Comments by vigil05 / LJWorld.com

vigil05

Last login: Monday, September 26, 2011

Comment history

KU professor says Illinois crackdown on texting while driving can be example for local law enforcement

Having a conversation with a passenger does not have the same distracting effect as speaking on a cell phone.

- Folks complain about the backseat driver. Well the backseat driver is concerned for his/her life. Your passenger is quite aware of the roadway. Take the time to notice when you enter into a busy intersection or some crazy ramp on the interstate. There is usually a hush in the car..

http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedail... provides a nice little write up. No worries, no crazy scientific jargon.

- Your argument on reaching for the phone is negated by "newer" bluetooth technology that allows the driver to call somebody or take a call without having to reach for the phone - car companies are always trying to "make it easier" ..

Motorists that get into crashes often state "I looked, but i didn't see". Is that even possible? It is. Your eyes may be "looking" but your brain might not be processing the information. What you see is not what you get. May i refer you to the "Invisible Gorilla" study

Back to the topic of texting...

A savvy driver would not consider bringing up his phone up to eye level at all. A savvy driver will probably WAIT until he is at a safe location. i.e. OFF the road.
The problem that most of us have is that we think that we're better than the other person on the road... That is until we kill somebody, or somebody kills us..

September 26, 2011 at 1:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

KU researcher's study reveals talking on a cell phone at the end of a long drive improves performance

The data do not appear to support the windows down and/or Turn-up the A/C hypothesis.

February 21, 2011 at 11:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Meteor shower highlights tonight's astronomical twofer

Hopefully we get clearer skies later this evening.

August 12, 2010 at 9:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Sen. Brownback to hold discussion on commercial space flight

Good call. Still an interesting prospect.
Was glossing over the "best" source on the interwebz (Wikipedia =p) for locations of launchpads.. pretty scattered globally. Only 2 launch pads @ the 28 degree latitude. The Cape, and Kennedy for the USA.
I guess it'll depend on what sort of orbit they'd want to achieve? Maybe a space tourism hub of sorts - that's commercial right?

June 24, 2010 at 12:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Sen. Brownback to hold discussion on commercial space flight

A spaceport doesn't have to be located near the equator to be practical. The Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is a good example. It's on a higher latitude than Kansas, but is still being used by various space agencies, including NASA. Secondly, Baikonur is probably just as "middle of nowhere" as Kansas is. This just might be the "in" that Kansas can offer to help jump-start what looks to be a promising future for commercial spaceflight (see the recent SpaceX launch)

The state's motto is "ad astra per aspera". Now might very well be the time to live up to it.

June 24, 2010 at 9:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )