Dino Destroyer Asteroids More Common Than Thought?

Most of us are under the impression that the rock that wiped out the dinos and proceeded to wreck the world's ecology was a rare event. But according to a couple of recently suggest that impact events of this magnitude or greater - have actually been commonplace in Earth's early history.

Even more controversial is the suggestion that the Cretaceous extinction event was only part of a larger group of impactors that had been impacting Earth for billions of year of it early history.

Researchers base their new timeline on layers of material that fell back to Earth after being thrown into space. This material seems to suggest a bombardment period of between 3.5 and 1.7 billion years while the standard models of an heavy impact period of from 4.1 to 3.8 billion years.

The IO9 article goes on to suggest that these asteroids may have come from a section of the no long extinct part of the asteroid belt that existed between Mars and Jupiter

Here is the link to the IO9 article.

Digitized Photos from Gemini

From 1965 to 1966 NASA flew Project Gemini. The Gemini test bed was designed to test hardware the astronauts would used to get to the moon back again. Several images from that period were chosen by the Smithsonian Air and Space museum for display. This photo and several others were chosen from Arizona State University's March To The Moon site. On chosen was the iconic photo of Ed White, taking the first American space walk. White died tragically in the Apollo 1 incident with his two other crew menbers Chaffee and Grissom.

Giant Lava Spirals Wreck Mars Ice Valley Theory

Martian Lava Spirals

Mars scientists are frantically regrouping after grad student Andrew Ryan with the help of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed what appeared to be huge spirals carved into the Lava flows in many of valleys on Mars. Scientists have had a long-running debate over whether water or volcanoes formed part of the red planet's landscape.

Andrew Ryan, A researcher at Arizona State University, may have been the first to spot this new form of lava flow — shaped like coils of rope — near the equator of Mars. They are new just to Mars however. Similar coiled lava structures have been observed on the Big Island of Hawaii and in submarine lava flows near the Galapagos Rift on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.

Ryan discovered the coiled lava structures in the Athabasca Valles nears Mars' equator - then continued his study by doing analysis on more than 100 high-resolution images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Ryan states that the spirals range in size from 16 to 100 feet wide and could not have been formed by ice-or water-related processes.

Thanks to long time listener Dan for the article

Ottawa Citizen article          Science Daily

Image of a Supernova Ring

Supernova  1987a

1987AOn February 23, 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud a star exploded with enough energy to be seen all the way across the universe. The Super Nova took place in an irregular satellite galaxy of the Milky Way and was photographed recently by the European Space Agency’s Faint Object Camera. The FOC is part of the science platform aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

The photograph taken by the FOC shows an image of a gaseous ring surrounding the central supernova remnant. Most interesting the photo shows clumps and spaces in the ring. As the article in The Daily Galaxy blog reports that this:

• indicates that the material is not uniformly distributed.

Company Wants to Mine Asteroids!

A Seattle Washington company wants to develop a business that would be centered around asteroid mining.

Planetary Resources, Inc. in a recent press conference stated that they are interested in the long term to "expand Earth's natural resource base" by developing and deploying the technologies for asteroid mining. Although the company's long term is mining asteroids, its initial plans will be the development of a market for small cost-reduced space telescopes for both Earth observation and astronomy.

Of note, James Cameron is listed as an adviser to the project. Cameron as you will remember recently made the historic second only dive on the Challenger deep on which he was the first to do the dive solo.





wikipedia on Planetary Resources

As of Now - Astronomers Have No Idea What Causes Cosmic Rays

Up until a short while ago, astronomers were confident they had a handle on where cosmic rays come from.

Cosmic Rays generate ultra-powerful particles. So powerful in fact that nothing on Earth or anywhere in the Universe can generate anything close let alone as powerful as cosmic ray particles.

 Scientists thought thought that cosmic rays were created in powerful gamma-ray bursts - but more resent experimental results have proved this idea to be false.

