Jim Butcher is writing a Dresden Files graphic novel. It is a 4-part story taking place before Storm Front, and issue 1 is on sale now.
RIP Ollie Johnston. The last of Walt Disney's "9 old men" (called that even though they were in their 20s at the time) who animated classic movies such as Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi, died this week at the age of 95.
Canada has declared that BPA in baby bottles is unsafe and may be banned. In the US, similar actions are being suggested. The maker of Nalgene water bottles is going to provide non-BPA versions.
Lockheed Martin is testing a new spaceship model at the Spaceport in New Mexico.
Scrubs and 30 Rock are going to switch timeslots for the rest of the season (3 episodes each).
Researchers have discovered a new material that is superconducting at high temperatures.
A new ion engine will be used in space for the first time this summer, when a European space ship launches from Russia.
Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) has signed a contract to write an original science fiction movie trilogy for United Artists. This would make me much happier if they would guarantee that Tom Cruise (who runs United Artists) wouldn't be in any of the movies.
DVRs for tonight:
5pm Sarah Jane Adventures (SCIFI)
530 Doctor Who (SCIFI) - Christmas ep between 3rd & 4th seasons
7pm Battlestar Galactica
Saturday:
6pm Torchwood (BBCA) - season 2 finale
Sunday:
9pm John Adams (HBO) - final part, now I can start watching
Showing posts with label space ships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label space ships. Show all posts
Friday, April 18, 2008
Monday, October 22, 2007
10-22-07
DVRs for tonight:
8pm Chuck & How I Met Your Mother
830 Big Bang Theory
9pm Heroes & 2.5 Men
JK Rowling revealed that she always thought of Dumbledore as gay. It makes sense. I like the comment that it gives Christian groups one more reason to dislike her books (which she sees as an argument for tolerance). There are probably a billion articles around by now, but the ones I read were at CNN & January Magazine.
The Space Elevator Games started this past weekend. Teams from around the world competing for $1 million in prizes for creating a super-strong tether or a robot that could climb a suspended ribbon at a certain rate. Sounds like the technology is getting close to making a space elevator possible. This Nature article talks about the competition, and the competition blog has details and videos on the progress.
Even though the Genesis spacecraft crash landed 3 years ago, they are starting to get valuable data on solar winds from the wreckage.
2 teams of scientists have found ways that will change the course of hurricanes (and possibly slow them down). The US to warm from above and Israel to cool from below.
I see why we've been hearing more about hybrid & plug-in cars in the last few months. New regulations require that manufacturers increase their average mpg per product line from 25mpg to 35mpg by 2020. So they can either make trucks and SUVs more efficient or they can introduce more efficient cars to change their overall product line average. As much as I like seeing more efficient cars, I wish they would just work to make the stupid gas guzzlers more efficient.
The Hollywood WGA voted 90% in favor of authorizing a strike. Although the studios dropped their ridiculous request for no residuals until a profit is shown (which never happens in Hollywood), these sides are still miles apart with less than 2 weeks until the deadline. For those of us who hate "reality" shows, there isn't going to be much to watch soon.
2 recent science breakthroughs from North Carolina State University: Biofuels and Positron beams. They have developed a way to make jet fuel from any vegetable or animal fat (no petroleum products involved and it burns clean - a true green fuel), and they have produced the most powerful antimatter electron beam in the world.
8pm Chuck & How I Met Your Mother
830 Big Bang Theory
9pm Heroes & 2.5 Men
JK Rowling revealed that she always thought of Dumbledore as gay. It makes sense. I like the comment that it gives Christian groups one more reason to dislike her books (which she sees as an argument for tolerance). There are probably a billion articles around by now, but the ones I read were at CNN & January Magazine.
The Space Elevator Games started this past weekend. Teams from around the world competing for $1 million in prizes for creating a super-strong tether or a robot that could climb a suspended ribbon at a certain rate. Sounds like the technology is getting close to making a space elevator possible. This Nature article talks about the competition, and the competition blog has details and videos on the progress.
Even though the Genesis spacecraft crash landed 3 years ago, they are starting to get valuable data on solar winds from the wreckage.
2 teams of scientists have found ways that will change the course of hurricanes (and possibly slow them down). The US to warm from above and Israel to cool from below.
