Firefly Novel from Steven Brust!

Hey, I just read over on the IO9 blog that writer Steven Brust, best known for his fantasy/scifi Dragaeran series, has done something that should warm all the fans of Josh Weadon's Firefly hearts. Brust has written a free ebook set in the Firefly universe. And by free I mean Creative Commons free. Down load it, copy it, distribute it, as long as it's NFP, knock yourself out! IO9 contributor Newitz writes that "Brust has done a great job capturing the humor and out-West action feel of the series."

Here is the link to the novel

Actor Barry Morse RIP

Actor Barry Morse, who played a detective in 1960s TV series The Fugitive, but better known to Sci-Fi fans as Professor Victor Bergman in 1970s science fiction series Space 1999 has died, his son said Tuesday. He was 89.

For those of you that don't remember space 1999, the series took place on a wayward Luna which had been flung into deep space after an explosive mishap disrupted its' orbit. The series also stared husband and wife team Barbara Bain and Martin Laundau, earlier of Mission Impossible fame. Space 1999, played on many American TV station but was never picked up by the major networks. Mostly it played on independent stations but did make it onto many network affiliate stations who would preempt regular network programming to play the series.

Thanks to SF Signals for the post

Behind the Cybernetics with the Next Terminator Generation

Just in case you felt there was something missing in your knowledge of Terminator models and developments since the advent of Summer Glau on The Sarah Connor's Chronicles, the good folks over at IO9 has put together an exhaustive study of the big bad meanies. Some of the models and model descriptions never made it out of the cutting room, so be prepared to be informed!

Thane Heins' Perepiteia device

I will be the first to admit that I am not the brainiest person going, however I think I have a basic grasp of physics and conservation of energy as well as a working knowledge of thermodynamics. So when someones asks what happens when you put an electrical load on an engine or generator, I have to say that the load is 180 degrees in opposition so the net effect of the load is to slow the whole system down by a factor dependent on the work being done by the system and the load applied. That being said, take a look at Thane Heins' Perepiteia device. Quite simply it is an induction engine with a magnetic core inserted into it rotor. To this engine's rotor is coupled a ring of magnets and facing these magnets are inductor coils. In other words a generator. Anyone that understands basic electricity knows as you spin the engine the magnets will induce a current in the coils. If you hook up a light to the coils, which is a load, you will slow the system down because your causing resistance in the coils. Now the exercise here is, what happens when you put a maximum load on the coils or "shorting" them? This puts infinite resistance on the system from the motor's perspective so that to maintain the same level of "work" more power must be supplied to the engine.

Enter the Perepiteia and a major headache. Remember the only difference in this machine and a generator is that the Perepiteia has an inductive core in the rotor. When the device is started all the coils report voltage - as you would expect. Then when Heins shorts out the coils, instead of slowing down the system as you would expect - the motor speeds up. Heins explains that the coils load is back emf (electro motive force) which is inducted into the engine by way of the inductive core in the rotor, thus strengthening the motor's existing magnetic field.

Oh I hear the BS! and capacitive inductance! cat calls....but I watched the videos of this piece of
black magic in action, I can not see the trick. Check it out, I need an asprin.

Here is the Boing Boing article and a link to the videos of the device in action.

Giant Robots Attack Suburbia

As John over at Sci-Fi Scanner puts it....I prefer those old types of robots, stupidly clunking around and stealing our women when that strange human emotion called "love" somehow grips their servo-controlled heart. It's just hard not to love things so big and stupid.

Here is a short film by director Ryan Nagata who uses small wind up automata and a technique called force perspective. It's an old tried and true technique, but here it works ever so well.
Enjoy