Boy, this has been the seasons of milestones for my little site here. Just the other day, I was told that I had just posted my 250th post. And that was a few days after hearing I had picked up my 200th follower. And very soon, I will have reached 20,000 hits! Hmm, if I were a numerologist, I might sense some significance in all this.
And of course, credit goes to all the people who take the time to read these things called my thoughts and postings. Were it not for you… well, you know the rest. I said all this already for my 200th follower and will probably do some again when I reach the big 20,000! So I won’t bother you with simple flattery right now. You know you’re great, I know you’re great, let’s keep this party rolling!
Yes, you read that right. Ridley Scott and his production team have released yet another preview for their upcoming summer blockbuster hit, Prometheus. Now how many does that make now? Three video clips of the actual movie, plus those two viral videos they released as promotional side-shows? That would make five clips in total now, yes?
All I can say is, this movie better be epic! After this kind of build-up, nothing less will do!
I was so sad to learn I had missed it. But there’s been no shortage of people across the planet who not only witnessed it but managed to capture the whole thing on video. And here is one of the better videos of this recurring, but no less spectacular, celestial event. Compiled by Astrophotographer Ted Judah, the video shows his views of the May 20th, 2012 annular solar eclipse from Sundial Bridge in Redding, California.
Not only was he able to shoot the whole thing for a retrospective, the guy was also kind enough to let passersby use his telescope so he could share his love of astronomy with them. And the production value of the video itself is really awesome and includes music, fast-framing, and several views of the eclipse as it happened. But don’t take my word for it, check it out!
I am indebted to my good friend Fraser over at Universe Today for another cool story. Lord knows this is not exactly breaking news, but as of two days ago (May 22nd) at 3:44am, the long awaited launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 shuttle and its Dragon module finally happened! After aborting the launch three days prior, the Falcon 9 left Cape Canaveral in Florida during the wee hours of the morning and achieved orbit by daybreak. Once there, the Dragon module deployed its solar arrays and began the game of cat and mouse with the International Space Station, its intended rendezvous point.
NASA anticipates that Dragon will make contact with the ISS by tomorrow morning, Eastern Daylight Time. This will consist of the ISS’s Robotic Arm (courtesy of Canadian aerospace engineers) grappling with the Dragon and guiding it to its birth on the Harmony module. This is an historic mission since it is the first time a private spacecraft has has ever docked with the ISS. Remember the bit in Fight Club where Edward Norton said that “when space exploration begins, it will be the corporations that name everything”? Well this could be it.
In the meantime, check out the video of the launch and the awesome footage and still pics taken by the Dragon spacecraft:
spacex falcon 9 launching from cape canaveraldragon module’s picture of earth
Wouldn’t you know it, the release of the sure fire summer blockbuster, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, has been delayed. It seems that after some debate over at Paramount Pictures, they’ve decided to pull a Howard Hughes. And by that I mean that they’ve decided to hold it back until they can remake it to take advantage of the latest technology. In Hughes’ case, this meant reshooting an entire silent movie for sound, but in Paramount’s case, it means upgraded the movie for 3D.
Personally, I’m not a fan of the G.I. Joe franchise and didn’t care much for the first movie. And when I first saw the trailer I thought to myself, “now there’s a candidate for download!” However, with this announcement, I’m somewhat more enthused. Shooting a movie for 3D usually means it’s got little to nothing going on upstairs. Just look at Spy Kids 3D, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D, Resident Evil: Afterlife, or the re-released Star Wars prequels. Better yet, don’t! Of course there are mixed opini0ns when it comes to Avatar, but personally, I think that one’s worth skipping too.
However, I will pay to see this if it comes to the Imax. That experience is worth the trip regardless of what’s playing. And let’s face it, it’s probably going to be a decent guilty pleasure movie. The Rock is usually a fun guy, and if Bruce Willis is willing to reprise the role of John McCain (and every other action hero he’s ever played) for this movie, then what the hell! Check out the trailer:
Yaaaay! I just got a nudge from the moderators that I’ve just picked up my 200th follower here on wordpress. I’m honored and would like to thank you to all the good folks who’ve chosen to take time out of their busy day to listen to all of my inane thoughts. And I would like to especially thank Stewarty, who just happened to be the one to get me to this milestone. Were it not for all of you, I’d have no one to share all my thoughts with… and then I’d probably go nuts! Cheers and best of luck to everyone 🙂
Singularitarian. That’s a good name for someone who embraces the idea of the coming Technological Singularity, which I believe I mentioned somewhere… Yes, these days a lot of high-minded terms get thrown around to describe what may very well be possible somewhere in this century and the next. Extropian, Post-Human, Clinical Immortality, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Ethics, Transhuman, Mind/Machine Interface, Law of Accelerated Returns, and so forth. It can be kind of confusing to stay up with it since all the lingo is kind of complex and esoteric. Lot of big and obscure words there…
Luckily, Mr. Charlie Kam has decided to explain. Setting the ideas to the tune of “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General”, he tells how the idea works and what the eventual aim is. Basically, the idea is all about improving the condition of humanity through the ongoing application of technology. By preserving our cells, our memories, lengthening our lives, we will ensure that humanity will live on and achieve more than we previously thought possible.
