A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
We don’t like the two-party system. So why do we have it?
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America’s two-party system is widely hated. Very few Americans think the two major parties do an adequate job representing us, and most say more parties are needed. But when it comes time to vote, very few of us actually vote for third-party candidates. Often, this is explained as either a failure of will (we’d have third parties if more people would just vote for them), or a conspiracy (the political and media establishments suppress third-party candidates and ideas).
And it’s not that those things aren’t true. But there’s a much simpler explanation, and it’s the very basic rule governing almost every single one of our elections: Only one person can win. If you’re American, that probably sounds utterly reasonable: what the hell other kinds of elections even are there? But the answer is: lots. Winner-take-all elections (also called plurality voting, or “first past the post”) are actually a practice that most advanced democracies left behind long ago — and they’re what keep us from having more political options.
Even if you’re not sold on the need for more parties in the US, though, scratch the surface of “only one person can win” a little and you start to see how it actually produces perverse results within the two-party system as well. It’s a big part of why the political parties have moved farther apart from each other, and it leaves about half of the country without any political representation at all. Watch the video above to see how.
You deserve better than Shein.
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There are countless articles and videos breaking down the abysmal labor practices, horrifying environmental toll, and overall mountain of waste produced by the fast fashion industry. Activists and even just large swaths of the general public have been raising the alarm about this for well over a decade, but it hasn’t stopped the rise of some of the worst offenders in the industry. For example, the ultra-fast fashion brand Shein has skyrocketed in value over the past five years largely due to their marketing success on TikTok. A lot of us know that fast fashion is bad, but the only way companies like Shein still thrive is if we convince ourselves otherwise and hit “add to cart” anyway. So why do we do it?
The answer is that e-commerce has completely warped our view of what items should cost and how long they should last (this includes and extends to our obsession with Amazon and two-day shipping). We’re moving through trends at an unprecedented pace and it’s doomed to get worse if we don’t adjust our buying habits and learn to slow down. Consumers are being manipulated, but we can do better.
I made a pessimistic assessment five years ago that "as an environmentalist, I probably should be more opposed to fast fashion than I am" and predicted "until Americans, especially young women, change their fashion tastes, they will just buy fast fashion online..." I have become more opposed to fast fashion and Americans have apparently accelerated their acquisition of cheap clothing, a trend being pushed by new chains I hadn't even heard of then, Shein and Temu, and haven't mentioned until now, through a social media platform, TikTok, I wouldn't mention until 2020. Then, I was concerned about TikTok's capacity to monitor users on behalf of China and its ability to misinform, which are why I don't use it, despite its promotion of dance, a phenomenon I can watch on YouTube shorts, thank you very much. I didn't think enough about it as an advertising medium affecting Americans' shopping habits beyond convincing young people to shop local. Now I am. That's another reason to be suspicious of the platform.
That's it for today's more-or-less evergreen post for Earth Month (if TikTok actually is blocked in the U.S., I expect most of its users will migrate to YouTube shorts, including the shopping influencers, so the issues will just move to a new platform). Stay tuned for the return of more timely topics, like Donald Trump's trial in New York. I've been ignoring that and postponing my retrospective of the most read entries featuring late night talk show hosts. It's time to cover both. A topical Throwback Tuesday tomorrow!
This category sets up a matchup between the winner of Best Animated Film and Best Superhero Film at the Saturn Awards, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3. Since Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse won Best Animated Feature at the main [Critics' Choice] awards, I'm predicting it to win here.
This is a really talented field, but I think the advantage goes to Ayo Edebiri, who swept Critics' Choice, Golden Globes, and Emmys for her role in The Bear. I think that might count for something, even though I'm rooting for Zoe Saldana or Iman Vellani and wouldn't be surprised if Hailee Steinfeld wins as part of a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sweep.
I'm pleased to see that Iman Vellani won. While The Marvels didn't earn a nomination for Best Superhero Movie, it didn't walk away empty-handed. Congratulations! I'm looking forward to seeing Vellani on my Saturn Awards ballot later this year for Best Younger Performer in a Film and The Marvels for Best Superhero Film.
I expressed both my uncertainty and my annoyance about the last "superhero" movie category.
