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smokebomb

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Posts posted by smokebomb

  1. 2 hours ago, Lobo said:

     What about the scuba divers  that died saving most of eastern Europe ?

    Apparently they didn't die - here is an article from last year that discusses what they actually did and where they are now:

    https://www.businessinsider.com/chernobyl-volunteers-divers-nuclear-mission-2016-4

     

    Quote

    A Chernobyl 'suicide squad' of volunteers helped save Europe — here's their amazing true story

    It's been 32 years since the Chernobyl disaster, a nuclear reactor meltdown caused by a mix of design flaws and human error.

    The event immediately killed dozens and scarred the lives of tens of thousands of people over the ensuing decades.

    Chernobyl is still considered the worst nuclear accident in history — but it could have been much, much worse, if not for a so-called "suicide squad" of three brave volunteers.

    Build-up to a nightmare

    In the early hours of April 26, 1986, a test gone awry caused two explosions that took out Chernobyl's Unit 4, killing two workers instantly and 29 more in the next four months. Though the long-term death count is still growing, all estimates are disputed among scientists, government officials, and international bodies.

    Together, the explosions released 400 times as much radioactive fallout as the bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

    All fires were extinguished or contained within 6 hours, but few anticipated a second, more dangerous problem would soon appear. In early May, Unit 4's reactor core was still melting down.

    Under the reactor was a huge pool of water — coolant for the power plant. The continuous nuclear reaction, traveling in a smoldering flow of molten radioactive metal, was approaching the water.

    "If that happened it would have triggered a second steam explosion that would have done unimaginable damage and destroyed the entire power station, including the three other reactors," author Andrew Leatherbarrow wrote in an email to Tech Insider.

    Leatherbarrow recently published a book, called "1:23:40: The Incredible True Story of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster," that recounts the catastrophe's history on its 30th anniversary.

    By most estimates, such a blast may have wiped out half of Europe, leaving it riskier to live in for 500,000 years.

    The apocryphal tale of the Chernobyl 'suicide squad'

    In order to prevent the steam explosion, workers needed to drain the pool underneath the reactor. But the basement had flooded, and the valves were underwater.

    The most popular (and likely apocryphal) version of events then goes something like this: One soldier and two plant workers, all volunteers, bravely strapped on wetsuits and clamored into the radioactive water. Even though their lamp died and the crew was left in darkness, they successfully shut off the valves.

    They knew the basement was highly radioactive, but officials promised that if they died, their families would be provided for. It was, indeed, very possibly a suicide mission.

    By the time the team left the pool, this version of the story goes, they were already suffering the effects of acute radiation syndrome (ARS). All of them supposedly died within weeks.

    What really happened

    Leatherbarrow has spent five years researching the disaster. His book gives a slightly different, but no less heroic, version of events.

    "The basement entry, while dangerous, wasn't quite as dramatic as modern myth would have you believe," Leatherbarrow said.

    Firefighters had tried a couple of times to use specialized hoses to drain much of the basement. The three men were, according to Leatherbarrow, all plant workers — no soldiers — who happened to be on-shift when the firefighters' draining procedure stopped.

    They weren't the first in the watery basement, either. Others had entered to measure the radiation levels, though Leatherbarrow said he could never discover who they were, how many had entered, or what their conclusions were.

    "Some water remained after the firemen's draining mission, up to knee-height in most areas, but the route was passable," Leatherbarrow's account reads.

    "The men entered the basement in wetsuits, radioactive water up to their knees, in a corridor stuffed with myriad pipes and valves," he continues, "it was like finding a needle in a haystack."

    The men worried they wouldn't be able to find the valves.

    "When the searchlight beam fell on a pipe, we were joyous," mechanical engineer Alexei Ananenko said in interview with the Soviet press, as quoted by Leatherbarrow. "The pipe led to the valves."

    The men felt their way to the valve in the dark basement. "We heard a rush of water out of the tank," Ananenko went on, "and in a few more minutes we were being embraced by the guys."

    Definitively, Leatherbarrow said, none of the men died of ARS. The shift supervisor died of a heart attack in 2005. (Leatherbarrow attributes this to a mix-up with an employee with the same surname who did succumb to ARS.)

    Where they are now

    As for the other two men, Leatherbarrow said one is still alive and working in the industry, but he hasn't released his name because of privacy concerns. Leatherbarrow said that he lost track of the third man, but that he was alive at least up until 2015.

