You're a Human! Inquisitive and mellow, you're an
explorer at heart.

What Star Trek Race Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

(Hat tip: Llamabutchers).

Posted by: JohnL at 09:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Following Vodkapundit's implementation of a suggestion by John Scalzi (who cribbed the idea from Neil Gaiman), here are the first ten tunes that pop up when I shuffle iTunes:
1. Neil Diamond - America
2. TV Theme: Star Trek TOS Main Title
3. Boston - Foreplay/Long Time
4. Movie Theme: James Bond Theme
5. Weird Al Yankovich - Yoda
6. ACDC - Hell's Bells
7. Moby - Bodyrock
8. Nine Inch Nails - Eraser
9. Genesis - Cinema Show
10. Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman

Not too embarassing, but not completely representative, either. I do have to admit that I have not ripped many of my CDs to my hard drive; most of these are just songs that I don't have elsewhere on CD, but want to include in homemade compilations. Here are the next 10, out of curiosity:

1. Snap - Dark Side of the Moog
2. Gary Numan - Are Friends Electric
3. Fear Factory w/ Gary Numan - "Cars" Remix
4. TV Theme: Logan's Run
5. Ultravox - Reap The Wild Wind
6. Human League - Keep Feelin' Fascination
7. Peter Gabriel/Thomas Dolby - Little Light of Love
8. Moby - James Bond Theme
9. Kiss - Star Spangled Banner (Hendrix cover)
10. David Bowie - See Emily Play (Pink Floyd cover)

For comparison's sake, here are the musical selections played by the Mars Rover teams (I like Opportunity's music better, but both sets are pretty decent).

Posted by: JohnL at 09:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I wonder if Mark Oakley has one of these?

(Hat tip: Rocket Jones)

Update: Oops, I just fixed the link. Mark probably went, "huh?"

(The fixed link now takes you to a picture of a T-Shirt that says, "As a Matter of Fact, I AM a Rocket Scientist!")

Posted by: JohnL at 10:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Instapundit refers the clue-impaired to Michelle ("A Small Victory") Catalano's site, where she gives some good advice about refraining from judging bloggers based on just one post.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Robert must be doing some lenten penance for the cheesecake binge last week, as he has posted the pictorial equivalent of sackcloth and ashes. (It burnsss my eyesss, Prrrreciousss! Nasty wicked hobbitsesss!)

Posted by: JohnL at 09:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Wired has an interesting writeup about astrobiologist Chris McKay's efforts to find evidence of life in the high desert of the Atacama, Chile.

I was surprised to learn just how sterile the Atacama is. Despite the discovery in recent decades of "extremophiles," it appears that there are limits to what hardy microbial life can tolerate, even on Earth. Learning how to detect the trace amounts of life, preventing forward contamination of the test site and contamination of gathered samples, and determining where to find any trace life are all skills that will serve the first human explorers of Mars well.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Added to my left links (a bilingual pun!): a site dedicated to the brilliant Douglas Adams.

(Hat tip: Die Metzger der Lamas)

Posted by: JohnL at 10:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Ever wondered what the Maxim or FHM of the 1950s looked like?

Wait no longer.

Lileks' latest: Stagworld.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Moon Base Clavius site logo (see post immediately below) reminded me of the cover of this classic record.

Groove to the following hits, as realized on a [then] ultra-modern Moog modular synthesizer:
"Na Na Hey Hey," "Nights in White Satin," "Sugar Sugar," "Raindrops
Keep Falling on My Head," and many more songs closely contemporaneous
with my 1968 birth year.

I actually bought a copy of this record off eBay about 2 years ago. I'm thinking about arranging some modern pop tunes using this very slick software emulation of a Moog system (free download).

Posted by: JohnL at 09:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Moon Base Clavius.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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. . . Is only a couple of weeks away. In case you didn't know, DARPA is hosting a race, "The Grand Challenge," among "autonomous ground vehicles" between Los Angeles and Las Vegas next month.

They will pay a cash award of $1 million to the team that fields the first vehicle to complete the designated route within the specified time limit. The purpose of the challenge, in DARPA's own words, "is to leverage American ingenuity to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicle technologies that can be applied to military
requirements."

NASA could learn a thing or two (or many more!) from DARPA.

Update: Jay Manifold noticed this story, too (I found it directly on the DARPA site; he links to Space.com's story), and is seeking input on what kind of contest his readers would set up for a $10 million prize.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As John at SFSignal would say, "not that I troll Star Wars sites or anything," but these people have too much time on their hands.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Going through some old notes I found this scribbled plot idea:

Britain joins single currency; integrates more tightly with EU. At some later date, tries to withdraw; triggers response from Continent similar to US north in Civil War. Anglosphere (USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) come to the rescue. What happens to EU? Russia? China? Think Red Storm Rising crossed with Guns of the South. . .

Posted by: JohnL at 09:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OK, OK. I've been promising this for a while. Other people kept writing bits and pieces of what I was thinking, so I decided to bite the bullet and try to put down some of my thoughts, too. These aren't fully formed, and, since this is my blog, I reserve the right to edit or elaborate in future.

Anyone who has known me for any length of time eventually learns that I am a space nut at heart. I have been since as early as I can remember. To try and compose an essay seeking to answer "why should we go to space" is like asking Deep Thought the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.

