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Classical artworks might seem boring, but applying the 3D treatment reveals some highly comical surprises behind the frame. Give it some time—the good stuff starts about 30 seconds in. More »

We have the Family Roots Publishing Company genealogy guidebook exhibit set up in the Salt Lake Room at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel today. We will be here today until about 9:30 pm and again on Wednesday from about 1 pm through 9:30 pm in the evening.

We will also be set up here next Monday and Tuesday. Stop by if you’re in the area!

Filed under: Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler

Now here’s a partnership we didn’t see coming: Chrysler and NASA have jumped into bed to share research on things like radar, materials and robotics. While we can’t imagine Chrysler has too much to add to that discussion, the partnership could have a wide-ranging impact on the company’s future products. Neither NASA nor Chrysler is exactly willing to say how the government agency will benefit from joining up with the smallest of the Big Three, but the mind reels…

It’s also worth noting that NASA will be sharing some of its battery tech with the Penastar people, including “other energy storage mediums.” That’s good news for a company that just put its ENVI electric-vehicle program out to pasture. While hybrids still make up a small portion of the total vehicle sales here in the US of A, any manufacturer without a decent hybrid showing would seem to be at a serious disadvantage going forward.

If nothing else, we may see more Velcro, memory foam and freeze-dried ice cream in our Chrysler products of the future, although there’s no word on sending a Sebring into space.

[Source: Chrysler]

Continue reading Chrysler and NASA partner on advanced technologies

Chrysler and NASA partner on advanced technologies originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hennessey Performance Engineering has finally released a video of its Hennessey Venom GT in action. The video shows the Venom GT testing in Britain near Silverstone and it sounds amazing. Check out the video after the jump.

Click here for our original post on the Hennessey Venom GT.

Refresher: Weighing in less than 2,400 pounds, the Hennessey Venom GT is powered by GM’s supercharged 6.2L LS9 V8, which has been modified to produce 725-hp. Hennessey will also offer 1,000-hp and 1,200-hp twin-turbo V8 engine variants. Mated to a Ricardo 6-speed gearbox, the Venom GT is capable of hitting 0-60 mph in 2.2 seconds and will keep going until it hits 262 mph.

Hennessey Venom GT:

Hennessey Venom GT:

– By: Kap Shah

General Motors plans to fire up production of its extended-range electric Chevy Volt in the fourth quarter of this year — and in the months until then the automaker expects to focus on software and controls for the model, among other things. In a call with reporters this week, Andrew Farah, vehicle chief engineer for the Volt, called those systems the “glue” or “muscles” that “make this whole thing work.” (To hear more from GM on IT for the Volt, come to Green:Net on April 29).

Part of the goal, explained Farah, is to deliver “predictable performance” so that drivers don’t need to plan their day around the vehicle. But there’s more to it: Using lithium-ion cells from supplier LG Chem, software and controls around the battery pack are partly about gaining a competitive edge through proprietary technology. As Micky Bly, GM’s executive director for global electrical systems, hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries, put it, the idea is to quickly transform GM from a “smart shopper” in batteries to a “leader in battery development.”

In particular, Farah noted that GM has made “great internal strides” in the thermal management system for the battery pack, which uses lithium-ion cells from South Korea-based LG Chem. “This has not been a walk in the park by anybody,” said Bly, noting that the automaker has had to build up its engineering team, recruit a lot of talent and work with a raft of suppliers to learn about battery systems and develop new technology.

GM has set up a handful of labs as part of this effort, including one in Shanghai, China, that Bly said will be “a huge enabler” for the company due to the rapid pace of lithium-ion cell and module development in the region.

While work remains on the gen-1 Volt model (emissions and hot weather testing, for example, as well as tweaks to improve aerodynamics), GM has already begun making plans for second- and third-generations of the vehicle, and the battery in particular. The automaker hopes to use a battery that’s much, much cheaper — and possibly smaller — than the pack slated for deployment in the debut model.

