Next Generation Space Telescope

SPACE WATCH
NASA – NASA engineer Ernie Wright looks on as the first six flight ready James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror segments are prepped to begin final cryogenic testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

This represents the first six of 18 segments that will form NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror for space observations. Engineers began final round-the-clock cryogenic testing to confirm that the mirrors will respond as expected to the extreme temperatures of space prior to integration into the telescope’s permanent housing structure. more> http://is.gd/oKQst3

Image Credit: NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham

Corrupt Bank Oversight Is Creating New Immoral Hazard

By Neil Weinberg – Rather than describing a failure of imagination, Gretchen Morgensen and Louise in their provocative piece in New York Times, tells of regulators and prosecutors who appear to be guilty of a failure of inspiration.

The moral of this story is that Washington has created a vast immoral hazard. We are all truly in a world of peril when regulators and law enforcers believe our financial institutions are too big to be brought to justice—and when our leadership in Washington is so gutless that its response is to let these same institutions emerge bigger and more beyond challenge than ever. more> http://is.gd/M8zdOm

Can the Eurozone Be Saved?

By Kathleen R. McNamara – if one looks beyond the son et lumière, the European Union remains a remarkably solid and vital political structure nowhere near the brink of collapse. The dramatic headlines mask the ongoing evolution of an extraordinary constitutional order that is more robust than any other interstate relationship. It has profoundly Europeanized national policies, laws, and practices, and its institutions touch almost everything, from citizens and politicians to private firms and government bureaucracies.

In the eyes of markets and skeptical observers, the European Union is more than an intergovernmental organization but not yet a state. When the European Union bickers and dithers, the markets have no idea what may happen. The euro is the only single currency in history that has not been tightly linked to broader state- and nation-building efforts. Although the euro is an extraordinary peacetime achievement, it suffers from a lack of supporting political institutions that can make broader macroeconomic policy. more> http://is.gd/8Ujt3w

FCC asks wrong questions in information request to Comcast

By Joe Flint – The FCC’s motive is to see how much homegrown content is on Comcast and NBCUniversal’s various networks as opposed to shows from independent producers. There used to be rules limiting the amount of shows a broadcast network could own, but those have long been gone. Nonetheless, one of the concerns about the creation of such a content behemoth is that independent producers could have a hard time getting their content on Comcast-owned channels.

What’s not included — because the FCC didn’t ask — is what percentage of total programming that 228 hours of independently owned content represents. Comcast declined to comment when asked to provide more specific details about its filing. more> http://is.gd/eVtNmd

related>

• FCC commissioner to join Comcast/NBC in Washington, Sara Jerome, Hill

This Tech Bubble Is Different

By Ashlee Vance – “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads,” Jeff Hammerbacher says. “That sucks.”

You might say Hammerbacher is a conscientious objector to the ad-based business model and marketing-driven culture that now permeates tech. Online ads have been around since the dawn of the Web, but only in recent years have they become the rapturous life dream of Silicon Valley. Arriving on the heels of Facebook have been blockbusters such as the game maker Zynga and coupon peddler Groupon. These companies have engaged in a frenetic, costly war to hire the best executives and engineers they can find. Investors have joined in, throwing money at the Web stars and sending valuations into the stratosphere. more> http://is.gd/cjnChM