Asimov's Foundation Series Audio

Listner Nelson has been perusing the archive.org public domain site and came across my favorite series of books.  The "Empire" series by Issac Asimov.  These books were a departure for Doctor Asimov in that there were no robots in the Empire universe but to be honest the story line was every bit as intriguing as a robot novel.

Check out the listing by clicking HERE

Team Produces Working Tractor Beam

Yep, a working tractor beam....but to be honest, it probably isn't quite the one your thinking of.  Your expecting something like the tractor beam on the Enterprise  that could exert force on objects over great distances in outer space.

By comparison,  this new "beam" is better known as an "Acoustic" tractor beam. Or a device that can use sound waves to move objects around.  So this one could not work in space, because it needs air to function.  Still, it is a breakthrough in its own right.  Several new technologies had to come to fruition before something like an acoustic tractor beam could be made possible.  

And how the acoustic tractor accomplishes the feat of moving object with air pressure alone is still a neat hat trick.  How it actually works is damn complicated, but basically it uses two sound pressure "plates" that can be moved in relationship to each other.  When the sound pressure waves intersect they set up an interference pattern that can be made to push or pull an object.

This effect can be very useful in a variety of experimental and manufacturing processes here on Earth and even on space laboratories like the ISS. 

Check out the complete article HERE

BMU 401 is now online

Beam Me Up episode 401 is now online!  

First off, I should apologize.  There is a bit of static at the beginning as I recorded this episode off air....

So...after my opening remarks and a short musical interlude, I head over to the Beam Me Up blog for a few articles about a new British SF due out soon, called the Machine.  Fossils of possibly the largest land going carnivore. NASA has plans for a future visit to Jupiter's moon Europa.  I talk about a short that I have on the blog of some of the behind the scenes on the set of the award winning "Gravity".

Finally a flash from the past with a librivox reading of James Blish's short story "One Shot"

It's a quick hour, thanks for listening.

BMU # 367 In Plain Sight #20 - Kahn + No Great Magic #5 - Leiber

I lead off this week's episode, episode 367, by doing a short memorial for Heinrich Rohrer Father of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope.

I follow this with a new episode of in Plain Sight episode 20 from Jason Kahn. This week our detective Jack Garrett falls a bit further down the rabbit hole and finds information can come from the most unlikely of sources.

In science...I start with Earth Sky talking about the possibility of intelligent life in the Milky-Way and how we are looking for it.

Next I read the high lights of Kallamis' weekly run-down which goes from honoring Sally Ride to food replicators...

Oh and I finally have time for some Star Trek Trivia!

Fredrick Doyle also died recently. Doyle was instrumental in developing some of the most sophisticated optics and camera systems for the Apollo era moon missions as well as work for the CIA.

I review the animated feature: Rise of the Guardians

Finally I play chapter five of Fritz Leiber's No Great Magic

BMU #365 now Online!

Another hour that just flies by.

I play the conclusion of David Scholes Trath: The Final intervention, just to make sure that I get in them in this week.

Next from the blog and Kallimus:  Trouble with the ISS coolant again, Ray Harryhousen has passed away at 92, Neil DeGrasse-Tyson has a web site that promotes his radio program Startalk  and YouTube videos, there is a link on the wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com BMU blog.  A company has developed a bulletin board that sends two messages, one to adults and one to children in a call to help reduce child abuse.  Check out the blog for more information. 

Earth Sky articles are next, the Milky-way, asteroids, temporary moons and Earth's shadow are on tap. 

I review the live action version of Death Note. 

And finally, chapter 3 of No Great Magic by Fritz Leiber a novelette from the sixties.  

That is it!  I hop you enjoy this week's offering of Beam Me Up.

Episode 334 of Beam Me Up is at hand! This week, I tie up one story arc, start another small one and an anime fan joins me to talk about a movie we just watched.

First I open with the Bare-naked Ladies doing their theme song for the television show Big Bang Theory.

The first story of the afternoon is Mark Webb's In the Service of the Public. This story an Earth diplomat in service to an inter-galactic government. Webb has managed to make the subject entertaining and even develop a small story arc. As odd a subject this would seem, from what I have read so far that no matter how things change and evolve there is always a functionary some where keeping the "machinery" rolling. Webb seems to have captured the essence of the true architects of empire. We will see as the Interstellar Coalition Public Service and the Aazork public service evolves. My reading is a little rough however. It was a last minute addition to this week's line up.

Next is a couple of really excellent science article from Earth Sky dealing with the Van Allen radiation belts and the Tunguska event.

Then it is time once again for Star Trek Trivia. Two new questions this week.

If you are an anime fan and have seen the Tri Gun series or even if you haven't, you are going to want to take a listen to our review of the Tri gun movie Badlands Rumble which is an excellent to the TriGun universe or an excellent return to the Vash the Stampede universe. Anime fan and listener to the program Jeremey joins me to talk about the movie and the TriGun series in general. I know I had a great time, and I hope you have just as much entertainment!



David Sholes has a new collection of short stories called Speculative Fiction: The Ultimate Collection. Dave sent over a copy of the collection for me to take a look at. Since it was a nice mix of stories we have seen on BMU and new I thought a review was in order.

Ron posts an article about the Curiosity rover and many other of our equipment still out there doing science. As new and as cutting edge they are, the probes and rovers are held together by tech, thousands of years old!

Finally I play the conclusion of Edward McKeown's excellent story "The Dive". Everything moves ultra fast in this week's final. I think you will agree that this has been one of the better written and narrated series the show is running.

That and some other foolishness this week on episode 334 of Beam Me Up!