 Data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory - located in Antarctica - has been searching for the illusive neutrino but has failed to observe a single occurrence - despite monitoring hundreds of gamma-ray bursts.

Now this presents itself as a fairly disturbing result. The neutrino has long been considered a part of the cosmic ray along with many other particles. So if you wanted to find where a cosmic ray originated you only had to look in the direction that the particle came from. We have detected cosmic rays for quite some time, but no neutrino - making finding the source of cosmic rays impossible!

 To say the least, scientists are "disappointed" in this result. However, now that they have discovered that cosmic rays are a non starter, another source needs to be found. The only other source that is energetic enough to generate neutrinos is the super massive black holes at the center of every galaxy including the Milky Way. Scientists do not know as of yet if these black-holes are capable or do emit neutrinos. The mystery really is heating up. Check out neutrinos at the Wiki site here

The Fog Sing Grandma's Batman Tatoo

Recorded live in Nashville by Music Fog, at Marathon Recorders, during the 2011 Americana Music Festival & Conference - >Eric Brace and Peter Cooper entertain us with Grandma's Batman Tatoo

David Steffen Announces Winner of Free Book Contest!

Several weeks ago, David Steffen announced that he was giving away a free copy of Uncle John’s Flush Fiction anthology with his newest stories in it (along with others).  David would like to congratulate BMU fan - Michael Hanrahan who mentioned BMU as one of the Blogs he frequents.

Congrats Mike!

Now you need to contact either Dave or me, so we can get this very entertaining book into your hands asap.

Thanks to all who entered, All of the blogs and podcasts mentions really appreciate the interest, count on it!

Paul Cole

Beam Me Up podcast on WRFR lp/fm Rockland Maine usa

beammeuppodcast@gmail.com

Chamelion, a short who's who science fiction film

Now here is a short film that will instantly bring shows like "the Twilight Zone" to mind. Called Chameleon, It is hard core SF/horror. Easily the best of the 3 or 4 short works offered on this page, but one thing is for certain, there is some really good video short fiction out there!

Check out this page for other short films

Could We Build a Dyson Sphere in the Near Future?

I really like the IO9 blog - when they are not coming up with something totally weird, there is always an interesting and thought provoking article. Case in point, Is it reasonable to consider that we could, within the next fifty or so years, develop and put into play the construction and have it completed a couple of decades after that.

I am not going to get deep into what a Dyson is, I suspect that we all have a working concept of one. But to summarize, Freeman Dyson envisioned a sphere of orbiting solar satellites that would harvest most if not all of the output of the sun, making for unlimited power. Over the years since the concept has morphed into rings and complete spheres, the most common being a solid sphere made up of material from the outer planets brought into Earth orbit to complete a sphere at Earth orbital distances, capturing 100% of all of the sun's output. At anytime in the foreseeable future, it is clear that Dyson's like that described as a solid sphere would be completely outside our technological capabilities, however a ring of habitats and solar satellites may very well be possible.

Read the IO9 article here and see what you think

Shuttle Discovery's Last Flight

Fromm NASA via Boing Boing & YouTube comes a short film of the last flight of Discovery. Lets take a moment to reflect on everything that means. There it is sitting atop the modified 747 flying over our nation's other monuments in Washington DC. It is a moving experience for sure. Certainly one worth documenting. But then people started clapping. Maybe I am being a bit too sensitive here, but clapping with joy as the past pinnacle of out once great space program flies off into the haze was not one of joy....