Bly said that GM expects to make “generational changes” in the battery every 2-4 years, as opposed to the up to seven-year development cycle that’s more typical in the auto industry. While the automaker remains a couple years away from finalizing decisions about the architecture for that third-generation battery pack, Bly said he anticipates battery costs will drop by 50 percent or more for that model as energy density improves.

A few big unknowns still hang over the Volt, including the size of the fuel tank (which will affect the vehicle’s range), and what kind of fuel economy rating it will carry. While GM came out with a big advertising campaign boasting 230 MPG for the Volt last summer, the EPA has yet to release new rules for testing and labeling vehicles that get miles out of more than gallons of gasoline.

“We want to be selling cars by the end of the year,” Farah commented, “and it would be nice to have an EPA label in the window.” How that label should communicate relevant efficiency data to consumers in a way that’s easy to understand represents a particularly vexing question for an extended-range electric vehicle like the Volt, he said, because “it has such a dual personality,” depending on whether it’s running on the battery or the small gas engine designed to kick in when the battery gets depleted, typically after about 40 miles. Simplicity is key. As Farah put it, consumers “gotta know what they’re getting.”

During the health-care debate, the impact of medical malpractice suits was controversial, with the Republicans saying it was a key part of the escalating cost issue and the Democrats saying, not so much. For its part, the CBO estimated tort-law changes would cut only about 0.5% from U.S. health-care spending.

A study now reinforces the long-held belief of many doctors that malpractice -– or fear of same — is really pretty important on the cost front after all. Researchers wanted to know if physicians’ behavior and attitudes explain some of the regional variations in the number of intensive procedures. (Citing the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, they said the rate of a given cardiac procedure might be three to eight times higher in one area of the country than another, depending on the procedure.) The researchers surveyed 598 cardiologists across the U.S. about what non-clinical reasons might lead them to recommend cardiac catheterization. They also calculated a doctor’s “cardiac intensity score” — a quantitative measure of his or her propensity to test and treat, based on his or her response to hypothetical patient scenarios.

The study, published online in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, found that nearly 24% of those surveyed reported that fear of malpractice was a non-clinical factor in their decision to recommend catheterization; docs with high intensity scores were more likely to say that legal fears influenced their recommendation. And 27% said if they thought their colleagues were likely to order the procedure, they would too. Researchers also asked doctors if they’d recommend the test because “the patient expects it,” “to satisfy the expectations of the referring physician,” or to enhance “the financial stability” of a medical practice. (Surprisingly, five doctors actually admitted they frequently or sometimes recommended catheterization for that last reason.)

Only the fear of malpractice, however, was significantly associated with regional differences in the level of health-care services used. “I think this study provides enough evidence to think it’s maybe a target for intervention,” says F. Lee Lucas, lead author of the study and associate director of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation at Maine Medical Center, who found the malpractice findings surprising. “It seemed to be, for a fair number of physicians, to be a clear motivation for doing something potentially unnecessary.”

Even for doctors who aren’t directly affected by malpractice suits, the fear of being sued may lead them to order more tests than they otherwise might have – that’s so-called defensive medicine.

Image: iStockphoto

Great question in Zillow Advice from joneam3 from Stockton, CA:

How soon after paying off debt will your credit score be affected?

Hours before the afternoon start of the Dodgers’ home opener Tuesday, fans converged on the stadium shortly after the gates opened at 10 a.m. dressed in every iteration of Dodger blue — hats, jackets, long-sleeve shirts and sleeveless ones.

For many, it is a decades-old tradition — gathering up family and friends, dressing in blue, splaying open the back of the SUV and unwrapping food and drinks in the stadium parking lots with their panoramic views of the city. But this year, doing that brought some unwelcome attention.

“We’re trying to tailgate,” Ray Barbosa said, standing in a Dodgers parking lot with his friends next to his GMC Sierra.

“The only thing big enough to carry a party,” his friend Tom Lerma said of the Sierra.

“That means we’ve been visited four times in seven minutes,” Barbosa said, referring to the seemingly ever-present Dodgers security and LAPD officers who approached on bikes, in carts and on foot to suggest that fans move inside the stadium.

