The Story Behind SpaceX

The Falcon 1 rocket ascends toward space on its fourth flight. SpaceX

Ars Techica: Inside the eight desperate weeks that saved SpaceX from ruin

The company's meteoric rise can be traced to a critical launch from a Pacific isle.

They bunked in a double-wide trailer, cramming inside on cots and sleeping bags, as many as a dozen at a time. In the mornings, they feasted on steaming plates of scrambled eggs. At night, beneath some of the darkest skies on Earth, they grilled steaks and wondered if the heavens above were beyond their reach. Kids, most of them, existed alone on a tiny speck of an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It was the middle of nowhere, really.

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WNU Editor: It is amazing how feeling desperate and under pressure can bring about innovations and new discoveries.

The Top 10 Most Expensive Books Ever Sold

Luxatic: The Top 10 Most Expensive Books Ever Sold

Used since hundreds of years ago, books are probably the most important step in mankind’s evolution. From the papyrus scrolls used in the Ancient Egypt and the manuscripts in the monasteries of The Middle Ages, books evolved into what we know today and even appeared more and more in digital form.

While before Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1439, books had to be written and copied by hand making them expensive and rare, today the process is so automatized and so much more easier for their digital form that books have become quite cheap and accessible.

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CSN Editor: In my opinion these books are priceless.

The $100 U.S. Bill Is The Most Popular Bill In The World

Quartz: There are now more $100 bills than $1 bills in the world

A funny thing happened on the way to a world of cryptocurrencies and mobile payments. Cash became more popular than ever. The main reason? The one hundred dollar bill.

In 2017, for the first time ever, the one hundred dollar bill became the most popular US bill in circulation, beating out the one dollar bill. It is quite the turn of events for Benjamin Franklin-faced banknote. Just 10 years ago, it was less common than both the $20 and the $1.

The share of US dollars in circulation as a share of GDP rose from about 6% in 2010 to 9% in 2018, according to the Federal Reserve. Increased use of $100 bills has been the primary driver.

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WNU Editor: A one dollar bill does not buy much in today's world.

Astronomers Have Found A Moon The Size Of Neptune In A Distant Star System

An artist's concept of the star system where researchers think they've observed the first exomoon. Dan Durda

Popular Science: Astronomers think they’ve found a moon the size of Neptune in a distant star system

It could be the largest moon we’ve ever seen

Nearly eight thousand light-years away from Earth, there’s a star about the same size as our sun. Like our own solar system, that distant star is orbited by a planet about the same size as Jupiter. But that’s where the similarities end. Around that planet circles a Neptune-sized gas giant, which may be the first moon discovered outside the solar system, and the largest moon ever observed.

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WNU Editor: That must be one hell of a big moon.

The Ultimate Guide To Cutting and Splitting Firewood

Popular Mechanics: The Ultimate Guide To Cutting and Splitting Firewood

From felled tree to kindling, how to safely turn fresh wood into wood heat.

Heating with wood is a study in stubborn self-sufficiency. It’s hard work, but as with growing vegetables, it’s rewarding. It’s also a study in efficiency or inefficiency. Looked at as industrial engineering, the goal is to turn a standing tree into heat as efficiently as possible. You shouldn’t take the easy way out and convince yourself that cutting and burning firewood is just a lifestyle choice that’s all frost-covered mornings and flannel shirts. Efficiency should elbow its way into that cozy scene.

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Editor: The season to do this is now.

How Viagra Became A $3-Billion-Dollar-a-Year Industry

The very first Viagra print ad. It appeared in Esquire in August 1998. Esquire

Esquire: How Viagra Went from a Medical Mistake to a $3-Billion-Dollar-a-Year Industry

Two unlikely dudes took on Wall Street, pharma nerds, and God—and got America hooked on a little blue pill.

According to the Chinese calendar, 2017 was the Year of the Cock. 2018 is the Year of the Dog. And, in Dog years, this is also the Year of the Cock Pill: Viagra.

The revolutionary erectile-dysfunction drug is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of its Brobdingnagian launch in a most auspicious way: by finally going generic.

The ramifications for generic sildenafil (the scientific name) are huge for your pocketbook and your health. Viagra’s high demand and cost (about seventy dollars a pill) have made it among the most bootlegged meds in the world, and one of the top sellers for Internet pharmacies. A study presented at the World Meeting on Sexual Medicine found that 77 percent of Viagra sold online was fake. Counterfeit Viagra and similar impostors have been linked to liver damage, strokes, and death. Just a few years back, former Los Angeles Lakers star Lamar Odom ended up face-planted in a Nevada brothel from coke and phony herbal fucklements. “He was taking herbal Viagra,” brothel owner Dennis Hof said at the time, “and a lot of it.” The availability of generic sildenafil cuts the price of the pills in half and promises greater assurance that the pill you pop won’t be your last.

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WNU Editor: The need for the blue pill was (and still is) there.

