James B. Meigs

New York

Senior Fellow at Manhattan Institute

Sr fellow @ManhattanInst; contrib editor @CityJournal. Tech columnist @Commentary. Words: @WSJ, @Slate. Former @PopMech EIC. I beg to differ.

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Articles

A Musky Odor

1 week ago | commentary.org | James B. Meigs

It's not easy to get Rachel Maddow and Donald J. Trump on the same page. But Elon Musk has managed the feat. Just before last November's presidential election, Maddow said on her MSNBC show that due to Musk's partisan activities and flaky behavior, an incoming "President Harris" should unwind all...
‘Space to Grow’ Review: A Golden Age in the Stars

1 month ago | wsj.com | James B. Meigs

SpaceX proved it could serve NASA as a vendor but also launch payloads for other customers. Suddenly, space was a business opportunity. On Oct. 10, 2012, an uncrewed SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying half a ton of cargo docked with the International Space Station (ISS). The mission marked the dawn of a new era in spaceflight and portended the twilight of the previous one.
‘Space to Grow’ Review: A Golden Age in the Stars

1 month ago | wsj.com | James B. Meigs

SpaceX proved it could serve NASA as a vendor but also launch payloads for other customers. Suddenly, space was a business opportunity. On Oct. 10, 2012, an uncrewed SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying half a ton of cargo docked with the International Space Station (ISS). The mission marked the dawn of a new era in spaceflight and portended the twilight of the previous one.
“Abundance of Caution” Reveals the Bad Science

1 month ago | city-journal.org | James B. Meigs

An Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions, by David Zweig (MIT Press, 464 pp., $39.95)In the early spring of 2020, freelance writer David Zweig was, like most suburban dads, willing to follow the advice of experts.
The RFK Jr. Virus

1 month ago | commentary.org | James B. Meigs

Walk into any New Age crystal shop in Sedona, Arizona, or a hot-yoga studio in Oakland, California, or maybe a socialist bookshop in Boston, Massachusetts. Look around for the kookiest granola grandma you can find. You know the type. She'll drive up in a battered Prius with a peeling No Nukes bumper sticker. And she'll probably be wearing purple sneakers. Talk to this sweet lady for five minutes and you will likely learn which planet is rising in her zodiac sign.
Now is the time for NASA to blast into a new future

1 month ago | nypost.com | James B. Meigs

To ensure the future of spaceflight, NASA must stop building rockets. That counterintuitive notion is borne out by the agency’s sad post-Apollo history. For the past 50 years, America’s dreams of space exploration have been stymied by NASA’s failure to build an affordable, reliable launch system. Today, the private sector builds rockets faster, cheaper, and better.
Now Is the Time for NASA to Blast into a New Future - After Slowing to a Crawl

1 month ago | manhattan.institute | James B. Meigs

To ensure the future of spaceflight, NASA must stop building rockets. That counterintuitive notion is borne out by the agency’s sad post-Apollo history. For the past 50 years, America’s dreams of space exploration have been stymied by NASA’s failure to build an affordable, reliable launch system. Today, the private sector builds rockets faster, cheaper, and better.
Greenpeace Pays the Piper

1 month ago | manhattan.institute | James B. Meigs

In March, the pipeline company Energy Transfer won a massive civil suit against the environmental nonprofit Greenpeace. The case dates back to 2016, when as many as 10,000 activists traveled to North Dakota and joined Native American groups trying to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Some of the protesters vandalized equipment, threatened workers, and blocked access roads.
Harvard v. Trump

2 months ago | manhattan.institute | James B. Meigs

Good morning: This week, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and federal funding for Harvard University. This was in response to Harvard University President Alan M. Garber’s announcement that the institution would not comply with the administration’s demands for reform.
U.S. Space Policy: The Next Frontier

2 months ago | manhattan.institute | James B. Meigs

78 Minute Read Share A genuine Space Age is dawning, and the U.S. is well positioned to lead it. Thanks to private-sector innovations in rocketry, spaceflight is on the verge of being cheap, accessible, and routine. These advances open the door for commercial enterprises in orbit and beyond, promising an economic boom. Falling costs can also help the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reinvigorate our country’s sluggish space programs.