Hasta La Gadget!

In an interesting twist on the politics of nuclear weapons proliferation, NASA is running out of the fuel necessary to power its deep-space missions, according to the Associated Press. “The end of the Cold War’s nuclear weapons buildup means that the U.S. space agency does not have enough plutonium for future faraway space probes–except for a few missions already scheduled,” the report said, citing a new study released Thursday by the National Academy of Sciences.

The problem affects any space mission that extends further than Jupiter. Why Jupiter? Anything beyond that can’t use solar power because of the distance. So instead, NASA has been using Plutonium 238. That’s a substance that isn’t found in nature and has only been produced as part of nuclear weapons programs. The U.S. stopped producing it about 20 years ago, ran out, and has been sourcing it from Russia, which is also about to run out.

As a result, the Department of Energy–by law, the only U.S. agency that can make plutonium–has announced that it will restart its program, and requested $30 million in next year’s budget for preliminary design and engineering, according to the report. (Image credit: NASA/Cassini Mission)

I managed to score a seat for President Obama’s Inauguration–and I brought along the new Sony DSC-T77 camera. I chose the DSC-T77 because it has an intuitive a touch-screen interface that made it easy to figure out various functions, (which was great, because I had never used the camera before).

After a harrowing 7 hours of travel via car, subway, and sneakers from northern Virginia, I managed to reach my seat, which was about 250 yards from the podium. The 10 .1-megapixel point-and-shoot took some great pictures, and I was able to use the camera’s touch screen to zoom in for a great view of the new president and other luminaries after took my shots.

I had been skeptical of touch-screen camera interfaces, but being able to touch the display and zoom in up to 8X was crucial. That way I knew exactly what I had in the shot very quickly and whether I had to take it again–clutch, especially at a historical moment like this one.

Hope you enjoy the shots–more after the jump.

Post by Dan Evans

Now that we (almost) have a new President, all we need is a new presidential limo. The previous Commander-in-chief-mobile, which wheeled the Bush clan around, will retire along with the outgoing administration. Taking its place will be a brand-new Cadillac stretch, which CNN refers to as “part car, part truck and, from the looks of it, part tank.”

As expected, this Caddy is aptly armored, protecting its valued occupant-elect with 8-inch-thick doors and ballistic glass windows. Secret Service agent Joe Funk (whose name is probably not Joe Funk), President Bill Clinton’s former driver, says that the incoming President will be totally isolated from the outside world once inside the vehicle.

“At the same time, I think he will be surprised at the communication capabilities, how the phones, the satellites, the Internet — everything is at his fingertips,” Funk said. “So at one end, you are totally removed from society. The other side of the coin is that he can have any communications worldwide at a moment’s touch.”

But don’t expect this behemoth to get good mileage. Though the official specs are most likely classified, this bunker on wheels is expected to weigh more than a full-size SUV. The car is also a Cadillac in name only: According to Funk, the vehicle is totally modified and the only original parts remaining are the hop caps and the Cadillac insignia on the steering wheel. The limo is said to be ready for the Inauguration on January 20. Until then check out the video after the jump for more.