Gravity Lens Weblog

Archive February 1 - 28

Wednesday, February 28

Warren Ellis links to this alarm clock that wakes you up to the sound of Stephen Fry doing what sounds like a reprise of his Jeeves role.

Tuesday, February 27

Popular Science gives us the office chair of tommorow and other tools of the future of work.

Monday, February 26

Today begins my last week of work at the job I've held for nearly nine years. I'll be spending a lot of time wrapping up loose ends and hauling away all the stuff that has accreted on and around my desk in that time. Posting may be light.

iTWire reports on Vint Cerf's work on a permanent internet connection to Mars, the first step in a solar system-wide web.

Meanwhile, Technovelgy reports that this memorable scene is coming true.

George Dvorsky looks at the various schools of thought surrounding eugenics.

Sunday, February 25

Spent the bulk of Friday and Saturday at the New York Comic Con. It was fun. Got to meet Bill Plympton and Ron Goulart, as well as Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey from Action Philosophers. I was a tad disappointed that the big publishers didn't have more impressive booths, but there were many back issues to browse. I also realized that the market for ironic action figures, such as Crazy Cat Lady and Albino Bowler, is increasing with high profile items like Astronaut Jesus. I'm also confused by the popularity of cute/ugly items like vinyl figures and Minimates. What the hell is the appeal of that?

I am also disheartened by the lack of decent science fiction comics, Sure we've had some recent action books like Annihilation and Adam Strange, but why are there no SF comic epics on par with Sandman or Lucifer?

Hmmm. I may have to do something about this...

Thursday, February 22

Physorg tells us China is currently testing maglev launch assist technology.

Wednesday, February 21

Assorted Items: The headline reads "make way for robot with feelings."

Here's The Official Victor Lundin Site. Home of the First Klingon on Star Trek.

Via SF Signal: Paul Lucas at Strange Horizons gives us a list of science fictional megastructures. He does, however, leave out Jupiter Brains and Matrioshka Brains.

And if you're up for some math, Strange Paths looks at the needs and logistics of an interstellar ark. Photon Swarm has a primer on the subject if you need one.

Tuesday, February 20

Let's celebrate President's Day a day late by revisiting the Wikipedia entry on Fictional Presidents, who outnumber real ones by several orders of magnitude.

Michael Huang at The Space Review explores The Other Side of the Fermi Paradox and ponders what it might mean for humanity.

I've begun to organize some of my online art into a gallery page. This features a few of the holiday cards, some recently remastered stuff from the woefully out of date Visions of Xenolympus site, and a few things I've been working on. It's nothing fancy yet, just a stack of illustrations. I'll be adding stuff regularly.

Monday, February 19

Apollo astronaut Harrison Schmitt says future moon explorers should traverse the lunar terrain by cross-country skiing across it.

My ideal computer workstation would combine this with this.

Saturday, February 17

The excellent blog Paleo-Future links to these two Flickr photosets of a neat looking abandoned futuristic housing project in Taiwan.

Friday, February 16

Astrobiology makes the case for going to the Jovian moon Europa, even though that's the one moon we're not supposed to go to.

Thursday, February 15

Nerve gives us a list of 20 Comics That can Change Your Life. Meanwhile, Steven Grant at Comic Book Resources discusses what effect comic book movie adaptations have of the industry.

Wednesday, February 14

Kurt Amacker at Mania celebrates Valentine's Day by revisiting the subject of depictions of women in comics.

I am posting from a hotel where my soon-to-be-ex-employer has put me up for the night to wait out an incoming snowstorm. So it is with interest that I read this CNN Money piece of the hotel of tomorrow, including voiceprint-activated doors and robot bellhops.

Assorted Items: Here's an intriguing headline from New Scientist Space: "Atom smasher may give birth to 'Black Saturns.'"

From Figures.com's extensive coverage of Toy Fair comes this gallery of neat ray guns that WETA Collectibles will be selling this year.

Acquire gives us more future-sexy with the three-wheeled Can-Am Spyder.

Tuesday, February 13

Bob Mahoney of The Space Review continues his essay on how NASA can get the public excited about spaceflight again.

Popular Science gives us another future-sexy aircraft: the supersonic QSST.

Monday, February 12

Erik Larson shows the love for Kamandi, Last Boy on Earth over at Comic Book Resources.

And here's a map of Kamandi's World., via Kamandi.com.

Sunday, February 11

Retrocrush celebrates the Year of the Pig with the greatest pigs in pop culture.

Gizmodo gives us the future-sexy speedboat Sea Phantom. I'm wondering how it would fare in a pitched ocean battle against the recently unveiled Proteus catamaran.

Thursday, February 8

From the No Such Thing as Too Much Free Time file: Eye of the Goof links to this awesome gallery of every car that has ever appeared in Tintin comics, arranged chronologically.

Wednesday, February 7

I've only just learned that Mr. Tige Andrews, one of my favorite old school Klingons, has died.

Steven Grant at Comic Book Resources says it's time to kill the 22 page story.

From the increasingly wonderful Weekly World News: Computer Virus Spreads to Humans.
UPDATE: George Dvorsky writes to remind me that he did this gag four years ago.

Tuesday, February 6

CNN has a piece on the state of airships, which may be used for hauling cargo, hosting luxury cruises, and spying on you from above in the near future. I'm a sucker for a big fat transport lumbering over a skyline, and hope to someday see a Tom Kidd painting come to life.

The Space Review has part one of Bob Mahoney's explanation as to how NASA makes the exploration of space boring.

Monday, February 5

We now live in a world where robots can wield swords.

Sunday, February 4

SciFi Tech gives us more future-sexy with the pod-like Peugeot Dauphin.

I hope to live to see our streets filled with such concept vehicles.

Friday, February 2

Popular Science gives us another future-sexy concept airplane.

The BBC has a page up called My Science Fiction Life, about the history of SF in Britain.

It features a neat timeline of the genre, as well as viewer recollections of Dr. Who, Captain Scarlet, Watchmen, and other goodies.

Thursday, February 1

It is February. The God of the Month is Brigit. GotM also invites you to discover which pantheon is best for you.

The Molecule of the Month is Sodium Thiopental (also called Sodium Pentothal).

Geoff Willmetts of SF Crowsnest ponders why SF fans penchant for rereading books and rewatching movies over and over.