The parenthetical comment that "Superhero categories also include Comic Book and Video Game Inspired series" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, as Taron Edgerton earned a nomination for Tetris, which is a thriller about the development of Tetris taking place in the real world, not an adventure in the game world, and The Killer is based on a graphic novel, something I didn't know until I looked it up. Both Edgerton and Fassbender are great actors, and Saturn Award winner Xolo Maridueña should be happy to be nominated along with them. My favorite is Bradley Cooper, and I hope he wins, but I wouldn't be surprised by any of the field winning, including Shameik Moore, who might be part of a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sweep.
I'm not surprised to see Fassbender win. As I wrote, he's a great actor. He's also a former Marvel actor, having played young Magneto in the later Fox X-Men movies, so there is still a connection to the two actual Marvel winners.
Follow over the jump for the "superhero" winners on television.
Recycling has been the gold standard for fighting pollution for decades. But most plastics can’t be recycled and the companies that push for recycling are the ones often generating the most emissions and waste in the first place. Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant looks at how we have been told to “reduce, reuse, recycle” to shift the responsibility from companies to the individual.
15. What uses are there for plastic? Name five uses or products.
The video lists cosmetic cases, chairs, phones, clothes, and toilet seats, or if it doesn't, I'll accept them as answers. The video shows lots more, including bottles and bags.
16. Why is plastic a challenge for disposal?
The video says that plastic doesn't break down and burning it creates greenhouse gases. In the way paper decomposes, it doesn't, although it does break down physically. Students also point out that the sheer variety of plastic complicates recycling. That's the point of the second video above, but it's not part of "Treasures of the Earth: Power." Still, it's true.
Students can also use plastic as an example of some of Commoner's Laws, Everything is connected to everything else, everything must go somewhere (there is no away), and there is no free lunch along with climatechange.
Since I plan on recommending this series of videos to my students, it also makes this an episode of blogging as professional development. Yay, I finally got to write the post I wanted in February, when PBS Terra disallowing embedding of the Far Out video frustrated me!
HappyArborDay and Flashback Friday! I'm celebrating the original environmental holiday during Earth Month with two videos from PBS Digital about the effectiveness of planting trees to fight climatechange followed by a retrospective of the most saved posts on Pinterest. Trust me, the two topics connect.
Can trees really save us from climate change? For eons, nature has relied on photosynthesis as a big way to keep carbon dioxide levels from getting out of control. But as we have put more carbon into the air, we’ve also cut down many of the forests we need to suck that carbon up. So big tree-planting initiatives like #TeamTrees to the rescue, right? Actually, we need to think bigger. Here’s three ways trees really can help us solve climate change, from a guy who wants to plant a TRILLION trees, to how we might save the forests we’ve got, to scientists hacking biology to make trees even better.
The answer to the question is no, it won't stop climate change by itself, but it will certainly help, along with conserving the trees we still have. As for genetically engineering a more efficient pathway to fix carbon, that's a new one on me, but it fits with the theme of yesterday's Be Smart asks 'Can AI Help Us Talk to Whales?' for Throwback Thursday, using technology to advance science.
In 2019, a Turkey tree planting campaign set a world record. Three months later, 90% of those saplings were dead. Planting trees to replace old-growth forests is a common solution, but it typically does not solve the problem. With deforestation causing climate-related disasters, it’s time to take a hard look at reforestation and what we can do to save our forests.
The video's opening serves as an update on deforestation of the Amazonrainforest with news both good and bad. The video also pointed out flaws in the most common methods of reforestation and ways to do it correctly. I hope people pay attention to the suggestions.
I wrote "I'm confident about 'The Territory' winning this category" and it did. Congratulations! May it keep the cause of preserving the Amazon rainforest in people's minds.
Follow over the jump for Crazy Eddie's Motie News' year on Pinterest.
Happy Throwback Thursday! Today's retrospective covers the most commented on entries during the blog's 13th year. The post with the most responses last year talked about technology. Hmm, communication using technology — I just watched a video about that, Be Smart asking Can AI Help Us Talk to Whales?
New technology is revolutionizing how we study and protect nature. In this video, we’ll learn how artificial intelligence is being used to decode the sonic landscapes of the ocean - specifically, whale song. That’s right, there may come a day soon where AI allows us to understand and talk to whales. But some scientists are saying: the question may not be CAN we talk to whales, but SHOULD we talk to whales?
