* Posts by Lester Haines

1674 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Jul 2010

Brexit threatens Cornish pasty's racial purity

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

"x-factor style vote"

But surely that's the way they should do it, with a televised Brexitathon in a Eurovision stylee? "Hello Essex. Can you please give us your votes?" "Hello London. Yes: Traditional values, Winston Churchill, long shadows over cricket grounds, warm beer, 12 points. Slovakian fruit pickers, nul points."

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

"fousaaaaahnnnnds"

FYI, the official spelling here at El Reg is "faaaaasands" - and the obligatory suffix is rendered "of 'em".

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Now I'm hungry

Nice one.

Hatches sealed on ISS pump-up space podule

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Spot the Russian

The guy's relentlessly cheerful, as we've noted before: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/16/soyuz_iss_arrival/

Scots denied Saltire emoji

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: "sadly no deep-fried Mars bar"

I was so close. Can I have haggis pakora instead?

Rogue Somerset vulture lands at Royal Navy airbase

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: All fun for me.....

Recaptured on the base earlier today. See update to story.

Belgian brewery lays 3.2km beer pipeline

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

I have it on good authority that they're going to strap abrasive pads to a cat and push it through using a really long flexible pole.

That may not actually be true, but it's a pleasing thought.

King Tut's iron dagger of extraterrestrial origin

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: Isn't, like everything on Earth, including Earth..

Didn't you get the memo? Henceforth no snark - by order. And no chukchuk, either.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

The crocodile-mounted laser? I like it.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: Isn't, like everything on Earth, including Earth..

Thank you for that. I'd argue that "extraterrestrial" means anything after the Earth was formed, because before that there was no "terra" for anything to be "extra" to, surely.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Laser daggers from the stars - it's the only plausible explanation.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: It's an interesting bit of enconomics

There were iron ore deposits available to the Egyptians, though. I don't know why they didn't exploit them until later. Too busy brewing beer is a likely, and entirely understandable, explanation.

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Re: Cruelty to meteorites?

You have to nail 'em down first.

Unicode serves up bacon emoji

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Re: Well done

Just getting up a head of steam for my novel "The Satanic Breakfasts".

Thai bloke battles jumbo python in toilet todger thriller

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: Is it just me, or...

Oh I dunno, I still enjoy sanctimonious commentards not getting with the programme. Obviously, if we get three or so complaints, we'll change the entire editorial output of the site to suit their personal tastes.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Hang on....

Presumably, if the python thought the prey in this case sufficiently small and already dead...

US 5th graders have a pop at paper plane record

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: LOHAN?

Sadly, it looks like the FAA is holding up their launch, too.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: LOHAN?

Interestingly, Spring Grove Elementary appears to be planning a "Project Blackbird" balloon/drone launch from Spaceport America. A 23 April post on Facebook says: "Project Blackbird is postponed pending FAA approval"

https://www.facebook.com/RichmondSpring-Grove-Stemc-1220017744679768/?fref=nf

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: "look forward to further attempts to push the envelope."

I sincerely hope not ;-)

Galileo satnav fleet waxes orbital

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Hydrazine. Nasty stuff.

The Dragon's SuperDraco thrusters use hypergolic NTO + MMH, the latter being even nastier than hydrazine.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: So we will have the satellites...

See: http://www.gsc-europa.eu/helpdesk/faqs

"Once the Galileo services are available, the applications will be ready to be offered to the market. Fortunately, the interface control documents for the Galileo signal will be available well before the services are declared operational (this is already the case for the Galileo Open Service signal), so that the industry can develop their solutions in advance. Then, the market forces will be the final drivers of the penetration of these applications among the public. However, as other GNSS-based solutions are already present in any facet of our lives (for example, in our vehicles), the introduction of Galileo will likely represent only an upgrade of the existing equipment; in other words, it will not be necessary to start from scratch."

India roasts as mercury hits 51°C

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: Isn't it obvious?

Actually, it's the entirely beneficial radiation cloud from Chernobyl which has kept global temperatures down in the last 30 years, as well as being really good for local wildlife. Nuclear power: it's a win-win.

NASA's stadium-sized sandwich bag overflies Oz

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Re: No need to fear?

A fair point. From our own high-altitude ballooning experience, a payload under a parachute will generally come down at 5m/sec. If you want slower, then the size of chute becomes impractically large.