“You can take your food,” offered one.

Security personnel said it’s not just the illegal drinking of alcohol in parking lots that is forbidden. All tailgating — or congregating — is off-limits in the vast expanses of parking lots around the stadium. For longtime fans, that’s crushing a tradition as cherished as watching the actual game.

“We’ve been doing this since we were in high school,” said Roberto Ortiz, 30, an assistant chef at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey.

He and his friends were dining on tuna salad tostadas and Coke and Gatorade for the gathering.

“It kind of deters us coming early," Ortiz said. "We’ll just stay home, barbecue and watch it on TV.”

— Carla Hall

Posted by John Byrne at 5:22 p.m.

 

Ex-city Fleet Commissioner Michael Picardi, suspended by City Hall this year after an embarrassing contracting mistake, has landed a new $129,000-a-year job with the Chicago Police Department.

As a deputy director, Picardi will oversee the police department’s general support division, which includes the city auto pound, equipment and supply, and document services and graphics, according to police department spokesman Roderick Drew.

The new gig comes after Mayor Richard Daley suspended Picardi without pay for three months in January  for contracts involving Central Auto Body in the Logan Square neighborhood. The shop’s owner, John Szybkowski, was convicted nearly 30 years ago of faking work orders on police department vehicles and giving kickbacks to city workers. Yet that didn’t stop him from getting a new city contract.

At the time of Picardi’s suspension, Daley said that "someone should have had knowledge" about Szybkowski’s earlier conviction.

 

Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said today that she isn’t certain why Picardi changed jobs shortly after his suspension ended.

 

One of Picardi’s main tasks with the police department will be to look for efficiencies and implement them, freeing more officers to work on the street, Drew said. The police department expects to hand over administration of the auto pound to the Department of Streets and Sanitation within the next few weeks, Drew said.



This isn’t the first time Picardi has switched city jobs amid criticism. Daley moved him from commissioner of Streets and Sanitation to the head of Fleet Management last year, shortly after a city report found Streets and Sanitation’s leadership "does not fully appreciate the importance" of abiding by hiring rules meant to keep politics out of personnel decisions.

 

Streets and Sanitation also was criticized over garbage pick-up and snow removal while Picardi was in charge, but Daley said Picardi had done a good job in the position.



Tribune reporter Annie Sweeney contributed.

Reality Octomom Kate Gosselin will join “Maven of Celebrity Dish” Mary Hart as a co-host on TV’s long-running syndicated newsmagazine Entertainment Tonight this Wednesday, April 14.

Have we learned nothing from her lifeless guest appearances on The View?

by Jonathan Hiskes

The Fisk coal-fired power plant, ChicagoCourtesy swanksalot via FlickrChicago Alderman Joe
Moore is taking aim at urban air pollution, introducing a Clean Power Ordinance today that would
force overhauls of the city’s two
coal-fired power plants, both located in Hispanic neighborhoods.

The plan would
introduce new limits for particulates (soot) and carbon dioxide, restricting how
much pollution the plants can release per unit of energy produced. The limits
on particulate matter are similar to those set for new coal plants being built
today. The limits on CO2 are similar to the pollution from a natural gas plant.

“That means essentially
shut down the coal plants and start over,” energy-company spokesman Doug
McFarlan warned WBEZ Chicago.

Right. And the downside
would be?

Here’s the upside: Those
two plants are linked to more than 40 deaths, 550 emergency room visits, and
2,800 asthma attacks annually, according to a 2002 Harvard School of
Public Health study. The asthma hospitalization rate in Chicago is nearly
double the national average [PDF].

It’s not clear that Moore’s
proposal will go anywhere, and Mayor Richard Daley’s skepticism can’t be good
for its chances. Daley says the city lacks authority over power plant emissions, although the EPA in 2008 directed the city to improve its lackluster air quality.

Putting real pressure
on city coal plants would take Daley a long way toward his public goal of making Chicago a
leader in fighting climate change. A Chicago Tribune investigation last year found that Daley’s climate plan leaned heavily on
buying carbon offsets; 87 percent of them sent money to an existing wood-burning
power plant in North Carolina and didn’t help finance any new renewable energy
projects.

