SpaceX's fourth flight was successful. Scaled Composites' X-Prize winning SpaceShipOne made the first privately funded hop into space. SpaceX just took the next big step and inserted a dummy payload into orbit. Next, they will launch the much larger Falcon 9 and later test out the human-carrying Dragon. CEO Elon Musk also enjoys dabbling in banking and exotic electric cars.
posted by b1tr0t on Sep 28, 2008 - 45 comments

We're all used to animal cams at the zoo. You can watch animals in the wild or in captivity. But how about a live animal cam at...the library!
posted by nax on May 15, 2008 - 12 comments

The sport and hobby of Falconry, or hunting small game with raptors has been around since ~600 bce. What you might not have known is that there is a small industry to provide your hawk or falcon with a jaunty chapeau, often necessary to keep the bird calm. More here, here, and here. And then there's the crazy. All you need... is five-hundred geepee...
posted by exlotuseater on Jan 11, 2007 - 12 comments

Falcon watching I've always found falcons fascinating.

A long time ago, I helped out ( in a small way ) with the state effort to re-establish the peregrine falcon in the Midwest. It was in a major Midwest city, where the downtown buildings were a close match to their native nesting habitat of cliff faces and tall trees. The focus for the falcon release was a hack box. Now, the same hack box is being used as a nest by a falcon breeding pair, who have four eyasses ( singular; eyas: i.e., falcon chicks ) this year.

This URL is the webcam of the hack box; it refreshes every 30 seconds. Since falcons eyasses grow fast, they need a lot of feeding, so the parents are primarily out hunting when they are not sheltering their children. Every once and a while you'll see one of the parents feeding the eyasses. In the coming weeks, you can watch these eyasses grow to more than triple their present size and get their flying wings.
posted by dragonmage on Apr 27, 2001 - 6 comments