Smartmobes in spaaace: NASA deploys Android nanosats

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Re: Spring?

Well yes, if you insist on using the NASA technical name.

Radiohead vid prompts Trumpton rumpus

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: Fuck, that's pretty dark

Good luck ;-)

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: Fuck, that's pretty dark

Not punishment enough, in my opinion.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: Fuck, that's pretty dark

Don't under any circumstances watch the Nicholas Cage remake. A hideous travesty.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Eh?

You've lost me. What double standards exactly?

Supernova bubble clocked at 19,000,000 km/h

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: 19,000,000 km/h ?

Looks like you've already done the job for me. Good show.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: 19,000,000 km/h ?

Let's face it, that's bloody fast, however you quantify it.

Dwarf planet intumesces before astronomers' gaze

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

It's all in the spin

"Oddly-shaped Haumea is one of the fastest rotating large objects in our solar system. It completes a turn on its axis every four hours. The quick spin elongated the dwarf planet into the unique shape astronomers discovered in 2003."

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/haumea/indepth

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: 1920x990

Yeah, the 4K version is stunning.

Russia poised to unleash 'Son of Satan' ICBM

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Not solid

It makes sense - they've got years of experience of the tech. It even serves for peaceful purposes too: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/15/esa_sentinel_launch/

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Two steps forward...

It's just the same old sabre-rattling. Nothing much has really changed since the bad old days of the Cold War.

Spaniard live streams 195km/h burn-up

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: Up Periscope!

Not that I'm aware of. Cops gradually clamping down, I suppose.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Up Periscope!

Apparently they don't need much encouragement.

Sic transit Mercury Monday

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Very good...

Based on a comment by EddieD last week: http://forums.theregister.co.uk/user/32088/

Brit polar vessel christened RRS Sir David Attenborough

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

What are they calling the helicopter?

Marty McFly.

Siemens Healthcare struck by rebranding madness

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Healthineers anthem

I sat through the whole thing. I had taken some crystal meth, though.

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Re: Re: is that PC..?

Bootie-keers, I assure you.

Ultra-cool dwarf throws planetary party

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Winds on tidally-locked planet

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/11/13/todays_explanet_weather_1800degc_8700_kmh_winds/

Studies of HD 189733b – discovered in 2005 transiting the star HD 189733, which lies some 63 light years from Earth in the constellation Vulpecula – have revealed that the planet has a mass of around 13 per cent greater than Jupiter's, but that it's 180 times closer to its sun than our own gas monster.

That, and the fact that it's tidally locked, mean that temperatures on the permanently sun-facing side hit 1,000°C, and a positively balmy 650°C on the dark side.

That's according to a 2007 observation by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, although later work by Swiss astronomers suggested temperatures in the upper atmosphere might reach a scorching 3,000°C.

Whatever the case, it's bloody hot, but the "mild" (as NASA puts it) temperature variation between the planet's lit and unlit sides mean that winds are likely distributing heat around the planet.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Well spotted sir - award yourself a beer, since I will most certainly be partaking this evening.

Skygazers: Brace yourselves for a kick in the Aquarids

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: I just saw one!

Nice one. Overcast here, with rain for the next two days at least, so no chance of a sighting this time around.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Flying pigs

Yes, which will completely block your view of the meteor shower.

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

3-5 am wherever you are I gather. But yes, they need to reschedule that.

EU set to bin €500 note

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: Re:It's time to start hoarding gold while you still can

So, invest your illicit €500 euro notes in edible gold leaf, and if the cops do kick your door in, you can swallow the evidence. Result.

India trumpets seventh navigation sat launch

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Re: Wonder how much they charge...

Outsource to India? That'd see the politicos choking on their breakfast cereal. Whether it's ULA or SpaceX, the US is going to keep it in the family.

Europe's Earth-watching sat beams back icy first pic

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Re: History

Superb: http://www.igsoc.org:8080/annals/8/igs_annals_vol08_year1985_pg47-50.pdf

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Same plane, same direction, opposite sides. Handy animation here: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-1/Satellite_constellation

Galileo in spaaace: France's 'equivalence principle' satellite

Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

Re: Re: Magnifico!

Well for the possible answer, open your eyes, look up to the skies and see...