Russian Space Chief Believes That The ISS Space Station Hole Was Made Deliberately

Sabotage: Russian astronaut Sergei Prokopyev showed the original 'drilled hole' during a video released by the space agency Roscosmos. NASA

Daily Mail: It was sabotage! Russia finds International Space Station hole was made DELIBERATELY, says agency chief

* The ISS experienced a drop in pressure due to an air leak overnight on August 30
* Various theories were floated, including damage caused by a micrometeorite
* However, an initial investigation has ruled-out accidental damage as an option
* A second probe aims to reveal further details, including persons responsible

Russian investigators looking into the origin of a hole that caused an oxygen leak on the International Space Station say it was caused deliberately.

Speaking on Monday, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roskosmos, said that an official investigative report had confirmed their theory.

'It concluded that a manufacturing defect had been ruled out which is important to establish the truth,' he said.

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Update: Russia finds ISS hole made deliberately: space chief (Phys.org)

Bookyards Editor: The Russian Space Agency are saying that it was not a manufacturing defect. That this hole was made deliberately in space. A lot of speculation is happening right now, but unfortunately there is no proof.

Here Are Your 2018 Ig Nobel Prize Winners

Ars Technica: Here are your 2018 Ig Nobel Prize winners

The 2018 awards honor research on cursing while driving and cannibalistic calories.

Ever wondered why so many people don't read instruction manuals, or how many calories are in the human body? Or whether stabbing a voodoo doll representing your horrible boss with pins could help reduce workplace tension? The winners of this year's Ig Nobel Prizes have got you covered. These and other unusual research topics were honored tonight in a ceremony at Harvard University's Sanders Theater.

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WNU Editor: Never a dull moment at this event.

Lost Civilisations Tens Of Thousands Of Years Old Discovered In India's Western State Of Maharashtra?

BBC: Prehistoric art hints at lost Indian civilisation

The discovery of rock carvings believed to be tens of thousands of years old in India's western state of Maharashtra has greatly excited archaeologists who believe they hold clues to a previously unknown civilisation, BBC Marathi's Mayuresh Konnur reports.

The rock carvings - known as petroglyphs - have been discovered in their thousands atop hillocks in the Konkan region of western Maharashtra.

Mostly discovered in the Ratnagiri and Rajapur areas, a majority of the images etched on the rocky, flat hilltops remained unnoticed for thousands of years.

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WNU Editor: This discovery is  raising more questions than answers.

Is This What We Call Progress?

Here Is A Great Resource On Ancient Libraries

Editor: For those who are interested in the history of ancient libraries, here is a great website (link here).

This Is Why 95.8% Of Female Newscasters Have The "Same Hair"

Courtesy of Esther Katro.

In Style: Why 95.8% of Female Newscasters Have the Same Hair

Esther Katro was 22 when she landed her first job as a reporter at a local TV station in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The recent graduate loved the thrill of breaking news and being on air. But when she was out chasing stories in the college town, people kept mistaking her for a student. She went to her news director for advice, and his response had nothing to do with developing her fledgling reporting skills. “He was like, ‘You have to cut your hair to look older,’” she recalled.

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WNU Editor: Never noticed it before .... but it is true .... all the female newscasters on the TV stations that I watch have short hair.

300 New Words Have Been Added To The Scrabble Dictionary

The Guardian: Yowza! 300 new words added to Scrabble dictionary

Scrabble players will have to rethink their game after new words, including OK and ew, added to approved list

Three hundred new words have been added to the official US Scrabble dictionary, including sriracha, aquafaba, beatdown, zomboid, twerk, sheeple, wayback, bibimbap, botnet, emoji, facepalm, frowny, hivemind, puggle and yowza.

Merriam-Webster released the sixth edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary on Monday, four years after the last version.

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Editor: The Scrabble dictionary checker is here.

Who Caused That Mysterious Leak At The International Space Station?

A 2-millimeter hole was found last week in a Russian Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft (left) that is docked to the International Space Station. NASA

NPR: Who Caused The Mysterious Leak At The International Space Station?

Russian officials are saying that a tiny leak at the International Space Station was likely caused by a human hand. Now, they're trying to figure out who did it, why they did it and whether it happened in space or on the ground.

The crew identified the source of the leak as a 2-millimeter hole in the upper section of a Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, which is docked in the Russian section of the space station.

"We don't reject any theories," said Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's state space agency Roscosmos, according to state news agency TASS. He added that they're aiming "to find out whether it was an accidental defect or a deliberate spoilage and where it was done ... we will find out, without fail."

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CSN Editor: I find it hard to believe that someone did it deliberately. What is more believable is an accident/error in the plant where the space station was built.

The 25 Best Movie Stunts of All Time

Bookyards editor: This is cool .... The 25 Best Movie Stunts of All Time (Popular Mechanics).

These Covert Geologists Helped The Allies Win The Second World War

Troops and equipment land on the shores of Sicily during the first day of the Allied invasion on July 10, 1943. Imperial War Museums

Robin Andrews, Forbes: Meet The Covert Geologists That Helped The Allies Win The Second World War

Scientists are often recruited during times of conflict to serve the national cause. Generally, when we think of those stolen academics, we think of physicists, chemists, engineers and mathematicians – the type that can either build better weapons or crack the enemies’ codes. That’s fair enough: they certainly made up a disproportionate number of researchers recruited by the military in the 20th Century.

