Michael Crichton's Next

I recently read Michael Crichton's book Next. I feel that his point about gene patents is well made. As he says in his research section, after the fiction story, genes are facts of nature -- like gravity and light -- and nobody should be able to patent them. I would also include stem cells. Stem cells are also facts of nature and no one should be able to patent them.

Climate Counts Website

I heard about this, Climate Counts Website, on NPR a few weeks ago and I saw a news story on it on cable Sunday morning.
Go to http://www.climatecounts.org/
Shopping can be a powerful tool if you shop wisely.
This site may help you find information that can help you shop wiser.

Shuttle Atlantis Touches Down in California

I am reading this article on NPR's website, www.npr.org.
This was the first US shuttle mission to the International Space this year.
The next mission is scheduled for August according to this article.

Climate Game Gives Real Options to Save World by Nell Boyce

I heard this, Climate Game Gives Real Options to Save World, on NPR.
Sounds like an interesting game where you can learn something about climate change.

Stargate's Final Frontier by Ileane Rudolph

I read Ileane Rudolph's article, in the 18 June 2007 issue of TV Guide.
According to this, the The Ark of Truth episode is being ported to DVD.
And the Continuum episode is being ported to DVD too.

It has been a great ten years with this series that continues as Stargate Atlantis.

Nighthawk Sci Fi Club Meeting

There is a meeting of the Nighthawk Sci Fi Club scheduled for Sunday, 24 June 2007, at 2 PM EDT.
Meetings are free and open to the public.

Global Meltdown by Andrew Revkin

I am reading Andrew Revkin's article, Global Meltdown, in the July/August 2007 issue of AARP Magazine.
I welcome the debate over whether the Earth is getting warmer or not because of natural causes or human causes.
I welcome the debate over what is the best way to deal with global warming.
I learned from reading State of Fear, to be careful about what I really believe regarding environmental issues.

Mass of dwarf planet Eris 27% greater than Pluto

I heard this, Mass of dwarf planet Eris 27% greater than Pluto, on NPR this morning.
It was Program #5235 of the Earth & Sky Radio Series with Deborak Byrd and Joel Block.
Eris also has a moon.
Through tracking the orbit of the moon around Eris, the mass of Eris was calculated.

A Conversation with Ray Bradbury on Coast To Coast AM With George Noory

I heard an interview with Ray Bradbury on Coast to Coast AM With George Noory.
John Wells interviewed author Ray Bradbury for about one hour.
Bradbury's advise to writers was:
"Love what you write and write what you love."

U.S. biofuels may stress Latin American food security

I listened to this article, U.S. biofuels may stress Latin American food security, on NPR.
It is program #5234 of the Earth & Sky Radio series hosted by Deborah Byrd and Joel Block.
According to this rain forests in Latin America may be cleared to grow corn for United States biofuels.
This can not be a win/win situation.

Star Wars The Original Radio Drama

I remember listening to this on National Public Radio awhile back.
It is available on CD from NPR.
I enjoyed the Star Wars radio show.
I was not up on Joseph Campbell's books at the time, so I did not see all the mythology behind Star Wars.
I saw the Jedi Knights as martial artists.
I saw "the force" as "ki".
I saw Star Wars as a Good vs. Evil story.
However after Campbell's death, PBS aired a Bill Moyers series, The Power of Myth.
I saw some of the series and was enlightened by it.
I am looking for the book The Power of Myth.

In memory of ...
Joseph Campbell and Peter Cushing

Michael Crichton's Timeline

A while back, I read Michael Crichton's book Timeline. I think that the speculative science the science fiction of the book is based upon is interesting. This is the many-worlds (worlds here means universes) interpretation of quantum mechanics created by Dr. Hugh Everett of Princeton. (This theory is also seen in "Star Trek: The Next Generation.")
According to this interpretation of quantum mechanics, whenever different viable possibilities exist, the universe splits into other universes, one for each possibility. In each of these universes, everything is identical except for the one different choice. From the point of each particular choice, the universes develop independently, and no communication between them is possible. In this way universes branch endlessly.

