| Political Podcast & Blog | Asheville News & Sports

News Roundup – Jobs, Bin Laden, Trump, Airplane Engines

Although the headline number for job creation was below expectations, this was still a decent report. Some positives include more wage growth (see below), fewer part-time workers for economic reasons, fewer long-term unemployed, and a decline in U-6 (an alternative measure of underemployment).

Earlier: April Employment Report: 160,000 Jobs, 5.0% Unemployment Rate

A few numbers: Total employment is now 5.5 million above the pre-recession peak. Total employment is up 14.2 million from the employment recession’s low.

Private payroll employment increased 171,000 in April, while government employment declined 11,000 in April, mostly at the Federal level. Private employment is now 5.8 million above the pre-recession peak. Private employment is up 14.6 million from the recession low.

(more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2016-05-07T13:44:09-04:00May 7th, 2016|Bin Laden, Economy, Science|Comments Off

Cool GoPro Video from 100,000 ft

We have seen these GoPro videos from skiers and featuring eagles as they soar through canyons. This is the best one that I have seen to date. These nerds (my peeps) built a cage and placed a GoPro camera and a Galaxy Note II (for GPS) in it. They did the calculations. They launched the thing, but then promptly lost it. It was found two years later with some amazing photos.

By ecthompsonmd|2015-09-18T11:43:31-04:00September 16th, 2015|Fun, Science|Comments Off

Comet seen up close

This is so cool!!!

From PC Mag:

“After ten years, five months and four days travelling towards our destination, looping around the Sun five times and clocking up 6.4 billion kilometers, we are delighted to announce finally ‘we are here,’” says Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General in a statement.

Over the next few months, Rosetta will attempt to close in on a near-circular orbit of 30 km (around 18.6 miles; basically nothing in space scales) before attempting to send a lander (dubbed” Philae”) onto the comet where it will take direct scientific measurements.

The Rosetta team has identified five possible landing sites on the comet and plans to settle on one by the middle of October, after which the agency will attempt to land the Philae lander in mid-November.

Comets are often described as “dirty snowballs,” which make highly oblique orbits around the Sun. While they are tiny in comparison to the size of the Earth, they have had an outsized effect in the development of our planet and possibly of life itself.

It is thought that comets helped create the watery Earth we know and love today (and may also have carried over of the vital ingredients which lead to the creation of life in the first place). Further along in our planet’s development comet impacts may have also been the cause for at least a few of our planet’s occasional mass extinctions.

By ecthompsonmd|2014-08-08T21:28:10-04:00August 8th, 2014|Science|Comments Off