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blech + science   135

Ten Lessons From Einstein | Pinboard
"Here's my alternative proposed list of Ten Lessons from Einstein. Please feel free to create your own!" (vs http://www.dumblittleman.com/2010/03/10-amazing-lessons-albert-einstein.html which doesn't even deserve a working link, despite making Hacker News)
einstein  science  twitter  hackernews  physics  astrophysics  twitter/capture  via:@pinboard 
10 weeks ago by blech
‘Open Science’ Challenges Journal Tradition With Web Collaboration | NYTimes.com
"Dr. Nielsen and other advocates for “open science” say science can accomplish much more, much faster, in an environment of friction-free collaboration over the Internet. And despite a host of obstacles, including the skepticism of many established scientists, their ideas are gaining traction." Interesting stuff on Arxiv et al.
science  openscience  physics  arxiv  socialnetwork  nytimes  from instapaper
january 2012 by blech
Carsten Höller: Experience | NewMuseum.org
"“Carsten Höller: Experience” is the most comprehensive US exhibition to date of the artist’s engaging work. The current show gathers together a number of the artist’s signature works in an arrangement that transforms the viewer’s experience of time and space. Originally trained as a scientist, Höller is frequently inspired by research and experiments from scientific history." Closes 22 January 2012.
todo/done  newyork  newyorkcity  art  science  exhbition 
january 2012 by blech
The Anthropocene: A man-made world | The Economist
"Science is recognising humans as a geological force to be reckoned with." This is a good read on why the Anthropocene is a useful way of thinking about the why and hows people are changing the ("natural") world.
economist  anthropocene  geology  science  technology  nitrogen  climatechange  ecology  from instapaper
january 2012 by blech
The Lifecycle of Software Objects | Subterranean Press
via Damien Walter's Guardian column: "Ted Chiang's brilliant and insightful novella about the emergence of Artificial Intelligence was originally published in a beautiful limited edition from Subterranean Press. It is now available as a free read from the publisher's website. Chiang explores a terrifyingly plausible scenario for the arrival of a new form of life in our midst."
sciencefiction  science  artificialintelligence  books  toread  software  from delicious
july 2011 by blech
To scrap the JWST would be short-sighted | guardian.co.uk
"In the early stages of the project, Hubble was plagued by technical delays and budgetary problems. Its troubles continued after launch, and a manned rescue mission was sent to fix Hubble's optics at huge expense. Twenty years on, it is hard to overstate the impact that Hubble has had on science, and on the public imagination. Yet today the US government is on the brink of scrapping Nasa's successor to Hubble, the multi-billion dollar James Webb Space Telescope."
guardian  space  science  telescope  jwst  hubble  from delicious
july 2011 by blech
The end of the Space Age | The Economist
"It is quite conceivable that 36,000km will prove the limit of human ambition. It is equally conceivable that the fantasy-made-reality of human space flight will return to fantasy. It is likely that the Space Age is over."
economist  editorial  space  shuttle  science  iss  history  from delicious
june 2011 by blech
DELUSIONS OF GENDER by Cordelia Fine reviewed by Carol Tavris - TLS
Cordelia Fine has produced a witty and meticulously researched exposé of the sloppy studies that pass for scientific evidence in so many of today's bestselling books on sex differences
times  tls  gender  science  psychology  neuroscience  books  from instapaper
march 2011 by blech
A World Beyond Ecological Limits | All Academic
'In his "Culture" novels, science fiction author Iain M. Banks describes a civilization that has moved beyond ecological limits. This is a universe in which energy and resources need not be rationed, and in which every aspect of the non-human world can be readily managed. In some important ways, this fictional universe looks like a best-case extension of our present technological trajectory.'
iainbanks  theculture  science  technology  criticism  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
Space stasis: What the strange persistence of rockets can teach us about innovation. - By Neal Stephenson - Slate Magazine
The phenomena of path dependence and lock-in can be illustrated with many examples, but one of the most vivid is the gear we use to launch things into space.
science  space  history  rockets  innovation  technology  via:everyone  from instapaper
february 2011 by blech
Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth | Project Orion
"Project Orion was a space vehicle propulsion system that depended on exploding atomic bombs roughly two hundred feet behind the vehicle. The seeming absurdity of this idea is one of the reasons why Orion failed; yet, many prominent physicists worked on the concept and were convinced that it could be made practical." Speaking of Freeman Dyson, this Michael Flora article is well worth a read.