The novel Timeline spawned Timeline Computer Entertain, a computer game developer that created the Timeline PC game.

Bye-bye, Battlestar by Michael Logan

I read Michael Logan's article Bye-bye, Battlestar, in the 11 June 2007 issue of TV Guide.
I like the new series, but is seems to be ending after 22 more episodes.
The watched the original Battlestar Galactica and liked that as well.
The article say that a two-hour movie, Razor, will air on the Sci Fi Channel in November. The movie is set on the battlestar Pegasus.
I recall the Pegasus from the original series.
Lorne Green was Commander Adama.
It was commanded by Lloyd Bridges as Commander Cane in two episodes The Living Legion: Part 1 and The Living Legion: Part 2.
I also barely remember Lloyd Bridges from the show Sea Hunt.

In memory of . . .

Lorne Green and Lloyd Bridges

Chris Dows and Gregory Giovanni Johnson's Star Trek the manga

I saw a copy of Chris Dows and Gregory Giovanni Johnson's book Star Trek the manga Volume 1: Shinsei/Shinsei, Wednesday.
It says that this is where no manga has gone before.

Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

I look forward to reading Philip K. Dick's work Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
I enjoyed the movie Blade Runner and I believe it was based on that book.

I have a copy of his work that the movie Total Recall was based on.

Voyage to the Botton of the Sea DVD The Globial Warming Edition

I saw a copy of the pilot movie for the television series, Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea, today.
It was the Global Warming Edition.
I think that is very timely given the plot, even if it is a little fantastic, of this movie and the issue of global warming in the news.

Dinosaurs Alive the IMAX Film

I saw the IMAX Film Dinosaurs Alive.
In the film, there is some footage from the 1920's Roy Chapman Andrews expeditions into Mongolia to the Gobi Desert.
He named one site there the Flaming Hills.
He found the first fossilized dinosaur eggs in nests and new dinosaur species, during these expeditions.
He may have been the model for Harrison Ford's "Indiana Jones" in the Indiana Jones movies.

In memory of . . .
Roy Chapman Andrews

Waiting For Gravity Gravitional Waves Could Give Astronomers An Unprecidedted View Into Acts of Astronomical Violence by Trudy E. Bell

I am reading Trudy E. Bell's article, Waiting For Gravity Gravitional Waves Could Give Astronomers An Unprecedented View Into Acts of Astronomical Violence, in the July 2006 issue of IEEE Spectrum magazine.
It is interesting that the equipment, at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, described in this article may detect gravitational waves, for example from an exploding star.

Old World, New Grid CERN's massive parallel processing system is expanding from particle physics to everything else, and from Europe to everywhere...

I am reading Fabrizo Gagliardi & Francois Grey's article, "Old World, New Grid CERN's massive parallel processing system is expanding from particle physics to everything else, and from Europe to everywhere else" , in the July 2006 issue of IEEE Spectrum magazine.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research operates the large Hadron Collider in Switzerland near Geneva.
It is expected to generate so much data that a very large group of computers is needed just to store and process the data.
I am looking for the book The Grid: Blueprint for a New Computing Infrastructure by
Ian Foster and Carl
Kesselman.
I am also looking for the book Angles & Demons by Dan Brown.

Sci-fi Stamps

The United States Post Office has a set of Star Wars stamps on sale now. Even if you have never collected stamps, as a Sci-fi fan you may want to have these. Also, there is a set of Super Heroes stamps that depict older comic book heroes. You have to go to usps.com for these now because these stamps are no longer sold at the post office -- they are 39 cents and no longer enough for first class postage.

WhoPays For E-Waste? Washington state sticks manufactures with recycling tab by Tekla S. Perry

I am reading Tekla S. Perry's article, Who Pays For E-Waste? Washington state sticks manufactures with recycling tab, in the July 2006 issue of IEEE Spectrum Magazine.
I want to check on state laws in the USA regarding electronic waste.
Recycling of old electronic equipment is needed but who has to pay for it?