Roger Payne and National Geographic's release of "Songs of the Humpback Whale" shows the power of music to not only make people aware of issues, but to change how they think and feel about them. That demonstrates why I write about entertainment as much as I do. Not only is it fun, it's important, too.
Blue whales are on the brink of extinction. Despite being the biggest animals to ever exist on Earth, they remain a mystery. To protect them, we first need to understand them better.
In our 14th Planet Wild mission, we’re using drones to drop camera robots on whales. Our goal is to find out what a day in the life of a blue whale looks like.
Special thanks to Cascadia Research for providing us with additional footage, taken under NOAA permit to John Calambokidis.
Additional footage by "World of Survival: Humpbacks–the Gentle Giants”, The world of survival show/ TV channel Anglia
First, A.I., now drones. Both show the importance of technology in advancing science.
Follow over the jump for the most commented on entries during the 13th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
Both President Biden and former President Trump see Pennsylvania as a must-win state in the 2024 presidential election, but both are grappling with party divisions and sagging voter enthusiasm surrounding their rematch.
WSJ's Shelby Holliday traveled across PA to talk to voters, officials and campaign managers to learn how each candidate could win—or lose—the biggest swing state of the 2024 election.
I plan on writing more about the election in Pennsylvania and the rest of the swing states, especially Michigan. On that note, follow over the jump for a retrospective of the top post about my adopted state during the 13th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
Welcome to this year's version of marching music for the Pennsylvaniaprimary. I kick off the music to watch and listen while waiting for results with The Cadets | #DCI2023 | Atlas Rising from Drum Corps International (DCI).
Allentown, Pennsylvania's The Cadets perform a segment from the corps' #DCI2023 production, "Atlas Rising," during the 2023 DCI World Championships hosted August 10-12 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Allentown, PA | 5th Place | 94.313
We're going BEYOND the lot to bring you a full (edited together) production run of the 2023 Cadets show entitled 'Atlas Rising.' Recorded in rehearsal on Saturday, August 12th. We hope you enjoy the video!
This is a not-so-stealth DC superhero show, with music from Man of Steel opening the program and a theme from Batman Begins near the end.
Allentown, Pennsylvania's The Cadets perform a segment from the corps' #DCI2022 production, "Rearview Mirror," during the 2022 DCI World Championships hosted August 12-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
We're going BEYOND the lot to bring you the final full production run of the 2022 Cadets show entitled "Rearview Mirror.' Recorded in rehearsal on Thursday, August 11th. We hope you enjoy the video!
Allentown, Pennsylvania's The Cadets performs a segment from the corps' #DCI2021 production, "...Shall Always Be," during the DCI Celebration events hosted August 12-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Vic Firth takes you BEYOND the lot with THE CADETS as they perform their 2021 production "Shall Always Be" during the DCI Celebration week in Indianapolis, IN!
Botched rhymes, buried puns and a staged accent that sounds more Victorian than Elizabethan. No more! Use linguistic sleuthing to dig up the surprisingly different sound of the bard's Early Modern English.
I always thought OP (original pronunciation) sounded like a pirate. What do you think?
Stay tuned for this year's version of marching music for the Pennsylvaniaprimary.
We care about the planet. But what if it's time to stop "saving it"?
Western cultures — and even some climate scientists and sustainability advocates — often share the idea that there is the “natural world” and the “human world.” The natural world is seen as pristine and untouched, while the human world is chaotic and ever changing. But all living things change the world around them in order to build homes, eat, drink and move around. In this first episode, join host Rae Wynn-Grant, Ph.D., as she explores how humans can think differently about the way we change the environments around us, how we can do it better, and why doing so could be a key foundation for addressing climate change.
Based on the Jenny Price book "Stop Saving the Planet!"
This video reinforces a point I've been making since the first year of the blog and even before that in my environmental science classes: "economy is dependent on society, which is in turn dependent on the environment. Without an environment, there is no society. Without a society, there is no economy." I asked my students to identify a similar statement in my worksheet for Chasing Ice, which they watched two weeks ago: "What does Balog say about the relationship between nature and civilization?" The answer is that the two are interconnected and civilization depends on nature. I hope my students retain that.
Follow over the jump for the other three videos in the series so far.
The University of Puerto Rico - Centenaria Banda Colegial performs in the 131st Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade held on Wednesday, January 1, 2020.