Since we don’t yet know how to do this, we will achieve the first step by either merging our own minds with technology to enhance our thought processes and expand our awareness. Or, we could just create machinery that could do the job for us (aka. AI). Then, applying this superior intelligence, we will unlock the mysteries of the universe, create nanotech machines, medicines that can cure all diseases, and machinery that can store human memories, senses and impressions for all time.
Some big names got thrown in there too, not the least of which was Ray Kurzweil, noted Futurist. But don’t take my word for it, watch the video. If nothing else, its good for a laugh.
My pal Fraser Cain over at Universe Today has once again posted the latest from the sci-fi universe. Despite my best efforts, I just can’t seem to keep up with the professionals! Apparently, an engineer has stipulated that the original Enterprise, the Constitution-class vessel from the original series, could be built in 20 years.
In the original series, this ship was built by a team of Star Fleet engineers in the year 2245. However, this engineer describes – in excrutiating detail- how we could do it by 2032, and using current technology.
Everything from the ion drives, the artificial gravity, a 100 megawatt laser, and landing pods and shuttles. Everything but the warp drive… that’s going to take some more time. But dammit, the Star Trek engineers never specified how that whole “warp bubble” thing works anyway!
This ship could make the trip from Earth to the Moon in just three days, and Mars in ninety. Such a ship, with the capacity to carry a large crew and land people with its compliment of shuttles, would be the first step towards colonizing the Solar System. First the Moon, then Mars, then Europa and Ganymede. Perhaps Oberon and Titan too… Skies the limit, apparently!
Like many things, this latest revelation teaches us that the future is coming faster than previously thought. Already we’ve seen compads and peronsal communicators arrive early (iPads and cell phones). If starships make it on the scene a full two centuries ahead of schedule, then it will just prove what guys like Kurzweil say all the time. Technology is not linear, its exponential, and everyday the future gets that much closer… Profoundness! Cue Star Trek music!
Hilarious, yet somehow socially relevant. Recently, Peter Weller joined the people at funnyordie.com to make a public announcement. Apparently, several citizens of the Motor City announced that they want to erect a statue of Robocop to commemorate their city and how it was the setting for that franchise. However, Mayor Bing shot the idea down, referring to it as “silly”. In response, Weller went online to call the mayor out and lend his support to the idea.
Through a series of comical displays and a cheeky speech, he indicated how the themes of Robocop are in fact appropriate for a city which is suffering from rampant unemployment, a decimated manufacturing sector and corporate greed. After all, these were all central to the story of the movie, so it makes sense to Weller and others that his trademark character get a statue.
And it does, if you think about it. Robocop was all about a good cop who sacrificed his life, only to be turned into an icon for corporate control over a once fair and proud city. He turned the tables by becoming a popular hero, taking on the very corporate moguls who made him what he was.
Follow the link below to watch the full video. I would have embedded, but the damn folks at Youtube disabled it. Dorks!
The concept is not entirely new. In fact, it’s been a staple of science fiction for some time. Moving mining operations, refineries and even heavy industry to the Asteroid Belt as a way of reducing environmental stress and taking advantage of the sheer abundance of natural resources there. It was the concept behind Ben Bova’s The Asteroid Wars trilogy, and was even mentioned as early as 1898 in Garrett P. Serviss’ story Edison’s Conquest of Mars.
But as they say, science fiction leads to science fact. And when it comes to mining the asteroid belt, it seems some wealthy financiers and visionaries are hoping to get in on the ground floor. The company’s name is Planetary Resources, and its backers include James Cameron (of Aliens and Terminator fame) and Google founder Larry Page. Between these three forces, the idea and development capital are being made to being the commercial exploitation of our system’s many, many rocks.
The plan call for the development of viable space craft which will be able to fly out to the Belt, harvest materials, and then return. However, the long term projections involve the creation of mining colonies, heavily automated facilities that will be capable of taking in harvested rocks and ore and convert them to useable materials before they are ever brought back to Earth. After all, while every asteroid is a potential goldmine (literally!), the goal here is to eventually move the majority of the smelting and other potentially harmful operations off of Earth, into space and into orbit.
Click on the link below to read the full article and video below to learn the full extent of the company’s plans. Who knows? If the prospect looks good, maybe Cameron will want to buy the rights to Bova’s series and start making a series of promotional movies 😉
Stories by Williams 