The Finite Times

(FiniteTimes.com) - The annual budget put forth by President Obama this week manages to pack much into its $3.8 trillion framework, but robust support for NASA is not one of the blessed. Among the agency’s cuts is the Constellation program, a Bush II-era initiative that would have placed man again on the moon within the next decade. Continue Reading »

(FiniteTimes.com) - One of the sleeper hits of the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show wasn’t a 3D television, a tablet computer, or an e-reader. In fact, it wasn’t an electronic device at all, but a re-imagining of one of the hottest Internet trends of 2009. Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON, DC (FiniteTimes.com) - While many in the scientific community were cheering the recent discovery of a 213-foot lunar lava tube for its potential as a moon base, many in Congress have been quietly advocating to put the discovery to a more practical use. Continue Reading »

In the study, 64 college undergraduates were given various amounts of beer over the course of three days, during which they underwent a series of exercises designed to test their abilities to foster relationships, mend grievances, work together as a unit - essentially get along.

The study’s authors found that at moderate levels, a subject’s ability to thrive and function within a group (as measured by their Kinetic Elemental Working Level, or KEWL) was elevated.

“It varied by subject, but generally two to three beers and most subjects were able to do quite well with the group-structured tasks we gave them, and maintain their KEWL,” said Dr. Jonathan Steele, lead researcher for the study. “Higher than that, particularly as you approach and surpass what we call the I love you man stage, and a subject’s Kinetic Elemental Working Level will start to drop quickly.

“By the time they are pissing on their shoes and puking in the female test subjects’ hair, we could detect no KEWL at all,” Steele noted.

Read the entire article here:

http://www.crystalair.com/content.php?id=0Q200908002

Many who have heard Republican presidential candidate John McCain speak up close and personal describe the experience as dreamlike, ethereal, almost out-of-body. Scientists now believe there may very well be a good reason for this.

“To be honest, we don’t know what it is, but we do know it exists,” says Dr. Sy Vitale, a researcher at Colorado’s Vale Physics Institute. “It’s like there’s a null pocket around Sen. McCain, an envelope of space in which GPS just doesn’t work. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

This null pocket was discovered about two months ago when aides to the senator began to notice that a new GPS unit on McCain’s Straight Talk Express tour bus would not function when the candidate came to the front of the bus to bark orders at the driver.

See the whole article at CAP News:

http://www.crystalair.com/content.php?id=74200807016

When Lestat Destiny teleported onto Hillary Island for her daily prayer vigil, she was surprised to see several dozen people milling about. The Second Life virtual headquarters (unofficial) of the Clinton campaign was usually unoccupied, quiet. Yet today it teemed with life.

“I had one of those brief Yay, we can win! moments, but then I saw they were all clutching Obama banners and flags, and my heart sank,” Lestat types, her waif-like avatar starring off into the tropical distance. “Holding an Obama demonstration on Hillary Island … have they no shame?”

See the whole article at CAP News:

http://www.crystalair.com/content.php?id=49200804010

Internet search giant Google announced today that it is expanding into yet another red-hot electronic arena: online dating. The company’s Google Dates will begin beta-tests in select markets as early as next week, with a planned full-rollout to take place in the next few months.

“With millions of desperately lonely people using Google at any given moment, we feel the environment is right to play matchmaker to people of like interests,” said Google spokesman Aaron Zamost. “At Google Dates, our motto will be, Search for something special, and someone special may find you.”

Google is hoping that its simplified approach to online dating will be one of its strongest features. Unlike traditional services like Match.com, people who sign up for Google Dates don’t need to input a lengthy profile before getting hooked-up. Users select a username, their region, gender and gender preference, and operating system. They can then upload a picture of themselves (optional). At this point, they are set to begin dating.

See the whole article at CAP News:

http://www.crystalair.com/content.php?id=49200707008

Delores Campion remembers when a trip to the local gas station meant a fill-up, a fistful of tabloids and a generous bulky roll stuffed with Fill-Up Fred’s famous tuna salad. These days, with the price of gas so high, she’s lucky to drive away with half a tank, a Star Magazine and a mere longing for the fishy treat her tongue can no longer afford.

“The price keeps going up and there’s nothing you can do,” Delores said from her Huntsville, Pa. home. “It’s so rural here, you have to drive for everything, and that takes gas. They really kind of got you by the ball joint, if you know what I mean.”

Relief may be on the way for Delores and millions like her who are suffering from the recent record high price of gasoline. An energies engineering graduate student from the Oregon Technical Institute in Eugene has delivered a gasoline additive that he claims can cut gas use in half.

See the whole article at CAP News:

http://www.crystalair.com/content.php?id=31200705008

Maverick U.S. Senator and 2008 GOP presidential hopeful John McCain is facing criticism for comments he made yesterday concerning the botched murder/kidnapping incident that broke up NASA’s most notorious astronaut à trois and left one astronautette fighting for her freedom.

“She [Lisa Nowak] attacked the other woman [Colleen Shipman] with a BB gun and some lengths of rubber tubing to get a guy [Bill Oefelein],” McCain said in a speech delivered on the floor of the Senate. “What if she had been attacking a terrorist? The terrorist would have won, that’s what. She’s a pussy, and I think we should purge NASA of all pussies, that’s what I think.”

Feminists and women’s rights groups were quick to condemn the comment.

See the whole article at CAP News:

http://www.crystalair.com/content.php?id=86200702006

Stationed just outside of Baghdad for the past 26 months, Corporal Emmitt Brown hasn’t seen his wife or young daughter since his deployment. Thanks to the Pentagon putting a new use to an old technology, however, he feels they are still very much a part of his daily life.

“See that little brown bar there? The longer it is, the worse her diaper is,” Corporal Brown says as he deftly manipulates the buttons on the small handheld device he holds. The device starts to gurgle and coo. “All set now, but boy, that was a nasty one. I forgot to bring her on patrol with me. Bad daddy.”

See the whole article at CAP News:

http://www.crystalair.com/content.php?id=88200609002