WTF?!! Solar Power Would Suck Up All The Power?

I usually don't do Earth sciences as for the most part they are not my forte so to speak. But sometime not saying anything is paramount to agreeing or supporting crackpot ideas.   For example....

A recent town meeting in Woodland North Carolina heard comments on a proposed solar energy plant.

What was surprising was the number of people who spoke out against the solar farm including a retired science teacher named Jane Mann.  One of Mz Mann's  concerns was that the array would suck up all the sun energy leaving none for the plants to conduct photosynthesis. Also she was concerned about the  jump in cancer deaths in the area, might be attributed to the solar power plant.  

Bobby Mann also agreed but went on to say that with the solar farm sucking up all the energy, new businesses would be disinclined to locate in Woodland.  The array would kill the town and young people would then move away.  

I am sorry, I don't even have to try, this stuff  writes itself!

for the original Boing Boing article, click HERE

Does the Voice in Your Head Sound Like You?

I know...I am really just ASKING for the jokes arn't I? But when you come to consider it - just exactly what does the voice in your head sound like and does it speak and pronounce words as well as you do when you speak out loud or read out loud? It is almost like a Philip K. Dick story writing itself huh?

Anyway, I came across this piece of strangeness in Boing Boing. It cites a study published last fall by psychology researchers at Britain's University of Nottingham. It really is an interesting question.

From the article

• Although you might think it's a given, previous studies have suggested that the voice you speak with and the voice you think with might not be pronouncing words quite the same.

The surprising or not so much result from the new study is that there is some parity between between audible and silent pronunciation.  Pretty much opposite what convention up to that point would have us believe.

Article writer Stan Carey goes into great detail on how the study was performed and as counter intuitive as it might seem, it IS an interesting read.  Click the article title to go to his Boing Boing article.

Connie Willis is the 2011 Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master

Boing Boing blog reports that:

• Science Fiction Writers of America President John Scalzi writes, "The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has named Connie Willis, one of the most-awarded and beloved science fiction writers of her generation, as its 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.

Click the article title to go to Cory Doctorow's thoughts on the award and most certainly about how Mz. Willis' writing had on him.  

Apollo's Edgar Mitchell on Politics

I was reading through Cory Doctorow's Boing Boing today and came across this quote from Apollo 14's Edgar Mitchell commenting on the pettiness of global politics. I could comment or expound, but why bother?

60s Gift Ideas from Remington & Boing Boing

Ok, I know it ain't science fiction....well if you take it literally it could be... but you know...its Christmas, this is a great Christmas suggestion.

Indian science fiction -- past and present

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 4, Issue 47, Dated Dec 08 , 2007 Cory Doctorow in Boing Boing is a link to a facinating article about the roots of Science fiction writing science fiction writing in Indian languages.

From the article:

DNA-ALTERING experiments, moody robots, strange mutations from failed cloning projects, wonder machines and nano-gadgetry, and, of course, aliens playing peek-a-boo with humans — science fiction writing in Indian languages has this all and more.

Click here for the complete article

Karl Schroeder's Ventus now a free CC download

Cory Doctorow had this to say, on Boing Boing:

Award-winning sf writer Karl Schroeder has just released his debut novel, Ventus under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivs license, meaning that you can download it, share it and copy it as much as you like. Cory says "It's an indication of just how far ahead he is that this seven-year-old book still feels like it's on the cutting edge, with its object-oriented sapient planet, bizarre copyright wars, and assorted grace-notes."

Definitely worth a look with a strong recommendation like that!

Rudy Rucker's science fiction webzine Flurb #3 is out

Hey I just got the heads up from Cory Doctorow's Boing Boing

Rudy Rucker's science fiction webzine Flurb (vol #3) is now up and available.

Here is what they say about it on Boing Boing

" The third issue of Rudy Rucker's sporadic but wonderful free webzine Flurb is live today, filled with original sf stories from king-hell sf writers like Paul Di Filippo, John Shirley, and Eileen Gunn."

Sounds like fun to me kiddies - click the article title to go to the newest issue of Flurb

Ed Regis on the future of spaceports

Boing Boing looks at the growing phenom of Space-Ports - some interesting ideas and links

Here is a blurb from the article:


The new issue of Air & Space Smithsonian features a look at the future of spaceports, bases for space tourism that are being proposed all over the world, from Singapore and Sweden to Uphan, New Mexico, Columbus, Ohio, and Sheyboygan, Wisconsin. (The author of the article, Ed Regis, has written several fantastic future science books like the Great Mambo Chicken And The Transhuman Condition and Nano! The True Story of Nanotechnology.) (Seen here is a conceptual drawing of Space Adventures' Spaceport Singapore.)

Remote-controlled sharks

From Cory Doctorow's Boing Boing Blog:

Boston University marine biologist Jelle Atema has made progress converting sharks to "remote control" so that they could be outfitted with sensors and sent on spying machines. In a project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Atema implanted sharks with electrical stimulators that trick their brains into smelling food. Using the stimulators, he was able to "steer" the sharks around a tank. The military has since made the research classified, and it is now run out of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I. But Atema is seeking new funding sources to continue his work on sharks, with potential civilian applications in mind.

Peter Watt's Blindsight - breakout novel under CC

Peter Watts has just put his breakout novel Blindsight under a Creative Commons license and put it online, partly because the book is selling so fast that readers are having a hard time laying their hands on copies.

Cory Doctorow writes : Peter writes the angriest, darkest sf I've ever read, heart-rending stuff that makes you glad you're alive if only because you're better off than his characters. He's also a wild talent when it comes to the intersection of biology and tech (he's got a Ph.D. in Marine Biology)

Tesseracts 10 - the best of Canadian sf

From Cory Doctorow's Boing Boing Blog:

Volume ten of Tesseracts (the stupendous Canadian sf anthology series) is out, this time edited by Robert Charles Wilson (whose novel Spin won this year's Best Novel Hugo) and Edo van Belkom. The book features stories by many of Canada's great and up-and-coming authors, continuing in the tradition set by Judith Merril when she edited the first of these volumes, decades ago. ($15.29 in Canada, $14.25 in the US)

Dolphins taught to sing Batman theme

Cory Doctorow writes in his Boing Boing blog: Scientists at the Living Seas in Walt Disney World's Epcot Center have taught dolphins to sing the theme from the original Batman show. No word on whether Warners will sue for copyright or trademark infringement

Click the title hot-link to go to the complete story