Potpourri CLV

It's been awhile since I've done one of these, but I thought I'd take a few free minutes to clear out the blog pile, as Sunday Night Football isn't wowing me this evening.

First off: the 50 fattiest foods in America. And for dessert, cupcakes.

On the more serious side, Lin sent the following speech on the state of free speech in Europe.

With the tools of CGI becoming more and more widespread, it is possible for amateurs to create some pretty decent Star Trek movies. I can't vouch for all of the acting.

I need to investigate/discuss this further, but here's a blog in defense of a liberal arts education. This is worth considering, even when everyone in my circle of fellow bloggers is spun up about the state of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. There IS still a place for English majors, after all...

From Stefanie, a little programming humor(?): Prolog haiku.

This is old (2002), but still worth reading: Penn Gillette on getting groped by the TSA. Along the same lines, here's a worthwhile editorial by Salon Magazine on airport security.

I never get tired of these: random moments of opera staged in public areas. This one is in Palermo, Italy.

Economic news so disheartening you'll want to be sitting down to read it.

Randy Olson, our fearless filmmaker, holds forth on the Science Cheerleaders.

Nothing against the U-2, it's a marvelous airplane. But really, if we retired the SR-71, shouldn't we be moving forward with the next generation of spy plane, not going back to stuff our grandparents built?

Video talk by the Air Force One pilot who was flying on September 11.

My buddy Erika appeared recently on the "Faces of Marshall" feature on NASA.gov. When she starts talking about a certain friend who was very passionate about space, that'd be Your Humble Narrator.

From the Down Under Defense Expert (DUDE), a collection of peer-reviewed papers on anthropomorphic global warming.

From Doc: a recommended "not stupid" site on football analysis.

Interesting article on why the Singularity won't happen.

I just loved this blog by Allie Brosh. Her humor is wickedly funny and her drawing manages to convey emotion if not exactly Michelangelo.

A guide on how to taste wine.

The MaybeLogic Academy...

I still like this: a force field for IDF tanks. Now we need one!

And I guess that'll do for now. I'm rather busy, so if I'm not posting as often, please know that it's for a good cause: promoting Science Cheerleader.com or the International Space Development Conference.

Salud.

Potpourri CLIII

Diving in...

I will do a more detailed analysis of these two articles at some point, but it is interesting to contrast the views of Kim Stanley Robinson, who believes that scientists should assert themselves as some sort of scientific leftist elite while Anthony Gottlieb believes that scientists need to be more humble about forcing their conclusions on people.

From Hu, the latest proposed outrage from the airline industry: even less leg room.

The only thing more arrogant than asserting that human beings alone are capable of "destroying the planet" might be human beings asserting that we can fix the planet. Makes for interesting science fiction, but we're a ways off at this point from doing either.

Here's an editorial from The Space Review on the Space Shuttle's imminent demise and the programmatic mistakes made along the way.

Feeling snarky? Sarcastic? Pessimistic about the state of humanity or the world in general? This site might be for you.

From Twila: an editorial on bringing back the manned space program. Caveat visor: I haven't read this one yet.

This amuses me greatly: a terrorist made the mistake of asking one of his captives to help him set up his smart phone. This is a truly Ayn Randian moment--or at least a teachable moment, to use the current political lexicon. The assumption on the part of the terrorist is that the civilized person will comply with his wish to keep the machinery of civilization working at the point of a gun. This stuff needs to stop.

Melissa forwarded me this site of videos about the Periodic Table of the Elements after I explained that I was learning about them via another class-on-CD from The Teaching Company, "The Joy of Science." You know: because I don't have anything else to dod with my free time.

From the MSN Lifestyle section, a little helpful primer for women on rejecting men who ask them out.

I was feeling pretty good about my salami and provolone sandwich I was eating the other day, then I ran across this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310805/TV-chef-Martin-Blunos-creates-cheese-sandwich-costs-incredible-110.html

From Lin:

• An editorial pointing out that private property rights in the U.S. are deteriorating. How badly? Well, when China and Ghana(?) are ahead of us on that score, you've got to wonder.
• An editorial on the fact that the U.S. is now getting cozier with Vietnam, a place where we once had quite a nasty war. This isn't terribly surprising. I see it as part of an ongoing effort to surround China with U.S.-friendly nations on the Asian mainland: Vietnam, Thailand, India, and some of the Central Asian republics. The Spanish Hapsburgs tried to rein in France in the 16th-18th centuries in a similar fashion, much as we tried to hem in Germany after World Wars I and II and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and Iran today. The enemy of my enemy is my friend...at least for the moment. Or so the thinking goes. This is how we ended up giving arms to Saddam Hussein, then turning on him when he started messing with our interests in Saudi Arabia. Lin quoted Lord Palmerston aptly on this: "Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests."