I'm repeating what I wrote four years ago about Music213's video — great performance, but camera handling issues. Luis was not alone in having those.
The Banda Escolar de Guayanilla performing at the 130th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Neither band has returned to the Rose Parade since 2020, but Banda SUM de Guayanilla performed in Italy last year. El Tropi Duo TV recorded those performances, the most popular of which was Banda SUM de Guayanilla, se roban el show en competencia de bandas en ITALIA. Translation: "SUM band from Guayanilla steal the show in band competition in ITALY."
Muy orgullosos de estos jóvenes representando nuestra Isla en Italia.
Banda SUM De Guayanilla. Segunda Unidad Macaná, Gloria M. Borrero Olivera, excelente participación.
Para aquellos que no pudieron disfrutarlo, aquí este manjar musical.
PUERTO RICO dice presente en ITALIA.
Translation: "Very proud of these young people representing our Island in Italy.
Guayanilla SUM Band. Second Macaná Unit, Gloria M. Borrero Olivera, excellent participation.
For those who couldn't enjoy it, here is this musical delicacy.
PUERTO RICO says present in ITALY."
El Tropi Duo TV has three other videos of this trip, but I'm being a good environmentalist and conserving them for the future. May the U.S. still have meaningful elections in 2028 and may I still be around to participate in them.
That was fun to watch, even if I understood only half the narration. It's still an entertaining Christmas show, no matter the language.
That's a wrap for today's installment. I still plan on returning with marching music for the Pennsylvania primary after Earth Day and Talk Like Shakespeare Day. Tuesday will be busy!
Previous marching music for 2024 primaries and caucuses posts.
How did such a strange plant like cannabis come to be in the first place? When and where did we first domesticate it? And why oh why does it get us high?
Congratulations on telling the smartest stoner jokes on YouTube I've encountered so far. Also, I knew about the relationship between hops and Cannabis my senior year of college, when I looked through Munz and Keck's A California Flora and Supplement and found them together in Moraceae. That bit of trivia impressed my friends 40+ years ago. They have since been moved to Cannabaceae, where they are, as the video states, sister genera. I think that would have impressed my friends even more.
That's it for today's post. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature followed by Earth Day.
2024 was the warmest winter on record, so big winter storms are a thing of the past, right? Not quite…a new study reveals that there is a winter-weather trend that OVERPOWERS CLIMATE CHANGE. To better understand this, we are taking it back to March of 1993 to look at The Storm of the Century, which brought record breaking cold temperatures and 20 INCHES OF SNOW to ALABAMA! By going back, we can better answer questions like: What causes this set up to occur in our atmosphere? And why are we still seeing extreme cold and SNOW IN THE SOUTH? Buckle up as our experts talk the jet stream, polar vortex, and this stubborn cold exception so we can answer the ultimate question: Are these winter storms here to stay? Watch this episode to find out.
Long Beach, California. Home of one of the busiest container ports in the world, expensive housing, a very long beach, and...over 2500 active oil wells. Yes, you heard that right.
I worked on the constructionof L.A.'s subway, which intersected with the Long Beach light rail on the south side of downtown. At that time, the line's northern terminus was at that intersection. I'm glad to read that it was extended into the San Gabriel Valley to become the longest light rail line in the world.
As for all the oil wells, I'm not surprised. I grew up in Los Angeles and just accepted the pump jacks, which my family called grasshoppers, as part of the landscape. I expect a lot of them will be pumping oil for decades to come, regardless of how bad fossil fuels are for the environment in general and climatechange in particular.
That's it for the current post. Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the top post featuring CityNerd from the 13th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
Happy Wayback Wednesday! I'm observing today's social media day by sharing Bright Sun Film's latest, Bankrupt - Borders Book Store.
Since the 1970's, Borders Bookstores have been a place of comfort and peace for millions of shoppers. Their unique strategy of offering a cozy place to shop, with tens of thousands of highly trained employees was a winning one that earned the company billions in sales. But, it all came crashing down in 2011 and now, the brand is non existent. Join me today as we find out why.