science  space  nuclear  technology  article  history  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
The Danger of Cosmic Genius - Magazine - The Atlantic
"“The main point is religious rather than scientific,” [Dyson] writes, yet never acknowledges that this proposition cuts both ways, never seems to recognize the extent to which his own arguments proceed from faith. Environmentalism worships the wisdom of Nature. Dysonism worships the indomitable ingenuity of Man." This is a good read.
science  politics  environment  history  space  physics  climatechange  freemandyson  article  from instapaper
february 2011 by blech
“Astrology is rubbish”, but… | Whewell's Ghost
"Astronomers, skeptics and fans of science are doing themselves a disservice by focusing on the wrong grounds for dismissing astrology."
astronomy  astrology  science  history  via:foe  from delicious
january 2011 by blech
Cold Burn | Monbiot.com
"Sod all that, my correspondents insist: just look out of the window. No explanation of the numbers, no description of the North Atlantic Oscillation or the Arctic Dipole, no reminder of current temperatures in other parts of the world, can compete with the observation than there’s a foot of snow outside."
weather  climatechange  comment  science  observationbias  from instapaper
december 2010 by blech
The exhibition where nothing is as it seems | guardian.co.uk
"Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries is the first major exhibition devoted to the work of the gallery's scientists. The laboratory was founded in 1934 and is now a world leader." Closes 12 September.
london  exhibiton  art  todo/done  fake  science  forensics  guardian  via:andym  from delicious
june 2010 by blech
Festo AirPenguins and AirJelly | Southbank Centre
"Come and marvel at the mechanical penguins and jellyfish as they swim through the auditorium of Royal Festival Hall." July 4th, morning only. Part of a season of science events at the South Bank Centre: see also Homo Computers, Brian Greene and Marcus du Sautoy talks, Flood Tide, and Science of the City walks.
london  exhibition  science  engineering  art  todo/done  from delicious
june 2010 by blech
Welcome! | PyEphem
"PyEphem provides scientific-grade astronomical computations for the Python programming language. Given a date and location on the Earth’s surface, it can compute the positions of the Sun and Moon, of the planets and their moons, and of any asteroids, comets, or earth satellites whose orbital elements the user can provide."
python  code  library  module  science  space  astronomy  iss  development  sciencehackday  from delicious
june 2010 by blech
Annals of Science: Numbers Guy | The New Yorker
I was reminded of this today on Twitter, but I don't seem to have a bookmark, so: on mathematics, with an interesting bit about how the differences in how languages render numbers affecting the speed on which we learn numeracy.
mathematics  newyorker  culture  education  language  science  via:russelldavies  from delicious
june 2010 by blech
The Science Of Weather Forecasting | Sunday Magazine
"How did they do it before satellites and radar? It was a large scale coordinated effort involving telegraph messages sent from station to station across the country, used to compile a weather map." From the new site by Ironic Sans, looking at the most interesting stories from the weekend 100 years ago.
weather  history  science  meteorology  toread  from delicious
april 2010 by blech
Scott and Scurvy | Idle Words
"Somehow a highly-trained group of scientists at the start of the 20th century knew less about scurvy than the average sea captain in Napoleonic times. What happened?" A(nother) fascinating essay by Maciej Cegłowski.
science  history  medicine  scott  antarctica  limeys 
march 2010 by blech
Let the sunlight in on climate change | New Scientist
"Public attitudes to science are changing. The IPCC was established before the internet revolution. Like it or not, its closed world of peer review is no longer possible, let alone desirable." The most recent New Scientist leader calls for the IPCC to report more often and with more openness about its internal processes.
newscientist  comment  ipcc  climatechange  science 
january 2010 by blech
Irrational fears give nuclear power a bad name | The Guardian
"The health dangers from nuclear radiation been oversold, stopping governments from fully exploiting nuclear power as a weapon against climate change, argues a professor of physics at Oxford University." I suspect Wade Allison is right, but the comments prove the way nuclear power is feared by the population.
energy  nuclear  radiation  science  physics 
january 2010 by blech
Contents | Whole Earth Discipline
An annotated, free, online version of Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Discipline. I've only really read the nuclear chapter so far but that one alone is good stuff.
