the agency needs to evolve and embrace the options outside the gate instead of the not invented here mentality dictating in house for everything
If the Trump-Pence team pushes it, Falcon Heavy rockets could have more than 100 launches through 2024. The New Glenn, which will lift almost as much as the Falcon Heavy and will be rated to carry humans from Day One, could add another 20 flights between 2020 and 2024.

Together, these approximately 120 heavy commercial flights would lift as much payload as 60 of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) flights. However, there will be at most four SLS flights by end of 2024, according to current plans. Each reusable commercial flight will also cost less than $100 million, while SLS flights will cost $700 million to $1 billion per launch.
Even 4 SLS by 2024 is probably overly optimistic

Column: Prince’s death reveals how so-called ‘friends’ may really be enablers

I don’t know the people Prince considered to be his friends. I don’t know the kinds of things they did to warrant their place within the entertainer’s inner circle.

John Oliver wants to educate Trump, so he bought ads on Sean Hannity's show

John Oliver plans to air a series of President Donald Trump-mocking public service announcements -- in which a cowboy explains basic concepts to the president -- on Fox News host Sean Hannity's show this week, in hopes Trump will see them and avoid a nuclear crisis.

What Learning Looks Like In the Brain

The team made a number of surprising observations about the synaptic nanomodules.

The research is in Nature Neuroscience. (full access paywall)

Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo facing rare opposition from Senate panel

President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, is facing serious opposition before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which may not have enough votes to recommend him for confirmation because all Democrats, and at least one Republican, have said they will oppose him.

Wild don't renew contract of GM Chuck Fletcher: Fletcher had been GM of the Wild since 2009, but the team has been eliiminated in the first round of the NHL playoffs the past three years. http://dlvr.it/QQWDxj

Allegations of corruption at top of FBI, DOJ

Former U.S. attorney Bud Commins on Rep. Devin Nunes' comments that there was no intelligence used to open the Russia collusion investigation. https://goo.gl/PtTGbS @MorningsMaria +FoxBusinessNetwork

Ex-NFL kicker Jay Feely says prom photo with gun was a 'joke'

Feely posted the photo on Twitter Saturday. The photo shows him standing with his arm around his daughter and with the gun in his other hand, next to his daughter's date. But, some people thought he crossed a line.

Ranking the NBA's new Nike-designed uniforms

The NBA rolled out a trunkload of new Nike-designed uniforms this season, with some teams sporting as many as five distinct styles. We asked a panel of experts to review and rank each team's kit.

9 Democrats To Wall Street: Let Us Help You Steal Cars https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-wall-street-steal-cars_us_5ada52d5e4b01c279db45991

Baby elephant
Kruger National Park, South Africa

#elephant #animals #africa

Accidental Art -- Fort Collins, Colorado
"In every landscape reside jewels of abstract art waiting to be discovered."
-- Melissa Brown

Dew droplets on a tiny spiderweb on a cool, foggy morning in northern Colorado... I thought this looked like some sort of magical fairy harp. :-)

a mini #Määh-Monday is waiting for a maxi #Tree-Tuesday ;-)
Saurdal, Norway

50mm f/9.0 1/80s ISO100

#Norway #Saurdal #Legeskog #Balestrand #sheep #Schaf #Norge

The cruelest place on earth

The Danakil Depression (aka “The cruelest place on earth”) sits deep in the northern deserts of Ethiopia, and averages the hottest place on the planet. Venturing here is extremely difficult and quite dangerous, requiring multiple 4WDs (in case one fails) and a convoy of armed Militia for protection. Those who brave the harsh conditions are rewarded with a landscape that looks more like Mars, than Earth…

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*https://goo.gl/W7bbEp*

Cosby defense blocked from using deposition as trial nears end

Jurors in Bill Cosby's sexual assault retrial won't hear old deposition testimony from a confidante of his chief accuser, a judge ruled Monday, dealing a blow to his lawyers' effort to undermine her credibility.

‘She’s a lucky duck’: GOP implodes again for McCaskill https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/23/mccaskill-missouri-greitens-republicans-senate-545393 -via Flynx

Super Earths SOUND cool, but it turns out the extra circumference and mass make exploring space much harder.

How Your Brain Learns to Expect Muddy Puddles in the Park (and Other Things)

Previous research has identified the midbrain's role in learning about preferences.

The research is in Nature Communications. (full open access)

Culture Shapes the Brain: How Reading Changes the Way We Think

Comparing illiterate individuals and adult readers highlights repeatedly just how much learning to read changes our brains.

The research is in Language Cognition and Neuroscience. (full open access)

In early April of this year Chase Iron Eyes walked into the Morton County Courthouse in North Dakota, to hear a white-man judge do the right thing. #NoDAPL

Michael Bloomberg to write $4.5 million check to cover this year’s U.S. financial commitment to Paris climate pact

Mueller Says 'LOL' About Giuliani Claim Of Ending Probe