nugat

Physicist Richard Feynman disputes claims by NASA's management that the material used to make O-rings for the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters would function normally at temperatures below freezing. Engineers at Morton-Thiokol, the O-ring manufacturer, had expressed concerns but were ignored. Smelling a rat and wanting to make sure the public was aware of the problem, Feynman pulled a sample of the O-ring material from his coffee cup during live televised testimony before Congress. The material had been soaked in ice water and was visibly rigid, and was therefore likely the cause of the Challenger Disaster.

Richard Feynman drumming with Ralph Leighton around the time of his 'Tuva or Bust' period. The Soviet government repeatedly denied him permission to visit Tuva, an isolated region in Central Asia. Ironically, a letter of approval arrived the day after Feynman's death.

This is a very interesting case.

hi-res aerial photo of Burning Man 2006 by Tristan Savatier

Here are some background references for this cartoon:
General Strike of 1842
Negro Knights of Labor in Arkansas 1886
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire 1911
Lawrence Textile Strike 1912
Coppage v. Kansas 1915
Child Labor Amendment 1924
Fair Labor Standards Act 1938
Equal Pay Act of 1963
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Occupational Safety and Health Act 1970

A cute short animation in which a young girl must test soft drinks concocted by rival chemists. Made with Blender 2.5

Tel Aviv, Israel - Scorpion venom could lead the way to morphine alternatives, according to research at Tel Aviv University.

The research, headed up by Prof. Michael Gurevitz of the Department of Plant Sciences, is looking at how to use natural compounds in scorpion venom to develop painkillers that aren't addictive or have other side effects.

Toxins in the venom interact with the nervous and muscular systems' sodium channels, some of which communicate pain. "The mammalian body has nine different sodium channels of which only a certain subtype delivers pain to our brain," Gurevitz said in a statement. "If we figure this out, we may be able to slightly modify such toxins, making them more potent and specific for certain pain mediating sodium channels."