 

Related Links:

How green are Obama’s potential Supreme Court picks?

Sens. Kerry and Graham to unveil climate bill next week

Chinese ship gouged two-mile scar in Great Barrier Reef

The series of major water main breaks that occurred around Los Angeles last year was caused by the city’s water conservation program, which put too much pressure on the city’s aging cast iron pipes, according to a city report released Tuesday.

The report is a step forward in solving a mystery that bedeviled city officials and engineers and enraged some residents who had to endure the flooding and road damage.

A team of scientists charged with looking at the pipe breaks concluded that the city should rework its conservation plan, which limited the use of sprinklers to Mondays and Thursdays.

One alternative would be to require homes with even-number addresses to conserve on even-numbered days and requiring homes with odd-numbered addresses to conserve on odd-numbered days, the team said.

“The bottom line is, you want to create a more even usage of water pressure so you don’t have a sudden drop of water pressure at a given time of the day,” said Jean-Pierre Bardet, a USC engineering professor who headed the team.

The investigation team, which appeared before the council’s Energy and Environment Committee, found a connection between the city’s water-rationing program and the increase in pipe breaks last summer, particularly with cast iron pipes.

At various locations in the L.A. Department of Water and Power distribution system, water pressure fell significantly on Mondays and Thursdays after the beginning of the water-rationing program on June 1, 2009, the report said.

“Those water pressure drops on these days were caused by an increased water flow during the watering of lawns,” the report said. “As a result, the cyclic levels of water pressure increased and accelerated the metal fatigue failures of aged and corroded cast-iron pipes.”

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the council and the DWP agreed last year to restrict the use of sprinklers to 15 minutes a day on Mondays and Thursdays. No watering is allowed between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Hand-watering — using a hose with a nozzle — is allowed on a daily basis, although not between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The city had 101 breaks during summer 2009, compared to 42 in summer 2008 and 49 in summer 2007, according to the report. 

Last fall, The
Times reported that some experts believed the city’s recent
decision to allow sprinklers to run only on Mondays and Thursdays may
have played a role in the breaks.

They say that if more water
flows through the system on those two
days when people water
their lawns and then pressure suddenly
changes
on other days, it could put added stress on already aging pipes.

— David Zahniser and Phil Willon at L.A. City Hall

Photo: Moses Guardado watches as a geyser from a broken water main towers over
local businesses at the corner of Sherman Way and Van Nuys Boulevard in Van
Nuys on Nov. 2, 2009. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

If you’ve gone on YouTube any time in the last year, you’re probably already familiar with the Blendtec Total Blender, which has been used to pulverize everything from iPhones and iPads to video games and Rubik’s Cubes. But our ever-pragmatic second cousin (once removed) at Consumer Reports wants to know: Can I actually use it to blend something I’d want to eat?

CR is currently putting the Blendtec through its paces at their secret laboratory hidden deep under Wayne Manor in Yonkers, NY. And while you’ll have to wait until the June issue of Consumer Reports to see how the vaunted blades of the Blendtec stand up, the testers did have this to say in a preliminary blog entry:

The Blendtec Total Blender TB-611-20 has excelled at crushing ice but has been only so-so at icy drinks and smoothies, jobs that require more than just raw power to render the right consistency. This Blendtec Total Blender is also among the noisier models being reviewed.

And just for good measure, here’s the Blendtec chewing up a MarioKart wheel. I was never any good at that game anyway.

Inside Consumer Reports Test Labs: Blendtec Total Blender can handle an iPad, but can it make a good smoothie? [Consumer Reports Home & Garden Blog]

Reducing cholesterol intake is a good idea for everyone, regardless of age or health.  But where do you start?  One easy place place to start, is something we all do … snack!

Choosing delicious, unprocessed whole foods that are rich in fiber, phytonutrients, and complex carbohydrates is not only heart-smart, it’s planet-smart.