Don't get me wrong here! I do applaud the brave people who flew it and died with it. The great minds that went the extra mile even though they were hamstrung from the beginning. I applaud the engineering marvel that was the shuttle and the men who were tasked with making a potato fly. But applaud its passing? No, at the risk of melodrama...hat in hand, head bowed I turn away. oh and here is more at Discovery Air and Space

Administrative Leave for What? You have got to be Kidding

Kallamis has been a reader of this blog for some time and often shares great comment and observations with the rest of us, in the comments section of the BMU blog.   As a general rule I do no not pass on a reader's comments in deference to their privacy.  But there are those times that a comment made here really does contain some interesting points or observations.  Oh an Kallamis said go for it! lol

Case in point, Kallamis brings this to our attention:

• In March 2012, a middle school teacher of 14 year olds in South Carolina was placed on administrative leave for reading excerpts of Ender’s Game to his students, after a parent complained that the book was pornographic, primarily based on "curse words" in the text.  The parent also asked the local police to file criminal charges, which the police have declined to do.  The teacher had also read to the students from Devil’s Paintbox by Victoria McKernan and Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case by Agatha Christie.

Kallamis opinions - The World is Insane.

I am inclined to agree.  Thanks Kallamis

 

BMU 309 is now online!

It seemed short and sweet, but it was complete!  Beam Me Up episode 309 for April 14 2012!  This week I open with a new song The Empire State by John Anealio who is at it again! Here we are treated to a song commissioned by by Mur Lafferty and Angry Robot Books for the WorldBuilder project. Think of this song as a short story that takes place in the same universe as Adam Christopher's EMPIRE STATE novel.  

Next it’s part  7 of Jason Kahn’s Dark Inspectre series “in Plain Sight”  

The next music selection is from Dave James “System Overload”  a very nice acoustical piece for sure. 

Next we spend a few moments at the show’s blog.  The Ender’s Game movie has been pushed back to November 1, 2013!  From Yahoo News via blog reader Kallamis is this article on some weapons that were all but lifted from the pages of Science Fiction.  Weirdness and fun!  Did you know that According to The Goddard Group via Boing Boing, Down town Las Vegas almost had a FULL SIZED Star Trek Enterprise?!  The nominees for the 2012 Hugo Awards has been announced!  

And we close this week with part two of Maya Kaathryn Bonhnhoff’s “If it ain’t broke..”

Ender's Game is Going to be Released When? WTF!?

Have you been waiting anxiously for the release of the movie version of O.S. Card's Ender Game? If you were like me, you were chewing nails when we found out it wasn't slated until March of 2013 but at least we had a date....now the function word here was March....because...hope you're setting down...it has been pushed back to November 1, 2013! Michael Hinman writing in Airlock Alpha speculates that it is to coincide with the release of the sequel to The Hunger Games, which will be released 3 weeks later. That sounds insane to me...I really does sound like a recipe for how to kill a movie! A movie based on a book little known outside the genre up against the sequel to a familiar movie....EG may be dead before before it hits the starting blocks.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Summit Entertainment, a division of Lionsgate, is doing this on purpose! They are going to publicize both films together, and actually use the excitement surrounding "Catching Fire" (Hunger Games pt2) to get more attention to "Ender's Game."

Really? REALLY?! I agree with what Michael said just prior to this brilliant marketing announcement....Most studios would keep so similar films well apart from one another...

oh well, you can read the article here

oh and check out the movie poster.  That is a FAN made movie poster!

"The Empire State" song by John Anealio

John Anelio is at it again! Here we have a song commissioned by by Mur Lafferty and Angry Robot Books for the WorldBuilder project. Think of this song as a short story that takes place in the same universe as Adam Christopher's EMPIRE STATE novel. Check out all of the fun at empirestate.cc

The fabulous artwork is by Galen Dara

Cool huh? Here is the song and artwork below! Enjoy!!!




On his site Sci Fi Songs is a blurb that describes his music so well:

John Anealio performs geeky anthems for writers, librarians, lovers of Sci-Fi, Best Buy customers & robots. His music sounds like John Mayer, Weezer & James Taylor playing Dungeons & Dragons together on their iPhones.

Go get em John.........

Puke Light? Vomit Ray? whoooooooohooooo Where Can I Get Me Some?

From Yahoo News via blog reader Kallamis is this article on some weapons that were all but lifted from the pages of Science Fiction.