book  future  environment  nuclear  energy  science  stewartbrand 
january 2010 by blech
Peter Landin obituary | The Guardian
"Peter Landin ... was a complex character: a political radical, a gay-rights campaigner and an outstanding academic computer scientist." "Towards the end of his life, Peter became convinced that computing had been a bad idea, giving support to profit-taking corporate interests and a surveillance state, and that he had wasted his energies in promoting it."
guardian  obituary  computing  science  politics  sexuality  culture  history 
september 2009 by blech
Reasons to be optimistic for the future | New Scientist
Coming out against collapsitarian thinking and for SCIENCE. "It is in this spirit that we launch a four-week campaign exploring ways to make the world a better place. It will come as no surprise that our starting point is the power of reason. From that springs an ironclad belief that the world can be made better through the application of science and rational thinking."
newscientist  editorial  science  technology  climatechange  environment 
september 2009 by blech
Thunderbirds will grow a generation of mad engineers | Wired UK
Warren Ellis: "As an antidote to this audiovisual paraquat they intend to spray into our children's eyes, I say the BBC should re-run Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds. Bear with me."
television  technology  education  science  bbc  wired  wireduk 
september 2009 by blech
Oh yeah, there's a sugar pill for that | Slash 7
Interesting musings by Amy Hoy on placebos and advertising.
us  europe  drugs  health  advertising  science  wired  via:kellan 
august 2009 by blech
Why humans can't navigate out of a paper bag | New Scientist
"the volunteers happily passed through these shortcuts to end up at a point that even a halfway-decent geometric reckoning would have told them was impossible. "The punchline," Warren says, 'is that people didn't even notice anything amiss.'" Interesting stuff.
science  brains  navigation  via:gnat 
august 2009 by blech
Your body wasn’t built to last | Gravity and Levity
"Your probability of dying during a given year doubles every 8 years." On the Gompertz law.
science  mathematics  statistics  biology  health 
august 2009 by blech
Definition of “black-boxing” | The Daily Clique
"'Thus, paradoxically, the more science and technology succeed, the more opaque and obscure they become.' Uncovering what’s inside these black-boxes could become an important task for people researching the processes by which we construct everything from budgets to automobiles to maps."
blackbox  science  technology  hacking 
august 2009 by blech
Scientists gatecrash Secret Garden Party | guardian.co.uk
"Lured by Red Stripe and other totally legal substances, the scientists wowed festivalgoers with the delights of space travel and Jupiter's moons, the neuroscience of music and the propagation of waves in conga lines"
uk  science  education  festival  event  via:gnat 
august 2009 by blech
What you should know about chiropractic | New Scientist
Edzard Ernst, who co-wrote a book on alternative medicine with Simon Singh, examines the history of chiropractic and the evidence for its medical efficacy, both for back pain and for the wider range of ailments some of its practitioners claim it can deal with. For back pain, "there is some encouraging evidence", but that's as good as it gets.
newscientist  chiropractic  medicine  evidence  science  comment 
may 2009 by blech
Why are they trying to gag a science writer? | The Observer
A good Nick Cohen opinion piece on the Simon Singh case, concluding with the rallying cry that "the greatest threat to freedom of speech in Britain is not the state or the security services or the press barons, but a fusty and illiberal legal system, which has become a public menace".
uk  guardian  news  science  media  law  censorship  chiropractic 
may 2009 by blech
Evan Harris | The Economist
Comments by Evan Harris; the only one at the time of posting is on the subject of the Simon Singh vs BCA case.
science  law  uk  criticism  comment 
may 2009 by blech
BCA v Singh: An Astonishingly Illiberal Ruling | Jack of Kent
I'd been blissfully unaware of this until this weekend, when the New Scientist and Economist both covered it, but this is perhaps the best summary I've seen of a ridiculous legal ruling on a piece Simon Singh wrote in the Guardian about chiropratic treatments of illnesses in babies.
uk  law  science  health  criticism  guardian 
may 2009 by blech
The Geek Atlas | O'Reilly Media
"With this unique traveler's guide, you'll learn about 128 destinations around the world where discoveries in science, mathematics, or technology occurred or is happening now."
science  book  travel  tourism  geektourism 
may 2009 by blech
The Robot Who Helps Astronomers Identify Stars | io9.com
Yay Foe! A short video on IO9 discussing the Astrometry bot and its use on Flickr and with the NMM's group there.
io9  science  astronomy  machinetags  video  foeromeo 
march 2009 by blech
Getting Past the Pie Chart | Seed Magazine
"Understanding the shortcomings of the pie chart can help us make sense of and improve the emerging scientific aesthetic of the 21st century."