Here are five tasty snacks that are nutrient-dense and will stave off hunger with zero cholesterol and fewer calories and fat.

 

Sunflower seeds

Those with a busy schedule should keep a bag of sunflower seeds handy to nosh on throughout the day. 

Sunflower seeds are an excellent source of vitamin E, an important ally in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps prevent blocked arteries, heart attack or stroke.

 

Nuts

Almonds, peanuts, walnuts … you name the nut, it will most likely be rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals as well as plant sterols, shown to stop or slow the absorption of cholesterol.¹ ²

Nuts contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, credited with reducing the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).³

Looking for more vitamin E?  Try almonds. Loading up in antioxidants?  Go with walnuts.

Nuts are also high in calories, so it’s recommended that you limit yourself to one or two handfuls of raw or dry roasted nuts without added salt a day. Try this simple Tamari Almond recipe.

 

Soy nuts and edamame

While not as popular as its cousins, peanuts and almonds, soy nuts are another heart-healthy nibbler. Often found in trail mixes, they’re also delicious on their own.

Both soy nuts and edamame are forms of soybeans: Soy nuts are whole roasted soybeans and edamame are baby soybeans picked while green.

The Food and Drug Administration recommends 25 grams of soy protein a day to reduce the risk of heart disease as part of a diet low in saturated fat. Edamame and soy nuts each contain a whopping 11 grams of soy protein per ounce.

For a tasty trail mix, combine soy nuts with dried fruit, sunflower seeds, dairy-free chocolate chips, and crystallized ginger.

Edamame (shelled or in the pod) are ready to eat in minutes. Simply boil 3 minutes, drain, and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.  Here are a few soy snack options to look for at the store.

 

Hummus and veggies

Hummus is a smooth, mild dip made with garbanzo beans that is perfect with crunchy raw veggies such as baby carrots, broccoli, red bell pepper, and cauliflower.  Diets high in fiber help prevent heart disease, so it makes sense to include fiber-rich foods, such as legumes and raw vegetables as often as you can.

Research has shown that garbanzo beans in the diet can significantly lower both total and LDL “bad” cholesterol.⁴ For those inclined, Hummus is also incredibly easy to make yourself.

 

Frozen red grapes

Craving a sweet snack?  Give frozen grapes a try.  Frozen grapes are naturally sweet, cool and refreshing snacks that will remind you of a bite-sized grape Popsicles.

Simply rinse grapes, place in a freezer bag, and freeze for at least an hour. 

Research has shown that compounds in grapes can protect your arteries and prevent harmful clotting.⁵ Choose dark grapes; they contain heart-healthy compounds that are concentrated in the skin.

 

Marie Oser is a best-selling author, writer/producer, and host of VegTV. Follow Marie on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vegtv

More from ecomii:

• Learn more about the potential of nutritional supplements
• Find natural remedies for headaches
• Does aromatherapy actually work?
• What is your carbon footprint?
• What is a cap and trade system and how will it affect you?

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Sources:

1. Ostund RE. Phytosterols, cholesterol absorption and healthy diets. Lipids. 2007
2. Pinedo S, Vissers M et al. Plasma levels of plant sterols and risk of coronary artery disease: the prospective EPIC-Norfolk Population Study. Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 48, 139-144, January 2007.
3. Kris-Etherton, PM for the AHA Nutrition Committee. AHA Science Advisory: Monounsaturated Fatty Acids and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease. Circulation, September 14, 1999.
4. Pittaway JK, Ahuja KD, Cehun M, Chronopoulos A, Robertson IK, Nestel PJ, Ball MJ. Dietary Supplementation with Chickpeas for at Least 5 Weeks Results in Small but Significant Reductions in Serum Total and Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterols in Adult Women and Men. Ann Nutr Metab. 2006 Dec 21;50(6):512-518
5. Zern, Tosca L., Wood, Richard J., Greene, Christine, West, Kristy L., Liu, Yanzhu, Aggarwal, Dimple, Shachter, Neil S., Fernandez, Maria Luz. Grape Polyphenols Exert a Cardioprotective Effect in Pre- and Postmenopausal Women by Lowering Plasma Lipids and Reducing Oxidative Stress J. Nutr. 2005 135: 1911-1917

Arraignment for the 20-year-old man accused in a triple murder at a beach home near Ventura has been delayed until May 12.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Young also revoked the $2.2-million bail on which Joshua Graham Packer has been held since Sunday. Such actions are routine when defendants are charged with crimes for which they might face the death penalty.