1. Speech-suppressing gun

The bulk of the effect is a non lethal, for that matter non painful sonic attack that will make anyone it is pointing at incapable of speaking. It really can barely be called a weapon because it causes no lasting effects. I have actually demonstrated this effect myself. The "gun" picks up speech, amplifies it and rebroadcasts it with a few milliseconds delay. This delay interrupts the normal feedback - making normal speech impossible.

2. Vomit ray

Very much like the first item but different element. Yes you will be unable to speak because of the "gun" but the reason is very different because you will be to busy puking. The vomit ray is in reality the he LED Incapacitator.
From the article:

• It's a fancy flashlight that emits rapid pulse of different-colored lights to induce headache and dizziness, with vomiting as one of the possible aftereffects.

3: The Pain ray

Or "the Active Denial System"

This system can cause excruciating pain by emitting high-powered waves similar to those from a microwave oven.  The system is made up of huge plates which then can be mounted on a variety of military.  According to reports, It was deployed to Afghanistan in June 2010 and pulled back just a month later without having been used.  In live tests however subjects reported experiencing excruciating pain that stopped when the test subject exited the field of influence.  One nasty problem however, a small but not insignificant number of test subjects DID experience serious burns.

4. Mind-control gun

It has been reported that the Russian government created a gun that could put people in a zombie-like state... by attacking a target's central nervous system with electromagnetic radiation with one of its possible effects is implanting thoughts and suggestions into a target's mind.. The good news is that this system has not been observed outside of Russia. That's good however a company called Sierra Nevada Corporation said that it was working on a system called "the Medusa ray gun" — a weapon that used microwave pulses said to produce effects that your brain perceives as extremely annoying sounds. BUT and this is a big but... From the article:

• independent scientists came out to warn people that the weapon can't produce sounds annoying enough to disperse crowds unless it shoots strong microwave pulses that can literally fry your brain.

so it might be possible that the "annoying sounds" were your brains on a slow sizzle.


5. Self-guided bullet

Sandia National Laboratories developed a projectile (much like a bullet) The four-inch projectile has small fins on its tails similar to a dart that can steer it straight toward the target. As long as the shooter shine a laser beam illuminating the target. The "bullet" has a sensor in its' nose which allows it to follow the laser light, even in the midst of strong winds and even if the target is up to a mile away.

Down Town Las Vegas Almost Had Full Scale Enterprise!

According to The Goddard Group via Boing Boing, Down town Las Vegas almost had a FULL SIZED Star Trek Enterprise. The rational being that this would revitalized the sagging down town economy which had over the past few years had been loosing a large share to the strip.

Gary Goddard was to build a life-sized Starship Enterprise replica in downtown Las Vegas. Goddard successfully bid to build the attraction as part of the 1992 competition to revitalized Vegas's sagging downtown and bring back tourist traffic. However, the project was scuttled at the last minute when Stanley Jaffe, then CEO of Paramount, got cold feet.

The project was budgeted at $150,000,000 (in 1992 dollars) and the whole system was a ride based around a mock "tour" of the newly constructed Enterprise were replicated in the build. All of the most familiar rooms, chambers, decks, and corridors from the movie. Jaffe though was not as enthusiastic as everyone else however. “I don’t want to be the guy that approved this and then it’s a flop and sitting out there in Vegas forever.” was his reason for nixing the whole project.