    Complicating this is the contradictory reports from English media and the Soviet government, which famously tried to downplay the disaster. In addition, Leatherbarrow said the best sources out there have yet to be translated from Russian — including the accounts of senior managers, state-run media reports, and a book by an engineer who's been blamed for the disaster, but insists he was scapegoated by the government.

    Even so, Leatherbarrow added, these men risked their lives to save untold millions of lives during a disaster of unheard of magnitude.

    "They still went into a pitch black, badly damaged basement beneath a molten reactor core that was slowly burning its way down to them," he said.

    Like many of the workers in the hours, months, days, and even years after Chernobyl, their bravery led them to a situation that required unimaginable acts.

     

    • Like 2
  2. Falcon Heavy launch slated today at 5:35pm CDT:

    https://www.space.com/spacex-falcon-heavy-arabsat-6a-launch-landing-webcast.html

    Quote

    Watch SpaceX Attempt a Triple Rocket Landing During Falcon Heavy Launch Today!

    By Tariq Malik

    SpaceX will attempt to pull off the world's first successful triple rocket landing during the company's first commercial Falcon Heavy flight mission today (April 10), and you can watch it all live online. 

    The Falcon Heavy megarocket, the most powerful booster currently in use, is set to launch the Arabsat-6A communications satelliteinto orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida today at 6:35 p.m. EDT (2235 GMT). After liftoff, the huge rocket's two side boosters and central core stage are expected to return to Earth for the triple landing. 

    "Following booster separation, Falcon Heavy's two side boosters will attempt to land at SpaceX's Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida," SpaceX wrote in a mission description. "Falcon Heavy's center core will attempt to land on the 'Of Course I Still Love You' droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean."

    You can watch the Falcon Heavy launch live here and on Space.com's homepage, courtesy of SpaceX, beginning about 20 minutes before liftoff. You can also watch the launch directly from SpaceX's webcast page. 

     

  3. Falcon Heavy launch next week:

    https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/space/go-for-launch/os-bz-spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-set-20190329-story.html

    Quote

    SpaceX's mighty Falcon Heavy launch set for April 7 from Kennedy Space Center, FAA says

    Chabeli Herrera

    The mighty Falcon Heavy rocket is returning to the Space Coast for its first commercial launch.

    The Federal Aviation Administration set a launch hazard area for the SpaceXlaunch this week, noting that the launch is currently set for April 7, with a backup launch on April 9. The launch window is from 6:36 p.m. to 8:35 p.m., according to Spaceflight Now, from Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A.

    Falcon Heavy, SpaceX’s heavy-lift rocket composed of three boosters strapped together, had its debut flight in February 2018 from the Space Coast. Thousands of people flocked to the Cape to see the most powerful rocket since the Saturn V, which took astronauts to the moon.

    The payload then was a red Tesla Roadster carrying a mannequin named “Starman.”

    The upcoming launch will be carrying the Arabsat-6A communications satellite for Saudi Arabia’s Arabsat. The satellite will provide communications coverage primarily to the Middle East and North Africa regions, with a footprint in South Africa, the FAA said in its advisory.

    According to the FAA, the side boosters will land at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Landing Zone 1 while the center core booster will land on SpaceX’s droneship, likely Of Course I Still Love You, in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida.

     

  4. Another lawsuit:

    https://www.statesman.com/news/20190314/ut-named-in-class-action-suit-against-schools-in-college-cheating-scandal

    Quote

    UT named in class-action suit against schools in college cheating scandal

    By Mary Huber 

    Posted at 10:24 AM

    Two women are suing eight elite universities, including the University of Texas, claiming that the schools have a “rigged” admissions process that allowed unqualified students to be accepted ahead of worthy candidates who paid admissions fees thinking they had a fair chance to be accepted.

    The class-action lawsuit that was filed Wednesday in federal court in California is the latest in a scandal involving celebrities and other wealthy parents who federal authorities say sought to have their children admitted into universities by bribing athletic coaches and having other people take tests for their children.

    UT Tennis Coach Michael Center was one of the coaches charged with fraud as part of the scheme, after authorities say he accepted a $100,000 bribe to get a student into the university as a tennis recruit when the student did not play competitive tennis.

    The university announced Wednesday it had fired Center, and officials have said the bribery scheme was an isolated incident that involved a single coach and no other university employee or officer.

    However, Erica Olsen and Kalea Woods, both students at Stanford University, are now suing UT and others, saying they applied to some of the named schools and paid admissions fees, thinking they were getting a “fair admissions consideration process,” according to the suit. Instead, the process was “rigged by fraud” and schools allowed unqualified students to take slots that could have gone to others, the suit says.

