R&D junkie, Worthy Textor, has-been windsurfer, sport rocketeer.
TSA employee damages nine commercial jetliners Posted: 2 months ago by Fanatic
Testing whether it was possible to gain access to aircraft, the undertrained employee climbed up the outside of the fuselages using flight instrument probes as a ladder--breaking all of them. Pilots are understandably peeved.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 325 [+].
Phoenix Mars Lander is on the Surface! Posted: 5 months ago by Fanatic
Phoenix survived the seven minutes of terror to successfully land in the Martian polar mission, where it will dig for water.
Edit: First image in comments
Comments: 4 Score: [-] 301 [+].
Wisconsin homeowner bets his life he can sell the house Posted: 6 months ago by Fanatic
Sixty-nine year old homeowner is offering a ten year, $500K policy on his own life as an incentive--if he dies before age 79, you get his house for free. His realtor says he's an "out of the box thinker." Pine box, apparently.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 122 [+].
Four children die in school bus crash. Posted: 8 months ago by Fanatic
A multi-vehicle crash in rural Minnesota took the lives of four children on a school bus, which ended up on its side.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 167 [+].
Virginia Beach police cite Abercrombie store for obscenity Posted: 8 months ago by Fanatic
Police cited the manager, and seized large black and white photographs that were used as store displays, and hauled them away as evidence. The objectionable images included... well, look for yourself. Then look up the Virginia State Flag.
Comments: 5 Score: [-] 158 [+].
Minnesota Researchers grow a beating heart in a jar Posted: 9 months ago by Fanatic
University of Minnesota researchers allowed embryonic rat cells to grow into a matrix of connective tissue taken from a rat heart. They ended up with a beating heart. There's a little more work to do before they try it in me, though....
Comments: 5 Score: [-] 427 [+].
U.S. Immigration officials pass judgment on adoptions Posted: 10 months ago by Fanatic
Because of the father's year-old misdemeanor DUI arrest, the special-needs infant and her mom have been stranded in China for two months. "For the safety of the [child]," the infant was refused a visa by a U.S. Immigration official, overriding the advice of experts, the adoption agency, chemical dependency tests, and a second home assessment. An isolated case? Nope.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 153 [+].
A380 Safety Fears Raised After Safari Incident Posted: 12 months ago by Fanatic
They need to get better control of the lions; also, the golf course doesn't meet championship standards.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 37 [+].
21-foot X-wing flies....and dies Posted: 1 year ago by Fanatic
Remember that 21-foot X-wing from last week? It flew spectacularly well, for about six seconds.
Comments: 9 Score: [-] 217 [+].
21-foot X-wing model to fly on 3600 pounds of thrust Posted: 1 year ago by Fanatic
This Star Wars X-wing model, with realistic folding wings, is large enough for a child,except that this one is rocket powered. This is the project website; Also seen on Gizmodo .
Comments: 3 Score: [-] 94 [+].
Arrest made in horrible therapy dog decapitation Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
You may have seen this story in plime some weeks back, about a girl who got her dog's head in a gift-wrapped box after it went missing. It appears they've caught the man that did it.
Comments: 5 Score: [-] 103 [+].
Brand new fire boat...sinks. Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
It hadn't even been accepted by the city of Newport News, let alone fought a fire. Now it sits on the bottom of the James River.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 65 [+].
Space X launch succeeds, second stage apparently fails Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
A private space company's second shot at flying its low-cost rocket into orbit was an apparent partial success tonight. Space Exploration Technologies' two-stage Falcon 1 rocket launched from a remote seven-acre island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The first stage worked well; the second stage apparently entered an oscillation and telemetry has been lost.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 8 [+].
Man takes off with daughter, then deliberately crashes plane into ex-mother in law's house. Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
A man apparently deliberately crashed a rented airplane--with his 8-year-old daughter aboard--into his former mother-in-law's house.
Local news source here.
Comments: 4 Score: [-] 41 [+].
Top Gear launches a Space Shuttle--Made from a (real) car!? Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
The solution to the high cost of space travel involves launching a Reliant Robin--a 3-wheeled car with a pointy nose--on a 1/5 scale space shuttle. With predictable results. Take it from me, though, the amateur rocketry technology behind this launch is incredible,and the results are due to the short TV production schedule. (20 minutes, FF to 16:00 if you just want to see the outcome).
Comments: 4 Score: [-] 70 [+].
Two killed at airport--in shuttle bus crash. Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
Oh, the irony. Survive the flight and die on the way to the parking lot.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 24 [+].
Five aurora-studying satellites launched on Delta 2 Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
The five satellites--the most ever launched at one time by NASA--will study geomagnetic storms that lead to auroras, but that also endanger astronauts and satellites.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 6 [+].
Kansas City chemical plant explodes; fire still burning Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
The ChemCentral plant in Kansas City continues to burn four hours after an explosion occurred there. No one has been hurt; firefighters intend to let the fire burn out. However, several rail tanker cars are endangered.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 76 [+].
Sea Launch rocket explodes on pad, satellite lost Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
A Russian-made Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket exploded aboard its oceangoing platform Tuesday. A sophisticated telecommunications satellite was destroyed. No injuries were reported.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 22 [+].
Royal Marines strap onto Apaches to attempt daring rescue Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
The comrades of a fallen Royal Marine in Afghanistan strapped themselves to the weapons-support wings of two Apaches helicopter Monday in a dramatic recovery, seen on video which continues to amaze people around the world.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 55 [+].
Update: Comet McNaught now visible in broad daylight Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
This is turning into the best comet in decades, especially for viewers in the Southern Hemisphere. Viewers north of the equator can still see it, but only in daylight. This is a follow-on to this Plime link.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 14 [+].
Glider destroyed in collision with business jet at 16,000 feet; all aboard both aircraft survive! Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
The glider pilot parachuted to safety. The damaged jet made an emergency wheels-up landing with the instrument panel in the pilot's lap. This happened four months ago; the jet pilot's local news channel gots details and did a story last night with unbelievable footage of the damage. And here's a story from the scene the day after the accident with a picture of the jet.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 31 [+].
Apple introduces Apple TV and new iPhone Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
Aims to reinvent telecommunications sector with easy-to-use smart phone and easy-to-use, inexpensive way to get downloaded movies onto your TV. The iPhone is all screen--touch screen, runs OS-X, and supports full HTML. More details here.
Comments: 7 Score: [-] 131 [+].
Wind-whipped fire burns oceanfront homes in Malibu Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
A rapidly-developing fire, driven by Santa Ana winds, has burned 10 structures and is still growing in Malibu near Pepperdine University.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 75 [+].
U.S. Submarine surfaces; collides with Japanese ship Posted: 2 years ago by Fanatic
Again? Unfortunately, it appears so.... This time, the USS Newport News collided with a Japanese tanker in the Arabian Sea.
Comments: 3 Score: [-] 56 [+].