I see why we've been hearing more about hybrid & plug-in cars in the last few months. New regulations require that manufacturers increase their average mpg per product line from 25mpg to 35mpg by 2020. So they can either make trucks and SUVs more efficient or they can introduce more efficient cars to change their overall product line average. As much as I like seeing more efficient cars, I wish they would just work to make the stupid gas guzzlers more efficient.
The Hollywood WGA voted 90% in favor of authorizing a strike. Although the studios dropped their ridiculous request for no residuals until a profit is shown (which never happens in Hollywood), these sides are still miles apart with less than 2 weeks until the deadline. For those of us who hate "reality" shows, there isn't going to be much to watch soon.
2 recent science breakthroughs from North Carolina State University: Biofuels and Positron beams. They have developed a way to make jet fuel from any vegetable or animal fat (no petroleum products involved and it burns clean - a true green fuel), and they have produced the most powerful antimatter electron beam in the world.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
10-11-07
DVRs for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl
9pm CSI & Grey's Anatomy & Supernatural (one of these will have to be watched online)
Well, it isn't a full season pickup, but several shows got additional script orders today. Bionic Woman, Chuck, Life, and Journeyman will each get 3 additional scripts written before the writer's strike.
Seth Green will play a patient in 2 episodes of Grey's Anatomy this season.
It looks like our internet access will remain tax free for another 4 years.
Kevin Weisman (from Alias and Moonlight) will guest star in the 12th episode of Chuck as a villain.
The Dawn spacecraft is on its way to study asteroids and successfully tested it's new ion engine.
To see some really interesting new inventions, check out Popular Mechanic's Breakthrough Awards.
A new tool for researching political candidates has been created: Wiki the Vote on Congresspedia. I hope it manages to be a balanced, unbiased source of information.
8pm My Name is Earl
9pm CSI & Grey's Anatomy & Supernatural (one of these will have to be watched online)
Well, it isn't a full season pickup, but several shows got additional script orders today. Bionic Woman, Chuck, Life, and Journeyman will each get 3 additional scripts written before the writer's strike.
Seth Green will play a patient in 2 episodes of Grey's Anatomy this season.
It looks like our internet access will remain tax free for another 4 years.
Kevin Weisman (from Alias and Moonlight) will guest star in the 12th episode of Chuck as a villain.
The Dawn spacecraft is on its way to study asteroids and successfully tested it's new ion engine.
To see some really interesting new inventions, check out Popular Mechanic's Breakthrough Awards.
A new tool for researching political candidates has been created: Wiki the Vote on Congresspedia. I hope it manages to be a balanced, unbiased source of information.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Roundup for 9-21-07
In preparation for the Heroes premier on Monday, EW has reviewed every 1st season episode here.
SyFy portal talks about the expected writers strike and potential actors strike and how SciFi is responding.
Interview with George Lucas about an upcoming Star Wars animated TV show.
The complete Heinlein Archives have been put online according to Slashdot and the Mercury News.
Another new spaceship propulsion technology is being developed: the Mini-Mag Orion.
Someone tried to sell Belgium on eBay.
There's something about reading Stephen Fry review smart phones that reminds me a bit of Douglas Adam's tech reviews from The Salmon of Doubt (but that could just be me).
SyFy portal talks about the expected writers strike and potential actors strike and how SciFi is responding.
Interview with George Lucas about an upcoming Star Wars animated TV show.
The complete Heinlein Archives have been put online according to Slashdot and the Mercury News.
Another new spaceship propulsion technology is being developed: the Mini-Mag Orion.
Someone tried to sell Belgium on eBay.
There's something about reading Stephen Fry review smart phones that reminds me a bit of Douglas Adam's tech reviews from The Salmon of Doubt (but that could just be me).
Friday, September 14, 2007
Roundup for 9-14-07
There's a fight over California's electoral votes. I can see dividing up the votes if all other states are doing it, but doing this just in California sounds like Republican desperation and trickery.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_6891834?source=rss
Adrian Paul talks about the new Highlander: The Source movie.
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=2&id=44094
Rumors are that Lost, when it returns, will move to Mondays at 8pm. I think this will be a better slot for it, overall.
Cool science award for the day: Photonic Laser Thruster. It could take a spacecraft to Mars in a week instead of six months.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_6891834?source=rss
Adrian Paul talks about the new Highlander: The Source movie.
