Super Slappy Science Updates

Happy hump day, intrepid readers. Normally, I'd be at apogee preparing for the terminal dive phase of my week. Unfortunately, my plans were derailed by sleeping almost ten hours last night. Oh well. I suppose I needed it.
Super slappy science, in no particular order.
Collapse? What Collapse? Societal Change Revisited
The concept that societies simply vanish, or that they die a fiery, cataclysmic death, is one that Hollywood loves. It would seem, however, that it's not consistent with reality. Large societies tend to weather large stressors well, and it is almost impossible to point to one event and say "Yes, the sack of Rome by the Visigoths caused the collapse of Western Civilization."
Civilizations are like tires with slow leaks. Problems exist for long periods of time, occur slowly, and tend to mask their effects. The people comprising the society may not even notice that there's a problem until long after the society is gone.
This is fascinating stuff. Applied to our own civilization, it shows that the fall of the US is not imminent.
NASA - Shaping the Shuttle
It's stories like this that persuaded me to get into this field in the first place. This is why I want to be an engineer.
NASA - NASA to Show Live Webcast of Nanosatellite Launch
Nanosatellites offer the promise of high launch frequency and low launch cost. Of course, miniaturization is an issue...
I just found a post that was supposed to have gone live on October 24^th. Oops. It's included here below for the sake of completeness.
------
You know that you're old when your Saturday night is spent furtively trying to get children to sleep (and back to sleep). I put the little ones down at about 8 or so, then promptly passed out. Smersh fell asleep pretty quickly, but SWWNO fought it until almost midnight. Smersh woke up about 12:30 am, likely from nightmares or night terrors. When that happens, the only way to get her back to sleep is to stand in the middle of the living room under the bright bright light and twirl slowly. Counterclockwise. For an hour.
Of course, SWWNO woke back up at 6:30 and woke her sister up shortly thereafter. I thanked my wife for a "rockin' Saturday night" and got up to begin the new day.
Rockin' Saturday nights when you're old. Why didn't they mention this in school?
The failed NASA balloon launch has been studied. From the report:

In summary, the causes for this mishap evolved from: (1) a flawed underlying assumption, (2) a problematic historical mindset, and (3) an ineffective organizational structure.

This is actually kinda neat. I saw a show on TDC about the folks that launch the majority of NASA's balloons. Their professionalism was impressive.
-----------
That's all I have time for right now. Until Friday...
Cheers,
-- Zach