Category Archives: Technology

The Kepler spacecraft has a failure

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

Two of four reaction wheels seized up, critical for precise photometry Excerpt from the Kepler Mission Manager Update. (h/t to Dr. Leif Svalgaard) At our semi-weekly contact on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, we found the Kepler spacecraft once again in … Continue reading →

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Posted in Space, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 58 Comments

Some preventative advice (thanks Acronis)

Posted on May 9, 2013 by

I’m killing time. Right now I’m waiting for updates and downloads to complete on my office work computer, a machine that I went to great trouble to make bulletproof. For example, I run a top-end Intel SSD and have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 190 Comments

NASA to fly ‘green’ rockets

Posted on May 8, 2013 by

I have to wonder if this is a good idea, what with so many other green ventures not living up to expectations, this might actually end up getting people killed if it isn’t fully tested before making it into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Space, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 65 Comments

Claim: solar cells that produce two electrons for every photon, resulting in over 100% quantum efficiency

Posted on April 28, 2013 by

From the I’ll believe it when I see it department comes this claim. From R&D magazine: Throughout decades of research on solar cells, one formula has been considered an absolute limit to the efficiency of such devices in converting sunlight … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Solar, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | 74 Comments

Inverse hockey stick in the lower troposphere – real or not?

Posted on March 25, 2013 by

Bishop Hill via correspondent Gras Albert noted this event early today: I looked through the entire satellite record, and couldn’t find any similar event. That meant it was either unique, or indicative of a technology failure like we witnessed with … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate data, Space, Technology | Tagged , , , , | 56 Comments

Introducing the Quantum Refrigerator – the coolest cool tech

Posted on March 12, 2013 by

Since Willis just published an essay on refrigeration systems and how the Earth has its own version, I thought this story might be fun and educational. Many people don’t know that Albert Einstein invented a refrigerator system in 1926 after … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology | Tagged , , , , | 60 Comments

New satellite to warn of severe weather by watching lightning

Posted on March 1, 2013 by

NOAA and NASA’s next generation weather satellite may provide earlier warnings A new satellite that will detect the lightning inside storm clouds may lead to valuable improvements in tornado detection. The GOES-R satellite is currently being built with new technology … Continue reading →

Posted in NOAA, Space, Technology | Tagged , , , | 44 Comments

Cooltech: a nanoscale foglifter and frost inhibitor coating

Posted on February 27, 2013 by

From the American Chemical Society, something interesting. A new anti-frost and anti-fog coating for glass In an advance toward glass that remains clear under the harshest of conditions, scientists are reporting development of a new water-repellant coating that resists both … Continue reading →

Posted in fog, Technology, Weather | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, Original Data For Science Posterity

Posted on February 26, 2013 by

Guest post by Dennis Ray Wingo Introduction The foundation of all observational science is data. This is true whether the data is temperature measurements from ground networks, satellites, or any other thing in nature that can be observed, quantified, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Curious things, Science, Space, Technology | Tagged , | 84 Comments

Citizen driven PressureNet offers real time barometer network

Posted on February 7, 2013 by

Smartphones, tablets help UW researchers improve storm forecasts By Hannah Hickey The next advance in weather forecasting may not come from a new satellite or supercomputer, but from a device in your pocket. University of Washington atmospheric scientists are using … Continue reading →

Posted in Citizen science, Technology | Tagged , , , | 34 Comments

A follow up on the ‘it was warmer in 1790 in Sydney’ story

Posted on January 18, 2013 by

Readers may recall the story  Global Warming?……. It was warmer in Sydney in 1790 by Craig Kelly, MP in NSW Australia in response to some of the recent alarmist caterwauling in the press about the hot summer in Australia being … Continue reading →

Posted in Alarmism, Technology, Temperature, Weather_stations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 124 Comments

Why ice loss and sea level measurements via satellite and the new Shepherd et al paper are highly uncertain at the moment

Posted on December 3, 2012 by

There’s a paper (Shepherd et al) on ice loss and sea level rise that has been making the rounds in media (such as this article in Science Recorder, claiming it validates global warming) that is causing some stir, mainly because … Continue reading →

Posted in Gravity, Greenland ice sheet, Sea level, Space, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 199 Comments

Finally: JPL intends to get a GRASP on accurate sea level and ice measurements

Posted on October 30, 2012 by

A climate science bombshell: New proposal from NASA JPL admits to “spurious” errors in current satellite based sea level and ice altimetry, calls for new space platform to fix the problem. People send me stuff. Today it is a PowerPoint … Continue reading →

Posted in Sea ice, Sea level, Space, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 127 Comments

Wyoming experiences that “giant sucking sound” as new coal fired climate supercomputer is turned on

Posted on October 16, 2012 by

Did your lights dim yesterday? It might have been Trenberth’s “travesty calculator”. Readers may recall when I covered the announcement of the building of this new supercomputer: NCAR’s dirty little secret Measuring 108,000 square feet in total with 15,000-20,000 square feet … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon footprint, Technology | Tagged , , , | 74 Comments

Something practical – new roof design saves energy

Posted on September 12, 2012 by

ORNL roof and attic design proves efficient in summer and winter By Emma Macmillan OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Sep. 10, 2012 — A new kind of roof-and-attic system field-tested at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory keeps homes cool … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Technology | Tagged , , , | 63 Comments

Beefing up security on skeptical blogs

Posted on August 17, 2012 by

It has been noted that in the past week we have seen two prominent skeptic websites attacked: Jo Nova and The GWPF, the latter of which has been overtaken, and a message from the attackers replaced the home page. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate ugliness, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | 107 Comments

Earth, with some MSG added

Posted on August 8, 2012 by

PR 25 2012 – Today, the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) instrument on MSG-3 captured its first image of the Earth (August 7th). This demonstrates that Europe’s latest geostationary weather satellite, launched on 5 July, is performing well … Continue reading →

Posted in Space, Technology | Tagged , , , | 46 Comments

NASA’s 7 minutes of terror tonight – more than a curiosity

Posted on August 5, 2012 by

UPDATE: Touchdown confirmed! Congratulations NASA JPL! First image received. See below. ======================================== I thought I”d take a minute to advise you that some real science and engineering that will be see from NASA tonight rather than the politically motivated science … Continue reading →

Posted in Space, Technology | Tagged , , , , | 183 Comments

New gadget: remote WiFi Temperature & Humidity Data Logger

Posted on July 10, 2012 by

Measurment of temperature is getting so much easier these days. Some of you may have a need for this WiFi Temperature / Humidity Data Logging Sensor, so I thought I’d list it here. It allows you to log temperature and … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, Temperature | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Some stuff I’ve been up to…Cellular Weather Station

Posted on June 23, 2012 by

As many people know, weather stations are my specialty. I’ve been busy with inventing a number of things as of late, trying to stay competitive. So thought I’d drop this out there in case anyone has a use for either … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, Weather_stations | Tagged , , , , , | 60 Comments