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=2&id=44094
Rumors are that Lost, when it returns, will move to Mondays at 8pm. I think this will be a better slot for it, overall.
Cool science award for the day: Photonic Laser Thruster. It could take a spacecraft to Mars in a week instead of six months.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Roundup for 9-13-07 part 1
Morgan Fairchild will play herself in an upcoming episode of Men in Trees.
http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Exclusive-Men-Trees/800022149?rssDate=12345678
Jon Stewart will host the Oscars again next year.
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20070912abc01
Google is co-sponsoring a $20 million grand prize (with $10 million in other prizes) for an unmanned moon landing by a private industry group.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070913/wr_nm/space_prize_dc_1
http://www.space.com/news/070913_google_xprize.html
By analyzing the orbit of Mars, they think it has had 40 ice ages in the past 50 million years (approx. every 120,000 years), with the wobble causing the sun to either dry out the soil or cause ice sheets to form right under it, alternating in location. Wow, makes life seem pretty much impossible anywhere remotely near the surface.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070912_mars_ice.html
Not all red giant stars act the same way. And some planets could survive the death of their suns. Could Earth? Doubtful, but it allows for some interesting speculation, and none of us will be around to know for sure.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070912_rgiant_planet.html
Vampire star found = article about a star that siphons gas from another star close by.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070912_neutron_object.html
For $1.3 million a year and the loan of their planes for research missions, Google founders will get to park their planes at Moffet Field. I think it sounds like a great deal for all involved (Moffet gets more funds to stay open and active in research, and Google gets airport access right next to their headquarters), but there is concern over just how many flights will be allowed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/technology/13google.html?em&ex=1189742400&en=d65a97aea29c0825&ei=5087%0A
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/12/BUDJS3IOT.DTL&feed=rss.technology
New water bottle filters anything under 15 nanometers (viruses are 25), so it can purify the grossest water imaginable without chemicals and can go at least 4,000 liters before changing the filter. Military agencies bought up his entire supply within 4 hours, but I'm sure he'll be making more soon (he designed it for disaster relief).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=3R3S1NAZ1X2NVQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/09/12/nwater112.xml
Solar aircraft sets records
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/10/1917254&from=rss
A stinky weed with an oily seed may be your next source of auto fuel. It is apparently really easy to turn into biodiesel.
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/10/1734254&from=rss
Student film version of Rama. (I still need to check out.)
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/005624.html
http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Exclusive-Men-Trees/800022149?rssDate=12345678
Jon Stewart will host the Oscars again next year.
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20070912abc01
Google is co-sponsoring a $20 million grand prize (with $10 million in other prizes) for an unmanned moon landing by a private industry group.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070913/wr_nm/space_prize_dc_1
http://www.space.com/news/070913_google_xprize.html
By analyzing the orbit of Mars, they think it has had 40 ice ages in the past 50 million years (approx. every 120,000 years), with the wobble causing the sun to either dry out the soil or cause ice sheets to form right under it, alternating in location. Wow, makes life seem pretty much impossible anywhere remotely near the surface.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070912_mars_ice.html
Not all red giant stars act the same way. And some planets could survive the death of their suns. Could Earth? Doubtful, but it allows for some interesting speculation, and none of us will be around to know for sure.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070912_rgiant_planet.html
Vampire star found = article about a star that siphons gas from another star close by.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070912_neutron_object.html
For $1.3 million a year and the loan of their planes for research missions, Google founders will get to park their planes at Moffet Field. I think it sounds like a great deal for all involved (Moffet gets more funds to stay open and active in research, and Google gets airport access right next to their headquarters), but there is concern over just how many flights will be allowed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/technology/13google.html?em&ex=1189742400&en=d65a97aea29c0825&ei=5087%0A
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/12/BUDJS3IOT.DTL&feed=rss.technology
New water bottle filters anything under 15 nanometers (viruses are 25), so it can purify the grossest water imaginable without chemicals and can go at least 4,000 liters before changing the filter. Military agencies bought up his entire supply within 4 hours, but I'm sure he'll be making more soon (he designed it for disaster relief).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=3R3S1NAZ1X2NVQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/09/12/nwater112.xml
Solar aircraft sets records
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/10/1917254&from=rss
A stinky weed with an oily seed may be your next source of auto fuel. It is apparently really easy to turn into biodiesel.