science  visualisation  information  design  seedmagazine 
march 2009 by blech
The bees are back in town | The Economist
"The economic crisis has contributed to a glut of bees in California. That raises questions about whether a supposed global pollination crisis is real" The Economist on bees, almonds, supply and demand. Possibly too anecdotal? Not really qualified to judge.
environment  economist  science  biology  agriculture  bees  california  us 
march 2009 by blech
Start the Week, 19 January 2009 | BBC Radio 4
" The scientist Graham Farmelo argues that Dirac has been overlooked due to his extreme distaste for publicity, which may have been a manifestation of his autism." A day left to download. Also that week, Ben Goldacre.
pauldirac  science  physics  quantumphysics  radio  radio4  interview  speechification 
january 2009 by blech
Autism test would deprive world of geniuses | The Guardian
"Dirac was prone to very long silences and was famous for his apparently emotionless responses to events. He also often took a very literal interpretation of statements by other people. All are characteristics of autism."
science  physics  quantumphysics  article  pauldirac  autism  genetics  guardian 
january 2009 by blech
Review: The hidden life of Paul Dirac | New Scientist
"Dirac was the theoretician's theoretician, responsible for a crucial piece of the explanation of fundamental particles and forces." "Farmelo has used a stash of Dirac's letters and notes to build an enthralling yet deeply depressing narrative." It's worth following through to the quotes.
biography  pauldirac  science  physics  quantumphysics  review  newscientist 
january 2009 by blech
A new biography of Paul Dirac | Theoretical physics | The Economist
"[There] are extraordinary geniuses [whose] insights are so astonishing and run so counter to received wisdom that it is hard to imagine anyone else devising them. Einstein was one such genius. Paul Dirac, whose equations predicted the existence of antimatter and who died in 1984, was another."
biography  pauldirac  science  physics  quantumphysics  economist 
january 2009 by blech
Let's hear it for the scientists | More Intelligent Life
"Living, intelligent biography should connect, somehow, to the central concerns of civilisation. Ours is a science-based one." Andrew Marr makes a plea for biographies of scientists.
science  biography  article  comment 
january 2009 by blech
Light Pollution | National Geographic Magazine
It's not as good as the New Yorker article on light pollution from a year or so ago, but it'll probably reach a wider audience, and that's a good thing. Nice photos too.
astronomy  science  photography  article  environment  lightpollution 
january 2009 by blech
The World Question Center 2009 | edge.org
"What will change everything?" Some themes, from the headlines: climate change (especially melting ice caps); augmented minds and IT-led learning; extra-terrestrial intelligence; nuclear weapon use (in various ways). There's also a general "biological engineering" theme, but that's harder to pin down. Lots to delve into, for the interested. (I wish they'd put each response on its own page, though.)
edge  science  culture  technology  future  climatechange 
january 2009 by blech
Campaigner breached fortress Kingsnorth | The Guardian
[[ Within minutes, says E.On, "he had tampered with some equipment" - believed to be a computer at a control panel - "and tripped unit 2, one of the station's giant 500MW turbines". ]] Unless I deeply misunderstand power stations, didn't this just mean that tonnes of coal were still burnt, still heated steam, but that the steam stopped generating electricty? This is a deeply flawed news report.
politics  uk  news  environment  coal  badscience  science 
december 2008 by blech
Artangel Present | Seizure
"British artist Roger Hiorns makes exceptional use of unlikely materials: detergent, disinfectant, perfume, fire and copper sulphate crystals." Really must make an effort to get there from work one (long) lunchtime.
london  architecture  art  science  exhibition  todo/gone 
november 2008 by blech
Data Vault | NRAO
"The NRAO Data Vault is a web-accessible collection of NRAO science data from the GBT, VLA and VLBA, which aims to provide convenient access to browse and download data products that have related keywords which match a free-text (Google-like) search query."
nrao  science  data  openaccess  astronomy  telescope  radiotelescope  via:quantumcandace 
november 2008 by blech
Science fiction special: The future of a genre | New Scientist
"These days, science can be stranger than science fiction, and mainstream literature is increasingly futuristic and speculative. So are the genre's days numbered?" Speaking of 'speculative', I do wish they hadn't let Atwood off the hook so easily, but then I do get grumpy. There's more on the web than in the magazine, and it all seems to be free (usually NS have a paywall), so that's good, at least.
