Fantasist's Scroll

The Indians are making a moonshot.

No, not the American Indians! The Indian Indians! According to this article on XinhuaNet, in English, the Indian space agency is planning an unmanned moon mission, called Chandrayan. Chandrayan is expected to take place in 2007-08 if everything proceeds as planned, which it seems to be. If they do it, India will be on the cusp of being a real world power on the scale of the US, China, and Russia. As few ethnicities as we’ve seen in science-fiction, other than WASPs, that is, it’s interesting to me that the Chinese and Indians have become so space oriented lately. I really hope that writers take note of this and alter their views accordingly. One of the notable exceptions has been China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh and Chung Kuo: The Middle Kingdom, which is the first in a series by the same name, all by David Wingrove. I’d love to see more of it.

Three-dimensional books. Cool.

There’s a project afoot that makes 3-d books a reality. It’s called Black Magic. So far, they’re still in the experimental stage, but it looks good. They’ve done a story about America’s Cup in 3-d and have a “simulation” that can be downloaded to a PC. The viewer itself seems to be a set of googles or eyepieces on a handle, not unlike the Victorian stereoscopic viewer. I guess everything old is new again. In any case, it seems like an interesting technology and I’ll be watching to see where, or if, it goes.

Space tourists.

Well, if Richard Branson is as spot on as he’s been, we may be flying Virgin Galactic into space for our vacations. Okay, so, maybe that’s a little “forward thinking”, but, according to this article on Wired News, he’s made a deal to to build an “aircraft” based on Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne craft. (Mr. Rutan, and company, is a contender for the X-Prize.) Apparently, Branson’s plan is to start making regular “flights” into space, one assumes with profit in mind. So, in spite of the flamboyant and sometimes downwright strange stunts he’s pulled, Branson may just fullfil the promise of the X-Prize: regular, commercial space-flight.

Cool.

A new age has dawned for spaceflight!

According to numerous sources, my favorite being National Geographic in this case, SpaceShipOne has won the X-Prize. What does that mean? It means that a privately built single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft has been built and successfully launched into space twice within a week. And, if you don’t understand the implecations of that, well… Well, I can’t imagine anyone who could find this blog on the web and not have some idea what that accomplishment means. Maybe I will see a mission to mars succeed in my lifetime. I might even see extraterrestrial mining. The possibilities are limitless.

Wow.

At least, more about the man who cracked it.

Back in June, I mentioned that someone had uncovered the secret of the Voynich Manuscript. Well, to be more precise, he uncovered the fact that it was a fake. This past month, there was an article on Wired News about that man. he’s quite interesting, really. From what I read, he’s basically in the business of, well, thinking about thinking. He looks at how various professionals solve problems and tries to improve their process. He seems to be quite good at it, too! Anyway, read the article.

Cold fusion, that is.

According to this article on the IEEE website, cold fusion is alive and kicking. Well, at least, it may get a second chance. Apparently, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science will receive a report from a panel of experts on the prospects for cold fusion later this month. (Incidentally, for those of you who aren’t familiar, cold fusion is the “supposed generation of thermonuclear energy using tabletop apparatus.”) You can read more about it at the article.
The interesting thing here, for me, is that this one doesn’t seem to die. No one has been able to reproduce the results of that first experiment. At least, not with any degree of credibility within the scientific community. But, still, they chase the dream. “A reactor in every household!” I can see the slogans now… Ah, well, considering the story I brought you yesterday, I suppose it’s only a matter of time.

I stole that from the article.

This article at New Scientist, that is. It’s all about an idea the US government has come up with to help bring power to the powerless. It is, as the title indicates, a reactor in a box. SPecifically, it’s a small nuclear reactor/power-plant in a sealed container that is easily transportable. It can generate anywhere from 10 to 100 megawatts, depending on the size, but can still be moved “easily” by ship or large truck to where it’s needed. So, why in a sealed container? Why, to help make sure that the Third World countries we shop it out to don’t take it apart to make bombs, of course! So, how long before that happens, do you think? Well, anyway, I thought it would be a thought provoking article.
Enjoy!

An interesting twist on the potential danger of the dead.

Okay, now, usually, when someone says something about how dangerous the dead are, I’m thinking the walking dead. Zombies, vampires, ghouls and the like. But, according to this article on WiredNews.com, the dead can be dangerous in real life!
Frankly, this hadn’t really occurred to me before, but it makes sense. With all the biological warfare agents out and about in the world, a large group of dead can be quite troublesome. Imagine, if you will, a great big pile of very, very infectious corpses baking in the sun. How do you dispose of them without spreading the contagion? How do you handle them to even figure out what the disease, or other agent, that killed them even is? All very good questions. For a few answers, read the article.