While I didn't realize it at the time, the first Retail Apocalypse story I wrote about on this blog was the demise of BordersBooks. I thought it was like the bankruptcies of Jacobson's, whose space in Ann Arbor Borders occupied after Jacobson's moved out to Briarwood Mall, and Montgomery Ward's, which was the first anchor to abandon Northland Mall, the second Retail Apocalypse story I covered here. Both of those were weak companies that went under during a recession, which is when I expect businesses would fail. I thought much the same of Borders at the time, in addition to it being a personal loss. In retrospect, the failure of Borders was much bigger than that and turned out to be a taste of things to come.
At the time, I concentrated on what the store meant to me and outsourced my analysis of why it failed to a LiveJournal account where the analysis is now unavailable...the disappearance of that analysis was a big loss...[it described] a mismatch in corporate culture between the employees, who really believed in the way company had been run, and the top executives, who I think caught something bad when KMart owned the company, the same thing that eventually caught up with both KMart and Sears. Sigh.
All that survives is the Borders.com domain, which Barnes & Noble bought. That's like Toys R Us buying KB Toys — ironic. It's also a sign that the rest of the company's intellectual property wasn't worth saving. Even Hostess had a better fate.
All I have to add to that is that Jake Williams included more of the human story than Company Man Mike and followed up on the fate of the original store number one, although I didn't consider that my store. That was the old Jacobson's location around the corner, the second store number one. When I last visited Ann Arbor for the March for Science during 2017, I saw that it had been partitioned into a bunch of smaller stores. That might have been an even sadder end than the one Jake had.
Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the top posts about the Retail Apocalypse during the 13th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
Type 2 diabetes affects over 400 million people. It can be confusing and difficult to manage, so in this video we'll answer all your questions about type 2 diabetes, including what to eat, what affects your risk, and is there a cure.
Hosted by: Reid Reimers (he/him)
I'm a type 1 diabetic (adult onset), but I found much of the information in this video useful. A1C levels, diet, and exercise are all things I have to be mindful of, too. In addition, the video briefly explained how type 1 diabetes happens as well. As I'm fond of writing, It's always a good day when I learn something new. I hope my readers learned something new, too.
It’s the most miserable time of the year: tax season.
Americans are about to spend millions of hours and billions of dollars filing their federal income taxes, and they are pretty sure they know who is responsible for their pain: The misanthropes at the Internal Revenue Service.
But we’re here to convince you that the I.R.S. is not the problem.
Yes, it should be easy to file taxes. And yes, it should be free. That’s how it works in the rest of the developed world, and it could very easily work that way here, too. It is absurd that America’s tax system is so antiquated and complicated that most people must pay someone else to help them pay the government.
So what is standing in the way of progress?
Watch.
I have two things to say about this video. First, I knew I was going to use it today as soon as I saw the preview image. It's Johnny Harris, who demonstrated his skills when he was working for Vox, now working for the New York Times, so I knew the video would be good. Second, I had a good idea who the villain was, and I was not disappointed. May the U.S. finally get a free tax-filing portal. It may be too late today, but maybe next year. Happy Tax Day!
Normally, I'd tell my readers to stay tuned for highlights of tonight's Saturday Night Live except that I reached my page view goals for the month already, so I'm going to post something else for the Sunday entertainment feature. An retrospective of the top entertainment posts of the 13th year of this blog? That's certainly a possibility!
The only question is what new material I would use to lead into the look back. Since all the posts I'm featuring below the jump are about awards shows, I'm revisiting the most recent awards show I covered the Critics ChoiceSuper Awards. I already expressed my annoyance at no Star Trek show winning an award in 'Star Trek: Discovery' trailers for First Contact Day, so I want to use today's post to brag, sort of. Fortunately, I found an opportunity to do so that connects to a current movie.
I wrote "I'd get a kick out of MEGAN or Godzilla winning this award. Oh, no, there goes Tokyo. Go, go, Godzilla!" As the graphic above shows, I got my wish. On the other hand, I completely blew my pick for Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie, as I thought "it's between The Boy and the Heron and Poor Things with the latter favored." Nope, the third Oscar winner Godzilla Minus One won. Here are the paragraph announcing the movie winners from the press release.
