Space Science

BOSTON (AP) — A man found dead in an industrial park about a mile from New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez's house was a semi-pro football player with connections to Hernandez, his family said Wednesday.

A new wildfire in the foothills southwest of Denver forced the evacuation of dozens of homes Wednesday as hot and windy conditions in much of Colorado and elsewhere in the West made it easy for fires to start and spread.

SAO PAULO (AP) — With massive protests by middle-class Brazilians demanding wholesale government reforms, people all over this continent-sized country have reached a verdict on the streets and online: "The giant has awakened."

WASHINGTON (AP) — After secretive talks, key senators express optimism they are closing in on a bipartisan agreement to toughen the border security requirements in immigration legislation that also offers a path to citizenship to millions living in the country illegally.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Leaders in Brazil's two biggest cities said Wednesday that they reversed an increase in bus and subway fares that ignited anti-government protests that have spread across the nation in the past week.

I received an email from Shuichi Ohno, President of the Japan Space Elevator Association (JSEA) telling me about a new racing event they are holding - SPIDER.  Shuichi had this to say about it: “Today, I would like to introduce to you our new category SE climber activities. It is called SPIDER from it’s characteristic, right weigh, speedy, smart(will be). Until this spring, we have been holding some kind of SE climber activities. But now, we categorize them in 3 series: - LASER : Lego bricks Activities with Space Elevator Race (weight - SPEC(SPEC in Japan, JSPEC for the world)  : Space Elevator Challenge (weight > 1.5kg) Sub category ; SPEC class (1km) - SPIDER : Light weight , inexpensive climber activities (500g Sub category ; Spider (Radio controlled) and Auto Spider (automated) Distinction of SPIDER : - Cheap : It is possible to build up with RC car kit parts and total amount in Japan is under $160 except RC  controller or micro board computer. ( Type 540 motor and Ni-mH battery, no expensive Li-Po battery) - Easy to build ( but not too much easy) : Builder must work with drill and jig saw and file. EST to finish by high school techie student is 30 hours. - Safety awareness : Builder must study and think about dropping provision and safety mechanism with break.  Those are very different point from other robot building activities. - Automation : I t is very easy to change RC receiver to micro computer like Aruduino. On June 8th, we held a mini-race with collage and university students. 8 climber came and 4 climber succeeded to climb in almost 10km/h ascend speed. I would like to ask you to introduce this kind of activities on you blog. It is not so difficult to build a smart climber with RC kit / parts of recent-day. Important thing : Energy of recent battery and power of motors may cut the belt very easily if tire/roller run idle much. Please consider to use the heat-stable material tether/belt. In Japan we strongly suggest to use aramid fiber belt. Before you climb, please do the run idle and tether cutting experiment. Thank you.” He also posted a video on YouTube relating to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBSWRo4Gkt0 . Thank you Ohno-San and congratulations to JSEA.  Let’s hope that this competition gets copied around the world…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is planning a major push using executive powers to tackle the pollution blamed for global warming in an effort to make good on promises he made at the start of his second term. "We know we have to do more — and we will do more," Obama said Wednesday in Berlin.

They are called in for surveillance in some situations, Robert Mueller said.

An unmanned European cargo spacecraft may not have been properly decontaminated before launch.

See images of the fourth European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle, the Albert Einstein, from June 2013.