Posted on 12/12/2015 1:40:04 AM PST by Squawk 8888
It’s a big, dark presence at the farthest reaches of our solar system, a mysterious force powerful enough to skew the paths of planets in orbit and yet so subtle that it slips undetected past even the most powerful telescopes on Earth. For centuries, it has eluded some of the most brilliant minds in astronomy — some say it even destroyed one. It’s the subject of endless calculations and rampant speculation, crackpot theories and countless hours spent gazing, fruitlessly, at the night sky.
It’s known as Planet X.
And on Tuesday, a group of astronomers said they’d found not just one such presence, but two of them.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
While I applaud your treasure and the joy you have in keeping it, I have what I believe is the epitome of mechanical engineering, the Curta Calculator. Like the slide rule, it too was a victim of the electronic calculator. However, like the slide rule, there is nothing like the silky smooth action and tactile pleasure of using it instead of my iPhone (albeit much slower!)
“Mongo only pawn in game of life.”
Oops sorry. Wrong movie
Planet Xena—at last!
John Bigbootay was unavailable for comment.
Do you mean a couple of Log yardsticks sliding back & forth?
The Slide Rule: A Computing Device That Put A Man On The Moon
I have the same one that my recently deceased Dad used pre-WWII.
That’s pretty modern set, well, at least the lead holder is.
Jr HS Mech. Drawing teacher’s first day equipment requirements included a sharp pocket knife.
“Before you can sharpen a drafting pencil (wood) you have to know how to sharpen and hone your knife properly.”
Pencils were used for layout only, final line work and lettering was all in ink on a medium buff vellum, similar to manila folder stock.
We had to supply our own single edge razor blades to scratch trim line over runs at intersections. Followed with glass marble burnishing to keep crisp lines.
Imagine a modern middle school teacher telling the students, “Bring your own knives and razors to class.”
Then again, he carried a snub nose revolver on his belt every day. Covered by his jacket of course.
Tough DC school and neighborhood back then. Life rules were also less ambiguous.
Always admired those little coffee grinder Curtas. Just couldn’t justify the cost. I can only recall them being advertised in the 1960s Road and Track magazines for rallies.
Especially a “super-cool brown dwarf.”
They sure they didn’t find Planet XXX, the Nude Beach Planet in Futurama?
Cool.
Well I know what the French Mistake is....
Wow, my father had a couple of those sets, I used to play with them when I was a kid. By the time I started drafting in 1982 right out of high school, we were only using mechanical pencils, templates, triangles, and the french curves.
I’ve seen electrical plans from the 1870’s, though, insanely beautiful drawings. Unbelievable what they could do with those tools.
;') I'm smug and self-satisfied, because other than some stocking stuffer items (typically cheap cheap cheap impulse ideas) I've done all my my Xmas shopping (and two birthdays) online -- paid for the gift wrapping and had the items delivered to the appropriate locations. Whew. I need a nap...
I was in line at Walmart years ago, may have been Xmas shopping, and the woman ahead of me was looking at the cover of the old "Weekly World News", some dogfaced or alien-faced or bat-faced boy (sic), and I heard her say, "that poor boy", then she turned and looked at me and asked, "do you thinkt that could be true?!?" I thought, "do you think that the Walmart checklanes could just be a little faster, please?"
Actually, mine is a Sun Hemmi Chem E slide rule - atomic weights, temperature conversions and pressure conversions. And, in the nerdiest of the nerds, I have a magnifier that fits on the cursor to read more precisely.
Fortunately for me, I was married by then or else I never would have made it with the girls. Fifty years later, my bride and I are still together.
Where in DC? I attended DC schools (mostly) up through the 8th grade. Back in the '50's through '61.
We had Wood Shop, Metal Shop and Print Shop in Jr High.
(BTW, the photo was from the Web. My set was bought for me in 1968 by my girlfriend. I was in Vietnam and the captain I worked for (before heading to the bush) had asked if I could design a pavilion-type building for the 1st Marine Division Comm Company. My drafting set from college days 65-67 was lost in antiquity!
Check FR mail.
Stop! You're scaring me. lol
...my mind strains to imagine the shear volume of space that is being searched...
That's true. Usually we just boggle our minds with incredible linear numbers like how far it is and how long it might take to get from Point A to Point B in space. But cubic miles in an ever growing spherical search grid around a star? Each mile further in radius is a tremendously larger volume than the mile before it.
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