Lots and lots of links for you today, that I haven't bothered to blog till now.
This is a really cool story about hunting Hurricane Hugo. The author was a science advisor on the trip. He misjudged the strength of the hurricane, and so they charged into the eye and almost died. It reads like science fiction.
Apparently, nuclear power can be a lot safer than we think. We just put unreasonably little research funding into it because it's a taboo subject. Luckily, we have authoritarian governments like China to ignore concerns and research it anyway. :P They're experimenting with a reactor design called a pebble-bed that would be self-stabilizing, so that if it got too hot, the nuclear material would repel and thus cool off automatically. Pretty cool. Apparently, people started researching this stuff decades ago, but then Chernobyl happened, and funding was cut off everywhere.
Speaking of decades ago.... 50 years ago, this is what top think-tank RAND Corporation thought a home computer would look like in 2004:
"However the needed technology would not be economically feasible for the average home." :)
Here are the most awesomest balloons ever:
You've probably heard by now of SpaceShipOne's successful clinching of the X-Prize. What I think is awesome, though, is the name of Virgin Galactic.
Meanwhile, the International Space Station is getting smelly. Well, not really, but it's full of trash, because there haven't been shuttle flights up for a while now to haul the trash away.
The BBC funded an online version of the old text adventure version of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You can even save your game right on the server!
I'm guessing most of you haven't even heard of The Last Starfighter, and 80s movie about a boy who plays a video game which turns out to be a recruiting tool for spaceship pilots in an interstellar war. :) Well, if you missed the movie, you can now see the musical!
From the makers of the AK-47 come... Kalashnikov Vodka! Hard liquor and assault rifles. Two great tastes that taste great together!
I recently bought a plug-and-play Atari paddle set. Great stuff! In that spirit, some German guy made mechanical Pong! You've gotta go see the video.
You thought H2s were absolutely ridiculous? Meet the International CXT. It's 4.5 feet longer than the H2, 2 inches longer than the F-350, and 2 feet taller than both of those. Plus it basically looks like a semi. I don't think I even need to make fun of it. :P
Carnivorous robots were once the domain of science fiction. No more! The British have made a robot that runs on flies. One small step toward robot world domination!
Australian researchers have made a Sydney Opera House model that's half the width of a human hair.
And finally, stalking of the 21st Century. A man in Glendale, CA attached a cell phone with GPS to his stalkee's car, with a device that activated it based on a motion sensor, allowing him to track her whereabouts via a website.
Okay, one more: Hello Kitty Debit MasterCards. :)
