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A Rare Descent into Politics
First, go read this post on BoingBoing. Now, go here, get your rep’s phone number, and remind them that pulling their head out of their fundament is worth the cold ears. I’ve been following the telecom “retroactive amnesty” issue on Threat Level and a couple of other blogs, and given the recent rumblings that this…
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Cephalopod yarn project
Wish I listened to Grandma and learned how to knit/crochet.
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The “God Lobe”
The current issue of Scientific American Mind discusses how neuroscientists are using brain scans to study the biology of spiritual experiences; they are, for instance, taking MRIs of the brains of people when they are recalling “religious experiences,” to see what parts of the brain light up. University of Montreal researcher Mario Beauregard says, “These…
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Smile
On September 19, 1982, at 11:44 a.m., the first emoticon was posted to the Internet. The :) is 25 years old today. Link
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Robert Jordan, RIP
First L’Engle, then Jordan … who’s going to be the 3rd? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6999578.stm
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Google Sponsors Moon Landing
As I said in a previous post, if I had to put money on who’d be running things in 20 years, it’d be Google. Google Inc. is bankrolling a $30 million out-of-this-world prize to the first private company that can safely land a robotic rover on the moon and beam back a gigabyte of images…
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Site Selection for 2009 WorldCon
The race was between Kansas City and Montreal. Montreal won. It will be held August 6 through 10, 2009 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. Hotel rooms, at current exchange, will be from $120 to $180. I am not a happy camper :/
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Live, from Yokohama … it’s Worldcon!
Okay, not live. But John Pomeranz has asked that this word get out to folks who might be interested in seeing the Worldcon and aren’t themselves in Japan this week: Fast Forward: Contemporary Science Fiction offers daily video reports from Nippon 2007, the first Worldcon in Japan. Click the link to the blog on the…
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Hugo Award and John W. Campbell Award winners for 2007
Awarded in Japan: Best Novel: ‘Rainbows End’ by Vernor Vinge Best Novella: ‘A Billion Eves’ by Robert Reed Best Novelette: ‘The Djinn’s Wife’ by Ian McDonald Best Short Story: ‘Impossible Dreams’ by Tim Pratt Best Related Book: ‘James Tiptree Jr: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon’ by Julie Phillips Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form:…
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Reach Out–Way Out–and Touch Something
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have unveiled the Haptic Telexistence glove, which allows its user to “feel” the sensation of holding an object in a remote robot hand. Link (via Neatorama)