This is a great article but I am still going to voice my disapproval that we are considering launching a spacecraft christened "Orion" and said spacecraft is not powered by spewing nuclear bombs out the back.

Why would they pick a bull shark? This makes no sense. There are sharks closer in size to the hippo. Why have you made me know this is a thing and why is Winged Migration not on your list?

Those are not nearly bad enough to be English teeth. The hair is pretty dead-on though.

My understanding is that at least half and possibly all the proceeds of the movie that are going to Belfort are to be distributed to the victims of his crimes. I think the 50% floor is a result of court order, but that he's going to put it all towards restitution. Probably it's a cynical ploy to make more money in…

It's true. Someone should really talk to these Rockstar kids, because people might otherwise really like their games. This whole gee tee ay thing might have some legs with a proper physics engine.

You know why Italy doesn't have capital punishment? Because they let FIAT design the electric chair.

I haven't seen anything on it yet. The 10th circuit declined to stay the ruling on grounds that the trial court (J. Shelby) hadn't had an opportunity to rule on it, and so the matter was not properly before them. I think Utah's stay motion was before Shelby today at 9 a.m. Utah time, but I don't know if he's ruled…

Ah, understood. Thanks for the heads up. I was about to link you to the decision itself, and spend an embarrassing amount of time explaining the difference between federalism and separation of powers.

Please explain to me how you think the first amendment is relevant to this situation, or to separation of powers. Please also explain your understanding of how separation of powers is important to this decision.

Yes.

The first two sentences of this are correct. The rest is not.

This. I get in my car, turn it on (so it begins to warm up/air condition), and then get myself settled for my trip. This can take some time if I have a few things to stow, want to hook up my cellphone charger/FM transmitter, that kind of thing. I do not want to wear a seatbelt while doing these things, and it is…

I'd bet that the decision not to use rubber was strongly influenced by the extreme temperature differences encountered on Mars. At night, it can reach as low as -107 °C (source), which is below the glass-transition temperature listed by Wikipedia for tire rubber, which is -70 °C (source).

How is fourth gear ranked under powerless, there-for-the-mileage-boost, dying of boredom on the highway 5th and 6th?

That's true, there's no way for velocity alone to kill you, but in this case a high enough velocity in the right kind of atmosphere will cause high acceleration in the form of rapid rotation, so I think the (thoroughly tongue-in-cheek) point stands.

False: http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/B…

Oh, these are all very straightforward:

There is always a relevant xkcd:

Why is it unsurprising to me that there is apparently no customer pressure to fix this obvious defect?

This is true. I suppose the difference is that BMW drivers have the sense to just stay completely away from it, whereas Toyota and Buick drivers just pick a position for it without really knowing why, and leave it like that for their entire drive.