Monthly Archives: August 2011

If all goes well, the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle II will launch today from Vandenberg Air Force Base, near Los Alamos, California, and splash down nearly 4,900 miles away — and 30 minutes later — near The Marshal Islands, according to the aviation site Avweb.

The arrowhead-shaped glider is a vehicle that will be attached to an eight-story-tall Minotaur IV rocket. It is part of a system intended to reach speeds of up to Mach 20 to deliver a military strike anywhere on earth within one hour.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXeeg_vK2zw

Today’s test will launch the Falcon into the Earth’s upper atmosphere where it will cover the bulk of the 4,900 mile journey. If all goes well, it should pass Hawaii about 15 minutes after leaving the California coast. Near the end of the trip, the vehicle will make a sharp descent into the atmosphere and then level off. If proven, the system could cover the distance from Los Angeles to New York in 12 minutes. A previous test saw the vehicle travel for nine minutes before controllers lost contact. Data collected from the new test will be used to “confirm theory and expand knowledge of hypersonic flight”.

DARPA Readies Hypersonic Aircraft for Mach 20 Launch Test (Space.com)

US Military To Launch Fastest-Ever Plane (Guardian)

Thanks Kevin Whitty

Baroness Susan Greenfield is a UK neuroscientist known for her evidence-free predictions about how the Internet is going to turn us all into a bunch of mental and social cripples. Defending her views in a Guardian interview last Saturday, she said:

“I point to the increase in autism and I point to internet use. That’s all.”

This drove the science writer Carl Zimmer to sum up the ridiculousness of the statement in 140 characters or less:

Within minutes, someone had added:

And so #greenfieldism was conjoured into the mimetwittosphere:

Hie thee to #greenfieldism. It needs more Irish content.

#greenfieldism (Buzzfeed)

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