Garnering two wins each, “Godzilla Minus One,” “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning,” “Poor Things,” and “Talk to Me” lead the film winners. “Godzilla Minus One” triumphed as the Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie and Godzilla was named the overall Best Villain in a Movie. Tom Cruise received Best Actor in an Action Movie for “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning,” while Rebecca Ferguson took home Best Actress in an Action Movie. For their roles in “Poor Things,” Mark Ruffalo was awarded Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie and Emma Stone won Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie. “Talk to Me” won Best Horror Movie and Sophie Wilde earned the award for Best Actress in a Horror Movie.
While I whiffed on Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie, I did call Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, and Talk To Me to win their awards. My wife and I finally watched Talk To Me last night and we saw why it won Best Horror Movie/Film here and at the Saturn Awards. It was smart and scary!
As for Godzilla Minus One, I'm looking forward to seeing it on my Saturn Awards ballot later this year, where I have it penciled in as my vote for Best International Film, along with Poor Things and The Boy and the Heron, which are my current choices for Best Fantasy Film and Best Animated Film, respectively. That written, I already think Poor Things will lose to the kaiju movie currently in theaters, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire for Best Fantasy Film. In addition Godzilla will face friendly fire, as I would not be surprised if both Godzilla Minus One and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire both earn nominations for Best Fantasy Film. Only if the kaiju fans split their votes in this category does Poor Things stand a chance of winning at the Saturn Awards, given that "the Saturn Awards are about entertainment not art, they don't care for subtle, and they love to stick it to the experts."
Godzilla is one of the most recognizable monsters in film, and he should be. After all, he is part of the longest running film franchise in the world, but you might be surprised to learn that his history in literature is just as prolific. Without his giant footsteps paving the way, we wouldn’t have the female kaiju Mothra, who is perhaps even more beloved.
In this episode, Dr. Zarka shows how kaiju are deeply rooted in past events in Japan including the deployment of nuclear weapons there during World War II. She explains how both Godzilla and Mothra serve as metaphors and looks at how these monsters continue to shed light on social history.
Dr. Z is in the middle of a series about Kong and has a review of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire up, which I'm saving until she finishes her series. I'm an environmentalist. I don't just recycle, I conserve my resources! Until then, I'm ending this section the way I opened it, with a quote from Blue Öyster Cult's "Godzilla."
History shows again and again
How nature points up the folly of man
Godzilla!
Follow over the jump for last year's top posts about entertainment in general and awards shows other than the Saturn Awards in particular.
I kick off the music to watch and listen while waiting for results with Troopers | #dci2022 | VorAcious from Drum Corps International (DCI).
Casper, Wyoming's Troopers perform a segment from the corps' #DCI2022 production, "VorAcious," during the 2022 DCI World Championships hosted August 12-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Troopers visual designer Lindsey Schueller breaks down the ideas and stories behind the Casper, Wyoming corps' 2022 production, "VorAcious," in Episode 2 of "Inside Drum Corps."
Yes, it really was "one of the best moments of the summer," including Genevieve Batman screaming while doing what I want to say is her best Tina Guo impression, except that Tina would be playing while standing up and wearing a skimpier costume. I think it's safer and better for the performance that Genevieve sat down while wearing a guard uniform.
In 2022 the Troopers earned a spot among DCI's elite Top 12 for the first time in more than a decade. Take a look back at the timeline of the Wyoming corps' roadmap back to the finale of the DCI World Championships.
As I first wrote in 2016, "No Troopers retrospective would be complete without both a sunburst and a color presentation" and this compilation and lots of sunbursts and one that was also a color presentation.
Follow over the jump for highlights of 2021 and 2023.
Will an asteroid ever hit Earth? There are no known impact threats, but tiny meteors burn up in Earth’s atmosphere all the time! NASA asteroid expert Dr. Kelly Fast tells us more. Learn more about NASA’s planetary defense efforts: nasa.gov/planetarydefense
When was the last time an asteroid hit Earth? Small asteroids and other tiny particles bombard our planet daily, but almost all of them burn up safely in the atmosphere. Bigger impacts are extremely rare, but scientists like Marina Brozovic are keeping their eyes on the sky.
Is NASA aware of any Earth-threatening asteroids? Luckily there are no known asteroid threats to Earth for at least 100 years. But that doesn’t mean we’re not looking. Asteroid expert Davide Farnocchia of our@NASAJPL breaks it down.
Does NASA know about ALL the asteroids? We know about the vast majority of larger ones and none of those pose a threat, but space is big, so we're always on the lookout. NASA asteroid expert Dr. Amy Mainzer explains.