I have more, but that will do for now. I simply must get caught up on my sleep at some point.

Book Review: The Astronaut’s Cookbook: Tales, Recipes, and More



Review by Bart Leahy and Michelle Biehl Abenschan

This review is a bit of an experiment, as I normally do not review cookbooks. What also makes this review unique is that I've got a coauthor, in this case a friend from grade school, junior high, and high school, whom I got reacquainted with on Facebook. A publisher sent me The Astronaut's Cookbook, and I'm not a "foodie." Michelle, however, has become quite the amateur chef, so I made a deal: I'd cover the space stuff, and she could cover things from the culinary angle. Enjoy the reviews and the recipes!

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Wherever human beings travel, we take our food with us. Sampling the local dishes is a common part of most Earthbound travels. In space, the environment in which food is prepared and consumed is often the most adventurous and challenging part of the dining experience, which is the primary lesson one learns from The Astronaut’s Cookbook. Even simple items like water or fresh fruit or cookies must be stored or prepared in ways necessary only in space. The authors write from Earth-based experience—Charles Bourland is former director of the NASA space food program, and Gregory Vogt is a former NASA education specialist—and partly from the firsthand inputs of the astronauts. The result is a unique book that is part an overview of how “space food” is made and part an actual cookbook. 



The primary challenge for anyone eating in space is weightlessness. Once it became obvious that astronauts could eat in space without ill effects, the biggest challenges for food preparers on Earth were to make the food packaging take up minimal space and weight; prevent food from getting all over the spacecraft; make it easy to prepare; and most importantly, make it taste good. Food packaging for space faces other challenges, like keeping food fresh for weeks or months at a time; resisting radiation; and staying airtight.


The next things makers of space food must consider are the effects of microgravity on the astronauts’ bodies. Without the force of gravity, fluids in the human body migrate from the legs and feet to the upper body, making faces look puffy. Muscle tone and bone strength also weaken because the body does not need to exert as much effort to support itself as it does on Earth. The body interprets these changes as an excess of blood and increases how excretion until a new balance is reached. Bones are weakened through calcium loss, but giving astronauts more calcium can lead to kidney stone formation. Overcoming these challenges is one of the primary activities of the International Space Station—the problems still remain unresolved.


Incidentally, the book reminds readers that the infamous “Tang” drink additive was not developed by NASA. It was invented in 1957, and later used on John Glenn’s Freedom 7 mission. Tang masked the aftertaste of the water that came out of the fuel cells, which produced water as a natural byproduct of producing power for the spacecraft.


The Astronaut’s Cookbook has a plastic binding like other cookbooks, making it easy to keep it open on a particular page. The recipes are organized by types: breakfast foods, snacks and appetizers, soups and salads, bread, tortillas, and sandwiches, main dishes, vegetables, desserts, and beverages, with an additional section for “future space food.” Along the way, the authors provide anecdotes about NASA’s attempts to perfect these various items from the Mercury missions up through today.

As promised, the second half of this review covers the content from a cooking/culinary perspective. Michelle must've gone to the same schools I did because she's a bit of an overachiever: she actually has a two-parter. Thanks, Michelle!

Part One: Rachel Ray in Space

Part Two: Future Space Food II: Electric Vegetarian Boogaloo


And, of course, bon apetit!

Random

Something fun and delicious from Greg Reynolds, the InstaPundit: a lamb and Guinness stew recipe.

Is This What Happened to Rome?

Last week I encountered a food item that gave even a grease-and-meat-lover pause: The Bacon Explosion. Someone asked a barbeque chef to create a specialty item featuring bacon. The result might be equated to a sushi roll made up of bacon and Italian sausage and thrown on the grill/smoker for two or three hours. I wonder how many folks are going to end up having heart attacks, artherosclerosis, or salmonella from attempting to recreate this...food. Wow.