What you may not know, however, is that geologists have played a role in warfare too: the US, UK, Germany and the Soviet Union had their very own secret geological intelligence units that played key roles in the bloodiest conflict in human history. For this particular article, we’ll focus on the role that American geologists played during the Second World War, and in the Cold War, but believe you me – the story of geology and conflict is richer and more bizarre than you could possibly imagine.

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CSN Editor:  Considering how important this work was, I am surprised that they only had a few hundred geologists on staff.

Why Swirling Your Wine Is A Good Thing

iStock

Ars Technica: Swirling your wine is not pretentious; it’s just good physics

Swirling a glass of wine produces a rotating wave; swirling beer foam reverses rotation.

Wine aficionados are known for gently swirling their wine in the glass before tasting, and it isn't as pretentious as it seems. (Well, maybe a little.) They claim the rotation mixes in oxygen and enhances the flavor. Physics backs them up, specifically a mini-subfield dubbed "oenodynamics." The swirling action—technically called "orbital shaking"—creates a rotating gravity wave in the direction of the swirling force being applied, churning up the liquid in the process.

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CSN Editor: I do it all the time.

Russian Space Agency Says Hole In International Space Station Was Drilled Deliberately

A Russian official has said the International Space Station leak (pictured) could have been caused by deliberate sabotage. A leading theory from an unnamed source at Russia's Energia space manufacturing company has said that the hole was made on the ground

ISS Leak summary:

First thought was MMOD strike.

Then NASA released pics. Lots of people: "Hmmm, doesn't look like MMOD". NASA deleted the photos.

Top Russian news site RIA NOVOSTI reported - via sources but apparently confirmed by Mr. Rogozin - it was a drill hole. pic.twitter.com/520kHK0TMc

— Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) September 3, 2018

Phys.org: Russia says space station leak could be deliberate sabotage

Russia launched checks Tuesday after its space chief said an air leak on the International Space Station last week could have been deliberate sabotage.

Space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin said the hole detected Thursday in a Russian space craft docked at the orbiting station was caused by a drill and could have been done deliberately, either back on Earth or by astronauts in space.

Astronauts used tape to seal the leak after it caused a small loss of pressure that was not life-threatening.

"There were several attempts at drilling," Rogozin said late Monday in televised comments.

He added that the drill appeared to have been held by a "wavering hand."

"What is this: a production defect or some premeditated actions?" he asked.

"We are checking the Earth version. But there is another version that we do not rule out: deliberate interference in space."

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More News On Reports That The Hole In The International Space Station May Have Been Drilled Deliberately

Russia suggests International Space Station 'leak' was DELIBERATE sabotage: Officials claim hull may have been damaged before lift-off by someone using a drill with a 'wavering hand' -- Daily Mail
Hole in International Space Station was drilled deliberately, says Russian space agency -- Telegraph
Russia says space station leak may be sabotage -- AFP
Russia Claims Hole In ISS Was ‘Deliberately Drilled,’ Says It's 'Matter of Honor' to Find Culprit -- Newsweek
Mystery surrounds space station leak after reports hole in outside could have been made by a person -- The Independent
That hole in the International Space Station was caused by a drill, not a meteorite, and the search is on for the culprit -- BGR
So no meteorite? Reports say Russian Soyuz spacecraft depressurization caused by drilled hole -- RT

A Look At How Birkenstocks Are Made

Cathy Horyn, The CUT: The Dwarf, the Prince, and the Diamond in the Mountain

An unlikely fable, in which Birkenstocks become cool and double sales overnight.

The city of Görlitz in eastern Germany is three hours from Berlin and two minutes from Poland. Miraculously, Görlitz was not bombed during the Second World War, and even more miraculously, its architectural treasures — Gothic, Baroque, rococo — were merely allowed to rot during the Communist era. Nothing was torn down. As a result, whole streets resemble a movie set, ideal for a colorful Saxon fairy tale (like Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was shot here) or a bleak Cold War thriller.

In June, I traveled to this corner of Germany with the photographer Juergen Teller to cover a company whose long history has been similarly marked by accident and fortune. For Görlitz is where a high percentage of Birkenstock’s cork-and-leather sandals are made; the company is headquartered near Bonn, and the family that has owned the business since 1774 lives mostly outside Germany.

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CSN Editor: I had a pair about 25 years ago. It is good to see that they are still in business.

What Is It Like To Be An Astronaut Before You Launch Into Space?

Forbes: What Is It Like To Be An Astronaut The Night Before You Launch Into Space?

How do astronauts sleep the night before they have to go to space?

Most of us lie down on a bed, put our head on a pillow, close our eyes and go to sleep! But I’m guessing that is not what your question seeks. I’m thinking you want to know whether we sleep well the night before launch, i.e., do we get a good night’s sleep before our big day. Am I right?

Assuming I now understand your query, I can only give you my personal experience. My first pre-launch sleep attempt was June 7th, 2007 when I lay down on my bed in the very hotel-like astronaut crew quarters facility at the Kennedy Space Center. It was there that I tried desperately to “catch a few zzz’s” before our June 8 late afternoon liftoff.

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CSN Editor: I would not be able to sleep.