Boing Boing article

2012 Hugo Award nominees announced

From Cory Doctorow's Boing Boing here are the nominees for the 2012 Hugo Awards


Best Novel
Among Others by Jo Walton
A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Deadline by Mira Grant
Embassytown by China Miéville
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

Best Novella
Countdown by Mira Grant
“The Ice Owl” by Carolyn Ives Gilman
“Kiss Me Twice” by Mary Robinette Kowal
“The Man Who Bridged the Mist” by Kij Johnson
“The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” by Ken Liu
Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente

Best Novelette
“The Copenhagen Interpretation” by Paul Cornell
“Fields of Gold” by Rachel Swirsky
“Ray of Light” by Brad R. Torgersen
“Six Months, Three Days” by Charlie Jane Anders
“What We Found” by Geoff Ryman

Best Short Story
“The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu
“The Homecoming” by Mike Resnick
“Movement” by Nancy Fulda
“The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu
“Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue” by John Scalzi


The Hugo Awards themselves are presented at a formal ceremony which is always one of the highlights of the Worldcon, and we expect Chicon 7's ceremony to be no different. The Chicon 7 ceremony will take place on Sunday, September 2, 2012.

Beam Me Up episode 308 now online

I think you will find episode 308 to your liking. I start right off with a story from the pages of this month’s Antipodean magazine. The very graphic tale of an alien ummmm “visit”. “Phobic” by Kevin J. Phyland. Fair warning, the story contains strong images that some people might find unsettling.
From there I travel over to the blog. I review the blu-ray “Hanna” which I found moderately entertaining, next is a catchy tune called the bio-tech blues, you may not be able to follow all the lyrics, but you still find your toes tapping. Explorers think they have found the booster engines of the Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket in 14,000 feet of water! The opening story came from this month’s Antipodean online flash fiction magazine. I take a moment going down through the rest of the stories available. There is more evidence every day supporting dark energy as the power source driving the galaxies apart. Once again a short piece of music. This time the “Zelda Girl” this time we are treated to 1 voice and one instrument blended through 120 tracks. Peter Hollens does the vocals and Lindsey Sterling does the violin that and 120 tracks becomes Skyrim, it is truly an amazing piece of work. I have seen trailers on Youtube for a remake of Total Recall without Arnold S. and it looks BETTER! Not so cartoony and fake plastic sets and much better lightening...Might just be watchable!
And finally part one of Maya Kaathryn Bonhnhoff’s If it ain’t broke.... where one scientist has found a way not to be a total clutz all the time... But the solution is not always optimal...

Total Recall - Reboot and No Arrrrrrrrnooold

Whooooooooooohooooooooo check out the trailer for this summer's reboot of Total Recall. You really can't call it a reboot because the movie follows the original fairly closely but even the trailer make the original look lame! Check out the vid



If you are a Schwarzenegger you won't be disappointed.   The film looks like it will have a very  noir feel.  Looks good from this end.


The total Recall site's is here

This is What One Violin, Two Voices and 120 Tracks Will Get You

Remember the Zelda Girl back a few months ago. Just her violin and her voice, plus added goofiness of running around the scenery in costume. Her name was Lindsey Sterling. Well Lindsey is at it again. She has enticed Peter Hollens to join her, and add to the running around in costume, in the snow. The end results, mixing down 120 tracks containing just their two voices and her violin, is Skyrim. Now if you follow the multi-track scene even a little, you may recognize Hollens who is very talented in this venue. So what they wind up with is a hugely complex multi voice and instrument music video.

Check out the video below:



Also here is Hollens site on Youtube :

Google's View of Future Data/comm

In this killer demo of the future of what can only be called total immersion data/communications, Google is experimenting with what they call Project Glass and they released the video featured below. Here is what they say about Project Glass

• We believe technology should work for you — to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don't.
• A team within our Google[x] group started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment.

Check out Project Glass here

In Honor of His Sale, David Steffen is Giving Away a Free Anthology!