sciencefiction  culture  science  newscientist  literature  writing  future 
november 2008 by blech
Star location service | kottke.org
"If you submit your astronomy photo to the Astrometry group on Flickr, a tool of the same name will look at the image, tell you the location of the field of view, and label all of the celestial objects contained within it." "Your assignment: use the Astrometry and Exif data to stitch all these photos together into a huge Hockney-esque map of the sky."
photography  flickr  science  astronomy  hack  todo?  maps?  kottke 
november 2008 by blech
Review: The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes | Observer
The book's subtitle is "How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science". From the review: "200 years ago, poets, writers and scientists shared a common vision of Nature. There is no reason why they should not do so again."
science  culture  history  observer  review  book  via:preoccupations 
november 2008 by blech
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer | Barbican
A really interesting interactive visualisation of the radio spectrum at the Curve (so it's free, and open late).
london  art  barbican  radio  science  installation  conceptualart  visualisation 
october 2008 by blech
100 Years of Structural Engineering | V&A
Why did I not know this was on? "Marking the centenary of the founding of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), this exhibition celebrates the importance of engineering in creating some of the most iconic buildings of the past 100 years."
engineering  science  culture  architecture  london  museum  todo/gone  via:mattb 
august 2008 by blech
Reporting & Essays: Surfing the Universe | The New Yorker
A profile of Garrett Lisi, the E8-set unification theorist and surfer who made the headlines last year. Ironically I read this in a university library while waiting for candace to finish talk about PhDs.
newyorker  physics  science  profile 
july 2008 by blech
Joining London and New York | The Telectroscope
"an extraordinary optical device called a Telectroscope will be installed at both ends which will miraculously allow people to see right through the Earth from London to New York" Tower Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, £1 a go.
london  newyork  art  science  engineering  todo/gone  via:blackbeltjones 
may 2008 by blech
From Atoms to Patterns | Wellcome Collection
"At the instigation of Dr Helen Megaw, a leading Cambridge scientist, diagrams of atomic structures inspired an eclectic array of patterns" "reunited en masse for the first time since the Festival" Also free.
london  museum  science  culture  design  art  exhibition  history  todo/done 
april 2008 by blech
Dan Dare & the Birth of High Tech Britain | Science Museum
"Together they reveal a fascinating ‘lost world’ of British design and invention – a glimpse of a time when the TV in the corner was a Murphy, not a Sony" Sounds like it's worth a visit. Helpfully free.
london  museum  science  culture  design  exhibition  history  todo/done 
april 2008 by blech
Muslim call to adopt Mecca time | BBC News
Another day, another bunch of fundamentalist idiots crop up. How can a point on the surface on a sphere be its centre? Throw in some bad science with magnetism and you've got perfect rant material. (Yes Greenwich is arbitrary; so's any meridian.)
religion  science  time  morons  via:foe 
april 2008 by blech
Stardust, Riflemaker, Soho Square | The Independent
Preview/review of a show in London featuring the aerogel used in a comet sample capture/return mission. Could be just the sort of thing to make me angry; could be good; probably just going to be eh. Should try anyway.
london  art  science  todo/gone 
april 2008 by blech
Churchill flew to the moon... right? | Metro.co.uk
"CORRECTION: The article originally said that there were nine planets in the solar system, which of course there aren't, following the demotion of Pluto" At least they acknowledged it...
science  public  astronomy  poll  advertising 
march 2008 by blech
WorldWide Telescope (video) | TED Talks
Not a bad teaching tool, I suppose, but it's not unique (Google Sky) and the hyperbole is nauseating. A revolution on a par with Galileo? Please. The name's awful, too, candace points out: a telescope gives you new data, not just new combinations.
science  astronomy  microsoft  visualisation  maps  video  planetarium  via:plasticbag  via:foe 
march 2008 by blech
Can the Science Museum be up-to-date? | Mssv
Adrian Hon suggests that the only way for museums like the Science Museum to present topical information is to employ a group of people dedicated to rapid development of exhibits.
science  sciencemuseum  london  news  blogcomment 
february 2008 by blech
Ken MacLeod on the near future | io9.com
I've liked MacLeod since The Star Fraction (the socialist remnants of a British republic fighting back; how could I not?) and I'm looking forward to the Execution Channel, albeit in paperback.
