Posts Tagged ‘science fiction’
February 17, 2016
There’s no night without stars.
Andre Norton was born February 17, 1912 in my fair city. Born Alice Mary, she began writing when she was still a student at Collinwood High School. At Western Reserve University she was training to become a teacher. The Great Depression derailed those plans and she entered employment in the city’s public library system. I can’t help but think all those books in the young adult section had a formative influence on her prolific output. She initially wrote historical fiction, but her later works include fantasy, science fiction and even crime fiction.
Find her bibliography here.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Andre Norton, birthday, fantasy, science fiction | Leave a Comment »
July 7, 2015
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
– Robert A. Heinlein, born today in 1907.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged birthday, books, Robert Heinlein, science fiction | 4 Comments »
March 4, 2015
Just kidding – but only because I do not have a handy Canadian five-spot.
The story here from Huffington Post. Wilfred Laurier, Canada’s seventh Prime Minister and first fracophone leader, is immortalized on the five dollar bill and bears a resemblance to Star Trek’s Mr. Spock (RIP Leonard Nimoy).
The Canadian government says that “Spocking” the bills is not illegal – nor is it encouraged, eh?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, Canada, history, Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock, science fiction, Star Trek, whimsey, Wilfred Laurier | Leave a Comment »
January 13, 2015
Shades of Star Trek First Contact, an Omaha man is fiddling around in his garage working on warp fields. This story from Dave Reneke.
David Pares is maybe not how you’d imagine a scientist trying to prove the existence of warp fields (and then harness them), but he is the one who seems to be trying the hardest. Its science fiction finally coming true.
Armed with all the money and free time he possesses, Pares has been tirelessly exploring what some people have dismissed as a pointless endeavor. But a lack of funding or scientific support won’t stop him. While NASA’s Harold “Sonny” White is exploring warp bubbles in a more theoretical way, Pares is taking a more hands-on approach.
Dave Pares and his workshop/laboratory
He’s toiling over a Faraday cage and constructing a V-shaped device made up of three panels with fractal arrays that he believes can compress the very fabric of space. Pares does so at the headquarters for Space Warp Dynamics, aka his garage.
Pares contends that warp bubbles occur naturally all of the time right here on earth. Through his work he is attempted to test that theory.
That’s how the Wright Brothers did it.
And the tattoo, because it is Tuesday.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomy, entertainment, science, science fiction, space, Star Trek, style, tattoo Tuesday, tattoos, warp drive | Leave a Comment »
September 10, 2014
If you are still stuck on Star Wars, you can crochet yourself this wonderful Death Star throw pillow (28 inches in diameter). The pattern for the pillow – this one was created in acrylic yarn so you can wash your death star without worrying about shrinkage – is at ravelry.com.
Thanks to Katie for the link.
Also available as a LEGO kit from Amazon for $1,986.49 plus shipping (not eligible for Prime)
Diagram reference Wookiepedia
More fun stuff:
Death Star Lollipops
Tea Infuser
Ice Cube Mold
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Deathstar, design, knitting, Lego, science fiction, space, Star Wars, style, whimsey | 4 Comments »
July 7, 2014
The June 1952 issue of Popular Mechanics asks the question, “In what kind of house will the captain of a space ship live during his stopovers on earth?” Robert Heinlein, whose Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land were still in the future, gives a tour of “a house that’s called extreme today but may become conventional before the 20th century has run its course.”
Heinlein described his house as being efficient and easy to clean. Here are a few photos that show some labor saving features:
The commuting table can be set in the kitchen and then rolled into the dining room for meals.
The house had two bedrooms, but all of the sofas pulled out and with pads, could be made into beds.
A hatchway in the kitchen gives access to the trash containers – without ever leaving the room. Actually I have friends who built a similar feature into their kitchen remodel. I’m not sure what is going on in the right hand photo.
This is a floor plan for the house.
Robert Heinlein, one of the American Masters of Science Fiction, was born today in 1907. Happy Birthday.
The full story of the house that appeared in Popular Mechanics can be found by clicking this link.
Other posts on unusual houses:
Quonset Huts
Dymaxion House
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged architecture, design, history, house of the future, housing, Robert Heinlein, science fiction | 4 Comments »
September 9, 2013
STAR TREK first began its mission to explore strange new worlds, and so on . . . on September 8, 1966. The link is from Science.com.
Click on this timeline to make it bigger:
This blog is Gunsmoke and KNITTING, so to celebrate the birth of Star Trek, here is a knitting project for your little Klingon. And speaking of Klingons, did you know that Michael Dorn has a role on Castle? (If you are interested, there are a lot of links in the previous sentence.)
See more like this on All She Wants to do is Knit.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomy, birthday, entertainment, Klingons, knitting, Michael Dorn, NASA, nerds, science fiction, space, Star Trek, travel, whimsey | Leave a Comment »
July 26, 2013
What do I remember – or do I?
Does anybody besides me remember the Red Dwarf episode where Lister gave Rimmer some of his memories?
Scientists at MIT have recently created a similar effect in mice:
When the brain forms a memory, a population of brain cells is thought to undergo lasting physical or chemical changes, creating what’s called a “memory engram.” Memory has two phases: First, the memory is acquired by activating these brain cells, and later it is recalled by reactivating these cells. Scientists had hypothesized, but never proved, these memory cells existed.
Researcher Susumu Tonegawa, who worked with mice to create a false fear memory, explains that a similar process may exist in humans. This phenomenon may help to explain why eyewitness testimony, particularly that experienced in an emotionally charged setting, may often be inaccurate.
Credit: Live Science
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged animals, entertainment, geeky science blogging, memory, Red Dwarf, science, science fiction | 4 Comments »
Gunsmoke and Knitting 