Black and white concept art, Rockwell illustration from the early 70’s represents the almost-final B-1A configuration, from back when being very supersonic was the goal rather than being stealthy at low altitude. Most obvious differences between this and the as-built B-1A are the ride control vanes (the small canards) and the discontinuity in sweepback angle…
On one hand, the utility of this ad for selling Chevy’s seems limited. After all, it doesn’t tell you much about how they perform or what they cost, though there is the suggestion that they can last a long time. On the other hand, the nature of the ad is such that people will be…
A late 1950’s project from Fairchild Aircraft for a STOL aircraft, the M-232. The propulsion system was fixed, but the wings were given large flaps that would direct the bulk of the propwash more or less downwards. Coupled with the extreme nose-up attitude on the landing gear, this would almost be enough for vertical takeoff…
Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 song “Born in the USA” is famous not only for having been incredibly popular, bit for being “misunderstood.” Springsteen’s intent, as is pretty clear by a straight reading of the lyrics, is to tell the tale not just of a Viet Nam vet (the US was barely a decade out from that…
I recently re-watched the 1998 movie “Pleasantville.” For those unaware, this starred a pre-Spiderman Tobey McGuire as a kid who’s a fan of the fictional 1950’s black and white TV show “Pleasantville,” sort of a cliche of the bland, utopian family shows of the time. It turns into a fantasy when Don Knotts shows up…
A common trope in science fiction is the discovery of “an element that does not appear on the periodic table.” This is of course nonsense… if the element has three protons, it’s lithium, full stop. And we’ve discovered – or invented – every element up to Element 118, Oganesson. These higher elements are quite unstable,…
The second Starship/Superheavy launched today. Vastly more successful than the first flight, but both stages were still destroyed. This sort of thing would be unacceptable for a modern NASA launch system… but it was common in early launch vehicle development. Atlas and Titan kerploded with regularity. This sort of thing is not desirable, but it…
Hey, how about standing in some red fuming nitric acid fumes? is that not enough for you? How about a dousing from a nitric acid geyser? Un camion pieno di acido nitrico esplode. pic.twitter.com/GRgt4Zdv4P — ANTONIO (@blusewillis2) November 14, 2023
Due to a law rushed through last year, if Illinoisans don’t register their perfectly legal and common firearm (referred to inaccurately as “assault weapons”) by January 1 2024 they could get in trouble. But there’s a little wrinkle… the “Firearm Owners Protection Act” of 1986. The FOPA has a lot of problems, but it also…
It’s many a year since I’ve driven through Denver. Last time I came close was 2019, when i drove *around* Denver and found it to be a horrible traffic nightmare; driving through it seemed like utter insanity. Apparently the years have not improved the situation any. Video shows car driving down 16th Street Mall sidewalk,…