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/10/1734254&from=rss
Student film version of Rama. (I still need to check out.)
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/005624.html
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Roundup for 9-5-07
Really cool slideshow for the first commercial space port: Spaceport America to be built next year in New Mexico.
http://news.com.com/2300-11397_3-6206209-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
And now for the completely ridiculous: pee powered batteries being made in Japan.
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/09/04/nopopo/
Another top 10 Sci-Fi TV shows list. I think these are designed to start arguments. The order of the shows they include is wrong (backwards would be better) and they leave off some great ones (Max Headroom or Buffy anyone?). I also think the ranking is a little too dependent on what influenced current shows.
http://www.tvjab.com/top-ten-the-greatest-sci-fi-shows-of-all-time/
http://news.com.com/2300-11397_3-6206209-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
And now for the completely ridiculous: pee powered batteries being made in Japan.
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/09/04/nopopo/
Another top 10 Sci-Fi TV shows list. I think these are designed to start arguments. The order of the shows they include is wrong (backwards would be better) and they leave off some great ones (Max Headroom or Buffy anyone?). I also think the ranking is a little too dependent on what influenced current shows.
http://www.tvjab.com/top-ten-the-greatest-sci-fi-shows-of-all-time/
Friday, August 10, 2007
8-10-07
They released info on the Jericho dvd set, and although the extras are pretty decent, it is the latest to fall to the "music has been changed" problem. You'd think they'd negotiate dvd rights along with broadcast rights when they picked the songs these days. :(
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7818
I thought this was already done, but HBO announced they have officially picked up the show True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire (aka Sookie Stackhouse) books. Airdates still TBD.
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=43190
http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-story-trueblookpickup,0,1915877.story?track=rss
Greg Grunberg is going to host NBC's special about their fall shows airing just about everywhere (every channel affiliated with them and online) over the next month. It might be worth checking out. The new NBC shows I currently consider worth a pilot are: Chuck, Journeyman, and Bionic Woman. Then there are their current shows I'm waiting for: Heroes, My Name is Earl, and Scrubs.
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=43191
The complete classic Doctor Who in 5 minutes on a YouTube clip. It amounts to about 2 seconds per episode, but it points out how few I've actually seen. They may be cheesy, but I want to watch more.
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/005460.html
Live Science (of all strange places) has ranked the top 10 immortals. I'm not sure how they determined ranking, and I would have a hard time coming up with any they missed, but the list is kind of cute.
http://www.livescience.com/health/top10_immortals-1.html
There might actually be a space hotel by 2012. Cool.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070810/tc_nm/space_hotel_dc_3
On the cool technology front, CNet has photos of the MIT solar house construction competition.
http://news.com.com/2300-11392_3-6201572-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
http://news.com.com/Energy+geeks+compete+for+coolest+solar+home/2100-11392_3-6201743.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7818
I thought this was already done, but HBO announced they have officially picked up the show True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire (aka Sookie Stackhouse) books. Airdates still TBD.
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=43190
http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-story-trueblookpickup,0,1915877.story?track=rss
Greg Grunberg is going to host NBC's special about their fall shows airing just about everywhere (every channel affiliated with them and online) over the next month. It might be worth checking out. The new NBC shows I currently consider worth a pilot are: Chuck, Journeyman, and Bionic Woman. Then there are their current shows I'm waiting for: Heroes, My Name is Earl, and Scrubs.
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=43191
The complete classic Doctor Who in 5 minutes on a YouTube clip. It amounts to about 2 seconds per episode, but it points out how few I've actually seen. They may be cheesy, but I want to watch more.
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/005460.html
Live Science (of all strange places) has ranked the top 10 immortals. I'm not sure how they determined ranking, and I would have a hard time coming up with any they missed, but the list is kind of cute.
http://www.livescience.com/health/top10_immortals-1.html
There might actually be a space hotel by 2012. Cool.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070810/tc_nm/space_hotel_dc_3
On the cool technology front, CNet has photos of the MIT solar house construction competition.
http://news.com.com/2300-11392_3-6201572-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
http://news.com.com/Energy+geeks+compete+for+coolest+solar+home/2100-11392_3-6201743.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
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