…where science, futurism, and anything else Stephen finds interesting are thrown together in an informational stew for your consumption.
Enjoy!
Follow Stephen on Twitter: @stephentgo
- Will “Inception” be Christopher Nolan’s first big flop?
Some critics are stating that this film is great, but that its too brainy for a summertime movie crowd to appreciate. They’re suggesting that it may have a life cycle similar to “Blade Runner” – poor initial box office, rediscovery later.
Maybe. But the public has become used to smarter entertainment since the days of “Blade Runner.” Compare television from then versus now.
- Later this year Australian Felix Baumgartner hopes to beat by more than 3 miles the 100,000 foot skydiving record set in 1960 .
This is not just a stunt. Information learned from this dive will be used in designing space vehicle ejection systems.
- : Missing Iranian Nuclear Scientist Turns Up in D.C.
Spys – and their work – have been in the news a lot lately.
- “To Kill a Mockingbird” was 50 years old Sunday. I believe that this novel might be the most important work of American fiction of the 20th century. Atticus may not have convinced that jury, but his plea for justice began to change hearts and minds outside the novel. Harper Lee gave us the right hero at the right moment.
- New Scientist has a great daily science story feed. include underwater volcanoes, curing cancer with physics, and new nuclear fuel.
- June Cohen writes, “This is my 19th TED. Something’s subtly different. The talks have evolved. More confident, crafted. We’re rediscovering the art of oration.”
I wouldn’t have believed that TED had much room to improve.
The latest TED talk: “Carl Safina: The oil spill’s unseen culprits, victims”
- New device stays in a car’s power port and alerts its owners with a buzzing tone — if they’ve left their cell phone behind.
Handy!
- Our own Universe may be the interior of a black hole existing in another universe.
Which explains the pressure I’ve been feeling lately.
- New material – BC5 – hard as diamond, but is a superconductor.
The team leader “believes that the outstanding mechanical and electrical properties of BC5 can be adapted to design new superconducting nano-electromechanical systems and high-pressure devices.”
How about infusing bone (perhaps the skull) with super-hard superconducting electronics?
- Diane Keng, co-founder of MyWEBoo, at 18, She’s Already on Her .
If ever I start feeling a little too self-satisfied, I’ll read up again on this kid.
- Trying to Forge a Friendship With a Robot Named Bina48
I was reminded of two things when reading this article: Phil’s interview with Ramona. And, sadly, conversations with dementia patients. I believe these systems will teach us much about minds – both artificial and biological.
- Fibers that can hear and sing: Fibers that can detect and produce sound developed at MIT’s.
- Cory Doctorow: “Reports of blogging’s death have been .”
Doctorow describes how social networking sites and Twitter have taken on some of the functions of blogging – and how that’s not a terrible thing.
- “” – an article from Matt Ridley, discussing one of the ideas he wrote about in “The Rational Optimist.”
- A reporter for Scientific America is visiting a Toyota assembly plant on the outskirts of Nagoya. Toyota is showing off its new plug-in Prius!
Toyota had some concern that adding a plug to the Prius might actually be a marketing minus – that people would not like having to plug their car in at night.
But giving people an option is not a minus. A plug-in Prius that’s not plugged in will function just like a standard Prius. And, since the plug-in will not be using a nickel-cadmium battery, this new Prius will be better for the environment.
- The genetic code as musical score: Singing the .
- Its no “Glorious Dawn” artistically, but its worth a listen:
“Symphony of Science – ‘The Case for Mars’”
- Uh Oh: Consumer Reports “can’t recommend iPhone 4″ over .
I’ll wait a few months and get the same device… perfected and cheaper.
- Robotic teaching. A New York Times video.
- Senate ‘Internet Kill Switch’ Bill .
Does anyone outside of Washington think this is a good idea?
- An intense and smart discussion at Reddit.
- Sci-Fi author Tobias Buckell reports: “I slapped a specks screen protector on my iPad yesterday. It is readable in direct sunlight now. Outside summer reading can now happen…”
There, perhaps, goes the last reason to choose a Kindle-type eReader over a tablet.
- Harvesting electricity from the mechanical energy of flowing blood to power medical devices.
Why not just use the atp to adp chemical energy that’s already powering the body?