The answer is no, not yet, but NASA is working on it.
There are no known threats to Earth, but NASA asteroid expert Dr. Kelly Fast says it’s important to find the asteroids before they find us. That’s why NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office keeps its eyes on the skies.
At 1:47 a.m. EST (6:47 UTC) on Nov. 16, 2022, NASA’s Orion spacecraft launched atop the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket from historic Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a path to the Moon, officially beginning the Artemis I mission.
Over the course of 25.5 days, Orion performed two lunar flybys, coming within 80 miles (129 kilometers) of the lunar surface. At its farthest distance during the mission, Orion traveled nearly 270,000 miles (435,000 kilometers) from our home planet. On Dec. 11, 2022, NASA’s Orion spacecraft successfully completed a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 9:40 a.m. PST (12:40 p.m. EST) as the final major milestone of the Artemis I mission.
Artemis I set new performance records, exceeded efficiency expectations, and established new safety baselines for humans in deep space. This is a prelude to what comes next—following the success of Artemis I, human beings will fly around the Moon on Artemis II.
We have demonstrated our ability to go farther and faster than ever before, opening the door to explore Mars and other destinations throughout the solar system. This is the story of Artemis I.
The Artemis II mission will not happen by this year's NationalMoonDay, but there will be more preparations and there are other Moon missions, so I will have something to blog about.
NASA hosted a news conference from the Johnson Space Center in Houston April 3, 2024, to announce the companies selected to move forward in the development of the Lunar Terrain Vehicle under the LTVS (Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services) contract. The award leverages NASA’s expertise in developing and operating these next generation "Moon buggies" to build commercial capabilities that support scientific discovery and long-term human exploration on the Moon. NASA intends to begin using the LTV for crewed operations during the Artemis V mission on the surface of the Moon.
Artemis V is a long ways off. SpaceX will have to develop a landing vehicle and NASA will have to test it first for Artemis III.
On March 14, 2024, Starship successfully lifted off at 8:25 a.m. CT from Starbase in Texas and went on to accomplish several major milestones and firsts.
Starship's six second stage Raptor engines all started successfully and powered the vehicle to its expected orbit, becoming the first Starship to complete its full-duration ascent burn. Starship went on to experience its first ever entry from space, providing valuable data on heating and vehicle control during hypersonic reentry. Live views of entry were made possible by Starlink terminals operating on Starship.
This rapid iterative development approach has been the basis for all of SpaceX’s major innovative advancements, including Falcon, Dragon, and Starlink. Recursive improvement is essential as we work to build a fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, help humanity return to the Moon, and ultimately travel to Mars and beyond.
SpaceX's powerful Starship system spent roughly an hour in orbit performing test maneuvers for the first time ever. But two simultaneous communications errors means the rocket won't be recoverable.
SpaceX's Starship rocket just reached orbit for the very first time, but now it's gotten lost upon reentry.
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After conducting a number of maneuvers during the spacecraft's hour-long flight in orbit, mission control reportedly lost contact with Starship as it reentered Earth's atmosphere somewhere over the Indian Ocean.
Starship likely broke up or exploded over the ocean, SpaceX confirmed.
"The team has made the call that the ship has been lost, so no splashdown today," Dan Huot, SpaceX's communications manager, said during the company's livestream of the launch. "But again, just it's incredible to see how much further we got this time around."
Here's to the fourth launch being a complete success from start to finish.
That's a wrap for Yuri's Night, when I celebrate the promise of space. Now stay tuned for Apophis Day, when I report on the perils of space.
Happy Throwback Thursday! I'm celebrating by featuring an older video that I should have used years ago, but which happens to fit one of the top posts from the back catalog that doesn't fit any of the established themes I plan on using, It's Lit! on PBS Voices exploring The Evolution of Science Fiction (Feat. Lindsay Ellis).
Stories, tales, and myths from all around the world posing speculative questions around technologies have existed long before Ray Bradbury and Frank Herbert, from the time-traveling Japanese fairy tale "Urashima Taro” to some of the speculative elements of 1001 Arabian Nights. But there are a few eras that begin to shape what we’ve come to know as science fiction today.