David Steffen writes with some good news and a chance to get a FREE ANTHOLOGY! Here is his letter:

• The day has finally arrived, the publication date of Uncle John’s Flush Fiction anthology. As I mentioned a few months back, I sold a story titled “Mysterious Ways” to the anthology. I am particularly excited about this sale, because I know many more people who are familiar with Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader books than who are familiar with my favorite speculative fiction magazines. The anthology contains 88 stories of flash fiction, each one a perfect length to read in a few minutes of spare time.
• 
  
• And, to celebrate the release of Flush Fiction, and to help get the word out about the anthology, the publisher has offered a copy of the book for me to offer in a giveaway. You can get up to two entries in the random drawing by following the simple instructions at this link: http://www.diabolicalplots.com/?p=2563
• 
  
• Thanks! And for those who participate, good luck!
• David Steffen

Dark Energy, it would seem, Has Been Confirmed

From the IO9 blog comes information that researchers have been able to confirm the existence of Dark Energy. This proof is in the form of a study called the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, or BOSS. This "survey" examined 300+ thousand galaxies with an average age/distance of six billion years. This time in the age of the universe is a telling time. The universe reach a point where matter density/gravity could no longer slow, let alone reverse, the outward expansion. At this point the repulsive forces of dark energy came into play and began speeding up the expansion.

But there is still a problem. We can see the effects, but not what is causing said effect. It is hoped that by studying the 300 plus thousand galaxies, it is hoped that scientists will be able to determine more and hopefully what this mysterious force really is.

One of the effects that the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey has been able to
observe some of the effects of and there by hinting that they are indeed on the right track is the Baryon Oscillation for which the study is named for. The Baryon Oscillation were massive oscillations, sound waves if you like, that took place very shortly after the big bang (30 thousand years or so) These sound waves ultimately could have been responsible for the overall make up of the Universe billions of years ago.

Check out the IO9 article here
BBC News online
Wiki on Baryon Oscillation Survey

Review: Hanna

Hanna


Directed by
Joe Wright

Starring
Saoirse Ronan as Hanna
Eric Bana as Erik Heller
Tom Hollander as Isaacs
Olivia Williams as Rachel
Jason Flemyng as Sebastian
Cate Blanchett as Marissa Wiegler

Have you ever gone into a movie or rented one with one type of preconception only to find out that it is fundamentally. Not how good a movie is, but fundamentally different at some point than you expected.

This happened to me with the movie Hanna. I am not sure exactly when the theme of a young female assassin took hold, but over the past several years there has been ample material to support the fascination. Anime like Gunslinger Girls is a great example.

I picked up Hanna with something along that line in mind. The namesake of the film has been hiding with her father deep in the subarctic forest. Isolated from all the trappings of the modern world, Hanna is being trained by her father in various forms of self defence and weapons. The reason for this slowly becomes clear when Hanna is finally allowed to travel into more civilized territory. She never get the chance as commandos show up to take her into custody. The balance of the movie has the feel of your standard action adventure movie.
Anna alternately runs from, captured by or is killing someone with supreme precision.

There are many twists and false starts and misdirection. There is more intrigue than say “the Boys from Brazil” or “Marathon Man” or even a classic like “Telefon”.

There is a real twist at the ending that I would be a spoiler for flipping it, however it takes a real jog into sci-fi.

But even that isn’t really enough to take this movie anywhere different. Don’t get me wrong, the action is aplenty and the twists constantly keep you off guard, and the switch up at the end is certainly a surprise, you certainly buy into Hanna being able to carry off the beatings she meters out, but there is a slight feeling of MEH.... Giving the movie overall an 8.

Now the extras are pretty good. There is the director’s commentary, out takes, alternate ending, enough that I wasn’t wanting, a good solid 8 here.

So overall, the movie is 8 but a high 8. I would recommend the film even without the sci-fi nod.

Ph.Diva Sings the Biotech Research Blues

I really do get into IO9. They find the neatest stuff. Here we have an animated short featuring Ph.Diva singing with the Mystery Band a tune called The Biotech Research Blues. The animated short features one April Bright who has just been invited to present her research at her first conference. But something hinky is going on with her polymerase chain reaction, and she needs to figure it out before conference time.

As IO9 describes the video:

• bit of advertising from the biotech company Life Technologies.

Apollo 11's Saturn V F1 Engine(s) Found!

