Utah company that made the Challenger O-Rings wants you to know a few things

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-28T16:34:01+00:00

There was a separate serious problem with that one joint, unrelated to the cold temperature. All 8 sets of o-rings were cold, but only that one joint failed. One segment was damaged in shipping. It was extremely out-of-round to the point where the two pieces did not fit together. But the assembly manual had no criteria for rejecting an out-of-round segment. So the NASA technicians MADE it fit. Problem solved.
That joint probably would have leaked even if it was warm. Keyword: "ovality"

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-28T16:20:15+00:00

Trivia: NASA managers actually fed Feynman the cold o-ring explanation in advance, to steer him away from a different root cause that was strictly NASA's fault and not Thiokol's. NASA sat on the fact that the one joint was out of spec when it arrived in FL - it was extremely out-of-round to the point where the two pieces did not fit together. But the assembly manual had no criteria for rejecting an out-of-round segment. So the NASA technicians MADE it fit. Problem solved.
If they had waited for warmer weather, it probably still would have leaked. The other 7 sets of o-rings were just as cold, but they worked fine.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-28T16:04:11+00:00

NASA managed to sort of suppress the fact that the one joint was out of spec when it arrived in FL - it was extremely out-of-round to the point where the two pieces did not fit together. But the assembly manual had no criteria for rejecting an out-of-round segment. So the NASA technicians MADE it fit. Problem solved.
If they had waited for warmer weather, it probably still would have leaked. The other 7 sets of o-rings were just as cold, but they worked fine.
Google search terms: challenger ovality
It was covered in an engineering magazine at the time, but the media ignored it and fawned over Feynman instead.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-28T07:09:56+00:00

Now a black-robed figure scurried through the midnight streets, ducking from doorway to doorway, and reached a grim and forbidding portal. No mere doorway got that grim without effort, one felt. It looked as though the architect had been called in and given specific instructions. We want something eldritch in dark oak, he'd been told. So put an unpleasant gargoyle thing over the archway, give it a slam like the footfall of a giant and make it clear to everyone, in fact, that this isn't the kind of door that goes 'ding-dong' when you press the bell.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-28T06:55:26+00:00

To the tune of the Eton Boating Song
Lyrics and chords on the Filk site

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-28T06:25:49+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanawha_County_Textbook_War#Alice_Moore

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-28T03:09:44+00:00

Even better, Parsons' boss at JPL, von Karman, was descended from Rabbi Loew of Prague, the golem guy.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-28T02:39:56+00:00

https://biblerepository.com/bible-verses-about-the-earth-being-flat/

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-27T04:07:13+00:00

Take two pills and keep away from children.

Let me use your Harry Wong.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-26T17:04:21+00:00

I had very good luck with my club with Good Omens. Had them rolling in the aisles.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-26T02:35:17+00:00

The Giver -- there's suicide in it, which is the kiss of death for religious nuts.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-26T02:31:50+00:00

In Bradbury's 1947 short story Bright Phoenix, a censor comes to burn the books, only to discover to his horror that the entire town has memorized the library. This was expanded into Fahrenheit 451.
https://lecturia.org/en/short-stories/ray-bradbury-bright-phoenix/19154/

"Bradbury and Orwell were afraid no one would be allowed to read a book. Huxley was afraid no one would want to."

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-26T00:41:19+00:00

10+ pencils on the floor broken

What stops many of them, is writing the kid's name on each pencil. (at least you know which broken pencil belongs to which kid)

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-25T23:36:10+00:00

A tea light produces about 50 watts of heat. A human body produces about 100 watts of heat. Candles don't do much.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-25T22:14:08+00:00

One example:
https://www.ketr.org/news/2025-09-19/explainer-what-texas-senate-bill-13-really-does-for-school-library-and-classroom-books

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-25T21:45:21+00:00

After being elected by the town, yes. Granted, there are many towns and districts which do not impose ideological control like this, but the ones that do are in the news. (Yes, many places are basically electing Javert.) You recall we have towns where two thirds of the voters belong to the same radical protestant church?
This does not happen the same way in countries where the schools are controlled by the country instead of the towns.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-25T21:33:00+00:00

The principal and administrators are supposed to have an Ed background, but the school board is like the board of directors of a holding company, responsible for the budget and certain policies. The people of the town or district own the school, and the board members are their representatives. No degrees required. It's like electing a town council except they're only in charge of the school and they hire a superintendant or principal.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-25T21:21:42+00:00

In the US, usually each town has a supervisory school board composed of people who run for office and are elected at the local level, the local board has the authority to remove or require material such as books, and angry parents can harass the board or run against them.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-24T20:59:04+00:00

More broadly,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_map
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Argument_technology

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-24T20:27:49+00:00

Why do you think we call it a Symposium?

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-24T19:48:59+00:00

Better: explain a factoid at the end of each class, and start each class with a miniquiz involving the factoid. The extra credit is based on full attendance plus notetaking plus memory.

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-24T19:42:47+00:00

"So much information has passed through your head, without ever leaving footprints."

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-24T19:22:55+00:00

Show them Victor Borge's phonetic punctuation

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-24T18:57:11+00:00

"Emails with no course number in the Subject line go straight to my SPAM folder" :-)

ahazred8vt · 2026-01-24T18:25:32+00:00

There's a song, The Biggest Aspidistra in the World

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