Space Construction (11)

←

SPACE WATCH (history) · Shuttle and Station · 360° Virtual Tour

View from Space Shuttle Endeavour
NASA – STS108-E-5635 (15 December 2001) — As seen in an overall view from a digital still camera aimed through a window on Endeavour’s aft flight deck, the International Space Station (ISS), now staffed with its fourth three-person crew, is backdropped against dark space. The scene was photographed during a fly-around survey by the shuttle following undocking.

Views from Space Shuttle: Atlantis
STS110-E-6006 (17 April 2002) — The International Space Station (ISS), newly equipped with the 27,000 pound S0 (S-zero) truss, was photographed with a digital still camera by one of the astronauts on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Seen just above center frame, S0 is the first segment of a truss structure which will ultimately expand the station to the length of a football field. Atlantis pulled away from the complex at 1:31 p.m. (CDT) as the two spacecraft flew some 247 statute miles above Earth. After more than a week of joint operations between the shuttle and station crews, astronaut Stephen N. Frick, pilot, backed Atlantis away to a distance of about 400 feet in front of the station, where he began a 1 1/4 lap flyaround of the ISS.

Views from Space Shuttle: Atlantis-2
STS110-E-6058 (17 April 2002) — This is one of a series of digital still images of the International Space Station (ISS) recorded by the STS-110 crew members on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis following the undocking of the two spacecraft some 247 statute miles above the North Atlantic. Atlantis pulled away from the complex at 1:31 p.m. (CDT). After more than a week of joint operations between the shuttle and station crews, astronaut Stephen N. Frick, pilot, backed Atlantis away to a distance of about 400 feet in front of the station, where he began a 1 1/4 lap flyaround of the ISS, newly equipped with the 27,000 pound S0 (S-zero) truss, visible in this series of images. S0 is the first segment of a truss structure which will ultimately expand the station to the length of a football field.

Views from Space Shuttle: Atlantis-3
STS110-E-5912 (17 April 2002) — This is one a series of digital still images of the International Space Station (ISS) recorded by the STS-110 crew members on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis following the undocking of the two spacecraft some 247 statute miles above the North Atlantic. Atlantis pulled away from the complex at 1:31 p.m. (CDT). After more than a week of joint operations between the shuttle and station crews, astronaut Stephen N. Frick, pilot, backed Atlantis away to a distance of about 400 feet in front of the station, where he began a 1 1/4 lap flyaround of the ISS, newly equipped with the 27,000 pound S0 (S-zero) truss, visible in this series of images. S0 is the first segment of a truss structure which will ultimately expand the station to the length of a football field.

Related articles

• NASA Memory Lane (11) (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• Space Shuttle Update (53) (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• Space Construction (9) (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• Space Construction (10) (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)

Roberts Rules: What the Health Care Decision Means for the Country

By David Von Drehle – Not since King Solomon offered to split the baby has a judge engineered a slicker solution to a bitterly divisive dispute. With his fellow Supreme Court Justices split 4-4 between two extreme outcomes — blessing the sprawling health care law or killing it — Roberts maneuvered half the court into signing half his ruling and the other half into endorsing the rest. He gave the liberals their long-cherished dream of government-led reform while giving his fellow conservatives new doctrine to limit congressional power, which they have been seeking since the New Deal.

The four dissenters on the right, meanwhile, left no doubt that they were ready to plunge ahead toward greater limits on the power of the federal government. “The fragmentation of power produced by the structure of our government,” they wrote, “is central to liberty, and when we destroy it, we place liberty at peril.” more> http://tinyurl.com/7ye34wy

Related articles

• John Roberts, Conservative Outcast, and the Supreme Court’s Unprecedented Leak (swampland.time.com)
• Arianna Huffington: Sunday Roundup (huffingtonpost.com)
• Chief Justice Roberts Sold Out the Constitution for Less Than Wales (cato-at-liberty.org)
• The “narrative” of judicial intrigue (scotusblog.com)
• Chief Justice John Roberts Splits the Baby (reason.com)
• Did Roberts Flip On The Health Care Decision? (npr.org)
• What the Supreme Court ruled on health care ‘tax’, Josh Levs, CNN

Doubts Over Merkel’s Euro Path Grow at Home

SPIEGEL ONLINE – Influential German economist Hans-Werner Sinn has always been something of a fly in the soup of Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s efforts to save the European common currency. As the head of the Munich-based Ifo Institute, Sinn has tirelessly warned that, with euro-zone central banks owing the Bundesbank upwards of €500 billion ($627 billion), Germany is in a precarious situation. “We are trapped,” Sinn has been fond of pointing out.

In particular, Sinn and his allies are concerned about the trend toward the creation of a European banking union and allowing the euro bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), to provide direct aid to struggling European banks instead of channeling that money through governments and attaching strict austerity and reform requirements to it. more> http://tinyurl.com/bv7luvr

Related articles

• Angela Merkel vs. 160 Angry German Economists – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• German economists say ‘no’ to euro banking union (uk.reuters.com)
• Merkel Approval Rises to Highest Since 2009 in Post-Summit Poll – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Merkel’s Compromise Means Euro Might Yet Survive – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Eurozone summit: Germans shout ‘Nein! No! Non!’ (business.financialpost.com)
• Merkel seen as big loser in euro zone showdown – Reuters (reuters.com)
• Economic Scene: Why Germany Will Pay Up to Save the Euro (nytimes.com)
• Memo to Draghi: Dead Central Banks Don’t Have Credibility, Karl Whelan, Forbes

Animal smarts: What do dolphins and dogs know?

BOOK REVIEW

The Genius of Dogs, Author: Brian Hare.

By Seth Borenstein – Dolphins are so distantly related to humans that it’s been 95 million years since we had even a remotely common ancestor. Yet when it comes to intelligence, social behavior and communications, some researchers say dolphins come as close to humans as our ape and monkey cousins.

“Think of it like a toolbox,” Duke University researcher Brian Hare said. “Some species have an amazing hammer. Some species have an amazing screwdriver.”

For dogs, a primary tool is their obsessive observation of humans and ability to understand human communication, Hare said. For example, dogs follow human pointing so well that they understand it whether it’s done with a hand or a foot; chimps don’t, said Hare, whose upcoming book is called “The Genius of Dogs.” more> http://tinyurl.com/7zs6m3a

Related articles

• Adorable Video! Dolphin And Dog Kiss! (huffingtonpost.com)
• Primates, what are they thinking? (stuff.co.nz)
• Dolphins, Humans Share ‘Brainy’ Genes (news.discovery.com)
• Do Dogs Speak Human? (bigthink.com)

Impact of Broadband on Generations

English: Availability of 4 Mbps-Capable Broadband Networks in the United States by County
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Ann Treacy – A report from Pew Internet and American Life highlights impact of wired life on millenials.
http://wp.me/p3if7-1L3
The report details a list of skills found to be beneficial in the new era of broadband. On the flip side, the Benton Foundation and Connected Living recently hosted a conference on the impact of broadband on seniors.
http://wp.me/p3if7-1L0
 The conference report presents strategies to help seniors make the most of networked world. And somewhere in the middle and more locally reported, Connect Minnesota reports that one in five employed Minnesotans enjoys the benefits of telework.
http://wp.me/p3if7-1KQ
more> http://tinyurl.com/6wmgsvn

Related articles

• Cardiff to get fibre broadband on demand…if there is any (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• How Metered Broadband Will Ruin the Internet (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• Another bi-partisan attack on municipal broadband (tobiasbuckell.com)