MetaFilter posts tagged with Opportunity

"A lesson about the success of Great Men"

the man of twists and turns — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:40:01 -0800

And Now Let Us Praise, and Consider the Absurd Luck of, Famous Men Robert Noyce: Meet Intel's Co-FOunder And Co-Inventor Of The Integrated Circuit. Why Steve Jobs Idolized Noyce. The Man Behind The Microchip. The World Needs Another Robert Noyce The Legacy Of Bob Noyce The Tinkerings Of Robert Noyce - Tom Wolfe, 1983

Well, it had been a close one! What if Grant Gale hadn't gone to school with John Bardeen, and what if Oliver Buckley hadn't been a Grinnell alumnus? And what if Gale hadn't bothered to get in touch with the two of them after he read the little squib about the transistor in the newspaper? What if he hadn't gone to bat for Bob Noyce after the Night of the Luau Pig and the boy had been thrown out of college and that had been that? After all, if Bob hadn't been able to finish at Grinnell, he probably never would have been introduced to the transistor. He certainly wouldn't have come across it at MIT in 1948. Given what Bob Noyce did over the next twenty years, one couldn't help but wonder about the fortuitous chain of events.

Silicon Valley is part of PBS's American Experience. (Via WIRED: If You Want The Real Silicon Valley, Skip Bravo And Tune In To PBS)

"Until you acquire an education, you will never find out who you really are."

zarq — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:50:06 -0800

In seventh grade, after school let out, Humaira Mohammed Bachal opened her home in Thatta (Pakistan) to 10-12 friends who weren't allowed to go to school, and taught them what she was learning. By the time she was 16 and ready to take her 9th grade exams, (over her father's objections,) she and four other girls were teaching more than 100 students. Now, her sister Tahira, (age 18,) is principal of the school Humaira founded: with 22 teachers serving more than 1,000 kids in a Karachi slum (yt). All in a country where if you are a young girl in a rural area, you are unlikely ever to see the inside of a classroom, and advocating education for young girls can be life-threatening. Documentary on Humaira on Blip: A Small Dream. The NPR article mentions Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, age 14, who is now recovering from a failed assassination attempt by the Taliban. Miss Yousafzai was the subject of a post this past October on MeFi

Mars: Adrift on the Hourglass Sea

homunculus — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 12:30:47 -0800

Mars: Adrift on the Hourglass Sea. Desolation and the Sublime on a Distant Planet. Mars-inspired artwork, commisioned by NASA, by Kahn & Selesnick (previously). [Via]

Rebranding Diversity

cashman — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 19:47:28 -0800

Colorblind Racism Inside the U.S. Advertising Industry. A dissertation by Chris Boulton. [15:13 Vimeo] Boulton examines the structure of internships in the advertising industry, finding that while the industry claims it is a way to get diversity in advertising, it actually serves as a way to uphold patterns of systemic discrimination. Boulton offers examples, stories and vignettes gathered through research, and presents best practices for the industry to implement.

Top five regrets of the dying

ClanvidHorse — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:41:54 -0800

Top five regrets of the dying. A palliative nurse who has counselled the dying in their last days has revealed the most common regrets we have at the end of our lives.

Happy Birthday Oppy

joinks — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:50:52 -0800

Having now traversed 34 kilometres (21 miles) across the surface of Mars and exceeding it's 90-day mission to explore Mars by 2,830 days, NASA's Opportunity rover turned 8 years old today. So what's the feisty martian robot been up to lately? It's now exploring the rim of the 14-mile-wide Endeavor crater, discovering "slam-dunk" evidence that water once flowed through underground fractures, and is being strategically positioned at a 15-degree angle for a long winter suntan.

Best Of 2011: Space and Astronomy

Bora Horza Gobuchul — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:52:36 -0800

Timelapse of the Year: an awe-inspiring trailer for the movie TimeScapes by Tom Lowe (full 4K version on YouTube/MP4 direct link). (Previously)
Rover Newcomer: Where In The Solar System is Curiosity?
Astronomy Photographer of the Year. The Top 24 Deep Space Pictures of 2011. Top 14 Solar System Photos. Top 16 Space Photos. (Images of a million-light-year long collision of galaxy clusters and a “stellar snow angel” didn’t make the cut, but should have).
Discovery of the Year: Opportunity uncovers conclusive proof that water flowed on Mars.
Astronomy Animation of the year: a zoom to the center of the Milky Way, and the supermassive black hole that is feeding there.
Lifetime Achievement: The Known Universe, a stunning three-minute zoom from the peak of the Himalayas to the edge of the cosmos, finally available in HD. (Previously).