    “Each of the universities were negligent in failing to maintain adequate protocols and security measures in place to guarantee the sanctity of the college admissions process, and to ensure that their own employees were not engaged in these type of bribery schemes,” the lawsuit says.

    The lawsuit also names The Edge College & Career Network and The Key Worldwide Foundation, the for-profit college counseling company and the non-profit charity owned by William “Rick” Singer, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to money laundering, racketeering and other charges in connection with the scheme alleged by authorities.

    Investigators’ charging documents allege that Singer made about $25 million from 2011 to 2018 to bribe college coaches and create fake athletic profiles, some with staged photographs. In exchange, coaches would designate the clients’ children as recruited athletes, thereby helping them gain easier admission. College athletic entrance requirements are typically lower than those for regular students.

    The lawsuit says that the UT System has specifically denounced the influence of money in its admissions process, saying that selective schools often face “the suspicion of a double standard that favors well-connected students.”

    “Ensuring that fair and transparent admissions processes exist across the UT System is necessary to maintain public trust,” the university has stated. “Recruitment and admissions policies that are disclosed to the public and are consistent with stated university goals garners public trust that student admissions are centered on merit.”

    The women also say in the lawsuit that their degrees from Stanford University are not worth as much now, because they come from a school involved in the scandal and that employers may now question whether they were admitted on their own merits. They are asking to be reimbursed for admissions fees and other damages.

    The suit was filed in California, where many of the named universities are located. It also claims that California is the proper jurisdiction for a claim against UT because the university has solicited students residing in California, accepted money, including application fees, from California residents and has recruited athletes residing in California.

     

  5. 2 hours ago, deadshank said:

    I’m old.  I don’t understand.  Should I give a shit?  

    If 5G does what it promises, people would potentially be able to get rid of cable internet and use mobile 5G for their home internet access, not just their phone. It could also provide access to high speed broadband in rural areas since all it involves is putting up a tower, not running wires to individual houses. 

    Don't expect it to arrive overnight though - they just approved last month the official 5G technical standard. But the mobile networks are very keen to get it push out (see Verizon's early rollout of unofficial standard above) so it may be available sooner than expected since it has the potential to be such a game changer. 

    • Like 1
  6. 10 hours ago, MrPhlegm said:

    And Dragon is hard docked to ISS. Awesome to be able to watch in real time. Way cool. Every bit as cool as watching Gemini and Agena docking.

    Video of the docking: 

     

    • Like 1
  7. Couldn't find this discussed anywhere else, so here is the SXSW trailer for the upcoming "Becoming Leslie" documentary. 

    From https://austin.com/the-leslie-cochran-movie-trailer-is-so-good-youll-cry/:

    Quote

    Becoming Leslie will have its world premiere at SXSW at the Rollins Theatre at the Long Center on Friday, March 8, which just so happens to be the official ‘Leslie Day,’ as proclaimed by Mayor Lee Leffingwell.  

    Following the premiere, the film will screen two other times: Saturday, March 9, at the Austin Film Society Theatre and Wednesday, March 13, at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz. Check the SXSW official site for more details. 

     

     

     

  8. SpaceX to launch first commercial moon mission Thursday:

     

    https://www.apnews.com/76bc9dbc1b1e4d8b94afa919468177bb

    Quote

    First private Israel lunar mission to be launched this week

    RAMAT GAN, Israel (AP) — A nonprofit Israeli consortium said Monday that it hopes to make history this week by launching the first private aircraft to land on the moon.

    SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries told a news conference that the landing craft — dubbed “Beresheet,” or Genesis — will take off from Florida, propelled by a SpaceX Falcon rocket on its weekslong voyage to the moon.

    The launch is scheduled late Thursday in the United States, early Friday in Israel. It had been originally slated for last December.

    SpaceIL CEO Ido Anteby and Opher Doron, general manager of the IAI’s space division, said the spacecraft will slingshot around the Earth at least six times in order to reach the moon and land on its surface on April 11.

    If the SpaceIL mission is successful, Israel will become the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, after the Soviet Union, United States and China.

    SpaceIL has attempted to drum up public excitement for the lunar mission in Israel in recent months, visiting classrooms around the country and sponsoring television advertisements that put Israel on par with global powers.

    The small craft, roughly the size of a washing machine, is equipped with instruments to measure the moon’s magnetic field, as well as a copy of the Bible microscopically etched on a small metal disc.