That Frankenstein is considered to be the first work of science fiction means that horror is its sister genre, not fantasy, as the movie and television versions of Frankenstein are portrayed as horror. This reminds me of what I wrote most recently about M3GAN and Prey at the Saturn Awards; "if the terror is technological, not supernatural, the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films considers it science fiction, not horror." Now I wonder how the Saturn Awards would classify a new movie or TV show about Frankenstein. Hmm.
Just the same, this video is very much about how science fiction reflects the anxieties of its time, which happens to be the featured post from the back catalog in today's retrospective. Follow over the jump.
With over 43 million Americans paying off student loans, John Oliver discusses how so many people have come to take on student loan debt, why it’s so hard to pay off, and what we can do about it, mama.
I'm lucky to have been able to get my education without borrowing, so I escaped student loan debt. My wife and daughter were not so fortunate, and my daughter is still paying hers off. Sigh.
I'm looking forward to Last Week Tonight's future examinations of the cost of college. Until then, follow over the jump for a retrospective of the most read entries featuring John Oliver during the 13th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
Pets, zoo animals, political candidates and cable news anchors all exhibited odd behavior related to the solar eclipse, Stephen shares the details of his earthquake experience, an Italian volcano is blowing smoke rings, and the former president claims he raised $50 million in one night.
Three science stories in a row — I'm glad I decided to watch this monologue! I'm almost as thrilled as I was seeing the eclipse myself yesterday, but with much less work. Catching the end of totality by pulling off to the side of the freeway when the sky finally went dark and pulling out my special glasses was a reward for getting stuck in traffic and worrying I wouldn't make it to the umbra. I can say "yes, I saw it." Cross that off my bucket list, although I am now thinking about traveling to the one in Spain two years from now. Too bad the path of totality just misses Vigo. I can imagine Broken Peach having an eclipse concert where they sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" when the Moon covers the Sun, but it won't work out for them to perform in their home town. Maybe they should do it in A Coruña.
We had a Total Solar Eclipse today, people were lining up all across the country to buy viewing glasses, Biden put out an official White House message warning us not to look up, Team Trump used the Eclipse to make a point on Truth Social, Marjorie Taylor Greene posted about the earthquake in New York and eclipse, Trump accepted an award on behalf of his wife Melania who was too busy to attend, he is working hard to reimagine his official stance on abortion, there is a new app that uses A.I. to determine if you have an STI, and we headed out to Hollywood Blvd to ask people “What is an Eclipse?”
Explore the spectacular cosmic phenomenon of a total solar eclipse. In April 2024, the Moon’s shadow is sweeping from Texas to Maine, as the U.S. witnesses its last total solar eclipse until 2044. This extraordinary astronomical event is plunging locations in the path of totality into darkness for more than four minutes – nearly twice as long as the last American eclipse in 2017. Learn how to watch an eclipse safely and follow scientists as they work to unlock secrets of our Sun – from why its atmosphere is hundreds of times hotter than its surface, to what causes solar storms and how we might one day predict them.
That was everything I was hoping it would be and more — lots of science, history, and even archeology!
On April 8, 2024, millions of Americans will witness the rare event of a solar eclipse that will cross the continental United States. Join NOVA for a live stream prior to the eclipse where we will be joined by NASA scientists at the Kerrville Eclipse Festival in Texas!
Learn how to watch an eclipse safely, discover what eclipses can reveal to scientists about the secrets of the Sun, and hear from the eclipse festival attendees.
You can watch the eclipse here. I'm less than an hour away from totality, as long as there isn't a traffic jam on the way, so I'm planning on traveling there to see it in person. Wish me a safe journey!
Increíble actuación de Bonnie Tyler, Symphonic Orchestra 430 bajo la batuta de Carlos Rodríguez, y Broken Peach, interpretando Total Eclipse of the Heart, en la Gala 18 Aniversario que tuvo lugar el 11 de junio de 2017 en el Auditorio Mar de Vigo.
Translation: "Incredible performance by Bonnie Tyler, Symphonic Orchestra 430 under the baton of Carlos Rodríguez, and Broken Peach, performing Total Eclipse of the Heart, at the 18th Anniversary Gala that took place on June 11, 2017 at the Mar de Vigo Auditorium."
Yes, Broken Peach are Bonnie Tyler's backup singers. Otherwise, I wouldn't have used this song — too on the nose.