Mythundersthood

infini — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 02:45:10 -0800

Why Africa is leaving Europe behind: Africans are relishing something of a reversal in roles. The former colonial powers in Europe are wrestling with debt crises, austerity budgets, rising unemployment and social turmoil. By contrast much of sub-Saharan Africa can point to robust growth, better balanced books and rising capital inflows. There is an opportunity in this novel scenario: for Africa to assert itself on the global stage, and for European countries to take advantage of their historic footprint in Africa by stimulating commercial expansion to their south. But it is far from clear either side will grasp it. Recently.

speculative, but instructive, economics

kliuless — Sun, 01 May 2011 06:54:27 -0800

In a pinch, upgrade the humans or redistribute the robots - "[S]uppose [as a factory owner] I replace all my workers with machines... This squeeze has many implications, one of them being that here is an important sector of the economy in which more or less all the gains accrue to the owners of capital and more or less none to the working class..." I think he misses a couple (intermediate) implications; one is that in an all 'K' world (w/out labor) there is no aggregate demand and second is how 'economics' changes in a post-scarcity situation that a technologically advanced society of (super)human level AI and genetic enhancement would imply, and yet rather than a reductio ad absurdum, I'd say the speculative reality he describes is increasingly the kind of circumstance we find ourselves in (environmental bottlenecks notwithstanding, assuming we can engineer around them). BONUS -Richard Alpert on Buckminster Fuller -Peter Joseph on technological unemployment -Are we seeing the beginning of the end of work? -Capitalism is failing the middle class -The Conservative States Of America -A Red Dixiecrat Dawn? [1,2] -Productivity Only Causes Persistent Unemployment If Policymakers Fail To Provide Adequate Demand [1,2] -The case for film subsidies (and other goodies) -Libertarianism is a "low-end" strategy of state formation

Spirit's Swan Song?

Chinese Jet Pilot — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:08:18 -0800

Real robot drama is happening on Mars today. Spirit, racing for her life to find shelter before winter, injured and underpowered after four years of hard labor, may have made her most significant find yet. The broken foot she's dragged behind her for the past two years unexpectedly uncovered evidence of a once-wet Mars with conditions theoretically hospitable for primitive life.

More than just profits, part two

infini — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 08:40:12 -0800

FabIndia becomes a Harvard Business Case study It's a brand that does not advertise. It, in fact, celebrates the success of its copycats. And now Fabindia, the craft-conscious enterprise, is a Harvard Business School (HBS) case study. "Founded in 1960, Fabindia makes the cut for being an example of a corporation that does not just aim to do well, but does good too. "A strong mission can be both an opportunity and a constraint on the growth of a firm," points out Dr Khaire. However, the private retailer's unique value proposition has not come in the way of it being recognised as big brand today. And this in spite of the fact that Fabindia has never advertised, points out Dr Khaire."

Free at last, free at last, thank Mars almighty, Opportunity is free at last

mk1gti — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 23:11:37 -0800

Free at last, free at last, thank Mars almighty Opportunity is free at last. After a several week long struggle, the Mars Opportunity Rover is free from the sand trap many across the world had predicted would bring it to an end.

90 Sols in 90 Seconds

fatbobsmith — Tue, 18 May 2004 12:59:07 -0800

With all this talk of wars in distant countries, it's easy to forget that there's exciting things going on just 300 million km from your back porch. NASA has provided 90 second videos of the first 90 sols of the Spirit [5MB .mov] and Opportunity rovers [5MB .mov].

Brace yourself for immediate disintegration

planetkyoto — Sat, 03 Jan 2004 18:32:22 -0800

Mars, take II - Still no word from Beagle 2 (discussed here), unfortunately, as Mars maintains its tough reputation. However, the first of two rovers much larger than 1997's very successful Pathfinder is expected to hit the Martian surface with a giant bounce tonight at 8:35 p.m. PST. Check out the realistic simulation videos of how it will land and get to work, then watch Nasa TV (RealVideo) for live coverage.