Sci-Tech: The Movie Fifteen films that try to cross-prollinate art and science by Stephen Cass

I am reading Stephen Cass's article, Sci-Tech: The Movie Fifteen films that try to cross-pollinate art and science, in the July 2006 issue of IEEE Spectrum Magazine.
I believe that films should show more real science, especially science fiction films.
So I enjoyed this article a lot.

Grace Lee Whitney's The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy

I am looking forward to reading Grace Lee Whitney's book, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy.
Star Trek The Original Series is my favorite.
I enjoy reading the bibliographies written my stars of the show.

Stanislaw Lem 's The First Spaceship To Venus and Solaris

I watched the movie, The First Spaceship To Venus.
I believe that Stanislaw Lem wrote a novel, Astronauci, that the film was based on.

I also watched both versions of the movie Solaris.
I believe that movie was based on his novel Solaris.

In memory of . . .
Stanislaw Lem

STS-117 Crew

Space Shuttle Atlantis is on the way to the International Space Station.
According to the NASA website, the crew will inspect the shuttle's heat shield and get ready for their arrival at the space station on Sunday.
Today is their first full day in orbit after lifting off Friday from the Kennedy Space Center.
Seven crew members are aboard the shuttle.

In No Time Searching For The Essence Of Time Leads To A Confounding Question: Does It Even Exist? by Tim Folger

I am reading Tim Folger's article, In No Time Searching For The Essence Of Time Leads To A Confounding Question: Does It Even Exist?, in the June 2007 issue of Discover.
Ideas on time's arrow and whether time exists at all seems to be in the current literature on physics and quantum mechanics a lot.

Through a Glass, Darkly by Marc Bain

I read Marc Bain's article, Through a Glass, Darkly, in the Periscope section of the 28 May 2007 issue of Newsweek.
It seems that the Hubble Space Telescope has recorded what may be a dark-matter ring that formed when two clusters of galaxies collided.

Tour Industry's Green Revoluntion DMB, Madona, Pearl Jam, Coddplay and more team up to fight globial warming by Evan Serpick

I read this article, in the 14 June 2007 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, Tour Industry's Green Revolution DMB, Madonna, Pearl Jam, Coldplay and more team up to fight global warming by Evan Serpick.
It is interesting to see some artists going to biodiesel as a fuel for the buses and trucks that carry their equipment during their tours.

Michael Crichton's Next

I am reading Michael Crichton's book Next.
It is a good book.

I also read his book, The Andromeda Strain, and saw the movie The Andromeda Strain.
It is a great book and great movie, if you like germ outbreaks as a theme.
I read his book, The Terminal Man and saw the movie The Terminal Man.
It is a good book and good movie, if you like surgical behavior modification as a theme.
I read his book, Sphere, and saw the movie Sphere.
It is an interesting book and an interesting movie.
I like science fiction to hold up a mirror and reflect something back about humanity.
This movie and book does that in a literal way.

Europe's Carbon Trading Market Sees Brisk Business by Christopher Joyce

I heard this on National Public Radio yesterday, Europe's Carbon Trading Market Sees Brisk Business by Christopher Joyce. This is part of a year-long series, Climate Connections.
Given the Group of Eight Summit for 2007 just started, this is right on time.
This report tells something about how CO2 emissions are handled by some businesses in Europe.
Go to www.npr.org and search for Climate Connections From NPR and National Geographic.

Bjarne Stroustrup's The Design and Evolution of C++

I read the article, The problem with programming by Bjarne Stroustrup in the Q&A section of the January/February issue of Technology Review.
Now I am looking for his book The Design and Evolution of C++.
C++ is one of my favorite languages to use.
Setting up late trying to debug my programs in C and C++ was not one of my favorite ways to pass the time.