The F-1 rocket engine designed in the 60s is still able to amaze and out perform engines far far younger. Consider it could produce one and a half million pounds of thrust, 32 million horsepower, and it was capable of gulping down 6,000 pounds of rocket fuel consisting of rocket grade kerosene and liquid oxygen every second. The huge Saturn V launcher fielded five of these behemoths! What many have forgotten is that the Saturn V was ONLY the first stage! On launch, the Saturn Vs main engines fired all at once, burned for about 2 minutes and 41 seconds. This would lift the whole stack to an altitude of 42 miles. The first stage was then jettisoned, where it fell back to Earth into the ocean.

Amazon founder and space entrepreneur Jeff Bezos has announced that the Apollo 11 rocket engines have been found on the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. They are now lying laying in water 14,000 feet deep.

Bezos says:

• we're making plans to attempt to raise one or more of them from the ocean floor. We don't know yet what condition these engines might be in - they hit the ocean at high velocity and have been in salt water for more than 40 years. On the other hand, they're made of tough stuff, so we'll see

Bezos points out that the engines are still the property of NASA and they will make the final decision as to where the recovered engines go, however he hopes that if there is more than one recovered, NASA would be gracious enough to allow one to go to the Seattle Museum of Flight.

Saturn V wiki  

Bezos Expeditions

Self Driving Car Test

I first saw this short demo and they titled it, Car for a Blind Man. Now that was most likely a bit of shock value because what this film really shows is a test of the Google self driving car. The fact that they put a blind man behind the wheel is a bit of theater in my mind, but you CAN see the value in the argument, however the self same argument can be said to work just as well on riding the public transport bus. Still and all, you have technology here that even though you see it working, there is still that wow factor one that makes it difficult too get it straight in your mind.

Check out this piece.

Antipodean 166 Now Online!

Here is a list of the newest and easily some of the best flash fiction.
I am not kidding when I say that this month's stories!


The House Of Benevolence By Ken McGrath
The Prisoner By Jean M. Gordon
Not The Silent Type By Shane Griffin
Eulogium By Greg Mellor
Make Mine A Macchiato By Mark Webb
Apocalyptia By C.K. Palmes
The Red Button By Lynda Young
Heaven's Gate By Jason Butterfield
Phobic By Kevin J. Phyland
Mozart's Copyright Infringement DeviceBy Wes Parish

Beam Me Up episode 307 now online

This week on Beam Me Up episode 307 I try to keep everything moving along as easily as possible with enough of a mix to keep everyone happy. I think you will find I hit the mark fairly well.

I start with Mr. Spaceman from the Byrds which is live, so you can make up your own mind about that. Next it is two from Earth-Sky that talks about the new m95 super-nova that was first see earlier this month. Also an innovative way that we may be able to spot alien cities in the future - look for their bright lights at night. Now I know we don’t have anywhere near enough power to do that now, but in the future it is very likely. Next Ron sends me the url to a couple of rather strange websites, one will teach you the ins and outs of construction and wearing the AFDB or the aluminum foil deflector beenie! The next is software that purports to counter electronic mind control! I didn’t realize that the “electronic” book reader has roots back to 1935! It is true and the plans are pretty damn inventive! On March 26th film director and James Cameron became the third person to bottom of the deep, in the submarine Deepsea Challenger . Cameron's attempt is even more unusual in that he did the dive solo and there-for the first and only person to do so. New research from scientists at the University of Chicago, suggests that the impact hypothesis on how the Earth’s Moon was created, might be wrong! Here is a new one paleoclimatologists. The study of ancient even prehistoric weather. And it seems they are interested in raindrops from close to the beginning of the Earth.

And I close with a tale of Aliens on the lamb....on Earth. “Trath” Sometimes, very sadly preconceived notions are altogether wrong. When two aliens prisoners crashland on Earth, Human xenophobia kicks in full blast. Now the situation is likely beyond repair. David Scholes Trath tells the tale of companions of war lost and dying on an alien shore.