Robots of the Future May Be Mercy Killersi

Ever had or come upon an animal that was so bad off that you just knew it would be humane to put it out of its' misery,  a mercy killing.  I could never bring myself to do the deed though.    That's when a robot, expert in such things would have been welcome.

Engineer and CEO of Poikos: Nell Watson, worries that the artificial intelligence of the near-future might decide to become just such a benevolent euthanizer. One that would end the suffering of lower animals.  Of course Mz. Watson fears that mankind itself would be judged to be a suffering lower life form. 

Read the rest of the article as well as the talk that CEO Watson gave at "The Gathering" conference HERE

BMU #421 is now online Asimov & Phyland

in episode 421 of Beam Me Up....

The first offering is the closing theme to the anime series "Wagnaria"

The first story is Kevin J. Phyland's  "Famine"

From the first story to the Beam Me Up blog - I start with a brief review of "The amazing Spiderman II".  What does space smell like?

Astronomers studying the dust cloud surrounding the Milkyway's core

know as Sagittarius 2  have discovered even more complex smells.  New Horizon has set yet another milestone in its quest to do a fly by of Pluto in 2015. A college  student does another student a solid by designing and printing a much needed device.  That and more, from the blog.

Finally from Isaac Asimov, "The Final Question" part 1

Enjoy

Podcast audio HERE

Review: The Amazing Spiderman 2

 

 Spiderman2  Ok, first I have to bitch... First off, I just finished watching the DVD of The Amazing Spiderman2.  Now, someone wishing to sow confusion would ask why I waited so long when 3 has been out for so long?  Really? When did 3 appear? Why 2007!  How can that be, 2 just came out in 2014! Ahh you see, it's all about the Amazing! If you were part of the not Amazing Spiderman 2 you were released in 2004.  Now if you WERE Amazing you were released in 2014.  What does this all mean?  Well they had to be paying attention, but it sure led to confusion, at least on my part.  Maybe we can call them Toby and non-Toby Spidermans.  Well, they could have done better.  Stan draggin his feet maybe?   Oh and speaking of dragging, didn't his Hitchcock moment drag on!

Ok, on to the movie.  Two hour and twenty two minutes is the runtime of TASM2 but there is so MUCH action that it is the fastest 2 1/2 hours your going to experience.   The movie STARTS with a brutal fight and plane crash and then segues into some of the best Spiderman web slinging that I have ever seen.  I am serious!  There are flips, twirls, and dives that would make flying suit enthusiasts green.  Plus, Spiderman IS Spiderman!  The moves, the wisecracking really are spot on.  The crew for this movie have again set the visual effects bar, award winningly high.  

But I have to say, the characters took a back seat.  Parker again suffers angst on choosing between his two loves as does Mary Jane.  Oh and Sally Fields needs to slap someone.  Hey kids, this woman is character in the finest sense of the word.  How about we learn to write for actors with talent huh?

The plot is a bit confusing just because there seems to be too much of it.  Subplots abound.  Now in a comic, that is fine,  but a movie that is frenetic in the extreme, well, it is damn hard to follow at times. 

I have got to give credit where credit is due.  I have seen so many of these movies take the cheap shot tear jerker route, just to eat up time.  TASM2 by contrast kept this to a minimum.  I think it made for a better movie. 

Overall I would say that there is much more to recommend in this movie than to pass on.  It is a definite watch for spidey fans, where ever you are.

Here is the wikipedia article for those who are interested  HERE

Space Smells Like What?!

Hey, here is an interesting article from Science in a Can called:

What does space smell like?

I know.... the near-vacuum of space has a smell? Well yes it would seem and astronauts have reported the strange odor after space walks.  Their equipment would be permeated by bitter, smoky, metallic smells like seared steak, hot metal and arc welding all rolled into one.
It’s believed that the smell is caused by high-energy vibrations in particles that mix with the air when brought inside.

NASA has asked a chemist to reproduce the smell, in hope of using it during acclimatization training sessions.

Astronomers, searching the vast dust cloud in the middle of the Milky Way, called Sagittarius B2, have found a substance called ethyl formate.  Which would mean that Sagittarius B2 smells and tastes like raspberries and rum.  mmm oh yes that is a much more pleasant combination than seared steak and metal.

 

Read the complete article HERE

New Horizon Passes Neptune On To Pluto

NASA's New Horizon has crossed Neptune's orbit on it's way to a 7-14-2015 rendezvous with Pluto.

This puts New Horizon some 2.75 billion (yep, that's billion with a B)  miles from Earth and 2.48 billion miles from Neptune proper.  This milestone has only happened once before when the mark was set by Voyager 2, which accomplished a much closer  fly-by on August 25th of 1989.

Voyager’s visit to Neptune revealed features never seen before.  Such as the Great Dark Spot, a massive storm much like Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. Voyager also captured clear images of the ice giant’s ring system, too faint to be clearly viewed from Earth.

Considering the historic observations of Voyager 1 and 2, New Horizons' controllers are confident that it is also on a path toward discoveries in the Kuiper Belt.   A realm of icy objects out past the orbit of Neptune.

NASA New Horizon Neptune orbit crossing article HERE + Wikipedia New Horizon