The problem is really with the question. The answer varies depending on the assumptions behind the question. These assumptions are typically that space is too hard or expensive for anyone other than the government to do it. I hope that certain current events may help to prove this premise false. Another assumption is that space is solely for scientific purposes. Many pro-space advocates fall into this trap.

Which is why I was happy today to see Rand Simberg's link to an interesting op-ed by Jim Muncy in the Washington Times. Mr. Muncy's opinion really gets at what I have been trying to write for some time. Key quote (extracted by Rand, too):

"Space exploration is not merely about the wonders of science and technology, although it produces countless discoveries and innovations. It is not merely about stunning images and daring adventures, although it has those aplenty. And to the disbelief of so many space professionals and aficionados alike, it is not even really about outer space. "Rather, space exploration is about strengthening and spreading the very essence of freedom: the magic of going and doing what you want, where you want, when you want and why you want. It is about the endless and innately human quest for a better, wiser and richer life, not just for yourself today but for generations hence. Freedom is as much about the creation and pursuit of new dreams, horizons and challenges as it is about achieving them."

Brian Doss at Catallarchy gets at this latter idea:

"[T]he reason I support Martian colonization is on the general grounds that liberty thrives on the frontier, and that human society does best when there is a frontier to interact with the ancestral land. Innovation is spurred, trade blooms, opportunities abound, and more importantly, there is space to go to help make a new society when you don't like the one you're in. To an extent, America is still the World's frontier, as it is the place most non-Americans go when they want to get away from wherever it was they were born; America is vibrant, young, and constantly re-inventing itself with countless subcultures and communities. But America isn't a true frontier society anymore, and for those of us fortunate enough to have been born here, where does one go when even America is too staid and developed to suit? Well, the old answer is new again- leave for the frontier, which would now be Mars."

Both of these statements really seem to boil down to "we should go to space because it is there, because we can, and, oh yes, it's good for freedom." Most other space policy debate seems to focus almost exclusively on the science to be done, the things to learn. But most people aren't "scientists" and don't want to be scientists. I fear that if we make outer space a reserve for scientists alone, then space will look like Antarctica in the future: a small contingent of on-site researchers, a very small number of "extreme" tourists, and no normal people. Forget for a moment the goals of scientists here on earth. Think of your goals instead. Why do you work each day? What things are important to you? Where do you find beauty? Would you like to strap on a pair of wings and literally fly like a bird in one-sixth Earth's gravity beneath the stars in a lunar resort? Can you see yourself standing at the edge of the Valles Marineris, looking into a canyon system that makes the Grand Canyon look like a small valley? Do you like architecture or music? Think of the possibilities for the forms that buildings could take in the lower gravity of Luna or Mars. What symphonies, what poems, what great novels will the vistas of new planets, new experiences, new pains and losses and challenges stimulate? What new businesses can we create? I think all these aspects of the human experience are of equal value to the abstract knowledge we may gain about the geology, meterology, and chemistry of these new places. I want an outer space future that looks like the world of Heinlein's Rolling Stones or Niven's Known Space; a place where families live and work and grow, where belters mine asteroids and trade goods with Luna, Mars, and Earth. A place indistinguishable from our current civilization, except that we happen to live elsewhere. In other words, a space-based civilization. If we do this, then we will have learned what we need to get our eggs out of this fragile basket. And maybe in the process we will learn just how much more precious is our Earth. Why go to space? To stay.

Posted by: JohnL at 11:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OK. I asked the question about Classic Trek babes. Robbo likes Nurse Chapel. Decent choice.

But I always had a thing for Yeoman Rand, even before it was OK to admit that I liked girls.

As to the newer Trek, if forced to choose from the list presented, I would have to say Seven of Nine, followed closely by Torres.

Sorry Steve, but I just can't see Janeway as sexy. Now that I have shown myself to be a hopeless fanboy geek, for this and future generations to read, I will move to more serious topics.

Posted by: JohnL at 11:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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CLAVDIVS You're not the fool everyone takes you for. You put on a show to stay under the radar. Underneath your bumbling exterior, you are a shrewd and calculating person. You don't enjoy being in the spotlight, but you can take charge if absolutely neccessary. But trust no one, not even your best friend, because you never know who might betray you. You were portrayed by Derek Jacobi.

Hat tip: Dappled Things

Posted by: JohnL at 10:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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When I was first getting seriously into written SF, Carl Sagan was on PBS with his groundbreaking series, Cosmos.

As he explained in the episode entitled "Heaven and Hell," the surface of Venus is 900 degrees (F) and subject to crushing pressure. A far cry from the fertile swamps of Heinlein's Venus in Between Planets, an early favorite of mine.

Don Mitchell has reprocessed some of the raw image data from the Soviet Venera 9, 10, 13, and 14 landers. Not nearly as stunning as the Martian surface, but still it has an austere beauty.

(Hat tip: Jerry Pournelle).

Posted by: JohnL at 10:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Razib at Gene Expression ran the names of the five major world religions -- Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism -- through Google and evaluated the content, tone, and presentation of the first 10 hits for each. Interesting, if not completely surprising results.

Read the whole thing.

Posted by: JohnL at 05:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Have a question about Star Trek?

Visit this extensive WikiWiki archive of Star Trek lore.

Posted by: JohnL at 05:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Variations on a theme tonight. More Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek, as realized in LEGOs. I couldn't find any Buck Rogers fan LEGO models, though.

Posted by: JohnL at 12:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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