Ruth's blog

NSFW. Absolutely hysterical. Just love Dr Ken's llamé, velour pajamas, too.

President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958 creating NASA. The agency began operations on October 1, 1958.

Besides capturing the imagination of the world and allowing us to look further into the universe and then travel great distances to look back upon ourselves, the agency now holds over 6,300 patents.

In that time they have also changed our lives through their innovations and tireless exploration.

NASA's terrestrial contributions include:
Information about hurricanes, wildfires, geophysics, environmental management
Aeronautics improvements in general, like collision avoidance and anti-icing systems
Advances in parachutes, parachute systems for airplanes
Advances in plastics, materials science
Automotive/truck safety, efficiency innovations, grooved pavement
Manufacturing design tools
LEDs
Wastewater management, water purification
Kidney dialysis machines, CAT and MRI scanners
Cardiovascular innovations, insulin pumps
Young child vision screening, as an offshoot of image processing
Ear thermometers
Bonded dry lubricant surfaces
Memory metal alloys
Cordless power tools
Hazardous gas detectors, smoke detectors
Satellite dishes
Joysticks
Scratch resistant and UV-blocking glasses
Wireless headsets, audio equipment
Athletic footwear improvements
Enriched baby food
Vacuum-seal and freeze-dried food preservation
Food safety systems, ethylene gas food spoilage removal system
Insulating sound barriers
Fireproof and cool suits, thermal gloves and boots
Temper foam, shock-absorbing helmets

For more, go to
The NASA spinoff page

I have always been a bit of a space nut, but more so since an offspring has insisted for the past five years that she has a future at NASA.

Awesome image from EPOXI, the same craft from the Deep Impact mission.

Under the Bush administration, the EPA has downgraded the value of a human life to $6.9 million. Seems innocuous? Guess again. By cooking their books, it is easier for the administration to decide that many more regulations, particularly environmental regulations, are just not worth the cost of enforcement.

According to the AP article, this is not the first time they dropped it. In 2004, they lowered the value to $7.15 million in time for a new air pollution ruling. Among previous efforts, the EPA was forced to reverse a 2002 ruling that an over 70 year-old was 38% less valuable than a person under the age of 70.

The upshot? Among other things, millions of people down stream of power generators can expect more soot, more particulates, more air pollution. Stock up on asthma meds and air cleaners. One in ten of us lives with unhealthy air. You can also take action.

We're both seeing a 20 y.o. and having a wonderful time.

Let's just say I bought it, because I did, but it was more of an inheritance. I have played guardian to this toy for 10 years. We're going to enjoy it immensely for a couple weeks and then put an electric motor in it. Besides the environmental impact, going electric will just improve the performance.

Amazingly this car gets almost 30 mpg, but requires premium.

I am a big advocate of private piloting. As often as you hear about a crash, there are really few incidents compared to the flights up there at any point in time. One day, when at least one of the kids is out of school I will get a plane.

Dude landed today on the golf course at Lincolnshire. He figured barnstorming the city to get his kid to a tennis lesson was cool.

As if his actions were not alarming enough, he has his Piper Clipper taken on a flatbed to the towing company lot, where he is going to replace the skis with wheels. He also is under the mistaken impression that just anyone can work on a plane. The tires would change the weights and balances of the plane, and therefore would have to be certified by a licensed airplane mechanic.

To hear tell, there is also a fuel leak in the plane. You know for damn sure he did not go through much of a pre-flight checklist.

I want this guy prosecuted and his plane taken away. I doubt a lack of license would stop this moron from flying. If they let him go, here's hoping when he does crash, it is alone in a field.

When I was learning to fly, I watched a doctor jump into his cold plane, start it up and get in line to take off. He had not flown in several cool, rainy days and did not even bother to check his fuel for condensation. My instructor shook his head and said "Those are the guys that crash. They are the ones that fly for no good reason on bad barometer days and without checking their equipment. They overload their planes. They think it is just another car."

At the time of the Virginia Tech shooting I read the news wordless and horrified. I was in that moment distinctly worried about a young man we've sent to college. When we called him he was a bit irritated, as is the way with young men of his age, when their parents act like parents. I thought about the grieving who had with pride sent their beloved best hope for the future away, to become incrementally more independent. We all had some sense, however idealistic, that our kids were relatively safe as long as they were sticking to classes.

I spent some time this morning searching for my favorite Northern Illinois University sweatshirt. It has been about 10 years since I was a sweatshirt-wearing girl. I could not find it and the misplaced grief was acute. I will have to resign myself to wearing Huskie red, in a vain attempt at solidarity.

This last round of senseless killings hits even closer. Many of the contributors here at CD, myself included, call Northern Illinois University our alma mater. I cannot count the times I sat, staring at a television monitor or down towards a figure on stage in the large Cole auditoriums. I was the figure on stage a number of times as well. I watched the news last night and recognized each and every place. I lived there for 17 years. I can feel what it was like to walk those places, to sit in those seats. DeKalb is a quiet college town in the center of the shrinking Illinois cornfields and violence on campus seems so strange. I am again thinking of the families and their anguish. I feel it even more. Northern will never be the same, or worse, we'll all get used to this as the new normal.

Then I hear that the sick mind behind this massacre was from University of Illinois and I am overcome with the urge to get a certain young man and pack him in Kevlar. I look at his little sister and swear that I'll be damned if she ends up going to college early. It has become harder again to be a parent.

Atlantis is set to lift off today at 2:45 EST (40% chance of on-time launch due to weather). Godspeed Atlantis.

UPDATE: Atlantis in preliminary orbit as of 2:54 EST. Columbus module is on the way to ISS. No sign of debris hitting the orbiter so far.

DipDive. Check it out.

I wanted to be amused.

Governor Huckabee and his supporters.

Via Mike Daisy

Happy holidays!

This time of year budgets are strained and even more Americans are hungry. Energy prices are up and it looks like it is going to be a cold, snowy winter. Match this with decreasing donations from the USDA, and the food banks are experiencing a terrible shortage.

Food banks work tirelessly to serve tens of millions of food insecure Americans, many of whom are elderly, children, or the working poor.

This year, they are running out of food and turning the hungry away! Please help if you can. Hunger makes it even harder for your neighbors to deal with the winter cold, the break from school (and school meal programs) and the holidays.

America's Second Harvest is responding to the crisis and employing the help of big business.

The Greater Chicago Food Depository is also experiencing a critical shortage.

You can also check with your local food pantries and ask what they need, I'm sure they would appreciate your support.

I got tired of writing about disease, so here's a worthy distraction:

America's Second Harvest is a tireless network that provides food to 25 million hungry people in the U.S. They are also especially talented in enticing food producers and other corporate entities to sponsor click-to-donate programs. Click
here and another generous donor will provide three meals for a person in exchange for your click.

While you are at it, don't forget these people.