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Decades of spy satellite images help track melting Himalayan glaciers
You don't need cutting-edge satellite data to make sense of Earth's changing climate. Researchers have published a study of melting Himalayan glaciers that takes advantage of 40 years' worth of satellite imagery posted by the US Geological Survey, including declassified KH-9 Hexagon spy satellite photos from the 1970s and 1980s. The info not only let researchers cover a vast territory (about 650 glaciers over 1,240 miles), but made it possible to automatically create 3D models that reflected declining glacier elevations.
Watch NRO's spy satellite blast off to space at 1:30PM Eastern
United Launch Alliance (ULA) has a pretty significant launch scheduled for today. It will attempt to send the spy satellite-carrying Delta-IV Heavy rocket to space again after scrubbing its original launch on June 9th due to bad weather. This is only the massive rocket's ninth flight after the first one blasted off in 2004. The Delta-IV Heavy is capable of packing 14,900 pounds of payload and can ferry satellites to geosynchronous orbit. While we know that it's an NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) mission codenamed NROL-37, its other details are actually classified.
NASA gets two 'Hubble-class' military telescopes, fist-pumps with joy
Imagine all you wanted for Christmas was a telescope. As you frantically peel off layer after layer of wrapping, there it is -- your brother's old one. Well, okay, if your brother was the National Reconnaissance Office (and you were NASA) this might not seem quite as unjust. Thankfully so, as that's effectively what's just happened. The NRO has given NASA two 2.4-meter "space qualified" telescopes and satellite casings for it to play with. The gifts -- which can observe about 100 times the area of the Hubble telescope -- could complement existing projects and provide much-needed resources at the space agency. As there is currently no funded mission for them, however, they'll remain firmly on the ground for now, but at least this implies they're not needed elsewhere -- hinting at improved international relations. Unless the NRO just got an upgrade?
Conservative political website defends gaming
Adam Thierer, a former fellow at conservative think-tank The Heritage Foundation and libertarian think-tank The Cato Institute, tackles the cultural war brewing over video games for National Review Online, the digital counterpart to the venerable -- and highly influential -- print magazine. He manages to concisely, and cogently, defend gaming from many of the major attacks it faces today, writing: Of all the games that ESRB reviewed in 2005, less than 13 percent were rated “Mature” (M) or “Adults Only” (AO) ... over 80 percent of the most popular games were rated either “E” or “T.” Indeed almost every important social indicator has been improving in recent years even as video-game use among youths has increased ... Aggregate violent crime by juveniles fell 43 percent between 1995 and 2004. ... there might be some cathartic or educational benefits associated with many video games ... offering players a “cognitive workout” that is far more stimulating, rewarding, and even educational than much of the other media fare that is available (note: argued successfully both here and here). ... a quick glance at the back of any game box provides parents with plenty of information to make decisions for their families. And with most new video games costing between $40 and $60, it is likely that adults will need to be present when their kids purchase games. While ambitious, liberal politicians like Hillary Clinton take the morally conservative route of vilifying video games, conservative politicians have usually been right there behind them. But what about the libertarian viewpoint that Mr. Thierer (and most gamers) advocate: keeping the politicians out of it and letting parents do the footwork? With gaming looking to be a focal point of the upcoming US elections, could conservative politicians take up the (perhaps unpalatable) cause of defending video games?See also:Michigan game law ruled unconstitutional[Thanks, lacking cleverness]
