
THE MOONBATS AREN'T DONE YET
KATRINA AFTERMATH & BACKLASH
Pro-Freedom, Anti-Terror
China, South Korea Migrate Toward North Korean Position on NukesOn 5th Generation Warfare?
A Congressional View on the Deal that Wasn't
The uninformed, perceived near-death experience
China's tightens on technology, lightens on politics
Important Distinctions
Lost in Translation?
Uri MP Defects to Democratic Party. Roh's coaliti...
South Dakota Blog Alliance
RadioActive Chief, Ryen McClaren, Sibby Online, South Dakota Politics, Straight Talk
tdaxp Blog Network
Jim River Report, tdaxp, Bloglines, Cobuyitaphobia, Junk Politics
Breaking News
Forest politics in the Wyoming Black HillsS.D. farm agencies targeted for closure
Thousands Still Waiting for Help
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay Indicted
Massachusetts Should Close Down OpenDocument
South Dakota Mainstream Media
Soccer idea scores controversyDamage at refineries, oil rigs could raise gas prices
Talkin? Smack: The Homestake Lab edition
Mesaba owed millions
Parking fines could take off
Fields offer decent yields
PETA and Martha
Nation's crime rate still at 30-year low
American Mainstream Media
Drug-Dealing Nanny Busted With Pot, BabyInterrogator Gets Five Months for Afghan Prison Abuse
Bolton: Some U.N. Reform Can Be Seen
U.S. Raids Homes of Iraqi Sunni Officials
Bush Addresses War on Terror
Study Disproves Antibacterial Soap Scare
War Games: Russia, China Grow Alliance
Pay As We Go Paying for Katrina
British Mainstream Media
Ashes Heroes Get Stamp Of ApprovalFires Raging Around Los Angeles
Why Bigger Wine Glasses May Not Be Better
Cage-Fighter Stabbed At Page 3 Party
Everyone Else
Yahoo! People SearchUS Speaker, LLC
Hall of Fame Celebrates South Dakota
Pete Dexter: Pride of the University of SD
Jim River Report Archives
Browse archives for...This page is permalinked
How Popular is the Jim River Report?