Packer is accused in the May 2009 stabbing deaths of Brock and Davina Husted at their home in the gated community of Faria Beach. Their two children were home at the time, and Mrs. Husted was six months pregnant.

An unemployed Ventura resident, Packer is being represented by the Ventura County Public Defender’s Office.
Howard Asher, an attorney with that office, asked for the continuance to allow the defense more time to prepare.

About a dozen of the Husteds’ family members packed the courtroom’s front rows for the brief hearing.
A number of Packer’s friends and relatives also were present.

Afterward, prosecutor Michael Frawley said it would be several months before the district attorney’s office decides whether to seek the death penalty or a life sentence without parole.
Packer is charged with robbery and burglary, as well as murder. Frawley declined to say what items had allegedly been stolen.

The judge granted Asher’s request to bar cameras from the courtroom, agreeing that the killer’s identification could be an issue at trial.

Ventura County sheriff’s officials disclosed Monday that they picked up Packer after matching DNA found in the Husted home with a DNA specimen taken from Packer after Santa Barbara authorities arrested him earlier this year in an alleged armed robbery at a gas station.

— Steve Chawkins

Ah Ireland. The Emerald Isle is home to one of my favorite stouts, Guinness, and it has a very long and interesting history — both bloody and scientific. They also make great whiskey. But one thing I’ve never associated with Ireland was cars. That may soon change, however, as the Irish government has announced some big moves regarding electric cars.

In order to ease the transition to more expensive electric cars, the Irish government is offering a grant of 5,000 euros (about $6,800) to anybody who buys an electric car, and an infrastructure of 3,500 charging points nationwide by December of 2011.

(more…)

If you’ve been following America’s new pony car wars than you no doubt already know the contenders. Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet have ramped up their efforts with the Challenger, Mustang and Camaro, and hot damn if it hasn’t been fun to watch. This all started back in 2005 when Ford released the completely redesigned Mustang, which from a styling and performance perspective was simply amazing. Dodge and Chevy followed suit shortly after with the Challenger and Camaro.

There is a now a new player in the game and he’s not from America. The Hyundai Genesis Coupe was introduced in 2009, and out of the box it was designed to be a pure bred sports car. The 3.8-liter track addition was set up as Hyundai’s offering for those who want pure performance in a small package. The 3.8-liter V6 puts out 306 HP and 266 lb.tq. which is right in there with Fords V6 Mustang at 305 and Chevy’s Camaro at 312 hp. I hate to say it but for this comparison we’re just going to ignore the Challenger because to be honest, it’s completely out gunned by it’s competitors. It’s too fat, too slow and too big… and this coming from a die-hard Mopar guy.

It used to be that the V6 offerings were the ones that you shied away from, but no more. Like I said, all of these machines (aside from the Challenger) make big numbers and big performance, in fact these V6’s are completely outshining their V8 counterparts from not so long ago.

Just check out these performance numbers:

2011 Ford Mustang V6	0-60	5.1	1/4 mile	13.7 sec @ 102.0 mph
2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8	0-60	5.4	1/4 mile	14.2 sec @ 99.2 mph
2010 Chevy Camaro RS	0-60	5.7	1/4 mile	14.3 sec @ 98.9 mph

These cars are fast no matter how you cut it and will even give some big V8’s a run. The key with these cars is to first decide exactly what you’re looking for in an automobile. Do you want track performance, around town muscle or simply a nice GT cruiser. The guys at Motor Trend Magazine recently put all of these bad boys through the ringer and the results they came up with may in fact surprise you.

