Andre Norton (1912-2005)

Sad news. From the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site: Andre Norton, 93, the “Grand Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy,” author, poet, editor, whose published works span seven decades, died of congestive heart failure in her Murfreesboro, Tennessee home, early Thursday morning, March 17th. Andre Norton was one of the authors …

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More water found…but not on Mars

Cassini has discovered that Saturn’s snow-white moon Enceladus has a thin water-vapor atmosphere. That water has to be coming from somewhere, and one possibility is erupting ice volcanoes or geysers–which could mean liquid water beneath the surface, which could mean a possible habitat for life.

A Star Trek replicator? Not quite, but close!

Imagine having a machine in your house that could make anything from a cup to a clarinet to a digital camera (minus the computer chip and lens) for just a few dollars–and could also make a copy of itself, so you could have as many of these machines as you needed. Research by engineers at …

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Thirteen things that don’t make sense

Do we know everything there is to know about the universe? Not on your life.

First hydrogen-powered car coming…in 2012

Good news: DaimlerChrysler has announced it will sell a hydrogen-powered car using fuel cell technology. Bad news? It won’t be available until 2012. Faster, please.

A quiet motorcyle is a good thing…or is it?

British engineers have produced a zero-emission motorcycle powered by a high-pressure hydrogen fuel cell that makes no more noise than your PC’s fan. (Probably less noise than mine, which I think will have to be replaced soon.) Those who are not enamored of the ripping roar of an ordinary motorcycle may cheer the quietness of …

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Robot finds life!

Not on Mars, unfortunately, but in the Chilean desert. But it’s a good dry run (no pun intended, but it’s not a bad one, is it?) for an eventual life-detecting rover mission to the Red Planet.

WWTT? (What Would Tolkien Think?), Part 2

The world premiere of the musical theatre version of The Lord of the Rings will debut in Toronto. It will either be wildly wonderful or…just as likely, I fear…astonishingly awful.

A building in a bag

Every year disasters and wars leave homes in ruins or drive people from them. One of the first tasks of emergency workers is to provide shelter–typically in the form of tents. As anyone who has ever served time–er, spent time camping knows, however, a tent is not something you want to live in indefinitely. When …

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Visit the Crystal Palace

I’ve always been fascinated by accounts of the Crystal Palace, centrepiece of the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. The palace itself, after being relocated, burned down in 1936, but this computer reconstruction gives you a pretty good idea of what it was like to walk through this, for its time, futuristic building.

A building in a bag

Every year disasters and wars leave homes in ruins or drive people from them. One of the first tasks of emergency workers is to provide shelter–typically in the form of tents. As anyone who has ever served time–er, spent time camping knows, however, a tent is not something you want to live in indefinitely. When you’re camping …

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Martian squeegee men strike again!

Spirit has a new lease on life, thanks to a good-heartedMartian dust-devil.