20 Most Anticipated Sci-fi Movies of 2011

Here's an interesting article about the 20 most anticipated sci-fi movies of 2011: http://scifiwire.com/2010/06/the-20-most-anticipated-sci-fi-movies-of-2011.php.

Monthly Meeting

Next Sunday we have our regular monthly meeting at Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights around 2:00 PM.

Everyone is welcome!

Stargate: Universe Season Finale

Al and I watched the season finale ( I believe it's may be called the first half-season now.) of "Stagate:Universe" Saturday. It was pretty intense and left a few cliff-hangers. It will be interesting to see who survives when the series picks up in the fall.

Forensic Science

My first introduction to forensic science were Sherlock Homes movies and Jacob "Jack" Klugmen's television character Quincy, M.E.

I remember Style Weekly published an article on Patricia Cornwell with a photo of her and a VW Beatle with a personalized license plate.

The license plate had as much of the name Scarpettia as she could get on the plate.

I remember a family member suggesting one of her books, Cruel and Unusual, after meeting her while he worked a limousine job.

I read it and a few more of her Scarpetta series.

I went to some of her book signings.

I was there when the Commonwealth of Virginia Chief M.E. and Cornwell introduced a new section of exhibits, at the Science Museum of Virginia, based on biology.

I remember seeing her fly in by helicopter and land on the museum lawn that day.

She slipped off to a local book store to sign copies of her latest book and returned to the museum.

She also signed copies of her latest book at the museum the same day.

After she was done at the museum, she flew off in the helicopter.

I attended one or two events at the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science & Medicine, including her lecture on her book Portrait of a Killer.

I would like to wish Patricia Cornwell a very Happy Birthday!

SpaceX shows it has the right stuff

I am reading this article, SpaceX shows it has the right stuff, at www.chicagotribune.com.

According to this article, a Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral on 4 June 2010 at 1145 Pacific time.

The Falcon 9 reached orbit nine minutes later.

The first stage of the rocket, that carried the rocket to an altitude of over 50 miles, used engines that generated more than 1 million pounds of thrust.

The second stage carried the rocket into orbit.

Elon Musk's business Hawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies Corporation developed the Falcon 9 rocket.

NASA has invested over $200 million in seed money to help SpaxeX develop and build the Falcon 9 rocket.

NASA has awarded SpaceX $1.6 billion in contracts to transport cargo to the International Space Station as early as next year.

NASA's Space Shuttle program is scheduled for retirement later this year.

The average shuttle mission costs $1 billion.

Elon Musk says he can launch cargo to the ISS and only charge $50 million.

SpaceX's rockets are made in a facility that once contained a production line for Boeing's 747 jumbo jet.

SpaceX employs over 1,000 people.

STS-132 Crew Return Home

I am reading this article Atlantis, STS-132 Crew Return Home, on NASA's website.
According to this article the Space Shuttle Atlantis and crew landed safely on Wednesday 26 May 2010 at 0848 EDT.

Mars500 Mission Begins Today

I am reading this article, Mars500 Mission Begins Today, on www.redorbit.com.
According to this article on 3 June 2010, a crew of six men were sealed in a capsule at the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems for 520 days.
This is to simulate a round-trip from Earth to Mars and back, with a 30-day stay on Mars, without the weightlessness of space flight or the lower gravity of Mars.

I am reading this article, First stage of Mars-500 experiment over, on Russia Today's website.
According to this article, a crew of six men spent 105 days in a capsule in the IBMP in 2009. The crew members were: Sergey Ryazansky, Oliver Knickel, Cyrille Fournier, Aleksey Baranov, Oleg Artemyev and Aleksey Shpakov. Communications with the outside world simulated a delay of the distance between the Earth and Mars during the mission.
This was the first leg of the experiment.

Professor Lou-Chuang Lee on Taiwan Outlook

I watched Professor Lou-Chuang Lee Minister Academician of Academia Sinica, Taiwan on Taiwan Outlook television show today.
He discussed several science topics including these:
National Research Programs
Building High-Quality R & D Environment
National Applied Research Laboratories
National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center
Science Parks Development
Hsinchu Science Park
Development of Biotechnology in Taiwan

From what I am reading on the Internet, Professor Lou-Chuang Lee has a long list of distinguished accomplishments in the areas of space science and plasma physics.
According to this pdf file, http://www.glyco2009.genomics.sinica.edu.tw/docs/CV_NSCM_Lee.pdf, Professor Lou-Chuang Lee's major
research achievements include:
the discovery of gigantic jets in the Earth’s upper atmosphere;
the multiple X-line reconnection model for magnetic flux transfer events;
the turbulence spectrum of interstellar medium;
the formation mechanism of solar prominences;
the cyclotron maser theory for the generation of auroral kilometric radiation;
and a new mechanism for solar coronal heating.
Professor Lou-Chuang Lee has published three academic monographs and over 200 scientific papers.