Source: MotorTrend.com

This is so cool: 3D anaglyphs of some of the Apollo landing sites as seen by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter!

That’s the Apollo 14 site. Click to embiggen — and I urge you to do so. You can really see the lander popping right off the surface. In the Apollo 11 image you can even see that the lander feet are farther away from you than the top of the lander. It’s incredible!

These were done by Nathanial Burton-Bradford, and are part of a set of other 3D space anaglyphs. He took pairs of images taken by LRO (which is orbiting and taking phenomenal images of the Moon) and combined them to make the anaglyphs. They’re all worth perusing. I’m glad I have a set of red/green glasses! If you don’t have one, I again urge you to find ‘em — they can be ordered online, usually pretty cheap.

Normally, I ignore Apollo Deniers, since obviously no amount of evidence will ever wrench them from their fantasy world of ridiculous, top-heavy, and fact-free conspiracy theories… but these images really do hammer home that those landers are sitting on the Moon.

Oh, what we humans can do when we decide to.

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Related Posts:

LRO Spots Apollo 12 Footsteps

One Giant Leap Seen Again

Tip o’ the spacesuit helmet to Emily Lakdawalla.

Many of us have often dreamed of traveling the world one way or another. I usually dreamed about it during math class. But say you’re someone who takes the environment and your carbon footprint into consideration. How would you cross the globe without creating a huge footprint from all the flying, staying in hotels, and eating out all the time?

You could do what Jay Shapiro and his family are doing: build an “EcoRoamer.” This massive truck is a self-contained house with a Caterpillar biodiesel engine, solar panels, water purification, and accommodations for four. Jay is embarking on an epic journey that will take him across five continents and tens of thousands of miles on the vacation of a lifetime.

(more…)

Although the median age of CEOs is 54, one of the fasted growing demographics of entrepreneurs is young people. According to a survey by JA Worldwide almost three-quarters of high school students indicate an interest in becoming entrepreneurs. Although there are a few college programs dedicated to entrepreneurship, even with the preparation from a college degree program many young entrepreneurs can flounder.

To help remedy this, Under30CEO.com has collected advice from its users and offers “Young Entrepreneur Advice: 100 Things You Must Know!”

Sponsor

Many of the tips echo the idea that it’s a cold, hard world out there, and that young entrepreneurs would do well to hire great people, to delegate administrative tasks to others, and to develop strong professional and personal networks, not just of potential customers but of others more established in their field.

Some of the notable themes:

Know Your Market: “I wish I’d know how much easier it is to build a business around an established market that’s already looking for a solution to its problems rather than trying to build the market around the business I wanted to start.” – John Crickett

Money Matters: “Finding the right Accounting / Financial Manager right up front was our biggest learning and biggest mistake. Completely changed our financial performance and caused us to hit a wall we should have avoided.” – Mike Cleary

Don’t Worry too Much about Education: “It is OK to trust your instincts – even when they are not necessarily backed up by years of finance/accounting or business school credentials” – Jenn Benz

Learn to Manage People: “I wish I would have known that the hardest part of owning and operating my own business would NOT have been how to create revenue on a monthly basis. I wish I would have hired a full time IT guy and a shrink to manage with my sales force!” – Bradley W. Smith

Have a Business Plan that Includes an Exit Strategy: “Have a serious exit strategy & plan prior to opening doors. As an entrepreneur I was ready and willing to take the plunge to open my own company, but didn’t realize I had to structure my company around the exit strategy (i.e. make it sellable and transferable, and self sustaining without my everyday presence).” – Christopher N. Okada

Cultivate Strong Support Networks: “I wish that early on I had sought out more business leaders in my field. It wasn’t until I was a bit older that I realized the value of the knowledge to be learned from veteran industry players and how it could help me grow my business.” – Jim Janosik

Take Care of Yourself: “You can’t put your life on hold while waiting for your venture to hit. I have tremendous regret around all of the family events, vacations, and time with friends that I missed because I was working on getting my film/company off the ground.” – Pamela Peacock

You can read the full post here. What advice would you add to this list?

Discuss