http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071121/sc_nm/scorpion_fossil_dc_1
This is as critter akin to a lobster. They found a fossilized claw that put the whole creature at about 8 feet long. Probably about the size of a big bull sea lion. How scary would that be? For the answer, see the inevitable thriller about the people who accidentally run across a group of these things that are still around.
One of the problems with monster SF is that things with exoskeletons don't usually get very big (gravity, inefficiency with exterior supports, the scaling of surface area, and the amount of energy to create a big exoskeleton). The article mentions the possibility of higher O2 concentrations in the air. Also, these were sea creatures, so they have buoyancy to help counteract gravity.
Now imagine what sorts of creatures could evolve on a low gravity planet with high O2 levels. Throw in some stranded astronauts and the story writes itself.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Children bonding with robots
http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn12879-giggling-robot-becomes-one-of-the-kids-.html?feedId=online-news_rss20
Now, if this isn't a sign of impending doom (via a Star Trek inspired plot), I don't know what is. THEY have built a robot that giggles when children touch it's head. It wanders around a room full of kids and avoids them, sitting occasionally, and over a few weeks, the children seem to be bonding to it.
Is the government looking for more ways to make the population into automatons? Are aliens prepping the way for an easy take-over? Is this a preview of Battlestar Galactica science gone awry?
I don't know, but if I wrote it, it wouldn't be a giggle robot for toddlers. It would be a slapping robot for politicians who make speeches to congress when they are supposed to be asking the witness a question. NO! Bad senator. Go to your room for wasting everyone's time.
Now, if this isn't a sign of impending doom (via a Star Trek inspired plot), I don't know what is. THEY have built a robot that giggles when children touch it's head. It wanders around a room full of kids and avoids them, sitting occasionally, and over a few weeks, the children seem to be bonding to it.
Is the government looking for more ways to make the population into automatons? Are aliens prepping the way for an easy take-over? Is this a preview of Battlestar Galactica science gone awry?
I don't know, but if I wrote it, it wouldn't be a giggle robot for toddlers. It would be a slapping robot for politicians who make speeches to congress when they are supposed to be asking the witness a question. NO! Bad senator. Go to your room for wasting everyone's time.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Solar sails revisited
http://space.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn11375&feedId=online-news_rss20
Some ideas for how to use magnetic fields to power satellites and space craft. Basically, a charge in a changing magnetic field (or a moving charge in a static magnetic field) produces a current. Use that to power up a capacitor and then use that energy to run your systems. The moving charge is generated by radioisotopes attached to the capacitor material, so it generates power constantly. They plan to use a device like a sail (probably folded up into a sock-like geometry) with large surface area. Change the surface area or geometry to alter the capacitance and thus regulate the power generation.
You could use that to accelerate or brake as you travel, and Jupiter (with its bigger magnetic fields) could serve as the depot where space stations and ships hang out/get built before being sent off on missions.
Good inspiration for writers, and something I'll use in my Science in Science Fiction talk at Writer's Weekend later this month.
Some ideas for how to use magnetic fields to power satellites and space craft. Basically, a charge in a changing magnetic field (or a moving charge in a static magnetic field) produces a current. Use that to power up a capacitor and then use that energy to run your systems. The moving charge is generated by radioisotopes attached to the capacitor material, so it generates power constantly. They plan to use a device like a sail (probably folded up into a sock-like geometry) with large surface area. Change the surface area or geometry to alter the capacitance and thus regulate the power generation.
You could use that to accelerate or brake as you travel, and Jupiter (with its bigger magnetic fields) could serve as the depot where space stations and ships hang out/get built before being sent off on missions.
Good inspiration for writers, and something I'll use in my Science in Science Fiction talk at Writer's Weekend later this month.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
U.S. warns about Canadian spy coins - Yahoo! News
U.S. warns about Canadian spy coins - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON - Money talks, but can it also follow your movements?
In a U.S. government warning high on the creepiness scale, the Defense Department cautioned its American contractors over what it described as a new espionage threat: Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside."
============================
Wow, that seems so, I don't know, Cold War. If it is China, they should just embed the transmitters into cellphone plastic when they are made. Or shirt buttons. Something that won't change (ha ha) hands as often as coins.
Reminds me of the nanobarcode technology for embedding tags in plastic at the time of molding, so you can fingerprint each one on a molecular scale.
In a U.S. government warning high on the creepiness scale, the Defense Department cautioned its American contractors over what it described as a new espionage threat: Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside."
============================
Wow, that seems so, I don't know, Cold War. If it is China, they should just embed the transmitters into cellphone plastic when they are made. Or shirt buttons. Something that won't change (ha ha) hands as often as coins.
Reminds me of the nanobarcode technology for embedding tags in plastic at the time of molding, so you can fingerprint each one on a molecular scale.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
BBC NEWS | UK | Human species 'may split in two'
BBC NEWS | UK | Human species 'may split in two': "Human species 'may split in two'
Different human sub-species predicted by Dr Oliver Curry
Humanity may split into an elite and an underclass, says Dr Curry
Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years' time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said."
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As long as we never wind up with C.H.U.D.s, I'll be happy.
Different human sub-species predicted by Dr Oliver Curry
Humanity may split into an elite and an underclass, says Dr Curry
Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years' time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said."
=======================================
As long as we never wind up with C.H.U.D.s, I'll be happy.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Quantum Entanglement Demonstrated in Superconducting Wires
Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Quantum Entanglement Demonstrated in Superconducting Wires: "A dark horse candidate for the super powerful quantum computer of the future has now passed an important milestone. Researchers have made the first direct measurement showing they can forge a crucial quantum link between currents flowing through ultracold, superconducting wires.
Quantum computers would take advantage of a particle or other quantum system's ability to exist simultaneously in two states--namely, a superposition of 0 and 1. Combining many such quantum bits, or qubits, into a working quantum computer would allow its operators to perform feats impossible even on today's supercomputers, such as breaking gold-standard encryption schemes or conducting complex searches quickly."
===============================
Hoop, there it is!
Quantum computers would take advantage of a particle or other quantum system's ability to exist simultaneously in two states--namely, a superposition of 0 and 1. Combining many such quantum bits, or qubits, into a working quantum computer would allow its operators to perform feats impossible even on today's supercomputers, such as breaking gold-standard encryption schemes or conducting complex searches quickly."
===============================
Hoop, there it is!
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Bringing back the woolly mammoth - maybe - Yahoo! News
Bringing back the woolly mammoth - maybe - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON - Descendants of extinct mammals like the giant woolly mammoth might one day walk the Earth again. It isn't exactly Jurassic Park, but Japanese researchers are looking at the possibility of using sperm from frozen animals to inseminate living relatives.
So far they've succeeded with mice — some frozen as long as 15 years — and lead researcher Dr. Atsuo Ogura says he would like to try experiments in larger animals."
=====================================
Ok then. Where did they get that idea? Maybe that's what fertility doctors dream up when they are at the bar and have had a few too many bottles of sake.
WASHINGTON - Descendants of extinct mammals like the giant woolly mammoth might one day walk the Earth again. It isn't exactly Jurassic Park, but Japanese researchers are looking at the possibility of using sperm from frozen animals to inseminate living relatives.
So far they've succeeded with mice — some frozen as long as 15 years — and lead researcher Dr. Atsuo Ogura says he would like to try experiments in larger animals."
=====================================
Ok then. Where did they get that idea? Maybe that's what fertility doctors dream up when they are at the bar and have had a few too many bottles of sake.
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