35 years ago, both Voyager spacecraft were launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Now, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory suspect that they either have or are about to actually leave the solar system, making them the farthest man made objects from earth.

They would thus be true deep space travelers.

From the article:

Two of three key signs of changes expected to occur at the boundary of interstellar space have changed faster than at any other time in the last seven years, according to new data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft.

For the last seven years, Voyager 1 has been exploring the outer layer of the bubble of charged particles the sun blows around itself. In one day, on July 28, data from Voyager 1's cosmic ray instrument showed the level of high-energy cosmic rays originating from outside our solar system jumped by five percent. During the last half of that same day, the level of lower-energy particles originating from inside our solar system dropped by half. However, in three days, the levels had recovered to near their previous levels.

A third key sign is the direction of the magnetic field, and scientists are eagerly analyzing the data to see whether that has, indeed, changed direction. Scientists expect that all three of these signs will have changed when Voyager 1 has crossed into interstellar space. A preliminary analysis of the latest magnetic field data is expected to be available in the next month.

"These are thrilling times for the Voyager team as we try to understand the quickening pace of changes as Voyager 1 approaches the edge of interstellar space," said Edward Stone, the Voyager project scientist based at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. "We are certainly in a new region at the edge of the solar system where things are changing rapidly. But we are not yet able to say that Voyager 1 has entered interstellar space."

The levels of high-energy cosmic ray particles have been increasing for years, but more slowly than they are now. The last jump -- of five percent -- took one week in May. The levels of lower-energy particles from inside our solar system have been slowly decreasing for the last two years. Scientists expect that the lower-energy particles will drop close to zero when Voyager 1 finally crosses into interstellar space.

Electric motorcycles, the practical alternative to the electric car?

Witness Zero motorcycles newest model, which can go 137 miles, and recharge to 95% in one hour.

The question, however, is what is the warranty, how long do the batteries last, and what the maintenance costs are. 

An intriguing concept, in any case. 

Check out the interesting discussion here about the mind of a survivor.

The idea is that a person should have a mind conditioned to self reliance, calm problem identification and solving, and resolute persistence.

From the article:

"A man or woman cannot overcome a substantial survival situation without a conditioned mind.  You could parachute all of the necessary supplies right on top of a stranded person and they will fold up and die if not properly conditioned mentally.  You could parachute a properly conditioned man or woman into the middle of nowhere with nothing but a knife and a piece of rope and they will come out okay, or at least make a hell of a good show of it. 

I believe that not only is the survivor’s mind the most important thing in his arsenal, but that the specific attributes of his or her mind can and should be actively cultivated.  The key elements of this capability seem easy to identify.  Above all it consists of a consistent determination to be self reliant.  When something happens, you are not likely to sit around waiting for someone to tell you what to do or take care of the problem for you.  I suspect that anyone who is a regular on SurvivalBlog.Com has a good start on this one.  Another key attribute is the ability to adapt and overcome changing circumstances, without an initial emotional breakdown.  We have all seen friends, business associates or family members who will freak out when a flight is delayed, or they panic when the power goes out, or crumble into uncertainty when it rains unexpectedly.  Those people really need to work on this one.   Thirdly, you must be able to instantly size up a strategic situation, evaluate its potential lethality, and recognize a true survival matter when it arises.  Part of this is recognizing threats when they arise, which requires awareness of your environment and how it can interact with you.  Some people go through their entire life in Condition White, never knowing that they were at risk until they have already become a casualty.  A fourth key element is just “guts” – the refusal to give up and accept defeat.  As Aunt Eller said to Laurie in the musicalOklahoma: “There’s just one way: you gotta be hardy. You gotta be. You can’t deserve the sweet and tender in life unless’n you’re tough.”  As Clint Eastwood’s character Josie said in The Outlaw Josey Wales: “When things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.”

