And now for something weird...

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
6,392
https://www.theregister.com/off-pre...or-sends-billion-dollar-aws-estimates/5274521

Screenshots posted in the Reddit thread showed one user whose AWS charges totaled just $0.19 last month receiving an estimated bill of nearly $2.5 billion. Others in the thread claimed to have received estimated monthly charges ranging from $126,000 to as much as $2.5 trillion. Hacker News users similarly reported estimates in the billions.

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That reads like a trial balloon to me.

A "trial balloon" is a tentative policy, idea, proposal, or statement intentionally floated to gauge public or consumer reaction. By observing the response, decision-makers can adjust, refine, or completely scrap the idea before officially committing to it.
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
6,392
I wonder if NASA has done any theoretical failure modes analysis with respect to long hair ingestion in mission critical systems.
Grok says:

**No dedicated NASA analysis focused specifically on the effects of loose female long hair strands being ingested by mission-critical systems appears in the public record.** Hair is instead treated as a general category of foreign object debris (FOD) and cabin particulate contamination, with practical controls and limited historical policy responses.

### Historical policy response
After photos of astronaut Marsha Ivins’ long, freely floating hair from STS-32 (1990) circulated, an industrial safety engineer outside NASA raised concerns about the risk of hair tangling in equipment. Flight Crew Operations Director Donald Puddy issued a memo requiring that hair “long enough to present an obvious hazard” be tied back during flight. This was a practical safety measure rather than the product of a formal engineering study of ingestion into systems. Astronauts later joked about the rule (e.g., wearing bald caps).

### FOD and contamination context
- NASA and commercial partners treat even a single human hair as FOD. In 2022, a hair found in a Crew Dragon hatch latch seal nearly delayed a launch; NASA engineers noted that hair, depending on size and orientation, can create a leak path in seals. NASA runs an FOD program at Kennedy Space Center specifically to minimize risks to flight hardware.
- ISS environmental and debris studies (vacuum cleaner bags, HEPA filters, tape samples, aerosol characterization) routinely find human hair strands mixed with lint, skin fragments, food crumbs, and other debris. Filters and airflow systems are designed to capture such particulates; shed hair does not freely float in large quantities because of entanglement and surface effects, though brushing collects substantial amounts.
- A 1992 NASA Tech Brief described a proposed containment device (clear dome + suction) for hair cutting and shaving in zero-g to prevent clippings from contaminating the cabin. Modern practice uses electric clippers with vacuum attachments for the same reason.

### Related but distinct studies
NASA has examined the flammability of human hair in elevated-oxygen exploration atmospheres (marginally flammable in air; burns vigorously at higher O₂ concentrations). Separate biomedical work has analyzed hair for gene expression and trace elements after long-duration flight. Neither addresses mechanical ingestion into systems.

In short, NASA and its partners manage loose hair through general FOD discipline, air filtration, grooming practices (tying long hair back during work, vacuum containment during cuts), and the 1990s policy on hazard length. There is no public evidence of a specialized quantitative analysis isolating the risks of long female hair strands specifically entering fans, valves, electronics, or other critical hardware. The concern is real enough to drive operational rules but is handled under broader contamination-control frameworks.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,815
Ina Steiner said the campaign began with threatening direct messages on social media before escalating into anonymous deliveries of live cockroaches and spiders, a funeral wreath, a bloody pig Halloween mask and a book about surviving the death of a spouse. The employees also sent pornographic magazines with David Steiner’s name to a neighbor’s home and planned to install a GPS device on the couple’s car.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,815
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