    Israel’s space program chief Avi Blasberger said he hopes SpaceIL will create a “Beresheet effect” in Israel, akin to the Apollo effect, to promote science among a new generation.

    SpaceIL was founded in 2011 and originally competed for Google’s Lunar Xprize, which challenged private companies to try to land a robotic spacecraft on the moon. But the $20 million competition was scrapped by the tech giant last year when it became clear none of the five companies would meet a preset deadline.

    The SpaceIL project has ballooned in cost over the years to around $100 million, financed largely by South African-Israeli billionaire Morris Kahn and other donors from around the world.

    Kahn said he believes that “every Jew, not only every Israeli, will remember where he was when Israel landed on the moon.”

     

  9. Update:

    https://www.statesman.com/news/20190131/ut-spirit-group-ashamed-of-hazing-punishes-some-members

    Quote

    UT spirit group, ‘ashamed’ of hazing, punishes some members

    By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz 

    Posted at 9:51 AM

    A spirit group at the University of Texas says it has suspended some members and expelled others who participated in hazing the night before a new member was grievously injured in a wreck on the way back to Austin from a retreat. But the Texas Cowboys said a third-party investigation found that neither alcohol nor hazing contributed to the accident.

    The statement released by William Furst, the foreman of the Cowboys and a senior in UT’s Plan II honors program, is the first public statement by the group since Nicholas Cumberland, 20, was ejected from a vehicle Sept. 30 on U.S. 183 in Lampasas County. He died four weeks later.

    “As foreman of the Texas Cowboys, I can confidently say that we are all ashamed of the way that some of our members acted on the night of our fall retreat,” Furst said. “It did not align with the standards of our organization, the standards of this university, and most importantly, the standards we set for ourselves as brothers who care for one another.” He added, “We cannot begin to understand the pain the Cumberland family is feeling in the wake of this tragedy.”

     

  10. https://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/nfl/seattle-seahawks/article223290595.html

    Quote

    He is the first rookie punter selected to the Pro Bowl in 33 years, since the Rams’ Dale Hatcher in 1985. Dickson is Seattle’s first Pro Bowl punter since Rick Tuten in 1994. 

    Dickson was the NFC’s special teams player of the month for November after 16 punts averaged 53.0 yards, with a net average of 47.4 yards. Both were league bests. He currently leads the NFL in punt average (48.9) and net average (44.2) for this season.

    And if you didn’t see this from earlier in the season:

    Quote

    After the bold--stupid?--run teammates nicknamed Dickson “Big Balls.”

    And now “Big Balls” is in the Pro Bowl .

    Congrats “Big Balls”.

  11. Solar panels deploying is huge:

    https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7294

    Quote

    InSight Is Catching Rays on Mars

    NASA's InSight has sent signals to Earth indicating that its solar panels are open and collecting sunlight on the Martian surface. NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter relayed the signals, which were received on Earth at about 5:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. EST). Solar array deployment ensures the spacecraft can recharge its batteries each day. Odyssey also relayed a pair of images showing InSight's landing site.

    "The InSight team can rest a little easier tonight now that we know the spacecraft solar arrays are deployed and recharging the batteries," said Tom Hoffman, InSight's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which leads the mission. "It's been a long day for the team. But tomorrow begins an exciting new chapter for InSight: surface operations and the beginning of the instrument deployment phase."

    InSight's twin solar arrays are each 7 feet (2.2 meters) wide; when they're open, the entire lander is about the size of a big 1960s convertible. Mars has weaker sunlight than Earth because it's much farther away from the Sun. But the lander doesn't need much to operate: The panels provide 600 to 700 watts on a clear day, enough to power a household blender and plenty to keep its instruments conducting science on the Red Planet. Even when dust covers the panels - what is likely to be a common occurrence on Mars - they should be able to provide at least 200 to 300 watts.

    The panels are modeled on those used with NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, though InSight's are slightly larger in order to provide more power output and to increase their structural strength. These changes were necessary to support operations for one full Mars year (two Earth years).

    In the coming days, the mission team will unstow InSight's robotic arm and use the attached camera to snap photos of the ground so that engineers can decide where to place the spacecraft's scientific instruments. It will take two to three months before those instruments are fully deployed and sending back data.

    In the meantime, InSight will use its weather sensors and magnetometer to take readings from its landing site at Elysium Planitia - its new home on Mars.

    Second picture from the lander:

    PIA22575-16.jpg

    • Like 2
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