Keep your eye to the sky on October 7th, since in North America the Draconid Meteor shower will peak on that night.  Appearing to come out of the head of the constellation Draco, the Draconids are notoriously unpredictable.  Sometimes barely noticeable, they are caused by the debris field from comet  21P/Giacobini-Zinner, and occasionally the earth will pass through a dense pack of rocky trash, causing a surprising amount of action.  Last year in fact, over Europe, the Draconids did just that, producing an actual meteor storm of 600 per hour.  

Below is a Draconid meteor from last year, with a bit of aurora behind it.

Then, a short two weeks later, the Orionid shower will occur, and will appear to come from just above Orion's raised arm.   Lots of action in the sky this month, and for future reference, keep handy the EarthSky meteor schedule, which will tell you exactly when such excitement  should occur.

Climber chicks are cool.

 

Exactly!!

"In the hours after the Republican challenger Mitt Romney embarrassed the incumbent in their first meeting, Obama loyalists expressed puzzlement that the incumbent had done badly. But Obama has only himself to blame, because he set himself up for Wednesday’s emperor-has-no-clothes moment. For the past four years, he has worked assiduously to avoid being questioned, maintaining a regal detachment from the media and other sources of dissent and skeptical inquiry.

Obama has set a modern record for refusal to be quizzed by the media, taking questions from reporters far less often than Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and even George W. Bush. Though his opponent in 2008 promised to take questions from lawmakers like the British prime minister does, Obama has shied from mixing it up with members of Congress, too. And, especially since Rahm Emanuel’s departure, Obama is surrounded by a large number of yes men who aren’t likely to get in his face.

This insularity led directly to the Denver debacle: Obama was out of practice and unprepared to be challenged."

The 7.8% unemployment rate just announced is certainly, if true, an improvement, and in addition it is movement in the right direction.

However, it is important to keep in mind that 7.8% is the best rate during the Obama administration, but that is what the rate was when he took office. 

7.8% was the worst rate of the entire eight years of the Bush administration, which averaged 5.3% over those same eight years. 

Further, and perhaps more worrisomely, there are credible people who question these numbers, asserting that the government has manipulated the number as an antidote to Obama's poor debate performance.   That scepticism in and of itself is a bad sign, showing that it isn't just wearers of the tin foil hat that fear that politics is demanding that information be skewed in one direction or another.

Even if that fear is unfounded, the fact that Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, is saying it gives the concern credibility.  If this distrust of the government as ruled by the Obama administration grows further, that will be a heavy blow to the relationship between our government and the people is supposedly serves.   It had better not come out that this political manipulation has in fact happened, as that would be a far worse thing, long term, than high unemployment.

Go here to see a dramatic illustration of the difference between dating in America vs. in the Muslim world.

It will put a smile on your face.

Who are these two women?

The gal on the bottom is DNC spokesperson Debbie Washerwoman Schultz, clearly, but the woman in the top photo is in fact....

Drum roll!!

Also Debbie Washerwoman Schultz!

Vogue magazine is doing a story on her and has apparently pulled out all the stops in her makeover for the article.

All the stops indeed!

Next month it will be a story on Michelle Obama, seen here in this Vogue  photo

Liberal funny man Jon Stewart mocks Obama's poor debate performance.

The comic even admitted Obama might not be as smart as he first imagined. Stewart mocked, "You know, I used to think the pauses, he was just trying to think of smaller words for the little brains to figure out what he was saying. This time, I really think the pauses were just, 'I like food.'...'My children are nice.'"

Ouch!  When you've lost Jon Stewart......

Ok, back to politics.

The Taiwanese pull off a video on the debate that is laugh out loud funny.  Check it out.

 

A bit of non political cabin porn.

 

Very nice

 

 

Time for something non political.

 

Climber chicks, yeah!

 

The day before the big debate Obama was out sightseeing in Nevada instead of prepping, and everyone wondered what the heck he was thinking.

I posited three possibilities.  The third was that Obama's severe narcissism would cause him to be overconfident, and in his belief that he was the best debater in the world, or in the universe for that matter, he wouldn't need to prepare.

Hats off to Pops, who accurately called it in the comments!  Fox should hire you as a political analyist. 

 

A message of hope to the Democrats