Scientists have figured out a way to put mice into hibernation at will. Is this the first step toward the realization of that well-worn SF trope, suspended animation?
Shakespeare portrait a fake
This caught my eye because I’m in Globe Theatre‘s production of Twelfth Night right now, and so am attuned to all things Shakespearean: one of the most famous portraits of William Shakespeare has turned out to be a 19th-century fake.
A soundless sound system
Elwood “Woody” Norris, the same guy who invented the personal helicopter, the AirScooter, I blogged about a few days ago, has another invention: a device for beaming sound to a single individual. No one but the target can hear it; to the person on the receiving end, it seems like the sound is coming from …
The "classical holy grail" or unholy hype?
Hmmm. So, three days after I write my column on the subject (scroll down) and the very day it appears in the newspaper, I discover this article pouring cold water on the whole idea of any major new discoveries having been made using multi-spectral imaging on the Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Guess we’ll all have to wait …
What do writers listen to while writing?
Strange Horizons’s James Schellenberg asked several SF writers what they listen to while writing, and if music ever inspires them to write. Nobody asked me, oddly enough–but then, the answer would be I really don’t like having music playing while I’m writing–about the only time I want music in the background is when I’m driving …
World time zone map
Need to call, say, Belarus and uncertain what time it is there? Wonder no longer.
Dead pianists to perform
And, no, this isn’t a religious post either–they haven’t been resurrected. However, low-tech, scratchy recordings by dead piano greats Glenn Gould (who died in 1982) and Alfred Cortot (who died in 1982) will take on new life in a concert in Raleigh, North Carolina next month, when a Disklavier Pro piano will play MIDI files …
Good news from Genesis
Uh, no, this isn’t a religious post. Remember Genesis, the poor old solar wind-collecting spacecraft that fell out of the sky when its parachute didn’t open? Turns out some of the key collectors, at least, are in excellent shape.
Will space soon be within reach of many more of us?
Burt Rutan says so. I hope he’s right. I’m not getting any younger, you know. But, no, I’m not one of the 29,000 people who have already expressed interest in flying Virgin Galactic’s version of SpaceShipOne into sub-orbital space–not at $200,000 U.S. a ticket, I’m not.
Qatar to Use Robots as Camel Riders…
…is, of course, my Science Fiction Headline of the Day.
World’s largest iceberg hits ice tongue
The world’s largest iceberg has finally bumped into an Antarctic ice tongue, breaking off a five-kilometre-long section. This had been mooted as “the collision of the century,” but the vagaries of icebergs, currents and wind being what they are, it ended up being more of a “bump in the night”–although any bump that breaks off …
Gene therapy for hemophilia
This is exciting research–if I ever get to update the children’s book I wrote on hemophilia, I may have some good news to add to it.
My latest live walk and vlog
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