Beam Me Up episode 323 is now online

My rant this week was, I went around and asked some people so what do you know about July 20th? Can you think of anything exciting? I want to thank Xnewsman for breaking the ice on this one because I had ranted before and nada. If you remember great, if not listen to the podcast….nuff said.

Let’s talk about audio fiction.

This week we have a couple of short works that I am sure will keep you interested. The first is “What if /2” by Christine Gladstone, which tell the story of a classic science thought experiment from a VERY unique perspective. The closing story this week is “Shipwrecked” by Mark Webb. Again a very classic tale with a unique perspective. Here is an advanced race of interstellar explorers who are judging Humanity’s fitness to join the galactic federation, by devising a conclusive test that no one can fail to understand. But what happens if there be dragons?

From Christine’s story I proceed straight to Star Trek Trivia, where each week I ask a couple of new trivia questions from the iconic original Star Trek. The Earth Sky website had three great questions in this week’s download file (not to say that the rest were not interesting, however did not really pertain to this week’s material) and I am sure you will want to go to Earth_Sky for more!

This week for review: I managed to get a copy of the newest “hero” dvd. By that I mean, the Black Panther is a relatively new player in the overall DC Comic lineup and recently I have seen this character showing up more and more short / and featurettes. Eventually I discovered that Black Panther was a BET original with Stan Lee, so you will find more details and a information about the episodes and the dvd.

From the Beam Me Up blog I found a youTube video of the Batman tv show window gags. Dave Sholes’ book Alien Hunter / Star Trooper is also reviewed. I should have done it when I played his story Intervention which is in part a telling of the aftermath of a great war (check out episode 320 for the short story) Where Alien Hunter tell the tale of the war itself! The blog (wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com) will really be a great resource as is this podcast in finding out more of where to get it and what it reads like! Before I play the last story this week, I close with my feelings on the loss of Eureka. If you have read the blog you know that I am not a happy camper….well….that’s only the start.

And of course the close is Shipwrecked.

Enjoy!

BMU #320 now online

Another week done and it is time for BMU with episode 320. Wow be glad you didn’t try to listen live if you were close enough to the station….Bad weather was popping up all over the place! With it were the incessant weather alerts. So I ran out of time and my last story had alars in it. So if you downloaded the new episode 320, it is clean.
So I start with the conclusion to Ed McKeown’s There Was A Wild Colonial Boy. Nice finish up for this story this week. The closing story is The Intervention by David Sholes. Two aliens look for the last soldier of an ancient war, what they find is way more than they bargained for.
I review the Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds, for only the second Shippuden movie I think it came out well.
Shace Junk is going to a growing problem for future generations, but the Naval Research Lab may have a safe cure…..Tungsten dust!
Plus I once again run Star Trek Trivia!

BMU #314 Now Online

Beam Me Up episode 314 (for some reason I had 318 on my brain so I went ahead and said this is 318...duh, this IS the proper episode number. Sorry for the confusion pac) is technically the first show in the Beam Me Up fiscal year. This week I continue a series, try out a new feature and finish a multi-part story.

First I demo a new q & a about Star Trek. Each week I will ask a couple of questions to be answered the following week.

The first story is Part 8 of In Plain Sight by Jason Kahn. Our detective on New Eden continues to run head long into strangeness. This week is no exception.

From the Blog, I review David Scholes Alien Hunters, I talk about how water droplets react in micro gravities when exposed to tone generators. Very interesting to watch the video. Next, you will not believe what Kodak kept in a cellar in Rochester NY, and you have to watch this little mockumentary about the near future and most of the western world. Nasa wants to mine asteroids and so it would seem does some private companies.

Finally AC Wise Still Life story concludes this week with part three. Enjoy!

BMU #287 Now On Line

Well rounded episode of Beam Me Up this week on episode 287. I lead of first with a new offering from Symphony of Science called Onward to the Edge, featuring excerpts from speeches made by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Cox, and Carolyn Porco and set to some great music.

Our first fiction offering is a brand new story arc from Jason Kahn and Cyberstudios online. Jason once again takes us to New Arden and our favorite physic detective Jack Garrett. This arc is In Plain Sight and episode 1 is “On The Mend” As you might recall with the last story, A New Beginning, Jack managed to solve the case, but took an amazing amount of damage in doing so. On the Mend literally picks up where a new beginning ended. But far from being lauded for his crime solving, it would seem that New Arden has a short memory.

The last story of the afternoon is part 2 of Elliot Bangs excellent story “This Must Be the Place.
Last week we found the main character Loren Wells seems to have secrets to keep. Foremost of all is every time Andria sees him, he appears to be a different age and sometimes he knows her, but often he has no clue! In part 2 and the conclusion Andria uncovers what has got to be one of the strangest retirement plans ever!

From the Beam Me Up Blog:

Orion crew capsule is scheduled for a mission in 2014! NASA reports that the plan is to send the capsule through two orbits, ending up farther from Earth than any craft intended for human transport has been since 1973. Then, Orion will return for a splash-down in the Pacific.

According to BBC news online the Russian space agency reports that shortly after launch, the Phobos Grunt probe failed to fire its' mains to launch it towards Mars and is now stuck in an Earth orbit and that engineers have two weeks to correct the fault before the probe's batteries run out.

And something I thought I would never hear - In a paper which will be published this week in Nature, Professors Christian Knigge & Malcolm Coe from the University of Southampton worked with Philipp Podsiadlowski of Oxford University to reveal how they have discovered two distinct populations of neutron stars... Two?!!!! I can just handle how weird the universe is just having one type of these monsters!

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