io9  sciencefiction  interview  science  politics 
january 2008 by blech
Military dominates UK science | Education Guardian
"Almost a third of all public spending on research is funded by the Ministry of Defence - far more than is spent on research by the National Health Service." From '05, but I doubt things have changed (I'd love more recent figures though)
science  politics  funding  uk  space 
january 2008 by blech
UK push for space station modules | BBC News
"The group calculates the programme would amount to some £600m spread over six or seven years (until 2015). In other words, each year would be equal to a little under half of the UK's current annual civil spend on space." Note "civil".
space  funding  politics  uk  science  iss 
january 2008 by blech
A Sherlockian At The Science Museum | More Intelligent Life
"Chris Rapley, the newly appointed director of London's Science Museum, talks to Robert Butler about Sherlock Holmes, climate change, and shifting the museum's focus from the past to the future"
economist  magazine  science  museum  sciencemuseum  london  interview  profile 
january 2008 by blech
Who Speaks for Earth? | Seed Magazine
On "active" SETI, namely sending radio transmissions to the stars in hopes someone else will be listening. Should we be doing it?
science  culture  seti  article  radio 
december 2007 by blech
Sometimes in the recent future... | New Scientist
John Brunner writing in the New Scientist in 1993 on predictions, SF and readers.
science  sciencefiction  writing  comment 
november 2007 by blech
Launchpad for Grownups | Dana Centre Events
It'll be nice to see the relaunched hands-on science playground without the screaming hordes. At least, that's the plan. Free, but requires pre-booking.
london  sciencemuseum  science  event  todo/done 
november 2007 by blech
Gemini withdrawal: worse to come ? | The e-Astronomer
Looks at other things the Science and Technology Facilities Council might have to deal with. "When you allow for this, and compare to the STFC planned programme, they are about £80M short. This is a real cut."
space  telescope  gemini  uk  politics  science  funding 
november 2007 by blech
Funding black hole threatens astronomy
Joint letter to the Guardian from professors at four of the top ten universities in the world: "The loss of science in an area in which the UK excels would be out of all proportion to the funds saved."
space  telescope  gemini  uk  politics  science  funding  ucl  cambridgeuniversity  oxforduniversity  imperialcollege 
november 2007 by blech
Science funding cuts to hit UK astronomers - Telegraph
"British astronomers were last night shocked by a sudden funding cut that will prevent them having access to two of the world's most advanced telescopes"
space  telescope  gemini  uk  politics  science  funding  telegraph  news 
november 2007 by blech
STFC News - Gemini Observatory
"the STFC, in shaping its programme for the next 3 years and beyond, is planning to withdraw from the Gemini Observatory. In the current financial climate this is one of a range of measures that has become necessary"
space  telescope  gemini  uk  politics  science  funding 
november 2007 by blech
STFC Road Map Projects - Gemini
"Access to the Gemini telescopes by the UK community is a vital component of the multi-wavelength approach to solving the highest priority questions in astronomy."
space  telescope  gemini  uk  politics  science  funding 
november 2007 by blech
Carbon output rising faster than forecast, says study
More Guardian, this time on the UEA/BAS reporting that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere aren't just increasing, but that the rate of increase is accelerating.
guardian  environment  science  statistics  climatechange 
october 2007 by blech
Re-engineering Engineering | NY Times
Interesting article about a new college for engineering and science in the US. "Its method of instruction has more in common with a liberal arts college, where the focus is on learning how to learn, than with a standard engineering curriculum."
education  engineering  technology  science  via:preoccupations 
october 2007 by blech
"Take the Third Star on the Left and on til Morning!"
Geoff Ryman talk in which he expands on his "mundane SF" manifesto and explains why FTL, mind downloads and alien intelligences are so much escapist nonsense. I think that's his point, anyway.
sciencefiction  manifesto  talk  fiction  science 
september 2007 by blech
Top 10 science fiction novelists of the '00s - so far
"they're not *all* British" but most are. He misses a couple of author blogs, but not a bad list. Spoilt only by comments from idiots who think this is a list of the best still-alive scifi authors, as opposed to new(ish) ones.
sciencefiction  science  writing  fiction  books  recommendations  comment 
june 2007 by blech
Random Sampling: Scientific American, October 1960
Great adverts from an old science magazine in the states. Makes me wish I'd done a better job on my photographs of The Consulting Engineer a month or so ago.
science  culture  advertising  history  blogcomment  via:candacep 
june 2007 by blech
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